I’ve always loved being creative and last week I had the chance to be part of an on-line art class within a membership site. When I added the event to my calendar I had no idea what the class would be creating even though I had an inkling it had to do with self-love.

How many times have you said the words, “I have to ________(fill in the blank)?” Believe me, I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve said that in my life. “I have to go grocery shopping” or “I have to go to work.” Imagine all the times you’ve said that in a day. Over the last few months, every time those words have left my mouth, I made an effort to exchange them from “I have to” to “I get to.” Doesn’t that have a lighter and happier feeling in your body?

I am a gal that loves symbolism and signs and often look for them. It could be birds, animals, repeating numbers on a clock such as 11:11 or 3:33. It could also be a word or picture on a billboard, license plate or even an image in a cloud. To me signs are a reminder loved ones are near or something is trying to get my attention.

Words can lift us up or tear us down. They can cause damage that lasts a lifetime or change the trajectory of our life for the better. Words can shape our beliefs, drive our behavior, and create our world whether they are true or not. Sometimes it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. Simply stated, words hold so much weight.

I’ve been dancing while cleaning the kitchen, folding clothes, making my bed, or dancing just to be dancing. I’ve been cranking up the music and then getting down with my bad self……LOL. In my mind I used to have some good moves and desire to get somewhere in the badass vicinity again…Haha. I’ve got mad goals!

A young sunflower faces east at dawn and greets the sun, then slowly turns toward the west as the sun moves across the sky. During the night, the sunflower makes its way back facing east to begin again the next morning. The sunshine helps the flower blossom and grow.

Do you ever catch yourself saying, “One of these days I’ll……?” Do have a written or mental list in your head of the crazy and sometimes wacky ideas you dream of checking off? One of my mentors calls it the Someday List. We all have them, the littles, mediums and bigs. If you are one of those people that say, “Someday I’ll get to ______”(fill in the blank), what’s stopping you?

This week one of my yoga classes was held at the instructor’s family horse farm. When Krissy, my friend and instructor had announced she’d be having a yoga class with the horses I wanted some of that. I had no idea what to expect but being a farm girl, I felt it would be special. I was right!

Try maintaining practices that keep you grounded and you’re able to come back into your heart space, when the ego wants to take you in another direction. Our heart space radiates our energy.

It’s hard to believe that more than half of the year is already in the rear view mirror. Have you taken time in the first half to create new practices, live new dreams, try new things, or even get rid of old patterns that don’t serve your best life? There’s still time this year to make things happen.

Over the last several years of practicing yoga, I’ve learned how to consciously breathe throughout the entire hour. It keeps me focused, calm and stress free … well except during the plank series … HA! Even though the instructor is constantly reminding the class to breathe, it’s becoming second nature for me. So why then don’t I apply these same breathing rules in my every day life?

Summer is just around the corner which also means so is my birthday. June is my birth month and this year I decided to celebrate all month long. What I mean by celebrate is doing something good for myself each day. For 30 days I’m committed to moving the needle forward on my spiritual journey.

I had a choice, I could remain standing on the bank of the river and watch those make it the other side, or I could take a leap of faith and trust in my ability to navigate the process, albeit rocky and a bit scary. The tour guide was standing in the water below me extending his hand; encouraging me to take a chance.

My friend, it’s time to discover what lights you up. What brings you joy and new meaning? Picture a future vision for yourself. I believe everyone was put on this earth with special gifts and talents that no one else can duplicate; making each of us, one-of-a-kind.

“A best friend is a person who you value above other friends in your life, someone you have fun with, someone you trust and someone in whom you confide.” Best friends see you at your worst and your best.

Have you ever thought about setting a goal for yourself and suddenly an hour later, you have several new goals you’d like to reach by tomorrow? Start small and don’t try to do them all at once.

The celebration was around what we dream for our own life. We are creating and writing our story every minute of every day whether we realize it or not. We wrote down how we wanted our life to look, including what we wanted, how we wanted to feel, our experiences, and relationships. A guide for us to use and live by.

The very first exercise, she lead was described as a character sketch. A personal journaling story while examining our own house. She continued to explain that the house represented our personality and our life. A character sketch of ourself from an observer’s perspective and getting to know ourselves in a more intimate way.