October: The #Flexyourcourage Challenge

Oct 1, 2015

Flex | www.nalumana.com

I wrote a blog last week about the idea of flexing your courage:  that courage is like a muscle, and the more you use it, the easier it becomes to call upon it when you need it.  So, if you make a practice of doing things that require a bit of bravery, when you want or need to do something that requires a lot of bravery, you’ll know you’ve got what it takes.

The neuroscientist in me would say that you’re training your brain to short-circuit an anxiety response when faced with something novel or a bit scary, and to build resilience by meeting fear with confidence and challenging limiting thoughts with hard proof that you can do it!

I’m so excited about this idea that I’ve decided to start a little movement:  The #flexyourcourage campaign is here to remind you to test your courage in small ways as often as you can, and to dig deep and find what it takes to tackle the things that scare you.

So here’s the challenge: #Flexyourcourage, and when you do, take a photo, add the #flexyourcourage hashtag and tag Nalumana Women’s Wellness.  For every #flexyourcourage photo, you’ll be entered to receive some amazing prizes (see below!).  To get another entry, *nominate a friend* by tagging them in your photo too!

 

Remember, it takes courage to jump out of a plane or speak in front of a huge audience, sure, but courage can be found in small acts, too, like signing up for a class or making a flan for your next dinner party.   

So what are the prizes, you’re wondering?  

 

One is a chance to #flexyourcourage with a 60 minute coaching session with me, along with a copy of the 7 Steps to a Bigger, Bolder Life.

#Flexyourcourage

The next prize may really #flexyourcourage:  it’s a boudoir photography session by Stephanie Lane Photography.  Steph is an awesome photographer who is growing her boudoir photography portfolio with astonishingly sexy shots of women feeling their boldest.

Stephanie Lane Photography | www.nalumana.com

Another lucky winner will receive a tee of their choice from Boss Of Me Tees, the new t-shirt company by amazing coach Jac McNeil.  Boss of Me Tees are super-soft,100% Canadian-made tees for women entrepreneurs & other free spirits.  I know I can’t wait to get my hands on one!  To find out more about the launch of the company and its products, visit the BOMTees website and sign up for their newsletter.

BOMtees | www.nalumana.com

I’ll be celebrating #flexyourcourage month in lots of other ways too, so stay tuned for…

 

Nalumana Outdoors Club on October 4th
 A talk that I’ll be giving at The Trail Shop on October 6th
All the weird and wonderful ways that I’ll be flexing my OWN courage this month

 

The Becoming Podcast has been on a short hiatus while I focus on writing my book, but oh what a comeback episode I have for you!

This month, I spoke to Toko-pa Turner, who many of you may know as the unofficial patron saint of many of my circles and gatherings because of the sheer number of times I’ve quoted from the wisdom of her book, Belonging.

Toko-pa is a Canadian author, teacher, and dreamworker. Blending the mystical teachings of Sufism in which she was raised with a Jungian approach to dreams, she founded The Dream School in 2001, from which thousands of students have graduated. She is the author of the award-winning book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home, which explores the themes of exile and belonging through the lens of dreams, mythology, and nature. This book has resonated for readers worldwide, and has been translated into 10 different languages so far. Her work focuses on the relationship between psyche and nature, and how to follow our inner wisdom to meet with the social, psychological, and ecological challenges of our time.

Here’s some of what Toko-pa and I talk about in this episode:

> The dream that changed Toko-pa’s life, causing her to question her career and, ultimately, her identity

> How we can court our dreams to support us during times of radical transformation – and the reasons so many of us have a hard time remembering and working with what shows up in our dreamscape

> Toko-pa’s perspective on the message of Belonging after the divisiveness our society has experienced in the years since it was published

> What happened for both Toko-pa and I when we fell out of belonging from the ideologies of the “wellness world”

> How to build community when you’re under-resourced

> “The Big Lie” when it comes to belonging, and how we can reclaim a sense of belonging to the greater family of things, as Mary Oliver so famously wrote

Listen to the episode on iTunes

 

Show Notes

Toko-pa’s Website

Belonging:  Remembering Ourselves Home, Toko-pa’s book

The David Abram video about animism mentioned in the interview

Toko-pa’s self-guided program, Dream Drops

Companion, the program that accompanies Belonging

 

Also, while you’re at it, if you enjoy The Becoming Podcast, I would be so grateful if you would rate and review, and even subscribe to it on iTunes.  That goes a long way to helping more and more people find and benefit from hearing these interviews!  Thank you so much!