Kortney Rivard is a life coach that helps women who crave more from their lives rediscover who they are and get clear on what they want so they can create a life they are excited to wake up to. Real, Brave & Unstoppable digs into topics and stories related to living a life that is true to who you are (REAL), finding the courage to do the hard things (BRAVE) and taking the steps to go for what you want and not stopping until you get where you want to go (UNSTOPPABLE).
In Part 1 we talked about why so many women feel disconnected — going through the motions, life feeling flat even when nothing is technically wrong.
In Part 2, I get into what you can actually do about it.
But first, a reframe: feeling alive isn't about being happy all the time or overhauling your life. It's about feeling present and engaged — like you're actually in your life instead of just moving through it. And that's something you can start building right where you are.
In this episode, I walk through five practical, doable shifts for reconnecting across body, mind, and spirit:
Create space — even 10-15 minutes of not multitasking can open the door
Start with micro moments — small things like music, movement, or noticing your surroundings start to rewire the connection
Follow what feels expansive — pay attention to what gives you energy, not just what you "should" do
Use your body as an entry point — movement and body awareness are one of the fastest ways out of your head
Interrupt autopilot thinking — not perfectly, just more often
This episode is a shorter, practical one — exactly what you need to start moving.
Hello, hello, hello my friends, and welcome back to Real, brave and Unstoppable. I am your host Kortney Rivard, and today we are continuing our two-part series about feeling alive. In the last episode we talked about something. I think a lot of women are quietly experiencing like that feeling of going through the motions. Where life looks pretty fine on the outside, but inside it just kind of feels a little flat. A little disconnected, like something's missing. Even if you can't really explain what that is. And we talked about how this isn't a motivation problem, it's not a discipline problem. It's really about disconnection. Especially from that spirit piece, the part of you that actually feels alive. So today I wanna talk about what you can actually do about that. How to start reconnecting with yourself in a way that feels real and doable without needing to completely overhaul your life. Because who wants to do that?
But before we get into the how, I think it's really important to redefine what we even mean by feeling alive. Because it's not about being happy all the time. It's not about having this perfect, exciting life, and it's definitely not about blowing everything up and starting over. Feeling alive is actually much simpler than that. It's about feeling present and connected and engaged in your life like you're actually in it instead of just moving through it or watching yourself move through it from above. That's something you can start creating in small ways, right where you are.
So when we look at this through the lens of body, mind, and spirit, feeling alive isn't about focusing on just one of those. It's about how they work together. Your body gives you the energy and the physical connection to experience your life, but only if you're treating it as something to connect with, not just manage. Your mind can either keep you stuck in overthinking and pressure, or it can help you become more aware and present. And your spirit is really what brings that sense of meaning, joy, and aliveness. It's what turns your life from something you manage into something you actually experience. So the goal here is not to do more. It's to start reconnecting across all three of those pillars in a way that feels supportive, not overwhelming. So now, I'm gonna talk about some ways that we can make this shift practical, doable things.
There are five things that I wanna share here, and the first one is to create some space. And this is foundational, even if you're creating a little bit of space. If your life is completely packed, there's not really any room for new things to come in. This doesn't mean you need to clear your entire schedule. It might just mean 10 or 15 minutes where you're not multitasking, you know, you're not on your phone. You're just giving yourself space to be. And this kind of thing is helpful to schedule in, FYI, because it's hard to remember to do it when it's not already a habit. So pro tip there.
The next thing is start with micro moments of aliveness. It's starting small. So this is not about big life changes. It's about noticing and creating small moments where you actually feel something. So some examples like that could be being outside and actually paying attention to the outside. Maybe you notice the sounds. It's one of my favorite things is to close my eyes and kind of notice the layers of sound. Like I can hear cars kind of in the background, you know, I can hear birds chirping. I can also still hear like the hum of the fan that's in my, my room and I can hear my voice. So that can be a great way of really engaging in what's present. Also listening to music that shifts your mood. Does that resonate? Does that help you really connect with the present moment? Laughing. Moving your body in a way that feels good. Those moments might seem really small and inconsequential, but they start to reconnect you.
The third thing is to follow what feels expansive. And this is really important. To learn to pay attention to that, learn to pay attention to what feels expansive versus what feels draining or heavy. So we're really used to doing what we should do, that we stop paying attention to what actually gives us energy. So if you pay attention to, you know, what kind of pulls you, this isn't about making huge changes. It's about starting to notice and lean into those small pulls. Or you feel maybe lighter or freer or you feel a little tiny bit of joy. So really get present with that and follow it.
The fourth thing, is using your body as an entry point. Your body can actually be one of the easiest ways back into feeling alive. Not through forcing workouts, but through movement that helps you feel connected. Walking, being outside, stretching, anything that gets you out of your head. Or it honestly can simply be taking a mindful moment and just noticing what your body is, you know, what sensations are in your body, what emotions are present. A body scan is a great way to, to really tap into noticing what's there.
And then the fifth thing is interrupt autopilot thinking. Because there's your mind, which as we talked about, can keep you stuck in that disconnected loop. So part of this is simply noticing when you are in autopilot and gently bringing yourself back to the present moment. Not perfectly, because nobody's present all the time. I just told one of my clients that today. Not perfectly, but just more often.
And as you start to do these things that might not feel natural right away, you might feel some resistance. I don't have time to do this". Or even a little guilt for focusing on yourself. But remember, that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It usually just means this is something that you've been disconnected for from for a while. It's not something you're used to. This isn't about feeling a little better, it just changes how you experience your entire life. How you show up in your relationships, how you move through your day, how connected do you feel to yourself? You didn't build this life just to feel disconnected inside of it. Yuck. So if you take anything from this, you don't need a completely different life to feel alive. You need more connection within the life you already have. And that starts with small shifts. It's creating space, paying attention, and reconnecting with yourself a little bit of at a time. Another thing that can really help is to really think about what are my values, what matters to me, and look for ways that you can connect with those things. Connecting with our values are the things that matter to us as what helps us find meaning and purpose in life, which then helps us feel more engaged and alive. So today's episode was a little shorter and had some just little things you can try to start stepping into that reconnection process.
But if you're realizing you feel stuck or disconnected and you want support figuring out what's actually off and how to shift it, that's exactly what I help women do inside of my Wellness Wake Up program. It's a simple, personalized way to step out of autopilot, reconnect with yourself and create a plan that actually feels good and doable for you. You come up out with some key action steps to get you moving and help you build some momentum. I'll link that in the show notes if you would like to check it out. So my friends, like I said, that was a much shorter episode than usual. Nice quick one to listen to. Thanks for joining me today and I hope this was helpful. If any of it was helpful and you know, I'd love to hear your thoughts and if there's anything that you'd like to hear more of, I also would like to hear about that. But yes, thanks for joining me today and, I appreciate you being a part of my community. If you are enjoying the show, please share it with a friend. Leave me a review and a rating. Uh, it means a lot to me and it also helps other people find the show. Which is what we want. So have a great rest of your day and I will see you next time.
