Happy, Happy New Year!!!!
   Do you remember when you were a kid and you got into something so fully that you lost track of everything. It could have been sports or art or maybe it was math or reading a good book or writing and you realized you had gone into a time hole hahahaha. Hours and hours had gone by and it felt like minutes.
   Maybe you have had this when you were out in nature or meditating or running.  This is available at all times. Just catching the wave of our passion and interest and digging into it.  If you don’t have much of this in your life can you add it?
   Honestly for me it is being truly present. Even when I am doing things I don’t want to do (cleaning the house, vacuuming etc.) If I am present I can actually just zip through it in a much better mental state with energy and ease. 
   Otherwise I drag myself around, moaning and complaining and that just sucks and it takes twice as long hahahaha.
   Give yourself the gift of finding ways to bring presence and joy into your everyday activities. Maybe it’s adding music or a podcast that is exciting and fun to listen to or an audible book while you drive to the grocery. 
   Are you willing to commit to adding in something you LOVE doing that you haven’t been doing. The key is to just add it bit by bit. I hear you from here, “Courtney, what? Add it in, how, how, how?”
Well the real question is why? Because it feeds your soul, adds pleasure, rejuvenates you, is self care and adds massive value to your life! That is the answer that will get you to do it. When you want to and you know why you need to you  will find a way to do it. Period! You will.
   Look back at a time in your life when you stuck something in that was so important and you had no idea how you were going to do it because you really didn’t have “time” and you did it and it was a WOW!
   I did this with my colleague and amazing friend, Julie. We went to a business seminar in 2019. We both thought omg, how, can we really and we made it happen and I am grateful everyday that we did!!! You never know when the world will shut down and you won’t be able to do it.
   You deserve it. Do it. You will feel so good. It will add energy and give you a boost.
   This year, make it the year of doing what you know you MUST do, no matter what. Just do it!!!
​
Side note….I loved Soul the Disney plus movie that is live streaming! Check it out. So good. Flow, energy, spark….it is important.  Happy happy New Year! Let’s gooooooo!

   What a year it has been!!!
   We have been through so much. A pandemic and a shut down of everything. We did kundalini yoga three times a week for months on zoom, we zoomed with our friends and family and school, we had turmoil in politics and a conscious light was shown on the racial inequalities of our society. It has been a year of growth and change.     An awakening and deepening. 
   Let’s continue to take ourselves to the next level of growth.
   How was the homework of observing where you are?
   Are you where you want to be with your finances? Your career? Your relationships? Your health? Is one of these areas outstanding and one of them a tiny blip? 
   Well now, is the time to set your sights on what you want to accomplish in this area. Pick one or two and focus on what you want it to look like next year at this time!
   As you describe it, with specific detail and clarity also ask yourself why?  Why  do you want to do that?
What will it mean to you to accomplish this?
Maybe you also see how far you have come since last year.
Take time to acknowledge yourself for that too.

   Make a plan with actions to step into making this vision the reality. Plan those actions. Do something everyday toward that goal, that result, that vision. You can do it. You are here for so much more than you give yourself credit for. Jump into it. Go through the Monkey Mind of worry, doubt and fear by taking action. Especially when that voice gets loud. "Thank you for sharing Monkey Mind but I have this." I will do it. 

