Nicole Marie - The Naturalita

09/03/2019

We’ve been keeping a pretty SPECIAL secret from the world, not intentionally though...
We are beyond excited to share that a precious little BOY has chosen to have Jordan as his papa and me as his momma! Lita is also excited to have a little brother! We had to a fun little impromptu family photo session to share!
💙💙💙💙💙💙
Our little blessing is a BOY!
💙💚💙
We’ve known for a while and kind of wanted to keep this excitement to ourselves for a bit, but with my baby shower coming up in Minnesota soon, it was hard to keep this special of a secret to ourselves any longer!
💚💙💚
This little man is a wild one so far...moving a lot in momma’s belly...and I’m loving every minute of it.💚💙💚
Lita loved popping all the balloons!
💙💚💙
We’re 24 weeks now, momma is feeling great and growing steadily! I’m working out daily, which feels great. (However, it’s getting harder to breathe while talking on a lot of my coaching calls...I’m needing to slow down and take my own advice to focus on my breath. Breathing for two.) 💙💙
This little man is soooo loved already. Now to start thinking of boy names.💙💚💙
Photo credit: Mille (our Norwegian host daughter 🇳🇴🇺🇸🇳🇴) @ Bremerton, Washington

05/12/2019

Mother.

Mother is a term that can be used in many ways.

It literally means to bring up (a child) with care and affection.

However, Mothers come in all forms.

💚Mothers who have birthed their own babies and have them near to hold or here on earth

💜Mothers who have adopted and/or fostered their children and love them sooo fiercely

💚Mothers who have raised, cared for and loved children that were brought into their lives for many reasons

💜Mothers who have lost their babies (in any way)

💚Mothers of fur babies 🐾

💜Mothers who may yearn to have a child of their own but are “mothers” to others in their families, lives and communities

💚New mommas excitedly awaiting to hold their baby in their arms

💜 Host mommas who take in children from all around the world

💚 Mothers who take care of others around the world with a huge and caring heart, but may not have children of their own

💜There’s more ways than one to be a mother...I’m sure I’ve missed many.

🌸Mother’s Day is a beautiful day to celebrate, but it can also bring up feelings in many different ways, including:

🌸Grieving mothers who have lost their child/children recently or a long time ago

🌸Those who have lost their mothers

🌸Those with difficult relationships with their mothers (or their children)

🌸Invisible mommas who have briefly been mommas to babies here on earth, but have no babies to hold...yet

🌸Mommas who have children here on earth but are grieving their babies in heaven

🌸Mommas who yearn to have children and are still on their personal journey to “motherhood”

🌸I know there’s more I’m missing here, too.

🌸Motherhood is a beautiful gift and as with any gift, it looks and feels differently to each and every one of us.

🌸💜Sending love to all of the MOTHERS in the world, today and every day. 💜🌸

Keep caring for and loving your “children” no matter what your personal situation or “family” looks like. 💚💜💚

04/23/2019

This Earth, Mother Earth, is our home.
My home.💚

Where do you call home?

I’ve never really called one specific place home. That’s always been kind of odd to others and a bit unsettling to me.

It was always hard to choose one place or one person to which would be called “home”. I’ve never had that “this is home” feeling. Not even in my first “home” that I bought (on my own) when I was 24.

My parents were divorced when I was young, so I had a couple of love-filled homes; growing up I moved a lot, lived in different cities, different states, and different countries.

I was born in Minnesota, but I currently live in Washington. While I love Washington, it’s still not home. I miss my friends and family in Minnesota, but it also doesn’t feel like home anymore...(though the people help💚.)

My heart honestly feels most at home when I’m with my man, Jordan, and Lita pup (though our current home doesn’t feel like hone either) or traveling this beautiful earth or spending time surrounded by nature (cell phone off.)🌲

Mother Earth and nature are HOME...and we need to take as good of care of her as we do our own “homes.” She’s the master home.
💚🌎💚

While I find difficulty in calling one place home, I do know that we need to take better care of our larger home, Mother Earth.🌎

Earth Day is every day.💚

What can you do daily to protect my home...our home?💚

04/20/2019

“Every experience, mental, emotional or physical, and the nature by which we process it is either moving us towards alignment with nature or separating us from it.”
Hmmm. Powerful message, huh? As I’m going through my yoga teacher training manual, I’m being refreshed by many little nuggets of wisdom as well as reflecting on different life experiences and how they’ve either moved me toward alignment with my true nature or pulled me away from it.
I was in Thailand over a year ago, last February (2018) and felt as if everything in my life was in alignment. It honestly was. However, after returning home and going through quite the roller coaster of life experiences, I was pulled away from that alignment. Which, in turn, took me away from my true being.
By looking back, as well as honoring my present state of alignment vs. misalignment, it helps me connect into my own true nature, both the processing of it and the connection with it.
Where are you in alignment with your own true nature? Where are you out of alignment with your own true nature? (Or when have you been out of alignment with it in the past?)
Questions of reflection and connection. These are my favorite.💚
Also, many people don’t want to slow down to connect in with these questions. Do you agree?

