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The glitch continues as the last bit of summer comes to an end and we prepare for fall to begin this weekend. In today’s episode, we’re continuing to explore practices that will support you as you navigate this time of change, and actually these practices can offer you support throughout the fall season! They include:

- Tuning in to your present needs and how you want to feel during September. 

- Creating a plan for committed action that is flexible based on your available time, how much energy you have, and the type of energy present for you.

- Leaning on your morning routine for stability and adjusting based on how you’re feeling.

The shit we need to talk about is that this approach is quite different from western dominant culture and you might need some time (and grace) unlearning the rigidity taught to you in the name of discipline and consistency as you relearn a more intuitive and tender way. I know I continue to need that on my journey! 

Remember, we can’t just do what we always do and bypass our needs for the sake of being consistent because that just drives unease and deepens burnout. So as you continue to navigate the glitch and the beginning of the variable fall season, use the changeable vata energy to adjust your practices to meet you where you are. 

Jump in for all the goodness!

Enroll in the Fall Back to Yourself Series!

We are officially in glitch territory - the two week period between the end of the summer season and the beginning of fall. And in case you’re unfamiliar with this concept, Ayurveda science uses the term glitch for the transitional time in between the end of one period and the start of another. During this period, it is possible for things to feel a little off, turbulent, or overwhelming. You know, glitchy.

During the glitch between seasons, it’s important to notice when the characteristics of the new season are present and how they’re landing for you so that you can adjust your self-care practices accordingly (and then continue to do so during the course of the season!). Some of the most important things you can do in a transitional period are 1) pause, 2) tune in, and 3) reflect.

In today’s episode, I’m offering practices for each, including A TON of reflections as we bring summer to a close and prepare for fall and navigate the glitch with as much ease as possible. 

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The shit we need to talk about today when it comes to caring for yourself is self-consent, the process of  tuning in, listening in to yourself for a yes or a no, and then the most important step - honoring that. 

Period. Without judgment, without second-guessing, nothing.

If you, like me, are a master spiritual bypasser, it’s not our fault. Thanks to white supremacy culture, we have had no choice based on the sheer speed and expectation of capitalism. And when it comes to the oppression of folks with marginalized identities, we are not afforded the time, space, or resources to easily or completely tend to ourselves.

Furthermore, in America, health and success looks one way and we are taught and pushed towards doing things that one way at any cost. We are taught differences in personality, likes/dislikes, and any other traits are bad.

What’s worse, we are taught from a young age to bypass ourselves and look outside of ourselves for validation and information ABOUT OURSELVES. And often, when we tune in, the message we’re receiving from our being is not in line with what we see and hear in society so we ignore ourselves or worse, GASLIGHT ourselves, telling ourselves we should be different, less of this, and more of that. And because of this disconnect, eventually, some of us end up not tuning in at all.

As a result, many of us do not know how to tune into ourselves, really listen, or meet our needs and desires without guilt or shame until literally we have no choice because sickness or disease or something awful happens that forces us to face ourselves. Friend, It’s bullshit. I don’t want that for you anymore.

But the thing is - since these systems are not stopping or slowing down anytime soon, we’ve got to break that cycle so that we can live with more ease, thrive, and have the capability to continue the work of disrupting and dismantling oppressive systems in our lives, including in our well-being.

This week’s episode is offering you support in honoring your self-consent through yoga philosophy’s practice of pratyahara - turning inward away from the outside world with the goal of creating a more balanced mind so you can quiet the noise of society’s bullshit and cultivate silence, peace, rest, and ease within.

Jump in for all the goodness!

Enroll in the Fall Back to Yourself Series!

In this week’s episode, the shit we need to talk about is: the work of disrupting and dismantling the oppressive systems in our life, and namely our well-being, does not require us to be martyrs and run ourselves into the ground in the name of being faithful servants of the cause. 

On the contrary, it requires us to be resourced, as full as we can be in the moment, aware, connected to ourselves, living authentically, and being that person when we go out into the world. 

It requires us to handle our shit and be in the continuous process of handling our shit - not as in keeping a lid on things, but actively dealing with our emotions and meeting our needs as best we can. 

It also requires us to NOT be navigating turbulence and experiencing turmoil more often than not. 

