Play

One of my favorite songs when I was a kid was The Marvelous Toy by Peter, Paul and Mary (the album Peter, Paul and Mommy was constanly playing in our house when I was growing up in the early seventies).

I loved the feeling of wonder and joy it evoked. My brothers and I would act out this song over and over again, trying to guess what this magical toy might be.

Listening to this song Saturday night at home with my family after a yummy dinner of grilled shrimp tacos with mango/avocado salsa, inspired an evening of silliness, dancing, pillow fights and brought back a flood of memories of how often a sense of playfulness was present in my home growing up (my mom a musician/artist, loved to laugh).

Beginning this week and throughout the month of July I have created lots of time to play.

I still have to get some essential work stuff handled (I am self-employed and work with a team), but knowing that I’m at a pivotal point in my life/business, I knew it was essential to carve out a chunk of time this summer to spend time hanging out in the right hemisphere of my brain.

That’s when my best ideas come and when I get the most clarity about what I want.

Some of my colleagues, I’m sure, are thinking I’m crazy to be taking time out for creativity and play this month when I have just put together a new six-person work team, am in the middle of growing our global Personal Renewal Group program and beginning a handful of new big initiatives. But, I know that this time will be invaluable to not only where I’m headed this fall, but how I get there.

Play is essential to not only experiencing a sense of balance/equilibrium in life, but to feeling whole and alive. It’s part of who we are (read more from Psychology Today on the Power of Play).

Anyone round my base is it! Ready or not, here I come!
Allee Allee In Free! (from It’s Raining, Peter Paul and Mommy, 1969)

P.S. Interested in meeting once a month in a women's self-renewal circle to enhance your ability to be more playful and present? Join or become trained to lead a Personal Renewal Group for mothers. Life coaching groups are meeting from Amsterdam to Akron. Join the self-care revolution.



Want to learn how to live more intentionally? Check out Live Inside Out (and become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page).


The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.


Photo: my seven-year old playing in the fountains in downtown Dallas near the Dallas Museum of Art.

Thank You Jonah

My husband and I are taking a seven-week parenting class right now.

Most of us weren’t “born” to know how to consciously parent and many of us didn’t have healthy models for how to be in relationship, so getting support on how to do the hardest and most important job in the world is well worth the resource and time investment, in my book.

Although we’ve taken some classes here and there, this one in particular, has been quite enlightening. And, for me, it’s brought up deep feelings of gratitude for the opportunity to be a mother to this sweet, wonderful soul and to be his pupil. (Even when he challenges me to my limit!).

I was inspired this week to write a thank-you letter to my Zen Master. Here it is:

Dear Jonah:

Thank you for choosing me as your mother.

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to accompany you on your journey on planet earth this go around.

You remind me daily of all the good that exists in each of us, in the world, how interconnected we all are and what really matters.

You’re the most profound teacher I’ve ever had (where did you go to school again?!).

I’ve learned so much in the last seven years about patience, kindness, compassion, openness, trusting, starting over, softening, releasing, letting go, stretching, expanding and slowing down.

And I love to hear you remind me, “Mom, things are better when they’re slow.”

You’ve taught me volumes about forgiveness—towards those closest to me, my parents and especially my self. And about love—its limitlessness, its power and its ability to heal everything--always.

You stop me daily in my tracks with your wise words and insightful perspective and I love it when you quote Byron Katie and ask, “Mom, is this your business, his/her business or God’s business?”

Nature—oh beautiful, healing, serene, awesome nature. Our favorite playground and the environment where I feel most connected to who you are and our innate divinity. Thank you for inspiring me to return to nature time and time again to replenish my well.

I am looking forward to all the lessons you have in store for me in the coming years. And, I appreciate your faith in me as your mother and your willingness to love me, warts and all.

Thank you for being such a source of inspiration for me to give birth to the best that is within me.

