Archive for the ‘Self Nurturing’ Category

Funny how life brings us lessons, isn’t it?  Ah, but can we really laugh and embrace them?

Since I named this summer’s Quest retreat: Embracing Change with an Open Heart, I should’ve realized that I would be called to do just that!

So Change happens.  In listening to ‘what wants to happen’ (something I’m working on in life), I realized I had to make some decisions about where and when for the retreat – it either had to shift if it was going to happen or it would be cancelled altogether.  Perhaps the economy is making it harder to take the leap to commit a week to your own growth; I can’t say that I really know.  But, yeah, I definately had that moment of ‘oh damn, now what?’ to be honest about it.  ‘Can I get a new location, and re-work it into a bit shorter program while holding the essentials?’

One of the things that helped me shift everything was shifting my perspective. Yes, I am very dedicated to everyone taking time to unhook – and the longer, in my view, the better.  I’ve had many of these experiences myself to learn from and that learning tells me that the longer I give myself, the deeper I can really go in building my relationship to my inner self.  But dancing with what is actually in front of me, I could see that right now, longer was not filling up – longer was not calling in the people I want to benefit from the powerful change tool I have to offer.

I realized that we’re all being called to adapt and shift on this planet each and every day.  Every day brings us new technology, new financial circumstances, new challenges that call for flexibility and willingness to learn.  So, it’s really no suprise – Change is comin’ and this is just the latest one to arrive at my door!  How will I respond?

As the Sufi poet Rumi says,

‘Being human is a guest house.
Every day a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!”

OK!!  With that in mind, and supported by my team of coaches and colleagues, I stepped in and shifted the Quest Retreat to be 2 days shorter and at a smaller, more intimate location, right outside Durango, Colorado.  And if someone wants to use any extra time, Durango is a mecca for those who love the outdoors with endless opportunities for hiking, biking, rafting and exploring the Native American ruins of the southwest (Mesa Verde is less than an hour away).

The new location for the Quest Retreat – Willowtail Springs B&B – with delightfully furnished cottages right on a private lake, with the La Plata Mountains in the background, is a sanctuary of peacefulness and beauty.  I was there leading a retreat in February, snowsnowing in the moonlight.  And I dreamt of coming back in the summer to feel the wind of the pines on my skin. And now I am!

So upward on this journey I go.  Learning to adapt to Change, with my heart open and my creativity fully alive.  I’m still just as committed to offering tools for you to live your True Life and I, too, am learning that I can let go and flow – when I take time to listen to what wants to happen and use my imagination to find perspectives that empower and awaken myself.

What about you?  Does your Soul need time to listen and bring forth new creativity in support of growing your capacity to manifest the things you dream of?  If so, maybe you’ll join me at the Quest Retreat!  I hope so.  It’s only 16 days away and it’s time to say YES to your True Life!

Victoria

I’m sitting on my bed in a room of sunflowers!  The walls are cornflower blue and there’s even a tiffany’s stain glass lamp of sunflowers mounted on the wall.  I’m enveloped in a comforting softness, surrounded by beauty.  And the really cool part is this just the inside space at Horseshoe Lodge – outside are 100’s of acres of Mother Earth’s beauty to explore and be nourished by as well.

This is the Mountain Park Environmental Center in Beulah, Colorado, the site for this summer’s Quest  for Your True Life: Embracing Change with an Open Heart retreat.  This place truly has been a labor of love by my friends Helene and Dave Van Manen.  Their belief in the possibilities of using outdoor education and the healing and restorative power of nature, have given us this unique site, a place to explore the land and ourselves in communion.

Tonight, walking with Helene and Dave to Lookout Point, I could feel their love of each of us for all the blooming plants we met along the well-kept trail – blue harebells, white yucca, brilliant orange butterflyweed and purple one-sided penstemon, to name just a few.  Actually I’ve never seen so many blooming yuccas at once, even in the desert – and here we’re at 7000’ above sea level.   My eyes drank in the flowers beauty, surrounded by the larger landscape of ponderosa pines, Douglas firs and Rocky Mountain juniper.

