One of the things that became clear through the M.A.P.P. interviews, was the 3 core connections necessary in order to live a fully expressed, whole and healthy life.

The ways in which we nourish these connections may look differently for each of us- but they are critical to every person’s core needs for well being and vitality.

1.  Connection to Self

I firmly believe that to live out your full potential on any level, you must have a thriving and intentional practice of connecting to and caring for yourself. 

This encompasses the way you care for your physical body, your emotional health, your mental well being, and your spirit.

I often get asked by women interested in my courses, whether or not I am a Christian. I am, and though my work through the WellGrounded Life is not explicitly faith-based, there is no doubt that my faith plays a key role in the message I share and the way I guide and support women to health and wellness.

One of the main areas is how I understand our inner life and spirit.  When I seek to understand my own spirit more fully, I am also seeking to understand God’s Spirit more fully.  I do not see my need for deep connection to my inner self as distinct from my connection to God. 

If God dwells within me… the journey of looking inward is the way in which we can also look toward the Creator and Source of our life.

Caring for your body with true and real nourishment, fresh air, movement and respect is an extension of caring for your emotional, mental and spiritual well being – it is all connected.  You are not a compartmentalized being and the more you integrate your life, the more all the parts of who you are rise and expand.

2.  Connection to Others

The second connection is our connection to others.  Our relational health and well being. 

This is the care and feeding of those essential relationships of trust, understanding, love, camaraderie and honor that we were designed to experience.  While no one really needs a research study to prove this point, reams of data confirm that human beings were specifically made to be in relationship with others.

While this plays out differently in each woman’s life- her relationship with her spouse, children, friends, mother, sister, family and community- all play key roles in either supporting her to thrive and grow or limit her full expression.  Painful, disrespectful and shaming relationships are not nuetral.

Another common theme that surfaced from the MAPP Gathering interviews was the essential need for an inner tribe, a maternal network.  I spoke of this before when I talked about a conspiracy group.  Often these special and binding relationships are the main elements of a resilient and thriving personal life. 

3.  Connection to Purpose

Finally, is our outward connection to a greater purpose and meaning. 

Within each of us there is a growing, evolving expansive spirit.  Our desire to express ourselves, to be heard and known and to create meaning from our lives, is a universal experience. 

Expressing our creativity, following our passions, pursuing our dreams, connecting to meaning and purpose in our lives is the third critical connection we make and must nourish.

As a mother, there are seasons when this inner fire is well satisfied with the tending and raising and loving of our families.  For others the need to extend beyond our role as mothers and contribute and engage in the world in other ways as well, begins to surface and requires our attention.  And the way we navigate that path will be ours uniquely– though the exploration of what that roadmap looks like is almost always richer when we can explore it in the context of a loving, supportive network. 

These three core needs are always overlapping upon each other. 

The only way to distill the calling of your inner creative urges, your passions and purpose is to have a strong and clear connection and relationship with yourself.  And one of the best ways to nourish that connection and clarify your direction is within a circle of relationships that are based on honor, respect, and genuine care so that can safely be who you truly are.

This is the reason I created the MAPP Gathering interview series…and then conceived of the MAPP Toolkit: A Guided Workshop. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on these 3 core connections.  Which of these areas are in most need of care and nourishment in your life right now?

Today I get to “unveil” my gorgeously redesigned website!

For me, this upgrade of my online “look” is a representation of so many areas of growth and expansion happening behind the scenes.  And the thing is, when you begin to step forward in life, to shine your light brighter and to touch more people’s lives…there can often surface a lot of fear.

Or, well, I was calling it fear until I dug a little deeper and saw what it really was instead.

About a week ago, a woman emailed me inquiring about my upcoming course. 

In the middle of her message, she wrote “I hope I’ll have the courage to go forward and join you for your course.” 

At first I was caught by the wording she used.  But I quickly understood exactly what she meant.  She was right.  It did require courage to step more boldly into a bigger version of who you are.  I’m deeply understanding that in my own life right now as well.
 

