Micro-bravery.

Fear and excitement elicit the same physiological response in the body- increased heart rate, sweating, nervous tension. My relationship with fear changed when I intentionally began to cultivate a better relationship with BRAVERY.

When we choose to dance outside our comfort zone, we are really practicing micro-bravery. These small actions we once classified as *scary* are in fact opportunities to practice bravery. And in doing so, we open ourselves up to new experiences of excitement, curiosity, anticipation, and exhilaration.

I’ve been intentionally practicing small acts of micro-bravery every week to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. To quell the lizard brain and teach it that not everything is to be feared. Not everything is a threat. By continually and practicing small acts of micro-bravery, I’ve learned to ask for what I need, share my work, and most recently, say yes to new opportunities that are taking me WAY outside of my comfort zone (hello, illustrating and designing wedding invitations!).

Micro-bravery can be blocking off your schedule and not taking meetings during lunch hour, agreeing to present and share your knowledge with a group, or meeting that person for drinks after work. It can be selling your art for the first time, or posting your real, deep thoughts on a big platform. It can be doing The 100 Day Project that begins on April 2nd!

Cheers to the ways we inoculate ourselves from fear by consistently and consciously practicing micro-bravery. May we all bravely continue to pursue our “MUST”. What are some ways that you practice micro-bravery in your life?

36 Questions For Creatives.

A few years ago, the New York Times published an article titled, “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love.” This list of 36 questions begins broadly and increasingly becomes more personal, fostering vulnerability between partners. The original research was conducted by psychologist Arthur Aron at Stony Brook University. He split participants up into two groups. One group was divided into pairs who small-talked with each other for 45 minutes. The other group was split into pairs and received a list of 36 questions. By moving through these sets of specific questions (each set of questions encourages more openness and vulnerability), this allowed each person to be more fully seen by their partner, resulting in a more authentic and deeper connection.

I’ve answered these 36 questions with long-time friends in the past, and each time it’s a beautiful experience that allows me to see them in a much deeper and intimate level. (It’s not just useful for romantic relationships!)

Back in January, my friend Prasun (who happens to be a musician, songwriter, engineer, artist, and all-around creative) and I re-wrote our own set of questions. 36 questions for CREATIVES. We’re compiling answers, so if you feel inspired to leave your feedback on any (or all!) of them, please feel free to email me at julianne@juliannekanzaki.com or leave them in the comments below.

36 QUESTIONS FOR CREATIVES

1. If you could collaborate with any artist on a project, who would be it? Why?

2. What is your earliest memory of making something that you were proud of?

3. When did you first experience Imposter Syndrome?

4. What are things, people, or places that fill your creative well?

5. Describe your ideal day as a creative.

6. How do you define success?

7. How have you changed as an artist in the past five years?

8. If you were to be remembered by only one piece/work of yours, what would you choose and why?

9. What advice would you give your younger artist self?

10. Do you have certain rituals that help you enter into a flow state?

11. Who are three artists that have influenced you and your work the most?

12. If you were stuck on a deserted island with only one medium to create with, what would it be?

13. What was your childhood like? How did your environment growing up influence your art and creative process?

14. What colors would symbolize your last 3 years as an artist? Perhaps pick a color for each of those years.

15. What are some books that have influenced your work?

16. How has social media affected your work and your creative process?

17. What emotional state do you find is the catalyst for your most creative work?

18. How do you prevent distractions?

19. Describe your working environment. What would be your most ideal environment for creating your art?

20. How has your work changed in the last year?

21. How have you changed in the last year?

22. How do you overcome the Resistance?

23. How do you handle the naysayers/the haters? How do you protect yourself from criticism that does not enhance your work?