What really got me jazzed was noticing all the special spots that could be calling your name for a mini-Vision Quest this August.  At least a dozen called to me – come, sit here with me, notice the details here, for they carry messages to you about your own journey.   I’ve spent my life in conversation with the natural world – my friend, my Beloved, always receiving so much love, acceptance and inspiration.  I am committed to guiding others not to miss the sacred conversations that happen in these woods.

It’s a privilege to get to bring a special group of women, interested in knowing themselves deeply and bringing that knowledge to the world in the form of wonderful gifts, to this special place.  While Mystery holds what will unfold for each woman, I know that the impact of each one’s journey will be rippling from them into the world for years to come.   What a delicious adventure!

Tell me, what would inspire you to take the time to listen to your heart and the heart of the Earth, this August?

Victoria

Last night I felt the moon in my body. I stood in a meadow way up in the Rockies, with about 500 other spiritually-minded friends, listening to the teacher Michael Beckwith. My hands were on my heart, my face was pointed to the crystal blue sky as it was deepening into cobalt. And there was the crescent moon. As I raised my eyes upward, I felt that moon, that ever-present ‘She’ energy fall effortlessly into my body.

For days now since I saw some musician friends perform a week ago, I’ve been singing the song ‘There’s a Moon in my Body”. The song by Cyprian Consiglio, a Benedictine monk, was inspired by the Sufi poet Kabir’s poem. It speaks to what is already here, yet that which I am not aware of. It speaks to the oneness that is beyond our sight – but not beyond knowing.

How do we know these things that we can’t see? What senses must we find in ourselves to feel the love and mystery of the moon in our bodies?

For me, taking extended time in nature – falling in love with trees… admiring the shape of a rock and it’s steadiness as I sit on it… listening to the flowing poetry of the stream – Nature is always my best teacher!

So that’s why I have a big summer retreat for women! Inviting you to come sit with me and listen to the Beloved’s conversation, so we might both, once again, be open and innocent, together. This is my invitation to you now.

The rustling of the palms…. The songs of the birds… the peace of the river – here, upriver at Casa Colvale I am alone and having a mini-retreat. 

Why do we take time alone to retreat?  I believe it’s to let the busyness of life settle so that we can hear an inner voice.  Sometimes it can take awhile to hear.  Especially when you’ve been extra busy or moving quickly from one thing to another all the time.  I think that voice lives between the ‘things’; that there is a quiet sanctuary that is only accessible if we slow down.

After 8 days moving around Goa, I’ve had the chance to shift into another mode.  It’s absolutely delightful.  I may never leave!

The last mini-retreat I had was in November and it led to creating a series of winter retreats for my clients.   It felt like I was able to feel into what was needed as we headed into the colder, more reflective months. 

Two of those retreats are finished – one more next month to welcome spring has 4 spots left (www.truelifecoach.net/winterretreats2010.htm) .  Today in India there is a festival for inviting new things.  I don’t know the name of it but I’m told it’s about starting fresh.  So I will align with that in my world too.

The iJournal site is stepping into a new realm – membership (or as I prefer it ‘Tribe’) invites you to be a part of something bigger, that can offer insight, wisdom and learning. A place to explore who you are and where you’re going.   Check it out at www.truelifecoach.net/ijournal.htm .

The dates are now set for my week-long summer retreat – Quest for the Hidden Jewel Within, August 15-20 at the Horseshoe Lodge in Beulah, Colorado.  I see a special group of women coming to listen for their own Hidden Jewel, in the singing pine trees and mountain air.  As soon as I get back, the details will be posted and sent out.  Start imagining yourself there…

If I hear from past retreatants that you’re ready for a BIG WORLD ADVENTURE, from any retreat but especially the Questers who wanted ‘Quest II’, , I will tell you about coming to India, to the Casa Colvale, a special place to Quest some more… Believe me, anything is possible!

For now, let your vision go blurry.  Let your hard set focus soften for a moment…  look out the window or across the river or off towards whatever horizon is yours.  Ask yourself: What am I longing for?  And make the time to listen.  You will be surprised, and you will be tapping into a Source bigger than you can ever imagine, that is a part of you and everything that is.  Take note.  Pay attention.  Then write me, and share what you’ve received.  Support for your longings is just a quick note or call away.

