it is time.

Maybe you're in a space where the longing feels thick. Where the stuff that makes up each day is piling. Where the roles you're playing are pulling you in several directions and you secretly wish you could just step away for awhile.

Or maybe you're in a season where others need you. A lot. And you know you need to create space for you and you simply don't know where to begin.

Or perhaps you've lost the connection with the creative soul inside you - the soul who wanted to write more, take more photos, play with paint and color, or even just cook like she used to. 

If pieces of these stories sound familiar, I invite you to come along to Water Your Mama Soul.

The practices you'll explore and conversations we'll have during this 10-day class will begin to create the foundation you need to tell your story - to live your way into the longings while seeing and feeling the beauty of your everyday life.

Because we can hold two things at once: The longings in one hand and the beauty of our everyday life in the other. The joy of living this crazy, awesome life in one hand and the grief that life hands you in the other.

We can hold all the things.

And we can find our way to feeling grounded and like our true selves in the midst of all these feelings and experiences.

I really believe that.

There's this bridge I keep talking about - this bridge that takes us from our daily to our longings. And no matter the longings, this bridge is really between daily life and more "really good days."

Think about that for a moment. Each day, you're building a bridge to more really good days.

That kind of sounds delicious and not impossible.

But honey, before you build that bridge between today and your longings, you've got to have a foundation to hold it up.

The practices in Water Your Mama Soul will be your foundation. They will help you begin to tell your story so you can name those longings and decide which ones you want to claim as your path.

Come along. We begin March 9th. And this powerful online class is just $20 and includes a private Facebook group where we will connect and honor and share these whispered truths inside us.

Register right here.

practicing self-care even in the summer

Over here, we're navigating that slide toward the end of the school year. Because Jon's a teacher and Ellie is now in school full-time, our lives revolve around the school schedule, which I'm sure many of you can relate to.

And here's the truth: I'm so used to my schedule as I work from home during the day that I've been known to dread summer a bit.

I mean I love summer. And of course I love my family.

But they are both home. 24-7. Okay not always 24-7 but I've found it very hard to create a schedule for all of us that works.

Maybe because I don't really create one.

(This is turning into true confessions.)

And although there are many beautiful, fun, love-filled moments as a family in the summer, there's also the reality that: Mama needs to work!

As I continue to look for ways to build my own bridge between the everyday stuff and more really really good days, I'm thinking about how this summer can feel different for all of us.

And one huge piece stands out to me: Not only do I need to simply sit down with Jon and look at the calendar and think about how to shift my work schedule, I also have to restructure my own self-care.

This means making a list of self-care moves that will support me (and my family) this summer. For example:

• Pausing to just notice and seeking beauty in the inbetween spaces.
• Taking those five deep breaths.
• Asking for what I need (for real...instead of resenting that someone isn't reading my mind).
• Scheduling in rest and quiet time in our days.
• Identifying little things that bring me joy this time of year and making them happen (watercolor picnics! painted toenails! flowers in pots outside! lazy days in the backyard on quilts!).
• Creating an updated family self-care journal.
• And taking time to add and subtract things from this list to make self-care really manageable for myself this summer.

If you'd like support in figuring out the self-care practices that you need this summer, come along to Water Your Mama Soul, my ongoing 10-day ecourse for women who are ready to take time for themselves so they can be even more present to their loved ones and their life. 

This can be the summer you remember you even as you experience carpooling to camp and family reunions and weddings and hot hot hot days and siblings together all.the.time. and how the list goes on.

This can be the summer where you look at yourself in the mirror and say, "You got this kid."

This can be the summer where you create space for more joy and more ease.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Sign up right here.

dear girl...

A piece of building the bridge between your daily life and the life you long for is cultivating an inner dialogue so you can actually listen to and get to know the one person who affects your day most of all: You.

One way I do this is to write letters to myself that are full of the kindness and wisdom I'd share with someone I love. They are sometimes a pep talk. Sometimes I ask myself a question and then answer it. Sometimes they are a bit like a poem. Other letters are full of forgiveness and deep truths.

Putting pen to paper helps me make sense of the swirling thoughts around and inside me so that I can hear myself.

One of my favorite prompts to give women is to start a letter that simply says, "Dear girl..." and then just start writing the words you most need to hear. Before you begin, you might want to pause and just close your eyes and get present in your body, heart, and mind. Letting the day drop away so you can listen. Then open your eyes and start writing.

See what comes up. Try to let go of judgment and keep your pen moving across the page. 

Then when you're done, notice if there are any themes or specific phrases that stand out to you. Those phrases could become prompts for your next letter.

