Plan Simple with Mia Moran
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Plan Simple with Mia Moran episodes

  • Space for Spirituality with John Pedergast

    As the heart awakens, we feel more and more grateful for no reason.  

    – John Prendergast

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with John Prendergast about making space for spirituality. I met John at a retreat in 2018 and so many of his teachings connect with things we end up talking about here on the podcast.  


    One of the most important aspects for me was quieting your mind. When John said, “Let’s just sit” it sounded so much easier than trying to meditate. If you are raising kids and dealing with how you were brought up and everything you have to do and all the world around you moving so fast, there’s so much coming at you that it’s really hard to hear the voice inside you. But, as John says, if we get quiet, we can start attuning to our inner knowing.


    We talk about the difference between thinking and awareness. John explains, “The thinking mind, the ordinary thinking mind, is really helpful in terms of practical problem solving but, it’s not very helpful in terms of actually recognizing what I would call our “true nature.” Getting out of the thinking mind helps us realize that.


    We talk about:


    • How disconnecting from our thoughts brings relaxation and attention can then drop down much more easily into the body.



    • Dealing with situations with our kids by getting quieter within ourselves and tapping into our inner wisdom



    • This process not being selfish because it’s about self-indulgence, but actually it’s about true self intimacy.



    • Using small breaks in your day to tune into yourself instead of looking at your phone or listening to the radio



    • Recognizing our core limiting beliefs and then getting quiet and going to the heart, not the mind, for an answer and transformation



    • How awareness can help us work through unfinished “stuff” in our lives—we need to notice where we feel it in our bodies and the stories we tell about it and finding the very core of it



    • The power of gratitude practice and even deeper gratitude we’re alive and that we’re awake and that there is an extraordinary mystery of human life that’s unfolding



    John shares this practice:


    • Take a little time out of your routine, say 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, before the day begins, to quietly sit in a comfortable place where you’re not going to be interrupted.



    • Sit upright, comfortably.



    • Close your eyes or have them partially open.



    • Take a few deep breaths and just feel yourself held by whatever it is you’re sitting upon.



    • Know that there’s no problem that you have to solve in the moment.



    • Shift your attention down to the heart area or the belly. Use your breath to anchor your attention.



    • Thoughts about what you need to do or plans for the day may arise. Just let them fall away.



    • Begin to simply open to the silent, open sense of awareness. Let it deepen.



     


    Attuning with the quietness can affect your whole day. This practice can take some time to get used to, so give it few weeks for a fair trial.


    BIO


    John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of In Touch: How to Tune in to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True, 2015) and...

    59 min
  • Space for Spirituality with John Pedergast

    As the heart awakens, we feel more and more grateful for no reason.  

    – John Prendergast

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with John Prendergast about making space for spirituality. I met John at a retreat in 2018 and so many of his teachings connect with things we end up talking about here on the podcast.  

    One of the most important aspects for me was quieting your mind. When John said, “Let’s just sit” it sounded so much easier than trying to meditate. If you are raising kids and dealing with how you were brought up and everything you have to do and all the world around you moving so fast, there’s so much coming at you that it’s really hard to hear the voice inside you. But, as John says, if we get quiet, we can start attuning to our inner knowing.

    We talk about the difference between thinking and awareness. John explains, “The thinking mind, the ordinary thinking mind, is really helpful in terms of practical problem solving but, it’s not very helpful in terms of actually recognizing what I would call our “true nature.” Getting out of the thinking mind helps us realize that.

    We talk about:

    • How disconnecting from our thoughts brings relaxation and attention can then drop down much more easily into the body.
  • Dealing with situations with our kids by getting quieter within ourselves and tapping into our inner wisdom
  • This process not being selfish because it’s about self-indulgence, but actually it’s about true self intimacy.
  • Using small breaks in your day to tune into yourself instead of looking at your phone or listening to the radio
  • Recognizing our core limiting beliefs and then getting quiet and going to the heart, not the mind, for an answer and transformation
  • How awareness can help us work through unfinished “stuff” in our lives—we need to notice where we feel it in our bodies and the stories we tell about it and finding the very core of it
  • The power of gratitude practice and even deeper gratitude we’re alive and that we’re awake and that there is an extraordinary mystery of human life that’s unfolding
  • John shares this practice:

