Women’s Circles; Creating a Unique Space for Women to Support One Another

by | Apr 18, 2019 | Parenting, Self-Care, Tips and Techniques, Truth-Telling

Megan Day, founder of Rooted & Vibrant is sharing with us her empowering journey of starting a women’s circle and what the community means to her. 

Keep reading to see how to join!

“A circle of women may be the most powerful force known to humanity. If you have one, embrace it. If you need one, seek it. If you find one, for the love of all that is good and holy, dive in…Let them see you. Let them hold you. Let your reluctant tears fall. Let yourself rise fierce and love gentle. You will be changed. The very fabric of your being will be altered.”
-Jeanette LeBlanc

In October 2018, I had the idea to start a women’s circle in my community.
A women’s circle is just what it sounds like, it’s a group of women sitting in a circle with a common intention. The whole idea of a women’s circle is to create a space that is free from distractions and that is supportive for women to come and learn about themselves. I announced on Facebook that my first women’s circle would take place on the next new moon, November 7th.

There are a number of reasons why I started a women’s circle. First off, I have a life coaching practice called Rooted & Vibrant that I run out of my home. I work with moms one-on-one to help them get back to their true selves after having kids. Many of the moms that I work with have a dream tugging at them but they are unsure how to make their dreams a reality. Their limitations are usually part mindset (what they think is actually possible for themselves) and part logistics (being the busy, devoted parents that they are). I wanted to create a community for these women to feel supported. I wanted them to know that there were other women going through similar challenges; that they were not alone.

I think it’s fair to say however, that the creation of this women’s circle was initially for myself. As a new entrepreneur, I had spent my first year in business going to many networking events. Although I did meet some amazing people, I was not feeling the support and connection that I longed for. There was something more that I was searching for. I wanted deeper connection. I wanted a platform to explore my own feelings. I wanted to meet other like-minded women who were also on a journey. As an introvert, it sometimes takes me multiple meetings to move past the small talk with new people. I wanted to be able to speak authentically, not in a calculated way that just made me look good. The other part for me was that I was at a stage in my coaching career that I was being challenged to take on more of a leadership role. Facilitating a women’s circle felt like just the nudge I needed to develop my own feminine leadership skills.

I was also feeling distraught and helpless about the #metoo movement. As a woman, and a mother of two girls, I was feeling afraid for the future. It was very disconcerting to learn that abuse against women exists on every level of society, that it is very pervasive across cultures. I was saddened by the fact that it took until 2018 for women’s voices to be heard and believed (this could be a whole other post about the unfortunate reality that it took women of privilege to speak up about their experiences for this to become a true, serious point of discussion. Trust me, this has not gone without notice). I wanted to empower women to step into their feminine power. I wanted to create a ripple effect of women who felt that they could make a difference. I wanted them to understand and own their stories, feel supported enough to share their stories, and motivate them to step up and make a change. Starting a women’s circle was a way for me to move past this feeling of helplessness and to move into action. Facilitating a women’s circle felt like my way of ‘walking my talk’.

When I started a monthly women’s sisterhood circle, I had never been to one myself. I’m not really sure where the idea to start one came from. It was a feeling, almost like a calling. I wasn’t sure where to start either. I did some research and found that women’s circles have been a part of history for hundreds of years in many different cultures. This was powerful to feel connected to generations of women who gathered before us.

I came across a group online called the Global Sisterhood. I signed up to become a facilitator through the Global Sisterhood immediately. I knew that I wanted to be a part of this bigger movement going on globally. The Global Sisterhood provided me with monthly themes and rituals that I could incorporate into my circles. The really cool part about the Global Sisterhood was that they coordinate the dates for the women’s circles so that women’s circles happen on the same evening, the new moon, at different locations around the world. We could sit together in circle, with thousands of other women at the same time!

