Posts Tagged ‘life coaching vancouver’

Some words of wisdom to start your day!

“Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen Hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.”

By Mary Anne Radmacher (author and artist)

Enjoy your day my friends,

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

topaz lotus wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

I have learned that there is a big difference between learning about coaching and leadership; skills, competencies, theories etc and ‘hitting the ground running‘ as a leader of a group, team or organization.

Prior to doing my coach and leadership training, I had held a significant number of  leadership positions, however, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I was formally hired in a management role.  As I imagine many women leaders find, my first few months were a ‘trial by fire’.  In the past three years I have been challenged to use every leadership & coaching skill I have learned and that’s not due to a crisis or emergency; its due to the reality of working  in an intense environment with limited resources and with people who are diverse, creative and amazing… and don’t always agree!

As a result of my life and work experience and my coaching and leadership training, I have designed the Topaz Lotus Leadership Matrix to meet the needs of Women Leaders. Many women leaders have told me that they feel they want to be a better leader, and while they feel competent, they want to broader and deepen their leadership skills.  With the Matrix, I talk about both the ‘being’ and ‘doing’ of leadership for women and over the next few weeks, I will be discussing this further.

The foundation of the ‘doing’ part of leadership in the Topaz Lotus Leadership Matrix is the Legacy Leadership(R) Model, developed by Drs Lee Smith and Jeannine Sandstrom, organizational development specialists.  I have found that this model truly leads to transformational leadership as it encompasses 5 outstanding Best Practices and comes complete with leadership competencies and behaviours!

When I found myself in the midst of my first chaotic crazy challenge at my new work, I came back to the 5 best practices as outlined in Legacy Leadership and found clarity and a solution!

The first ‘best practice’ of the Legacy Leadership model is:

~ ‘Holder of Vision and Values’ its about direction and commitment ~

I have experienced this  leadership ‘best practice’ as vital!  Knowing and holding a collective vision with a work group or organization, anchored by clear, strong and shared values provides a decision making strategy, a road map and a catalyst for forward movement and change.

Stay tuned for more leadership strategies and skills using the Topaz Lotus Leadership Matrix for Women Leaders and feel free to send me your leadership challenges!

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

executive & leadership coaching to set your heart on fire and soothe your soul

 

Bonus Holistic Health Tip:

After first arising and using the bathroom, I suggest to my life coaching clients that they do three yoga postures (holding each yoga pose for 30 seconds to start and building up to holding for 3 minutes) or 1 long slow down facing dog followed by a short mindful mediation!  This can take as little as 5 minutes or as long as you wish and it is a wonderful ritual to start the day!  I do this in my pj’s!  You don’t even need to put your yoga pants on as it is done in the comfort of your own home!

After your yoga and meditation, and on a fairly empty stomach, try this holistic health tip:

Holistic Health Tip of the Day:

Take probiotics every morning!

You can either do this with food like a very ‘active’ yogurt (homemade natural is ideal) or with capsules containing a mix of probiotics, like acidophilus and bifidus.

Eat a 1/2 cup of active yogurt or make a breakfast smoothie jammed packed with goodness like:  natural yogurt, frozen blueberries, a free trade banana, some ground flax seeds, hemp hearts and flax oil.  You can ramp up the probiotic content by opening the capsules and sprinkling the extra probiotics in the smoothie!  You can even add extra protein powder if you wish! Whip it up in the blender and envision your digestive tract health and balanced!

Our digestive system is filled with ‘good’ bacteria, which help us digest our food and optimally nourish our bodies.  If your digestive system is out of balance and doesn’t have enough of the good bacteria, you may feel symptoms like: bloating, gas, cramps and diarrhea alternating with constipation.

Optimal nutrition starts with a healthy balanced digestive system and when we are optimally nourished our holistic health improves!

Enjoy your wonderful day!

 

in peace & mindfulness

namaste,

Zoey

wisdom coaching to set your heart on fire & soothe your soul

 

I love thinking, reading and surfing ideas about the future and admit that I have been imprinted and influenced by Faith Popcorn.  Although this may sound outdated, I also love and recommend “Megatrends 2010:  The Rise Of Conscious Capitalism – Seven Trends That Will Transform How You Work, Live and Invest” by Patricia Aburdene and absolutely any thing by or with Barbara Marx Hubbard (www.evolve.org ).  It is not my intention to “channel” these authors, rather I wish to acknowledge their original ideas and words and build on these concepts.  While the majority of the ideas presented are focused on trends in North America, some can be applied more widely.

Here is my compilation of 13 important trends and new ideas that will transform your work and life!

1.  Brain Dough aka brain plasticity:

Yes, you can “teach an old dog new tricks”, our brains are actually malleable or flexible.    This concept is referred to as brain plasticity.  What is brain plasticity? Does it mean that our brains are made of plastic? Of course not. Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences. As we learn, we acquire new knowledge and skills through instruction or experience. In order to learn or memorize a fact or skill, there must be persistent functional changes in the brain that represent the new knowledge.  The ability of the brain to change with learning is what is know as neuroplasticity.

Source: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/plast.html

2.  Grandma Power:

Elder women are becoming an increasingly powerful and large group as the boomers age.  Think hip, happy, and hippie grandmas rather than blue rinses and fraility!

3.  Squeeze More In(n):

Community living takes on a new meaning as more extended families chose to remain living together.  This is a new idea for many North Americans and will require skilled and open communication and attention to compromise and consensus.

