MY NEW INSPIRATIONAL BOOK ANTHOLOGY BECOMES AVAILABLE ON AMAZON THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 6TH!

In just 3 days, the book anthology that I co-authored, In Pursuit of the Divine, will be released on Amazon.  I was invited to participate in this incredible, inspiring and impactful collaboration by my friend and the book's compiler, Krista Gustavson who asked that each of the book's 30 co-authors share our stories of empowerment and transformation more  truthfully, vulnerably and courageously than ever before.  The result is a collection of stories that is incredibly real, totally inspirational and packed with tools to empower women around the globe.  This is our time. This is YOUR time.  To be utterly and gloriously YOU and to shine your light fully for your sake, the sake of your loved ones and the sake of our world.  This book will empower you to do so.  Stay tuned for the Amazon link which will become available on Friday so that you can purchase the book for yourself and all the other women who are important to you!

The purpose of this book is to inspire and empower Women all over the world to reclaim their Feminine Power and align with who they are so they can fully express their deepest truth.  Each co-author invites you to witness their own Transformational Journey, one that empowered them to be who they are today as the Feminine Rising.  Each chapter reveals the truth, what they discovered on their path to cultivate healing within themselves. Each story reveals the beauty already inherent in each one of us, a unique journey where a time of darkness initiated deep feminine wisdom of spectacular threads woven together in a tapestry of courage, bravery, trust and triumph In Pursuit of the Divine.

MEET THE CO-AUTHORS!
I joined forces with 29 other healers, coaches, visionaries and thought leaders from around North America and the U.K.  

Each co-author will touch your heart and speak to your soul, giving you greater awareness, clarity and inspiration. You will learn that losing yourself in the midst of pain, grief and loss can be a portal to strengthen and empower ourselves. I invite you to step into your own story so that your true purpose can be revealed. When we are completely aligned with our Purpose, we are the greatest contribution to the world.

Our Purpose is to inspire and empower Women all over the globe with our transformational stories. Every Woman has experienced some form of disempowerment in her life leaving behind traces of her pure essence; she then becomes hidden from the world. Our purpose is to expand your awareness, acknowledge you and provide a sanctuary to reclaim your own Feminine Power. Women now more than ever are being called upon to come together as a collective entity. With our unique offerings, we have a desire to support you and guide you in activating your own inner wisdom so you can align yourself with the greatest expression of who you are and know your purpose in the world.

This is the most HONEST blog I’ve written to date.  I’m putting my truth out on the table in an act of radical self love.  Here you go...

Happy Valentines Day!  To all of you who are in love and those of you who crave love, I wish you a happy day of honoring how love can show up even more in your life.  In recent years I’ve begun to consider Valentine’s Day the day of practicing more Self Love.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be having a special evening with my honey tonight and I’m very grateful for that.  But I’m also clear that I wouldn’t have gotten to this point of dinner and music with my husband if it wasn’t for self love.  

As the Universe would have it, I'm being given yet another opportunity to practice profound self love these days.  After getting married and going through what felt like a major spiritual portal of self growth and evolution a few months ago, I became ready to birth my life’s work.  Truly.  I’ve had a few ideas and dreams brewing in me for close to a decade now and I am finally ready to share them with the world.  (Ironically, I needed to go through some major dark times and undergo a process of intense physical healing and restructuring of my life to become ready).  The birthing of my dream is coming in the form of ALIGNED, a revolutionary 7-week transformational program that begins on April 3rd.  You’ll be hearing all about it in the coming weeks :-).   This is the culmination of everything I’ve been through, all that I’ve learned and integrated, as well as how I coach my clients towards living their ultimate lives.  I really believe in this work and stand fully behind this process.  It's how I live.

WHAT'S SELF LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
I became ready to offer these teachings because I love myself enough to commit to being the person I wanted to become.  That person is living the dream that has been brewing in my belly.  That person is humbly and courageously offering her own teachings based on her experience of walking the path of truth and reaping it's rewards.  That person knows that all she can really do is walk her own path fully and by doing so can model the option to others of doing the same for themselves.  I OWE it to myself to birth this dream of ALIGNED and the other offerings I'll be sharing this year.  I can’t not do it anymore and in doing so I have to practice Self Love more radically than I ever have before.  The old me who used to cut corners and step over her intuition and body occasionally is not the woman leading these courses.  The old me who was an amazing film and photo producer because she handled every detail, burned the midnight oil and put others first is not the woman who models embodied truth by honoring the pace of her spirit and surrendering to what she cannot control.  The old me who over scheduled herself and remained in her head instead of living and loving from her body is not the woman who will balance career, partnership and family rooted in simple pleasures and generous love.  The continued fruition of my dream depends on me loving myself enough to gently put down another layer of my old skin yet again and become again and again who I'm meant to be.  

