Milisa Burns 5/21/24 Milisa Burns 5/21/24

Using Anger to “Shore Up” Presence

Multitudes of women have shared with me over the 19 years that I’ve been a coach, that, above all, they desire to feel more present in their lives - to be able to be enjoying their lives and more of the experiences that they’re having. In this post I share an anecdote where I used my imagination to “shore up” my presence involving:

boundaries

anger; and

river imagery.

I hope this post is even a fraction as inspiring for you to read as it has been for me to write.

Milisa Burns 5/13/24 Milisa Burns 5/13/24

Mother’s Day Wishes & Reflections

Whether you’re a biological mother or not, and no matter your gender, let’s celebrate our incredible feminine* capacity for receptivity - opening our hearts and receiving and tapping into the love that’s flowing all around us and running through us and between us.

Milisa Burns 3/8/24 Milisa Burns 3/8/24

International Women’s Day Wishes

Wishing you a fierce, tender, and playful International Women’s Day, inspired by my maternal grandmother, Mildred Maclean who would have been 113 years old today, March 8.

Milisa Burns 3/1/24 Milisa Burns 3/1/24

Seeing the World with New Eyes (Literally)!

I’m in awe of what I’m seeing now that I have new lenses in my eyes - I’m literally seeing the world with new eyes. I had cataract surgery in January. (Cataract surgery is considered major eye surgery - they broke up my lenses with a laser, removed them and implanted new lenses.)

Milisa Burns 2/16/24 Milisa Burns 2/16/24

The Lake of Your Heart 💙

What would it be like for you to plunge (or even dip a toe) into the lake of your heart? Come join me in this Making Room For YOU experiment… To turn inward this Valentine’s Day (or any other day!) and swim around in the welcoming waters of the lake of your heart.

Milisa Burns 11/28/23 Milisa Burns 11/28/23

Wish for Pockets of Silence

My current (and ongoing) wish for you and for me is to be able to pause and find some silence on a regular basis, amidst all the hustle bustle and noise (not to mention Black Friday sales). This morning, "silence" for me was walking to the ravine by myself. That's when this message to you bubbled up.

Milisa Burns 10/30/23 Milisa Burns 10/30/23

No Longer Letting Words Fuel Our Self-Doubt

As a transformational coach and facilitator and as someone who strives to "walk her talk", I'm all about questioning deeply-held assumptions and beliefs. Reading Pip Williams' debut novel The Dictionary of Lost Words was a transformational (and enjoyable) experience for me. In this post, I explore some of that transformation and invite you to consider what words you want to redefine or invent.

I grew up being quite the rule abider, a perfectionist and a people pleaser. This was my mentality: Tell me the rules. I will follow them and I will do my best to excel. That worked well enough for me until my twenties when, as a newly minted corporate lawyer, I started to question everything.

Milisa Burns 9/13/23 Milisa Burns 9/13/23

Boundary-Setting Inspiration from Lord of the Rings

I’ve long struggled with setting boundaries, personally and professionally, in a way that is more compassionate and self-compassionate, rather than rigid and resentful. A perennial people pleaser, I’ve had to practise saying anything other than a full on “yes” when responding to a request. In this post I share a big shift I had around boundary-setting which has resulted in me feeling both encouraged and understood by my family when I need to take time to myself, to gather my strength and reconnect with my courage and clarity.

Milisa Burns 5/25/23 Milisa Burns 5/25/23

What a Foal Taught Me About My Leadership Presence

The main takeaway I got from the retreat was a teaching from the beautiful foal lying on the ground at my feet in the photo above.

Her teaching to me: that I am very, very trustworthy.

My learning since reflecting on the retreat recently: That since I'm so trustworthy, I can trust myself even more than I already have so far. I can grow into greater self-trust as I continue to grow into my leadership. (Not surprisingly, my clients also learn to trust themselves at much deeper levels through our work together. We coaches often coach on what we also need to learn. ;))

Milisa Burns 5/14/23 Milisa Burns 5/14/23

Mother’s Day Gratitude

Being back in London ON recently, I was struck by the beauty in my parents' home and it's surrounding gardens. Their house is filled with art, beautifully curated, something I appreciate much more now than I did as a teenager when I used to drag my feet during our visits to many art galleries.

Milisa Burns 5/12/23 Milisa Burns 5/12/23

Bragging Rights: How to Talk about your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion

I'm still glowing from all the amazing conversations at last Thursday's launch of the transformational book Bragging Rights: How to Talk about your Work Using Purposeful Self-Promotion by Lisa Bragg.

Milisa Burns 3/9/23 Milisa Burns 3/9/23

International Women’s Day - Empowering & Galvanizing

That we women need help gathering our strength again is an equity issue. That we are willing to ask for and co-create this support is a sign of our already existing strength. However, we are actually even stronger. And we need help gathering that strength back in. It's more than time.

We've been shamed, denied, gaslit, crushed by others, by society and most devastatingly, by our own selves. Why? Because we've absorbed the harmful myths of a society steeped in the toxicity of patriarchy. This has been going on for more than 2,000 years!

Milisa Burns 2/10/23 Milisa Burns 2/10/23

A Potent Practice

In this extra busy season, when we can veer in the direction of exhaustion and burnout, I'm practicing giving in a way that feeds me - to be giving of myself instead of giving up myself. (And for me, it's definitely a practice - messy and imperfect and growth-oriented!)

Milisa Burns 2/10/23 Milisa Burns 2/10/23

Finding the Celebration in You

“Life is a dance to the music within you.”

In the last few years I’ve found much better and more consistent access to the party, the celebration, the joy, the music within me. 🎉💃🦋

Milisa Burns 11/10/22 Milisa Burns 11/10/22

Moving Beyond Too Little Too Late

Are you a fellow (recovering) perfectionist? There are many of us around! I’ve been challenged by perfectionism for as long as I can remember. It’s only in the last 15 years or so that I have been able to really root it out or at least become aware of it.

Milisa Burns 10/6/22 Milisa Burns 10/6/22

Transforming Leadership

What happens when… 8 highly experienced and determined leaders, in consulting, facilitation and coaching, meet regularly for a year to create something useful and valuable for leaders and their organizations? In our case, we wrote an ebook called Transforming Leadership!

Milisa Burns 7/28/22 Milisa Burns 7/28/22

Savouring the Rest of Our Summer

Let’s Seize the rest of our summer by savouring some of our favourite summer moments or actiivities! What do you want to savour?

Milisa Burns 7/11/22 Milisa Burns 7/11/22

New Website - A Collaboration

The new website is the result of much collaboration and years of yearning and learning on my part.

My intention was to “collaborate and co-create beautiful spaces, physically and virtually, for women to come into and make room for themselves in service of the greatest good, to be the change they desire to see in the world”.

Milisa Burns 5/9/22 Milisa Burns 5/9/22

Hope You Enjoyed Mother’s Day

I hope you enjoyed some moments of goodness, even joy, yesterday, however and with whomever you celebrated.

I savoured some time outside in the backyard reading our book club choice this month, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain. A highlight for me was taking in the beauty of our young magnolia tree, which is covered in blooms for the first time ever.

Milisa Burns 4/21/22 Milisa Burns 4/21/22

You're Invited to a Special Event Next Week!

Explore pleasure & the five senses as a way to open up, connect with the pulse of life, and exhale into a sensual summer. There’s an incredible group of women forming and we’re so excited to create something replenishing and galvanizing together.

Free Grounding, Centering, Empowering Practices