What Do Thoughts Have to Do with It?

Dr. Sara’s Office News - January 2026 Edition

Featured Article: What Do Thoughts Have to Do with It?

Other than stealing a song title from the 1980s, thoughts have a lot to do with it.

Our habits of thought and what I call "unrecognized thought" are likely the number one reason a person's body holds tension and feels tight. If that situation goes on long enough, you start to get breakdown of the cellular structures and then, eventually, we can put labels on the breakdown, and you have a diagnosis.
 
As the third and last installment in our three T’s series, I invite you to go back and read the first two if you haven’t already where we look at physical and chemical things affecting the body.
 
The third aspect of life that affects the body is Thought, or as D. D. Palmer coined it, “Thots”.
 
Simply put, overthinking has an extremely negative effect on the body.
 
So much so, that it led me to become an advanced certified transformative coach and start a whole new business that addresses just that. And also, everything else in someone's life. Check it out at liveyouralivelife.com with a lot more on this and related topics.
 
It's strange to me that most people find the connection between how we run our thinking and our health to be strange and mysterious. It's in direct proportion. If you overthink habitually, your health will be worse than if you didn't.
 
Our brain and body don’t know what is going on outside of us. Our perceptions rely heavily on our filters of thinking.
 
People (myself included) who have had brain injuries and can't form what's called executive functions of thinking also can't perceive the environment around them. The raw perceptual data has no preconstructed thought to hang itself on. Interestingly, many people in this situation report feelings of bliss and contentment and body relaxation even though they are severely injured.
 
We are designed to think thoughts as needed in the moment and then let them dissolve away. We don't live in a feeling of outside circumstances or stresses. We live purely in a feeling of our thinking in the current moment. 

We become conditioned to think that our feeling of our own thinking is actually the feeling of what's happening outside of ourselves. We innocently misattribute our sensation or feeling to something out there. Maybe our boss, our workload, our schedule, etc.
 
What I call unrecognized thought is simply this: We have a thought (usually a habitual one), and then we feel a sensation, perhaps tension or stress. We don't recognize this feeling as thought from us, and so it can't float on by and dissolve. We hang onto it because we think it's something we need to fix.
 
Once someone sees that it's all coming from them, they begin to allow themselves to flow.
 
Our bodies take their direction from our thoughts and thinking.
 
It's how we bring our thinking to life.
 
Our system assumes we know how it works and assumes that if we are thinking scary thoughts (Oh no! What if that bad thing happens tomorrow?!?), it is something real. Except we don't know, and it isn't.
 
Still with me? Ok, what do we do?
 
Slow down. Internally.
 
Realize that you can find a quiet space and slow the internal spin, as it were. Don't worry, you'll get better at it once you do it a few times. Realize that your stress, your happiness, your internal state doesn't come from anything outside of you. No, not even that.
 
You'll know you've got it when you feel your body relax. That's the space we are designed to live from.
 
Up for an experiment? See how many thoughts in your day you actually don't need. Wonder to yourself throughout the day, "Do I need to think about that?" or "Do I need to think that?".
 
Have fun and happy experimenting!

Updates and Upcoming Events

Office Hours
Our office will be closed from January 14 to January 19, 2026
For regular office hours, please click here

Reminder
Do your extended health benefits renew in January? If so, now is a great time to book an appointment and start taking care of your health again. Chiropractic, massage, naturopath...whatever you want! They are for your benefit, so don't let them go to waste.
 

2026 Fee Increase
Starting January 1, 2026, the fee for all entrainments increases by $1.00. This applies to Monthly Service Agreement rates as well.
 
Upcoming Events

Save the Date! Immersion Retreat 2026
We are hosting the Immersion Retreat again at Ignatius Jesuit Centre on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Mark your calendars to join us for an expansive day of peace and joy.

Chemical Stress and The Body

Dr Sara’s Office News - December Edition

Featured Article: Chemical Stress and The Body

 As promised, the second aspect of life that affects the body is chemical things. Or as the founder of chiropractic termed it, as part of the three T's, Toxins. Now, back in the day, D. D. Palmer wrote and spoke a lot about alcohol as a chemical strain on the body. Overuse of alcohol in the 1890s was rampant, and people were generally unaware that drinking too much was hard on the body.

Nowadays, we have a lot more chemicals to deal with in our environment, food, medicines, products, etc. I’m not condemning the use of any chemical product per se; I'm simply pointing out that anything chemically created interacts with our bodies in a way that’s very different from, say, a food or a natural herb. It takes a lot more energy for our bodies to process chemicals through the liver and to eliminate them. Some chemicals get stored in our fatty tissues because the body can’t process them, so it shoves them into storage.

The mitigation and processing of chemicals through the body causes the spine to tighten up in specific ways and generally harden, losing fluidity. The less fluidity your spine has, the less freedom of healthy function your whole body has.
  
Entrainments find where you have lost fluidity and get things flowing again. They also help your body’s natural elimination processes to kick in better, so you can move out what needs to be moved out.
 
What can you do on your own?
 
There are a lot of good liver support supplements that help your liver to do its job in filtering out and eliminating chemicals. Any brand is okay.
 
Drink lots of water with some electrolytes in it. Sea salt works well.
 
