💜Opening to Desire through Self Love💜 As we sat in the car dealership discussing when to pick the new Toyota up, Spencer and the salesman (who was 24! and adorable) were like: Friday works. And then I heard myself suggest Monday. In that moment I became very curious with myself. Why do I want to wait the whole weekend to get my new beautiful car? I was able to track it in my system: I am having resistance to letting go of my beloved Mazda. Tears started flowing right there in the dealership. I loved this moment. In the pursuit of desire, this is an important moment to recognize. The Universe was giving me exactly what I asked for: a new car. The question then becomes: Can I open to receive it? Or will I block it with my resistance? I slowed down to sit with this and chose to lean in. It is disrespectful to myself, to my desire, to my partner and the Universe to block my desire coming to me, the desire I asked for. I mean, this is how we self-sabotage! This is the moment in that story about the man who prayed for God’s help during a flood but refused a rowboat, motorboat, and helicopter, only to learn afterward that those were God’s answers. It’s important to recognize when life is giving you what you want. It’s helpful to build the skill to notice when you’re in resistance. It’s loving and kind to take the time to give yourself what you need to open to the desire. Maybe it’s time, tears, or some action. For me, it was all of these, plus ritual. Continued in comments💜

🤍Love Letter to My Car🤍 My desire was a car that would hold me through the years of my kids being teenagers and throughout their college years. I wanted a brand new car so it would be beautiful and last for the long haul. I wanted to own it so I would have zero car payments when my kids were in college. I wanted a big car with lots of seats so there would be space for both of my kids plus a few of their friends - each. I wanted heated leather seats. My sweet beloved Mazda was all of this and so much more. She has brought my family and I to so many beautiful places to create gorgeous memories together. Apple picking year after year. The kids stood on her to pick the apples up high. And that time she got stuck in the mud because we still went to the orchard even after it had rained for days on end. She brought us to my sister Lauren's college graduation in Binghamton and we took my Baubee with us too. We got stuck in tonnnns of traffic on the way back and when one of the kids had a bathroom emergency, she took us off the exit to a ballfield even though Baubee said we could just pee in a jar. We all laughed so hard and it still cracks me up to remember that day. She went through a lot of drive thrus. And held many many sandwiches, water bottles and cups of coffee. She survived Hurricane Sandy. We all took turns crying, laughing and being angry in this car. She traveled to Asheville, Nashville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Philly, Dallas, Long Island and New Jersey, and so many other wonderful places I probably couldn't even remember. She drove us to visit my grandparents a million times and then, sadly, to their funerals. She took us to my mom's an endless amount of times for wonderful meals and barbecues. And to visit friends all over. She held me through major life transitions and difficult times. Through my spiritual awakening and transformation. When everything fell apart in my life, she was there. Sometimes she felt like the only material thing I owned. Continued in comments

This morning while setting up space for a retreat, a big piece of heavy wood slammed down on my toes. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt that much. But it definitely shocked my system. I felt a cold wave run up my body, from my toes to my head. I took a moment and breathed. The two women I was working with asked me if I was okay. That’s when my tears pooled up. This moment is a choice-point. It’s so easy to brush the hurt away and jump back into action. Say you’re okay. Mask the fact that you have hurt or feelings. How many times have I overridden myself in this moment and brushed off how I really feel? Tolerate the pain, push it down, and feel horrible inside. I have watched women do this my whole life. That is not what I am here for. I’ve been working with myself to be soft and open, to be present with the truth in my body for over a decade. Part of my life’s work is learning to listen to my body and be with whatever comes up. I sat down and cried. It was a pretty short crying cycle. Without story or resistance, when we lean in, and open our body, it can run through quickly. I heard one of the women say to the other, “iI’s so great to be in a space where women feel their feelings and cry when needed.” YES. This is everything. But mostly this isn’t what is happening around us. It comes down to willingness to take up space. Pausing everything around you to take care of yourself. People around you may have to wait, the timing of your plan may be altered. Overriding our true needs leads to disconnection of self and that is the most painful existence. Thawing yourself out begins with the desire and willingness to be present with life and follow the threads that arise. Because I have taken the time to attune to the truth in my body, my life is richer and my relationships are so much more juicy and honest. PS my toes are black and blue, but feeling no pain 🙏🏽

🍑 Celebrating a gorgeous first season. Thank you to all of our listeners and guests. We love and appreciate you 🙏🏼 Season 2 is OUT and we keep getting better and better 🔥🤍 🍑 What do you want to learn about desire? #desiresofmyheart #desiredlife #desire #podcasting #desiredreality #selflove

Bellies. Bellies. BELLIES. Belly Hate. Belly Love. 
Where are you on the belly map? I spent years (decades) hiding and trying to flatten and fix my belly. 
To be honest, I never really tried very hard. Mostly I was stuck in a torturous cycle of hating my puffy belly. I spent the last few years truly nourishing myself, healing patterns of deprivation. This has been the ONLY path that has led me towards true acceptance of my body and healing my belly-hate. I went down a belly rabbit hole this week and discovered that throughout history, there have been many time periods when women’s bellies were celebrated and honored for their fullness. 
This really tickled me. Seeing the many times in history that women’s full bodies were celebrated, helped me zoom out and see the bigger picture. There will always be distorted beauty trends that try to dictate how we should look and define what beauty is. To capitalize on our self-hate. Focusing on this madness keeps you on the hamster wheel of discontent, constantly looking outside of yourself for the next fix-it to feel better. The only way to get free here is to internally orient ourselves to SELF, and begin to love ourselves as we are. With all our puffiness, scars, rolls, cellulite or whatever perceived imperfections you are stuck hating. 
To stand sovereign and steady in the midst of cultural ideals and embrace ourselves exactly as we are. True self-love is the medicine. It is unwavering, because it is rooted deep in our blood, bones, and soul. #selflove #bodyacceptance #bodypositivity #bellylove #selfcompassion #healingjourney #selfworth #fullbodylove #womensbodies #bodysovereignty #selfempowerment #bodyconfidence #unconditionallove #embraceyourself #bodyhealing #selfacceptance #nourishyoursoul #honoryourbody #culturalbeautystandards #loveyourbody #selfrespect #radicalselflove #innerstrength #puffybelly #bodyfreedom #beyondbeautystandards

This weekend, a woman asked if I was pregnant. It surprised me because it hadn’t happened in years, though it used to a lot. As we chatted, she explained that she’d recently had a baby, so pregnancy was on her mind. She noticed me rubbing my belly, which led her to ask. I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. Rubbing my belly has become natural—an act of love, feeling her softness and roundness. Years ago, this kind of comment would have really upset me. I would turn against my belly, wishing she were flatter, and I’d hold her in. It led to a lot of self-reflection and healing over the years. Part of my healing journey has been sharing about this openly instead of feeling embarrassed and hiding, feeling defeated. Talking and writing about my belly has helped me breathe fresh air and life into my healing. I have learned to stop sucking her in, hiding her and comparing her to the distortions I’ve been seeing since I was a teenager reading Seventeen magazine. I’ve chose to end the madness of trying to make her different or more palatable. Instead, I’ve opened to her softness, accepting her for exactly as she is, offering her love and tenderness. It’s so synchronistic that this happened the week that @coachcatherinen and I dropped a self-love podcast episode about Belly Wisdom We had an incredible conversation with somatic bodyworker, Elaine Konopka, who shared insights on embracing our bellies and learning to love them. In this episode, I dive deeper into my experiences, how they have effected me and how I moved to self-acceptance and love with my belly. 🙏🏼I would love to know more about your belly-love-journey and I invite you to listen in to our beautiful conversation. 🤍 Listen to episode 54 Belly Wisdom 🍑 @desireasmedicinepodcast #BellyLove #BodyAcceptance #SelfLoveJourney #EmbraceYourBody #BellyWisdom #LoveYourself #BodyPositivity #BodyConfidence #SelfCompassion #BodyHealing #RadicalSelfLove #WomenEmpowerment #BodyKindness #SelfAcceptance #BodyImageHealing #desireasmedicinepodcast #dedire #selflove

Celebrating leaning into desire and sticking with it, and each other, backing ourselves fully with our love and inspired action to deliver a podcast with topics that aren’t the norm in conversation. What desires are calling you? Forget if it’s possible or not…can you lean in and even admit the desire to yourself or a friend? Or to God? And follow the breadcrumbs, no matter how small. This is EVERYTHING. We are backing YOU! Thank you to our listeners 🙏🏼 We love your messages and how the episodes touched you. Keep it coming! We love to hear from you. Link to listen @desireasmedicinepodcast 🎧 Season 2 drops Wednesday September 4th🌹🎉 #InnerCritic #SelfDoubt #PersonalGrowth #SelfAcceptance #LifeDecisions #CompassionateLiving #EmotionalWellness #ReflectAndGrow #LifeJourney #SelfCompassion #LifeReflection #NavigatingEmotions #MindfulLiving #GrowthMindset #SelfDiscovery #CourageToChange #GapAndGain #LifePath #InnerStrength #PositiveMindset #EmbraceTheJourney #HealingJourney #SelfLoveJourney #WisdomInAging #GrowingOlderStronger #podcasting #podcasters #spotifypodcast #applepodcast

The question I always ask my clients and myself: ♥️What do you need to feel resourced?🍓 Can you give it to yourself? Or take baby steps towards it? Taking care of yourself and your needs is a loving act for yourself. It’s a muscle that can be built. One moment at a time, one decision at a time to 🌀give yourself what you need🌀 You’re worth it. Start building this self love muscle and watch your life change. 🍓What do you need right now? ♥️Today? 🌹This week? ♥️🍓🌀🌹 #selflove #selfcompassion #selflovejourney #nourishmentforthesoul #takecareofyourself #innerchildhealing #reparentingyourself

Truly for the fun and joy of it 🎵🎤🍕 I’m not a singer and this was a huge thing for me to say yes to, and I’m so glad I did. It was such a good time 🙏🏼. Thank you to Spencer for his YES and for meeting me in play and practice. It was a great birthday 🤍🎵🎂 #grease #talentshow #playwithlife #takearisk #grease #youretheonethatiwant

The Desire Quad is a powerful practice that helps you to be honest with yourself, feel fully expressed and navigate your emotions. Since 2011, I have been doing this practice daily. A giant thank you to @mamagena and @schoolofwomanlyarts for teaching it to me and thousands of women. The 4 parts of the Desire Quad are: 👿SWAMP: acknowledging what’s hard, what sucks a$$, what’s not going your way. It is permission to be with the dark, challenging parts of our live that we struggle with. 💃🏽BRAG: acknowledging and celebrating the magnificence of yourself and your life. A brag is the antidote for downplaying ourselves as women and pretending we are not creation itself. 🙏🏽GRATITUDE: appreciation for something or someone in your life 💗DESIRE: What do you want? What is your soul calling you to? What do you wish and yearn for? @coachcatherinen and I both demonstrate the Desire Quad practice in this mini-episode and also teach you how to hold space when someone shares a Quad with you. This practice helps deepen your relationship with yourself and your desires. It’s a game changer and a lot of fun to do with yourself or with a friend. We go deeper into these in the episode!. Link in @desireasmedicinepodcast or dm me 👅 🔥Post your Quad and tag us!!!🔥 #DesireQuad #EmotionalGrowth #PersonalDevelopment #SelfExpression #NavigateEmotions #MamaGena #WomanlyArts #Swamping #BraggingRights #Gratitude #Desires #SelfAwareness #DailyPractice #TransformYourLife #InnerStrength #CelebrateYourself #AcknowledgeHardships #SoulfulLiving #EmotionalHealing #SelfLove #Mindfulness #PositiveVibes #Empowerment #SupportiveCommunity #schoolofwomanlyarts #mamagenaschoolofwomanlyarts

Here’s why I love going down. Even though it meant I slept for a week and was sick after moving. Because coming up is so sweet. I gave myself the month of July to integrate my move, and it honestly has taken that long. Moving is HUGE, one of the biggest stressors to our body and system. During this time, a tender desire emergerd to spend more time with friends and I leaned into that desire, and it has been so nourishing. Recently, I have had a 4 hour lunch at the diner, a weekend in the woods playing & making s’mores, co-working on Zoom, lunch under an umbrella in the rain and Shabbat dinners. My client work has felt alive and in flow. My year long client had the most gorgeous opening in our last session and she messaged me the next day about how her kids have noticed a shift. I am holding a weekend retreat upstate NY with Lauren Harkness this weekend and the coming together is magical. My feminine gets to come out and play when I hold retreats - I get to be steady, loving and in flow. My soft Virgo self thrives here. I love this feeling of aliveness, flow and being in purpose. I am a Mani Gen and am in ongoing practice of following my YES and having fun with life. And it’s not always up-up energy. In fact, I go down often. This is where we gain power and energy. I rest a lot, feel what is coming up for me and open to what is being asked of me. This morning I woke up feeling funky so I moved my energy by walking and doing yoga in the woods and swimming naked. The theme of our retreat this weekend is metamorphasis. It is so richly and naturally woven into my body and I am so grateful for this. I trust the natural flow of up/down, expansion/contraction, light/dark. It is the way nature intended, and how our bodies are designed. PS There’s still room if you would like to join us this weekend. 🔗 @brenda_fredericks

A few nights ago I sat in bed night with a candle burning next to me.  The crickets were chirping and it was pure darkness out my window as I looked into the woods. A few hours before, I saw images of what happened in Washington at some “peaceful protests” and had an intense emotional reaction. I was in tears all night. It is highly concerning to me that terrorist groups are so loud and proud in our country.  They hold posters that declare the end of Jewish people, and are burning American flags.   I spent the evening in tears.  Snotty, loud, wailing tears.  My heart felt broken. I walked down to the lake to cry.  I reached out and spoke with two friends.  I needed connection.  We aren’t supposed to “handle” this alone. I felt hopeless.  I felt fear in my body -  that right here on our beautiful American soil lives this hate, this inhumane thirst for blood. As I felt the weight of all of it, I also felt an internal shift.  A rise to more action. Living my life as I have been no longer feels like enough.  It doesn’t feel like enough for me to live my best life.  Yes of course I will continue to do that, but there must be more.  I am hearing the call to do more. 

