Awaken Your Vision

I recently spent a fabulous evening with my dear friend Amanda cooking, chatting, creating, sipping red wine; and there may have been some rapping to old-school classics too… The main event of our time together, the creating part, was working on vision boards. Both of us are arts and craft lovers, and we both are presently feeling a calling for creation and intention setting for our lives.

Amanda is an old friend from college, who I am so lucky to have reconnected within the past few years. She is also passionate about health and wellness as a Health Educator here on the seacoast and she played a role in the inspiration/courage for this blog, as she recently started a fun and informative health education and wellness podcast called ‘Whatever the Health'. Check it out

This wasn't our first time creating vision boards, both of us have crafted them previously and part of our chatting was about how we have seen our former selves visions come to fruition. So with a whole new set of intentions, dreams, desires, ambitions, goals etc. out came the arts and crafts supplies, the creative juices started flowing and the chatting, hehe. It was fun and functional, a time to be together as friends (there was lots of laughter), and at the same time further develop our intentions for our personal and professional selves.

Here is a picture of our vision boards, mine on the left, and Amanda's in the top right. You should know we are also quite passionate about cooking. However, little did I know, Amanda is immensely passionate about pizza and is a profoundly skilled pizza Artisan. Both pizzas are on a GF crust due to our respective sensitivities. The one on the left is a shitake mushroom, caramelized onion and goat cheese with a balsamic reduction. The pizza to the right a spinach, vegan cheese, red sauce with truffle oil. Not depicted, we also shared a warm kale and spinach salad with apples, carrots and a mixture of roasted seeds. It was all delicious!

I think it is especially important for Moms to cultivate a vision for themselves. We all know how out of balance things can get with meeting the needs of your child(ren) and your family as a whole. Pile on work responsibilities, what’s a girl to do??? You can easily lose yourself to all the demands but you need to take care of yourself and still have goals for yourself. Just because you become a mom, it does not mean your aspirations have to go up on a shelf.

One of the most inspiring mothers in my life is my sister, a mother of four children between the ages of 8 and 2. Needless to say, she is quite busy, but she keeps a balance between taking care of the kids and herself, and also still has goals for herself. I have always admired the way that she makes time for herself. My sister is a talented writer, she studied theatre in college and prior to having children she wrote and directed a play that was produced off-off-Broadway. I was blown away by her this past summer, because despite the demands of her life now; she wrote, directed, and produced her second play. I mention this because I think it is a great example of a mother still honoring her talents and dreams. She very easily could have told herself this had to wait, it's not the right time, blah blah blah. Most recently she decided "it was worth it, so she worked it, and put her game down flipped it and reversed it" in her adult hip-hop dance recital. All four kids attended to cheer her on; what a great example to set for the kids (well minus the explicit language of that song). To me, this says "mom takes care of you and herself”.

Despite having the intention of maintaining a balance for myself upon becoming a mother, for the first year or so I was completely out of whack. Once Leif turned one, I decided it was time to do something for just me, so I completed my 200hr yoga teacher training (a goal from my previous vision board). This was the match that reignited my fire. I worked even harder this past year to make myself more of a priority and I can feel myself coming back into balance. It requires, asking for support, letting go of guilt, and a bit of planning but the benefits are beyond worth it. I am now in the process of redefining the vision I have for my life, and I am thinking BIG!!!

I am looking at my old board right now as I write, it’s on the wall above the computer.

My old vision board confirms to me what is possible when you set intentions for yourself because there are many things that have come true since I created it five or so years ago. I am excited to see my new vision come to life, no matter how long it takes!

Creating a vision is a big part of the support I offer as a Wellness Coach, it is the foundation for coaching really because it helps you get clear about your intentions (or goals). Or to put it more boldly, it gives you a chance to express with no limitations the way you want to live your life. Developing a vision statement is the typical approach to coaching.

This is my vision statement (notice it is written in the present tense to strengthen the intentions).

I live my life with an open heart and my life is filled with love. I love and accept myself for all that I am and all that I am not. I rise above my fears for I know am stronger than they are. When I face challenges I see them as opportunities for growth. I live in the present moment. I practice yoga and meditate daily. I engage in activities that I enjoy regularly. I rest well and I have vibrant energy. I am healthy and strong. I live every day with gratitude. I nourish myself to support my body and mind so that it functions at its best. I grow my own food and work to live in a way that is respectful of the earth and sustainable. I enjoy time spent with my family, we seek new adventures together and travel as much as possible. I am of service to others in my community. I have a thriving business, that serves my passion and purpose, and supports others in living happily and healthily.

The vision board allows you to take this one step further, in the sense that by creating a visual representation of what you want for your life, you have a tangible reminder of what you are working towards and you can see it every day. A vision board is especially helpful when you encounter challenges or are feeling unmotivated and need to be re-inspired.

I really believe that what we create has the power to generate. I suggest you take time and create space for your heart to speak, and then listen for its desires to be revealed. Spend time envisioning yourself doing things that bring you greater joy, notice who you are doing them with, and where you are doing them.

So I ask YOU now.

What would you like to see happen in your life?

What gives you a sense of purpose and passion?

How do you want to spend your time?

What brings you joy?

What is your heart calling for?

The first step is being clear on what you want, from there you can develop a plan of action, but first just spend time developing YOUR VISION of the best life you can imagine, you deserve it! So now maybe you want to craft a vision statement of your own, or if you are feeling the creative spirit make your own vision board, and if you do I would love to hear all about it.

Namaste,

Rose

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