I just returned from an intensive diving deep into the world of change work, NLP, unconscious mind training, neuroscience, embodied cognition, and so much more. Having experienced this work firsthand, months prior, undoubtedly allowed me to take these new findings to a whole other level. A level to where I have seen its effectiveness and how my current practice and frameworks are not only compatible, but strengthened with this new information.
Despite having around 3 hours of sleep a night (I blame it on the broken service door on our floor at the hotel. Every time room service needed to access the room, the door would slam shut and rattle all the other doors on our floor! But I digress…?) my energy levels have never been higher! The pure energy one feels when you know you are making an incredible difference in peoples lives is exhilarating.
Thank you to all my teachers, students, colleagues, friends, and to every single person (stranger or not) I met in New York – THANK YOU! Your kindness is mindblowingly heart warming and I can’t wait to be back.
What do you love learning? In what ways do you learn best? Workshops? Online? YouTube? 1:1?
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with learning. When I was a little kid I would go to the library and eat up all the books ranging from nature, science, travel, culture, and of course all the fiction I can handle (SVH or Goosebumps anyone?!)
To this day, I listen to podcasts any moment I am not singularly focused on something. As I get ready in the morning, while I’m cooking or cleaning, and definitely when I am commuting. It’s the perfect opportunity to gain new perspectives and learn something new! And it doesn’t stop there, I watch online seminars, consume large amount of literature, and sign up for workshops.
I am a student of life. Always. Because I believe we are evolving every minute of every day and discovery & growth is at our fingertips if we’re open and willing to learn.
Tomorrow, I head to New York for an intensive on coaching the unconscious mind. I am in love with it already. We will be learning everything from re-wiring old programs, neutralizing triggers, rapid change techniques for working with emotions, and more. ?
Earlier this week I had baked some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for the neighbors as a thank you for watching the house while I was out of town. As I sat in their dining room we started to reminisce the days when we first met in 2005. Could it really have been that long ago? But it seems like yesterday?!
What started the whole “time” conversation was when I saw their youngest daughter studying in the living room. I could barely recognize this sweet girl! The girl that used to ride her tricycle all around the neighborhood making friends with every kid on the block. This girl was now about to enter into her senior year of HIGH SCHOOL.
As we started to count the years of our friendship we quite possibly could have heard a pin drop as we sat in silence at the realization that TWELVE YEARS has passed – already.
12 years…. doce anos.
Moments like this always make me realize how precious time is. How precious each moment is.
Time has become a growing Why for me over the past year and this particular encounter nailed it home for me.
Some of the questions I frequently ask myself include:
How am I living each day?
Will I remember this 20 years from now? (especially asked during moments of stress)
Where can I deploy more gratitude?
Are the things I’m doing today aligned with my Why(s)?
I find it peculiar how as humans we are constantly in a rush to be somewhere or do something, yet we hardly ever stop to ask why? If all of who we are is an accumulation of the years leading up to it, wouldn’t we want to routinely check in and ensure our “Why(s)” is still a guiding light?
So I’m curious, what’s your driving Why(s) and why? What inspires you to be the best version of yourself? ?
Do you have one of those friends that you likely knew in a past life? One of those friends where as you exchange words, thoughts, and feelings you both just get it? One of those friends you know you can run to and pour your heart out knowing there is no judgement?
Well, that dear friend happened to be in town for a business trip and I got to squeeze in dinner before she flew back to San Francisco.
And during this time (and even now) my heart was filled. So full from our heart felt conversations. Almost makes you realize this is what life should really be about. Growth, connection, and love.
It’s how you feel after coming back from vacation. Relaxed and knowing the world is good. YOU are good.
The beautiful part is that we didn’t do anything particularly special. We met for burgers, went for a walk along the water, chatted about life, and hugged it out before she hopped into a Lyft.
It’s in these seemingly mundane moments where all the magic happens.
When you can be comfortable being in and being seen in moments like this, that’s when you know there’s something special. To be real, raw, and wide open is the real beauty of finding your people. ?
So how do you find these people? Your people?!
