A Divine Detox

It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.
-Eckhart Tolle

Lent

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the day after Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, and the first day of Lent, a religious observance for many liturgical church traditions.  People are always surprised to learn that Mardi Gras actually started in my hometown of Mobile, AL, not in the famed, bluesy streets of New Orleans.

Jester

Growing up, I had friends who were steeped in the Old South decorum of Mardi Gras. Their dads would dress up in these ridiculous jester costumes and their kitchens overflowed with King Cakes, trash bags full of cheap beaded necklaces and plastic loot for parades— oh and cocktails, there were cocktails for days, namely screwdrivers.

Barbies

I remember spending the night with one particular friend in fifth grade. We stayed up late with the babysitter until she was relieved of her duties by two staggering adults that smelled like booze and looked like tired, aging Barbies in very expensive ball attire.  It was the strangest thing in the world to me.

Our family never bought in.  We’d typically pile into a minivan and skip town, making a 32-hour trek to the magical Rocky Mountains of Colorado for a week of skiing.  (Yes, it was a jaunt. However we were mighty in number and flying got real expensive, real fast. Where’s the fun in that, anyway?)

Space

I always found this idea of Lent very curious.  Basically, like the season of Advent, Lent shares a focus on preparation— creating space in our hearts for what’s to come. Sure, people (often of the female variety) use Lent as an excuse to “give up” chocolate or carbs or what have you in an effort to de-bloat from the excess of the season.  To each his own.  In my observance though, this completely misses the mark and seems a bit self-serving.

Deeper

The tradition of “giving something up” for Lent is far more meaningful when the motive is connected to something greater than me or “I”.  It’s not a diet, it’s not a resolution, it’s not a contest.  I like to call it a Divine Detox; a spiritual cleansing of sorts. I desperately love rituals, and with each passing year,  my inner dork shines a bit brighter with all the bells and whistles I incorporate into my daily routine.  Lent presents this beautiful opportunity to tap into spiritually driven ritual and re-align with that which is unseen yet powerful beyond belief: Perfect Love.  I call that being God, some call it Universe, some call it “fishin’” as Brené Brown wryly recounts about her father.

Noise

Whatever your spiritual beliefs, I think we can all agree that we are far more than just physical beings.  I was reminded of this last week as I witnessed my niece’s grand entrance into this world.  We are spiritual beings through and through, (“spiritual” not “religious”) yet we spend most of our time on the surface, concerned with the physical, structural world.  I believe we do this because it’s the loudest, most overt part of life—the noise of it screams at us all day through portals of social media, consumerism, and materialistic pursuit.  There is obviously nothing wrong with the physical world…I’m in love with its beauty and energy.  However, if we aren’t tethered to something deeper, we dry up and lose touch with presence and purpose.

Detox

Any excuse to solidify truth through ritual is a no-brainer in my book.  In light of this, I want to honor this deeper constancy of spirit in our lives this week in a tangible way.  Creativity springs out of a place of stillness and nothing.  I want to spend less time reacting to noise and more time grounded in presence and possibility.  In celebration of our sacred spiritual selves, I invite you to join me in a bit of a detox.

Kale

Don’t worry, there’s no kale or cayenne pepper involved. (If that’s your thing though, by all means rock it.)  This is a week-long observance of the soul—a cleansing away of unnecessary noise that distracts us from connecting to the awareness of a Loving Presence in all things: in people, in situations, in work, in us.  It’s setting harsh judgement and criticism on the back burner for a minute to explore the life that flows out of their absence.  Our ego, or fear-driven imposters, can take a much needed vacation, those little guys have earned it!

The How

Every day this week, set an alarm on your phone or watch for three different times, perhaps breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  These little breaks can be anywhere from 1-5 minutes.  Make these short so you won’t blow them off.  Take this time to simply connect to the present moment through gratitude.  Write down what you’re grateful for and respond by saying thank you.  Breathe into that gratitude; seal it in.  It’s often much easier to capitalize on the negative and overlook the positive just as we tend to glaringly see our flaws instead of our strengths.  This week, we are going to intentionally look for love in everything and observe what, if anything shifts inside.  I firmly believe it does and will when we declutter our future fears and past grievances.

Bonus

If you’re feeling ambitious and want a bonus, identify something that’s a distracting force and set it aside for a week.  It can be negative self-talk, social media, Netflix, the scale, or video games—whatever creates extra noise and blocks connection.  Don’t worry, you can pick it back up in a matter of days, we’re just experimenting here. 

