Gosh, are we already 1/3 of the way through November? Where has the time gone?

My plan was to coin November “Body Awareness Month” and create a series of posts about sensing and feeling your deep core muscles, finding your ideal posture, etc. I haven’t done that yet. Maybe next week!

In the meantime, to improve your body awareness, check out my Get Your Abs Back After Baby video… It’s not just for new mamas! It’s for any woman who wants to find and strengthen her deep core muscles: The muscles that improve stability, support proper posture, and decrease back pain.

Do it! It’s long (28 minutes), but it’s worth a full viewing (and participation, of course). Again, click here for my “Get Your Abs Back After Baby” that will show you how to strengthen your deep core muscles.

Rather than focus on physical body awareness, today I would like to focus on INNER AWARENESS.

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably know that I’m participating in the Deepak Chopra 21 Day Meditation Challenge. You may also recall that I’ve spent quite a bit of time working with an energy healer who is helping me clarify what I want in life… My goals, dreams, visions for the future… My purpose on this planet.

Taking the time to really take stock of where you are in your life right now and clarifying where you want to be (or what you’d like for the future) is an extremely valuable exercise that is often neglected among busy women. Often, it takes all of our energy just to get through the day… The last thing we want to do is think and reflect… We just want to escape with “Dancing with the Stars” and a cup of hot cocoa. But taking time for reflection is the best gift you can give yourself, because reflection brings clarity and a sense of direction. Reflection — cultivating inner awareness — helps you to live your life on purpose rather than living just to get by.

Take time to relax, reflect, and clarify!

There is one caveat: With clarity often comes change, and change can be scary.

Change can mean turning down a new path, saying “no” to obligations and commitments that you’ve said “yes” to for a long time (too long, in some cases)… Recognizing your worth… Stepping up and saying, “wait, WHY am I doing this for free?” or “why am I doing this alone? I need help!” or “this isn’t something I want to do… So why the heck am I here?”

We will always have to do certain distasteful things like paying bills on time, running errands, and dealing with everyday hassles of life. But what about the things we do — because we made a commitment — that aren’t moving us forward in the direction of our life’s purpose? What about tasks that give us a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs? Or things that we feel obligated to continue even though our time might be better spent doing something else?

I have spent a lot of time clarifying my visions for the future, and I’ve come to the realization that I need to make a few changes.

My first change:

I want to keep up my clinical skills as a physical therapist. I love the fitness industry, and FemFusion Fitness will always be my passion, but my original training is as a doctor of physical therapy and I do not want to let my clinical skills fade. I haven’t been in clinical practice for two years (since moving to Germany), and it is time for that to change.

I am not letting go of FemFusion Fitness, but I do need to let go of one of my classes in order to open up time in my schedule for clinical PT work. So come December, I’ll say “goodbye” to my Wednesday FemFusion classes at the Landstuhl Fitness Center. It’s hard to leave, but the environment was never quite right for my classes anyway… People often wander in and out of the room — men, half the time — which makes it hard to talk about kegels and to properly shake our booties!

I’ll be keeping my Friday class at Grace Studio, and Teresa will continue to teach at the Southside gym on Tuesdays, but starting in December Wednesdays will be my day for private (one on one) fitness training and women’s health physical therapy appointments. Contact me if you want to schedule an appointment!

My second change:

I won’t be blogging as often. Probably cutting down to 1-2 new posts each week.

With this new addition to my schedule (physical therapy work) I’ll have one less day to work on the computer, which means less time to create new posts. Furthermore, I am still “hatching” plans with a fellow physical therapist for an AMAZING website dedicated to fitness and yoga videos for women. I’m SUPER excited about this endeavor, but it is taking up a lot of my spare time, as is another project that’s on the back burner… FemFusion Fitness teacher training so that I can bring my classes to a broader audience. I’m also working on two certifications of my own… To become a certified “Healthy Foot Practitioner” and a certified “Perinatal Fitness Specialist.”

So basically, ANYTHING that is outside of what I just listed is going to have be a “no.” I can’t take on any more projects or tasks right now, or my head might explode. Not good for anyone.

My third change:

I am tweaking my diet (yet again) and following the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. Not only do I have celiac disease and I truly feel better eating a 100% grain-free diet, but I also have symptoms of leaky gut syndrome (probably due to years of eating bread, dairy, and tofu… All foods that I learned — as an adult — that I do NOT tolerate), and I have an autoimmune condition that affects my skin.

It’s time to step up and make it a priority to heal my guts. I’ve been doing GREAT — I have to give myself credit — but there’s still a missing link and I want to find out what it is once and for all. So on top of eliminating grains (which I’ve been doing for the past year) I’m also going to spend 30-6o days without eggs, white potatoes, nightshades, and alcohol. Oh alcohol… How I’ll miss you. But my liver needs a chance to really heal.

So I won’t have as many fun recipes to share with you either.

If you’re still reading, THANKS!

So many of these posts are simply cathartic for me to write… To get things down on paper (well, onto the computer screen) feels good. It helps to clarify my direction and my purpose. I have always been a planner, and writing on this blog — for anyone and everyone to see — is just a very public way for me to state my intentions and (ultimately) stick with them!

Although my posts will be slowing down, I still have plans. Check back next week for the RESULTS of the 6-Week Fem Challenge (it was so fun!), a fantastic dairy-free yam casserole for Thanksgiving, and hopefully a few new videos. I want to address posture a la “Chi Walking” + proper foot alignment, and I have the best of intentions to create a “slow burn” video. Anyone who’s taken my classes knows what I mean by “slow burn.”

In summary:

Remember to clarify what YOU want for the future, and then go after it!!! Even if that means saying “no” and/or re-prioritizing your current agenda.

As Deepak Chopra states:

Abundance, like everything else in the universe, is simply a specific arrangement of energy and information. With our intention, we can change the energy, add new information, and manifest whatever we want, need, or desire. Abundance is unlimited, unbounded, and always available.