Personal development has been a hobby of mine for the last 15 years. What has come from this hobby has been truly amazing and I am grateful for the wake up.
Over the last decade and a half, I have dug deep into healthy living. This includes meditation, yoga, spirituality, soul-searching and the gut wrenching-digging-out-the-crap-of-old-beliefs-and-stories. I can say with honesty that I have also struggled to maintain my momentum without finding myself overly critical. Self-loathing and microscopic analysis of all that I need to “work on” can be consuming for a habit-forming personality type like myself. In contrast, there has been plenty of times when I have also neatly stacked all the self-help, goddess inspiring, soul inspiring books and walked away to take a breather.
I am in the midst of another cycle where I am looking at my stuff and balancing it with the confidence and self-assurance that I am really okay. In fact, I am beyond okay. I am an empowered and magnificently flawed human that is willing to grow.
And like all growing spurts, there is usually some pain. The deep aches that wake you in the middle night. The stretching of the mind, body and soul to embark on a new way of seeing the world, and specifically myself in the world.
While I balance what needs to be examined; work patterns, where I put my energy, habits that don’t serve my greatest good, words that hurt, etc., with the understanding what I hold my faith in–and that is, ALL experiences are opportunities to grow.
ALL.
This includes the sticky experiences that are challenging and the opposing joy filled experiences that are exhilarating. I believe in the deepest of my very essence that every experience is a lesson. I also hold confidence that embedded in each ‘lesson’ is the calling to fall back into your faith. Lay softy down in the knowing that all is well. I do this by consciously handing over to God what is showing up with a trusting that in the end, I will be okay. In truth, I am far better than okay and whatever is showing up in my life, is temporary and by bringing more of my intention to my faith the more fearless I do become.
deliberate adjective; Done consciously and intentionally. Fully considered; not impulsive. Done or acting in a careful and unhurried way.
For many years I have chosen a word for my year. I often say that to me this is like a thread that gets woven into the tapestry of our lives. Some years the thread may be glittery and bright, and other years the thread may be a little heavier and denser in its unique makeup. Either way as I look at the tapestry of my life, I can see easily the threads that have been woven together to create something beautiful. I love to look at my bookshelf in my office and see eighteen years worth of journals and planners that have become the themes throughout much if my adult life.
My word for 2022 is DELIBERATE.
I love words and I love to look at definitions. The definition that sticks with me the most is done consciously and intentionally. If you know me at all, you might see a very determined woman who rarely says no. I don’t think this is because I am a huge people pleaser, although maybe my gut is telling me that at some point I need to check in with that. I think I say yes to everything because I like to be the person who isn’t always “too busy, too tired, too overwhelmed, too stressed, too much in pain, too whatever”. I refuse (probably in an unhealthy way) to allow life’s challenges to dictate what I do. However, I am realizing that saying yes too quickly often leads me to feel frustrated and overwhelmed because in my heart I would rather be doing something else.
I also chose this word because I have a desire to shift my quick decision making and tendency for my abrupt communication style to one that exhibits a more thoughtful approach. I have a quick thinking mind and sometimes I can blurt out something without thinking through how it will be heard. I am tenacious in all of my efforts and learning to be more deliberate and temper my fast moving mind may be of benefit for more. I also have a tendency to say yes to everything and everyone, leaving myself at the bottom of the list. I want to be mindful of how I spend my time and say yes to things that really feed me, rather than commit to something for the sake of simply saying yes. I want to do better about filling up the margins of my own life, rather than with feeling overwhelmed come across as a need to have an impulse to create boundaries around things. To me the recent popularity of having boundaries feels like a fence that keeps things and people away, whereas margins are up to the person deciding for their own life how to fill that space. So I get to choose what goes within the margins of my life and I am going to choose goodness and things that feel right in my heart. Through conscious and intentional living, I intend to be more deliberate with my choices. I am laser sharp when it comes to my business and my personal health, but there is definitely space to grow in my choices and become more intentional with other areas of my life.
The practical ways that I plan to implement and welcome in the concept of being more deliberate includes blocking every Friday off as a day where I will choose how I fill it. I have gone through my planner and highlighted a block around every Friday for the year. That is at least 52 chances for me to pause, to check in and then decide how I fill my day. Another practical way that I am moving towards being more deliberate is I am wearing an amazonite mala necklace and a bracelet as a reminder. Amazonite is a stone of peace, truth, harmony, and communication. It’s been called the “peacemaker stone” due to its communicative abilities and will be a gentle reminder for me to communicate clearly, calmly and with intention. Amazonite also empowers and strengthens any intention that may be set in it, so this morning I held it closely and told it what it is here to remind me of. Finally, amazonite reminds us that we are in control of our own destiny and our decisions will affect our outcome.