I’m stoked to hear from you on this so please please email me with some feedback.

Happy Cleansing!

Love & Gratitude,

Katie

xoxo

Rebirth: The Darkness & The Light

“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

-Leonard Cohen

New

This week has been over the top.  I experienced something incredible that will forever change me. In a world desperately craving hope and light, i’m reminded that everything pales in comparison to this: new life.  I became an aunt for the first time on Sunday.  Welcoming a new precious little baby girl into the world has halted life as I know it and spawned a rebirth of sorts inside me.

Drip

I’m coming to you this week from the storybook hills, winding roads, and sun-dappled redwoods of Northern California, Mendocino County to be specific.  That’s where my sister, brother, and new niece live.  It’s lovely—a little isolated for my taste, but a welcomed change from the steady drip of burgeoning Nashville congestion and my recent time in LA.

Camper

Life and busyness have stood still in these enchanted hills for the past week in some ways.  Torrential rains have flooded the area, throwing the roads and soil into whiplash on the heels of a five-year draught.  The main road down into town collapsed on Tuesday morning, leaving us with no clear way out.  No Target runs, no last-minute grocery store visits, no Netflix either.  Due to all the rain, the solar power has been low in the house so we’ve had to conserve energy.  Oh, so no hair tools either.  I’m convinced God has a very dry, very witty sense about him…I mean come on…have you met me?  I’m not exactly a “camper”.

Magic

In other ways, life has exploded everywhere in our hearts with the arrival of Estella West Brandon.  She’s purely exquisite, a gift of beauty so magical and true—I get it now.  She didn’t come easy though.  In fact, witnessing her mother’s pregnancy journey and all-natural birth was a soul crushing battle at times.  Lauren is stunning and strong beyond belief.  She and Mother Nature were both forces to be reckoned with this week.

MVP

If you’ve ever witnessed, or better, had a natural childbirth, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If you’ve ever experienced complications in the midst of a natural childbirth like my sister did, you’re already a card-carrying MVP of the Badass Club.  My hat’s off to you.  There is darkness, hopelessness, exhaustion, and excruciating pain that comes before the light of life crosses its threshold into this world.  It’s scary…almost violent.

Metaphor

This struggle is beautifully metaphorical for the spiritual and emotional renewal and rebirth we long to experience.  I’m reminded of this as I observe all the changes and seeming inconveniences of motherhood.  Quite simply, if we want to see change, things must change, and that’s painful.  Here are some high-watt lightbulbs that went off for me this week.

Lean into the pain

Thirty-two hours of labor later, Lauren knew exactly just how much pain her body could endure.  What I beheld, (yes, she let me stay in the room throughout), was this stunning dance with the pain.  She didn’t run from it, avoid it, hell, she did’t even have drugs (???)—she leaned into the pain, leveraging its power.  Mic drop.

Friends, this is for you and me!  When we run from our pain whether through avoidance, busyness, or numbing, we actually prolong it.  The fastest way through our struggle is not around it; we must journey into its center in order to find freedom.  It’s a spiritual journey-one sacred beyond belief.

Teamwork is key

We’ve gotta build a team.  I use the word “build” intentionally.  This team doesn’t just appear overnight, we must seek it out.  In Lauren’s case, there was a doula, a midwife, nurses, her loving partner, Sky, family, and a community of friends who had traversed the rocky road right by her side.

Build

What does your team look like as you make the brave journey into the rebirth and newness you long for?  A coach, a therapist, a mentor, a community group, a trusted friend, all of the above?  If I’ve said anything on this platform worth repeating its this:  we grow in relationship, not in isolation.  Who’s on your dream team?  Build it.

Breathe

The thread of relief at every point along the way is our breath.  It’s not talking, it’s not thinking, it’s breathing.  This is so apparent in childbirth, it’s almost exaggerated.  Incidentally, it’s the one thing that connects us to the present moment, allowing us to lean into the pain and not run away.  Deep breathing is cleansing, calming, and healing.  Our bodies physically can’t stay in panic mode when we’re tethered by the breath.

Escape

We spend far too much time in our minds, analyzing and escaping the present moment.  If there is one practical tool that’s given me relief from anxiety and depression along the way, it is the gift of breath-mindfulness.  Simple?  Yes, of course—as are most things in life that really create lasting change.  You’re smart though, and smart people tend to overcomplicate things. 

