Inspirational Archives - Page 4 of 7

That Time I Did a Firewalk

November 29, 2017 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

Back in October, I was in California for women’s speaker retreat. On the first night of the retreat, our leader told us that she had, at the last moment, secured the opportunity for us to do a firewalk with an amazing teacher and women’s empowerment mentor. In case you don’t remember what was going on in California at that time, we were about 40 miles south of where the latest wildfire had broken out. Getting a fire permit for the Monterey Bay beach on such short notice at that time was quite a feat.

My first thoughts were: “What an awesome opportunity. Too bad I won’t have the guts to walk across hot coals. I don’t want to get burned. Coals are HOT.”

Teacher, author, and certified firewalk facilitator, Heatherashe Amara would lead us through training the following night so we would be prepared for the optional firewalk later in the evening on the shore of the Bay at Asilomar Beach.

*This is what our coals resembled for our walk. I’m in awe all over again.*

The next night, Heatherashe, took the stage to prepare and train our group of 40 or so women. She gave us some scientific, historical, and transformative information to prepare the way for the possibility for us to walk across coals that were approximately 1500 degrees (water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit). I recalled the pain of my last steam burn as I listened and signed the liability waiver making it clear that I couldn’t blame anyone but myself if I got burned…

I recalled the pain of my last steam burn and signed the liability waiver

Heatherashe reminded us that one of the first things we learn is that fire is dangerous, stoves are hot, etc. Stay away from fire or we will get burned. She explained that we make an agreement about fire from a very early age. It is considered an unalterable “fact” – fire burns.

What happens when you walk across hot coals and don’t get injured? You begin to call into question all the beliefs and agreements you have.

As our group walked together down to the beach, I wondered if I would have the courage to walk on those coals. I seriously doubted I would walk in one moment, and told myself I’d be a fool to pass up the opportunity in the next. As we reached the beach, she encouraged us all to take off our shoes even if we weren’t going to walk on the coals or even if we hadn’t decided for sure. It was 50 degrees out – the thought of taking off my shoes and stepping onto the cold and wet sand was anything but exciting. I left the shoes on the boardwalk and was pleasantly surprised when the damp sand felt comfortable underfoot.

The group wandered over to the giant old oil drums filled with embers from the wood fires they had been burning in them. We watched the team dump the coals on the prepared surface and expertly spread them out. From a few feet away, the heat from the coals was intense and warming. Heatherashe invited us to start walking as we were ready. First, our retreat leader strode across the coals confidently – she had done this before. Then another participant after a short delay. More delay. Another participant. Delay.

“Go!” I heard in my head. “Before you chicken out.”

And I went. The coals were hot. I moved fast as instructed. I was terrified. Then, on the other side, EXHILARATION. My feet were fine – a little stinging on the right pinky toe which quickly subsided.

Caught up in the energy of the moment, I went across those coals 2 or 3 more times. The last time I danced across.

I didn’t get hurt walking on hot coals. No burns. No discomfort.

Fire didn’t hurt me.

What else might be possible?

What other things do I think are true but really are just beliefs and therefore CHANGEABLE? What if I considered that stories that are holding me back aren’t ACTUALLY true? My resistance? My perceived obstacles? I can change everything about how I look at them.

So can you. So can anyone.

The fact is, I have been examining my beliefs, discovering what’s really true, and healing my body for years.

I didn’t need a firewalk to do that – neither do you. I am truly grateful for the experience at the beach on Monterey Bay, but it’s not true that we must have a moment of doing something risky to make a BIG transformation. While the experience was unique and amazing, all we really have to do is gather the energy to JUST DECIDE TO TRANSFORM.

How does it get better than that? What else is possible?

Set up a free consultation to discover what else might be possible for you. erin@ empowerwellness.com

NB: Please don’t try walking on hot coals without training and preparation.

I Am More Than Enough

July 26, 2017 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

I am more than enough. I have what I need. I have gratitude for the abundance in my life.

Recognizing those truths in my core being has been instrumental in my own healing, reclaiming my joy, overcoming my anxiety and resolving some health issues. It hasn’t been easy and there are still times when my old patterns and beliefs come to the forefront of my consciousness and affect my actions.

The old patterns were based on a myth of scarcity and a general long held belief that, in all things, there was a lack of abundance. These patterns shaped everything I did for much of my life and I would venture a guess that they have played a big part in the lives of most everyone I know.

It is so easy to start the day from this “not enough” viewpoint: not enough sleep.

This can very easily become an overarching sentiment of the day. There’s not enough time. I don’t have enough energy, That’s too expensive. I am not worthy enough. I didn’t exercise enough, work enough, love enough, get loved enough, etc.

Lynne Twist talks about 3 Damaging Myths about scarcity that keep us from feeling abundance in our lives.

1) There’s not enough and that someone is going lose

2) More is better

3) That’s just the way it is and it’s never going to change.

Sound familiar? Most people nod their head when these myths are pointed out. It can be a challenge to embrace the idea that they may not be true.

What if the truth is that there IS enough time, money, love, nourishment, sleep, etc?

Take sleep, for example. What if it’s true that in order for you to get enough sleep no one else has to suffer? There’s enough sleep (or insert another thing you believe there isn’t enough of). There are people who live at what we would consider “poverty level” and they GET THIS. They don’t live their lives from a place of lack or scarcity. Even though our standards might consider them “impoverished”, they have peace in their lives, they are connected to their inner wisdom, and they have a resilience that many financially “better off” people have never known.

