*Note: Listen to the full episode on the podcast here.

It's totally possible to create a pleasure filled life that you love... even if you are currently in so much physical, mental, emotional pain you can't even fathom how.

Perhaps you're currently struggling with being pigeonholed into a corner of burnout from your own particular set of life challenges (your health included). You may find you are so overwhelmed that all you want to do is check out or numb out in some way by the end of the day. You no longer experience pleasure for the sake of pleasure alone.

I've been there...

Maybe right now you are worrying way too much about the potential of your current health hazards and symptoms, thinking you have some kind of scary illness or disease. This level of over-worrying is making it impossible for you to experience all that life has to offer.

Whether it is stress, anxiety or a recent illness, the challenges you have been through or a currently going through have completely drained...

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

I am betting as a woman you've likely struggled with an internal battle where you've felt 'stuck'. You have felt that you aren't where you'd like to be in your life journey (according to you). Maybe you're currently stuck doing soul sucking work in a body plagued with burn out (which comes with a myriad of annoying symptoms), totally unable to perform your job effectively.  In addition to being able to be a fully supportive friend, partner or parent. Maybe you even wish you could quit your job, because it doesn't feed your soul and instead you'd rather just focus on what does make you feel inspired.

*Note: Listen to the full episode on the podcast here.

{You can also find my podcast: A Joy To Be Me on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Stitcher and Spotify }

You may even have figured out what your soul passion is, and when you allow...

Hey girl, are you overwhelmed and exhausted from constantly “powering through” and pushing yourself?

Then listen up… I’m here to give you a little pep talk and some ‘tough love’. And by all means, if there is a better way to say 'tough love' -please let me know, 'cause I’ve shied away from it in the past myself feeling it as criticism and judgement. That’s not what I want to relay… I want to relay LOVE about something you need to hear, but maybe aren’t willing to see it fully or say it to yourself yet.

I speak to and work with women weekly/daily who feel so frustrated and burned out… this is an epidemic that women collectively face and a pattern women choose to continue and perpetuate and it has to stop.

I talk a lot about self-care… I write about it, I share my own story, I post memes about it.

Today, I want to dig into it a bit further because self-care is more than just doing some nice things for yourself,...

In March 2009, 10 years ago at the time I’m writing this, I went on a trip half-way around the world to Hong Kong. At the time, I had no idea it was the trip that would set me free to reclaim my life.

I was in a suffocating marriage at the time. My 4 boys were all so little, I was somehow trying to home-school my oldest two. I was beyond exasperated. My soul had been sucked dry.  

I was involved in a small group of blogging friends on line at the time. All of us were deconstructing from legalistic spiritual abuse and learning to embody a grace-filled way of life. It was a powerful time albeit incredibly challenging. This small group of bloggers helped me hold out for hope.

The trip to Hong Kong was for a grace and glory conference. It was one of those divine interventions. I knew I had to go, even though it didn’t make a whole lot of sense logically.

My ex was not supportive of me going. He berated for months as I planned to go in spite of him. Deep down I had...

Happy Super Full Moon in Virgo (my sun sign) !!! Today I was encouraged to express a side of myself that I normally don't share. My free spirited side.

So, here she is ...

The only time I ever dyed my hair in my whole life.

I think I was 20.

I've always loved this photo because it.just.felt.like.me.

Feisty, fierce, passionate, a little silly, empowered, daring, bold.

I was working on a portfolio and working with a photographer named Kevin Brown at the time. He had me me step WAY out of my comfort zone in so many of the shoots we did together.

And as scary as it felt, and as I secretly judged myself, he helped me push away all that crazy chatter and feel so comfortable letting myself be SEEN, EMPOWERED & FREE!

The photos we took together helped me to embrace the 'why not me' story and let myself go and just be and just express myself and have fun!

I think so many times we take life so seriously, we hold ourselves back and don't shine our souls out for the world to see. We shrink...

I’m celebrating overcoming a HUGE obstacle in my life. One that has been a long time coming, one that I finally shifted to see as an opportunity for my own growth. And boy did I learn some powerful lessons as I worked through this seemingly insurmountable barrier, let me tell you.

I learned more about my own inner strength and abilities in the past 2 years as I worked through this particular challenge. It was a hard earned lesson for sure, one that was incredibly painful but so necessary.

Now I can feel the liberation, like having climbed to the top of a mountain and looking at the breathtaking views. All the struggles I faced along the way were worth it and fading into the background, as I now revel in what they allowed me to overcome and accomplish.

And I wanted to share some of those lessons with you today as I reflect back on what I conquered.

The first is, that we all have obstacles in our lives. Some little, some seemingly massive and impossible. These obstacles are a...

Ladies, listen up! This is how you step more fully in to YOUR radiating power!

What on earth is your radiating power you ask?

Let me explain.

Self-Empowerment & Purpose

I believe every woman can be empowered. She can exude confidence and independence. She knows how to direct her energy wisely and she believes in her own capabilities. Her greatest skill in life is knowing that she is an empowered creator.

A woman radiating her own power is ready to take action, the right action. Not out of stress, but out of purpose and intention.

She pays attention to what she already has, shows gratitude and uses her gifts instead of letting them gather dust. She doesn't sit around waiting for life to happen to her. SHE gets the fuck out there and SHE happens TO life.

That's when she's radiating her true full power!

She also knows she is capable of unlimited potential and creativity. She trusts that the Universe (God/Spirit -whatever you want to call it) has her back, but that doesn't make her...

I am incredibly grateful for the amazing women I get to work with and support. Today I'm sharing Julie Thorn's story of how she learned to love herself AND overcame some major health issues over the course of our time working together.

Julies's Biggest Challenge

I could say I was eating like crap, not getting proper sleep, no time to myself, recurring yeast infections and rosacea. While all of those things were true, I would say one of my biggest challenges was my emotional state (stress, worry, you name it). It is linked to all of the above, one thing leads to another.

In the past two years, I have been through quite a bit emotionally. I was an emotional wreck inside, but I kept on smiling. I have always kept everything bottled up inside me which is not good. I have always been a people pleaser and felt like I was not worthy. I put everybody else first including people who do not have the right to be first in my life. After going through what I thought was ultimately going to...