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inding your passion is something that many people want help with. Many people actually already know what their passions are, but what keeps them feeling that they do not know is they actually encounter anxiety when they start to do things in the direction of their passion. The anxiety confuses them and they start to doubt they are on the right path, so they start searching all over again. People spend their whole lives in this cycle — starting and stopping and feeling bad about themselves that they can’t do anything.

It isn’t so much that finding your passion is the issue. It’s more what happens next. Few people talk about the difficulty they face when they start to live their passion or do what they love. Yet there are many things that arise both within oneself and from those around you that isn’t easy or at all blissful. In fact, many people try and start to do what they love, but then they hit against these obstacles and retreat. After a period of retreating, they start searching again for something else that could be their passion. What’s happening, though, is that the anxiety can throw you off course. It is not that the passion isn’t right. it’s more that the anxiety that has appeared needs to be addressed.

If you don’t know how to move through these ditches or canyons caused by fears, then you’ll feel you can’t move froward and you’ll resign yourself to give up on your dreams. When you do what you love, many things fall into place easily, but you will also be confronted with new situations that are scary. These are situations you avoid when you don’t follow your passion. In our core we know that our passion is not only important, but also vital to the meaning of our life. We want to go forward but can’t. Knowing about how you can go off course like this, learning how to be kind to yourself, and then learning to work with the obstacles instead of retreating is where it all starts to come together and you are no longer stuck in the false notion that you’re still finding your passion.

Don’t Resist the Fear

Doing anything creative, anything that calls upon your deepest joy, or feels like a deep gift you have within yourself, will simultaneously activate anxiety. Maybe there are the few people out there who don’t experience this or they have worked through it so well they can’t remember what it was like when they first began. Overall, however,  most people will encounter anxiety when expressing their inner core self. Trying to push it away or  wanting to be someone who has no fear, or thinking you should feel differently, is completely unhelpful and can keep you stuck your whole life. This belief that you shouldn’t experience anxiety or fear will trap you into never finding a path towards fulfilling your passion.

Be Where You Are

The way through begins by accepting what’s occurring for you. If there is fear and anxiety accept, that it is there, that it happens for you when you are creative, and may happen every time you take new steps forward. Don’t be surprised. Come to accept it. Don’t wait until it is different. As my coach Sonya says, “it is normal to feel this way when you take a step forward with your authentic self.” Accept that anxiety comes with the terrain, and instead of retreating, commit to learning how to deal with anxiety, commit to loving yourself with the anxiety, commit to learn to give yourself such impeccable care that you can handle the fear.

Finding your passion can sometimes be the easiest part. The real work comes in learning how to navigate the internal resistance that comes form the inner fears that are a normal part of the experience. These fears can be called “fear of success, fear of responsibility, fear of criticism, fear of rejection, fear of intimacy” etc. There are a hundred different faces that our anxieties can come in, only by learning skills to cope when these faces show themselves can finding your passion turn into living your passion.

I found the book Mastering Creative Anxiety by Eric Maisel to be extremely helpful in the process of overcoming the many pitfalls that come along as one starts to do what one loves, particularly if it is a creative pursuit, but the concepts can apply to anything.

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e all want to live more abundantly, but how do we actually get there? We can spend most of our conscious and unconscious energy in the mindset of waiting for our dreams to come true, frustrated with the moment, or the day, or the life we have currently. The process of creating abundance does require envisioning the future and striving to accomplish goals, but there is a very important step that people skip in trying to create the lives they want. We skip this step because it is the harder step. Living more abundantly is rooted in being present in the now. It means actually finding the richness already present even if  your life has major challenges.

If you’re not the kind of person who naturally sees life as a glass half full, then doing this can feel like learning a foreign language. Bringing your attention to the abundance already present won’t come easily at first, but don’t ditch the practice because  it seems ackward or too simple. It will become easier the longer you practice. Here are two steps to begin to live more abundantly now and not wait until everything falls into place in your future. By getting into the now and seeing the abundance you already have no matter how small or seemingly trivial will allow more adundance to come into your life.

1. Pause and Notice Abundant Moments

Take notice of moments of beauty, love, kindness, prosperity or generosity in your day. Right now as I write my dog and cat sleep next to each other on the bed. The light through the window makes their fur shiny and their eyes sparkle. I pause and take in the kindness and generosity they have for each other in the beauty of the light. This is a small moment of abundance.

