Stay Soft While Getting Strong

Dear tLm Family,

Happy June. We are officially at the halfway marker for 2025. Do you feel like it went faster than usual this year? How are you feeling about everything, about where you're at? Are the goals you set and the dreams you declared at the beginning of the year still exciting you as much as they did then? Are you on the path you hoped you would be on, and are going to where you hoped you'd be going? Just some questions I like to ask of myself this time of year, and I thought you might too.

I hosted the BLOOM! Brunch at my home this past weekend and it was beautiful. Community really IS medicine. It was facilitated by Shawn Marie Turi and included our featured guest, Chef Jenny Ross. We discussed this being a great place for a mid-year check-in and reset, and how we might approach that. We shared a bit about ourselves, our journey, some of our practices, and our progress. We connected with some amazing women and got a little clearer on what the second half of the year could look and feel like for us. We were reminded that "clarity comes from engagement, not thought" and that all our experiences in life (yes, all of them) are seeds of possibility, even when it's hard.

This intimate gathering was supportive and safe, marked with healing laughter and tears, bringing us even closer together. Coming together in this way, we get to hold space and celebrate each other, while also being celebrated in return. My friend mentions this quote often:

"We all just want to be seen and heard. No exceptions!"

That's such a true statement. When we listen to and see each other, when we feel seen and heard, we're more likely to feel understood, validated, and supported. It can contribute to our overall emotional well-being. Being present, being seen, and being heard increases our capacity for self-acceptance and our empathy for others. It's a gift to be present, and it's okay if that requires work or practice. We live in a world with distractions at every turn, and many of us need to relearn this trait. At the BLOOM! Brunch, we did some writing, and were invited to review our first six months of the year, and then ask ourselves what we'd truly love to see happen over the next six.

You don't have to have attended BLOOM! to ask yourself these valuable questions. If this lands with you at all, I hope you'll consider doing your own mid-year reset.

In addition to 'blooming' this month, I'm also continuing my journey through Yung Pueblo’s work. Staying with his words from “Inward” a bit longer, I found this quote from him, and found it subtle and profound:

"Stay Soft While Getting Strong"

When we are healing, growing, and moving away from things that are no longer serving us, it can be easy to shut down, close ourselves off, and harden up when things get tough or don't go as we want them to. But staying open, staying soft, when what we want to do is close, IS what makes us stronger. It's an amazing thing to come out the other side of these experiences and to see others come through it too.

From Inward, Yung also says, “A space to heal is a space to grow, and a space to be yourself is a space to feel soft.”

That's what the BLOOM! Brunch felt like. Doing the work together, whether it's a tLm Challenge, your barre or Pilates work, being part of a writing group, or anything that brings you support, can change everything. Witnessing and celebrating each other’s wins and challenges can make all the difference.

You don’t have to figure it all out all at once. You don’t have to do more or be more to hear what your feelings are trying to tell you or what your inner truth is trying to teach you. You can start by making a little room at a time. Room to listen. Room to feel. Room to remember what matters most to you.

Being part of a community, circling up with like-minded women who see and hear you, even your fitness practice, can be a powerful way to reclaim your space, your peace, and your sense of presence. As you move through these last six months, I hope you'll let it be sacred, let it be gentle, and let it bring you back to yourself.

With love,

Kelly