Creating Space With Christine Kathryn

In this episode, I start another series - this one centers around the theme of Spacious Parenting. For the month of March I’ll be talking with inspiring Mamas who are creating safe spaces for their families as they either navigate challenges or chart courses they didn’t necessarily expect to take or they are paving the way for us in more spacious parenting styles. In this, the first episode, I talk with Moyra Gorski, wife, mama to 4 young adults/teenagers and successful small business owner. Moyra opens up her life and her heart as she shares how her relationship with her kids have changed through the years as they move through different stages of growing up and leaving the nest. We also talk about the challenges she has faced as her teenage daughter was diagnosed with an eating disorder and how that has impacted her family, her marriage and how they continue to heal and recover four years later. Moyra and her daughter are an incredible inspiration to me and a great example of courage and strength. I am honor

EP41: Decluttering - It’s All About Releasing In this episode, I tackle the topic of decluttering and what I believe to be the most effective way to do it and why. I propose that when you approach it from the deeper meaning or the root of where the clutter is coming from, you will gain more benefit from your actions and those benefits will be further reaching. I talk about addressing the emotions we attach to things that cause us to hold on to them longer than is healthy, the part grief plays in the holding on to stuff and how incorporating mindfulness is the key to positive release and preventive against future clutter. I cover the three spaces where we accumulate our excess and the most effective tools I’ve found that work to eliminate it. This is a popular topic and I offer a unique spin on it encouraging you to think differently. Prepare for some spring cleaning and join me now as we begin to create space…  Important Links from the Show:  Blog post Part 1: Releasing Clutter: It's more than just a messy d

In this episode, I revisit the Gratitude/Joy experiment I started in EP38 and share how it went for me, the insights I gained from it and my conclusion, based on my experience, as to whether an intentional, focused period of time on gratitude increases joy. Join me now as we begin to create space... Download the Guided Meditation for later use  

In this episode, I talk about our tendency toward being creatures of comfort (guilty!) and how we are better served by developing a healthy relationship with the uncomfortable. I discuss the beneficial practice of training your mind and body to become friends with discomfort rather than resisting the uncomfortable emotions and moments you face regularly. I touch on the notion from Carl Jung that “what we resist, persists” and how you can lessen the amount of time you spend in resistance by making small shifts in your comfortable daily habits. These small, simple changes can help you learn how to stay with the larger, more intense discomforts you inevitably face. I also share what I’ve learned about sitting with discomfort from my personal yin yoga practice as well as from being sick on and off for the last month(!) I’m excited to talk about this important practice that can significantly improve your levels of calm, ease and joy. At the end of the episode, I give you an opportunity to practice right away and I

In this episode, I pose the question: ‘What comes first - Joy or Gratitude?’ You hear me talk a lot about living a more joy-filled life and one of the ways we are told we can do that is through living a grateful life, but which one comes first? The joy or the Gratitude? Let’s ponder the relationship between joy and gratitude and have a little fun as we, together, look to find what feels most true by engaging in an experiment. I am embarking on a 10-day experiment to see if when I focus on gratefulness throughout my day and use some specific techniques of meditation, reflection, journaling, and intentional noticing, will the level of joy I experience (and exude) increase? I invite you to join me in this experiment and see what you learn to be true for yourself and then listen in to EP40 to see how my experiment turned out. Join me now as we begin to create space... Join me in my 10-day Experiment to see whether the level of joy we experience (and exude) increases when we focus on being grateful. And then tune

In this, the fifth and final episode of our series celebrating powerful women living spacious lives and spreading their magic in the world, I welcome Lisa Lehmann, artisan, goldsmith, maker, and Mama to 4 young adults and creator of Lisa Lehmann Designs a hand-crafted, high-end artisan jewelry studio. Lisa was born to create and her creative roots run deep. She has tried multiple pursuits throughout her 15+ year journey in the business world, with all of them staying within the vein of making and crafting from her soul and Lisa shares what it has meant for her to have the full support of her family along her chosen artistic path. We talk about the early years of getting her artisan jewelry studio going and her experience of homeschooling four kids while living the dream of running her own business. We touch on the the highs and lows of running a business on your own, the temperament of a creative, and her struggles with depression and how she’s accepted the responsibility that comes with this struggle while h

