Category: Live Inspired

Transition Tip #3: Give Yourself Grace

If you follow me on Instagram, I’ve been talking about life transitions and I asked this question:

“Do you feel you’re in a transition right now and if so, how do you feel about it?”

II continue to get an overwhelming response from people sharing the transitions they’re currently experiencing. From divorce, career changes, retirement, physical injury, illness, and the general discomfort and uncertainty of an ever-changing world.

In my last email, I presented a simple challenge aI already presented two challenges to help you in your current transitions.

Allow yourself to daydream. Read the 1st challenge.
Appreciate the magic of the unknown. Read the 2nd challenge.

While you’re already familiar with my story, from losing my legs at 19, having a kidney transplant at 21, and eventually becoming a professional athlete. What you may not know is that just 2 years ago, after sustaining a major vascular, I had my leg amputated for a 2nd time. This eventually lead to my retirement from professional snowboarding.

My snowboard coach used to tell me “Amy, have a tender heart with yourself, take the pressure off, you are doing fine.”

This is my next challenge for you.

Give yourself grace.

Being alive and moving forward in today’s challenging modern world is enough. We all go through moments of not feeling good enough, not being productive enough, or achieving enough. These feelings are often presented at a time when we’re busy comparing ourselves to others.

We are so hard on ourselves! If you’re anything like me, at times, I feel as though I’m not doing enough and put unnecessary pressure on myself to do more. This feeling is exhausting and self-defeating.

Alternatively, grace is self-care. Grace is giving yourself permission to be exactly who you are and being gentle with yourself.

Take a moment each day to look at how far you’ve come, allow yourself to have a tender heart, and be grateful for the place you’ve arrived.

When was the last time you looked in a mirror and said, “I love you and I’m grateful for you.”?

Remember to take a moment out of every day to show yourself some gratitude for the person you’re becoming.

Did you allow yourself to dream? Here’s another transition tip!

Live Inspired / By Amy Purdy

If you follow me on Instagram, I’ve been talking about life transitions and I asked this question:

“Do you feel you’re in a transition right now and if so, how do you feel about it?”

I got an overwhelming response in my DM’s of people sharing the transitions they’re currently experiencing. From divorce, career changes, retirement, physical injury, illness and the general discomfort and uncertainty of an ever-changing world.

In my last email, I presented a simple challenge and a life tip for dealing with transitions. Allow your mind to wander a bit, and allow yourself to daydream again. If you missed this challenge, you can read about it here.

Daydreaming is especially helpful when our life looks different from what we planned, or we feel pressured to continue working towards an undefined goal.

While I’ve been through many transitions in my life. From losing my legs at 19, having a kidney transplant at 21, and eventually becoming a professional athlete. I suddenly found “fame” when I appeared on Dancing With The Stars. Then, my life changed again, unexpectedly when I sustained a major vascular injury and eventually retired from competitive snowboarding.

Retiring from snowboarding wasn’t a transition I was mentally ready for. In many ways, I was in peak form and felt more prepared than ever to compete at the highest level. Yet, in the blink of an eye, I was hospitalized and had my left leg amputated for a second time and then.. a third time!

I remember feeling as If I was letting go of everything I’d built and floating into a vast uncertainty.

I want to give you a new challenge. Something that’s a bit deeper. A mindset that’s even more effective than simply allowing yourself to dream.

Appreciate the magic of the unknown.

At that moment I felt like a ship that had left the harbor, lost sight of land, with no clear destination, and no compass to guide me.

It was a terrifying feeling yet I had a moment of clarity. A calmness and realization that this ship could arrive in a place even more wonderful than before.

Deepak Chopra says it best “ the unknown is where the possibilities live.”

If you are always living in the “known” then you will only do what you’ve always done. You will only know the people you’ve already met, and be where you’ve already been.

When you make a decision to step into the unknown, anything can happen. You might find yourself in a wonderful place, that you never could have imagined.

Transition is when we are “in-between” the major chapters of our life. This is a place where magic can happen if you keep your mind and heart open.