Limit the chemicals you take in. Switch to natural brands or organic foods.
 
Enjoy your toxins of choice moderately. :)
 
I’ve been liking fulvic acid supplements recently as an aid to clearing things out of my system.
 
Listen to your body.
 
When you are full, stop eating. When you are thirsty, drink. When you are tired, rest.
 
Radical advice, I know.

Holiday Message

We wish all of you a happy, peaceful, and joyous holiday season. May you have time to relax and enjoy friends, family, and other loved ones (two or four-legged!) over the next few weeks.

Happy holidays from Dr. Sara and Nancy

Updates and Reminders

Office Holiday Hours:
Our office will be closed from December 22 to 26, 2025 and January 1, 2026
For regular office hours, please click here

Reminder
Don't let your extended health benefits go to waste! If your benefits go by calendar year, there's still time to use them before the end of December. Get that massage, come in for an extra entrainment, set up a physio appointment. Whatever you want! They are for your benefit.

2026 Fee Increase
Starting January 1, 2026, all entrainments will increase by $1.00. This applies to Monthly Service Agreement rates as well.
 

Upcoming Events

Save the Date! Immersion Retreat Day 2026 September 19, 2026
We are hosting Immersion Retreat Day again at Ignatius Jesuit Centre on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Mark your calendars to join us for an expansive day of peace and joy.
 

2025 FEARLESS World Summit Online Holiday Celebration!
Thursday, December 4th
11 am until 3 pm EST
I'm so excited to be speaking at this event about how all people already have the peace we seek and how to access this naturally with ease. And it’s FREE!
One Woman Fearless unites thousands of women around the world who are letting go of fear to create the life of their dreams. Join us for our special holiday celebration filled with inspiring speakers, meaningful connections, gifts, prizes and holiday cheer!

Visit https://onewoman.ca/fearless-womens-summit-world-summit-holiday-celebration-2025/ for more information and to register for the event. 

Great Recipes

Gingerbread Granola 
This is Nancy's favourite granola recipe. It's easy, delicious, and way healthier than store-bought options. Just wait until you smell it baking! Makes a great gift, too.
https://easyrecipegang.com.au/gingerbread-granola/
 

Mystery Solved! What Affects The Body

Dr. Sara’s Office News - November Edition

Featured Article: Mystery Solved! What Affects The Body

As we head into snow-shovelling season, while still deep in the midst of leaf-raking season and leaving gardening season behind, I got to thinking about things that affect our bodies in general.
 
I am fond of saying there are only ever three things that can affect our bodies. Except, everything one might ever do, say, or think under the sun can fit into one of these three categories.
 
What mysterious three things are these Dr. Sara, that can affect ease or dis-ease in the body?
 
Pretty much everything can be broken down into physical, chemical, and mental categories.
 
Each one affects our bodies differently, and different actions might be taken in relation to each one. So, I thought I would write a 3-part series about what the founder of chiropractic, Dr. Daniel D. Palmer, called the three T's: Trauma (Physical), Toxins, and Thots (Mental).
 
Now, back in the day (1890s), Dr. Palmer wrote a lot about the spinal effects of things like having fallen off your horse, malnutrition, and hopelessness. While some of the specifics of these things have changed in modern times (less malnutrition, fewer horse falls, but more social media, more chemicals), the overall categories of what affects the body haven't changed in one hundred and fifty years.
 
Let's begin with the things we would consider physical.
 
To me, in chiropractic practice, physical things can be repetitive strain activities like raking leaves and snow shovelling or physical injuries such as a whiplash from a car accident or tearing a ligament at the gym. I would also put an overly sedentary lifestyle into the physical category for how it remodels your body to be more efficient at being sedentary. You lose muscle and diminish heart and lung capacity, for example, in order to conserve energy. Our body doesn't judge; it simply remodels itself based on the input we give it, either building up or breaking down.

Clients are often surprised by how I can tell the physical demands on their bodies from a cursory glance or a quick assessment. They show up in the spine.

This is because our spine is an informational switching station. We take in information via perceptions that include every single joint in our bodies, and each of the 33 vertebrae has 4 joints. I've seen estimates that 90% of our perceptual information comes up to the brain from the spine. Each spinal level sends information about "life" as that vertebra up to the brain.
 
Is C4 moving well in all its little joints? What are the muscles at L3 doing? Are the nerve impulses at T9 flowing appropriately (not too much or too little)? Our brain takes all this information in and directs the appropriate response. Let go and relax here and strengthen over there. Whups, we're too tight on the left, so send some pain down there so they won't move too much while we replace some of the muscle cells.

It's an intricate dance of information running up and down and up again through the spine.
 
Always reorganizing as needed.
 
The spinal entrainments I use highlight areas for the brain to pay attention to. This allows your spinal system to function at its best.
 
There are a lot of reasons why your spine/body/brain may get stuck in these informational maintenance and healing processes.
 
The more aligned and fluid you are overall, the quicker your system can heal from physical issues, and you can enjoy life fully.
 
Things that are always good to do physically are stretching and exercise. Take it slow and work up to it. Go for a walk.
 
Injuries that are physical only tend to have a bell curve recovery period. It hurts more at first until it hits a peak and then comes back down. If recovery plateaus or pain and symptoms go back up, you may be reinjuring yourself without realizing it.
 
