Hey, it’s a party!
Today I’m throwing open the virtual doors to Holistic Hot Sauce!
And what better way to celebrate than to bring you a big bunch of wisdom from nearly 50 visionary women.
These are women who, at midlife, have taken the leap to step into their power and shine. Women who have gathered the courage to kick self-doubt to the curb, dive deep into the creative well, and share their true gifts.
I talked to authors, healers, poets, coaches, entrepreneurs, and artists – and each offered a new twist on ways to love up our own selves.
These ladies are shaking up their own holistic hot sauce and sharing it with the world!
And guess what? They’re inviting you, me, all of us to join in the fun!
Whether you’re 30 , 45, or 75 – it’s never too late to dive in, have fun & radiate your inner goddess.
Got that? It’s. Not. Too. Late!
This is what Holistic Hot Sauce is all about.
I’ve been on a journey for about a year now, seeking both within and without. Always with the question in mind:
How can I harness my gifts, share them, and make that my life’s work?
I never expected I would discover so many amazing mentors and new friends along the way – not just friends, but true soul sisters. I’ve connected with men and women of all ages, from far-flung places all over the planet. What an affirmation that I’m on the right path!
It All Starts With Loving Your Own Self
To bust out the Holistic Hot Sauce I chose a few dozen women whose work I admire and love. I wanted to know how they nurture their body and spirit to do the work they do. I asked them:
“What is your favorite self-care routine that connects you back to your passion and keeps you aligned with your dreams?”
Oh my Goddess! I was blown away by the quality (and quantity) of the responses.
I’m not kidding when I say these are some wise women I’ve found here.
Get ready to be inspired!
Today it’s my gift to you to introduce you to 13 of these courageous and inspiring women. Maybe one of them is your soul sister!
Tomorrow, I’ll bring you 13 more ideas for exquisite self-care, each described in original and poetic detail. And the next day, 13 more…this is going on all week!
(Oh and there’s prizes too….read on for the details!)
Nearly 50 ways to love and care for yourself (without leaving your lover – unless you want to.)
And let’s not stop there!
Once you read these? Let’s keep sharing the wisdom! Use the comment section below to share what feeds your soul!
Let’s keep this Self-Care Circle alive.
What’s that you say? You’re wondering about my self care routine? I’ll be sharing my own self-care treats on one of these installments. And a confession too….
Today I give you, in no particular order, a bonanza self-care wisdom to activate your own inner knowing.
Which idea will YOU adopt?
Jennifer Louden, Best-selling Author and Intuitive Guide
Surrender is my favorite self-care routine.
I am impatiently stubborn and stubbornly impatient. I want to go at the pace of my brain, my vision, my desires rather than at the pace of my humanity and the needs of my heart.
So when I find myself drifting into the flatland of “I’m just going to go open a cheese shop” which is my shorthand for “Why did I ever think writing/teaching/bringing beauty into being was a good idea?” which is also sign that I have been impatiently stubbornly pushing myself, I surrender.
Okay, that’s not true. I think about surrendering. Then I flail around for awhile longer, and whine, and look for someone to say “Oh yes, it is so hard.”
That is, increasingly, very boring. Yawn.
Surrender looks like:
Getting up from the desk. Come with me. Get up.
Go do something loving for yourself: warm water over cold hands, or face buried in lilacs, or saying to yourself, “I trust myself to handle what life brings.”
Then ask something other then little grasping flailing you to help you. Ask with your head bowed.
“Please help me. Thank you.”
Rest. Wait. Listen. Bow your head again and again.
I’m right there with you.
Sue Mitchell, Creative Project Coach
Without question, when I need to realign with my dreams, I head outside. Spending time in nature, especially walking, is relaxing and stimulating at the same time.
If my thoughts have been spinning in circles in my head, being outside helps release them. The rhythm of walking puts me into a semi-trance, which allows intuition and inspiration to surface.
I really can’t remember a time I’ve come back from an outdoor walk without renewed energy and clarity
Susun Weed , The Original Wise Woman Herbalist
My bare feet keep me connected: to the Earth and the energy of the Mother, to myself and the state of my health, to my vision of herbal medicine as people’s medicine, and to my passionate need to be a voice for the plants.
