ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 24 / Merry Christmas

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It’s Christmas Eve today.

*feel the monumental shift in this day*

The peace.
The quiet.
The calm.

You don’t need to do anything today.

You can stop with the “I should’s” and the “I need to’s” and just

STOP.

You can breathe. You can relax. You can just be and enjoy.

No matter what the external circumstances are, you can make this day the best it can be by letting go of control. Things will unfold beautifully when you listen in on what you and your loved ones need today – on an emotional level.

Remember your safe word?
Use it.

Today is about love.
Today is about forgiveness.
Today is about joy.
Today is about care.
Today is about blessings.
Today is about peace.
Today is about presence.

You’ve already done everything.
Let yourself relax now.
Breathe.
Relax.
Enjoy.

Merry Christmas, you beautiful soul.

You’re on this Earth for a reason. Give yourself some love and care today. Then shower everyone else with it too.

Happy Holidays!

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 23 / Seven Best Quotes

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Here are seven quotes that I love. I hope they, if nothing else, serve as a powerful reminder.

Because, what you feed your mind matters.

—

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.” – Jim Rohn

“It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you but no one can walk it for you.” – Rumi

“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” – Susan Jeffers

“Would you rather be deeply adored or generally liked?” – Danielle LaPorte

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” – Henry Ford

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

—

Happy December 23rd!

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 22 / Top 5 Tips for Relaxed Holidays

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ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 22 / Five Tips for Relaxed Holidays
  1. If at any point you find your mind wandering to work or anything stressful, give yourself “a safe word” and use it immediately. Your safe word could be “pumpkin pie” or “rock, paper, scissors” or perhaps something a tad simpler like “CHRISTMAS!”. Whatever works for you, choose it, use it and allow yourself to return to the current moment, the people you have around you and the special time you’re sharing with them.
  2. Christmas, nor life, is about perfection. Maybe this year you don’t drive yourself crazy with the cleaning, the cooking, the shopping, the prepping, the decorating, the gift giving, the card writing. Maybe this year you let yourself give you and everyone around you the best gift of all: your time.
  3. Engage in some of the favorite activities your friends and family enjoy. Activities are great because they force us to stay in the moment. The more active the activity, the better because it gives little to no room for your brain to go on overdrive. It’s all about distraction for your mind, especially if you’re Type A!
  4. Spend some time reflecting. Look back at your year and everything you’ve accomplished, experienced and gone through. Write down three things that you’re grateful that happened to you this year. What you pay attention to is what’s amplified in your life. For instance, let’s say you’ve just discovered a new and amazing holiday location, are totally in love with it and suddenly start seeing it everywhere? Or maybe you bought a new car and now everyone seems to be driving it? That’s what happens to our minds when we focus on something: we see it everywhere. So focus on the positive and everything you’re grateful for and you’ll soon notice many more reasons for it.
  5. And last but definitely not least, BREATHE. That’s right, breathe. When you stress out, your body starts to reflect that and it goes on fight or flight mode. When you stop to take a moment to breathe, your body starts to relax and let go of the stress. It starts to understand that hey you’re not under attack, so it can lower its guard. While we all know how to breathe, most of us have never stopped to fully pay attention to it. So try it with me right now: close your eyes, take a deep breath in through the nose (take as much air in as you possibly can), hold for a count of two and then blow out all the air through the mouth. Repeat this process as many times as necessary. Your body will thank you and later so will you ;)

Happy December 22nd!

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 18 / Be in your own power

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ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 17 /

POWER PHOTOGRAPHY

In this photoshoot, we focus on bringing out the part in you that you may have been hiding or maybe have never even dared to explore.

So easily we put ourselves into a box that limits us not only in the way we dress and wear make-up, but also in the way we behave and feel about ourselves. We are SO MUCH MORE than just a few tiny things that we have allowed ourselves to be.

YOU are everything. You can be anything you want. 

Just let yourself be seen. But most importantly let yourself be seen by you.

If this speaks to you, this photoshoot is for you. Here’s more info:



SET YOURSELF FREE

Set yourself free from limitations.
Set yourself free from expectations. 
Set yourself free from your mind’s prison and let yourself be the woman you’ve always wanted to be.

With power photography we release these parts of you that you’ve been hiding or haven’t explored.
That part can be anything, it’s up to you and only the sky is the limit.

The photoshoot includes:
-1hr of photographing
-editing
-10 digital files

ONLY TODAY (Tue 18th) FOR 249€
(normally 479€)

I’M READY, I WANT THIS
OLEN VALMIS.