    • Take a little time out of your routine, say 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, before the day begins, to quietly sit in a comfortable place where you’re not going to be interrupted.
  • Sit upright, comfortably.
  • Close your eyes or have them partially open.
  • Take a few deep breaths and just feel yourself held by whatever it is you’re sitting upon.
  • Know that there’s no problem that you have to solve in the moment.
  • Shift your attention down to the heart area or the belly. Use your breath to anchor your attention.
  • Thoughts about what you need to do or plans for the day may arise. Just let them fall away.
  • Begin to simply open to the silent, open sense of awareness. Let it deepen.
  •  

    Attuning with the quietness can affect your whole day. This practice can take some time to get used to, so give it few weeks for a fair trial.

    BIO

    John J. Prendergast, Ph.D., is the author of In Touch: How to Tune in to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True, 2015) and the forthcoming The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence (Sounds True, 2019). He is a retired adjunct professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and a psychotherapist in private practice. John studied for many years with the European sage Jean Klein as well as with Adyashanti, and he was invited to share the dharma by Dorothy Hunt. www.listeningfromsilence.com

    LINKS

    • In Touch
  • Deep Heart
  • http://listeningfromsilence.com/
  • Byron Katie
  • Doable Changes from this episode:

    • SIT QUIETLY. Take about 10–15 minutes daily to sit quietly. Try using the practice that John outlines in the show.. Remember that thoughts will likely come into your head as you settle, but they will fall away. Don’t get discouraged; it takes some time to get used to this practice. Just keep showing up.
  • DIG INTO WHAT DOESN’T GET DONE. Think about a project you didn’t get done that you really meant to do. How do you feel about that—and where do you feel it in your body? Get curious about that feeling. Notice any stories you are telling about the project or any core limiting beliefs related to it? Question that belief. Practice discernment—noticing things as they are without judging. Let yourself feel it.
  • PRACTICE GRATITUDE. Write down something you are grateful for at the beginning and end of each day. Take a moment to be grateful for just being. 
  • 59 min
  • Styling a Year with Sue Rock Tully

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m so excited to talk with Sue Rock Tully, a stylist and coach with Stella & Dot, the mom to two teenage daughters, and a member of FLOW365. I can’t wait for you to hear how she’s flourished and how you can too!

    Sue left a corporate job when her kids were in fifth and sixth grade. When she had a corporate job, she felt like everything was planned. “I just knew what my goals were, I knew what my schedule was, I knew when my trips were, I knew all of that. I felt like I had a handle of things.” Leaving that world left her floundering, and FLOW365 helped ground her.


     


    Sue’s FLOW Situation


    I was in a place where I hadn’t had a lot of focus and I wasn’t feeling productive. … I liked, especially that FLOW 365 wasn’t just about work…. the focus across everything I found especially appealing.


     


    Key Tool: Getting Everything on the Same Page


    Sue talks about how the holistic approach of FLOW 365 and the FLOW Planner have helped her get into FLOW and make space for and “count” all the things that she does. For her it looks like getting her family schedule into her planner first—plays, school events. Then blocking her business around that. She doesn’t work full time because she doesn’t have to. She can look at the different parts of her life and recognize that taking her business to another level right now doesn’t fit with her family. At the same time she is thriving at the level she’s at.  


     


    Key Tool: 90-Day Seasons


    Each FLOW Planner covers 90 days.


    I like how it’s broken up into seasons. The fact that it’s a three month season and thinking about life that way is new to me…. I’m not a really big, big goal setter. All of those sort five or ten years things are very daunting to me. Even a whole year of what I want to accomplish. The three months feels so doable to come up with really actionable and achievable things.


     


    I like too that we’re thinking into January ... because it doesn’t feel like that big end at New Years sometimes feel like a little cliff or something. This just feels like a slope. Flow again...