I don’t know what that is yet.  Do I go join a resistance group?  Lobby?  That is when I heard the voice to write.  To share what is going on inside of me, what is truly in my heart, and how I am handling it. I know I am not alone.  I know that so many people are hurting and scared right now.  Feeling the political tension in our country with so many issues, feeling the absolute madness in our world.  It’s scary.   Our world seems to be on fire. The thing that helped me the other night was leaning into the wise arms of dear friends.  Through my tears, I asked them to please share some wisdom with me, something to make it make sense.   Nobody could really make it make sense, but we sat in the fire together.  They sat with me while I cried.  I could feel their hearts… hurting, fearful, uncertain. Present.   It matters that we are together. It matters that we witness each other. It matters that we are heard. I know I am not alone. You are not alone. Continued in comments

There was a time when I would have quickly taken everything off the walls just to feel a sense of “progress.” But I’ve since learned to give myself plenty of extra time for difficult tasks. This allows me spaciousness for self-loving acts, like putting a painting back on the wall and taking it down tomorrow. My practice is to listen to and follow my body’s needs. Prioritizing this practice has transformed my life. There’s no more force or struggle, no more overriding or pushing. What remains is the truth—self-loving, body-honoring truth. And yes I painted this myself during the pandemic🙏🏼 #SelfLove #SelfCare #ListenToYourBody #PersonalGrowth #InnerPeace #Mindfulness #BodyWisdom #SelfCompassion #MentalHealth #HealingJourney #Wellness #Balance #IntentionalLiving #EmotionalWellbeing #SlowLiving #SelfAcceptance #SelfAwareness #ProgressNotPerfection #HolisticHealth #InnerStrength #SelfDiscovery #AuthenticLiving #Empowerment #LoveYourself #HealthyHabits #MindfulLiving #PositiveVibes #SelfGrowth #MentalWellness #LifeTransformation

🦋Metamorphosis is the theme for this year’s festival.  Whatever stage you are at in your spiral of life, we are here to grow and expand together in community.🦋 This big bold beautiful life that we live as women is full spectrum.  In an ideal world, we are full of magic, radiance, joy, abundance and in a flow state with life and the universe.   And...we live in this earth plane which is also full of pain and suffering.  Take one look at what is happening in the world and it’s enough to crush your very soul.   As women, as feelers, we can be consumed by the pain of the world.  We can get caught up in our head.  In daily tasks.  In taking care of others.  In patterns that we want to clear but keep repeating.  It can be endless, daunting and sap our power and strength.  It takes enormous courage to be with the full range of feelings.  And yet...that is the true path to freedom through the erotic.  You can’t selectively numb.  In order to expand to the greatest heights of ecstasy, we have to be willing to equally feel the full range of our womanhood.  It’s a paradox.   The path of embodiment is one of acceptance. The path of embodiment explores duality. A woman that can do this with grace and her full embodiment is unstoppable.   Metamorphosis: In the life cycle of the butterfly, there are four stages:  🦋Egg (the seeding of self or idea) 🦋Caterpillar (the feeding and nurturance of self or idea. Building resources) 🦋Chrysalis (breakdown to re-form.  Transformation) 🦋Butterfly (Fertility, Expression of self or idea). ~Lauren Harkness, Radiant Ecstasy Festival page🍯   Right now there’s a BOGO - it’s a great deal and we’d love to have you join us. Check out my profile 🔗 or dm me 🔥☀️❤️ xoxo #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #WomenSupportingWomen #Sisterhood #GirlGang #Besties #EmpoweredWomen #FriendshipGoals #StrongWomen #FemaleFriendship #WomenEmpowerment #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove

Gratitude Practice Day 30/30 Home It’s wild that when I set out to do this 30 Day Gratitude Practice, I was settled in my home, with the spark of desire and knowing that we would be moving. And here I am completing this practice, all moved out. HOME. It is something I know I am here to explore in this lifetime. I have lived in many spaces I called HOME. I have lived in no home, and learned to find home deep within myself. What a gift this is. Today I open my heart with gratitude for my last beautiful home, our apartment overlooking The Hudson. This home has held me, allowed me a soft landing and beautiful space to land fully after a lot of moving around. Living in this luxury building was magical. It had everything to live life comfortably - a gym, sauna, pool, business office, a beautiful community room. A coffee machine off the lobby...that was a lifesaver many a time, and every kind of dog imaginable. Plus some wonderful neighbors. We had so many incredible times, enjoying this space, living life in its simplicity. I think that is what I loved about this space - the simplicity. Meals on the terrace were gorgeous, overlooking the sunsets. Our family visited for BBQs and brunches and my kids came for a week for Thanksgiving 2022, which was a dream come true. Jeremy even stayed with us for a few months, which was so special for me. I loved living in Westchester...it is beautiful and we soaked it up by being in nature and going to many shows, restaurants and farmer’s markets. It was hard to say goodbye to this space. When the movers started wrapping the furniture, my tears fell and wouldn’t stop. They were soft tears of letting go. I have done this before, the tears and loss show me all the love in my heart for our time here, together. It was wonderful. And then there is a time that it is complete. Desire comes in and forges a new path. It felt true to follow that desire, even though it meant leaving this space I loved so much. It’s the beauty of life, holding joy, grief, desire and the unknown, all at the same time, all in my heart. I am grateful for it all, and to be able to feel all of it.

Gratitude Practice Day 29/30 being in tune with my body Several times this week I have had an experience where my mind told me my body “couldn’t do it”. In yoga class, dancing, in a Qoya practice. I’ve been pretty tired with organizing, packing and moving things every day. I have been resting A LOT. Friends is my go-to when I just need to lay down and be entertained. Movement and maintaining a healthy embodiment is also really good for me right now too. Sometimes it’s tricky to know when to rest and when to move, and when to stretch out of my comfort zone. The best way I have found to work with myself in this spot is to do what is EXACTLY TRUE in the moment. In doing so, meeting my body right where she is, I have found over and over that what I am able to do, what feels nourishing to my body is more than what my mind told me I could do. The stretching out of my comfort zone, out of what my mind said is possible, is JUST what I needed to feel a release, to feel more energized, to feel more creative and alive. And it starts with attuning to the right here, right now. #Yoga #YogaEveryday #YogaLife #YogaInspiration #YogaPose #YogaPractice #YogaJourney #YogaLove #YogaCommunity #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #bodylove #selflove #desireasmedicinepodcast #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment

Moving is a stepping into the unknown and I am excited for the adventure of it all.  I am deeply trusting my desire and my vision, the call that it is time to go. My clients, motherhood work and podcasting will continue on as usual. In fact, it will all get even BETTER, JUICIER 💦 I believe when we take risks and follow our heart, we get closer to our heart, our joy, and I am excited to pour all the juice and wisdom into my clients and work. #MovingForward #NewAdventures #TrustingTheProcess #FollowYourHeart #TakeRisks #EmbraceChange #JoyfulJourney #HeartCentered #LiveYourVision #ClientLove #MotherhoodJourney #PodcastLife #BetterTogether #JuicyLife #WisdomSharing #InnerJoy #AdventureAwaits #ExcitingTimes #PassionDriven #TrustYourself #NewBeginnings #GrowthMindset #AuthenticLiving #DreamBig #PositiveVibes #EmpowermentJourney #LiveYourBestLife #FearlessLiving #LifeTransitions

I am amongst boxes, bubble wrap and lots of tape again. I heard the call a year ago that it was time to close out our beautiful apartment in Westchester. It took a while for all of my parts to get on board, because I don’t enjoy moving. And it’s hard to leave NY because it’s where my roots and my family are. I will always be back here in some way bc it’s my home. And now we are down to our last week here. Desire calls and the vision was clearly shown to me. And I am humbly following. I am grateful for my partner who trusts my desire and vision 100%. Our plan is to land at our beloved lake in NJ for a few months, to rest and rejuvenate in nature, then do some traveling. Asheville & Northern California we are coming! This takes us to the end of the year, and then the slate is blank. Maybe Bali, Italy, I really don’t know. It’s a stepping into the unknown and I am excited for the adventure of it all. I am deeply trusting my desire and my vision, the call that it is time to go. I have loved it in Westchester, I have made some wonderful friends and community, and I will miss it. I am sad to leave, and I am working on leaving WELL. Being present and enjoying all that I can. Going to all the restaurants I want to eat at, the parks I love to walk at, ice-cream with friends, dinner on our gorgeous balcony overlooking the Hudson. It’s been beautiful. I have leaned in to the joy and gratitude of living in this gorgeous space and the blessings it has offered me...so muchso that I have questioned leaving. But yes, it is time to close this place out and open to the next. The beauty is that all the love and joy I cultivate here in laughter, in moments, in licks of ice-cream and bites of lobster rolls, I get to take it all with me in my heart. It makes everything more beautiful. #SpiritualGuidance #InnerPeace #SoulJourney #DivineWisdom #HigherSelf #SpiritualAwakening #MindfulLiving #SacredPath #Enlightenment #UniversalLove #WestchesterMoms #WestchesterCounty #MomLifeWestchester #WestchesterFamily

Gratitude Practice Day 28/30 🌞Morning Practices🌞 Otherwise known as, sanity.🙌 When I first became pregnant, I started waking up very early and that was the beginning of my mindful mornings. I used to lay in bed and read - it was so delicious. My morning practices have expanded since then and have changed dozens of times. They are ever-changing, like water, and flow to meet me where I am in my life. They connect me to my deeper self, to my body, to what’s in my heart. I soften through my practices, and I feel more loving and available for my life. They help me be more honest. Even when my kids were little, and I was teaching full time, I would dedicate whatever time I had to clearing space in my body and mind. There is always yoga, movement, breathing and prayer. Today, I did some extra writing practices and pulled cards, something I haven’t done in a while. I am grateful for all of my teachers, coaches, communities and friends who have taught me new practices and shared practices with me over the years. It’s all possible because of the connections I have made, and how I have leaned into desire to have more of what I want in life, to be more of my true self. My natural true self is joyful, open and playful but I don’t always wake up that way, or feel that way. And sometimes there are big emotions that want to flow or something feels stuck. My practices hold me in feeling it, integrating it and being able to show up for myself and my life exactly as I am. And for that I am deeply grateful. xoxo

Gratitude Practice Day 27/30 My brother’s health🙌 I spoke to my little brother today. Little - he’s 37, but he’s always my little brother.🤣 He is officially cancer free and I am so grateful. My brother Jordan was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the fall of 2022 and went through a really hard 12 week chemo protocol in 2023. He had pretty hard side effects and they are thank goodness all falling away. The port was removed from his chest recently, which is a great sign and he is doing really well. I am so so grateful. I got to know my brother even more during this time and am so moved at the man he is. He went through this with so much honesty, connection and grace. It really touched me how open he was about everything he went through and was feeling. And he recently got engaged to his sweetheart, who took such beautiful care of him the whole time. I am so happy for them. I could not find a good pic of us to share, so I am sharing the INCREDIBLE sous vide prime rib he made for us when we were together last December. It was probably the BEST meat I have ever tasted, it took 8 hours to cook. He took such pride in it, as the dedicated Capricorn that he is. Thank you thank you xoxo

Gratitude Practice Day 26/30 💃🏽Dancing💃🏽 I feel so alive dancing. My favorite lately is 5 Rhythms, where I dance slow, fast, and everything in between. The dances of fast chaos drop me so deeply into my body. I touch the animal part of me and it’s like nothing else in the world exists or matters. I am so grateful to be able to move in this way. I feel embodied, expressed, wild...FREE. In those moments, I remember. I can see universes beyond, how it’s all connected, we are all connected, we are all love. I remember how good it feels to be free and alive. How blessed I am to be in this body. That if I were never to dance again, I had this moment of being FULLY ALIVE. That I lived and it mattered. Tears form while I am moving, that I can touch this depth of gratitude and joy. #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove

This is one of my movement practices to add breath into my body. I love how random it is 🦋🌀 I love being inside my projects and online AND when I’m done I need to stretch and move in all the ways bc my body gets stiff. 🌈✨ #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove #SpiritualGuidance #InnerPeace #SoulJourney #DivineWisdom #HigherSelf #SpiritualAwakening #MindfulLiving #SacredPath #Enlightenment #UniversalLove

Gratitude Practice Day 25/30 My Family 💜 My heart is so full this morning. My family came over yesterday for a BBQ and we had the best time. I believe the most true loving things in life are very simple, and being with my family falls into this category. We just love to hang out and laugh, eat. We tell stories and catch up on life. There were cartwheels, handstands, train mishaps, giant tables of food and a beautiful sunset. I am so grateful for everyone traveling up to 3 hours to come yesterday. It means so much. It hasn’t always been this easy. There have been disagreements and disconnections. We have all grown in many ways and I am grateful for that, for the depth of love and honesty we have and that no matter what, we come back to the table to be together. It means everything to me. This summer, @haileymarino will be with us at some point and that will bring it over the top. 💜 #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #HealingGenerations #IntergenerationalWellness #AncestralHealing #HealingLegacy #HealingConnections #GenerationalHealing #HealingJourney #FamilyHealing #IntergenerationalHealing #HealingTogether #InterconnectedHealing #GenerationalWellness #AncestralWisdom #HealingRoots #InterwovenHealing #TransgenerationalHealing #FamilyWellness #LegacyHealing #HealingCircle #InheritedHealing

Gratitude Practice Day 24/30 🌤the gorgeous sky☁️☁️☁️ I was resting the other day, looking out the huge picture window in my bedroom and the sky was magnificent. This beautiful simple deep truth dropped into my body that no matter where I go, or what I do, this gorgeous sky with the soft white puffy clouds is always up there. I can always look up and there she is. It’s always changing, always different, and also extremely reliable in that even with seasons and change in weather and clouds, she is always there, smiling down at me. The sky reminds me that no matter where I am, I am always home within myself. #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove

Happy Mother’s Day 💜✨ I had a lot of fun making these with some of my favorite TV moms ✨ Reach out to chat with me about my 1:1 work. I love to be of service to moms living well and being their true self, changing generational patterns and having intimate honest relationships with themselves, their kids and their family. The best gift you can ever give your child is a joyful mom. And only you can do that. #momlife #newborn #mommy #celebration #mom #parenting #pregnancy #mama #breastfeeding #mothersday #mother #firstfathersday #familyfirst #parents #toddlerlife #momday #babiesofinstagram #mothersdaygiftideas #kid #momsofinstagram #instafamily #momtobe #dadlife #parenthood #motherhoodthroughinstagram #postpartum #father #familygoals #daughters #newmom