Stay tuned next month when we will look at the chemical aspects that affect the body and some things you can do in that category to help your body stay well.

Updates and Upcoming Events

Update - Office Hours:
Our office will be closed from November 12 to 17, 2025

Upcoming Events

Listening to Ignite the Human Spirit - Starting on November 6, 2025
The 6-month online masterclass program for everyone ready to spark the human spirit within themselves and others. This online series combines group mastermind explorations with monthly experts in the field. Led by advanced transformative coaches Sara Joy O'Neill, Katerina Fiserova and Bryan Smyers, learn how to navigate life from a space of listening to a deeper part of ourselves to increase productivity, let go of habits, and live with more joy and ease.
For more information and to register: https://thelisteningworld.com/online-program/ Use SARA25 to receive a registration discount.

2025 FEARLESS World Summit Online Holiday Celebration!
Thursday, December 4th
11 am until 3 pm EST
I'm so excited to be speaking at this event about how all people already have the peace we seek and how to access this naturally with ease. And it’s FREE!
One Woman Fearless unites thousands of women around the world who are letting go of fear to create the life of their dreams. Join us for our special holiday celebration filled with inspiring speakers, meaningful connections, gifts, prizes and holiday cheer!
About One Woman:
The Fearless Women’s Summits create a platform for women to shine, to stand in their truth, and inspire others to live FEARLESSLY!
Our events and speaker spaces support global projects to empower every woman and girl to be able to live the life of her dreams.
We know the power of every woman’s voice. When we share our gifts and stories with others, we give another woman the confidence to do the same.
One Woman Can Change The World!
Visit https://onewoman.ca/fearless-womens-summit-world-summit-holiday-celebration-2025/ for more information and to register for the event. 

How Do Entrainments Actually Work?

Dr. Sara’s Office News - October Edition

Featured Article: How Do Entrainments Actually Work?

I am often asked, "What do the entrainments (gentle treatments given by Dr. Sara) do?" and "How do the entrainments work?"
 
Entrainment is a word from systems biology. There is a principle of entrainment in nature. Flocks of birds move together seamlessly. Schools of fish react as one without conscious thought. Our brain and nervous systems are designed to fire groups of nerves together in coordinated patterns. One of these built-in systems throughout our spine is designed to build up tension when needed and to release and unwind it when it's no longer needed.
 
There are three broad categories of things that build tension in the body. Physical - like a car accident or hours of gardening; Chemical - like smoking or pesticides; Mental - habits of thought that tell your body it needs to build tension.
 
Entrainments are a way to get your brain to self-reflect and "see" the tension your body is holding, either on purpose in the moment or from habit.
 
The light touches along your spine are specific to locations where the sensory nerves are more highly receptive to input.
 
In a way, I'm negotiating with your brain and body. Asking, "Do you still need this tension?" "Did you forget it was here?" "How about we unwind it?".
 
Our bodies and nerve systems are always looking to return to a calm and relaxed state. If there's tension, it's because some aspect of us thinks we need it.
 
Your brain, body, and I enter into a conversation about letting go. How about here? How about now? What about over here? It works faster and more smoothly if I physically and energetically model deep, relaxed presence for your system to copy. Our natural state as human beings is a clear, relaxed readiness. Anything else shows up in our nerve system as interference, a distortion in the system. Either a tightness through the muscles, ligaments, vertebrae, and nerves or a postural misalignment. As we work together, your system starts to unwind.
 
Another universal question I get asked is "What can I do to help my body and nerve system unwind or let go? To return to that natural calm readiness?".
 
Great question!
 
Physical things you can do are usually pretty common sense. Things like stretching, exercise, rest, and water. What does it feel like your body wants? You know. If you take a minute toget quiet and listen, you'll hear what your body needs or wantsright now. It's usually very simple.Trust it.
 
Chemical things are also pretty obvious. Most people know if they have this area of stress on the body. Often, this might not be something easily changed, for example, a prescription medication with side effects. Again, eating healthy and drinking lots of water helps.
 
Mental habits are also simple to change; however, most people don't know how. We generally do the opposite of what works in this area and end up hanging onto habits a lot longer than we would like. I write quite often about this in my blog onhttp://www.liveyouralivelife.com. Thoughts literally dissolve when we ignore them and take our attention elsewhere. It often can feel like habits of thought are stored in the body. They aren't. It just feels that way. We just get good at repeating old favourites, like a black and white movie that we don't enjoy anymore. Once we see these patterns for what they are, they dissolve on their own, and our body relaxes and unwinds on its own.
 
If you are interested in exploring this area of mental habits in more depth, there are a number of upcoming opportunities to do just that.

1)Join me for an online, 6-month Deep Listening Masterclass series. Check out the Upcoming Events section below for details on the series, which I have been part of coordinating. It's called Listening to Ignite the Human Spirit, and I am very excited about all the great speakers we have lined up!

2)Make sure you're receiving the blog where I focus on these topics. Be sure to check your spam folder! They go out weekly, usually on a Tuesday. If you aren't receiving them, you can sign up for the blog by emailing Nancy at frontdesk@drsaraoneill.com or visiting https://www.drsaraoneill.com/. The space to subscribe to the blog is on the right-hand side, about halfway down the page. (The subscribe section on my other website is currently under development.)
 
