Fall is here. Leaves are changing color, shedding… the weather is cooling down… It’s time to get cozy and snuggle up with every kind of warm-drink-in-a-mug we can get our hands on.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that many women are struggling with anxiety in this season (I’ve gotten emails, comments, and heard it in my one-on-one and group coaching calls). And I think it’s because we’re all getting messages that we need to slow down. 

As soon as I opened up about my tight-chest-pressure visit to the ER, others began to open up to me about their own anxiety. Their own chest pressure. Their own crazy 2016. Their own struggles, and how they want to slow down, too.

You girls are beautiful the way you share with me!

So today, I’m sending a little message to say we all have permission to SLOW DOWN. 

This is the season for it, after all.

This weekend, Marco and I slowed down by spending some one on one time together, getting out of the house, and having a good-fun time.

On Saturday, we went to a country music concert on the beach (Chris Young, anyone?). On Sunday, we slept in a bit, went to Church, and then packed up the camper and had a beach + camping day.

We went to the beach for the day in Morro Bay, then drove ourselves to a little camping spot and stayed for the night. We cooked in the camper, made a fire, drank tea (well, I did), and watched a movie before bed.

We woke up slow this morning, packed up the camper, and are currently, as I’m writing, at a coffee shop together in Morro Bay getting some work done in a nice, calm environment (I’m sipping a warm soy camomile tea latte with honey).

I know not everyone has the flexibility to, say, work from a coffee shop on a Monday morning… but what I do know is that we each have our own “realm of flexibility.” I don’t know how else to say it, so we’ll just call it that.

We can each look at our lives, and flex them a bit more to look how we want them to look. And this isn’t circumstantial. Meaning, this doesn’t depend on how good everything in your life is right now.

It depends more on how you feel about everything, and how you look at it, and how you choose to deal with it all. 

And girl, you don’t have to do it all alone. If you’re having a hard time “dealing,” get some help. Reach out. Get a counselor, coach… call a friend who you trust and has an amazing listening ear. Have an outlet. Take yourself on walks. Turn on some music. Learn where to say YES and where to say NO.

Something I’ve been learning is that we can do hard things. We can get through them, and we can do a good job. You’re stronger than you think. AND.

The key is in making sure to care for yourself through it all – to not forget yourself. To know where you say yes and where you say no. To clear your plate, so you can focus on the MOST important things in THIS season (more on thinking in seasons here).

So, this is a message to say: slow it down girl, slow it down.

Say no to a couple things this week that don’t feel good. Say yes to a couple of things that allow you to shed some tension and relax a bit – to do what you want. Talk with me in the comments, too.

Is this a season of slowing down for you, too? Tell me what you’ve been feeling lately. I want to hear, because the more I hear, the more I’m convinced that we can all relate that much more.

Oh, and ladies, in the season of slowing down, I’ve joined my friend Jennifer Seale and am co-hosting a free October book club with her. We’ll be going through Big Magic, and I’d love for you to join us! You can sign up over on her blog here (& grab the book ASAP) – we start Oct. 1!