Let this year, 2021 be the year to take off the brakes, to accelerate your dreams by bringing them into physical reality. 
Love you all!! Thanks for being on this journey with me. I appreciate it so much. 
Let's GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Here we go. Ending 2020 with intention, energy, focus and clarity  and jumping into 2021. 
If you get in your car to go anywhere, the gps would require you to start with where you are. So this week I want you to work on where you are and next week we will work on where we want to go.
Journal this.
 On the top of each page title what is important to you. Only one area of your life per page so you can brainstorm where you are, with honesty. Don’t beat yourself up or make it worse than it is. Just see it exactly as it is, period.
 My health, my family life, my career, my finances, etc -- the places in your life that matter most to you. You will probably have 5, 6, 7 or so.
 As you do this, you will start to observe things you may not have even thought about. Good things might pop into your head, "wow I really did take care of myself this year, I ate healthier, I exercised, I took time out for me (like Courtney talked about all year hahahah) and I lowered my stress.
Seeing where you are doesn’t mean it is negative, it is just seeing where you are. When you see you are doing something aligned with your intentions, acknowledge yourself for what is going great. This is important. 
As you are writing where you are on each page, write one thing you appreciate about yourself in this area. Hint, even if seeing where you are is challenging. Find ONE thing that you can appreciate about yourself in that area. 
That’s the homework.
Do it all in one sitting or do one here and there. But do it. Take inventory. You owe it to yourself to do this. 
As I always say hahahaha, it always starts with you. If you don’t know where you are, if you haven’t put your oxygen mask on first, you can’t help anyone else. 
Have fun with it. Put music on, get in a playful mood, let yourself go. If you are having a hard time writing stuff then do a few of my brain breaks and connect to your breath, bring yourself into your heart.
Your heart always knows the answer. 
See you next week where we will take it to the next level!!!
Love you guys.
Happy Tuesday. 

Thanksgiving is coming up. I know it is different. It may be challenging or you may be missing family members. And yet the opportunity for doing things a different way is good for our growth. Not always easy but important in the long run. 
​
What is important to you on thanksgiving? 
Is it the food?
The friends?
The family?
What are your favorite things about it? 

Make sure some of those things are included and if it’s “being with family” that are not present then thank god we have zoom. 
I know, I know everyone is sick of zoom. Believe me I have had 14-16 hour days of zoom hahahaha I get it. And yet I am sooooo grateful for zoom. The connection it has created and allowed is astonishing.     If you had said last February, “hey in a couple of weeks you will only be able to talk to some of your family via the computer.” Everyone would have thought you were nuts! And yet here we are. 
We will be zooming on Thanksgiving to include family and I am so grateful that it is an option. 
They are safe and healthy and we can “see” them. That is a blessing.
It is a perspective shift and reframing of our belief about what this day means.
Here are 3 Things to help you on Thanksgiving:
    1- Focus on the things that make you feel good and feel grateful.
I will be focusing on the smells in my house and laughter and goofiness and zooming.
I will be grateful for the health of everyone. 
I will be grateful for all the growth that has happened this year. 
I will be grateful for my tea and pie.
I will be grateful for my littles that are now bigs.
I will be grateful for love and joy in my heart.

     2-You MUST You MUST you MUST take time for yourself. Please, self care everyday but during the holidays it is an absolute must. If you haven’t adopted this every day practice yet or you have let it slip then let me remind you to DO IT. Please. It is for yourself and for others because you are a better person when you give to yourself first. It can be small. Even a “time in” where you breathe with your eyes closed, focused on your heart and a beautiful memory from your life or it can be a walk but DO IT. 
It all starts with you. Let it begin there and radiate out. Fill your cup so you can give to others and not get depleted. Ok, I am now getting off the soap box. Hahaha. 

    3-If the “can’t, won’t, this sucks, etc…” keep showing up for you. Here is a little exercise you can do. Immediately replace it with the opposite. For example, “I just can’t have a good thanksgiving without my whole family” flip this to “I am learning new ways and new traditions to bring joy to myself”. It isn’t denying the feeling of loss it is reframing the moment. This is important for your brain. You know how we are always talking about training your brain, well this is a perfect time to put some of these skills to practice. Commit to having a good day and you will. 

I wish for you a thanksgiving celebration that is filled with gratitude and ease. 
Love you all. 

