Rebecca R. Velasquez, Holistic Psychotherapist

06/13/2022

Yesterday I graduated from Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbalism course taught by . 🌿I am now a Certified Herbalist!🌿I’m forever grateful for the wisdom gained, knowledge acquired and lifelong friendships cultivated in this 10 month long journey with our teacher Angela!🌺💖💐🎉🌿 Learning what I have this year about Herbalism and Ayurveda , I am humbled to say that I’ve only scratched the surface of this vast field of knowledge and wisdom of plant medicine! I’m so grateful to my teacher Angela for all her teachings , wisdom and approach to Herbalism and Ayurveda this past year! Im so inspire by and grateful to this group of wise and loving medicine making women!🙏🥰🌿

01/30/2021

12/26/2020

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy 2021! 🌲🎁🎉

12/07/2020

Covid time is the perfect time for making homemade holiday gifts! Wishing you all a healthy and safe holiday season!!🎅🎄

07/27/2020

To all parents surviving the Covid time,

I acknowledge your unique challenges...The pull between work and your children...for everything you do each day to put aside your inner turmoils to show up for your children...for your bravery in learning how to homeschool your children with no prior experience...for needing to train your young ones to wear a mask...for every challenge seen and unseen...for trying to meet basic needs during a global crisis...for often putting your own needs last...for constantly coming up with creative ways to entertain and enrich your (needy) children’s life for months when the world has been shut down. I see you. I feel you. You are a hero.
When this is all over, we all deserve to be wheeled via stretcher to a luxurious spa retreat for at least 90 days! (Photo circa 2010)

06/28/2020

Best yoga days ever! One thing I’ve been so grateful for during the quarantine has been social distance yoga-ing at the park with a friend. We are often pushed off our mat by my kids or at the very least balancing them on our head somehow! 🤣😂 I’ve never realized how much I enjoy practicing outside!

06/08/2020

05/21/2020

So I had this impactful dream recently (as I just mentioned my previous posting) that I was frolicking with a couple of beautiful white stallions in a crystal blue ocean. It was a crystal clear dream- not hazy like other dreams. All my senses were alive in the dream- images were glistening. I was on this magical island with other magical creatures and I decided to adopt the white stallions and I boarded them onto Santa’s sleigh (yes really!! 😂) and we flew back to civilization. I woke up feeling renewed and peaceful and clear-headed. I googled and pondered the significance of white stallions: beauty, purity, freedom, spiritual awakening, strong, wild, harmony and abundance. I remembered that just the night before I had written down 5 words that I had intended for myself, my home and my life in this next chapter to include: harmony, joy, beauty, workability and abundance. Ironically I remember that my maiden name “Roessler” actually means “someone who breeds, cares for, works for or owns horses.”
I think I found my spirit animal! A white stallion is everything I truly want to become! So I purchased an art canvas of a beautiful white stallion to remind me daily of the best version of myself that I’m becoming more and more each day!
What’s your spirit animal?!!🦄🌟💫

05/21/2020

Noticing my angel boy writing Angel Numbers at 11am today! Angel Numbers 1111 have shown up quite often for me for the past few years, and when they do I smile and know I’m on the right path! It’s always interesting to pay attention to number sequences that we see or even significant animal encounters we have...for example I recently had a beautiful dream about a couple of white stallions frolicking in a beautiful crystal blue ocean and woke up feeling so peaceful and with renewed energy. Then the very next day I saw a white stallion grazing in a pasture! Or dragonflies that I often see as well at various times. Pay attention to everything around you and notice the synchronicities. Angel numbers and signs often show up during pivotal times of transformation for us whether it be career, relationship or life changes. Synchronicities show up more and more as we continue to raise our vibration- aka become more positive and align with our authentic self more and more. Pay attention to synchronicities as the Universe/God/Your Higher Self may be trying to speak to you in your everyday life! Happy homeschooling! Happy Quarantining! 🌟💫🦄

04/22/2020

Meltdowns? Tantrums? Off Moments? Not at your best?

They are happening to all of us! If you haven’t struggled in this Covid era somehow you are not living on planet Earth! Period.