WHO IS THE NEW YOU THAT YOU'RE BECOMING?
When I work with my clients on who they are becoming, we often give a name to the new them.  This allows them to really identify and personify the charicteristics of their future self.  Luckily for me, I’ll naturally be changing my name this year since I recently became married.  My new name is Rony Reingold, which so wonderfully means “Pure Gold”.  I’ve seized this as my opportunity to really slide into the skin of the me I am becoming.  I am Rony Reingold and it's been very fun to define exactly what that means for me.  It creates a new land to live in and an opportunity to step fully into my highest self.

So who are you becoming?  And if you’re not sure of that yet, who do want to be?  Who is that person within you that you owe it to yourself to become?  How do they live their life?  How do they dress?  What car do they drive?  What music do they listen to or do they choose instead to sit in silence?  What is their body like when they sit at the computer?  What is their relationship with food like?  What is their relationship with themselves , their children and their soul mate like?  How do they respond to situations that trigger them or situations that fulfill them?  What brings them ALIVE?

THE RAW TRUTH: A DANCE BETWEEN OLD AND NEW
When my husband catches me in my old mode of being driven and over-extended, he calls me "The Producer".  It's kind of a joke, but more of a gentle reminder to check myself and remember my new definition of what it means to produce and create from within.  There’s no room for my old ways if I’m going to truly fulfill this dream and embody Rony Reingold and all she means to me.  The new me produces and creates, in fact it brings me alive, but I do so from the center of the goddess within me; of the humble teacher and the person who fully and joyously dances down my own path of empowered self actualization for the sake of personal evolution and inspiring others.

I’ll be honest with you, there are days when I get consumed by the old anxious and controlling producer in me – she lures me into working late, getting disconnected from my body and stretching myself thin.  This is my deepest self sabotaging pattern and at times it feels that the new me and the old me are engaged in quite an arm wrestle, each trying to prevail!  However as I’ve experienced through evolving beyond other patterns in my transformational journey, when we practice radical Self Love, slowly but surely the new way prevails – in a peaceful and effortless, simple kind of a way.  It’s beautiful.  And I know that I’m already here.  The new me embodies such a deep love of self that when I catch myself in an old way I simply stop and take a breath.  I put my hand on my heart, I go for a walk outside, I sing or do a yoga posture to get back into my body.  I ask for a hug.  Within minutes or sometimes hours, I’m back to embodying Rony Reingold.  It feels incredible.  This is the path.  This is the work.  This is what it means to Embody our Truth.  

ARE YOU IN?
When we have a dream on the line, we can’t afford not to step up and love ourselves radically.  We just can’t.  So... what do you OWE to yourself?  What is the dream that it’s time to get back in touch with and who do you need to be to make that dream a reality?  

Ultimately, the question I'm asking you is:  Are You IN?  Are you willing to jump into the land of BEING the You You Are Becoming right now?  Are you willing to check yourself and bring awareness to yourself when you get stuck in your old ways?  Are you willing to take responsibility for those moments when you take things personally and act like a victim, when you react instead of respond, when you feel defeated but know you must continue?  Are you willing to gently and simply catch it and choose the new way instead?  What will open up for you if you begin to retrain yourself in this way?
I can tell you from my own experience and from the growth I see in my clients that a whole new world of peace, empowerment, connection, freedom, joy and purpose is available to you if you’re willing to start truly LOVING yourself.  When you put yourself first and fuel your tanks, speak honestly, take risks in honor of being fulfilled and allow yourself to be seen I guarantee you SO much will open up for you.  

