Do you struggle with prosperity or weight? I’ve experienced both issues.
Prosperity used to be my BIG area of concern. I never made enough, I never had enough and I couldn’t see how it was possible for me to manifest the life my heart desired.
My head could just not wrap my mind around the HOW.
How in the world could I live that kind of life? I envisioned it for my sister, because SHE had a doctorate and her own successful business, but moi? I would have to live vicariously through her, or so I thought.
Weight issues began when I moved to Brazil and gained so much weight due to loneliness, but things REALLY became an issue after I had my children.
At 5’3″, with 50 pounds (23kg) to lose, well, let’s just say…I wasn’t feeling my best. I didn’t feel like ERIN.
What I Tried to Have Prosperity & Lose Weight
I cried tears
I journaled in at least 10 thick journals
I took courses
I wrote and said positive affirmations
I did EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)
I hired trainers
I read “The Secret”, “The Science of Getting Rich”, “Think & Grow Rich” and more!
I had food delivered to my house
I went on countless diet and exercise programs (Power 90 anyone?)
…and nothing made a lasting difference until I understood and started to do what I do now.
Today, I have more prosperity in my life than ever before (and it just keeps increasing) AND I am a healthy and happy size 4-6…without having to diet, deprive, or “work out”.
You know I LOVE to share all the Elegant Processes that can gift you The Elegant Life, right?
Can I Ask Your Opinion?
Well, here’s what I would like to know…
Which topic is currently weighing on you: finally achieving and maintaining your ideal body or manifesting more prosperity into your life?
Both of these topics will be covered here on the Elegant Life Blog, however my priority is always YOU and what you would like to learn first.
In the video above, I go further into describing each topic, so have a quick watch if you have about 9 minutes.
Then, in the comments below, could you please tell me which topic you’d first be interested in learning the Elegant Solution to, along with a brief description as to why?
I am EXCITED to share my Elegant Secrets with you!
See you next week with Post #1 on whatever topic most of you request!
I am thrilled to announce that SOFIA BEG ZAHEER is the winner of The Self Love Challenge!
Sofia, I will be sending you this full set of my most favourite body care system – *The Elemis Frangipani Body Care Set!*
The scent is utterly divine! When I purchased my first set I literally could not stop smelling myself!
I said to myself, “THIS is the signature scent of The Elegant Life”, and then I looked into the benefits of frangipani essential oil and just grinned. Listen to this…
Frangipani fragrance is connected to divinity itself. The flowers inspire spirituality and invoke love.
How perfect is that?
(Below, I list 8 incredible benefits of this gorgeous essential oil.)
May I personally congratulate each and every one of you ladies for participating in the FULL 28 days.
At first it may have felt awkward to say out loud, “I LOVE ________ about myself”, but as the days went on, I could see and sense that it became easier to honour ourselves and say out loud, with so much gratitude, “I really love this about myself.”
THANK YOU once again. I look forward to more giveaways and special surprises!
x
8 Divine Benefits of Frangipani Essential Oil
1. It makes You Feel Love
Frangipani essential oil is said to be one of the best perfumes in the world, the flower is linked to feminity, and in Feng Shui, Frangipani is associated with love.
2. It reconnects You With Inner Peace
Frangipani essential oil brings peace and harmony back into your life. Its calming qualities reduce the negative effects of everyday stresses, uplifts your spirits, nourishes your soul and brings self-awareness.
3. It Promotes Self Confidence
This exquisite oil promotes high, positive self-esteem and lifts your emotions overall.
4. It Gives You Soft, Beautiful Skin
Frangipani essential oil moisturises the skin. The oil ensures that the skin remains soft, even cracked, dry skin.
5. It De-Stresses The Mind By Letting You Sleep
Frangipani essential oil has a sedative effect, helping you to sleep. The oil calms your mind and relieves stress in the process.
6. It Maintains a Healthy Body
Frangipani essential oil has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This maintains a healthy body by eliminating harmful toxins and free radicals from the tissues.
