Category: Self Love
#KudosToYou: Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Hosts “Over the Edge” Fundraiser for Special Olympics
There are many ways to enjoy the views of Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii- by airplane, boat, foot or car. But, what do you think it would be like to take in the turquoise textures of the water, the swaying palms popping out of fluffy sand and the yawning sky disappearing into the Pacific Ocean while rappelling down a 40 story (more than 400 feet!) building?
The Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach is providing this high-thrill vantage point, via an event called Over the Edge on Saturday November 5th, to adventure-seekers able to raise more that $1,000 for the Special Olympics Hawai’i. They hope to raise $130,000 for Special Olympics Hawai’i with all funds used to benefit local athletes.
The Over the Edge event has raised over $900,000 (!) for Special Olympics Hawai’i since it was first held in 2009. The proceeds have provided services to more than 3,700 athletes statewide.
The Journey of The Great Song Cycle: Interview with Joanna Wallfisch
Playful and poetic British vocalist and composer Joanna Wallfisch shirked the bus aspect of her latest West Coast tour in favor of a bike. The tour was aptly named The Great Song Cycle.
Joanna pushed through challenge and triumph while traversing the coast with only her body and two thin wheels propelling her forward; what transpired was a tour full of music made richer by the beautiful struggle Joanna intentionally created.
As you’ll discover in the following interview with this unique songstress, her journey was not passed through without contemplation and growth; it birthed it.
Why did you decide to pass on “traditional transport” in favor of a bike for this portion of your tour?
J: The main reason was freedom. Life on a bicycle is to be completely self-reliant and self-sufficient. I carried all that I needed for my multi-faceted month; my instruments, my home, my clothes, food, water, and myself. When traveling by car, train or plane one can easily forget that you have to carry yourself with you wherever you go. On a bike, you become so attuned to the body you live in and how mind, spirit and flesh can actually exist simultaneously together and also as separate entities. It was a complete thrill to know that the only way I was going to get from A to B was by the strength of my own body and mind…. Read more on Huff Post!
A Musician’s Journey Through Success, Heartache & Reclaiming Her Gift of Creation: Interview with Leslie Nuchow
Illness and new life required Leslie Nachow’s attention flow from her music to her family after her acclaimed album Tenderland debuted in 1998. Now, eighteen years later Leslie has re-opened the gates to her creativity, and birthed her next album Balm for Gilead. Leslie wrote the songs for the album two weeks after her mother passed away, infusing it with authentic emotion and poignancy that makes a direct strike at the heart. There will be tears while listening to this album, but, as they trickle out, love will pour in.
Because Leslie is such a gifted writer, I wanted her to share, in her own poetic vernacular, what the journey from Tenderland to Balm for Gilead looked (and felt) like.
Bailey: The struggle of harmonizing the nourishment of creative needs with caring for loved ones is such a challenge, especially when one of your loved ones is ill. What was it like to set aside music to be the caretaker for both your mother and son? How did Emily support you through this transition?
Stunning Photo Celebrates One Mom’s Rainbow Baby, While Honoring the 6 She Lost
Mamas who have survived the loss of a pregnancy and are newly pregnant with their rainbow baby (a child born after a stillbirth or miscarriage), have an obligation to themselves to honor their journey. These women have gone deep into the trenches of pain and had the strength to reopen their hearts to another child; they’re so deserving of worship and love, versus the guilt and regret that is often served on this path.
I’ve worked with many women who have emotionally kicked themselves when they became pregnant with their rainbow baby by thinking they didn’t deserve this new child, believing that the passing of their last child was somehow their fault, and that if they expressed even a breath of excitement for the new pregnancy, something would go wrong.
I want to wrap all these women in my heart and tell them it’s OK to be excited; it’s OK to celebrate; it’s OK to have hopes and dreams for this new life while simultaneously mourning the loss of your past child’s life.
5 Bali Destinations that Will Nurture Your Creativity
Every Creative is perpetually searching for the “it” spot that will unlock all the juicy ideas, and resulting creations, waiting to blossom from their mind. While there is no magic elixir for inducing creativity, being in a location ripe with sacred structures, water pulsating with life, and landscapes that not only astound your eyes but cause your heart to smile, will offer you the key to your inner world of inspiration- all you need to do is turn it.
That key is waiting for you in Bali.
Here are five locations, nestled in Bali, that will encourage your expressions of creativity to flow in directions they never before had permission to explore.
Why Nurturing Your Self Will Make You a Better Mother
Learn How to Handle Life Like a Badass! (Online Course)
It’s launching! Ya whoo! My newest course on Daily OM “How to Handle Life Like a Badass” launched today and it’s currently mega-super-duper affordable. Youll find its spiel below. Let me know if you have any questions.
Sending you love!
