iCoach Magazine Issue 12: BODY

IN THIS ISSUE...

COVER STORY: Embody The Power of Your Authentic Self

... Rafael Bejarano

The Body – A Doorway to Information

... Karen Davis

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A Healthy Environment For Your Body,

... Stephanie Nelson Cunningham

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Powerful Coaching In Silence

... Amir Karkouti

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Breathing Into Greatness

... Stacy Nelson

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Four Ways Your Body Can Guide You to Your Soul Purpose

... Marilyn Rodriguez

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Your Body is Speaking. Are You Listening?

... Donna Higton

Use Your Physical Body: It’s Your Compass

... Heather Doyle Fraser

Bodies

... Jamie Siv Rongstad

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A couple of FYI’s... Yes, it’s the small print! First off - none of the articles in this magazine, including the cover, were paid for. This is not and will never be a Pay-To-Pay because I am dedicated to supporting our membership first by promoting their awesomeness and to our readership second by delivering the best content we can. The advertisements on the other hand are either paid for by our sponsors or are affiliate links that will help offset the expense of publishing this monthly Magazine so we can keep it as free and easily distributable. If you have any comments or concerns, please contact our team at Info@iCoachNetwork.com

Feeling Together I met Rafael at an event back in September. I was doing some visual notes in the back of the room and he came up to me on the break with a copy of his CD in his hand. He points to an open heart I had drawn and then pointed me to the same open heart on his cover. He proceeds to tell most the most beautiful story of its symbolism.

I was certainly touched, but Rafael’s full impact on me wasn’t to happen until later, when he played for the room.

To say I felt it through my whole body is an understatement. His performance was a reconnection with a primal source - it was heard, seen, felt... all of the senses were engaged. Including my heart and spirit.

So when Amir, Karen, Marilyn and I were talking about BODY as a theme were were completely united - Rafael was our guy. He powerfully creates containers in his coaching and uses the body to create huge transformations. A magical pairing for a powerful topic. Using the feedback in your physical form to propel you forward, in your life, in your business and with your clients.

With Love & Light

Stacy Nelson, Founder iCoachNetwork.com

www.iCoachNetwork.com

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“... intention and the consciousness that infuses what we do, have a significant effect in the outcome”

EMBODY THE POWER OF YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF “A cancer cell in the body acts just for itself, disconnected from the organism, a healthy cell serves the whole. We can experience ourselves once again as healthy cells of the body.”

WARNING: This is the imperfect unedited version of my first article and is meant to be that way, I am from Mexico and you may find Spanglish here and there. I trust in your high levels of comprehension skill and I am very sure you will get good value out of it. Enjoy!

On July 14th of 1991, I was in a bus on a 20 hour drive from the city of CD Juarez, Chihuahua towards Guadalajara. At some point in the beginning of the trip, my friend Rodolfo who was sitting next to me and I started contemplating the presence of God in everything we where looking at: ~”Do you realize that is God transformed in the blue of the sky?”, one of us will say and then we will take a moment to feel into it. However, as we continued into the conversation, we felt as if we where being guided into it and felt started to feel as if the veils where being removed, the veils that separate us from experiencing a higher realm of existence.

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Without going into much detail in this article, I experienced what some people call “Kundalini awakening”, a mystical spiritual experience that changed my life completely.

For a period of nine hours, my friend and I where immerse into a state of awareness I have never experienced before or ever since, however one of the after maths of this experience is that my intuitive, emphatic and psychic sense became more highly refined.

I was studying computer technology and after this experience I became a healer and researcher of shamanic studies. My still scientific mind is fascinated with pursuing a grounded and objective explanation of a phenomena I have experienced ever since which among others is recognizing that in the same way there is an intelligence that is coordinating over the 50,000,000,000,000 (fifty trillion) cells in our body to function in harmony with each other so, in the same way, we are an individual cell of a much larger organism and there is an intelligence that is also guiding us all.

Our mind have been conditioned by many factors to not respond in coherence to our true self but rather to comply with systems that not always have our best interest. I am not speaking of conspiracy theories but of a much more mundane and obvious fear of simply being true to who we are.

I am very grateful for the opportunity that my dear friend and colleague Stacy Nelson have given me to write to you and share what I can only describe as the tip of a huge iceberg in regards to taping consciously with our body as a vehicle for your soul. A body that in many ways is it’s own being and that is constantly reading

information, assessing body language, producing different kind of pheromones depending of your mood and subconsciously identifying levels of congruency between what we are listening and what the rest of the body is saying.

