What is Smithsonian Syndrome? 

It’s a common form of self-pressure that takes hold and attacks the sufferer’s mind and body swiftly and suddenly. 

When it strikes, the sufferer is under the impression they must create a finished product worthy of the Smithsonian.

Symptoms include:

Physical tension

Anger towards one’s self

Stress

Thoughts about how an end product isn’t good enough

The pressure to make something par excellence

Lack of enjoyment

If you find yourself experiencing Smithsonian Syndrome frequently, there’s really only one effective treatment: Slacker Magic. 

You’ll need to learn how to take the pressure off yourself, stat. 

Luckily, I can teach you how to do that. 

Join me for the Slacker Magic Course to relieve those symptoms swiftly and get you back to creating and enjoying the magical flow. Learn more and register here!

I’ve had a few (as in a LOT) of those in my life. That’s exactly why I created Slacker Magic. 

When shit hits the fan, Slacker Magic will carry you forward. It will be the ground under your feet in groundless times. It will help you navigate both the best and the worst of times. 

Recently, an acquaintance was asking me what I do. I told him about Slacker Magic. 

He said, “Oh yes! I’ve had to learn how to live like that because of serious illness.” Yep.

When hard times hit, you can’t afford to add self-pressure, pushing, and over-efforting into the mix. Everything that adds extra stress has to be stripped away so that you can survive. 

You need your inner wisdom guidance there, waiting, ready to show you the next step forward. And the next. And the next. 

During major upheavals, there’s no map. There’s no clarity. It’s a lonely, confusing swirl of who-knows. That’s when our minds start to go into over-drive; trying, pushing, efforting, and pressuring. We judge ourselves. We blame ourselves. 

Slacker Magic takes all that away and shows you how to rest into the flow. It helps you find bits of peace in the messiest of times. 

The phrase Slacker Magic can sound light and playful, but it is rooted in and was born from the hardest moments of my life. It’s magical and practical. It’s light and it’s solid. It’s there for you when you need a way forward. 

Want to learn how to use Slacker Magic to create practical and magical flow in your life? Come join me in the Slacker Magic Course! Learn more and register here.

How do you slack when you’re building your business and not making any money? I’m so stressed but stuck in inaction and know I’m not trusting the process. 

Great question!

Let’s quickly cut to the root of the issue: Fear. 

It’s normal to feel fear when you’re an entrepreneur and working to make ends meet. Especially when you’re just starting out. 

The only problem is that fear often tells the nervous system to freeze, just like you would if a bear had you in its jaws. At that moment, your safest strategy is to play dead, and your body knows it. 

Unfortunately, playing dead in your business is NOT a good strategy. Often I see new entrepreneurs either immobilized by fear or scurrying around without taking time to rest and restore. Sometimes it can be a mix of those two strategies because the nervous system is sending signals to flee or freeze then rinse and repeat.

In order to use Slacker Magic for building a business (tuning into inner wisdom, taking time to slack so ideas can flow in, and following inner wisdom’s guidance for your action steps), you’ll need to help your nervous system release the fight/flight/freeze cycle. 

Telling your body not to play dead isn’t possible with words. You’ll have to speak the language your body understands: sensation. 

Here’s what you do:

1. Take a few minutes to run in place, go for a walk, or move in some way to help your body release some of the adrenaline. (Even if you’re in a freeze state, this is a good idea. It helps you find your sense of aliveness again.) 
2. Find an animal, thing, place, or memory that is reliably comforting. (It can be as simple as a time you snuggled on a couch with a cup of tea.) 
3. Get yourself into a comfy position in a place that does feel safe. (Don’t do this exercise in your car or out and about.) 
4. Think about your animal, thing, place, or memory until you feel the sensation in your body that matches it. (You might notice yourself breathing easier, sighing, yawning, feeling more comfortable, or feeling a sense of the weight of your body as it rests on your chair/bed.) 
5. Hang out with that memory for a while. Revel in it. 
6. Do this process regularly throughout the week. 

After a few days, you’ll notice your body starting to be less freaked out and more open to you slacking, playing, and resting. You won’t feel so immobilized or stuck. 

If you need an extra boost, add this breathing exercise once or twice a day.

Pretty soon, your nervous system will stop thinking you’re in the bear’s mouth and will let you have a lot more fun building your business. 

Need more Slacker Magic tips? Join the Mind-Body Magic Facebook Group!

Ladies. We need to talk. 

