Savor: Self Care Menu

Musing…

Menu for rituals of self-care:

·REST
includes relaxation practices, naps, unplugging

“Rest and be thankful” – William Wadsworth

·REFLECTION
includes journaling, gratitude, imagining

“People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot.”- Bryant McGill

·MOVEMENT 
includes stretching, yoga, walking, dance

“All creative activity begins with movement.” – Joseph Zinker

·COMMUNION
includes being in nature, being with friends/loved ones, tuning in for inner guidance, prayer

“The beauty of the trees,
 the softness of the air,
 the fragrance of the grass,
 speaks to me." - Chief Dan George

Meditation fits into every category, as it can be rest based, reflection based, movement based or communion based.

Charise’s Turn:

The original aim of the content for this post was a magazine article. The editor requested I write 60 words on the subject of rituals for self-care. 60 words is succinct, and it may be easier to drone on about self-care then keep it tidy, but as I sat on the porch facing the mountains of the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia, four distinct categories of self-care came to mind. I wrote, submitted (minus the quotes by others), and was accepted for publication with one stipulation – a photo of a certain pixel size needed to accompany the article. Try as I may, my photo did not meet their technical specifications and the entire article was thrown out. I told them this was unreasonable and they called me entitled. Suddenly I was in an unhealthy relationship, a dispute going nowhere, so I let it go. I’m getting back on track with the essence of the endeavor – what I know about self-care. Sharing this here allows me to savor all over again the inspiration I received while resting in nature, keeping an open channel to muse.  

Get Fired Up:

Find your avenues of self-care, borrow from my list if you like, take care of your self. You will be rewarded on so many levels – in your health, your work life, your relationships, your creativity.

www.coachingmoves.com

Savor: Gratitude

Musing…

"… Love plus the combination of thanks and appreciation [is] reflected in the English word gratitude. Just one of these is not enough. Love needs to be based in gratitude, and gratitude needs to be based in love. These two words together create the most important vibration."   –Masaru Emoto

Gratitude helps you savor life’s positive experiences. When you take the time to appreciate the beauty and joy in your life, however small, you’ll give power to those small moments—and be able to enjoy even more satisfaction from them. As you enjoy the benefits yourself, you also send a gift out to your world.

Kate’s Turn:

You may be familiar with Emoto’s work with water crystals, and the effect thoughts and words have on their appearance. Dr. Masaru Emoto, a powerful Japanese healer and researcher, is well known for performing studies on the impact of water in terms of the overall health and the improvement of health in humans. Emoto believed that water was a "blueprint for our reality" and that emotional "energies" and "vibrations" could change the physical structure of water. Emoto's water crystal experiments consisted of exposing water in glasses to different words, pictures or music, and then freezing and examining the aesthetic properties of the resulting crystals with microscopic photography. Over time, there have been experiments with astounding results showing how thoughts can actually have an impact on the crystalline structure of water that has been frozen. So, basically speaking, positive or negative thoughts can actually change the way that water freezes. When you introduce various sounds to water such as music, negative sounds or even spoken words, the crystal structure of the ice as it freezes will vary depending on the sound that is introduced. Findings over the course of various experiments began to show that beautiful patterns would form in freezing water that was introduced to beautiful sounds. Clear, tranquil springs that were paired with loving words would actually produce breathtaking snowflake patterns as the crystalline structures formed. (Wikipedia referenced)

 

Emoto, who died just a month ago, believed that gratitude is a gift of love . . . it is what love returns to the world, as a symbol of appreciation for life, for being, for NOW. Emoto also felt that the "Love and Gratitude" water crystal is the most beautiful of all, for it exemplifies our highest nature, as Divine Creators. You can view some of his images at www.masaruemoto.org.

Stacy Robyn, inspired by his work, started a website (www.gogratitude.com) to promote gratitude, to have these positive frequencies ripple out into the world as waves of gratitude. As I savor the beauty of the frost patterns on my windows when the sun shines through them, and knowing we are 70% water, I want to hold the energies of “Love and Gratitude” for my health and the good of all…my savoring can serve others too….I love that!

