BECOME YOUR OWN LEADER

I've had leaders all of my life. My first one being my mother, actively raising my sister and I to happy and healthy young women. Allowing us to spread our wings and fly through schooling where again, I had leaders. Certain teachers that stuck out to me that I gravitated towards in their wisdom and knowledge. I soaked in the words of my college professors in all their vast knowledge of the word. I met with leaders in the Association I was actively involved in in college. I graduated to more leaders, bosses, coworkers, the occasional micromanager that thought they were a leader, Ha! ;)

I was following. Not in a bad way by any means, but following.  Letting them lead.

I didn't realized this was happening until I started to build a team. I'm getting choked up as I write this as my team, you guys, shifted the role in my life from being a follower to being a leader. A true leader.

Let me take a second and wipe these tears from my eyes.

Pulling the attributes of those qualities I loved so dearly from individuals that crossed paths with me. And from those I've never met! In the past year, I spent COUNTLESS hours building myself up through personal development books, Ted Talks, Youtube gurus, you name it - I've probably watched it. I did all of this to become the best version of myself, so that I too could start to help other people do the same.  It's just like a relationship, you can't expect someone else to heal you when you need to heal yourself. You've got to come first.

One thing is clear now, watching people bloom and step out of their comfort zone in wellness and career wise -- is my purpose on this planet.

There comes a tipping point where you simply can't load-up on anymore "stuff" guidance, lessons, etc. You must start to work. Put all of the material into place and start growing the tribe. Which now means to step into the leadership role.

I believe that time started yesterday in my funky "cleaning house / morning meditation" blog post.

I'm going to make a very bold statement here.

I'm going. Full steam ahead into a lifestyle that requires no boss (beyond myself), one that grants freedom to travel with my husband because we're all living on EARTH why not experience it beyond our work commute. Freedom to give back to causes we care so deeply about and do bigger things than pay bills!!!! F&%K!!! ... And I'm taking the dreamers with me.

And more than anything, I want to go to my grave with the knowledge that I tried in this lifetime. I tried with bravery and led heart-forward to grow not only for myself but to be the person that wakes others up to do the same. Work for you, your goals. Why be unhappy for another year or hell, even longer? You have this present moment. This present time. Present everything to make a change.

**You've had a lifetime of leaders already. It's time to step up and be your own**

I want to give you a first hand look at this lifestyle. The beauty behind it all, the community and quite possibly YOU waiting on the other side <3

Send an email to me at the motivatedmavens@gmail.com with the subject line: "I'm ready to learn more!" You'll gain access to my private group today.

HOME OFFICE TOUR + MORNING MEDITATION + MY SPOONK MAT

Today started with an amazing meditation on my FB page and thought I'd give my readers a little tour of my new spruced up home office! 

A peek at this mornings 5 minute meditation in 20 seconds:

Be hold! The beautiful mediation pillow gifted by my sister! 

Sprung into action yesterday and cleaned the entire house. Had this *pull* to purge everything that wasn't serving us out. Not just cleaned but DEEP cleaned every corner, drawer, clothes, curtains, windows, mirrors. This place is humming with bright new energy this morning! It feels like a ton of weight has been lifted from room to room.

Came to my meditation pillow this morning and took 5 minutes to listen for the intention of the day. It came rumbling in extra quick in what I can only explain as, "welcome". Feeling of walking through a new door, opening a new chapter and setting this new intention extra high. A new level. A new place. I believe the reason why the message was so clear this morning is because I followed the pull. The little instinct that whispers to you. Pay extra attention to those sweet moments. Follow them. Journal about it. Listen.

Welcome.

Meditation is such a beautiful practice. It takes time to develop the lessons of quieting your mind but the outcome is so sublime. The ability to feel, think, see and love at a higher level is worth every moment spent learning how to master this. So thankful for this day and ready to welcome in this new exciting energy.

&...on to the office tour!

It's incredible to be able to work from home and finally be doing what I truly love! 

I've managed to find a little side gig that brings in a steady income as well as working towards my big dreams of wellness coaching and of course, blogging!

This board right here is everything to me. It showcases where I've been, the awards along the way and the blank space is where I'm going.