One of my own humiliating and NOT graceful parenting moments was just a few days ago...It was 5pm and my kids and I were all tired and hungry. I’m in the parking lot of the grocery store wearing a mask while negotiating for 15 min with my children to just enter the grocery store with me to get a few essential items I needed. I had not taken my kids to any stores in maybe a month because I doubted their ability to social distance, but today they were with me and I had to go and it was only a few items. We get to the entrance and I read a sign that says “masks are required and sick people may not enter.” Well that’s fine I thought. We are healthy as can be and each of us are wearing a disposable mask. Well 5 min into the store, my 10 year old breaks his mask. Oopsie! Then 5 min later my younger son yanks at his mask and breaks his mask. Oh no! I give my son my mask which he promptly breaks on purpose thinking it’s funny! Aghh!!😡 So now we are technically illegal at this store! Then as we enter the Produce section (but thankfully not close to produce!) my 6 year old who I have not heard cough in over 6 wks (for real! I swear!!!) coughs a chain of several loud coughs! Wanting to hide under the floorboards, I crouch down and sounding like a gremlin as I try to yell and whisper at the same time “WHY-ARE-YOU-COUGHING! YOU-ARE-NOT-SICK!” (I’m scolding my child for coughing!) Then my older son announces in an even louder voice, “MAMMA, HE’S BEEN COUGHING AND SICK! DON’T YOU REMEMBER HOW SICK HE WAS AT SCHOOL!” I feel the gaze of strangers near us. I then proceeded to loudly argue with my son about the concept of time and how school was several weeks ago and yes he was sick 6 wks ago but that’s NOT NOW and we are all healthy now! Ughh! We made it out of the store somehow but I was mortified! Not a shining parenting moment for sure! Gladly I can laugh about it now though!😂

So in short, whether we admit it or not we are all having not-so-shining moments as parents, as individuals, or as families. We need to remember to go easy on ourselves though. Be gentle with yourself. Lower your expectations of yourself, of others and of life right now. If you are off-kilter right now, it’s ok. It’s ok to just not shine right now. This too shall pass. You are not alone.

04/20/2020

During the quarantine we are homeschooling or working on the front lines, trying to work from home, or out of working completely. Some of us are single parenting or have multiple children. Or we are aging or have medical or financial concerns. We are challenged in unique ways to say the least and we feel we want to contribute more to those around us. 🌎

I can say for myself, although there are joys, homeschooling my kids full-time on my own can often feel like I have 50 lb weights tied around my ankles while my children suck the life force energy out of me through a straw.😛Depleted are many of us without much will, time or energy to contribute in ways we much desire to our in our community.
Yet you are contributing. Even if you feel like your efforts are small right now in raising humanity, it’s ok. Know that you are contributing....Just as the waves and the ocean become one, and the smallest move of a butterfly affects the furthest star, a thought of someone will flash into my consciousness and I’ll check my phone and they just texted at the same time! It’s all because we are interconnected beings!

If all you are doing is staying home and social distancing or wearing a mask in public, you are saving lives and contributing. If you are retreating into quiet for healing you are raising your vibration and those around you even without words. If you are posting funny or uplifting things on social media you are contributing. If you are merely caring for your children you are contributing...Or if you are a jolly local Irishman playing the Hyland Bagpipe just for fun in the middle of a beautiful meadow of wildflowers you are contributing!!!
You are enough and you do enough. Period. 🌞🙌

04/17/2020

Quarantine your adult but set your inner child free during this time! We often forget that we are ageless beings! We still carry that little child within us.👶Our inner child is our source for creativity and can remind us the importance of play! As a child, I was an active (very headstrong!) tomboy-type who loved climbing trees who sought adventure and freedom! Think about who you were as a child...What qualities did you carry? What did you want from the world?🌎 How can you nurture these qualities as an adult?

What a thrill to just climb this sturdy tree about 50 feet up with my son yesterday!🦋

03/31/2020

I love where we live here in San Luis Obispo! Spring is here in full swing!🌞 There’s so much for us all to be grateful for today!
I’ve been doing more meditation than ever before, 🦋taking more supplements than ever before, 🦋exploring nature more than ever before 🦋, cooking more than ever before🦋, staying in my pjs longer than ever before🦋, getting more rest than I’ve ever gotten before 🦋, calling my parents and extended family more than ever before🦋, talking to strangers in public (6 ft away) more than ever before🦋, doing more creative writing than ever before🦋, listening to inspiring podcasts more than ever before 🦋 What positive things are you doing more than ever before? 🌞(besides hand washing and buying toilet paper)!! Comment below!

03/28/2020

GRATITUDE💫GrATiTuDE💫gratitude for the opportunity to reinvent ourselves.🦋
My mom said today “Well I guess I’m just going to have to reinvent myself now.” Exactly true. This is an opportunity to reinvent, recreate, reset and relive our lives. No, you didn’t exactly choose it (but perhaps you yearned for it...”I wish I had more time at home, more time with the kids, more time in solitude, more time to slow down”). Well it’s here.