     


    Key Tool: Community & Accountability


    “I love the group…. We’re all so different but, it feels so good to be together…. Community in general is such a great thing. It’s not easy to create.” FLOW 365 is build around a community that  includes regular group meetings and communication that allow for accountability toward our goals or to just check in with what we’ve done in a non-judgemental way. It’s always amazing to me how groups come together and how a diverse group of people can really support each other and just how amazing that is. It’s so needed maybe this particular time maybe in history.


     


    In FLOW 365, we plan at a lot of levels. We get together for high level seasonal plans. We break things down my month and then by week. And we keep all of the things that matter front and center—food, lifestyle, OM (spirituality and self-care) and work. FLOW 365 is a high-end, yearlong program that helps entrepreneurial moms make time and space for clean food, joyful home lives and meaningful practices — alongside work, of course! It is designed to help you increase productivity without decreasing joy.


     


    Key Tool: Coaching


    Sue says, “You’re very insightful. There’s just some advice that you’ve given that you may not even realize that comes so easily to you… You can hear people’s desires or where they need things when we have our group conversations. You just get right...

    51 min
  • Styling a Year with Sue Rock Tully

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m so excited to talk with Sue Rock Tully, a stylist and coach with Stella & Dot, the mom to two teenage daughters, and a member of FLOW365. I can’t wait for you to hear how she’s flourished and how you can too!

    Sue left a corporate job when her kids were in fifth and sixth grade. When she had a corporate job, she felt like everything was planned. “I just knew what my goals were, I knew what my schedule was, I knew when my trips were, I knew all of that. I felt like I had a handle of things.” Leaving that world left her floundering, and FLOW365 helped ground her.

     

    Sue’s FLOW Situation

    I was in a place where I hadn’t had a lot of focus and I wasn’t feeling productive. … I liked, especially that FLOW 365 wasn’t just about work…. the focus across everything I found especially appealing.

     

    Key Tool: Getting Everything on the Same Page

    Sue talks about how the holistic approach of FLOW 365 and the FLOW Planner have helped her get into FLOW and make space for and “count” all the things that she does. For her it looks like getting her family schedule into her planner first—plays, school events. Then blocking her business around that. She doesn’t work full time because she doesn’t have to. She can look at the different parts of her life and recognize that taking her business to another level right now doesn’t fit with her family. At the same time she is thriving at the level she’s at.  

     

    Key Tool: 90-Day Seasons

    Each FLOW Planner covers 90 days.

    I like how it’s broken up into seasons. The fact that it’s a three month season and thinking about life that way is new to me…. I’m not a really big, big goal setter. All of those sort five or ten years things are very daunting to me. Even a whole year of what I want to accomplish. The three months feels so doable to come up with really actionable and achievable things.

     

    I like too that we’re thinking into January ... because it doesn’t feel like that big end at New Years sometimes feel like a little cliff or something. This just feels like a slope. Flow again...

     

    Key Tool: Community & Accountability

    “I love the group…. We’re all so different but, it feels so good to be together…. Community in general is such a great thing. It’s not easy to create.” FLOW 365 is build around a community that  includes regular group meetings and communication that allow for accountability toward our goals or to just check in with what we’ve done in a non-judgemental way. It’s always amazing to me how groups come together and how a diverse group of people can really support each other and just how amazing that is. It’s so needed maybe this particular time maybe in history.

     

    In FLOW 365, we plan at a lot of levels. We get together for high level seasonal plans. We break things down my month and then by week. And we keep all of the things that matter front and center—food, lifestyle, OM (spirituality and self-care) and work. FLOW 365 is a high-end, yearlong program that helps entrepreneurial moms make time and space for clean food, joyful home lives and meaningful practices — alongside work, of course! It is designed to help you increase productivity without decreasing joy.

     

    Key Tool: Coaching

    Sue says, “You’re very insightful. There’s just some advice that you’ve given that you may not even realize that comes so easily to you… You can hear people’s desires or where they need things when we have our group conversations. You just get right to it.”

     

    FLOW Changes

    Food: Thanks to FLOW planner, I haven’t had a week without a dinner plan in a while. Before if I didn’t know, the entire day was spent thinking about, “What are we gonna do for dinner?”

    Lifestyle: Because it’s holistic, getting the laundry done or going grocery counts as something. It can be one of my big rocks.

