Stand Tall

I wake up with my 7am alarm - I am tired, I could stay in bed longer.  So, I stay in bed longer - pressing the snooze button every 10 minutes.

The best part of my morning is going for a Walk.  While I love Running, I have decided that Running is not right for me, right now.  It is difficult to give up Running - I feel fantastic when I run - and yet, I have pain in my back and neck and need to get my body strong again.  Otherwise, I end up just paying a fortune for treatments from my physiotherapist, chiropractor, osteopathic, massage therapists. 

I do love Walking - in a different way to my love of Running.  Running for me is about fitness and getting my heart pumping and a Challenge to run farther and longer than the last run.  I just love the feeling of Running and love the sense of achievement after a run.  Running is my number 1 choice of activity.  And yet, for now, I will enjoy Walking.  I love the gentleness of Walking - the exploration, the opportunity to see the beauty in the world, the opportunity to be present.  I love being guided by my Intuition, letting my Yin decide the direction of my Walk and instructing my Yang to take the steps.   My time Walking is the opportunity to be with me, time for myself, time to Spread The Yellow to me, Self-Care, Self-Love.

There are so many sights I enjoy when Walking.  I love being totally present to enjoy the sights and sounds and delight my senses.  I like seeing these old palm leaves hanging over the fence like a man's beard.

As usual, I smell the red roses at a house on the corner - I just love smelling the roses - literally - the smell is beautiful.  Of course, I am also very lucky that my Man buys me flowers every week, and I have my own yellow roses at home.

I am led, by my Yin, to Gunnamatta Bay - I just love the park.  It is one of my favourite places.

As I Walk up through the park, I Run for about 2 minutes, just a brief Run on the grass to feel the joy of Running.  And then back to Walking.  I stand at the top of the outdoor ampitheatre and I wonder - if I was on this stage, what would I present - what could I share to Make A Difference to others, a difference in the world?

When I look at the photo above, I just love seeing the rays of sunlight - wow I love the rays of sunlight shining towards the ampitheatre.  If I had to stand on this stage, right now, I would talk about the Power of Yin and Yang in bringing life to your dreams, your Vision, your heart's desires - in bringing out the best in yourself.  Essentially, the meaning of my Coaching Business Logo.

    

My Yin guides me to go further into the park.  The Yang, thinking part of me, wanted to go and visit one of my favourite Trees in the park - and yet to my surprise, my Yin takes me in a different direction - and two Trees catch my eye.  At first I have a sense that they are one Tree, but they are two separate Trees. 

          

The beauty of these two Trees is that one Tree stands so tall, reaching for the sky, while the other Tree is bent and curved, and reaching in different directions.  I put my hand on the Tree that stands so tall - and ask for a message - and thank the Tree in advance for the Gift of its message.  I feel into the silence and I feel the energy and wisdom of the Tree.  I have a sense of the words - "Listen To Your Heart" - "Stand Tall".  I have been conscious of Listening to My Heart, as I tune into my Yin - and yet it is good to hear these words.  I especially love the "Stand Tall" message - I love these words - that I am living my truth and can be proud of who I am and that I am living my Vision.  I also have a strong sense of the Tree communicating to me that all of the energy of all of the Trees will support me and hold me and help me Stand Tall.  I also notice that half the Tree is in the sunlight, and half in shadow - this speaks to me - Balance.

I walk home Inspired!

When I get home I turn to my books.  I pick up 'She' by Kobi Yamada - I love these quotes

- "She ran ahead where there were no paths. Celebrate her bravery."

- "She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly.  Celebrate her faith."

I also turn to 'Gaia Body and Soul' by Toni Carmine Salerno and find more perfect words - perfect for me to read today

- "By facing our fears and accepting them as valid aspects of who we are, we heal and become whole.  Instead of swimming against the current, life starts to flow naturally and we realise that most of the stress in our lives is simply the result of our inner fear and turmoil.  Fear clouds our ability to think and see clearly, so start to be aware of your thoughts.  When you find yourself thinking fear-based thoughts such as 'I should...' or 'I have to...', pause for a moment.  Instead of worrying about what you think you should do or have to do, ask yourself this question, 'What is it that I would love to be doing right now?' (I love these words) Transforming Fear = Liberation"

When I read these words I realise that I do have some fear - and yet in knowing my Vision, loving my Vision, I can work with my Yin and Yang to move me towards my Goals.

Just 45 minutes of Walking and also 5 minutes of Reading and Reflection - makes for a perfect start to my day.  And I have a great day - I go to work - I am Motivated to do my best and I exceed my Target.  And I get home from work and I am So Grateful that my Man is busy chopping up bowls of vegetables and makes dinner for us.

It is now great to be home relaxing... what a great start to the week - I am Inspired to Stand Tall...

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Responsibility To Self-Develop

It has been a BIG few days.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was at College, another weekend of learning and transformation.  After spending so much time learning about the Power and Gifts and Strengths and Resources of my Yin and Yang, I have been learning more about Archetypes and learning to recognise and work with them in Coaching.

I love learning, for myself and my own self-development - I love all of the information that I receive from College and I also love looking up some more information to extend my understanding.  I have a Responsibility To Self-Develop.

