Where Does Joy Come From?

"Joy springs from within; no one makes you joyous; you choose joyfulness." Unknown

Last Sunday at 11:45 a.m. I was finishing up facilitating a retreat for 55 amazing women at Kripalu Yoga & Wellness Center when my ten year old son--who had just flown in from Austin to visit his MA grandparents--appeared at the door. My heart exploded, a huge smile spilled across my face and I motioned for him to come sit beside me and join the circle of women. My entire body surged with JOY--I loved having my child there to witness and experience the profound nature of the work I do and to connect with him in this way!

This week, everywhere I turn I'm surrounded by quotes or teachings related to joy. Joy is "up" for me right now!

I remember a time when I used to think joy was corny, that it was something that happened to you. A fluke--like a butterfly landing on your arm. And when I felt it--I often shied from it's warmth and power (I recently heard author Brene Brown say that one of the most vulnerable places we can go is allowing ourselves to experience and express full-out joy).

I believe that joy is one of our greatest gifts and it lies in great reserves within us. We just have to allow ourselves to tap it, cultivate it, dig deep for it, nurture it and believe we're worthy of its grace--not just at birthday parties, "wins," or weddings, but all the time: driving to work, telling stories over dinner, waiting in line at the grocery store.

I'm passionate about helping men and women experience greater balance (read more) and emotional well-being in their everyday lives. As part of my work, I travel and lead workshops for women around the globe and am often saddened by how I often I hear participants share they feel that a joyful life is passing them by. They're at the buffet, but joy isn't on the menu (read more on a survey I did last summer on this topic).


They often ask, "How do I recapture joy?"

On the last day of our self-renewal retreat at Kripalu, we headed out to the majestic front lawn with its expansive view of the MA Berkshire mountains. The women took turn reading aloud pearls of wisdom that had surfaced for them over the weekend--insights from their "Wise Selves"--that part of them that holds the highest/best for their continued evolution and growth. After affirming each woman's truth, we headed back to our room and danced our wisdom so we could "lock" it into our bodies and carry it back home. While dancing, the joy and unabashed delight that swirled through the room was euphoric, contagious and heady-- like a perfume. Everyone in that room could feel that the waves of joy being unleashed were coming from inside of them. From their own Divine nature.  

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God." I couldn't agree more. Here's to more joy for us all this month. 

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

Photo: Fifty four beautiful women--mothers/daughters/girlfriends/colleagues/grandmothers/birthday girls-- ages twenty to seventy-five from around the globe joined us at Kripalu last weekend. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and stunning fall foliage.

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.

We Need Each Other

"No matter how much we meditate or pray, we still need others to help us dismantle the walls of our isolation and remind us of our belonging." - Tara Brach (Thanks Jen Louden.)

A few weeks ago I led a work-life balance mini retreat for a group of twenty very successful women leaders. As I was teaching about self-care one of them--the youngest in the room-- raised her hand and said she just didn't get the concept of emotional self-care (we had just explored the concept of why it was important to nurture our hearts). She thought women were supposed to be strong, armored and hold it together no matter what. 

The room became very quiet. It was clear that this beautiful woman had been taught that sharing her humanity was a liability. Her modus operandi for years had been to check her feelings at the door before she walked into work. And to definitely make sure she didn't "bother" others with her problems or issues.

I think many of us could relate.

Last week sucked for me. It was very stressful (read more). But after attending an entrepreneur mastermind meeting last Friday, visiting dear friends who were in the hospital later that evening, gathering with my son's  school community Saturday and enjoying special time with a friend Saturday night --I had morphed into a different person. Had my external circumstances changed? No, but my mood increased dramatically and I gained some much-needed perspective simply by being with others who made me feel more connected---to myself, to my family and to everyone around me.

One of my mom's favorite songs was I Am a Rock by Simon and Garfunkel (lyrics: "I am a rock, I am an island") and growing up I watched how often she would isolate herself from others and try to navigate all the ups/downs of motherhood, parenting and work--alone.