2. Breathe in the Moment and Open Your Heart

When you pause and are aware of the moment of abundance, then breathe intentionally. Take in larger and smoother breaths. As you are breathing, feel your heart open by bringing your attention to how the moment feels. Feel your heart open while you are noticing the moment. Let it sink in. Notice the beauty of a flower. Stop, breathe, and feel the beauty. The breath is the highway for your intentions, and the heart is the palace of wealth for your being.

These two steps begin the process of creating more abundance. They are simple and cost nothing, but they may not be what you want to do. It is easier to complain or stay stuck in the feeling that your life is too difficult to find abundance.

Learning  to live more abundantly is really not a mysterious secret. It is actually very clear ways of thinking, being and specific actions. It is, however, like learning a foreign language with different vocabulary, grammar rules and inflections. You can give up at the beginning because  it feels cumbersome and awkward, but the more you do it, the more you start to be able to navigate the new language. Eventually you can make your way around, and that’s when you start to see results from your efforts.

“Abundance beckons as a state of mind, beginning with gratitude for what you already have and followed by a vision of what you want to create in your life. Prosperity consciousness demands that you look beyond the energy of money and own up to what truly nourishes you.”

Gail McMeekin The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor.

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any women find themselves thinking of having a baby at 40 or in their 40′s. Women’s lives are changing so much that this is becoming very common. However, it is important to take care of our health more intentionally if you are in your forties then if you are in your twenties or early thirties. Here are some areas to nurture and take some time with to support your baby’s health and your overall experience of being a mother.

1. Make space in your life for pregnancy and a baby. Consciously let go of some extra commitments.  Plan two years where you can place more energy towards your body and baby, this means shifting priorities.
2. Build up your nutrient reserves. Intentional eating  that supports maternal health with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin C, and B-complex.
3. Strengthen your heart as it will work over time with the extra blood volume from pregnancy.
4. Build your support circle of family, friends, pregnancy/postpartum practitioners and sources for educational classes to have  as many resources you may need later on.
5. Learn to cook either with crock pots, or making freezer meals for one week at a time to reduce cooking stress after pregnancy.
6. Develop a simple 10minute mediation/yoga practice that can help you to relax. Relaxation helps conception, supports pregnancy, and restores you in that first year with a new baby.
7. If your overweight aim to loose 10% of your body weight.
8. Cultivate a daily check in with your partner and a weekly “together” time so that when baby arrives you already have routines that nurture your relationship.

All these topics can be gone more into but for the sake of this article I wanted to give an overview of how to prepare yourself if you want to have a baby at 40 or older. Many women are in the best health of their life in their 40′s but for those who aren’t it can be perfect motivation to really put your health first. To create a baby from our own body is a very demanding task and then afterwards you want to be able to enjoy the time you have with your baby and not feel run down and depleted. Having a baby at 40 is a time to honor your female body as a powerful but also vulnerable vessel for creation that will thrive best with extra love and support. Investing in your health is the best gift to give to yourself and to your baby.

If you want to know more about any of these topics I listed then please leave a comment below.

always have lots of personal goals, career goals, creative goals, parenting goals, goals I want to support in my son or my husband, household goals, financial goals — the list goes on. I tend to think that my achievements will be the key to feeling peaceful and free of stress. I then place the same expectations on my child. He too needs to achieve, whether academically, creatively or in his behavior. In actuality I’m discovering that this isn’t the most effective way to experience peace. Getting stuck in this energy or mindset of seeing fulfillment at the end of some goal  is in many ways counter to creating peace and well being.

When we think all the time in goals, we tend to add goals to our children so that we feel confident they will be successful in life. However, these lists of what we want for them can begin to take over just like our own lists. What begins to happen is that our children do not get to feel a sense of timelessness or space in their days, or the feeling of being loved just for being as they are.

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any women are concerned, and rightly so, about what gets passed on to their babies through their breast milk. Considering that we are exposed to thousands of chemicals now (even rocket fuel is being detected in breast milk!), things are rather complicated when it comes to discerning what’s best for the health of our babies.

Women who want to live healthy lifestyles are often interested in herbal medicines and supplements. Unfortunately, there are few easily accesible studies done on the safety of breastfeeding and herbs. Almost all supplement packaging says “do not take if breastfeeding” due to the lack of research. I think this is another example of the lack of support for maternal health issues after pregnancy. Women’s health after pregnancy is pretty much neglected. Until better research is provided, you need to make your own decisions on this topic.