When I first became a mom, I had this feeling of entering into an entirely new world. It felt like there was a secret room in the back that I was given the key to. And with that key, I was downloaded a new Knowing that I never had before...the knowing of Mothers. It was a whole magical world of its own with doors, keys, slides, caverns and potholes. After 3 decades, motherhood still rocks my world. The JOY and LOVE and privilege I have to be the mother to my two children. I remember my first Mother's Day. I was so excited. I spent the day with my family and was surprised when my Grandma Muriel brought ME a gift. What?! - I had the belief that you give gifts to the generations above you on this day, and I was really touched to receive a gift *from* her. I don't remember what the gift was, maybe a plant or a crystal bowl or something homemade - she was always painting or sewing something beautiful. Whatever she gave me is long gone, but what remains is the beautiful message I received from my Grandma...the gift of honoring mothers. I felt special and appreciated as a mother. I felt honored and seen in this new world. I felt my Grandma's wisdom and love pouring on me as a woman. I felt her Knowing and experience watching me as a young new mother, aware of all the gifts and challenges ahead that I had no idea about. Now that my kids are grown, I can imagine how my Grandma felt that day - her oldest grandchild becoming a mother for the first time. An entire lifetime ahead of me, knowing that it will inevitably fly by, even though each day will feel often feel like a year. ✨Continued in Comments

If we want to age differently we need to start talking about aging differently ❤️‍🔥 Tune into @desireasmedicinepodcast for our SELF LOVE series. Aging episode with my cohost @coachcatherinen & our fabulous guest @karenfitztv drops on Wed, May 8 🔥 Link in my bio. #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove #HealingGenerations #IntergenerationalWellness #AncestralHealing #HealingLegacy #HealingConnections #GenerationalHealing #HealingJourney #FamilyHealing #IntergenerationalHealing #HealingTogether #InterconnectedHealing #GenerationalWellness #AncestralWisdom #HealingRoots #InterwovenHealing #TransgenerationalHealing #FamilyWellness #LegacyHealing #HealingCircle #InheritedHealing

What does your body need today? Right now? What if you got curious and asked yourself this question? What if you gave it to yourself? These questions are leading me deeper into self-love. I’m inviting you to tune into my @desireasmedicinepodcast that I cohost with @coachcatherinen where we are diving deep into self love in episodes 33,34 and 35. Thank you 🙏🏼💜

Gratitude Practice Day 22/30 💜Self Love series of my podcast💜 It is said we teach what we want to learn. That the places we have struggled the most is where our medicine lives. I am a recovering perfectionist and my spiritual journey has been a slow unwinding and relearning of how to be ME. How to honor, love and be compassionate with myself and my capacity. To let out my true full self. This is self love. I have learned to be loving, kind and gentle with myself. Like, TRULY compassionate, which is only born in the places we are hardest on ourselves. What I love about this work is that it is ever deepening. There is nowhere to "get", we can just keep going deeper and wider. I am a ride or die YES to the journey. So when @coachcatherinen and I interviewed @drstephaniebridwell on our Desire as Medicine podcast (episode 29) - I asked her my new favorite question for guests, What are some of your desires? Her answer rang bells in our bodies that sent us on a beautiful unexpected path. She said: I want to have a deeper relationship with myself. 💣I want to have a deeper relationship with myself.💣 There was something about the way she said it. So soft and simple. Yet so deeply profound. Speaking this desire out loud was courageous and vulnerable and she let us feel it all the way. And I did. It got IN. Imagine if all women focused on a deeper relationship with ourselves? It set Catherine and I on a path of what we are now calling our Self Love series. We have dropped 3 episodes on this topic so far and they are all so RICH. They are nutrition for our BODIES and SOULS. I want every woman to listen and be part of the convo. Each episode is so beautiful and it is shaping me in ways I didn't expect. I am so grateful. I am listening to my body more than ever these days. It's a deep, vulnerable personal journey that I am inviting you into. I am doing LIVES on Instagram about it if you want to hear more and deepen your own practice of self love. Continued in comments 💕

Self Love is building an honest relationship with yourself & your body. I talk about the one question that is powerful to ask yourself daily: What do I need to feel resourced right now? Listen to my self love series on my Desire as Medicine podcast that I cohost with @coachcatherinen #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove #MorningWalks #NatureWalk #WalkAndTalk #MorningRoutine #HealthyHabits #GetOutside #FreshAir #MorningStroll #SunriseWalk #WellnessJourney #Yoga #YogaEveryday #YogaLife #YogaInspiration #YogaPose #YogaPractice #YogaJourney #YogaLove #YogaCommunity #YogaTeacher

Gratitude Practice Day 21/30 🌷TULIPS🌷🌷🌷 Such beautiful splendor!!!! A miracle of miracles to be amongst rows and rows and rows of exquisite tulips, in all colors and sizes. And cabbage roses! True joy and beauty. And to be there with my friend, Bernadette Pleasant made it even sweeter. One of my favorite moments was when she asked me to take her picture with the yellow tulips. “I have to have this picture,” she said. I loved that and happily obliged. Everyone at this tulip show was smiling and genuinely happy. I believe the world could use more time at tulip shows. Thank you thank you🌷 #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #WomenSupportingWomen #Sisterhood #GirlGang #Besties #EmpoweredWomen #FriendshipGoals #StrongWomen #FemaleFriendship #WomenEmpowerment

When has my body *not* been in a state of change? How I am dealing with some body pain lately and loving myself as I make adjustments in my activity and life💕

#selflove #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove #HealingRoots #InterwovenHealing #TransgenerationalHealing #FamilyWellness #LegacyHealing #HealingCircle #InheritedHealing #SpiritualGuidance #InnerPeace #SoulJourney #DivineWisdom #HigherSelf #SpiritualAwakening #MindfulLiving #SacredPath #Enlightenment #UniversalLove

Gratitude Practice Day 20/30 3 Day Sleepover Party with Myself I spent 3 glorious days and nights by myself last weekend. As a Human Design Line 2, I need and love my time alone. Something magical and necessary happens when I get to bask in my own energy for a period of time. I remember. I didn’t want to be social, see friends or go to events. I just wanted to be by myself, do whatever I wanted and not follow a clock. What I wanted to do was visit my mom a lot, go to the beach and eat good food. I visited my mom 3 times. We had dinner together twice. I went to the beach 3 days in a row. It was gorgeous! I ate pumpernickel bagels with chicken salad for lunch and picked up Chinese food for dinner. I went to my favorite restaurant with Spencer for his birthday and ate a giant plate of seafood and pasta, with tons of garlic. I stayed up til 1am watching Sex and the City every single night. I laid on the couch a lot. I went to a yoga class and took walks every day. I ate the incredible brownies my sister made for me. I hung out with her adorable dog, who followed me around all weekend. It was so nourishing to my soul. And it was the perfect amount of time. I am so grateful for following my intuition. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense but we feel deeply called to do something or go somewhere. When my sister told me her family was going away for a few days, I offered to stay at her house and watch her dog so they don’t have to board him. I am so glad I did - it helped them a lot, and ended up having an unexpected and much needed solo sleepover party with myself (and a really sweet pup).

💜Join me for a powerful gathering of mothers💜 Together, we’ll create sacred space to share our truths, fears, and desires. 🍃 It takes courage to lean into connection, to admit we can’t do it all alone. But in that vulnerability, we find strength and love. Come share your experience, wisdom, and hope and receive it back a thousandfold. Your voice matters, your story matters. 🌹 Nurture yourself on this journey of motherhood, so you have more internal space to nurture others. ❤️ This will be a powerful heartfelt nurturing space filled with love and connection for mothers as we enter Mother’s Day season 🌷🌷🌷 Friday, May 3, 7pm $33 @hudsonvalleybooksforhumanity Register using link in my bio or dm me 💕✨ #CourageousConversations #MotherhoodJourney #SacredSpace #StrengthInConnection #SupportiveCommunity #WomenSupportingWomen #Sisterhood #GirlGang #Besties #EmpoweredWomen #FriendshipGoals #StrongWomen #FemaleFriendship #WomenEmpowerment #WestchesterMoms #WestchesterCounty #MomLifeWestchester #WestchesterFamily #WestchesterParenting #WestchesterMomCommunity #WestchesterKids #WestchesterMomsRock #WestchesterNYMoms #WestchesterLife

🌷An Invitation for Local Moms🌷 🌸Are you craving deeper connections, honest conversations, and laughter about the beautiful chaos of motherhood? Wondering how fellow mothers navigate the ups and downs of parenting? Ready to carve out sacred time to prioritize your own well-being and self-care amidst the whirlwind of life’s demands? 💬Courageous Conversations is an intimate evening event for mothers…a sacred space with guided heartfelt discussions and introspection, tailor-made for mothers longing for a deeper understanding of their journey. Together, we’ll explore the profound impact of motherhood on our lives, perspectives, and relationships. 🤱From uncovering the surprises to navigating the challenges, we’ll also delve into the power of reparenting ourselves, nurturing our own souls and building self-compassion. Plus we’ll gain deeper clarity on how our upbringing shapes our approach to parenting, and discover new ways to navigate conflicts and challenges with tenderness and empathy. 💕This gathering is a sacred sanctuary—a space brimming with warmth, compassion, and healing energy—where listening to the heartfelt stories of fellow mothers fosters deep connections, empathy, and unwavering love. 🌿Join this soulful journey of self-discovery, growth, and gratitude as we embrace the joys and challenges of motherhood together. ✨Lovingly held by Brenda Fredericks✨ Friday, May 3, @7-9pm $33 @hudsonvalleybooksforhumanity ✨Dm me for link or check my bio✨ #MotherhoodJourney #MomLifeBalance #ParentingCommunity #MotherhoodUnplugged #MomLifeVibes #EmpoweredMotherhood #MomSupport #MomTribe #MotherhoodRising #MomTalk #CourageousConversations #MotherhoodJourney #SelfDiscovery #westchestermoms #westchestermothers #ossiningmoms #ossiningfamilies #ossiningmatters #ossiningny #nymothersday #mothersday2024

Gratitude Practice Day 19/30 Knowing I am Supremely Backed by the Universe I am grateful for desire, and that I know how to follow it. I am grateful for the clear visions that drop in to show me my path. That I know how to step into the Unknown and have the path revealed to me as I take each step. That I don’t need to DO anything except keep my attention on the point of truth and lovingly unpack the threads. Oh, yeah only _that_. I am grateful for the decade plus of being on the mat practicing this. That when I put my attention on something it naturally and gracefully M O V E S. It’s pure magic. It comes from the embodied listening I have cultivated. It’s so sweet that I recognize the signs of how the Universe is supporting me in my life and my bigger visions. That I am filled with gratitude for Spiritual Team Brenda supremely backing me. I am so grateful, that I am giddy with delight. Thank you thank you 💜 #SpiritualGuidance #InnerPeace #SoulJourney #DivineWisdom #HigherSelf #SpiritualAwakening #MindfulLiving #SacredPath #Enlightenment #UniversalLove #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment #embodiment

Gratitude Practice Day 18/30 My View of the Solar Eclipse from the Sky I found out that airlines schedule special flights specifically during an eclipse, so people can view this event from the sky. I just happened to book my flight home from Asheville exactly during the eclipse. It freaked me out at first, but thanks to @red_moon_revival sharing her wisdom with me, I went into it with a quiet inward reverence and a deep sense of holding the field. I didn’t have eclipse glasses but didn’t worry about it. Then I was generously gifted a pair the night before the flight. I bought the front seat on the plane but the sun was on the opposite side of the plane. BUT I knew there would likely be a moment that the plane turned and I would have a window to view the eclipse. I wasn’t attached though - this was obviously a huge event and I was fully going with the flow. There was a buzz on the plane about it - the people around me were watching the sky and I was very excited. Being up in the air during this solar eclipse felt profound. What a place to be. It’s a pretty rare experience to fly DURING an eclipse in the path of partial (80/90%) totality. It felt like a gift. And just as I hoped, as we approached NYC, the plane turned. I whipped out my glasses, popped them on and BOOM, I had a perfect view of the eclipse. I then snapped a pic (below). And that was that. 
I offered to get up so the woman next to me could view it but it made her nervous to get up, so I let it go. Seeing the eclipse in this way brought me to tears. I remember seeing a solar eclipse as a child. I drove to Portland, OR in 2017 to have a 100% viewing of the eclipse. It is all MAGIC. And I am grateful for these gorgeous human experiences. #SolarEclipse #EclipseSeason #EclipseMagic #CelestialWonder #CosmicEvent #MoonAndSun #EclipseChasers #TotalityExperience #SolarPhenomenon #EclipseViewing #GratitudeAttitude #ThankfulHeart #GratefulEveryday #BlessingsOverflow #AppreciationPost #CountingBlessings #GratitudeJourney #ThankYouUniverse #GratitudePractice #JoyfulHeart #AmericanAirlines #FlyAmerican #AATravel #AmericanAir #AmericanAirways

Gratitude Practice Day 17/30 REST I am grateful to have created my life so I have full days that are dedicated to slowing down and taking really good care of myself. Today was yoga, sauna, bath and a walk. All the years I was working as a teacher, and raising my kids I was tired most of the time. I loved it, and I often did feel rested, but overworking and overriding my body was built into that life. One of my biggest practices these days is tuning into my body and seeing what she needs and what my capacity is. How can I work and follow my desires in life and stay in range with my body? I wish I could say I don’t override at all, but it does happen. When it does, I look back and see what shift I could make for next time to stay more in range with myself. It’s such a nuanced practice. And I am grateful for it. And grateful for these sweet moments of resting in nature. Thank you thank you💜 #SelfLoveJourney #LoveYourselfFirst #SelfCareEveryday #EmbraceYourself #SelfAcceptance #InnerPeace #SelfCompassion #SelfWorth #SelfKindness #RadicalSelfLove #Yoga #YogaEveryday #YogaLife #YogaInspiration #YogaPose #YogaPractice #YogaJourney #YogaLove #YogaCommunity #YogaTeacher #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes

Gratitude Practice Day 16/30 👅Being an Amazing Cook👅 It was not always this way. My kids once told me they ate my baked chicken when really they tossed it in the bushes! I found this out years later 🤣 I remember the day, too. I watched my grandmas and my mom cook and their cooking was always so delicious. But it took me a while to really understand how to work with ingredients and make things really good. The bottom line is I love to eat. I learned to cook by (this feels hilarious to say) by starting to follow recipes. I expanded my repertoire of ingredients and what was possible. I would watch women cook and learn so much. Then I became obsessed with Tik Tok and that took me to the next level with recipes. A one minute video showing me how to make something incredible! - YES PLEASE. My phone is filled with videos of recipes that whet my appetite. Now I am able experiment and create meals that are SO GOOD. My favorite are one pot meals filled with delicious fresh organic ingredients. I looooove tons of leftovers. I looooove feeding people delicious food. Today’s morning special was an egg casserole with spinach, turkey, cheese, sliced tomato and a bunch of spices that made it moist and truly wonderful. Best part: it baked while I did my morning yoga, then I paired it with coffee and challah from Shabbat last night, and it was a 10/10. #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #ShabbatDinner, #Jewish, #Challah, #ShabbatCandles, #ShabbatPrep, #ShabbatVibes, #ShabbatTogether, #ShabbatLife, #JewishTradition, #ShabbatMoments, #ShabbatPeace, #ShabbatCommunity, #ShabbatTable #ChallahBaking #HomemadeChallah #ChallahLove #ChallahBread #ChallahTime #BakeYourOwnChallah #ChallahGoals

We dropped our 32nd Desire as Medicine podcast episode this week! And we are hosting monthly DESIRE events. Last night was our third live event. We shared a tool for tracking how we use our time and energy. Women left with deeper awareness of how they ACTUALLY spend their time and energy and with new desire to add more energizing/nourishing activities to their day. It’s easy and normal to be overwhelmed with our schedule in a society that values production over taking care of yourself. And in a society that celebrates martyrs and doing more for others than for yourself. When we are overwhelmed, exhausted, overworked, how can we even think about desire? It seems like a pipe dream. But being in REALITY is powerful. We can shift our beliefs and start making different choices. I am so tickled by how many beautiful juicy delicious layers there are on the topic of DESIRE. Desire as Medicine podcast is all about how our desires are truly medicinal - they have the power to carry us forward into new versions of ourselves that we dream about. By following our desires, we grow into the person who can have the desire. This podcast is growing us, individually, and in our sisterhood as well as creative partners. It is confronting at times for me to podcast - to create weekly live shows that have a life of their own. I have been faced with my own visibility wounds and self-judgement. And I get to give myself my own medicine of compassion and trusting the process. It’s all quite beautiful and I am really proud of us for this project, and how it’s growing. Desire as Medicine podcast is basically a course on DESIRE. And we have a new series coming out next week on SELF LOVE. OMG it is GORGEOUS. Thank you to the incredible guests we have hosted. Thank you to our listeners and the beautiful feedback we have received about how our episodes and topics have touched and inspired you. Thank you to the women attending our monthly events. We love interacting with you and chewing on how to create the life we truly desire. Thank you to my incredible co-host Catherine. I am so grateful to be on this journey with you. xoxo

Gratitude Practice Day 15/30 Rightness for Where I am in a Pattern I am grateful that I have learned (and continue to learn) to be in a state of Rightness & Approval for exactly where I am in my being. For several years now I have had my attention on a deep maternal lineage pattern that is a core of my patterns and relationship wounding. When I first saw it about 4 years ago, it was one of the most confronting things about myself I had ever seen. It was so loud I could barely look at it, let alone allow the truths in. It was easier to push it away and hide behind it in a ball of shame. Only when that became too costly did I muster the inner strength to face it. It was then that my real work began...to admit it, and to look at the pieces of the pattern inside of me and let them have their way with me. I have been unraveling and unpacking tendrils of this pattern ever since. I have made huuuuuge strides and I celebrate myself for leaning in. Doing so has reshaped me, (and continues to do so). There has been no place for ego, only humility and compassion. This is true power. I am grateful to be right here, right now, much of the way through, with some threads still working their way through me. I am grateful for my lineage of women who have all worked different pieces of this pattern so that it may be lovingly shifted for future and past generations. In a culture where we are taught to 'fix what's wrong' and put on a happy face, masking the deep truths underneath, I am grateful to say that I have cultivated the personal capacity and rightness to be with myself inside of something so big, that despite my desire to do so, there is no guarantee it will be worked out in my being, in this lifetime. Part 2 in comments

Gratitude Practice Day 14/30 a morning walk surrounded by beauty The sun called me this morning and I answered. I followed her down the road, winding and green. Wet with dew. The birds were chirping and the breeze slowly moving. It’s a gorgeous spring day and I am so blessed to walk amongst such beauty. It’s so simple, and so profound. To be surrounded by nature in this way. It changes everything inside of me. I feel softer, more spacious, grateful. Refreshed. The colors and textures are exquisite. I followed the road all the way down the hills, then huffed and puffed on the way back, feeling extraordinarily grateful for my strong yoga legs that carried me back uphill. A goat welcomed me back, then a cow, then a kitty in a box. I mean, a kitty in a box is a whole adorable thing in and of itself. This is a good morning. Thank you. #MorningWalks #NatureWalk #WalkAndTalk #MorningRoutine #HealthyHabits #GetOutside #FreshAir #MorningStroll #SunriseWalk #WellnessJourney #Asheville #VisitAsheville #AshevilleNC #ExploreAsheville #AshevilleLife #AshevilleLove #AVL #AshevilleAdventures #AshevilleBound #AshevilleVibes #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes

Gratitude Practice Day 13/30 💰Doing my Own Taxes💰 I just submitted my 2023 taxes! Yes, early. WOOT! This is the 3rd year in a row I have done them by myself. It did not start out this way. It began with a lot of frustration, confusion and tears. A huge journey I embarked on during the pandemic was my finances. It was very confronting and something I never had to look closely at until I had my own business. I was faced with the truth that not looking at my finances more closely was holding me back. It was keeping me very stuck emotionally and financially because there were some big pieces I needed to face and clear out. So I followed the uncomfortable call to face my money patterns, habits and beliefs. A deep deep thank you to my friend @pohong.yu for holding me during this time in her amazing COIN container. It ended up being a very powerful part of my spiritual journey. In her container, I learned to track my spending and earning. I started attuning to reality, and was able to make choices to really support myself and the life I wanted. I still track my finances monthly and it feels INCREDIBLE. What a GIFT to myself this is. Before this, my father, who was a CPA, always did my taxes. When he died in 2001, I hired an account I knew, yes a nice Jewish man, who I also went to 2nd grade with. I could feel that coming to a close after many wonderful years, and me needing to take more responsibility for my own finances. Until then, I never had to face my own financial messes. I never had to see the impact of my spending patterns and beliefs around money. I am so grateful I leaned in to this money healing journey. Part 2 in comments

Gratitude Practice Day 12/30 🕯Making Challah for Shabbat🕯 Yesterday I taught my little sister how to make challah. It’s such a beautiful experience to make challah together. It’s something I have grown to love since I started making it weekly in 2021. In my quest to make delicious challah, I’ve sought the advice of many women and had so many wonderful conversations. Challah is connection. The art of making challah and preparing for Shabbat is so meaningful when done in community. It takes me all day to make my challah. And in between the mixing, multiples risings, kneading, braiding and baking are so many beautiful intimate conversations. Just being together in the kitchen, preparing for a beautiful meal to eat together is so special. The preparation is part of what makes challah so delicious. For a long time my challah was dense and thick. Delicious, because it’s fresh baked bread, but it wasn’t how I hoped it would taste. Sometimes it has tasted straight out like a pretzel! It was a mic drop moment for me to learn that the secret ingredient is slowness. Challah does not like to be rushed. It needs space and time. It needs to sit, and it needs air. That is (partly) what makes it light and fluffy. So yesterday, we spent a good amount of time rolling and kneading the dough, talking in the kitchen, laughing, telling stories, eating and resting in between risings. And our challah yesterday was one of my best yet. It’s gorgeous alchemy and magic how a bunch of random ingredients get mixed together in a specific way and turn into something beautiful that brings people together in the most beautiful of ways, every Friday, and no matter what, Shabbat always comes. pic: me marveling at my sister’s first challah! #ShabbatDinner, #Jewish, #Challah, #ShabbatCandles, #ShabbatPrep, #ShabbatVibes, #ShabbatTogether, #ShabbatLife, #JewishTradition, #ShabbatMoments, #ShabbatPeace, #ShabbatCommunity, #ShabbatTable #ChallahBaking #HomemadeChallah #ChallahLove #ChallahBread #ChallahTime #BakeYourOwnChallah #ChallahGoals #FreshChallah #ChallahRecipe #ChallahArt #BakingWithLove #BreadMaking #BreadArt #BakingLife #KitchenCreations

Gratitude Practice Day 11/30 💃🏽Free Flowing Spacious Days💃🏽 Days like today are THE BEST. No calls, totally spacious and open. It’s not a day off because I am working. But the day has no structure at all and it turns me on so much. Know that I LOVE my days with calls too. Clients, podcasting, connection calls, classes, work calls. This is so juicy too because I love my work, my clients and projects. I love connecting with people. What I am appreciating in this moment is the spaciousness that I feel on days like today that are W I D E open. I love my messy pony tail and wearing my favorite cozy sweats and tank top all day. I love that my day consists of making homemade croutons to prepare for Shabbat dinner tomorrow while editing podcast episodes. I love working at the desk area I created for myself last year and getting up to stretch and prepare dinner for my sister who’s coming this evening, and do some laundry too. And then drop off the compost at the local park and take a walk. I love the FLOW of my whole day. And this was a work day! So grateful that I created my life this way. It’s all intentional - open, spacious and free with no particular place to be at any certain time, yet feeling so accomplished and fulfilled. #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment

Gratitude Practice Day 10/30 💜My daughter Hailey💜 On her 29th birthday today, I am feeling immense gratitude. She chose me to be her mother in this lifetime and I am beyond grateful for that. If you know her, then it's obvious what an incredible woman she is. I have always felt blessed. Our connection has always been easy and in flow. She has always been a joy to me. I have loved pouring my love and attention onto her, and I still do. It is a wild experience to grow older and watch my daughter become a woman. To watch her in each stage of her life and remember myself at those moments - I learn more about myself by how she approaches life. And it's wild to see the evolution of generations happening in real time. It's a gift of ageing I suppose, that I am coming to realize for myself. My daughter is one of my greatest teachers. Through our connection I am able to see so much of myself, and where I want to grow, where I may be out of alignment with something or in a pattern. It is not always easy to see and very often confronting. One of her gifts is how she holds herself and I graciously receive the reflection. It's a lot of the basis for my own motherhood work in the world. She has taught me how to be powerful and vulnerable at the same time, and how to lovingly speak my mind. How to slow down and honor my body. The lessons go in both directions, and we often speak of the magic we get to do in this lifetime together as mother and daughter. It makes life infinitely more fun. We share codes. We pass keys and flashlights back and forth. There are rooms and winding paths we walk. Sometimes together, often alone. But always in synchronicity. Part 2 in comments…

Gratitude Practice Day 9/30 💜Yesterday, March 24💜 March 24 is a big day for me, a swirling soup of emotion. Three big things mark this date: 1. I went in to labor with my beautiful daughter, 29 years ago. (she was born 2 days later!) 2. Her dad's birthday, my ex-husband, Tony. 3. The day my own father took his own life, 23 years ago. The day hits me differently each year. There have been years I don't even realize the date, and other years I feel it creeping up on me. This year, it crept up slowly and sweetly. Tony turned 60 this year and that marked something pretty big for me. When I sit with it, I feel the huge waves and wells of love inside of me for him, for our friendship and love, for the life we built together and for the family we created, and all the fun and laughter along the way. Sitting beside that love is another giant well - all the loss, hurt, disappointment, grief, sadness and regret. I went into labor on his birthday, 1995. It was magical and incredible in all the ways. And Hailey was born 2 days later, on the 26th. It was a Friday. I came home from school (I was teaching then) and that's when my contractions began. I was finishing my graduate degree at Hofstra and had finished gathering the information I needed from my students for my thesis *that day*. I think my body knew I had all the data I needed and that's when the labor began. I know, a very Virgo situation. The 24th of March, 29 years ago, is the day my daughter started her journey to be with me earthside. What a miracle. My heart explodes just thinking about this. I am beyond blessed with the gorgeous woman who chose me as her mom. And then in 2001, on this same date, my father tried to take his own life. I have written and spoken about this a lot publicly and, it's just shocking to me still. This was devastating, confusing and completely disorienting to my being. I was 32 at the time and my children were 6 & 3. I lost my dear father and it broke my heart. Part 2 in comments

Gratitude Practice Day 8/30 💃🏽Agreements with my Body💃🏽 This morning I went to a Zumba class. I realized how out of shape I am in this particular way. I walk and have a daily yoga practice, but I don't have a lot of stamina with cardio movement. I stopped Zumba in 2010 because I injured myself. And I have sworn off it until today. But I felt a big YES to attending this class - it was led by this amazing woman, Yoshimi, who also taught a how to make sushi class a few weeks ago. She is full of life and I was extremely inspired by her energy levels. I loved the movement - I love Zumba because it's based on Latin dancing, which is so much fun. I love to dance. My edges were definitely pushed as class went on. I knew class was an hour and was starting to feel tired and lose energy. I figured it was almost over, but I didn't know. I try to surrender to a container and trust the teacher is keeping time, but ultimately, I take responsibility for my own well being. As she was bringing us into another song, I asked her how long class was. That my body was feeling stretched and I have an agreement with my body that I don't override her. Living in my body, it's a delicate balance between the two. Turns out we were at the end time, and she had no idea. She said she could go for 3 hours! Everyone thanked me for speaking up. The teacher took a few moments to thank me too as I spoke about the balance of stretching my edges and honoring my ability. What I loved about her is that she really took the time to show us how to move in a way that works with our bodies, so we don't get injured. The key element that was missing for me in 2010 when I got hurt and never went back. We did one final dance and a cool down. My body was a YES. It's not that I never override my body, sometimes I do. But it's my deep practice to hear what she is telling me and back her with an attuned action. Today it was listening to my body, then speaking up and asking when class was over. I left class feeling grateful for the class, for the teacher's aliveness. Mostly, for backing myself by attending class, and also knowing when to stop. pic: not me after Zumba 🤣

