Tag / self-nurturing

The Alchemist's Heart

Want Mind-Body Health? It’s Time to Dance!

Dance Mind-Body Connection

dance mind body connectionWomen in our society tend to make ourselves smaller.  We typically care for other people better than for ourselves, and often believe we are “too big” physically.  Healthy self-expression is often suppressed because it takes up “to much room” or “too much time,” allocating resources to ourselves instead of other people.  It is a rare experience to feel at home with oneself, comfortable enough with the space you need to actually let your energy expand.

If you are a new mother, most of your time and energy is undoubtedly spent caring for your baby.  This is perfectly appropriate and as nature intended for the survival of our species.  And yet, there must be space for you.

Alchemy for Moms

How To Make Your Life Work

how to make your life workPractical Strategies For Moms

Are you ready to find some enjoyable, practical ways on how to make your life work?

Ways to lose weight, become fit, stress-less, enrich your relationships, improve your emotional outlook, strengthen your spirituality and unleash your best self?

Then join Debi Silber, “The Mojo Coach” of TheMojoCoach.com and Christy Harvey, the Mommy Muse, as they discuss Debi’s strategies for inspiring unfit and overwhelmed moms to “get their mojo back” through gradual lifestyle change.

Alchemy for Moms Belly Dance Mind-Body Fitness Radio Show The Alchemist's Heart

Dance is a Metaphor for Life

Listen to the Voice Within Say, “I Can Dance!”

BellyDancePrescription-1-231x300Do you wish you could move through your life with fearless autonomy, grace and spirit?

Do you want to flow with the melody and listen as the voice within says, “I CAN DANCE!”?

Dance is a metaphor for life. Join four remarkable women and soak up the inspiration as they share the magic of belly dance for well-being and launch the Mommy Muse’s new e-book, The Belly Dance Prescription: Shake Your Hips and Depression. Legendary belly dancer Delilah; Michelle Maniaci, who specializes in yoga and belly dance for pregnant and post-natal women; Lisa Sarasohn, author of The Woman’s Belly Book; and Christy Harvey, the Mommy Muse, believe that learning to dance brings us key information about living our lives.

Alchemy for Moms Book Reviews Radio Show The Alchemist's Heart

Find Your Right Life No Matter What with Martha Beck!

Martha Beck, Author of Steering by Starlight!

martha-beck-books-197x300Do you sometimes lose sight of who you really are?

Have you been so focused on taking care of others that you not only overlook your personal stress and unhappiness, but neglect to nourish yourself?

Do you know how to find your right life no matter what?

Now you can with Oprah columnist and New York Times best-selling author of Steering by Starlight! Join Martha Beck, of www.MarthaBeck.com, one of the best-known life coaches and authors in America, and me the Mommy Muse, as we discuss how to find your right life no matter what. Dr. Beck’s passion is reconnecting people with their essential selves. Let her gentle advice assist you in solving problems while fostering your strengths and creativity.

Book Reviews The Alchemist's Heart

The Joy Diet

books-joy-dietThe Joy Diet changed my life.

8 years ago, I felt lonely and unsatisfied as a caregiver. I was homeschooling my 5-year-old while chasing after my toddler and caring for my elderly grandfather at home. My days were filled by tending to the bodily functions of other people (and rarely my own). Although I loved my family fiercely, I knew something needed to change.

With no time to read, but desperately seeking help, I downloaded an MP3 of The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life by Oprah columnist Martha Beck. Within 30 minutes, I knew I had hit gold. It turns out that the original meaning of the word “diet” had nothing to do with food, and everything to do with the way we live our lives. In her typical down-to-earth, unassuming style, Martha delivered on the book’s promise to help me add 10 simple behaviors to my way of living and thinking to enhance my life. Her action points were so remarkably do-able, even on my fully packed schedule that even I could follow through.

The ten “ingredients” of The Joy Diet will challenge and delight you. Martha recommends working through the practices in order, making sure each one feels like second nature before moving on to the next. Just one step a week is all it takes. The first assignment, “doing nothing” for 15 minutes a day, is tougher than it looks! By the time you integrate the next action steps, creating and absorbing a daily moment of truth and exploring one of your heart’s desires, you will be well on your way to creating a life you actually enjoy. And if you want to expand your enjoyment of life beyond what you thought was possible, add in the final seven ingredients: creativity, risk, treats, play, laughter, connection, and feasting.