We insulate ourselves from the Earth’s heartbeat when we wear shoes; going barefoot realigns me with the rhythms of Nature. We must harden our hearts to the pain we cause the plants and the soil with our shoes; going barefoot opens my heart (and my inner ear) to the joyous songs of the plants.
We detach from ourselves – and often even injure ourselves – when we wear shoes; going barefoot helps me slow down, be present, listen to my body, and become intimate with my surroundings. (Reflex points on the bottoms of the feet correspond to organs and systems; if walking barefoot is painful, then I know my health is not up to snuff, and I know what needs attention.)
Bare feet on the Earth: serenity, ecstasy, wholeness. People’s medicine is free medicine. Green blessings surround us.
Barrie Davenport, Career and Life transition Coach, Live Bold & Bloom
I have a self-care routine that I’ve adopted in the last year — riding my bike. I live near a river that has a beautiful bike path next to it. Not only do I get great exercise and get to spend time in a beautiful setting, but also my bike rides are my time for introspective and creative brainstorming.
My passion is writing and blogging about personal development topics (mainly how to find and live your passion). So many of my ideas for posts and books have arisen during these bike rides. The freedom of riding my bike seems to clear my head and open up energy for inspired ideas.
Now I just need to figure out how to write them down and bike at the same time
Lea Woodward, Teacher, Pathfinder, Tech Goddess
It’s less a routine, in the sense of doing something to a specific schedule, and more something I do when all the signs are there…when I feel like I’m having to push too hard and things just aren’t flowing easily.
To connect back to my passion and keep myself aligned with my dreams, I take a break. I step away from a project totally, for as long as I need to.
This isn’t always physically, i.e. going on holiday, but I will switch off mentally from whatever I’ve been working on. If I catch myself thinking about it, I’ll stop – and instead focus on clearing away the mental clutter and random thoughts which keep flitting through my head.
And then after a while, I’ll take a look at the emails I send myself which summarise my overall goals and ask myself “How can I achieve this more elegantly, more effortlessly and with less friction?”.
Then I get ready to receive the answer because if it doesn’t come immediately, I know it will come at some point…and it usually does, dropping fully formed into my head while I’m in the shower 
Amy Grams, Nutrition Coach
My favorite self-care routine that keeps me feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and connected to my passion is yoga.
But not just any yoga! I’ve had chronic sciatica my entire adult life, so I’ve never been able to do yoga without pain until about 2 years ago when I stumbled upon one DVD, Crunch Candlelight Yoga with Sara Ivanhoe. I’ve done this workout at least a hundred times now and I still love it.
It relaxes me, clears my mind and opens up my intuition in a totally unique way. I often put the DVD on pause to scribble down an inspiration and finish feeling like I just had a massage!
Mary Jacksh – Co-creator at A-List Blogging Bootcamps
To be aligned is important. But, to what?
I think it’s much more important to be aligned with aspirations, than with dreams.
Dreams are forms of ambition – a wish to be different in the future from how we are now. Whereas an aspiration is the wish to be the fullest expression of who we really are. I think that’s a much stronger driving force.
All true aspirations are impossible to fulfill. They are like stars that we navigate through life. They light our way, but we can never reach them.
My aspiration is to help others recognize their true strength, their true talent.
A simple way to align myself with my aspiration is to meditate. I’ve been practicing Zen meditation for over 25 years now. Each morning, I devote some time to sit in meditation. And during the day I touch base by using a simple meditation that I can do anywhere and at any time:
Breathing in I cherish myself
Breathing out I cherish all beings
This simple habit keeps my fire within burning bright.
Kathy Sprinkle, Coach and Blogger Extraordinaire, Bliss Habits
As someone blessed with very good health I have, over the years, given very little thought to self care in the typical sense. I do however, have a silver bullet that has served me well.
When I was in my twenties I read Earl Nightingale’s Strangest Secret in which he wrote, “You become what you think about.” This was so eye-opening for me at the time and ever since I have made it a practice to think about good things. I read uplifting books and websites and start each day looking for beauty and inspiration.