Gratitude Practice Day 7/30 🙌My Ride or Die Women 🙌 I would not be the woman I am today without you. You show me what is possible. You listen to me, you remind me of who I am when I forget. You reflect my beauty and wisdom to me. You sit with me as I cry. You tell me the truth. You remind me of my desires. You accept me where I am, and don’t try to fix me or push me. You feed me and teach me. You show me what is possible in ways that I wouldn’t or couldn’t think of. You share your true self with me. You share the parts of you I know you don’t share with the world. And that inspires me to reveal my parts too, and reminds me that the parts I find gnarly are just some human parts that need love. You share your desires with me. I love knowing the deepest parts of you, I love receiving this and holding it. I love holding you through difficult and wonderful times and reflecting the beauty and humanness of your process to you. It is a gift to receive these real and raw parts. You laugh with me and be silly. You listen to my predictable silly jokes. You ask about my children and family and share yours. I am intentionally not tagging people ~ you know who you are. Maybe we speak every day or regularly, or maybe we speak in waves. Or maybe we have crossed paths. I am so grateful for the ride or die women in my life. I feel deeply met and always inspired to be more of myself, that this is welcomed and desired. It is medicine for me. Thank you thank you 🙏🏽💜 #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #WomenSupportingWomen #Sisterhood #GirlGang #Besties #EmpoweredWomen #FriendshipGoals #StrongWomen #FemaleFriendship #WomenEmpowerment #FriendsForever

Gratitude Practice Day 6/30 👅DELICIOUS FOOD👅 I love to eat mouthwatering delicious food. I love quality ingredients that surprise and delight my taste buds. I love to go out to eat and I also love eating in or eating someone else’s home cooked food. Last week I ordered a pizza and even had it delivered..this is not something I usually do and it was hot and delicious. I don’t eat cheese so my pizza is loaded with fresh veggies with grilled chicken or sausage. I love love to cook and prepare delicious nourishing foods. I pretty much put fresh lemon, EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic on everything. Except my chicken soup, which I simmer on the stove for two full days and nights. I also make an incredible pea soup and lentil soup. I have so many favorites! I am a sucker for fresh Italian ingredients, pasta and homemade breads and sauces. I love sushi and nachos piled high with messy deliciousness. I am currently obsessed with caesar salad and also make incredible homemade croutons. I love Indian and one of my all time faves is Ethiopian. And of course Thai and barbeque in the summer. I feel very blessed to eat so well, to be able to enjoy such incredible foods with people I love. What are your faves? #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes

Gratitude Practice Day 5/30 💜My son, Jeremy💜 Looking at pics to choose one for this post brought me to tears. They are all so precious. He is now way taller than me, 26 years old, and a beautiful man. I am so grateful for his presence in my life. I enjoy his company so very much. He is handsome, intelligent, kind, a good conversationalist, and so FUNNY! He is a Leo and makes everything playful and way more fun. His presence taught me to play - since he was born he always had the energy of a playful puppy to me. He would wake up at 6am to play since he was a baby - and he’s still a morning person. We live near each other these days and he comes over often - he spent Shabbat dinner here last night. I am cherishing him living nearby right now because I know it won’t always be that way. He brought me flowers last night for International Women’s Day. It was such a sweet surprise. I am blessed and I know it. He has taught me so much. His presence has taught me how to raise a man. How to let go. How to be more compassionate with myself. How to not take things personally and that play makes everything better. That sometimes the opposite of what you think is actually what is needed. The biggest of all is how to love and how to keep my heart open. 💜💜💜 Thank you thank you 💜💜💜 #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes

Hey Amazing Mamas! 🌺 The doors to my FLOURISH program are open through Sunday night at 9pm eastern. 
🌺FLOURISH🌺 is an empowering journey for mothers ready to embrace their true selves and lead with love and wisdom. In FLOURISH, we’ll embark on a transformative exploration, diving into: 🌿 Honoring Yourself: Respect and cherish your body and energy. 🌿 Living as Practice: Embrace growth and learning from experiences. 🌿 Mature Feminine: Lead with trust and confidence, guiding your family from a place of knowing. 🌿 Feeling: Be honest with your emotions and heal past wounds. 🌿 Embodiment: Trust the wisdom of your body and deepen your capacity for love and compassion. 🌿 Boundaries: Establish loving boundaries for yourself and your relationships. 🌿 Forgiveness: Accept yourself and your past choices with compassion. 🌿 Attunement: Be present with yourself and your family, nurturing closer and more honest relationships. 🌿 Spaciousness: Create room in your life for rest, creativity, and joy. 🌿 Desire: Listen to your heart’s desires and follow them fearlessly. Apply via the link in my bio! 🌟 Or DM me for private work if you feel the call.🌟 When you flourish, your family flourishes too. Join me on this life-changing journey today. 💖 #MotherhoodJourney #EmpoweredMother #SelfLoveJourney #FamilyConnection #InnerWisdom #SelfDiscovery #TransformativeJourney #MotherhoodEmpowerment #EmbraceYourDesires #EmpoweredParenting #AuthenticMotherhood #SelfCareJourney #MindfulParenting #MomLifeBalance #EmotionalWellness #SpiritualMotherhood #InnerStrength #SelfReflection #MindfulLiving #NurturingFamily

Gratitude Practice Day 4/30 🧘🏽‍♀️My Yoga Practice🧘🏽‍♀️ My yoga practice holds me each morning. I have had a daily practice for at least 15 years. It’s my own series of poses that my body has come to crave. The poses have changed over the years. I am so grateful for the incredible yoga teachers I have had who have inspired me to change or add a pose to my series. There’s always beautiful music. And this year I added green tea, a sliced orange and a rice cracker with almond butter and jelly. It’s my first breakfast. I used to be rigid in this practice. It was the same for many years, and I grew bored and spent many years avoiding it even though my body wanted it so. I have learned to listen to my body in this practice. And be soft and easy with my morning yoga. I change it up a lot. Years ago I added prayer and a check in of what is present for me in the moment. I have pulled many goddess cards in this practice, and at times not pulled them for months. I have seen how I override my body for the sake of getting it done. When I have had injuries there were times I played with how far I can go into certain poses, but my body was a Giant No. And I saw myself doing them anyway. I learned to let go of my ego and skip the pose. This practice is how I slow down and connect with myself before connecting with the world. I can go through tornados of emotion and clear all kinds of things during this time each morning. So grateful 🙌 #Yoga #YogaEveryday #YogaLife #YogaInspiration #YogaPose #YogaPractice #YogaJourney #YogaLove #YogaCommunity #YogaTeacher #Gratitude #GratefulHeart #Thankful #AttitudeOfGratitude #GratitudeJournal #GratitudeEveryday #Gratefulness #GratitudeAttitude #GratitudeChallenge #GratitudeQuotes #FeminineEnergy #FemininePower #FeminineStrength #FeminineBeauty #FeminineEmpowerment

It is possible to build your skills and I promise you, it matters. Link to my free masterclass, How to Talk to Your Children, in my bio or DM me for the link. #EffectiveCommunication #ConversationSkills #QualityConversations #CommunicationTips #ConnectThroughConversation #MotherhoodUnplugged #MomentsInMotherhood #MomLifeBalance #Mommyhood #MotherhoodRising #MomLifeBestLife #ModernMotherhood #MommyLife #MomsOfInstagram #MomBoss #MommyLove #MomCommunity #MomTribe #MamaLife #MotherhoodThroughInstagram #MommyMoments

🌟 Join me to learn some tips for how to have easier, smoother conversations with your children (and everyone)🌟 Ever struggle to connect with your kids? Building trust and understanding is possible. 💖 There are HUGE reasons why bustling this skill in yourself will directly benefit your child and your family life. It’s worth it to embrace our imperfections, and invest our time to foster deeper more honest connections with our children.🌈 Join me in my FREE CLASS Thursday evening How to Talk to Your Children. Dm me for the link or find it in my bio. #ParentingJourney #CommunicationIsKey #EmbraceVulnerability 🌸 #MotherhoodUnplugged #MomentsInMotherhood #MomLifeBalance #Mommyhood #MotherhoodRising #MomLifeBestLife #ModernMotherhood #MommyLife #MomsOfInstagram #MomBoss #MommyLove #MomCommunity #MomTribe #MamaLife #MotherhoodThroughInstagram #MommyMoments #EffectiveCommunication #ConversationSkills #QualityConversations #CommunicationTips #ConnectThroughConversation

How to Talk to Your Children Masterclass is on Thursday March 7 @7pm est. I will be sharing 3 parenting tips to help you have easier better convos with your kids. Link in bio or dm me 🌺✨

Come to my free masterclass on Thursday March 7 @7pm est. link to register my bio or DM me. It’s free! 🌺✨🧡 #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #motherhoodrising #honestmotherhood #motherhoodsimplified #unitedinmotherhood #motherhoodinspired #thisismotherhood #momentsinmotherhood #motherhoodintheraw #motherhoodmoments #motherhoodalive #documentingmotherhood #memoirsofmotherhood #myhonestmotherhood #acupofmotherhood #candidmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #westchestermoms #ossiningmoms #longislandmomsofnassaucounty #longislandmomsgroup

💛How to Talk to Your Children💛 There have been so many conversations I never wanted to have, or didn’t know how to have. So many I skipped. And so many that I showed up for, shaking in my boots. Just this morning I had a conversation to unravel a conflict with my partner. It takes all of me every single time. Honestly, I keep getting better at this, because there are skills involved that I have been committed to building in myself. When these conversations are with our children, it can be doubly challenging. Not only do we have our own feelings about particular issues, but we are responsible for holding and guiding the conversation when it comes to our young children and teens, and even into their early adulthood. Sometimes you just don’t know what to say. Or how to say it. Or you feel like you keep saying it wrong. So you avoid the conversation altogether. But that feels worse. How do you show up? When they give you those one word answers? Or have their face glued in their phone or the TV? Or you’re triggered? And you feel frustrated and overwhelmed trying to show up as your best self for the most important part of your life...your children. Join me on Thursday, March 7th, for my free Masterclass, How to Talk to Your Children. I will share 3 tips to have easy, and honest conversations with your children. I’ll show you that deep down, your children want to connect with you, but they need you to take the lead. I will share my wisdom, experience and hope, that I’ve cultivated from parenting and working with thousands of children and families over the past 3 decades. It’s free. Link in bio, or drop a YES in the comments and I’ll send you the link. #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #motherhoodrising #honestmotherhood #motherhoodsimplified #unitedinmotherhood #motherhoodinspired #thisismotherhood #momentsinmotherhood #motherhoodintheraw #motherhoodmoments #motherhoodalive #documentingmotherhood #memoirsofmotherhood #myhonestmotherhood #acupofmotherhood #candidmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #westchestermoms #ossiningmoms #longislandmoms

Gratitude Practice Day 3/30 💦Living by the Hudson River💦 I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the words to the song Into the River - “I wanna lay my bones down in the water” and took that as an invitation to drive to a favorite spot of the Hudson that I love to walk at. I am so grateful to live by the water - it nourishes my soul. I get to look at a gorgeous river view from my living room, from my bed. It is STUNNING. I love seeing how the river changes each day, when she is still or moving so strongly that there are waves and whitecaps. The different colors she is, from slate gray to deep blue to greenish. She often sparkles - it’s like there are diamonds on the surface. It’s truly magical to witness. I love watching how the tide comes in and out, how drastically it changes from day to day. There are times I can walk far out on the rocks, where yesterday it was fully covered with water, and the path was unseen. Water is a gift and a force. She is powerful and has my deepest respect. Her changing tides reminds me of how much I change day to day, week to week, year to year and to flow with what IS. She is presence. I am so grateful to have such a front seat to her absolute majesty.

Gratitude Practice Day 2/30 🫦Spaciousness and Adventure💋 Something I absolutely LOVE is a sense of S P A C E in my day. I love to follow my intuition and find myself in new situations or places. Adventures for my soul. The other day after my chiropractor appointment I wanted to go to a coffee shop to work. I wanted something cute and lovely to sit at for a while, plus some good food. And something new. I found the @katonahreadingroom and when I pulled up front I was tickled at how adorable it is. Just the vibe I desired. And in a town I had never been to before, about 30 mins from home. Turns out they’re a no computer zone, which irritated me at first bc I specifically wanted to work and write in my laptop. The fun about adventures is letting go of the plan. So I ordered food and went upstairs to eat. I ended up sitting with the owner, Gretchen (hiiii!) and I watched her paint while I ate and we chatted. When I was done eating she asked me if I wanted to paint! YESSSSS I would love that 🙏🏼 She brought me everything I need, which was so generous. I had such a lovely time painting and chatting. It was just the medicine I needed that day. I’m so grateful for her adorable cafe and her willingness to follow her truth and not allow computers in the space. It encourages talking, connection and creativity. Just what my soul really needed. I’m grateful that I know this about myself…. That I value SPACE to BE and not have a plan. And that I create circumstances in my life to have it! To follow my intuitive sense and have mini adventures. And that there are places like this that exist that bring me so much joy. #intuition #gratitude #gratitudepractice #ketonahny #adventuresofthesoul

🧡✨Putting your Own Agenda Aside as a Mother✨ In the book The Alchemist, the father gave his son his blessing to be a shepherd, so he could follow his dream of traveling and seeing the world. It was the family's plan for the boy to bring pride to the family and become a priest and he had been studying his whole life in preparation for this. The father blessed his son further by giving him the 3 cold coins that were going to be his inheritance, so he could buy his flock. It's a beautiful loving act, and a necessary one, to put your own agenda aside. To see your child for who they really are. To give your honest blessing for them to follow their own path in life. Of course, this looks different at different ages of development. It's hypocritical to teach them to follow their dreams, and simultaneously block them. I read a parenting book years ago that shaped me as a mother. One concept in the book stood out to me as such deep TRUTH - to let go of your own agenda, see your child for who they truly are, and align with that. This can be a tricky as a parent. Because we have our own desires, projections, egos, judgements, wounds, past experiences and ideas on how our children can or should live. And we don’t want to see our children get hurt or fail, or make the same mistakes as us. So we often try to save them from failure. Part 2 in comments

Gratitude Practice Day 1/30 💗My incredible dream last night about POSSIBILITY💗 I had a dream last night that was more of a download, an embodied channelled message. In my dream, I was looking down at my body, in a kneeling position, and I was full of pink and gold sparkles, full of light. I was big, full, nourished, alive. I felt a deep sense of possibility come through me. A trusting. A knowing that anything truly is possible. I could feel my daughter in my dream - she wasn’t in the dream, but there was a felt sense of her that filled me with love. I have been in a down the past 2 days. I have been resting, taking care of myself, my body, all while digesting so much goodness I am having in my life right now. I feel an expansion that has been happening for a while now, and I needed a pause to digest and integrate it. I also realized I was not fully expressing the deep gratitude I have for so many things in my life, so this 30 day gratitude practice from @perri_chase comes at perfect timing.🙏🏼 This dream reminded me of possibility. I felt the down lift from my body and heart when I woke up this morning. I am grateful it can be that easy, as a consequence of deeply caring for my being. Thank you thank you 💗 pic of the Hudson River for the algorithm

