Gretchen Schock

Clearing Clutter and Making Your Home Work for You!

I recently helped a life coaching client clear the clutter in her home office. We were discussing it in her sessions and rather than giving her homework to complete to move the needle toward her goal. I said, “How about I just come over, and we tackle this together.”

She was elated! And we completed the project in the time frame she needed for her husband to begin working from home.

after picture of organized office with baseball collection present on shelves

I want you to see in these pictures that real people live and work here. No, it’s not an image in an interior design blog. Nor should it be! I helped organize the space so that they could use it in a way that was convenient for them. We discussed habits, workflow, likes, and dislikes, and we tackled some of the deeper emotions related to the clutter in how it became a problem in the first place. But also how to move forward so they don’t repeat those habits. It was therapeutic and productive.

I didn’t make them conform to my view of an office, nor did I create a space where they wouldn’t feel at home. We added things that bring them joy to look at while working. Collections that would remind them of their intention to spend quality time with their loved ones and step away from work.

I believe that each client’s home is unique. There is no one size fits all approach to making your space more functional and pleasant to be in for you and your family. I approach each project with compassion and kindness but also hold you accountable for reaching the goal we set out to achieve together.

I am opening my calendar for reservations in September. If you want to clear the clutter from a space in your house, email me (Gretchen at beeyogafusion.com), and let’s chat about the area you hope to transform in your home.

“Your help cleaning up our office has made such a positive difference. I worked from home yesterday and today and it was really nice having a pleasant work area. We could not have done it without you.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you!”
Quote from my client’s husband

If You Love It- Use It!

Coaching, Home Life

As I work with a client helping her organize and clean out her home office, I keep saying, “If you love it, let’s use it and interact with it!”

Everyone has an area in their lives like this; she isn’t the only one! You are saving the things you have deemed special until the right moment to use them. The most common one is fine china, only used for special occasions. If you look hard enough around your house, you’ll also see where you have done this.

a pitcher that is being used as a vase on a coffee table in front of a sofa. calm cool color palette

I’m not saying this is good or bad. I want you to understand that the moment is now to use the things you cherish. You are alive. You are in this moment, so use what you love.

I have a vase that I absolutely cherish. If anything were to ever happen to it, I would sob, like an ugly cry sob. I would be heartbroken. My childhood private singing teacher gave it to me as a wedding gift for my first marriage. I adored this woman and looked up to her. I wanted to emulate her style and way of living. She gave me guidance beyond voice lessons, for which I will forever be thankful. This case represents her love for me. She gave me the vase three months before the wedding because she was diagnosed with brain cancer and was unsure of whether she would make it to the wedding. She didn’t. Knowing that she was the one who picked out this vase for me meant so much.

For a very long time, it was one of the most expensive things I owned and the nicest. I was scared to use it for fear of it breaking. What it represents in my mind is my singing teacher and her love for me, but in reality, it’s a large crystal vase. If I use it and make it a part of my home, I show the people in my life that I cherish it and that it is special.

My children know the story of the vase, but their memories will be so different. They might recall the stories I tend to tell as I pull it out of the kitchen cupboard about my voice teacher and childhood. But in truth, they will most likely remember it as the vase mom always put flowers in when she received fresh flowers. And that is why it will be memorable and will live on.

So rather than storing the memories of your relatives in boxes in the attic, use those artifacts in your daily life. Use the pottery that your husband made to store office supplies and your grandmother’s knitting basket to hold your mail. Use the things you genuinely cherish, and interact with them so that when people come into your home, they can see what you hold dear.

PS- We will discuss the purging of things later because not everything you own can be “special.” Some things need to go. 🙂

Habits That Have Changed My Life and Keep Me Sober

Habit Change, Sobriety

It’s so interesting to see how addiction shows up in the life of an addict.