"We must begin by learning what it means to have enough… to feel gratitude for having been born on a planet so rich in nature, and gratitude for the water that makes our life possible. If you open your eyes you will see that the world is full of so much that deserves our gratitude – when you have become the embodiment of gratitude, think about how pure the water that fills your body will be. When this happens you, yourself, will be a beautiful shining crystal of light."    -Masaru Emoto (1943 – 2014)

Get Fired Up:

Savor some moments of satisfaction, happiness, ecstasy…in Love and Gratitude.

This is the season to embody Gratitude and Love – life is a reason to become your beautiful shining crystal of light.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Feast: Abundance

Musing…

“The grateful heart sits at a continual feast” ~ anonymous

Charise’s Turn:

The inspiration for this post is a young woman I know who just turned twenty. She’s had significant life challenges but when I look at her I see a quality that emerges, like a clearing in the fog of the past. She knows abundance. This is not a word she uses to describe herself or how she feels. Mostly she talks about being grateful, and the importance of taking “the next right step”. But it’s so apparent how she’s got a richness of self, of herself. Whatever lack or void that claimed her for a while doesn’t stand a chance. I know this not because we're close; I know this because abundance lives once it’s realized. And gratitude is the perfect fodder.   

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”
~ Wayne Dyer

Get Fired Up:

Recognize ~ Remember ~ Realize the infinite potential you are, plentiful in possibilities.

www.coachingmoves.com

Feast: All ways, Always

Musing…

There is no love sincerer than the love of food.     –George Bernard Shaw

Feast brings to mind a table spread with autumn harvest foods. But all of life bears its gifts in generous outpouring…it’s for the taking…open wide!

Kate’s Turn:

This autumn’s color has been stunning! I have feasted in its splendor and beauty, drinking in the scarlets and golds, collecting leaves, taking photos, capturing its peak perfection as feast for my eyes. Giving thanks comes easily when I remember the infinite harvest beyond our senses, always available, as food for my soul…laughter, communion, wonder, silence, love. We are meant to partake heartily in the feast – it sustains us. Feasting is the receiving part of life, the feminine embrace, that nourishes us for our own bearing of fruits, which is the manifestation of the masculine energy – having our gifts color the world in our own creative giving. 

Get Fired Up:

Go to the table of life without hesitation, and feast on whatever feeds your soul.

Allow yourself to be nourished in all ways, always……….then generously paint your colors for the world to feast upon.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Sustain: Heart

Musing…

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Charise’s Turn:

For seventeen days in September I did something every day that was out of my comfort zone, beginning with flying 20 hours to Australia. The trip was a gift, benefit of my husband’s work assignment. A year ago this would have been inconceivable, when I was undergoing treatment and testing for sudden hearing loss with resounding tinnitus (ISSHL). Without a cure for this condition, it's up to me to set parameters for what is manageable. Needless to say, I had doubts about the long haul via air to Australia and whether I would enjoy myself. There was no way to know how I would feel until the moment I boarded the plane. Crossing that threshold was a revelation of my capacity for happiness; I was smiling in a way that permeated my whole being. 

Maybe the endurance garnered from living with ISSHL was a boon to my Australian adventure, who knows, but I relished the demands of exploring the natural world. From hiking in the Outback to snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, I was on a pilgrimage of wonder. There were no limits as long as there was respect for nature and wildlife – rewarded with encounters with sea turtles in the reef, and with the endangered, powerful cassowary of the Daintree Rainforest. And more...kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, camels, emus, mangrove forests, salt lakes that bear your weight to walk upon, the majesty of Uluru, the clarity of stargazing, the storytelling artistry of the Aborigines. All to say (and I wish I had said this): "opportunity dances with those on the dance floor" (Anonymous). 