🌺Self Forgiveness in Motherhood🌺 Beating yourself up for all the things you feel you did wrong is blocking you from your love and presence with your children and all areas of your life. Your money, your life force energy, your desire. There may be truths to acknowledge. Responsibility to take. Maybe you want to change a behavior or make an amends. There may be tears to be felt. Or maybe your Inner Perfectionist is running the show and it’s impossible to please her? I’m here to let you know that repair is always possible. With yourself and others. I promise you that you are the perfect mother for your children and what they want and need is YOU. All of you. Your presence and love, not your perfection. FLOURISH is my deep dive program into being the woman and mother you want to be. Your true self. The mother your children need. It matters. ✨Application in bio or dm me✨ We begin March 12🧡 #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #motherhoodrising #honestmotherhood #motherhoodsimplified #unitedinmotherhood #motherhoodinspired #thisismotherhood #momentsinmotherhood #motherhoodintheraw #motherhoodmoments #motherhoodalive #documentingmotherhood #memoirsofmotherhood #myhonestmotherhood #acupofmotherhood #candidmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #westchestermoms #ossiningmoms #longislandmoms Loving you 🌺

Everything on our motherhood journey is here for us to learn and grow. For those who feel the calling to carve a new path, motherhood becomes our mirror. Motherhood is a reflection of all the parts of ourselves…our love, our joy, our beliefs about ourselves, how we show up in relationships, how we treat ourselves and those we love. It also reflects our shadow (what we can’t see) and where our patterns, traumas, hurts and addictions are leading. There’s no way around this and nothing you could have done for it to play out differently - it’s the human experience. And. It’s a mature move to begin being more honest with ourselves, with what is happening in our life, where we feel lost, guilty, hurt, out of control. If we are willing to face reality, and bathe it with our acceptance, love and attention, we can create shifts. It’s a beautiful bold move to view motherhood in this way. To allow it to shape and grow you. I’ve been deep in motherhood as a spiritual practice for many years, and I can tell you the gifts are bountiful. With my devotion to being on the mat of life with what my mirror shows me, I receive the most beautiful gifts…my true self, power, compassion, and the best gift in the world - intimate honest joyful relationships with both of my children. This also extends to the generations before me as well. This means everything to me. 🌸The gate of entry is your willingness to let the truth lead🌸 To say yes, to choose YOU. I am holding a group of mothers on an intimate journey beginning in March who want to look at motherhood as a reflection of yourself and grow to be the woman and mother you know is inside of you. The mother your kids truly need and want - your true self. 🌸FLOURISH🌸Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice🌸 Application in bio or dm me 🐣Early bird pricing through Thursday! We begin March 12 #Motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #healing #selfcompassion #westchestermoms #ossiningmoms #motherhoodasajourney #parenting #motherhoodrising #honestmothering #honestmotherhood #couragousmotherhood #courageousmothers #flourish #flourishinglife #intergenerationallove #intergenerationeeltrauma #intergenerationalhealing

Have you ever felt guilty that you didn’t give your children enough? Or that you messed up? Or the most common one I hear moms saying - you got angry or upset and they got the backlash of it? I don’t have the ability to physically take you back in time. We can never change the past. But I do have the ability to sit with you now and look at the deeper thing that was happening for you at the time, and feel the emotions that got stuck. This is one way I help my clients heal past hurts. When I take clients back in time in this way, it has a magical ability to effect the present moment. I do this with myself all the time too. Being stuck in guilt and regret of the past keeps us from showing up fully in the present. If you want a better relationship with your kids, don’t want to feel guilty anymore, or want to let go of some past hurt or regret, join me in FLOURISH, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice. Whatever ages your children are, it is possible to change course and have the relationship you want with them. In the last round of FLOURISH, the moms had children ranging from 7 years old to their late 30’s. They all had beautiful moments of going back to past moments and healing hurts that got stuck. 🌺FLOURISH, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice🌺 is a 4 month group program for mothers who want better relationships with their children. You can have it, it is possible. Application and more information in my bio, or DM me. 🐣Early Bird pricing through February 28🐣. We begin March 12. #Motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #healing #selfcompassion #westchestermoms #ossiningmoms #motherhoodasajourney #parenting #motherhoodrising #honestmothering #honestmotherhood #couragousmotherhood #courageousmothers #flourish #flourishinglife

Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice = living life and motherhood honestly, while growing and learning along the way. And learning compassion for yourself as a human on a journey, doing the hardest job around, raising the next generation. Any change in your life or home or children begins with YOU. If you’re considering applying, this is your sign to follow that intuitive hit. Message me to chat. Apply to FLOURISH. Application in bio - early bird through Feb 28 I love you, Brenda #honestmotherhood #motherhoodsimplified #unitedinmotherhood #motherhoodinspired #thisismotherhood #motherhoodintheraw #motherhoodmoments #mymotherhood #unitedmotherhood #realmotherhood #motherhoodalive #documentingmotherhood #memoirsofmotherhood #myhonestmotherhood #acupofmotherhood #candidmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #motherhoodrocks #rawmotherhood #motherhoodlens #dailymotherhood #slowmotherhood #motherhoodinstyle #modernmotherhood #motherhoodslens #motherhoodunfiltered #beyond_motherhood #eternalmotherhood #magicofmotherhood #motherhoodquotes

Imagine mothers treated themselves as the sanctuary they are?! What would it look like to honor and respect yourself? To respect and love your body? To honor your time and energy? To honor your True YES and NO? What would change in your life? What would you do? If you CHOSE YOU? 🌺FLOURISH, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice🌺 is a 4 month container of learning to choose YOU, and in doing so, you create space to be present for your children in the way they truly need. In the way you want to be there for them. Honestly. With the real YOU. Application in bio. Early bird through Feb 28 Or dm me! 🌺💋🧡

When I was growing up, girls were not taught to love, honor and respect ourselves. The messages we received were obedience, people pleasing and working hard. Thank goodness this is changing. I see it in my women’s circles, in younger generations, and in my children Progress is slow and not linear - but it IS happening. I’ve been unwinding my own conditioning for years about overriding myself and people pleasing. The effects of putting myself last were pretty loud and left me starving and desperate to feel my life force energy and desire. It’s so easy to do this. Especially as mothers because we are so busy and have a nasty habit of taking on too much. It’s easy to create a life of overriding our bodies, doing what makes others happy and working ourselves to exhaustion. Our society rewards this while we internally suffer. It’s a hamster wheel of madness, with all kinds of side effects like dis/ease, depression, anxiety, addiction to substances/medication/drama, and basic unhappiness and dissatisfaction in life, to name a few. The only way off this hamster wheel is to ✨choose to remove yourself.✨Choose something different. This takes wild self commitment. You’ve gotta want something different so much that you’re willing to look at all of your beliefs that built your life this way. It’s possible. I see it in my clients and friends. In myself. And by choosing YOU, you are choosing self respect. Respecting your energy, your body, your mental health, your partnership, your sex, your time…everything. And this choice 100% affects the quality of life and health for yourself and your children and family. Your legacy. The hardest part is to CHOOSE YOU. Choose sanity and loving yourself over the hamster wheel. What would it look like to treat yourself well? To respect your body? To honor your energy and time? To be honest with your YES and No? What would be different for you? For your family? If you chose YOU? 🌺FLOURISH🌺 is a 4 month journey of choosing you. And in choosing you, you become available for your self and in turn, for your children in the way they need. In the way you want to be there for them. Application in bio🌺

My post yesterday inspired me to share more about this invitation….that motherhood is an invitation to transform, to evolve. When contorted, this teaching could be yet another way to punish yourself for being human, making mistakes, for not doing it perfectly. Well, that is exhausting. And it gets you nowhere except more misery, more perpetuating the distorted belief that you were supposed to be a perfect mother. Instead, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice invites you to show up honestly, to build self compassion, and to learn and grow along the way. Your children want the real you, your presence, not a perfect version of you. Applications are open. I would love to receive your application and chat with you about your motherhood journey and desires. FLOURISH, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice Application in bio or dm me. Early bird through February 28 Loving you, Brenda #motherhood #motherhoodunplugged #motherhoodrising #motherhoodthroughinstagram #uniteinmotherhood #ig_motherhood #honestmotherhood #motherhoodsimplified #unitedinmotherhood #momentsinmotherhood #motherhoodintheraw #motherhoodmoments #mymotherhood #unitedmotherhood #realmotherhood #motherhoodunited #candidmotherhood #motherhoodjourney #motherhoodrocks #rawmotherhood #motherhoodlens #dailymotherhood #slowmotherhood #motherhoodinstyle #modernmotherhood #motherhoodslens #motherhoodunfiltered #beyond_motherhood #ossiningmoms

If you're a mom, it matters that you respect, honor and love yourself. We teach our kids how to be in the world by how we behave and speak, said and unsaid. This begins the first moment we hold our precious baby in our arms. They learn from us what to believe, how to think, how to act, and this creates their experiences in the world. Children are biologically designed to learn from their parents in this way. This is why loving and respecting yourself matters. You can’t fake these things. You can't preach self love to your kids and then quietly hate your weight or your wrinkles when you think they aren’t looking. They pick up on your inconsistencies, they feel you on deep levels. They will learn more from what they sense and feel, than from what you say. This is all an invitation to level up. What I have learned about self love is that it means unconditionally accepting myself. Unconditionally...meaning, no conditions attached. It's been easier to love and accept my body when she is doing and looking how I want. It's been harder to find unconditional love with extra weight, wrinkles and random aches. The question has become, Can I love my body in all conditions, as I age and my body naturally changes? I've had to dig deeper to find this self love. Accept myself as I am with all the changes age brings. Accept reality and then live in it, peacefully within myself. I did a nude photo shoot with myself last week and the first batch were hard to do. I felt awkward and could feel myself dimming my light. It was uncomfortable to feel this way after so much embodiment work. I KNOW what it feels like to feel juicy in my body. So I slept on it. The next morning, when I was sweaty and smelly after my morning walk, I started dancing to AC/DC and felt the spark of my juiciness, and snapped some pics. I felt my mojo, my enjoyment of my body, the way my hips moved and how much I turned myself on just by being in my body exactly as she is. Part 2 in comments

Your children don’t need perfection. They need your presence. It’s not possible to do motherhood right or be perfect. It’s distorted to think so because it goes against the very reason we are a human in our body - to experience life, to learn lessons, and evolve. You will mess up. You will get upset and angry. You will say weird stuff sometimes. You will lay in bed sometimes and wonder why you (fill in the blank). I can’t even tell you how many nights I have spent in this space. Wondering why I made the choices I did. Beating myself up. So much so that I got stuck there for a while. Looping around in the stories and the past. It’s so easy to do. Every mom I know has been there in some form. It’s a torturous cycle. And only when I was really really ready, and only because I got a peek into the hurt my lack of presence was causing, I was willing to face reality. I looked the truth in the face, and let it break me down. Until then, the shame, regret and guilt was actually easier to feel than the pain of facing the truth. But it was keeping me stuck, and absent in a way. If I wanted to get unstuck and be there for my kids, in the way they truly needed, I needed to lean more into reality and truth. I have always wanted to be an all-in kind of mom, like BE IN IT, no matter what, and I am in it for the long game, and that meant (and always means) really looking at myself. I was called to deeper truth, and it was confronting. As I let it in, I was able to finally feel the wells of grief, sadness and anger. This was really scary for me and I kept leaning in anyway, because it’s what was needed. Part 2 in comments

Come Friday night to hear Bass-Baritone, Spencer Smith, and jazz pianist, Frank Squillante perform a set of gorgeous love songs. @efescue These two are MAGIC together ✨✨✨ It’s free! 7 pm 67 Central Avenue, Ossining, @hudsonvalleybooksforhumanity #ossining #ossiningmoms #ossiningpride #ossiningfamilies #ossiningmatters #westchesterthingstodo

Mothers hold the keys to the future🔑 We are at a time when it is more crucial than ever for mothers to know their power, to be embodied and lead their family from a place of self trust and self love. For children to thrive and be healthy in mind, body and spirit, mothers must lead the way, and that begins with honoring and respecting themselves. 
Your children don’t need perfection. 🌺They need your presence🌺 What would it take for you to flourish? To thrive and be alive? To be present and loving? To shift family patterns and parent in the way you truly want to? To love yourself and find compassion for yourself in this complex world, in the most important role of your life, motherhood. 🔑I promise you, these thing matter🔑 In FLOURISH, I generously share how I parent with grace, self compassion and joy, and I guide you on your own personal path of flourishing. 🌺FLOURISH, Motherhood as a Spiritual Practice🌺 ✨Doors are now open. ✨Application in bio or DM me ✨Early Bird until February 26 ✨We begin March 12 🧡🔑🌺 #motherhood #momlife #baby #parenting #love #family #mom #parenthood #babygirl #newborn #mother #motherhoodunplugged #momsofinstagram #babyboy #kids #mumlife #mama #momblogger #maternity #fatherhood #motherhoodblog #motherhoodismagic #motherhooduprising #motherhoodandme #momsofteenagers #momsofadultchildren #motherhoodlife #motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #motherhoodasajourney #motherhoodasaspiritualjourney

I am overflowing with creativity and inspiration right now. I planted so many seeds and they are sprouting. It feels incredible. So what better time to share this podcast episode with you about artistic expression and creativity? I was listening to this episode this morning on my walk and I am so drawn into the magic of how Elana weaves ritual and creativity together. There’s a gorgeous piece in this episode about the generations too - how her mother Chana raised her to be fully expressed and how she is raising her own son to express himself creatively too. If you desire more creative inspiration or expression, if you’re currently creatively stuck or want some good ideas about how to bring more ritual or creative expression into your life or with your children, or maybe you just love Elana, you will enjoy this episode. Catherine & I would love to know what touches or inspires you, so if you listen, please let us know. xoxo #desireasmedicinepodcast #desireasmedicine #ritual #creativity #creativefire #creativefirecircle #inspiration #creatives #artists #artoftheday #branding #creator #motherartist #motherartistsatwork #collaboration #fullexpression #podcastersofinstagram