I am clear this is not how we're supposed to live. And the older I get, the more I desire to show up "human" and even vulnerable in my interactions--both personal and professional.  I not only believe this is our birthright and essential to overall health and well-being, it's critical to our growth and even, our evolution. 

I want to be an advocate, a model and a teacher for how we can all be more interconnected---both when we're struggling and when we're on top of the world. Because this coming together and leaning on and into each other-- I believe--is what's it's all about. 

INVITE: Interested in learning how to become more comfortable asking for and receiving help and re-connecting with your needs and desires? 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: A spontaneous fall 2010 post-retreat puppy dog pile-on with some of my friends who not only believe "we need each other"--they live it!

Serving Up Self-Compassion

 

Yesterday I felt like I was swimming through mud.

I was feeling judgmental and self-critical and everywhere I turned, all I could see were barriers and road blocks.

During my morning meditation (the one thing that usually always cleans my "lens"), the negative thoughts kept coming, dancing across my radar like annoying contestants from The Price is Right.  It seemed relief was nowhere in sight!

My saving grace? I knew my thinking was off. At the same time that I was stewing in "not good enough" chowder, there was a level of discernment happening--thanks in large part to a presence coach I began working with almost 17 years ago that introduced me to the principles author/therapist Richard Carlson taught relating to thought and mood.

Even though I was having a hard time pulling myself out of this funk, I knew I was responsible for feeling yucky. I was the originator of these negative thoughts. These pesky, multiplying “tribbles” (remember these on Star Trek?) were having a field day at my expense. And yes, the quickest way to change my mood was to change my thinking, but yesterday morning, this task looked as daunting as climbing Mount Everest.

So I acknowledged where I was. I stopped trying to change things. And, I stepped back and looked at the big picture (I had been woken up at 3:00 a.m. by my husband's snoring, I was swamped at work and I was getting over a cold). I gave myself a break and reached out and asked for some support. I kept my expectations low around my work output.  I tried to laugh at myself (“You’ve got to be kidding ….you think I’m going to believe THAT?!). And I drank a tall glass of self-compassion as I sat with the  reminder that this too shall pass.Tomorrow is a new day.

A part of me--what I call our "Wise Self"--knew that this state of insanity was temporary, like clouds passing overhead. I am not my negative thoughts.I was just entertaining these unwanted house guests.

We're all guaranteed of one thing--the thoughts (good, bad and ugly)-- will keep coming. As long as we're human, we'll keep experiencing both high and low moods. And occasionally, when we're lucky, we'll get to watch our naysayer thoughts float on down the river while we wave from the banks. Or we can wrap ourselves in a big soft blanket of self-compassion and tenderness when instead, we're on the raft clinging tightly to them.
 
INVITE: Interested in learning how to cultivate self-compassion and be more accepting of where you are right now? 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: One of our Self-Renewal Retreat attendees creating a piece of self-compassion heart art.

Sustainability ... for Self

The next twelve months will be a time of incredible growth and expansion for me--personally and professionally.

And sensing this, over the weekend, I woke up Sunday morning feeling stress and anxiety course through my body as I anticipated all of the travel and events, book-related deadlines and challenges and opportunities that come from supporting a team and business during  a time of extreme growth. 

I know some of the keys to enhancing peace in everyday life for me--and navigating unusually full times--are practicing living in the "now", being willing to embrace radical self-care, surrendering and remembering to balance being vs. doing.

And I practice these tools (as often as I can remember to do so!).

But I don't want to do "business as usual" this fall and spring--my two busiest times. I really desire to keep embracing a new way of being AND to make sure that I'm choosing support that will truly nourish and sustain me.

Sustainability is sometimes defined as the capacity to endure; the long-term maintenance of responsibility (and I would add: to self).

I don't want to just "survive" and make it through the next twelve months, I want to land on the other side of the river yes--wiser and more learned--but also replenished and nourished. I want to feel like I've been very, very kind to myself--and that when September 2013 arrrives, that I've arrived on new soil with fresh tools and perspectives. That I've come into a higher expression of who I am.

T.S. Eliot said,

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started 
And know the place for the first time.

