Want to Feel More Free? Do it Differently

This past weekend my husband and I went to an exciting personal development workshop. Then, yesterday, we visited thermal hot springs and tried a new Greek restaurant. And today, I spontaneously decided to gather friends for a community song circle. My desire to try new experiences and be pushed out of my comfort zone is ever-present. Choosing to step out of my routine and do it differently makes me feel energized, alive and fans my creativity!

What does doing it differently mean? Shaking up your life and questioning habitual routines, looking at old issues through a fresh lens, challenging rote patterns around how you show up in the world and exploring new ways of being.

Whether it’s small (driving a new route to or from work or school or changing what you eat for breakfast) or big (walking after dinner each night instead of watching TV, or taking up the guitar in lieu of an evening glass of wine)— “doing it differently,” makes us feel more vibrant, invigorated and grateful for the gift of life.

Research shows our brains benefit tremendously when we step out of our routines. We create new neural pathways and enhance brain function, learning and memory when we mix it up (ever wonder why your 72-year-old friend who is always signing up for new movement classes, taking up fiddle and learning how to grow her own food is sharp as a tack?!).

Much of our life is rote. We’ve fallen into habitual, unconscious ways of doing, being and seeing (from what we eat, read, watch, say, and listen to—to how we respond to family, co-workers and others we meet throughout the course of our day). Author and neuroscientist Joe Dispenza says we have about 60-70,000 thoughts a day and 90% of today’s thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday!

I love The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and In Business right by Charles Duhigg. Charles says we basically move through our days—like rats in a maze—in an endless cycle of “cue-routine-reward.” Most of the time, we aren’t making conscious choices or doing things because they work, they’re the best for us or because they bring us joy—we do the same things over and over because they’re familiar.

In my work/life alignment and resiliency workshops, I challenge men and women by asking, “If we released old, habitual ways of being, what would a more expanded version of who we are look like?” We’re not self-improvement projects. But what it would feel like to come into the highest expression of who we are?

In Breaking Free and Making Hard Choices, Chapter Nine from my book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family, I share, “In essence, habits are nothing more than a choice we make over and over again until the new behavior becomes automatic.” But, as author Robert Puller puts it, “Good habits, once established, are just as hard to break as are bad habits.”

If we want to feel more freedom and joy, we have to be willing to wake up from “Groundhog Day” and question why we’re doing what we’re doing. Every single day (P.S. My retreats are a GREAT opportunity to do this!).

WANT TO MAKE YOUR SELF-CARE A PRIORITY? HERE ARE FIVE OPPORTUNITIES!?

• NOW AVAILABLE AS A DOWNLOAD~ SOLACE: A Winter Solstice Deep Rest Retreat ~? A 2.5 hour virtual retreat experience with Renee and soulful women from across the US (includes meditation, poetry, Yoga Nidra, song and sisterhood). Download 24/7. Only $49.? ?Learn more/register.
• NEW Secrets to Facilitating Life-Changing Women’s Groups/Retreats in Uncertain Times?~ an online, self-paced training course. Would you like to empower women in your area in 2025 through facilitating women’s groups/retreats? Based on Renee’s 30+ years experience training 450+ facilitators and teaching at world-renowned retreat centers like Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, this supportive, empowering on-demand video course offers everything you need to start facilitating women’s circles and retreats. Only $195.?Learn more.
• Schedule me to speak in 2025-26.?Did you know my primary work is speaking professionally at national/regional conferences, employee events and to companies/organizations worldwide? I love weaving neuroscience, life balance strategies, mindfulness & resiliency practices to create unforgettable workshops & presentations that help people feel more creative, focused, resourced and alive. Learn more about my?speaking here.
• Wild Souls Nature Adventures?(based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western NC): authentic movement classes, community song circles, full moon hikes, meditation/resiliency workshops, women’s circles & more. Have me design a custom experience for your team/friends.?Join us in January for Wild Souls Authentic Movement Classes near Asheville, NC. ?Learn more.
• SAVE THE DATE, INVITE YOUR FRIENDS? April 25, 2025 ~ Tending Your Creative Fire: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat ~ 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Lake Logan Conference Center, Canton, NC. Registration opens tomorrow! Learn more.

Subscribe?here?to?Live Inside Out,?a weekly blog written by mindfulness coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in?The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, AARP, Spirituality & Health?and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning?The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life.?Renee and her husband live in Western North Carolina and they have one son in New York City. Her latest venture is?Wild Souls Nature Adventures.?More on Renee?here.