To be proficient at Slacker Magic, you’ll need to shift your focus from other people to your own rest. Which means you’ll need to turn your attention to your own body, the sensory signals it’s sending, and the messages it’s subtly (or not so subtly) sharing. 

Which also means you’ll need to allow yourself to shift your attention to YOU. 

If this feels hard, it’s totally understandable. Culture trains us to focus on others and to pay less attention to our voices and needs. You might feel like a jerk at first for allowing yourself to listen to your internal signals and take action around them. 

The payoff, though, is huge. As soon as you start resting more after too much depletion, you’ll turn into a happier, healthier, more connected individual. You’ll find that you’re far more productive when you’re actually tuning in to your body’s needs. 

And, just to turn that argument all the way on its head, isn’t it fairer to those around you when you can show up at your best instead of half-dead and drooling? 

Here’s the assignment I’m giving you in case you need it:

1. From now on, assume that you need way more rest than you think you do. Take it.
2. Treat yourself like you have a bug and need rest at least once a month. (Seriously.) 
3. Throw away the yardstick that you’re using to measure when/if you should rest or play. 
4. Listen to your body’s requests and act on them as much as possible. (This goes for both rest and play!)
5. Re-read this blog post anytime you think you don’t deserve rest. (You’ve been brainwashed! We’re undoing that.)

Need support around this? Come hang out in the Mind-Body Magic Facebook Group where we regularly celebrate resting and honoring your needs.

Papers blanketed my desk, keyboard, and floor. Books had toppled from neat stacks into piles of flotsam on the carpeted shores by the doorway. 

I had lived happily in this creative mess for several months. 

Then, one day, it was time. I felt the urge in my whole body. 

My office wanted to be organized. My year needed to be mapped out on the calendar. 

It was the right moment to create a fresh start. 

Never mind that the traditional time of year for that had flown by months ago. This was the right moment for my body, mind, and spirit. 

This is a peek into the mysterious ways of Slacker Magic. Trust that whatever isn’t happening now isn’t meant to be happening now. Your moment will come. Your body and spirit will guide the way.

Right now, there are still closets on my to-do list; closets that could maim you if you opened them. They can wait. The moment will come when they ask to be sorted, and that’s when I will tend to them. 

For whatever reason, it’s my least favorite chore. I dread sorting the clothes into piles. I loathe moving things from the washer to the dryer over and over again. 

Folding? Forget it. 

I end up leaving baskets of clean laundry sitting around until I’ve worn everything in them and the clothes are right back in the washer. 

My kid has told me on many occasions that she’s out of underwear.

You could say I’m a laundry delinquent. 

You would think since I’m already a laundry loser, that slacking off more around laundry would be a bad idea. You would think that I’m already so slothlike that introducing Slacker Magic at this point would result in a total laundry meltdown. (Slacker Magic is the art of strategic slacking guided by inner wisdom.)

However, the more I slack off in general and allow myself the space to rest, play, and restore my spirit, the more my laundry gets done. 

Not even kidding!

Because I’m rested and in the flow with my creative, magical spirit, I am drawn to doing my laundry throughout the week. I never do it when it feels hard. I only do it when I have the bizarre urge to fold clothes. 

With no pressure. No force. No pushing. 

I don’t even mind laundry in those random moments when I’m called to fold. 

The rest of the time? I can’t even. I can’t make myself do laundry at all. 

This is the cool part of Slacker Magic. The more you explore it, the more you end up finding joy in the strangest places and things get easier. 

Are you ready to make things easier? Are you excited to get this magic going in your life? 

Join me for 7 Days of Slacker Magic, my upcoming mini-course. 

Click here for details and to register!

7 Days of Slacker Magic doesn’t cost a thing!

Sometimes, if I wait to do something that just feels too hard/heavy right now, serious magic happens. 

I’ve berated myself so many times for being behind on a task (even as I push it to the next day, over and over again). 

I’ve judged myself for not being on top of things. I push myself to “just get it done,” but can’t seem to override the sluggish, slothlike energy in my body. 

It gets put off. It gets put off again. 

Then, suddenly, without me doing a thing, the need for the task simply vanishes. 

Someone does it for me.

It becomes moot because circumstances changed.

Something happens and it just works out in a completely different way. 

An event gets canceled and I no longer need to complete the task. 

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear. My inner wisdom knew all along. She weighed me down until my limbs felt leaden when I approached the task. She turned my attention to something else. She nudged me to avoid it because she knew I would be wasting my time. 

