Posts Tagged ‘life coaching for women vancouver’

Have you heard about a type of ‘heart attack’ or ‘myocardial infarction (MI)’ called a ‘spontaneous coronary artery dissection or SACAD’?

It is literally the type of heart attack where the heart is broken!

I know because I have had one!

The month of February holds Valentines Day and is also Heart & Stroke Month in Canada. Did you know that Canadian women are more likely to die of heart attacks and stroke than anything else? Even though we are better informed about health and are generally healthier, there are still gaps in our understanding of heart disease.

Over the coming week, I want to tell you more about SACADs so that you will be aware of this type of heart attack as well as more well known types of heart disease.

Stay tuned!

In peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

A beautiful thought for the day !

namaste

Abundance: Living a Mindful Balanced Life With Heart & Money!

“Women and money” is a “hot” topic.  With the explosion in women starting new business and female-preneurship as well as the current socio-economic conditions and situations around the world, women seem to be re-evaluating their relationship to money. A question I hear a lot in my work as a life, leadership , business & mentor coach is “how do I combine my wish and desire to make more money with my deeply held beliefs about helping other people and living a spiritually conscious life” aka “is it possible to live a life with heart and money”?

This question supports three broad principles:

1. For many women, it is about “relationships” ie women have a relationship with their money that is often a reflection of their relationship with themselves.
2. There may be a “disconnect” for many women between being wealthy and prosperous and being spiritually attuned.  The (limiting) belief here is that having a lot of money is not “spiritually pure”.
3. Women have unfulfilled desires around money.

I have been very curious about this for many years and have read voraciously on the topic.  I have read books on money, on prosperity & abundance, on the spirit and energy of money and on financial freedom.  What seems to make the most sense for me is seeing money as a “representation and enabling” symbol.  Actual physical money represents many things: love, quality of life, happiness, freedom, for example.  To be able to live a life of love and complete freedom enabled by prosperity, is one of the “highest” aspirations for many women I know, as this would allow them to help others by giving of their time, talent or “treasures”.

A wonderful visualization that I first read about in “The Abundance Book” by John Randolph Price is to imagine ones self as a continuously flowing fountain of abundance, fed by a heart-centered universal source and then visualizing this flowing abundance & prosperity spreading outwards to one’s friends, family, community and world and then see it flowing back to ones self in big waves.  There is something very powerful resonating with this visual when I see the abundance and prosperity being filtered through an open, warm and melted heart.  What I trust is that each of us women has the ability to be financially free and as we funnel our prosperity “through our hearts”, we will use our money in authentic and integral ways for the betterment of our lives and those around us.

My answer to this question is yes, it is possible, in fact, I believe that it is our right and responsibility to live a life with heart and money.

In peace & mindfulness,

Zoey

coaching for your heart & soul

Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC

Professional Certified Coach

Life ~ Leadership ~ Executive Coaching for Women Leaders and Mentor Coaching for Women Coaches

inspiration | innovation | wisdom

When I am coaching women, a question I often ask is, “what is the one thing, that if you did it consistently, would have the greatest positive impact on your life”? I hear answers like exercise more, drink less coffee, lose weight. While all of these activities no doubt will be positive, I’m reminded, as women how we are so busy, “doing”, feeling like we need to change ourselves and seldom stop to just be more of who we are.

I recently had occasion to ponder “the question” and my “year in review”. I sank into the stillness of my home and began listing what I was thankful for. What I realized was that it is the very small, simple things in life that bring me the greatest joy and sense of fulfillment, not tasks and certainly not “self-improvement projects. I get a sense of fulfillment from things like hearing my children laughing, the mist over the water, the depth and comfort of a longstanding friendship.

As I sat that early morning, I was reminded that the positive impact was a result, not of ‘doing’ but of ‘being’, of allowing myself reflective time to sink into the “beingness” of me and open to the power of thanksgiving, gratitude and blessings. For me, using gratitude and blessing brings a feeling of putting on the “rose coloured glasses”, a feeling of objectivity, a sense of expansiveness.