This article is really inspiring me to write more about a subject that I believe can be very useful to live with a deeper sense of freedom within, improve the quality of our relationships and magnify our level of contribution to our clients and the collective.

I am what you could describe as a shamanic musician and coach, after my experience in 1991 I began traveling around the world, learning from indigenous people and understanding music and their sacred instruments as tools to create inner and outer environments to transform our state of being and perception of reality.

This practice have helped me to works with beautiful individuals both as a performer and as a coach, guide or spiritual adviser.

Among my coaching clients are billionaire philanthropists, world class athletes, global activists, lawyers, diplomats, CEOs, psychotherapists, teachers, educators and coaches... During my career as a Musicia, I had the opportunity to present in scenarios like Madison Square Garden, play for individuals like Carlos Santana, Lucciano Pavaroti, the Secretary General of the UN, the Gandhi family, among others. You could say that I am some sort of Mexican Forrest Gump.

I know that this is a material where we can go much deeper but I want to invite you to simply come back to your basics regarding the importance to taking good care of your body and of yourself. When you respond in coherence with 4

yourself, which we all know is not always easy, you are aligning yourself with a much greater intelligence, such as everyone of our tiny little cells.

ents and others not, but you have serve the whole and there is an energy to that which is so gratifying to the soul...

So, In a practical sense, I want to provide to you some tools that you can begin to apply and make your own explorations with them. What I have found is that intention and the consciousness that infuses what we do, have a significant effect in the outcome, even if you do the same thing mechanically, your intent may change the actual experience of it, there is an electric~magnetic charge to the intent that changes the experience of the act.

Remember to Love yourself first, not from a place of selfishness but as a gift of self to self. Life is a constant practice, a journey and like this article, nothing is perfect. What I can tell you is that only when I realized that is more important to move forward with imperfect action than waiting for the perfect moment I could start writing this words to you. Don’t thrive for perfection but to be real, align with your heart and soul.

Embody the Power of your Authentic Self!

Did you know that we actually have neurons in our heart and gut? Very interesting, if you are curious in researching more about it, I invite you to go to www.heartmath.com and you will find fascinating information in the subject. We do “think” also with our heart, our heart sends magnetic signals and also receives them, aligning with your heart is so much more than just feelings is aligning with a much greater intelligence that is serving us all.

If the next time you are meeting with someone and you have the opportunity to serve them, feel it in your heart, go ahead, trust yourself, consider that maybe every human being is in their own path of aligning with who they truly are and need support, you and I do. Think about it, a cancer cell in the body acts just for itself, disconnected from the organism, a healthy cell serves the whole. We can experience ourselves once again as healthy cells of the body. I invite you to try it, listen to your heart, align with your authentic self, serve others, some will become your cli-

Through the use of indigenous instruments from around the world, Rafael becomes an “instrument” himself, as he is not just a performer but a tool for promoting a message of connection and greater possibilities for us all. His music fosters an environment in which to experience physical and emotional healing, creating a link between mind and body that allows us to tap into the potential of our hearts and uncover the possibilities w i t h i n o u r s e l v e s a n d o n e a n o t h e r .

It is Rafael’s passion to share the gift of his heart and inspire others to do the same... He is open for phone or Skype sessions and while he doesn't have any books or programs at this point, you have inspired his to create them so, soon. If you will like to connect or attend one of his events, please contact me at: R a f a e l B e j a r a n o r a f a e l @ s o u n d s o f c r e a t i o n . o r g or calling at 805-746-6036

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Yes… it lives within you.. within us all.

The potential, the possibility, the promise…

Heaven on Earth.

The silent longing, the harmonic balance, the highest dream of all.

Love, Light, Peace and Joy, in this world and in the Hearts of Humanity.

Creator has already given us this gift.

It exists inside each one of us, as the Sacred Seed of Our Heart.

A seed that grows as we open our Hearts with love to one another.

A Dream that manifests little by little, as we become Gardeners of Spirit, Co-Creators and Caretakers of this reality in the ordinary… for Ourselves and Future Generations.

May the Healing Fires, the Songs and Prayers of the thousands of Generations of our Human Ancestry guide us in this time of Destiny.

Come, let us walk together..

Choose to live.. The Journey

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“our ‘way of being’ as a new observer is what leads to new outcomes”

THE BODY A DOORWAY TO INFORMATION Ontology is the study of being.

“Interpreting the body provides insightful revelations.”