    OM: Committing time for yoga regularly because things go better when she does

    Work: If I didn’t have a plan for when I was going to fit in work (because I get to choose that), all day I was like, “Oh, I really should do that. Oh, I really should do that.” But, I wasn’t really doing anything. I was just thinking about what I should do.

     

    Big and Little Shifts from Flow 365

    Thinking about things holistically has been great. I was a decent dinner planner before. I mean, I get to it every single week and I certainly knew the weeks that I planned dinners for the week, they were a much better weeks than the weeks I missed it. I think because of the bigger planning part of the FLOW planner, I am not missing a week of meal plan. Dinner plans are set and it becomes part of the bigger plan for the week. I like that it makes that holistic for me…. It just takes out all of that constant planning in your head.

    We also talk about:

    • Why the timing for leaving her job was perfect for her—though not what she might have expected
  • The marginalization in both the work world and the mom world of working part time
  • How choosing a word we want to lean into for a season helps us make decisions that lead us to the way we want to be living
  • Why she started with Stella & Dot and her favorite perks—including creating community (and free jewelry)
  • Getting her big rocks on the calendar
  • BIO

    Sue Rock Tully is a Stella & Dot stylist and mom. She’s growing an amazing part time business, practicing yoga, and helping her kids through college application process.

    LINKS

    • stelladot.com/sites/suerocktully
  • Sue’s VIP FB Group
  • Sue on Instagram
  • Doable Changes from this episode:

    TAKE TIME TO PLAN. Pause to prep for your week or month or season. Take time to look ahead to what’s coming up. Put in any big rocks—work deadlines or travel, school events, your favorite yoga class or writing workshop—the stuff that happens at a certain time that you want to work around. Get intentional about the way you want to feel and where you want to focus attention. Then plot out what needs to happen to get there. That may look like creating a meal plan and scheduling grocery shopping. It may mean deciding to hold off on certain activities to another month or season. It may mean setting some grounding self-care time at the beginning of every day. That pause to look ahead and plan helps you get in FLOW.

    REFLECT. Related to taking time to plan is taking time to reflect. At the end of the day or week or month or season, stop and think back. What worked? What didn’t? Where did your attention really go? Where did you get off track? Where did you get back on? The key is to be non-judgemental. This practice can help you decide what you want to do next, but it can also help you really see what you did accomplish—and it helps slow down life, which feels so, so fast.

    The FLOW Planner is designed to meet the holistic approach Sue talked about. It keeps food, lifestyle, om, and work on one page and gives you a place to pause and look ahead at your season, your month, your week. It also provides space for your reflection. The FLOW planner helps you fit food and the other things that “matter most” into your day.

     

    51 min
  • Planning for Sex with Caitlin Cogan Doemner

    I want you to be completely convinced that you are beautiful, that you are sexy, that you deserve pleasure. – Caitlin Cogan Doemner

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Caitlin Cogan Doemner about sex. Do note, that this is not one to listen to with your kids...


    Caitlin runs a successful coaching business with her husband. They’re raising four kids. And they have sex every day. Caitlin didn’t think anything of this until she started talking to some friends and realizing they didn’t do the same thing. She credits daily sex with the energy she has to do other things—and she and her husband wrote the book on sex every day. They actually wrote his and hers versions, so you can both read it an be on the same page.


    Caitlin has three main tips. The first is to sleep naked, and she offers practical suggestions to make this happen—buying a heated blanket, having a bathrobe at the end of the bed, not co-sleeping. The second is eating from the menu, which encompasses appetizers (anything that gets us ready for sex), side dishes (everything that connects with sex—fantasy, candles, music, narrating what you are doing …), entrees (what brings you to climax), and desserts (what comes after, like cuddling). And third, prioritize pleasure in every area of your life a little bit more—and you cum first.


    We talk about having different love languages and how understanding and honoring them is so important. Caitlin needs words of affirmation, while her husband craves touch. Acts of service, quality time (schedule that date night regularly!), are also love languages. We tend to give what we want to receive, but that doesn’t work when we have different love languages. Understanding each other’s language and using it helps lead to more and better sex.


