Kimberly Wilson's Blog, page 73

June in Review + Resources

There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born and the day we discover why.—William Barclay

June in Review

I know I shared this quote last month, but it’s such a powerful one and felt apropos with this Month in Review. The search for my why continues.

June’s Year of Tranquility focus was wellness and we explored 10 different types of wellness. During the month I tapped into the intellectual, occupational, social, and spiritual wellness types through a week of learning and exploring in Utah, building new skills, growing connections, and volunteering/exploring purpose.

Last month went quickly due to 12 days of family and nonprofit travel. When I review June, it feels quite compressed despite having 30 full days.

The month’s experiences were vast—from a memorial service in Texas, to hosting Yoga + the Animals, a 7-day detox, and Tranquility du Jour Live, to spending 30 minutes in an MRI machine, to taking a pet portrait painting class, to spending a week at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary learning about sanctuaries, to collaborating with mentoring and therapy clients, to taking ballet classes, to celebrating my 45th birthday by seeing Hamilton and having high tea.

There were a few wishes that didn’t happen—moving deeper into online classes, finishing books, or diving back into memoir writing.

Instead, I did my best to drop deeply into the experiences I was in—eating Tex Mex with Mom and Dad, dining al fresco with the pups and Tim in Utah, walking sanctuary dogs at Best Friends, soaking up the beauty of Zion National Park, running through Coral Pink Sand Dunes with Gizmo, and savoring the performance of Hamilton.

Although it’s never pleasant to review my June Dreams and see unchecked boxes, I try to remind myself of what I did experience last month.

July is another month with 10 days of travel hosting the Penning in Paris retreat so it may also feel distorted. Despite the beauty of travel, it does have an interesting ripple effect on everyday life. Routines get shaken up, there’s a lot of acclimating to new environments, and daily life is turned on its head.

As someone super sensitive to my environment, I try to set myself up for success by toting creature comforts and reminding myself to just focus on the day’s MITs (Most Important Tasks). I’m no longer a robot moving through a to-do list. Instead I’m encouraging myself to fully appreciate what’s in front of me.

Maybe that’s my why. To appreciate simple pleasures, make deep connections, and do meaningful work all while spreading compassion for all beings. I like it! Bisous. x

July Wish List

Host inspiring Penning in Paris retreat

Ship lots of Year of Tranquility care packages {doing today}

Release three podcasts

Savor tea time with girlfriends

Take 10 ballet classes

Read two books

Write daily

Nurture my patio garden

Collaborate with mentoring and therapy clients

Organize paperwork

Plan a mini-getaway

Learn lots at Compassionate Action for Animals Conference

Make a macrame wall hanging {done!}

Savvy Sources

7 Versatile Pieces for Your Summer Wardrobe

9 Easy Tips for Going Green at the Grocery Store

These New Indoor Plants Are All the Rage

5 Ways to Reset When You’re In a Creative Funk

Poses For Your Yoga Cool-Down Routine

This Documentary Will Help You Reconsider Your Diet

How to Decorate Your Office Space

7 Habits to Adopt if You Want to Write More

Ways to Manage Your Time

20 DIY Boho Decor Ideas

5 Tips for Macrame Beginners

The post June in Review + Resources appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Tranquility du Jour #424: Moon Wisdom

Moon Wisdom with Bronwyn Simons. In this week’s edition of Tranquility du Jour, we discuss astrology and its use in daily life, her thoughts about aligning with natural cycles and how the moon cycles can enhance our lives.

New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here.

 



Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #424: Moon Wisdom

Upcoming Events

Year of Tranquility: Join anytime

Penning in Paris: July 23-27 in Paris {SOLD OUT}

Softening into Fall Virtual Retreat: October 20

Writing in the Woods: October 26-28 in West Virginia {4 spots left}

Tranquility in the Topics: February 16-23, 2019 in Costa Rica

Tranquility in Tuscany: July 13-20, 2019 {8 spots left}

Featured Guest:

Hello! I’m Bronwyn. I’m a visual artist and consulting astrologer living on beautiful Vancouver Island. I love living intimately with nature; I am nurtured daily by the living ocean, the ancient giant cedars, the salmon-bearing streams and the dark night skies of my beautiful home.

At the center of my creative life are circles of women. My soul’s work happens here. I’ve been facilitating women’s circles for thirty years, and leading women’s retreats for nearly twenty. Over and over again, I have witnessed the life-changing power of groups of women coming together with purpose. Leading and mentoring women on-on-one and in circle is my honor and one of my greatest joys. In my astrological practice, I lead workshops, min-retreats, and Moon Circles around the US and Canada, and am currently Resident Astrologer for Jane Reeve’s beautiful semi-annual Italy retreats.