04/20/2019

I’m curious!
How often do you meditate? 💚💚💚
A. Daily
B. 4-6 times a week
C. 1-3 times a week
D. I’m trying to start
E. Yes, but Inconsistently
F. Not yet...

04/16/2019

I’ve been in hiding
Or healing.
More so healing,
But in reality it’s partially true I’ve been hiding.
Mostly from social media.
I’m still here behind the scenes coaching people from around the world as well as finding host families for exchange students.
While I work with amazing people from around the world, I haven’t been in touch as much with people in person.
This has been hard, since losing our second baby three months ago. People forget, people forget about you, I’ve learned to understand this. It’s no one’s fault.
Things have been hard in the ways you would imagine, but also hard in ways you’ll never imagine or understand.
But the good news is, I’m happy, love filled, joyous and ready to connect with people again-with healthy boundaries. I’m ready to share more online, but also with healthy boundaries.
I’ve always had pretty good boundaries, but going through some pretty sensitive and emotional and physical events my sensitive and empathic soul had been crushed, so I’m doing what I need to do to bring her back to life...one step, one day at a time. It starts within.
We all need healthy boundaries; it’s up to us to define and align them.💚💚💚
What healthy boundaries are you setting in your life?

📷Lori Sparkman Photography

03/26/2019

“Awareness is the birthplace of possibility. Everything you want to do, everything you want to be, starts here.” ~Deepak Chopra

03/12/2019

Truth potato - some of these I really like! Any favorites?

We all need a little "truth" to know we are not alone in the crazy thoughts we have.

The Truth Potato is a character created (main to put forth the bitter truths of life and truths of wisdom, one truth at a time. What's more amusing than a cute Potato breaking your shield of denial and giving you few words of wisdom eh? Here are some of the wisdom that the Truth Potato gracefully po...

03/05/2019

I love and connect with quotes and messages, a sweet friend sent me this one. 💚

Time truly does NOT heal all wounds, but it does change them and make them less piercing to the heart.

I’m finding the joy.
I’m staying positive and hopeful.
I’m helping others do the same...
but I’m putting myself first.

I’m flowing forward...
As I always do. 💚

Sometimes I doubt my own strength and power, but during those times, especially this last weekend when suddenly, so suddenly my heart was fragile and weak, I received this message.

You are enough.
-she shared

I am enough.
-I accepted.

Time is not enough, but you are. 💚

Being present with both pain and joy is healing and has kept me flowing forward.

What helps you flow forward?

03/01/2019

There are days where that inner warrior wants to crumble, but she still stands fighting.

This picture was taken after the loss of our first baby. We took a road trip from Washington to Colorado. I have no idea why I have this picture...but you know it looks cool.😳 😂

It’s always interesting to look back on certain memories and think...”whoah does this girl know what’s coming her way?!?”

No, no she didn’t.

This past summer was a rough one. I’ve honestly almost completely blocked it out of my mind. After losing our first baby, life went dark, I focused on coaching and showing up 110% there, but everything else in my life felt like it was on pause.

That’s until I left for India in October, which kicked off my healing journey.

But even in the darkness, I still found the light. Even in the pause. You can, too.

In fact even after losing our second baby this January, I’m still finding the light in each and every day, even with the unknowns and sadness.

That warrior within is still there and I trust she’ll always be there. Your inner warrior is there, too. Trust her.

What’s your light to your darkness right now? or What has brought you strength during the dark times?

Please share. It’s a good thing to create awareness around and inspire others where they can look during their dark times, too.

02/28/2019

The right words are hard to find.

In times of heartbreak and darkness, it's helpful to hear from friends and family to know that they are thinking of you and that you are supported, especially when you feel like your world is crashing down on you. Silence can sometimes be worse than saying the wrong thing.

Most people, the majority, mean to be helpful, but in a time of sorrow and heartbreak, it's hard to find the right words and you never know how they will be taken by your friend going through this type of emotional loss, especially if you haven't been through it yourself.

I actually wrote this after our first loss, but found out we were pregnant with our second before I could post it, then I just waited as it felt awkward to post while pregnant, and then we lost our second, so here it is.

If you have anything to add to this little list of what TO say, please share. (There's a lot of things out there of what NOT to say, but that's not quite helpful for those that truly want to help.)

Please share with anyone that might find this message helpful.

http://thenaturalita.com/10-things-to-say-to-women-who-have-had-a-miscarriage/

02/22/2019

Reflection.

Exploring new places, near and far, fills up my heart, especially after it’s been ripped open and broken.

Getting out into nature fuels my soul and helps with the healing process. I’ve been focusing on that more lately...more time outside...way less time online.🌲💚🌲

On Sunday, we took a last minute trip to a local spot we’d never visited. After the Washington snowmageddon❄️❄️❄️, most of the trails were still covered with lots of snow, fallen trees and broken branches...but what we found at the end of those paths, and even on them, were beautiful views and secret little gifts.

Getting into nature really helps me to disconnect and reminds me that there are a lot of obstacles on our paths, but if we keep moving forward beautiful things can come into fruition...and into our lives.

While we’re not there (yet) on our own journey to starting our family, I’m focusing on faith, hope and love and taking tiny steps forward on my/our personal journey.

What helps you disconnect? 💚
@ Jarrell Cove State Park