    We talk about:


    • Body shame around being naked together



    • Having your husband do bedtime with the kids while you shift from mom mode to wife mode



    • Not faking orgasms but giving your partner a system to get you there



    • Using mutual asking and giving feedback about what you both want in a way that’s not emotionally charged



    • The excuses we come up with — and the benefits we could be reaping (like reducing stress and cortisol levels, a rise in happiness endorphins and so much more)



    • How do deal with “I just don’t feel close to my husband right now/anymore”



    • Doing a two-week trial of sex every day



    • Being convinced that you are beautiful, that you are sexy, that you deserve pleasure—and that you should be enjoying sex.



    BIO


    Today's guest is Caitlin Cogan Doemner - she's best known for her expertise in sales and business strategy, growing her company, Virtual Coaching Sales, to $600,000 annually in just 4 years, she's published two books and has been invited to speak to entrepreneurs at both Harvard and Westpoint.


    But we're talking to Caitlin today about a much more personal topic - her marriage - and her new book "Sex Every Day" which shares the 3-step process she and her husband have used to prioritize their pleasure in the 10 years they've been married - while raising four kids!


    LINKS


    • Sex Every Day book



    52 min
  • Planning for Sex with Caitlin Cogan Doemner

    I want you to be completely convinced that you are beautiful, that you are sexy, that you deserve pleasure. – Caitlin Cogan Doemner

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Caitlin Cogan Doemner about sex. Do note, that this is not one to listen to with your kids...

    Caitlin runs a successful coaching business with her husband. They’re raising four kids. And they have sex every day. Caitlin didn’t think anything of this until she started talking to some friends and realizing they didn’t do the same thing. She credits daily sex with the energy she has to do other things—and she and her husband wrote the book on sex every day. They actually wrote his and hers versions, so you can both read it an be on the same page.

    Caitlin has three main tips. The first is to sleep naked, and she offers practical suggestions to make this happen—buying a heated blanket, having a bathrobe at the end of the bed, not co-sleeping. The second is eating from the menu, which encompasses appetizers (anything that gets us ready for sex), side dishes (everything that connects with sex—fantasy, candles, music, narrating what you are doing …), entrees (what brings you to climax), and desserts (what comes after, like cuddling). And third, prioritize pleasure in every area of your life a little bit more—and you cum first.

    We talk about having different love languages and how understanding and honoring them is so important. Caitlin needs words of affirmation, while her husband craves touch. Acts of service, quality time (schedule that date night regularly!), are also love languages. We tend to give what we want to receive, but that doesn’t work when we have different love languages. Understanding each other’s language and using it helps lead to more and better sex.

    We talk about:

    • Body shame around being naked together
  • Having your husband do bedtime with the kids while you shift from mom mode to wife mode
  • Not faking orgasms but giving your partner a system to get you there
  • Using mutual asking and giving feedback about what you both want in a way that’s not emotionally charged
  • The excuses we come up with — and the benefits we could be reaping (like reducing stress and cortisol levels, a rise in happiness endorphins and so much more)
  • How do deal with “I just don’t feel close to my husband right now/anymore”
  • Doing a two-week trial of sex every day
  • Being convinced that you are beautiful, that you are sexy, that you deserve pleasure—and that you should be enjoying sex.
  • BIO

    Today's guest is Caitlin Cogan Doemner - she's best known for her expertise in sales and business strategy, growing her company, Virtual Coaching Sales, to $600,000 annually in just 4 years, she's published two books and has been invited to speak to entrepreneurs at both Harvard and Westpoint.

    But we're talking to Caitlin today about a much more personal topic - her marriage - and her new book "Sex Every Day" which shares the 3-step process she and her husband have used to prioritize their pleasure in the 10 years they've been married - while raising four kids!

