Would you do this to your best friend?

Would you do this to your best friend?

I’m walking through a moss-covered forest, brushing against Bracken Ferns that are as tall as I am. Every muscle in my body hurts. I feel vulnerable, and not just because sometimes cougars and wolves walk the same trails as I am right now. No, this vulnerability is of the teary kind, the bone-tired yearning for rest.

My husband and I rented an excavator to clear land on our property, and we’d worked our bodies to the max for three days. I have done manual labor like this without blinking an eye for decades, but I’ll be 46 years old in a couple of weeks, and I realize that my energy, stamina and grittiness aren’t what they were at 20.

I’m used to pushing myself hard, both physically and mentally. I am made from hard-working, tough German stock and was raised by parents whose hands were never, ever idle.

I’m used to pushing past the body signals that beg me to stop, to rest, to sit down for a spell. Worse, I learned to talk to myself very, very harshly.

When my body was tired or hurting, I would say to myself: “Come on, you lazy thing, suck it up and push through it. Rest is not an option.”

When I felt sad or depressed, I turned against myself with words like these: “What’s your problem? Stop being so whiny and get on with what you’re doing. Stop complaining.”

When I was scared or anxious, this inner voice yelled at me: “You shouldn’t feel this way. There’s no reason for you to be such a pussy.”

Do you ever talk to yourself this way?

This all changed dramatically when I discovered the Feminine Power work, which is now the modality I use to help other women transform their lives. Through these Feminine Power principles, I learned to become my own best friend and be the guardian of my own well-being.

I will never, ever talk to myself in such a mean way again.

So right now, as I’m walking on the sun-dappled forest path and feel tears welling up, I stop. I turn towards the sadness, feel into it, not to analyze it or explain it away, but to tend to the self inside of me that feels like crying. I sit on a clump of sun-warmed bark, and my little Shi Tzu immediately jumps on my lap and cuddles up to me. My other dog, a huge beauty named Raka, licks my ear.

Thusly surrounded by my canines, with birds singing above, the creek gurgling behind, wind ruffling my hair, I check in with that part of me who feels the grief. And I do what I learned in Feminine Power, I practice what I preach, and slowly, my heart softens, my nervous system relaxes.

I spend ten minutes leaned up against a tree and remember all the times I’ve used the same tools and techniques in other places: locked in a public bathroom stall, since that was the only place I could have a moment to myself to practice my Feminine Power tools, or in the middle of a crowded room at a party when I felt especially unsafe, or in my daughter’s bedroom tending to her at midnight while she was sick.

The tools and practices I learned and now teach are simple, yet hugely transformational. They have changed my life in so many ways, and have made me into a much more compassionate mother, wife and friend.

My question to you is: How do you talk to yourself? How do you respond to your needs?

Are you “should-ing” on yourself? Do you push your feelings down, berate yourself for them, beat yourself up, distract yourself, engage in addictive behaviours, reach for the tub of ice cream instead of feeling what’s going on inside of you, or work-work-work so you don’t have to deal with difficult emotions?

Would you talk to your best friend the way you talk to yourself? What would you say to your best friend if she came to you and cried? Would you tell her to stop and get on with it? Would you deny her the need for comfort, rest, a good cry?

So, darling, don’t use this as another reason to beat yourself up. But start being curious about how you relate to yourself, to your feelings and needs, and then ask yourself: ‘Would I treat my best friend like this?’

If you’re appalled at what you find out, maybe it’s time to learn how to be your own best friend. It’s such a better way to live in the world, I promise you.

And as always, if you want help with this, click here to —> schedule a free discovery coaching session with me  <—

PS: If you want to be pampered while you explore all this stuff I talked about above, I want to invite you to my women’s retreat at our homestead in August.  Find our more —> HERE <— !

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://form.jotform.com/jsform/70767549924168">

How my Mother’s Day went from terrible to blissful

How my Mother’s Day went from terrible to blissful

Fuming, sweating and stomping into my bike pedals in the 90 degree heat, I held back tears. The day had started so perfectly: All of my three kids had handed me home-made Happy Mother’s Day cards. My 15-year-old teenager had written thoughtful, witty, touching things about how he appreciates that I let him make his own choices, that I act as his chauffeur at ungodly hours of the night, and that he basically thinks I’m pretty cool. My middle kid thanked me for being such a great mom, which, he assured me, should not be taken for granted, especially after realizing upon entering public school that a lot of his school mates don’t ave any mothers at all, or sucky ones. And little Eva handed over a gushing card with hand-drawn hearts exploding all over the page.