As much as I’d love to blame all of our inner turmoil on the fucked up systems and how all of that is playing out in our lives, especially for people of the global majority and the LGBTQIA+ community, friend I’m gonna say an unpopular that just might get you all up in your feelings: We have some culpability in our inner turbulence and turmoil and the reason is - we are upholding aspects and characteristics of white supremacy culture. Yes, even those of us who are in Black and brown bodies. 

And we are doing this in our perfectionism, sense of urgency, desire for quantity over quality, defensiveness, AND SO MUCH MORE.

The offerings in this episode to support your journey in smoothing out turbulence, softening turmoil, and easing dysregulation include: 

- Understanding the role of white supremacy culture in your well-being

- A process for moving through the day with mindful awareness 

- Pinpointing supportive coping mechanisms at the ready for regulation based on the type of energy you’re feeling

- Pranayama (the 4th of Yoga philosophy’s 8 limbed system) - developing your breathing practices or deepening your relationship with them

- Check back with your daily rhythm for practices to remain resourced on a regular basis with 2 shifts: 1) coming at them from a place of love and support rather than should and 2) basing your self-care actions on how you’re feeling, your bandwidth, and capacity

Please note: In this episode, I encourage going to therapy, however during the recording, I failed to acknowledge the privilege and advantage involved in doing so. 

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Enroll in the Fall Back to Yourself Series!

Additional resources from this episode: Caroline J. Sumlin (she/her): @carolinejsumlin on IG, author of We’ll All Be Free

The shit we need to talk about this week: Fall is an incredibly busy and variable season, which can feel great for some but it can be totally dysregulating and aggravating for others. So, we need to be focused on fostering stability from now. 

Fostering stability is cultivating the ability to tolerate difficulty and withstand adversity without becoming consumed by your emotions and responding reactively.

And it’s good timing since we’re now in the second to last week of August, and some of you have already experienced the change in schedule and responsibilities and the rest of us are getting ready for it.

Without an active practice of fostering stability within yourself, then friend, I hate to say it but I’m gonna say the hard thing anyway: dysregulation will be a regular occurrence and burnout will be coming for you. It doesn’t have to be this way. That’s the real talk and you know I won’t shy away from it because it doesn’t do either of us any favors! 

The practices we’re discussing in this episode for fostering stability include:

- Regularly grounding yourself throughout your day

- Building in blank space to your day

- Leaning on your a daily rhythm

Jump in for all the goodness!

Enroll in the Fall Back to Yourself Series!

Get The Disruptor’s Guide to Self-Care

This month, for many of us, is one of great transitions, especially here in the US. I am willing to bet you or someone in your close network is heading back to work or school or more responsibilities on a likely more rigid schedule sometime within the next 3-4 weeks.

There tends to be a lot of feelings, perhaps some excitement (for some new stuff coming), and also tough emotions like anxiety, worry, dread, and deep sadness around what’s ending and feeling unprepared for what’s next because you didn’t quite get enough of all the summer goodness. …And for some of you, you know the end of the year burnout is looming.

In this episode, the shit we need to talk about is: savoring summer’s sweetness and mindfully preparing for fall. And the offerings include:

- A mindset shift to savor summer’s sweetness (rather than tighten your grip and squeeze every bit of goodness out)

- Get grounded - present in your body and with Earth

- Prepare for fall with mindful resourcement - through all of your senses and in a variety of ways; Ayurveda’s guiding principles for self-care

- First steps to curb burnout

Jump in for all the goodness!

Enroll in the Fall Back to Yourself Series!

Get The Disruptor’s Guide to Self-Care 

CW: we’re going to be having a candid conversation around food and the mess America has made of it all. So a quick content warning: I recognize a conversation about food and eating can be very uncomfortable and you may be dealing with some difficult emotions and possibly working through some challenging situations on this front. Disordered eating, body/food shaming, fat-phobia, and food insecurity are real and present. It is completely understandable if you have a complicated relationship with food and need to take breaks as you listen. It’s also totally fine if you would prefer to skip this episode altogether! Please take tender care of yourself until we meet again!

I’ve got a big ass question for you this week: Can we repair our relationship with food and eating? Because America’s obsessed with demonizing food and glorifying restrictive eating and it’s not doing us any favors.

