Laurie-ann Sheldrick

As a young woman, I felt all my emotions so deeply. I didn’t understand them, let alone know how to use them as a gift, instead of feeling like they were a curse.

Through my 20’s, into my 30’s, I dove deep into personal development, spirituality, emotional intelligence and had the deepest, most meaningful conversations.

To my core, my purpose over the past decade has been to share my past and current experiences so that no one ever feels alone in the experiences they are in.

So even though my coaching practice has closed, I’ve left my digital workshops available because I wanted to be able to share the toolbox of practices that have helped me and hopefully they have the same impact on others 💗

Access to the toolbox here: https://laurieannsheldrick.mailchimpsites.com/digital-workshops

The messy middle of making a big life change.
The messy middle of healing.
The messy middle of making a decision.
The messy middle of not knowing.

I am currently in the messy middle of a decision that I made. I left my coaching practice, after months of trying to figure out what I would do if I didn’t have my coaching practice anymore. It had been an incredible 10 years, but I knew I needed a change. I wasn’t in a crisis, I just felt the natural nudge of wanting something different. But I was making it into a crisis because I was trying to force the clarity of what’s next to come before I made any decision.

And now I'm in the middle, learning so much in the next adventure I'm jumping into and it feels messy and magical and all the things in between.

So what do you do when you find yourself in the messy middle?

Read my newest share over at the blog:

The Messy + Magical Middle of Getting To Where You Want To Go The messy middle is like a waiting room before it turns magical

I wrote a blog a few months ago (link below) titled, Calming The Scattered Brain. I was reminded of it today when I was looking back at photos of my recent trip to Spain.

One of the practices I share is to do one thing and simply focus on that one thing. No rushing, no multitasking, just being in the moment. This is so hard to do!! But it’s so supportive.

Whatever the thing is, breathe and focus on doing that one thing.

Do it with intention.
Do it a slow and steady pace.
Don’t race to get to the next task.

Acknowledge the completion and pay attention to the next most important thing you can do.

https://open.substack.com/pub/laurieannsheldrick/p/calming-the-scattered-brain?r=jaei0&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

I closed my 10 year coaching practice a few weeks ago, and shortly after, went on vacation to Spain to visit friends. I’m so glad I did because it truly helped with the anxiousness I was feeling over letting something go that was such a big part of my identity.

Something I loved was that it was the first time that I didn’t have to think about work and could just be present. It’s a feeling I can’t really explain, but one I hope I can continue even when I begin my next chapter.

Questions I’m now asking myself are:

- how can I be more present when I’m not on vacation and when I am?
- how can I fully embrace that slow and steady is not bad thing and doesn’t mean I will get left behind?
- how can I bring the joy I feel travelling into my every day life?

And the most important question…

WHAT DO I REALLY WANT?

Not because I’m suppose to, or because it has always been that way, but because I really want it.

I don’t have all the answers yet. Stay tuned ☺️

I usually write about emotions, but in this weeks blog, I'm sharing a bit more of a practical practice, that of course has an effect on our emotional state :-)

If you are feeling like your brain is scattered, this share is for you.

https://laurieannsheldrick.substack.com/p/calming-the-scattered-brain?sd=pf

Yesterday I shared some thoughts I was having about giving each other, and ourselves space to make mistakes. As I've been thinking about it and reading everyone's comments, I expanded on it more this morning and posted it to my Substack blog.

You can read it here: https://laurieannsheldrick.substack.com/p/making-mistakes-is-part-of-being?sd=pf

Something I've been thinking about is how so many people don't allow us any room to make mistakes. But making mistakes is how we learn and grow.

So imagine showing up every single day, and your goal is to do everything perfectly so you don't make any mistakes, so that you’re not attacked, so that you’re accepted, or liked…

If this is you, and you feel overwhelmed, no wonder!!!

We are going to fail at things. If you're playing the game of life, it is not if, but when.

We can't change other people and force them to accept that we will make mistakes, but we can give ourselves some grace and accept that we will make mistakes along the way.

All this to say, be kind to yourself and others. We are just doing the best we can xo

This weeks note to my email community, for the first ever, was actually short and sweet. If you subscribe, you know I am a long form writer, but today I just wanted to share something that I was thinking about last night.

Wouldn't it feel so much better if you could just be honest about how you were truly feeling?

You can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/contagiouslypositive/holding-space-for-your-emotions

The person we often blame, shame and hold to impossible expectations of perfection the most is ourselves. But what if we forgiveness ourselves?

Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know until you knew it.

Forgive yourself for what you said.

Forgive yourself for what you didn’t say.

Forgive yourself for what you did.

Forgive yourself for what you didn’t do.

Forgive yourself for all the should’ve, would’ve, and could’ve moments.

Just something to think about today.

This week over at the blog, I'm sharing a practice for questioning yourself out of a negative self-talk spiral.

On the days where my self-talk isn’t kind, it is sometimes easier to pivot and question the thoughts I am having, than it is to change it to positive self-talk. Especially when I am in a negative self-talk spiral. When we are in this spiral, it is hard to believe that anything else could be true, so the switch over to something more positive may not feel good in that moment.

The questioning process is like pushing the pause button long enough for it to stop gaining momentum.

A Practice For Questioning Yourself Out of Negative Self-Talk Spiral Question it ALL because your thoughts are not absolutes and are only true if you believe them to be true

A non-work related post. Just something really cool that I want to share. This beautiful tree in my back yard is full of fungi. The tree is thriving and so is the fungi 🌳 co-existing together