05/20/2026
Taking care of myself with gentle loving care is a lesson that has taken me many years to learn and embody. Choosing me over the to-do list. Choosing me over the “should do’s”. Choosing me over the “yeah but’s”.
This week I was reminded once again that it was time to Choose Me instead of my lists. As I wrote in my last note, April and May have been very busy for me. I’m traveling again this week to visit family out west, and I have a long list of things I need to do before I leave.
Yesterday morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. So I decided to take a shower to break myself away from the doing. And that pause allowed me to receive the messages I needed to hear.
“Choose you. Enjoy your shower, don’t rush. Do some breathwork and then do your meditation. Don’t rush through them and don’t skip them. Do some yoga and Qigong. Again, don’t rush and don’t skip. Eat breakfast and don’t rush.”
I saw it all unfolding through my closed eyes. So I did exactly as I was instructed, and I ended up having time to do all of that and I still also had time to start packing for my trip, draft this email, and put dinner in the slow cooker for after work.
Slowing down allows you to be more efficient because it invites in flow, and it also allows you to feel your energy.
Because I’ve learned how the energy feels when I’m choosing me vs when I’m striving and forcing, I recognized I needed to slow down. These choices I made this morning are self-healing choices. Ones that old me who was in the throes of burnout would have never made.
The practices I’ve learned from Kundalini Yoga, meditation, and Qigong have sensitized me to the energy in my body and the field around me in such a way that it acts as my compass. Discernment comes more easily for me now because I follow the way my body feels.
In the Return to Balance & Self Retreat that my fabulous friend and colleague, Amanda Todd Ph.D, and I are leading, you will learn how to do that too. Amanda has been teaching Reiki for over 20 years, and is expert in guiding people to connect with their energy through subtle awareness practices. And that is what I love to do as well, use the modalities of Kundalini yoga and Qigong to sensitize people to that subtle energy within them.
Together you’ll come away with so much awareness of yourself and your energy, how to cultivate and use your energy to guide you through life and to practice self-healing through Reiki Level 1 training, and the practices I’ll be teaching as well.
And on top of that we’ll be in a magnificent setting, in a luxurious estate, nestled in the mountains in Boone, NC, providing you space for embodying tranquility, peace, quiet contemplation and integration.
Won’t you join us? Registration is now open. https://drjuliehutsellstarling.com/return-to-balance-retreat/
One room is already sold just from our waitlist. We are limiting the experience to a maximum of 8 participants.
Reach out if you have any questions. Payment plans are available too.
Wishing you a beautiful holiday weekend.
With so much love,
Julie
