I’m known as a change agent, connecting and educating people to help make a difference in their personal and business life. From the boardroom to the yoga mat, principles are the same. Be authentic, communicate, encourage, inspire and don’t be afraid to try something new!
Today, I reflect during a fabulous 7 mile walk around Salem Lake. A new space to practice mindfulness as I take stops to rest along the trail.
I’m thinking of the whirlwind of the past month. A new job. A new life in a new space. It’s time to take a moment during this Labor Day weekend to catch my breath. To slow down. To prepare for a new season. Change.
Salem Lake. Serenity.
There’s peace in the stillness. What things can I let go of that no longer serve me? What can I let be from yesterday? To find space to be in the now.
As I take time to be still, I reset myself. Reset to move forward. To explore. To look at things from a different perspective. To breathe.
I took this note during a yoga practice in the Sacred Valley:
“The moment you think you feel stuck, go back to the breath. One inhale becomes a second inhale. One inhale turns into two.”
When do you take time to sit in the stillness? What are you thinking or experiencing in the silence?
We often hear the words “set your intention” as we start a yoga practice. How often do we actually take that intention off the mat and into the world?
As I sit here reflecting on intention, goals and focus, I remind myself of how critical it is to include mindfulness. Being in the present moment.
What intention are you setting for your life today?
What are you doing to appreciate the moment today?
The word Determined has come up for me lately during my yoga practice and teachings.
Determined to hike Machu Picchu
This summer, I took a trip to Machu Picchu. I was determined to push through the challenges I was experiencing to be able to participate in all the hiking adventures and yoga practices. I moved at my own pace.
Today, one month after returning from Machu Picchu, I’m still processing the feelings I experienced during those ten days.
I stayed focused on each step up the mountains, on my breath, on the amazing scenery and history that I was experiencing.
The Sacred Gardens
I took quiet time at the wellness center to journal, relax in the sacred gardens and reflect on my goals and the changes I was ready to take in my career. In my life.
I had amazing conversations with the people around me. Random conversations that turned into encouragement. Fun conversations, compassionate and serious ones. We weren’t in a rush to solve anything. We were in the moment, sitting in various places honoring Mother Earth. Honoring our own self care and self worth.
Being in the moment.
As I sit here on my balcony on this quiet morning, my heart is full. My future blogs will be written from a new space as I prepare to move at the end of August.
I am determined to move forward. I am determined to continue to be my authentic self. I am determined to encourage others to have real conversations without judgement. I am determined to walk, step or jump joyfully on my own path dedicated to growth, evolution and change!
Conversations matter. Real authentic conversations matter even more. As I sit here on my balcony at the close of the half 2021 and prepare for my long awaited vacation, I can’t help but reflect on how fast this year is moving. And how slow last year lulled.
What energy are you putting into your conversations this summer? How are you living with intention? With that in mind, I mean, not just getting by or just being okay? Are there any expectations in your life that you can replace with appreciation?
If you are struggling with where you are at and where you want to go, here’s a technique I’ve used that compliments vital needs exercises I’ve shared in past blogs. It’s called Hope Inside the SOULution.
H. Heart work. Think about what you do to give back to your community, to the world. Where do your passions take you? How do you love?
O. Outside of work. What kind of things do you enjoy outside of work? Are you investing time in these activities or being pulled in other directions?
P. Are you being paid your worth? Are you able to incorporate any of your passions into your job?
E. What kind of career expectations and advancement are you working towards? Do you have a 3-5 year goal? What steps are you taking today to get there?
Here are three things to consider when making the shift to a higher level of being.
Number 1. Simply rate how you feel on a scale of 1-10 on each of the above categories. Reset.
Number 2. Write it down. Reflect. Journal ideas in each category. When you write it down, it will help you visualize it. You will be able to look back and see what you accomplished too.
Number 3. Focus on actions you can take during this timeframe. Reboot. This goes back to my research on our own vital needs. If you haven’t performed my vital needs exercise, check out some of my previous blogs.
You just created your first 5 year life plan!
My current 5 year life plan is coming to a close at the end of 2021. That means a new fresh plan, enhancements to the old and a renewed sense of being!
Acceptance and love. Giving ourselves grace. As a reflect on this beautiful morning in Chicago, I add grateful to the mantra for the month of May. 2021.
So I start with grateful. I’m grateful for the people in my life. People who give me the space to be myself. To accept who I am. Who appreciate me and the time they spend with me.
