Lessons From Life Coaching

Last month I began a course to become a transformational life coach. Without even knowing, I have been preparing for this for over 7 years. I have researched almost all there is to research about stress management, at first in an attempt to gain more inner peace and balance in my life and then metamorphosing into a passion to cultivate greater wellness in my life and in the lives of others. Through my readings and reflections, I have discovered that stress is quite possibly the number one joy killer in society today. But then again it isn't about stress being bad and joy being good, it goes much deeper than that. It's about releasing the need to control everything and leaning into life and trusting that everything is here to serve us. It's just not always easy to see how sometimes.

Through my adventures in researching everything I could get my hands on about wellness and managing stress, I have slowly gained insight into my own inner struggles and inner strengths, and through that insight, I've gained awareness of my own inner workings, which is the key to transforming anything. Without the ability to see from a little distance with some clarity how I tick, I can't begin to even imagine what steps I could start taking to feel more at peace.

Now after seven years, I'm beginning to grow some fruit from my research and put what I've learned in real action through coaching. I think starting to write regularly on my blog a year and a half ago and naming that I'm a creative wellness & stress management blogger/consultant/coach in training on sites like LinkedIn represented big steps in my journey to put my passion for researching wellness into action and into real baby steps to greater over wellness for myself and to following my dream of making my own schedule and helping motivate and empower others to find their wellness as well.

As I practice different coaching techniques with wonderful and willing guinea pig friends of mine--thank you so much for your support!--I am also practicing the techniques with myself, as I see myself through the mirror of coaching. And I am beginning to acknowledge the little and big steps I've been taking towards living my dreams. It's also building my confidence to hear feedback from others and learn how others really see me--as a capable and compassionate coach. Recognizing the huge disparity in how classmates and friends see me with how I sometimes see myself has been very eye-opening. And as I continue to build my self-compassion muscles, I strive to see myself more and more through the eyes of a loving friend.

Learning about coaching is also like a permission slip to ask myself the big, hairy questions that are normally ignored or brushed under the rug because they're just too big or that we don't feel capable of achieving due to their enormous size. Coaching is asking those big and powerful questions, and through asking others and seeing their positive responses as a result, I feel more compelled to keep asking myself big questions too and write and reflect and talk about them more. Through sharing we can really gain creative momentum and through that we receive support and encouragement which builds up our confidence and believability. Because what we believe is possible can be directly reflected in how and what we experience in life.

So I leave you with one of those big, hairy questions written by Emma-Louise Elsey:

If you were to FULLY live your life, what is the first change you would start to make?

Sol de Gratitud

Today I'm mixing gratitude with art, which fills me up with good energy. I'm thankful for happening to see a really neat idea on Pinterest and feeling inspired to create my own "mandala of gratitude" or as I like to call it: Sol de Gratitud. For I am grateful for the sun everyday, even when I can't see it. The sun is a lot like faith, isn't it? Especially when you live in the Seattle area, it's a lesson in faith when the clouds or fog come. I should add that to my sun. I'm grateful for the clouds for they teach me to trust in the ever-present sun. 

I think this is just my first gratitude sun too. Last year I wrote what I was grateful for almost everyday. This year I feel called to drawing and singing. So maybe I will draw and sing about what I'm grateful for. I like being able to write within my art though too. :)

What fills you with good energy?

Doodling to Destress

Today at lunch, even though I only had a little under a half an hour to eat, I sat in the rich sunshine and doodling this little tribute to the sun and moon with a highlighter I had with me. It's simple, but it made me feel more artsy and creative and more connected to my true self. I am artist. And even if I don't get paid to create art, I can still create it virtually whenever I feel like it, and from the Fun-A-Day challenge this month, I am learning to recognize the difference in how I feel on the days when I make time for my art and how much more relaxed I am. Doodling truly is a great destresser! I may need to get a little doodle book to have with me while on walks and out and about so my art can be accessible whenever inspiration hits. :)

Do you doodle? How does it make you feel?

Standing in My Strength

Wow! It's sometimes hard to believe this month is already coming to a close. I feel like it's sped by without a lot of time for reflection. But luckily that's where you come in. This blog has been such a wonderful source for reflecting and sharing this past year and a half. It helps keep me focused and also allows me space to stretch and explore and discover and grow.

Lately I have felt tested to stand up for what I believe is right and stay true to my heart. With this comes a reminder of my inner strengths and a look back at my journey to discovering, recognizing, and most importantly owning my most dependable strengths...my spiritual gifts. 

A quote from my favorite author, Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, aka. SARK inspired me to see my strengths flowing as in a stream with me standing in the center. 

As SARK said, "I am practicing owning my strength, and standing in the center of it."

This is comforting when I'm feeling challenged to stand up for myself or when I feel uncertain or ungrounded. I can find strength in my center and I can feel centered when focused on my strengths. 

This is truly a gift.