So what will truly sustain--not just get me through--the next year? I'm still working on this list, but for now some of "musts" include:

• saying "no," more; conserving my energy
• tapping the counsel of wise ones (I just set up regular appointments for the next 3 months with my "presence coach") and make lots of time for friends
• doing a ton of yoga, dance, qi gong, walking and conscious movement
• planning some nature-infused weekend getaways NOW--that my family and I can look forward to for deep relaxation

Just saying out loud that I'm committed to reflecting on "sustainability for self" during this upcoming stretch--makes me feel better already.

I'm off to book a cabin in the Fort Davis, TX mountains for Thanksgiving weekend (they have some of the darkest skies in the United States); seeing thousands of stars at night always helps me put things in perspective and remember what truly matters most.
 
INVITE: Interested in learning how to live more intentionally and create sustainability for self? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our 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! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.

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
• 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/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: September has always felt like a time of new beginnings for me--here's to doing it different and starting fresh.

Holding it Together is Overrated

I'm the oldest of seven, the product of overachievers, a hyper-competent, perpetual "woman who always has answers and knows where she's going," the go-to girl--the one who seems to always have it together. 

Lately I'm questioning how this affects me--what is the price I pay for stepping into this personae? Yes, I've come a long way, I've let a lot of perfectionist tendencies drop, am less controlling than before and am a big advocate for the "good is good enough" message--but what would it look like for me to be MORE vulnerable? To be less prepared, less polished, more messy and human than I have ever been before?

It takes a lot of energy to told it together. My yoga teacher Jenn shared a story about a photographer who shot Salvador Dali over a stretch of five minutes (with time-lapsed breaks in between). Seeing Dali go back and forth between "DALI!" and a tired, slightly slumped over normal guy in a chair was fascinating. It showed how much energy it took for the artist to be on stage, in personae--to "hold it together."

Two of my close friends are going through hard times (one may lose her house, the other is navigating a rocky divorce). We've been talking about how essential it is for them--for all of us-- to allow ourselves to come undone, feel our feelings, turn into puddles, ask for help and be vulnerable--in order to transform into who we're meant to be ... next. 
 
Author Brene Brown (The Gifts of Imperfection) says, "What fuels this unattainable need to look like we always have it all together? At first glance we might think it’s because we admire perfection, but that’s not the case. We are actually the most attracted to people we consider to be authentic and down-to-earth. We love people who are 'real' – we’re drawn to those who both embrace their imperfections and radiate self-acceptance."

I just returned with my son from a week at Omega Institute--nestled on 500 hilly acres in Rhinebeck, NY. It was amazing; he was in Architecture Camp for Kids while I Danced My Bliss. Towards the end of the week we dropped into a lunch session with singer/songwriter David Wilcox for some Music Medicine (short, original, spontaneous pieces written to soothe/inspire your heart and spirit). My son asked David for a song about "relaxing and feeling free," and what followed was one of most beautiful, heart-wrenching pieces of songwriting I've heard in quite a while. As I listened to David's lyrics about Jonah running with his friends like the wind through the woods, I felt tears run down my face.

What is the price that those around us--those we love most--pay when we feel we must "hold it together" or maintain our vision for how we think things "should be?" Don't we all desire to let go and feel more free?

Actress Elizabeth Shue said, “I understand now that the vulnerability I've always felt is the greatest strength a person can have. You can't experience life without feeling life. What I've learned is that being vulnerable is not a weakness, it's a strength.”

My intention for the next few weeks is to be more vulnerable, to make more mistakes, to put myself out there as unfinished, a work in progress, maybe even clueless--and to hopefully--maybe for a minute--inspire a few others to consider doing the same. I'll let you know how it goes.

INVITE: Interested in learning how to Find Your Center? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our 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! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.

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
• 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/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: Are you willing to let yourself be unfinished, to fall apart, to come undone?

Is Facebook Changing Who You Are?

Last Saturday, after an early morning family walk and outing, I came home, showered, put away the groceries and posted the following on my personal Facebook page: "Early morning family hike around east Town Lake Trail (beautiful rowing on calm waters!), explored new buildings/architecture downtown and enjoyed tacos at Galaxy in
Clarksville, all before 10:00 a.m.--it's amazing what can happen when you rise with the sun!