I put myself out there. I was terrified but it was SO worth it. That first women’s circle I held was electric. It’s hard to explain, but the women that showed up were excited and eager to take part. Friends, neighbours, coaching clients and yoga colleagues showed up. There was meditation, music and journaling. We created intentions for ourselves and shared them out loud. We laughed and we cried together.

We continue to meet on a monthly basis, on the new moon because the new moon is a symbol for new beginnings. Each month there is an opportunity to reset and start fresh.

There are usually a few women that show up again and again but each month there is a different dynamic to the group, as new women join. I am of the thought that those women that need to be there will come.
It is an honor to facilitate these women’s circles. There is nothing better than being together, being real and feeling supported for being just who you are.

Megan Day, MSc, CLC, is a Certified Life Coach, Meditation Instructor and the founder of Rooted & Vibrant. Her mission is to empower women to find their life’s work and to help ambitious moms create fulfilling lives.

In 2017, Megan made the decision to resign from her 10 year career in healthcare to start her own business and explore her calling. She values family, community, connection and adult conversation. She has found her life purpose in helping other moms find theirs.

Connect with Megan at www.instagram.com/rooted_and_vibrant and www.facebook.com/rootedandvibrant/.  

7 Rules You Must Follow When Building New Habits

by | Jan 17, 2019 | Parenting, Tips and Techniques, Truth-Telling

Today the amazing Melissa Beasley shares her journey of momprenuership and passes along the tips she’s learned along the way.

Dear reader,

My business coach often says that entrepreneurship is the graduate school of personal growth. Building a business tends to bring you face to face with some of your deepest fears, insecurities, and limitations. Looking them in the face can be overwhelming at best, and debilitating at its worst. For my sweet mamas, add the fact that motherhood is a catalyst that brings out any and all flaws and fears that you might be able to avoid in business growth and you have a recipe for potential disaster. Yet, momprenuers seem to be on the rise because moms (and women in general) are amazing creatures of strength, fortitude, grace and magic. If you’re on this path let me start by telling you that you have my utmost respect and admiration. I know from personal experience how grueling this journey is and anyone who even attempts it deserves a giant, shining, gold star.
Now, dear one, I want to warn you of one of the biggest pitfalls you might face on this path and I’m going to do it through a story about gardening.

Imagine for a minute that you have inherited a beautiful country cottage that sits on sprawling gardens. Gardening is a passion of yours and you can’t wait to get in there and cultivate the grounds to bring out the best in nature’s beauty. As you drive along the winding country road you’re already thinking through what kinds of plants you want to buy as you wonder what kind of soil you’ll see. You get excited imagining what kinds of plants are already there waiting for you. You round the corner and your heart sinks and a sense of shock stops your thoughts with the screech of a halted record. The grounds have apparently been abandoned and neglected for what looks like decades. Everything is completely overgrown with vines, weeds and grass. You’re not even sure where the gardens end the yard begins.

You take a deep breath, approach a section of garden and gingerly start poking through the thick overgrowth. You feel a thrill of excitement as you notice some beautiful roses and irises still growing strong despite the suffocating weeds. You also groan as you look through the many vines growing over the garden; you know from experience how pernicious some of these species are and they’ve had ages to establish deep roots. Clearing them out is not going to be easy. The reality of the work ahead of you sinks in; this is going to take a long time.

This is a perfect analogy for what happens again and again as people begin a personal growth journey. You have limiting beliefs, traumas, fears and insecurities that have been silently growing and suffocating your dreams and strengths for years, maybe even decades. Then you started a business, or had children, or sought help changing some unhealthy habits and were brought face to face with those weeds. That moment of realization is often earth shattering. “You mean I have all this muck just sitting inside me holding me back and making me miserable!?!? Oh hell no, that’s going away right now!” So you start furiously tearing at weeds only to exhaust yourself after making a small amount of progress, which leaves you feeling discouraged and hopeless.

But there is a better solution. When you come face to face with a giant mess and are tempted to go to war against it, stop, take a deep breath, and follow these rules.