I received loud, clear lessons at the end of 2023 that served as a giant mirror. Birds eye view, I was able to watch myself choose the harder path. Choose the option that led to depletion and feeling drained. Pattern work is like that when you're paying attention - you keep going around the cycle of the pattern and each time there is more and more awareness, and with that is the opportunity to make a different choice. In December, I watched myself choose the harder road. Twice. Both times there was a cost. Both times I was able to SEE it in a way I never could before. I am grateful for the lessons and for how gentle they were overall. I have had much louder - like divorce and a hurricane destroying my house. My word for 2023 was FLOURISH. And the year ended with this gorgeous embodied lesson of how I need to take care of myself so I can flourish. It was clear that I need to back myself big time, in new subtle ways. Put myself first in a way that feels confronting, that means speaking more uncomfortable truths and letting go of whatever isn't true. This lesson has been tricking in over the years and this is a big chunk I was ready for. I fully received these lessons by acting on them, by making different choices once I could see the full path laid out for me. If we want something, we need to show up for ourselves to have it. This part of the path becomes clearer and clearer as we go. Each time we choose differently, we are transforming. Because each mirco shift adds up and this is how change occurs. Part 2 in comments 💦

I walked 39 people through creating Vision Boards for 2024 in the past week. It was truly magical. Several women returned from last year's event and reflected on how powerful creating their board was, that the fruits of their visioning for the year took them on a beautiful and unexpected journey. One woman is about to hold a gallery show for her art, another got the job of her dreams at twice the salary she was expecting. Another woman put marriage on her board in 2023 and showed me her new gorgeous diamond ring. We laughed so hard when she told me that this year she wrote herself a check for $1 million dollars to put on her 2024 board. YESSSSS to our big outrageous desires! I also had several men and a few kids over the course of the 3 workshops. Plus a few people who never even heard of a Vision Board and came anyway. Now, THAT is a gorgeous following of the whispers of desire. In case you never heard of this, a Vision Board is a collage of images and words representing your dreams, wishes and desires. It serves as inspiration and motivation for you to manifest your dreams & desires. It's vulnerable to admit and claim the desires of your heart. And creating a board as a home for them is a powerful act. A Vision Board is a great visual reminder of our desires and dreams as we go about life and especially for when we forget what we want or get lost in life. I love talking about desire. One of the most fascinating aspects of desire to me is the dance between having clarity / holding your desire while also letting go of attachment to it. It's a wild tricky dance to follow the breadcrumbs and the callings of our soul but not get too wrapped up in the How, When of If. And this is a wonderful thing because in my experience the Universe provides way beyond what we can imagine for ourselves. It's why I bless people's desires with a phrase like, "So shall it Be and Even Better than You Can Imagine." Thank you 🙏🏼 Thank you I am available to host in person group or private Vision Board events. Reach out to me if you feel called. So shall your desires be and even better than you can possibly even imagine. xoxo

Asheville & Leland Trip 🎄a few faves 📸 1 walking up the Blue Ridge Mt road - it was closed to cars so we walked a bit and it was gorgeous and saw beautiful spots you’d miss by car 📸2 the scarf and braids 🙏🏼 📸3 I closed out FLOURISH on this trip right after Christmas we had our last call & it was wonderful 📸 4 I took morning walks most days to digest and enjoy the fresh mountain air, and chat with @michele_wellington & @elana_bell 📸 5 Biscuit Head day after Christmas brekkie with Spencer, Hailey & Jeremy, my brother Jordan & his new finance Ashley and @shumsker 🍳 📸 6 @haileymarino 💜 my heart is so happy to see her enjoy her life so much 🙏🏼 📸 7 OK, y’all my brother Jordan made sousvide prime rib and blowtorched it outside - it was INCREDIBLE 👅 📸8 delicious lunch at Jerusalem Cade in Asheville - basically every restaurant is amazing 📸 9 I hosted a Shabbat dinner with my family plus @cailinmcduff and her family 📸10 we made a wonderful stop along the way to visit my dear friends @2020flipflopsforever & @richjohnson932 and had the best time at their home Such a wonderful way to close out 2023. Very grateful for the blessings. #asheville #ashevillechristmas #grateful

My energy is my most valuable resource. This was one of my biggest lessons from 2023. In my 22 years of teaching, I was ruled by the clock and the calendar. It was hard and I was NEVER ready to go back to the classroom after the New Year. It made no sense to me to have a nourishing week off and then rush back the day after New Year’s. I always needed a few more days to just REST. If you’re in the world of the calendar and the clock still, I see you and I understand. The truth is there is a way to be easy, restful and soft with yourself even if your current job or life calls you to get up and go this week. And if you’re a mother of babies or young children, it is always time to get up and go. The years of raising young children are exhausting and resting sounds like a joke. There is no real time off. The moms I work with tell me this and I can see it on their faces and feel how their systems are in overdrive. And even with all of that, we can still choose to slow down and rest our bodies. Resting is a choice. The choice to rest stems from a belief that your energy is valuable. That YOUR energy MATTERS. That your livelihood, vitality and joy are a necessary nutrient for you, and for your family. That to be a loving joyful mother, you need spaciousness to be present for what comes up. And something always comes up. When I was working full time as a teacher, when my kids were young, I often looked at how I was spending my time and energy…because I was always tired. With a lot of trial and error over the years, I realized that I needed a LOT of SPACIOUSNESS. I learned to say No to invitations. I spread out after school activities, and stopped signing my kids up for everything. I didn’t add on extra plans the week after a big holiday or vacation. I planned easy dinners and created space for myself and my family to BE. Part 2 in comments

A lot of goodness happening over here! More to follow on the details but the messages coming through are: 💋 feel everything that comes up ❤️ trust the process 🎅🏽 state your desires 🥰 back the f*ck out of yourself with inspired action 💗 lots of gratitude 🕎 be present with what IS 🌺 move your body #trusttheprocess #trustyourself #embodiment #embodiedwoman #selftrust #selflove #inspiredaction #desireasmedicine #desireasmedicinepodcast

Creating Space for JOY to enter💋 We often think our choices are: override ourselves OR don’t do it.  But we miss a WHOOOOOLE lot of gray in that black and white thinking. What if we paused and sat with what it would take to say YES to our desires in a way that honors ourself? The two questions I ask myself here are: 1. What do I want? 2. What do I need to be a YES to it?   Friends, this is called BACKING YOUR DESIRE.   Is all this a LOT of responsibility? Absolutely. Is it worth it?
Totally. When we stay open and get curious with ourselves, we can HAVE more of what we want in our lives.   This is how we create space for JOY to enter. Questions for You: What is it YOU want in your life?
What do you need in order to be a YES to it? Isn’t this the point of life?  To truly enjoy it with those we love? Try it and let me know what you come up with. #joy #possibility #hulahoops #hulahooping #play #boundaries #desire #desireasmedicinepodcast #desireasmedicine #selftrust #selflove #createyourlife

Create space for yourself and everything magically flows. And flow is where the juice of life lives. Even my curls are extra happy this morning. Join me in SOFT Yummy practices to create spaciousness in your life this holiday season. We start Monday Dec 4, 11, 18 @4-5 Come to 1,2 or all 3 $66 Link in Bio or DM me 💕 💕🌸💋 #spaciousness #lifeforceenergy #compassion #flowstate #holidayseason #yogagirl #practicepracticepractice

🌸Devotion to myself is the centerpiece of my life🌸 Dedicated time with myself each day gives me space to breathe, to feel, to be, to cry, to imagine, to create, to receive. This is essential to living my life, not an extra thing I tag on if I have time. It's built into my life. I still get stuck in my conditioning of feeling like I need to do for others more than for myself. In that scenario, I put my own needs last and it never goes well. Luckily the cycle is pretty short these days - a minute to a few days at most. 💗 Then I remember the kindest thing I can ever do for my relationships, my family, my business, is to take exquisite care of myself 💗 To tend to ME. This is the essence of SOFT... giving yourself dedicated time, & space to feel, cry, share, release, forgive and be. It's the best way I know to meet my relationships and life from a place of true open heartedness. Join me to connect to yourself & others through practices focusing on 🌸 keeping your heart open 🌸 being honest with yourself & others 🌸 forgiveness 🌸 self love & self trust 🌸 what you truly want 🌸 feeling centered & grounded Don't get swallowed up by the busy-ness of the season and lose touch with yourself. Let's stay connected, centered and soft, together. And yes, there will be goddess card pulling and dancing!!💃🏽 🌸SOFT🌸 Practices and connection to yourself & others in service to your soft open heart. Dec 4, 11, 18 @4-5pm eastern $66 We begin Monday!!! Are you coming? 🌸Link to join in my bio💗 #bestpractices #spiritualpractices #softopenheart #softhearted #holidaysurvival #holidaysurvivalguide #holidayseason

Create space to connect with yourself and your heart. To feel, to be, to feel your heart and possibility. It makes family get together so much better when you take care of yourself! When we are devoted to our Self, life is smoother, our relationships are smoother and more fulfilling. It’s easier to create boundaries, to know what you want to say yes and no to, and to speak kindly to yourself. Don’t lose yourself in busy-ness this holiday season. SOFT yummy practices focused on connection to yourself, feeling centered and leading with an open heart this holiday season. Dec 4, 11 & 18, 4-5pm est. Come to 1, 2 or all 3. $66 Link in bio. Also I made a link for 2 payments if you like it even softer. DM me with Qs. Happy Holidays 💋 #practicepracticepractice #openheart #softness #compassion #selflove #selfcompassion #practicemakesprogress #feminineenergy #femininepower #holidaysanity #holidayseason #elfonashelf2023 #momsofinstagram #momssupportingmoms

Before yoga class began this morning, there was the regular "post-holiday-laced-with-guilt-for-what-I-ate" kind of chit chat that women do. "My kids wanted chocolate cake for breakfast - it's flour, eggs and organic sugar - that's nutritious....righttttt?" "We ate pumpkin pie every morning - it's homemade and has butternut squash in it ---- so it's heal-thyyyyyy." "I fed my kids croissants and cheesecake this morning, ughhhhhh." I have personally been eating my homemade pumpkin bread with chocolate chips by the bowlful. It's so damned good. And I will be sad when it is gone (probably later today). I also have been up at night and scrolling on my phone to soothe myself instead of writing or meditating. Just OWN IT. Don't justify it. Or dress it up as healthy. We use guilt and shame as a way to keep ourselves in line with what we think is acceptable. When what we really need is some acceptance and softness towards ourselves. We are human and what is Thanksgiving if not to indulge in our favorite foods for 4 days straight? It's only bad if you say it's bad. What if you just FULLY ENJOYED it? What if you didn't beat yourself up afterwards? Then you will be more able to make adjustments and work on boundaries with yourself from a place of love. What if you just softened up? Like butter. Whether you ate too much pie or fed your kids chocolate cake for breakfast? Nobody ever beat themselves up as a way to love themselves. Only acceptance can do that. Join me for holiday practices where we will connect with ourselves & others, center our bodies, feel what is coming up for us, and soften to make room for joy, love and play? 🌸 SOFT 🌸 Practices in service to your soft open loving heart. We start Monday Dec 4, 11, 18 @4-5pm est $66 or 2 payments of $33 Link in my bio to join or DM me. xoxo #practices #practicemakesprogress #practicepracticepractice #selflove #selftrust #holidayparties #practices #compassion #selfforgiveness #mothering #motherhood #motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #selfacceptance #overeating #yogamom

🌸 SOFT🌸 a story & offering I recently had my color palette done and was told my dominant feature is my SOFTNESS. This felt very vulnerable to receive. I could feel the truth of it as I looked at myself in soft pinks, dusty roses, lavender, but it honestly threw me. It invited me to look at myself with a different lens. A more true one. I've always wanted to be more courageous, more bold and I naturally went for colors I loved to enhance that - purples, shades of red, orange, navy... and of course being a New Yorker, all black. But nope...SOFTNESS is my dominant feature. Outside, Inside. It feels vulnerable to speak it. And it is so undeniably true. I have been sitting with this for a few weeks. Letting it in. Feeling my softness. I got my first SOFT color yesterday, this winter hat at my favorite hat booth at the Bryant Park Winter Village in NYC. I tried on so many hats - because I am not used to seeing myself this way. I really love it. I have lived many iterations of myself and I am at a place where my heart feels open and I am leading with softness and honesty. And I want so much more of these qualities. It is actually pretty bold to be soft. To let my protections down. To admit I don't know. And share my heart and desires. Let people feel me. To drop my stories and be in the moment. It all dropped deeper into my body yesterday as I stood crying in the middle of Bryant Park Winter Village in my new soft pink hat. They were tears of joy. I had just received wonderful news. The kind that lit me up so bright and when I paused for a moment, it all poured out of my eyes. We went into the Turkish light booth afterwards, and the shop owner asked how I was today. I told her the truth and the good news I just received. More tears poured out. She felt my joy and hugged me. Joy and love are so connecting. It's good to celebrate. It's been a hard few weeks since Oct 7. How do we stay present for ourselves? For our loved ones? For our hearts? For the truth of our body? For our pocketbooks? For people who have complete opposite opinions than ours? For people we meet out in the world? Part 2 in comments 🌸SOFT🌸 link in bio

💋Desire & Feng Shui 💋 with Charmaine Mitchell…Episode 12 is ready for you!! We had the pleasure of chatting with the Feng Shui Queen, @charmainemitchell, in this episode of Desire as Medicine. Charmaine transmits a deep LOVE of the JOURNEY of life and desire that is so inspiring. Charmaine offers a beautiful practice you can do to help bring your desires into reality. Listening to Charmaine, I always have the felt sense of what’s possible when we commit to ourselves, to our desires and to our pleasure. Link to episode in my bio / Linktree. Let us know what your takeaways and insights are. #desireasmedicine #podcastlife #fengshui #fengshuilifestyle #desiremap #pleasuresnow #practicepracticepractice #spinalinjuryrecovery

