 Hi, this is George Cao, and I'm excited to be here with Kim Marie today. First of all, I just want to say hi to you, Kim. Thanks for being here. Hi, George. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah. So Kim and I are going to talk about a tool that she has created that's a personalized guidebook that you create for yourself. She has a template for it that allows you to kind of make, you know, as you face difficult decisions and figure out how to generate more empowerment and balance for the coming year. This will be really useful. So let me first read Kim's bio for you all, and then we'll get into the conversation about the rhythms of the year. So Kim Marie is a transformational life and leadership mentor guiding women to reconnect with the roots of who they are and what matters most. She reanimates a sense of purpose, clarity, and confidence with her unique blend of archetypal wisdom, character strengths, esoteric and indigenous wisdom, and habit-breaking programs that empower women to break the chains of patterns and conditionings and bring more solace to their soul. Kim is a guide on the journey from the numbing status quo to the sense of peace and fulfillment that comes from being aligned with our true nature. And Kim is also a member of my MasterHeart mentoring group, so it's great to have her there. So Kim, there's a lot we can talk about, but I want to focus us on this idea of the rhythms of the year. Why is it important to kind of pay attention to that for our well-being and our growth? Yeah, yeah. Thank you. So, you know, one of the things that I've noticed on my own journey is that I had such a love of nature when I was a kid, and then I lost connection with it on many levels, through moving to cities instead of being in the woods where I grew up, or, you know, becoming more disconnected, becoming more busy, like we do as adults, right? And we kind of lose that touch with the natural rhythms of the year. And what I'm noticing is that when we can connect with the cycle and the magic of the rhythms of the year, we connect with ourselves more deeply, because we are nature. We're a part of it. We're, you know, intimately entwined with those rhythms. And we've lost complete connection. We have lights on all the time when it's dark out and we're not sleeping, or we have no connection to the seasons, and we can, you know, order food from anywhere in the world with any climate, and we're not connected in that way. We aren't connected to each other. And even the rhythm of the seasons and how they unfold and the processes of nature and how it unfolds. And so that is what I have kind of come back to in my work and learned that we can really tap back into that wisdom of nature as a way of really getting to know ourselves all over again and knowing how we operate in the world and how we can best live authentic lives, right? So, yeah. Yeah. And this time of year, you know, we're recording this going into winter here. It's a tough time for a lot of people. And at the same time, it can be a time of, you know, reflection and setting a really strong foundation for the coming year. So maybe talk about that and what's the meaning of, you know, winter. Yeah. Yeah. This is my personal favorite time of year. And that doesn't mean that I don't also experience, like you said, it can be difficult. It can be really tough, but there's something that happens, especially has happened since I tuned into these cycles of nature and the rhythm of nature that helps me to reconnect with me. And I notice how critical that is for my own growth and my own evolution and process. And so in the winter, you know, the ancients knew that the veil gets very thin. You know, we've just come out of Halloween and it's also known as All Souls Day and Dia de los Muertos in the Latino culture. And these are all celebrations of the veil thinning where we feel like we're more connected to the spirit realm. And that continues to thin from this time forward until we get to the darkest nights of winter, which of course, the shortest day, longest night, is the winter solstice. And we have lots of celebrations of light during the winter season that are meant to celebrate this return of the light. Even Christmas is based on old pagan traditions as well as the Christian basis for this sacred birth that happens. And so it's like every wisdom tradition has known since the beginning of time that this is a very, very special time where we can have more connection to our own inner wisdom and truth, but also life itself and what is happening and how we can interact with it. So one of the things that people don't tend to think about or realize with this idea of winter, outside, you know, when we walk outside of our door, the leaves have fallen, the trees look bare, everything looks dead, right, and it looks kind of barren, but actually this is the time of year when nature is the most awake. Mother nature is the most awake. And we don't tend to think of that because she does all of her work below the surface. So it's in the depths that she's working and that is true of us as well. So when the light outwardly dims and we don't have as much, we're being called to go inward and find it within ourselves. And Mother nature is working below the surface to do whatever is needed so that all those seeds that fell with the fruits of harvest and the leaves and everything else can have their tending and nurturing to sprout again in spring. And so there's so much happening below the surface that we don't see and that's exactly what also happens with us and we get to plant or shall I say a seed is planted during this time for us, then we get to tend that seed. And so I love this time of year because it's all about, for me, it's been about connecting to that. Many years ago, I started journaling during this time and I found it to be absolutely remarkable in the way that it's almost like with this veil being thin and this quietness and stillness and it's almost like everything is set up to support you, to get what you need and to sort of have these downloads of your own inner wisdom or the wisdom of spirit, however you want to refer to it and it becomes so, so powerful, our intuition heightens in the process, we feel a sense of you can even feel it, you know, some people think it's just the holidays, but I've come to feel that this sense of peace and goodwill that we hear about for the holidays that we feel it, you know, I remember arguing with siblings when I was little and it's like the arguing didn't happen during this time of year and it was always my favorite time, it just seemed like naturally our hearts are opening up more. So it becomes really special to tap into that and work with it to guide us. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense that, you know, this is a time of reflection, the veil thinning and journaling makes a lot of sense. So a couple of years ago you created, how long has the sacred winter journal been around? Yeah, so this year will be my sixth edition and I had been journaling for about a dozen years before that and working with this process and found it to be so, so powerful and I would tell people about my experiences and they're like, you've got to share this with people, you've got to tell people about this and I'm not the first to create a journal for this time and in fact I was working with other journals that inspired me, but then I started adding my own things to it and what I found was, you know, these sacred nights, so my journal goes from December 24th through January 6th and that's what I call the sacred nights of winter and, you know, people could use it starting with winter solstice. I think it would be equally effective. I grew up in the Christian tradition so I do celebrate Christmas and so I find that this opening and this magic that can happen with Christmas Eve being the first of these 13 nights is really special. There's a specialness to that and you mentioned how this time of year can be really hard and one of the things I used to feel and that I hear from clients all the time is that they'll have this build up, this build up until Christmas and then it's like the big let down, you know, there's just this like now what, you know, and people don't realize that the season is intended to actually last more than just a day. It's the commercialization of Santa Claus coming on one day of the year that has made it turn into this, you know, busy hustle bustle kind of thing and it's really a season of time that we can tap into and as I've mentioned, you know, the ancients knew this. Interestingly, if we look at moon cycles, they last roughly 29.3 days. That's the cycle, a full cycle of the moon. If we multiply that by 12 and then take that number and subtract it from 365, the days of the year, there are 13 days left. And this time, that's perfect. Exactly. And the ancients knew this and they thought of these 13 nights as the time between the years or some called it the nights of the mothers. And this is a time of deep inner reflection and people used to really take care to pay attention to their dreams, the emotions, the messages, the activities of the day. They would, you know, honor in a ritualistic way. And so this journal becomes that ritual and it becomes an opportunity to go through those days and nights with a deeper consciousness, with a deeper awareness. And in doing that, we're given with that thin veil. It's like we're given downloads and we don't even realize it's happening and we may not even make sense until the coming year. So that's kind of how it becomes a guidebook in the coming year that we get this information. We often have dreams. A lot of times people will say, wow, I'm remembering my dreams so much during this time. That's part of why. It's very natural to happen if we're willing to slow down and take that time and be in that reflective space. And this journal that you've created, by the way, do you have a copy with you physically right there? I do, but it's actually across the room. Oh, that's okay. You can go. Yeah, that'd be great. All right. I will hang on a second. Okay. So yeah, I paused the recording. So now we're now we're going again. Great. Great. Thank you. Yeah. So so they're roughly these journals that I have are about, they're usually around 100 pages, give or take, and they're full color. And, you know, there's just lots of great content to journal with and journaling prompts. And this was last year's journal. I send the this year's journal to print later toward Thanksgiving, and then they begin shipping at the beginning of December every year. And it's just the prompts give you space to do things like record your dreams. And document like, Oh, you know, I woke up feeling this way or that way, or I had this conversation with so and so, or I, you know, I'm reflecting on the year past or the year ahead. And what also is very beautiful about these 13 nights is the first night is kind of the entry point. So that's Christmas Eve. And actually, you know, Kim, maybe I wonder if it would be okay to kind of show more closely what the pages look like. Sure. As you're talking through these 13 nights, you could kind of show us a bit about what what that page looks like. Okay. Yeah. So, so I'm trying to think of how let's see. So just picking I know there's probably several pages per night, but yes, there are. One of the one of the pages is going to give a sense of what that looks like. Yeah. So like each night, each year, there's a theme. And last year's theme was turning into yourself. This year's theme is going to be wellness through inner archetypes. And so there's always a theme page. And that page, you know, there's an image kind of a faded image in the background. I don't know if you can see it well through year. But you always a prompt associated with the theme at the top and then you there's space for you to journal. And there's an image that usually is related to whatever that night's topic is for the theme. But then there is also I should say that each of the 13 nights connects or the 12 nights after that entry point, they each of the 12 connects with a month in the year. So there is a zadiical influence going on here as