“Are you open to the magic of the unknown?”

In my 5-steps to Resiliency, I talk about reframing a situation. Looking at it from a perspective of compassion and empathy. The same steps can be used to welcome the unknown.

1. Stay present.

The moments where you are looking out the window of an airplane or walking to work. It’s those moments when distractions are low that your higher self speaks to you, where your mind quiets down enough to hear your inner voice. Can you hear it?

2. Have empathy towards yourself.

Unconditional love isn’t just reserved for others, it’s important to love ourselves unconditionally as well. It’s about fully accepting the ups and downs of our journey in order to live our truest, most authentic life. Accept your story and your past and give yourself some grace for coming as far as you have.

3. Change the story you tell yourself.

Gratitude is the secret to happiness. When you celebrate what you have, you instantly live abundantly. When you focus on what you don’t have you instantly live in scarcity. Abundance is a mindset, gratitude is the key that unlocks the door.

Rather than looking at your present and mourning what was, choose to see this moment as an opportunity and allow the magic to find you. Negative things will happen in your life, but so can wonderful, magical things.

The unknown is a rigid box and as scary as it is to live in a space of uncertainty, it is where the possibilities are endless!

Do you feel like you’re in a transition right now and if so, how do you feel about it?

Live Inspired / By Amy Purdy

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already responded to my question.

First I want to say, if you’re feeling a bit lost or uncertain about your life, you are not alone! The pandemic has put the majority of the world in an uncertain situation. Even years later, we are changed people, still trying to find our way through divorce, career changes, retirement, physical injury, and the general discomfort and uncertainty of an ever-changing world.

Maybe you aren’t as motivated as you once were?

Or feel pressured to continue working towards an undefined goal?

Perhaps you’re dealing with a life-altering injury or illness?

Or maybe your life simply looks different from what you planned?

You are not alone.

I want to talk about transitions because I think it’s important to remember that we’re not alone. To be human is to face uncertainty. There’s nothing more human than adversity.

I’ve been through many transitions in my life. From losing my legs at 19, having a kidney transplant at 21, and eventually becoming a professional athlete. I suddenly found “fame” when I appeared on Dancing With The Stars. Then, my life changed again, unexpectedly when I sustained a major vascular injury and eventually retired from competitive snowboarding.

Snowboarding has been part of my life since I was in high school and even with all my own experience with life transitions, learning to walk again for the third time reminded me just how challenging it can be.

This transition isn’t a bad thing. I’m learning to walk again! And that’s amazing! I’m suddenly walking for the first time in 3 years. How could I ever complain?

Yet this transition has brought up several emotions.

Now that I’m retired from snowboarding, I have more free time than I’ve ever had. While I feel gratitude for this time, I also feel a bit disoriented and unsure of how I want to spend my free time.

I’ve built a career that allows me to work as much or as little as I choose to. It’s one of the greatest blessings brought about by a life that I spent so much time building. The building of that life is time spent that I miss spending. I’m simply not ready to have so much free, uncertain time, on my hands. Like many of you, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do next.

Through all of these life transitions, I’ve collected a few tips along the way. We don’t need to fix the way we feel when our lives change, we just need help navigating those changes. I want to help you navigate the changes in your life with a simple challenge.

Daydream

When I first lost my legs, I remember laying in bed realizing I could never go back to who I once was. This is a harsh reality because honestly, none of us can. I felt confused, scared, and unsure of what the future would bring or what my life would be like. This is when I began to visualize.

It started with a daydream of what I wanted to do with my life, the big things that seemed impossible, like snowboarding again. That daydream turned into a complete vision because I allowed myself to get excited about it, even though I had no idea “how” I would achieve it.

During this daydream, the feeling of my heart beating in my chest was all I needed to confirm my vision was possible. It became a goal that moved me through my greatest transition from losing my legs to becoming a professional athlete. Who would have thought that losing my legs, would open up a world of possibilities? Competing in the Paralympics began with a daydream that simply made me feel excited about the future.

“When was the last time you allowed yourself to daydream and truly feel excited about the possibilities?“

Forget about the ‘how’. Simply take a moment to eliminate distractions and allow yourself to get lost in your dreams.

The dream that makes you light up and feel excited is the dream that you should follow.

Have grace with yourself, allow yourself to daydream, and feel excited about the unknown future. Make a plan to do the thing that lights you up the most.

Just Breath

Live Inspired / By Amy Purdy

Recently, I’ve been quite obsessed with the song Hanuman Baba by Krishna Das and that’s why I really wanted to share it with you! I know it may seem like a very random song for me to share, so let me explain…

I’ve been pressing play on this song in the mornings or when I start to feel stressed to help calm and ground me. With everything that is going on, I have found taking deep breaths daily has been the best thing for reducing my stress, anxiety, and feelings of overwhelm.

Our mind and breath are more connected than we realize. If you think about it, when our mind feels stressed, our breath becomes short and choppy, right? And when our mind feels relaxed, our breath becomes slow and smooth. So if our mind and breath are connected, why not calm our breath in order to calm our mind?

Here’s the breathing practice I have been enjoying:

I lay on the floor, play this song, and take deep breaths for the entire length of the song.

To take it a step further, you can make your inhales and exhales equal. As you breathe in, count to four or five and repeat on the exhale. Also, try to see how steady and smooth you can make each breath.

Give it a try! I hope it calms you and grounds you as much as it does me!

Energized

Live Inspired / By amypurdydev

I’m feeling extra energized! If you didn’t see my Instagram post from the other day, I took my first walk in over 14 months. Can you imagine?! I cannot explain to you how amazing it felt. It’s been hard–extremely hard to say the least. And honestly, the hardest part hasn’t even been the injury itself, it’s been keeping my mindset right about my injury. And that’s why I wanted to share this quote with you:

“Resilience is not about surviving the worst days of your life, it’s for thriving every day of your life.”
I came across this quote randomly the other day, and wow, did it resonate with me! I don’t believe this statement could be any more accurate. What do you think?

I believe being resilient isn’t just making your way through the darkness, no matter how dark it might be. I believe being resilient is finding a way to illumine the darkness. And I know due to the current situation of the world, these could be some of the worst days many of you have faced, and it feels like you are just surviving. If you feel this way, how can you illuminate the darkness?

A Good Read:

Have you read this amazing book yet? I’m obsessed! I especially love how it begins with the story of how we are all tamed like the performing cheetah at the zoo. We too are meant to be wild and free, although society has led us to believe we must fit into certain boxes. I feel like I’m a cheetah, too! Plus, I love how the book is made up of short story verses, making it super easy to just read a story here and there throughout the day.

Curl Refresh Guide

Live Inspired / By amypurdydev

I wanted to check in with you to see how your Quarantine Curls are coming along? I would love for you to share your beautiful curls with me! Post a picture in your IG stories and give me a tag, @amypurdygurl.

So, I’ve been getting a lot of ladies asking me how I refresh my curls after day one (thank you, bedhead!). So I wanted to give you a quick guide on how to give your curls an even quicker refresh. Here’s how it goes…

CURL REFRESH GUIDE

Step 1: With a hair clip, scrunchy, or hair tie, pull your hair back into a half ponytail and knot it on top of your head. You’re going to refresh your hair one half at a time!

Step 2: Using a spray bottle, slightly dampen your curls. If you don’t have a spray bottle, get your hands wet, and gently run your fingers through your curls.

Step 3: Take a small drop of hair gel or cream, about the size of a nickel, rub it in your hands, and then gently apply the product to your curls. Be careful when applying more product as you do not want to weigh your curls down or make your hair look product-heavy. Just a small little drop is more than enough!
Step 4: (Optional) Re-scrunch your hair with a paper towel, an old t-shirt, or a t-shirt towel.
Step 5: Repeat on the top half of your hair, and enjoy your refreshed curls!

Why does this work? If the gel or cream you use has water listed as the first ingredient, then water is going to help reactivate the other ingredients. Magical, right?

Give this curl refresh technique a try and let me know how it works for you!