Sure, sometimes, you also might find that a task still needs to be done even after you’ve avoided it. Usually, though, this is the same type of magic. The waiting was necessary; often to give you more information and insight before you took action. 

Want help tuning in to this kind of inner wisdom genius? 

Join me for my upcoming no-cost mini-course: 7 Days of Slacker Magic.

For seven days, I’ll inspire you and support you around dropping self-pressure and cutting yourself some slack. Details and registration here!

Happy slacking!

I hereby give you full permission to slack off. 

You are allowed to slack. 

You are allowed to rest.

You are allowed to slack and rest even if you aren’t tired!

You are allowed to goof off.

You are allowed to do nothing. 

You are allowed to play. 

You do NOT have to “get everything done” before you go slack, rest, goof-off, do nothing, or play. 

Want help giving yourself permission to do all of the above? 

Join me for my upcoming mini-course: 7 Days of Slacker Magic!

For seven days, I’ll inspire you and support you around dropping self-pressure and cutting yourself some slack. Details and registration here!

The mini-course doesn’t cost a thing. Save your spot!

I was worried that I didn’t know everything I was going to learn yet, and I’d be behind. 

Patiently, my mom explained that actually, the point of going to second grade was that I wasn’t supposed to know second grade stuff yet. I was going to learn it while I was in the second grade. Therefore, I was not behind. 

It’s probably safe to say I’ve been pressuring myself for my entire life. 

That’s why helping clients drop self-pressure is a big passion for me!

I know what it’s like to live with that constant heaviness; the internal pressure cooker working away day in and day out. 

I have also found a way to stop constantly pressuring myself and achieve results through self-kindness and compassion. I know culture teaches us to push ourselves to get things done. We’re taught from a young age to work harder and try harder. 

The problem is, then we end up stressed out, sick, and struggling. Even if we do achieve the goals we’ve set, we’re not happy. 

I’ve heard from many of you that you’d like support with dropping self-pressure. 

So, let’s do this!

Starting Wednesday, September 4th, I’ll be offering a week-long mini-course to help you get rid of sneaky self-pressure and access a lot more magic. Join me for:

7 Days of Slacker Magic 

Wed. Sept 4 – Wed. Sept 11

Price: Nothing!

Slacker Magic is the art of strategic slacking guided by inner wisdom. It’s the key to making more magic happen in your life. 

Magic, in my world, means those moments when you don’t have to pressure yourself, you’re in flow, and things seem to get done with very little effort. Synchronicities show up and your inner wisdom guides you. 

Here’s what the course will be like: 

• We’ll kick off the week with a live online masterclass called Liberate Your Magic: Drop Self-Pressure. (Sept 4 at 9 am PT | 12 pm ET)
• Each day, you’ll get a video from me to help you learn a simple Slacker Magic concept and try it out in your life. (It’ll be short and sweet.)
• In the Mind-Body Magic Facebook group, we’ll have fun conversations about the videos and you can ask me questions.
• On Monday, Sept. 9 we’ll have a live online Q and A session where you can get support, get coached, and get your questions answered. (10 am PT | 1 pm ET)

By the end of the week, you’ll have new mind-body practices to help you access your magic and you’ll be on the path to letting go of self-pressure. Both live classes will be recorded for you. 

Register and learn more about 7 Days of Slacker Magic here! 

Let’s start the fall off right with some slacking, delight, and play. Can’t wait to see you in the course!

Need some rest? Haven’t spent enough time restoring your body and spirit lately? 

If so, it’s time for some slothing. 

Notice you’re pressuring yourself too much and trying to make something turn out “just right?” And now you’re exhausted and don’t even want to do whatever it is anymore? 

It might be better to go ahead and slackerize that project. 

Here are the official definitions:

Slothing

Adjective

1. Resting your body in a delightful manner, guilt-free.
2. Slowing down your pace to match what actually works for your body. 

Slackerize

Verb

1. To take a project or plan and remove perfectionist elements, stripping it down to something doable and possibly even fun.

If you’re overwhelmed, tired, or not feeling great, maybe it’s time to shift into Slacker Magic mode and start applying these new words to your daily life. 

You might be surprised at just how effective it is to start thinking about how to do more slothing and where you can slackerize your projects. 

As you engage in more Slacker Magic, watch out for side-effects like having more energy, getting things done with less effort, and enjoying life more. Have some new Slacker Magic vocab words to add to my list? Do share! Pop on over to the Mind-Body Magic Facebook Group and tell me your ideas.