You may be afraid to love yourself this radically out of fear that you’ll be deemed selfish, you’ll have to leave your job or you’ll end up alone.  If this is how you feel than I invite you to check the story you are telling yourself in your head – most likely there’s a nice, sneaky Saboteur here for you.  It’s natural for our saboteurs to show up when we start practicing self love because it threatens their way of being.  It threatens the life of the small, shrunken, fearful, accommodating, burnt-out old way.  Of course your saboteurs will put up a fit to get your attention when you're about to grow and love yourself majorly.  But you’re at choice.  You can get sucked into that propoganda in your head or you can simply practice having awareness in the moment and choosing yet again your new way.  You can be the you you are becoming.

GO FOR IT!
I cannot wait for April 3rd to come around!  It will be the deepest and most profound expression of my truth thus far and I am giddy with excitement to share it all with you.  I’ll be teaching you the exact step by step process that I put myself through to walk through the portal of physical, emotional and spiritual transformation.  I’ll be sharing with you how I found my truth and what I had to do to reorganize my life to align with it, leading me to my soul mate, my dream career, a healing body and lovely home.  It’s the same process I take my clients through and I’m blown away by the inner peace, clarity, deepening of heart, power and spirit that they are experiencing.  

As you go about this Valentine’s Day, I invite you to practice more Self LOVE today than you’ve ever practiced before.  Become the witness of your own experience and practice catching yourself in the old pattern and shifting into the You You Are Becoming instead.  Start to notice the difference in behavior, habits, patterns and response to life in general between the old or current you and the you you are becoming.   How does your future self show up in conversation?  Is he/she generative and constructive or reactive and small?  How would the new you handle this situation?  What does the new you want for lunch?

I’m here with you, standing for you, stretching myself as you stretch yourself beyond what you’ve known thus far and into unknown lands of gloriously rich and fulfilling new territory!  Your pool of Self Love awaits you.  Ready to jump IN?

Shine On!
Love,
Rony

LEARNING TO LET GO OF HOW WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE

Oh expectation.  Like our favorite item on the highest shelf of the cupboard that we simply cannot reach, you tease us and beckon us to loose ourselves before you.  

We have all had the experience of being disappointed because of not having our expectations met.  It can show up simply or it can consume us.  Attachment to expectation is a powerful force that can potentially pull us completely out of center, out of being grateful and present in the moment.  It has the power to put our Saboteurs in the drivers seat, to create strife and adversely affect our relationships and opportunities for growth. 

Think of a time when you went to see a movie that everyone raved about.  Because you expected to be thoroughly entertained, you ended up being let down.  As compared to other times when you didn't even know what the movie was about and you ended up loving it.  While being let down by a movie is a simple example, it demonstrates how casually we get sucked into the pattern of expecting things to be a certain way.  The disappointment from unmet expectations around larger experiences in life can feel devastating and be potentially destructive.  This tends to be particularly relevant for most people when they develop expectations regarding major life events such as birthdays, marriage, having children, a new job or relationship, etc.  Sometimes it's just not what we thought it would be. 

A PERSONAL CONFESSION & LEARNING
Recently, as some of you may know, I got engaged.  There was some build up to the anticipated event in the months leading up to the proposal and I admit that I began to develop oddly specific expectations of how I thought the big question would get asked.  In fact, as I reflect back on the occasion, I unknowingly came into it with a life time of expectation - years of societally influenced dreams and hopes of how my Beloved would one day propose to me in the most overly romantic and perfect way.  I also came into it with a pesky, unfamiliar pressure to have a sensational engagement story to share with friends and really society at large.  You can hear the Saboteur in this already, the drama and illusion of perfection and the pressure to be over the top.  Of course nothing in life is exactly how we expect it to be and most things are not "perfect".  Indeed, as the Universe would have it, my phenomenal fiance proposed in a most beautiful way that truly represented who we both are.... And, it was quite different than the elaborate and inauthentic vision of perfection that I envisioned of how I thought it would go.  Admittedly, I had to practice self management during the event so that I could appreciate all of his efforts and see the gifts in front of me instead of attaching to an idea that I had conjured up in my head.  In being honest with my phenomenal fiance about it later, we both had great learning around letting go of expectations and releasing parts of ourselves that no longer serve us.  We also were able to name what is truly important to us and therefore able to appreciate that in one another even more.  

Thank goodness that he proposed the way that he did!  He captured the true essence and spirit of our relationship wonderfully and in a way that was beautifully authentic.  Had my detailed fantasy expectation been played out, we would have missed out on the authentic little moments that represent our relationship.  My expectation was unrealistic and not truly aligned with who I am becoming or who I want to be in my relationship.   