Get Fired Up:

Be your wild heart. Thinking isn’t the same as knowing what you’re capable of.

www.coachingmoves.com

Sustain: Flow

Musing…

"Heart is the place through which energy flows to sustain you."  - Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul

  

How do we keep generating the energy needed for the duration…of a project, a goal, a relationship, a career, a lifestyle? The strength of our commitment lies at the base, but we need fuel for the journey. When we’re engaged with something we love, something that is intrinsically satisfying, it generates the energy flow needed to sustain us.

Kate’s Turn:

My friend, Kim, began trail running in a nearby state park, because she loves the outdoors and loves to physically move.  She was invited to review a 10 mile trail run event, using a GoPro camera.  The distance far exceeded her experience, as she had only begun trail running 6 weeks before the event was scheduled.  She focused on her enjoyment and love of the experience rather than performance.  Kim states, “ I ignored my fears. I had only started running again at the end of July; I knew I couldn’t be a competitor or even finish. I just went into it with the attitude of doing the best job I could, and to try and enjoy the experience.” And how does she sustain herself? “Jump in and join that beauty (art, nature, music) or try. And … enjoy feeling strong and balanced." 

She is being fuelled by her state of being, her love of what she is doing…..it keeps her going to finish strong. And how does she continue to be in the energy flow? She says, “ I think it’s an experiment – you practice letting go of definitions and emotional or physical boundaries and just try. Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way I thought, but that’s because I created some idea of what I thought it was going to be. It’s a marvelous feeling to go moment to moment, fully engaged and responding. It’s okay to not know outcomes.” Clearing anything that blocks the flow, like an expectation, can open to all that is available in the moment to sustain the journey.  Let go, and be in flow! Follow your heart.

Get Fired Up:

As you enjoy Kim’s photo of William O’Brien State Park scene, bring to mind what you love that contributes to your energy flow. Nurture yourself with all that you love to sustain you in any project that requires a consistent generating of energy…allow your heart to carry you through.

"You live in love and it feeds and strengthens you."  –Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Harvest: Bounty

Musing…

“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.”     -  Meister Eckhart

Charise’s Turn:

The expression “you reap what you sow” is often used in a negative context or as a warning, kind of like “watch out”. It’s a bit of a judgment call. Sometimes you reap nothing from what you sow, nothing immediately tangible or expected. It’s a matter of faith to sow for the sake of sowing, because of what it does to the person who sows. When you “till the soil”, you partake in a desire for growth and change.

While waiting on decisions about poetry submissions from literary magazines, I made a decision to start a poetry blog, mix and moss poetry, something crafted from my voice. Why not? There’s room for more possibilities– people like to find poetry in unexpected places as well as established journals. The key inspiration to go ahead was a birthday message from my cousin Lynn who said, "make it epic".  Okay, permission granted to think BIG or think FAR -- farther than the reach of what's already available or in existence. While you wait, contemplate. Now there's www.mixandmosspoetry.blogspot.com. 

Get Fired Up:

You just don’t know what will come of your efforts, but expect a bounty if you nurture your inspiration. You will reap more creativity. And in that fertile creativity, you develop another idea, an offshoot from where you started.  The possibilities continue…

“I dwell in Possibility” – poem by Emily Dickinson

www.coachingmoves.com

Harvest: Open to Receive

Musing…

" Too much of a good thing….is wonderful."    

–Mae West

The seasonal harvest is a visual example of the abundant outpouring of nature – as each plant has matured, it has transformed light into a nourishing succulent delight.  Receiving the glory of this harvest requires an openness to accommodate yourself to this flow. Harvest is both a noun and a verb.

Kate’s Turn:

I experience over and over again how the Universe takes delight in saying Yes to my needs. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to teach qigong, and I feel indulgent while partaking of this vibrant healing energy as I simply lead others in the movements. I began to express my desire to have a space in which to teach on a regular basis…yes, to introduce others to this simple, yet profound practice, but also because it is what makes me come alive – it brings me to experience "zoe" (Greek for life) – that state of being possessed with the absolute fullness of life.