3)Explore Private Transformative Coaching- To work one-on-one with me, please visit https://www.liveyouralivelife.com/work-with-sara-joy  or email Nancy.
 

Upcoming Events and Updates

Listening to Ignite the Human Spirit- Online 6-month Deep Listening Masterclass series
This online 6-month series combines group mastermind explorations with monthly experts in the field. Led by advanced transformative coaches Sara Joy O'Neill, Katerina Fiserova, and Bryan Smyers, learn how to navigate life from a space of listening to a deeper part of ourselves to increase productivity, let go of habits, and live with more joy and ease.
Registration: https://thelisteningworld.com/online-program/

Thanksgiving Office Hours- We will be closed on Monday, October 13, for Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a restful weekend to reflect on gratitude for all that we have, whether big or small.

Happy September!

Dr. Sara’s Office News - September Edition

Featured Article - Happy September!

Hello Everyone, and Happy September! 

I'm really excited and pleased to announce some events we have coming up in the next few months and to talk about why these are especially close to my heart. 

On September 20th, we are holding our yearly Immersion Retreat Day. I really love the space they have out in the fields at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph. It's truly a beautiful setting in a beautiful building. In September, the light across the gardens and the fields glows with gold. The energy of the space is gorgeous, and it's the perfect opportunity to soak up the essence at the heart of life with others. It's a very transformational day. 

In the last 25 years of working with thousands of people and their nervous systems, I've found that what makes the biggest change for someone's body and their life as a whole is if they know and have a felt sense of peace at the core of their being. This is available for everyone on a daily basis and isn't all that hard. Many people feel that at our core is something negative or something that needs to be controlled. Or they've really never thought about it before. This misunderstanding is the root of a massive amount of what we call stress and why the body might carry tension, which over time creates breakdown and pain.

When a person comes from a foundation of peace, everything in their body changes. The cells literally can relax and start renewing. We heal effortlessly. We can tap into our knowing and trust ourselves fully. We can effortlessly navigate through our day. Life becomes something you fall in love with. Without trying to. What would your life look like on a day-to-day basis if you were in love with life? Would it be much different? Deeper? 

The retreat day is a wonderful opportunity to experience both mind and body resets, as it were, and to be able to go forward creating our lives fresh. Would you like to join us?We have 4 spots left! 

We also have the wonderful live and ethereal music of Zac Perry. He feels the energy in the room during the bodywork and creates live, expansive, relaxing music in the moment! It's a beautiful and healing soundscape. Truly one of a kind.

Here is a short video about why I love retreat days and why they are so transformational:

https://youtu.be/fWu8iN7Izb0

Then in December, I'm speaking at the Fearless Women's Online Summit on Dec 4th about my fearless story, From Brain Injury to Bliss and Back Again: How We Are All Enlightened and Don't Know It. It's a free online event with women from around the world telling their amazing "fearless" stories. This is definitely not to be missed. More details to come.
 

Upcoming Events and Updates

Immersion Retreat Day: Saturday, September 20, 2025, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm *Only 4 spots left!
St. Brigid’s Villa, Ignatius Jesuit Centre, Guelph, ON
The Immersion Retreat is a rare opportunity to pause, reconnect, and awaken to the beauty of your own existence. As Joseph Campbell said, "What we're all seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences resonate within our innermost being." This day is designed to help you feel that rapture of being alive, with effects that ripple through your life long after the retreat ends. 
New! Online option available
Details at https://www.liveyouralivelife.com/retreat-day

Scent Allergies- This is a friendly reminder that Dr. Sara and many people coming into the office areverysensitive to scents like perfume, cologne, hair spray, body spray, strong-smelling deodorants, etc.Please do not use these products on the day of your appointment.We understand that you want to smell good. We do too! Unfortunately, many scents can trigger headaches or other respiratory reactions in people who are sensitive or allergic to these products.

Office Closure- We will be closed September 23rd to 30th while Dr. Sara is in London, England, for the Awakeners Program. Voicemail and email will be monitored during this time, so feel free to reach out to Nancy. We will reopen on Wednesday, October 1st, at 10:00 am. 

What To Do About Pain

Dr. Sara’s Office News - August Edition

Featured Article: What To Do About Pain

 
The short answer to this question is: It Depends.
 
There are a lot of unhelpful and cultural myths or ideas about pain. It doesn't act how we'd like it to. It doesn't go away when we want it to. It doesn't feel good, and it doesn't listen to us.
 
It doesn't hold still and submit to inspection very readily either. Constantly changing or shifting in unexpected ways.
 
When something is not well understood, it becomes confusing, and we don't know what to do or where to go with it.
 
How do we go about understanding pain?
 
I like to go up a level and talk about it from a perspective that looks at what the purpose of pain in general is or what its nature is.
 
Why do we experience pain in the first place?
 
Most people would answer this with a variation on "It's to keep us safe." Maybe, sometimes.
 
On a biological level, we only feel pain when the body is trying to rebuild. This can happen almost at the same instant as an injury.
 
Cellular breakdown never actually hurts. It's when the brain becomes aware of the damage that the pain mechanism kicks into gear. Sometimes in response to damage to limit further damage.
 
