Introducing the Vibrant Mama Collective

It’s so easy to feel a pang when another parent (even if they're a friend) mentions their child's latest milestones, and your kid isn't there yet. Even though we know every kid grows and learns at their own pace, the worry and comparison can sneak in anyway.This week, I’m bringing back the tree from last week’s episode and looking at it through the lens of our kids. It’s a short reminder that may especially ring true for moms who grew up around comparison and are trying to do it differently. Listen in when you need a little room to breathe and a softer way to see yourself and your little one.*Note: I want to take a moment to acknowledge that developmental delays are very real. Be sure to trust your mom intuition and check with your pediatrician if/when something feels off.Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

Welp, it’s been quiet here, and I didn’t mean for it to be. Tune in for the full explanation 💗Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

When the leaves start to turn, the trees we’ve watched at all year suddenly show a beautiful range of colors: golds, deep reds, a few stubborn greens, sometimes even purples.In this two-minute episode, I’m sharing what those leaves can remind us about ourselves, especially on the days we're measuring ourselves against everyone around us. Press play for a quick bit of encouragement, and maybe take a look out the window afterward. 🧡Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

Your permission slip + your invitation all in one ♥️For the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas for Two Minute Monday Mama Motivation, where I try to share something briefly to inspire, encourage, or motivate you. This month, we are talking about playing more, having more fun, being more creative in life as adults, as parents, to live more vibrantly, to be happier and more fulfilled and living in the moment. So far this month we have talked about having fun doing activities with your kids, being creative, and play in general. And this week we’re going to talk about hobbies. You’re a mom now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have hobbies or passions.So if you are somebody who enjoyed a hobby or several hobbies before having kids, and you have not really worked on them since having a child(ren), and you’re waiting for a permission slip, this is your permission slip to do that thing, to pick those hobbies back up and enjoy them. When we as parents are doing more things for ourselves that fill our cup, we can show up so much better for our children. We’ll be happier, we’ll be more at ease, and that helps us show up in a more intentional and loving, kind manner for our kids. So this is your permission slip. What if I’ve never had any hobbies?If you have never really had hobbies that you’ve been interested in, this is your invitation to find something that sparks your interest. And it’s okay to dabble. But maybe you’re like, “I’m not really sure… this maybe could be a thing for me.” Try it. Give it a try. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you. That’s fine. Try something else. So for hobbies, we can engage or re-engage in existing hobbies. We can pick up something new. A List of Hobby Ideas, should you need themI have a longer list I will share with you farther down in this article, but here are just a few ideas in case there’s something that piques your interest:GardeningRunningPaintingBicyclingWoodworkingWeavingSewingCrochetingYogaBaking It can be so many different things. It can be moving your body. It can be very kind of artistic. It can be very kind of hands-on. It can be cooking and baking, like I said, gardening, things outside, interior decorating, whatever it looks like for you.Need a little accountability?So like I said, I have a longer list (at the very bottom of this article) from my Mama Playdates where I’ll share a whole bunch of hobby ideas. And a quick reminder that I am hosting the 100 Day Challenge. I specifically am doing 100 Days of Doodling, but I’m encouraging you to do something that is for you. Self-care, mindset, Hobbies, art, craft, whatever it is; it’s a perfect opportunity to jump in and practice that a little bit for yourself. Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

The options are endless!For the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas for Two Minute Monday Mama Motivation, where I try to share something encouraging, inspiring, and motivational in a short amount of time. This month, we are talking all about embracing fun, creativity, and play in order to live more vibrantly, to be more happy, and to just enjoy life right now and stop waiting for someday. In case you missed the previous episodes, here’s Part 1 and Part 2.For the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas for Two Minute Monday Mama Motivation, where I try to share something encouraging, inspiring, and motivational in a short amount of time. This month, we are talking all about embracing fun, creativity, and play in order to live more vibrantly, to be more happy, and to just enjoy life right now and stop waiting for someday. In case you missed the previous episodes, here’s Part 1 and Part 2.Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

