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Hello and welcome to Find Yourself, Change Your Life. I’m your host, Mary Clavieres. This podcast is here to help you rediscover yourself and become the leader of your life, however you want that to look.

For today’s episode, we are wrapping up the Summer of the Self series. This series has been really fun for me because it got me reflecting on all of the different parts of mind-body connection, which I love so much, and in a way that hopefully has been helpful and supportive to you as a listener… with these micro moments and reminders and snippets of ways that you can stay connected to yourself.

That for me is always the most important thing. Are we taking a look at how we connect with ourselves? And sometimes we forget about this and we have to come back to it.

Coming Back to Yourself Is a Practice

I really truly believe that it is a practice to keep coming back to yourself. It is a practice to return. It is a practice to reconnect, because sometimes we get off track. That’s just life.

We are not here as machines to live out in some kind of weird bubble and show up every day and do the same exact thing and go to bed and wake up and do it again. Your life evolves and changes. And as it evolves and changes, sometimes you may get off track — like all of us do.

So practice is a huge part of keeping up with and staying in tune with your mind-body connection.

What Practice Looks Like in Real Life

For example, we’ve been away a lot this summer, my family. I was also away a few times for work trips leading up to vacation. My schedule has been a little bit all over the place the last few months at least. So it hasn’t been as steady and consistent as it usually is, and that could very easily take me pretty off track.

And I could tell myself, okay, well, I’m just going to kind of give in to whatever’s coming up and I’ll get back on track later. Which, yes, to a degree I am kind of doing that. But in another sense, I’m still making sure that I’m checking in with myself.

So I’ll talk to my body and I’ll say, hey body, I know we’re still on vacation right now and eating out a lot and not getting as much movement as we usually do, and it doesn’t always feel fantastic, but we’re cherishing this time. We’re eating some things we don’t usually eat, and that’s okay. And pretty soon we’ll be back to a little bit more of our regularly scheduled programming.

It’s really about honoring where you are, staying in touch and being in tune with it, and recognizing those moments and allowing yourself to lean into whatever season you’re in.

The Practice Looks Different in Every Season

If you’re on vacation, or now as school is starting back up and we’re getting into a rhythm entering September, it’s going to look a little different. So really being open and aware and able to be honest with yourself and show up for this work… that is the practice.

How are you showing up even if the season feels a little more unstable in some way? How are you showing up as you’re going through some type of change? We’re always pretty much navigating change to some degree. But how are you showing up in these times? And are you remembering to pay attention to yourself? Check in with what you need. Listen to your body.

This is not meant to add pressure for you by any means. I don’t believe this process needs to have pressure. There are a lot of things in society and culture that pressure you to look a certain way, be a certain way, behave a certain way. That’s not what this is about. This is about how are you showing up for yourself and staying in alignment for yourself.

When you show up as your most aligned self, it has a positive ripple effect out into the world. You better support your family. It helps career, relationships, all of the things, when we show up first for ourselves and then send that signal outwards.

No Shame When You Get Off Track

If there’s anything that you’re taking away from this whole summer series, all of the tips and tools in each of the episodes are really here to support you and your mind-body connection. But the practice is a really big piece, because sometimes we veer off course. Sometimes we’re just cruising right along and then something takes us off course.

There is no shame or blame in anything. The worst thing you could do is be hard on yourself and be mean to yourself if you do get off track.

I could easily say… this summer when I was traveling a lot, eating out a lot, not really exercising much. I could very easily tell myself, Mary, what are you doing? Why are you eating these things? I could try to restrict things. No. I don’t want to do things that way. I want to be kind with myself there. I want to respect myself.

There are so many times and so many ways that we’re shown to beat ourselves up. And that is just not acceptable to me anymore. The more I practice it, the more I remember and remind myself and say, hey, you can choose a different way. You can show up differently here.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back — And That’s Okay

This is not a quick fix type of thing. It has taken me time. It is taking me shifts over the years and different things that I’ve experimented with and gotten curious about. And over time, it all adds up — even when the path is a little windy, or even when I have felt like I’ve gone a little backwards.

Two steps forward, one step back sometimes. But overall it’s about having a direction that feels aligned for you.

You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

Along with all of this direction for practice and how important it is, I’m also really excited to share that the community I’ve mentioned in the past is coming right along. And it’s time.

