Author: katielv143

What if it’s not the whole truth?

by katielv143, posted in Uncategorized

Last week we explored the importance of being present in order to be connected to our Inner Abundance. This week we explore what separates us from Inner Abundance. 

What is the truth?

What is a story?

What have I experienced and what meaning I created from that experience?

Because our Inner Abundance is connected to our truth.

And if we are constantly operating from stories we created that might not be 100% true, then it’s harder to see the Inner Abundance that is ours. 

As humans, we all have the ability to create these stories.

Sometimes they sound like:

I’m not good at that. 

I don’t have enough time.

That’s just who I am.

Things never work out for me.

A story can come from our actual real experience AND still not be the truth of who we are. 

The practice is not to deny the story. It’s to become curious about it.

To pause and ask:

Is this 100% true?

What other outcomes are possible?

One of the way to connect to our Inner Abundance is to see ourselves and our lives differently.

So…What story are you holding about yourself that I’ve taken for the truth?

WANT TO EXPLORE THIS DEEPER IN PERSON?

HARVESTING YOUR INNER ABUNDANCE: FALL WOMEN’S RETREAT

September 25–27 | Himalayan Institute, Honesdale PA

A women’s retreat centered around slowing down, reconnecting with yourself, and gathering what has quietly grown within you.

Through yoga, meditation, breathwork, nature, women’s circle, and reflection, we’ll create space to reconnect with your own inner wisdom and sense of wholeness.

RETREAT DETAILS

Inner Abundance Lives Here

by katielv143, posted in Uncategorized

Inner Abundance lives in the present, and being present is a practice.

Last week we paused to notice what Inner Abundance was already there. This week, I’ve been thinking about what it means to actually be present enough to notice it.

How much time do you spend thinking about what’s ahead in the future or what’s behind in the past? And how often are you truly present in the moment?

It seems a bit cliché, this “present moment” reminder. It sounds simple, but it’s not always easy to be present with what you are doing or experiencing. Our minds naturally wander.

But I’ve been thinking about what happens when we bring our attention back.

Attention changes what we notice, and what we notice shapes our experience. Our experience of life can change without our circumstances changing.

When we intentionally explore our Inner Abundance, our awareness expands. We start to notice what’s already there. We notice what is supporting us. We notice what wants to grow.

Even something as simple as noticing the breath can become a practice. You notice your breath. Your mind wanders. You notice that it wandered. You bring it back.

And then it wanders again.

There’s nothing wrong with that. The returning is part of the practice.

In yoga, this practice of concentration is called Dharana. It’s one of the eight limbs of yoga, and it has me thinking about where we direct our attention throughout the day and what might become more visible when we intentionally choose where to place it.

So this week, I invite you to simply notice.

What happens when you begin intentionally directing your attention toward what is already there and towards what you want to nurture?

WANT TO EXPLORE THIS DEEPER IN PERSON?

LEARNING TO RECEIVE: EMBRACING A NEW WAY OF BEING

Saturday, September 12 | 1–3 PM | Camaraderie, Ambler

A two-hour workshop exploring what it feels like to slow down, soften, and receive through grounding breathwork, accessible yoga, reflection, and meditation.

Register for Learning to RECEIVE

HARVESTING YOUR INNER ABUNDANCE: FALL WOMEN’S RETREAT

September 25–27 | Himalayan Institute, Honesdale PA

A women’s retreat centered around slowing down, reconnecting with yourself, and gathering what has quietly grown within you.

Through yoga, meditation, breathwork, nature, women’s circle, and reflection, we’ll create space to reconnect with your own inner wisdom and sense of wholeness.

Retreat Details

See you next week for Week 3.

The Inner Abundance Blog Series

by katielv143, posted in Uncategorized

A 7-Week Journey Into Inner Abundance

WEEK 1: What Is Inner Abundance?

Not everything that is meaningful to us can be measured.