Bright

I want to leave you with this thought: you are far stronger than you realize.  Courage shows up in discomfort and discomfort always signals opportunity, rebirth.  This week if you find yourself in a tight place, with waning hope and weary bones, take heart.  I’ve never seen a darker night loom before the brightest dawn of new life as I did Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 2:29 pm.  As my talented dear friend, Anna, always says, “You never know what a day will bring.”

You, my friend, are wildly strong and beautiful and I’m in your corner, cheering you on, big time!

Love & Gratitude,

Katie

xoxo

Adele: Lessons from the Other Side

Before we get going, I thought it only fair to circle back around to my last post and cut all that paralyzing suspense regarding my test last Tuesday. Drumroll, please…. I passed!!!!! EEP! This is good news for us both I can assure you as I’ll move on, quit my moaning, and focus on far more interesting things for us to talk about here.  I didn’t realize how heavy a burden the whole process has been throughout the last 18 months.  The stress of it bled over into other cracks of life, sucking away energy, ease, and time I’d forgotten I had.  So, after taking a week off the blog for some much-needed self-care and rest, I feel massive relief and anticipation for more creative space to play around with other projects I’m ready to push forward.

Persevere

Despite feeling the gravity of this seeming detour, I learned an invaluable lesson through it all: Perseverance develops emotional muscles that will serve us well in every area of life, even when the task at hand seems unrelated and dispassionate to our calling. This post isn’t about perseverance in that respect though, it’s about Adele…so let’s get to it.

Date

I had the distinct pleasure of tagging along with my husband to the Grammy’s this past Sunday night in LA.  Despite his infinite cool,  he humors me as I show up each year with an arsenal of crazy shoes, dresses, and fake eye lashes like I’m nominated for an award or something.  I’ve never taken home one of those awards, however, I always leave the week with loads of shiny inspiration, new ideas, and an awakened dreamer inside.

YouTube

This year was no exception.  In fact, I was so moved by the raw combination of Adele’s truth-telling and talent, I felt the need to write what I saw, in hopes of somehow branding it into my being.  If you didn’t see her performance or acceptance speech(es), YouTube those babies.  They’ll warm your heart. Oh, and, forgive the spoiler for which you are about to receive.

Outlier

She’s always been an outlier in my mind: a seamless talent, a young-old-soul, and a powerful message well-balanced with a shock of mess.  She’s swooped in twice now for most pop music consumers, both times offering us heavy hitting albums five years apart quite simply titled “21” and “25.”   As that thick cockney accent cuts through the trough of tears shed, she cleans house, claiming most if not every Grammy she’s slated for.  I’d say those are pretty good odds.

Chocolate

On the flight home late Tuesday night between the spotty Southwest wi-fi and my fistful of Valentine’schocolate, I couldn’t get her out of my head, so I jotted down a few lessons she’s taught me over the years, especially this past Sunday night.

1.) Be You

Seems obvious, right?  I don’t think so.  Maybe it’s LA, or the entertainment industry, or my own ego that I can feel expand in order to compensate in a room full of über talented people.  Whatever it is, Adele seems to be immune to the insidious pressure to conform.  I’m sure she’s got her demons just like the best of them, however, she knows who she is and what she does well, and she does it– like a Boss. With steady opinions from all sides to be this and that, to look a certain way, and perhaps to diversify, she’s unapologetically steady in who she is.  It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry full of people hustling hard to show up in just the right light.  She just “is” and it’s simply stunning—magnetic.

Version

Do you ever feel like you’re hustling to live up to some unrealistic version of you?  I do.  Next time it happens, take a step back and remember this:  you’re in a league of your own—no one else in the world will do when it comes to being you.  Own it.  When I listen to Adele sing, I don’t want to hear Katy Perry, I want Adele!  (Though I do love me some KP).  Good news: there’s more than enough room at the table for the unique gifts we each bring and a scarcity mindset is totally unnecessary.

2.) Don’t Be Afraid to Start Over

I remember playing a gig in the mecca of downtown Franklin a couple of years back.  I hadn’t been practicing much and I didn’t really know one of the songs I was meant to play. Being the queen of wing it, I confidently, (read: blindly), walked right into a train wreck, having to start that song over halfway through.  It was awful.  I felt so much shame and embarrassment and desperately wantedto go hide under a rock for the next couple of months.  Umm, there were probably 25 people there, tops.  Really?