This morning, a woman I know told me she is pregnant. She was SO EXCITED. She had only told close family so far, and it touched my heart that she wanted to tell me too. I hold a natural maternal energy - and women often tell me these things and I really love when they do. My heart burst with joy for her. I love conversations about motherhood. All the stages. It's so dynamic and juicy. There is so much to learn and see about ourselves during motherhood and pregnancy. Motherhood is a clear mirror that shows us where we can soften our hearts, love, grow and learn to take better care of ourselves. To mother ourselves. As she spoke, her face lit up and it was obvious how her body and her life was already changing, in only 8 weeks. Our bodies are brilliant in how they speak to us about what feels good, when we need to stop or rest, connect, eat or move. I shared some of my wisdom with her about listening to her body and trusting her intuition. It's shocking how we are so deeply conditioned to override our bodies and keep going, doing, lifting, moving, working. So many mothers take on too much and end up complaining and exhausted. It's so easy to go down this path, and our culture supports it. So many mothers I know tell me they woke up one day and didn't recognize themselves in the mirror. Where did my life and my joy go? The work of a mother is literally never done. There is always something to do. And if we live our lives following that philosophy, we end up exhausted, deficient, drained. We are the only ones who can say, Enough. E N O U G H ! It's time to stop. To rest. To stop trying to be superwoman and please everyone else while you are slowly withering in the process. Your kids will not suffer if you don't sign them up for a class to follow every tiny passion. This is not what makes you a good mother. Your presence does. When will enough be enough? Part 2 in comments

I heard the call of desire to write my book and I felt a strong YES to being in a November writing group. And as soon as I declared this, the writing got really tough, I just didn’t know what to say - which is not a very familiar spot for me. But I have never committed to my desire to write a book, beyond stating it. This time, I let the desire all the way in. I felt the clunk of truth to it. And I committed. Internally. It feels huge. And as soon as I said yes, I was faced with my Gremlins, as @lizzie.appel lovingly calls them. I have shown up every day to my writing group, me and my Gremlins, along with my resistance, my distractions, my excuses. But I showed up. I thought about dropping it. But I know by now that resistance is part of the process. Can I just BE with the discomfort of the resistance? I trust the process. I will not give up on myself. I am committed to backing myself in life, my business, my creative projects. At my first firewalk in 2022, we were asked to make a declaration for our walk. Mine was to back myself like never before. I yelled this outloud in front of a giant circle of people in the woods on a dark moonlit summer evening. And then I walked barefoot over hot coals. Was I scared? Yes. Did I do it anyway? Yes. This is what my deep devotion to myself looks like. Our desires lead us on a journey and take us on a ride. When we say we want to do something, when we hear the whisper of desire calling us, and we say yes - it truly carves us into someone new. I recommitted today to my writing project. I asked myself yesterday, Can I just give myself the hour to WRITE? Can I just give this to myself? Really back myself with my focused love and attention. It’s no coincidence that @coachcatherinen and I dropped our new episode this week, Desire: A Writer’s Journey with Lizzie Appel. Lizzie dropped major GOLD in it. Part 2 in comments

⚜️Dropping Lizzie Appel GOLD ⚜️ If you’ve ever wanted to write a book or are writing one now or have quit writing, you’re going to love the wisdom in this episode. The GOLD was abundant and juicy and overflowing in our latest episode, Desire: A Writer’s Journey with @lizzie.appel Link to podcast in my bio & Linktree. Or search #spotify or #applepodcasts DESIRE AS MEDICINE. Let us know what your takeaways are - we’d love to hear from you⚜️ #writinginspiration #writingcommunity #writinglife #nanowrimo2023 #publish #ghostwriting #desire #desireasmedicine #selfpublish #wroteabook #writeabook

This episode with @coachcatherinen was recorded on the fly. We got into this juicy pocket of conversation and we both realized, HIT RECORD. Our conversation was centered around an intuitive hit that I was going to lose a business client/contract I had secured for 2024. Losing it made no sense on paper. Everything was set, I had already begun, and felt great...but when one big piece in the business moved, I was very clear that it would be going away for me. This recorded episode is our real time convo about that situation, 5 minutes after I received a message that ignited this intuitive hit. A week after we recorded this episode, I the contract did fall apart. Just as I had intuited. One big concept we discuss in this episode is being comfortable with the uncomfortable. Such a real issue when change enters our life. And trusting that the universe is conspiring FOR us, and sometimes things drop off that are no longer aligned. It I was surprised at how much relief and gratitude I felt when this contract dropped off. And now there is space for something more aligned to enter for me - and I am excited about that! I did hit some challenging spots about losing the contract in the past week, and it was incredibly helpful to listen to this episode MYSELF🤣 - and hear my TRUE aligned response to the possible change. Link to episode in my Bio / Linktree. We would love to know your thoughts and how YOU feel about change. What comes up for you? How do you handle it? xoxo #podcastlife #podcasting #desireasmedicine #desire #desirejourney #desiremap #change #changeishard #changeishardbutgood

I worked with a Dad the other day who was upset because his 23 year old daughter wasn't responding to his texts. This is a regular source of frustration for him. They have a generally loving relationship where they see each other often and share the real parts of their lives. His most recent frustration came after she had been sick for a few days. He was present for her but then went silent over the weekend when he checked in over text to see how she was feeling. This could appear as a texting issue, but like anything related to our phones, there's something deeper going on. And it has nothing to do with her. He was worried if she was okay, maybe she got sicker? Or worse? But that wasn't it because he heard from her sibling that she was out and about over the weekend. So, he knew she was okay. He could have put a stake in the ground about that, that he didn't hear from her directly, but that would be an egoic way to skirt the deeper thing, and it wasn't true. Because he knew she was okay. Looking back, she was sick a lot through her high school and college years, in and out of the hospital often. She had some undiagnosed issues that had the whole family upset and worried on a regular basis. This recent illness was a bad cold, nothing related to that. But when we dove deeper, he uncovered a well of unprocessed grief underneath the surface from all the times she was so sick. Her being sick at all, even a cold, was activating for him. All the times he worried if she would make it. All the times he felt powerless that as the father, the protector, he couldn't fix it, stop it or make her better. He felt like a failure in this way. It was emotionally exhausting for him and carried on into the present. Part 2 in comments

I was laying in bed the other night and it landed in me how much I am doing the very things I have dreamed of. Desire really does take us on a ride. I felt a tap on my shoulder 15 years ago and I really did not want to answer it. It called me out of the life I was living and it terrified me. I wanted my life to remain the same, but some huge deep force in me pulled me towards desires I didn't even understand. The wisdom of those deep deep desires that seem to propel us into the unknown is that they are inviting us to a newer, greater version of ourselves. If we get caught up in the attainment of any specific desire, we risk losing the opportunity to know ourselves deeper, to meet ourselves in ways that may surprise, delight and horrify us. I have met all of these parts in myself and seeing myself in the mirror has been a humbling compassionate journey. As I lay in bed contemplating these truths, I had a moment of WOW, look at all these wonderful amazing things I am doing!!! It's so important to acknowledge the good. A version of us in the past only dreamed of what we are doing now. It's been one day at a time, listening to the whisper of desire, following it, embracing the unknown, facing my own ego and resistance and learning to love and accept myself along the way. I am working with mothers in an embodied wise loving way! I have birthed my motherhood course - I DID IT - this body of work that has LIVED inside of me for over a decade. It grew and evolved and matured in my body. It is A L I V E in the world and it is beautiful. I cohost a podcast! ...Desire as Medicine. It is vulnerable and humbling and there have been moments I have been confronted and died a thousand ego deaths listening to myself on audio. Thank you Catherine Navarro for asking me to talk about desire with you <3 I am writing my book! I have truly not written much so far, and I have no idea what it will be, or IF it will be, but I get on Zoom every day and write with my friends. I feel a calling deep inside that this wants to be written. Continued in comments

We did it! @coachcatherinen 🙏🏼 Our first chapter of 💎Desire as Medicine💎 podcast is LIVE and ready for you to dive into. Desire has a feminine language and our first 8 juicy episodes are dedicated to us jamming about what the world of desire means and how to navigate it. Episodes are: The Basics of Desire, Being a Full Yes, Staying Fully Resourced, how to not Abandon Yourself while following desire, Compensatory Desire and Obligation verses True Desire. Whether you’re a beginner on the DESIRE path, or a seasoned practitioner, we invite you to listen and explore your own relationship with desire. The next chapter will be filled with amazing guests discussing their personal experiences with desire. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all podcast distributors. Links to episodes in our bios! Congratulations 💎Desire as Medicine💎!! #desireasmedicine #desire #podcasting #podcastersofinstagram #podcastlife #feminineenergy #desiremap #desirepath

Last night in FLOURISH we took an embodied journey deep into our selves. It's magical what happens when we say YES and put loving attention on ourselves. I was so touched by what the women experienced. Out of body experiences, tears, deep rest, insights, messages from within. Transformation can be gentle and easy. It's the resistance and the fight against truth, the commitment to our stories and ego that is hard. Once we are willing to let that falseness fall away, infinite possibilities open. We can touch a tender spot inside of us and with our attention, by feeling what comes up, and staying with ourselves - we can lovingly soften and open, become more of our true self. It takes self devotion, to your deepest desires for yourself and your family. Our world needs mothers to be our true embodied fierce loving soft selves more than ever. Our families need us to be present and clear. Emotionally available, which asks us to handle our triggers, hurts and patterns. Ground our nervous systems. Slow the f*ck down. Current times are asking us to hold more complexity than ever - globally and in our living rooms. We have the power to lead our men into their hearts. We have the wisdom, the juice, the sight. The knowing. We are Creation itself. Mothers set the tone with our nervous systems and everything that exists in the home reflects that. If you want to see what you believe, look around you because you created it. We are always in creation, so what if, as mothers, we were more intentional about it? I can't think of anything more important right now than mothers being honest with themselves, trusting their knowing and leaning into the truth of how much their leadership is needed at home. The next round of FLOURISH begins in February - you can get on the waitlist. Private programs also available... Application in bio or DM me. With so much love 🌺 #motherhoodasaspiritualjourney #motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #motherhoodrising #motherhoodjourney #motherhoodsimplified #empoweredmothersempowerdaughters #motherhood #mothers #parenthood #feminine #truth #selflove #devotion

Babies have been on my heart this week. I can't stop thinking about the beheaded babies. The murdered children and families. I saw images yesterday that disturbed me deeply. This is our world right now. It's devastating. Someone I know in the states had a baby a few days ago and due to natural causes, he is fighting for his life. It's heartbreaking. This morning, on my way to my dance class, I rode the elevator down to the lobby of my building and a woman walked in, dressed up, holding a gorgeously wrapped gold present under her arm. I complimented her on how beautiful she looked and she told me she was heading to her new grandbaby's christening. I felt my heart crack open...Such a blessing. It is all true at the same time. I am holding the complexity of all of this at the same time. I feel it all in my body, mixed together. My heart is open, soft, grieving, grateful. I am grateful that I got to dance with all of this this morning. I shed a lot of tears and let out my anger. I feel the fear in my body. The love. The grief. The fire. And at the end of class, I pulled this card from the altar. A wave of heat ran through my body. The mothers are weeping. I weep with them. I am them. They are me. It’s devastating and heartbreaking We cannot be silent. These are our children. Our present, our future. #israel #israeli #israelpalestine #israelpalestinepeace #mothers #israelunderattack #israelpalestinegaza

When I was getting divorced, people would say how sorry they were. But I was so happy to be free that I couldn’t receive this. Little did I know that freedom lived inside of myself the whole time. It has taken me yearrrrrrrrrs to feel the sadness of divorce. My own divorce, and divorce in general. It’s tentacles reach far and wide. In the most unexpected places. The bill to pay is high, and I don’t mean money. But wealth is very much effected too. It’s a swirling pit of darkness. I know there are many reasons people get divorced. Sometimes it’s necessary and I really get that. I’ve gone back and forth more times I’d like to count wondering if I did the right thing. It’s a sick game of self punishment and stuckness. The irony is that it doesn’t even matter. Because it happened. So, now what? I have learned so much from the experience - it’s been true journey into my heart, my body and my soul. But what I’m saying here is how sad it really is. The disconnection. The trauma. The hurt. I feel the pain in myself, in my inner little girl who’s parents got divorced and how that played out in my life and in my marriage and divorce, and in my own children and family. In my partner and how that continues to unfold. It’s surprising to me how far the hurt reaches. And how much opportunity there is for softness and forgiveness. Grace. Love. So many lessons along the way. So much awkwardness. And so much beauty too. Alchemy is possible. With showing up for what is present in front of me, thread by thread, feeling it, allowing it to breathe, dismantling the parts of me that are hurt, angry, or protecting something vulnerable underneath. Accepting it all as it is. Having deep approval for what is in front of me. Keeping my heart open. This is how we FLOURISH🧡 The work we do as mothers matters. It is the key to alchemy and to the possibility of a beautiful flourishing family life. I’m opening FLOURISH for private 1:1 clients. If you feel called, message me to work on self forgiveness, acceptance and compassion for yourself inside of mothering and family dynamics. 🧡🌺🙏🏼

I've been heartbroken this week with what's happening in Israel, Palestine and the world. Holding the complexity of so many things true at once. I have been going slow with myself, plenty of time to rest and feel my emotions, connect with people in deep meaningful ways. My morning call was cancelled today and I suddenly had a lot more space than I thought. I have been at my lake home the past 2 weeks and have been going on morning walks and practicing yoga down by the dock. It's been cold, and nourishing. On my way down to the lake this morning a friend walked by who I haven't seen much and I invited him to walk with me. He came to be in the beauty of nature. We were walking slowly and he slowed me down even more, which I appreciated, and we walked, talked and pointed out so much beauty on the path, as the sun was warming the path. When we reached a spot of full sun, I did some yoga poses along the way. We picked up acorns, crunched on the colorful leaves and noticed fish plopping around the water (or was it a frog?!). When we got back to the dock, I did more yoga as we chatted on and off. I laid on the dock for a long time, feeling the sun on my face, the cool breeze on my body. My heart softened, holding the tragedy of the world, and the beauty and gratitude of my body laying safely in the sun this morning. It was a beautiful, unexpected morning, with little surprises along the way....Just how I love living my life. The 6th episode of my Desire as Medicine podcast with @coachcatherinen dropped today, 💎Desire Vs. Force💎, and it's a really juicy one. What's possible when we are in our bodies, present and following desire is truly beyond our wildest dreams. Link to podcast episode in my bio or DM me ✨ #desire #followingdesire #desirebasedlife #feminine #relationships #podcasting #podcastersofinstagram

🌺How to Talk To Your Children About War & Difficult Times🌺 These tips will help guide you to begin having honest compassionate age appropriate conversations with your children about current world events. For more information or guidance, please DM me. Please DM me about how conversations with your kids are going. I would love to hear. Holding the complexity of this entire situation in my heart and body, here in service. Praying for people everywhere and for peace. Warmly, Brenda #talkingtokidsaboutwar #motherhoodasaspiritualpractice #motherhoodasaspiritualjourney #parenthood #selfcare #selflove #difficultconversations #compassion #israel #palestine #peace