a water your toddler mama soul FAQ

Water Your Toddler Mama Soul begins next Wednesday, and today I want to share a quick FAQ:

What does "deep dive into self-care" mean?

I have to admit that I've been worried this phrase might be overwhelming to some. To me, a deep dive is a commitment to practicing something with your whole heart. So for these 10 days, my hope is that the mamas coming along will bring their hearts open to practicing self-care each day to see what it really feels like. However, the practices won't be intense. Quite the opposite really. They will be accessible and will take about 10-20 minutes each day (longer if you want them to). We will be taking photos and writing and getting outside to just breathe. And we will be supporting each other along the way. Also, I will be available by email and in the Facebook group for questions and support.

Why 10 days?

As a toddler mama, I know what it feels like to not have time for myself. But this is what I know: When I don’t take time for myself I’m not able to be really present for my life, for the everyday, for the beauty and the hard stuff. And I want to be present for all of it. 

And every time I’ve taken an ecourse since my daughter was born, I’ve never ever finished. Not once. And I like ecourses a lot. I like the community and the emails of wisdom in my inbox and the practices shared...all of it. But I seldom work through 4, 5, or 8 weeks of content.

Water Your Toddler Mama Soul gives you immediate accessible practices to reconnect with yourself in the midst of all that a day with a toddler or two or three brings. It gets right to it and gently pushes you to take care of yourself starting right now.

These are the practices I use each day, and when the class ends, you will be able to begin again, use the prompts that most resonated, and turn to the emails as often as you need to as a reminder that you are not alone. 

Do I have to be creative?

This isn't a class about being a creative mama or being creative with your kids. I do use the phrase "creative self-care" because many of the tools I use (photography, writing, and even meditation) fall under that category. There will be daily photography prompts that will be used as a tool to see your world and yourself. I can imagine that we will share ideas for ways to be creative with our toddlers in the Facebook group and look forward to those conversations.

Is this a class about parenting or about advice for parenting a toddler?

Nope. This class is about self-care for mamas. In the Facebook group, there could be threads started about parenting where someone asks for some tips, but that is not a focus of this class or of the Facebook group.

Can you define toddler mama? What if I’m not a toddler mama but this class speaks to my mama soul?

If you think you are a toddler mama, then you probably are! This class will focus on toddler moms and what they experience having a child between 1ish-4ish. I’ve heard someone call the newborn year “the longest shortest time.” This class will explore accessible self-care practices to support toddler mamas getting through that next stage that I think feels like a true continuation of that longest shortest time but with walking + talking + unexpectedness each day and so on. 

If your child is younger than 1 or older than 4 and this class speaks to you, send me an email and we can chat about it.

Tell me more about the Facebook group.

One of the reasons I want to create this class with a Facebook group that carries on after the class ends is because I think toddler mamas need a safe space to go where they can share how intense and gorgeous and crazy and beautiful the day to day is, and they will be held by a group of women who nod and get it and say, “me too, me too” because they are right there in it each day as well.

I deeply appreciate the perspective of moms of older children and turn to them for support. But sometimes these moms say things like, “Hold on to every moment.” and “Don’t wish this time away.” When what we really need to hear are other toddler mamas saying, “I hear this. This part of being a mom is hard for me too. You aren’t alone. I know you love your child, but of course this is intense. You are okay.” and so many other things that I believe only another toddler mama can feel in her body in this moment simply because she is in it too.

This first group of Water Your Toddler Mama Soul participants will help me to shape this Facebook group, and I can’t wait to dive in together.  

If you have any questions, please just send them over. 

Learn more and register here.

water your soul

December, you hold so much in your 31 days. The hustle and bustle of the holidays. The missing of those we love. The gatherings of family and friends and people we can't wait to hug and those we wish we didn't have to see. The loneliness that so often rests in the quiet spaces. The expectations, ours and others, that almost twinkle at the edges of each day. The hopes and the dreams and "the new year is almost here" anticipation all wrapped up around us, within us. 

There is beauty. And there is messy. There is peace. And there is the longest night of the year.

Many feel moved to go inward even though the world around us pushes us to do and be more.

This December, come along on a journey
to water your soul in the midst of it all.

Gather in community with like-minded spirits and give yourself the gift of remembering you, your soul care needs, your stories, you. Be gently reminded you that you are not alone as you experience all that this season brings.

How this program will work:

Emails to ground you :: From December 1 through December 31, you will receive three emails each week that will invite you to nourish yourself. Each email will include a soul care invitation along with encouragement and inspiration. These invitations might include "being present" practices such as meditations and reflection, short photography or writing prompts, or creative self-care recipes.  

Facebook community :: Beginning November 26 through the first week of January, we will also gather in an optional Facebook group to share pieces of ourselves and support one another. Here you will be able to connect about your experiences with the soul care work, share photographs, and have space held for you as you need it.

Learn more and register here.

poem it out (a new ecourse)

The idea for this ecourse grabbed hold of me last week and wouldn't let go. I am so delighted to be sharing it with you today! 

*****

Poetry is a lifeline for me.

I think it could be one for you, too.

And I want to spend four weeks with you showing you why.

In this online course, we will explore the world of poetry from a place of wonder. We will look for poems that invite us to nod our heads and say, “Me too…me too.” We will face the blank page and say, “Bring it” and write the words that are ready to burst out of us. We will stop everything to Poem It Out.

