In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I spent today filling up my cup with creative joy.

As Americans, we don’t ever want to forget such a tragic time in our history as 9/11.  For the creative person that often means we create some kind of memorial that can be in the form of a painting, sculpture, quilt, music, photography, crafting, etc. Really, the sky is the limit.

I decided ten years ago that my memorial project would be a crocheted flag afghan.  I know better (then and now) to start projects like this because they take me forever.  I get burned out and have to put it down for long periods of time.  For whatever the reason I thought that this time would be different, like every other bigger type of project that gets me going.

My girlfriends, the afghan was no different even if it was in honor of 9/11. I actually finished the crocheting part probably about a year ago and only had the loose ends to finish off.  The problem was that there were LOTS of loose ends and I kept putting it off.

So today was the day and I would honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11 by finishing my project.  Perfect!  It felt good working on it and it felt great finishing it!  And it is beautiful!  Even my guys are happy that it is done.

If I may interject here, I know many of you are probably saying I just don’t have time to be creative. I know because I say it too.  In all honesty, we don’t have time not to.

Life always has stress factors in it including crises like 9/11.  For that reason it is important that we do activities that de-stress us and playing with our creative bent will indeed help!  When we de-stress even through our creativity, our energy changes, our body chemistry changes, and it puts us in a completely different place allowing us to see life from a different place.

Creativity is a win/win, which is why it is included in our self-nurture 30-day challenge.  It impacts us in body, mind, and spirit.

How can you include creativity in your self-nurture practice?

In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, what small memorial  project can you create?

God Bless America!

Does it roll off your tongue easily and with conviction or …

Does it sort of get stuck and you feel kind of small or in some way it just doesn’t feel right to you?

If you are one of the many women who is living your life fully empowered, I applaud you!  What I am about to share could still impact your life.  However, I woke up very early this morning with a message on my heart for so many of the women I know (many followers of The Wonder Woman Challenge) who do NOT feel empowered or could at least live from a more empowered place.  In either case, read on.

“I am empowered!”

If you are not living empowered you are living power-less.  As women we so often give our power away leaving us in a very stuck place in life, which in the end leaves us with not as many options as we would like and often need.

It is very uncomfortable and down right depressing to wake up one day realizing that, as a woman, you have no choices in life or at best very few.

On the surface The Wonder Woman Challenge can look like a fun and fluff program, but in reality it is a program to teach us about who we really are, to love ourselves, becoming more authentic, finding our joy, AND living empowered.

Say it again, “I am empowered!”

Are you really?  Do you want to be?  Have you had enough living without the choices in life that you desire and need?  Have you had enough living power-less?

Have you had enough sitting in the backseat of YOUR life?  Yes?  Then you are ONE decision away from hopping in the front seat of your life to live more empowered.

What do I mean?

I am taking my own personal Wonder Woman Challenge to a whole new never before level, a bootcamp per se and I’m opening it up to you, my readers, to join me.

With God as my pilot and me as the co-pilot, I am stepping up (within my own authenticity) into courage to say, “I have had enough sitting in the backseat of my life living a power-less existence!”

“I AM empowered!”

The Wonder Woman Challenge Bootcamp will dramatically change our lives, yours and mine.  Along with creating more love and joy in our lives, we are going to:

• improve our health – what would that look like for you? Weight loss? A  more fit body?  Less dis-ease?

• improve our finances – what would that look like for you? If you don’t already, what would it be like to have your own money to do with as you please? What if you could impact your food budget?  What if you could have affordable maybe even free transportation?  What if you could save money?  What if you could lessen your family’s financial burden even in a small way?  And for some, what if you could put food on the table for your children?!  (There are lots of single mom’s out there super struggling having to “shop” at food banks.)

I am saying, yes, to truly living an empowered life The Wonder Woman Challenge way from a place of self-love, self-care, self-nurture! And as I am impacting my life, I will be impacting the lives of others and you can too!

The Wonder Woman Challenge Bootcamp – “I am empowered”!

I know but I know that this message resonates with a certain group of women who are hand picked for this kind of bootcamp.  Let’s find out if you are part of that group.  I sure hope so!  Email me at:

wonderwoman@shileennixon.com (subject line: TWWC Bootcamp)

Letting love flow,

Shileen

I thought that I would share with you today the graduation party that we gave my youngest son last weekend.  Although I kept it simple, I did add little touches of creativity that blessed my socks off.

Note the little tea candle lanterns.  They were so simple to make and inexpensive too.  Creating the lanterns filled my cup and now every time I use them fills my cup as well.  Little things like these tea candle lanterns create so much joy for me!

What simple thing can you create in your world that will fill you up with joy?

This week the members of The Wonder Woman Challenge received an email about focusing on nature for one of their self-nurture activities.

Hint:  If you have not signed up for the challenge and/or the weekly encouragement tip go do that now so you won’t miss out on anything.  Click HERE or look to left of this page.

