I don’t remember if it was Saturday night or Sunday morning or a combination of both. I was busy online as usual exploring, tweeting, facebooking, researching, etc. while my mind was sort of doing a free association thing.

The next thing I knew I was all abuzz about doing a Wonder Woman Challenge Give Away that entailed making something that thrills the living daylights out of me. I mean it gives me the biggest charge!!

What might that be??

Making potions!! What? Yes! Making what my son, at the time a little boy, tagged as potion making.

I love to make bath and body products. As some hobbies can go, it is something that I can be crazy about for a while and then it can go dormant. Well, potion making has been dormant for quite sometime until Sunday.

Let me just interject right here that anything that gives you a charge like potion making does to me is something that feeds the spirit. Oh my goodness, potion making blesses me and brings me so much joy in so many ways. It a major win/win especially when I get to give what I make away!!

I put together a Lavender-Mint Foot Soak. Oh, oh, oh! It is soooo lovely!! It smells heavenly, is packaged oh so cute, and feels great to soak those tired, achy tootsie in.

I couldn’t stop there! I couldn’t rest until I came up with an entire Pampering Foot Soak Kit to use as The Wonder Woman Challenge’s first Give Away … and so here it is!!

Our Pampering Foot Soak Kit comes with my lovely made by me =) Lavender-Mint Foot Soak, Mint Bliss Foot Lotion by Mary Kay, and a pair of slipper socks all in a cute little bucket. And it comes with instructions on how to use it, of course.

Oh my! I love this so much that you can bet I am thinking Christmas presents with this sweet gift idea!!

Ok, so … let’s get down to business! I know you want this kit … heck!… I want the kit!! Lol What do you need to do, right, to enter the contest?

Contest Rules

Mandatory Entry:

You MUST be a registered participant of The Wonder Woman Challenge. If you already are, great! Just leave a comment saying so with your email address. If you are not, take a quick minute to do so. It only requires your name & email address … you will receive a free report on “5 Traps To Avoid If You Are Depressed or Down” as my gift to you. Then come back and leave a comment to let me know including your email address. (5 entries)

Additional Points:

1. Follow me on twitter @shileennixon then leave a comment here with your twitter screen name. I will follow you back. (1 entry)

2. Mention the give away on Twitter with the following message:

“I am entered to win a Pampering Foot Soak Kit from @shileennixon at The Wonder Woman Challenge http://shileennixon.com/give-away-foot-soak-kit”

Leave a comment here each time you tweet this message. (1 entry per tweet)

3. “Like” The Wonder Woman Challenge facebook page … Comment here to say that you are or did and include your facebook name. (1 entry)

4. Post on facebook the following message:

“I am entered to win a Pampering Foot Soak Kit from @The Wonder Woman Challenge http://shileennixon.com/give-away-foot-soak-kit.”