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ettles are a great restorative and soothing medicinal used to help with the deep fatigue and some of the anxiety that many women feel in the postpartum time and early years of motherhood. Nettle tea is very nourishing though it has a robust leafy flavor. I sometimes have it instead of a cup of black tea because it gives me a slight pick me up, but it’s calming at the same time unlike black tea. It’s deep green chlorophyll helps create strong rich blood which strengthens a woman’s vitality. Since they are both calming and restorative herbs, nettles are a great choice as part of a natural treatment for postpartum fatigue and postpartum anxiety.

Nettles are one of the top western herbs that is used for all stages of childbearing, from fertility to breastfeeding.

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ew moms have specific health needs in the months after having a baby, and in the first two years following childbirth. The main thing I hear is the word “exhaustion.” During this time, there are huge demands on your body. From breastfeeding, to replenishing the lost nutrient reserves and blood from pregnancy and labor, going back to work,  adapting to a new life and many sleepless nights. These additional demands contribute to what is termed “postpartum exhaustion” which can lead to postpartum depression.

Besides deep rest and joyful relaxation, which is the #1 most important natural tonic, here are 6 herbs and supplements especially important for reviving your health after pregnancy and that are safe during breastfeeding. You don’t necessarily need all of them, but they should all be considered. A combination of these made the difference for me from feeling out of this world exhausted and burnt out in the first years after my son was born, to feeling rebalanced and restored.

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aking care of a baby can be downright stressful. I think every parent has experienced being at their wits end and feeling like they’re going to loose it many times. Maybe you were up a lot of the night with a crying baby, you’re exhausted, just want a break, and you have other responsibilities.

The fatigue and pressure build, and it’s easy to feel consumed by the stress. Stress has a way of creating more stress and parenting stress comes with a lot of guilt. The guilt is like being under a spell. A spell that says “Other parents don’t go through this, what’s wrong with me?” or “I’m a bad parent. How can I feel anger and frustration toward a little baby?” 

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t. John’s Wort is one of the best choices to alleviate feelings of depression using herbs in the treatment of postpartum depression (but not for  severe depression.) There is a lot of conflicting information in general about the safety of herbs and breastfeeding, including St. John’s Wort. From what I can find, there are no large studies on the matter. However there have been several small studies that are very supportive of  St. John’s Wort during nursing.

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s mother’s often struggle with feeling selfish when we do something for ourselves instead of our children. Although most of the time we love our children and being a mother, it’s easy to feel guilty or conflicted about putting energy into our other interests, in particular our creativity or what we’re most passionate about.

Unfortunately, most of us aren’t able to reconcile these conflicting feelings and either consciously postpone our creative lives until our children go off to college or write it off altogether as not possible. This was common in the earlier generations, and still continues today, though it is becoming less of a given.

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ish oil’s are an important natural treatment for general depression and can be very helpful in a natural postpartum depression treatment plan. There are some details, however, that can make a difference in what kind of effect you get from using fish oils for effective postpartum depression treatment strategy.

If you have  been supplementing with DHA during pregnancy and are still having symptoms of postpartum depression, then you may want to  increase your amount an switch to taking a higher dosage of EPA versus DHA. During pregnancy, DHA is usually taken in higher amounts than EPA for the baby’s benefit. For relief from depression, however, EPA fatty acid is more effective as a natural anti-depressant.

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s women, we are creators of life. This creativity is both in our physical body as well as in our energy body. When we are pregnant, the creative flow moves internally into the creation of our baby and stays internal for the first few years. After our children become a little more independent, our creative flow seeks to continue to be expressed. For some women, the creative flow is satisfied in the raising of children and the creation of  a home life centered around their children. There are many women, however, who’s creative needs lie beyond their children.

For one woman, it may be music, poetry or writing. For others, it is in service and community development, business or entrepreneurship. It really can be anything. What is at the core for all is the need to CREATE. It is a need outside the responsibility to make a living or to take care of her family. This creativity is the same creative energy that runs through a woman’s being that also brings children into the world. They are one and the same.

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here is plenty information available to women about how to take care of themselves and their baby when they are either trying to conceive or when they are pregnant. What’s missing is attention to the next stage both immediately and longer term after pregnancy.

The postpartum time usually refers to the time shortly after birth. There is, however, also a period of around two years afterwards that is really important for a woman’s health. There is no specific name for this period, but it is a time filled with massive change. Along with adapting to the many changes in her body, her sense of who she is now, her new home life, her professional life and changes in all her relationships, there is this new profound relationship with her baby.