I can only speak from my own experience but I’ve noticed three things in particular when it comes to finding the people that light you up and vice versa:
Do what you love and interests YOU
This has always worked without fail. I have met the most incredible people when attending workshops, at yoga, moon circles, meetups, and while I don’t crossfit as much as I used to, some of the my closest and dearest friends have come from this amazing community. Because I loved every moment of where and what I was spending my time in it was only natural this would increase my chances of meeting like minded/interested people. With that being said, SHINE. Do not hide your true colors and be yourself. After all, the goal is to find your people, right? 🙂
Be patient
When I look back at some of my closest friends one thing I notice is that it took time. Sure there are some friends whom you meet and it’s an instant attraction and soul connection, but even then in order to make it a lasting friendship it requires repetition and depth. People need a familiar face and time to know both you and they are safe and that they can open up to you as well.
Have faith
The last thing you want is to feel stressed or down about this. This lowers your energy and detracts from what you truly want to feel which is light, open, and love. Have faith that things are unfolding the way it is meant to unfold and surrender this desire to God. Knowing you are doing your best and having faith is one of the best alchemies out there.
As I write this I can’t help but feel so much gratitude for the people in my life and for the love in my heart I feel for them…
With that said, here’s to the people in our lives that allow us to be who we truly are.
“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.”
~ Jerzy Gregorek
“The hard choices —what we most fear doing, asking, saying —these are very often exactly what we most need to do.And the biggest challenges and problems we facewill never be solved with comfortable conversations,whether it’s in your own head or with other people.
So I encourage you to ask yourselves:Where in your lives right nowmight defining your fears be more important than defining your goals?Keeping in mind all the while, the words of Seneca:“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.””
~Tim Ferriss from his most recent Ted Talk, April 2017
Sharing a bit of goodness that I enjoyed listening to while sick in bed. ?
Honestly I love so many parts of the day: the growing heat of a mid-summer’s afternoon, the way the light fades to dark and you sense the coolness of the evening, making hot tea and reading in bed… but lately one of my most FAVORITE parts of the day is the morning.
Since the days are that much longer here in the Pacific Northwest, the sunrises at 5:12am (on the day of this post) and my body naturally begins to rise around 6am. That means even more time where I get to spend truly just being in silence.
I savor making my morning decaf coffee and what I call my “poppin’ collagen latte”. You can’t see it poppin’ in the picture but trust me, it’s poppin’!
But before I start sipping, while the coffee is dripping (oops didn’t mean to rhyme!) I’ll step outside and soak up a few delicious rays… hear the birds chirp… see how much the grass has grown… it’s all truly beautiful. Then as I sip, it’s time for stretching, yoga, and listening to podcasts as I get ready.
And what about breakfast? Well… I’ve written about my morning smoothie bowls but here’s a picture from Monday’s smoothie bowl deliciousness 🙂
Those added blueberries were just…. sigh. Heaven.
Mornings are so precious to me. It’s a time to check in and mentally prepare for the day (before everyone and everything clamors for your attention).
How about you?
What’s your favorite part of the day? How do you cultivate more YOU time and what does it look like for you?
One of the best things about spending more time in Washington is that these beautiful mountains and trails are literally in our backyard. For example a quick 1 hour drive and I’m deep in Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
This past Sunday was spent hiking up to Goat Lake. Let me tell you… it was GORGEOUS.
Goat Lake
As I made my way through the trail I decided to head up to Goat Lake via the lower trail and come back down to the trail head via the upper trail. The pounding pulsation of the river and numerous waterfalls making it’s way down the mountain was incredible.
The hike was approximately 11 miles round trip, and it was 11 miles of fresh air that I desperately needed.
The night before I got into a sneezing frenzy due to allergies which always zaps the energy out of me; to the point where my throat is sore and my energy is just depleted from me. When I woke up the day of the hike my nose was so stuffed I couldn’t breathe!
Miraculously when we got to the mountains it was as if the body knew how good the air was and decided to clear the nasal passages for all the fresh air. As soon as this happened I started to breathe DEEP. Deep into the belly with each and every inhale and I could slowly feel my energy coming back.
