Hey everybody!!!! So happy to be back with you for another solo show – SO MUCH HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!!
When I work with clients, I always start the hour with a grounding meditation, because I think we should ALL be dropping into the present moment more often, and then I ask, “What are you celebrating?”
I love this question because it reminds my clients that there is always something to celebrate, something to look at as a gift. I know that sometimes if feels like a stretch, but when we challenge ourselves to find some gratitude, it shifts the energy, and opens up more possibilities.
I am going to start this show with my own celebrations:
First, I am celebrating all of the LOVE that the community has showered me with throughout this book launch – you people are AMAZING – thank you for the reviews you have written, the SM shout outs, the sweet comments you are sending my way. I do this work for all of us and I am so honored when you let me know that it makes a difference in your life!
Another celebration is that I am getting the opportunity to practice NOT TAKING THINGS PERSONALLY with my kids lately. Like, a lot. Wrapping up the school year, the upcoming move, and a few other life experiences have upped the level of stress at our house, and the kids are navigating it the best they can. I experience them being irritated, withdrawn, annoyed, not wanting to talk to me, like, AT ALL….. Often this type of behavior is very easy to translate into, “why are you TREATING ME LIKE THIS??” or, “It hurts y feelings when you shut me out” which is actually what I said out loud….
And guess what? They are doing the best they can with the tools they have. They are navigating their life right now and the behavior is simply an INDICATOR that they are in it.
It’s not about me. It’s not about me. It’s not about me….
Back to the celebration, I am in the fire of this! I am in the fire of this and THIS is my opportunity to walk my talk. THIS is when it matters that I CHOOSE to tell the story of “it’s not about me” – the goal is to NOT be in a co-dependent relationship with our children, right? So here it is. That chance to separate myself from my child’s experience/behavior and generate the emotions that I WANT to be feeling, regardless of what is happening for her.
Fiercely committed, yes, lovingly detached, always a work in progress.
Ok, are you ready for me to get on with it???
I want to do a follow up show to episode 187. To remind you, that was the show where I got super excited about the Law of Attraction, and specifically about the opportunity to tell a different story and generate a different experience.
I got a lot of curiosity about that show. And I love that, because I just find the who concept of the LOA so fascinating. What I enthusiastically shared about was how we can shift our interpretations of our current situation, and invite in something new and different.
Let me say, which I hope I said in Eps 187 – I am not a mental health expert, NOR am I a LOA expert. I am a gal who is super excited about my own experience with LOA and see that there is some overlap with the parenting journey.
First of all – let’s start with validating that life can be incredible challenging. Most, if not all of us have navigated hardship – this may be financial hardship, painful relationships, mental/physical health issues, painful loss. Some of us are experiencing these things right now. I want to acknowledge you. You may be in the hardest season of life right now. You may be hurting and really unable to see a future that could be any different than the one you are experiencing….
This is a really hard place to be. The last thing you want to hear is “just change your story and everything will be better” – it feels dismissive, as though the big things you are going through are trivial.
I get that.
AND, I am still standing for you. REGARDLESS of what is currently alive for you – and many of you share with me what you are navigating, you 100% have the power to shift the way you are experiencing it, what you believe about it.
And yes, rocks are hard and waters wet. The bills have to be paid. Your children need you. Your teenager is angry. You aren’t getting work. Your relationship sucks.
So here is my question to you – what do you want?
What do you want?
What do you want most?
Is what you want possible? Meaning, “I want to win the lottery” ok, what will that get you – financial freedom, ok….. so what you want is “financial freedom”- what might happen if you spend some time each day believing that things are in motion to bring financial freedom to you? Are you willing to try? What about creating a gratitude practice right now that includes the things that you currently have that you are grateful for – can you imagine the energy you woud be creating if this was a part of your daily experience? Might you spend more time in the mindset of things are ok? Of I have what I need? And might that shift your trajectory towards more opportunities and experiences? And if it doesn’t, how would it change your life to be in gratitude for what is right now?