The month of June starts to bring professional travel back into my world. Before my first business trip of the year, I find myself on a short trip to Ohio. To visit cousins. To rest and recharge. To connect. To practice being in the moment of someone else’s lifestyle.
So I take morning runs, join a group of ladies on a garden tour, have lunch at a tea room and write. Grateful for a few days off.
I reflect on mindfulness. Of being in the moment. Exactly where I’m supposed to be.
When practicing mindfulness, I start with letting go of the past. As I take a morning run in Ohio and listen to a short meditation, I’m reminded of the opportunity we have every single day to start fresh. To breathe. To smile. To reconnect with our values and vital needs as we head out into the world! I absolutely this statement.
I think about the possibilities and opportunities that I may find throughout the day and into tomorrow.
I reflect on grace. What kind of grace and compassion can I give to myself? Today. For the moment.
Today I reflect on how to manage finding balance with or without the compromises we make. And the impact these compromises can be for today or for a better tomorrow. And being okay with the choices.
For me, it goes back again to vital needs. To being in the present moment. Without judgement. To living life. To being.
Things to consider when it comes to balance, the choices we make and how these choices impact both today and tomorrow.
Are you trying to get healthy? If so, what’s your fitness plan look like?
Are you trying to pay off debt? If so, what’s your plan to modify your short term spend?
Are you trying to loose weight? If so, how are you changing your eating habits?
Are you trying to find peace? If so, when do you have quiet time for yourself?
Are you looking for love? If so, how are you practicing your own self care?
Are you looking for new challenges at work? If so, what are you doing to create these for yourself?
The bottom line is if you are truly looking to make a change and that change is tied to your vital needs, are you putting your energy there? What’s your plan to make it happen? When?
There’s always going to be choices we make. Times to compromise on instant gratification and times to just do it! So next time you are looking to find the right balance, just consider these questions.
Will I regret not doing something today when tomorrow arrives?
Can I accept not doing something today for a better tomorrow?
Can I modify to do both?
So, I took the Architectural Boat Tour once in the morning and once in the evening this past weekend in Chicago!
Now that’s what I call balance without compromise!
At the very last minute before I left my home in Florida to head to the Nurture Womens Yoga Retreat in Southern Utah, I grabbed a book that I’ve been meaning to dive deeper into. The Untethered Soul. Needless to say, I read the entire book on my early morning flight and found some interesting points that would soon prove serendipitous.
Here are a few of the statements that resonated with me from the book and our Nurture Women’s Yoga Retreat.
“True personal growth is about transcending the part of you that is not okay and needs protection.”
This statement caused me to think about times when we step out of our comfort zone to do something different. We experienced this as woman arrived for their first time. Sometimes in pairs, often as one.
“To attain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them. Get out of the energy of the problem.”
Focus on the Moment
I experienced this while hiking Zion. The altitude for a Florida girl had to be managed differently with my breathing.
“Consciousness has the ability to do what is called focus. The essence of consciousness is awareness.”
Focus and awareness. On and off the mat. On the hike. Meditation. Mindfulness. Being fully present in the moment. Giving yourself permission to let go of the unfinished energy patterns that are blocking our lives to be fulfilled.
Hiking Zion
“Energy is always inside of us. It’s about how we choose to use that energy.” Unblock it. Stop protecting and defending your parts that are weak. Let it go.
As I reflect on this statement about energy, I dig deeper. What kind of ways can I stay open and receptive? Letting go is about opening our hearts and our minds. About seizing the moments.
Moments of challenge on a pose. Moments of laughter in the pool. Moments of silence during sound bath. Moments of joy during a sunrise yoga photo shoot. Moments to plant a group of succulents. Need I say more?
It’s fitting that we arrived on Earth Day. One of the first projects we worked on together was to build our own succulent plant bowl. Grow.
Rise Sister Rise!
So here’s to empowering each other. To seizing the moments to let go. To grow each and every day. #namastefocusonmygrowth
I participated in my first silent outdoor yoga retreat this past weekend. Not knowing what to expect and staying open to the new experience, I was off to enjoy nature and the silence!
Quiet spaces at Canterbury Resort
There were times when I found it easy to be silent. Like after a gentle relaxing yin yoga session before bed. During a walk through the woods where I saw a wise old owl and became curious about why he winked at someone else and not me! When I’m writing, reading, meditating and just sitting around doing nothing. Maybe we need more of these type of days!