1. Realize this is not a new mess

This mess has been here for a long time. It didn’t suddenly show up right when you saw it. When you first glimpse your mess a part of you will think “Eww, gross!! Get it out now!!!” But calm down, it’s been there a while and it hasn’t killed you yet. Yes it’s gross, of course you want it to go away, but you can’t clear it all right this second and trying will only hurt you more.

2. This mess took time to make and it will take time to clean up

This ties in with rule #1 and serves as another reminder that you can’t clear all of this out right away. The longer those vines have been growing, the longer they will take to clear out. The sooner you can be okay with allowing part of the mess to still be there as you clear other parts of it out, the less stressful this process will be.

3. You have to get to the roots, but not right away

I know, I know, you’re thinking I’m crazy because everyone knows that you should go straight for the roots of a problem right? Well, not always. Take our weeds and vines for example. When you have a thick overgrowth of vines you often can’t even get to the roots; you’ll have to do some trimming back first. Sometimes when you’re doing personal growth and emotional healing you first have to chip away at the surface symptoms and heal those before you can even see the root issues. So if you’ve been working on it for a couple of years and it still hasn’t healed, don’t be discouraged. You are still doing good work, and you’ll get to the root when you’re ready. However, if you stop after trimming back the surface symptoms, those problems will keep growing back again and again. So, be okay with trimming back the surface issues at first, but don’t give up until you’ve gotten those roots out.

4. Make a plan

You can’t just tear out weeds at random and hope to have any lasting effect. Figure out what the most critical place to start is. What issue is choking the most life out of you right now? What is having the biggest negative impact on your life? Write down the top two that come to mind and start working on those.

You can also find areas that are simple fixes and clear them out to give yourself some breathing room. Are there items on your to-do list that you can accomplish in 10-30min and they would be done for good? Make a list of those things and start crossing them off. It will give you some emotional breathing room so you can have more energy to focus on the big issues.

As other issues come to mind write them down and then leave them. Tell yourself that those items will be addressed after you have handled what’s on your list right now. You’re not ignoring them, you are simply choosing where to focus your energy. I like to keep post-it note pads around the house and when something comes to mind to distract me I write it down and stick it to the wall. At the end of the day I collect all my post-it notes and transfer them onto my master list. Knowing that things aren’t slipping through the cracks is a huge relief for my overthinking brain.

Follow the plan. Don’t give up. It can be tempting to start a task, then tell yourself you should pick a different one instead because that one will work faster. This is not a fast process. The best way trough this process is to make a plan and stick to that plan.

5. Sometimes clearing one issue causes others to clear up as well

Be encouraged by the fact that clearing up one issue often has a positive impact on other areas of your life. Don’t be surprised to find that working on one or two issues actually resolves a set of minor issues that you never even realized were related to it.

6. Remember the roses inside the weeds

As you free them from the tangle of vines you’ll be able to start cultivating them so they can grow and shine as they were intended. Your strengths have been suffocated by fears and limiting beliefs, and as you free them you’ll be given the chance to grow and improve those strengths so you can bring your gifts into the world.

7. Get help

I can’t stress this enough. You don’t want to go through this process alone. You want an expert who has walked this path and understand the struggles that you are going to face. You want someone who knows the obstacles and knows how to overcome them so you can decrease how long this process takes. Helping people like you navigate your tangled mess is a passion of mine. I love watching the tangled darkness clear away as you begin to shine a light on your strengths and breathe new life into your dreams.

Let me walk this path with you, contact me at Melissa@loveessentialskincare.com to set up an appointment today.

Melissa is a natural skin care formulator, the founder of Love-Essential Skin Care, and the mother of two amazing boys.

To learn more about Melissa and her work, please visit her website HERE.

Intentional New Year’s

by | Jan 8, 2019 | Affirmations, Grounding, Journal Writing, Parenting, Self-Care, Tips and Techniques

Did you get any dreaming time during the holidays?

