What a day I had!!

I had such a day yesterday.

I went to Portland yesterday to have lunch with, and finally meet in person, my mentor coach teacher, Jennifer Powers. I was excited but nervous. Having some of those fun human thoughts like, "what should I wear?" and "maybe I should wait to meet her until I lose the weight". Such silliness.

We had a most marvelous lunch. Sat for close to 3 hours talking and talking. Laughing loudly and often. It was lovely. She really helped me to realize that I am on my path and that my coaching practice is perfectly aligned with me. My specialty is "Helping men and women fall in love with themselves!" She really helped me get that this is my passion, my obsession. I knew it before; she helped me see it in a way that supported me to continue. I was thinking that I had to change it for "marketing purposes".

What I do know about myself is that I see everything in terms of self love. I think that EVERY issue-problem that any human has is because they don't have enough self love or because they love parts but not all of themselves. I realized yesterday that not everyone thinks like this. :-)This is my obsession and I will be coaching around this.

So, if someone is wanting to lose weight, I can help them to understand why they are holding weight and help them to lose it by LOVING THEMSELVES more and more and more. If someone is working in a career that they don't like, I can help them to bust out of that and find their passion and work their passion and how I do that is by helping them to LOVE THEMSELVES more fully, profoundly and unconditionally. If you are a teen or know a teen that is having a hard time in school or in life, I can then help that person to succeed and be happier by giving them tools to LOVE THEMSELVES more deeply and towards being themselves fully and completely.

I think you get the idea. I can help anyone who is open to the Self Love Journey. It is a lovely and challenging and amazing and hard and beautiful and oh my gosh, I am giving up and profound journey!

I have been saying for years "we are asked to love our neighbors as ourselves. BUT the problem is that we don't love ourselves."

If interested or want to hear more about this, my passion, write to me here.

Much love and light on your self love journey.

I am so excited!

As I come into the homestretch of my official training to be a Certified Life Coach, only a few weeks left, lots of things are starting to happen! I love this! I have worked hard and diligently to build my Inner Life Coaching practice, but I have also very much enjoyed quiet moments. I feel that this is necessary for my life, which includes my business. In fact, I feel that more businesses could have more quiet and they would only gain from that introspection! (more on that later) I have been pushing for years to get the heart (love) back into business and I am so glad that I am seeing some of that happen!

I have been "hearing" that "it will all come". That I need to relax and know that the foundation is being laid and that the pieces will fall into place. As humans we think we know what is best. I have found that I can have some idea about what I want and can put it out there but including "this or something better" is a good message to Universe-God-Goddess-Home Office-Inner Voice to show that I am open to MORE.

Story about that: I have been laid off many many times in my career and after some initial shock it was FABULOUS! One time I was laid off at the same time as my dear hubby, Jim. We worked in different cities, he was in the public and I was in the private sector. We found out the SAME DAY! But during that 7+ months of not working, we found out that we could be retired together. We lived in 800 SF and so much enjoyed being together. We found ourselves always hanging out in the same room. We coined the phrase "Living the High Life Parsimoniously". We liked it so much that we have continued to this day.

Would we have asked to be laid off at the same time? NO! BIG NO! Are we grateful that it happened? OH YES!! This was an excellent learning for me to let go and let God-Goddess. Faith. Trust. Believe. Breathe.

So, now that I am almost officially certified as a life coach, what is happening with the building of my practice?

I am connecting with folks more all the time. I have even been called to coach and thinking it was just a freebie practice, was then sent a check! Wow, I am a paid life coach! I had a lovely realization that I am going to be teaching meditation and how it can be incorporated people's lives in an easy and everyday way. I have heard that I am going to be out in the community, also.

Well, stay tuned for this June in Eugene. Out of a serendipitous situation where, again, the Universe put me somewhere in an unexpected and (and unplanned on my part) way. Someday I will tell you the story of the Big Rock. I connected with some folks in Ashland who teach something they call CHI Practice (Creating, Healing, Integrating). I took their course and it has changed my life. Even after meditating for close to 40 years, this course shows some new ways to look at my life and daily spiritual practice.

"The CHI Practice introduces tools for consciously moving your life energy to create the life you want - with meaning, ease, enjoyment, and contribution. The C.H.I. Practice utilizes self inquiry, asking and answering three simple but many layered questions:
1. What do I want?
2. What do I feel?
3. What’s next?"

I am on my way to becoming a teacher of this Practice. Will and Tashina Wilkinson will be coming to Eugene in June to facilitate Level 1 of this training. They along with Rod and Brooks Newton developed this and are ready to take it to the world. I get to be part of this!! This is part of my bigger calling and passion! I am so lucky!

I am excited because I am using these techniques in my coaching practice and this is exciting because I had "heard" that I would be teaching something but I did not quite know yet what it was. I had to trust. I love it. I am on fire. Yeah!

So, listen, listen, listen. Put it out the the Universe-Inner Voice and let it go. KNOW that it is all working. See your beautiful vision of you as happy, peaceful, satisfied, and filled with love. THAT is what is important!!