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 17 / Monday morning pep-talk

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ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 17 / Monday morning pep-talk

This is for you if and when you feel like you can’t do something.

We all feel that way sometimes. It’s in our DNA as humans to doubt ourselves. In a way we should really feel lucky that we can have doubt because that means we have the ability to think and rationalize.

However, when we doubt ourselves, it’s not exactly our rational mind that’s doing the thinking, it’s our emotions.

So let’s change those emotions and get you started on this week!

Anything that you want to do, you can do.
It means that if you’re not as good as you want to be at the moment, you just need to practice to become better.
That’s all that it is.

Now, if you know you’ve got what it takes, you’ve got the knowledge, the practice, the know-how, the ability – then go for it. Set yourself free and allow yourself the opportunity to shine.

It’s often that we’re not scared about what could go wrong, but all the things that could go right. We’re often scared to be seen for who we truly are, we are often scared to be seen for all the good in us. Because then our mind is filled with questions like “will everyone hate me if I succeed?”. 

You need to follow what’s true to you, you need to trust that your kind of people will find you when you allow yourself to shine. You weren’t meant to be spending your life in a dungeon. You were meant to explore yourself, find your strengths, the things you love to do and then do them.

And that’s what you’re doing today. That’s why you’re nervous whether you can do this thing or not – it’s getting too close to your heart, isn’t it? It’s showing a part of you and it’s scary.

I get it. Of course it’s scary. But when did scary become something that should stop you? When did an emotion, a fleeting feeling, become so powerful?

You have to know that you got this. You have to know that by following your passions, you will get to where you want to go and you never know how much more amazing it’ll be when you finally get there.

However you think or feel about yourself in this moment, take a breather: breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Let yourself feel the air going in and coming out. Just one breath is enough to relax you.

And if you’re still feeling nervous, allow yourself to feel it. Don’t fight it, just let it be. Observe it. How does it feel? Where do you feel it in your body? How would you describe it? What name would you give that feeling? Can you let that feeling be and not judge it?

If we try to fight something, it often sticks. But when we accept things, they stop being such big monsters and often go away.

All of the feelings that are telling you right now that you can’t do something, those feelings will eventually go away. Feelings are not a very good judge of what you should be doing, because of the fact that they’re fleeting. Feelings come and they go. You can’t give them too much power in decision making.

Go out there today and DO IT. You know, deep down, you can do it. It’s not even an issue. You’ve got this.

Trust it. Trust yourself. Trust your abilities. Whatever happens, you can handle it. You can handle it.

Happy Monday, December 17th!

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 14 / You are the Queen

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Dear You,

I know that for many this time of year is beyond stressful. Perhaps it’s for you too. So I decided to write you a letter.

Often times the things we hear in our heads when we are stressed out are many “I need to” or “I should”-sentences. They’re all things we’ve somehow accumulated and learned over the years as these absolutes that just should or need to get done.

Such as buying presents. To everyone. Including your son’s kindergarden teacher’s pet.

Or perhaps the house absolutely needs a full head-to-toe clean up. 

Or the Christmas dinner this year needs to be better than last year’s.

However the stress looks like to you, it’s often a rat race where we just follow protocol without even knowing why we do it. It’s just something you do.

When was the last time you actually allowed yourself to stop?
Stop doing?
Stop obsessing?
Stop running around?

There’s no one else putting pressure on you but yourself. You are the queen of your life, lady. Yes. YOU are. You get to choose. I don’t care how many demanding mother-in-laws (or mothers! *gasp*) or husbands or children or friends or pets or dust bunnies you have around. I don’t care. They’re not you. 

We’re all in charge of and responsible for our own lives and well-being.

“It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you but NO ONE CAN WALK IT FOR YOU.”

Rumi

Meaning, if you fall down, it’s your body that gets bruised or worse yet, broken. Not the person who’s walking next to you.

It’s not anyone else’s heart, mind or body that gets stressed out but yours. It’s not anyone else who loses sleep but you. 

So tell me: is it worth it?
Really, is it worth it?

Change starts the moment you decide to change. The moment you say “I’ve had enough”. Change starts when you put yourself first, when you remind yourself that you are not a prisoner of your life. You are the QUEEN. The goddamn QUEEN. 

That means: you have a choice.

If you feel anxious about not doing everything you’re used to doing, come up with something else to do, like playing board games with your family. Plan activities that actually mean something, that build connection, that make you feel gratitude, that remind you why it’s so much more important to stop than to keep pushing.

Christmas will come. And it will go, whether you stress out or not. In fact, all things will come and go with or without your stress.