The non-practical ways that I plan to use this thread in my life is I am going to make the space to be very open by feeling less impulsive and becoming more unhurried and slower in my life. I am planning to let go of the concept of hard-driven goals and instead have a sweet little map that will guide me to unknown outcomes. This in a very round-a-bout way feels more intentional to me. Slowing down, considering the course I want my year to lead me, and being conscious and awake in my decisions.
So often when we choose a word we can be inviting in some big challenges and hurdles and I am preparing myself that those will come. When they do, I may want to slip back into the old and very familiar ways of living. I hope that because I am speaking my word to anyone willing to listen when they see that old impulsive, always-saying-yes person, they will take a gentle hand and guide me back to being in alignment with my intention to become more deliberate.
Are you ready for 2022? Join me in a life of intention and awareness! What is your word?
Although I feel like I have spent the last ten years or so doing tons of self-work and unpeeling of the layers and layers of ‘stuff’ that has accumulated in my life, I still love that I am willing to do deep soul work.
A few years ago was a definite year of courage and the willingness to listen to my inner voice. As the dust began to settle from the major changes in my life, I took a month or so off from the heaviness that can come when you are in the labyrinth of self-improvement. Establishing myself into my new home space and adjusting (again) was my focus. It felt so good to pause from the rigorous self development and instead just enjoy myself.
A course on courage.
Not soon after, I began an online course on Courage. Brene Brown has been one of my favorite authors and speakers in the last few years and when the course was offered, I said a gigantic YES. To be guided through courage, vulnerability and shame with a leading researcher and expert was an opportunity I was not going to pass on.
Knowing that I had spent the previous year in the ‘arena’, I was curious as to what I would find I would need to explore in the bravery realm, but willing I was to examine it. Lesson one offered over one hundred values to identify just one that guides your way in life; everything from accountability to balance to faith to humility to love to optimism to spirituality to well-being. Where do you hold your highest regard and when this value is not in place you know you are off your path? In my ego mind I wanted my chosen value to be something easy like compassion or kindness. My soul said go deeper than that and asked what is it that I know for sure, when this is threatened, I am off my center?
Safety.
Safety?? Yea, like in the form of being judged, not being seen or understood for who I am, financial risks, being unorganized and chaotic, feeling unsure of decisions, having people in my life who are disrespectful or threatening, allowing fear to creep in, etc.
Safety.
I wear the armor to protect my safety.
So going into the ‘arena’ again, I had to be open to the rawness and vulnerability of the emotional exposure around this value of safety and to be willing to set the armor down.
The Lantern
Using the metaphor of a lantern, she explains that the flame that burns is the identified value. The glass that surrounds the flame illustrates the behaviors you display and people that you have in your life that protect that value. The handle of the lantern symbolizes when you have set your value down and walked away allowing your ship to get off course.
My flame is safety. My glass (behaviors and people) that keep my flame protected include boundaries, choices, self-respect, meditating, journaling, keeping a budget, being organized, people who support and honor me, a knowing and exploring of self. When I have set this value down I am allowing fear to enter, I take risks, I allow people to speak or treat me in ways that hurt, I am not grounded and I worry irrationally.
Knowing that this value is held in such high regard to me, I can see why some life decisions I have made, and the experiences I have been offered, have caused me to feel such anguish. In addition to better understanding what it is that stokes my flame, I am way more armed with tolerance as to what makes me tick and then respond when the value is threatened.
Safety.
Indeed my highest value for my life is safety. I know when it is threatened or I am off course because of the internal responses that I have that then lead to behaviors that diminish the flame. It is so clear to me now. While compassion or kindness may have been easier, I am so grateful for this new knowledge about myself and can move forward in my life with a strong flame and people and behaviors that will protect that part of me.
Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is.
Spring is such a fantastic time to renew and rejuvenate our bodies. We can also look at our mind and clear out some of the thoughts we have that are getting in the way of our potential.
In this class we will use Yoga and intentionally applied essential oils to start that process. If you need essential oils samples to work with this class, please reach out to me.
For this online workshop you will need:
Quiet space to practice
A yoga mat or towel, block or pillow
Water in a glass or stainless bottle
Soft, comforting meditation type music (optional)
Essential Oils
Bare (feet)
Empty (belly)
Open (heart)
Essential Oils
PEPPERMINT & WILD ORANGE (AROMATIC/DIFFUSE):
PHYSICAL (PEPPERMINT): Supports healthy respiratory function –chosen to help us breathe freely to open up to let go–exhale what doesn’t serve us. Assists in lowering body temperature temporarily. Alleviates occasional stomach upset –relieves occasional gas and colic, relieves occasional acid indigestion. Freshens breath. Stimulating to the mind –wakes us up –makes us more aware.