Here is an example of what I did today.  My little (very little) herb garden needed some love.  So we went out and cleaned it up a bit.  If any of you have ever grown fresh mint you know that it grows like crazy and my mint had pretty much taken over my little garden space.

There’s no way I could use as much as I pulled and I certainly didn’t want to throw it out, and although I am sure there is a great way to preserve fresh mint that I am not aware of (please share your ideas ), I simply put it all in an old awesome looking watering can that is now sitting in my family room.

So now every time I look at it, it blesses the daylights out of me plus the house smells like lovely mint!

Aaaaahhhh!!  I love it!!

See?  Simple!  I took 15 minutes out in nature to weed back the mint.  Then brought a little nature indoors by placing the mint into a sweet container, and now the self-nurture activity keeps on giving to us in body, mind, and spirit.

Does it get in any easier and sweeter?

Shileen

Today my family and some of our friends went to Kennywood Amusement Park for the day.  To their disappointment I did not go.  I felt like I had disappointed everyone, but I knew in my spirit that I needed to stay home.  I knew that being in the midst of lots and lots of people with all kinds of craziness would only add to the stress I was already feeling.  Oh, I’m sure in the end I would have had a good time, but again, it is not what this girl needed today.

Me before alone time!

I have spent the afternoon and evening by myself having what I call alone time.  It took me awhile to unwind and de-stress but suddenly it hit me.  Oh my goodness!  I so need this time and space to just “be”.

Me after alone time!

As the day has progressed the tensions and stress and all the things that made me feel irritated and uptight have slowly faded away.  Even though I have worked today at home, I have still been able to unwind and de-stress with soft music in the background and beautiful weather filling me with happiness.  I’ve been able to breathe and think without interruption.  It sure feels good!

Do you ever feel like you need time alone to just “be”?  Actually, I am a person who requires alone time to recharge and rejuvenate in my body, mind, and spirit.  It’s strange that I haven’t recognized the need, but sometimes life gets crazy with one thing after another to where I miss the signals.  This sure explains a lot of my behavior lately.

So, I am making a commitment to myself to be more aware of this very important need that I have … alone time, space, time to just “be”.

With that, I encourage you to create more awareness around what you need and then honor that need.  What might that look like for you?  You know me, I love your comments so please do share!

*Pictures provided by Home Sweet Home Pet Sitters

Exercise is self-nurturing.

Yes! It really is!  However, in my coaching practice I discourage my clients from including exercise as part of their self-nurture challenge until they are able to get beyond equating exercise with punishment.  Let’s face it, most people hate exercise and self-nurture is about doing things that you love.

I am here to tell you that it is possible to turn exercise into a beautiful, loving, self-nurturing activity.

Realize that your body is an amazing machine that works hard to keep you functioning.  A lot of people take care of their cars much better than they take care of themselves, but I know that’s not you, right?! Of course not!

When I learned to tune into my body at the gym, wow!, did my workouts change and so did my results!

As you workout you do want to push yourself to get the results that you are after, but while you are pushing yourself, you are doing so in a coaching manner.  You can have a difficult workout, but not in an ugly, degrading and/or punishing kind of way.  Your thoughts want to be more from a place of encouragement and celebrate your improvement even in the smallest way.

But here is where it really changed for me when I discovered Supta Baddha Konasana, a restorative yoga pose.

After my workouts I lay in this restorative pose and really tune into my body allowing myself to feel the work that I just did.  And while doing so, I think about all the different systems at work, I imagine the new muscle being created along with excess fat and toxins  being discarded and flushed out of my body.  While I’m visualizing and meditating on all of this, I move into a spirit of gratitude and thank my body for all that it does for me and for the work that it just did, and reaffirm my body and self that I will continue taking good care of me because I love me.

No matter where I am exercising, at home or in the middle of a busy gym, I will take 5-10 minutes for Supta Baddha Konasana.

Girlfriends, this is such a powerful technique.  I encourage you to try it and watch how a shift about exercise begins to take place.  And, overtime, watch your results improve!

Are you ready to add exercise to your self-nurture practice?

Stay tuned for how to use Supta Baddha Konasana a different way that will make you feel like a queen!

Click =>Join the 90 Day Challenge

One way we fill ourselves with love is to be creative, in whatever way that fits us.  I love to be creative.  It motivates and inspires me not just in the realm for what I am creating, but also spills over into other areas of my life.

Well, for Valentine’s Day my crafty creative bent came out to play.  Oh my!  When the inspiration hit there was no stopping me … all h#@@ broke loose in my house until I had all the supplies and, of course, that meant staying up late.  It was SO much fun and even more more fun giving my homemade Valentines and treats as gifts.

Below are the promised pictures and information for my projects that many asked for on Facebook.  I hope that you become inspired to create something … anything!  Something that takes you away from the mundane.  Something that takes your head out of your to do list.  Something that lets you play again like a child!  Something that will fill your heart and spirit with love!

