But Do You Feel Alive?

If you asked me a few years ago what it means to feel alive, I don't know if I would have known what to say.

It's because life experience has knocked me down, made me stronger, opened my perception and heart, and basically given me an abundance of different situations to practice insane courage and embrace vulnerability. I'm different now, and boy I've grown.

There's this whole world to experience and we can choose to either stand on the sidelines and judge people who follow their hearts or we can step into the arena ourselves and take the leap of faith.

In the past few years, I've really come to value growth as such a necessary ingredient in our lives. If we're not growing, if we're not pushing ourselves past our comfort zone, we don't feel alive.

Being alive means we take risks, we are willing to embrace failure and imperfection and we choose the adventure. 

Being alive means we choose to do the things that both scare and excite us. It's embracing spontaneity, taking to strangers and the willingness to start all over again. It's saying I love you when we feel it, embracing vulnerability and asking for help. It's getting up in the morning and saying, "I may feel scared, it may be uncertain, but this feels so right that I'm going to give it a try. I'll take the chance."

Because life is all about taking these risks.

I remember the first time I traveled on my own to Montreal from Toronto. It was a train ride to another province in my country, but it was the first time I would travel on my own after breaking down three years back. I had grown from the pain and struggle of feeling isolated in private school and watching my family fall apart. Fully embracing the wholehearted journey, feeling so supported and blessed, I was ready for an adventure. Montreal was one of the best experiences in my life that both scared and excited me.

And I loved it.

When I saw that the fear was good, I moved with it to find myself meeting some pretty incredible people, experiencing insane synchronicity and personal growth.

And this is what I realized: Fear doesn't go away. But we can choose to feel it, and follow our desire anyway. Because it is through facing fear that we become fearless, grow, connect and find the source of limitless love and light that is within all of us.

So book that trip, say I love you, be yourself, change course, choose to focus on the thoughts that serve you, identify your desires and go out there and make them real, live in the here and now, open your mind, open your heart, and be open to experience and live in the mindset that if you can dream it, you can be it.

Yes, it might be scary and uncertain at times, but I promise you that you will never regret the decision to Dare Greatly.

Because its what being alive is all about.

Catching the Breath: How Running Changed My Life

The truth is that running has dramatically changed my life. I don't know where I would be without my running practice. This doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy or healthy, but it does mean that the habit has played a very powerful role in my personal growth and well-being. Running has supported me through many rough points in my life and acted as a simple way to gain a lot of ground, calm, clarity and focus during times where I struggled to find those feelings.

My experience is proof that one habit can play a huge part in how happy, alive and connected we feel. Yes, I have other habits, practices and ways of thinking that support me, but being physically active definitely tops the list.

Running is my thing, but it doesn't have to be yours. What matters more than what you do, is the effect that the activity has on the body and that you do that thing consistently. Any physical exercise where we move our body to sweat, get our heart rate up and blood pumping is going to get the same result. 

There's no need to workout every day.  In fact, we need the rest days in between, they are important to our sense of balance and ironically to our desire to be active. When we don't push ourselves too hard and listen to our body, giving it time to rest, we find that we want to be active. We want to do it because it feels good. Its not a chore. Its a desire.

And psychology is there to back us up with time-tested facts. Feel good, pleasure-inducing chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin are released during physical activity.

"They improve mood and protect against mental health disorders. Serotonin, which is produced by long-term cardio exercise, decreases depression and dopamine improves your mood and long-term memory. It stimulates highly pleasurable feelings in the brain and could contribute to what is called runners high." (www.livestrong.com)

The emotional, mental, physical and even spiritual benefits are endless. I'm sure I will write more about this topic, but in the meantime let me leave you with this- let's come from a place of self worth and practice self care because it feels soo good. 

What is your physical practice?

What is Our Sexual Energy?

Last week I wrote my first blog post on the topic of sexuality. It felt bold and also a conversation I think we need to have. Our sexuality is something to fully embrace, and really a part of our being.

I talked about how our sexuality is expansive and so much more than just sex.

I want to push this topic further and say that our sexuality is not only experienced with a partner, but more importantly within ourselves; and channeled in so many different ways. The more we can embrace the sexual energy within ourselves as a beautiful part of our ever-evolving presence in this world, the more we can navigate our lives from a point of awareness, giving and receiving in a way that supports our personal growth.