As a consulting astrologer I work with the cycles of the Sun, Moon and planets to help my clients gain deeper understanding of their own life cycles. I see each life story as life is a thing of beauty, of richness, and profound depth. You can think of me as a guide to those depths, an interpreter of the deep and sometimes strange symbolic language of the soul. With gentle loving-kindness, I help my clients to see beneath the surface of life, and to better understand the great currents of energy that are moving us forward.

As a visual artist, I have explored many media, and my main work now is with ceramics, painting, and illustration. I have exhibited widely, and my work can be found in collections in North America, the UK and the Middle East.  I am currently obsessed with food illustration!

I’m also a mom to a wonderful grown daughter, and I’ve been happily partnered to my best friend for twenty-five years. I’m a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, a dancer, a yogini, and a rescuer of pugs in my spare time.

Find Bronwyn
Facebook

Website

Instagram
Newsletter

Consulting practice
Mentioned in the Podcast

First podcast with Bronwyn

Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures

Summer Tranquility du Jour Live

Compassion is the new black tee


Social Media



Eye candy on Instagram
Pin along with me on Pinterest
Let’s connect on Facebook
Follow moi on Twitter
Watch via YouTube


More Tranquility

Shop slow locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT
Browse my 5 Books
Tranquility-filled E-courses
Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android
Read about my passion for animals

Request

Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media
Pen a review of my books on Amazon or Goodreads.


Techy

To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes.
New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411.
Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released.
Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast “automagically” on iOS or Android

The post Tranquility du Jour #424: Moon Wisdom appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Birthday Flash Sale

There are two great days in a person’s life. The day we are born and the day we discover why.—William Barclay

This Saturday I’m turning 45. I’ve read that 45 is the new 25 or maybe it was the new black. Either way, helllooooo midlife, I’m delighted to be here!

In honor of my birthday, I’m offering 45% off my five print books—Tranquilista, Tranquilologie, Hip Tranquil Chick, 52 Weeks of Tranquility Journal, Tranquility du Jour Anthology, the October 20 Softening into Fall Virtual Retreat, and the locally-sewn, eco-friendly TranquiliT line.

Use code BIRTHDAY at checkout to save 45% off these items TODAY through 11:59pm ET on Saturday, June 30.

The birthday celebrating begins Friday with an all-day conference on growing flowers followed by a vegan dinner at Equinox and then Hamilton at The Kennedy Center.

On Saturday I’m attending a morning writing workshop, savoring afternoon high tea at The Willard complete with live harp, vegan finger sandwiches and pastries, and organic tea, and spending the evening with Tim and the pups.

Sunday begins with a ballet class and vegan brunch with a longtime girlfriend topped with an evening of hosting Year of Tranquility. A beautiful blend of the arts, learning, and savoring!

I also plan to make space to reflect on the past year (what I learned, experienced, released), review the dreams listed in my journal from last birthday’s reflection, and pen dreams to be accomplished by June 30, 2019. It’s my annual birthday ritual.

Over the year’s I’ve shared this tradition on the blog. Here’s a sampling from 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2017.

Although you may not have a birthday right now, we are mid-year and it’s a wonderful time for all of us to do an assessment. What’s working? How are things feeling? What needs tweaking? What wants attention?

Thank you for being in my life. It’s a true honor to be part of yours! x

The post Birthday Flash Sale appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Giveaway: Best Friends Care Package

We’re fresh back from our time in the desert at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and I picked up a few goodies for YOU:

1) Save Them All tank size M

2) Mint lip balm with sunscreen

3) Handmade cherry almond soap

To enter this Best Friends care package giveaway, answer the three questions below in the comments section, on Facebook, and/or email me by 11:59pm ET on Friday, June 29.

1) What would you like to see more of at Tranquility du Jour?

2) What’s been your favorite feature of the past year at Tranquility du Jour?

3) What would you like created to help support you in finding more tranquility in every day?

The winner will be chosen at random and announced below on my birthday, June 30. Insert confetti toss. Hello, 45!

Thank you for being an integral part of spreading and living tranquility.

I look forward to hearing from you AND shipping out one lucky winner’s care package. Bisous. x

The post Giveaway: Best Friends Care Package appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Welcome to Summer

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.—John Lubbock

Greetings from Kanab, Utah. We arrived here last Saturday for a weeklong workshop at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and I’ve been documenting moments from the experience over on Instagram.

I’ll share more about this week once I process it. It consists of seven eight-hour days and we have two more to go. My mind if full, so it can take a few weeks to parse out all the nuggets and takeaways. Stay tuned!

To celebrate the longest day of the year, we headed to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park where our 10-year-old physically challenged Gizmo turned into a puppy. Grin-inducing videos forthcoming. You can see him below kicking up sand as he ran beside me.

As we officially welcome summer, I hope to savor the natural world this season (and this has been a great start to it).