So the Universe orchestrates a few conversations, a few connections, and behold! I get to indulge in my desire. Life is about joy once I can break through my self-imposed limitations, my smallness, my safety and open myself to receive the flow available to me. This indulgence opens me further to gratitude, and a further softening and falling in love with my own life…I am that harvest, pouring out to others, even as I, myself, continue to open and receive.

"You have a channel into the ocean, yet you ask for water from a little pool. Beg for the love-expansion…Wait for the illuminating openness as though your chest were filling with light."  -Rumi

Get Fired Up:

Say “Yes” to all that is good in your life. Be more of a "basker". Indulge in and Be the harvest.

Beg for the love-expansion and say this prayer:

I consecrate my life to be the Open Door

 through which the Light will continually flow to bless and heal all life on Earth.

"Wherever you are is the entry point!

I laugh when I hear the fish in the water is thirsty."  - KABIR

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Become: Broken

Musing…

“A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” – Christopher K. Germer

Charise’s Turn:

Every now and then the shell of appearances we wear to protect our vulnerability gets too snug, too tight, too binding. That’s when you know it’s time to bust open, to drop your guard, to soften, to be more receptive and open, to break the hold of perfectionism.

A year ago I developed idiopathic sensorineural sudden hearing loss (ISSHL). While I had pinned my hopes on spontaneous recovery at the one-year mark, I still have a constant whirring, hissing and high pitched ringing with profound hearing loss in my left ear (tinnitus). I can’t turn it off or will it away. At times it wears me out, but like many physical conditions people cope with on a daily basis, it doesn’t stop me from living life fully. I’m still teaching, dancing, performing, coaching, writing, travelling, and so on, just as I did before the tinnitus. It’s mostly a private burden to transcend while attending to what I need to do, or to what is happening in my environment, and ignore the noise in my ear which will not quit.

As I write this I realize I’ve been too demanding of myself and maybe, just maybe, I need to set limits based on what I can tolerate rather than what is going on or what is expected. Instead, I pretend that I’m fine…I’m, well, performing! Holding myself accountable here -- and to give anyone reading this permission to do the same --I’m done with the show. Not done with showing up for the joy, the laughter, the learning, the challenges, the wonder, the love of family and friends; but done with the show. Self-compassion may be my new best friend.

Get Fired Up:

Show up. (period)

 “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” – Anna Quindlen

[Both quotes taken from the book The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown]

www.coachingmoves.com

Become: Taking Flight

Musing …  

Love bursts you open  

Light Will someday split you open
Even if your life is now a cage.
 

Little by little, You will turn into stars.
Little by little, You will turn into
The whole sweet, amorous Universe.

Love will surely burst you wide open
Into an unfettered, booming new galaxy.

You will become so free
In a wonderful, secret
And pure Love That flows
From a conscious, One-pointed, Infinite Light.

Even then, my dear, The Beloved will have fulfilled
Just a fraction, Just a fraction!
Of a promise He wrote upon your heart.

For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,
Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain
You hold the title to.

O look again within yourself,
For I know you were once the elegant host
To all the marvels in creation.

When your soul begins
To ever bloom and laugh
And spin in Eternal Ecstasy-

O little by little, You will turn into God.       

- from the Sufi master Hafiz  (translated by Dan Ladinsky)

Kate’s Turn:      

The origin of the word change is the Old English cambium, which means “to become.” So, yes, as I change, grow and develop, I’m about becoming more of who I am. As I claim my earthly Fertile Plain, and water/nurture my Divine seed with love/light, my essence/soul blooms and takes flight. Michelangelo said that the statue already exists within the marble; he simply had to get rid of the excess. In like manner, we only need dissolve thoughts and feelings that make us miserable (our cage), and instead, follow the light/love to soar in our essence that lies within. Within the chrysalis, tiny cells, called “imaginal cells” which are wholly different from caterpillar cells, organize and eventually overtake the caterpillar life form into a butterfly form; when the need for restriction is outgrown, the butterfly, with one deep, full breath, “pops” the chrysalis and takes flight (from Anodea Judith’s Waking the Global Heart). I am in wonder this summer in beholding all the divine seeds that have taken form, have become, and blossomed the essence which the tiny seed held – millions of flowers, blossoms, birds, bees - love has burst them open.

