I hate breaking promises. When I started this newsletter I promised to send it monthly – no more, no less….yet I’ve allowed three months to slip right on by! However, I’ve decided to give myself grace for an unusually busy season of life and I hope you’ll forgive me as well. My even deeper hope is that everyone reading this will glean some lessons from the
April is here! How busy is your life right now? March was absolutely crazy in our household. We moved from an urban apartment into a house in the ‘burbs AND I’m working full time on a feature film! Did I still manage to squeeze in a Personal Retreat Day in March? Just a mini-version. When life gets intense, that’s OK! Read on… Latest from the Blog Ummm…hello?
Lists are a fantastic and easy way to record memories from the past month. They can be used to track progress towards a goal, or simply help you check in with your inner self.
Hi! It’s the beginning of March, and that means it’s time to schedule your March Personal Retreat Day! Here in North Carolina, small buds are already appearing on some trees, signaling the first hints of Spring and warmer weather. I can’t wait to do my Personal Retreat Days outdoors again! Latest from the Blog Several of you have reached out to me to tell me
Whenever I give a seminar on Personal Retreat Days, I remind participants that there’s no single “right” way to do a PRD. The overarching goal is to set aside time for inner conversation, but details of how to achieve that vary widely from person to person. Here are a few examples that prove that anyone can make a Personal Retreat Day work for their lifestyle
My husband and I have a wonderful Sunday morning routine. When the weather is nice, we walk to the neighborhood coffee shop and chat about what happened during the week. Then I record what I call our “weekly wins” in a journal. I list all of the good things that happened that week, large or small, and we celebrate them together. This small practice
“I’ve hit the pandemic wall.” That’s how a radio commentator described how she was feeling. Her description certainly resonated with me. It’s been close to a full year since COVID-19 turned our lives upside-down, and we’re collectively, globally, exhausted. We’re so tired of living in near isolation. We’re weary of an undercurrent of fear being our constant companion: “What if I catch COVID? What if
In 1997, I moved from El Paso to Austin, Texas with my husband and our 13-month-old daughter. Moving to a new city where you don’t know a soul is always hard, but I felt especially lonely staying at home with only a baby for companionship while my husband worked. Craving connection, we started church-shopping, visiting a different church every Sunday. People seemed friendly and welcoming,
In early 2020, the rapid rise of COVID-19 forced gyms around the country to close. Home-workout companies like Peloton and Mirror took advantage of the vacuum, and memberships soared. Like many others, I signed up for a special promotional trial for a certain popular spin class company. Even though I don’t have a bike, I was able to take advantage of their library of yoga
Just about everyone wants a little more JOY in their life – especially these days! Whether you’re thriving or simply surviving the pandemic roller-coaster, you have to admit that the unknowns can cause an avalanche of anxiety. Bring on the Joy! What is Joy? Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is dependent on circumstances, but joy is a deeper emotion that can exist
Now that you’ve learned the benefits as well as the challenges of starting and maintaining a Personal Retreat Day habit, it’s time to answer the Big Question you’ve been waiting for: HOW do you do one? Let me set you at ease by telling you there’s no “right way” to do a PRD. Personal Retreat Days differ widely from person to person. Yours will not
Everyone knows that taking time for yourself reaps a multitude of benefits. A WebMD article lists some of the benefits of taking “me time” to work on your health and happiness: stress reduction, increased productivity, and a boost of energy. So why don’t we do it? When I promote taking a monthly Personal Retreat Day, I often get pushback like “sounds great…if I had more
Welcome, friend! Thanks for joining me on the blog today. You’ve already read my post on why you should take a Personal Retreat Day (PRD). (What? You haven’t? Check it out HERE). Now that you’re inspired, let’s discover what exactly is a PRD. In a nutshell, a PRD is a special time you set aside to work on yourself and have inner dialogue. It’s a
Inspirational leadership guru Simon Sinek tells us to always “Start With Why.” His book and popular Ted Talk of the same name challenge us to think first about WHY people need something. In other words, what are the benefits? So before I even tell you what exactly a Personal Retreat Day (PRD) is and how to do one, I’m going to take his advice and
Life is crazy. Most of us spend our days rushing frantically from one task to the next: get up, exercise, work, take care of the kids, cook dinner, eat, clean, watch TV, sleep, repeat. One day blurs into the next, and before you know it an entire month has disappeared. You look back and think, “where did the time go? What did I even accomplish