We live in a world where information is at our fingertips. And while that can be an incredible tool, it can also create constant input, comparison, opinions, and information overload. We can spend so much time looking outward that we lose touch with our own inner knowing.

Over these next seven weeks, my hope is that this series gives you a reason to turn inward.

To begin developing your own measure of inner abundance – one that is uniquely yours.

It might be practical. It might be creative. It might not make sense to anyone else. And that’s kind of the point.

There is no universal blueprint for inner abundance.

No one else gets to tell you what it should look or feel like.

And because you don’t have to share your answer with anyone, I invite you to really dig deep and get curious.

So, for this first week, here’s your prompt:

What is already here that you might be overlooking?

Take a few minutes to sit with it.

You don’t have to come up with the “right” answer.

Just notice what comes up.

Want to explore these themes in person?

Learning to Receive: Embracing a New Way of Being

Saturday, September 12 | 1–3 PM | Camaraderie, Ambler

A two-hour workshop exploring what it feels like to slow down, soften, and receive through grounding breathwork, accessible yoga, reflection, and meditation.

REGISTER FOR LEARNING TO RECEIVE

Harvesting Your Inner Abundance: Fall Women’s Retreat

September 25–27 | Himalayan Institute, Honesdale PA

A women’s retreat centered around slowing down, reconnecting with yourself, and gathering what has quietly grown within you.

Through yoga, meditation, breathwork, nature, women’s circle, and reflection, we’ll create space to reconnect with your own inner wisdom and sense of wholeness.

RETREAT DETAILS

See you next week for Week 2.

The superpowers of Motherhood

by katielv143, posted in Uncategorized

This morning on my walk, I was reminded what a superpower motherhood is.

I first came across Mother Duck wading in the creek. I admired her camouflage and how effortlessly she flowed through the water. I turned my gaze away for a second and heard a stern “quack.” When I looked back, a group of ducklings floated out from seemingly nowhere and started following her.

“Good for you, Mama,” I thought.

I continued on my walk, not thinking much of it, only to turn my gaze again and see Mama Deer nursing her baby. They were a good distance away from me, and I am pretty blind, but I could make out two babies and a mama staring me down.

The babies didn’t move. Mom stood still. They were completely in unison.

I stood there admiring her strength as she watched me from the other end of the trail. Then, when the threat of me wore off, the baby started nursing again. She didn’t move for me. She stood her ground and signaled to her babe, “Eat. I’ve got you.”

Well, now that I had encountered two mamas literally two minutes into my walk, I knew that was the theme for me.

As I walked, I began reflecting on my own superpowers as a mom. I have kids who are learning to navigate the world on their own and need me less and less to QUACK or STARE THEM DOWN.

They learned.

I also wondered how animals transition into adulthood. I remember watching a documentary about foxes, and it said that once the next litter of cubs is born, the babies from the previous litter get the signal and start finding their own territory to claim.

And that’s just how it goes.

The mom doesn’t cling to her baby cub, and somehow he knows he has everything he needs to succeed.

I also thought of all the ways I have grown as a human through my motherhood journey. And that gave me a sense of, “HOLY COW, I’M INCREDIBLE.”

Not in an ego-inflating way, but in a, “Man, I really can do anything” kind of way.

My thoughts throughout the walk were a mix of memories: remembering the “Camp Mom” experiences I created for my kids every summer, and the first power struggle I had with my firstborn as a newborn.

(Spoiler alert: she won.)

I guess I want to share a little more about that.

When my firstborn arrived, I had all the usual mom instincts: I am the adult. I keep you safe. You do what I say because I know things and you are a baby.

So I started following the advice.

“Babies need a regimented schedule.”

“Don’t hold them too much.”

“Let them nap in their own space.”

Well, that drove me to complete burnout because my newborn was like, “NO. HOLD ME! I WILL SLEEP WHEN I SLEEP!”

So, in a way, she QUACKED at me and STARED ME DOWN.

