 How are you honoring the Winter Solstice? I spent time reflecting on the past year, acknowledging the ways I've grown and the lessons I've learned along the way. As our energy transitions with the winter season, we have the opportunity to reconnect with our self, deepen our connection with the Divine, and re-evaluate our deepest intentions and priorities.
Most people think of winter as a time of slowing down, of hibernation, and of darkness. And these things can be true, indeed. But I choose to focus on the growth that continues below the surface... I have been exploring the old habits and patterns that have been holding me back from living a fuller life. In bringing awareness to these, there are times when I work on them actively - focusing on self-healing and self-reflective practices - and there are times when I work on them more passively - below the surface, so to speak. During these times of self-reflection and self-healing, I do a lot of journaling, I study the messages and symbols in my dreams, and I read a lot of spiritual books, reflecting on the passages most connected to what's transpiring in my life or where I'm headed next. With this solstice, I reflected on these questions, and invite you to explore them for yourself, too. -What unproductive patterns, unhelpful habits, or shadow aspects need healed? What blocks need to be released within myself? -Which shadow aspects do I need to embrace more fully in my life? (note that our shadows are not always negative - they are things we have buried, which may include passions, interests, aspects of self that we prefer to hide from others, etc.) -What lights me up from within? or what am I most passionate about? -How can I come into alignment with my spiritual life, highest self, and heart-based intentions? -What additional adjustments can I make in my life to move me forward? I do the self-examination and self-healing work to help me release old wounds, limiting beliefs, and other unproductive habits that hold me back. Doing so helps me clear the clutter so I can find more clarity about where I'm headed and create space to welcome the new. I also do the self-healing work so I can keep my vibration lifted - which does NOT mean being "positive" all the time. It means being human - allowing myself to feel and express all emotions so they pass through. It means making choices that are aligned to my highest self and my future. It means learning to accept my whole self - which also requires me to practice self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-love. Let's welcome the change of season by honoring our growth and getting ourselves ready to welcome the new.
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 Sometimes we feel off balance, lost, confused or even frustrated with life. I've learned that when I find myself here, I need to stay with it. I stay open to the idea that there is something happening that I cannot yet see and that soon, it will become clearer.
Parts of the last few years have been incredibly challenging for me. But I kept my faith in the Divine unfolding of events and experiences, trusting that somehow everything was fitting together. As this year comes to a close and I've been sitting in reflection of the past few years, it is becoming clearer and clearer how my experiences, challenges, and lessons have connected. I see how these experiences - even the most difficult ones - were purposeful and were leading me to where I am now. Many people were part of my journey the last few years, supporting me, guiding me, teaching me.... many pushing me in big ways. Some helped me see the good qualities in myself that I had been unable to see, some brought light to my shadows and wounds that needed healing, and some helped me become clear on what I do and don't want in my life or from a relationship. Some of these people are no longer in my life. But all of them helped me learn, grow, and expand. I am grateful for each and every one of these experiences and teachers... even the ones that brought forth my biggest challenges. I am excited for next year and for where my journey is taking me personally, spiritually, and professionally. I'm ready to step out in new ways on all areas of my life. I'm eager to share my gifts and talents in a much bigger way, as a way to honor and give back all the love, support and guidance I have received. What are you most excited about for 2021? I bet most of you are GREAT at giving. Do you allow yourself to RECEIVE, too? Receiving with gratitude has been a challenge for me. It's been difficult to receive compliments or to accept offers of help. So I have been practicing the art of receiving.
