15 Minute Guided Morning Meditation with Biko Gray

Hi guys!

Good morning! Today is a big day and not just because it is the first day of our annual fast.

So, here’s the deal, back in September, before my life turned into a real-life vacuum haha, I sat down with my dear friend, Biko Gray, to record a Meditation Series for The Coffey Break. Well, the time has finally come! Three mugs of tea, a few really unhealthy meals, and a bag of Sour Brite crawlers later and we have a 4 part guided meditation series that will roll out every Monday over the next 4 weeks!

A little background. I’ve spent the greater part of the past year and a half rotating four different meditation videos. Each video has had a unique influence on everything from my self-talk to my outlook on money to how I view my future self and the role I play in what that looks like, but I always felt like there was something I wished I could have added. So it finally occurred to me that it’s time to create my own. A tweak here and there, new music, new visuals, new voices, new messages, the whole nine.

My mind is always racing a million and one miles a minute, analyzing creating, dreaming haha the list goes on, and meditation is the one thing that actually allows me to slow down just long enough to find my center and more importantly quiet the distractions.

About two years ago, I think, I heard Biko do a breathing exercise in front of a large group at an event. Little did I know that we would go on to become friends, or that he would be on the board of my nonprofit Mia’s Closet. All I knew was that in that short time of breathing in the good and out the bad, I literally felt the stress melt away.

So, after a year and a half of listening to my bookmarked meditation videos, it was a no-brainer that it was not only the time for me to create something of my own but bring in someone who I greatly respected.

So! Without further ado! Please see below for the very first installment of The Coffey Break Guided Meditation Series. The footage in the videos is from my personal archive of my most favorite beaches around the country and a cameo, courtesy of my baby sister Madison, of the rock beaches in Nice.

I’ll be praying and standing in agreement with each and every one of you guys believing for God to do something incredible in their lives in 2017. Every time I fast, I jot down those specific requests on a sticky note and add it to my circular chalkboard. *If you haven’t read the Circle Maker, get it!) Please don’t hesitate to leave your prayer request below or DM me.

Please don’t hesitate to leave your prayer request below or DM me. It’s such a blessing to finally see this project coming to fruition!

Speaking of things coming to fruition, as tough as it is, I kind of love this time of year. It’s a great way to do a scan of the world around me, hit the reset in all areas and align my intentions for the year ahead. I always feel a closer connection to God when it’s over, and year after year, I’ve looked back and realized how He has simply blown me away with answered prayer after answered prayer.

Hope today’s a great one! Be blessed ❤

Peace, Love, & Sunshine ~Chels

We’re movin’! Furniture Sale!

Hey guys!

The time has finally come. We’ll be out of this place in just over 2 weeks and everything must go :’-) Here’s a look at the pieces available for sale from our beautiful time here in East Downtown.

Contact me at chelsea@thecoffeyshop.co to purchase any of the listed pieces.

Peace, Love, & Sunshine ~Chels

Decorative Pillows: $25 set (or $5 a piece)

Round Love Seat: $150 ($395 for set if sold with sofa)

Desk: $115 Chair: $75 Sold Together: $175 — Desk: $115
Chair: $75
Sold Together: $175

Mattress base, white, Queen (with feet): $160

How to know how much to charge?

Hey guys!

How do I know how much to charge? I get this question all the time, ask myself this question all the time haha, and the truth is that the answer is fairly complicated. There are a number of different variables that go into calculating a final rate, package, fee, etc.

Here are some things to consider courtesy of Stephen Fishman, J.D. over at nolo.com:

Calculate Your Hourly Rate

Business schools teach a standard formula for determining an hourly rate: Add up your labor and overhead costs, add the profit you want to earn, then divide the total by your hours worked. This is the minimum you must charge to pay your expenses, pay yourself a salary, and earn a profit. Depending on market conditions, you may be able to charge more for your services — or you might have to get by on less.

Determine your annual salary. To determine how much your labor is worth, pick a figure for your annual salary. This can be what you earned for doing similar work when you were an employee, what other employees earn for similar work, or how much you’d like to earn (as long as your goal is reasonable).

Compute annual overheard. Next, compute your annual overhead. Overhead includes all of the costs you incur to do business — for example:

telephone expenses
office equipment and furniture
rent and utilities
stationery and supplies
postage and delivery costs
clerical help
business insurance
business-related meals and entertainment
travel expenses
professional association memberships
legal and accounting fees, and
advertising and marketing costs — for example, the cost of a yellow pages ad, website, or brochure.

Overhead also includes the cost of your fringe benefits, such as medical insurance… read the rest of his article here.

There’s a sweet spot for most things, and I’d like to think that time, prayer and dedication to ironing out processes are keys to finding it!

Enjoy the journey, and more importantly, don’t be afraid to go for whatever it is you envision for yourself!

I’ll leave you guys with a quote from Brene Brown that I shared on Instagram earlier this week:

Choose growth 🙏🏾❤️ // When we choose growth over perfection, we immediately increase our shame resilience. Improvement is a far more realistic goal than perfection. Merely letting go of unattainable goals makes us less susceptible to shame. When we believe “we must be this” we ignore who or what we actually are, our capacity and our limitations. We start from the image of perfection, and of course, from perfection there is nowhere to go but down. –#BreneBrown

Peace, Love & Sunshine -Chels

Coffey Break Chat: The 5 Simple Rules to Showing Love

Hey guys!

This week’s Coffey Break Chat touches on a topic that has come up a million and one times over the last 4-5 years, online engagement. The original title for the post was 5 simple ways to show love without coming off like a fan… groupie, etc.

And this is something that I attribute especially to the digital space. There are conversations I have in person or via text that I express differently online, and what I’ve come to realize is that every time I do that, I’m essentially watering down the beauty of a sincere moment by overthinking my response.

One day, I rolled my eyes after spending more time than I’d like to admit overthinking the right response, and I was just over it. I said to myself that from there on out, I’d choose to respond, comment, post and show love as authentically as possible. It’s a good thing haha

I pulled the following quote from Show Your Work and serves as the inspiration behind this post:

“If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to first be a good citizen of that community. If you’re only pointing to your own stuff online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector. The writer Blake Butler calls this being an open node. If you want to get, you have to give. If you want to be noticed, you have to notice. Shut up and listen once in a while. Be thoughtful. Be considerate. Don’t turn into human spam. Be an open node.”

Encouragement is all about empowering whoever those kind words are intended for. Enough with the cool antics. I’m too old for that. Life can be tough, and the world could use a lot more a lot more cheerleaders.

Nonetheless, there’s a sweet spot for just about everything.

Check out my video blog below on 5 Simple Rules to Showing Love:

Be sincere
Have or get your chit together
Be intentional about keeping an eye out for opportunities that benefit more than just you
Establish boundaries
Stop worrying about what other people might think

Have a great weekend guys!

Peace, Love & Sunshine ~Chelsea

Coffey Break Chat: Crticism

Hi guys!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I personally consider Thanksgiving the kickoff of the holiday season and true to the memes that have been flooding our timelines, it got me thinking about how much chit we take during the holidays sometimes. There’s extra pressure everywhere form the workplace to the home, and Lord knows that pressure doesn’t always bring out the best in us…

Today’s Coffey Break Chat is dedicated to the topic of criticism, and more importantly, how to separate the good from the bad. As always thanks for watching! Enjoy!

Peace, Love & Sunshine ~ Chels

Coffey Break Chat : Criticism