Key Learning:  More often than not, our expectations are unrealistic and while they point to our hopes and dreams, when we attach to them or require them to become reality, then they will turn on us and keep us contracted and small.  How then do we balance dreams and fears?  How do we decipher that which is really important and that which we should insist on, from those things we can let go of for the sake of our learning?

LOOK FOR UNDERLYING CORE VALUES
The answer lies in identifying our core values.  Ultimately, high expectations are a sign that we long for something; that we have vision, hopes and dreams or that something is very important to us.  If we are really contracted around our expectations, then they are a signal that something important to us is being overlooked or stepped over.  Attachment to expectation can inform us of our core values if we allow ourselves to look beneath the surface.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself when you catch yourself in the grips of high expectations:

1.  What is truly important about this to me?
2.  What am I looking for the final outcome to provide me with?
3.  What value(s) of mine if any are being stepped on here?
4.  What values or parts of myself do I need to honor?

By getting clear on what you're actually after at the end of the day, it will help you open up to accept it in various forms.  You can then begin to see it everywhere - beyond just in the way or place that you thought it would be.  This is the Universe's magic.  When we let go of what we want the most, then the Universe showers us with the very thing we wanted in the first place.  

WHAT WE RESIST PERSISTS:  HOLD ONTO ESSENCE, LET GO OF FORM
It is our great lesson as a people to remember our true nature and to evolve based on what is in front of us at this present moment.  On the path of personal development and spiritual awakening, we are being called to dance in THIS very moment and to see everything as an opportunity for transcendence and evolution.  When we hang on tight to our expectations then we miss the opportunity for dynamic change and growth.  Resisting this change creates frustration, anger, resentment, self pity, stress and illness as what we resist only persists.  There is a difference between envisioning our dreams and clinging to what we think it is supposed to look like.  One is open, free, full of possibility and the other is closed, particular and insistent.

Therefore, we must learn to let go of WHAT we think it should look and instead, remain connected to how we intend the experience to FEEL.  This is about letting go of the form something takes and choosing instead to connect to the essence of it; the underlying intention.  In the example of my engagement, after fumbling around in the land of expectation for a short while, I was able to let go of the physical details I expected and instead appreciate the underlying effort, love and joy being expressed to me.  That allowed me to relish in the entire experience and recognize the enormity of blessings in my life that I was being invited to receive.  It didn't matter anymore what form it took, where we went, what we did, etc. because everything was a reflection of effort, love and joy.  Feel the difference?

HELPFUL TIP
Begin practicing finding the underlying essence in your daily life.  Let go of what you think it should look like (the form) and instead choose to recognize the essence of what is before you.  Is the person in front of you expressing love even if they say it differently than you would?  Are you experiencing fulfillment in your work even though this job is different than what you thought would make you happy?  Does your body feel relaxed and peaceful despite the situation being different than what you thought would bring you peace?  Start to tune in.

BECOMING OPEN & ACCEPTING THE FED-EX PACKAGE
By letting go of expectation we become OPEN.  The funny thing is that we flatter ourselves thinking that our imagination is going to yield the best possible dream.  How foolish!  The Universe gives us blessings that are WAY more amazing than what we could ever imagine.  This doesn't mean to stop dreaming or to not live intentionally.  The opposite.  This means live on purpose.  Get super clear on what is most important to you, stick to that and let go of the rest.  Let go of what it is supposed to look like.

I joke with my girlfriends that my Beloved showed up in a package that I didn't expect.  His age, features, job, etc. were different than the image of my life parter that I always expected in my mind.  For a long time, I innocently overlooked that fact that he was the one for me.  It was like the Universe was handing me a golden Fed-Ex package and I kept insisting that they delivered to the wrong address.  The more time we spent together during our courtship however, the more I could FEEL in my body and soul that I was at home with him.  When I let go of how I thought it should be and instead allowed the joy of what was actually happening in the present moment, then it was like a light bulb went off and we recognized each other as soul mates.

INVITATION
The truth is that we cannot control what anything will be like.  All we can do is set intention and do the important inner work to become very clear on our values and priorities.  We can choose to act in alignment with our values and express our authentic truth.  The rest is for us to release into the wind.  The rest is for us to co-create with the Universe, like two teammates who create life together.  We do our part and then we hand the rest over to a force larger than ourselves to provide the greatest lessons, blessings and opportunities for self actualization, connection and awakening.  

