Artist Date

This weekend I had the luxury of spending a few hours prettying up my 2012 Planner Pad and creating some inspiring vision cards for the year. Give me a few free hours, a stack of magazines, and a glue stick and I'm one happy girl!

a peak at my Vision Cards

front of my Planner Pad

I love how this turned out! It is so simple (especially compared to what I created last year) and I feel it really speaks to what I'm craving this year.

back of my Planner Pad

Please excuse the glare! It's from the clear contact paper I use to cover my collage. The quote on the back says, "Sometimes we just have to go with the flow, get out of our own way, and heed the well-intended whispers of our stalwart hearts."

What do you use to manage your time and to-do's? Have you added a dash of flair to it? Please share in the comments - I love hearing from you!

2012 Word of the Year

I love the practice of choosing a word or phrase for the year. It helps me focus on my overall intention for the year and provides me with a guide post to refer back to as I choose where to focus my time and energy.

This year I struggled to settle on a word, unsure of exactly what I wanted 2012 to embody.

As I often do when grappling with a decision, I spent many hours writing in my journal and exploring what I want for this year.

First I thought my word might be shine. This year I want to step even more fully into my true self. In my work and in my life. I want to do so confidently and without apology. I definitely do want to shine this year but that's not all I want. And shine wasn't giving me the YES feeling that I want from my word of the year.

So I asked myself (a la Eat, Pray, Love), "What do I really, really, really, really, really want this year?"

More than anything I want to feel calm and relaxed. I want to go with flow. I want to feel like I'm present for all the moments of my life. I want to feel like I'm living my life on purpose not just being dragged along for the ride.

This brought me to two new words - play and plan, but that didn't feel right either. Mellow came to mind. The embodiment of ease. No word or words was feeling right and I was becoming frustrated. January was coming to an end - I needed to figure this out!

It dawned on me that my quest for the perfect word to describe what I wanted for 2012 was leaving me feeling the opposite of what I hoped for this year! So I sat back, took a few deep breaths, and decided to let go and trust that my word for 2012 would find me.

Eventually it came to me and, as I knew it would, it immediately felt like the right word for me.

My word of the year for 2012 is.............

LIGHT!

It encompasses the feeling I want to embody this year - carefree, joyful, relaxed - and my intention for business and life - to shine brightly.

What's your word of the year?

(Also, how fabulous is this for keeping your word of the year close?)

January Dreams

I know I am super late with posting my January Dreams but here they are...

• Host fabulous mini-retreat at the studio
• Incorporate new morning and evening routine to bookend my day in mindfulness (inspired by Kimberly Wilson's Traquilologie)
• Teach, encourage, + inspire during Dare to Live Your Dreams Online Circle
• Indulge in a massage + facial + pedicure
• Go on a date with my husband
• Take 2 yoga classes
• Go on an Artist Date
• Finish Year in Review blog posts
• Ask for help with a referral to work with on my new website (!)
• Pen financial goals for 2012

Yearly Goal Reflection (Year in Review: Part Three)

file folder I created at recent mini-retreat - "learn to hear what your inner voice is telling you and your whole world changes"

My 2011 goals that I listed last January:

• Attend Professional Development conference in Psychology: DONE

• Publish Yoga for Living Wellness CD (and have a party when I finally do - lol): Nope. Why do I have such a block when it comes to this project!

• Complete a first draft of Living Wellness book: Nope. Um, can we say overly ambitious goal?

• Clean out the basement: Nope.

• Read all of Martha Beck's books (I'm probably 25% there already): Nope.

• Continue to cultivate daily meditation practice: Sort of is probably a generous appraisal.

• Draft plan for new website & purchase domain name: DONE

• Rent newly renovated office suite to fabulous, like-minded health & wellness professionals: One down, two to go.

• Explore mixed media art: Nope.

• Attend additional yoga training: DONE

• Enjoy 12 weeks of maternity leave: DONE + 5 additional weeks

• Research starting a non-profit: Bought a few books but that was as far as it went.

• Host a retreat at Tree of Life Yoga Studio: Not this year.

• Begin publishing podcasts & vidcasts: Nope.

• Write more content on blog: DONE

• Daily physical activity: At times...

• Participate in 2 courses through Goddess Leonie's Goddess Circle: Define participate.....

• Save 40% of my income each month until baby is born: DONE

• Donate monthly to my favorite charities: This went well the first half of the year, but faltered after that.

• Continue to make self-care a priority after baby is born while also understanding it may look a lot different than it does now: I've done well with maintaining my monthly pedicure and massage appointments, but I'm definitely needing to work on ways to have more "me time" on a daily/weekly basis.

• Monthly dates with all the important people in my life (hubby, daughter, friends, and family): This has gone pretty well!

other side of file folder - "uncovering answers to your deepest questions"

2012 Dreams:

• Try a green smoothie
• Make kale chips
• Take a Zumba class
• Study Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
• Design and lead yoga group for women affected by violence
• Work with fabulous, tech savvy web designer to create new biz website
• Create new business cards and brochures to better reflect the whole of my business
• Regular dates with my art journal & yoga mat
• Publish that darn yoga CD – even if I have to pay someone to do it for me!
• Morning and evening rituals to bookend my day in mindfulness
• Host 3 retreats at the studio
• Take a minimum of 6 weeks vacation
• Be present at home and at work. Single task like a champion.