Wellness Challenge :: Get More Sleep

Mama Scout wellness challenges took a break this summer. Or should I say, the group decided that our challenge would be to take a social media break this summer. I am not sure how well I did - but I am back with a solid challenge. 

How would you like more sleep? Really good, restful, restorative sleep? 

I know I would. So, I am dedicating my September to trying new techniques and setting new habits. 

All of this challenge happens on the free secret FB page I have set up just for this group. If you are interested in joining you have to "friend me" on FB and then message me that you want to join. It is that easy! 

I have been repeatedly been told throughout these challenges that this group is a positive, happy space for people on social media. I agree. We share ideas, ask for help and offer support. There is no inflammatory politics, religious debate or decisive content (I like a good debate - but this is not the place). 

So, I hope you will join us. We will start with setting intentions and then get going - or rather, get snoozing!

Book About Me Fall class open (this is it until next year!)

(See the woman in the photograph above? That is not me - it is my friend who I went to NYC with this summer (on a whim!). We went to the  Nuyorican Poet's Cafe one night to soak in some poetry - and she ended up on stage! Unplanned, but game and awesome - she read on the same stage she had 20 years earlier. That is what this lab is about. Remembering, circling back and revisiting your voice and your story on your terms.)

+This is the only time this lab will be offered until next year+

BAM is a huge class and emotional investment that I can best offer once, each fall. 

If you are interested - this in this lab, this is it!

New this session  :: 2 more weeks of labs. In the past, participants have always been not quite ready to end our 30 days together, so I have added 2 more weeks of labs! This is new material dealing with voice and place!

Also, when you register for BAM Fall 2014, you will get a spot in my annual Holiday Lab - a 10 day reboot and intention setting lab I run each November. It is a good one, and I know you will love it!

A 6 week Mama Scout e-lab for mamas looking for themselves. 

Through list making, memory mining, visual map making and attentive looking, we will clear the path back to who we are, noticing how we have changed and plotting who we want to be. 

This lab is only offered at the beginning of each fall as we naturally begin to turn inward. It is the prefect preparations for my spring offering, Dream Lab.

_____________Who is this is for?_______________

This lab is primarily for mamas who have given so much to their children and families that they have lost a bit of themselves along the way. A virtual room of your own, but in the form of a self-ethnographic book/journal.

I was inspired to do this project  after I did something similar with my kids. 

Over the weeks that I helped them compile books all about themselves (with lists of favorites, recording of life stories, timelines, maps and charts and more), I kept thinking of how the format could be an amazing tool for self growth and exploration for women. So, I took notes, adapted and added adult themes to the project and this lab was born.

However, the adult Book About Me program has taken on a life of its own and has become a standard Mama Scout lab. It is one of my favorites and I look forward to returning to the prompts (and the new ones) each year. 

By recording the details of our lives, both big and small, through word and image, we recover our lost selves and reconstruct stronger versions of the women we want to be. 

You might be looking for the forgotten you, the submerged self, a younger or different you than who you confront in the mirror each morning. This course is to help you uncover her, find her and also redefine her. Because chances are, she has been deep in the muck so long, she might have evolved into something a little different. 


__________What do I get + how does this work?_______

+Just before we gather you will get a little welcome package of goodies in the mail to get you inspired for the lab.

+ Each day, for 6 weeks you will receive an email lab from me. Each lab contains a short essay, a meaty journal prompt, a creative invitation, copy work and additional resources to help you on your journey. 

+ We will have a giveaway each week! In the past these have included great books, CDs, art supplies, digital products and more!

+ NEW you will be enrolled in my Holiday Lab for free! This lab is offered each year in November and is a gentle and fun way to set intentions and prepare for the holidays. 

+ NEW This lab will have 2 extra weeks of prompts delving deeper into the subjects of voice and place.

+ You will gain access to one of the most positive and friendly online groups. Not only have great friendships and collaborations been welded in mama scout groups - there is a genuine, non judgmental and supportive energy.

I will not lie, it is a lot.

I encourage all participants to write daily for 5-15 minutes. Seriously, that tiny amount can shift roadblocks  and open doors. BUT even if you just read the lab material and THINK about it, you will benefit. 

Our secret FB group will allow you to witness and share stories that will shock, heal and amuse. 

The creative projects are for the most part simple and inexpensive, yet novel and meant to disrupt your (and my) default thinking. I hope they will inspire you to look deeper, think weirder, and explore your life in a creative way. 

As a full time, homeschooling mom, I have found online courses  to be of great benefit to me. As a lifelong student, I am personally enriched and a much better parent when I am engaging my mind and creative spirit. My e-labs are the type of courses I had been searching for and could not find. So, I created them and learn next to the participants in each lab.

Register here. 

(review) Rumpus Letters for Kids

This is NOT a sponsored post. I just wanted to share something I have been loving so much!

Every two weeks we receive a letter from a children's book author through the Letters For Kids program ran by The Rumpus. These letters are funny, thoughtful, sometimes a little melancholy and always gobbled up by my group.

They are not fancy. Just handwritten or typed, double sided and photocopied. Sometime they are in color with little drawings and collages the author has made, and sometimes, they are just black and white. I love that they feel real, this is just the sort of letter I would send out to a bunch of friends (I did something similar last year when I spent time in Paris).

We read them with breakfast or at bedtime. The author always includes an address and an invitation to write them back.

This is great for :

general enjoyment
getting glimpses into the lives of writers
a writer's group or classroom
a present for someone
inspiration to write and send your own letters
homeschoolers/unschoolers/afterschoolers
supporting The Rumpus and the folks who write these letters
supporting letter writing in general

You can sign up here.

Oh! And be sure to like their FB page here.