Lighten Your Load
Hi there,
The last few weeks have felt buoyant. I’ve been leaning into a gentler pace and prioritizing community. Finally figuring out my son’s summer plans has certainly helped me feel more settled—and lighter (I gush about it here).
What have you recently offloaded that’s given you more pep in your step? I’d love to hear what it is and how that lightness might carry over into summer.
Resting
An invitation to slow down long enough to hear what your mind, body, and heart are telling you.
My coaching client appeared on screen visibly frazzled. A lot was happening in her organization, and her personal life had taken an unexpected turn. After guiding her through a mental clearing and breathing exercise, I asked:
What’s the highest leverage action you can take to move things forward?
She craved space—to breathe, think, and act from clarity instead of urgency. She needed enough quiet to hear herself again.
Together, we explored what that could look like. She admitted she struggles with sitting still and “doing nothing,” so we co-created a moment of intentional disconnection. Not to force a decision, but to create room for one. We started with what disconnection feels like for her:
A walk in the park
Getting her nails done
Reading in a coffee shop
Then we explored questions she could reflect on after walking, getting pampered, or reading:
What’s humming just below the surface of this decision?
How would the community be impacted?
What perspectives am I missing?
What impact will this have on my capacity?
Will the organization become more financially sustainable?
We were on a roll when she suddenly exclaimed: “Leverage Point Hour!”
That’s what she named this practice on her calendar. In this season, her highest leverage action is to disconnect from others so she can reconnect with herself.
What practice are you prioritizing to create more ease or unlock? And what are you calling it?
Remembering
An invitation to reconnect with your brilliance - the wisdom, creativity, and magic within and around you.
How often do you respond to messages in your head?
I would read an email or text, compose the perfect response mentally, and genuinely believe I had sent it. Until a follow-up message reminded me the response was still sitting in drafts.
For a long time, I thought this was forgetfulness.
But I’ve started to realize it was often exhaustion.
When your mind is overloaded, even completed thoughts can feel like completed actions.
There were seasons when I was carrying so much mentally that responding, deciding, and following through all blurred together. The intention was there. The care was there. But the capacity wasn’t.
Back in 2021, still deep in the pandemic, my professional and personal responsibilities had increased. But the heaviest part of the load wasn’t the volume. It was my unrealized dreams.
I was managing daily obligations without making space to nurture what mattered most to me. I was postponing, minimizing, and quietly grieving my desires.
Things began to shift when I asked for help and intentionally returned to joy — daily midday walks, virtual clarinet lessons, and small moments that helped me slow down, process, and reconnect with myself.
Now, I try to pay attention when small things start slipping. Sometimes they’re not signs that we need to “get it together.” Sometimes they’re invitations to slow down, create space, and create an off-ramp back to ourselves and our joy.
Recasting/Realizing
An invitation to imagine the life you desire and pursue it with joy as your compass.
Last week, our family had our first “clay-off.” And I use “clay” loosely. The bright blue-green substance was somewhere between slime and Play-Doh.
The goal was to create a person, place, or thing while everyone else guessed what it was.
As we played, I realized how much I had been limiting myself.
I created what you might expect: objects with simple shapes and limited dimensions—a taco shell, a butterfly. Meanwhile, my son created a replica of his dad sitting on the couch and a hammerhead shark. 🤯
We couldn’t even guess some of his creations (though I was one guess away from “Daddy”), but that wasn’t the point.
He refused to let the material limit his imagination. He made the material work for him instead of shrinking his vision to match its constraints.
Next time, I want to upgrade my imagination and downgrade the limitation. I think we’d all experience life more abundantly if we lived that way.
I hope you find a way to put down what’s not yours to carry in this season. Even if you eventually have to pick it back up again. (Trust me, not having a summer camp plan would’ve been detrimental to both my son and me.)
I’d love to hear how you’re tapping into lift and lightness to carry you through this season.
Joyfully,
Elandria