Love Notes

This is not the greatest picture but this is so cute.  This was a gift for my son’s girlfriend.  I made cute little paper fortune cookies with love notes my son wrote for each one.  I found this idea at One Lucky Day

Be My Valentine Treat Bucket

I gave these cute treat buckets to my family members.  The buckets came from the Dollar Tree.  I covered Hershey Bars with very cute Valentine wrappers and made individual Valentine S’more packets.  The candy wrapper idea is from Anything But Perfect and the Valentine S’mores is from Welcome to Pittiepat Paperie

Chocolate Chip Valentine Cookies

These are just regular chocolate chip cookie bars but I used Wilton’s Brownie Combo Cutter and piped a little icing on them.

Well there ya have it!  Remember, a little (maybe a lot) of creativity is good for the soul!!

Girlfriend, I love chocolate just like most other women I know.

Today I decided to make a very healthy Chocolate Mousse for a treat. (Recipe below) It turned out that when I was ready for this yummy dessert, I was the only one in the house.  My guys were all off watching the Steelers win (yay!) elsewhere leaving me at home alone, which by the way, I didn’t mind at all.

So while I had the Steelers game on I decided to turn something ordinary into something extra-ordinary turning dessert into a self-nurture activity.

I could have plopped this lovely chocolate dessert into a bowl and woofed it down, but I didn’t.  Instead I used one of my cute tea for one sets accompanying the Chocolate Mousse with fresh fruit and Peppermint Herbal Tea, and I also used a tray lined with a pretty napkin.  It truly was not much effort at all, but it was one that was special.  We treat company special, why not treat ourselves special, right?

I am reminded of a note that I keep on my dream board that says, “Treating myself like a special object will make me strong.”  Anytime we treat ourselves special we are making ourselves stronger because we are sending a message to our inner self that says we ARE special and valuable causing our spirit to lift and hopefully soar!

This activity is one you will want to add to your self-nurture practice.  It is so simple to turn something ordinary like eating a snack into something extra-ordinary.  It not only lifts the spirit, but it also can help you to de-stress especially when you allow yourself to be “in the moment”.

Note that I rarely spend a lot of money on something like a tea for one set.  These types of things I typically stumble upon either on sale or at resale shops.  You don’t have to spend  a lot of money on stepping up your experience a notch or two.

By the way, this recipe and activity is great for Valentine’s Day!

Did you catch at the beginning that I said I made a “healthy” Chocolate Mouse?  The ingredients will surprise you!

Chocolate Mousse

(From Lifestyle for Health Cookbook by Dr. Cheryl Townsley)

2 pkgs. Mori Nu “lite” Tofu, firm

1 to 1 1/2 cups Sunspire chocolate chips – or carob chips (I use a 12 oz bag)

1/4 cups honey – or sweetner

2 to 4 tbs. milk – or milk substitute

2 tsp vanilla

1.  Melt chips being careful to not scorch them.  2.  Blend tofu, honey, milk and vanilla in blender until smooth.  3.  Blend melted chips into tofu in blender until smooth.  4.  Chill mixture until firm.  Store in refrigerator and use within five days.

Note:  It needs to be chilled and set for best flavor.

Today I am going to discuss stress in a very simple way and give you a little challenge.  Then in the next couple of days I will address weight loss, because weight loss is another big topic for so many of you who visit this site.

Are you ready? …

Winter!  The winter season is really helping me with stress!

Tell me … are you loving winter as much as I am or at least as much as I have this week?  I don’t know why, but for some reason I have fallen in love with the beauty of winter.

As I wrote in my recent article, Journey Into Winter With January’s Fresh Start, I am simply spellbound by the stillness and peace that this winter has been offering me and I don’t want the spell to be broken.  I told a friend on Facebook the other day that I am not only spellbound, but I have romanticized this whole beautiful winter thing.

You have heard me so say many times that it is the simple things in life that can offer us the most joy.  For example, a couple of days I go I made a crockpot of split pea soup.  Tonight I sat by a blazing fire eating the yummiest bowl of spit pea & ham soup with warm homemade cornbread all while it was freezing cold and snowing outside.  It was so fulfilling, I mean really fulfilling in body, mind and spirit.  It was self-nurture totally defined by the simplicity of the moment, noticing and observing, turning the ordinary into something extra-ordinary, and allowing the winter moment to melt away my stress.

My question to you is this. How can you turn to the beauty of winter to help you de-stress?  How can you incorporate the winter season into your self-nurture practice?

Please don’t let winter pass you by no matter what part of the country you may live in … or world for that matter.  This season has it’s own unique expression of beauty to offer to you.  Let it speak to you, let it embrace you, let it de-stress you, let it fill your cup with joy, peace, and stillness that no other season can.