So that morning, I felt like I had it made as a Mom. Loved and appreciated by my kids, the whole family plus two dogs piled in the minivan to drive over Washington Pass to the other side of the mountains, where we would do whatever my heart desired, since it was Mother’s Day. Since my heart’s desires involve biking, chocolate, coffee and spending quality time with my kids and husband, we ate breakfast at the Mazama store on the East side, a groovy, overpriced place everyone tends to love, and then planned on biking in the scenic Methow Valley.

That’s when things went downhill. The eldest realized he had forgotten his shorts (although I had reminded him four times to pack some at home). The middle kid complained that his bike gears were screwed up. And little Eva started whining about the heat after only two minutes on the bike. My husband, who had spent hours packing and readying the car, had forgotten to pack saddle bags so we could carry water and snacks.

I turned into a pissed-off, resentful, disappointed woman – not the kind of mother adored and loved by her kids. I started snapping at everyone, blaming my family for not taking enough responsibility, accusing them of screwing everything up.

Then I stopped myself and requested to bike alone for a while. They could have ice cream and meet me 15 miles down the road. With nary a kiss or kind word, I headed off alone in a huff.

After a few minutes on the bike, I noticed my negative thoughts about my family. That’s when the Mama guilt started, and I began beating myself up for being so unkind to everyone. Thankfully, I caught myself.

🦋🦋🦋And this, right there, is why I am so grateful for the tools I have learned and have been teaching to other mothers. The moment where you slide down the rabbit hole of guilt, shame, negativity, blame, beating yourself up – and catching yourself. If I hadn’t caught myself, the day would have been horrible. 🦋🦋🦋

But here’s what happened instead:

I forgave myself for being unkind and bitchy. I turned towards the part of me that was disappointed with the situation and validated that of course I would feel that way. I let myself off the hook with lots of love and compassion.

I then started challenging the negative self-talk in my head: “Gosh, look at you! You’re a terrible mother! You hurt your kids’ feelings, and you totally dumped on your poor husband, who is trying so hard. Your kids will hate you forever. You’re just like your own mother! You’re not good enough. You’re bad.”

As I biked, I came to a deeper truth, which is that we all make mistakes, that it’s okay to be disappointed and let other people know about it, that I’m a pretty good Mom most of the time, that I’m a good person, that I’m grateful to be in such a beautiful place, although, gosh darn it, it’s hot out.

When I met up with my family an hour later, I apologized for being so snarky, and they did, too.

We then got cold drinks, found some shorts on sale for the teenager, fixed the middle son’s gears, and shuttled the boys to their favorite mountain bike route, while Eva and I sat at the lake, relaxing and bonding.

Later, my boys and I biked 20 more miles together, in utter bliss and harmony.

This would have not happened if I allowed my automatic meaning-making and negative self talk to take over.

So here’s my question for you: What kind of stuff do you tell yourself when things break down? How do you handle that? Do you believe the stories you tell yourself? And how does that make you act with yourself and others? What kind of life does that create, and what kind of life would you like instead?

If you want to explore this in a FREE discovery session with me, please book one by clicking below.

You truly can grow yourself into the mother/woman/wife/friend you really want to be, even if you don’t know how the heck to start, because you’re stuck too deep in the muck!  So book your free session now! 💗

Book a free session

 

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://form.jotform.us/jsform/70767549924168"></script>
Do you need a laugh?

Do you need a laugh?

Every single person I know has been feeling more overwhelmed than usual. I figured you’d be feeling it as well. Yup, me too.

And since I haven’t written a blog post here for way too long, I’m popping in to reach out to you. I’m on my second cup of coffee, sitting on the porch with my dog snuggled up by my feet, a soft wind tousling our hair, and real spring warmth in the air.

Today, I called a strike, mostly on myself. I’ve been pushing way too hard, working too much, not letting my brain turn off. So after writing this, I’m gonna let the laundry sit where it sits, the dishes piled up in the sink, emails un-answered, and I’ll get on my bike and head up the hills.

How do you know when you’ve had enough and you need to call a strike?

Here’s how I know:

✷ I start feeling depressed
✸ I have a hard time sleeping
✸ I snap at my kids and husband
✸ I break out in tears when my kids tell me they are having a track meet on the weekends, because you know what? I just want to be home and not drive anywhere anymore. Ever.

Yesterday evening after my husband came home from work, we took the goats out to pasture and just sat there in the sun, with our youngest kid on our laps, joking, laughing, and sharing a beer.

I realized that my insides had felt like they were coiled up like a snake, and slowly, the tension began to unwind.

We started making faces, and I might have peed myself laughing.

So here’s what I want to ask you:

Where have you been pushing too hard in your life? What can you do to give yourself permission to take a break? Can you find someone whose face you can squish and laugh your butt off? Can you smoosh up your own face in the mirror and let yourself crack up?