In this, the fourth episode of our series celebrating powerful women living spacious lives and spreading their magic in the world, I welcome Joy Thomas, freelance writer, blogger, teacher and speaker, Wife, Mama to 2 girls and 1 very special guide dog, Roja. Joy shares with us what she means when she says her blindness is a big part of her story, but it doesn’t define her and how that has not always been the case. She opens up about the lengths she has gone to to hide her disability and how her work with Brene Brown’s material on shame has helped her to embrace every part of herself. Joy shares about her blog with her twin sister, who is also legally blind with Retinitis Pigmentosa, where they both write about their experiences navigating the world, and how their journeys have been unique. Joy has become an advocate for the visually impaired and those living with disability as she gives back through her writing, speaking and teaching on the topic as well as on healing and living a full life through vulnerabil

In this, the third episode of our series celebrating powerful women living spacious lives and spreading their magic in the world, I welcome Lauren Lo Salant, curator of all things vintage, owner of Thrift Junkie Vintage storefront in Colorado Springs, CO, and mama to one very special fur baby. Along with other juicy nuggets of wisdom, Lauren shares that while her passion for her industry is huge, her plan of starting small (tiny even) and wisely growing as demand makes itself known has been the perfect strategy for this one-woman-show. She takes us through her journey of trying different passions and landing on the one that was introduced to her by her mother when she was a preteen. Lauren shares how building community is at the center of her life and how the concept of a ‘conscious closet’ is something she wants to share with the world! Lauren is one multi-talented woman and a force of nature you need to know. Join us now as we begin to create space... 

In this, the second of five interviews of powerful women living spacious lives and spreading their magic in the world, I welcome Katie Hawkins, Founder of Unbridled Equine, wife, and Mama to two little girls and loads of fur babies. Katie shares with us how she combined a childhood passion with some challenging lessons learned through multiple health crises as an adult to create her dream business and life. She shares what it is that drives her, how she approaches obstacles and strives for balance between work and family, and gives her top advice for women who want to create a dream business or life but aren’t sure where to begin living that out. Katie is part of a very unique and progressive industry where she considers herself an advocate for horses through connecting with them in a unique way and then becoming their voice. She’s making great things happen in the animal world and I guarantee your life will be richer after listening to her story. Join us know as we begin to create space… 

In this episode, we begin our five-part series of interviews with women who are living spacious lives and spreading their magic in the world. I’ve been blessed to cross paths with so many inspiring women and I want to share just a few of them with you all! After today’s kick-off show, I will be welcoming one woman each week throughout the rest of January. We’ll get to know them better as they share their stories and words of wisdom. I thought it might be fun to start off the series by turning the tables around in today’s show with my friend and fellow podcaster, Tammy Helfrich, interviewing me! So, listen in, get to know me a little better, and maybe learn something about me you didn’t already know! Join us now as we begin to create space... 

In this, the last, episode of 2017, I make a plea for you to consider adding mindfulness and living mindfully into your plans for the new year. As so many of us are reflecting on the past year and looking to set intentions, goals, and plans or choosing ‘our word’ or our mantra for the coming year - I ask you how would it feel to incorporate mindfulness or living mindfully into that plan? Listen in as I attempt to un-complicate the topic of mindfulness and share three reasons I think it is a necessity for the new year as well as what is required to live a more mindful life and the highly desirable result of living more mindfully. Join me now as we begin to create space...

In this episode, I welcome unschooling mom of 3 and spiritual mentor, Amanda Hodge, as she demystifies ritual for us. She shares the simplicity of some of her daily rituals that exemplify her mantra - 'finding the sacred in the mundane’. Amanda shares her thoughts on why we’ve moved away from connection to our natural rhythms over the years and gives us practical suggestions on how to reconnect. She reinforces the concept that the practice of being present in your body deepens the benefits of something you may already be doing on a daily basis. We talk about the role muscle memory plays in gaining greater benefit from ritual and she shares her ‘bridging technique’ which is actually the secret sauce to making changes in your daily habits. We touch on ceremony a little bit and Amanda shares more on rituals connected to the moon phases as well as the Winter Solstice celebration which is upon us in a few days. After listening to this episode, you might find you are not as far away from daily rituals as you think!