Leave a comment here telling me each time you post this message – include your facebook username. (1 entry each time you post)

~~~~~

Be sure you leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure you do the mandatory entry first, or the others won’t count! Sorry!

Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only.

Contest will close Sunday, October 3rd at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be chosen randomly and I will contact you via email.

Have fun and good luck!! Hope you are the winner of the Pampering Foot Soak Kit … another great tool for your self-nurture toolbox!

The afternoon sun was hot but I found a bit of shade to play under. I had left the house early. Normally I would hit Starbucks before going into work especially when I had about 30 minutes to kill but for whatever the reason I didn’t feel like doing that.

Wanting to stay close by I ended up driving around in back neighborhoods, you know, just driving around exploring. I saw the town park one that I had never been to so I quickly began to scan the place until my eyes landed on a place to play … on something I had not done in eons.

Do I dare? I mean, I am by myself and more than that I have no kids with me. Well, of course! I certainly don’t care what people think particularly about this kind of play even though it is intended for children.

Oh my gosh! My heart began to pump as I wound my way around to the parking lot. There was no one around which made it better only because I wanted to be alone with my thoughts with no distractions from others.

And so there I was … playing! At first it felt weird like the feeling you get in your stomach when you are falling (think roller coaster but not nearly that bad). I don’t ever recall as a child getting that feeling but it *has* been a few years to say the least. Ha ha!

I continued and as I did that stomach feeling went away. What a beautiful day! Hot, but beautiful. As I connected with nature allowing the universe to support me while feeling the warm breeze all over, the stress of the day began to melt away. I could feel my muscles relax especially in my face. The longer I played the l more I released.

About ten minutes into my play when I was really feeling free, an elderly gentleman drove by very slowly as he took in the site of a middle-aged woman swinging in the park by herself.  Yes, I was swinging!  I looked back at him and for a split second I was looking through the eyes of a child as I thought, “What are you looking at, mister? I’m just a kid ya know!” What a sweet moment.  I chuckled at myself and then I really did wonder what he thought, again, not that it mattered at all.

What fun I was having. Talk about therapeutic! Yeah! I have another really cool tool for my self-nurture tool box! Swinging!

I was only there for 15 minutes but I walked away feeling all giddy inside like a schoolgirl. Well wait, that is not entirely true.  Towards the end I noticed that I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous. What?! Motion sickness … really? <snicker>

I have convinced myself that I am just not used to swinging and that in time I will not be bothered with funky feelings in my stomach at the beginning and/or end of my swing times.

Yes, I plan to go swinging more. I can’t wait for fall when the air is cool and the leaves are turning beautiful colors. It will be a gorgeous sight to behold while I am spending time with one of my best friends on the swing.

That would be me! =)

Remember that the universe is our playground. Girlfriends, let’s get out there and play … play like a child! You will be amazed at what it will do for you … like fill your spirit with joy! Don’t get caught up in thinking that you don’t have time. Hogwash! We make time for the things that are important to us. Fifteen minutes is all it takes!! Fifteen minutes!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you must not be registered for The Wonder Woman Challenge. Go right now to the homepage and sign up. Then you will know and you will be taking a stand with many other women around the world who have chosen to love themselves enough to say, Yes! I AM IMPORTANT!

YES! … You ARE important!

Luv & hugs, girlfriends! … Go ahead! Go play! I dare you!

Shileen

Are you turned on? ….

Well, are you? …

Are you turned on to life?? =) (Gotcha!)

Why do so many believe that pursuing your joy is selfish?  Why do so many, especially women, feel guilty when they do something for themselves that makes them feel good in any way?

Let me propose two things to you …

1. We are all unique creations with our own bents, passions, and things that uniquely bring us great joy.

2. We are created to experience joy, pleasure, passion.

I am not suggesting that we are to be full-time pleasure seekers.  No, not at all!  But what I am saying is that experiencing joy, pleasure, passion is part of our design and for each of us that means something different and unique.

When you are turned on to life the world opens up to you in a whole new way … and might I add in ways you might be surprised.  Being turned on to life keeps you young and vibrant.  It fuels you in body, mind, and spirit.  Being turned on to life increases your life force … and it makes you more effective and fulfilled.

Being turned on to life doesn’t mean that there are no difficulties in life either.  There will always be difficulties spring up; it just means that you can deal with them more effectively.