When you look back on this time period month or years down the road, how will you have wished you spent it? Obsessing over CNN or perhaps delving in and carrying to completion that creative project or hobby? Learning a new craft or talking daily to our parents. You’ve wanted to learn or deepen your meditation practice, well here is your very own government imposed-built in -home Ashram- private retreat!🧘

It’s in the challenging times that we humans awaken to our fullest potential and deeper selves. When all the non-essentials fall away from us, we re-evaluate what matters in our life and our purpose. We connect and reconnect with others in our lives in a new way and awaken to our families 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 and community around us and our place of service to the world around us.🌎✨
How will you spend you reinvention time? Comment below!!

03/22/2020

🌟🌈20 Ways To Be Productive, Healthy and Peaceful Each Day🌟🌈:

1. First thing in the AM, scrap your tongue with metal tongue scraper (clears toxins from your body that rest on your tongue through the night). 🌟
2. Gargle with warm lemon water (gets your digestion flowing) 🌟
3. Gargle with olive oil or sesame oil and dab some in your nostrils. This is Ayurvedic technique that helps create germs barrier and better oral health.🌟
4. Meditate.🌟
5. Call one person over 60 to check in and see if they need anything.🌟
6. Prepare a healthy breakfast. Don’t be afraid to eat vegetables in the morning. (Vegetable soup or steamed veggies are not illegal in the AM!) 🌟
7. Start dinner early. Our energy levels can often wane later in the day. Get a jumpstart in the AM.🌟
8. Get outside. Hike, bike, yoga in open spaces.🌟
9. Call a friend. Ask how they are doing?🌟
10. Listen to positive affirmations (Louise Hay affirmations or anything by Abraham Hicks are great choice) 🌟
11. Take a bath with lavender or epsom salt
12. Text/ Message a local business owner and ask how they are doing and what they need🌟
13. Play a game with your children🌟
14. Take vitamin supplements (probiotics, multivitamins, elderberry syrup)🌟
15. Spend 7 minutes decluttering one area of your home each day.🌟
16. Take a drive in the car.🌟
17. At the grocery store, smile say hello to people (10 feet away). Ask how people are doing. Social distancing doesn’t mean coldness or rudeness or no communication.🌟
18. Send a love letter in the mail to a loved one. Get kids involved. Perfect time to mail a letter to grandma and grandpa.🌟
19. Focus on today only. How can you be socially responsible d kind to yourself today.🌟
20. Laugh! Find something to laugh at! Find a funny joke and pass it along!🌟

03/19/2020

❤️I discovered that there is a bike route behind my home that I’ve never been on before yesterday! I discovered that water slides exist at Lopez Lake in SLO! I’m grateful for a change of pace, for the time to make a soup with nearly 20 vegetables that I never get around to making! I’m grateful for hearing my son play his violin outside while overlooking a lake. Your turn! I’d love to hear from you all!❤️

03/13/2020

As we all know this is a delicate time in our world...delicate to say the least. How can we stay calm and do the things we can to remain healthy physically and mentally as much as possible?
Some suggestions I have that may be helpful...

DO wash hands thoroughly. (Of course you already know that by now though!)

DO keep perspective. It’s easy to be pulled into panic at a time like this and pulls up the news constantly. Stay informed and yet know when too much media exposure is not helpful.

DO take good high quality vitamins and supplements. (Probiotics like Bio-K, multi-vitamins, Elderberry syrup, Chinese Herbs for immune support and garlic supplements are my go-to right now). We cannot change the spread of the virus yet we can do what we can to strengthen our bodies.

DO create a “First Aid Family Clan” Especially if you have children, this is a good time to team with other families you know and identify each other as emergency support. Develop an emergency plan with 1 or a few other familiesin case the adults in one household get sick and a family needs support. This is good to create anyway as a system of support in case any emergencies/natural disasters arise. Ask each other questions about your their current health and stay abreast of each other’s lives at this time and be prepared to ask for and offer support.

DO protect the elderly. If you have aging parents or elderly loved ones, encourage them to grocery shop online (perhaps that involves an Amazon Prime Membership or inquiring about local grocery online options).

DO stay empowered. This is an excellent time to focus on things that are in our power to impact. Shift you focus to things that strengthen your mental state, including meditation and healthy exercise (cultivating at at home meditation or yoga practice).

DO explore healthy activities. If you are homebound, shift the idea of “quarantined or trapped at home” to a “in-home retreat.” Read that book or do that at-home project that you’ve wanted to do for years. Cultivate an art and purchase supplies online.