It’s time to get creative!For the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas for Two Minute Mama Monday Motivation! This month we are talking about engaging in more fun, play, and creativity in order to live more vibrantly, to enjoy life a little bit more, feel a little bit happier, and stop waiting for some day to enjoy your life.In case you missed Part 1, you can check that out here.Prioritizing YOUR CreativitySo today I want to talk specifically about creativity. I know a lot of people are like, “I can’t be creative. I’m not creative.” I full-heartedly believe we are all creative, so I want you to push that belief aside for the moment, at least. I believe you just have to be willing to let that creativity exist.It might take different forms and we have to learn how to nurture it, but it’s there. So there’s a lot of different ways you can embrace creativity in your daily life. There are things like:Being more creative about the ways that you approach parenting and challenging situations that come up. Maybe, you know, your toddler, or your child, really wants something or is having a meltdown, and you want to get a bit more creative about how to approach that, instead of maybe your default, or the way you were raised. Another way is being creative in the activities and things you plan and create for your kids.So that can be crafts and hobbies and arts and things like that. Or it could be, you know, just games that maybe you make up, things like that. You can also do kind of the obvious thing, which is embracing creativity through arts and crafts.I personally love this one, even though it can be a little more challenging with little ones 😊The local libraries in our county have lots of free events that are arts and crafts related. We also have like art centers and like a pottery studio, things like that, that you can go to. You can go online; I’m constantly seeing tutorials on Instagram, YouTube. You can look up something for free and engage in your art craft hobby that way. Or of course, you can visit your local craft store, and go find something fun to do there. And then lastly, you can try some freehand doodling.Just grab a pen and a paper or crayon and paper, whatever it is that you have available. This can be a great thing to do with your kid right next to you, especially if your child enjoys parallel play. And you just start scribbling and doodling. Don’t make it be anything; just allow it to exist, to flow, and move your hand. I find that’s a really great way to approach creativity when you have that block of “I’m not creative. I can’t be creative. I don’t know where to start. I’m not good at this.” And you have to just like have no expectations and maybe just start coloring. Or you could even get a coloring sheet.Or try a one-line drawing, because those are meant to be messy and kind of ridiculous and not look perfect anyway. Create a plan to make space for your creativitySo I hope that gives you a few ideas on ways you can embrace more creativity in your life in order to live more vibrantly. And also just a reminder that I’m hosting 100 Days of Doodling.I’m doodling, but I’m encouraging you to join me in just creating more time for yourself, for things that are just for you. So it can be something self-care related. It can be an art, craft, hobby, whatever it looks like for you. So I’ll include that link in the description here as well.All right, I’ll catch you on the next one and have fun being creative!Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

Kids just wanna have fun, but adults need it, too!Building a Vibrant Life through PlayFor the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas and Mama’s Two-minute Monday motivation, where the whole idea is that I’m trying to share something encouraging, inspiring, motivational in approximately two minutes, every week. This is our third month now of me planning out topics on what to share instead of just sharing something spontaneous that comes to mind. In August, we talked about really understanding who you are. In September, we talked about intentionality. And now this month (October), we are talking about having fun, play, creativity, and all the fun things.All of these topics are part of the bigger picture of building a vibrant life you love - one that fills your heart and your cup; one where you aren’t waiting for “someday” when the kids are older or life is less busy. So for this month specifically, we’re looking at incorporating fun, play, and creativity in order to help create that vibrant life.Building a Vibrant Life through PlayFor the video version, scroll down to the bottom of this article 😊Hello, hello, and welcome back to The Heartful Canvas and Mama’s Two-minute Monday motivation, where the whole idea is that I’m trying to share something encouraging, inspiring, motivational in approximately two minutes, every week. This is our third month now of me planning out topics on what to share instead of just sharing something spontaneous that comes to mind. In August, we talked about really understanding who you are. In September, we talked about intentionality. And now this month (October), we are talking about having fun, play, creativity, and all the fun things.All of these topics are part of the bigger picture of building a vibrant life you love - one that fills your heart and your cup; one where you aren’t waiting for “someday” when the kids are older or life is less busy. So for this month specifically, we’re looking at incorporating fun, play, and creativity in order to help create that vibrant life.Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