Recently my mom was retelling a story about how I would eat M&M’s as a kid and go wild with hyperactivity. Meanwhile, the part often missing from the retelling is that they would gift me a large 1-pound bag of M&M’s in my Christmas stocking. This detail is important to provide actual context to the story. My sister would savor her M&Ms and have that bag for weeks if not months. On the other hand, I would devour the entire bag within a day and ride the wave of sugar adrenaline, driving everyone in my family crazy.

I had no control. And bless my parents for treating my sister and me the same and giving us the same gift. It’s not their fault I couldn’t control my impulse to devour, but my sister could. But it’s moments like these when we are causally sitting around the dinner table, and a retelling of my past shows up on display that I can see how addiction was a part of my life from the very beginning.

I spent a lot of time chasing the adrenaline that sugar provided me as a kid. Over time it was redirected to falling in love, the high highs and the low lows, of that new relationship were addicting. And eventually, I landed where most addicts do, drugs and alcohol.

Thankfully I am no longer under the power of alcohol, in one month, I will be celebrating eleven years of sobriety, but that doesn’t mean I’m saved or cured of being an addict. Thankfully I now have the awareness to see it begin, the stirrings. I can recognize the familiar buzz within my body, the yearning for more. And it’s those moments when I lean into my routine, the healthy habits I have created in my life in order to remain sober and on the path of living my truth.

What are those habits?

Every morning:

Meditation: I start my morning by turning off my alarm and then meditating. Allowing my mind to wander and prepare for the day. Rather than jumping out of bed at the sound of the alarm I’m not immediately racing towards that adrenaline high.
Yoga: whether it’s 10 minutes or twenty. I need to get on my mat and move.
Journaling: freestyle and never re-reading. No set time limit, but I require myself to write one page. This practice allows me time to process my thoughts and emotions, and space to let them go so that I’m not carrying the baggage around with me all day.
Repetition: Making the same thing for breakfast every day and limiting the number of decisions first thing in the morning allows my mind to be more creative.

Every evening:

Going into bed at the same time. Sometimes I read, sometimes I watch Japan news. But no more phone, no email, no games, and absolutely no scrolling. Being in bed at a particular time allows my body to wind down and be ready to sleep.

It seems simple, right? And guess what- it is! But putting those small habits into practice is hard work. Even though I know how amazing it will feel to move my body and go to bed early, it’s hard to actually stick with it and do it. What has worked for me is to reframe the habits in my mind not as “wouldn’t it be lovely if” thoughts but instead as survival. I need to do those things to survive. I need to do these things to deal with the stresses of life, to remain sober, and to be the best version of myself. And when I look at it through that lens, I am able to see it not as a luxury but as a necessity to living life.

These are NOT Badges of Honor

Self-care

These common mistakes are often touted as signs of success and worth, but that is a false narrative that we are telling ourselves.

Let’s stop the cycle – You deserve to make yourself a priority!

these are not badges of honor text of article

Going with the flow
Speak your truth, even if the company you keep feels uncomfortable. So often, we hide who we really are only to make other people feel comfortable. The world needs more people like you who are willing to stand up and speak up for what you believe is right.

Busyness
It has become another way to numb ourselves from seeing our lives and feeling our emotions. Busyness has become a status symbol of your worth, which is a false narrative! The length of your to-do list does not calculate your worth. Busyness is just another form of addiction. And when we look at it through that lens we can see our habits a bit more clearly.

Burnout
No one gets a gold star for pushing themselves past the point of no return. When you sacrifice your mental, emotional, and physical health for a job or your family, you are not helping anyone. When they happen, begin to notice the signs of overwhelm so that you can take action and put your needs before others.

Not taking vacation days
I’m told this is “very American.” You earned those vacation days; take them! Spend time with people you love. You don’t have to go anywhere if that’s not in your budget, have a staycation, and be a tourist in your own town.

Skipping meals
Food is fuel. You can’t run your car without gas, so why do we expect our bodies to go at full speed without fuel? Stop what you are doing and eat a meal.

Not sleeping
Sleep plays such a critical role in your mental health and physical health. The work can wait for you to get some 💤.