I've really come to believe that to think that our sexuality is only reserved for the bedroom is marbles! If its in us, its in us all the time.

It's passion, love and excitement. It's courage and compassion. It's understanding and exploration. It's our life force, our breath. I talk so much about how our sense of aliveness and presence is something we experience in our body. Its the same with our sexuality.
It's something we feel.
It's a sensation.
It's our happiness.
It's our freedom.
It's self expression and creative energy.

Passion, love and creativity are definitely forces that span our whole life experience and everything we do.

We can really feel empowered when we come to see sexuality in this perspective. Any sensual (relating to the senses) experience can be described as also being sexual. The excitement of travel, the enjoyment of good food, the feeling after a run, listening to beautiful music. Looking back at history, we really embraced our sexuality in art and life; people were very free with it. No shame! And now, porn exaggerates it and the media skews it, putting unnecessary pressures and ideas of what is right and wrong. The hookup culture speaks louder than ever in some ways that can truly fuck up self worth. Yet, sexuality is losing its respect and ability to grow.

Its such a multidimensional piece of our being and life experience. To embrace it means to allow it gentle space to complement love, passion and excitement, to fuel our ambition, and to feel it in every cell of our body within our own life and when sharing it with others. 

My purpose here is simply to create space for expansion and personal growth, to offer a different perspective than what we see in porn or in the media. That's it, simply. Exploring this topic has been an interest our mine, not to claim my view as right, but to offer a way of seeing our sexuality that doesn't involve comparison, judgement, preconceived notions or shame. 

We are not going to stop having sexual experiences, it's a part of life. Literally! But on our journey of growth and exploration, we can shift the way we see our sexuality so that it becomes a sacred part of our experience that we fully embrace in the name of worthiness, compassion and adventure.

What is Faith?

Tonight I write about faith.

The faith that takes pure courage and guts.

The faith we cultivate in moments of fear and uncertainty.

Often at work, I write down my ideas on tiny pieces of paper and keep them shoved in my pockets. Sometimes by the end of my shift, I end up with five beautiful pieces of paper, totally scribbled on with words of inspiration. The other day, I found myself jotting down my intuition-filled ideas about what faith really is.

Yes, "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." (Martin Luther King Jr.)

But faith is so much more.

It's believing in what has yet to happen and expecting the best. Even though it hasn't physically happened yet.

Its believing that the tide will turn, seasons will change and tough times don't last- when we allow ourselves to move through them with love and support.

Faith is having the courage to know our own strength, as individuals and more importantly when we come together. It's knowing that because we are here and we are alive, our whole life force is on our side. 

Faith says things like "You've always figured it out, its always made you stronger and there's all the evidence you need that you can handle whatever comes your way."

Faith is the courage to embrace uncertainty. To find gratitude and appreciation in what we have now, without allowing our story of what "might" happen, take our presence away from the here and now.

Faith is magic and mystery. And it is pure surrender. Because when we believe in ourselves and in the power of the universe to align with us and support our success and happiness, we can relax and be present.

We just know that everything will always be okay.

We realize that fear is just a story and that yes, we can have goals and plans, actions to take and results to aim for, but there is still uncertainty. And that is what makes life beautiful.

We need the adventure. As a matter of fact, we crave it.

The adventure also requires us to have faith. Radical, radical faith. Because in fully experiencing this adventure of life and following our heart and intuition, there are going to be uncertain times where we will just have to stop, breathe, and be exactly where we are, knowing that that is enough. We are enough right now. 

The most powerful truth is what we experience now, in our bodies, in this present moment of breathing and being alive. That is our greatest point of attraction and ground.

This is where faith starts, grows and never ends.

Sex Amplified: Our Expansive Sexuality

Let me ask you this:
What is your sexuality ignited?
What kind of person are you when you fully embrace your sexuality in every part of your body?

If we reflect on our answer to these questions, we are challenged to see the whole picture.

And I must say that the whole picture is so much more than just sex.

However, in today's hookup culture, sex is so easy and can be experienced in such a narrow way. Its not that there is a problem with just sex, but it explains a lot about  how we can miss the fulfillment, the adventure and the exploration. 

The more we get to experience life, we discover what we desire. With this knowledge, we must allow ourselves to explore from an intuitive place. We must listen to the spontaneous cues that come from our heart, where our desire lies. This takes courage, patience, trust and the willingness to embrace uncertainty. (For more tools to define your Desire, check out Danielle LaPorte's "The Desire Map") Highly recommend!