In this episode, I welcome back pioneer in women’s work, Nancy Hill to chat about grieving and receiving - two topics that at first thought, may not seem to be related, but, in fact, are. We talk about living in a grief-distancing culture and that grieving is not a linear process that one simply ‘gets through’. Nancy shares intimately about the losses she is grieving right now and then shares 4 practical tools we can use when we find our selves in the throws of grief as well as some additional ideas that are specific to the holiday season. She also shares the one thing she deems the most powerful medicine we can offer to someone who is in the midst of their grief. We then discuss how receiving is really not the passive act we think it is, but rather one must take action and even go so far as declaring readiness to receive and that as we practice the act of receiving, we actually create new neural pathways that make it easier to do so graciously. I appreciate Nancy’s heart to share such beneficial and timely w

In this episode, I start by sharing my five 'go-to' tools for releasing stress, anxiety & worry. I spend the remainder of the episode talking more deeply about one of those tools - restorative yoga. I take some time to explain what it is and how it facilitates the release of stress, the lessening of anxiety and the shift away from worry by sharing six reasons I love the practice and why I strongly believe you need this practice in your life. The benefits of restorative yoga can take a little time to receive, but they are oh so worth it and needed! In a time where stress, anxiety & worry are running rampant, this is an important episode for you to create the space to listen in. Join me now as we create space...

In this episode, I share about the time I realized I had stopped doing what I tell everyone else to do - which is journaling - and how the absence of something in your life can teach you, in a very powerful way, its importance. I share the common reasons we often list as to why we stop practicing powerful things in our life and then drill down to the real culprit to why we stop. Lastly, I share four powerful reasons to journal - four positives to transferring what’s going on inside our minds onto paper. Of course, as always, I close out with my 10-minute guided meditation gift to you. Join me now as we begin to create space...  

In this episode, I tackle the final 7 weeks of the year which we traditionally refer to as "the holiday season”. The hustle and bustle and pace of this time of year tends to sap the joy out of the season for many folks. I am proposing that it doesn’t have to be this way. If we pause and become mindful, pay attention and consciously create a season that brings about the feelings we want to feel, it can be a more joy-filled time for all of us. I share five questions you can use to help you get curious and ask yourself as you begin scheduling your time and alloting your funds toward the season’s festivities. I also share three ways that a shift in approaching the season can actually create space for you during and after the holidays. This message is timely any time of the year so, Join me now as we begin to create space...

In this episode, we explore the idea of creative expression through adornment and our body as a canvas. We take a brief tour through history and look at how body embellishments have been used for thousands of years, in all cultures, by both sexes and for a multitude of purposes. Here we ponder the question ‘what if more of us looked at our body as a canvas for self-expression, a space to allow that which makes our soul and spirit happy and less of a space where we we try to impress others? I share a few of the ways I allow my creative self to express on my body and what effect that practice has had on my life. Join me as I propose that our style should come more from within than from fashion magazines, the red carpet or the catwalk. Why should fashion designers have all the fun? I had fun with this episode and I hope you will too. Join me now as we begin to create space...

In this episode, I start the conversation on the importance for you to have a space of your own. My goal is to get your creative juices flowing to designate and design a space you can call your own that is realistic for your budget and size options. I talk about how having a sacred space that is designated for your creative expression or a mindful practice can actually help you to have more success with it. I share what some of the spaces I have created for myself over the years have looked like and offer ideas of what you might want to include in your space. I wrap things up with three keys to creating a sanctuary that you will actually use and the important message you are communicating to your self and those around you when you make the effort to create your own little nest. Join me now as we begin to create space..

In this episode, I tackle the topic of Balance. I pose the question “what does a balanced life look like to you?” and describe three metaphors for balance and discuss how they each might look in relation to your lifestyle. I then suggest trying one of them on for size to see if it might be a more effective and useful way of reaching a more balanced state and I give some practical ideas on how to try it out. We are exercising our 'curiosity muscles' again this week - join me now as we begin to create space...

In this episode, I introduce what I call the “other B word” in reference to last week’s episode which was titled “the B word”. The process of setting personal boundaries (which is my other B word) is crucial to having a spacious life and one that is not filled with busyness and overwhelm. First we take a look at my favorite metaphor for understanding the purpose for and benefits of personal boundaries. I then share seven symptoms or signs you may be having trouble setting boundaries and also the top five reasons we often don’t set boundaries beginning with lack of awareness which is tied to Episode 22’s topic of being too busy. I pull everything together by offering five steps you can take to begin identifying, setting and enforcing healthy personal boundaries that will lead to you taking back your power in your relationships, space and schedule allowing for more joy and ease! Join me now as we begin to create space...