With deep gratitude. Love, Renee


P.S. Interested in meeting once a month in a women's self-renewal circle to enhance your ability to be more present and parent more consciously? Join or become trained to lead a Personal Renewal Group for mothers. Life coaching groups are meeting from Amsterdam to Akron. Nothing has had a more profound impact on my parenting than being in a PRG.

Learn more about how to Live Inside Out (and become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page).

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.


Photo: My friend Susan Goodman took this picture of Jonah and I in 2003.

Another Serving of Self-Care, Please

I’m a bad sick person.

I am rarely sick, I have a naturally high energy level and am used to enjoying good health, so when I do get sick, I tend to fight it.

Finally after several days of feeling crappy last week (a virus from my son), I “surrendered to the sick” and slept, rescheduled meetings, dinners and work obligations and just pulled way back.

In my twenties and early thirties, often when I got sick, it was because I was ignoring my needs, not listening to my intuition or body’s wisdom or just pushing too hard. (I was one of those that would come to work coughing in her cube, wearing the “but I have so much to do” badge, so everyone could see how dedicated I was to my work. Know any of those?).

Being sick has reminded me how grateful I am to know about the power of self-care.

Being kind and loving to myself and practicing good is good enough when I don’t feel well, is liberating. I feel a great sense of integrity and freedom to be putting my needs at the top of my list. And knowing, that this is not indulgent—it’s self-preservation. And, it's my birthright.

Last week I led a free Self-Care Class via phone for women around the world who wanted to learn about this concept and get a taste of what it’s like to be in a Personal Renewal Group. (Sign up here if you’d like to learn about the July class; you can listen in to the June Self-Care class by calling 712-432-1085, access code: 323399. I love these!)

Many of the women on the call were relatively new (or brand new) to self-care, but they shared how it had impacted their lives thus far. Women shared, self care:

-helps me manage my clinical depression
-supports me in being more present with my four year-old
-allows me to model what I want to teach my son

-reminds me to slow down
-is instrumental in helping me juggle work and family
-makes me feel more generous towards my kids
-helps me ward off growing resentful for always doing for everyone else

If you’ve been practicing self-care for a while (making choices that support your physical/emotional/mental and spiritual well-being), what is your motivation for doing so? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. Interested in meeting once a month in a small circle with other women who also want to integrate self-care into their daily life? Join or become trained to lead a Personal Renewal Group for mothers. Life coaching groups are meeting from Amsterdam to Akron.

Learn more about how to Live Inside Out (and become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page).

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.

Photo: Renee Peterson Trudeau. The Window from the Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park. One the places I journey to each year that feeds me spiritually.

What We Crave: Community & Connection

Recently after speaking at a large women’s conference on the topic of life balance and living life from the inside-out, I was approached by a woman in her late thirties, her eyes were filled with tears.

She shared that while sitting in the audience and hearing me talk about building a support network, she had a light bulb moment: even though she attended a monthly girls’ night out, a book club meeting and was involved in her neighborhood association, what she is really missing is a deeper sense of connection and community with others.

I hear this a lot. From men and women all over the world, including my coaching clients, at talks I give around the country, in workshops at corporations/organizations and from moms on the playground.

We’re moving so fast, navigating the demands of a 24/7 world, expected to juggle so much and are socialized to be mostly surface in our day-to-day interactions, that many of us are left starving for what really nourishes us: heart-felt connection, dialogue around what matters most, the chance to be heard and validated and the opportunity to connect with others who are as interested in our “inner life” as our “outer life.”

This is why I started the first Personal Renewal Group for women in 2003 (read more). I believe that when we have the opportunity to connect with one another on a deeper level, in an empowering, structured environment that is focused on helping us define and create lives that truly nurture/nourish us, society as a whole begins to shift and move in a more positive direction.

Where is your soft place to fall? Who do you go to, to share what’s in your heart and on your mind? What resources/groups support and empower you? Where do you feel connected to a larger community? Where can you show up warts and all (as my mentor says) and be the “real” you?