7. It Relieves Headaches
Frangipani oil can relieve a headache and even back pain by relaxing your muscles and nerves.
8. It is an Aphrodisiac
Frangipani essential oil’s scent promotes sensuality and connection.
Marie Kondo, creator of The Konmari Method, got it right when she said,
When you surround yourself with possessions that spark joy, you’ll create a life and home you love.
In Marie’s book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, she teaches an elegant method that will help you get to know yourself better and create a life and home that truly represents you and the life you desire to live.
Want to have a little tour of my home?
Come inside and I’ll show you some things that spark JOY in me and how you can use my tips and Marie’s to fully become a Woman Who Lives Elegantly.
Now, if we relate the Konmari Method to The Elegant Life, which is a life filled with:
a knowing of who you really are
a knowing of how to move through life with ease & elegance
a knowing of inner peace
a knowing of your beauty & signature self
a knowing of what brings you JOY and continuously adding more of it to your life
a knowing of what your gifts and passions are and how to express them in the world
a knowing that you are part of Divine energy
and a knowing that Life is Beautiful!
We can see that The Konmari Method is a method that women can use to help them live The Elegant Life! Because, when we focus on JOY, as Marie Kondo suggests, we are in direct alignment with the essence of The Elegant Life.
When we ask the possessions in our home, “Do you spark JOY within me?” we are literally creating our Elegant Life by letting go of what isn’t us and isn’t serving us, and only keeping and letting in the things that represent who we are and the life we truly desire to live.
French Homes and the Konmari Method
There is something I have always adored about French homes and french decor. When you visit someone’s home in France you really get a sense of who the owners are.
French homes are not always typically “beautiful” or put together like you’d see in a magazine, but they ooze individuality and presence.
They have a personality, an essence all unto themselves and you REALLY get to know more about whoever’s home you’re in.
It’s a pleasure to walk around and hear stories about the possessions they have on display.
It’s so intriguing to witness the colour palettes they use.
And again, it’s not that the decor looks perfect, it’s how the person has used their home as another way to express their signature self.
Have a look at these Parisian Apartments featured on TheArchitectualDigest website.
I have walked through many beautiful homes and felt no soul whatsoever, and I have walked through very modest homes and felt absolutely enamoured by them.
The difference?
The owner’s sense of self and a knowingness of who they are and what sparks JOY within them.
Take a moment right now and wander around your home, or simply spin around in your chair and look around the room you’re currently in… does it show who you are? Does everything in it spark JOY within you?
If someone were to walk into your home, would they be able to know something about you without you even speaking?
A Parisian in My Home!
A few months back we had our friends over for dinner; Jean-Louis, the husband, is Parisian.
The moment Jean-Louis walked into my home he began wandering. He looked at everything I had on my walls and the things I had on little tables and as he did this I could hear him saying, “Oh!” and “Mmmmm…”.
I have to admit that the francophile in me LOVED that he, the Parisian, found my home fascinating and interesting.
The real feeling in me though, was one of happiness. Because I could see him enjoying our home and learning more about us as a result.
One object intrigued him enough to ask a question and this opened up a whole beautiful discussion.
So I ask you again, hoping not to sound too redundant, “Does your home spark JOY in you?”
Do the clothes you own, the blankets that cover you, the photos and pictures on the walls, represent YOU?
What do they say about you?
If you don’t feel your home represents you, then I highly recommend you begin using the Konmari Method that Marie Kondo so beautifully teaches.
This month on the blog we have been focusing on knowing yourself, honouring yourself and loving yourself…
Has anything shifted for you in your life this month after reading the blog posts? I’d be so curious to hear about it!
I’ve already heard from some women who say they have given themselves more permission this month to enjoy things they love.
Ça c’est merveilleux!
Next week we will end this month’s theme with a BIG CELEBRATION as the winner of the Self-Love Challenge will be announced!!!
Yes! Finding happiness is a major focus right now and I LOVE this! However, I want you to know what Women Who Live Elegantly know.
I want you to know how Women Who Live Elegantly define and experience happiness, as well as sustain it.