Healthy Lunches Made Easy!

Recipes

This is how I like to make easy lunches for the week- Buddha Bowls!

My easy formula will allow you to make quick, healthy meals without much work. Consider this meal prep but the EASY way! Put the recipes away. I follow this simple formula and you can as well!

Four veggies
Two proteins
Two grains

And then add various salad dressings or dips to keep it interesting.

The four veggies can be prepared however you’d like them. Maybe you want to roast some of them, or maybe you’d rather chop and enjoy them raw. And quite possibly you’d like a combo of the two options! In regards to my two proteins, I like to have a plant protein and an animal protein. I know this is what works best for my body and lifestyle, but you can build your Buddha bowl however you’d like! For the grains, sometimes it’s rice or quinoa, and sometimes it’s crackers and bread. The possibilities are endless!

So what did I make this week?

Cut cherry tomatoes
Chopped raw peppers
Roasted carrots
Salad greens
Curry chickpeas
Ground Chicken cooked with mushrooms and onions
Brown rice
Crackers
And hummus because we had some leftovers.

Try this easy formula and take the guesswork out of “What will I eat for lunch?” Let me know in the comments if you give it a try.

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When It’s Time to Stop Scrolling and How to Redirect that Negative Energy

Mindfulness

For myself, when I notice that I am sitting in a place of judgment as I scroll through social media, it’s time for me to turn it off and take a break- step away and don’t comment! When my mind is racing through thoughts and I find that I don’t have anything nice to say about anyone’s posts, that’s when I know that I need to put the phone down.

The hard part is doing the work and putting it into practice. Noticing when you are judgment-scrolling and when the experience of connection has turned into a passive-aggressive mind game. How do we do it?

The first step is observing yourself, tuning into your body and breathing. Notice the excitement in your body to comment, to tell them precisely what you think, your opinions, or how they are wrong and how you’d do it differently. The shoulders rise; you might be leaning towards the computer or phone. Be aware of your breath and notice that you are either holding your breath or breathing fast and shallowly. Posture and breathing are the first indications that you are not in the right state of being to share your best self with the digital world.

Observe the mind; if you find that your thoughts go to the negative end of the spectrum immediately, then that is a good sign that you aren’t in the best place mentally to comment on other people’s posts. I’m not saying that we only have to spread confetti and rainbows! But when people post on social media, they don’t want constructive criticism or negativity. So don’t be the one bringing that dish to that space.

So what to do instead? How do you pull away from the feelings you aren’t quite ready to face right now? Rather than getting shit-faced drunk and numbing the feelings into oblivion, here are some ideas to get your body moving without having to do much heavy lifting for your mind.

Clean the grout in your bathroom shower
Garden, pull weeds, especially
Rearrange the books on your bookshelf, color-coded, alphabetically, by genre, or by size
Organize the attic
Clean under the kitchen sink
Pull out all the spices, check expiration dates, and wipe down the shelves
Repot the plants in your house that need bigger containers
Put seasonal clothes into storage bins to store in the attic
Clean out the fridge, check expiration dates, and wipe down the shelves
Wipe down the baseboard moulding in every room with a damp cloth

Of course, eventually, you’ll want to talk through what you are feeling. Whether with your life coach to create new habits from now on or with your therapist to process why you continue to do the same action and what it’s linked to in your life. But right now, you need action. You need a mindless activity to give your body something to do with this energy and pull you away from creating drama or resentment from friends on social media.

But first- OBSERVE- the breath and body. Notice the tension and take that as your first sign to pull away and redirect your energy. Keep this list of ideas and add more when you think of them. You’ll notice this isn’t a self-care list. Because you aren’t there yet. After you’ve processed the underlining emotions attached to what you are feeling and experiencing, then self-care activities can come into place. But often, at this stage, the mind is racing too much to enjoy the relaxing benefits of self-care. We need movement, action, and mindlessness to combat the judgment or negative mindset.