EMOTIONAL: The Oil of the Buoyant Heart lifts our spirits and soul –gives us a break. Helps us feel free to move on and avoid get entangled in our difficulties. Energizing aroma allows us to see a bigger picture –increase our vision and tolerance for things that aren’t to our liking and make other choices. Helps us “stomach” any concerns. Used in our ENERGY theme today to encourage us to let go and move on with awareness and to help us make new choices and move on with renewed energy and awareness.
LIME (INTERNAL/DRINKING):
PHYSICAL: Included in our workshop, and taken internally as a gentle, internal cleanser for the body–delicious flavor in water and for antioxidant support. Supports a healthy immune function. Known to liftmood and relieve anxious feelingswith its stimulating aroma. Supports the healthy function of the lymphatic system –our system to remove excess water, proteins and toxins from the body. Supports a healthy respiratory system when diffused.
EMOTIONAL: The Oil of Zest for Life. Helps elevate those who are discouraged or grieving. Cleanses the heart of emotional toxins that have been repressed and stored.Dispels apathy and resignation, instilling hope, joy, courage and determination in the face of life’s challenges. Especially beneficial to those who are overly developed intellectually but need to further develop themselves emotionally. Encourages a balance between the heart and mind. Used in today’s workshop to lighten our mental load, release toxic thinking and physical concerns so we can move ahead, lighter, this spring.
CEDARWOOD
PHYSICAL: Relaxing to the body and mind, cedarwood is a calming oil. Dissipates anxious feelings. Letting go of “tightness” in the body to allow it to open to flow. Supports a healthy respiratory function to take in a deep breath. Promotes healthy, clear skin by supporting a balanced inflammatory response while soothing imperfections. (use caution with pregnancy)
EMOTIONAL: The Oil of Community. Helps us see we are not alone and that we have support. Good for those who tend to ignore potential help and become overly self-reliant. Brings people together to experience the value of community–bonds together families, friends, community. Inspires feeling of belonging –allowing us to both give & receive LOVE. Allows us to experience the joy of relationships. Used in today’s workshop to clean out stale thought patterns our bodies may be holding and relax so we can open up to new insights and connections of support in our world.
ROSEMARY
PHYSICAL: Supports a healthy respiratory function to take in a deep breath. Known as the Herb or Oil of “Remembrance” Helps us let go of mental fatigue so we can improve our recall and memory. Uplifting and exhilarating to awaken our minds to the spring season–especially if feeling a bit “foggy.” Energizes the heart and encourages blood flow in the body and to the brain. Helps us to open our conscious mind to take in our practice today.
EMOTIONAL: TheOil of Knowledge and Transition. Encourages us to look deeper within and excavate our true knowledge to discover our own answers. Supports a healthy ego –one that values itself and its purpose in this world. Helps us know we CAN learn new information and experiences and that although we may not see it yet –there is a grand plan for us, our destiny! Boosts our confidence and morale to have faith in our own potential. Used in today’s workshop to further clean out mental & emotional sluggishness on a deep level, opening our conscious mind to new thinking and optimism for our future
GERANIUM
PHYSICAL: The ultimate “balancing”oil that assist our body, mind & spirit to be well and healthy. (A little bit goes a long way aromatically. ) Assists with blood flow and circulation–a gentle oil used to calm nerves and lessen anxious feelings. Effective to use in supporting a healthy balance of skin sebum —balancing oily or drier skin and scalp. Supports a healthy circulatory system in the body –allowing the body to release and contract, release and contract in an effective way.
EMOTIONAL: The Oil of Love and Trust. Helps us restore our confidence in the goodness that surrounds us and in our world, to reestablish trust when trust has been broken by others. Reopens the heart –softening anger and helping heal emotional wounds. Instills unconditional love and trust with those who are stuck in the mind so they can begin focusing on their heart. Used in today’s workshop to help balance the life force within us, guiding us to release any anger or resentment or emotional wounds to encourage feelings of love and trust.
WILD ORANGE
PHYSICAL–Wild orange is a powerful cleanser and purifying agent for surfaces and for our bodies. Protects against seasonal and environmental threats –as it is high in antioxidants and supportive to the immune system. Uplifting aroma lifts the mind and body. Taken internally or applied topically, this oil can provide relief from occasional digestive discomfort.