If you put your hand into a fire, it hurts pretty quickly in order to limit the damage, and so you stop putting your hand in the fire.
 
If you break an arm, it doesn't hurt until you go to move or when the muscles spasm to hold the bone ends in place so healing can happen.
 
Replacing torn muscle fibers involves pain so you hold still and limit movement while the new cells are growing.
 
Very often, clients will experience their habitually tight body start to open up and gain a new fluidity. More blood flow is now coming into the area, and so is more oxygen, which allows your body's natural repair mechanisms to kick in. This often involves pain. Again, it's the "hold still, I'm fixing stuff here" type of pain.
 
Another reason our body creates pain is to get our attention and stop overthinking.  It's also in the category of "stop, hold still, I need to repair stuff". In this case, it's the overuse of analytical thought or perhaps worry that is hard on the body. At some point, something will hurt as the body aims to get us to slow down internally.
 
It's similar to if we hold a posture too long without moving, it starts to hurt in order to get us to shift position. We usually do that without thinking.
 
Pain in general is our stop, slow down and change what you are doing signal. The change is a bit dependent on why the pain in the first place. It also becomes more obvious as we slow down and listen inside.
 
What occurs to us to do? 
 
Usually, this is very simple and basic. And obvious.
 
I have to do less. I need to rest. I'll drink more water. I'll try stretching. I'll ask someone.
 
We never go wrong with settling down internally and seeing what comes once any spinning thoughts have a minute to settle.
 
How long does it take for the pain to resolve? Depends on what the body is needing to rebuild. My son broke both his arms a number of years ago. It took a while, a couple weeks, for the bone pain from new bone cells growing to stop. I've had physical pain go away instantly when I shift position to take pressure off a joint or when I slow down mentally and enjoy the moment.
 
I see over and over with clients how one's misunderstanding and negative reaction to pain make it ten times worse.
 
Pain is neither good nor bad. It just is, and it always serves a purpose.

With love,
Sara Joy
 

Upcoming Events and Updates

Immersion Retreat Day: Saturday, September 20, 2025, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm 
St. Brigid’s Villa, Ignatius Jesuit Centre, Guelph, ON
Nestled in the serene forest of St. Brigid’s Villa, just outside Guelph, Ontario, this one-day Immersion Retreat invites you to experience a profound shift in how you live and feel. Guided by Dr. Sara Joy O’Neill, you’ll dive into the transformative wisdom of the Three Principles and melt into the restorative power of relaxing healing bodywork. This is your chance to awaken to a life filled with ease, clarity, and deep fulfilment.
What you'll experience- the quiet stillness at the core of who you are through the gentle wisdom of the Three Principles, healing bodywork that soothes your nervous system and restores your vitality, a live ambient soundscape by Zac Perry Music, a great lunch, and a serene location.
Early Bird Rates available! Save $50/person.A few spots still available. Space is limited.
New! Online option available
Details at https://www.drsaraoneill.com/new-events-1

Summer Office Closures:
Monday, August 4 – Civic Holiday
Monday, August 25 to Friday, August 29 – Dr. Sara’s Family Vacation

*Reminder: We are closed every Friday year-round.

Stress: Not What You Think It Is

Dr. Sara’s Office News - July Edition

Featured Article: Stress: Not What You Think It Is

When I started practice 25 years ago, stress as a topic wasn't on the radar. People just didn't think about it. 

Now it's on people's minds A LOT! And we think about stress differently. 

I was struck recently by the fact that there are a lot more people now with more stress-type related problems than back then. 

If focusing on stress was going to reduce problems, it would have already. Instead, I'm seeing more people with more problems, younger and younger. 

Researcher Kelly McGonigal found that stress is only harmful if you think it is. She didn't really know why exactly, and may have looked further into this since her famous TED talk "How to Make Stress Your Friend".

I would go further with this understanding in that stress is not caused by what happens in our lives or situations. Life is not inherently stressful.

In order to understand what stress is, we need to define it first. It's one of those words that gets used as if we are all talking about the same thing when, in reality, it is a catch-all word to mean many different things. For example, sometimes it's used to mean a positive challenge or inspirational excitement. 

To me, stress is a spectrum of feelings. On the milder end, it feels like tension in the body. Maybe a tightening around our throat or neck. Mild anxiety. On the stronger end, it would look like major overwhelm, confusion, panic, and fear. 

The common cultural misunderstanding is that stress is inherent in circumstances or in life in general. It's not. We just don't work that way. We feel our thoughts. What we feel as tension and overwhelm is the feeling of the way we are using thought in the moment. Humans are neurologically incapable of feeling stress or tension from an outside-of-us situation without the buffer of thought. 

You might say, "Well, so?" 

Yeah, if I don't like something, I have an "I don't like it" thought about it, and I feel that as a pressure. Yes. 

The magic lies in our understanding of the process. 
If you think the stress feeling comes from the situation, then you have to change the situation, change others, put up with or accept things in order to feel better. Over time, this misattribution causes our brain and nervous system to get overstimulated, and the body tightens up. People then find out they have vagal nerve overwhelm or a particular diagnosis. Maybe ulcers. 