I don’t know if it was the allergy attack the night before but not only was my energy low, my mood just wasn’t as upbeat either. Honestly, it could have been a whole RANGE of things:
Was it hormonal? Time of the month?
Has weeks of stressful work hours impacted the adrenals and thus neurotransmitters?
Was it the tossing and turning from being unable to breathe last night?
Maybe it’s the days of overcast skies that finally got to me.
Did I not eat enough breakfast and this is just a dip in energy?
Am I putting too much pressure on myself at work?
Is it because the weekend is almost over and I didn’t get a chance to eat at my favorite Indian restaurant this week? 😉
I’ve written about this before but it’s so easy to want to place meaning behind everything. Our minds find it inherently necessary to analyze the who, what, why, when, and how, but sometimes that takes us down several chases down several rabbit holes!
Instead I took some time to mindfully investigate each and every thought that came up and most importantly to allow and to BE WITH the emotion behind every passing thought. Fear, sadness, anxiousness, stress… were a few of the emotions that arose with each thought.
I took time to ask, is this really true? And if it is, what would that mean? Who is the one having this thought? What am I reacting to (or what do I think I am reacting to)?
Then silence. Step by step, breath by breath.
And when you’re surrounded by beauty like this how can you not begin to feel shifts as you fall into the wonder, awe, and gratitude of mother nature?
Sometimes it takes a good long bit of time to realize reality from reaction, or a place like this to put you in the present moment. The true present, moment by moment, breath by breath.
How about you? When do you find yourself having ah-ha moments? What helps you bring your awareness to your thoughts?
Can you believe it? I can’t…. we are half way through 2017!
In the previous seasons I would be revisiting goals and/or intentions I had set at the beginning of the year, but I find myself in a space where the focus is truly on NOW. The present.
Some of the questions I find myself asking this season include:
~ Am I enjoying the day? Right now?
~ Am I being with what is?
~ Can I open up fully in grace, love, and light?
~ Can I connect openly and deeply with myself and others?
~ What seeds am I planting in the areas of love, relationships, community, and deep connection?
~ Can I open to the breath, and the next breath, and the next, and the next?
This season I am loving this gentle opening and space for the present. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with re-visiting goals either! I am just noticing what is needed for me in this moment. How about you? Are you in a season for more opening? acceptance? love? ambition? speed? dreaming? harvesting?
No matter the season may this be a moment to reflect on what is needed most in this moment for your heart, body, mind, and soul.
I’ve been really meditating on yesterday’s post, Watch It Come And Go. I find that it’s a lot easier when you’re in ‘total’ alignment or when everything is humming along smoothly in life. But how about when it is really put to the test!?
When your routine is thrown off
When there’s a crisis at work
Or how about when your flight is delayed 6 hours?!
You see, over the holiday weekend I took a long road trip from San Francisco to Seattle and so the body is a bit more tired and same goes with the mind as well. I had all the feels, from relief that I finally have everything in one place to urgency around organization and completion (of letting the physical things go).
As the feels came and went I took a moment to watch it come and go. I took a moment to watch the reaction, be with the emotions, be curious about what was going on… and then I watched one emotion come and go, and another emotion do the same.
I practiced this pretty much all day yesterday and it took me a day to write this as I was doing more the practicing and observing than the writing 😉
So what about you? What tends to throw you off and what have you noticed coming up for yourself?
I’ve been noticing a lot of subtle and not so subtle shifts/emotions/energies circling around me and others lately, and it’s been a mixed bag. New creative ideas, looking at what patterns need to be broken, noticing the most recent recurring thoughts (good or bad)… and throughout all this what grounds these shifts for me is being aware of WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT.
While I’ve seen this list by Bronnie Ware before, it’s always a welcome reminder and I thought I’d share it here:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Just remember, no matter what you’re feeling, thinking or doing, let this be a gentle reminder to yourself to be a little more softer, loving, accepting, and forgiving.
May this provide you a little more space to breathe today.
