The good news:

1. Your access to this Soul Gym Forum (as well as our FB Group Soul Gym Lounge) will continue indefinitely. Although Heather and I won't be monitoring it anymore, you are welcome to continue posting here and commenting on one another's posts.
   
   
2. I'm giving you lifetime access to these courses -- Authentic Content Flow and Joyful Productivity.
   
   
3. I'm launching The Joyful Productivity Club (JoyPro) -- with Heather's support!) --and it begins in August.  The price is $60/mo, which is still less than most of you are paying for Soul Gym. I believe that JoyPro will serve a greater purpose than Soul Gym, because it's about building excellent habits in multiple areas of business/life, including content creation.
   
   

These days continue feeling intense... It feels like we have to stay balanced amidst continual change...

Are you managing your energy?

Do you have practices to keep yourself present, protected, and in tune as you move throughout these crazy times?

Here's a video with three short energetic exercises to help you move skillfully through the world when the energies are up and down. You will learn to ground, connect with Spirit, and protect yourself.

         

If you're interested in learning more energy management, consider taking my online Energy Mastery Course. Or ask about local classes here in San Miguel.

Astrology-The Day Out of Time
Today, Thursday, July 25th is the Day Out of Time in the Mayan Calendar. It's a day that exists between the last day of their moon based calendar and the beginning of their new year. It's considered a free day, a day without time. Crystalinks reminds us it:

 "re-aligns humanity into renewed appreciation for our inherent divinity and connection to nature."

Be sure to spend some time tuning into Spirit, connecting with your higher self, and experiencing the joy of life!

Checkout This Podcast I Was On
My cyber friend Tina VanDenburg at Kinship Handwork reached out to me to talk about intuition and life in Mexico. Tina is a maker and sewing teacher as well as being profoundly interested in how we create a vital, alive life.

You can listen to our conversation here at her beautiful podcast called "In Kinship, a Podcast for Makers Who Crave a Vibrant Life on Their Own Terms." 

Enjoy these powerful times!
Much love and many blessings,
Kristina

The energies are pretty chaotic this week. We're being asked to choose our own stability, to come back to inner peace, stillness and well-being regardless of what's going on around us.

Today I am sharing a meditation for inner calm and a brief channeling about creating personal stability from the Guides.

Access the meditation here.

Access the channeling here.

         

Astrology-Mars, Uranus, and a Blue Moon   
It's strong astrology this week. Mars the planet of action, meets Uranus, the planet of sudden and unexpected changes, bringing a time of volatility, impulsiveness, and a tendency towards unexpected change. It's a period to stay in your own lane, to not take anything personally, and to actively cultivate neutrality.

Sunday at 5:16am Central time, our full moon is in Capricorn for the second time in a row. This moon, close to the planet Pluto, the god of the Underworld, could bring unexpected changes, heightened vibrations, and the possibility of great insights as well as new beginnings.

It's a potent time, a period we could see great world change, and a time to truly nourish our own inner well-being.

Choosing slow, simple and gentle.

I've come to this realization in the last few weeks that I can't heal myself the same way I was wounded in the first place. 

I have to be gentle, versus forceful. 

Flexible versus rigid.

Kind instead of critical.

Letting go instead of continuing to push.

Allowing myself to be okay with wherever I am rather than punishing myself when I can't keep up.

Operating from the heart space is a new concept for me, even though many would say that they know I'm all heart... or mostly heart with a side of sass. 

When I need to rest, stay extra quiet, and embrace the silence, it’s a new choice and to be comfortable with it; is a challenge.

I’ve always been heavy-handed, a high performer, absolutely into the grind, the hustle, and the pushing. 

No matter how often I try to adjust my energy and take some time, I still slide back into those old ways. For a long time, I’ve been saying that the old ways aren’t helping us. The energy of the world has been shifting overall for quite some time, and now more than ever, we are being called to be more heart-centered.

Here are a few strategies I'm trying to bring into this heart-centeredness. 

Meditation: even for just a few minutes a day, reinforces the habit of being still and listening to my heart; but more importantly, just feeling my feelings.

Meditation isn't about escaping or quieting the noise in my head, it's about allowing it the space to breathe.

Journaling allows me to track my progress and reflect on my experiences. Writing about my thoughts and feelings provides insights into why I might be slipping back into old habits and how to stay aligned with my new approach.

Self-Compassion during this transition is essential. It's natural to have moments where I fall back into old habits. I recognize these moments as opportunities to learn and grow rather than setbacks. 

And, it's HARD. 

Regular Check-Ins: Setting aside time regularly to check in with myself and my feelings helps me stay true to my heart-centered approach. I do this daily; because weekly and monthly is to spaced apart for me. 