Did you get any time to process 2018 and think about what you might want to invite into 2019?

So we have made it to the first full week of the New Year. The kids are back in school, we are back to work and our life is suppose to just fall back into normal right?

Well it doesn’t usually feel that way for me. Besides the fact that we homeschool, and my hubby is back at work, the transition from the Winter Holidays into the let’s face it, the often disgusting next few months is a hard one.

We live in Maine, so there is snow coming, and this year we have had snow and cold weather since before Thanksgiving, so I don’t know about you but I am feel the end of February, beginning of March tiredness of winter, and we are still just getting ready for a lot more.

The house feels like it needs another deep cleaning even though I did one before the holidays, now that we have all spent over a week here, it feels like a lot of pick up needs to happen again, AND there are new things to put away and organize from gift giving.

So how do we do all this and not get depressed or feel put upon? How do we even begin to think about New Year’s Resolutions (and in my opinion the top of our lists as mothers should simply be GETTING MORE SLEEP – and to hell with anything else)? I mean are you even on board with packing lunches and resuming all the kid activities?

Did you get any dreaming time during the holidays?

Did you get any time to process 2018 and think about what you might want to invite into 2019?

Nope?

I mean we are mothers right, and unless you designed some time (and maybe even if you did) it didn’t happen and now here it is the 8th of January and what the hell?

So here is my invitation to you. Have your favorite drink. Coffee, tea, water, wine, beer I don’t care, but grab something that tastes good to drink and if you need to go lock yourself in the bathroom to do this I am certainly not one to judge!

But take a few moments to just breathe. Don’t do anything. Don’t rush or think about the next thing. And if you can’t keep your mind from racing then grab pen and paper or the note feature on your phone and just jot down everything going on in your brain until you can let it all go.

Now listen. Can you hear anything? If you are lucky enough to have silence, just soak it in. And if you can hear the kids watching TV in the next room that’s fine too.

Now if there is something you want to bring into 2019 it might make itself known now. And if it doesn’t then let’s just repeat this again tomorrow.

A few minutes alone. It can be in the bathroom or while taking a shower, or hiding in the car or pretending to still be asleep. But try and grab a few minutes every day and see what happens.

I think that’s a big enough resolution for us. What about you?

Chase Young is the founder of The Mommy Rebellion a place for judgment-free parenting.  She’s created a place to get tips, tools and support for what it is truly like to be a mother, stories from the trenches that show you you’re not alone.  Tips that real mothers use.  Tools to give to yourself and to your parenting friends to feel more focused, have more patience and energy, and feel less tired and snappy .  
You can follow Chase here on this blog, sign up for her newsletter here and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Empathic Mastery With Jennifer Moore

by | Nov 29, 2018 | Affirmations, Grounding, Parenting, Teenagers, Tips and Techniques, Truth-Telling

Jenn Moore of Modern Medicine Lady joins us today for a special video to help a dear friend overcome the pain and emotions around getting braces.

While not technically a mom herself, Jen has been a fairy godmother to many, including many members of the Mommy Rebellion.

As an Intuitive Mentor, EFT Trainer, and author of upcoming book Empathic Mastery, Jennifer Moore works with highly sensitive and empathic moms (and their kids) who get flooded with the thoughts, feelings, and energy of the world around them. Jen teaches them to manage their sensitivities and filter the emotional noise they absorb. Often told they’re overreacting or to “suck it up”, Jen supports women to recognize what’s actually theirs and what they can return to sender.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed and stuck, Jen helps women to feel safe, calm and confident so they can use their abilities to make a difference about what matters to them.

FMI visit http://modernmedicinelady.com

Dancing with the Shadow and Light

by | Oct 18, 2018 | Parenting, Tips and Techniques

Today Andrea Parker, founder of The Rejuvenation Grange shares with us how surrendering to the dance of dark and light emotions can open ourselves up and listen to our inner and outer guides we can elevate and rejuvenate our souls and build bridges to deeper connections.

