Create TRUST with Yourself: Mind, Body, Spirit Connection & FREE Affirmations
My “word” ~ a.k.a “work”, or intention for this past year was TRUST. This was a word I knew I had a lot to learn from but resisted initially.
I chose it because I wanted to build a stronger, more trusting relationship with my intuition, my decisions, my body, my creativity, and my ideas and that’s the intention I put forth.
Trust led me to a personal exploration within myself.
It was a word that encouraged me to go inward, ask deep questions, evaluate my life, and trust that I am always exactly where I’m supposed to be, even when my mind would have me think differently.
I learned to listen to my inner whispers and yearnings and act on them in my own time. I thought I would share a few of my biggest takeaways as I leaned into this word.
WHAT TRUST TAUGHT ME:
Mind, Body & Spirit +
a FREE Download of 40 Affirmations for Creating Trust
MIND: I work best without a strict schedule
As much as I’ve tried to strategically plan my time I’m learning to trust my natural flow when it comes to this area of my life. I’ve always found it hard to stick to a rigid schedule as I get overwhelmed with all my ideas and long to-do lists which made me want to avoid them and go eat chocolate or drink a big glass of wine.
This past year I renewed my practice of using mind maps as a tool for organizing and prioritizing my ideas and tasks which was a game changer. I’m a very visual person and being able to “see” what was twirling around in my head helped me decipher what was most important. I then wrote out my tasks on sticky notes and put them in my planner.
I found sticky notes to be a helpful tool that allows me to move things around based on my energy each week. I’m still not perfect with planning but I’m finding that I get more accomplished this way.
I still envy the people who are organized and can stick to a strict schedule but working within my natural rhythm feels so much more peaceful to me. I think we all have our own unique natural tendencies but may not have ever been given the opportunity or permission to explore and embrace them. Taking time to figure out what your natural tendencies are may create more flow in your life.
AFFIRMATION: “I choose to go with the flow of life”
BODY: It feels good to listen to my body with exercise
For many years I was super strict with my workouts and in return got little joy from them. This year I decided to do only what felt good for exercise. Some days it felt energizing to strength train and do HIIT workouts while other days a walk in nature or yoga felt nourishing. I now look at exercise as a way to celebrate and honor my body and can relate to the quote,
“I exercise because I love my body, not because I hate it.”
I’m also learning to appreciate my “now body” and what it’s capable of at this stage of my life. This isn’t always easy as my mind’s chatter tries to tell me that I should be able to do the same things it could do in my younger years instead of appreciating what it’s capable of now.
I intentionally seek out inspiring women role models who celebrate all different stages of life and body types as I want to have a healthy relationship with my body.
Here are a few of my favorite mentors:
Corinne Crabtree
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my body for years and finding Corinne changed my life by helping me create a healthier relationship with food and exercise. She’s a bold, kind, and compassionate woman who I think is knocking the diet culture on its butt with her no-nonsense approach to weight loss and body positivity.
She has a FREE course that teaches you the 4 basics of weight loss which has been a game changer. It’s perfect for anyone who is looking to understand their body’s cues and wants a simple way to lose or maintain their weight in a loving, compassionate way without BS diets, deprivation, or shame. Corinne also has an inspiring podcast and a wonderful membership. She breaks down diet culture and teaches you how to love yourself at any weight. I believe she is an amazing force for good in this world and I continue to learn so much from her!
Stasia Savasuk
She is most known for teaching women how to dress for their body type at any age and weight through her flagship program “Style School”. She also has a refreshing, inspiring, brave, and powerful Instagram feed that I love.
Katrina Scott & Karena Dawn (a.k.a the Tone it UP girls):
These girls are both super sweet, creative, and inspiring humans who focus on body positivity and empowering women through exercise. I love the Tone it Up app for lots of diverse workouts and recipes. They also have a YouTube channel with lots of free workout videos.
Adriene Mishler
Adriene is a beautiful and generous soul who offers lots of wonderful free yoga classes on her YouTube channel. I just finished her 30-day Yoga Journey called, “Center” which I loved.💞 Hoping to make yoga a part of my daily/weekly routine.
SPIRIT/CREATIVE SOUL
Creatively I made tons of mood boards and spent a lot of time in my garden making flower posies with all my beautiful flowers. These posies got photographed and were used for color studies which often show up in my paintings.
I created the “Cherish” Collection, a series of small works which I loved painting.
I stretched myself by taking a lovely 2-day abstract painting workshop with Theresa Girard where I challenged myself and leaned into trust by painting intuitively on canvases that were WAY larger than I normally use. It was challenging but liberating at the same time. I see larger canvases in my future.
I also spent a lot of time reviving my love of sketch journaling and created tons of meditative watercolor paintings which require a lot of trust as you never know what the paint is going to do.
One of my meditative paintings. You can see more on Instagram
I also continued to work collaboratively with my friend Tina Hirsig on a shared book of art that we send through the mail to one another. We’ve been creating work together since graduate school which was almost 17 years ago! We are in the process of updating our website with all the projects we’ve created over the years. It was exciting to revisit past work and see everything all together. You can have a peek over at Laura TWO Tina.
This is an example of a painting and letter that were added to the book exchange.
A page from the Collaborative Book Exchange: You can read our letters HERE
OTHER THOUGHTS
2022 was a year of feeling into things and doing what felt good, trusting that I was always being led in the right direction, especially with my art. This was the hardest part of my journey and a practice that I will continuously work to improve on.
As you head into the year ahead I will leave you with these thoughts…
Love yourself where you are now.
See yourself as you can be.
Actively create the most extraordinary life you can.
See the perfection in the journey and timing.
Be at peace with where you are now.
Know that you are loved!
xo 💞Laura
p.s. I created a little gift for you…
I’ve always been a big fan of Positive Affirmations and found them especially helpful as I leaned into TRUSTING myself more this past year.
Affirmations are positive statements that help quiet your mind and direct it to what you want. I found them especially helpful when it came to my studio practice and “trusting the process” of creativity which brings forth so many variables and unknowns but I also use them in all areas of my life.
Some of the Affirmation Books I’ve created over the years.
I’ve made many affirmation books over the years. They are filled with some of my favorite affirmations. I love how small and compact they are. They are, perfect to slip into my purse or leave on my bedside table.
Affirmations are great to write out on sticky notes as well. I post them in places where I need reminders. You can find them in my studio, in my Zen Den, in the kitchen, and even in my car. They are such a powerful way to help train your brain to focus on what you are wanting in your life and have helped me tremendously over the years to keep things flowing in the direction I want them to go.
I love them so much I put together a collection of 40 of my favorite Affirmations on TRUST for you.
When you sign up below you will receive an email with the download as well as some helpful tips for using affirmations.
I hope you enjoy them!
💞
laura
