I have missed you guys! I apologize for my long absence but let me tell you what I’ve been up to. I have been a very busy girl!

Last March I went back to school and what an education I received. I am very proud to announce that I am now a Certified Master Life Coach trained by Martha Beck and her fabulous crew of Master Coach Instructors.

What does this mean? It means I may now perform psychic trepanning and aura-based chakra re-alignment. KIDDING!! That takes WAY more training! 😉

What it means is that I have leaned into my edges, stretched my brain and my abilities and come out much wiser and stronger. Here are just a few of the highlights I have taken away from my amazing Master Coach journey:

1) Mastery = mastering the basics

Before starting Master Coach Training I had this vague notion that we were going to learn “advanced” coaching techniques, like ninja warriors isolated in some mountain top cave, chopping wood and carrying water until finally earning the privilege to learn the Buddha Palm Empowerment Strike or something. Instead, what I slowly came to realize is that I don’t need fancy new tools, tricks or techniques. New tools are fun and novel, but they are useless if I haven’t mastered the stuff I learned my first 4 weeks into Life Coach Training.

• Find the thought and work it and work it and work it.
• Check with the body. What is the body trying to communicate?
• Shut up and listen.
• Follow your intuition.
• Stay TAO (Transparent, Authentic and Open), always and with everyone. In other words, stay in my integrity. Therein lies peace and ease (eventually).
• Question my thoughts; all of them, all of the time. We were asked to work a thought every day for 30 days and it was a revolutionary practice. I learned which thoughts had the most myelination in my brain. I also learned what it feels like to hit a blind spot around a belief (which is great because once your aware of it, guess what? It’s no longer a blind spot).

2) I can always ask for help

This might sound like a “No duh!” but I learned that one of my dogmatic beliefs is “It’s important to be tough and that means going it alone“. When in actual fact I never have to do anything in this world alone if I don’t want to. So many times during the training I pushed myself right up against the limits of my own discomfort only to realize a little help was all I needed. And I all I had to do was ask for it. I learned that asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it is an invitation to create strength, in myself, in my communities and in my beliefs. It makes people feel good to help! A village is natural human formation and we blossom in community. We fill in each other’s gaps, shore up each other’s wobbly bits, and can build on that combined strength.

3) I can do a hell of a lot more than I think I can (and in way less time than I think I need)

I produced during Master Coach Training! Woo! I am capable of WAY more than I ever thought possible. I discovered that perfectionism is how I attempt to mitigate failure and the best antidote is caring less. The energy I bring to what I put out into the world is WAY more inviting than perfect graphics or a flawless script. I can bumble my way through and still provide buckets of value. Phew! That’s a relief.

4) Don’t worry!

Worry is nothing but a waste of energy. Another “No duh!” here, but this really came home for me during Master Coach Training. I learned to feel my fear, to acknowledge it, to put it to one side so I could move forward. I learned that the fear will always be there but that doesn’t mean I have to give it a turn. I don’t have to take it bowling. I don’t have to rent it fucking shoes, dude. The fear does not get to play. I also discovered what lives underneath the fear: wisdom, peace, inspiration, and possibility.

5) I don’t need to be anything other than what I already am.

I was also under the mistaken impression that master coach training was going to require me to leap off of some metaphorical high dive platform (and I am terrified of heights). Instead, I discovered that simply leaning back into my sense of self worked a whole lot better. When I was able to lean into a sense of grounded, effortless support from within myself that’s when I felt my true strength and talent emerge. I didn’t (and don’t) need to be anyone or anything other than who I am ALREADY! I entered master coach training with all the attributes of a master coach. They were there the whole dang time! I just had to see and believe that truth.