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.
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Let's welcome the change of season by honoring our growth and getting ourselves ready to welcome the new.

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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.