Recently, I made a plea on my Facebook page, asking if anyone knew how to address a technology issue. Within minutes, people were commenting, asking questions, connecting me with others, and doing research to try to help solve the problem. While I was grateful, I noticed that I had a very strong urge to tell everyone not to spend too much time on it. This stems from long-standing thoughts about not wanting to be a burden to others. I aware of my urge to resist help, but I refrained and allowed the assistance to flow. I received a solution to my problem and expressed gratitude to everyone. People want to be kind; they want to give and share and help however they can .... will we let them? Learning to receive is an important part of taking care of ourselves. We can't do EVERYTHING alone. If we can't receive, we can't get the help we need. If you're out of practice, too, start small; practice receiving compliments with a simple 'Thank you' or let someone buy you a coffee. When was the last time you allowed yourself to receive...? What are your favorite birthday traditions? My birthday is an opportunity to treat myself, rest, play, and reflect. I treated myself to a chocolate croissant for breakfast, I purposely scheduled a very light work day today, and tonight I have a special date planned with my daughter. I also started my morning, as I always do, in reflection.
On my birthday, I always ask myself a few specific reflection questions and explore possibilities in my journal. The questions I asked today were: -How can I best honor and celebrate myself and my accomplishments throughout the month? -What to embrace this next year -How to bring more joy into this next year -A new interest I'd like to explore -How can I be a gift to others this year? I reviewed the themes that emerged and noticed what piqued my interest the most. My next step will be to integrate my ideas into my 2021 Vision, and create a Soul Vision board as a visual reminder of my aspirations, areas of focus, and priorities. I'll be sharing more on the Soul Vision board concept soon, and a colleague and I are dreaming up our next collaborative workshop on this topic, which will be held in January - stay tuned! So, what are your favorite birthday traditions? I said on a podcast once "clarity comes everytime you ask..." There's a particular question I've been grappling with for quite some time. My process is to ask, wait, reflect, and explore... and if it doesn't come right away, I've learned I need to step away and give it space. I hold the question lightly, so it knows I'm ready to receive the answer when the answer is ready to present itself. Holding it lightly, remaining curious, but NOT forcing the response. The minute I try to force an answer, it's gone.
So I've been holding this question for awhile now, periodically asking again so it knows I still want to hear the answer. Each time I've asked, I get another hint, another layer of clarity. This morning I had a HUGE insight... dots connected in a way that they hadn't before. Upon seeing this insight, I immediately felt sadness, then I felt a little angry, but then, once the truth fully settled in, I experienced an overwhelming sense of peace, then joy. That's often the journey... twisty and turny... it can be challenging, and sometimes is messy. With the important questions, we need to be patient and willing to hang in there, allowing things unfold as they are meant to. Trusting that we will receive what we need when we need it. Flowing with the energy, embracing the process, and allowing the truth, when it comes to settle in. "I love myself....the quietest, simplest, most powerful revolution ever." (Nayyirah Waheed)
One of the biggest lessons I've had to learn is to love and nurture my body. I've had to learn to take care of it physically through nutrition and exercise. I've had to learn to make space for downtime, rest and relaxation rather than staying in a constant state of busyness. I've learned stress reduction and breathing techniques to relieve muscle tension. And I've had to learn to appreciate my body's appearance, too... grays, wrinkles, rolls and all, because I used to look in the mirror and only see the things that I didn't like. Now I am able to look at myself in the mirror and see things I love, too. A revolution, indeed. What do you appreciate about YOUR body? What is something you can do for your body to show your appreciation...? A bath? A massage? A walk in the mountains? Choose something to nourish yourself and commit to doing it this weekend. Body love isn't frivolous or selfish. Our body does so much for us.. let's return the love. What do you want to CREATE in 2021? Rather than setting resolutions, each year I choose a word that describes my VISION (2020- harmony) and a word that reflects my INTENTION (2020 - nourish). Then I align my priorities and goals to these, which ensures I focus my time and energy taking ACTION on the most important things. Here's a recap of how this played out for me in 2020 - so you can see an example of how integrating these concepts creates results.
