I roll over a few times beneath my cotton sheets. The morning sun is warming my bedroom through the airy bamboo shades. I slumber downstairs, make my morning brew and saunter outside to wake up slowly under the willow tree with the sweet morning hummingbirds.
On warm summer mornings, I am savor my time to wake up slowly. Each morning a little creatively different, but most ending with more clarity and peace in how I want to sculpt my day.
In one hand some warm bulletproof coffee or tea, in the other a pen and journal. The waft of my Balinese insense drifting through the backyard air, and the sweet feeling of having the time to just BE.
I love to move my morning practice outside in the summer. To sit in meditation with just peaks of sun shining on my shoulders, and the beauty of life all around me.
My summer mornings are savored.
Living from a place of intention is a habit I have been cultivating in myself for many years. While it is surely not fool proof, as life has its way of sweeping though the day with its own set of agendas, these morning rituals help to set me up for success – whatever the day may bring.
Recently, when I was asked what I thought women (and men) struggle with the most when it comes to health, well-being, food and body – I had to sit and think for a while.
Hmmm...
Sometimes it is overwhelm and confusion, sometimes self-sabotage or negative beliefs about ourselves, sometimes a lack of understanding around how to feed our bodies or and souls, but I would have to say the number one challenge we all share is all wrapped up in changing old habits.
In fact, changing habits can be the very obstacle for many women that seem impossible to overcome.
For the next 6 weeks, I will be sharing some of the gems from my work with women in the groups I lead all over the world. I will share with you some ways we can begin to create a loving and female approach to our eating, and our bodies with tastes of some of the myths and archytypes I work with that provide a little extra support.
The Summer Solace Series is here for you to lean into.
This is my late summer offering for you to explore your own true nature with respect to health, happiness and inner peace. My intention with the Summer Solace Series is to make our journey of the feminine feel a little smoother, a lot more whole, while staying deeply connected to ourselves as women.
As we transition into the last part of summer, we energetically prepare for a transition into a new school year, another autumn season, and a time to begin a new pulse that works well for what we are intending for ourselves.
I have also created the Summer Solace Series to share with you some samples and nuggets from my upcoming women’s circles that are beginning in September (one live full moon weekend retreat, and one virtual women’s focus group) with tastes of some of the most potent themes and practices.
So, without further ado, welcome to the Summer Solace Series... Today, we are taking the first step in changing tired old habits. These are the habits that keep you stuck. These are the habits that you don’t like to talk about. These are the habits that move you in the opposite direction from where you want to be. These are the habits that often feel almost impossible to break. We all have them, so get comfy.
Healthy Happy Habits + A Storytime Sit Down Audio Session with Me
Today we are exploring the first step to changing old habits, so that the new habits of the heart can become part of a supportive and conscious path to living.
Today you will learn:
- The first step to releasing your tired old habits
- The most common mistakes we make when trying to make a change.
- How to use myth and ritual to support you in honing your habits. (including an audio storytelling sit down that I crafted for you)
The first step to releasing your tired old habits + a Storytime Sit Down with Me:
Habits are hard to break. I have some I am diligently working on myself. From my eating, my sleeping and my stress management, to how I monitor my finances, my negative thoughts and my self-care. We create them by patterning ourselves in such a way that they become automatic.
In the beginning, all of our habits served a purpose. Often born from an early age, a challenging time, or a learned automatic behavior that we developed to cope or deal with a certain situation.
From the moment you get out of bed each day – your daily breakfast, morning rituals, workplace interactions, the texts you send to your loved ones, to the way you drive home – you are engaging in multitudes of habits and patterns.
Most of these habits are serving you well, allowing you to handle the challenging co-worker, the multitudes of stress before an exam, or the baby up crying all night – you are on automatic more than you realize.
Our minds don’t often discern between the good and the bad habits when operating on automatic. We just keep doing, keep going, and keep trying to manage our lives.
The thing is, a tired old habit is one that did its job back when it was first being created. It may have helped you cope with a broken family, a stressful childhood, or a bully at school. A tired old habit may also have saved you from feeling out of control, feeling unloved or feeling stressed out.
Tired old habits once served an important purpose. Now, can you discern when they have become outdated?
We spend a lot of time looking at where we went wrong, how we got stuck, why we can’t do something different. Self criticism, shame and fear are often the co-pilots of wanting to make a change
What if we looked that tired old habit right in the eyes and said “Thank You”?
“Thank you for serving me well dear friend. Thanks for protecting me, helping me cope, and giving me options for getting though the tough times. I appreciate you. I honor you. And now… I am completely done with you. You serve me no longer and I send you on your way.”
When we can see these old habits in their true form, full history, and even a little bubble of appreciation for how they have sustained us, we can release them more gracefully.
- Mindless eating can be a way to comfort yourself when you’re feeling down.
- Retail shopping online for hours might be a way you avoid interacting with your expired relationship.
- Drinking too much may be the only way you know how to be social with a certain group of friends.
If you want to break the habit, you have to come to grips with whatever function the bad habit was serving.
What are your tired old habits?
Identifying the habit, and the history of the habit is the first step to making a change.
Try this:
- Name the tired old habit you are looking to transform.
- Unravel the history behind the habit, when it started, why it served you, and when it expired.
- Be gentle with yourself as you appreciate the value the habit served and the acknowledgement of its time to be released.
- Drop the guilt, shed the shame.
Listen to our first Storytime Sit Down HERE
Just like the sweetness of ripe August peach, The Summer Solace Series is my late summer treat for you. A harvest filled path into the last weeks of summer, a taste of the Sisterhood Circles Focus Group and Full Moon Women's Retreat weekend that begins this September and some summer savoring secrets that will keep you satiated.
Stay tuned...
The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles ~ Small Focus groups
Create a powerful vision, commit to your intentions, happiness, and freedom, while surrounding yourself extraordinary women.
The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles are for women seeking vibrant and inspired living. Find your personal recipe for health and vitality.
Our next group is coming up this September, 2016.
A Women's Full Moon Weekend Retreat
With Sue Van Raes and Special Guests
September 16-18th
Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection. Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.