Feel sunshine on my skin. Walk barefoot in the sand. Notice the fireflies. Listen to the birds, frogs, and other critters. Stargaze. Savor watermelon outside and let the juice run down my arms. Go on an early morning or late evening stroll when the sun is less intense. Notice the blue skies. Lose myself in a good book while lying in the grass. Sit around a campfire. Take a road trip to the coast., mountains, or another city. Dine al fresco. Take a dip in cool water.

Summer promises adventure and a sense of freedom. May we allow ourselves the chance to hop off that habitual fast train to relish all that summer offers (like petting potbelly pigs—although that’s really a year-round adventure). Bisous. x

The post Welcome to Summer appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Time in Texas

Grief ultimately teaches everyone the same lesson: to value the relationships, experiences, and time that you have in this present moment.—Dr. Sameet Kumar

On June 6 Tim, Belle, and I headed to the airport at 5:30am to catch a flight to San Antonio. My aunt had passed away unexpectedly after a one-month battle with leukemia and we were heading out for her memorial.

The day before we received the email from my uncle about her passing, I had been in my therapist’s office complaining of lethargy and heaviness. Yes, I’d just started a new anti-inflammatory for my shoulder and seemed to be having unusual side effects, but my therapist said, “This sounds like grief.”

I couldn’t have known my aunt would pass the next morning, but somehow I was already feeling myself immersed in the all-too-familiar feeling of grief.

When we arrived in Texas for our 30-hour jaunt, we headed for the Riverwalk to nosh on Tex-Mex and enjoy the setting. For many years Mom and I would drive eight hours to spend spring break with her childhood friend while hitting all the malls and spending time on the Riverwalk. Going straight there upon arrival felt like the right thing to do.

Next we headed to the hotel to get ready for the memorial and await Mom and Dad’s arrival. The memorial was beautiful—full of stories, photos, and family. It was also heart-wrenching.

Although we mainly saw each other at family reunions, funerals, and celebrations, my aunt and uncle had come to Colorado to visit when I lived there between college and DC in 1995-96. We met up for a lunch and I recall feeling so special—having adults visit!

Then in 2010, Tim and I stayed at their ranch in Hill Country during the summer Tranquilista book tour. My aunt was a gourmet cook and made a chili relleno that Tim still talks about. One afternoon we took chairs out to their creek and sat in the water chatting while minnows nibbled on our feet. I recall feeling so carefree (despite calling Mom every few minutes to check on our pug Louis who she was babysitting).

The last time I saw them was 2016 in Santa Fe. We both happened to be visiting at the same time and met up for an afternoon libation. How could I have known that would be my last time connecting with her? That’s the challenge, we never know.

After the memorial, Mom, Dad, Tim, Belle, and I headed out for more Tex-Mex where we snapped the photos with the angel wings. Apropos. The next day we met up with my mom’s childhood friend who now has dementia and lives with a full-time caretaker.

I hadn’t seen her since Gramma’s funeral in 2012. She always called me her “Most Precious” and I adored her. I mean, this woman took vacation time to haul Mom and I around huge Texas malls for an entire week. She’s basically a saint.

She was feisty, but sweet as ever and kept hitting my arm. Apparently it’s a gesture of affection and I didn’t mind at all. It was an honor to have time with her and her husband before hopping on a plane back to DC.

I’ve read that grief has a cumulative effect—each grief builds on previous ones. In 2012 when the losses began, I wrote this piece while reading Grieving Mindfully. It’s still my go-to and most recommended book on grief.

My time in Texas passed quickly and provided new opportunities to grieve—an aunt and a longtime family friend. I’m grateful for the chance to have had them both in my life and am continuously reminded of the preciousness of moments—experiences, relationships, the present. May we make the most of it. Bisous. x

The post Time in Texas appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Summer TDJ Live + Replay

Thank you to those of you who were able to join last week’s Tranquility du Jour Live and learn more about our 7-day detox (we’re already on day 6!).

I LOVED being with you and SO appreciate you tuning in from Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US to celebrate summer. It was an honor to host you and it’s such a lovely way to launch the new season with you.

These images below were spotted online with #TDJLive. If you have an image, takeaway, or next step from our experience, please share. It means a lot for me to see and hear how these events impact you.

REPLAY: If you missed us live, the one-hour video recording is now available for $10 download HERE. A portion of all Tranquility du Jour sales benefit Pigs & Pugs Project.

SAVE THE DATE: Our next TDJ Live is Sunday, September 23.

May you shine brightly this summer. And beyond. Bisous. x

shared by @globeglitterer

shared by @priscila.spires

my summer reading list @tranquilitydujour

The post Summer TDJ Live + Replay appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Tranquility du Jour #423: When Food is Comfort

When Food is Comfort with Julie Simon. In this week’s edition of Tranquility du Jour, we discuss why we turn to food for comfort, the seven skills to inner nurturing, why airports are hard, ways to shift cravings, and why nurturing connections are important.