Setting Boundaries: Learning to say no and setting healthy boundaries protects my energy and allows me to prioritize what truly matters to me. Boundaries are essential for maintaining a balance between giving and receiving.

Simplifying anything and everything I possibly can to keep things easier for the days that feel more demanding on my system.

As I continue this journey, I am committed to embracing the heart space and letting go of the hustle. The world is indeed shifting, and I believe that by becoming more heart-centered, we can create a more harmonious and fulfilling way of living and working.

Where are my kindred hustlers at?

Are you ready to be more heart-centered in an intentional and purposeful way that is gentler, well-paced, and sustainable; versus exhausting and draining?

With love, from my blanket fort. 🪶

I've been absent from work and social media in general for a long time, but I'm getting ready to get back to it.

I wrote what is probably my first LinkedIn post in 2024!

“Living is easy with eyes closed

Misunderstanding all you see

It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out

It doesn't matter much to me”

I thought sobriety was all I needed

As long as I'm sober, I'm ok.

I got through having my sober heart broken. I stayed sober. I was ok.

I got through a global pandemic, more grateful than ever for my sobriety.

Sat with my mother in the last year of her life, profoundly grateful for my sobriety, that I wasn't making it all worse with my drunken pain. 

I got through all this and more in the last (almost) 10 years. Sober. As long as I'm sober, I'm ok.

I didn't even really think I needed to think about my ‘recovery’. I had my sobriety. 

Then life reminded me that it's not just about sobriety. That there's a lot more I need to recover from. That my sobriety doesn't mean much if the grief and pain are still tucked away, quietly eating away at me unnoticed. 

In January, I had no choice but to face it. The chronic stress. The grief. The depression. 

I deactivated and deleted social media profiles. Cancelled obligations and longed for events. I retreated beneath my duvet and let the depression take hold. I had no choice, it was taking me with or without my consent. So i may as well accept it. 

I've learned a lot about myself in the past 6 months. About who I am, what truly matters to me, and what I want from my life.

I know now that, valuable though my sobriety is (and that is still intact, and wasn't under threat at any point in these hard months), I am and will always be in recovery. 

Because life is fucking hard. There are reasons I would drink a bottle of wine a night and hide it from my friends. My life isn't easy, and if I don't remember that I have to prioritise recovery then this will happen again. 

I've learned a lot about the importance of compassionate support, and what a person might really need when they're feeling stuck in life. 

And I'm looking forward to bringing this to my coaching when I open my books for clients again in September, once my son goes back to school.

But first, I have beaches to explore, festivals to dance at, and hills to climb! 

What are your summer plans? 

[Photo credit: Marcus Nagle at Strawberry Fields on a recent Liverpool trip]

Here in San Miguel there is much needed rain and we are loving our green season...

In this weeks newsletter I wanted to write more about house clearing from a deeper perspective.

Recently, I had a couple come to me who were having strong uncomfortable experiences in their home. Their son and one of their staff had been seeing things and people were getting unreasonably sick. In addition a staff member had been let go around the time this all began.

In Mexico it’s common for people to leave energies in houses with malintent, especially from staff who feel "wronged."

In order to heal this one must find what got left, which could be physical or purely energetic, and then move it out of the home. To do this work, I generally call in powerful ally spirits such as St Germaine, Jesus, and Archangel Michael.

In this case, I found energy had been deposited in a number of places. I tested for where these were and then once we removed the bad energy, we put in non-physical remedies, and finally bolstered it with crystals, essential oils, and salt lamps.

In addition I coached the couple on visualizations, prayers, and how to hold strong intention in order to maintain this work while it was all settling in.

They got back to me the next day saying the night had been very rough but the energy had shifted. I went back once more to do a final clearing, finding and moving  the last of the stuck energy. The couple felt much relieved and there was a sense of peace and well-being back in the house.

I often work with homes that are not selling. It is common to find renters have left energies that prevent the house from moving. Generally once it is cleared there is a big shift and the house sells pretty quickly. I had one case where the renter had been mentally unstable and somewhat violent. Even though she had left the house years before, her energy was still stuck there. Once we identified and moved that energy the house sold quickly.

There can also be "spirits" such as indigenous people who are still on the land that need to be honored and negotiated with. One time myself and my partner walked the edges of our property declaring them closed, tying red ribbons at the corners. Within days we were both sick as dogs. Looking deeper we found we had angered the non-physical inhabitants. We quickly took the ribbons down, opened up the land, and soon felt better. Who knew? Such amazing things happen ounce we begin working in the non-physical realms!

Clearing the Energies of Your Own House
Do you wonder if the energies in your own house are congested or stuck? Here's a simple exercise you can do to assess it and then fix it.

