Choose Love

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes:

“The amount of love people give us is never a measure of our worth, it is only a measure of what they are able to give.
Forgive them.
Expand your own love into the spaces they have not filled.”
Awhile back, I posted this as my Facebook status, written after one of my

Posted in Natalie Hughes | 2 Comments

The Momentum of Joy

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes:

Choose a job you love,
and you will never have to work a day in your life.
~ Confucius

We have got an awful lot going on, don’t we?

I, for one have a home to care for, two bustling children involved in both arts and sports, a retail business, a passion for creating music and writing, a hubby with a both a business and a second career as a photographer, and all of us with barely a moment to spare. These beloved people soil piles of clothes and stacks of dishes, get dirt on floors and carpets and leave toothpaste scum in the bathroom sink.  Everyone in the house faces daily commitments, due dates and responsibilities. We’re making stuff, cleaning stuff, having a quick chat to reconnect, and then running out the door for appointments.
Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How Limit can Create the Limitless

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes:

Our limits make us limitless…..

With the passing this month of Steve Jobs, and then the passing of the father of one of my dear friends, mortality has been brought to the forefront of my mind. There are many opinions about what happens when we pass away… different spiritual teachings tell us that we go to heaven and walk again with our loved ones on streets of gold, or that we reincarnate to a new life having learned what we needed from our past, or that we simply become one with the universal energy that is everything.

Maybe we get another chance to learn, grow and impact this world or another one. I truly hope so.
Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sometimes You’ve Just Got to Stand Still

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes:

We are such incredible, unique beings… we are the only ones on the planet who can use both our heart — our spiritual centre — and our hand — the tangible work we do — to make an impact on the planet. The things we say, sing, create and share can reach to every corner of the world when we combine these two abilities and begin to fulfill our own purposes. This is the gift of empowerment we humans possess. And it is magic.

I’ve been reflecting on the past few years when, to an outside observer, it would have appeared that I was accomplishing very little work. I played fewer shows than in the past. I did not release a new recording. Instead, the work I was doing was the invisible stuff… the excavation of old beliefs, sad stories and antiquated behavior patterns passed down from generations of women who were only doing their best. I was standing still in my physical work for awhile, but my spirit was digging in with axe and shovel.

There is a time to stand still. And there is a time to climb.

Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Comfort Zone or Danger Zone?

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes, Musical Director:

Visualize your heart as a room that you’ve filled with a mixture of keepsakes, some things beautiful and functioning well, and other things that once served you, but now are useless. What’s in your comfort zone? Food? Keeping busy? Fuzzy pj’s and late night popcorn? Never being alone? Keeping that job that pays but doesn’t fulfill? Do you try to create numbness, or do you prefer stirring up chaos (depending on the set-point formed by the environment you grew up in.)

Is the room getting too full… like, bordering on an episode of Hoarders?

The truth is, what we have defined as a comfort zone our whole lives is more of a danger zone, where any moment one of our piles of old, worn out stories could come toppling down and leave us trapped. Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Children Are The Best Teachers

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes, Musical Director:

I’m a great many things, not the least of which is a passionate mom of two pretty cool kids: my boy who is getting very close to teenager hood (the growth spurt has officially begun) and my giggly girl who is just starting grade school.


I remember walking my son in his stroller one day as a new mother and being overcome with unconditional love for him. For the first time I truly understood what it means to love someone who hasn’t had to earn, win, do or be enough… just pure adoration without any need for justification. I connected in that moment how much my own parents must have loved us kids, even when all they received in return was some crying and leaking body fluids. Okay, maybe there was some smiling and cooing.
Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

WIN my 12-Week Total Transformation TeleCourse!

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Crystal Andrus:

One lucky woman will WIN my
12-Week Total Transformation TeleCourse
that begins on September28th!
Read on……

On September 12, I facilitated a free call where hundreds of women joined me in a powerful conversation about why we get stuck and how we can get unstuck.

During that insightful hour, I compared each of us to the thousands of almost identical and yet completely individual pine cones that were showering the hundred foot pine tree in my backyard.

Every one of those tiny two inch cones have the same divine intelligence to grow into their own hundred foot tree and yet, only one or two of them will actually have the perfect conditions that will allow that to happen.

Why should such a small percentage be given the chance to unlock their potential while all the rest will simply fall to the ground and never ever reach their greatness?

Does God love some of those pinecones more than the others?

Of course, not!

Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Would Walt Disney Do? (WWWDD)

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Natalie Hughes, Musical Director:

Magic!!!

This past week I experienced a breathtaking sight, a nearly impossible dream brought to reality, a spectacle of epic proportions…
Disneyworld.

Millions of people–likely including many of you reading–have visited the Magic Kingdom, and been similarly mind blown I’m sure. As a child I had wished and hoped and prayed that I would get to go, and my own children had done the same right until we surprised them on the morning of our trip. As we entered the main street and saw the iconic castle gleaming in the sun, I found myself unexpectedly tearing up and saying, “Hold on a second, guys.. Momma can’t see for all the cryin’.”  Everything was executed so perfectly, it just filled me with awe. Each storefront was exquisite. Every cast member was so genuinely happy to serve.

A simple man dream this.

An ordinary everyday person had a vision for a larger-than-life fairytale land, bought up countless acres of swampland and convinced designers, architects, craftsmen and investors to believe in that vision.  I can only imagine how passionately he presented his  ideas, how he spoke with conviction and absolute certainty of his plans.
Continue reading →

Posted in Natalie Hughes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Icy Puddle

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Susan Sly, DREAM TEAM Coach:

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”
~ Steve Prefontaine

Last week it rained; one of those torrential downpours that begins with ominous grey clouds which yield to gusts of wind and finally, with much anticipation, sheets of rain surged from the sky.  With the rain and the wind came a small amount of flooding.  It was of no surprise the following morning that, while running on my favourite path, that I came upon a giant icy puddle.

The puddle engulfed the path, the field to the left and a person’s lawn to the right.  My only options were to turn around or run right through those four inches of icy cold, muddy water and continue on.  The people closest to me will tell you that I am a determined person.  I have done the Ironman triathlon for goodness sake and yet, on this cloudy morning, the anticipation of frozen, wet feet for another four miles was not looking overly inviting.
Continue reading →

Posted in Dream Team | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Salt and Weight Gain!

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Crystal

From the desk of Adele Fridman, DREAM TEAM Coach:

Not seeing the results you want? Salt could be the hidden culprit!

We often view an abundance of carbs and sweets as the culprit when it comes to gaining weight, and for sure these are partially responsible, but recent studies have shown that salt plays a key role as well. First off, salt makes us both hungrier and thirstier, and makes our fat cells fatter!

Because salt is usually hidden and added to a variety of foods, most people don’t think they have a salt problem. The truth of the matter is a large percentage of us are actually getting two to three times the salt we actually need. So even though we may be cutting back or carbs and sugary sweets we’re still not seeing the results we’re hoping for because we haven

Posted in Dream Team | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment