I am a bright and shining star – See Me Shine!

“I’m a shining star, shining bright for all to see.” These are the words that popped in my head when I read about the See Me Shine contest hosted by Execumama. This contest challenges every woman reading it to look within herself to find 5 things….5 Things! That she loves about herself and share it with the bloggerverse. This is a challenge indeed, yet one that I am willing and ready to take on.

I find it absolutely beautiful, endearing and inspiring when one can look at herself in the mirror and feel love. This has not always been my case, I was never the young girl walking with her head held high oozing with confidence. Heck! I wasn’t even the WOMAN who had it either. I won’t bore you with my story because let’s face it, everyone has a story to tell right? So lets just say I had some bumpy roads but I think I have finally gotten to the smooth pavement.

So, here are my FIVE THINGS that I love about myself:

First… I love my heart. It makes me the giver that I am and allows me to have much compassion and empathy for others. It often times makes me do a little bit more than necessary, going the extra mile (or two)

Second… I love my hair! It has been the cornerstone of my confidence building. I have always admired the women who wore their hair naturally. They always seemed to exhibit a certain strength that I admired, they felt and looked beautiful no matter if their hair was nappy. I wanted to feel that same way, so I ditched the perms and the weaves and began my journey 7 years ago, never looking back.

Third… I love my breasts, yep I do! I am often heard complaining joking about how they are no longer round and perky grapefruits but small and droopy flapjacks! But the truth of the matter is that I am proud of them, they supplied food for my babies and provided me with mother and child bonding that I will not trade for anything. So, they may no longer be perky but they are mine and I love them for all the good that they have done!

Fourth… I love my thirst for life. I want to live it to the fullest and experience as much as I can take in. I have very few inhibitions and I like it that way!

Fifth…I love my chocolate brown skin. My shoulders and legs shine so lovely when I moisturize it. I feel that my black is beautiful and I truly love the skin that I am in. I am so proud to say that now, because for many years I’m not sure that I felt that way. I can look in the mirror and really like who I see staring back at me.

So, now you know what my five things are…I’m thankful that I can truly see myself with appreciation, sincerity and clarity. Even more so, I’m happy that I am confident to share it with you!

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Workin’ It Out With The Whole World.. And Jane.

Yes, you read it right, Be. Beautifully. Well.’s Sandra and Chante’ had the privilege to work it out with the entire world on World Fitness Day 2010! It was a blast, let me tell ya!

The event was hosted by THE DIVALICIOUS & FABU Jane Fonda, and included a few special treats! The GA Dome was transformed into one big workout studio where hundreds of people, all colors, shapes and sizes took a spot to work up a sweat. The energy of the entire dome was amazing. You walked in and felt the excitement of the lovely people, all ready to move for a good cause. Yep, it got even better, the entire event was a benefit for G-CAPP, an advocacy for adolescent pregnancy prevention.

As each celeb fitness guru took the stage we kicked it out, salsa danced it out, and stretched it out! Each instructor had a set, and each set offered a different style and variety unique to that individual. Jane Fonda and Denise Austin started us off, giving her amazing workout, ending with high energy to the song, Got a Feeling (BEP). Followed by Billy Blanks who had us all kicking and jabbing during the TaeBo set. Of course, Debbie Allen got up there and showed us all how to shimmy our waistlines into shape with latin flava! Richard Simmons ended the exercise portion of the event with a fierce and quite unforgettable workout to Lady GaGa. And you know he showed his tail. Literally.

After the workouts were done, it was high time for some good live music. The Pointer Sisters, in all their glamour, took the stage and reminded us of exactly how “excited” we were! Ludacris came next and re-commenced the exercising when he had us all getting low.

All and all, the event was a fantastic success. It was great to give attention to the reminded fact that we need to incorporate exercise into our daily activities, and that it can be done. Even a simple dance routine can work up a good sweat. Moving is such an intricate part of overall wellness. So, after partaking of the complementary apples and oranges offered, grabbing a tee shirt, and visiting with the vendors – who ranged from chair massages, to fitness gear, to dance classes.. We took our goodie bags full of information and freebies from the sponsors, and headed out, amped and exchanging ideas on who cant miss next years’ event! Will you be there to join us??

Check out the live stream video, which was shown all over the world during the event. And BBW will be posting pics in our photo gallery of this great event very soon!

World Fit 2010 Live Stream

cs

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Execumama And Her Friends Show Us How To Celebrate Yourself, Your Food, and Your Health!

This weekend was great! Imagine walking into a loft space full of empowering, encouraging, lovely women all celebrating loving themselves as mothers. They stretch, they breathe, they are encouraged, they eat lavishly. Sounds amazing? Well that was how Be.Beautifully.Well. spent Saturday afternoon!

Execumama did it like no other. The event started out with Yoga, done beautifully by Tiffany Campbell. fellow mommy and yoga instructor. Her style is fantastic, her energy- light, smooth, putting your mind and body at ease. Stretching in combination with breathwork, in the quiet of the room, reminded these beautiful mamas that yes, we need this! Next up was Christine Martinello- International Speaker, Authoress, Mother, and founder of the Momager Club. She spoke on the importance of not only embracing your role but not feeling guilty about the necessity of taking care of yourself. Her statement “If you cant take care of you, how can you possibly take care of anyone else…” left all the moms with a renewed perspective on how crucial it is to feel love, adoration, inspiration from the people around you.. but most importantly, from within. Was there a dry eye in the place? I couldnt tell, had a lil somethin in my own eye!

You would think that would be enough to send you on home floating, right? Well just when you thought the fun was over, Akila had plenty more in store for us! She introduced us to her friends from Creativesoul Photography who made it very clear that “all photographers are not created equal”! Once you see her work, you will strongly agree! As mothers we get so busy and wrapped up in living life that we sometimes forget to capture some of these great moments that we are living. Seeing the beauty in the photos they brought along gave all of us bit of inspiration to do just that.

Last but certainly not least it was time to eat! As we sipped on our exotic lemonade that only this fabu kitchen maven could mix up, we were introduced to Shelley Chapman of Naturi Beauty. Honaaay… This woman navigated that kitchen like Queen Bee of her domain! She was fly! And the food- delectable. As she sashayed teaching the kitchen-and-not-so-kitchen inclined, our mouths watered from the smells and we were shocked at how easy the meal was to prepare, all in about 20 mins! Her motto was “you can pay for it now, or you can pay for it later..” As we discussed the importance of using fresh made from scratch ingredients. She gave great beauty tips as well.

Overall, it was wonderful to network with, share with, gain knowledge and encouragement from these phenominal mamas.. All that energetic love filled the room and it filled us individually! It was truly a weekend celebrating mothers, and what mommy doesn’t work hard enough for that?

cs

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Talking to yourself

arly on in our lives we are taught to give hugs, to say I love you, to say I forgive you. Often times we develop a habit, a daily routine of giving to others. All of which is wonderful. The ability to give is a wonderful attribute and should be continued. However, with so much emphasis given on the value and worth of others I feel that somewhere along the way some of us have lost the value of ourselves.

Are you aware of your worth and value, truly? We all say we do but do we really believe it? How do you honor the light that is within you? It is vital to our spirit that we take time to nurture ourselves emotionally and physically. Take time to say “I Love You”…”You are beautiful” …”I forgive You”…to ourselves. When we are nourished spiritually, emotionally and mentally we can provide loving gifts to others, shedding beautiful light. However the opposite occurs when we allow ourselves to become depleted of such nourishment. A tree can only produce the fruit that is within it’s seed, It will not produce what it does not have. What type of fruit will you bear, to nourish others? What type of seeds are being planted in you?

Take time each day, if you can’t do each day then try each week to re-affirm yourself. Spend a few minutes sitting quietly and say affirmations such as these; I am worthy, I am beautiful, I love myself because…, I am open and accepting of the blessings that come to me.

Hug yourself

You can create your own affirmations, it doesn’t matter, just do it for yourself.

You are so worth it.

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Keeping our girls healthy

his past weekend we held our first ever community event. We partnered with the Atlanta Chapter of Tamika and friends to educate women young and mature of the dangers of HPV and it’s link to cervical cancer.

HPV is the abbreviated term for the Human Papilloma Virus, a sexually transmitted disease that is the cause of cervical cancer. We began our event with the beautiful Kenya Hughes, who told the very inspiring story of her dear friend Tamika who at the age of 25 had been diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and given a 15 % chance of survival. After receiving a radical hysterectomy and beating the odds, Tamika pulled through and became an activist for educating young women about this type of cancer that is preventable. Through her passion for life and efforts in spreading valuable information a wonderful organization has been born. Tamika and Friends is responsible for giving women hope, encouragement and a means to make ends meet during a difficult time in their lives when they may have felt that all hope was lost.

Every one that was at the event was able to learn something new. Each woman walked away feeling inspired by the various stories that was shared. We learned that we cannot take things such as youth and health for granted. We were reminded that there are always consequences to our actions. Most importantly, each woman learned the value of teaching what they learned that day to other women in their lives. Young , old, lesbian or heterosexual, monogamous or promiscuous, no one is immune and education is the key to preventing this virus from spreading.

What was especially beautiful, was the connections that were made because we were together that day. Working relationships were strengthened and new business ties were formed. We were able to share our light with others and vice versa. At the end of the meeting we had the privelege of providing therapy for a few of our guests, it was truly a special moment.

For more information about Tamika and Friends go to www.tamikaandfriends.com

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Just Breathe

The last few months I have been talking a lot about adding breathwork to the sessions with our clients. I just feel that it will add to the total experience of what we do…Combination Therapy. last month I was visiting an adorable tea house for a business meeting with Chante’, as I waited for her to arrive I had the opportunity to look around and soak the place in. I say that because it is a place that I have been wanting to go for a while. It is so quaint and peaceful, the kind of place that you can easily spend four hours reading a good book and surfing the web as you sip on your Matcha tea. Mmmmmm, More on the tea and things later…I’ll get to the point of this post, BREATHWORK.

As I chatted with the owner , she informed me that they hold regular zen classes in thier meditation room. One of which is a breathwork class. Oh my! I couldnt believe it, this is exactly what I wanted. I have heard of this modality For a while but needed more information about it, you know, a more hands on experience. Just so happens that the next class was the following day. So I made it my business to be there . I arrived ready and eager to learn something new. I went into the room with a few others, we each lay down with blankets and mats and after some simple instruction, we began to brrrreeeaaathe. For 30 minutes we breathed in silence while the last 30 minutes was accompanied with soul soothing music. What an experience! With this pattern of circular breathing I was totally relaxed in every part of my body, with my mind having a sense of freedom.

This breathwork was something developed in the 1970’s. It increases the oxygen levels in the body which in turn gives the body increased ability to heal and release stored up toxins. Because breathwork also rises the bodies alkaline level, this makes it even more beneficial to the physical body. Studies have shown that high levels of alkaline in the body increase the immune system, which gives it disease fighting power. What I found to be even more intriguing is the emotional benefits that one can receive by regularly practicing breathwork and even having a breathwork coach. By doing so, you are able to release stored up past emotions and well as discover how current issues relate to past decisions. So amazing!

I am going to continue the education and practice of this system, so don’t be surprised when you have your next session with us and we ask you to BRRREEEAAATHE. I promise you will appreciate it.

For more information on Breathwork please go to www.breathworkers.com

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Beautifully Well Wednesdays – What Is Your Absolute

I’m totally new to blogging, and I am finding it quite intriguing.. I love talking to people, I love journaling, so why not blog?? So here goes..

Be Beautifully Well has one main goal. We want people to recognize the need to embrace internal and external beauty, I mean, doesn’t true beauty permeate from the inside out? Think about it. You are what you eat… When you exercise, you feel awesome on the inside way before you see physical changes… If you are not feeling balanced internally, if your systems are a little “off”, it definitely shows on the external.. Hence being BeautifullyWell.

So, with all of that said, what makes you feel Beautifully Well?? When you eat a nice light meal, and are ready to relax, ease your stress, promote meditation, what products do you indulge in to make yourself feel sultry and sweet, beautiful and calm? Amazingly but not so shockingly, the most beneficial skincare, bath, and body indulgences are right under your nose. The most natural products we can use are right in our kitchens or homegrown right in your backyard. My guilty secret pleasure happens to be plain powdered milk. I put it in everything. It makes your skin silky and even, and it feels absolutely lovely. I bathe my babies in it, and I use it for my manicures and pedicures… Honey is another, as is oatmeal! Try making an oatmeal and honey mask tonight and you won’t be disappointed. Your beauty will shine on the outside and the therapeutic properties of honey and oatmeal will certainly absorb and benefit the inside! Add a dash of powdered milk to make it extra silky and lux! My love gift to you is my BeautifullyWell Wednesday recipe for this week! Try it out, tell me what you think!

Goddess Light’s Basic Face Mask

1/4 cup of finely ground colloidal oatmeal

2 tbsp fresh or dried chopped chamomile flowers and buds

3 tbsp of wildflower honey

Optional: 1/2 tsp of cold pressed olive oil

Finger sift all dry ingredients until combined thoroughly. Slowly finger sift in honey (and olive oil, if you have chosen to use it). Pat onto washed and damp skin until covered. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes or until the pasty consistency starts to harden. Relax, breathe deeply, and enjoy with a side of meditation!

Peace & Love

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