As an Ontological Coach, I am trained to coach my clients to observe the connection between how they “see” the world (their‘ way of being’) and how they respond to it. Our ‘way of being’ is expressed in three interrelated spheres of human existence: language, moods/emotions, and body. Once I began to coach not only by listening deeply to my client’s language, but also by sensing their moods/emotions and observing their bodies and physical responses, I was able to delve deeper into my client’s ‘way of being’. My intuition is keen, and while developing intuition is a separate topic, I believe attention to the three spheres and intuition can take your coaching to an extraordinary level.

In this article, I will explain how observing your client’s body can open a doorway to information and greater insights into their ‘way of being’. By taking a holistic approach with respect to the body, 7

I focus not only on exterior postural stances but also what they reflect about interior bodily emotional responses and pain. From there, we cocreate body practices that shift my client’s ‘way of being’ and ultimately, help them learn to control certain undesirable physical responses, and in doing so, improve how they feel and how they present themselves to the world.

Here are three key areas of the body I focus on when coaching: Reshape the Body for a Powerful Inner Stance I closely observe how my clients ‘shape’ themselves. I bring attention to his or her overall posture, breath patterns, voice, smile and eyes. Any compression of the body or misalignment with one’s natural state of being can compromise both the outward and inward sense of worth, power and dignity. Does he speak clearly and audibly or tend to mumble in a whisper of a voice? Does she cross her arms when stressed or keep them confidently open?

Bringing a client’s awareness to their physical expressions can begin to release them from these unconscious ‘contractions’. They also learn to adopt more powerful inner stances which not only affects how others perceive them but also begins to positively impact how they perceive the world from the inside out.

Feel the Source of Pain As humans and coaches, we all have the ability to be deeply intuitive, empathic and feel the source of pain within our client’s body. As I listen deeply to my client and sense their mood and feel their emotion, my body is able to know and feel the emotional bodily pain my client is experiencing. I stop my client the moment I can feel

and identify the exact point of their pain inside my body. I ask them where their pain is and to touch it with their dominant hand. We are now able to acknowledge the pain and my client’s awareness will move to the origin of the pain and begin to explore what is behind it.

What is not being said? What is not being acknowledged? Has she felt this pain before? If so, when? There is an innate intelligence at a cellular level that arises to the foreground with the slightest encouragement. It is usually at this point that my client begins to talk about the source of the pain and when they have felt it before. The coaching conversation will typically move to a deeper level quite naturally from this point.

I’ve learned to never leave this point in the coaching conversation until the bodily pain within me (and them) is relieved. Once we’ve spoken about the source of the pain, we focus on unblocking the stuck emotion and moving it outside the body. This is a critical step for the well being of client.

Co-creating Body Practices In Ontological Coach training we are taught four primary desirable postural stances: flexibility, openness, stability and resolution. It is astounding to listen to a person say the exact same sentence while they demonstrate the various postural stances. I often teach my clients the power of these postural stances and then we get more specific by cocreating bodily practices that are better aligned with the new behavior we are trying to create. If we are reshaping the body, we focus on exercises such as opening the arms or softening the eyes when stressed. If certain events or stressors trigger bodily pain, we cocreate a practice that uses that bodily pain as a 8

barometer to recognize the pattern of behavior triggering the pain that is affecting their ‘way of being’ and releasing it from the body.

Interpreting the Body Provides Insightful Revelations My training in Ontology has invigorated my coaching practice. I no longer rely only on conversation, as it is often not the most direct path to create insightful revelations. Once I came to understand that our ‘way of being’ as a new observer is what leads to new outcomes, I became not only a better coach, but also a more intuitive being. One of the greatest resources we have as coaches is this doorway to information about an

individual that the subtle postures, responses and language of the body provides us.

Karen Davis is a certified Ontological Executive Coach providing one-on-one deep coaching with high-performing executives and business professionals who are committed to their success, ready to uncover their hidden potential and make their own unique difference in the world. You can reach Karen for a powerful conversation at: 303.665.4301 or learn more by visiting, www.karendaviscoaching.com

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A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR BODY

get some help, great. Just having a plan can often start to shift the energy, so do what you can and notice with each step how much better your body feels.

We all know that in order to have a healthy body we should up our greens, drink more water, do some form of exercise, get plenty of rest, and engage in some form of selfcare and spiritual practice. While these are all important to your well-being, there is a component that I often see left out: Environment.

Like your habits, your environment actively shapes you. It can be where you flourish and relax, or a space that literally drains the life out of you.