I was challenged recently in my commitment to this belief when faced with an unexpected and painful loss in my personal life. I found myself slipping into a place of hurt, blame and criticism. The word “blessing” popped into my mind and I quickly said a blessing for the situation. It went something like this; “blessings on this situation as I know that it is all for the best and that through the pain and sadness, a greater good will come.” By saying those words I was able to set aside the “righteous victim voice” of “poor me” and had the sense of an easing and softening of my emotions.

So, ask yourself, the earlier question, “what is the one thing if integrated into your life regularly, would have the greatest positive impact”? Experiment with using blessings, gratitude and thanksgiving and feel yourself open into a deeper sense of your “beingness”. Start by making a list of at least 20 things that you are thankful for. Every day, give yourself time to sink into your “beingness” and feel gratitude. Send out blessings to your friends, family, all people and situations and imagine the world taking on a rosy glow!

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

- Melody Beattie, Author

peace & namaste,

Zoey

coaching for your heart & soul

Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC

Professional Certified Coach

Life ~ Leadership ~ Executive Coaching for Women

inspiration | innovation | wisdom

Even though I have been a certified coach and member of the International Coach Federation for many years, I have never attended the annual North American conference!  This year will be different!

I am very excited to be travelling to Las Vegas for the uncoming ICF Conference, Sept 24 – 27th.  The theme is “Playing to the Edge”.

Lynn Meinke, Chair of the conference steering committee says “What does Playing to the Edge mean to you? We know it’s different for each person and yet, isn’t that what coaching is about? Don’t you want your clients to think big and go for what they really want? So, how do you, as a person and coach, play to your edge in your personal life and professional life? How would you like to stretch yourself so that you can be a model that supports your clients to play to their edge?

In planning the educational programming for this year’s conference, the Committee looked for keynote presenters and breakout sessions that would stretch us, get us to think in different ways, offer alternative perspectives, get our “creative juices” flowing, and perhaps bring a sense of playfulness and fun. We also identified four guiding principles or “pillars” that supported and anchored our work as we selected presenters. These pillars are: Inspiration, Innovation, Community, and Diversity with Balance.”

I’m excited about meeting new coaches and exploring my edge.  I also hear that there is a wonderful spa at Mandalay Bay, where attendees will be staying, so I plan to soak and soothe with luscious spa treatments.

Let me know if you plan to attend or would like to hear more about the conference.

Information is available on the International Coach Federation website: http://coachfederation.org

peace & namaste,

Zoey

coaching for your heart & soul

Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC

Professional Certified Coach

Life ~ Leadership ~ Executive Coaching for Women

inspiration | innovation | wisdom

As an executive ~ life balance ~ leadership development coach for women, I find that women are often ‘put off’ by the word ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’ as they associate these words with the old style of ‘power over’ leadership!

What do you think?

peace & namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan

life ~ executive ~ leadership coach

innovation | inspiration | wisdom

After a prolonged absence for personal refreshment and introspection, I am back to my blog and look forward to sharing more thoughts with you soon!

namaste,

Zoey

Zoey Ryan PCC

Professional Certified Coach for Women

Specializing in life ~ leadership ~ executive & team coaching

inspiration * wisdom *  clarity

What is your greatest struggle?

Ahhhh, I love this question.

I seem to have a different struggle every day.  What I know is that I used to push my struggles away and now I embrace them as part of my daily spiritual practice.

I used to engage in thinking that went like “once I do such and such, then my life will be good or complete or then I will “get there” and “be done”.

What I have come to realize is that this isn’t actually the way life unfolds.  I think it was Gilda Radner who said “there is always something”.  So, yes, there is always something, there is always a struggle and isn’t that wonderful!  I never have to go looking for more personal growth projects, they just show up   For me it is also about acknowledging what I call “the mucky mess of life”, the full catastrophe living as Jon Kabat Zinn calls it.  My experience is that it is through this lovely “slime” that wonderful things emerge.

