May's Invitation to Re-Align Joy & Ease

The month of May feels like the invitation onto the dance floor of life, and I am all in! But if there was a lesson in the month of April, it was to slow the f%&* down and savor the time we have, because, as Ferris Bueller said the 1,000 times that I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,?

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

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Danke sch?n, Ferris. You nailed it.

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Why don’t we just slow down and “stop and look around”??What’s stopping us?

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I know from experience that it’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of overdoing it—overproducing, over-efforting, pleasing, and perfecting. We are seduced by our ego to think that what we receive in esteem or efficiencies (another mirage of the ego) is worth the sacrifices we make, so we try to cram it all in and do it with panache.

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But when this becomes our routine, we count ourselves out, running ourselves ragged. Detouring far from what we know consciously are the best choices we can make for ourselves. (If you have seen the current Netflix series?Beef, you’ll know what I mean.)

We unconsciously let our well-being slip, choosing to get that one email sent rather than walk the dog.

The impact is that we feel disconnected and disloyal to our best selves, cut off from our intuition and self-awareness, and struggling to express our truth in words to colleagues we have never met in person while we work from home, feeling isolated in a post-pandemic work environment that hasn’t recovered to gathering people in person once again.?

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We have to choose a new way forward for ourselves, not to?have it all, but to?have what we need to feel whole.

If we stop and look around for a while, we may discover a new approach to leadership.

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Spaciousness. Ease. Time to think. Time to connect, listen, and receive.?

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Moving in conscious alignment toward a high vision, a purpose that weaves together the story of who you are and what you are all about—what you value, what you do, and the impact you aspire to have on the world.

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This is a feminine approach to leadership.?

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The old ways, patterned by our grandfathers who laid the foundation of an American work culture that is driving many of us to burn out and further from bliss, need to change, and it starts with you and me.

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We can shift this by being more committed to our ability to consciously choose what aligns with our ambition to be?

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--> fulfilled rather than in-demand

--> self-expressed rather than fitting in

--> self-possessed rather than externally validated

--> self-honoring rather than system upholding

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Rather than hustle through your days, what if you could make small shifts today that reflected who you are at heart, what you value, and why you are working so hard in the first place??

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Time is a limited resource, arguably, our most valuable. If we live to be 80, we have 4,000 weeks to enjoy. That’s only 80 months of May to sit back and tune into the sweet sounds of spring life chattering away.

Making a conscious choice of action that allows you to live your values and move toward manifesting your high vision for your life is the recipe to create fulfillment and satisfaction in your life.?

When you are feeling harried with a busy work schedule or a consuming situation that is making your head spin, take time to pause and try one of these 5 go-to methods for reclaiming your energy and awareness:

• Breathe—the simple act of connecting to your breath grounds your energy and attention on the body, and through the body to the present moment. This is where life is taking place in real time.? Notice how you feel. Explore what would help you feel better.

• Lay down on the floor—invite in a sense of grounding and connection to the earth by literally laying down on the ground. With your right hand on your heart and your left hand on your belly, tune into you body’s rhythms of movement. Allow yourself to feel lulled into a calm state of being. From this place of quietude notice how much more clarity of thoughts and emotions you have access to.

• Go outside for fresh air—Move your body in the outdoors. Breathe in fresh air. Allow yourself to focus on the natural world around you. Nature helps us remember that we are a small part of a vast universe and our problems are not as large as they can seem to be.

• Play your favorite music and dance it out—We can shift our energy by moving our bodies, and what better way than connecting to the joy available to us through music and dance. Whether you are dancing or swaying, move away from your computer or work area and take up space while you enjoy allowing the music to move through you. This is one of my favorite playlists that elevates my mood and energy everytime.

• Write it out—Take your journal outside or to a new location to enjoy some time for reflection and integration as you release your stuck energy onto the page. Writing is a method of discovery, allowing us to reveal our feeling and beliefs that were otherwise obscured. It’s a powerful tool to expand self-awareness.

• Get a thought partner—Hire a coach, converse with an attentive friend or romantic partner, but create a channel of honest and timely self-expression to know what is coming through you and what you feel called to do about it.?

Mark Nepo, philosopher and writer, says, “To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.”

Inquiry

Here's an inquiry for you to explore in writing or conversation with a loved one:

What might it look like to embrace slowing down, stopping and looking around once in a while, in your life?

Commitments

Write down 2-3 specific actions you can take to reclaim your time and attention in your busy day to feel more available to appreciate your life in full.

Remember

If your choices aren’t reflecting who you are or what you want, make adjustments until they do.

Be there for yourself, for those you love, and for the vision that aligns you with your work in the world.

xo. Katie

?#alignment #valuesmatter #wellbeing #vision #wholeness #leadershipcoachingforwomen