“I want my kids needs to go away” or “I want my teenager to lose the anger” again, ok, what will that ultimately get you, a feeling of acceptance, ease, and connection? So maybe the request is “I want to feel acceptance, ease and connection” – and again, what might happen if you spent time each day FEELING those things? GENERATING acceptance, ease and connection for yourself, instead of needing it to come from the outside? What happens when we release our children from the job of making US feel a certain way? Might we show up better for them? Without this expectation and need form them to BE a certain way for us to experience good feelings? AND, you show up differently, so will they – we KNOW this! How many times have you had the experience of looking back at the end of the day and doing a face palm over all the times you made situations worse?? I know I am not alone.
Rocks are hard, water is wet – there are things we can’t change, that we can’t manifest away, but there is ALWAYS choice in how we show up to those things, and in that choice, we can be in the creation of something new. In the way we choose to talk about it, according to LOA, we are sending out signals and messages and vibrations that are being responded to in kind by the universe. http://www.thelawofattraction.com/use-law-attraction-combat-depression/
Again, I am not a mental health professional if you have something like depression going on, please seek the advice of a doctor. That being said, how can it hurt anyone to support them in changing the way they see/experience/talk about their life?
And also, again, there is NO BLAME HAPPENING HERE! None. Take what you want from what I shared and leave the rest behind. If you are resistant to what I shared, challenge yourself there. I do thing this is for everyone, available to everyone, and if you feel like this isn’t for you, I simply invite you to dig in there and do some exploring – and ask yourself, “but what if it was?”
You get to design your life, peeps!! And isn’t that so exciting???
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This book is all about how to show up as a Joyful Courage parent so that you have better access to the tools you need in hot parenting moments – tools that are helpful and maintain connection with your child.
THE BOOK IS READY FOR YOU TO BUY– Go to www.joyfulcourage.com/book
Thank you to everyone that has been so encouraging on this journey!!! I appreciate you!!!!
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Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Joyful Courage Podcast on Apple Podcast to get the latest shows STRAIGHT to your device!! AND PLEASE rate and review the Joyful Courage Parenting Podcast to help me spread the show to an ever-larger audience!!
CLICK HERE to watch a video that shows up how to subscribe with your iPhone!
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Today’s guest is Mother's Quest founder, Julie Neale. Julie honors both the meaning and the mess of life and parenthood and believes our children and youth challenge us to grow into our best selves. She is on a mission to live a truly epic life and through her example inspire her children to do the same her for purpose.
Her for-purpose venture Mother's Quest provides inspiration, coaching, and community so that mothers and those who work with young people can connect to support and resources, fulfill their unique purpose and live their epic lives. After a 20 year career as a leader in youth-serving nonprofit organizations, Julie turned her focus to coaching training at the Coaches Training Institute and facilitating a process known as Reflection for youth development professionals. Through this and her parenting experience, she realized that mothers and those who mother need an opportunity to reflect on their own growth, dreams, and plans, and created Mother's Quest to champion them with common care .
She masterfully taps into her own curiosity and intuition to help her clients slow down from the business of life and work, reflect on what matters, clarify a future vision and move into action. In the fall of 2017, she founded the Women Podcasters in Solidarity initiative to raise awareness and dollars for social justice issues through the power of podcasting. The first season focused on anti-racism and police accountability. We're going to talk more about that initiative on today's show. When she's not wrestling with her kindergartner or driving her team to basketball practice, you can find her squeezing in 10 minutes of yoga and meditation, believing something is better than nothing and staying up way too late to watch a double hitter of Handmaid's Tale and Super Soul Sunday. Join us!
"It's the discomfort, I think, is when we know we're really on to something.”
“It really starts with like one step, one conversation and everything flows from there if you stay committed to the process.”
“Just say, ‘I'm not going to forget that this matters.’”
“Perfection is really a tool of white supremacy.”
“Even if you start with just one conversation, one relationship that you build or that you extend yourself out to on a cause that matters to you, that is a really powerful place to start with incredible ripple effect possible.”
What you’ll hear in this episode:
What does Joyful Courage mean to you?
Well, do you know Sage Hobbs? She's another amazing woman podcaster. She has a podcast called Naked Conversations and she interviewed me and we talk about some of these issues as well. She started with, "what does it mean to be brave or what is courage?" and I think at the time I remembered saying "It's like, you know, standing, I don't know if it was standing but standing for what matters to you. And you might have fear but moving through it anyways from a place of love."