So how to break free from the myths? Especially from the last myth I listed – “That’s just the way it is and it isn’t ever going to change”? This myth can be part of the reason that we can’t let go of patterns that are no longer servicing us. In fact, we must realize our power to change what we can. Where can we affect the biggest change in our control with far-reaching effects? Change what is on the inside – our internal landscape/climate/chatter.

How can we shift our inner landscape?

Gratitude: Find the grace for what you have NOW. Find gratitude for your blessings in your life, for the things that are going well. What if you were grateful for everything in your life? Even for the things in your life that you have decided are terrible. [NB: I get that some people have had horrendous things happen to them. It is possible, though, not to have those events set the tone for everything else.] Perhaps there was some lesson or hidden opportunity. Notice your abundance and blessings. When you find the gratitude, even in small ways, for all of it, notice what happens!

“You AND Me” not “You OR Me”: What if the intention of the human species was not competition but cooperation? How does that change EVERYTHING? What if every interaction we trusted that we were going receive what we needed and so would anyone else involved in that interaction. What if more of life was a Win-Win?

If you are finding that you are experiencing resistance to shifting a scarcity mindset, you wouldn’t be the first person.

What beliefs are holding you back from a feeling of abundance and having and being more than enough? Where does anxiety about not having enough keep you from enjoying even the simple things? What would it take for you to change your story?

Contact me to schedule a complimentary consultation to include some breakthrough coaching strategies to begin to identify that might be limiting you or keeping you in a feeling of “stuck”. Being willing to let go of some old stories that are not serving you anymore, opens up an evolution in your health and happiness.

The Fearful Mind

July 9, 2017 By Erin Tracy, Medical Qi Gong and Health Coaching

Place the fearful mind in the cradle of loving—kindness. Pema Chödrön

This message is a wonderful reminder of the power of mindfulness and a wide-open heart.

It is a reminder that we are held and we are safe. Keep moving forward even in the presence of the fearful mind.

I posted this quote on my Facebook page and asked people to share what it meant to them. You can see all the responses here and add one of your own.

Excerpts:

ah………sigh of relief | Acceptance | Surrender into love | When we step out in love, faith, God will not only catch us but cradle us. | Be gentle with yourself. Nurture your needs and the fears will release. | It’s all gonna work out. I got you. | to love oneself and to be kind to oneself | …Foundational bed of compassion | Vibrancy and aliveness – that is the state in which the body truly desires to be. | As you love and do for others you will feel love and peace in your heart and soul | And we have known & believed the love God has to us. God is love. 1John 4:16 | There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. 1John 4:18 | placing of the brain in a wooden cradle

What does it mean to trust and accept the fear that we inevitably feel?

When I feel the grip of fear, I can lessen the grip by noticing that fear, feeling it. Breathing into it. Yep – I’m talking about getting closer to it. It is a very BRAVE thing to get closer to our fears.

Being mindful means that we are more open to trusting the present moment.

Mindfulness reminders seem to be everywhere these days. And yet SO many friends, family, and clients tell me that they can’t quiet the brain enough to be mindful. Mindfulness doesn’t mean that the mind is empty.

Watch the thoughts and stories about what is happening… The present moment may be full of all kinds of emotions, thoughts, and judgements. It may be full of paralyzing fear.

Fear that brings out your aggression.
Fear that distracts you from your goals.
Fear that leads you to chose behaviors that let you numb out.

When we can be mindful about our fear, we might find that we gain some perspective and we may feel a little less tight and we find some courage.

We might even begin to notice that our limiting beliefs that keep us in fear and anxiety MAY NOT BE TRUE.

In order to feel less rigid and trapped by our fear, it can be very helpful to look at what we DO when we feel fear. Sure, there is the fight-flight-freeze reaction that is programed into our critter brains. Our ancestors needed these reactions to survive. And those survival instincts are important, but the reality is that in our western-living milieu, there typically is NOT a giant BEAR threatening us.

Still, when our first-world fears come up, it can truly feel like a bear is coming after us. So, when we aren’t practiced in being mindful of our fear, we REACT.

What do we often choose in the face of fear?

Materialism: Do you tend to default to purely materialistic aspects when fear comes up and overrides attempts to be mindful? This looks like overspending, the pursuit of physical comfort, creating a sense of security and over-indulging the desire for pleasure.
Attach to Rigid Beliefs: This is tricky because we can be fooled into linking our beliefs with our identity. Our beliefs can actually limit ourselves. I am talking about political, religious, pragmatic beliefs. If you find yourself with feelings of self-righteousness or indignation, that tension may be keeping your from letting your fears have less grip on your living your life.
Escape to special states of mind: It can be easy to use special states of mind to hide behind when we feel fear. These include chemically induced states through drugs or alcohol. Even “spiritual” states brought about through yoga, meditation, prayer, centering practices, can be used as a way to try to skip engaging with our fears head on. We may “feel better” but we haven’t addressed the core – the feeling and root of the fear.

I mention these things only to bring your awareness to what you do when you feel fear. If you are going into judgement about yourself if you see yourself in these choices, I invite you to let that go. There is great personal power in identifying what your patterns are and how they are and are not serving you.

As the fearful mind shows up, notice it – greet it.

Would you consider:

feeling the fears in your heart with loving-kindness?
there is nothing inadequate about you for having those fears?
perhaps beliefs that are keeping you in fear aren’t really TRUE?
that the fear is an opportunity to evolve? To grow? To learn?

Trust the QUALITY of the experience – stay with the moment. Watching the mind (mindfulness) brings us back to the present moment.

“Place the fearful mind in the cradle of loving kindness…”

Peace be with you.

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