here we are today

What does it look like to loosen our grip, just a little bit? During the eclipse season, how might we create a tiny bit of space to see more of the truth of ourselves? Think of the tiniest version of "leap and the net will appear"

Listen for your own information. Your information can arrive in many forms, including your emotions. In what environments, relationships do you feel energized? Inspired? Excited? Interested? Curious? Comfortable? Enthusiastic? Take some notes. 

We are all learning so much right now. How do we respond?

We have so much information coming in to our systems constantly that we can easily feel overloaded and overwhelmed. Today I took a few hours to have an adventure, and took it one step at a time. Sometimes our minds and hearts need some time to rinse, reset, and refresh, mine certainly does.

Today is my Californaversary and I share a bit about my move, and also today thinking about a medical issue I have been dealing with. It is a bit of a mixtape! One message from today: listen to your body and advocate for your health. Sending you love today!

I'm not as outgoing or extroverted as I thought I was. Now I have an appreciation for why I turned the volume up on some of those personality traits. Let's give ourselves compassion for the ways we have adapted. Can we create space to get curious and listen to our hearts and bodies for how we really feel and who we really are?

It is my first day back meeting with clients in person. And I am nervous. I always get nervous and excited before meeting with clients. Every. Single. Time. What is new for you? What are you feeling nervous about? How can you give yourself gentleness and understanding today?

Welcome to NO-vember, an invitation to practicing saying "no," in order to say a bigger "yes," to something else in your life! What do you want to practice saying "no," to? Where and when can you give yourself compassion? 

Are you a storyteller? Maybe you don't tell stories formally, yet I believe you tell stories all. the. time. Intentional storytelling is a powerful way to leverage an existing structure in our brains to bring our lives into alignment with our values, our truth and our dreams. One story at a time.

Perfectionism creeped in and I didn't do as many episodes. A friend asked me about the podcast and helped me reconnect to the purpose of this show. This is my process. How do you experience perfectionism? How might you give yourself compassion and grace?

What do you like that isn't considered cool? Why not consider giving yourself permission to explore or express yourself in creative new ways that you are excited about? Creating safe spaces for ourselves and others to creatively express is critical to a deep sense of well-being and vitality. 

I believe that simplifying our lives is quite wise. What area of your life feels overly complicated? What can you cut out, minimize, or delegate? How much more fulfillment and energy could you have as a result?

Sometimes we say "no" to inspirations and ideas about our life/career/relationships quickly because they seem "unreasonable." What might our life look like if we nurtured those budding ideas and explored what they grow up to be? Could we get curious and stay in divergent thinking a little longer? What gifts might emerge as a result?

We often associate empathy only with connecting in understanding of others' sadness or grief. When we give empathy to someone for the positive emotions in their life, that is called empathetic joy! Who do you know who is experiencing something wonderful in their life? How might you hop on board to celebrate their love, joy, and happiness? Building our capacity for empathetic joy is a beautiful gif...

In a culture of constant pressure towards growth and achievement, how might you create space for rest and nurturing? Our nature is to expand and contract. Is now the time to push yourself out of your comfort zone? What if you rested and enjoyed the fruits of your growth so far?

When we first meet someone we learn their name. Our names are often deeply tied to our identities. Honoring one another's names by learning, remembering, correctly pronouncing, and using one another's names is an important and powerful way to demonstrate humanity and care for one another. 

When you look at your work or performance do you zoom in on the negatives? Perfectionism babay! Here are three questions that can help you zoom out to celebrate the big picture what you learned, what you appreciated and where you want to grow instead of going down the spiral of shame and self-criticism. 

This weekend I was flooded with memories from this time of year throughout my whole life. Some of those memories are hard and some comforting. What are you allowing to comfort you these days? How might you celebrate the comfort of memories? How are you allowing yourself to grow? Right now do you need a little nudge towards comfort or a little nudge towards growth? 

What does it look like to create our life from our heart and our values? What do you value? How do you connect your deepest values to how you spend your time every day?

I did something new today that I hadn't done in many years professionally. I was nervous! When are you out of your comfort zone? How do you relate to nervousness? I reflect on a time I was out of my comfort zone, nervous and afraid, climbing down Half Dome, and how (and who) helped me get through it. 

What frameworks or approaches do you use to make decisions? What do you do when something seems great on paper and doesn't feel right? Learning to listen to our own information, from our body, gut, heart and soul, can be scary and uncomfortable. Ultimately to create lives of expansion, fulfillment, connection and alignment, I believe we need to allow our information to guide us through the dark, o...

How might you delight someone today by giving them something? How might you allow yourself to receive without trying to control? Thoughts on giving and receiving and some cringe-worthy anecdotes along the way. Be gentle with yourself. 

There are only certain times and places where it is "socially acceptable" to sing, dance, laugh, wiggle, and move. How might you create more space, validation, or ritual for more joy and celebration in your life? How might practicing this transform your life and the lives of those around you?

I encourage you to explore your relationship to your truth and your inner voice, with curiosity, patience and compassion. 

(contains reference to sexual assault) Erin Lee Carr delivers yet another powerful documentary, Britney vs Spears (Netflix). It made me reflect on the long history of women (10,000 years?), queer and BIPOC folks experience of gaslighting, subjugation, invalidation and violence, often justified by being categorized as "crazy," by white cis-gendered men in power, and those who seek their favor.