Much love and light to you all and have a blessed day,

Elizabeth

no internet---oh my!

Hello---It felt really frustrating at first and then challenging and then relaxing. WOW! No internet for about 10 days. I went to an internet cafe one day and that was fun. I borrowed a friend's computer briefly a couple of times. BUT mostly I rested from this obsession. I do know about myself that I love to be CONNECTED! So, the internet for me, including email, Facebook and Twitter, is a way to connect. So, while I did not have that, I practiced connecting and thinking about my connections-friends-loved ones in my heart.

What a lovely time. What a peaceful time. And at times frustrating since sending a quick email early in my morning does not disturb someone's sleep like a phone call might!

I enjoyed it. Thanks to the Universe for this lovely respite and reminder to just BE.

Public Speaking & Meditation

Hello---tomorrow is my public speaking class and I get to do my third speech. I am not shy about public speaking but I still get a little nervous. This class has taught me a lot about organizing my thoughts, protocol and that Open-Body-Close and the three main points of giving the good speech.

Our teacher, Kate, encouraged us to take a risk on this, our third, speech. I have pondered and pondered what to speak about. I thought perhaps "Thoughts are Things" might be a good topic. BUT it is a huge topic and the speech is only 5-7 minutes. I thought about sharing about the little girl who lives connected to us, Phoebe. BUT that almost seemed too easy. She is cute, smart, funny, lots of stories. So, what was it to be?

I decided to put this question into my meditation today to see what I could come up with. Then I laughed because by about minute 8-10 it came to me! I will talk about meditation and what it has meant for me and the impact it has had on my life. I started meditating when I was 15 and I am now 52 and a half so that was awhile ago.

It has given me so much. It gives me clarity; it has fine tuned my intuition and listening skills. I hear the answers to all my questions; I feel less stressed. I googled the benefits of meditation and of course there were a plethora of listings! I printed out a list that someone made of the "100 Benefits of Meditation" that I can give the class.

I can safely say that meditation has saved my life. It has given me something that I would not otherwise have. Serenity, peace, self love, hearing that still small voice within, connection to Source Energy, Universe, Inner Voice, God, Goddess, Divine Mother.

I can truly say that I am wallowing in love, hope and gratitude,

Peace to all, love to all, light to all,

Elizabeth

Who do I want to reach?

Hello--it has been coming to me recently that perhaps I need to narrow who I am trying to reach with my coaching business. As you may have seen I am passionate about self love and helping men and women fall madly in love with themselves. Is this how I want to market myself? I am not sure.

What occurred to me is that as far as I am concerned self love and self esteem are at the bottom of everything! So, no matter who I work with we will be working on self love/self esteem/self confidence.

One example: I have a job. I overextend myself. I get laid off. Yikes!! I have purchased (probably on credit) big cars, house, boat, motorcycle, jewels to prove that I am wonderful-worthy-fabulous. Do I really believe it? These are outward displays that really don't mean anything except perhaps being in debt. Teh excitement of purchasing something wears off rapidly. But loving yourself fullyl and completely and unconditionally will last your whole life! And loving yourself is an inside job!

So, who do I want to work with? It occurred to me that perhaps working with groups that I know and understand would be valuable and natural. I have some ideas and I would really love input from any of you who are willing. That is presuming, of course, that someone is reading my blog! :-)

Here is what has come so far:
Human Resource Professionals: I was one for over 20 years.
Teens: I was one for 7 years.
Unemployed folks: I have been one off and on for years. I have gotten laid off about 4-5 times.
Natural Foods Industry: I have worked in this industry since I was 15. I have worked all aspects: retail, wholesale, manufacturing, restaurant.

What came to me for focus areas:
Teens: When I was out riding my bicycle the other day I had this thought pop into my head: "Helping high school students be successful one emotion at a time." I have always felt very drawn to teens. I remember how tough it was and how out of it I felt throughout my high school and middle school career. Yikes! Could I help kids to gain some self confidence? Helping them find it within themselves. What a cool thing that might serve them for years to come!

Unemployed folks or folks who want to live simply: The thought here, which our friend Cheri came up with, was how Jim and I have learned how to live simply and love it! Back in 2003 when we were both laid off at the same time, we came up with a saying "living the high life parsimoniously!" I don't know if there is a way to help folks live more simply or if there is a market for it, but putting it out to the Universe......

Human Resource Professionals: Not sure about this, but thought I could ask them what they are looking for. I know that often HR folks find it difficult to deal with difficult employees. Communication, perhaps? Helping HR folks to find balance between what employees want and what the company wants. Helping HR folks to ease out of their current position into a job or situation that they feel passionate and happy about.

Natural Foods Industry: There are many small NF businesses locally. This is a growing area around the US. I can certainly coach around HR issues for small businesses, working with humans, feeling confident to do the right thing as a boss/manager/employer.