~Bailey
The Spiel
Do you dwell in the darkness, even when your life is full of light? Do you live in dread of mistakes, or perceived misfortunes? Do challenges eclipse your ability to see the forest for the trees?
Would you like to feel excited by the growth opportunities in your challenges? Would you like a metaphorical flashlight to guide you through the darkness, out into a brighter reality? Would you like to open your spirit to a knowing that the life you are meant to lead is colorful, dynamic, and blissful?
This course will help you step into that brighter world. It will adjust the shade of your challenges from murky blacks and browns to vibrant blues, greens, purples, pinks, reds, yellows, and gold. Together we will unravel the tight belief that challenges are wrong, bad, or debilitating. The exciting bumps in life are not to be feared but examined, explored, and honored. A road with rolling hills, sweeping curves, unexpected dips, and steep inclines is much more thrilling than a straight flat road leading to more of the same.
In the space of this course you will learn to awaken your inherent ability to take a skilled mind, body, and spirit to this bumpy road of life. You will not only learn to see challenges as benefits but will tap into your inner knowledge of how to pull the insights, epiphanies, and enlightenment from life’s struggles. On the other side of this learning you will find yourself freed from anticipatory fear and anxiety, waking each day with an excited curiosity for what is to come, and a knowing that you can roll through it all- expanding your beautiful soul in every moment.
Each lesson will be complimented by a Guided Meditation recording, serving to integrate the core elements of the lesson with your subconscious mind.
TOPICS COVERED
- Solidifying Your Self Worth
- Detangling from Anticipatory Fear and Anxiety
- Honoring Unpredictability and Giving It Sacred Worth
- Changing the Color of Challenges
- Having a Dialogue with Challenges
- Writing Out the Challenges
- How Body Awareness Can Lead to Acceptance
- Relearning Your Ability to Have Unconditional Fun
Now is the time to step into your renewed life, where all good is coming to you.
Get Your Man Some Backbone
#MamaConfession When I was pregnant (and my personal shifts were hitting the fan) I forgot my partner was also going through a huge shift- a complete man-amorphosis. I gave him very little support in that regard and I’m doing it differently next time the vacancy is filled in my womb.
If you’re moving through your own mama-morphosis and want to offer your baby-making partner some transformational TLC (it will make your life easier as well!) check out the book Backbone, written by the amazing partner (David Harshada Wagner) of my bestie-rockstar-badass-mama friend (Taryn Longo).
Even if I didn’t adore this couple from the bottom of my heart to the tip of my soul I would still recommend this book to every man (or boy moving through the process of becoming a man) I know.
Check it out!
Straight-Chillin’ Sunday
Change Your Life With the Power of Death- Course Review
“Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent.” Gabriel Dee’s Daily Om course, Change Your Life With the Power of Death opens with this powerful quote from Steve Jobs then goes on to lighten all your fears by supporting you in releasing the ultimate fear- the fear of death.
Death is a topic rooted deep in my mind that I never let out to play- my breathing becomes shallow, my thoughts darken and my hope falters when I ruminate on the idea of death, or allow myself to re-feel the emotions attached to a loved one passing away. This course flipped my script of death- shining light on how it can be used to enhance life, versus elicit fear and avoidance.
As Gabriel writes in the course, “If you are a spiritual seeker, I highly advise you to follow these teachers on the road to death. Because the road to death eventually leads to enlightenment. The path of darkness leads to light.” How lovely does that sound? To gain the ability to see the light in the darkness of death, to even pull a potent form of love, hope and joy from the acceptance of it?
This course doesn’t paint a picture that “someday you will be gone and that’s it- deal with it”- it offers the possibility that by accepting and honoring the knowing that one day your body will die you step into your immortality. You step beyond the physical aspects of death to explore what it means on a spiritual level, and what it can mean for your current life- how it can inform your thoughts and actions for the better.
In addition, this course offers valuable lessons for parents hoping to raise a unique individual, while facing the barrier of unconsciously conditioning the child to become a copy of themselves. (Guilty!) The course doesn’t admonish this behavior, but supports us in examining this phenomenon and creating space to make different decisions in how we raise our children. It also provides a powerful lesson in how to begin raising the unique child within us all who was affected by our parent’s desires to mold us into a version of themselves.
This course will serve to liberate you from the restrictions you currently have between your current self, and your best self by helping you find peace with the idea of death. As Gabriel writes in the course, “It kills fear because it faces you with the source of all fears, the fear of death. It kills procrastination because it takes away the illusion of time. And finally, it kills your mind because it helps you find who you really are beyond your ideas.”
If you choose to explore this course, you’ll dive deep into the following teachings over the course of eight lessons and
How to develop lasting motivation effortlessly without willpower.
How to prioritize between important and meaningless activities.