​

Today I want to give you an exercise in focus. 
Has anyone ever asked you what you want and you kind of stall and then list all the things you don’t want? 
You might be certain in one area of your life like work or finances but maybe another area like health or relationship feels like a mystery.
Energy flows where focus goes so as you focus on all the things you don’t want your brain hears them and says, “oh those must be important. I will make sure to give her lots of that.” 
Seriously, this is a scientific fact. 
An example of this is when something becomes important to you,  you start noticing it everywhere. It could be you just loved a movie and saw an actor you like in that movie and now you see that actor everywhere. Or you went to test drive a red Tesla and now everywhere you go you see red Teslas. Those things were always around you, you just didn’t notice them until your brain thought it was important to you. 
 You can even test this out.
Think of something and plant the seed in your brain, I wonder if I should start drinking celery juice? Read a couple of articles and then see if you start noticing stuff about celery hahahaha.
What is exciting about this is that you can consciously choose what you want to focus on. Make it something that supports you and serves you. 
If you want to be healthier and eat better. Start supporting that with what you buy at the grocery, read about it and even when you are working out or walking repeat, “I am getting healthier and healthier every day!” Direct your focus.
So here is the challenge. 
This week every time you think of something you don’t want erase it and say the opposite. Even if you don’t “know” what you want just use the word that is opposite of what you don’t want. “I don’t want to be tempted by junk food any more, I don’t want to over eat.” Switch that immediately in your brain: "Oops, brain, what I really want is to enjoy and love healthy and delicious veggies (and say it with excitement and maybe even jump up and down) and I will stop when I am full so I can run around and enjoy my kids.”
Give this a go. You will be amazed at the results. 
Let me know. I love to hear how it is going for you. 
​Thanks sweet family. 

How is the gratitude challenge going?
Are you doing it?
How are you feeling?
Does the checklist give you some new ways to think of gratitude?
This photo is our family gratitude jar. At dinner we each wrote 3 gratefuls. It is fun to look back at some of the things you have put in the jar. 
Why gratitude?:

1. You can’t feel fear and gratitude at the same time. This is a brain fact. So whenever you get in the place where you are future-tripping or in constant circular fear and anxiety. Stop. Close your eyes. Breathe. At least three deep breaths. Then think of three things you are grateful for. If this pattern of fear comes back then repeat this exercise as much as you need to to get out of the loop. It will work. You will feel better and you will be training your brain to shift its focus! That is something to be proud of. Remember it is like working out. You don’t work out once and then you are in shape for the rest of your life. You need to train your brain. Take it easy, be gentle and keep on shifting your focus. You CAN do this. 
2. Growing, both spiritually and personally, requires us to bring gratefulness to our everyday life. Even when the circumstances aren’t “obviously joy filled.” It is the courage to be willing to see the lesson in “getting a flat tire.” This is sometimes tricky at first. Please remember this is a practice, it is a process not a perfectionistic way of being. Feeling the feeling of getting the flat tire, the frustration, anger, annoyance, etc. but then to be able to take a beat so that you don’t stay in those emotions, that you can shift to what would better serve you, the lesson. Then to be grateful for it. Is a process. It is something to practice. Try it on something small at first. A typical thing that happens that gets to you. See it, feel it, name it, take a breath, shift your focus and see if you can see it from a lesson perspective. Then acknowledge it and be grateful for the opportunity to learn. If you feel extreme resistance about this then back off it. Stay with daily gratitude. It will strengthen the muscle. 
3. We feel better and want to live a life well lived. What better way to do this than to share how we appreciate someone or are thinking of them. When we extend ourselves to others we are not only spreading love and making them feel good but it increases our happiness as well. Since Covid is making it tough to do this in person it is especially important to reach out and call, zoom, write a note or text someone you are grateful for. You will make their day a little more special and that will boomerang back to you.

   We are in challenging times so it is a perfect opportunity to find gratitude as much as you can in people, places, things, events and moments and to spread that energy. Then, when we look back on this time we will be grateful how much we grew, developed, changed and emerged better, stronger and more loving all around. 

Happy Tuesday. 
Keep up the great work.

Let's flip 2020. 

​