I invite you to identify and release one expectation that you're currently attaching to that you know is holding you back.  Get clear on the values and priorities that lie underneath it and then set it and yourself free.  By doing so you'll be proving to yourself just how much you trust yourself and life in general; and you'll be opening to receive life's true gifts.  

Happy releasing!  Please share your comments below - I'd love to hear what opens up for you around this!

Shine On,
Rony

BY COMPARISON

Think about a time when you felt really proud of yourself.  A time when you loved and accepted yourself and were aware of your own growth and worth.  Perhaps a time when you finally managed to get into the groove of practicing a healthy habit on a daily basis, or a time when you met a fear head-on and proved to yourself that you can do anything.  It is times like these that we feel aligned, purposeful and confident.  We can take a deep breath, sigh and just be in awe of our lives.  

And then….. when we least expect it…. it happens…. we do it….. we compare ourselves!  We compare ourselves to the person at the gym, on the street, in our class, at our work, in our community, in our family or to a teacher.   We conclude that this person is better than us because they are thinner, taller, smarter, more successful, more vocal, wittier, classier, more stylish, more spiritual, more grounded, wiser, richer, in a relationship, married, courageously divorced, healthier, stronger, more experienced, more fearless, quirkier, the list goes on and on.

What happens to us in these moments of comparison?  They can last as long as 5 seconds and yet they allow our inner critic to have a field day.  We go from feeling proud of ourselves, loving ourselves, confident, faithful and inspired to feeling worthless, judgmental, not good enough or unlovable in some way.  It is the perpetual dangling carrot that never goes away.   It feels like no matter how much progress we make, by comparison, somehow we come up short.

Now stop right here.  Because this isn’t really true.  Don’t read it as true.  Don’t convince yourself that you aren’t of value because you spotted “more” value in someone else.  You are perfect and exactly where you need to be in this very moment of your life.  You are of worth, you have innate gifts and beauty that you contribute to this world.  In fact, I would bet that someone is comparing themself to you right now.

Ask yourself:  What part of me is trying to convince me that I am not good enough?  Most likely it is a part of you that is trying to gain evidence to strengthen some false beliefs that you’ve created about yourself.  Most likely it is a part of you that has been wounded in the past.  Most likely it is a part of you that is so afraid to shine your light so fully bright because you might not recognize yourself anymore if you do.  Most likely, it is one of your saboteurs.    

Usually our saboteurs arise when we are growing in some way.  Or when we are about to really go for it or make a bold, exciting decision in our lives.  It is because we have pushed ourselves outside our usual box of comfort and are gaining the confidence to live more fully or accomplish our goals that the saboteur will raise it’s hand and try to convince us otherwise.  While this is very natural, it is something we must practice overcoming on our journey of self-growth and healing.

We address saboteurs with both my Holistic Health and Co-Active Life Coaching clients because whether you are becoming healthy or growing yourself in some way, it is fair to expect your saboteurs to arise.  Contact me to learn more about this.

A Helpful Trick - The Comparison “Redo”
A quick shift in perspective can help keep a saboteur at bay and remind you how much you have to be proud of.  When you catch yourself comparing yourself to someone and coming up short, take a moment and find a different comparison with that person that will have you love some aspect about yourself.  For example, if you see a woman who is thinner on the street and your recent efforts at weight loss suddenly feel deflated, do a Comparison “Redo”.  

Fill in this sentence with a positive quality about yourself:  Compared to her, I am __________ or I have ___________.  I.e., compared to her, I have luscious, curly hair or a powerful voice.  This exercise is not to create judgment around another person or to feel better about ourselves by putting others down.   This is simply to be used to remind yourself of your worth in that moment and to stop yourself from criticizing yourself.  The goal is simply to find qualities about yourself that are worth acknowledging.

You can also practice finding evidence of how the quality that you admire in another also exists in you.  For example, if you compare yourself to someone who is more successful than you, pause and remind yourself all the ways that you are successful as well.  

Bottom Line:
We have the power to choose which consciousness we reside in.  One of false belief or one of the deeper truth about who we really are and what is possible in our lives.  I invite you to start noticing how often you compare yourself to others in a way that reinforces your own limiting beliefs about yourself and instead practice choosing to love and acknowledge yourself.  You’re worth it!

Shine on,
Rony