Please share this video with your community…there may be other moms and women who could benefit from it! Thank you!

A straightforward, powerful way to identify goals that reflect what you truly want in life, and get crystal clear on the skills, tools and strategies you need to meet them.

This 3-part video series takes you through that exact process.

Sign up below to gain instant access to Video 1!

I’d also love it if you’d share this with your community- there may be women or mothers who could benefit as well!

What is it about the holiday stretch that makes relationships so hard?   It feels like this time of the year stirs up a whole lotta gunk emotionally.

For many of us it’s our family that starts to really trigger an emotional charge.

Regardless of who steps forward and starts to push your buttons, the reactions you feel about them can be some strong medicine. If you know how to understand the message that’s underneath the irritation, huge personal growth can happen which lands you a whole lot lighter and brighter all around.

This week I’m sharing a simple, fast and powerful exercise that turns the holiday “gunk” into a paved path toward personal wholeness.

*If you are reading this in an email, click through to watch the video!*

When I was in high school I studied Latin. I know, it’s a “dead” language, but I have to admit-that knowledge single handedly made my own language come alive like nothing else.

Like conspiracy. The root of that word means “to breath together”- to be of such deeply aligned beliefs that you are in a sense taking the same breath.

My grandmother used to say “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are.” The more I learn about the way our brains are wired, the more her simple saying is spot on. We truly are literally becoming like those around us.

It is how our brain is designed to work, particularly the female brain. We want to model the subtle feelings, beliefs, thoughts, actions and expectations of those we come into contact with- and this all happens subconsciously.

When women make huge changes happen in their lives, especially when they’ve had tremendous difficulty in the past meeting their goals…they all have one essential element a part of their success: they’ve found their “conspiracy group.”

Truth is, modern culture does not help you live the vibrant, happy, energized, grounded, self-connected life you want to live.  The messages, social influences, hectic pace and expectations on the modern mom are completely un-aligned with true well being or healthy living. And the more we surround ourselves with the frenzy of modern society the more our dreams of living life the way we truly want to gets harder and harder.

If you want your 2012 to be different than your 2011, you must seek out and connect with a small group of likeminded people who can mirror back to you how you also want to grow and develop.

It is that simple, and that hard. Because for so many of us, we may have wonderful families and great friends…but they aren’t really our “conspiracy group.” They may not think about things the way we do or prioritize living in certain ways. They are not working to spur you to higher and deeper and more alive places. They often are quite happy with where you are- they are used to you that way.

I’ve been feverishly working with my team to roll out some incredible new offerings at WellGrounded Life in 2012. We just nailed down the course calendar for the year and as I looked over it, I saw with such clarity that my 3 core courses, spread throughout the year are poised to take women powerfully through major areas of growth, healing and wellness with a forward momentum that can stay with them through a full 12 months.

So, a package offering simply naturally was born. I’m calling my 3-course bundle the Motherlode Package.  And then the word conspiracy came to me.   And I knew how I wanted to promote this package without a doubt.

While I love private coaching, I have very limited time to devote to private clients. But I also know how incredibly powerful a laser-focused coaching session can be when you are steadily but strongly working through major change over time.

I’ve decided to offer as a bonus gift for enrolling in the Motherlode package a 3-Session Pack of private coaching calls with me ($450) to be used at any time throughout the 2012 year.

If you are interested in learning more about the Motherlode package, you can click here.

But regardless of whether the Motherlode is a good fit for you, I want to encourage you to think about who would be in your conspiracy group and prioritize ways to make connections with those people happen more often and more meaningfully. Perhaps you share your goals with each other and set times to reconnect monthly to encourage each other and share your successes?

And if you don’t know of people that would be part of your ideal conspiracy group- what could you do to try and create these kinds of connections that serve to model and reflect back to you the energy and spirit of where you want to be heading in the world?

It will make all the difference in where you will find yourself a year from now, for sure.

I would love to hear more about your real or dream conspiracy group in the comments. And if you liked this message, please share it!