EMOTIONAL— The Oil of Abundance. Helps reduces anxious feelings, and calm emotions. Inspires creativity, a positive mood and brings joy & peace, happiness and FUN into your day. Encourages creative thinking and fearlessness. Used in today’s workshop to both begin and end our practice by cleansing and releasing anything that no longer serves us, and opening us up to receive courage, creativity and peace. This oil encourages knowledge that the world is an abundant place that welcome us and the renewed energy we offer.
We know that sign of a healthy plant is new growth. The bright green and tender new leaves that form are indication that the plant is thriving.
And so it is with us as well. The sweet and innocent, and often incredibly vulnerable, new challenges we face are indications we are not just growing but on our way to thriving. It seems that with each new season of growth we are often faced with a burst of freshness that makes us feel invigorated and ready to take shape into an amazing blossom.
This week in my yoga classes we are exploring the concept of new growth. Whether that is a revitalized wellness plan, a new job, a fresh relationship, or perhaps a commitment to self-love, it is a time to discover the joy in sprouting new growth.
In order to grow, we must create. When we cease to find our creative expression, a little bit of us dies either emotionally or physically. We wither under the pressure of being mundanely human.
Yet, at any moment we can refocus our power towards transformation. There are two ways that we can tap into our creative process: 1. Revealing glorious physical creations, such as colorful works of art, beautiful products, time in nature’s process and even how we decorate our homes, and 2. Bringing about a positive attitude and outlook that fuels one to transform and lift others. Basically being of service.
I find that connecting with the earth element is such a vital tap into the biggest creative process. To me, it is like taking a drink of water that immediately squelches any thirst I might have and gives me just what I need for my next push in life. Just like a plant with new growth needing fresh water. I also find that when I lean towards the warmth of things that make me feel good, I am more likely to be positive and upbeat in my outlook on life. This alone can make a world of difference in how we either wither or bloom.
I am so looking forward to exploring these concepts on the mat (or in a chair this week). As a wise mentor once told me, “the teacher teaches what the teachers needs to learn”.
Have you ever spent time looking at a flower that is about to bloom? The rose that is still tight in a bud? The daisy that is closed and not yet in full happiness mode? Whichever flower you have gazed at has spent months growing into what was about to happen. Day after day this amazing form of life kept the course of growth, never wavering despite the external elements.
Here we are halfway through the year and if you are like me, you might be thinking about that intention you set back in January. You know, when the year felt fresh and new? And yet, it was during the heart of winter you were thinking about growing your goals and dreams.
Here we are in the start of the growing season and it is a great time to look at your intention again and see if some of those seeds you planted in the dormant season have started to take shape into small shoots of growth. Seeing the beginnings of growth is a great motivator to keep going because in time, the bloom will come.
For me, I am reviewing all of my goals; business goals and personal goals. I am looking at the areas in my life that I have succeeded, and areas that I have developed some gaps, and how I can fill them in.
As I plan to teach the concept of blooming this month I am going to return to nature time and time again to be both marveled and motivated.
I think of early March as a time to prepare for growth. To toil the ground and prepare ourselves for deep growth. I also love spring and the symbolism it represents. It is during the spring time that we often think of beginnings, newness, and growth. For some, this is a great time to begin to cultivate your “soil” to soon plant seeds of intention. One way to do this is to write down anything in your life you wish to increase–friendships, health, abundance or joy, are just a few ideas. Be clear with your visions as this brings life to your “seeds”.
Next, it is so important to prepare your inner “soil” by eliminating and removing the old and now transpired blossoms of last year. The memories of past that have come and go and no longer as vibrant as they were just a few short months ago. When we invest time in preparing ourselves for a season of growth (no matter what time of year, really) we must start with cleaning up the areas so that we are open to allow space for growth. When we spend time doing this we are investing time into right now. We are dirtying our hands with the fertile soil that awaits.
As you do this, become aware of the subtle changes in Nature during this time of the year. You might see the peeking of crocus bulbs emerging from the hardened winter ground. Watch as the trees begin to grow tiny nubs that will soon break into full leaves. Listen as the birds start to make song in the early mornings and the air has a scent of newness. Use all of your senses to experience what is happening around you.
As we connect with Nature we also connect with ourselves. We realize that we too, are ever-changing and growing beings. We can set the seeds of intention and begin to nurture and cultivate what we wish to have grown in our lives.
This month in my classes we will be exploring cleansing postures to eliminate the old and make space for new. We will also be looking at ways our bodies can twist and unwind to come fully into the now.
Here is to growing, less pain, more joy and flourishing! Happy Spring and while you are preparing your soul for growth it is never a bad idea to get your hands dirty in Mother Earth, either.