When you understand that it's from you and it's a passing thought that passes, and that you can think again if you want, it's a whole new world. "Stress" as a solid thing stops existing in your world, and you can return pretty quickly to the peace, clarity, and effectiveness that is your nature. 

Life can just feel good. 

If you want to delve more deeply into the inside-out understanding of life, join us for a deep dive on Sept 20th at our annual Immersion Retreat Day in the forest outside of Guelph, Ontario. 

We will be exploring the reality of living from a space of aliveness and inner peace. What holds you back? What breakthrough is right there for you? How much more effortless flow can you experience daily? 

Join us and find out!

With love,
Sara Joy
 

Upcoming Events and Updates

Listening to Ignite The Human Spirit: August 1-3, 2025
Denver, Colorado or online
Dr. Sara is a speaker at this international conference being held for the first time in North America.
Details at https://thelisteningworld.com/denver/

Immersion Retreat Day: Saturday, September 20, 2025, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
St. Brigid’s Villa, Ignatius Jesuit Centre, Guelph, ON
Nestled in the serene forest of St. Brigid’s Villa, just outside Guelph, Ontario, this one-day Immersion Retreat invites you to experience a profound shift in how you live and feel. Guided by Dr. Sara Joy O’Neill, you’ll dive into the transformative wisdom of the Three Principles and melt into the restorative power of relaxing healing bodywork. This is your chance to awaken to a life filled with ease, clarity, and deep fulfilment.
Early Rates available! Save $50/person.
New! Online option available
Details at https://www.drsaraoneill.com/new-events-1

Summer Office Closures:
Monday, July 1 – Canada Day
Thursday, July 31 – Listening to Ignite The Human Spirit
Monday, August 1 – Civic Holiday
Monday, August 25 to Friday, August 29 – Dr. Sara’s Family Vacation

*Reminder: We are closed every Friday year-round.

Happy New Year; Happy New Stuff!

Happy New Year; Happy New Stuff!
 
Happy New Year Everyone!
 
I'm really excited to share that there will be a number of different offerings and new ways to work with me, from wherever you are in the world, in 2025.
 
I've been incubating new ideas and new ways of helping people wake up to the amazing true essence that they are, effortlessly.
 
Whether this shows up for you as greater vitality in your body, increased performance in sports or unleashing creativity at work, it's all about greater energy and aliveness being easily available to you.
 
Nothing existing will change or how you access chiropractic services won't change, so don't worry.
 
However!
 
There will be a launch of a new business in the next few months around helping people who want to live with more aliveness, ease, and vitality without stress, burnout, or pressure.
 
This is for anyone who would like a nicer experience of life no matter current circumstances or past harms.
 
We are designed to live our "perfect for us" life easily and without what we call stress. This new business (starting with a website and online courses) is designed for just that.
 
The most powerful thing I've seen in the last 2 years is when people understand and start to live from what I call an inside-out understanding of life. They literally come alive. The body heals in ways I didn't think was previously possible. Opportunities line up for them. Miracles become commonplace. Life just becomes nicer.
 
It's really easy then for people to make the life changes they've been wanting to make but didn't think were possible.
 
Many of my transformative conversation clients express it as getting the life they've always wanted or realizing that stress doesn't actually exist in a real and felt way. It's ultimate freedom.
 
Some people might be in pain or suffering and want to be able to do more in life. Others may be at the other end of the spectrum and are looking at how to increase already high performance in certain life areas. If you want more out of life in any way, this is for you. And it's easy and simple.
 
Most life improvement approaches look at different specific life areas and create strategies in each one. This is hard work! And usually have a lot of new behaviours to learn. This is time-consuming.
 
My approach is to look at all these areas as if they are boats in a harbour. By focusing on the water (not the boats) and what is often invisible to people but is actually the principles behind our experience of life, the tide rises. All by itself. The tide of your life rises! The effect of this on your life is actually miraculous.
 
All boats rise with the tide.
 
It's truly transformative because someone's whole life gets easier, deeper, nicer. Not just one area by using a lot of work and focus.
 
There will also be a new podcast in the works! Short inspirational 5-7 min episodes and then I'm hoping to have some longer interviews with people who are exemplifying "living alive" in their lives and work.
 
There will be a number of other online and in-person formats for creating more aliveness in your life. No matter where one lives in the world.
 
I'll still be doing my bodywork/entrainments and the immensely life-changing two-and-a-half day Personal Intensives using the hyper-oxygenated environment of the transformative conversation.
 
I'll be looking at how, for myself and others, to wake up to life as we are meant to live it. No stress, no worry - only joy - regardless of what happens and what other people might be doing in the world. If you'd like to join me on this exploration, I'll be announcing in early January a yearlong mastermind program that is just that. An exploration of what it is to be fully alive and to live our "perfect for you" life. Effortlessly. It will likely be a monthly online class with breakout sessions and exercises with others who are interested in the same thing. This creates a nutrient-rich environment for insights and creativity for your life. Applications will open in January.
 
For those who enjoyed the online Listening World Summit Conference last spring, we are at it again! This was a majorly successful event with 3500 people worldwide experiencing how to deeply listen to themselves and others to create a better life and a better world.
 