24. Who do you most trust to critique your work? Do you have a trusted group?

25. What is the most useful $100 purchase that has helped/enhanced your art/process?

26. What are some ways you invest in your own growth?

27. Whose work did you study when you were starting out in your craft?

28. How do you know when you are done with a piece?

29. Your studio is on fire! You can only save one piece. Which one do you choose and why?

30. What was the most painful experience in your life? What art did you create from this experience?

31. Do you experience creative blocks? How do you work through them?

32. What is one piece of advice you’d share with your younger artist self?

33. Alternate sharing positive attributes on your partner’s creative work. What do you admire about their work?

34. What does being a creative mean to you?

35. Take a few minutes and share your artistic journey with your partner.

36. What are you most excited about creating in this coming year?

70 Days of Yoga.

At the end of last year, a dear friend asked me to join her beginning on January 1st for a daily “Yoga with Adriene” practice for the entire month of January. This was not only a commitment to my friend, but also to myself. Show up, show up, show up is a mantra I’ve practiced in regards to creativity/art within my 100 Day Projects, but showing up to the mat each evening after a long day of work was a new commitment that I was curious to explore.

Let’s be honest. I can bust out a yoga pose on top of a mountain, but I was far from having a regular yoga practice. It’s only now that I am beginning to understand the complexities and nuances that occur between the breath, body, and mind that only reveal themselves through a consistent practice.

Today marks Day 70. We didn’t stop on January 31st. We continued through February, and now through March. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned (so far) along this journey:

1. Accept What Is. And What Isn’t.

   Some days I could easily balance on one foot, and other days I was unstable and wobbling around. Accepting where my body was in that moment, on that day, was also an opportunity to practice self-compassion. With a daily practice I could clearly observe how my body changes day to day. One evening I could feel energized, sturdy and strong, while other days I felt shaky and uncoordinated. Instead of responding with my knee-jerk reaction of self-judgement, I am learning to be curious and gently ask myself, “That’s interesting. I wonder why my balance is so different today from yesterday? Was it because of my long run? Am I well-rested and getting enough sleep?”

   This concept of ‘accepting what is and what isn’t’ also revealed itself in my personal relationships. Instead of trying to change another person, adopting the mindset of gentle acceptance and compassion transformed my perspective, allowing me to release expectations and move towards others who more genuinely reflect my own values.

2. Notice the Asymmetry. Then Approach the Neglected Side with TLC.

   When you do asanas on both your right and left sides, it’s always interesting to see how one side feels different from the other. Maybe your right side is always noticeably tighter and less flexible than your left side. In life as well, rarely are things in perfect balance. Usually one part of life demands more of our attention, and other areas are neglected. I’ve learned to give that particular side (of my body, and also in my life), a little more TLC and time. Giving it more attention, space, and time allows it to release held tension, soften, and open up. Sometimes the parts of our life that cause us the most pain, discomfort, and tension are actually just asking for some much-needed attention and care.

3. There Is Power In the Breath.

   In vinyasa, I’ve learned that each time I inhale, it’s a new beginning. A fresh start. With every exhale, it’s a letting go. An empyting out. This daily yoga practice has taught me the power of my own breath and its effect on my physiology. I’ve been tuning into my body’s cues. When I feel a sense of negativity rush through my body, I breathe it out. I have unraveled on the mat, tears streaming down my face feeling the sweet surrender and forgiveness and letting go of all toxicity. I have inhaled the goodness of all the positive people in my life, inhaled the joy of new experiences, inhaled the feeling of fresh beginnings and felt that rush of life force and energy. There is power in the breath.

Yoga has been my beautiful teacher in these past 70 days. Whether or not you decide to roll out your mat, I hope you show up for yourself each day in a special way. That’s why I practice. May we always accept what is, and what isn’t. May we tend to the parts of ourselves that need attention and TLC, and may we never underestimate the power of our own breath.

Intentions for 2019.

May this year be filled with self-discovery and growth.

I hope you move your body in new ways and explore cities and places that have always intrigued you.

I hope you talk to someone who doesn’t look like you or who you may think you share nothing in common with, and discover all the similarities you share as human beings.

I hope this is the year you take classes or lessons in the things you’ve always been curious about.

I hope if you’re a night owl that you experience the solitude and calm beauty of a sunrise, and if you’re a morning person that you experience the energy, buzz, and excitement of the nightlife.

I hope you make new things and adopt a beginner’s mindset. All masters started out once as beginners.

I hope you have the courage to have those difficult and uncomfortable conversations, because on the other side is emotional freedom.

I hope on your hardest, worst days that you speak to yourself like a good friend- with tenderness, empathy, and compassion.