Take a slow walk around your house while getting a sense as to how it feels. You are intuiting into the energy, the feeling tone of your house. Notice where there is a sense of spacious, open peacefulness, and where that is a sense of confusion, muddiness or congestion. To do this move slowly, with your mind quiet, and let your feeling or knowing senses lead you.

Often you will find the "muddy, congested feeling," check to see if there are items that belonged to others, items that no longer matter to you, or where there is just too much stuff.

Then de-clutter, move things, clean, and rearrange until you find a renewed sense of peace there. See if you can bring back a sense of "fresh aliveness."

If the energy continues to feel stuck you can do further clearing with sage, palo santo, or essential oils. You can also place fountains, salt lamps, and stones to raise the vibration in these areas.

House clearing is a grand art. There are many layers to it. If you want to learn more, or schedule a clearing for your house, drop me a line. I will be teaching an in-person class here in San Miguel this summer, and probably something online later in the year.

@Michael Williams

I've been home a week or two and I'm finally settling into a routine that feels both effective and spacious.

On this note, we're almost half way through the year and it's a time to dream into what's next in your year. Last week's solstice marked a turning point encouraging us to re-evaluate our lives.

Honoring the In-Between Time
I am noticing it is an in-between time for many people. They are just returning from long trips, finishing school or commitments, and looking into what is presently important and how they want to live.

Personally, I love having this kind of time and letting myself not know. It's like I can drift into fantasies of different sorts of travel, what kind of classes I'd like to offer, how I want to organize my time, and what's really important now.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself as you go forward:

• Can you see what you want?
• Are there quality tones, feelings, or new experiences you're longing for?
• Are there innovative ways you could organize your time?
• Are there new ways to support yourself that you've been afraid to try?
• Is there anything you've really wanted in your life that now could be the time for?

On the other hand you can also examine what has completed:

• Are there projects, experiences, or ways of being that are ready to drop away?
• Are there things you've been doing that don't contribute to the joy of your life?
• Are there any routine tasks that have become drudgery, that you need to let go of?

I've had a commitment to study Spanish yet I was hating my classes. Due to a disruption in my schedule, I was able to change it up, start a new group class, and commit to a personal plan of study, all of which has freshened my experience and made me excited to re-engage.

Make It Real!
If you're up for it, make a Vision Board. Put pictures, drawings, or collages of your intentions on a poster board. Or do it online on the Canva app, or write it in a journal. There are a million ways to do this...find something that turns you on and becomes a fun experience.

And then as you work with your goals but notice you have resistance, begin observing the inner voices and stories that keep you from creating them. Work through these blocks piece by piece and get help if you need to.

This is a period you can bring fresh new energy into your life. You can make your dreams come true...yet often a dream is created in a step by step process that happens with courage, faith, and commitment.

Here is the Solstice Meditation from last week. It starts by looking back at the last six months, and then looking forward onto your projected time line. I started it as a process, without getting you into a meditative state, so get yourself settled in a chair, and then begin it.

And here is a channeling about working with yourself When Your Mind Is Crazy.
The Guides recommend asking for their help, planting your feet firmly on the ground, and stopping.

Enjoy this inner time. And if you need help dreaming into your next creations, contact me for a session with the Guides.

@Michael Williams

It's a powerful time and personally I feel a bit strange...emotional, tired, even disoriented.

Solstice followed by the full moon is just days away and I've noticed we often feel off before this potent time.

Solstice is Thursday, June 20th, 3:50 PM, Central time, marking the midpoint of our annual cycle.

It is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, with the longest day of the year, calling for outward celebration such as gatherings for ritual, fire, and global healing.

In the Southern Hemisphere it will be Winter Solstice, marking a more inward time to do personal clearing, prayer, and quieter gatherings.

Wherever you are, it is advised to contemplate the past, honoring the experiences that have currently brought you personal growth and inner wisdom. From here you can seek clarity, balance, and your true purpose as you move forward into the next part of the year.

Solstice brings us from the sun sign of Gemini, a mental air sign, into Cancer an emotional water sign. You will notice yourself shifting into a more grounded, earth based place.

The Capricorn full moon is the next day, Friday, June 21st at 8:07 pm, Central time.This practical moon asks us to take responsibility for our lives. We are pushed to find acceptance, alignment and accountability, and to move forward from there.

Ways to Mark the SolsticeGather with others.Create intention for a certain quality for the Earth, such as peace, love, joy, or healing.Make intentions for the Earth and yourself.Use fire, crystals, song, prayer, and movement to mark these.Celebrate with music, laughter, play, and food.Express gratitude for all your blessings.The portal, open June 20th, 21st, and 22nd are precious days for bringing in the light and pointing yourself in new directions.

Use them to claim your power and declare your intentions.

Learn more at Forever Conscious, Uplift, and the Powerpath.