In 2025, March 1-8 will be an online Listening Summit at no cost to people. Then May 1-3 is the Conference in Prague followed by a second Conference in Denver August 1-3. Each event has many high-level speakers from around the world presenting in TED Talk style how to listen and what it means to listen deeply to others and your own soul wisdom.
 
We are also doing our in-person retreat again outside of Guelph, in September, at the beautiful St. Brigid's Villa. This was a wonderful day to rest in all the beautiful feelings and create lasting change.
 
Stay tuned for lots of new and energizing ways to bring the feeling of being fully alive peacefully into your life.

With Love, 

Sara Joy
 

Entering In To Joy

Entering In To Joy
 
Growing up, I was taught that intelligent adults stay abreast of current events and form an opinion about each issue of the day. If you were a responsible member of society, you had a well-constructed and cogent opinion that you could present and defend in a friendly debate at a moment's notice. Perhaps at a dinner party or curling Bonspiel.
 
Nowadays this is time-consuming and exhausting. I had deliberately moved away from wondering what my own opinion was or would be on quite a few issues, mostly, because it felt better not to. I just didn't really pay attention to things or topics that didn't directly affect me or my life.
 
One fairly big area, recently, where I wasn't paying attention and it was blissful to not be aware of the ins and outs of this particular topic, was the recent US election. Now, I don't bring this up to provoke a reaction or to say anyone ought to have done anything differently or had different opinions. It's just that in watching other people, on both sides of the political divide, get very, very opinionated and then either upset or jubilant, I started to get curious about what we call "opinions".
 
I noticed that I held some pretty strong opinions about my own country's politicians and their behaviours.
 
So, what is an opinion?
 
We're entitled to them. We can form an opinion and we can dissolve an opinion. We can't eat them, put them in a wheelbarrow, or physically hit someone over the head with one. Even though it feels like it at times.
 
It seems like I'm stating the obvious to say opinions are made of Thought. Now, when I say Thought with a capital T, it's to denote that I'm talking about the formless energetic creative potential of life itself. All thoughts and thinking are made of this life energy of Thought.
 
We are gifted with the ability to create our experience of life moment to moment using this creative potential. We ourselves exist before any creation and so exist before all thought.
 
Opinions are our creations of the moment.
 
Those two bits are really, really important. Our creations. Of the moment.
 
Thoughts, thinking, preferences, opinions and all the other forms of mental activity are temporary illusions created by you. You are the creative maestro of the orchestra of your opinions. Our ability to manipulate the energy of life into thoughts and opinions is a very powerful potential. Interestingly, all you need to do is to be aware of this fact.
 
In different scientific fields, the word potential or potentiality is a physical field of a gradient of possibility.
 
We have electrical potentials, which is a gradient of positive to negative electrical charge. We have chemical potentials which is a gradient of higher concentration to lower concentration of a particular chemical. An electron potential is the quantum field of possibility of a given electron's orbit where it has the potential to exist in higher or lower probabilities.
 
We live in a literal field of energetic possibility.
 
We call it life.
 
We use this life energy in a variety of ways. One of those ways is to form an opinion and then defend it as if our very life depends on it. Don't get me wrong, we are literally entitled to it.
 
By the very fact that you are here on this planet, born into this highly interesting field of possibility, means that you are free and worthy of any and all creation.
 
Only...most people create unconsciously. They don't realize how they are doing it and so they don't know how to get what it is they are actually looking for. Most people think their experience of life comes from what happens to them in life. Which is an actually terrifying idea. The idea that you are at the whim of chance and whatever happens you have to make the best of or the best one can do is to have better coping skills. Yikes! Or even worse manipulating your thoughts at all moments to try and get "better thinking".
 
We create our lived experience of life from the inside. From before all creation. From a space of potential possibilities. I love being with my coaching clients, when they realize for the first time, how powerful they are and how simple the whole set-up is.
 
The best part about this unending field of possibility is that it responds to us. The energy of life itself responds to us! Let that sink in for a moment. Wowzas! That's truly amazing.
 
Back to opinions and politics!
 
I started to wonder if I needed my opinions.
 
Just that alone is enough to start dissolving a thought-created opinion, by the way.
 
Once you see a thought as "not really real", thoughts do what thought does and dissipates. Thoughts are like these ghostly figures that we form and then power with our life force. As soon as we see them for what they are, see their nature, then they go back to the formless sea of energy from whence they came.
 
Interestingly, without my strongly held opinions and beliefs about certain Canadian politicians, I could see what actually WAS, much more clearly.
 
The policies and behaviours of a certain political party no longer looked "evil" (I'm still talking about CDN politics here, so stay with me). It just looks like one group of humans trying to run a country the way they think is best. I don't happen to think it's best. There’s no emotionality in that without my OPINION. Next time there's an election, I get to vote on which group of humans I think would be best. Maybe they will be, maybe they won't be. There’s lots of humans (some who I know and like) who think the current approach is going to be great in the long run.
 
Next, I got curious about preferences (which are simply mild opinions, which are made of Thought).
 
What would my favourite foods taste like if I didn't "prefer" them or have strong thoughts of liking about them.
 
Or what about hated foods?! Would I still hate them if I didn't know I hated them?
 
This is a fun exploration. I found, as with opinions, when I didn't have a preference, I was able to more directly experience the food, now, rather than my accumulated thinking about the food.
 