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y sweet Labrador, Molly, is another child of mine. She has needs that pull at me daily. I adore her and love being with her, but sometimes it feels like another being who needs something from me, and I feel strapped for time. At minimum, she needs a daily walk, two 10 minute ball-throwing sessions and a weekly swim and doggie social hour for her to feel her best and be calm. Most of the time, my husband and I piece this together, but a lot of the time we’re not able to get that all in. As part of my integrated with life fitness plan, I’m looking at how I can also serve my fitness needs with Molly’s. Today I experimented with doing squats and lunges while I threw her the ball. When I bent over to pick up the ball, I did intentional squats. In between throwing her the ball, I would also do a few lunges. Hey, if I did this twice per day, ten squats per ball throwing session, I’d get in twenty per day that’s 140 squats or lunges per week!

I also discovered that by using my son’s foam baseball bat to hit the ball for Molly instead of using the ball thrower I normally use, I made more of an effort, and even made myself sweat a bit. Even these minor changes all add up according to the science done by James A. Levine MD, PhD in his book Move a Little, Loose a Lot.

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or so many years I have tried the more expected route to fitness by going to the gym and doing work outs. I’ve done it for short periods of time (six months being the longest), but eventually I quit. I do like the feeling I get from working out and prefer feeling fit versus not. The problem I have found is that it feels like one more thing to squeeze into an already too busy life. This actually increases stress which ruins the whole point of exercise and interferes with weight loss (stress inhibits weight loss). Also, if you keep failing at something, it doesn’t always mean to persevere; it may mean it’s time to do something differently.

The second problem I’ve found is that most gym work outs don’t engage my spirit, heart or mind. They are pretty mechanical. This really leaves me uninspired and unmotivated. After struggling with this for so long, I’ve realized that I need to be engaged in as many aspects of my being as possible when I exercise. That also means including activities with my family. If exercise isn’t a whole being experience or a shared family experience, I just won’t keep up with it.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is often misunderstood due to the many myths surrounding it that many people mistake for facts.

This may help you as you’re trying to sort out all the information out there.

Myth 1: All new mothers are tired and depressed after childbirth.

Fact: Fatigue and mood swings are common after childbirth. Many women may feel tired and overwhelmed, and moods may vary from feeling weepy one minute to very happy the next. But not every woman who feels tired and briefly depressed has PPD. But if the symptoms are more intense and longer lasting, over two weeks, comes and goes but still interferes with your life then you may potentially have PPD.

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otherhood is physically and emotionally demanding. Life is always moving forward, and there are always new challenges to face. Being empowered with the know-how of using herbal medicines can help us navigate the constant change in our lives and help our bodies be flexible and resilient.

Herbs can offer us sustained energy without the depleting effects of caffeine. They can also help soothe stress responses that usually tend to drive us to excess eating, sugar, over spending, or any other type of self soothing or stimulating activity with their calming or relaxing functions.

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eight loss after pregnancy is a whole different thing then trying to loose weight for most other people. A new mom has some additional challenges, including erratic sleep patterns, skipping meals, complete lack of personal time, frequent interruptions, loose ligaments and changes in pelvic structure, the higher demands on energy reserves for breastfeeding, and hormone fluctuations to name a few. There are many specific challenges after pregnancy that need to be addressed to get the most out of any weight loss program.

By addressing some of these particular issues a new mom faces you’ll have more success with a weight loss plan.

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y their very nature, pregnancy and childbirth, and the strong hormonal changes that go with them, are hard on a woman’s body.  While depression should never be ignored, many nursing moms are very reluctant to take antidepressant medication for fear of the effect it will have on their babies. Acupuncture has the ability to fill a very important gap as an alternative and more natural treatment for postpartum depression.

Acupuncture is an integral part of traditional Chinese medicine used worldwide for the treatment of various ailments. Quite a bit of scientific research has been conducted on the efficiency of acupuncture resulting in the approved use of the therapy for more than twenty conditions by the World Health Organization, including depression and several female hormonal related disorders. Since postpartum depression is thought to be rooted in an imbalance of  hormones, acupuncture is proven to be effective in both depression and hormone imbalances.

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t is becoming well known that the essential fatty acids called DHA and EPA found mainly in certain fish, are important for the neurological development of the fetus during pregnancy. Omega 3 oils are especially important during the final trimester since it is during this time that your baby builds about 70% of its brain system. Even baby formulas and baby foods are being supplemented with DHA. What is only recently being understood is it’s relevance to postpartum health, and depression specifically.

Omega 3 fatty acids are not produced by the body on its own, so they must be derived from the diet. What a baby does not get from the mother’s diet will be shared from the mother’s own brain cells! Because these nutrients are being shared from mom to baby, it is especially important for mothers to have a healthy amount of omega 3 foods in their diet during pregnancy, and to also continue supplementing during breastfeeding.