I’m just saying, darling: Things are very tense out there in the world, and we get bombarded with so much seriousness every day… We gotta let ourselves just hang with the goats, drink a beer, and laugh. And if you don’t have goats, find something else that makes you happy.

Because you deserve a break.

And if you want help looking at why you are having a hard time in your life, just schedule a free coaching session HERE and let me hold your hand and support you!

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://form.jotform.us/jsform/70767549924168"></script>

Rising from the ashes

Rising from the ashes

Eight years ago, my middle son Luke contracted a very rare, strange, unknown disease which almost killed him. He was five years old at the time.

I had just given birth to my daughter weeks before, and in the middle of the sleep deprived and hormonal turmoil of taking care of a newborn, I now had to face my son battling for his life at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The disease left him with heart aneurysms and the need to take blood thinning medication, which posed its own risks for an active, tree climbing, trampoline bouncing boy his age. Any fall or bump could cause internal bleeding due to the medication.

My husband and I had to make a choice how we responded to this crisis and how we would allow Luke to live his life from now on. The lovely Louis Cartwright interviewed me to talk about this experience, and how we moved from this crisis to deep transformation.

 

—> Listen here <---

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://form.jotform.us/jsform/70767549924168"></script>

Why are you hiding? What is keeping you from being visible?

Why are you hiding? What is keeping you from being visible?

On Thursday, butterflies in my stomach woke me up and wouldn’t let me go back to sleep again.  In fact, his happened every single morning for a whole week before Thursday.  The reason: For months, I had planned to teach a free webinar on how to make Chevre cheese.

When I first came up with this idea, I didn’t know that I would have a worldwide audience of 800 people on Thursday, the day of the webinar.

And not only did I have this huge audience, but I also took a stand for my business: the stand to be visible and play a much bigger game.  That can be really scary, right?

So I bet you believe me when I tell you I was nervous just before I hit the “Go live” button on the webinar.  Once I started connecting with all the people waiting for me, I felt great.  This is what I live for: teaching, connecting with people, delivering value, inspiring folks.

At the end of the free webinar, people were gushing about it, thanking me profusely, and signing up for my paid online cheese making course.

And I felt energized, proud to bursting, fulfilled, and re-inspired to take my business to a new level, thus serving more people and helping to change lives.

Here’s my point: I wasn’t always like this.  I used to be extremely shy.  If you know me personally, you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking, “Great joke, Corina.”  You know me as a bubbly, outgoing, extroverted gal, right?

Well, deep down inside I am a full-blown introvert.  Coupled with my old story of “I’m not good enough, I’m not wanted, and I’m not worthy of attention”, this would make for a pretty bad business person, don’t you think?

Inside of these old beliefs of not being good enough, not being wanted, and not being worthy, I showed up in the following way.  If you have the same false beliefs, maybe you can relate.

  • I didn’t allow other people to see me (I didn’t share my feelings, I covered up my feelings of inadequacy with false bravado)
  • I was hiding (behind the computer, behind a fake smile)
  • I didn’t pursue opportunities although I was qualified
  • I downplayed my own value, talents and gifts
  • I undercharged financially
  • I assumed people didn’t want me to “play” with them
  • I said “No” a lot, even though I wanted to say “YES”
  • I didn’t promote myself, make myself visible, show up

Does this sound familiar?  Are you doing some of that yourself?  Why?  How could you change that?  Does it feel good to keep hiding and not going for your dreams?  

Well, my darling, at some point, it feels like shit, doesn’t it?  When everybody else is thriving and growing, and you wonder what the hell is wrong with you because you can’t shine like that, thrive like that, or own your own value like the “big players”.

Here’s what I want to tell you: If I can change this, you can, too.

You might need a little help figuring out the underlying patterns and beliefs, and the old ways of being that keep reinforcing your old identity.  And that’s okay.  We all need a little help.  We all need support.

You could schedule a free session with me to see how I can help.

Maybe all you need to change your hiding is an awareness of being sick of playing small.

Maybe you gotta journal about it and ask yourself what you really are yearning for, and what’s holding you back.

Or you could pretend and act “as if”.  Who would you be, how would you talk, what steps would you take if you were the person you want to be?

You could visualize yourself ten, twenty, thirty years into the future, as a fully self-realized, successful, happy woman, and then see what she has to say to your self in the present.  What kind of advice would she give you?  What skills and capacities do you need to learn and practice to show up like this fully expressed woman of your future?

Be gentle with yourself.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Just be curious!

And honestly, do contact me for a free session if you want help!

Sending you much love,

Corina

PS: Oh, and if you want to watch the replay of my webinar, where I teach people how to make Chevre Cheese, you can do that here. For free, of course. But it ends on Sunday, so watch it soon.