It's Happening!

I’m in Bloomington, Indiana today! We report to the super-secret photo shoot location at 9:00 a.m. For approximately, eight hours I’ll be hanging out with 10 other delightful women, photographer, Chelsea Sanders, hair and make-up artists, and the crew needed for such a project. All of us models, in our bras and panties, while we get our photos taken. Not a normal Thursday for me.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I wrote about it in Sunday’s blog. Check it out here.

The short version of the story is I applied to an open casting call, for models, to appear in a book called, BARE.

You KNOW I’ll have a lot to say after this beautiful experience! Watch for that!

Follow the adventure on FB with me too! My personal page is here. My private FB Group, for women only, is here.

Sending you love and body positivity!

P.S. If you’re interested in working with me one-on-one, hit reply to this email and we’ll schedule a quick, 10-minute call to see if working together is going to be transformational and magical for you. 🙂

Live Lavishly Light Episode #28

Are you tired? Stressed? Tired of putting off what's important to you? 

Today's Live Lavishly Light Episode is for you! Learn how the stress hormone, cortisol, is literally killing us, while the happiness and pleasure hormone, serotonin, will bring you health, productivity and creativity. 

Make pleasure a priority! I've got a new program, Pleasure Power, coming. You can find out more about it here.  

How an ass selfie changed my life

Have you ever taken an ass selfie? It’s not easy. Thankfully, I had a teacher. The incomparable and unapologetically authentic Lux Atl (pole dancer, PhD, feminist) has one on YouTube. You can check it out here. Don’t try an ass selfie without it!

One weekend last winter I had my girlfriends over, for what we call, Goddess Weekend, and I suggested we try to do ass selfies. It was great fun. Trust me, even with the tutorial, it takes some effort!

That photo has been sitting in my phone for six months.

Why does any of this matter? 

I was sexually abused as a little girl. I’ve had a very difficult history with my body. I’ve hated it, cut myself off from it, scorned it, criticized it and even been ashamed of it.

It’s quite liberating to go from body-shame and disconnect, to loving and appreciating my body enough to take a photo of my backside.

But that wasn’t enough. (I’m me after all.)

Recently, in my private FB Group, Live Lavishly: Turning up Your Power From the Boardroom To the Bedroom, (if you are a woman and are interested in joining us, click here, answer the two questions, and we’ll get you approved to join) I posted that ass selfie. Two actually.

Most of the women were supportive, inspired even, that I was comfortable enough with my body to do it. For what it’s worth, I have on underwear in the selfie, so it’s really no different than if you saw my backside at the pool in a two-piece bathing suit. Not exactly pornography. Not particularly daring, really. Maybe a little sexy.

A few women did not like it at all! They left the group because of it. I’m fine with that. I don’t need anyone to approve of my ass selfie. And if all of this bothers you and you want to unsubscribe or unfriend me on FB, please do so. It’s okay. Here’s why…

I want to be the author of my life. I want to be unapologetically authentic. Might I offend someone? Yes. Might I inspire someone? Yes. As far as my body goes, is it perfect? No. Do I look like a Victoria’s Secret model? Definitely not. Is my body beautiful? Yes. And that’s not just my opinion.

Here’s what happened last week.

I got tagged in a FB post for an open casting call for models to appear in a soon-to-be-published book called BARE. The author, Susan Hyatt, has been my coach, teacher, mentor and source of inspiration. I also have a girl-crush on the photographer for this photo shoot, Chelsea Sanders of Blueline. I figured, what the hell, I’ve posted an ass selfie in my FB Group, why not apply for this casting call. I had to submit five photos, at least one had to be in a bra and panties, because that’s what we’ll wear in the photo shoot. I applied.

I was chosen! I am one of 11 women selected to be featured in the book, BARE. I’ll be driving 11 hours to get to Indiana on Wednesday, then be “on set” from 9 – 5 Thursday, then drive 11 hours home on Friday. I can’t wait!

My life has changed.

When we love our bodies, take pleasure in our bodies, express ourselves through our bodies, in ways that feel good to us, when we write our own life story, when we chose to live unapologetically authentically, we are changed.

You don’t have to take an ass selfie. You do you. That’s the point. I have no interest in everyone being like me. I posted an ass selfie to inspire the women in my group to love their body. To not be afraid of their body. To not be ashamed of their body. That’s what felt right for me.

What will you do today to be unapologetically authentic?

Brenda

P.S. If you’re interested in working with me one-on-one, email me and we’ll schedule a quick, 10-minute call to see if working together is going to be transformational and magical for you. 🙂

Live Lavishly Light Episode #27

Do you wish your health was better, or had more time to create and enjoy your life? 

Today I've got a fun, easy answer for how to be healthier, more productive and more creative! 

Check out the video right now! There's a special 5 Day Facebook Challenge I've started that will get you taking action and adding pleasure to your life. Yes, it's pleasure that improves your health, productivity and creativity. 

Not sure it works? Join us in the Pleasure Power 5 Day Challenge! 

Would it help if you were 30% more productive?

Being measurably more productive would allow for so many things.

More time to create.

More time to play.

More time to spend with family and friends.

More time to take care of your body.

More time to contribute to causes you care about.

How do we increase our productivity by over 30%?

Get happy. Or as I like to think about it, get more pleasure in your life.

There are studies by the Harvard Business Review showing that happy people are 31% more productive. If they are in sales, like my real estate friends and coaches listening, sales increase by 37% and people are three times more creative. All because they are happy.

Happiness includes a lot of things, but I know for sure it includes having pleasure in your life! And not just once in a while!

What if, instead of “pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps” when things are difficult, we stopped and evaluated where we could add more pleasure into our lives?

I don’t know about you, but it certainly sounds more fun.

The statistics indicate it’s a lot more effective.

Let’s try it!

Join me for the Pleasure Power 5 Day Facebook Challenge. It starts tomorrow, Monday, July 16 and runs through Friday. It’s easy. You register here. Monday morning, and each day through Friday, you’ll get an email from me with a short audio recording. That recording will inspire you and give you a pleasure challenge for the day. You’ll decide what you want to do and post about it in the Facebook group. Easy. Fun. One could even call it, pleasurable! On Friday, I draw one lucky winner, who has posted each day, to win a specially commissioned bracelet by jewelry designer, Nilla Webber.

Find out how much more productive and creative you can be in just five days!

Get all the information and register now. The pleasure begins tomorrow!

The Connection Between Health and Pleasure

Did you know that cortisol, a hormone your brain triggers when you are stressed, makes it five times more likely that you’ll die from a heart attack? Tell me, how much of your day is filled with stress?

We all know that stress isn’t good for us.

How do we change it? Is there really a way out?

There is.

I’ve experienced it. I’ve coached people through it.

Where do you begin?

Pleasure.

Yes, it’s that simple. Or, hard. We don’t often give ourselves permission to have pleasure in our lives. Especially not when life is stressful.

I’ve got a challenge for you.

I call it, The Pleasure Power 5 Day Facebook Challenge.

Join me for five days. Just five. Each day I’ll send you a short audio with a challenge for bringing a little pleasure into your life that day. You’ll decide what you want to do, then post something about it in a private Facebook group where a bunch of other awesome people are doing the same.

It will be fun and easy. You can even use it to reduce stress.

Get the information and register here. We start on Monday, July 16 and we’ll finish on Friday, July 20. There’s even a great prize (a commissioned piece of jewelry) for someone who posts in the FB Group each of the five days.

What have you got to lose….a deadly heart attack? I think it’s worth giving pleasure a shot!

Live Lavishly Light Episode #26

I have two secrets I want to share with you today for dealing with difficult times.