It feels very one dimensional to live a life that pushes away chaos.  I love the word “chaordic”.  For me it brings chaos into harmony!

peace, namaste & hippy love for generations!

Zoey ~ founding hippy Hippy Grandma Eco-tique and life coach for women

Hippy Grandma Eco-tique offers unique green & groovy treasures and your soul-filled purchases help support our suppliers who are grandmas on pensions, women entrepreneurs and fair trade co-ops.  Share hippy love for generations!

Into The Future: Religion, Transformation and Partnership

What is the future of ‘religion’? To answer this, I need to superimpose the notion of organizational design onto current linear models of religion.  From what I understand, the world’s religions today are mostly still using a dominator model (reference Riane Eisler) ie one person (usually male) in charge with a cascade of other folks in lessening positions of power.  The Pope is the best example of this in the Catholic religion.

I believe the word religion connotes subscribing to agreed upon beliefs and doctrines.  Given that, I don’t know that I would use the word religion.

I would design a world community, grounded in a “partnership model” where the primary organizational design is of concentric circles and the model of decision making is by consensus; all organized around a common intention of good for all, recognizing the immanence and transcendence of the Divine.  This community would honour, respect and encompass a variety of beliefs systems and traditions, while agreeing to abide by a co-created set of guiding principles.  Within a partnership model, both the mother and father (inner masculine and feminine, male, female, earth and sky) are recognized and honoured.

Children would be adored, cared for lovingly, guided and mentored and elders respected.  A wisdom council of grandmother’s (like the council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers) would be available to the whole community for mentorship and to be used as a community “filter” until a full “partnership way” is in place.  Once this happens, the wisdom council would shift to include elders of all genders.

peace, namaste & hippy love for generations!

Zoey ~ founding hippy of Hippy Grandma Eco-Boutique and life coach for women

“Women and Courage” and a further exploration of being a “shakti sage.”

From my perspective, being a sage includes: wisdom, intuition and gentleness, amoungst other qualities.

Intuition is an interesting one to ponder.  Much has been written about “women’s intuition”, sometimes from the perspective of appreciation and depth, yet occasionally with a slightly minimizing and patronizing tone, discounting the richness and wisdom inherent in “women’s intuition.”  One can sub-categorize this intuition as a “mother’s way of knowing”; “a nurse’s way of knowing”; “a healer’s way of knowing” etc.

Personally, I have experienced a little bit of trickiness when tapping into and planning to take action based on my intuition.  This is also a “trickiness” that has been expressed by a number of my coaching clients.  Since our egos/pain bodies/gremlins (one can use a variety of words to describe this type “energy field”) love attachment, continuity, the status quo, high drama, judgments etc; the trickiness becomes an interesting dialogue with ourselves to figure out if what we are “hearing” is our intuition or our ego.  When faced with this dialogue, which  can feel abit like a “committee meeting within us”, the following phrase can be very helpful; “the body never lies”.

So, tap into your intuition, your inner way of knowing, your wisdom and your courage.  Be attentive to those other voices that may come in.  Using your body as an indicator of intuition, where in your body does you intuition reside?

Intuition tends to be soft, gentle, neutral, flowing and centered in your body.

Ego/pain body/gremlin messages tend to feel strident, kind of whiny, negative and scattered.

Play around with this during the week, luscious shakti sages and you may find that the following questions help you in your exploration.

1. Think of a time that you experienced very strong intuition about something, and acted on it.

2. Think of a time that your ego, or pain body or gremlin was loud and insistent.  For more information on “pain body’s” read any of Eckhart Tolle’s work like “The Power of Now”, or “A New Earth”.

3.  Consider how ‘intuition’ and ‘ego’ feel different for you and learn how to tell the difference.

Namaste,

Zoey