Get Fired Up:    

Find a feather, have it take your heart seed to flight. What is the light/love that it needs in order to “pop” the chrysalis/cage that restricts your soaring? We are sunbeams of the Great Light – we are waves in the ocean of Being. Be the star that you are!!!                                                                                                                                                                          

"The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." -Charles Du Bos

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Nurture: Social Capital

Musing…

“Make tea, not war.” – Monty Python

Charise’s Turn:

My first instinct for a subject for this blog entry was tea -- as in having a cup of tea, sharing tea. People who know me know my love of tea, how I only brew loose tealeaves that have more taste than any tea bag infused cups from Starbucks, or from any restaurant for that matter. But the matter at hand is how my subject shifts from tea. In a recent Liz Lerman Dance movement lab we were asked to fill in the blanks for “I am the ___ who _____“, with both words and movement.  For me, this became “I am the friend who makes tea”.  Tea, friendship, hospitality, sharing…segue to social capital. 

At a recent Mentorcoach conference, Ellen Ostrow, PhD introduced the concept of social capital. “Resources reside in relationships”; and “competency is not enough…connection is everything”, are my takeaways from what she said. We need avenues to share our creativity with others, and that requires connection -- formal, informal, personal and professional.

Self-promotion can be pretty lonely, isolating even. You can make yourself a lovely website that sits. One way to build your social capital is to interface with other websites or organizations that showcase what you do, extending your reach beyond your own website, office, business, shop, or studio. I recently joined the Expat Coach Association, and along with my co-author Debra Bryson, gave an interview at their request. They featured us as expat coaches of the month for July. This coach of the month interview reaches a wider audience then we could have found on our own. It's akin to inviting more people to pull up a chair and listen.  

Get Fired Up:

The value behind nurturing social capital is altruism. Give an interview, idea, or an invitation to experience what you have to offer. Explore your niche, your specialty, your interests to see what else is out there. You’re not alone – reap the benefit of connecting. Share a cup of tea.  

www.coachingmoves.com

Nurture: Room to Grow

Musing …..  

“Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them.”  -Josie Bisset

“Greater than I ever imagined...” This is a phrase that I love to anticipate when I’m dreaming of something new in my life. And faithfully tending to a dream has, in fact, exceeded my wildest dreams many times over. Such that now I find myself approaching them with an expansive openness, giving them LOTS of room to grow.

Kate’s Turn:      

When I moved back to the Midwest, circumstances were such that I was unable to make room in my schedule to nurture my creative watercolor passion. Life happens and stabilization took first priority. I  don’t think I painted for an entire year! I began to experience a waning of my creative juices, and I noticed that the lack of nurturing soul food from being in the creative zone was leaving me withering and hungry. It felt as though my creative spirit was in darkness. This is an example of NOT nurturing  creativity. I began to doodle, sketch, paint just 5 minutes at a time, vowing to feed my soul daily, even for a short time. I gave myself room to grow by nurturing in just teeny ways. I began to fill up small spaces that appeared as darkness, with light, with sparks of creative ideas, images, and activity. It was like a candle in a dark room. And, over time, as I am able to give myself even more room, it becomes more like a flashlight, and sometimes, even sunlight! So, my current dream includes an actual “room to grow”; I am anticipating moving to another home within this next year, and I envision a creative space/studio where I can hold classes for creative expression and spiritual practice and nurturing dreams that become “greater than I ever imagined!” Pure light!

"Whatever is flexible and loving will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die."     

- Lao Tzu

Get Fired Up:  

Each growth is tiny and tender and not always easily seen…pay attention as you grow.

Imagine yourself taking action on your dream rather than on the desired outcome.   

What is a teeny, small step you can take in nurturing your dream?

How can you make room to grow?  Allow the light to supersize your dreams!

www.kroskalifecoaching.com