Summer Surthrival Guide, Big Changes, + Love

First, an invitation: can we take a big slow breath together, right now?

Ready?

Long, slow deep inhalation through the nose….

Pausing for a moment at the top…

Open your mouth and slowly release… 

One more. Unclench your butt. 

Long, slow deep inhalation through the nose….

Pausing for a moment at the top…

Open your mouth and slowly release as you relax your face and shoulders… 

Wonderful!

Now then my friend, a splendid summer day to you! This blog contains several headlines to catch you up on the big changes in my life, then to deliver some helpful tidbits for thriving this summer. 

Let’s dive in.

Big Changes Afoot

The New Home: 

I write you today from the lush sun-filled gardens at my folk’s house up in Washington state, where Ben and I have officially relocated! We will joyfully move into our new home on Vashon Island on July 28th, and until then we are staying at my childhood home overlooking the Salish Sea. 

It’s a delight and a relief to be here after what feels like a very long time of planning, dreaming, visioning, packing, reassessing, and then finally hauling all our belongings 1,100 miles north. We already miss our beloveds in Santa Barbara; rest assured we are planning a trip back in the fall to lead some singing and ritualized circling. Stay tuned, California friends!

We are also very excited to host you in our new home up north, and are plotting a variety of invitations to coax you up to our neck of the woods (literally) for some seriously verdant R&R, some music medicine, and some soul replenishment. Again, stay tuned!

The New Website:

With incredible synchronicity… I have a brand spankin’ new website coming! I swear I didn't plan it this way, but it just so happens that as we are getting a new physical home, I am also getting a new digital home. I am working with the incredibly wise Christina Paul of Zeoni Creations, who is helping me uplevel my branding and online home in a way that reflects my most soul-aligned work. I cannot wait for the big reveal! I should be unveiling it in early August, just in time for my birthday :) A rebirth on many levels!

A Note on Self-Care: One more thing to note here… June was so incredibly full of travel and then packing and then moving, and it has taken me a full week here of feeling depleted and exhausted. What has helped the process is to simply surrender, to let the exhaustion have me, to not fight it but give in.

When I feel my body start to tug on me (as if to say, you’d better slow down or I’ll slow you down, honey) my go-tos are early bedtimes, sleeping in, eating good healthy food, drinking lots of water, taking walks and swims, a bit of yoga and spending as many hours as needed horizontal. 

This feels like a good lead-in to Part Two of this loveletter, where I’d like to share some specific tips, tricks and resources that are helping me thrive even in the midst of a huge life transition.

Summer Surthrival Guide

From my heart to yours, beloved Friend, here’s a few nuggets of wellness wisdom and food for thought to keep you feeling vital, alive, awake and at peace all summer long.

🌟 Beverage: London Fog

I go in and out of caffeine. What I find is that coffee gives me a headache and an energy crash if I have it too many days consecutively. A London Fog is my current favorite beverage that provides a little caffeine kick without being too strong. You can make the tea as strong (or weak) as you like, or even purchase caff-free Earl Grey, to get the same delicious experience without the caffeine.

To make your London Fog:  

Brew a cup of Earl Grey tea. When you’ve steeped it to your liking, remove the tea bag and add a bit of sweetener (I like Monkfruit, no aftertaste and low glycemic index) and a dash of vanilla extract. If you’ve got a milk frother (see below), froth some milk or milk alternative with a bit more vanilla extract. Pour on top of your cup of tea and savor each delicious sip!

🌟 Appliance: Milk Frother

Seriously friend, if you don’t have one of these, it is well worth your dollars. Our quality of life has gone way up since getting our frother, which you can make either hot or cold. Make any beverage feel super fancy and café-quality, without spending money or leaving your home. This one or this one are both great— I recommend a metal one over plastic, and of course you can search locally if you prefer to avoid ordering from Amazon. 

🌟 Body: Edible Aloe Vera

Last winter, I took a journey to correct an imbalance in my gut microbiome, and got a recommendation from my coach along the way of drinking aloe vera gel daily. It has become a non-negotiable addition to my morning tonic! You’ve probably tried aloe as a topical body treatment (also handy for summertime), and drinking it internally has many incredible benefits, including reducing intestinal inflammation & supporting health elimination. I mostly use Lily of the Valley whole fillet gel, though the juice is also delicious. Get it at your local health food store or order it from Thrive Market or another online supplement supplier. 

🌟 Book: The Checklist Book by Alex Franzen

You may know that I’ve been slowly stepping away from ambition-driven systems in my life and in my work. That may sound vague, but it includes some pretty basic aspects of functioning for me, such as goal-setting and goal-oriented work flows. While it feels good to be settling into a different, more yin way of being, the conundrum then becomes: how do I keep track of all the stuff I need to accomplish today if I’m not “setting goals”? Voila, enter the delightful and brilliant Alex Franzen. This is a great book that reintroduces the old-fashioned clipboard-and-pencil checklist, with some modern twists. Highly recommend it! (Also, check out her website and subscribe to her list, her courses are world famous and invaluable, including the widely acclaimed “Marketing without Social Media” course). 

🌟 Consciousness: 20-minute meditations 

You may have heard me raving about the Waking Up app. If not, click here to get a free month on me to check it out. Sam Harris has put together a beautiful, fluid system that I find more streamlined and easier to use than any other meditation app I’ve tried. Recently, a pop-up in the app asked me if I’d like to set my default daily meditation to 20 minutes instead of 10. Genius. If left to my own devices, it's hard to consciously choose to sit for 20 minutes instead of 10 (cause, you know, all the things on my checklist!). But changing my default means I don’t think about it, it simply happens. Genius. This feels like a great challenge for me, and I’m up for it! Care to join me?

Lastly, this...

I Love You

You are doing great. Even when it’s hard. 

Even on your worst day, you belong.

You’re incredible… a miracle, in fact!

And on those days where you doubt yourself, your abilities, your capacity to hang in there…

You’ve got this! 

You are on your path, walking with grace.

One (baby) step at a time. 

You’ve got this.

And I love you.

May the summer sun kiss you sweetly on the brow for me today,