Goddess Beings Club is a virtual women’s club I founded in August 2020. I felt a gap in my personal life and that of other women in my circles for a sisterly space to talk about important facets of our lives as women and as humans. My goal was to create a safe space to share thoughts and ideas less commonly discussed in the public eye, yet powerful for leading a healing and fulfilled life. The member size was intimate at 14 members, kept small by design.
I chose the topics by a blend of what I was excited by, what others suggested, and concepts that arose during the calls. I facilitated most sessions and invited others to lead when they felt called to.
All e-blasts for Goddess Beings Club were written by myself. (Names have been changed for privacy.)
Select emails included below:
August 2 – Opening
September 6 – Restorative Practices
September 7 – Celebration & Accountability
October 16 – Depression Awareness
October 21 – Self-Compassion
August 2 – Opening
Hi Fabulous Friends!
I am excited to start this club with you all. In growing beautiful friendships with each of you, I found an unanimous enthusiasm for a GORGEOUS SPACE for us WOMEN (and women-identifying friends) to share, grow, and be female, whatever that means for you! I envision this to be a space where you can talk about whatever you want to without judgment. I envision this to be a velvet-covered alcove with lots of silk pillows where we can celebrate each other’s awesomeness. I am so excited about how, despite any external societal factors, women are feeling EMPOWERED by: self-care, self-pleasure, monthly hormonal cycles, body hair, vulvas, feminine energy, masculine energy… and as I round out the first year of my 30’s, queens, I have come into remembrance of all these beautiful gifts women are BESTOWED as GODDESS BEINGS. Whether you feel desire to grow or feel good where you are, let’s CELEBRATE!
As a jumping board into the pool of feminine wonder, here are some topics I have been exploring during quarantine. I anticipate the conversation to ebb-and-flow, and I look forward to whatever you bring to this conversation potluck!
recognition (of your needs and desires, how to)
pleasure practices (in all senses of the word pleasure!)
quarantine hair love (yes I’m talking armpits, mustaches)
taking breaks from self-improvement
September 6 – Restorative Practices
Dear Queens,
How do you restore your energy? A nap on the couch? A walk on the beach? One thing that sure doesn’t work for me is scrolling through Instagram endlessly after a frazzling workday. Yet I do it. I’m human, after all. So I told myself two weeks ago that the Gram will NOT be the first thing I do after work, and instead I will try a guided meditation called “Clear Your Mind”. And you know what? It worked! I was able to shake off work in 10 minutes and get up for more fruitful or mindful restorative activities.
What are effective ways you restore your energy? What are some new things you’ve been wanting to try? And how do you restore after one work day versus after several months of, say, a nation-wide quarantine?
Let’s talk restorative practices next Sunday, Sept 6th!
Zoom link here and details below. Per requests, here is a Google Calendar invite, and Apple invite attached.
Recap from Aug 23 On Recognition:
Penelope shared with us a healthy green recipe that helped kickstart her sense of balance after recognizing the need at the end of a grit-fueled PhD program. (Congratulations on your degree! You badass Goddess!)
Food and stress are intimately related, and they can both manifest in many physical symptoms like low libido, inconsistent period cycles, and PMS. Here is a great podcast episode from Project Love podcast featuring the author of Woman Code, Alissa Vitti. She wrote a book on the connection of food, hormones, and the endocrine system. Also here is a great TED talk on connections between female reproductive system and brain/endocrine systems, in particular in the context of menopause. The speaker starts with “Women are works of art”, so you know she’s onto something!
September 7 – Celebration & Accountability
Dear Magical Queens,
Yesterday we heard from expert Goddesses on restorative activities . It can be especially challenging to maintain and restore your energy in the time of covid. (I am
lowercasing it because I don’t feel like shouting it, boos.) Here are some small actions the group has found effective:
Try Something New – If you’ve got a healthy routine but still feeling meh, trying a new activity can bring the elevation you need. (I had success with a “float session”. Thanks, Clara for the recommendation!)
Major Cleaning – Monique has cleared out bag-fulls from her apartment and is also converting her spare room into an exercise room. Go Monique!
Local Parks – Make a list and visit all the small local parks. Sandy is visiting all the beautiful little parks in her area.
Dress for the Goddess – Have you been wearing nothing but pajama bottoms since May as I have? Spice it up for YOURSELF HONEY; Audience = You = Goddess. Maybe it’s one shirt you treat yourself to, or maybe it’s 10 new dresses! Whatever serves you best.
Social Media Pause – Thank you, Monique for the great suggestion of the “pause” feature on Facebook. Facebook has a research branch that engineered a User Experience to keep you on the app for longer. Here’s one article from BBC. I also noticed that Instagram now has a similar “infinite scroll” feature. (Facebook bought Instagram in 2012.) Also, it’s hard to completely avoid photo-shopped images of beauty. Here’s an illuminating demo of photoshop on a model as a reminder that many photos apply lots of makeup and fakeup.
Accountability – Per Marlene’s suggestion, in the next session let’s hear self-care actions from those called to share! Accountability is here for you as a cheerleader. No judgment if you don’t get there this time, and we will celebrate any actions that felt successful! Let’s celebrate the one day you tried something new, celebrate the 1 hour less you spent on social media, celebrate the recognition of a need or desire, whether you acted yet or not.
Much love, Linda
October 16 – Depression Awareness
Hi Goddesses! It’s that Sunday!
I am excited to be hosting this time from inside a 30-foot RV. I will be somewhere along the Missouri border on my way north to St. Louis.
October is Depression Awareness month. I would like to open the space for anyone to share or ask about it. As someone who has struggled with depression, I celebrate this month as recognition of the safety we can build for each other around depression, and as the lifting of this subject as taboo.
Looking forward to seeing you all.
Much joy, Linda
October 21 – Self-Compassion
Goddesses,
Last session was about depression awareness. It brought self-awareness that I didn’t realize I needed. Awareness was, in fact, the big lesson on Sunday.
See, in women, low grade depression is almost invisible and starts often with familiar symptoms like irritability, moodiness, and anxiety, although it’s different for everyone. And guess what; in the past, I even judged myself for feeling these symptoms. “Why are you so annoyed? Stop it.” Or, “why are you stress eating? Have some self control.” And so I’d go about my day thinking something is wrong with me and I “should” fix it.
Depression is not something you “just snap out of”. Voices in the past may have said, “be positive, it’s not so bad”. This is painfully invalidating, even if they meant well. Fortunately, with efforts like Depression Awareness month and our generation more openly conversing, the voices are changing.
Last Sunday, Sola and Katarina shared stories of radical acts of self-care. Sola took a spontaneous airline flight to see relatives. Katarina left work early to spend hours in nature. Yes! Yes! Yes to these!
Marinda, I thank you for bringing up this subject and bringing some insightful facts about depression. It’s given me courage to share this month with my family. (Read: major vulnerability challenge requiring Goddessly powers.)
I leave you with this:
Give yourself compassion. Learn and be mindful of your signs. Use them as a tool to ramp up your self-care or as a signal to reach out to a friend, family, or doctor.
Most of all, know that you are not alone.
Much love,
Linda