I hope this is the year you tune out the nonsense and tune into your true essence. 

Blessings,

Julianne

Follow Your Bliss.

When I think back on the past two years, I can honestly say that the largest ‘joy-sparkers’ were those that piqued my interest and curiosity. It all started with getting still and quiet enough to listen to my intuition. One of my favorite quotes is from Ursula Le Guin- “The creative adult is the child who has survived.” As a child, I loved to paint, make pop-up cards, perform tap dance in front of relatives during family gatherings, and write letters to summer camp pen-pals and my teachers. Recently when I was designing a custom pop-up card for a friend, I felt so incredibly joyful. It was so visceral- and at that moment I realized I was tapping into my childhood love and bliss of making things. Namely, 3-D art.

I get it. Life is busy. As a Type 3 Enneagram, it’s never easy to break my habit of putting aside my to-do list and cultivating more space to just tap into solitude. But I am learning how integral and necessary solitude is for happiness and well-being.

Solitude is necessary for deep creative work.

Solitude is necessary to hear what your heart is telling you in a quiet, subtle way.

Solitude is necessary to strip yourself from the ‘shoulds’ of your life and tap into more things that feel like play. Things that bring you joy. Things that feel like bliss.

Newest card design available in my SHOP!

For now, bliss means brush lettering, composing on my keyboard, learning new chords on my ukulele, closing doors to certain opportunities in order to make room for exciting coaching plans in 2019. It means deep-diving into digital art, surrounding myself with mentors, and booking retreats for 2019. I am excited and ready for all that already is, and will be, in 2019. How will you cultivate more deliberate space and solitude into your life? How will you follow your bliss in 2019?

The Invitation.

“It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Nourish Bowls.

As the weather gets chillier, windier and more rainy in these fall/winter months, those who identify predominantly with the vata dosha can easily find themselves feeling unbalanced, scattered, anxious, and more prone to dryness and cold.

Roasted carrots, roasted butternut squash, roasted beets and brussel sprouts, red lentils/quinoa, and sauteed kale with avocado.

Nourish bowls have recently become an integral part of my meals, and I’ve found that transitioning more to warm, cooked foods has helped me feel more grounded and aided with my digestion. And they just taste so darn GOOD, so it’s essentially a win-win.

Roasted brussel sprouts, roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes, quinoa/red lentils with kale, pea shoots, sauerkraut, and avocado.

To save time during the week, I choose one day to make a large batch of quinoa and red lentils. Essentially it’s just 1 cup dry quinoa and 1 cup split red lentils boiled in 4 cups of vegetable broth. I add a dash of turmeric, cumin, mustard seeds, ground fennel, and cook it until the liquid has been absorbed. I’ve been adding kale or red chard at the end of the cooking cycle. From there, I’ll put together whatever other vegetables I’ve roasted- beets, brussel sprouts, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, delicata squash….the possibilities are endless.

Today’s creation- roasted delicata squash with a splash of balsamic finish, roasted beets, roasted cauliflower, quinoa/red lentils with sauteed baby chard, kale, and the fresh beet greens.

When I batch cook and roast my vegetables, it sets me up for success during the rest of the week. I merely put together my own nourish bowl ingredients and heat them up for a deliciously warm, nutritious and balanced meals throughout the week. Let me know what combos you’re inspired to try! The possibilities are endless.

Stepping into Yirah!

The beautiful thing about the internet is that it connects us together with people from across the globe. I received a heartfelt email from a lovely new friend living in South Africa, and included in it was a post I’d written almost two years ago. Reading my own words- written in a time of great uncertainty as I was preparing to leave a job I had been at for 11 years- was a gentle reminder that there are two different faces of fear, and essentially, how with a little faith and luck, things always work out.

I wanted to re-post this now, as I feel it’s relevant and can invite you to get quiet, to listen, and to step fully, wholeheartedly, bravely into YIRAH.

This whole time I thought there was only one type of fear. The deep-rooted, irrational, worst-case scenario lizard-brain fear. The kind that tells us to avoid that conversation when our partner says, “We need to talk” because it’s uncomfortable and we might get broken up with and never find love again. It’s the fear that tells us not to press ‘publish’ because people may not like what we wrote. It warns us that if we quit our full-time job, we won’t be able to pay our rent or afford health insurance. We’ll be forced to eat $0.10 ramen and everyone will shake their heads and say, “I told you so.” The Hebrew word for this type of fear is pachad.