well. And each so each night is it's, it's, I use what's called sidereal astrology, we won't get into that right now. But it's this it's really astronomically collect correct. So it's exactly when the sun enters that particular constellation. And technically, the sun enters a new constellation every month right around the middle of each month. So it's not the first to the 31st, it's it's around the 15th to the 17th that the sun enters. And so you're working with the the time of the sun passing through that constellation and giving you an influence. And each constellation offers a virtue. And so I have these what I call my virtue stars. And, and there's a there's a couple of helpers, things that we want to balance at the foot of the stars. And then those things worked together with become the pinnacle. And so, for example, courage combined with carefulness becomes the power of redemption. Okay. And, and then we have on the sides, the arms are the extremes that we can go to if we're too careful, we become cowardly. If we're too courageous, we become foolish. Right. And so it's looking at how do we maintain Aristotle defined virtue as the balance between the too much and the too little. And that's really what this is about virtue is a practice. It's something we can work with. And so each night we tap into how am I showing up with or without courage? How am I out of balance here? But then what's also beautiful is throughout the year, you can go back and look at the virtue during as the sun actually passes through each console constellation and say, okay, let me work with courage this month. Or let me work with discernment this month or patience or compassion or there's wonderful, all these 12 virtues that we can work with and go deeper with. And it becomes something that we also end up looking back and we go, Oh, my gosh, that dream I had on the night that was associated with the month of, you know, of tourists. Okay. When the sun is passing through tourists. I had a dream and and I journal these things that were happening. And this decision I'm trying to make, I'm able to make this decision now based on what was in my dream, or based on what I journaled during that day, based on what I did and the emotions I was having. It was like a like a forecast or a prophecy to what was coming in the year for me. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened for me. And it's one of the biggest reasons, as soon as I launched the journal every year, the people who've been using it like they're instant, like, yes, the journal's ready to order. Because because that's what they want. They love that piece, especially that they cannot believe how many times they go back and look at their journal and it's got the wisdom that they need to make the difficult decision that they're facing in the new year. In that moment that the night was associated with. So it becomes this incredibly powerful tool like a map or a guidebook for our soul that helps us know, Oh, you know what that dream, I'll give an example from my own life. I had a situation where I had had a dream that that was, you know, dreams can be so, so strange and murky and you don't always know what they mean in the moment. But what I wrote down in my journal was that, you know, whatever was going on here, all I had was this tremendous sense of betrayal. And sure enough, the next year, it happened to be associated with the month of July. And I had a contractor working on doing some remodeling in my home. And he walked off the job. And I was like, Oh my gosh, and look, and I went back and I read more of what I wrote about that, you know, like, just, I tend to write what I feel and then I write whatever just comes to mind like a stream of consciousness writing. And sure enough, there were, it's like my own inner wisdom was giving me guidance how to deal with betrayal, what to do about it. And I knew exactly what to do and how to handle it and to make sure I took care of getting the job done. And this kind of thing. And so it was so, so powerful and so helpful. And I just, I just had another woman say the same thing that she was facing some medical challenges with her son. And it was the journal that she turned back to to be able to make that decision based on what she had journaled in the year before, in terms of determining what to do. So it becomes a really powerful tool that's that's being kind of downloaded to us from the cosmos, if you will. And it sounds very esoteric. But what I love about it is it's very practical. So we have these virtue pages. And then I also encourage, there's plenty of free writing pages as well, where I just say, Okay, record your dreams. That's what this page is about, record your dreams and what you're feeling this morning. Or I also have a summary page for each night that asks you to. So, you know, how did you live the virtue? And that way you have a little summary to refer back to if you want to, what moods and emotions were present, summarize your day's experiences and intuitions, and then list any additional messages that you want to make note of. And I've often also left a little space for, like an Oracle card, people love to pull an Oracle card for the day, and just see what kinds of influence or energetic influence might be there. Some people love to work with, you know, runes or gemstones or read a Bible passage or whatever it is, you know, kind of flip through. And like, this is the passage that's in front of me for this particular day. And often, it's really trusting and kind of surrendering into the knowing that whatever comes up is exactly what you need. It's exactly what was meant to come up for you. So that's how the journal works. Yeah, it's wonderful. And it's available now for ordering. So I'm going to make sure that the link is in the notes of the video, I've gotten a copy myself, well, it's on the way. So I'm looking forward to that. And I want to just step back a little bit and talk about your sort of the theme of your business overall, which I think is really cool. It's about awakening inner wisdom. So tell us more, what does that mean for