Happy New Year!

I just love a fresh start, don’t you?

I have so many things I’m excited to share with you AND, I’m taking a little holiday with my family in the gorgeous mountains of Canmore. 

I certainly want to practice what I preach, so in honour of that, this week’s message is brief. 

Whether we’ve met in person or not, I want to let you know that I deeply appreciate you and I truly wish for you the very best year yet. 

2023! May it be miraculous and filled with smiles, laugh-out-loud moments, profound connection, deepening self-love and all sorts of easeful growth and expansion (except of your waistline, I’m not wishing that for you or for me, unless that’s one of your wishes, in which case go for it!)

Oh - and I’m going to do a little experiment. Often I have resources or books or other things that have made a big difference in my life, so I’m going to include a recommendation section in the next few...

One of the many aspects of the holy days that we’re experiencing right now is gifts and so I wanted to take a little time today to ask you about the gift of your mind. Are you using it in the best way possible or is it more like an unopened or unused gift that’s just waiting to be discovered?

Consider a candle. Do you have any candles around your house that remain unused? My daughter said the other day that she wouldn't be burning a beautiful beeswax candle she has because it’s too pretty. That got me pondering…

The whole point of a candle is to bring light. It also contains the potential power of transformation (because fire transforms things from one state to another). However, if a candle just sits there collecting dust, its gifts remain untapped, no matter how pretty it might be. 

If you burn a beautiful candle, there will no doubt be another candle out there. No shortage of candles. (Obviously, that’s not a 100% guarantee, but since candles...

Happy all the things! (Solstice + Whatever else you’re celebrating at this time of long nights and winter fun.)

Here’s the kind of winter fun I’m having: yesterday my son, Oakley, and I went for a walk in the -39C/-38F but sunny day. It took about six layers including two down jackets, but we totally felt like we had accomplished something significant.

Three things for today.

Thing 1

Would you like to know how to have more fun at your holiday gatherings (or any gathering for that matter)? Click here to read my latest article for Brainz magazine. You’ll discover 3 super fun activities that will ensure more connection, harmony and love this holiday season.

Picture glowing smiles, bright sparkling eyes, laughter and palpable love. That’s what you’ll get when you uplevel your table conversation using any of these suggestions. My very best wishes are coming your way for your most meaningful holiday ever.

Thing 2

Can you really hope to...

Thank you for all your kind wishes regarding the book I told you about last week. How lovely to be connected with such exceptional people like you.

In other news, it’s time for the 2 most powerful events of the year in Courageous Self-Care Land and you’re invited. Here’s the scoop.

Event #1- 2022 Courageous Self-Care Year-End Retrospective December 27

Can you really move forward if you haven’t taken some time to consciously look back?

This will be the fourth year that I’ve done a Year End Retrospective. I can’t imagine not doing it anymore because I’ve discovered that by taking the time to sit down and review the year, you learn so much about yourself and how you showed up during the year. 

From there, you set new intentions for the upcoming year, keeping the habits that have clearly worked. Although the last few years have been *interesting, they’ve been the best of my life, and I attribute that to consciously reflecting on the...

I wrote a children’s book! 9 years ago! And now it’s published!

Here’s what happened. (The story of how the book came to be is longer than the actual book.)

In 2013, my business was called Dance Ugly Dance Awkward. I helped people learn about themselves and release perfectionism through movement, so I thought about dance a lot.

I’m not even entirely sure how it happened, but one day, a poem came through me that I thought would make a great children’s book. Soon thereafter, I set out to find an illustrator. 

After making a few inquiries here and there, and connecting with various artists, I found someone to do the illustrations. All was going well. The woman did all the drawings and I loved them.  And then one day, she just stopped communicating with me. All attempts to connect with her failed. There was simply no way to reach her. 

The project stalled and I let go of it for a while. A few years later, as I noticed my daughter Zoe’s...

Last week, I had the honour of teaching Body Awake Yoga at a national conference for a group of medical academics in Banff (dream come true!) 

Since the yoga was at 6:30am, I had plenty of time to get out into the mountain air. I took two very interesting walks that seemed like a metaphor for life so I wanted to share them with you. Plus I captured this gorgeous sunrise. These are the real colours! No filters! Right out my window!

The hotel was not really in Banff; it was outside of town halfway up a mountain. I set out to explore. The option was up… or up. I clomped through the snow for a while and then found a road. It seemed relatively quiet and so up I went, enjoying the pine trees swaying in the wind on both sides. 

The road alternated with a gradual climb and then steep switchbacks where there was no visibility to determine if cars were coming or not. On each sharp curve, a decision had to be made of where it would be best to place myself so that I would be...

Have you heard anything lately about hustling or having a side hustle?

I’ve noticed it popping up in books, emails and articles and I have to say that I’m not in agreement with hustle-culture.

Here’s why. (I learned this paradigm-shifting-mind-blowing idea from my mentor Dr. Sue Morter.)

If it takes a huge amount of energy to “make something happen”, it’s going to take an equal amount of energy to sustain it. 

In other words, if you’re working super hard to manifest something or bring it to fruition, you’re going to need to put out just as much energy on the other side to maintain it, and that’s just not feasible (in my experience). 

On the other hand, if something comes into your life with ease and grace, it will be much easier to sustain because you’re already at that vibration. 

Basically, if you’re over-trying, over-efforting, striving or forcing, you can expect to keep pushing that boulder...

Greetings!

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Brainz Magazine called: 

How To Find More Time In Your Day (Surprise ‒ It Has Nothing To Do With Time Management)

There were so many secrets about time I wanted to share that it turned into 2 articles and Part 2 is now ready for your reading pleasure. 

Click the link below to read: 

How To Find More Time In Your Day Part 2 (And It’s Not About Time Management)

Here's what you'll discover:

Your beliefs about time impact every second of every day. In this article, learn why what you think and say about time is far more important than your time management and organizational skills.

Enjoy!

With infinite love and boundless courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Executive Contributor for Brainz Magazine

>Avid reader (currently reading: Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki, The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne, Wildflower by Drew Barrymore and The Nobleman's Guide to...

Sometimes, lessons come from the most unexpected circumstances.

The other day, I had a hankering for my favourite scones (a modified version of the scones from my most beloved Calgary bakery; Sidewalk Citizen). They are these delicious morsels of goodness with coconut flour, dark chocolate, and if we have some handy, dried cherries. I’m telling you, they’re magnificent.

I used to make these scones a lot and they always turned out great. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped turning out, even though I didn’t change anything. I kept trying and they kept being not good at all (but always, mysteriously, in a different version of not good).

Not wanting to give up on the best scones of all time, I asked Zoe to make them, and they were back to being good. She’s become the scone baker of the house over the last few years and all has been good, as far as scone consumption goes. 

When I had my hankering last week, though, Zoe was at school and I wanted them tout de...

I had an experience last week that helped me (re)learn how important one’s outlook is. A small (or Titanic-sized) shift in perspective changes everything. Here’s what happened.

Many years ago (in 2019), we purchased tickets to see a Norwegian music group called Wardruna. Paul and the kids love them and I thought it would be fun, so we got tickets. Then came 2020 so obviously we didn’t get to see them that year. The show got postponed to Oct 24.

On Oct 24, 2021, we were heading out to see the long-awaited performance. I thought it was a little strange not to have received any info about the venue change, but that didn’t phase me (or send up any red flags). 

I searched my email for more info and noticed that something was amiss because Oct 25 was a Monday, but the show was supposed to be on Monday, Oct 24. For a moment, my heart dropped because I’d done something like that before. We had opera tickets one year and went to see the show, only to...