In this episode, the shit we need to talk about is: 

- The fuckery going on in American culture with food and eating bias

- My spin on emotional eating, as in: checking in with ourselves, understanding what energy is present, why, and choosing what to eat based on supporting ourselves. 

- Looking at food and eating through an Ayurveda lens: nourishment, self-love, ritual, and connecting with community. 

- Considering food and eating on a seasonal basis (and I include general guidance for summer!)

If needed, is there a way for you to heal your relationship with food and eating and begin to rebuild one based on self-love and acceptance?

Jump in for all the goodness!

Create your Personalized Self-Care Starter Plan 

Get The Disruptor’s Guide to Self-Care

Yoga at its roots is a way of life that centers self-awareness and deep connection with community and nature even though in the West it has been appropriated and watered down to a type of exercise to get more flexible. The ancient culture, philosophy, and practice of Yoga are a disruption of white supremacy culture and western individualism. 

In this episode, the shit we need to talk about is deconstructing your relationship with Yoga asana from what you’ve been taught by dominant culture. We explore reflections for you to consider and reimagine your physical practice plus:

Mindset shift: Asana as a practice for you to connect to yourself more deeply, to come back to yourself, to live the yamas and niyamas in action. A way for you to connect to your breath, your intention, your community, nature, the Earth. A way to honor your needs and maintain or restore balance mentally, emotionally, physically, and energetically.

Reconsidering the way you practice (or sequence if you are a teacher) to include 2 essential pieces:

1) a consideration for how you’re feeling in the moment and honor or make space for how you’re feeling (rather than leaving your feelings at the door).

2) adjust the practice based on the characteristics of the season and how they (and life) are landing within you at the moment. 

Guidance for your summer asana practice so you can keep cool, playful, and compassionate.

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Create your Personalized Self-Care Starter Plan 

CW: In this episode, we’re going to be having a real conversation about exercise that is bound to touch on some areas of life that you have lots or big feelings about and it may even bring up some past tough experiences because I’m calling out a lot of shit today that is wrong in the fitness and wellness industry and how it fucks with our mental and emotional health, promotes dieting, fuels disordered eating and body shaming, and disconnects us from ourselves in the worst ways possible. Feel free to come back to this at a later date if this wouldn't be a helpful conversation for you to hear today or skip it altogether! 

Exercise is another industry where capitalism and white supremacy culture are alive and well and it is in fact those systems that nourishes and nurtures the deep and messy root system of the fitness industry.

In this episode, the shit we need to talk about is: While the fitness and wellness industry pushes us to exercise in the name of “health”, what it’s turned into for many, is an exorcism of sorts. 

I know this might seem extreme at first, but I’m being 100% for real.

Because often what drives people to exercise or push harder is some problematic feeling or or situation they’re trying to escape or drive out, whether that is anger, anxiety, fear, feeling not enough, wishing to be different, better, more of this and less of that. I know this because I’ve seen this all too often over the course of my nearly 20 years working in the industry AND I’ve been that person.

As always, friend, remember, I’m not throwing judgment or shade around here. Not to you anyway. If anything I say feels like I’m calling you out, know it’s not your fault but the system’s.

In this episode, I’m calling out a bunch of shit today that’s problematic when it comes to America’s take on exercise and as always, I’m offering you prompts to consider how white supremacy culture is showing up in your workout routine and your relationship with exercise as well as guidance on a more loving, compassionate, and fun approach to moving your body.

Jump in for all the goodness!

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Create your Personalized Self-Care Starter Plan

We’re officially halfway through 2023 so it’s time for a pretty big check in. When you’re living in self-awareness (or on the journey of learning to live in it), you’re essentially in (or moving toward) a constant state of inquiry, of checking in, and being tuned into what you’re experiencing. 

Considering summer’s call to expand, transform, and reap, PLUS reset and prepare for fall and winter, in this week’s episode, I’m offering you prompts and reflections so you can explore how life is landing for you in three aspects: summer, mid-year, and looking ahead to Fall (and the rest of the year).

I also offer thoughts on how to: meet yourself if life isn’t unfolding the way you hoped, maintain what’s working, be settled as you move into the Fall, and resource yourself for the rest of the year - cuz you know my mission this year is to have you feeling more resourced and less burned out by the end of the year!

Jump in for all the goodness!

Join the Disruptor’s Leadership Academy