you? Why do you think that's important? Yeah, well, you know, it's it's ultimately been my journey. And George, working with you and Master Heart, you know, this is what you talk about to all of us in your content and whatnot, that it's about being authentic and finding our own way in terms of who we are. And my own journey has been one of, of feeling almost intimidated, even sometimes afraid to be myself, you know, to be my own person to listen to my own inner voice, my own inner wisdom, to speak up for myself to have that confidence and things. And it's been a journey of trial and error, you know, stepping into things and trying different things and learning that the answers aren't all out there with some author, guru, teacher, you know, class book, whatever. But rather, if I take the quiet stillness, which is what I've done with all these years of journaling, that's what it's taught me is like it's awakened my inner wisdom. It's been this process of deepening my own capacity to tap into what I already know, but I just haven't dusted off and and revealed yet, you know, so that has become the premise of all of my work is is that when we awaken our inner wisdom, we're able to show up authentically, we're aligned with what we came here to do. And we're able to share our gifts more readily, we're able to have better relationships. And and I believe we're all leaders when we're showing up sharing our gifts. And so it's also about being a leader of your own life, for sure. But then, you know, within your communities, like being that pebble in the pond that ripples out, and allows others to be inspired to be themselves and follow their inner wisdom as well. Yeah. And then, and there's another word that you use in your work and the word is solace. And I think it's a word that we don't hear often enough. And you have a you have a group program called solace. So tell us about that. What is what is the meaning of that? And yeah, so solace, if we just look at the word solace, it's made up of soul and ace. Okay, and ace is one. And soul is sun. And the sun has always represented spirit, you know, our true essence are the truth of who we are. So to come to solace to be on the journey to solace, which is what I call it, the journey to solace, my program is to be on a journey to become one with your true self, to become one with the essence of who you are, and to be aligned with that inner wisdom, and show up fully and confidently and courageously. And we go through the process, step by step, I take people through a journey that that goes through four stages of the souls development, and 12 steps of development kind of lie within those stages. And it and the virtues are included in that. So we go deeper into things like the virtues. I also look into habit breaking patterns, things like the AA 12 step program, I ended up getting a lot of clients that were a 12 step, you know, participants and I myself didn't go through it. But what I ended up discovering was, I used to have a terrible addiction to sugar. And, and it was the virtues that helped me kick that. And I decided after getting a bunch of clients that had gone through the program to study the AA 12 step program and I went, Oh my gosh, this, I had kind of heard in various circles that the 12 step program was cosmically inspired. And I thought, look at this, these 12 virtues that are cosmically offered with these 12 constellations of the zodiac correlate to the 12 steps of the 12 step program. Like if I follow things in a certain way. And so what's happened when when I created my programs, it began in my living room here in this space and working with groups of women. And some of the women were 12 step program graduates, so to speak, or participants, I should say. And and they were like, Oh my gosh, this gives you so many different perspectives to look at how we're moving through and breaking our habits and how we can see things differently and, and understand to, you know, take on a new approach, if you will. And that's really this process I call it rebirthing. And the winter that we're entering into is associated also, I look at the cycle of the rhythm of the year, that, you know, it's a year long program. And the winter is this the final stage. And that's the rebirthing stage. This is what we're doing. We're planting, you know, that spirit seed is getting planted and being birthed, so that it can grow and become whatever it needs to become in the coming year. And so that's what the journey to solace is all about is paying attention to that and helping it unfold consciously, rather than just kind of going with the status quo and flying by the seat of our pants and not really knowing what we're doing. Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that. So, yeah, those of you who are watching and have found this to be interesting. There are these different ways to working with Kim. She has she is a coach mentor herself. So you could do one on one work with her. She has the group program, the journey to solace. And then she has this journal, which, you know, you can order that might be a really simple and, you know, kind of gentle way to easy into into your work with Kim. So check these out. I'll have the links in the notes of the video. And yeah, so thank you so much, Kim, for the work that you do. Is there any kind of final words of send off that you can share with us? Well, I do want to say that, George, I love your community. And in honor of that, I'm offering your community a special coupon code call and it's mh community. And that will offer everyone a $3 discount off your journal purchase if you choose to do that. So I, I hope it proves to be nourishing and supportive and comforting through these nights. And I know a lot of people find that they no longer have that kind of post holiday depression. And when they're working with it, and they're able to tap into something deeper. So I hope that it brings comfort to everyone. Yes, I'm sure I'm sure it will help. Thank you so much, Kim. And I look forward to working through the journal myself. Thank you, George. Take care. Thanks.