The last few weeks have been filled with moments of gorgeous light and pulsating darkness.

As humans we easily gravitate towards talking and connecting through the light, the joyous spaces of our life but often struggle with opening up about our shadows, our fears of judgement, our hidden parts that feel unsettled.

The dance between sharing both sides of ourselves can make us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable, BUT when we sink into this dance and open ourselves up and listen to our inner and outer guides we can elevate and rejuvenate our souls and build bridges to deeper connections.

This week I had two wonderful exchanges with my daughter who is almost 12, and definitely in the throws of starting puberty. The first conversation, encompassed talking about the shadow self and the other was an evening of playful dialogue that allowed our silly, joyous and humorous sides to fly freely.

Our evening ritual, which my daughter still asks for and wants deeply, is to lay beside each other and share a Rose (a celebration from the day), a Thorn (a challenge or draining part from the day), and a Bud (something we are looking forward to). We take turns sharing these pieces of our day with each other and they often lead to great conversations.

Last week, my daughter had a nightmare, which was her thorn because it had stuck with her all day. The nightmare was about her and a friend exploring our woods and getting attacked by a rabid coyote whom she had to stomp to death. My daughter is an animal lover so this troubled her greatly and she couldn’t shake the sadness and fear that had been lingering. She was afraid the dream would begin again and became anxious that she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

As a young child I used to have a reoccurring nightmare about my house catching fire and it being surrounded by wolves who chased me through the woods as I escaped the fire. I shared this with her but also relayed that over the years I have come to see the wolf as one of my spirit animals, and learned she is my shadow self, my fear and my fierceness and that when we give space to be curious about our fears instead of anxious we can become partners with it.

So I asked her what she thought the coyote might be trying to teach her, what was she fearful of?

She answered with “ Good question, I don’t know but let me think about that” And then she whispered to me, “ Wisdom from Andrea Parker, Thank You Mommy.” Last night I asked her again if she had time to think about it and her answer was growing up and being alone. But she also said that she had been fearful of this for a long time and now that fear isn’t as intense. I hugged her and let her know that she is surrounded by people that love her and even if they are far away that they will be reachable.

This small connection and exchange of the deeper part of myself and understanding with her, helped her shift her fear to curiosity and be able to sleep that night. Shadow turned into light.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a deep seeded fear of judgement. I hated playing dolls or school or any imaginary play when I was little because I was fearful of being too silly, or not saying the right thing or being misunderstood. So from a young age I stifled my voice and only shared my silly, strange, dark thoughts with those closest to me, those that I felt safe with.

Last night my daughter started writing a story for school.
It needed to be a narrative with an animal from the ecosystem or farm at her school and incorporate ways that the animal aft and is affective by the ecosystem. She lovingly chose a woodchuck.

She loves writing so spent a good hour writing and then shared it with me. It was in the first person and about a woodchuck who lived at the farm but his parents had died when they got chased by a fox and ran into an electric fence. This woodchuck finds himself in the same position but it turns out differently and he ends up in the animal rescue they have at the school.

After she was reading this I asked her if she could imagine herself as a woodchuck and describe things a bit more from his perspective and with his personality. This could have gone really wrong depending on the night, for she may have seen this as me helping or hurting her creativity, (an on going struggle at this age!)

Last night was a good night and this is where my light and her light connected.

We started to riff about what he would say, what he would call things. We pretended to move like a woodchuck and look around as if we were him.

Silliness ensued as we imagined him coming out of his burrow and spotting the beady eyed sharp teeth monster and wishing he hadn’t eaten so much broccoli that morning, as he was plodding through the field.

After we finished laughing so hard our stomachs hurt, I asked her what words would she describe things instead of the words we humans use. This lead to us getting even sillier- the electric fence became the oucher lines and the zapper, tomatoes ( which he didn’t like) were red bursts of sour yuckiness.