How to live an authentic and meaningful life instead of just surviving.
How to eradicate all of your fears and find courage.
How to find your true purpose and start creating it.
How to stop procrastination and develop a sense of urgency
How to really achieve your dreams and live up to your potential?
How to make sure that you really live, love and matter.
If you want the motivation to step into your full power to change your world, take this course.
5 Lessons to Learn from “Motherhood in Focus”
Mothers are the ghosts in many family albums- the facilitator of the photos but never the star.
Photographer Ahna Tessler, who began freezing the beauty of moments with her camera after the birth of her twins, was inspired to create the Motherhood In Focus project after photos of herself became such a scarce commodity she was compelled to superimpose herself into family photos.
After seeing how moved families (that had hired her) were when viewing the photos she had captured, she decided Motherhood In Focus should focus on single mothers who couldn’t afford her services. With the support of Babble, she grabbed her camera and spent five months stepping into the un-posed lives of 23 families, immortalizing equal parts silly and poignant moments.
Ahna eloquently explained why she selected the families of low-income single mothers as her subjects, saying, “In their fight to provide a better life for their children, there is certainly no room in the budget to hire a photographer. There is no proof, no tangible memories, and simply no photos of them with their children.”
Coming To Terms With the Negative Birth Experience You Weren’t Expecting
As a doula, I recently attended a 30-hour birth that turned the mom’s birth preferences on their head (or maybe into the breech position). The mama was elated to end up with a healthy baby but is moving through deep regrets over certain aspects of her experience (about 90 percent of her preferences had to be scrapped for medical reasons.)
It can be really deflating when you put in months of preparation to have a particular type of birth, and then fall into having the opposite type of birth. It totally sucks. But “it’s not allowed to suck” — or so everyone says — if you and baby end up healthy.
“Well at least you have a healthy baby.”
Ugh.
Yes, you had your healthy baby, and obviously you’re thrilled with that ideal outcome, but what about all the yuck in between? The dashed expectations? The missed opportunities to move through certain experiences you had prepared for? The residual trauma of moving through experiences you hadn’t prepared for?
9 Date Ideas That’ll Make You Forget You’re a Grown-Up
I love me a good “dinner and a movie” date night, but they’re not unique or memorable. The nights I do remember are when we do something we both initially resist, or are scared to do (I’m looking at you ocean kayaking–at night.) I also remember the nights when everything goes completely sideways, but because we’re together, we have an unexpected blast. Here are some date night ideas that are sure to kindle (or rekindle) your sense of adventure, childlike wonder, and appreciation for that guy or gal in your life–no matter how adult you are.
1. Play Truth or Dare
Grab a bottle of wine and prepare to get honest. I would recommend saving yourself some hassle and maybe abstaining from “truths” about exes or the how your partner thinks your butt looks. But you do you!
Surround Yourself With Those Who Believe in You During Childbirth
Settling Into Your Favorite Spot in Nature: Relaxation Recording
Happy Holiday weekend y’all!
Because a few extra days off can easily slip into drowning yourself in making up laundry washing, email responding, baseboard washing (just me?) and many other uber fun activities, it may be a good idea to allow yourself to chill for a few moments. If you need some extra support, here is a recording to help you settle into your favorite spot in nature (even if you’re unable to physically go there.)
*Just type 0 into the price box to get it for free.
Sending you love!
xo
Bailey
Talk to Me: How Talking to Our Grandparents Can Make Us Better People
My relationship with my Grandmother Betty (Grambetty) has always been a selfish one. I share endlessly about my worries, accomplishments and major missteps, siphon rich streams of advice from her, send her photos of my little family but rarely ask for images from her life and generally fill her with my own “stuff”, scarcely asking about her experiences.
She recently visited my home, and arrived on the same day I heard about the Huff Post Talk to Me project- total “Ah-ha! I’m a jerk” moment.
“Why haven’t I done this with my Grandmother before?”
Mental Health Mornings
Volunteering For New Moms Saved My Life
I had very negative (sometimes cruel) things to say to myself before I started “selfishly” giving to others.
The giving began shortly after I had my first panic attack. My son was 4 months old and I thought very little of my skills as a caregiver, had a sudden loss of love for myself, and a sense of unworthiness for all the beautiful drops of fortune in my life. The strength of the panic grew so intense I was put on medication.
The medication would help for a few hours, then I felt shame and guilt for having to take medication. I needed a pill that offered a paradigm shift.
My mom offered something better. She recommended I volunteer for a local organization that pairs trained volunteers with new mothers who have very little support and low income. It seemed crazy, seeing as how I was a new mother with little support and low income, but I was compelled to volunteer. I had to organize childcare for my baby during the training and volunteer sessions, but I knew I had to do this to become the mother my child deserved.
Bailey Gaddis Blog 