Last month, I wrote about the importance of getting clear on our “why” – the “why” of why we do things. What’s our higher purpose or reasons for doing what we are doing? What is our mission? What outcome do we envision?
This exploration is something I’ve been on of late with this newsletter, in its 21st year. Thank you to those of you who took the time last month to respond with why you read HEN. It’s all adding to this exploration of purpose.
I’d still love to hear from those of you who might still want to hit reply and let me know what you like about HEN or perhaps your struggles and what you still desire.
My reflections on HEN is not just a journey of the newsletter; it’s a journey of what do I want to contribute with this one wild and precious life.
Health has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I was one of those teenagers who ate wheatgerm, black strap molasses and yogurt because that was supposed to be healthy. I was interested in nutrition and movement, dance and exercise even way back when.
Fast forward decades and my fascination with health led me to authors, thinkers and teachers such as Bruce Lipton, Joe Dispenza, Candace Pert, Lynne McTaggart, Bernie Siegel, Joy Brugh. Add to that my interest in the energetic arts as captured by Mantak Chia, Minke de Vos, Layla Martin, Kundalini yoga, Reiki and Qi Gong.
What does this mean for HEN?
What does this mean for what I could share with you?
I chose the acronym HEN because I wanted to write about three of my abiding passions:
- Health
- Environment
- Negotiation (conflict)
Conflict (or negotiation) will probably always remain a fundamental way I see the world. I love that lens. It’s direct. It’s at the heart of our pain and of our healing. It’s just too juicy to let go!
My interest in Health will also probably stay with me for as long as I live. I crave knowing what makes for a vibrant life! I have a big appetite for life and want to see others uplifted and energized as well. I know from my days of teaching aerobics that I love to raise the energy in a room and the people in it. Love it!
Basically, I love to feel and create joy in my life and to share that with others.
I want to be a stimulus for others to feel good as well. A dear friend of mine once called me a Bliss Coach. That stayed with me and tickles me now even to think of it (I’m smiling!).
Judy Zehr’s contribution to my understanding of my Why has also been significant. Together we co-wrote the book that intertwined the relationship between conflict, stress and well-being. I love that book and what Judy offered me, you and the world. At the centre of the book, although not the main focus, is the idea of creating joy in our lives.
That book, Hold On To Yourself (HOTY for short!), is an organizing structure in my life.
My newest learning adventure is an 8-week course I’m taking with Shirzad Chamine. He used to run one of the oldest coaching schools in the world and is the author of a book called Positive Intelligence. This 8-week course is giving me a brain upgrade. I can feel it! Can you?
Shirzad’s work is so complimentary to what I wrote about with Judy in our book HOTY. It’s making what I learned and teach there, from our book, land in a new and deeper way. That excites me.
All these inputs have been pointing me in the direction of happiness. Not happiness as in spiritual by-passing, but an abiding internal peace. A direct connection with my own sweet self as my primary companion throughout this one wild and precious life. A way of responding to everything.
A way to contribute:
- No matter the circumstance, can I shift to that part of my brain that is my Sage brain?
- Can I shift to that part that is not afraid, but is in flow?
- Can I source that part of me that knows, is calm and is peaceful – no matter the outer circumstance?
Better yet, can I resist judging each circumstance as bad but just as “What is.” And from there, from the neutral mind, can I choose to engage the “What is” from that place?
Can I be a Peaceful Warrior?
Is this worth sharing?
I don’t know yet.
I can’t quite see as yet what any of this means for my future or the future of HEN.
But I’m getting clearer.
Stay tuned.
And feel free to add into the dialogue. I’m all ears!
“The focus on thinking rather than emotions is a major reason that so many highly intelligent, highly educated people have so many stress symptoms: they learned early in life to get their moment-to-moment security—safety, nurturance, love—from thinking and doing, rather than from their emotional connection to themselves.” …Laurel Mellin, the founder of Emotional Brain Training (EBT)