If you are going somewhere amazing you can't get there piecemeal.

I NEVER imagined turning 52.

Honestly, it feels great.

I have spent the last few years on an incredible journey to un-become who I was not

and to become who I was meant to be in the first place.

It has not been a piecemeal effort.

It has not been without bumps and struggle and discomfort.

Living life luxuriously is not about spas, resorts or “fancy”.

It is an approach.

.

Living luxuriously is no longer rushing or hurrying.

It is enjoying each moment.

Moving through life with ease.

Getting help has never been an easy thing for me.

I expect this is true for many of you.

My mind likes to tell me I “should” be able to do it all myself.

That self-sufficiency is a measure of strength and adequacy.

That striving and pushing will get me farther.

My to-do list became a birthday list or a “gift” to myself list.

Next week is my birthday and what I most wanted I realized when I listened to my heart- was to NOT have a lot of stuff on my to-do list. To declutter the to-do list.

To have the peace and freedom that would come from having it done.

So I changed my to-do list- to a birthday list.

One I would do FOR ME as a gift.

It’s possible to go from struggling

to managing

to living more easefully

to feeling engaged and connected.

Eat happy. Get a routine baggy enough to live in. Be kind.

Accept that not everyone will like you. Appreciate those who do.

From a place of kindness to self

so much more is possible.

And when we see possibilities

so much more is possible.

May you all live a life filled with kindness and compassion to yourself

It’s so much better than being mean to yourself.

It’s more kind and almost always leads to even more efficiency and productivity.

My nickname used to be “Mama Bear.” And it wasn’t a term of endearment.

I have become a much more loving "Mama Bear" through mindfulness.

Now I show up most of the time with love, calm, compassion, presence, acceptance, and connection

rather than worry, stress, and anxiety, even in very stressful situations.

The old versions were great AND the new versions work faster and often function much more smoothly.

Less wasted time and energy.

Not without hiccups but definitely with less churn.

And they are often lighter, easier to carry, and easier to use.

Their cameras see and capture beauty better than the previous versions.

If you are going somewhere amazing you can’t get there piecemeal.

“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”- Plato

Choose to create a well “whole.”

Heart, spirit, body, and mind.

This is the why of mindful coaching. This is the why of mindful yoga. And the why of my coaching and yoga retreats.

Experiencing joy requires presence.

It requires allowing. It requires receiving. It requires vulnerability.

And letting go. It is a full-body experience.

One that often moves you to tears.

When you change yourself, you know you can feel better.

When you do the changing,

you get to choose what and how to change.

You have agency and are back in the driver’s seat of your own experience of your life and your relationships.

This feels better.

When you change, everything around you begins to change and shift. The energy of your relationships and situations shifts.

If we realize that inherently things are both good and bad and, for the most part, 50/50 —we can use this to our advantage. We can focus on what is in our control- how we experience the 50/50. This is how we shift the balance and impact our lived experience of our one “wild and precious life.”

What if you stopped waiting for something or sometime in the future and instead started living your life more fully today? Even in the midst of who knows what, what if you chose to make all 7 days of your week extraordinary in some way —right now? What if you intentionally experienced some true joy and connection in each one? What if you decided to be better together? With all the people in your life? This work is the preventive care for a happy, healthy, connected, and joyful life and relationships.

A better relationship isn’t always about fixing the other person. Sometimes it’s about removing the barriers inside you that keep love out.

When we lean into the beauty of the good we have in our relationships, we experience more good.

There are lots of different models of amazing and worthwhile relationships in this world. Without a doubt, every relationship is missing something. When we let go of comparisons with others' relationships, those who we perceive may have more of what we think we want, and we enjoy our own more.

Could you resist the urge to believe there is a relationship out there that would be better and make you happier?

Could you trust the you who chose this relationship when you chose it?

What if you choose to tell a story about it that feels good and helps you enjoy your life?

There will be perspective-shifting, healing, and self-compassion growing. My classes are designed to help address collective anxiety, improve mood, and begin to soften the fraying of our nervous systems. All desperately needed at this moment by so many of us.

Doing the work on you and your own mind can help you find a harmonious place in your relationships even when the other person - teen- young adult or otherwise- isn’t in a space to be able to or doesn’t want to make changes.

Accepting and allowing your teens, young adult children, and partners- as they are and you as you are — with “grace and compassion.” is a beautiful strategy.

We are all imperfect and “a work in progress.”