Hello hello, long time no chat. I’d hate to lie and say I’ve missed it, when really it has been an intentional choice to step away - here’s why…
Pssst, I’m still Liz and I’m still working on that whole connection to self and building a loving, accepting and understanding relationship with yourself through space holding and breathwork. If you’d like to join me then check out my upcoming breathwork events or book a 1:1 breathwork session. Or consider becoming a subscriber
For the past several years I have been oversharing on the internet.
After working with various coaches, I believed that was the sort of content I needed to share in order to gain trust and find clients. I no longer believe this. And even if it did work that way, I don’t want to do it. It feels icky and wrong to me, and goes against my private nature. There must be a way of sharing value that doesn’t compromise my values and preferences and doesn’t lead to trauma bonding and dumping. Going forward this will mean that I’m more intentional about what I choose to share, if at all.
Since October I’ve taken a break from social media…
It has been glorious (for the most part). I didn’t realize how much influence social media had on me - my way of thinking, my desires, my opinion of my self and how it had harnessed my need for growth and personal development and learning against myself, only to monetize it and use it against me - until I left it.
I started to believe that learning, growing and achieving only looked a certain way, and it wasn’t my way. So I’ve been exploring different interests and not sharing about it, and it feels liberating, to say the least. It also feels “aligned”.
I even went back to teaching…
Which I regret but inevitably was necessary for the moment.
Instead, it has given me a new perspective on what I don’t want and has allowed me to charge forward in my breathwork business once again. I’m taking the scary action of hosting an in-person breathwork workshop at a local yoga studio (- my first one is tomorrow!). It’s exciting to begin to build a local community after years of building one in the online space (I am still continuing to offer online workshops and 1:1 sessions). My hope is to build a little network and community of individuals who are interested in breathwork and healing and also getting to know one another.
After years of moving around, I’d love to have people over for tea and share baked goods. To read together, talk, discuss different ideas and just generally enjoy each others company. It’s stretchy in a different way, one which I’m not sure how to express in words. It isn’t taking another course, doing another program, or reading about a new idea, it’s letting yourself be seen and known. And isn’t that always a little terrifying?
Enjoying the liminal space (kind of)
I’ve been speaking with my friend, coach and incredible human being Tracy(@uncontrollably_me) for the past few months about being in a liminal space. Basically it is the void in between what once was and what is becoming. It’s like a period of waiting, of restlessness, of not knowing, uncertainty and it’s sometimes frustrating as fu@k (and scary as heck). There is also beauty in it, or at least I try to tell myself that there is.
It impacts every area of my life, including this substack, my business, relationships, living situation and more.
The past few months have been a season dedicated to supporting my partner in his business ventures while trying to maintain a sense of self. I feel myself moving out of this season and into one where the focus is on my own business and personal growth. I don’t yet know what that will look like, how it will be or what it means, so here’s to more uncertainty!
What’s new going forward?
I’m not entirely sure. For the moment the podcast has been suspended indefinitely. I’m focusing on my in person offerings through local spaces. I’ll still be offering my monthly intention setting breathwork circle on the first Monday of every month.
Check out my upcoming group events in January & February:
January 20 - Breathwork for a loving & nurturing relationship with yourself
@ Be Yoga Wellness, Burlington ON - Register here
February 1 - Breathwork for Self Connection 4 week series (week 1)
Breathwork for thought detachment (space for mental connection)
@ The Good Magpie, Burlington ON - Register here
February 5 - Monthly Community Breathwork Circle
Setting intentions for the month and feeling into where you currently are
@ Online - Register here
February 8 - Breathwork for Self Connection 4 week series (week 2)
Breathwork for Body Awareness (Physical connection)
@ The Good Magpie, Burlington ON - Register here
February 15 - Breathwork for Self Connection 4 week series (week 2)
Breathwork for Emotional Connection
@ The Good Magpie, Burlington ON - Register here
February 22 - Breathwork for Self Connection 4 week series (week 2)
Breathwork for Spiritual Connection
@ The Good Magpie, Burlington ON - Register here
Private 1:1 Sessions:
I am also offering 1:1 sessions on Tuesdays through The Good Magpie, as well as online.
This bomb lemon orzo soup from Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen is somehow both light and rich.
I’ve been reading about the impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on our health and it has blown my mind and changed how I think of food. It is the leading cause of early death!! (Read the book: Ultra Processed People by Dr. Chris van Tulleken)
I’m in a bit of a 2010s EDM craze and really enjoy this playlist, great for dance parties or shower pump ups:
I’d love to hear from you:
What’s been coming up for you recently? Have you ever tried to leave social media and how has it gone? Have you found your definition of personal growth and development has changed?
I really enjoyed reading this, and how you're focusing truly on what is right for you, in this present moment x
This was one of the most relatable things I’ve read in a long time.
I have been torn for almost 2 years now about what to do with social media. On the one hand, I see the benefits of it creating safe spaces online for people who don’t have them off-line. It is also a way for folks to express themselves and be creative, which I think is important for human beings.
It’s also a very scary dangerous place that creates intense comparison misinformation and profits on people’s pain just like any other market. It’s a bizarre blend of social and commercial and it’s difficult at times to understand the difference--especially if you’re young.
So in some way, I feel a responsibility to be there to keep a safe space and to help mitigate the confusion, especially for adolescences. On the other hand, it is also detrimental to my mental health to constantly be on social media, so I’m torn.
I also relate so deeply to not wanting to share my entire life anymore. I don’t wanna film every single thing I do (no judgment to people that do I just don’t want to do it). I want to be present--being present is what has helped my mental health more than anything, and so the more I’m focused on taking a video the less I am actually present with what I’m doing.
Additionally, the more focused I am on telling stories of my past--whether it’s my eating disorder or my divorce or suicidal depression--the more stuck I stay in the past which again, isn’t good for my mental health.
I’ve often wondered how to maintain this line of work well also maintaining my wellness. I’m finding new ways, and one of them is what you’ve said, which is doing more things in person. I believe that cultivates presence, that cultivates connection, and that cultivates wellness. And, it gets us offline.
Thank you for this Liz