So how does it happen?  How do you get turned on to life?  It’s starts by understanding who you are … how you are uniquely created … and embracing it all!

Does that seem daunting?  It really isn’t but I understand because I have been there.  I needed an emotional wellness coach to help me figure it all out and now I get to pass it on and help others turn on to life as well.

Wow!  Talk about a turn on! =) Love it!

Email me if you need help too … wonderwoman@shileennixon.com

Also, share your thoughts below in the comment section and then stay tuned for more about being turned on to life!

Shileen Nixon

Emotional Wellness Coach

Photo by graur razvan ionut at freedigitalphotos.net

Have you recently or have you ever taken an inventory of how you feel … emotionally, physically, and even spiritually?  How good do you really feel?  How much joy do you experience?  In this podcast you will learn just how all of these things impact the immune system and what you can do to improve your immune system through all three areas … body, mind, and spirit.

What if you could make some simple changes over the next 6 months that could radically impact you life?  Keep this question in mind as you listen and at the end let me know how I can help you.

Click the link below to listen …

How Your Immune System Heals & Repairs

I noticed she was very sluggish. She was having trouble fulfilling what was being asked, even small things. She would take what seemed like forever to do the simplest tasks, sometimes getting lost to the point where she would have to be saved.

I knew what was wrong. She was being overworked. Day after day she would have so many tasks going on all at the same time, juggling so much more than she could handle. But she continued to be pushed until she could not be pushed any further. Her productivity continued to decrease even though the workload not only continued, but also became more demanding.

Finally, I knew what needed to happen so I expressed to her that she really needed to shutdown for a bit and helped her to do so.

We all know how it is when we have been overworked, how hard it is to stop and unplug. It doesn’t happen right away. The mind and body still want to keep going. Things keep popping up to address that seem urgent in the moment, but really are not, so you just have to delete them from your mind … until that beautiful moment comes when you can finally rest and relax.

That is exactly what happened to her. I sat with her and watched and helped until she finally found her way to let it all go. I could almost hear her sigh of relief.

Turned out she really didn’t need much at all. It is amazing, really, how little it can take to restore only if we would give ourselves that privilege. Once she rested a bit, she woke up and was ready to get back at it … functioning her normal, productive way … feeling good about herself and her abilities to serve others.

Can you relate to this story? I certainly can!

The truth is, the “she” in this story is my computer! That is exactly what happened to my computer last night. We were both tired … ha ha. So as I laid down to do what I call a 15-minute power nap or the R & R Pose and I had my laptop beside me helping “her” to shut down, too. She was so lost with so many files, windows, and applications running that it took time for her to reboot. I had to force quit many applications before she could finally shut down and reset herself.

I feel like that sometimes don’t you, the need to reboot? Why do we push and push thinking there is no time to rest? We only become unproductive or at best less productive by doing so.

Let me tell you that by taking the time to rest and take care of ourselves afford us the ability to be more productive … always! And, we are less stressed, healthier, happier people … operating from a place of inspiration and joy.

So, I urge you, dear women of wonder, to reboot your operating system BEFORE you get lost in the shuffle of demands in your life.

If you have a “rebooting” story or thoughts to share, please do so in the comment section below.

And, by all means, if you need help in rebooting your operating system email me and I would be honored to assist you.

Have you heard??

Today I come to you with a very simple personal passion.  It will not be much of a surprise to those of you who know me well or those of you who have gotten to know me through The Wonder Woman Challenge.

Although it is not my life passion, it is something that I thoroughly enjoy and it literally fills my cup.  It sees me when I’m happy or sad.  It sees me with or without make-up.  It sees me through the thick and thin of life.

What might I be talking about?  Are you ready? You may have already guest given the title of this article …

Coffee!!

I love coffee … all different kinds of coffee.  I love coffee paraphernalia … and especially mugs!  I own quite a collection of the cutest coffee mugs of which I have started a photo album for on the Wonder Woman Challenge fan page on Facebook.

Every morning I open up the cupboard and ask myself, “Which mug do I feel like today?”  Because you see the mug must match the mood for the day or at least for that morning, otherwise the coffee experience is not all that it could it be.

Have you heard??

When you really stop to think about what all we do over a cup of coffee, one begins to understand the experience of coffee … and indeed coffee is an experience.  One of my favorites is spending time with a friend or family member catching up on life over a cup of coffee.  Nothing thrills me more than for one of sons to suggest we go get coffee.  So much happens over that cup of coffee!  Love it!

