Connecting to the Goddess Within

Changes.  They start off small, the long lasting one’s at least.

Change can come suddenly, without warning or possibly slowly overtime and anywhere in between.

Little did I know that 2017 would be a year of change for me.  Change that is starting off small.

Let me share with you….

Last year was a year of ambitious undertakings that came from a place of calling and from a place of passion.

It all started with a desire to deepen the skills I brought to each individual bodywork session; then out of a need for women to connect and heal in community, my desire lead me to use my women’s circle facilitation training to create a monthly women’s circle called, The Chakra Movement, and as the fourth quarter of 2016 came around, a desire to help others learn self care techniques based on myofascial release principles lead me to create, The Art of Letting Go/Myofascial Release Self Care Series.

These endeavors were nothing short of fulfilling and satisfying, as they were a reflection of bringing visions I had, passion and drive to life.

Let’s face it, I’ve had an ambitious drive ever since I could remember.  For crying out loud, one NEEDS drive (and dedication to match) if they’re going to pursue a career as a professional dancer as I did in my late teens and twenties!

While the external activities may look different, the drive that I’ve felt inside has never changed….until now.

As many of you know, I was fortunate to live a 20 year long dream of traveling to Australia at the end of 2016.  Not only did I get to live a dream, this dream was experienced on the other side of the world, in a completely different hemisphere than the country I currently call home and it also happened to be in a place where summer is in December rather than the wintertime that I’m used to.

As my chiropractor said, “You were figuratively, and somewhat literally, turned inside out and turned upside down!”

Traveling to a country where life is flipped around from the environmental factors one is used to, does have it’s effects!

The effect that traveling to Australia had on me was an opportunity to step FAR AWAY from my daily life as I knew it and allowed me an opportunity to experience another point of view regarding my day to day.

While I had an immense appreciation for my life back home in Chicago and the many wonderful things I created throughout the year, I also realized that my ambitious undertakings were taking it’s toll on me.

The toll felt like it could be costly if I continued to pursue this overly driven way of life much longer.

Before embarking on the journey overseas, I started to realize that I felt exhausted and I wasn’t actually feeling my way through life, I was just going through the motions feeling more concerned with crossing things off of my to-do list rather than involving myself in daily activities that actually fed my soul.

Why am I sharing all of this with you?

There are a couple of reasons.  For one, I truly believe and have said it many times before that if you cannot help yourself, you cannot help anyone else, effectively anyway.  And with this very real reminder that I was experiencing while overseas, led me to realize that I was about to embark on a journey in 2017 that very much mirrored 2016.  I was planning to continue working with private clients full time, start a new women’s circle called, The Goddess Within, and continue The Art of Letting Go series once every month throughout the new year.

When I saw this schedule during my days in another country, my soul was crying out to stop the madness!  All my soul really wants at this time is to go deeper.  Deeper into myself, deeper into my connection with life, deeper with my connection to the work I do, deeper in my relationships and the like.

If I spread myself too thin, there’s no space or ability to go deep.  Many of us live this way.

All this said, I returned home with a new sense of purpose and a list a changes I needed to make.  The main change that would have a direct effect on anyone reading this is that I am postponing, The Goddess Within Circle for Women.  I cannot facilitate a circle about Goddess work, if I myself don’t feel like a goddess because I’m spread too thin to actually live a feminine principle of being in life rather than pummeling through life!

I will still continue teaching, The Art of Letting Go series, as I live this work and doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch to continue sharing it with others.

And now, with that one small change, I have time open to rest, to be, to read, to write, to laugh with loved ones, to cook delicious foods, to focus on deepening my bodywork studies and the like.

This small change is already having a profound impact by enhancing the relationship I have with myself.  I feel more quietly comfortable in my skin as a result of owning where I am at rather than thinking I should be doing something different with/in my life.  My relationships are improving as I have more quality time for them.  These are just to name of couple of improvements I’m already experiencing.

If you were planning on participating in the circle, please know when the time is right, another one will be offered.  I cannot give you a time frame on this because when the next one starts, it’s going to come at a time and from a place that calls me to offer one again.  This calling cannot have a timeline on it because it needs to be felt.

If you, yourself are experiencing ambitious overdrive and overload, is there one thing that you can change to give yourself some space?  A moment of reprieve.  It could be anything from waking up a few minutes early everyday to meditate, saying the word “no” from time to time or even hand off a part of a project to someone else who can get it done.

It can be as simple of a change as you would like it to be.

A simple change can have a profound impact on your life.