And what I'm appreciating about this question about joyful courage is, taking action and standing for the things that matter, even if you might be feeling afraid and you do it anyway from a place of love. Along the way you also find joy. There have been so many moments where I've been cheering, you know, I'm thinking about some women in my community who have been sharing the posts about the Circle of Mother's campaign. And every time I see one more mother reach out to her community, one at a time, donations of $20 or $30, I am filled with joy. There is a joyfulness about, you know, seeing again, the seeds of what you've been planting growing in the ways that you hoped.
Resources:
The Mask of Motherhood Ted Talk
Nicole Lee episode on Mother’s Quest podcast
So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oiuo
womenpodcastersinsolidarity.com
Ep 37: Generations Rising for Gun Safety with Gloria Pan
Ep 07: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten
Ep 54: Superheroes, Fighting Patriarchy, and Courageously Defeating Gun Violence with Ladd Everitt
Masterminds and Wingmen - Rosalind Wiseman
Ep 55: From Grief to Advocacy and a Circle of Mothers with Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton
Mothers Against Police Brutality
EP27: On Living an E.P.I.C. Life with Julie Neale
Ep 49: A Conversation About Courage with Sage Hobbs and Julie Neale
Where to find Julie:
Julie@mothersquest.com
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Joyful Courage: Calming the drama and taking control of your parenting journey
This book is all about how to show up as a Joyful Courage parent so that you have better access to the tools you need in hot parenting moments – tools that are helpful and maintain connection with your child.
THE BOOK IS READY FOR YOU TO BUY– Go to www.joyfulcourage.com/book
The best way to stay up to date on the book news is to join my newsletter list, if you haven’t already. Sign up at www.joyfulcourage.com/join
Thank you to everyone that has been so encouraging on this journey!!! I appreciate you!!!!
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Be a Subscriber
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Joyful Courage Podcast on Apple Podcast to get the latest shows STRAIGHT to your device!! AND PLEASE rate and review the Joyful Courage Parenting Podcast to help me spread the show to an ever-larger audience!!
CLICK HERE to watch a video that shows up how to subscribe with your iPhone!
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Heyyyyyy you!
So much excitement – we got out house, kids are on board, book is getting attention, work is good…. Having the experience of seeing all that is abundant in my life has got me to thinking about how I have in the past seen abundance in the lives of others and thought “that will never be me” “I can’t do that” blah blah blah – and I’ve realized that in changing the story, I have changed what has unfolded in my life….. Its amazing.
Our story keeps us where we are
Listening to a lot of law of attraction – familiar?
IF not, let me read what it is from the lawofattraction.com - Simply put, the Law of Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on. It is believed that regardless of age, nationality or religious belief, we are all susceptible to the laws which govern the Universe, including the Law of Attraction. It is the Law of Attraction which uses the power of the mind to translate whatever is in our thoughts and materialize them into reality. In basic terms, all thoughts turn into things eventually. If you focus on negative doom and gloom you will remain under that cloud. If you focus on positive thoughts and have goals that you aim to achieve you will find a way to achieve them with massive action.
We live our stories, we tell the stories we live, we live the story, we tell the story…. Sometimes that can keep us stuck. It isn’t the “stuck” that is bad, it is whether or not we WANT to be stuck where we are that we get to be aware of….
For example – When the life you are experiencing feels really hard and you see your kids as out of control…. And you talk about it with your partner and maybe your friends, and then you experience more of it, and you share with your mom or your therapist, and then there it is again, the hard, the heavy, someone asks you how you are, you give a big sigh and you respond with “I’m ok, things are hard” and the cycle continues to spin over and over and over.
Where is there space for something new? Where is there room to BELIEVE that there is another possibility?? That is where you are. You are resigned. Done and done.
A contrasting picture is one where things are going really well…. Kids are thriving, relationship is good, business is booming, there are so many possibilities opening up for you, and you talk about it with your partner and maybe your friends, and then you experience more of it, and you share with your mom or your therapist, and then there it is again, the trust, the excitement, someone asks you how you are, you give a big smile and you respond with “I’m amazing, things are so good” and the cycle continues to spin over and over and over.
This space feels expansive, it feels like there is an expectancy of more goodness, you believe in possibility, you are open and hopeful.
We get to stay in our lane.
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Joyful Courage: Calming the drama and taking control of your parenting journey
This book is all about how to show up as a Joyful Courage parent so that you have better access to the tools you need in hot parenting moments – tools that are helpful and maintain connection with your child.