And so why is coffee the topic today? Well have you heard?  Certainly you have by now, BUT just in case you have not let me fill you in!!

Starbucks is offering FREE brewed coffee on April 15^th, which is tomorrow (I am writing this Thursday evening).  They are encouraging folks to switch from paper cups to travel mugs all for the good of the planet.  How fun is that?!

And, yes! The picture at the start of this article is my cutest travel mug.  Cute! Cute!  I found it at a very sweet, quaint coffee and tea shop.  I say this all of the time, but truly it is the little things in life that give me so much joy!

So!!  Tomorrow (or today, depending upon when you are reading this) grab a girlfriend and your favorite travel mug and spend some girl time catching up with one another over a free cup of coffee.  It will just make your day!!

Oh!  And!!  Afterwards, come back to this article and leave a comment about how you spent your coffee experience.  I will do the same!!

And, if you don’t have a Starbucks near you?  Go out for a cup of coffee anyway with a friend using a travel mug or some kind of special mug and still come back and share your experience with us.

Have fun!!

Shileen

P.S.  As for Starbucks, read more about how you can make a difference.

So, how are you … really?  Do you even know?

We are asked all the time how we are.  Most of the time we give a pat answer that we are fine.  We go from meeting to meeting, activity to activity, job to job, etc. often times stressed without realizing just how stressed we really are.

Honestly?  That is where I have found myself recently!

I have started The Wonder Woman Challenge fan page on facebook where a bunch of us have started a 30 day challenge together.  It has just started on Monday.  Even though we are only a couple of days into the challenge I am personally amazed with just how much pressure I have been putting on myself, ignoring what all is going on inside … in body, mind and spirit.

So, how are you … really?

When was the last time you checked in with yourself, when you stopped to get quiet long enough to get an answer back?  And when was the last time you asked yourself what you needed and actually gave it to yourself?

We get caught up in life with all of its ups and downs.  In doing so, we tend to ignore, deny, and even mask what is going on inside of us and unless we take the time to stop and listen, we end up in a numbed out state just going through the motions of life.  And I know from personal experience how that state can lead to depression and illness.

I ask you, where’s the joy in that?

So, how are you … really?  Are you living in joy?

I encourage you to stop right now and give yourself a check in.  How full is your cup?  Take some time now to fill that cup of yours up with love and joy.

I invite you to join us at The Wonder Woman Challenge fan page on Facebook for a 30-day challenge.  It’s only 15 minutes a day.  You’ll get support there as well and you’ll get to read my personal journal.

Love and hugs to you!!

Taking Valentine’s Day into your own hands is a great thing to do!  Why wait and hope that someone will recognize you on Valentine’s Day when it isn’t necessary?

Valentine’s Day can be a fun holiday, it can be a bummer of a holiday.  As women, we always hope that our loved ones will recognize their love for us on this day.  The waiting can be unnerving … will he/they do something or won’t they?  Will someone think of me?

Let me ask you… who really needs that?? I sure don’t!

Many years ago I decided to take Valentine’s Day into my own hands making it whatever I wanted it to be.  I thought about what would bring me great joy on this day.  How can I express love to those close to me that would also fill my own love tank?

I started by giving a tea party to my family, which consists of two boys and a hubby.  You are probably wondering how I pulled that off.  Although at the time they would not admit it, they all loved it!  It was food!  Tell me what boy or man who does not like food!!  =)  Plus they knew it was important to me and we always enjoyed conversation around family time (we still do).  Our tea parties over the years have always been very lovely and meaningful.

It has been a few years since I have thrown a Valentine Tea party.  I will always recognize my guys on this day and they typically do me as well, but I seriously count their recognition as a bonus.

Listen, it is just as important to love on ourselves as it is to love on others.  When we love on ourselves it frees others to love on us.  While you are recognizing your loved ones on Valentine’s Day, what can you do to recognize yourself?  Plan a special tea for yourself, a bubble bath, buy yourself some flowers, take some time to work on a hobby, etc.  Think of a way to treat yourself special, something that will bring you joy.

Here’s a fun idea!  While I was putting together a gift for a friend, I put one together for myself as well.  I love it!  It is simple.  I always say it is the simple things of life that bring me the most joy!

I made a cute set of Valentine’s Day coasters, bought a new mug (I am a sucker for a cute mug!), made up some of “My Famous Hot Chocolate Mix”, and added some of my favorite tea.  It is so very cute!  Just looking it at fills me with joy!

The coaster idea came from one of my favorite websites Cupcakes and Crinoline in an article called Sew Happy 30 Minute Coasters.

Taking Valentine’s Day into your own hands is a great thing to do.  In the end everyone feels blessed with a full love tank.