It’s time to take this work into another version of itself. For me and how I’m showing up, that looks like a community to practice, to show up and reconnect with self, and practice this way of being.

I am officially launching a one-year membership community that is about coming to a space that supports you wherever you are on your journey with practicing and showing up to do the work.

The community is called Return to Yourself.

This is all about being with others that are along this journey — understanding and recognizing more of yourself, even those times when you get off track, and being held and supported throughout the process of practicing.

What’s Inside Return to Yourself

We’re going to have a couple of calls a month, a community space, seasonal workshops, and lots of different things that are all meant to support you in wherever you are in this path.

It’s all about the self, but then how that impacts your career, your relationships, your parenting. I’m weaving in mind-body connection, Human Design, self-leadership — all of these different aspects to help you show up for yourself.

I recognize that not everyone in our day-to-day life fully gets it. And sometimes being on this journey can feel a little lonely, to be honest, because you haven’t quite found your people — those who are showing up to be curious about these same things.

But if you’re here and you’re listening, you’re likely one of the people that it is for. Because you’re interested in this. You’re interested in squeezing everything out of this life and having a meaningful relationship with it. You are not someone that wants to be on autopilot.

Founding Member Bonuses

Anyone joining this first round is considered a founding member and there are going to be a lot of fun things.

Founding member bonuses include:

Digital copy of Mind Body Connection Unlocked

30-minute one-on-one call with Mary (4 total throughout the year)

Ecocentric Human Design Report

The community officially starts October 1st. The bonuses kick in right away when you sign up.

You can learn more and join at community.maryclavieres.com

I really truly believe this is a movement. It is a movement for all of us to have the courage to reconnect with ourselves. Have the courage to say, I’m choosing me first. And I recognize that by choosing me, I am helping the world.

Choosing yourself can usually feel like the more uncomfortable option. And it can feel like the option that goes more rogue, because we’re really taught to serve and help everyone else first. But it’s not how it works. It starts within and emanates out.

So if any or all of that resonated with you, I would love to see you inside Return to Yourself. It’s going to be a really incredible space filled with beautiful people, beautiful souls. You’re invited. Check it out. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Sending lots of love, and I’ll talk to you next week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does “coming back to yourself” mean? A: It means returning to your own awareness, your own body, your own sense of what feels aligned after life has pulled you in other directions. As Mary shares in this episode, it’s not a one-time event. It’s a practice. You’ll drift. You’ll get pulled off track. Coming back to yourself is what you do when that happens, again and again.

Q: How do you practice coming back to yourself? A: Through the tools and practices covered throughout the Summer of the Self series — body check-ins, breathwork, journaling, noticing your emotions, tracking your energy, paying attention to spiritual signs. The key isn’t perfection, it’s consistency and self-compassion when you drift.

Q: What if I keep getting off track? A: That’s normal. As Mary says in this episode, getting off track is part of being human. The practice isn’t about never drifting, it’s about knowing how to return. Two steps forward, one step back. The path is rarely linear.

Q: What is the Summer of the Self series? A: A summer podcast series from Find Yourself, Change Your Life with short weekly episodes and a reflection prompt or tool each week. This is the final episode. Topics covered: awareness, conditioning, the roles we play, the not good enough voice, trusting your body, emotions as messengers, energy management, and spiritual signs.

Q: What is Return to Yourself? A: A one-year membership community created by Mary Clavieres for people who want to practice reconnecting to themselves with support, community, and tools. It weaves together mind-body connection, Human Design, and self-leadership. Officially starts October 1, 2026. Learn more at community.maryclavieres.com.

Q: Who is Return to Yourself for? A: For people who are on a journey of reconnecting to themselves and want to do it with others who get it. People who are curious about mind-body connection, Human Design, and living in more alignment. People who don’t want to be on autopilot. People who feel a little alone in this work because their day-to-day circle doesn’t fully understand it.

Q: What are the founding member bonuses? A: A digital copy of Mind Body Connection Unlocked, a 30-minute one-on-one call with Mary, 30-minute one-on-one calls throughout the year, and an Ecocentric Human Design Report. Most bonuses begin immediately upon signing up. Community calls begin October 1.

Q: How do I join? A: Visit community.maryclavieres.com for all the details and to sign up.