Victoria                                                            

This is a topsy turvy world… and oh so much slower than America.  I just have let go of moving at my old pace.  That’s probably one of the best things about being here, even though it can frustrating in the beginning.  Also I’m traveling with 5 other people – 2 adults and 3 kids – and anytime you move as a tribe, the whole thing gets slower.  Since that’s what is, I will let go and surrender to it.

We’ve seen some amazing places – the Hindu temples we visited were sacred places of connection to Spirit – whether you follow Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles (wow – don’t we all need help with that!?) or whoever, they lead me to take a few slower breaths and consider all that I have and slip into much gratitude.  Even when just scootering along, there’s so much EXTREME simple living – we call it poverty – I can’t help but consider how I usually live and how much I have.
 
Last night we went to a local market/party in Baga, a nearby beach town.   We’d been to a market in the daytime before but the night brought out tons of people and it was fun to see everything lit up.  There was a band and a guy who combined mime and crumping (street dance) who was great!  Tons of things to buy.  I did get a friend a beautiful sari for a wedding present and one for me too, but my highlight was getting a henna tattoo.  I’ve seen them on a lot of ankles but considering I would be coming home and not exactly experiencing the summer temps that are here, I went for my hand.  The best part about it is that every couple minutes I see it and go: “Whoa, what’s that?!”  And it’s a beautiful reminder that life is not just what you already know.  There’s a whole bigger world to explore and learn from.   And it also reminds me of the southern India temple dancers – their beauty and self-expression through movement.  Since we’re all connected, I’m a part of that too.

What about you?  How do you step out of automatic living and refresh your view of life?  Would love to see your thoughts about that…

From the other side of the world,

Victoria

Well, here I am in Siolim, India, a small town on the southwest coast of the state of Goa. There are palm trees and lovely breezes and I am definitely not in Kansas, oops I mean Colorado, anymore!

I was called here by my friend Patti, already in India, accepting a request to accompany her 3 daughters from Durango to Goa. It was a way that I could support her healing journey, and it spoke directly to my heart. It also spoke to my love of adventure and exploration. 20 years ago I traveled quite a bit, as the owner of Breakaway Adventure Travel but my wanderlust hasn’t been given much free rein while I’ve been in parenting mode for the last 19 years. A little here and there but this big journey seemed to come at just the right time. After a killer cold and snowy winter in Colorado, I was more than ready to say YES!

I love that we are in a beach area where things are relaxed and people live close to the land. It’s a simpler and colorful life. Certainly it’s not without it’s difficulties but I’ve noticed in my travels that often the less people have, the more friendly and grateful they are.

We’ve visited 2 beaches so far – one, Vagator was a beautiful setting in a cove with rock formations. We climbed down about 50 steps to get there and settled into some beach chairs with palm-frond coverings. While I liked the setting, we were visited non-stop by women selling sarongs, jewelry and henna applications. We did make some purchases but it was interesting to notice how some, once we said, ‘ok, no more, thanks’, got a bit huffy and annoyed. Since I hadn’t slept for 24 hours I noticed I was getting frustrated and losing patience

After a fantastic 12 hour sleep (a new record I think!) we headed to today’s beach, Morjim, which was quieter and had a beautiful, long stretch to walk with endless waves breaking. It was absolutely more relaxing with only a few people coming by to ask if we wanted a cold drink from one of the restaurant shacks that lined the beach behind us. We boogey boarded and read and had a delicious lunch of tandori chicken and fresh fish. Simple fare, just what you need on a hot day in paradise.

I can feel myself slowing down. I will send some blogs but also take time away from ‘reporting’ to just Be. Traveling somewhere where no one knows you is a great way to explore the question “Who am I now?” You get to notice how you’re responding to new surroundings and what kind of thoughts are occupying your mind. Checking in with your Inner State helps to create full choice on who you get to Be in each moment.

Try it in your life, whether home or exploring parts unknown. Where are you reacting to life, not responding? What beliefs might be limiting the full expression of who you are? Send me a response and let me know what you discover.

Stayed tuned to for more ramblings from the road!