I'd somehow thought that my having loudly stated preferences about foods (my husband can attest to how "loud" these preferences are) was keeping me safe from the dangers of hated foods. Sounds funny but yes, it's true. The dangers of a flavour I don't prefer. Lol.
 
I am delighted to report that things I enjoy, I actually enjoy a whole lot more without even the mild filter of a preference in the way of that experience.
 
Our thoughts and thinking filter reality so that we never directly experience the thing we are having opinions and preferences about. Ironic, I know. Without opinions and preferences, or with less of them, the true flavours of life come shining through in bursts of bright sensation and wonder.
 
Every moment becomes a moment of enjoyment.
 
An invitation from life itself to enter in, to joy.

With Love, 

Sara Joy

Compassion and Our Perfection

Compassion and Our Perfection

This week’s blog is an excerpt from It’s That Simple: A User’s Manual For Human Beings by Mavis Karn. Letter Five – A Completely Whole, Perfect Person focuses on compassion and our innate, complete perfection.
 
With love,
Sara Joy
 _____________________________________________________________________________

Letter Five

A Completely Whole, Perfect Person

 Dear reader,

The user’s manual assures us that we are already complete – that we have everything we need built into us from birth as a part of our divine engineering. In fact, since the day I first learned what’s in the user’s manual, I’ve never met or worked with a single human being who was broken.

I’ve met plenty of people who thought they were broken, some who could tell me where their brokenness came from, and still others who showed me doctor’s notes to certify the specific form their brokenness had taken. But in all that time, I’ve never met ONE PERSON who was not perfectly well made.
For example, I met a man yesterday who was very ill, sad, exhausted, and unable to see his way out of the heavy, dark place he found himself in. Besides being ill, he was also feeling the recent loss of a beloved sibling.

As I sat with him, I realized that I could feel him in my heart. It felt as though we were one person – that his being was also my being. I felt completely connected to him, like we were woven of the same fabric. It was a deep, loving, warm feeling of compassion.

What I did NOT feel was pity. I did NOT feel sorry for him. I did NOT worry about him. I did NOT try to cheer him up, give him advice, or try to fix him. I did NOT commiserate with him. (Definition of commiseration: agreeing to be miserable together.)

I haven’t always understood the vast difference between compassion and pity. That lack of understanding led me to react to suffering as though the person was helpless or weak or incomplete or “less than”. I would, without their permission, jump in and try to save them from their trouble – to solve their condition, to be their solution, or to be a hero.

How disrespectful!

How different it is to be able to see a fellow human being as an equal, as someone who is temporarily lost in a world of spinning, fearful thinking about their circumstances, just as I have been many times. How freeing it is to know that they are whole, complete, resilient fellow human beings who have just lost their way for a bit.

Here’s a story about one of the first times I really got how true that is…

Across the street from my office is a beautiful urban park, full of gardens, ponds, fountains, a basketball court, etc. Whenever I have a few moments, I take a walk and check the work of the Friends of Loring Park and their latest projects.

One day, as I approached the brick walkway around a flower garden, I saw a young mother pushing a stroller with a toddler in it. Hopping along in front of her was a little girl of about three, clutching a handful of flowers. Off to the side a few yards away, a man was sitting on a bench, bent over, staring at the ground. I imagined him to be homeless, surrounded by bags of belongings and looking despondent.

The little girl noticed him and stopped in her tracks. She stood there a moment and then walked over, reached out, and offered him the flowers. He looked at the flowers and tears rolled down his cheeks. She leaned in, patted his knee, and ran back to her mother. It took my breath away!

I may never have seen such a beautiful example of a human being’s natural capacity for love and compassion.

That little girl is who we all are. She did not need to be taught kindness, respect for human dignity, or any of the other things we adults hope our kids will learn. Once you’ve seen the perfection of who all of us (including you) are, you can never truly forget it. I know I will never forget that little girl.

If I am truly going to follow the golden rule and treat others the way I wish to be treated, I just need to show up and be myself. From there, I can bear witness to their distress and suffering by listening deeply to them from the cleanest, clearest feeling I can find. If there is anything more to be done, it will occur to me to do it.

I recommend compassion. Try it on for size. My guess is that it will be a good fit for you.

Much Love,
Mavis
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What Are We Up To?
 
Anywhere in the world one-on-one coaching Intensives to start living a life you are excited to wake up to each day, filled with delight and enjoyment. Intensives can be structured for Individuals, Couples, and Teams. Ask Nancy for a complimentary consultation call with Dr. Sara: frontdesk@drsaraoneill.com
 
We Go Deep with Kat and Sara: A mostly weekly podcast with Dr. Kathleen Perry and Dr. Sara O'Neill where we go deeper with the understanding that life happens from the inside out. This is a raw and unedited podcast in a conversational style. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, and Amazon Music
 
Recent Titles Include:

• Follow Your Path

• What If Nothing Is A Problem?

• Really Real Reality

Wildspire Podcast with Stephanie Benedetto - Bliss & the Bigness of Who You Really Are With Dr. Sara Joy O’Neill https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SgFdNP8x5Oagt6AjxYhC0?si=88bc6551037c449a
 
Other Fun Stuff
Cute kitten at bedtime
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