If you'd like to join me for 10 days of cultivating this inner voice alongside practicing creative-self care, come along to Water Your Mama Soul. We begin Monday, June 1! And we have a private Facebook group to connect in for the whole month of June.

This is the part where I admit that I'm running the class during the first 10 days of June as a birthday gift to myself. I love this class and the community that is created when women go through the 10 days together and share their experiences and photos in our private group. It is one of those offerings that has me saying to myself each time, "I love my job. I really really love my job."

Each time I offer this class I'm asked if you have to be a mom to take it. My answer:

This class is really is for anyone who wants to connect with daily practices they can use to ground themselves in the midst of whatever a day brings. So if you've been struggling to find a self-care practice, this class will give you tangible ideas you can start using. I think of it as a class that invites you to realize you can nurture and mother yourself even as you give to those around you. Note though that the theme of the course is for mamas with kids at home, and most of the women taking the class will probably be mothers, but I believe the themes in the stories I share are universal and you will be able to tweak the practices to be able to join in. 

Feel free to send over any questions that you have. I'm over here.

Learn more about Water Your Mama Soul and register right here.

dear mama

Water Your Mama Soul is a 10 day course where you explore ways to be right here in this moment and find the space to choose love...for yourself...for those around you...for this life you're choosing to live each day. You'll take photos and journal a bit and notice what you need each day. You'll reconnect with yourself. You'll give yourself the gift of remembering you.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Register right here.

water your mama soul :: begins in two weeks!

I'm so delighted to announce that I'm running an online "live" course of Water Your Mama Soul. This course is usually only available as a self-paced experience, but I feel called to bring a circle of women together to experience the course in community. We start March 2 and I hope you'll come along. Here's a peek into what this course is all about... 

Dear mama, I want you to imagine:

• That just 10 minutes a day will reconnect you with yourself.
• Accessible self-care practices that remind you to take care of you and fill the well inside you.
• Using your camera to help you see the beautiful, real truths throughout your day.
• Stories that invite you to know you aren't alone in the beautiful, messiness of being a mama.

This is Water Your Mama Soul.
This is the gift you've been wanting someone
to give you since your first baby was born.
(And you are really going to give it to yourself.)

A mama's day is full of so much. Shifting from one role to the next can be rewarding and really hard sometimes. Some days it can leave you feeling exhausted even while you are aware of the joy. In the midst of it all, you can forget about the one person who needs your support most of all: You.

I created this class because I believe 10 days of focused creative self-care for just 10-20 minutes a day will change your life. Mamas have little time for themselves and need to be able to turn to accessible practices to ground themselves in the midst of real life. I'm running this class again live because I believe in the power of a circle of women supporting one another and saying, "I hear you. Me too...me too."

In Water Your Mama Soul, you will use your camera, journaling prompts, and self-care practices to reconnect with yourself. This will be a 10-day journey into self-care, healing, and noticing what you need. You will come away with practices you can use again and again to fill up your own internal well so you can be more present to your loved ones and other things in your life.

I want as many moms as possible to be able to take this class, so I've kept the price lower than my other courses. If you and a few of your friends want to take the class together, I also have a special friends group rate for four or more. Just email me for information.

Details:

Dates: March 2 - 11

Registration for this session is now closed. Water Your Mama Soul will be available again soon. To find out when, send me an email and I'll add send you a note when it's available.

Water Your Mama Soul includes: 

Daily emails filled with:

• A photography prompt (including self-portraits and other good things)
• A writing or self-care prompt
• And a story from my own experience in the mama trenches

Facebook community 

For the entire month of March, 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. I'll be in the group daily during the course to support you and connect.

At the end of this class, you will have:

• A reconnection with yourself and who you are outside of all the roles you play.
• Self-care practices that will nourish you and recharge you whenever you need it.
• Creative practices that will ground you in the present moment and can be used again and again.
• Photography prompts that you will be able to turn to daily.

Supply list:

• A camera (any will be fine from cell phone to DSLR)
• Journal or notebook (a place to catch your writing prompts)
• A pad of sticky notes (3x3 or larger, any color is fine, and paper and tape works too!)
• 20 minutes set aside for you each day during your 10 day experience (For real. You need this time for you in order to really experience the practices and let them recharge you.) 

Register

Cost: $25

Note: Registration is now closed.

To register, just follow the instructions by pressing the "Add to Cart" button above. You will be taken to PayPal's site to pay. Your confirmation email from PayPal confirms your spot in the course. When we get closer the first day of the course, you will receive more information from me, including an invitation to the Facebook group. If you want the class emails sent to an email other than the one you are using with PayPal, please let me know. 

To read more about the course, including an FAQ, head over here.