Erika: Hello everyone. Happy New Year. Welcome back to the first Babe Skills podcast of 2023. Before we get into today’s episode, I would absolutely love it if you hit the subscribe button. The subscribe button just essentially means you’re following me and you never missed an episode. If you have one extra second, a review would go a long way, and I really appreciate it so we can keep making magic in the new year.
Erika: So anyways. I am so excited for a new year, some fresh energy. And to be completely honest with you, it took me a couple weeks to feel this way. I am not one of those people who opens their eyes on January 1st and are ready to create resolutions and vision boards and send intentions. And don’t get me wrong, I love doing all of these things.
[00:01:00]Erika: It just takes me a couple weeks into the new year to shake off the energy from 2022 from the year prior and just feel motivated to do the inner work. I’ve tried to force it in the past and do it just because it’s the beginning of the year and when I force it, it never works out for me. So here we are four weeks into the new year and really just over this past weekend did I dive into sending intentions for the new year and things I wanna do with my family.
Erika: And it feels really, really good. So if you go back to season one, I do a whole episode on how I sent my intentions for the new year. I’ve been doing it since 2015, the exact same exercise and the same notebook, and you can go back and listen to the process in detail, but I swear by it, it is life changing. I’ve shared it with my friends and I’ve gotten so much feedback from people online who have done the work and are making magic in their real lives.
[00:02:00]Erika: And I’m just so eager to share it all the time because I truly believe it’s otherworldly. So I’ll touch on it here briefly, but essentially you’re gonna take out a notebook and you’re gonna start it with this, with a sentence like this.
Erika: It’s January, 2024, and I need to take a moment for my busy schedule to reflect on all the amazing things that have happened this year. And then you just go in and write about everything as if it’s already happened in the past tense. So the sort of science or secret sauce, if you will, is that you’re acting as if there’s that famous quote, I’ll see it when I believe it, and that is similar to this. So definitely go back to that episode and listen to the science behind it and my exact process, if you’re interested. I used to be really big into vision board and affirmations and doing things to imprint on my subconscious, but truthfully, I started to feel like those things felt like another to-do list or a to-do item, and that I was just doing them to check a box.
[00:03:00]Erika: I wasn’t excited about it, so honestly, I’ve taken that off my plate and I haven’t done that in years. So take what resonates with you and go for it. You don’t have to do everything. And you know, maybe one day I’ll come back to these things, but right now it’s just not really serving me. So just something I’m not going to invest my time in this year.
Erika: I am doing something new, new this year where I’m setting a word or an intention and it’s just gonna be something I can easily come back to whenever I’m driving or during a meditation or out on a run, or if I just need sort of a reality check moment or to be brought down to earth when, you know, things happen this year, my intention or my word for 2023, I guess it’s a couple words, uh, but it’s in the flow.
Erika: I’m just ready and willing to accept whatever life has in store for me. I’m choosing to leave that any setbacks are actually blessings and that everything is working out in my favor and for only the greatest good so that I’m able to show up.
[00:04:00]Erika: As my highest self this year, I’m staying in the flow to keep myself open to opportunities in miracles, and this year I’m just sort of riding the wave instead of trying to pinpoint or manifest. Or call in these very specific things. So if this resonates with any of you guys, I would absolutely love to hear what your words or intentions are for 2023. Go to my latest Instagram post and leave me a comment, and I would love to keep the conversation going there. My Instagram handle is just @babeskills.
Erika: So at the beginning of 2022, I was coming off a pretty wild year and. I was working at a startup and you can go back and listen to that episode and it didn’t work out. And instead of throwing myself into the next thing or work in January, I really took a moment to chill and just be with what is and spend time being more present with my kids and just kind of seeing what came up.
[00:05:00]Erika: We spent time in the sunshine in Marco Island for a month, and that’s really what started to bring me back to life. Finally in March, and I enrolled in a holistic wellness coaching program. I got my meditation certification and my plan was, and still is to simply deepen my own practice.
Erika: A lot of what I talk about on this podcast and in this space are wellness based. They are surrounding mental health and I wanted to learn more and I wanted to deepen my understanding. And I really don’t have any plan plans of doing coaching or doing one-on-one sessions or teaching meditation in a formal capacity.
Erika: Uh, however, I did have the opportunity to host a few sessions here locally for meditation, and every once in a while I feel it pulling on my heartstrings. I do feel called to share this practice because it’s done so much for me. And I’m feeling like it’s my duty to pass this on, this love and this practice.
[00:06:00]Erika: I’m open to your feedback. I’m just staying in the flow. I’m letting it come to me, and if that’s what I’m supposed to be doing, I’m ready and willing. I’m waiting for a sign. And I just wanted to be honest about that in that space. And yeah, I would love to hear it from you. If you guys would like to do some group meditations, either digitally or from my local babes.
Erika: I’m just kind of throwing it out for feedback from you guys. Also, in 2022, I took massive control over my health. I had two babies in a short period of time. I wasn’t feeling like myself physically or mentally or emotionally. I could not lose a single pound of baby weight. None of my old trucks were working and I just knew something was off.
Erika: So I started working a holistic nutritionist who’s coming on the podcast, cannot wait. A functional medicine practitioner, and I did a full panel. I got my thyroid tested, got my hormones tested, and this was a hot topic after, after I had Suzanne’s Summers on my podcast. So I’m going to bring all of my, my health team.
[00:07:00]Erika: Everyone on my health team onto this podcast to share because I think a lot of you guys are finding yourselves in similar situations. You’re feeling sort of the same after having children. The truth is, my body was so depleted. Our bodies are so depleted after having babies, and it takes a lot to bring your body back in balance.
Erika: And instead of guessing, they say don’t, test. So I’m working with a team of people. I’m taking supplements. I’m trying to bring things in balance naturally. I’m doing things to support my thyroid, my cortisol levels, and it’s not even about losing weight, although that’s happened, but my energy levels are truly insane.
Erika: I’m feeling like a well-oiled machine. I am totally in the flow, feeling like I’m working at an optimal level. And yeah, I can’t wait to bring these experts on the podcast. Season to dive deep into everything regarding your body after baby, your hormones.
[00:08:00]Erika: We’re gonna talk about my exact protocol, which probably won’t be the same for you, but a lot of things can cross over and I think it’s just very interesting to hear what can happen to your body after you have a baby, why it’s so important to test and to get some help if you need it with the conversation.
Erika: Okay, I lied there’s one more thing I wanna talk about, and that is the importance of doing something purely for you and purely for your own joy. In 2022, I enrolled in tennis lessons and it was something I can’t monetize. I may or may not have been motivated initially by the outfits, but I truly fell in love with the sport.
Erika: I met some amazing women in my community and it was just childlike and fun. And you know, the older we get, the more we forget to tap into our childlike self. And I feel like the more you can tap into that childlike.
[00:09:00]Erika: The closer you are to God and can tap into your purpose. I would encourage you when you’re setting your 2023 intentions or visions that you don’t forget to do something purely fun, purely joyous, purely just for you, and I would love for you guys to share that with me. Also, send me a DM @BabeSkills. Let me know what you’re doing just for you this year. And before we take off, please remember to subscribe so that you’re following the podcast and you get alerted when new updates.
Erika: We updated this podcast every other week on Wednesdays, and I can’t wait for the year ahead. We’ve got some amazing practitioners, some wellness community individuals. We’ve got, clean beauty gurus, and it’s just gonna be a really, really fun season and love to keep in touch.
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