hey, toast point.

yesterday i shared an inside peek into the way mild social anxiety has inspired some powerful practices for me in both my biz + personal life

i call them presence practices, and they’re my number one secret to a more joy-filled, satisfying life — even when times are tough

at their core, presence practices are things i do regularly to stay grounded in the world around me, and connected to what i love most about life + myself

now, it’s crucial that we each define what’s “regular” for ourselves

i’m allergic to strict structure + rote routine, and pretty much the only thing i’m consistent with is honoring my inner nudges and heeding the calls of joy + alignment (logic, and oftentimes consequences, be damned)

i don’t stand a chance against a prescriptive schedule that holds no space for creative flow or intuitive leanings, and if i believed everyone who said that that was the only path to success, i’d call myself a failure

but i’m sure as shit no failure, and neither are you — even if you struggle to keep to strict schedules

likewise, thriving off cast iron structure doesn’t make you more or less capable or amazing, either

you simply ARE amazing

everything else is just preference

in case you were wondering, here’s what works for me:

a flexible structure where i pick top tasks + timelines but give myself spaciousness in which to achieve them
if my schedule were a puzzle, it would be more jenga than jigsaw
i feel my worst when i HAVE to do something because i’m running up against a deadline

what eases + ignites ME will overwhelm + freak out someone else, so…

please don’t hold yourself to other people’s definitions of what qualifies as consistent or regular — you get to make those rules for yourself

when it comes to my presence practices, i weave them into my days intentionally by attaching them to things i do regularly (NOT a checklist of must-dos)

they are deceptively simple

life is complicated enough — we don’t need more barriers to what soothes + stabilizes us

although they take attention + effort at first to establish, eventually they can become like skin + breath + sunlight shining off your eyes —

simply a part of you, an expression of your essence, an automatic response

like putting on your seatbelt or taking a firm hand to your own tight + tender neck as you sit at your desk to write an email

the only things you can think of to say when someone asks you what you do for fun

my top practice involves snapping pictures of beautiful things around me

no matter what i’m doing, it helps ground me into the moment rather than getting caught up in anxious mental chatter, debilitating self-consciousness, or burdensome worry-based stress responses

and it’s not that i’m aware of this every time, or that i feel like i NEED it every time (i’ll talk more about this in another email!)

it’s something i taught myself to do to build more LIFE into my life and experience more joy + delight in my days —

an alternative to falling into the trap of working for the weekends, saving the good china, or limiting joy to birthdays + vacations

if you’d like to think about what kinds of personal presence practices might support YOU best, here are some questions you can ask yourself to get started:

when do i feel most disconnected from how amazing i am, or what i love about life?
what makes me feel most connected to how amazing i am, or what i love about life?
what are some things i do regularly (every day or most days) that are not necessarily fun, that are just average parts of my day?
what do i want MORE of in my life?
what do i want LESS of in my life?
what small activity or character trait would i love to be known for?

you know i’d LOVE to hear your answers, so don’t be shy with that reply button, bloom!

xxoo, cc

could you use a presence practice of your own?

especially NOW (and leading into the swiftly-approaching holiday season?)

book a single card coaching session + we can tweak it to focus on exactly that!

thriveandbloomsignature card coaching session

i want a presence practice, too!

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