+ What does it really mean to live a “balanced” life as a mom?Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Monday Mama Motivation, where I try to share something simple and practical for encouragement, motivation, inspiration on this motherhood journey of creating a vibrant life that you love living without regrets. So maybe you’ve been able to tell already that this month’s theme is intentionality.That means today we’re going to continue to talk about intentionality. And like we talked about before, it takes intentionality to build this aligned life, this life that is vibrant, full of the things that are fulfilling for you and your family. And part of that, is this idea of creating a sense of balance in your life.What does it really mean to live in balance as a mom?I know a lot of people don’t love the word balance because it feels like you’re saying there should be equal parts of everything, like maybe there’s equal parts of time with your kids, with your partner, with your friends, etcetera.That’s not what balance looks like at all to me.I still like the word balance because inwardly, internally, it feels like balance because it feels like everything’s in its place and it’s in just-right amounts.It’s a beautiful blend.So a lot of people like to use the word blend. If you like blend or balance, it doesn’t matter. But today we’re really paying attention to what that blend is.Because a lot of times, at least for some of us, it’s really easy to go all in, and be “all or nothing”. And doing that does not create the blend that we like.Having too much of everything creates chaos, overwhelm, exhaustion, and burnout. So really understanding the blend that works really well for you and your family is really important for creating this vibrant life that you love living. That can look like things like sports activities. It can look like your self-care, your time spent with creativity and play and fun. All of those different elements that contribute to your life. How to determine what your family’s version of a balanced life looks likeSo it’s really intentionally understanding, “how much self-care do I need to fill my cup? And at what point is it diminishing returns when I continue to spend more time on that?“How much time feels really good for spending on creative hobbies and those things that really light me up?” Maybe your ideal is a little bit different than what you actually have time for. So then it’s figuring out the blend of all the different pieces.Maybe if I spend 15 minutes a day on creativity, that ends up being the perfect blend with the rest of my life. So I have that chunk of time and then maybe I have this other chunk of time that’s family time in the evenings with my family before bedtime and then sports activities, etcetera, to create the “perfect” blend.Except really, I shouldn’t say “perfect.” because that gives the illusion there’s an actual right answer or there won’t be problems, which isn’t correct.But really the idea is to pay attention to the things in your life where it’s like, “okay, we really love this. This works really well for us, but there’s just too much of it or there’s just not quite enough of it.”And then you play with those amounts to create the blend that works best for you and your family. Most likely, your sense of “balance” will continue to changeIt will change season by season. That’s totally okay. That’s totally normal. And, actually, I love that it works that way because there can be seasons where we have more of that self-care. There can be seasons where we have more of those activities for the kids, and there’s just an ebbing and flowing of everything.So really the goal is to understand that blend by intentionally paying attention, by looking at the list of things that you really enjoy and love to do, and determining the quantities that will work well for you and your family, to make everyone more happy and vibrant. I truly hope this helps!I love you, and I’ll see you again on the next one.Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

With a gift inside to help 💛Hello, hello, and welcome back to Monday Wednesday (oops!) Mama Motivation, where I try to share something really quick and simple to inspire, motivate, encourage you in this path of motherhood and creating a vibrant life that you really love to live.Last week, we talked about how building a vibrant life takes intentionality, which requires time and effort.And as moms, time, brain space, and putting the work into intentionality is not exactly the easiest thing to come by. So I want to help make your life a little bit easier. You can download these four intentionality cards and print them or keep them digitally to make the process a bit simpler for you. Additionally, here are some questions to help speed up the process for you:What are the things that light me up? What are the things that bring me joy? What are the things that make me feel fulfilled?What are the things that fill my cup?What are the things that drain me? And all of this applies to yourself as an individual, but it also goes for your family as a whole, because maybe there are things that if it were just you, they would energize you and you would love them and enjoy them. But with your family, it’s just a really big struggle, so it’s not worth the effort for you; or vice versa: maybe it’s something you don’t actually love, but it brings so much to your family that it is worth it.All of this together helps create this vibrant life that is this cohesive thing you love. You love the way that you live. You’re living without regrets.So go ahead and check out the prompts in the intentionality cards. And I’d love to hear if you find them helpful and if they really do help free up some time and brain space for you!Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities

“Easier said than done,” right? Or is it?Hello, hello, and welcome to this week’s Monday Mama Motivation, where I share in just a couple of minutes, simple, easy to apply motivation.Today I want to remind you that if it feels challenging to create a life that feels really good, if it feels like things aren’t just falling into place and magically getting better, that is okay, and that is normal. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you, because building a vibrant life, building an aligned life that you really love, that has all the pieces that are important to you (and less of the pieces that aren’t) takes intentionality. It takes time. It takes spending the time to become aware of the things that are helping you and your family, noticing the things you can strip away, and identifying the things you need to add. What does that balance look like?What is the right blend of each thing? It takes time to create that. It takes time to become aware of it, and it takes time to implement it. Plus, it takes time to test it.So yes, it takes work. It takes time. But if what you’re really looking for is this vibrant, aligned life where you’re living the life that you really love without the stress and all the things that you don’t love, it really, really is worth it. So just want to encourage you to keep pushing towards that intentionality, to keep spending that time and that energy, whatever that looks like for you.It doesn’t mean you have to spend a whole lot of time on it. It’s just really giving a little bit of brain space to it (yes, I know, that still feels like a mom as a mom, trust me; I’m not minimizing it!) every day and maybe thinking about one thing each day that you want to change. Something that you want to say “no” to, a “yes” that you want to commit to, something that you want to implement to make your life feel just a little bit better each day.All right, you got this!I love you, and I’ll see you on the next one.Send a Fan Mail Message!If you've found this episode helpful or inspiring, feel free to support the podcast via Ko-fi 🌸3 ways I can help you right now:CoachingFree CommunityMembership Communities