Let's Infect the World...with Love

Yesterday, sitting arm to arm with my husband in the sanctuary of our church, I found myself wiping away tears every few minutes. My heart was swollen--it physically ached. At the end of the service while singing Angels We Have Heard on High, I could barely look at the group of young boys and girls gathered at the front of the room without sobbing.

I realized that this was the first time I had allowed myself to truly feel the depth of emotion Friday's shooting in Newtown, CT had stirred within me.

"Can you imagine how much pain this poor boy must have been in to feel his only course was to act out in this way?" our spiritual director Tim said during our service on Sunday. "The world is not a bad place, but it is sick. And it needs healing."

While violence like this seems so ugly and unimaginable it leaves most of us paralyzed, feeling helpless and hopeless about how we can help-- what I know in every cell of my being is that when one of us chooses love over fear we infect our entire collective "body." When one of us prays or holds the vision for larger healing--we are all affected (read more from medical pioneer Dr. Larry Dossey's research on the power of prayer).

So what can we do in these coming days and weeks--besides praying and lighting candles--to soothe our country's torn heart and to nurture our collective soul? We can remember that we're more interconnected than we could ever imagine and that when one of us puts loving kindness and compassion at the forefront of our lives, we all benefit.

December Challenge: Want to "do something" to infect the world with more love and compassion and send healing to your brothers and sisters in CT? Get off your butt and see who in your community needs your help. Call your local United Way or ask your friends/co-workers who needs help in your community. Or, just pause and look around you. Take the time and effort to reach out to a friend, colleague or neighbor who is struggling and could use some emotional support (read more). I have been so busy preparing to launch my new book, I had cancelled our annual volunteer trip to serve the homeless Christmas dinner through the wonderful Mobile Loaves & Fishes. But this morning, I changed our RSVP from "too busy, I'm sending a check," to "we'll be there with pies in hand and are available all evening." 
  
I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event this spring or hire Renee to create one for your group
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• Subscribe to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo: Serving the homeless and healing the world bit by bit.

I Choose Love ... Again

I vividly remember an afternoon fourteen years ago when I was living in an apartment in central Austin with my husband-to-be, curled up in front of the fireplace reading my dad's old, weathered copy of Return to Love by author/teacher Marianne Williamson. 

The book’s core message--that every moment and every day we're presented with two choices: to come from love or fear--landed in my body like an anchor of truth.

Marianne says that every thought, word and action is either motivated by love--which allows us to trust in the flow of life, connect with others and expect good to come to us--or fear, which causes us to doubt, constrict and cut ourselves off from others, made so much sense. 

I choose love.

I choose to relax into the flow of life. I choose to be open and receptive to those I come in contact with. I choose to trust that “things are working out for my highest and best” and that the days and months ahead will be filled with many good things to come. I choose to always feel as if there is more than enough for everyone all the time. I choose to remember that the more I love, accept and am kind to  myself, the more I am able to love and have compassion for those around me. And I choose to have an open, accessible heart.

I attended a dinner party and and each of were asked to bring and share a favorite love poem. I considered bringing a favorite passage from Mary Oliver, Hafiz, Rumi, David Whyte and others, but I kept getting pulled back to the following famous passage from Marianne Williamson.

My dad--who would have been 72 last Wednesday-- gave this poem to me right before he died from a heart attack in 1996. I think his final words of wisdom were intended to gestate and reverberate within me, before they rippled out into the world. As I grow, evolve and age, I find the more I own my power, let my light shine and let others see me live "full out,"---the more others feel comfortable doing the same. Thank you dad for this and the many gifts you gave me.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most
frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure about you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.

Marianne Williamson, author, Return to Love

INVITE: Want to learn more about the powerful I Choose Love message? Read on. And if you're Interested in receiving support for owning your power and choosing love over fear, join me Oct. 19-21 for our New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga and Wellness.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event this fall or spring
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: This daily reminder to choose love over fear is taped to the front of my fridge.  At left: Global l I Choose Love PSA: learn more.

Sippy Cups for Everyone!!

I’m moving across the floor in Nia class and finding myself becoming more and more annoyed with the woman dancing in front of me.

The room is packed—it’s a farewell class for one of our dear members who’s moving out of state—yet the woman I’m watching seems oblivious to this. Twirling, spinning and flailing –she’s claiming space enough for three!  And as I wonder for a moment how I could remedy the situation and consider moving to the back of the room, I feel a smile creep across my face and I suddenly see this sweet pony-tailed middle aged woman as a fanciful, quirky two-year old girl. (We’ve all seen these toddlers—they’re on their own planet, spinning through outer space and dancing to a theme song only they could have written.)

As I experienced this shift and my irritation turned to compassion and even delight as I backed up to give her more space, I thought, “Wow, what if we could view all our fellow tribesmen as toddlers?” 

