We spend a lot of time asking the opinions of others when most of the time the answers are within us. In our bones. In our hearts. In our guts.

I’ve just come off a 3-month period of hard work. I’ve been working non-stop since January to put together FLS2012 (which was marvelous by the way!) Each day was devoted to some detail about the Summit – from the teeny tiny to the oh-so-big. Apart from clients, it was the one thing I focused on. Needless to say, I was tired coming out on the other side of it. Tired and satisfied and proud. I decided I would give myself a week off to recover, to get back on my feet. After the week I’d be recharged and ready to dive back into more work. But here I am and the last thing I want to do is work. For the first couple of days it made me nervous – what could this possibly mean? Why wouldn’t I want to jump back into my usual grind? I’m high energy – I like fast paced, right? And I do love fast paced. I talk fast. I think fast. Shopping a mall with me is like entering a speed walking competition.

But for some reason I have the overwhelming urge to go slow.

And so I’m leaning into it. I’m not fighting it at all. I’m doing the things I feel compelled to do instead of the things I think I should be doing. This means reading and writing. Sharing other people’s work. Going out for coffee with interesting people. Taking walks. Writing Thank You notes.

There will be a time and a place for fast again. But for right now, I need slow. My body needs slow. My heart & soul needs slow. And I intend to listen.

What are you craving right now? Even if it seems counter to what you think you should need, give into it. Lean into it. And let me know how it feels.

This post was inspired by this fabulous post on easing up and this wonderful post on slowing down. I read them back to back of one another and felt all my stress melt away.

I went to a phenomenal yoga class last night at the Green Yogi. It was a detox class in honor of  the 4th of July but I walked out of there feeling like I had left so much more on the mat than the hot dogs & burgers I had eaten over the long weekend. The theme of the class was Release and throughout the class we were called to set an intention around that theme.

Release those beliefs or feelings that are holding you back.

Release anything negative that isn’t serving its purpose.

My challenge to you for the week was to liberate yourself from that one thing that is holding you back. To stand in your power and declare your own independence so that you can begin to chart your life. I’m learning that what I need in order to declare my own independence is copious amounts of space. For too long I’ve been trying to accomplish great things with a clouded head. I’ve been stuffed full with limiting beliefs and clutter and just mental junk.

There’s been all kinds of stuff up in my grill.

It is time for me to release anything that is not working and begin creating some radical space for myself. The best way to practice profound self love is to give yourself the space you need to grow. You need space in order to create and  in order to fully tap into your mission in life. You need space to allow your brilliance to radiate through.

How are you creating that space for yourself? Can you create an hour each day? More? In looking through your life, what is it that just needs to pack its bags and go? Would love to hear about it down in the comments!