Victoria

I heard this song title on the radio yesterday, and it hit home so powerfully.  As we live life, run a business, take care of our families and ultimately ourselves, life is notorious for not letting us stay in a peaceful and content state for long.  It is always bringing us opportunities to remember who we really are, to return to our center.  Whether it’s big stuff – losing a loved one, or your job/livelihood, or one of the smaller incidents that annoy and frustrate, we all know what it’s like to fall away from ‘home’.  There’s a hopeless feeling about it and it comes with thoughts that are filled with victim assumptions – I will never reach my goals, I will always be the one left out – you know what I mean, don’t you? And energetically there’s that deflation.  Like having a full balloon of possibility and excitement and then suddenly it’s like all the air has drained out and you are nothing.

So let’s get back to the bus and the faith that we need to get by!  What is Faith?  I see it not as a religious belief system in a all-powerful God who will save me from disaster, but a combination of courage, strength and the wisdom to know that I am connected and in relationship with a Source that wants me to succeed.  I am not alone, as Michael Franti might say.  When I make sure to give my relationship with this Source my attention regularly, I discover my Truth.  Nothing is ‘perfect’, there will always be challenges – and yet the presence of these things does not negate the bigger truth of being loved.  I hold that love inside me – it is me.  In that place there is abundance and gratitude and a whole lot of aliveness and joy.  If I can remember to Remember, then the companionship of my journey increases.  There’s a full busload, not just of Faith but we are all riding together in this Mystery Tour of Life.

How about you – what is faith to you?  What helps you get by?  I’d love to hear your experience in coming home to yourself.

Victoria

How to make this holiday season more authentic and aligned with who you are and what you want. 

Yoooow – is your email box filling up even more than ever?  Do you feel overwhelmed with invitations, offers, stuff you should know but don’t, people who expect a response now? All this and holiday shopping too?  I certainly am getting inundated and think it’s time to call HALT!  These are not the presents I want, Santa! (insert your own Holiday gift-giver here)

Let’s shift the equation and see how you can get more of exactly what you do want.

How many hours a day do you spend at your computer, supposedly getting things done towards your goals and dreams, and yet at the end of the day – or should I say night as so many of us work long into the night – you don’t feel you’ve been productive or that you’ve moved closer to your  goals? 

OK!  Enough!!  It’s time for a new plan!  Here’s my gift to you on not just being effective but feeling good inside because you know you’re doing what will lead to your own success.

Instead of just reacting to all the emails you get (plus social networking, mail and phone calls), consider at the start of each day (or even the night before) what is it that needs your highest attention?  Look at what small acts will move you closer to achieving what you desire.  Let each day begin by working on what is your highest priority.  Ask: “who do I need to contact?” instead of looking to see “who’s contacted me?” 

When we are reacting to others, the end result is that we’re usually helping them achieve their goals.  What we are proactive and set our own agenda, we most likely are working towards achieving our own.  Just another tip on maintaining Sovereignty in your life!

I hope you get everything you really want this year.  Let’s talk – post a comment on how you are or are not being pro-active in making that happen.

Victoria

All of us have an inner judge – its part of being human.  It’s not just criticism for its own sake – Our minds are trying to protect us or help us survive in some way.  Often this judge is so familiar, so ingrained that we aren’t even conscious of it!  Here’s where the trouble starts.

If you find yourself feeling blue, a bout of depression being the lens that you’re viewing life through, it’s very possible that your judge has got you by the neck.  What would this really look like?  I’ll give you an example of what you might be hearing:

Are you crazy?  You can’t possibly do that.

What makes you think that you know what you’re doing?

Nobody cares what you think is a good idea?

You’re too ____ (fill in the blank here: fat, ugly, short, old, etc).

You’ll never be good enough.

 Etc, etc – I think you get the idea.  Sound familiar?  Whew – get me outta here!

While this state can seem like it will be interminable and everlasting, there are many things you can do about it.  Today I want to offer four powerful questions that come from Angeles Arrien, Ph.D, a cultural anthropologist who brings forth ancient wisdom to help support our journey today.  In these Native traditions, someone who’s feeling sad will seek help from a local healer for what ails them.  Arriens refers to ‘The Four Salves” – healing inquiries that can help one see where they have gotten off course and bring direction to coming home once again to our innate joy and aliveness.