A short while later, I felt off, slightly sick to my stomach and sensed a strange almost "warning" sensation roll through my body.

During lunch with my husband and son, I asked, "Why did I just do that?" Was I feeling lonely and seeking acknowledgment, was I wanting to illustrate a value (I am a big advocate for the healing power of nature), was I wanting to look cool or hip with the family set (yes, we spend a lot of time downtown--look at us!) or was I slipping into a new habit of mindlessly hopping on Facebook more than I ever have before?

Dr. Sherry Turkle, former WIRED cover girl and author of Alone Together studies the social and psychological effects of technology. (Watch her famous TED talk here.) One point Sherry made--that I can't shake--is that social media/technology is not just changing how we interact, it's changing who we are. There's a danger with us only showing the "shiny versions" of ourselves. The hip highlights of our lives.  This way of being with each other is affecting how we perceive ourselves and one another. We're messy, peanut-butter covered, sometimes irritable and often awkward, inappropriate and raw humans --not Pinterest pictures.

In the airport traveling earlier this summer, I picked up the Atlantic Magazine issue,"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?"  No, I don't think Facebook is making us lonely.
But, we may be making ourselves lonely by substituting surface-level, virtual high-fives for real time, heart-felt, "warts and all," conversation. Social media can give us the illusion that we're connecting but we're going broad--not deep. And it's leaving many of us (whether we realize it or not) void of real connection. It can be a great tool for the self-employed, community organizing and for keeping in touch with old classmates or colleagues in NY or Munich, but it isn't a substitute for real friendships (many research studies reveal that people who have confidants they regularly connect with are actually healthier and live longer).

Last summer, I spent almost a month researching what overuse and misuse of technology --TV, Internet, iPhones, video games, social media--is doing to our hearts and spirits; how it's affecting our emotional health (the findings, particularly around boys and video games and Internet porn were alarming). I also explored how our habits are affecting who we are and how we connect when we're not online. Many are sharing they feel so speeded up from always being plugged in, they're finding it harder to be present and just "be." (Shameless plug coming: my new book "Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life" from New World Library, will be in bookstores in March. Check out Chapter Three on People first, Things Second: The Digital Divide.)

Last week, I attended a content strategy meeting for entrepreneurs where the speaker said our businesses should each be disseminating 403 pieces of information annually to our target audience. As I watched the 55 attendees furiously adding this "to do" item to their iPhone task lists, I felt a chill go down my spine as I quickly calculated what this tidal wave of tweets, posts and articles would look and feel like if every business owner on the planet took this counsel to heart.

Why is all this so triggering for me (yes, I admit it is!)? I spend a lot of energy helping women/men around the US discover how to tether and anchor within themselves--how to find their center in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.  As I life balance teacher, I'm passionate about supporting people in finding more harmony and peace in their everyday lives and I believe our growing addiction to social media is contributing greatly to our feelings of disconnect and unhappiness.

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with these tools. I don't think the answer is unplugging completely (although I applaud those who have the courage/ability
to do this) but for me my recent experience and observation made me want ask and sit with some big questions. To pause before I post (or even get online). And to observe how I feel before and after I enter the Facebook circus.

My mom's words, "Just because everyone else is jumping off the cliff into the sea, doesn't mean you have to" --echo in my mind as I explore this topic.

My friend Leah told me she recently had a rare girls night out dinner with her neighbors. After being seated at the restaurant, everyone at the table picked up their iPhones and started texting their husbands, taking photos and tagging one another and updating their FB status, while Leah sat quietly in disbelief. Napkin in lap, wine glass full, candles flickering, she was ready for heartfelt conversation--but it seemed the allure of connecting with a larger party was superseding the one that was happening in the moment.
   
INVITE: Interested in learning how to Find Your Center? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our 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! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.

P.S. Have a background in PR/Communications and interested in joining the all-women Renee Trudeau & Associates team this fall? Learn more about our Part-Time PR Coordinator Position.

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
• 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/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: An artist's interpretation of being together but alone.