To begin, start with the spaces that you spend the most time in.

How does your body feel when you walk into your space? Do you feel energized in your workspace? Relaxed in your bedroom? Creative and inspired in the kitchen? If not, a good exercise is to stand in the space, close your eyes, and feel how you want to feel. Now, open your eyes.

What needs to change? Can anything be done right now? Do it. If you need to make a list and

Even a corporate environment can be transformed. Add some detoxing plants (many do well in low or artificial light), EMF protectors to safeguard your immunity, and a full-spectrum lamp to improve the health of your space. Surround yourself with images and personal objects that inspire you, while you gaze at them from your ergonomically designed chair. (Ask for one.) Make your space your working alter. Bring in fresh flowers each Monday. Maybe add a small fountain. Whatever makes you feel happy and alive.

Continue, one room at a time, green juice in hand. Your body will thank you.

Stephanie Nelson Cunningham, CHHC, AADP, is a Healthy Lifestyle Makeover Coach, and a Corporate Wellness Speaker. She synthesizes her background in nutrition, coaching, interior design, feng shui and special event planning into helping her clients look and feel amazing while shining in their space. She can be found at www.a-healthy-perspective.com.

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“ If you want to be a powerful coach, deep listening is one of your most valuable assets.”

POWERFUL COACHING IN SILENCE “Deep listening, sitting in silence, is so foreign to us that we have removed it from our existence. Yet, that’s exactly what brings about breakthroughs and insights.”

Sitting silently, doing nothing, the spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

Buddha You may have heard the aphorism, “Don’t just stand there — do something!” Buddha saw it a different way. He would say, “Don’t just do something — stand there!”

Buddha was onto something. He knew the power of standing or sitting silently. He knew that when you sit in utter silence, unmoved, undisturbed, not engaging in your restless thoughts, but just sitting and listening, doing nothing, the spring comes and the grass grows by itself. In other words, things happen even when you sit in silence and listen.

As a matter of fact, I’ve found out that in deep, powerful coaching, silence is the biggest ally to having breakthroughs. I remem11

ber having a powerful, life-changing conversation about fundraising with my coach Rich. I was floored. He gave me insights I thought I’d never get on my own.

I went back to listen to the coaching call. I couldn’t believe what I heard. Rich had only asked three questions in the two-hour conversation we’d had. The rest of the time he listened.

He removed himself from being the doer of the coaching. His silence was not inactive; it caused great action through him without him being a doer.

I could tell he was hearing me and the connection to my own voice and thoughts became louder. I would talk out loud and sit. Out of nowhere, a new thought would arise that gave way to the answers I was looking for. My coach just listened. There was a point where the silence became uncomfortable. He didn’t care. Once I stopped caring, new insights arose.

Like the grass that grows when you’re sitting in silence, insights, wisdom, and clarity arise from your clients when you sit in silence. If you want to be a powerful coach, deep listening is one of your most valuable assets.

What is deep listening? It’s a way of hearing where our whole body and being are, in the moment, without controlling it, judging it, or changing anything. It’s letting whatever will happen, happen in the conversation without jumping in.

There is no need to clarify anything until you’ve sat in silence and your client is empty of words.

Most of the time your client will clarify what’s missing before you step in. That’s more powerful than you telling them what needs to be done.

Why? Because there is no need to convince your client when your client came up with the insight on their own. You have to open up space for them to come to their own conclusions, in deep silence. When you sit with your client, be open, alert, attentive, and receptive. It’s a process where you have to be alert. It’s not passive, like you’re tuned out. You need to be aware of the whole person in front of you.

Don’t listen with the idea of formulating a question while they speak. Come from a completely empty place. Trust that when the conversation is done, the question that needs to be said will arise. Until there is silence, no question is adequate.

You will know when your silence is authentic or forced. When your silence is forced, it is not spontaneous. You can feel it. You will notice that you are ready to jump into the conversation and say your piece. When your silence is forced, you will feel the inner turmoil. It will feel distressed and you’ll want to remove the silence. The words coming from your client are coming at you and not through you when your silence is forced.

As Sylvia Boorstein wrote: “You might think of the difference between radar that goes out looking for something and a satellite dish with a wide range of pickup capacity that just sits in the backyard, waiting. Be a satellite dish. Stay turned on, but just wait.”

There is all the time in the world. Get used to sitting in silence. If there is nothing to be said, don’t say it. What needs to be said will show up in the moment.

