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Monday, October 29, 2007

I'm mentioned in the Chicago Tribune!

In an article called "DEFINING IDENTITY" by Sue Ellen Christian published in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, October 28, 2007, there is a nice 3-4 paragraph piece in which she interviewed me regarding code-switching. Read the article here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-code_thinkoct28,0,1105143.story

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Taking Pause

I wrote an article a while ago about "Purposeful Meditation" and why it is important. This morning, as I sit here reflecting quietly on the many blessings that have been recently bestowed upon me, I couldn't resist revisiting the subject. Meditative activities are so important to weave into our lives that I wanted to provide an even easier way to incorporate it.

Meditation doesn't take long hours of classes or workshops to learn how to do. It is a practice which means the more you do it the better you will become and the more benefits you can reap from it. To meditate, all you have to know how to do is to breathe, relax and think. Meditation is continuous and profound concentration on a single subject. It is to give something your complete, undivided attention. You don't need a quiet room or a special place to perform meditation. You don't need to be a student of Eastern Philosphy. You don't need to have an half hour of time devoted to it. You simply need to breathe, relax and think.

With breathe, relax and think as your criteria in mind, what activities do you enjoy that will allow you to incorporate these three elements? Almost anything! That is the great thing about meditation. There is no specified time or place. This means you can do it at work. You can do it at home. You can do it in the gym. It doesn't matter. Any time, any place and in any way you choose, you can breathe, relax and think.

Breathing is important because it is your life force. It is the way oxygen enters your body to be used by your blood cells for energy. When your blood cells don't have enough oxygen, they move sluggishly. If your cells are sluggish, they are slow to bring food to the many different areas of your body. If your body doesn't have enough nutrition, it can't work properly. The end result is that you feel fatigued, stressed, sick and often can't think straight. How many times have you felt that you can't concentrate until you get some food into your stomach? You have to breathe.

Relaxing involves allowing your body to calm itself down. It puts your mind, body and spirit at rest. Relaxing removes stress and allows your muscles to repair themselves. In this day and age, with so much hustle and bustle, we hardly ever give ourselves the permission to rest. Even after a grueling exercise regimen, experts suggest that you take off one day for every three to five to allow yourelf time to recuperate. We stretch and tear our muscles during activity. This is why so many people are suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). We never take the time to just sit and relax. So relax and let your mind, body and spirit heal itself.

Thinking invites clarity and focus. We can solve problems, make decisions and hear what our bodies are telling us. We can concentrate on specific issues that may be plaguing us in the form of worries. That dedicated time yields resolutions because you are relaxed. Your mind is quieted from all other noise and distraction. Your complete attention is devoted to the problem at hand. You can be more creative and inspired to determine a solution.

Meditation does not have to be difficult. It does not have to be an intensive task. You can do it in as little as five minutes. Its purpose is to bring clarity, improve health and achieve balance. To this end, you should find it much easier to incorporate meditation into your life. Simply breathe, relax and think.

Happy Living!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Life Coach Support Network

As coaches, we need to have a forum where we can not only get the personal and professional development tools we need to flourish into great coaches but we also need a place where we can inexpensively showcase our practices. Most of the online forums for coaches have astronomical charges for membership. I have seen prices start at $250 for just the first month and $75 to $199 for each month thereafter. Lifetime memberships start at $600 and go up from there. Because of this, I decided to create my own inexpensive location where coaches can come together, share ideas, best business practices, give prospective clients a taste of our expertise and showcase our business profiles.

The Life Coach Support Network does just that. It is free to join the message boards which is the meat and potatoes of the site. To include your coaching practice in the directory is just $250 for a lifetime listing. Just $250! Membership includes the ability to add a bio or description of your coaching practice, a photo or your business logo, the ability to add your events or classes to the public Calendar and a subscription to the LCSN monthly newsletter that will include great tips, tools and techniques for coaches to use in their practice. All members, both free and paid, will also have the opportunity to submit their articles to the site.
Because this site is in its infancy stages, I have a special offer for the first 50 coaches to sign up. Lifetime membership is only $50 to the first 50 coaches. I already have 10 so hurry up as these slots are going fast. Once I reach 50 coaches, the membership fee will be $250, still a great bargain.

Another great resource for coaches, COMPLETELY FREE, is the Tools for Life forum. This is a great personal development site created by another coach. It is also in its Beta form so membership is completely free for a limited time. If you have ever struggled with getting a mentor coach then this may be just what you need to get going. Join today and add me as a friend. You can find my profile under coachniquenya.

Coaches need all the love and support we can get so take advantage of these great resources today.

Happy Living!



































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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Mind, Body & Spirit Continued

I can't help but stay on this current thought pattern. I have been constantly reviewing in my mind how all relationships have to have a foundational connection of mind, body and spirit. It is a divine trinity inherent in all things. I see all of these examples in the universe of how if any one of these foundational parts falls away, the entire system gets broken. You can't have the Father without the Son & the Holy Ghost. You can't have the mind and body without the spirit.

What does this mean? Think about every relationship you have ever been in, whether it was a friend or a lover. What made the relationship work? If you are no longer in that relationship, what made it fall apart? If you truly examine these things, you will see that there could not be harmony if you did not intimately connect on all three levels. You had to receive some sort of stimulation by the other person's intellect (mind). You had to be in similar shape in order to enjoy the same activities (body). You had to feel enlightened or fulfilled by the other person's energy (spirit).

This could manifest in so many ways. Let me give a couple of examples. I will start with a friend since many people are confused on how a friend could possibly meet you in mind, body and spirit. You could have a college education and your friend could be a high school dropout. Where does your conversation go? Or you could be a great dreamer and your friend could be stuck in negativity or complacency? Where does your conversation go? You are not in the same place in your minds so conflict occurs. Similarly, you could be overweight and your friend could be average or skinny. You can't participate in many of the activities your friend could because of weight and there could be resentment there. Or your friend might egg you on to eat foods that they can metabolize faster than you can. You are not connected in body. Finally, you could strongly uphold Christian values while your friend is worshipping Satan. You do not connect in spirit and thus, conflict arises. You can use your imagination to think of examples of how mind, body and spirit connections could affect a sexual relationship.

The point is that when one of these things is missing, it negatively affects the other two. You can be connected in mind and body but if your spirit is not in the same place, your intellect tells you to move. You could be connected in mind and spirit but disconnect in body puts a drain on your spirit. You could be connected in body and spirit but disconnect in mind drains the body and dampens the spirit.

Think about how this has manifested in your life. Be conscious of how each of your relationships is affecting you in mind, body and spirit. Remove those people who do not connect with you on all three levels as only conflict can arise from this imbalance.

Happy Living!