This play with words, the humor and silliness opened my heart and fused a beautiful connection between us mother and daughter and healed a part inside myself, that part of me as a little girl who felt misunderstood.

I love being silly but rarely allow myself to be goofy or over the top for fear of how my words would be perceived. Reconnecting to my joker made space for my voice to come through loud and clear, dancing with the shadow and the light.

Hi, I am Andrea Parker, founder of The Rejuvenation Grange.

I am a Master educator, experiential business coach, and soulful facilitator. I am also a mom to a beautiful 12 year old.

I spent the first 12 years of my professional life teaching children through integrating curriculum with play and exploration. This joyful work gave me the skills of getting people where they are and helping them create playfully while facilitating their own transformation. This journey of playing my way to creating a business I loved has been an amazing journey and given me the space and time to:

Explore my creative visions.
Be present in my daughter’s life.
Create my unique daily and weekly rhythm and
Make a difference in the world and make a living doing all of this.

The Rejuvenation Grange was born from my sacred vision of making space for people to explore their playful nature and push themselves to their own fertile edge and create a joyful life and business.

I do this by guiding people to bring their Sacred Creative Vision to the world, design their entrepreneurial playground ( playful and grounded business processes) and coach them to create a vibrant work/life rhythm that feed their souls.

Notes From the Other Side: Life with Adult Kids

by | Aug 16, 2018 | Parenting, Tips and Techniques, Truth-Telling

Today Nikki Starcat Shields joins us from her “empty nest” to report how it feels so far.

This year I’ve entered a new phase of parenting, often known as the “empty nest.” I’m here to report back on how it feels so far.

Truthfully, it’s a mixed bag. I’m incredibly proud of these two wonderful beings who have graced our lives – and more than a bit heartbroken that they no longer need me in the same ways they once did.

Teacher and author Elizabeth Stone wrote, “making the decision to have a child – it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” For me, this statement has become even more relevant since my two kids have become adults and moved out on their own.

In my daughter’s case, she’s now living more than 2,000 miles away from home. That’s so far!

My son lives 30 minutes away, and we see him at least weekly – but it’s still very different.

I miss them both like crazy.

At the same time, I cherish my newfound freedom, an abundance of time, and even the financial relief of no longer supporting them. My home stays cleaner, too. Go figure!

When you’re in the thick of parenting young kids, you often feel like a break, some time away from their intense needs would be delightful. You might fantasize about taking a solo vacation, a romantic getaway with your partner, or even a trip to a work-related conference. You may even get the opportunity to take these sacred reset breaks at times.

You might not imagine ever missing your kids once you don’t see them every day.

Or maybe you can’t picture not being with them all the time, and feel like you won’t know what on Earth to do with yourself once they move out.

Neither of these tells the whole story.

My tentative foray into being an empty nester, or as a friend calls it, a “free bird,” has shown me that, like most things in life, there are ups and downs.

I love visiting with my adult kids, whether in person or online, and catching up on their daily lives. I enjoy being more in charge of my own time than I’ve been for many years.

I miss their impromptu hugs and even the once-dreaded question, “what’s for dinner, Mom?”

I’m thankful that they do still need me, whether for advice on “adulting,” a pep talk, or an extra hug or two. I was profoundly moved when my daughter broke down into tears at the end of her summer visit here. She loves her new life out west but was still finding it hard to leave after two fun-filled weeks with us at her childhood home.

Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, you’ll always be a parent, even when the active phase of caring for their daily needs is finished. Your heart will always be with them, out there exploring the world with these blessings you helped to create.

Nikki Starcat Shields is Mom to two grown unschoolers, a published author, a book midwife, and a licensed priestess. She blogs at Starcat’s Corner. Do you have a book idea that’s yearning to be shared with the world? Check out Starcat’s free “Get That Book Out of Your Head” virtual week.