    LINKS

    • Sex Every Day book
  • Sex Every Day book also
  • Virtual Coaching Sales
  • www.5lovelanguages.com
  • Pleasure Is Productive with Janna Denton Howes
  • Doable Changes from this episode:

    • SLEEP NAKED. One of Caitlin’s first tips is having more sex is to sleep naked. Give it a two-week trial. To help make it work, try sheets you love, a heated blanket if your house is cold, having a bathrobe handy for when you have to get up quickly.
  • KNOW YOUR PARTNER’S LOVE LANGUAGE. We’ve linked to the 5 Love Languages site. If you’re not familiar with love languages, read about them to figure out what your (and your partner’s) primary and secondary love language is. They often aren’t the same, and since we tend to give what we want to receive, there may be a disconnect.
  • TRANSITION OUT OF MOM MODE. Have your partner put the kids to bed while you do something for yourself. Don’t do the dishes or pack lunches for tomorrow. Take a bath. Go for a walk. Do whatever helps you transition out of mom mode so that you can enjoy spending some time with your partner.
  • 52 min
  • Kon Mari Method a chat with my friend Lillia Flores

    The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.

    – Marie Kondo

    Three years and a few months ago, I was sitting on the beach trying to relax into a family vacation. It was one of those weeks that had snuck up on me, and I left behind what felt like 100 unfinished projects.


    A few days in, I opened the Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and literally read it from cover to cover while the rest of my family swam. We were not too far from home, and when my husband got out of the water, I looked him in the eye and said, “I have to go home.” With that, I packed my stuff and drove the 1.5 hours back to out house, leaving my computer and any work I would be tempted to tackle back at the vacation rental.


    Within 6 minutes of getting home, I emptied my closet and 2 drawers, got all clothes from bins in the basement, and all coats from the front hall closet. On my bed was the biggest heap of clothes I had ever seen. I started the process of holding each piece of clothing and feeling if it gave me joy — sounds crazy I know, but 7 hours later I had a pile I was keeping and many trash bags that I was ready to let go of.


    It is amazing how different tidying up is with your heart instead of with your head. I highly recommend reading the book, and now you can get inspired by Marie’s new Netflix series.


    There are still a few areas left to go in my house, but my closet has been in great shape for 3 years….


    “We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.” ― Marie Kondō,


    Today on the podcast I have my friend Lillia Flores on the show. We both went through decluttering phases at similar time, so I thought it would be fun to talk Marie Kondo with her.


    If you don’t know the basics of this method, you focus on a category of stuff at a time—clothes, books, papers, other stuff, with sentimental stuff last. You gather everything from that category and hold each piece and decide if it sparks joy.


    Here’s what we talk about:


    • Making the space to make decisions about letting go of things without others weighing in



    • Appreciating what you have and how it has served you – and letting it go if it doesn’t serve you or spark joy any more



    • How to break up the process to fit in your life – making blocks of time to go through a category of stuff



    • What you can learn about yourself by what you choose to keep



    • Creating a sacred space



    • Organizing in a way that makes sense to how you use things (and this doesn’t mean buying lots of new bins and boxes)—creating a flow to your home



    • The joy, peace, and calm that come with clearing out stuff



    • That this is a process to do again and again, that you may notice yourself start to cling to certain things and can find out what that’s about



    I’ve created a worksheet to help you declutter  >> Decluttering Worksheet


    LINKS


    • The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up



    • Spark Joy



    45 min
  • Kon Mari Method a chat with my friend Lillia Flores

    The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.

    – Marie Kondo

    Three years and a few months ago, I was sitting on the beach trying to relax into a family vacation. It was one of those weeks that had snuck up on me, and I left behind what felt like 100 unfinished projects.

    A few days in, I opened the Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and literally read it from cover to cover while the rest of my family swam. We were not too far from home, and when my husband got out of the water, I looked him in the eye and said, “I have to go home.” With that, I packed my stuff and drove the 1.5 hours back to out house, leaving my computer and any work I would be tempted to tackle back at the vacation rental.

    Within 6 minutes of getting home, I emptied my closet and 2 drawers, got all clothes from bins in the basement, and all coats from the front hall closet. On my bed was the biggest heap of clothes I had ever seen. I started the process of holding each piece of clothing and feeling if it gave me joy — sounds crazy I know, but 7 hours later I had a pile I was keeping and many trash bags that I was ready to let go of.

    It is amazing how different tidying up is with your heart instead of with your head. I highly recommend reading the book, and now you can get inspired by Marie’s new Netflix series.

    There are still a few areas left to go in my house, but my closet has been in great shape for 3 years….