A little over a year ago, I plunged into this world of coaching and helping others on their weight loss, mindset and wellness goals. From a little group of 10 people and now just this morning, 239! Seriously makes my heart want to explode. I value each and every person that took the time to check out our group, The Motivated Mavens and make lasting lifestyle changes. I continue to build the team and look for go-getters that are eager to not only feel good in their own skin, but help others do the same as well. It truly feels like my life's work and the reason why I'm on this planet :)

In this space, we're surrounded my music and musical instruments. 

It breathes creativity into this room not only for me {being a huge music fan} but my husband, the gifted musician, that can pick these up at anytime and create some incredible new songs. 

TBB TIP: 

Try creating a creative space in your own home! A little unused area that you and/or your family can go to that's all about individuality and brings out your natural talents. This is our guest room and the bed is actually up and against the wall. It'll easily come down when family or friends are here, but what's more important right now is having it as an actual creative space. We've been able to grow our side businesses from here much easier than a bedroom or kitchen table! :) Try it for yourself. 

See all of those books? Thats my past year of reading. One of the best parts about becoming a coach is that personal development (PD) is a required non-negotiable component to my daily work. I've been peeling back the pages and learning more about myself than I ever thought possible. As I grow, my team grows and the saying, "your vibe attracts your tribe" is 100% true! I've been able to connect with people from all over the globe after opening my heart and mind up to this opportunity.

Whats your favorite self-help / personal development book? 

Let me know in the comments below, I'm always looking!

The Doors are currently playing in our vintage baby-blue Corsley record player. Loving the record player pops and slightly scratchy undertone coming from the speakers.

Adorned with the worlds most beautiful dream catcher {in my humble opinion} from Earthbound Trading

My furry co-worker, Sydney and coffee from Peace Coffee! Morning ya'll!

On a side note, today starts my first day of the 21 Day Fix {another blog post coming on this!} so breakfast was superb...1 purple, 1 red + 1 green container! More on that to come. Taking time to dial it back to the basics and re-learn my portions while helping my team, The Motivated Mavens is all I could ask for.

And below, a spoonk mat at my toes. 

I love the re-charge I get from pressing my toes into the little spikes. No, it doesn't hurt it's actually a nice little pressure. 

According to spoonkspace.com,

 "Spoonk is based on the principles of acupressure and Japanese Shiatsu massage. The mat stimulates specific reflex points throughout the body, releases blocked energy, eases tense muscles, and creates deep mental and physical relaxation. Benefits include increased level of energy, reduced inflammation and pain, improved and deeper sleep." 

Neat, huh!? You can find one for yourself at a great price on Amazon. 

Directly above my head is the spiral of our one-of-a-kind tapestry that's adorned in elephants!

Speaking of elephants, you'll find one in every room of our home. I'm slightly obsessed ;) 

Questions for you:

1) Do you have an office space for your unique creativity? 

2) What are the must haves in your space?

3) Do you meditate? Any suggestions or guru's I should follow?

4) What books are you reading now?

Comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

xo, Seana // The Bohemain Blonde 

FINDING NATURAL ENERGY TO WORKOUT // ENERGIZE

Happy Thursday! The sun is shining and at 7:47AM this morning, I turned the BIG 3-0. Yikes! Thirty. Feels slightly strange no longer being in my 20's but that's ok, I love change and renew....so, bring it on Universe! :)

As most of you know, I'm a health and wellness coach and give numerous suggestions on weight loss, energy boosting and overall personal development all based on what's worked for me. One of the most asked questions I get is, "how do find the energy to workout?" I'll be honest, some days are better than others and for the days that's it's harder to get going, I'll crush my Energize.

Let me first tell you that I did a TON of research before trying this product as I hate that jittery-too-much-coffee feeling as often times, for me, it feels like an oncoming panic attack, which I don't need in my life! 

The energy you get from Energize is the same you'd get from green tea. So, I tried a little sample about 6 months ago, loved that I was able to power through an entire workout, push myself for a longer period of time and my muscles weren't as tired as before. I decided to order the tub below and keep the momentum going. 

