6. March 2010 by Patricia.

A client went home [her parents’ house] for a long weekend and the exercise program which she had followed faithfully went up in smoke. While she was there she did something she had not done before. She stood up to a controlling parent and refused to be manipulated into seeing a film she considered too violent. In our session she criticized herself for not continuing her exercise program [body/physical quadrant] and only briefly acknowledged the power of standing up to her parent [mind/spirit quadrant]. We do this, don’t we?

Here’s the thing: If being happy and living a healthy lifestyle are not limited to eating right and exercising but incorporates body, mind, spirit and emotions - then anytime you grow in one area, you are surely growing and moving toward your goals. Can that be enough?

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27. February 2010 by Patricia.

I’ve had a spate of a few days of “Too Busy and No Time.” So much to do – I’ll never get it done! I could literally feel stress gripping me. Once I STOPPED the madness and took time out to just BE, suddenly I found I had options. Time became elastic and expansive.

So much to do…. and it will all get done!

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20. February 2010 by Patricia.

I am very fond of a DVD in which Rodney Yee leads a series of gentle yoga poses at sunrise. This 20-minute program refreshes my body, mind and spirit. During the program he asks me to focus on certain parts of my body. When he provides very specific instructions such as, “soften the valley between the cheeks and the nose” and “relax the outer corners of the eyes back,” I connect to myself.

I usually lose the intensity of that connection as I get involved in a myriad projects. However, refocusing in this way brings peace and depth to my life. There is a revitalizing calm that I take with me throughout the day….. it is priceless.

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13. February 2010 by Patricia.

Frazzled and frustrated, my stress level was escalating. A Choice Point. Keep going with escalating emotions or pause to take time to de-stress? I paused and congratulated myself for this choice. I decided to listen to a favorite meditation CD. I put the ear plugs in, put in the CD and pushed play – nothing! The batteries were dead. My stress level ratcheted up a notch. A Choice Point. I searched for replacement batteries, but there were no AAA’s in the cupboard. Up went my stress level. Another Choice Point. Acknowledge the frustration or deny it? Feel the frustration and let it go or stuff it in some way (overeating?). It’s always a choice, isn’t it?

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6. February 2010 by Patricia.

I’ve visited several beautiful places lately – Sedona among them. I was truly captivated by the intimacy and peace I experienced there. On a trail surrounded by mountains with no one in sight, I sat on a rock simply to “be.” I briefly heard the buzz of a helicopter overhead. I was aware of a bird hopping about in a nearby bush. I heard the rustle of the breeze as it caressed the leaves of the tree overhead. And then I heard with my whole being something deeper, indescribable and intangible. For a moment in time I was really listening.

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30. January 2010 by Patricia.

I sometimes add raisins to my lunchtime salad for variety. I usually do not notice raisins as I’m eating them. Today I stopped and forked a single raisin into my mouth and tasted it. There was something very satisfying about that one raisin and it reminded me how much I enjoy slowing down to really taste my food. The sweet squishiness of raisins provided a nice counterbalance to the crunch of the salty pumpkin seeds.

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23. January 2010 by Patricia.

As a personal coach I recognize the value of acknowledging my clients’ “wins,” while acknowledging their disappointments. The problem is that many of us tend to dwell on disappointments and this keeps us stuck.

A client goes home to visit her parents for the Holidays and binges seven of the ten days – just as she did as a child. She wants to spend time in our session talking about the binge, the way she “screwed up”, “didn’t follow through” and “failed.” While I’m all for acknowledging disappointments and believe this to be important, I am more interested and curious to find out what happened on the three days when she didn’t binge. How were they different? What can she learn from this comparison? Is she willing to congratulate herself for being binge-free for three days amid difficult circumstances?

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16. January 2010 by Patricia.

Too slow! This was a runner’s comment as she crossed the finish line. Her two companion runners felt the same way about their performance. I wondered how different our conversations would be, if we congratulated ourselves first for what we accomplished … and then dived into the “how do we do it better.”

Wouldn’t it be empowering to hear the runner say, “We did it! Yeah! Good for us! Let’s work on improving our pace.”

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9. January 2010 by Patricia.

I was with a group of women when the conversation turned to chocolate. One lady said that she loved Snickers Bars, but given the choice between a Snickers Bar or an Atkins Endulgence Bar she would choose the Endulgence Bar every time. Her rationale: the Endulgence Bar was only 140 calories – the Snickers Bar was 300. She considered this choice a “no brainer”!

The way I see it, the issue isn’t Snickers or Endulgence. The question is, “What am I hungry for (it could be food or something else) and what do I really want right now?” If the answer is the Snickers Bar, then go ahead and choose it. If we are mindful in this moment, perhaps we only need a quarter or a half of it. Focusing on calories as the basis of our choices keeps us stuck. Expanding the conversation to how we are thinking and feeling, and asking what do we really want, leads us to freedom.

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2. January 2010 by Patricia.

Another year has begun and these are some of the questions I am asking myself about 2009:

·         What were my most significant breakthroughs?

·         What blocked or held me back as I moved towards my heartfelt goals?

·         Did I connect deeply with my creative spirit and express my unique gifts and talents?

·         Who were the people who profoundly impacted me this year and what have I learned from them?

·         What aspect of my life no longer fits?

·         What am I most grateful for?

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