I see all these areas as opportunities to help folks see the resources that they have within themselves. I feel very called to help people tap into their inner absolutely perfect selves where the answers to everything are present!

So, what do you think?

I look forward to hearing from you!

love and light, Elizabeth

Time to Rest

Hello everyone---I have been getting the message in the last several months to rest more, to take advantage of my flexible schedule to kick back a bit, read, watch a movie, meditate, enjoy myself. Why is this so hard?

Achieve, achieve, achieve! That is why. We North Americans are creatures of achievement. At the end of the day we need to feel that we have achieved something and not wasted our time.

When I was a stay at home mum, many many years ago, it was very difficult on some level because what did I have to show for my labors at the end of the day. I knew that I had done a lot with my most wonderful children, I had also picked up the house many times, cooked, cleaned, blah blah blah. I look back and think, "why?". Too much time in non-essentials. More kid time would have been better. Unfortunately my husband at the time also bought into the societal way of achievement. He sincerely thought I was doing nothing all day.

The achievement obsession is so engrained in me. What about you?

BUT what I have learned is that in order for me to truly and deeply practice my Self Love Diet ( I know, I am obsessed), I must LISTEN (aha--there is that word again) to my inner self, that still small voice, source energy, Universe, whatever you call it.

So.....I have been resting......more. AND one of the things that I have noticed also is that if I don't listen then all of a sudden I get a cold and cough which makes me HAVE to rest. Or I get a tummy ache, which makes me HAVE to rest. You get the picture.

I just read Martha Beck's blog (she has written many awesome books) and she said:

Warning to all those who think that resting is out of the question when you've got goals to achieve! Last June, I began getting an insistent message from a variety of sources telling me that the time has come for those who wish to heal the world to paradoxically move forward through rest.

I have suspected this for several months, but I wasn't sure quite what this meant or how to do it. For me, rest has usually meant working (playing) until my eyes crossed, then collapsing into a coma for a few hours. Then, just when I needed the information, a teacher appeared in the form of Dan Harmon, a wonderful Team member who spends his life developing and teaching a technique he calls "intentional resting".

In a few minutes, Dan took me through some basic resting exercises, which seemed similar to other relaxation exercises, but for some reason created dramatically different effects in my body and mind. We'll walk through one of these exercises in a moment, but first I want to say that using Dan's resting techniques consistently has suddenly increased my ability to manifest the things I want to experience. In that sense, I have come to believe that resting deeply and deliberately is more than a nice idea. It is powerful magic!

Here's your first intentional resting exercise:

Step One: Scan your body and find an area where you're holding pain, discomfort or tension. For a few seconds stop reading this and imagine all your attention flowing into this stressed out part of your body. Allow the sensation of discomfort to grow until it fills your awareness. Then come back.

Step Two: Repeat step one, but this time, silently give your stressed out location the suggestion, "relax." Then meet me back here.

Step Three: Note any changes that occurred in your stressed out area in response to the command to relax. Now, return your attention to that spot and this time mentally give it the invitation "rest." Continue to invite the area to rest for at least 30 seconds, then return back here.

Step Four: Notice any changes, brief or lasting, that accompany the invitation to rest. Common experiences may include a sense of softening, or melting, diffusion of energy, lessening of stress symptoms, or nothing at all. No right or wrong answer - just observe.

Step Five: Send your attention into your stressed out area once more. This time, slowly switch back and forth between the words relax and rest Notice any differences.

This is the basic format to achieve resting as opposed to relaxing. The two are not identical. If you felt a positive response to the word rest, try scanning your entire body while slowly and gently stating "I am resting for my feet now; I am resting for my legs now; I am resting for my heart now;" and so on. Put special attention on areas that are in pain or in distress.

Then you can begin applying rest to non-physical aspects of yourself. Try stating "I am resting for my fear now; I am resting for my perfectionism now; I am resting for my troubled past now; I am resting for my future now."

Then choose one thing you are trying to manifest into your material experience -- good health, a relationship, more money, friends, whatever. Spend 30 seconds resting for these things: "I am resting for the friends I am about to meet now; I am resting for my bank account now; I am resting for my good luck now."

As simple as this exercise obviously is, I have been flabbergasted by how powerful its effects can be. Not only have I been able to reverse minor infections in my own body, but the people and things for which I rest have been responding in ways that are simply too improbable to be coincidence.

Whatever it is you hope to attract, add a little extra twist by resting rather than forcing the result. The worst that can happen is a wonderful feeling.

Anyway, I thought it was great timing. I also have realized that it is my duty and my job to FEEL GOOD! Sometimes what makes me feel good is to just lie on the bed. Sometimes it is taking a walk or tooling around on my bike, sitting in the sun or watching a funny movie. When I do this, or I should say, when I allow myself to do this, I FEEL GOOD!

Three cheers for resting.......just BEING!!!!

What do you need to do for yourself to feel good?

Here's to loving ourselves fully, abundantly, unconditionally!

love and light to you-us all,

Elizabeth