4. Values Redux:

Increasingly large numbers of consumers will make purchasing decisions based on their strongly held personal values.

5. Glass Houses:

With amazing technology and the internet, all we do and say will be visible, this is an opportunity to be uber transparent and ethical in life & work.  There will be no place to hide.

6. Big Hearts:

The emotions and qualities of love, loving-kindness and compassion from a big soft, warm melted open heart will be increasingly integrated into business practices through meditation, lovingkindness retreats and prayer.

7. C3 – Circles, Collaboration & Co-Creation:

All organizations, families and groups are moving towards and squishing down into wonderful, resonant, concentric circles around a big heart center.  The dominant forces will be: life, creativity, win/win and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

8. Saffron, Sage and Soul:

As India and China increasingly take over the global production of goods, our interest in and our reliance on these countries will increase.  We will continue to integrate both eastern and western spiritual traditions, adding in a dash of “conscious evolution”  producing a spicy, rich and deeply satisfying new meta-spiritual tradition.

9. Bugs R Us:

Everything will be about whole systems and models based on nature.

10.            Flowers In Your Hair and Everywhere:

Integrating the “big heart” concept, there will be growing appreciation of art & beauty and a laid back lifestyle as forces for social change and business re-vitalization.

11.            Re-Calibration Back to a Lunar Calendar:

It only makes sense for women!

12.            Science Fictionary:

Life expectancy will continue to increase and concepts that were only science fiction will be part of every day life.  More and more folks will choose to vacation at home through holograms and other multisensory innovations.

13.  The Concept of Paradox:

We will be challenged to live a life of increasing paradox and complexity and time will seem to speed up! Folks will be curious about the concept of “nothingness”.

Enjoy this “trendspotting” and let us know how you and your life & work are affected by these trends at by adding your comments to the blog!

In peace & mindfulness,

Zoey

coaching for your heart & soul

Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC

Professional Certified Coach with the ICF

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

inspiration | innovation | wisdom

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

I recently found myself in the very interesting position of ‘walking my talk’! As a life, leadership and executive coach for women leaders and also doing life coach coaching, my work is to support others with their personal development to develop healthy, fulfilling, balanced, successful and happy lives. I am passionate about my work and I usually feel I do a good job with my own life too but I had lost touch with my own work life balance program and personal life balance.

After a recent wonderful and energizing conference, I felt health-wise, the best I have felt in years. Imagine my surprise when I ‘crashed’ a couple of days after I got home. I was so pumped from the conference, I started to over commit and then, whamo, I got sick! The message I clearly received is that I needed to slow down. In terms of time management and commitments in my life, I was starting to get into a feeling similar to that “pre-Christmas frenzy”. Do you ever feel like this? How many women leaders do you know who over commit? How many women leaders do you know who want help with time management?

In the midst of the positive chaos and high energy, I had lost touch with my life balance and personal center! I had been taking care of the pets, the kids, employees, my work, supporting my clients and had forgotten to take care of myself! Sound familiar? If this resonates with you, check out the following ideas for re-connecting with your ‘center’ and taking care of you!

7 Self-Care Tips for Women Leaders
1. Daily, check in and ask yourself, what message is my body giving me? What activities/food/beverages/exercise does my body need more of? What does my body need less of? Listen to and act on the messages.
2. Develop your own self-care routine. Ask yourself, what do I need to do for myself on a daily, weekly, monthly, bi-annual and annual basis to really take care of myself.
3. Play hooky for a day! Give yourself a surprise day off and luxuriate in the freedom.
4. Plan a retreat day or weekend and craft your ideal self-nourishing time.
5. Make a list of all the areas in your life that are energy drains and start eliminating the energy leaks.
6. Decide which people in your life energize you and which people drain you and spend most of your time with the energizers.
7. Spend time every day in solitude, doing nothing, no reading, no music. Sit and appreciate your life and acknowledge yourself for all the great parts of you!

In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.
- Virginia Woolf

Enjoy your day and weekend! By taking great care of yourself, you can bring your best self to your life and work!

peace & namaste,

Zoey

coaching for your heart & soul

Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC

Professional Certified Coach

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

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

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!

“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

From http://standingwomen.org

“In 2007, Standing Women launched its campaign inspired by Sharon Mehdi’s story to her granddaughter about the Great Silent Grandmother Gathering. They asked that women stand together in silence for a better world at 1 pm on the second Sunday in May, which is Mothers’ Day in the United States. Almost 4000 “standing locations” were listed from 81 nations, including 876 organizations.

Every year since then, Standing Women has issued its invitation to stand together. The world seems more and more at crisis, and many of us have included the moment of standing in our Mothers’ Day celebrations, holding strong our intention that the crisis will bring us all together to create new systems that serve everyone.

Once again Standing Women, now partnered with Gather the Women Global Matrix and LightPages, is inviting us to stand together for a better world for the mothers, children, and families of the world. The invitation is to participate in a global moment affirming the unity of the world’s women on May 9 at 1 pm.

Please take a moment and go to http://www.standingwomen.org Register the place where you will stand for a better world. Others in your area will be able to find you.?On May 9, 1pm, stand together in silence for five minutes. Consider reading a declaration for a better world following your standing.

Send in pictures, audios, videos of your standing!”

I’m going to be standing at Fred Gingell Park in Tsawwassen at 1 pm on May 9th, come and join me!

peace, namaste & hippy love for generations,

Zoey