Hero

When Adele stopped her George Michael tribute on music’s biggest night in order to start the song over, I wanted to do back flips all the way up to the stage and hug her ever deserving neck.  It’s the same shame, yet on vastly different platforms.  She risked being rejected in order to do what she knew she needed to do.  Courage does not exclude fear, it embraces it and keeps going.  Heroes personify courage and we live in a culture desperately searching for heroes.  I believe this is a big reason Adele stole our hearts in the first place.

Pride

We must not let pride keep us from slowing down, re-assessing, and starting over when we need to be it in a creative endeavor, an unhealthy relationship,  or a work project we’ve been unsuccessfully pushing uphill.   If Adele can mess up and start over for all the world to see, I’m pretty sure you and I can in our own way as well.

3.) Lead with your Heart

As if it were even possible to love her more than I already did, she then managed to pull out that unforgettable and disarming final acceptance speech for Album of the Year.

It was a tough call.  She was up against Beyoncé’s fiercely creative “Lemonade”, and she literally didn’t want to accept it as she felt her competition had been robbed.  We didn’t get a tidy, calculated, speech thanking all the big wigs in the room.  Instead, we got an off-the-cuff love letter to her hero, complete with blubbering tears and that quintessential F-bomb we’ve become endearingly familiar with.  She could’ve used those valuable minutes to further her cause, or better yet, get political.  Instead, she led with her heart, honoring the influential genius of Beyoncé, who’s work and life highly impacted every facet of her experience, including the admittedly broken one of motherhood.

Ego

Constantly choosing to tap into love instead of fear helps us detach from ego and get out of our own way. Ego is always divisive.  It puffs up, separating us from our true self because we’re afraid our true self isn’t enough.  Vulnerably, Adele continues to model that, and a starving world devours every last crumb.

Model

Vulnerability is a scary thing, after all, as we inevitably risk rejection and abandonment.  What I’m seeing though, is it’s the only way to truly be known and loved.  This week, let’s follow Adele’s lead and see what happens.  You never know, we may give another caged soul the freedom to show up— messy, imperfect, and un-rehearsed.  I want to be apart of that revolution.

love & gratitude,

katie

xoxo

The Deciding Line: Staying the Course

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done

-Kenny Rogers (The Gambler)

The Gambler

I remember going to a Kenny Rogers concert in 8th grade with a few friends.  I didn’t much like country music but it was the thing at my school back then and I was locked smack dab in the middle of my awkward stage pinnacle.  I also got a huge kick out of Dolly and she was slated to make a guest appearance that night for their classic duet, Islands in the Stream.  Needless to say, I went along with it.  After all, there was very little for a twelve-year-old to do in Mobile, Alabama that didn’t involve golf cart mudding or toilet papering the odd neighbor’s front yard.

Cool Points

Towards the end of the concert, I decided to step it up a notch in hopes of earning a few more cool points. (I was already ahead as my drop dead gorgeous mom was playing chauffeur that night).  In between songs, the auditorium got super still for some strange reason.  Was he switching guitars?  Was he waiting on sound? Did the Budweiser run out?  I didn’t know and didn’t care.  I took the golden opportunity and ran like it was a skydiver’s terrifying first jump.

Leap

There in the silence I inched towards the edge and screamed at the top of my pre-pubescent lungs “The GAMBLERRRR!!!!” The next thirty seconds felt like a turtle’s lifetime and I’m sure I resembled something of a seared beet.  Finally, Mr. Rogers peered way back into the nosebleeds as if to try to locate this brave (read: ludicrous) young soul, then chuckled, “Well, alright then.”  He launched into that familiar finger picking pattern followed by a warm raspy vocal, holding thousands of hungry fans and one proud pre-teen in the palm of his hand.  It was epic, indeed.

Alive

Believe it or not, this post is about staying the course of our goals, not how to make it out of middle school alive.  I’m convinced that was a miracle I don’t remember much of.  The Gambler lends us wisdom as we navigate our goals.  I love this idea of knowing when to cut our losses; when to walk away from something that appears good, but may not ultimately be great for the overarching journey ahead.

One

Many of you are highly creative, highly intuitive creatures, tightly wound for success.  The achievement stakes are high as is the capacity to dream.  You do many things really well, which makes choosing just one of them often difficult.

Action

Today, I want to drop a few ideas that have helped me translate desire into action.  Play around with them, tease them out a bit.  They may challenge a few beliefs you’ve held thus far.  They’ve certainly done so for me.

You can’t have it all (Gasp)

I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I read Twyla Tharp’s sharp words of wisdom in her bestseller The Creative Habit for the first time.