The naysayer in the staff meeting who finds fault with every idea—becomes the analytical three year-old who no doubt, could take apart a toaster and put it back together. The conversation hog who loves to be the center of attention is transformed into the princess in training pants who precociously commands her minions to do her bidding with a sweep of her pink, glitter-covered wand. The electronically-distracted husband who seems to be ignoring your requests for help in the kitchen is suddenly a small preschooler, legs splayed across the floor, head bowed and face buried in Where the Wild Things Are …and my adolescent son when he’s rounding out a solid hour of “push back” because I won’t let him play Minecraft, is magically transformed into a beaming curator of Cheerios and miniature yellow school buses.

I left class an hour later with a huge smile on my face. And gratitude for this shift in perspective. What would the world be like if we could all challenge our own thinking? Is it possible that just by seeing things differently we can embrace a new way of being (read more) and how we relate not only to situations … but to each other?

When I shared this story with my husband, he asked, “What were you thinking right before you had this shift?” I don’t remember. But, I do know that more and more, my desire to feel good, to feel peaceful—and to feel a sense of well-being—is growing stronger each day. And I’m observing that the desire to feel good, more often than not---trumps the pull to feel bad.

Let’s play! (Lord knows I need a shift in perspective! My child care for the week just flew out the door—along with my summer intention--and I’m staring down the barrel at a week of deadlines, book re-writes, interviews and events prep!) For the next  seven days, every time I find myself getting irritated or frustrated at someone, I’m going to open my heart and mind and picture them with a red sippy cup in one hand, peanut butter smeared across their cheeks and small, chubby legs .

Will you join me? Let’s just see what’s possible when we challenge our own thinking and assumptions about one another. Who knows what might happen!

P.S. Interested in exploring how you could cultivate a shift in perspective towards self and others? There's still room in my June 22-24 New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat if you want to join us at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga & Wellness in Massachusetts! We'd love to have you continue this conversation with us in our upcoming women's circle.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my June 8th Small Business Visioning Retreat and my June 22-24 Kripalu retreat; check out all upcoming events
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: My exhuberant preschooler, several years ago, after he made it to the top of Enchanted Rock--ready to take on the world.

Do You Need to Reset?

In the mid-seventies--as part of a radical move to simplify their lives--my parents hauled my four brothers and I from bustling San Antonio, TX to a remote area of Northern California. We lived in the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains near the Donner Pass. I rode our horses Bobbie and Pattie bareback, hiked over rocks and climbed trees barefoot, spent hours lounging in the sunny fields on my stomach writing poetry, daydreaming and enjoying the strong, clean smell of the Ponderosa pines.

But what I remember most from that period of my life was my relationship to time. It felt expansive, luxurious and endless. My brother and I would disappear into the forests for hours with nary a watch in site. No one called for us and no one bothered us. We had space to be, to explore and to follow our whims, wherever they took us. (At the time we attended a Waldorf school, so lucky us-no homework!)

This weekend, after a month of non-stop weekend activity, my family finally enjoyed a quiet, restful two-day respite. (I had to actually "plan" and fiercely guard this unscheduled weekend to make it happen; our only "have to" was an hour-long soccer game on Saturday.)

The break illuminated for me how essential it is for all of us to have expanses of time to do nothing. To do less so we can experience more (the title of one of the chapters in my new book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Experience Peace in Everyday Life-New World Library 2013).

It seems crazy that we would have to fight off invitations, obligations, family and friend requests and distractions in order to "claim" this downtime for our family-- which we so desperately needed in order to "reset." To recalibrate. To pull back and remember what matters most.

Shouldn't it be a given that we have time to rest? Isn't this the most important thing we should be doing during our weekends, anyway (my yoga teacher says our job is to "do nothing--and then rest")?

I have a cellular memory for how it felt as an eleven year-old to languish outdoors with my brothers in nature during our California sojourn. Now the question is how do I gift that same feeling to my son and reclaim it for myself?

Invitation: One of the biggest "resets" for me is to attend a beautiful guided retreat with someone who is masterful at creating an experience that offers group time, nature time AND solo time. I'd love to have you join me April 27-29 at Esalen in Big Sur, CA or June 22-24 at Kripalu in the MA Berkshire mountains. The retreats are almost full; learn more here.

P.S. In honor of Mother's Day, we're giving away a Yummy Mummy Year of Self-Care package, which includes an all expenses paid trip to my Kripalu retreat (a $2500 value). Learn more.


I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:  

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my April 27-29  Esalen and June 22-24 Kripalu retreats and check out all upcoming events
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more.

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur ReneeTrudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out. 
 
Photo: One of the places I reset or recalibrate is Barton Springs in Austin. This photo was taken last summer; I can't wait for my annual baptism-into-summer dive this May!

