“Busy= successful. Busy= worthy. An excess of time? That must mean failing, that must mean not good enough.” When I started my business six years ago, I was prepared to work hard. And I had some twisted notions of what working hard meant. Coming from an environment where I had to fill out a timesheet each day, I was used to tracking every minute, taking inventory of my efficiency. I was used to an overstuffed workload that required me to be diligent about how I managed my time. So when I sat down in my quiet home office, without the need to make a timesheet equal to eight hours (or more ..read more

“I thought that if I strung all the goals and accomplishments together, all that progress would equal a life I’d feel good about.” In years past, I’ve measured everything by the amount of progress I’ve made, goals I’ve hit, momentum gained. I wasn’t your stereotypical overachiever. I wasn’t a workaholic. It’s hard to say what I was, except that I was driven by the notion of trying my hardest, fearful of being the same in 10 years or even two. I was in love with the feeling of forward motion. But that feeling—the feeling that you’re finally getting somewhere—is a trickster. So many times I fe ..read more

“Motherhood is mentally and physically exhausting while simultaneously bringing so much joy – much like a good yoga session, in fact.” I love the word movement. It reminds me of modern dance class. I studied modern and jazz dance from about middle school through college. It was never my “field” or my major, but I just loved the escapism of dropping fully into the feelings in my body. Trying to absorb a sequence and execute it back correctly took enough concentration that I wasn’t able to worry about anything else – boyfriends or term papers or looming commitments. It was truly a practice in ..read more

“As I move toward refining my beliefs and ways I think and feel, my actions shift to support myself and my parenting style.” Progress has visited my mommy genes and I hope it stays nearby. I definitely wasn’t raised in a progressive or thoughtful kind of way. It felt very old school. Very much like the be seen and not heard methods of yesteryear. There were parts that were unfiltered, but they weren’t for my benefit. They came from a place of struggle to marry the idea of being a parent and still being an individual. And that’s a tough balance to keep. No one wants to always be the parent w ..read more

“If we all gave ourselves permission to seek out more pauses, to sit quietly and observe the stillness, we’d all enjoy the high-speed chase toward success a little bit more.” Have you ever taken a speedboat out on open water? Felt the pressure of the wind as it pushes against you, whips your hair into a frenzy, squeezes tears from the corners of your eyes? The world, the water, becomes a blur as you hurtle forward, forward, bouncing over waves, dodging obstacles, racing toward your destination… And then, you slow. You reach a point in your fast-paced journey forward where it’s time to take it ..read more

“As much as I would like to put my feet up and recharge in the middle of a day filled with DUPLO and finger paints and being used as a human jungle gym, it’s just not possible.” A question I get asked from time to time is, “When do you find the time to write?” My answer is always, “Nap time.” But my kid is almost fou,r and nap time is slowly dwindling away. What used to be two solid hours of productivity is now more like a period of, “I’m going to read him some stories and kiss him good night and he’s going to hang out in his bed and talk and sing and play with his stuffed animals and hopeful ..read more

“In order to be open to Reiki, you sort of have to be open to a bit of magic.” The room is dark. Candles cast a dancing glow on the walls and the air smells of lavender. Music hums gently in the background behind my thoughts. I know I’m not alone, but I can also feel that I’m not alone. Despite my mind’s protests (ugh, that mind can be such a drag sometimes), I quickly and easily fall into feeling held and warm. Mary moves skillfully around my body, channeling energy here, then there, and seemingly everywhere. I don’t think I can talk about energy without talking about Reiki. It’s tempting to ..read more

“I never questioned how I could feel when people felt sad, or anxious, or upset, or even simply off. … I didn’t know how much I could be affected by those I came in contact with.” My friend is a bikini bodybuilding competitor. And I went with her to her first ever competition, and it was also my first time attending a show. I didn’t know what to expect but I expected the day to pretty much feel like any other event I’d ever attended. Until I got the damp-dishrag feeling. Like my entire world looked and felt shaded. It was as if it was dropped on my head and I couldn’t shake it off. It wasn’t ..read more

“I see choosing my intuition, my health and what makes me happy in any given moment as a win. … Instead of berating myself for having no energy, I’m going to mellow in slow energy.” Pregnancy just kicked my butt. It’s still kicking my butt. I always wondered how one handled being pregnant — the morning sickness, poor sleep, aches, and swelling — while also managing a toddler. I knew these women were amazing. Well, now I am officially telling you that I am also one of these women. And I definitely don’t feel amazing. I feel like I want to sleep. My motivation and energy levels are below sea ..read more

“If you’re feeling tired, sleep. If you’re feeling drained, dig deep to figure out why. Start taking care of yourself, because no one else will. No one else CAN. It’s up to you.” Few things are more all-consuming than running a business and raising kids. So it makes sense that we’re tired. But does it make sense that we also use the words drained, depleted, and exhausted to describe ourselves? Once your kids are sleeping through the night and your business is steady — in other words, once you aren’t actually sleep deprived– your energy should pick up. Right? Mine didn’t. I was constantly, t ..read more