Sunrise...Sunset...Zumba

For today's fun, the Seattle area experienced 60 degree spring like weather in January again! And I enjoyed the amazing sunrise and sunset. And the fact that the days are a little bit longer now. Afterwards, I went to zumba, like old times, and it's like riding a bike! I had really missed dancing in a big group to fun music!

So sunrise, sunset, painted skies and zumba class. It was a fun day all around. Enough said. :)

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul."

~Martha Graham 

Coming Back to My Creative, Energetic Self

Again I've had the opportunity to practice a lot of self-compassion and self-care in the past few days. I have been craving more fun and making art everyday again, but my body had other plans. Home sick on Wednesday and Friday with an upset stomach and headaches left me with just enough energy to watch some home improvement shows and good movies. A tiny bit of fun but I would have preferred dancing or yoga or drawing or taking pictures or a nice nature walk or making a collage or a pair of earrings. :)

On Thursday, I had a break from feeling yucky and although it was an overcast day, I enjoyed the beauty of the trees in the fog and tried to draw what I saw.

I took a cute cat photo while stuck at home too. :)

Yesterday I had the pleasure to see one of our flower girls who is 9, and she brewed us up a special blend of tea which was very creative and fun. It made me think of a cool theme for a party! :)

Today in Seattle we were blessed with sunshine and warmth which made it feel like spring in the middle of January! The clouds were gorgeous as the sun set.

So slowly but surely I'm coming back to my creative, energetic self. I am thankful for the internal drive to return to my creativity always.

What drives you?

Practicing Self-Compassion is Fun

I'm practicing self-compassion with my Fun-A-Day challenge, because I haven't posted in the last few days because I have been super busy learning and growing at my first life coaching training weekend at Seattle Life Coach Training. On Saturday, for fun and experience and growth, I got to phone coach for the first time using a wheel of balance exercise, which, I might add, involved coloring. :) 

Then on Sunday, I practiced creative visualization and right after saw a 2-second rainbow--like it was just for me. And then that afternoon I celebrated with my entire city/state /region when our beloved Seattle Seahawks won in overtime in a nearly impossible comeback to go to the Super Bowl again! I think the players also visualized their win and never ever gave up. So inspiring and the joyful energy was contagious!

Yesterday I had fun sleeping in, feeling moved by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes, and enjoying healing acupuncture. And today, although I didn't feel very good, fighting a persistent headache and then good ol' cramps, I would say that having self-compassion and self-love in going home early and eating healing pho and resting all afternoon and evening was the best gift I could give myself today. The gift of listening to my body and my intuition and taking care of myself. Not fun to have pain but essential to have self-compassion and a little fun to get to watch Rio 2 while resting. :) 

Artwork coming again soon. Here are some photos I've taken the past few days for now.

Thankful for Growth

For today, I'd like to share some photos I took having fun on my day off, preparing for the start of my life-changing class tonight. I feel grateful for the opportunity to grow and change and share similar experiences with a great group of people.

Embracing My Inner Amateur

Today after a long, dark, rainy drive, I met a kindred spirit friend for the Edmonds Art Walk and we had such a nice time. Art and bring with artistic people is a great cure of the grumpiness traffic can create. :) I felt inspired to try drawing again and even though I looked up pictures online for inspiration and guidance, the idea came to me as I hugged my friend good bye in the rain. I couldn't quite figure out how to draw a hug but I'm practicing self-compassion, vulnerability, courage, and no judgment of my art so I can work on that another day. 

"Every artist was first an amateur."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trying Uncomfortable Things

A funny thing happened yesterday. I decided to take out a drawing book and draw something for Fun-A-Day, but I met some resistance. Resistance I didn't even know existed. I identify myself as an artist and I pride myself on being open to all kinds of art and trying out all forms of art. But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to draw anything. And then I realized I've been drawing the same four or five shapes or figures since I was a kid! I may have added a palm tree and swirly sunshine here and there in my late teens. But honestly since that time, I don't think I've tried to draw anything new. And even though I told myself, "Hey, come on, try something new," I felt that pit in my stomach, that pit called perfectionism. Roaring her big scared head. (I won't call her ugly. She wouldn't like that.) I didn't want to mess up. I didn't want to draw something not good or even ugly in pen in a pretty book. Permanent. 

I may have also been coming up against being tired and not having a lot of time to work through these issues last night, but it really made me realize that I need to work on this. Better put, I need to work through this. I want to work through this. It's important to me to stay open and try new things and express myself through different art forms.

One of my main primary intentions this year is to open up, keep my heart center open and remain open, especially when I feel stressed. And I've been brainstorming heart-opening activities to practice this. And lo and behold, I think drawing needs to be on that list!

It's time to do something a little uncomfortable and mark up the drawing book. Do what I normally wouldn't so I can keep growing. As an artist and a person.

So here goes! (Gotta remember not to hold my breath!) It's time to believe in myself!

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

~Aristotle