1. “When did you stop singing?” This is interpreted as: When did you set aside your own voice?  What do you want that you’re not asking for?  What truths aren’t you speaking that need to be spoken?   
2. “When did you stop dancing?” is next.  Are you actually living in your own body?  Have you forgotten the connection to the physical that grounds you?  When we fully are living in the body, we have access to a whole world of inner wisdom that is authentically our own.  Movement is the road there – whether it’s dance or walking or chi gong or any type of physical activity that brings you into the present.  When we aren’t using the body, we lose touch with its innate energy; we disconnect from the flow.
3. “When did you become enchanted by the stories others have of you?  These can be the stories others have created for you to fulfill or the ones that you have integrated into your unconscious mind that aren’t authentically your own.  This is one of the judge’s favorite places to tell you what is expected of you and what you must do.  When you listen, you disown your true story – the one propelled by your essence.  Are you living someone else’s version of your life?  It’s time to return to your own truth.
4. “When did you stop practicing the sweet territory of silence?” Without stepping off the Hamster Wheel of Doing and Busyness, you can’t hear your own story or live it.  In silence there is connection to honest reflection, new insights and your creative juiciness.  Are you making time for this sacred quiet?  Are you giving yourself a chance to know your True Self?  Can you slow down and rest in the abundant flow that’s always there for you?

By claiming these questions, you begin to return to your own Sovereignty in your Life.  The questions are about recognizing where you’ve stepped off the throne and abdicated your power to other forces.  When you recognize the meanings of the symptoms of sadness, depression and being lost, the journey back begins.  These four questions are a magnificent Explorer’s map to find the Heart of your Center once again. 

Today I was listening to an old Bonnie Raitt song – it starts:

“These men that I’ve been seeing,

Got their soul up on a shelf…”

Actually it’s a Chris Smithers song and I’ve known it for almost 30 years!  Yikes, I’m dating myself there.  Anyway, I couldn’t get that line out of my head — soul up on the shelf.  Forget the men – I work with many women who put their soul up on a shelf many moons ago and are longing to find it again.  It’s fascinating to me how that happens and then there’s this subtle awakening that occurs.  A realization – I’m not living my life as who I really am.  But then who am I?

This sort of inner identity crisis can happen at almost any age.  Yesterday a woman came up to me at a booth I had at a local Oktoberfest and the first sentence out of her mouth was “I’ve lost myself.”  This, of course, was accompanied by her beautiful brown eyes tearing up.  That moment, where she let herself, her façade, crack open for just a second, was fleeting.  Just a sentence or 2 later, she was asking me if her mascara was running.  She had just turned 50 but I can assure you, I’ve heard this same thing from women 45 or 39 or even 30 and 26.  How it breaks my heart to see the pain that they have and yet they work so hard at not addressing it.

That is, until they get a bigger wake up call.  I heard a story years ago about how your True Life will come knocking on your door, asking to be let in, to be seen and heard.  And yet if you don’t answer – if you pass it off as not important because you’re not paying attention or you never consider your own inner world because you’re always care-taking others or climbing the corporate ladder or slaying dragons, it will return.   Only louder the next time.  Sometimes it takes a big sklonk (is that a word?) on the head to get your attention.  Unfortunately, your True Life, has no qualms about blowing the whole house down if that’s what it takes to wake you up.  Ouch!  Not my favorite way to wake up, I can tell you that.

So what do I have to offer here?  So much! So many offerings that are all about waking up and coming home to who you truly are.  The edge of having a coach – someone there next to you, who’s categorically committed to you having what you dream of.  Retreats – unhooking from the life that’s not working in order to listen to the deeper callings in a beautiful place, free of the distractions that keep you too busy to look.  Come, check them out.  Your soul is calling and trust me, if you just let go a bit, you will be infinitely rewarded by a journey like no other.  A sacred journey no one can make but you.  Stepping off and calling forth your courage, you will be met in ways you can’t even imagine.  You must.  It’s your chance to pull your soul down off the shelf and befriend it.  You will be gifted with a relationship with your inner Beloved, who has always been there.  The best you there is.  Come now, it is time to come home.

If you would like more information on the Sovereignty Circles group coaching program or the Journey With Your Wild Soul retreat, click on the links to the right.