I don't use it every day (although you could) I reserve it for the days that I need the extra push or if I'm planning to workout hard before a big event. I used this religiously before my sister's wedding two weeks ago! Never missed a workout. 

All I do is take one tiny scoop, mixed with water and down it! The flavor is a very light lemon citrus taste without a chalky or sugary aftertaste. Not bad at all.

The back label: "Energize was developed by Harvard-trained scientists using cutting-edge sports science and nutrition research.  It's loaded with powerful ingredients and phytonutrients that have been scientifically shown to work.  Formulated at clinically effective ingredient levels scientifically shown to make a difference in energy, focus, stamina, strength, and recovery."

What have I personally noticed after taking Energize?

+ Faster recovery times

+ More energy and endurance to keep going

+ Less muscle soreness after working out

+ MY TOP REASON...More energy and endurance!!!

After mixing it up, taking it down, 20 minutes later, I'm ready for a powerful workout. 

It's that simple.

So.....what's IN Energize that sets it apart from other pre-workout supplements?

·  Beta-alanine

This amino acid helps reduce lactic acid buildup in your muscles, which helps to delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue so you can push harder and last longer. Numerous scientific studies show that beta-alanine is especially effective at helping to improve performance during intense exercise.

·  Low-dose caffeine (from green tea and coffee bean extract) 

Low-dose caffeine has been shown to be ergogenic (which means it helps enhance performance). It also helps improve reaction time and focus, and reduce exercise-induced muscle fatigue. From recreational exercisers to elite athletes, studies show that it can give you both a mental and physical boost.

·  Quercetin

This powerful performance-enhancing phytonutrient gets a lot of attention in leading exercise physiology-nutrition laboratories because it can help improve endurance and delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue to help you get through your workouts and give you that competitive edge.

There's no artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners or preservatives. Which really stuck out to be as compared to the other brands I was using. 

Today I streamed PIYO from a shady spot on my patio. 45 minutes of low impact sweating is just what I needed!

Are you interested in trying Energize for yourself? 

Follow this link here to my page, there's sample sizes as well as a full tub that retails at $49.95 for 40 servings which would be 40 workouts.... totally worth every penny! :)

Questions for you!

1) What pre-workout are you currently drinking?

2) What workouts are you currently doing?

3) Do you have an accountability buddy or would you like one? Comment below!

XO, Seana // The Bohemian Blonde 

HAPPY HUMP DAY + YUMMY TURKEY BURGERS + SUMMER WALK

Happy Hump Day! We're half way to the weekend and with these beautiful summer nights we're having, I needed to get out and walk. Feeling a little better each day. These glands are still swollen but I can tell it's getting better. 

Took the trails around our house and stumbled upon a bunch of bunnies!

Any idea what kind of butterfly this is below? 

Pretty slow, but felt good to get out and my blood pumping!

Drew stopped by the co-op and picked up a bunch of new organic fruits; cherries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries 

Whipped up our evening summer go-to salad. Drizzle of olive oil + balsamic vinegar and toss. That's it! Sometimes we'll get a little more creative but it's important to get some greens in with our dinner. 

Cherries for appetizers while Drew grilled up our turkey burgers, recipe below!

The best part, It's one of the BEST recipes we've tried! 

Turkey burgers can be tricky as the meat is pretty dry and lacking in flavor. We jazzed them up with some jalapeno and spices, check it out. 

TBB SUMMER TURKEY BURGERS

Combine the following in a large bowl:

+ 1 pound of ground turkey

+ 1 egg white

+ 1 whole egg

+ half cup of finely chopped onion

+ 1 finely chopped jalapeno (depending on tolerance)

+ two tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley 

+ tiny dash of cayenne pepper

+ 1/2 cup of Ian's whole wheat panko breadcrumbs 

+ couple dashes of Mrs Dash Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning 

+ few cracks of pink sea salt

+ few cracks of fresh cracked pepper

Mix everything together with your hands and form 5-6 patties depending on how large you like them. 

Have a hot man grill them up for you while you play with the cat :) 

We ate them open face style (with just the bottom bun) topped with our favorite bbq sauce and the side salad from above. And they....hit. the. spot

She loves me, can you tell?