I find a great summary of the Archetypes - that represent the Parts within us -
- http://www.educ.sfu.ca/mamchur/Archetypes.html

"* Ego Archetypes - Developing Our Relationship to the World, Developing Ourselves
- Innocent - Source of innocence and optimism; thinks all is good
- Orphan/ Everyperson - Feels alone and abandoned, then discovers the universe and becomes the Everyman: the part that longs to belong
- Caregiver - Nurtures and cares for others, protects self when needed
- Warrior/Hero - Makes goals, fights for the self, saves the day

* Soul Archetypes - Soul's Journey, Intimacy, Personal Identity
- Seeker/Explorer - Source of satisfaction: wants an end to the feeling of unrest; yearns

- Rebel/Destroyer - Source of strength: eliminates junk in self and society
- Lover - Source of forgiveness: searches for that which is sublime
- Creator - Offers Identity, answers what kind of life one wants to create

* Self Archetypes - How We Can Bring Our Best Selves Into the World
- Ruler - Claims own power for good or ill; wants to bring order to chaos

- Sage - Attains wisdom, seeks truth, handles ambiguity; matches methods to task at hand
- Magician/Trickster - Enables you to fulfil your dreams; combination of creator and destroyer
- Jester - Enjoys life and speaks the truth; lives in the in-between."

After spending time recognising my Yin and Yang within me and how to bring them into their power - my new area for Self-Reflection is to see the Archetypes within me and how they play out in my life, and how they can help me grow.

There are certain points that are recommended to be helpful in an Evening Review:

1. Which different Sub-Personalities were predominant at different times during this day?  What circumstances (inner or outer) made them emerge or withdraw?  Where there any conflicts between them?

2. What were the valuable qualities and what were the limitations outstanding in each Sub-Personality?  How did each help me or get in my way?
3. What did each want?  What would I like my life to be if it could have fully its own way?

4. Were my Sub-Personalities in harmony with what I wanted to do, or did I have to go along with them?  What part did I take in harmonising and directing them?

I decide to just look at my day and how I am feeling and thinking in relation to what I have learnt over the weekend - and see what emerges from my story.

This morning I choose to sleep in - I feel myself in CAREGIVER - happy to enjoy a lie in with my Man - I loved the extra sleep in.  There was no conflict here - I did not feel any other Archetypes come into play - I just loved the extra sleep.  I had woken up early this morning at around 4am, scared when I had a nightmare that a magpie was swooping to attack me - once, twice and then the third time as the magpie was about to hit me, I woke up hitting myself on the head.  So I am very happy to have a sleep in.

I do enjoy practicing an Active Imagination Exercise where I bring in this image of me preparing to be hit by the magpie and I have a sense of a WARRIOR Part to me, about to fight for myself, save me.  Hmm... interesting.  I do feel that I need to strengthen this Warrior Part in me - perhaps this is the message from my Soul speaking to me in my Dream.  I read about the Warrior in 'Sacred Contracts' by Caroline Myss - "Warrior - The Warrior Archetype represent physical strength and the ability to protect, defend, and fight for one's rights."

Over the weekend I have become aware that I am strong in my INNOCENT Archetype.  I read about this Archetype in 'Sacred Contracts' by Caroline Myss - "Child: Magical/ Innocent - The Magical Child represents the part of us that is both enchanted and enchanting to others.  It sees the potential for sacred beauty in all things."  The Fairytale that rings true for me is 'Little Red Riding Hood' - there is much in this for me in terms of the Innocent Archetype and the Wolf (Self-Critic).

I read the Fairytale "But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother.  She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more.  Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her..."

Today I recognise the Innocent in me and that this can bring up the Wolf -  it happened over the weekend - the Wolf in others, very much the Wolf in myself - and today, just in very brief moments and misunderstandings, with my Man.  I can get Excited and enthusiastic and this can cause a reaction in my Man and then for a brief moment I feel myself being oversensitive and I feel myself shrink, just for a moment.  It is interesting in learning to look at these moment to moment interactions and reactions from a perspective of the different Parts of self.  I feel that there is something here for me - perhaps strengthening my Warrior to protect my Innocent - perhaps looking at my ways of communicating and my reacting to reactions (in my internal and external world).

I am Grateful for all that I am learning - and I love all my learning - and yet it does change everything - there is this new Awareness and Consciousness and I feel the Responsibility To Self-Develop.  My Mentor was talking about the importance of Self-Reflection and the importance of using this opportunity to Coach ourselves, which involves using this Awareness for changes.

I feel that the LOVER Archetype is one that is very relevant for me right now.  Over the weekend, I realised that it was a year ago that I ended a significant relationship that involved a lot of heartbreak.  I am so Grateful that I am now in a loving and healthy relationship.  And I am also realising that I may have let go of parts of myself or be protecting myself - I am not sure what is here, or what this is about - and yet I feel that this is an area to work on with my own Coach.  I also have a sense that my body is holding stress and tension - my sore back and neck - what is that about for me - I have a feeling that I am storing emotions. 

I read about the LOVER on this website
- http://www.educ.sfu.ca/mamchur/archetypelover.html

"Through the Lover archetype, we become aware of what MOVES us - in a sense, what calls to us on a deeper level."  Today I feel in the Lover Archetype and I love spending the day with my Man, holding hands and kissing and spending together.  I also love recognising beauty and trying on, and buying, beautiful tops made with beautiful materials - actually they are skirts and can be tops or dresses - there are 100 ways to wear them.

I just love looking at all the colours and clothing and jewellery and hair accessories.  It is interesting as I am not a Shopper and yet today I love just looking around at the Markets.  We also buy a Salsa Dancing DVD and I am Excited about dancing together.  I just have this desire to dance - I love music and dancing and want more in my life.

I also meet a lady who may be able to help in supplying some paper for an idea that I am looking to develop for my work as a Coach and as a product idea to sell.  In this instant I feel the CREATOR Archetype in me quite excited by the possibilities.  I love reading about the CREATOR Archetype "The artist, writer, poet tpes the maker of dreams, the inventor that discovers new ways of making new things and of unfolding new dreams.  The Creator Sub-Personality will assist you in making your life less stale, more flowing in conveying your ideas to others, contributing to the collective dreams of humanity."  I am Excited that I am definitely in touch with my Creator Archetype - NOW THAT'S EXCITING...

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