Curious? Read on and/or watch the video above.
Finding Happiness & Sustaining Happiness
The dictionary defines happiness as:
a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
A Woman Who Lives Elegantly’s definition of happiness is:
the state of contentment, fulfilment & joy that I experience as a result of doing, being and enjoying what my soul desires.
Notice that happiness from a Woman Who Live Elegantly’s point of view is a state that she is directly capable of creating in her life.
Now, in order to create this state, she must do three things…
Step 1:
Spend time getting to know herself.
Step 2:
Spend time listening to her soul.
Step 3:
Give herself permission to do, be and enjoy what her soul says it desires.
Let’s look at each of these in more depth now.
Spend Time Getting to Know Yourself
I can remember many times in my life that I have admired a woman because she seemed to really KNOW herself.
She really knew her style, she really knew what she loved to do for enjoyment, she knew her taste in music and home decor, she had some signature dishes she loved to cook…she just had that “Je ne sais quoi”.
Now, when I say that I admired the women, I actually meant that I envied them. I didn’t know what they knew and it made me so depressed and was left feeling empty, plain, boring, uninteresting, lost…you get the picture.
One day, in my early 20’s I asked an older friend, who definitely KNEW her style and likes, etc. (she oozed “Je ne sais quoi”!), “How did you find your style? How do you KNOW what you like in life? Her answer was, “I don’t know, I just do.”
Ugh, that was a depressing answer. I wanted so much to have an air about me, an essence, a knowingness of who I was, but no one could guide me!
If you feel this way right now…maybe not as desperately as my 20 year old self, but subtly enough that your soul is resonating with what I’m saying here, then I would invite you to purchase the book, “Style Statement” by Danielle LaPorte and Carrie McCarthy.
It was such a beautiful experience to explore myself the way in which this book guides you to! I really cannot recommend it enough.
It takes you into every crevice of who you are. Watch the video above to see inside MY book!
Spend Time Listening to Your Soul
You will hear me saying this over and over again and I will never stop because it is the KEY to your happiness…Ask your soul what it desires and listen!
When a woman listens to her soul she receives the most intimate guidance on how to be happy & fulfilled each and every day.
There will be no pushing to be happy, no “trying” to be happy, no effort in “finding happiness”, it will simply be her state, and a sustainable one.
Give Yourself Permission to Do, Be & Enjoy What Your Soul Desires
So, you know yourself intimately and you listen to your soul, but…you don’t ALLOW yourself to DO, BE or ENJOY what your soul desires.
THIS is an epidemic with women.
We women can always come up with a reason why we shouldn’t do, have, be or enjoy something.
There can ALWAYS be a reason, however, the moment we give ourselves permission to go ahead with whatever our soul has said it desires, we will feel exquisite happiness and joy!
Examples:
Let’s say your soul really desires a molten dark chocolate dessert. Will you give yourself permission to eat it with pleasure or will you think about the calories it has and how much exercise you’ll “have to do” to burn it off?
Let’s say your hubby comes to you to make love and you say out of stress, “I don’t have time”. Did you ask your SOUL what it desires? Sometimes it may say that a tidy house or a completed task is what it desires, but sometimes it will say, “How wonderful it would feel to connect with him like this!” What will you do?
Let’s say you look in the closet and see nothing that inspires you. Will you schedule in a day where you go shopping at your favourite shop or will you say, “Oh, but the kids need things more than I do”?
Let’s say your soul desires to enjoy dinner at a certain restaurant and your husband never wants to go out. Will you stay in night after night after night, with sadness and resentment building, or will you figure out a way to go on your own by booking a table for one or inviting a friend along?
Let’s say your soul desires to work with a particular coach or mentor or to purchase a course, but your ego comes in with, “You can’t do that, you don’t have enough money or time for that!” Will you listen to your soul or your ego?
Which would bring you more happiness & fulfilment do you think?
I could go on and on as the number of times in a day that women hear the whispers of their soul but quickly shut it down, is countless.