And I listened.

I started doing the complete opposite.

Baby napping ON TOP OF ME.

Gasp!

But do you know what happened within days?

I felt more like myself.

I felt rested.

I had clear thoughts.

And my newborn? She napped and did all the newborn things she was supposed to do.

As I reflect on that now, I realize it was one of the first ways motherhood taught me to do what was right for me and my family, not what was right according to the experts.

This return to myself, while serving the souls who chose me as their human protector, has been one of the biggest parts of my personal journey.

And while I thought I was doing everything for them, motherhood was quietly (or not so quietly at times) shaping me too.

As I was completing my walk, I had a thought:

“What if I served myself the way I serve my family?”

Initially, I felt uncomfortable with that question, but the curiosity was there.

And just then, I heard loud shrieks in the sky above me.

I looked up and saw a tiny bird chasing away a hawk.

This little bird against a massive predator.

And I thought, this MUST BE A Mama bird.

The fearlessness.

The drive.

The determination.

The “I will do anything” attitude.

And that gave me wings.

To follow that nudge to serve myself.

To care for and support myself the way I would my kids.

And to wonder what that might do not only for me, but for my family as well.

The Invisible Threads That Connect Us: How Energy Awareness in Motherhood Can Create Harmony at Home.

by katielv143, posted in Uncategorized

This weekend, I was at the Gather event with The Modern Moms Village. I was there to support Amanda with event coordination, but when one of the presenters couldn’t make it, she asked if I’d be open to sharing something.

What I felt called to speak about was energy, our life force, our prana, and how when we align and care for our own energy, it naturally supports everything around us: our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing… and the relationships within our home.

The Energy Between Us

Energy can seem abstract but it’s really the current that moves through everything – our tone, our breath, our body language. Our kids feel that energy instantly. Teenagers included! They are highly perceptive and emotionally intelligent. We might think we’re hiding our stress or frustration, but they sense it. They speak energy fluently.

So when we take the time to tend to ourselves, to align our own energy, that care ripples outward. It doesn’t just regulate us; it regulates the entire system of our home.

Co-Regulation and the Mother’s Energy

Throughout the weekend, so many experts spoke about co-regulation – how children mirror the mother’s nervous system. When we nurture our own balance, our children feel that safety too.

If a child feels dysregulated or “off,” it’s not always about something to fix in them. Often, the most powerful shift begins within us.

We are not separate. The energy that flows through us is the same life force that flows through our children. Everything circles back to unity – remembering that we are all connected, all part of one cosmos.

Modeling, Not Perfecting

Our children don’t need us to be calm all the time. They need to see what it looks like to return to calm.

It’s okay for them to see you take a breath, step outside, or say “I’m feeling frustrated right now and need a moment.” You’re not burdening them by doing this – you’re teaching them emotional intelligence through example.

When we model awareness rather than perfection, we give our children language and tools to understand their inner world.

Coming Back to Balance

Balance isn’t a fixed state; it’s something that ebbs and flows. Some days, you’ll feel centered. Other days, you’ll feel stretched thin. The goal isn’t to stay steady all the time – it’s to notice when you’ve drifted and gently return.

That’s the heart of regulation – in ourselves and in our families.

Sometimes that “return” might look like:

  • A deep exhale before responding
  • Stepping outside for fresh air
  • Moving or shaking to release tension
  • Placing a hand on your heart and saying “I’m here”

These simple actions remind your body and your energy field that you are safe and from that safety connection grows.

A Gentle Reminder

You don’t have to get it right all the time.

You just have to be aware enough to come back to yourself.

When you tend to your energy, you’re not only caring for yourself – you’re tending to your whole family’s nervous system, too. That is sacred work. That is motherhood as energy work.

This conversation reminded me how deeply connected we all are and how small, mindful shifts within us can bring harmony to our homes. May we continue to return, again and again, to that quiet place of unity within.