Sounds easy, right? After all, you’re “just” tuning into your deepest truth and learning how to be good to yourself with play-filled steps. Yet it is impossible to incorporate these life ingredients without transforming long-standing patterns of thought and action. While The Joy Diet is technically a diet for the spirit, I found myself feeling healthier and losing weight as I filled myself up ecologically from the inside out. So whenever anyone asks me if The Joy Diet will help them lose weight, I say “it certainly may, but that’s just a side benefit!”

I longed for one thing when I finished the book – something to remind me of each day’s steps and provide space to write down notes about my journey. Customized journal pages just for The Joy Diet.

Well, they didn’t exist – not yet. My family commented that I should approach Martha (did I mention she’s Oprah’s life coach?) to propose the creation of such a thing. Me? Are you kidding? Who am I to do such a thing? I hardly thought that was in the realm of possibility. But I did create a template for my own personal Joy Diet Journal Pages to assist me in my journey. Two years later, on a delightful radio interview with Martha Beck, I asked if official Joy Diet Journal Pages had been developed. Imagine my surprise when she said “No,” and suggested I contribute my personal template to the Team. Here was the exact opportunity I couldn’t imagine how to manifest not so long ago. The ability to collaborate with Martha Beck and share a life-enhancing tool with other people embarking on The Joy Diet.

Interested? Read (or listen to!) The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life, then send me a note or a post to this blog with your email address and I will enthusiastically send the Joy Diet Journal Pages to you!

And darling, if you’ve been busy tending everyone else’s needs and are scared of losing your chance to live the life you want, let’s talk.  Alchemy Sessions may be exactly what you’re searching for.  I can help you move beyond the soul-numbing grind and reawaken into life full of connection, magic, and extraordinary possibilities.  It’s time for you to feel ALIVE again!

Alchemy for Moms Book Reviews Radio Show The Alchemist's Heart

Gentle Advice for Solving Problems with Martha Beck!

The Joy Diet & Expecting Adam by Martha Beck

books-joy-diet (1)Do you sometimes lose sight of who you really are?

Have you been so focused on taking care of others that you not only overlook your personal stress and unhappiness, but neglect to nourish yourself?

Or maybe you’ve experienced an unexpected pregnancy that completely unraveled life as you knew it.

Join Martha Beck (www.MarthaBeck.com), one of the best-know life coaches and authors in America, and me, the Mommy Muse, as we answer your questions and discuss Martha’s books The Joy Diet and Expecting Adam. Dr. Beck’s passion is reconnecting people with their essential selves. Let her gentle advice assist you in solving problems while fostering your strengths and creativity.

Alchemy for Moms The Alchemist's Heart

Blissfully Busted

Nurturing Your Spirit 

Sunflower-Twitter-Background-small-300x199

I didn’t so much hear the whisper of her skirt sweeping against the doorway as feel her eyes upon me. Possibly the quietest 6 year old I’ve encountered. But she couldn’t hide her intention.

Busted.

A pint-sized pixie was peering up at me.

I had offered to run down three flights of stairs to fetch supplies for our visiting company.

Sounds selfless, right?

Except that I was seizing a brief moment alone.

That’s when I discovered the box of stone-ground crackers.

Ahhh, blessed carbs…in a paleo-oriented family.  Lots of protein and veggies going on here.  Light on the whole grain goodness.

So, what’s a girl to do but open the box and pop a couple…ok, a few…crackers into her mouth before trotting back up the stairs?

Which was going great until Miss Munchkin discovered me.

I tried to work up a pang of guilt. But I couldn’t.

Why?

Because I knew I was doing something I’d tell you to do.  Nurture yourself with whatever is to hand. Three minutes of quiet. A morsel of yumminess delighting your mouth.  Goodness for your spirit = increasing well-being and ability to show up in a space of love for others.

What did I do? I handed the box to pixie girl with a wink and asked her to show me how well she could climb right back up those stairs!

Have you ever been caught blissfully nourishing your spirit by someone who loved you but didn’t quite understand? I challenge you to share your story – and to do something small and beautiful for yourself again as soon as possible!