What's working lately
Happy Sunday, Soothers. I'm in a busy season of creation! I have another Home Magic workshop coming up, Home Magic for Career Success. I'm building out the Sunday Soother membership and The Secret Soother, as mentioned in my last email.
(Waitlist for the membership is here; and here is a brief draft of the content I'm planning for the highest tier for 2023:
April: Nervous system education for HSPs
May: Money and abundance and changing your money story
June: Inner child healing & play
July: Journaling (and a 21-day journal challenge!)
August: Manifestation for HSPs/empaths
September: 21 day EFT Tapping challenge
October: Shadow work & embracing our dark side
November: Energetic protection for the holidays
December: Reflection and casting the vision for the year ahead)
Anyways. It's a lot of work right now! And so sometimes in a busy season, you just need an easy topic, a lighter topic, to write about for your weekly newsletter. So inspired by Nicole Antoinette's "What's working" emails (if you love the Soother, you'll love her work), here are some things that are making my life better, more delightful, easier, and all those good things lately.
I'd love to hear what's working for you, too, just hit reply to this email and share any tips you have!
What's working for me...
Meditation. FINALLY! FINALLY! Consistently! I have meditated almost every day in 2023 for 20 minutes, and often twice a day for 20 minutes! How?! I took this course with Emily Kessler, and I also, as I told one of my clients, simply let my meditations be "shitty and chaotic" over and over again. I stopped expecting my meditations to feel good. They are the literal definition of shitty and chaotic, my mind runs literally all over the place with insane thoughts. And when I notice that, I return to the mantra, and begin all over again. All that matters is I show up and do it.
The Glucose Goddess Instagram account has really, really helped me with energy management and tiredness. I use her "hacks" — apple cider vinegar in water before meals; a small salad or veggies before every meal; a savory, never a sweet or carb-y breakfast; and putting "clothes" on any carbs I do have. It really made me realize that a lot of my energy issues, weight issues, mood issues and PMS/PMDD issues seem to be related to insulin spikes and blood sugar. I haven't read her full book yet but that's next for me.
Continuing to learn about Feng Shui. This is a neverending delightful practice and study that feels like the closest I will ever get to learning literal actual magic and also has the beautiful result of helping me connect to my Chinese heritage. The rituals, the devotion to the sacred, the connection to universal energy... I'm about to start a certification program and I'm sure I will need beta clients for that, so you can bet I'll be reaching out here to see if anybody wants to work with me on this front! My favorite resources are Anjie Cho and Amanda Gibby Peters on Instagram (and they both have podcasts too).
Run-a-walks. I used to be a big ol runner, like I've run 3 marathons, countless halfs and 10 milers... and then I pretty much stopped at like, age 37. Six years later, I've spent this winter easing back in with half run/half walks. I run til I get tired, then I walk, then when I feel okay I start running again. Rinse and repeat for 3-5 miles most days. There's no grind, no pushing myself. It feels simple and easy and good.
My sleep supps. I take one magnesium capsule (this brand) at night, and a dropper of valerian root, one hour before bed. And my sleep has been great! (I think this is also due to the glucose hacks stuff I've been doing as well).
Content/cleaning batching. Mondays are for two things: Creating literally all my content for the week (this newsletter, my podcast, my Instagram posts) and then cleaning my house. I write and create like a fiend from like, 8am-1 or 2pm, then I spend a few hours sweeping, washing sheets, etc. It's glorious and feels like it sets me up so well for the week ahead.
Getting rid of all my struggling plants. Over half of my plants were really, let's say, thwarted in a recent freeze the house experienced while we were gone for Christmas. I have tried to tend them back to health but they were just not doing well. And even before that, the moving process kind of took it out of them (even though my mom housed them for months while we moved and sold my condo and they thrived under her care). I felt so guilty and bad and ashamed, shouldn't I have been able to do better by them?! — there's probably an entire Sunday Soother essay in this — but this past Sunday I spent an entire afternoon composting the ones that were just not making it, which was a majority of them. And it was a total relief. One, non-thriving plants are really bad Feng Shui, and two, it felt great to open space for new plants to come in this spring. And three, to just forgive myself for the fact they died, and that it happens, and it doesn't make me a bad plant mom or anything. Four, it was definitely also a lesson in just letting go, something I am HORRIBLE at doing.
Just actually enjoying what feels... joyful. I have a long history as a Very Serious Smart Person. I take things seriously, I study hard, I work harder, I scoffed at play and magic and joy and silliness and things that were "girly." And now I'm over that and into my play era, as I wrote about last week. I have a stuffed animal. I study magic. I talk to trees. I read only light-hearted, "silly" books. It really feels like my inner child is like, "I'm back, bitches" and it's been great for both of us. In the past I would have felt shame at this non-seriousness, that I "should" be working more, or consuming more "serious" books, or that I was so immature and silly, and should be bettering myself in very academic or intellectually-approved ways, and it's been like, oh, no, I'm going let a 9-year-old run the show... see y'all later cuz we're off to have a milkshake and play with crystals! And it's been great.
That's what's been working for me lately! And, you? I'd love to hear!