Whenever things are not going my way I can ask myself “What are you thinking about?” and see where I have gone off track. A positive attitude makes me better able to handle stress in constructive ways and when faced with difficulty I approach things with a can do attitude. This generally optimistic state I promote helps to keep me healthy and focused on the things that are important to me.
Susannah Conway, Photographer, Teacher, Author of This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart (forthcoming June 2012)
I‘m a big fan of hot baths laced with oil, healthy eating and chilling on my sofa under a blanket, but my favorite self-care routine is to go out into the world with my camera in my hand. Doesn’t matter where I go — I can turn a jaunt to the supermarket into a photography safari if I’m in the right mind. I look for colours and shapes, vignettes that catch my eye. I switch off from my worries when I take photograph and connect with inspiration in a much more visceral way. It’s active, it’s engaging and it gets me out into the world. Perfect.
Patti Foy, Intuitive and Blogger at Light Spirited Being
First, thank you, Sarah, for asking such a great question and for hosting us in your exciting new space! It’s a day worth celebrating and I wish you all the best!
I actually have two favorites and when I combine them, the result is heavenly. Journaling has been consistently healing for me, for a good 40+ years now. I sometimes laugh thinking that if anyone ever found and read my journals they’d think I had a horrible life because that’s where I turn when I’m feeling like a mess. Inevitably, getting all the thoughts that are boinging around in my head onto paper helps unravel what is going on, and enables me to see the real essence of what my spirit is trying to say to me.
The second favorite routine is to be in nature. I’m so fortunate to live in the mountains, and the natural surroundings are as important to me as air. Nature is so healing and always helps me see and experience life from a broader perspective. I get out of my head, into the moment, and invariably into an uplifted space of deep gratitude for this miraculous thing called life. May yours be full of blessings!
Karen Caterson, Writer & Creator of Square-Peg Life Support Guides
I have a number of tools in my self-care toolbox, but the two that I really couldn’t do without – the ones that keep me connected to myself, others and Source – are yoga and a daily journaling/mapmaking exercise based on the work of Andrea Schroeder.
Yoga, which I stumble through (I mean that literally! Having spent much of my life in my head, not connected to my body – I am not physically graceful or coordinated) connects me to my body, the foundation of all other connection. And my journaling/mapmaking connects me to my dreams.
Meg Wordon, Health Coach, Speaker, Writer at Feed Me, Darling.
My absolutely favorite self care routine (at this moment) is Sunday afternoon soups. With an incredibly busy life, I don’t get to cook every day and, with many interests, I don’t really want to. So I do much of my food preparations on Sunday.
The process of slicing vegetables, mincing garlic, grating ginger and measuring spices is an active meditation on nourishment. And, of course, it is nourishment. Big win. I use intention to infuse the food with love and always, always listen to music. My current Sunday soundtrack is Sundays At The Village Vanguard by Bill Evans Trio. My current favorite soup is Gingered Carrot from Molly Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook.
Tara Rodden Robinson, The Productivity Maven
My favorite self-care routine that connects me back to my passion is a little whacky: I float in a sensory deprivation tank. Floating is unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced: it’s absolutely silent and completely dark, the water is at body temperature so I hardly feel it at all. It’s like being alone in a starless sky.
Being in such intense solitude is amazingly restorative to my body and my mind, but it’s my creativity that benefits the most. I emerge from the tank with a sense of calm and peace that is unmatched. Because I have to drive 90 miles to visit the float center, I don’t get to engage in this routine as often as I’d like, but when I do, I can always expect to feel incredibly nurtured and cared for and completely reconnected with my inner-voice which is where my passion and dreams come from.
So there you have it – the first 13 wonderful, wise & witchy ways to care for your beautiful self.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to meet 13 more passionate, creative woman – because the party continues!
More self-care secrets PLUS a surprise giveaway! Because what’s a party without some prizes? One of my favorite coaches is giving away something very special to a lucky winner. And I’ve got some other goodies up my sleeve too.
See you tomorrow!
And now it’s your turn. Share in the comments below your answer to the question: What is your favorite self-care routine that connects you back to your passion and keeps you aligned with your dreams?
Or, tell us which of the above talks to you and why.