Tomorrow is my 30th Birthday! I have no idea what my husband has planned but I'm beyond excited for what's in store. Have a wonderful night everyone!

I have some "go-to" questions for YOU!

1) Whats your go-to workout in these summer evenings?

2) Whats your go-to healthy grilling recipes? 

3) Any ideas on how to jazz up our go-to salad?

xo, Seana // The Bohemian Blonde 

ROAD TRIP // 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND

I really wanted to call this blog post, Mono in Madison but.... some version of "road trip" sounded much better. Even though the end of last week I landed in urgent care with mono, this little weekend trip was everything the doctor ordered. Laid back, relaxing and time with my husband -- all this girl could ever want. 

If you're new to Airbnb or haven't tried it yet, let me give you a tour of our cute little apartment on the beach that we rented for $72 bucks a night (total steal for 4th of July weekend).

Entrance to the house, covered in herb plants. To the front faced was the beach and this amazing view. Our apartment was on the top floor. 

Here's an inside tour of the bedroom, kitchen, dining and down the hall was the bathroom. It was a private bathroom however, it wasn't actually IN our apartment. No big deal to us. We actually never saw any of the other tenants of the building while we were there. 

Perfect view of the morning sunrises from the bed. 

  

The yard spaces in Madison are very little. Most of them had some version of wildflowers blooming.

The meditation pillow I used almost daily. What a treat!

Morning tea for me and coffee for Drew. 

Little AC unit to keep the place nice and cool. We hardly used it as the wind off the lake was incredible at night. Not to mention the hundreds of fireflies that came to life!

    
I had a slight obsession with all these potted herbs :) 

I honestly felt this place was so magical. It was everything we needed when things felt like they were running at a 1,000 miles per hour. We sat down to have breakfast every morning together, talk about the day, laugh at each others jokes or movie references, listen to indie music, walk down to the beach, walked to the coffee shop and cruised around on some bikes (once I was feeling up for it). And the best part, sleeping in :)

Madison has a funky vibe, almost that of Portland meets Seattle meets Denver? Anyone else feel the same way? We loved it!



My tour guide ;) Making sure I stayed back from approaching cars, looked twice and used my hand signals. Ha! He really is the best.

Anyone want to talk to the all mighty wizard today? 

I told you this place was magical, see the constellations on the ceiling :)

Made it down to the beach where I made a flower crown and we watched the sunset. 

   

When in Wisconsin, you must get cheese curds. Mono or no mono, these were delicious. Which I guess were also featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives! Meanwhile, Drew fell in LOVE with a new coffee cream ale from The Great Dane....

This is when the beer kicked in.... ;)... notice my heart glasses? He wears them well. 

Somewhere we always land is record stores. Are you a fan of them? Not sure what it is, the smell or the vibe or the people -- regardless, it's always on our must do list. 

So much vitamin D! Loaded up on my favorite SunBum sunscreen. It sure felt good to be out of the office air conditioning and feeling like a real human being again. 

Here we came to sit in these red chairs, every morning. Our Airbnb beach home was only a block from here. Oh, I should also mention, we had no WiFi at our place, which was a God-sent as both of us needed to unplug. We did check in here in the mornings on our little side jobs, only for a hour. We timed it! 

 

Loving that coffee shop vibe :) Even though I was only drinking the kombucha. 

We rented some bikes and took them to the capital on the last day. Perfect 72 degree Minnesota day. Found some sweet new hobo pants and a tank from Earthbound Trading  -- my absolute favorite store! (not pictured here as I'm saving that post for my bday this week). 

Made it back just in time for our last sunset

  

It really was the perfect weekend. Couldn't have asked for more. If you haven't checked out Airbnb before, here's a link to get $30 off your first time! The places are incredible. We could have never had the same experience in a hotel. We truly felt like locals going this route. 

>>> Enjoy for $30! https://www.airbnb.com/c/sann15 

Questions for you: 

1) Whats the best weekend trip you've ever taken?
2) Where would you go if money was no problem?
3) Where should we go next?

XO, Seana // The Bohemian Blonde