Please join me for a free Healing Circle, Thursday, June 20th, 9:30am, Central time, at my Zoom link. Please adjust for your time zone. This is open to all.

We will celebrate with ritual, meditation, prayer, and sharing.

@Michael Williams

This is the post I wrote on yesterday's Soul Gym session. I am SO glad I was able to attend, I had a vague idea about writing this post, but almost certainly wouldn't have got around to it if I hadn't joined 

@George Kao for his co-creating session, so thank you George! I'll post the text here, but if anyone is on Substack, I'd love to connect with you here, I'm at Return to Your Trees.

Hello, beautiful humans. I hope you’re happy and life is treating you well. 

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been here. Life has been a bit hectic, with my brother needing emergency surgery to remove an unhappy appendix, and a music festival to prepare for and enjoy, I’ve been struggling to catch up with myself.

And, as is so often the case, I’ve been turning to nature to help me in that catching up. Time spent with trees, flowers and all the beauty of nature soothes the soul so beautifully doesn't it? It’s my go to for any time I need to reconnect with myself, to give myself time and space for recovery and wellbeing.

One of the things I am enjoying at the moment is tackling the Himalayan Balsam that is overrunning some of the green areas in my local community.

If you don’t know, Himalayan Balsam is a beautiful looking plant that is threatening the native plants of the UK. It was brought here in 1839, and was known colloquially as ‘poor man’s orchid’, as it allowed a sense of luxurious plans without needing the greenhouses that so many couldn’t afford. It has, in the absence of the natural predators that keep it under control in its natural habitat, become a significant threat to biodiversity of the UK.

Managing this plant is a long term project. A dear friend of mine has been working in her local park for over a decade, and is now starting to see the fruits of her labours, as native species are returning in abundance. But she still needs to keep working to keep the balsam away. 

I’ve only started working on this in the past couple of years, and am starting to appreciate what a big task it is. Each flower head can produce up to 1500 seeds, which disperse far and wide as the seed pod releases them quite explosively. The seeds can live in the soil for up to 18 months, so even if it looks clear, it probably isn’t. Balsam spreads widely along rivers where, having driven out the natural species, destabilises the soil and contributes to soil erosion and deteriorating river health.

Clearly, this is a significant problem. Government sources in 2003 estimated that eradicating it completely in the UK would cost at least £3 million. It wasn’t eradicated and has now only got worse, so that figure will have inevitably increased. Much of the time, it is individuals and community groups that take responsibility for it.

I know that in the small area I have deemed ‘my spot’, it will be years before I could say it is Balsam free, even if I work at it every day through the growing season. 

It could seem like a hopeless task. And sometimes it feels it, when you make great progress and return to find a hundred new plants have appeared in the spot you cleared a week ago.

But I know that it matters. I know that every plant I uproot and destroy is 800 seeds less getting released into the local environment. Every plant that can’t create 800 more seeds is a small victory.

And in nature recovery, as with personal recovery, every small win counts. 

Wherever you are on your recovery journey, whatever you’re recovering from, and however long you’ve been on this path, it’s a long term project, just like my balsam bashing. 

There is no ‘end goal’ with this work. All we can do is live each day, and know that each day in recovery is a small victory. Even when it feels that you’ve taken a few steps back, you can always step forward, armed with some new information to help your recovery tomorrow. 

The past 5 months of my life have felt like several steps backwards in lots of ways. As I surrendered to depression I found all my old certainty about sobriety and how I was ‘ok as long as I’m not thinking about drinking’ crumble away. Yes, my sobriety is important, but there was so much more I needed to do. 

So while I could view 5 months of turbulent mental health challenges as a step backward, instead I see the small victories. I’ve learned a lot more about myself, and what I need to be well at this stage of my life. What I needed to support my recovery 5 years ago wasn't the same as I need now that I am older, with menopause changing my identity, and grief having reshaped my whole sense of myself.

As I pick away at the weeds of my mind, I know that, just like my attempts at clearing the balsam, I am in this for the long haul. Every step taken towards self care, every seed producing plant taken out of the ecosystem…. It’s all progress, it’s all small victories.

What small victories have you won today? Share in the comments and let’s celebrate those small wins together!

I'm just back from the states where I saw family and friends, was delighted by two bear sightings, and got to walk barefoot on grass!

I wanted to bring you a quick note today...about being present to your heart's messages...

These days the stars are lining up in ways that allow us to be more in tune. We can find the meaning of our intuition and hear our inner longings...

All it takes is pausing, tuning in, waiting, and trusting...

Let yourself be softened and broken open...

Let the breezes and the clouds speak...

                   

That's it...solstice and the full moon happen next week...I'll be hosting a Solstice Healing Circle Thursday, June 20th, 10:30 Central time...link in next weeks' email.

Enjoy this blessed time,
Kristina

@Michael Williams