New to Tranquility du Jour? Learn more here.

 



Direct download: Tranquility du Jour #423: When Food is Comfort

Upcoming Events

Year of Tranquility: Join anytime

Penning in Paris: July 23-27 in Paris {SOLD OUT}

Writing in the Woods: October 26-28 in West Virginia {4 spots left}

Tranquility in the Topics: February 16-23, 2019 in Costa Rica

Tranquility in Tuscany: July 13-20, 2019 {8 spots left}

Featured Guest:
Julie M. Simon, MA, MBA, LMFT, is the author of  When Food Is Comfort  and  The Emotional Eater’s Repair Manual . She founded the popular Los Angeles–based and online Twelve-Week Emotional Eating Recovery Program and offers workshops at venues like Whole Foods and UCLA. She lives in Los Angeles and you can visit her online at OvereatingRecovery.com.


Find Julie
Facebook

Twitter

When Food is Comfort

Emotional Eaters Repair Manual
Mentioned in the Podcast

7-Day Detox Scoop

Detox Checklist

Sign up for Love Notes and access Tranquil Treasures

Summer Tranquility du Jour Live

Compassion is the new black tee


Social Media



Eye candy on Instagram
Pin along with me on Pinterest
Let’s connect on Facebook
Follow moi on Twitter
Watch via YouTube


More Tranquility

Shop slow locally-made, eco-friendly fashion: TranquiliT
Browse my 5 Books
Tranquility-filled E-courses
Download the Tranquility du Jour Podcast App: iPhone and Android
Read about my passion for animals

Request

Pen a review on iTunes and/or share this podcast via social media
Pen a review of my books on Amazon or Goodreads.


Techy

To listen, click on the player at the top of the post or click here to listen to older episodes.
New to podcasting? Get more info at Podcast 411.
Do you have iTunes? Click here and subscribe to the podcast to get the latest episode as released.
Get the Tranquility du Jour apps to download the podcast “automagically” on iOS or Android

The post Tranquility du Jour #423: When Food is Comfort appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

Top 10 Detox Tips

Happy Detox Day 1!

I appreciate you stopping by last night’s Detox Kick Off via Facebook Live. If you missed us live, the 30-minute REPLAY is available here. For some reason the video got pixelated at times, but the audio is clear. Apologies for me turning green and multi-colored!

RESOURCES

I won’t be posting everything here, on Facebook, or the Year of Tranquility forum since this is a smaller group, but I am offering to send daily detox love straight to your inbox. Sign up here for detox support.

Detox checklist and more resources here.

MY TOP TEN DETOX TIPS

1. Remove temptations from your home. Bye, bye sugar-coated cereals!

2. Review the basic food plan and pick up these staples: brown rice, fresh and/or frozen veggies (especially kale, spinach, avocados, cauliflower—for cauliflower wings), frozen fruit (for green smoothies or smoothie bowls), chia seed, ground flax seed, black beans, lemon, herbal tea, raw nuts, veggie stock for soups, apples, nut butters, gluten-free whole grains, hummus, etc.

3. Start weaning off the sugar and caffeine. I know, I know!

4. Upgrade your eating to include five servings of fruit and veggies each day.

5. Gather and schedule your self-care: journal, tongue scraper, bath supplies, dry skin brush, exercise, massage.

6. Schedule time for food shopping and prep.

7. Eat plenty of healthy fats like nuts, seeds, avocados, and edamame to help curb cravings.

8. Drink plenty of water to help release toxins. Add lemon, mint, and cucumber slices to spice it up!

9. Believe you can do this and enlist the support of others. Better yet, have them join you!

10. Value progress over perfection.

The post Top 10 Detox Tips appeared first on Kimberly Wilson.

A Peek at Yoga + the Animals

[image error]On Saturday  hosted our third annual Yoga + the Animals event at Burleigh Manor Animal Sanctuary. Below are photos from this year and previous years at the sanctuary.

The gathering began with vegan treats and iced peppermint tea, followed by a one-hour yoga practice led by me on the grass under a big oak tree.

After enjoying an all-level flow, participants started the one-hour tour to meet Jack the 43-year-old donkey, Gretta the noisy goose, Mabel the pretty pink pig (my favorite), and more.

Next we headed to the pool house to enjoy a homemade vegan couscous salad, freshly-cut fruit infused with mint, hummus and pita, and vegan cupcakes.

We raised $1600 for Burleigh Manor. This helps cover the care and feeding of one pig (hello, Mabel) and three chickens for an entire year.

We raised $600 for Pigs & Pugs Project. This helps support our microgrant giving to pug rescues and pig sanctuaries.

We hope to see you next year for our fourth annual Yoga + the Animals gathering. Watch for scoop on our fall event, Pints & Pugs, at a local brewery.

Thank you for generosity and support! You make a difference. Bisous. x

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