For me (and now thousands of women around the globe), it’s when we’re in a self-renewal circle with other women. I invite you to join me this Thursday evening, June 11th --details below--for a free Personal Renewal Group sampler class and explore if starting/joining one of these groups is for you (sorry guys, women only). If not, no worries, you can still benefit from the powerful self-care tips/strategies you'll hear in the class.

I believe we were not meant to live in isolation. And, that the future of our planet will be largely dependent on our ability to create and participate in meaningful, intentional community with one another.

P.S. Join me in a virtual living room to experience a taste of a Personal Renewal Group (PRG) for women and learn about the Power of Self-Care. Register today for our free June 11th PRG Sampler class—it’s interactive, but you’re welcome to just drop in and listen. There is a “mute” option if you're in a noisy household :).

Learn more about how to Live Inside Out (and become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page).

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.

Photo: Renee Peterson Trudeau--ripening blueberries on a Olympic Peninsula berry farm in WA state. Did you know they grew this closely together?

Summer of .....?

I attended a beautiful intimate dinner on Friday evening hosted by a dear friend/mentor/sister. The theme of the gathering: nourishment.

She invited a few close friends who deeply nurtured and nourished her to her gorgeous Mexico-inspired, art-filled home in downtown Austin. We dined on an amazing green curry with fish, basmati rice, green goddess salad (prepared by the beautiful Meg with Spoon) and had the opportunity to really slow down and be with one another in a way that is rare and beautiful.

The experience re-affirmed for me how important play, pleasure, enjoyment, heart-felt connection and contentment are in my life (I’m reading the wonderful Big Leap by Gay Hendricks right now where I’m exploring the concept of “expanding how contented” one can feel; I highly recommend this book).

These experiences have inspired me to come up with my list of things I intend to do this summer (check out my June newsletter for support on creating an intentional summer).

I’ll share this in case it might inspire you to create your own list:

*Host an intimate house concert with the huge-hearted, deeply inspiring, ever-so-beautiful Sara Hickman
*Give—through creating and offering a supportive, empowering You’re the Master, Not the Slave yummy small business workshop for close friends—many of whom are newbie entrepreneurs
*Cook a lot—using my herb garden, lots of fresh local berries, trying new dishes, with my sweet son, for friends and people I love
*Intentionally build a strong, beautiful support team for my business so that the fall is joyful, easy and prosperous (and of course, fun!)
*Take my son to visit lots of natural areas, lakes, rivers, springs and off-the-beaten path swimming holes, including early morning kayaking on our nearby lake
*Attend a wonderful, women’s retreat in a beautiful, cool and spirit-filled location (heading to Kripalu in July)
*Be extra loving to my body, enjoying lots of Nia classes, walking, yoga and resistance training--that build my inner and outer strength
*Carve out time many evenings throughout the summer to enjoy my partner’s sweet company-- talking, relaxing, walking, meditating and laughing together
*Sign up for this wonder community supported agriculture program and spend some time working on this farm, harvesting veggies with my seven year-old
*Hear, experience and enjoy lots of music—thank God I’m in a community where this is possible daily!

If you filled in the blank “Summer of ___________,” what is it you most want to experience in the next 12 precious weeks?

P.S. MARK YOUR CALENDAR: I invite you to join me in a virtual living room to experience a taste of a Personal Renewal Group (PRG) for women and learn about the Power of Self-Care. Register today for our free June 11th PRG Sampler class—it’s interactive, but you’re welcome to just drop in and listen.

Thousands of women around the world are gathering in small intentional self-renewal circles each month, learning to Live Inside Out (become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page). Join us!

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.

Photo: Renee Peterson Trudeau, standing on a fishing pier in Port Aransas in the Gulf of Mexico watching an unbelievable storm roll in. Going to the beach always reminds me of how much I love summer.

Let Go

The person closest to me in the world had their performance review last week.

He mentioned about two weeks ago that he wanted some coaching to prepare for this (this is something I get paid big bucks to do for others on a regular basis and am very skilled at—I was happy to be asked to provide my expertise and to impact our family’s income).