There were other times I had to adjust to the silence. Like when I was walking past someone else and wanted to say hi and maybe engage in conversation. Like I when I looked into someone’s eyes and saw pain or loneliness and wanted to offer encouragement. Like when I wanted to compliment someone.
This was when non verbal cues started working. For me to smile big enough from under my mask that it reached my eyes as I passed someone by. For me to offer, with a swipe of my arm for a women to move ahead of me in the food line. To enjoy a meal in silence. To give myself the permission to hold the space of silence shifting the feeling of having to be silent to choosing to be silent. Choice is powerful.
There’s a fine line between having to be quiet and choosing to be still. Between silence and isolation. Between mindless activity and mindfulness of actual being in the present moment, without distractions of social media, phone, email and text.
By giving myself permission to be quiet and choosing this experience, I felt like it was a LevelSet for me to look within. To look around and observe. To prepare myself for the next quarter in life. To live life. To just be.
I have now participated in 15 yoga retreats throughout the world. Each of one of these adventures introduce me to new people, new thoughts, new tools and new ways to continue to grow to be my best self. From focus on self care, self love, self worthiness, self confidence to being vulnerable enough to share in groups what I’m experiencing and feeling is why I keep finding retreats to thrive in my own soul space.
In yoga flow, we move with breath. Inhale rise up, exhale let it go. So why not do the same outside of yoga practice?
Inhale intention. What’s the intent you are setting for yourself as we wind down the first quarter of the new year? A year of new possibilities and new opportunities. Inhale the possibilities of change. Inhale the opportunities to do something different.
Relaxing morning on the island
Exhale Tension. Let it go! What’s not serving you? What are you doing out of obligation? What’s stopping you from being your authentic self? Let it all go. Know you are exactly where you are supposed to be today. And start doing the work to be a better you tomorrow!
We are all a work in process. We are all on our own path of doing the work. Doing the work means doing what it takes to evolve. To change for the better. To become more self aware. To build better relationships. To let go of the ones that don’t bring joy. To grow. To learn. To love. To be.
Here’s to inhaling and exhaling! To appreciating the ability to breathe. To traveling far and wide, or close to home. To living with intent! To being in the here and in the now.
The month of January 2021 brought a pleasant surprise. I had the opportunity to join an amazing group of women attending Level Up Women’s Retreat to Canyon Reef in Southern Utah.
We were tasked to ask ourselves what Level Up means to each of us. For my journey on this retreat, my answer was the transformation or should I say the ongoing transformation of my life. By taking ownership of my needs, my voice, my aspirations and desires. By letting go of what doesn’t align with my vital needs. By doing the work!
Show up! It all starts with showing up. With stepping out of our comfort level. Sitting, walking and even hiking in the discomfort, owning and acknowledging it, and moving through it. Level Up is showing up and doing the work within.
I hosted a workshop based on Crucial Conversations and Mindfulness. Crucial conversation skills help us prepare for those tough conversations. It all starts with the heart and learning to look. Starting with the heart helps us focus on what we really want to accomplish for both parties during a tough conversation. Learning to look gives us the awareness to look for the signs of someone’s style under stress. Do they go silent or violent?? Flight or fight? Do you? As we work to master these skills, those difficult conversations will result in mutual understanding within the pool of shared meaning. That’s the power of dialogue.
Finding comfort in the extreme means being okay with stepping out of our own comfort zone. We all have choices to make everyday on what we will and will not accept. What we are willing to do to change ourselves and the way we respond to others. The risk versus the reward for the choices we make. To live life to its fullest.
Climb the mountain, go on the retreat, breathe fresh air, take a hike in unknown territory, connect with new people. Soothe your own soul.
Special thanks to our amazing soul sister, the beautiful Bonnie, who cares and loves unabashedly.
Vital needs exercise starts with a review of a list of 25 vital needs. I recommend you print the list and circle 7 that pertain to you. Today.
Now narrow this list down to 3 and start thinking about things you can do this quarter that are associated with each one
A vital need that stays with me today! Travel to Whistler on a yoga retreat.
The thing about vital needs is this. They change over time. What was important at the beginning of the year, the quarter or even the month can change based on circumstances out of our control. I believe we all experienced that this past year.
Vital needs
As we awaken on the first day of a new day, a new dawn, a new year, it’s the perfect time to assess vital needs.
Here’s to the start of something new. May 2021 fill our spirits, soothe our souls and rock our worlds!
SGchangeagent 