Curiosity

Last month my husband and I had a session with a parenting coach. My almost ten-year old has hit adolescence and it's taken us by surprise (we thought we had a few more years before he started asking for the car keys!).

She shared that the number one thing we can do to support our son through this transition and make our lives easier, is to cultivate a continual state of curiosity (particularly around his changing behavior).

I've been playing with this concept all month and after getting triggered this weekend around an old childhood wound, I'm thinking of adopting curiosity as my word of the year!

Curiosity. What if...? Why ...? Why not...? What's possible ...? What's working...? What's not ...? What's next....? I wonder what would happen if ....?

For the last thirteen years, I've been writing, speaking, coaching, training and teaching around themes related to life balance. I'm fascinated with how we enhance our emotional/spiritual well-being on a daily basis, what throws us into disequilibrium and what are the "paths to peace" that bring us back to center most quickly?

I heard a friend say the other day that her favorite phrase whenever her life gets bumpy, is "I wonder what will happen next?" And she says this with absolute joy, delight and true wonder!

I wonder what will happen next ...? I like that. I also appreciate that the state of curiosity invites expansiveness (much like we explore in the I CHOOSE LOVE movement--see below), openness and even a dash of "Anything is possible!"

It will be fun to observe how curious I can be this week around what's currently going on in my life and what is yet to emerge this week and this month. I'll keep you posted how things unfold.

Join us and CHOOSE LOVE in 2012: The I Choose Love public service campaign is a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more and order a tshirt (at cost).

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my April 13th Empowered Entrepreneur Retreat and my April Esalen and June Kripalu retreats
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out. 

Photo: Chaco Canyon, New Mexico at sunset on the evening of a full moon. For days we asked "Why and what if?" after visiting these lost Anasazi ruins which were suddenly vacated in 700 A.D. Highly recommend making the long haul out to this incredible ancient site (even better if you can visit on a full moon).

A New Way of Being

(This morning I found this scribbled on the back of a page in my journal. It's from the first  week of my summer writing sabbatical. June 22, 2011. You can read more about my summer here.)

The deepest part of me desires to WAKE UP and evolve into a New Way of Being!!

I am done with "Just two more phone calls, ten more emails, if can just ..."  I'm done with having my worth tied to my productivity ... to serving ... to success. Done, done, "stick a fork in me" done!

I desire to live EVERY DAY more pleasure-full, play-full and present. 

I am a spirit, not a robot. I am a woman, not a manager. I am a creative, sensual amazing soul that wants to live a fully AWAKENED life. All the time, not just when I happen to be inspired to do so. 

I release, I let go. I'm ready. Bring it on.

Want to join me? What better way to embrace a New Way of Being than to teach it? Read 7 Ways to Embrace a New Way of Being and join me and like-minded men/women for my 4-week New Way of Being Telecourse for all of us who are done with overwork and overwhelm. I’m so excited about this revolutionary new approach that was born from my summer writing sabbatical and I can’t wait to support you in creating the life you desire from the inside-out! Learn more.

P.S. Have you heard about the I CHOOSE LOVE public service campaign? It's a reminder to ourselves and our brothers and sisters that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more about how you can embrace this message in your daily life through being more mindful, sharing stories, ordering a tshirt (at cost) and more.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Self- Renewal Groups
• Attend a retreat/event
• Join the Dialogue on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly.

Choosing Love Over Fear

There are only ever two choices: love or fear. Which path will you take?

My writing sabbatical this past July/August was incredible. Incredibly intense that is. I told a friend the other day it was like 30 years of therapy in two months. I went far and deep and visited places I've never been before!

At the end the summer, I spent a divine day and night alone at a beautiful cabin, located on 20 acres about 20 minutes from downtown Austin (the cabin was specially created for personal retreats).

The message I kept hearing on my solo date (on the heels of a conversation with my publisher about how fearful many Americans are right now due to the election, economy, and natural disasters) was the reminder that we always have a choice in how we interact with one another and see the world.

We can come from fear (where we constrict, contract, shut down and cut ourselves off from others) or we can come from love (where we expand, open, connect and trust). Our daily interactions are a reflection of where we choose to hang out and live: the house of fear or the house of love.

So this fall we're introducing an I CHOOSE LOVE public service campaign as a reminder to ourselves and our brothers and sisters that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love.

Learn more about how you can embrace this message in your daily life through being more mindful, sharing stories, ordering a tshirt (at cost) and more.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

>Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Self- Renewal Groups
>Attend a retreat/event; join me Oct. 14-16 at Kripalu in the amazing cool Berkshire mountains for our Women's Self-Renewal Retreat.
>Join the Dialogue on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
>Pick up The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
>Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
>Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
>Empower Others: Schedule Renee Trudeau for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
>Subscribe to my life balance blog The Journey for weekly inspiration

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly.

Logo design: www.highwirecreative.com and www.hidesigngraphics.com