    “We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.” ― Marie Kondō,

    Today on the podcast I have my friend Lillia Flores on the show. We both went through decluttering phases at similar time, so I thought it would be fun to talk Marie Kondo with her.

    If you don’t know the basics of this method, you focus on a category of stuff at a time—clothes, books, papers, other stuff, with sentimental stuff last. You gather everything from that category and hold each piece and decide if it sparks joy.

    Here’s what we talk about:

    • Making the space to make decisions about letting go of things without others weighing in
  • Appreciating what you have and how it has served you – and letting it go if it doesn’t serve you or spark joy any more
  • How to break up the process to fit in your life – making blocks of time to go through a category of stuff
  • What you can learn about yourself by what you choose to keep
  • Creating a sacred space
  • Organizing in a way that makes sense to how you use things (and this doesn’t mean buying lots of new bins and boxes)—creating a flow to your home
  • The joy, peace, and calm that come with clearing out stuff
  • That this is a process to do again and again, that you may notice yourself start to cling to certain things and can find out what that’s about
  • I’ve created a worksheet to help you declutter  >> Decluttering Worksheet

    LINKS

    • The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
  • Spark Joy
  • Tidying Up with Mari Kondo
  • The Decluttered Life with Deirdre Nesline
  • The Art of Feng Shui with Sara Nelson
  • Declare Dominion with Anna Kunnecke
  • Doable Changes from this episode: 

    • SET INTENTIONS & MAKE A PLAN. Use the worksheet to decide how you want to feel in your home and make a plan of some specific things you can do to get there. Some of that may be gathering information (the worksheet has specific ideas), but a lot of it will be blocking out time to do specific tasks.
  • START WITH YOUR CLOTHES. Pull all of your clothes together. Go through them one by one. Hold each one and appreciate it. Notice if it “sparks joy” for you, if you are drawn to it. Notice and follow your gut reaction, not your logical mind. Let go of the things that don’t spark joy, even if your practial side sees the use in them.
  •  

    • PICK A CATEGORY EACH WEEKEND. The Kon-Mari method breaks things down by category, not location. So pick a category and schedule a block of time to work through it each weekend. Try clothes, books, papers, cooking stuff (which may not all be in the kitchen), office supplies, craft supplies, sports equipment … leave the sentimental stuff for last. Pull all the stuff from your category together. Then work through it. If you feel like you can’t get through it all at once, block off time throughout the week to keep at it until that category is done.
    45 min
  • The Art of Feng Shui with Sara Nelson

    What do you own? Do you love it? Does it mean something to you? Are you using it?   – Sara Nelson

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Sara Nelson, a feng shui and reiki practitioner about how we can shift our energy with feng shui practices.


    Sara discovered reiki after having some health issues including numbness in parts of her body. Her doctors thought it was stress, but that didn’t feel right to her. She started have reiki sessions, which helped, and decided to learn Reiki herself. She now has a Reiki practice and teaches reiki as well. The energy work of reiki, paired with a long-time love of interior decorating and DIY projects, led her into feng shui.


    For those of you who don’t know about feng shui, it’s the energy of your space and the energy that you take up in your space as well. Sara explains, “By moving things around and clearing your space and then honoring your space by marrying it with elements ... you create a home that becomes a sanctuary that nurtures you and holds you and all of your life.”


    We talk about:


    • Feng shui in relation to decluttering and minimalism (they often go together, but aren’t the same). Feng shui is more noticing elements in your space and how to support each area of your home.



    • Asking four questions to help make decisions: What do you own and do you love it and does it mean something to you and are you using it?



    • Taking the first step of knowing what you have—going through your stuff and getting rid of things. Then organizing what’s left.



    • Starting with one room and really impact that space. Live with the change.



    • Using the GUAS—career and life purpose, helpful people and travel, love and relationships, health and wellness, abundance and wealth, children and creativity, fame and reputation, family and community, and wisdom and knowledge—to help arrange your space



    • Some tips for specific spaces in your house, including clearing stagnant energy—think cobwebs or a drawer of stuff you never use, creating balance in your bedroom, and where to put mirrors



    • Starting to clean up the common areas will eventuallyy impact your kids.




