I used to be afraid to raise my hand, but not anymore.

When I was a child, I often knew the answer to the question the teacher asked, but I never raised my hand. Every year, my report card would say, “Lesa needs to participate more in class.” But no one was ever able to change this behavior.

That is, until I signed up for the Elemental Woman Leadership Program.

The Elemental Woman Retreats are a sacred and safe space, where there is permission to step out of your comfort zone and stretch yourself beyond who you know yourself to be and into who you are meant to be.

All of the information presented in the training is awesome and beneficial too, but it is this safe space that is the real transformative power of the program -- because the greatest teaching in the world does nothing for you if you can’t take it into your very being.

Before attending the Earth Retreat in 2009, I recognized that my reluctance to raise my hand in school was the same thing that was holding me back from living the life that I wanted. I still didn’t know what this thing was – a fear or mistaken belief about myself or whatever – but I was ready to let it go.
So, that first day of the retreat, I got up in front of the room – which was in itself a scary thing for me – and stated my intention that I was leaving whatever was holding me back there that weekend.

And I did.

On Sunday, I raised my hand and shared with the group, not just once, but 3 times! And the last time, I didn’t even get queasy in the stomach! It was amazing.

Just two months later, my best friend’s mom died. Maria and I met in Kindergarten and have been best friends for over 35 years. Her family – especially her mom – has been nearly as close to me as my own family. At her mom’s memorial service, I was able to get up in front of 100 friends and family and share my fondest memories.

Without the Elemental Woman Leadership Program, I wouldn’t have been able to be that person.

My life is now what I have always imagined it could be, because I am finally the person that I was meant to be. Investing in the Elemental Woman Leadership Program was the best decision I ever made; it changed my life!

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Lesa Townsend is a graduate of the Elemental Woman Leadership Program. She creates functional and attractive websites for her clients using Wordpress, a platform that allows the business owner to retain control over their web content. You can learn more about her by visiting her website at LesaTownsend.com.

Categories: Elemental Leadership

Right now, the world needs you to step into your bigger game. Right now, the world needs women in leadership who are not using old methods of creating power and success. The world needs women who are courageous in their authenticity, powerful in their intuition, strong in their vision and relentless in their compassion. Why?

There is a quickening that is happening across the globe. The time is now to shape the future of leadership. This kind of leadership brings a balanced expression of the masculine and feminine qualities within you. That future will require a depth of personal mastery, interpersonal skill, and the ability to work in partnership with your customers, staff, colleagues and strategic alliances.

The challenges you face are many - from trying to do it all alone, to feeling overwhelmed and out of time, to effectively creating marketing channels that build your business in a sustainable way. Sound familiar? The Elemental Woman is a community of incredible successful women who are changing the face of how we do business. We use a community model for building our success.

This blog is a place to come for discussion and inspiration to get current on how women are creating solutions to some of the biggest challenges they face. You can expect to find straightforward discussions with other powerful leaders, challenges for you to consider to build you in your leadership, bits of humor and guest bloggers sharing their wisdom. Topics will range from the power of feminine leadership, handling burnout, creating environments of excellence, to self-care and time management. Occassionally, we'll tell you about upcoming programs or products that support you in your leadership growth.

We welcome you to the Elemental Woman community and invite you to share your comments, opinions and experiences from your journey to leadership mastery. If there is a topic you want us to discuss, please let us know. You can also contact us directly here.

Looking forward to the conversation,

Sarah

Categories: Elemental Leadership

Be the Leader You Are Destined to Be

Categories: Elemental Leadership

The power of your words. This theme keeps coming into my life these days. We are in a time of Earth, moving towards Metal. Earth is about grounding yourself in what is real. Taking responsibility for the life you are creating. Sounds a little intense, doesn’t it? Well when you do a little exploration, you will find it is really pretty simple.

It starts with integrity.

Integrity = wholeness. Being in integrity means claiming your wholeness.

Have you ever been late on delivering something you promised, or not communicating something and it caused delays or an unintended impact? These moments when you go out of integrity are common. It is not whether you go out of integrity or not. It is what you do and who you choose to be in the matter. What does that mean?

In every moment you have choice. The choice to ask yourself who you want to be in the matter - do you want to be someone that creates connection? Is the issue you are out of integrity with creating connection? If not, lean into the discomfort of being out of integrity and ask yourself, what would have me be back in alignment to create connection? Then take action!

Consider that your words have impact. And the most important person your words are impacting is yourself. You think a million thoughts every day. Are they aligned with who you say you want to be? This is part of integrity as well. Aligning your thoughts and words with your actions.

Now, let's make it juicy.

What if you started thinking some pretty amazing things about yourself, your business and your life? What if you caught those little terrors (you know, the thoughts that make you feel really, really small) and said, "Stop! I am more committed to believing I am incredible and create magic than believing I am nothing and don't matter." 

Once you stop the pattern, get into the habit of replacing the old thought with a new one. You get to make it up. Go big, and feel it work its magic. See, you have to feel it to reveal it. Otherwise you are just saying empty words. The good news is, the fact that you came up with a great thought means some part of you believes it. So amplify that voice. Let it be heard so that you start to listen to the good news about you, rather than the old record that makes you feel bad, wrong, stupid and ugly. 

Take the challenge - watch what you think this week and turn the thoughts around. See how it feels to champion yourself and others. Take the steps to be in alignment and integrity and let me know what you discover. 

Here's to creating a great life,

Sarah

Categories: Elemental Leadership