As a brilliant, world-renown choreographer in her 60’s, she harkens back to her stringent 20’s way of thinking that she could, indeed have it all:

“To lead a creative life, you have to sacrifice, ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘having it all’ do not go together.  I set out to have a family, have a career, be a dancer, and support myself all at once, and it was overwhelming.  I had to learn the hard way that you can’t have it all, you have to make some sacrifices, and there’s no way you’re going to fulfill all the roles you imagine.”

Hats

What roles are you currently juggling?  Does it feel exhausting?  Perhaps its time to re-examine all the hats you’re wearing and choose one or two that fit the best.  I know I know,  you are good at what you set your mind to and multi-tasking might be your jam. However, when calling and desire are at stake, slow and steady may be your best bet for consistent delivery.

Cut it out

The word “decide” comes from the Latin decider, literally meaning “to cut off.”  Whenever we make a choice, we cut off and remove another option.  I love this imagery–it frees up space for more of what we actually want and lightens the load in order to quicken our step in the right direction.  Choosing to prioritize a dream that speaks lovingly and loudly allows us to silence the dead weight of conflicting voices that speak out of turn.  Plus, this is how we practice listening and leaning into intuition,  ultimately building trust in ourselves, our voice.

Good vs. Great

This doesn’t mean the conflicting voices are necessarily bad.  Au Contraire!  I believe at the core of our desires we find purity.  We want to make a good living to create freedom and security, we want to get a promotion in order to feel accomplished and respected, we want to travel the world in order to fuel a sense of wonder and expand our horizons.  These are all beautiful desires.  We’ve got to learn how to navigate them.

Harvest

I love vineyards.  The process of growing, pruning, crushing, and harvesting grapes that eventually produce wine is fascinating, if not poetic.  The farmer is intimately acquainted with this process of knowing, choosing, and cutting off in order to render the best the vines can offer.  Of course, there are wilting grapes in obvious need of elimination.  Then there are perfectly good grapes; grapes that appear healthy, ripe, and full of potential.  The winemaker knows, however, that in order for optimal growth, too much weight and fruit will actually dampen the vine and lower overall quality.

There doesn’t need to be harsh judgment of our decision to focus on one goal over another.  The good news is, we can always come back to it and reassess.  Like the song boasts, “There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.”

Now dream

For now, I encourage you to make a list of 5-10 things you deeply desire to accomplish in the next three months.  Don’t edit it or deem them unrealistic, just listen to what wells up inside.  Spend five minutes with that list and circle the one that would have the MOST positive impact on your life now.  If there’s one that’s are close second, draw a box around it; you’ve found your six month goal.  You can build this out as long as you want and revisit with more clarity down the line.  As I mentioned last week, the Passion Planner is an amazing resource to supplement this journey as well.

I absolutely love partnering with you on this journey of making dreams and desires a tangible reality.  If you feel you need extra support, don’t hesitate to reach out.  Oh and, stay tuned for some really exciting news on the blog in the coming weeks!  I’ve got some fun stuff planned for us

Love & Gratitude,

Katie

xoxo

Three Game Changers for the Journey Ahead

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

–Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Clean Slate

We are bounding through January.  Despite the wet, grey, whiplashed days January offers on the heels of holiday indulgences, I freaking love this month.  It yields a pristine sense of clarity and hope as well as a big fat slice of heaven for the introverted soul: fireside reading, killer movies to catch up on (La La Land, anyone?), warm beverages galore, and a proverbial blanket of white snow on the ground beckoning the young dreamer in all of us to let loose and explore.

Blue Monday

The third Monday in January is a bit of a bear.   Apparently, it’s the most depressing day of the year as it’s the day everyone ditches their shiny, steep new year’s resolutions, seizes the old sweatpants, and heads straight for that hidden Ben & Jerry’s pint (or pick your poison) in the sky.  It’s the day we cave into the weighty shame of unmet, unrealistic expectations we heaped on ourselves about three weeks ago.  They’re simply too hard.  In fact, it’s such a let down, they’ve actually given this day a name: Blue Monday.  Who knew?

Litmus Test

Monday morning, millions of people woke up, looked themselves in the mirror, and saw the piercing failure of “not enough”.  Once again, they couldn’t quite cut it.  Their litmus test: a number on a scale, an unwritten novel, a half eaten cheesecake purchased the night before, or perhaps a pack of Camels that miraculously appeared in the kitchen desk drawer.  The vicious cycle continues as we beat ourselves into submission with a new, “better” set of rules, checks and balances, what have you.

