Spring-ing.

Are you Spring-ing: Getting ready for Spring, even though we had our SECOND snow fall in April this past weekend? I've learned that this is how it goes here in Chicago... a few flirtations with Spring, but I don't put away my heavy jacket and boots away just yet. Jason starts to plant and clear out our urban garden space, and I start looking for outdoor activities and festivals going on around the city and pull out my sandals for that first summer day. I am especially excited about stand-up paddle on summer full moon nights. It's the best!!

Along with these responses to the weather, I also get ready to celebrate my birthday in July. This year I am celebrating my 50th! I can't believe it because I feel like I have so much yet to do, but I'm "all in" with exciting projects, so I'm looking forward to celebrating this journey.

It's also time for Spring Cleaning. Marie Kondo gets people excited to consider what brings joy. I easily get joy from a lot of things and so it's not the best filter for me to clear out things. Instead, I ask: Is this me NOW? Does this pull me forward towards who I want to live into, my best self? And if it's an article of clothing or accessory that I truly an having a hard time parting with, I ask myself: If I were to run into Matt Damon (insert your favorite celebrity here), would I want to be seen wearing THIS? For me, that's the game changer!

Spring is also my wedding anniversary! So I make sure by this time of the year that we have some solid plans to celebrate us. Last year we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a 3.5 week Work/Live abroad experience in Europe. It was amazing. We stayed connected and worked on projects, and then we would take epic walks around gorgeous and charming cities that hold a lot of history, wisdom, and inspiration. This was taken in Heidelburg, Germany.

See you soon.

I am teaching a couple of classes in May at Shri Yoga Center in Highland Park. 
Saturday May 4 and May 11
9:45-11am
1725 McGovern Street
Highland Park  (just off Central Ave. across from Sunset Foods)
The schedule says "warm vinyasa flow" and I will do what I can to make sure it's on the cool side of warm! And I just heard from Marcia today and she said the heaters will be OFF, so come and flow with me.

Classes are $20 drop in, with options for packages.

You can always catch my class in the city every Sunday at Namaskar 9:30-11 am
3946 N. Southport, Chicago (at Irving Park)
If you get there before 9:15 and parking is tight, try a side street or wait until 9:20 when the class before starts to head out.

What's your purpose?

I've always been super interested in the idea of "life purpose" both in the form of the work that I do everyday as well as the universal concept of "vocation". I wrote my Masters Thesis on this concept in 1994, and then went on to work in Human Resources helping people to find a "good fit" between their life goals and the organization I worked for. I am committed to live into my purpose every day and to inspire people to live into theirs. 

Gallup (the people who do the highly reliable polls and surveys) just came out with a study that identifies "Purpose," and how it relates to our career and what we do with most of our waking hours, significantly affects our well-being. 

"Purpose" can feel like a big word, so let me break it down:

Your purpose is that idea or project that catapults you out of bed, it's your mojo, it's the swing in your hips, and it's the twinkle in your eye. It is the fuel that leads to inexplicable endurance and risk taking.

If you think you finding your purpose means a certain job, or that you have to change jobs, STOP!!  Your purpose doesn't have to be your job, although if you love what your do and feel purposeful your days will fly by. And if you can see your job as  funding your purpose, you will feel grateful for that job and see the "problems" in a whole new light. Discovering your purpose is also really different from career counseling

I would love help you explore and/or discover YOUR purpose! Both for my coaching practice but also for future content for illumine, I would love to explore using and facilitating processes that help people to find, own, and live into their purpose. Sign up for a FREE 20 minute coaching call with me. This will be available for a limited time only, so sign up soon. Or email for my list of favorite resources on this topic.

 

Live an illumined life

I've been working hard, almost all of my waking hours that I'm not teaching or coaching, on developing illumine, the wellness magazine and platform I created in 2013. Stay tuned for a re-launch and the 2019 illumine Life! Directory in print and digital.