Presale is OPEN– as many of you as possible buying presale would be FABULOUS. Go to www.joyfulcourage.com/book
Official launch date is May 20th – OMG – so so exciting!!!
The best way to stay up to date on the book news is to join my newsletter list, if you haven’t already. Sign up at www.joyfulcourage.com/join
Thank you to everyone that has been so encouraging on this journey!!! I appreciate you and we are ALMOST THERE!!!!
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Authentic Parenting Conference
Anna Seewald, host of the Authentic Parenting Podcast, and parent coach, has put together a steller day of learning and growing together in New Brunswick, NJ. I am so excited about it that I decided that I WANTED TO GO TOO!!
I am going to be there, Dr. Laura Markham will be delivering a keynote (ah-maze-ing), and the whole thing just looks like super soul care on fire.
If you are interested, click here https://authenticparenting.com/conference and use the discount code JOYFUL25 for $25 off the registration fee!!
Come play with me!!
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Be a Subscriber
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Joyful Courage Podcast on Apple Podcast to get the latest shows STRAIGHT to your device!! AND PLEASE rate and review the Joyful Courage Parenting Podcast to help me spread the show to an ever-larger audience!!
CLICK HERE to watch a video that shows up how to subscribe with your iPhone!
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My guest today is Anna Seewald. Anna is a Parent Educator, Keynote Speaker, Author and Host of The Authentic Parenting Podcast. With background in psychology and education, having worked with children for 18 years, today she helps conscious moms and dads to become calm and connected to themselves and their children through trauma-informed education. She believes in helping children by helping parents. She has a private practice that specializes in parent education, where she provides one-on-one parent coaching, parenting, court ordered, and co-parenting classes. www.authenticparenting.com
"Emotional regulation is the ability to regulate our own emotions and choose actions that are appropriate in that situation.”
“We can teach those skills to our children today so that they can have a better life.”
“In order to teach self-regulation or regulation skills to our children, first and foremost, we need to learn those same skills ourselves.”
“There is no misbehavior. There is only behavior.”
“There's nothing wrong with your child. There's nothing wrong with you. This is just simple biology.”
“Our compassion level has to match the intensity of the emotion that child is feeling.”
What you’ll hear in this episode:
What does Joyful Courage mean to you?
When I hear these two words together, I sort of have this feeling of a child-like wonderous, courageous, right, children have this courage, they're present and they know. They're not diluted with all the societal stuff. So this pure courage that is also joyful, this child-like courage. That's how I have a sense about those two words together.
Resources:
Casey’s Episode on Authentic Parenting
Anna’s upcoming conference - Joyful25 to get $25 off your ticket
Where to find Anna:
Authentic Parenting Community on Facebook
:::::
Joyful Courage: Calming the drama and taking control of your parenting journey
This book is all about how to show up as a Joyful Courage parent so that you have better access to the tools you need in hot parenting moments – tools that are helpful and maintain connection with your child.
Presale is OPEN– as many of you as possible buying presale would be FABULOUS. Go to www.joyfulcourage.com/book
Official launch date is May 20th – OMG – so so exciting!!!
The best way to stay up to date on the book news is to join my newsletter list, if you haven’t already. Sign up at www.joyfulcourage.com/join
Thank you to everyone that has been so encouraging on this journey!!! I appreciate you and we are ALMOST THERE!!!!
::::
Authentic Parenting Conference
Anna Seewald, host of the Authentic Parenting Podcast, and parent coach, has put together a steller day of learning and growing together in New Brunswick, NJ. I am so excited about it that I decided that I WANTED TO GO TOO!!
I am going to be there, Dr. Laura Markham will be delivering a keynote (ah-maze-ing), and the whole thing just looks like super soul care on fire.
If you are interested, click here https://authenticparenting.com/conference and use the discount code JOYFUL25 for $25 off the registration fee!!
Come play with me!!
:::::
Be a Subscriber
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to the Joyful Courage Podcast on Apple Podcast to get the latest shows STRAIGHT to your device!! AND PLEASE rate and review the Joyful Courage Parenting Podcast to help me spread the show to an ever-larger audience!!
CLICK HERE to watch a video that shows up how to subscribe with your iPhone!