Welcome to this week’s issue of Weekly Wellness Wisdom!

What’s New from Centered Living

This fall I’ll be offering a series of tele-classes designed to enlighten and educate about Authentic Wellness.  I’m very excited to be introducing powerful ideas and strategies for becoming more centered, authentic and joyful.  Please stay tuned for more details in the weeks to come.

Weekly Wellness Wisdom is on its new weekly schedule.  Every Saturday you will receive the latest issue.  If for any reason, you don’t receive your weekly email, please email me at lori@loriboothroyd.com and we’ll help. 

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Wellness Wisdom Feature Article

What’s Growing?

This time of year our natural world is filled with growth.  Depending on where we live, we see crops, gardens and green growth of all kinds.  Noticing this has led me to think about our inner landscapes and what is growing within.  I refer to this process as psychic gardening, using the metaphor of a garden and ourselves as gardeners as we attend to our inner landscape.  We make choices about what we tend to, what we nurture and plant for future growth – this is our inner landscape.  How we garden and tend to that landscape determines the way we experience life. 

Life may be a lot of things, depending on who you ask:  A mystery, however enchanted or challenging.  One thing that seems certain is that life is about change.  Change asks us to grow and evolve.  A key element of authentic wellness is about how we choose to grow and the way we choose to live.  Today’s article is really more about proposing some questions to you, to support and encourage you to contemplate what is growing within your inner landscape. 

When was the last time you accepted a challenge that was deeply satisfying to you?  Or perhaps a time when you returned to an activity that nourished and sustained your spirit in the past?   What would you like to grow and bring into your life?  What would enhance and fulfill you?  If this thought inspires you, but you’re unsure of where to begin, I’d suggest you first return to childhood. 

What do you remember enjoying most when you were young?  What seemed joyful, soothing, fun or comforting to you?  Did you paint, play music, ride a bike, spend time with animals?  Perhaps the lakes or other bodies of water called to you, or the mountains asked to be climbed.  What was it that inspired and enchanted you? 

For many of us, we are missing elements of leisure, creativity and wonderment in our daily lives.  These are the elements that help us to grow and cultivate our inner landscapes.  My challenge and request to you this week is to consider some simple ways to bring a sense of wonder and inspiration back into your life.  What would that look like?  It might be committing a little time to complete a creative project you began long ago.  Maybe it is time to take a painting class, attend a fun workshop or plan a bike ride with a friend.  Again, be creative and keep it very simple.  You might benefit from taking a little time this week to ask and consider “What is growing in my inner landscape?” and listen quietly for the answers.  Your deepest wisdom will provide the answers and a path to support your journey toward Authentic Wellness.

Personal Reflections

Preparation for Adventure

I’ve heard it said that it is important for our growth to do something now and then that scares us.  This needn’t be something physically dangerous or risky, but rather an experience that feels frightening, yet growth promoting; something that takes us outside of our comfort areas and asks us to step forward and call upon our strengths and all our courage.  When was the last time you had such an experience?

I generally do a pretty good job of scaring myself and growing!   My mom has always said that I tend to leap before I look and I consider myself to have a lot of guts.  Still, there are always edges… places and experiences that frighten as much as they exhilarate. 

And so, now and then, I take advantage of adventure when it is offered to me.  There is just such an adventure coming up for us (Greg and I) soon.  We’re anticipating a delightful (and perhaps challenging) kayaking excursion in northern British Columbia.  We’ve been in training and preparation for this adventure for some months now.  As I prepare I ask myself:  What scares me in this venture?  What will nourish me?  How will I be called upon to grow and learn?  Most of all, I simply wonder:  What is going to happen?  What will I see?  I wonder…

I know that we will be kayaking in the Pacific, a new experience for me, a kayaker who frequents tame rivers and lakes no larger or deeper than Lake Michigan.  I’m not accustomed to large swells of ocean water hundreds of feet deep, marine animals nearby weighing in the tons and spending days in the wilderness.  As much as I love nature and the wild, this will be quite remote and further away from civilization than I’ve ever been.  How will I react?  I don’t really know.  But by stretching and growing in new ways, I will find out.  It’s another opportunity to be mindful and open to each moment. And I’ll share with you what I learn. 

May you have joyful experiences of discovery and wonderment. 

To your wellness,
Lori

About Lori

Dr. Lori Boothroyd is known as the “Coaching Psychologist”. She has served her clients and students well over the years through integrating her knowledge from earninga Ph.D. in psychology, as well as her advanced training in coaching and wellness psychology. Appreciated for her warmth and down-to-earth style as much as her expertise, Lori is a dynamic speaker, author and coach. She lives in Traverse City, Michigan with her husband, Dr. Gregory Boothroyd.

For a complimentary coaching consult, to inquire about programs or to ask any questions, please email: lori@loriboothroyd.com