    BIO


    Sara Nelson is a Reiki Practitioner and is certified in Feng Shui. She invites you to join her in (re)discovering how your space and attention to self can bring you to a calm and happy place. She lives in Maine with her family and loves the beach, her garden, and hibernating in winter.


     


    LINKS


    • Sara’s website https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/



    • Sara’s story of feng shui in action https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/blog/what-are-you-lookin-at



    • The Decluttered Life with Deidre Nesline on the Plan Simple podcast



    Doable Changes from this episode:


    • CHANGE THE ENERGY IN ONE SPACE. Pick a drawer, a cabinet, or a closet with stale energy (i.e., stuff that you don’t use much). Go through that space. See what you have, what you use, whether it means something to you, and if you are using it. Move out things that don’t fit those criteria....
    1 hr 5 min
  • The Art of Feng Shui with Sara Nelson

    What do you own? Do you love it? Does it mean something to you? Are you using it?   – Sara Nelson

    On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Sara Nelson, a feng shui and reiki practitioner about how we can shift our energy with feng shui practices.

    Sara discovered reiki after having some health issues including numbness in parts of her body. Her doctors thought it was stress, but that didn’t feel right to her. She started have reiki sessions, which helped, and decided to learn Reiki herself. She now has a Reiki practice and teaches reiki as well. The energy work of reiki, paired with a long-time love of interior decorating and DIY projects, led her into feng shui.

    For those of you who don’t know about feng shui, it’s the energy of your space and the energy that you take up in your space as well. Sara explains, “By moving things around and clearing your space and then honoring your space by marrying it with elements ... you create a home that becomes a sanctuary that nurtures you and holds you and all of your life.”

    We talk about:

    • Feng shui in relation to decluttering and minimalism (they often go together, but aren’t the same). Feng shui is more noticing elements in your space and how to support each area of your home.
  • Asking four questions to help make decisions: What do you own and do you love it and does it mean something to you and are you using it?
  • Taking the first step of knowing what you have—going through your stuff and getting rid of things. Then organizing what’s left.
  • Starting with one room and really impact that space. Live with the change.
  • Using the GUAS—career and life purpose, helpful people and travel, love and relationships, health and wellness, abundance and wealth, children and creativity, fame and reputation, family and community, and wisdom and knowledge—to help arrange your space
  • Some tips for specific spaces in your house, including clearing stagnant energy—think cobwebs or a drawer of stuff you never use, creating balance in your bedroom, and where to put mirrors
  • Starting to clean up the common areas will eventuallyy impact your kids.
  • BIO

    Sara Nelson is a Reiki Practitioner and is certified in Feng Shui. She invites you to join her in (re)discovering how your space and attention to self can bring you to a calm and happy place. She lives in Maine with her family and loves the beach, her garden, and hibernating in winter.

     

    LINKS

    • Sara’s website https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/
  • Sara’s story of feng shui in action https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/blog/what-are-you-lookin-at
  • The Decluttered Life with Deidre Nesline on the Plan Simple podcast
  • Doable Changes from this episode:

    • CHANGE THE ENERGY IN ONE SPACE. Pick a drawer, a cabinet, or a closet with stale energy (i.e., stuff that you don’t use much). Go through that space. See what you have, what you use, whether it means something to you, and if you are using it. Move out things that don’t fit those criteria.
  • CHANGE UP YOUR BEDROOM. Sara gives lots of specific advice about setting up our bed rooms for good feng shui. Think about balance—nightstands that look balanced, pillows or anything else in even numbers. Choose photos or images that you love and are about you and your partner; remove pictures of kids or other people. Move your mirror out of your room. Have the door visible from your bed. If all of this seems like too much all at once, pick one or two of those things that feel doable.
  • LIGHT YOUR CANDLES. Lighting your candles invokes fire energy. Having a lot of unlit candles around isn’t good energy, so if you decorate with candles, light them and enjoy them.
  •  

    1 hr 5 min

About Plan Simple with Mia Moran

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Bestselling author and life coach Mia Moran serves up the Plan Simple Podcast for women who want to ditch overwhelm and wear all their hats with ease. Listen for inspirational interviews, informative…

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