Creating inner harmony required self-healing work, the identification and shifting of limiting beliefs and mindsets, and claiming my inner power so I could stand up for myself and use my voice. Creating external harmony required me to release unhealthy relationships and unproductive habits, and to address other sources of conflict, stress and tension. I learned how to take care of my body, I reset my mindsets and beliefs, and I did the work to process, express and shift my emotions. My vision of harmony and intention to nourish are what pulled me through 2020.... even when things got really tough. They brought a stronger focus to my health and wellbeing and gave me the strength and courage to *let go* of so many things that were not working for me. As a result, I feel more calm and balanced, I have more energy, and I created more time for the most important people and things in my life. AND I completely redesigned my business ... which wasn't even something I had planned to do! Doing all the other work created space for me to see that something new was trying to emerge. Vision + Intention + Action --> Results. I've already started the process of creating my vision and intention for 2021 ... have you? If you'd like some support with this process, please reach out to schedule a call, or comment below and I'll reach out to you. We'll get acquainted and see how I can help. I have a practice of wrapping up my year by looking back before I look forward. I look back to acknowledge and honor my challenges, celebrate my successes, and notice all the ways I grew. I do this at the end of a year before I choose my intentions and goals for the new year so I can build upon my growth and momentum. I generally choose a word or concept that serves as my overall vision for the year (last year I chose 'harmony') and a single word that reflects my overall intention for the year (last year - 'nourish'). These words together create a compelling, forward-moving focus, and help me choose how I'll invest my time and energy.
All other intentions, goals, and priorities I set throughout the year must align to my vision and intention, so that I am empowered to claim resonant YESes and equally empowered to say confident NOs, too. Here are a few questions you can use to reflect upon your 2020. I encourage you to write the responses down so you can look back at them again. *What were your biggest life lessons this year? *What specifically did you learn about yourself? *What challenges or fears did you overcome? *What were your successes? *In what ways did you change, stretch beyond your self-limiting beliefs or grow beyond your comfort zone? *What's something new you discovered about yourself that you appreciate and love? *Who made a positive impact on you and your life this year? *In what ways did you positively impact someone else's life? *What else are you grateful for? *Given all this, what are you carrying with you into 2021? Opening to abundance and JOY, for some of us, is challenging. When you've learned through life experiences to settle into lack, negativity, and doubt, happiness feels elusive and abundance just out of reach. I found myself stuck in these unproductive mindsets, which impacted EVERY area of my life. I settled for less in relationships. I played too small in my work, pulled back from my biggest dreams, and blocked abundance and money from flowing in. Allowing myself to "receive" anything, including simple offers of help or even compliments, was a huge hurdle I've had to overcome.
Once I realized how I was holding myself back, I started healing old stories, shifting old mindsets and reframing my beliefs. I practiced receiving with gratitude. I allowed grace into my life. I have been learning what *really* makes me happy and have spent more time doing those things. Doing this work has helped me open to both abundance and joy. Life is to damn short to spend time believing we aren't made for more. In what ways have you experienced these blocks? Do you know what truly makes you happy? Are you struggling to receive or welcome abundance? Maybe I can help. Let's set up a call to explore your specific challenges. If I can't help you, I'll do my best to connect you with someone who can. WHY QUIT...? Over the last ten years, I have quit everything from jobs to relationships to unhealthy or unproductive habits, to mindsets and unhelpful core beliefs. My focus has been on RELEASING HEAVY BAGGAGE - letting go of anything in my life that was not aligned to my mission/purpose/vision and values. Activities, habits, and even relationships that are not moving us in our desired direction are a HUGE drain of our time and energy.
When we let go of what's pulling us down, we feel lighter and we create MORE time, MORE space, and MORE energy. This is important because it frees us up for what truly matters and what we truly enjoy. Letting go also creates space for the NEW to emerge. With more space and more energy, we can open to new possibilities, new opportunities, and new beginnings. The first step is noticing what's sucking your time and draining your energy. Then you can evaluate what you need to completely let go of versus where you just need to make some adjustments. What extra weight are YOU carrying? -Busyness, striving for perfection, or over-achievement? -Other people's expectations? -Your own unrealistic expectations? -Shoulds? -Self-sabotaging behaviors? -Old hurts, anger, resentment? -Relationships that drain you? |
Self-Care, Wellbeing, Embodied Self-Love
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