If it’s too big of a leap to stop entirely, take moments of your day to pause. To breathe. That’s right. Something as simple as focusing on your breathing will relax your body. Magical, isn’t it? At our full disposal every single moment. 

So I hope you’ll spend the next 10 days in a lot less of a stressful state. I’ve made a few other advent calendar gifts relating to relaxation, so check those out if you’d like a guided, short relaxation:

And some other feel-good pep-talks:

I wish you a nice and relaxed Christmas time filled with deep connections, love and laughter.

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 12 / 12 books to read

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Here’s 12 books I recommend to read.
They’re in no particular order and while there’d be many other books as well, I recommend to at least start with these. 

Feel the fear and do it anyway – Susan Jeffers
Love – Leo Buscaglia
The Five Love Languages – Gary Chapman
The gifts of imperfection – Brene Brown
How to win friends and influence people – Dale Carnegie
The power of habit – Charles Duhigg
Start with why – Simon Sinek
The Fish philosophy – Stephen C. Lundin
You are what you believe – Hyrum W. Smith
Whatever you think, think the opposite – Paul Arden
Design your self – Karim Rashid
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert

Happy reading!
And happy December 12th!

With love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 8 / Challenge

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ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 8 / Challenge
ADVENT CALENDAR: Day 8 / Challenge

If we never pay attention to the things we succeed at, or do right, in our lives, we’ll never see ourselves realistically.

So many of us have a much more negative view of ourselves than necessary.

Which is why I want you to take a moment every day for the next week (seriously, woman, PRIORITIZE yourself!) to write down three things you succeeded at that day.

A word of advice, though: please don’t make this about performance. Your success doesn’t have to mean anything larger than life – what were the things that went right that day?

What made you feel good? 

Maybe it was just a simple compliment you gave to a friend whose day it made. Or maybe it was smiling to someone. Or maybe you got praise for what you did at work. Maybe someone complimented YOU for something. 

The source of happiness and joy can always be found most profoundly in the little things. It’s always the little things that matter. It’s the little things that build our entire life.

Make sure you prioritize your well-being, your joy, your happiness. It’s necessary and it’s healthy.

What went right today? What did you do well?

Write it down.

With so much love,
Erika

ADVENT CALENDAR – Day 2: How to feel better in photos

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Advent Calendar Day Two Studio Metsä

It’s a cliché but it’s true: everything starts from within.

The most important thing you can do for yourself, not only in photographs but in your overall well-being and satisfaction in life, is to learn to love and accept yourself. The more at ease and comfortable you are in your own skin, the better you’ll look in photos.

But in addition to that, here are some tips for feeling and looking great in photos (and some tips I know all y’all love about body angles)!

  1. RELAX:

    1. Laugh! Even if you don’t feel like it, just do it, fake it. Do laughing yoga, make yourself laugh because it’ll force your body to relax. (You can use yesterday’s advent calendar gift as a starting point ;))
    2. Move your body! Jump up and down, do jumping jacks, dance, whatever it is, just keep moving. It will get your heart pumping and it will relax your body.
    3. Talk to the person photographing you (even if it’s you making a selfie ;)), make conversation and the entire situation will feel a lot less intimidating.

  2. BE IN ACTION:

    1. Put your head down, start (fake) laughing and lift your face to the camera.
    2. Walk, dance, marvel at your surroundings. Find little things to focus on.
    3. Do something you enjoy and have someone photograph you while in action.
    4. (Of course keep in mind that in low-light situations [without flash] movement is going to be blurry, in some cases even in daylight if the movement is fast enough)

  3. MONITOR SELF-TALK:

    1. When something goes well, when you do something right, how do you reward yourself? What do you say to yourself?
    2. When something goes wrong, how do you talk to yourself?
    3. Based on your self-talk, are you your best friend or your enemy?
    4. Make monitoring, and actively changing, your self-talk a part of your daily life. It’ll drastically change your life.

  4. BODY ANGLES:

    1. For a more defined jaw, push your neck forward and chin down just a little bit.
    2. For a less round face, turn your face just slightly at an angle toward the camera.
    3. For a slimmer figure, turn your body at an angle (nearly sideways) with both shoulders still visible, and lean forward from your waist toward the camera.
    4. For more curves, arch your back while standing sideways toward the camera.
    5. Remember this: whatever is closest to the camera is amplified (gets bigger)

I hope these tips will make your Christmas photographs that much better. Remember, you don’t need to look or be anything different to be gorgeous. You’re enough just as you are.

With love,
Erika