Then, while brushing our teeth one night last week, he casually mentioned that he had gotten the date wrong and the deadline for submitting information for his review, had come and gone.

My brushing stopped, my jaw dropped and I stood in disbelief (this has actually happened many times before .... I’ll let you run with your theory around this one). Right away, I could feel an army of thoughts lining up in my mind, preparing for rapid fire.

A few days later I was wrapping up an intense week and lots of work deadlines in order to be able to head to the beach for the weekend with my family Saturday morning. I experienced a series of stressful events that afternoon—a schedule glitch, a miscommunication, a technical malfunction, a lost check, a plan that fell to pieces—that left me feeling like everything was going from bad to worse.

It felt like I was sitting on a pile of tumbled dominoes and my swirling negative thoughts were preparing to move from a small tornado into a powerful full-scale downward spiral.

But after I heard the news from my beloved about his performance review and my harried work day turned south (and I stewed for a few minutes)—something surprising happened.

I paused.

Feeling how familiar this terrain was in both instances, I asked myself, “Is this REALLY where you want to go with this?” No. What I really wanted was to just let it go. And that's what I did.

I think it’s so easy to forget we always have the ability to just LET GO. I don’t always do it and sometimes the allure of a good argument is more than I can resist. But, more and more, I’m pausing to check in and ask if this is really the train I want to get on right now? Or do I want to wave it on, and let it keep going.

P.S. Interested in meeting monthly with other women who also want to practice pausing and letting go? Join thousands of women around the world who are gathering in small intentional self-renewal circles. And, join people everywhere who are learning to Live Inside Out (become a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page). Want to taste a self-renewal circle? Don’t forget to sign up for the free June 11th for our PRG “Sampler.”

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.

Photo: Renee Peterson Trudeau, Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Peninsula, WA.

A Soft Place to Fall

“Your ordinary self is enough.” Carol Orsborn, author/speaker

I recently spoke at a national women’s conference and had a wonderful conversation with a woman from South Africa who leads groups for domestic violence survivors in PA. We really connected around how important it is that we all have a soft place to fall: a space or place or relationship where we can show up completely ourselves-- “warts and all!”

For me, my soft places to fall are when I’m connecting with my wonderful spiritual Master Mind group (I meet twice a month with four other wonderful coaches), when I’m walking with my dear friend/neighbor in the cool evenings after kids have gone to bed, when I spend time with my sweet mentor who holds a big, big space for me, when I go to my favorite Hatha yoga class on Monday morning, when I get to spend precious time one-on-one with close friends enjoying tea or hiking, and when my husband I carve out quiet time late in the evening to connect and *really* listen to one another.

Where are your soft places to fall? Who can you come to or where you can show up 100% you and share what's on your heart/mind, no matter how wacky or off-balance you feel? Where can you go where you know you’ll be accepted unconditionally? Where the listener has no agenda other than to support, love and hold a space for you to experience whatever you’re going through in the moment?

When I first became acquainted with the concept of self-care and learned that it’s much more than pedicures and massages, one of the most loving things I started to do for myself was to release self-criticism and judgment. And to allow myself to receive support, be less than perfect and show up authentically and very, very human.

This week, reflect on how you can be more kind to yourself (enjoy this self-kindness exercise) and where your soft places to fall are? Often the support is already present, we just have to let down our defenses to allow ourselves to really be seen—warts and all.

P.S. Join thousands of women every month who are meeting in small intentional self-renewal circles around the US and experiencing a soft place to fall. Interested in living more intentionally every day? Check out Live Inside Out or becoming a fan on the Live Inside Out Facebook page. Want to taste a self-renewal circle? Don’t forget to sign up for the free June 11th for our PRG “Sampler.”

The Journey, a blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to life balance and living life from the inside out, comes out weekly. Subscribe here. For more information on Renee’s upcoming events, click here.

Photo: Renee Peterson Trudeau, lavender farm on the Olympic Peninsula, WA.