It’s funny, I’ve never really connected celebration of life to the celebration of my body/health/size until just recently.

Most of my friends at this point have celebrated wedding showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, baby showers, and first home parties.

While I haven’t celebrated any of the above, it hit me that I haven’t celebrated ANYTHING at all!  The last shin-dig I put on for myself to celebrate my life was exactly 10 years ago(!) for my college graduation.

Which got me thinking about celebration and how integral and important it is to being human.

We celebrate a rite of passage, whether it’s a wedding, birthday, or the world cup.  Then we pour rituals over the celebration to anchor the experience into our emotions and psyche.

The rituals, the celebration, the emotional memories of it all are what deepen our sense of connection to each other and our own human-ness.  They bring the sacred into our everyday life.

In my work I get the distinct honor of helping people overcome struggles with their health and their weight…. holding space for them to release shame and negative emotions about their body and self-image….in this space, it’s easy to get side-tracked by only focusing on whatever exercise regime you’re following, or which detox might be better for your health, or which food might be a better choice.

But how can we deny that pure pleasure and celebration are intricately tied to our health and happiness?  I’ve read studies that clearly report increased immune function from simply adding more fun and celebration into your daily life.

The real question might be why aren’t you celebrating?  What belief inside of you makes you think you’re unworthy of celebration?  I know for me it’s become clear that my limiting beliefs were:

• I’m not good enough…
• I’m not worth it…
• I don’t want to bother anyone….
• Who would come to my party?

And so as I keep embarking upon what I want to experience as a “life well lived”, it’s clear to me that celebration has been severely lacking in my world.

And so with love and bravery, I boldly declare:  “It’s time to celebrate!”  I love summer, I love the month of July, and I’ve declared it Audrika!

And I want to celebrate it by giving away the things that I love the most TO YOU!!!  Each week I’m giving away something I love!

• July 14-20:  A blowout from the BlowDry Bar!

• July 21-27:   A luxurious massage!

• July 28-Aug3:  A signature mani/pedi in your city!

Here’s how to win:

1.  Sign up for my weekly Motivation Monday Newsletter

2.  Like me on facebook

3.  Share this to YOUR social media friends so everyone has a chance to win!

4.  Leave a comment below and tell me:  1. That you signed up for Motivation Monday, liked my facebook page, and shared it on your social media site.    AND…  2.  Any of the ways you have or will be celebrating your beautiful life!

(Make sure you do step 4 and leave a comment!  It will be next to impossible to track without leaving a comment!)

I’ll be announcing the weekly winner during each Motivation Monday newsletter and on my facebook page!