Hangry

In light of this melancholy kind of blue, I thought it would be a great opportunity to ditch the idea of elimination altogether and give you some killer tools to add to your tool belt instead.  After all, I’ve never understood this logic of giving up something delicious, like truffle fries, only to be met by a thin drip of green juice. It tends to make me really hangry, and backfires altogether.  It’s also really isolating.  I prefer the supplemental route: let’s add in practices, rituals, and tools that gently keep us on track and promote loving relationship with the totality of our beings: physical, emotional, and spiritual, as well as with others.

Tool Belt

Today, I bring you three tools I’ve added to my daily routine (okay, maybe I’ve missed a couple here and there) as consistently as anything I’ve tried.  Why?  Because they’re fun and they work.  Whereas you can find tons of  research backing the validity and effectiveness of each one, I’m simply going to give you a quick layman’s account, focusing on the application and value I’ve seen within the last month.  Each day, I look forward to my encounters with these tools and practices. They’ve been, in fact, game changers for 2017 already.  You ready for this?

Meditation

I know, I know.  I know what you’re thinking.  “I’ve tried that before and it’s too hard.  I just can’t sit still.”  Fair enough.  However, from one who literally doesn’t like to sit much and is in her happy place walking for days down the busy streets of a buzzing big city somewhere, I’ve finally found a practice that works.  Ladies and gents, I give you Headspace.  It’s an app, its ten minutes a day, the first ten days are free to give you a taste of how it works, and then the journey continues with a modest subscription worth every penny.  The helpful thing about this app is the structured, guided aspect. Led by a lovely guy called Andy with a super cute British accent, Headspace gently leads you through a daily practice that’s accessible, not  too woo-woo (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and really effective.

We live far too much of life in our minds, yet we’re not often taught how to live there.  Headspace has freed up so much energy for me that typically gets spent judging and reacting.  Judging everything: my thoughts, my self, my bad hair day, my inadequacies, those I love, and on and on.  I’ve noticed a softer inner dialog, increased energy, a better mood and outlook, among so many other things.  This topic deserves a whole post, and I could go on and on, but do yourself (and your loved ones) a huge favor and start today.

Essential Oils

I’ve heard the buzz for years and have close friends who swear by them.  For some ungodly reason, I’ve just arrived at the party and not a minute too soon.  My friend Mary Hyatt is an inspiration to me on so many levels.  A few months back, she guested on the blog sharing her insight and experience as it pertains to relationship with food.  Well, she recently introduced me to Doterra, a killer, high-quality, line of essential oils.  As a Christmas gift to myself, I ordered an introductory packet chock full of gorgeous oils, a diffuser, and an arsenal of vitamins that are magic and don’t make you feel like you’re going to vomit.

Transport

Now I get it what the hype is all about.  Oils are not only incredible for the mood and senses but medicinal for what ails you.  Smell is the most powerful of all the senses.  Walk in your local bakery and notice where the waft of freshly baked bread transports you.  There’s a mood attached to that smell as well.  I’ve been like a kid in a candy story experimenting with Lavender, bergamot, lemon, peppermint, frankincence, and more.  My often spotty sleep has improved, energy and mood lifted, and muscle tension in my body eased.  I’ve always had a holistic view of wellness and therapy and these oils are seriously icing on that cake.  If you have any questions, please ask.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out.  I’m passionate about sharing this stuff and believe modern medicine will eventually catch on as well.

Passion Planner

Lastly but definitely not least, my third favorite tool, the Passion Planner.  How many times have you bought a beautiful new, leather-bound planner and found it six months later covered in dust under a pile of magazines in your office?  I can honestly say for me, quite often.  The passion planner is different in that it starts with my favorite motivating force: desire.  This planner breaks down goals in a creative, interactive way month to month, week to week, day-to-day.  It asks what’s most important, driving our passion as well as what’s NOT important, standing in as a poser, or mere distractor.

They’re also big believers in writing it all down as opposed to plugging it into a device.  Why?  because the physical act of writing is step one to actualizing that desire, that mind-body connection thing. The passion planner is a road map, not just a calendar.

Wrap-up

I can honestly say 2017 has gotten off to such a great start partially due to these three amazing resources.  So much of this journey is embracing ritual and structure as well as practical tools that enhance our growth and healing.  I sincerely hope you’ll check out each one.  Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions and feedback!

Love & Gratitude,

Katie

xoxo