Do you have any Valentine’s Day ideas to share?

The opinion you have of yourself is what matters most!

I don’t like to be misunderstood. I suppose there aren’t too many people who do but some are better at letting it go than others.

How do you react when you are misunderstood, when someone forms an ongoing opinion about you based on their misinterpretation of you? We have a choice in how we react to such things.

Admittedly, there are times when someone’s opinion bother’s me especially when I’m being misunderstood. When that happens I typically have to process the situation in order to move beyond it, however, I refuse to linger there and get stuck in it.

When we linger and get stuck in the upset of someone’s negative or wrong opinion about ourselves only hurts us by steeling our joy and taking our focus away from the things that do bring us joy and the things that are most important to us. We then give that person power over us and we fall into the victim role. Oh boy! I hate that! When I become aware that that’s what I’m doing, I move out fast! I refuse to be a victim and you should too!

I do understand, though, that when it’s someone close to you such opinions can be very hurtful and the processing can either take longer or can even be ongoing because the issue may be something that has to be dealt with often. That is not always easy but more often than not the situation will resolve itself one of two ways.

1. Eventually the person misunderstanding you will finally see the light about you. Big relief!

2. There may come a point in time when you have to move on if it causes too much friction. In this case my thinking is … “go where you’re celebrated not tolerated”.

Again, that is for the extreme situation. For those situations not so extreme, another option is to simply ignore it. Does it really matter what other people think? No!

“Ultimately, what others think about you doesn’t really count as much as what you think about yourself.  It doesn’t matter who they are – spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, well wishers, colleagues, critics, detractors, enemies and any other categories of people you might be able to come up with.  What they think about you does not matter as much as what you think about yourself.
If you are living your life to impress and please others, you are still a foolish slave who is in need of emancipation.” ~~ by Pastor WD Favour in “Human Opinion Is Plastic Part 3″

There is freedom in living in our joy and that includes letting go of other people’s opinions about ourselves and it also includes surrounding ourselves with people who celebrate us rather than tolerate us.

Remember, it is your own opinion about yourself that matters most!

In my coaching appointments probably the number one question I get is “How do I love myself?” or a statement of, “I don’t know what taking care of myself should look like for me”.

I almost always follow up with … “Well what brings you joy?”

Sometimes the person can rattle off a few things but often she doesn’t have a clue.  When you’re used to focusing on everyone and everything else and not care for any of your own needs, you tend to lose yourself.

I ask you, “What brings you joy?”

If you aren’t able to answer that question adequately then it’s time to ponder this question.  It’s time to look within and connect with who you are.  I can hear you asking … “How”?

For some, getting still and quiet and having what I call an honest moment with yourself can stir up some ideas.  You might be able to remember things that you used to do that you enjoyed or things that you always wanted to do or even some things you’ve put on the back burner.  Now is the time to explore those things.

If nothing comes to mind then you will have to start exploring the world around you.  The universe is our playground.  Don’t be afraid to explore it in a way that is not threatening to you and without judgment of yourself.  Just have fun going deeper with the things you find that you like and dropping the things you don’t like.

I was telling a friend today the first thing I did when I began self-care activities.  I took a book and journal to Starbucks.  This was before there were Starbucks on every corner so it was a bigger deal, however, I still love to go to Starbucks! ☺  Anyway, I spent time sipping my favorite latte with pen and paper in hand.  It was heaven.  Then I would go browse a favorite store.  I rarely bought anything; I just loved the ambiance of this one particular store.  It made me feel really good being there and I enjoyed nosing around.  Afterwards I felt like a million bucks!

But here’s the key.  You have to be in the moment.  Most of my activities are all very simple but to get the full benefit you have to be in the moment blocking out your to do list, the argument you had with hubby, the kids, etc. and then soak up the moment you are in with total gratitude appreciating yourself and God if He is a part of your life.  When you get “being in the moment” down, you can turn almost anything you do into a self-care, self-nurturing activity making the 15-minute daily commentment with TWWC very easy.

So I ask you, my dear?  What brings you joy?  Please do share in the comment section below.  If you don’t know then share that and/or what you think might bring you joy.  It’s ok.  Dream a little!

In my next post I’ll share more of my own personal self-care activities … how I can turn simple every day things into special moments.