New Year’s is my favorite time of year! I love that it represents both an ending and a beginning. For years and years, I have marked this time of year with reflection on the past year and visioning for the new year. Over the years, I have made this visioning process fuller and more complete….by creating goals that mean something to me and mapping them out for the year.

I LOVE doing this work! It has helped me tremendously in clarifying what I want and just simply being more purposeful with my time. I want to fill each year with bucket list items, and dreams, and goals and the things that fill me up. Why not, right?! We have this one precious and wild life…so let’s make the most of it!!!

I have found that the most effective way to do that is to use the transition into the new year as an inspiration to get intentional and purposeful.

So I’m going to share 3 ways you can bring in the new year with intention and action. If you want more in-depth...

Today I am sharing with you allllllll my predictions for 2022 self-care.

These predictions come from watching, listening, and paying close attention to what is gaining traction, where there is need, and what will propel us forward.

I’ll compile the list here, but I’m going SUPER in depth on them over on my YouTube channel (we’re gonna NERD out on it).

Without delay, here are my 2022 Self-Care Predictions.

1. Vulnerability as a Path - more vulnerability paths showing up in the workplace and it will become more widely talked about in publications and on social media.  
2. More Postpartum Support - more systems, organizations and support being created for postpartum moms.
3. More Women Becoming Entrepreneurs - more women entering the entrepreneurial space and carving out niches that support a need in society.  
4. Financial Wellness is on The Rise - more admitting that financial wellness matters a...

Today we are going to be talking about what self-care is and what it isn’t.

"Self-care" has become a buzz word in recent years, but what is it, really? 

When asked the question: “Do you take care of yourself?” most of us will answer “yes” — we’d even think, “What kind of question is this? Of course, I care about myself.”

When asked, “In what ways do you take care of yourself?” — well, that’s where the tricky part begins.

So that’s what we are digging into today. 

We are going to discuss:

• What true self-care is
• What self-care is not
• The key to feeling peace and joy
• And how to determine what self-care practices are right for you

Let's begin with true self-care.  True self care means that you are taking care of your whole self in a way that works for YOU. 

When you are taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually then you are able to be your best...

The holidays are fun buuuuuuuut.......they are also kinda crazy-making....all the planning, cooking, socializing, and shopping not to mention that you are doing all that on top of your daily load of working, taking care of children, walking the dog, watering the plants, taking care of finances, and attending to relationships....phew, it's a lot!

It gets me so stressed out so this year I decided I didn't want to "do it all" this holiday season.  I wanted simple and easy.  

At the beginning of December we sat down as a family and talked about the things we wanted to do during this season that really mattered to us.  From there we wrote out a list of Holiday Intentions that included things like:

• Make gingerbread houses
• Bake cookies
• Get a Christmas tree 
• Make ornaments
• Watch a Christmas movie 
• Drive around to look at Christmas lights

We also decided to go minimal with gifts - just stocking stuffers for my husband and I, and a few gifts...

How was your Thanksgiving?  What came up for you?

For me, Thanksgiving is a loaded time.  Loaded with emotions, memories, expectations, and trying with every cell in my body to accept the nowadays version of Thanksgiving.  When I was growing up, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday.  It was a time when I gathered with my Arizona family to play in a Turkey Bowl (flag football game), sit around a big table to eat, talk and laugh with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and to make gingerbread houses.  What I enjoyed most was all the festive energy, laughter, and time spent with my family.

Once I moved out of state and then across the country it became harder and harder to make it home for Thanksgiving.  Over the last few years, I have felt anger, sadness, and disappointment that the Thanksgiving of my childhood is no longer.  I feel like I have been grieving a loss.  And because of that I have found it incredibly...

Thanksgiving is just days away, which means we have entered the holiday season.  Whether you are gathering with family in-person or via Zoom this year, there are bound to be a mix of emotions.  The voices in your head might sound something like this...

• "Oh I love being back with my family.  I've missed them so much!"
• "What is happening to me?  I'm sweating, my thoughts are flustered, and I don't know what to do with myself."
• "I don't feel like anyone hears me or sees me for who I am.  I just want to cry or scream or do both."
• "All I want to do is go home, lay on my couch, and watch Netflix!  I can't do this anymore, I can't be with these people anymore. I'm so done being here."

Oh boy...exciting stuff ahead! 

Family gatherings bring up lots of stuff because they highlight unhealed wounds, unresolved issues, painful memories, and expectations.  Family dynamics and the holidays can just be plain stressful. 

That's why...

It’s November. This is often when we hear people say, “We have 2 months left of 2021, get those goals met!!”  Ugh, this can feel so overwhelming.

So I want to share a simple practice with you to help you stay calm, focused and believing that you are doing enough.

The practice is repeating Mantra's.  Before I just give you some mantras to practice I want to explain how mantras work when it comes to calming the mind and releasing stress.  To do that we need to talk about the brain first (don't worry this will be short and sweet).

Your brain is a belief engine.  What that means is that your beliefs are formed by repeating the same thoughts over and over again.  Once you form a belief, you then look for evidence to support that belief. Your brain is always seeking to find meaning in the information that is poured into it.  And it will often blind itself to anything that is contrary to the belief. 

For...

You know those days when you feel stressed and you know you need to do something for yourself to feel better but you just don't know what to do?  Or those days when you have 10 minutes of unscheduled time and you'd like to do something other than scroll Instagram? 

A self-care kit is the answer!  This nifty little box is a place where you can keep the things that help you connect with yourself and recharge....in just a few minutes!

The idea is to have all of your favorite self-care items together in one convenient place so that it's ready and waiting when you need it most.  Like those times when bedtime with the kiddos is HARD or you want to take 5 minutes of self-care before bed.

Make Your Kit

First, grab a box, basket, or container of any kind to store your self-care items in.  You can use something you already have at home, or buy a container to designate as your self care kit.

Next, think about the things you enjoy doing, and the items that...

 I want to share a simple strategy that will help you create and live in more abundance but want to give you some backstory first...

For years I dreamt about:

• Having a home that was warm, a home where I could walk around barefoot and in a t-shirt versus wearing a sleeping bag suit in an effort to be warm (see pic above ).  
• Being an entrepreneur, having my own business, and defining my work.
• Having my very own space in my home where I could work and exercise and meditate and write.  

I put each of these things on vision boards. I talked about them, envisioned them, and wrote about them in my journals.  I wanted them so so bad.

Now that I have each of these things, I have found that I often forget how bad I wanted them and simply yearn for something else.  I just want more.  And this type of wanting feels never-ending and often unfulfilling.

This kind of wanting is rooted in scarcity or never...

Several years ago, while taking a yoga class focused on our feet and legs, I burst into tears and continued to cry off and on throughout the practice.  Something about being attentive to my feet and connecting so thoughtfully to the ground, broke me open.  The tears felt like an unthawing of frozen emotion.  I could feel my body in a way I never had before. 

I could actually feel my body. 

Until that moment, I had lived my life without actually being present in my body or really in my life.  I had become accustomed to abandoning myself in order to keep the peace or please. 

I married young and to the wrong person, I did work I hated, I lived in a home that didn't feel like me, I ate food I didn't like, I stayed up late when I wanted to sleep, I drank alcohol when what I really wanted was water, I hid my dreams from others and myself.  In essence, I abandoned myself.  For years, I have felt shame around...