There’s another kind of fear. But it has a much different type of energy. It’s what you feel when you step onto the stage to deliver your keynote speech and you’re ready and excited and the energy is pulsing through your veins. It’s standing underneath El Capitan and feeling awe-struck amidst the grandeur of nature. This is the overwhelming feeling of reverence and magic when we enter into a larger space (physical or psychological) than we’re used to inhabiting, or when we’re filled with more energy than we’re used to possessing. It’s when we’re in the presence of God and deeply connected to our spiritual essence. It’s a holy fear. The Hebrew word for this is yirah.

When we’re still and quiet, we can discern one from the other. Pachad keeps us small, safe and hidden, but discontentment silently breeds here. Most people’s lives are largely dictated by pachad. But yirah feels much different. We lean into this when we listen to our intuition, turn our heads to acknowledge what our hearts are crying out for, and follow our calling.

Truly stepping into our lives means learning how to manage the screaming pachad. To soothe it, quiet it down, rock it to sleep. And then tiptoe away and swing open the door and step fully into yirah, which has celebratory balloons and streamers and confetti and has been waiting for us all along.

Red Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Turmeric.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium/large onion, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 (15-ounce/398 mL) can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 (15-ounce/398 mL) can full-fat coconut milk
• 3/4 cup uncooked red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, to taste (for a kick of heat!)
• 1 (5-ounce/140-gram) package baby spinach
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, add the oil, onion, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt, stir, and sauté over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until the onion softens.
2. Stir in the turmeric, garam masala, cumin, cinnamon, and cardamom until combined. Continue cooking for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, red lentils, broth, salt, and plenty of pepper. Add red pepper flakes or cayenne, if desired, to taste. Stir to combine. Increase heat to high and bring to a low boil.
4. Once it boils, reduce the heat to medium-high, and simmer, uncovered, for about 18 to 22 minutes, until the lentils are fluffy and tender.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in the spinach until wilted. Add the lime juice to taste. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired. 

Trust the Process.

Whatever season you're currently in, know there is beauty tucked underneath the snow, in the promise of spring buds, and in the falling of dried leaves that have known the summer sun. The hardest, coldest, loneliest seasons of my life taught me resilience, wholeness, and healing, and to this day, I see them as gifts that made my 'spring' that much brighter and warmer.

Seasons of grief, loss, job transitions, relocating, singleness, or new partnerships all have gifts. Waiting for you to see them.

The Ripple Of Impact.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing because it changes someone."

I don't know who said it, but it was was meaningful enough for me to scribble these words down in my notebook last year. It's true. Art, work, writing, whatever it is that we "DO", becomes 10x more meaningful when it helps someone else. 

The ROI is something I like to refer to as the "Ripple of Impact." When my clients' new healthy behaviors positively affect their children, it reminds that our ROI expands far beyond ourselves. It impacts our relationships, our children, our friends, our coworkers, and our communities. 

This most recent testimonial from my client May was touching because it shows this ROI. Her children are now enjoy eating healthier food and also are her biggest advocates for continuing a healthy lifestyle. She is now stronger, more radiant, energized, and mindful about her eating habits and movement, and working together was an extreme joy. 

“I am so grateful that I had a chance to meet and work with Julianne. She was truly a Godsent during a low time in my life. I was eating extremely poorly, I was exhausted every day and I made very little time for physical activity.

Julianne showed me the importance of nutrition and how I can use food to fuel my body and kill hunger and sweet cravings. I was able to lose 15lbs while on the program, get out and enjoy nature and physical activity and I found all sort of delicious ways to incorporate the four components of eating healthy.

I am truly amazed at how much my energy as well as confidence has changed over the course of eight weeks. The skills that have been shared with me have benefitted my family as well. I will never go back to my old ways of living and eating. My family and I will follow the Kanzaki Method™ for life.”

— May Stephens

CELEBRATING VICTORY! May's final hike after eight weeks of fueling her body properly and moving in nature.