DETAILS

Dates: April 2 – April 27

Where: The course will be hosted on a private blog and private Flickr group. Although the material will be presented over four weeks, participants are encouraged to work at their pace, and the course will stay up on the blog until May 31 to help facilitate this. The Flickr group will be available indefinitely for continued connection after the course ends. 

Lessons: Juicy poetry goodness will be posted four times a week and will include topics like:

• Writing and poetry prompts
• Creating a word toolbox to be a companion when you face the blank page
• Poetry creative adventure assignments
• Stories about my own poetry adventures
• Inspiration posts that will introduce you to poets, poems, and other good things
• Interviews with poets and poetry lovers

Supply list:

• Journal/notebook and favorite pen/pencil
• A camera (any camera is fine, including a camera phone)
• A Flickr membership (only needed if you want to share your photos)

Updated: Registration for this session of Poem It Out is now closed. To learn more about current and upcoming sessions, head over here.

Please note that an FAQ with answers to some of the questions you might have is included on the Poem It Out page. Feel free to send over any additional questions to me via email.

emerge in 2012 (with a special offer for those who come along)

Last summer I co-taught Emerge with my good friends and creative cohorts Jenna McGuiggan and Vivienne McMaster. The course is hosted by the awesome team at Live it to the Full. We're excited to offer it again this January in the hopes that it will invite you to focus on how you want things to unfold for you in the new year. 

We invite you to join us as we share our own personal stories of transition and play with words, photography, and mindfulness practices. We'll explore the ebb and flow of happiness, the unique power of telling your story, and the beautiful, yet precarious, process of learning to trust yourself.

We designed this course to be full of beauty, truth, and inspiration – all wrapped up in bite-sized stories and prompts that won't feel overwhelming. Emerge is a gentle way to kick off your creative year, and it's also a nice way to get to know Viv, Jenna, and me. Each of us offer our own creative courses besides working together on Emerge. If you've been curious about any of us or have considered taking one of our courses, Emerge is an affordable way (just $49) to “meet” all three of us at once.

We hope you'll be inspired during Emerge and want to continue exploring your creative side.

**That's why we're offering everyone who registers for Emerge a little bonus: three 15% discounts: one for a course from each teacher in 2012. This means you get one 15% discount for any of Viv's photography courses (such as You Are Your Own Muse), one 15% discount for any of my upcoming courses (such as Create Space), and one 15% discount for any of Jenna's writing courses (such as Alchemy: The Art & Craft of Writing). 

(We did the math, and this means you have the potential to save more than the actual price of Emerge! Sweet, right?)

Emerge starts January 2, and registration is now open. We'll send you details on redeeming your bonus discounts once class starts. For now, all you need to do is sign-up and you'll be all set.

We loved creating this course together and sharing it with so many amazing women last summer. We're looking forward to sharing it (and much more) in 2012!

create space (the online experience)

I have been up to a little something over here and I am so delighted to tell you all about it...

Create Space is an online experience that invites you to give yourself the gift of being present in this moment of your life. During this four-week course, you will slow down, take a deep breath with intention, and notice what you need. Through video and audio lessons, stories, writing and photography prompts, and weekly creative adventure assignments, we will explore self-care and being-present practices to use in your everyday life.

Some of the topics we will explore include:

• Creating internal space through accessible meditation and being-present practices that will help you find your breath, sink into your body, and quiet your mind. We will spend time discovering our personal soul mantra phrases and connecting to the heart space within us.
• Creating sacred space within our homes through gathering the treasures, inspirations, and words that speak to where we are on our journeys. We will look at ways to create small altar spaces to honor who we are, where we have been, and where we want to walk next on our paths.
• Creating space for ourselves throughout our days with writing practices, getting out into the world for short creative adventures, and using our cameras to capture who we are and what we find in this moment.

We will explore ways to integrate these practices into our day-to-day lives, and I will share stories about the ways I do this in my corner of the world. Note that this class is more about the experience of slowing down and noticing than it is about lots of homework and “doing.” That said, along the way I will gently encourage you to work through the lessons in the course so that you can give yourself the gift of using these practices as you walk through autumn (or spring) toward the holidays.

Additional details:

Dates: Create Space begins October 24 and ends November 20.

Where: The course will be hosted on a private blog and private Flickr group. The course will stay up on the blog until December 31 to give participants time to soak up the information. The Flickr group will be available indefinitely for continued connection after the course ends.

Lessons: There will be three main posts per week on the private blog plus downloadable audio meditations, inspiration and resources, and other goodies along the way. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and check in about their experience during our time together. 

Supplies needed:

• Journal/notebook
• A camera (any camera is fine, including a camera phone, but if you use film, you will want to be able to scan the photos to share in our Flickr group)
• A Flickr membership
• An additional supply list will be shared after you register for the course. This list will include items you might want to gather before our time together that we will use as we create sacred space in our homes. More than likely you will have these items on hand, but I will also supply a resource list of my favorites. 

Cost: $70

Register: 

• Registration has begun! To participate in the Create Space online experience, click the PayPal button below.
• Your confirmation email from PayPal confirms your spot in the class.
• Within a few days of your registration, I will send you a welcome email that includes a resource list.
• Note that I will use your PayPal email address to communicate with you. If you prefer that I use another email address, let me know when you register or via an email to liz [dot] lamoreux @ gmail [dot] com (or click here to email through this website).

Questions:

Feel free to email me any questions.