I talk about embracing uncertainty in other areas of our life and our sexuality is no different. We are sexual beings, here to connect. Yet, often we settle in unsatisfying relationships that suffocate our true sexuality.

If this is the limit, then we can practice the courage to let go of what is no longer serving our well being and growth. When it feels right, when there is alignment, this is the place to grow and explore.

Our true sexuality is pure love, its fire and its free. And we must be in a situation where we are free to express.

Its not possible to be settling in a relationship and find our sexual freedom at the same time.

What we need to do is throw away any ideas that originated from watching porn, connect with our intuition and explore without expectation or story. Just moving with what feels right, letting go of all the "shoulds."

This is the freest place to start. A place of intuitive knowing.

Our body is so much wiser than we often give it credit. It always tells us what we need, and it also knows how to express desire when we allow it. In allowing, we must let go of any preconceived notions and open up to the journey.

Pure, ecstatic freedom led by intuition.

What do you think?

Learning to Love the Discomfort: It's Part of Your Growth

A few days ago, I arrived back in Toronto from a life-changing trip in the states. I needed the travel, the challenge, the letting go, so I could open up and grow. Traveling always has its way of pushing me past my comfort zone to realize how much there is to experience in this world and how much this experience makes us grow. Amongst many others, travel is one way in which we are forced to open up to the world's abundance, and to the greatness that lies within us.

In the midst of my travels, I came to once again affirm the truth that when we open up to our greatness and experience personal growth, we will also experience discomfort. 

This is just an undeniable part of the equation.

Sometimes we attach judgement to experiencing discomfort because it also usually means uncertainty, moving through fear, embracing intensity and having a new experience.

And while these feelings can literally be the craziest, they are all good.

We need the challenge.
We need the discomfort.
We need it to grow.

Sometimes I'm resistant to fully acknowledge this universal law, but each life-expanding experience is there to remind me. Not necessarily of the discomfort, but of how much its played a part in my growth and success. 

Growth is one of the most beautiful things in life and we need to embrace and love the discomfort that both scares and excites us. Love it fiercely.

Because when we do, when we love the discomfort so passionately and without judgement, we are open to grow in all ways- in life experience, mentally, emotionally, sexually, and spiritually.

I've found this growth to happen in so many ways. It may mean we follow our passion to embrace our true sexuality and intimacy with those who we connect with, instead of just sex. Sex is easy, but our sexuality is expansive and demands exploration, creativity and courage. It demands respect and patience. Love and an open mind and heart.

Growth may mean finding faith in ourselves and in God or the universe, practicing prayer and learning to listen to our instinct and act upon it in fully fledged passionate trust.

Growth may mean ending a relationship that we are settling in.
Really ending it.
To really create that new space to invite passionate, crazy love that resonates and drives us to new levels. This kind of growth takes so much courage- I know because I've experienced it myself- but we learn to realize that we are whole within ourselves and that the passionate, crazy love is there waiting for us when we let go.

Because it so is.

And yes, it may seem like the greatest risk of all to let go, open up, trust and love the discomfort, but I can tell you this- whatever you do to push past your comfort zone (Travel included), whatever courageous decision or instinctive change you make- embracing the discomfort in the process will be the best part. 

Because in allowing us to grow and become pure love, how can it not be?

Blessings,
Julie

Love the Uncertainty: Its Part of Your Success

I've found that when we keep ourselves too busy, our schedules too packed, we can miss the space we need to connect with our heart, let go and become clear on what we want.

Sometimes we cover our feelings of uncertainty, fear and sadness- and ironically our joy as well- by always being on the go and making ourselves so busy that we don't have space to truly feel.

That's why I realized last week that sometimes we actually need to create this space, letting my manager know that I am less available to work.

I truly believe that the opportunities, connections and clarity naturally come into our life when we practice the courage of letting go. Letting go of work that doesn't excite us, or a relationship that we are settling in.

Letting go and creating space to heal, create, rest, explore and embrace uncertainty is one of my challenges- yet I've also found my greatest successes through learning to embrace the unknown. It's where we discover and grow.

Sometimes we fear that we'll miss out on opportunities if we do less.

But the truth is that we miss out on the opportunities when we are burnt out and too busy to be present for the magic.

Where do you need some space in your life?