And THIS is where unhappiness and unfulfillment come from.
There is no joy.
There is no pleasure.
There is no fulfilment of the soul.
We carry on living our life in “responsibility” and resentment and then buy 62,000 books on, “How to be Happy.”
The answers are within us…specific answers for us alone! We just have to listen and give ourselves permission to Do, Be, and Enjoy what it asks us to.
Are you ready to experience sustainable happiness? Remember what Women Who Live Elegantly do…they make a choice. What’s your choice?
I’d love to know if you resonate with anything I’ve written here. Do you consistently resist allowing yourself to do something you know your soul keeps asking you to do?
Do you have a feeling like perhaps you don’t deserve to be happy?
Looking for some fabulous Valentine’s Day ideas? Well, as you know already, we do things a bit differently here at The Elegant Life:)
As Elegant women, we always check in with ourselves first.
And when we do this, we have a knowingness of what our soul desires and how it would like to ENJOY Valentines Day.
Now, I’ve always had a dilemma because j’adore themed holidays! I think it’s the teacher in me:) So, to go out for dinner and be served everything in heart shapes would thrill me to no end…the problem is, my husband doesn’t feel the same way.
He resists holidays like Valentine’s Day because he dislikes the commercialism of it. He prefers to be loving and generous to me all year round (okay, and to not have to pay triple the amount for a meal and flowers).
This used to really hurt me. And the hurt often turned to resentment….“You know I love it, so why can’t you just do it for me?”
However, as you realised fromlast week’s post on How to Elegantly Set Boundaries, we as Elegant women must know what we require and then decide what we will do if the other person does not give us what we need.
WE are responsible for our own happiness.
So, here’s what I decided to do, since he wouldn’t budge:
a) I became clear on what I actually LOVE about Valentines Day. You know me by now:) Yes, I love the fact that it’s all about LOVE.
b) I also love how you can easily have a themed evening around it.
c) I also love showing people how much I love them.
d) I love sharing the excitement of a holiday with my kids – they’re exactly like me:) YEAH!
So, for the past 5 years I have been creating a themed Valentines Day dinner, at home with my family, that I love so much. Yep, heart shaped lights, heart shaped pizzas, heart shaped cakes and decorations, and a LOVE HUNT where my kiddies follow clues that are all based around ways we love each other.
And while I do this, my heart is filled with LOVE, my kiddies hearts are filled with LOVE and my hubby stares at me from a distance with a loving gaze and says, “I love you. The way you get excited about all this is so amazing, so YOU. How lucky our kids are to have you as their mummy.”
And all is well in my world on Valentine’s Day.
If I didn’t do this and my hubby surprised me with a dinner out one year (which I still would love to happen at least once, but there’s zero attachment to it) I would actually miss this little tradition I’ve created.
So, let me ask you a few questions:
If you had to plan your own personal Valentine’s Day,
What would you eat?
What would you do?
What kind of woman would you BE on this day?
What gift would you love to receive?
I invite you to create your own special evening, and if you choose to invite someone to share it with you, that’s YOUR choice.
If I didn’t have a partner and children, or for some reason if I was alone on this day I would:
Buy some Processco and luxury dark chocolates for myself.
Spend a bit of time planning the next “Girls Getaway” with my friends, Sandrine & Laura (this year it’s Italy!)
Watch a movie that my soul desires to watch.
BLISS! Magnifique!
I would FULLY be able to enjoy this day because of the amount of Self-Love I have for myself. I don’t need anyone to “make” me happy, I know how to do that all by myself. And with this energy emanating from me, who knows what I’ll experience or bring into my life?
I’d be curious to hear how you are celebrating (or not) this Valentine’s Day! Are you like me and LOVE the whole theme of love hearts? Or do you prefer to cook a simple dinner for two and watch a movie together? Or, do you go all out, with dinner, hotel and presents?
Please share it in the comments below!
Next week I’ll be sharing yet another way to increase your self-love, so I’ll see you back here soon!
Joyeuse Saint Valentin! xo
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