But why is it so hard to do? Because we are afraid of silence. We are not used to it. It’s for12

eign to us. We are used to our automatic bias of how does what they are saying affect me? What can I say next to make this a better conversation? We interrupt, and we come to conclusions before the person can finish the sentence.

Our culture loves downloading information. We hear someone talk and we are either regurgitating information or are ready to debate and set someone straight. We can’t hear between the lines; we just hear the sur face of the conversation. We are not whole-heartedly listening. We are surface hearing.

Deep listening, sitting in silence, is so foreign to us that we have removed it from our existence.

Yet, that’s exactly what brings about breakthroughs and insights. Deep listening brings forth your intuition and gut feelings. It connects you to the moment. You become sensitive to all facets of your experience with the person in front of you — internal, external, and contextual.

I have signed up clients by asking one question and letting the person on the other line talk for an hour. One question. How many people in your life will let you talk for even a half an hour and allow you the space to make the shifts you want in a safe and quiet environment? Not many. Everyone always has something to say.

Not you. Sit in silence and see what happens.

Clear a space to allow you to be open to receptivity. Notice your thoughts passing through, but don’t care about them. Listen to your breathing and relax. Become aware of your body and become in tune with your senses. It will become second nature after some time. It’s like riding a bike. After a while, you are steering, pedaling, and directing without knowing it.

Don’t grasp at the sounds. Don’t reject or interfere with the words. If there are no sounds, no conversation, listen and sit in silence. No more projecting your opinions, ideas, or defending yourself or your agenda. Deep listening challenges the way we engage in a conversation.

Deep listening allows the person in front of you to trust that what they are saying, regardless of how well or poorly said, is coming from what’s true in their heart and experience. They will feel that you’re connected to what they are saying. The conversation will go above the words. The listening will go beyond our ears and eyes and come through our hearts and souls.

This allows for space in our heads for wisdom. It allows us to be a receptor for the person in front of us. It allows you to be selfless and removed from being self-centered. Because…it’s not about you. It’s about the person in front of you.

Rumi the poet once said, “Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.”

I know what that means now. When I sit with my clients, I sit in silence and listen deeply. I now know the gifts and power of sitting and listening.

What if, with your next client, you sat in silence and listened? Listened so deeply, like nobody

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has ever done in their life? What kind of transformation might occur that we weren’t able to see before?

There is only one way to find out…

Amir Karkouti realized that coaching is similar to what he does for his father at least twice a month. Every once in a while, Amir’s father spends at least 10 minutes looking for his glasses. He looks and looks and looks, and I

show up and remind him that it’s been on his head the whole time. My job as a coach is to remind you how amazing, brilliant and special you are. At times we can feel like we’ve lost those qualities. I get the pleasure of reminding my clients that they’ve never lost their true idea of themselves and to stop searching for them.

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“When your energy goes into the doubt, it cannot go into creating the container and your success will be blocked.”

BREATHING INTO GREATNESS “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” - Oprah Winfrey

“My doubt and my fear is a statement of my doubt and fear of the source’s ability to create. Feeling or living with the belief that I must do it myself.”

I was holding my breath without even realizing it. I was listening so intently that I forgot I had a physical self. Time was frozen. My mind was racing a million miles a minute and I felt all of my muscles tense up, tightening like a vice around my heart and my stomach. My heart was responding in the opposite manner, pounding so hard that I swear people near me could hear it. ... except the only person near me was my Grandmother and the noise of her crying drowned out everything else. As I gently took the phone from her hand I asked the person on the other end of the line a few important questions... was he at peace when he passed? When would we need to have someone pick up his body? What else did they need from us?

The sound of the phone hanging up brought me back into the room. I took a deep breath - the first intake of air I could remem-

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ber taking in quite some time. I checked in on my Grandma and started dialing my mother and my uncles to let them know their father was dead.

Between each call I took deep breaths, letting the oxygen calm down the tears that were hanging in the precipice, staying present to the task at hand, helping me stay focused and clear so that I could answer all of their questions and make plans for the next steps.

I was 19 at the time. And I still remember taking those deep breaths like they were the only thing holding me together so that my Grandmother could be allowed to fall apart, to grieve and herself to sleep.

“Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive - that you can touch the miracle of being alive - then that is a kind of enlightenment.” -Thich Nhat Hanh Those deep breaths helped me stay completely present so I could serve.

That connection to my breath grounded me and allowed me to move forward, beyond the sounds of my Grandma crying, past the emotions I was feeling as the man I loved most in the world left the physical plane. In many ways I was the only one capable that night of doing what needed to get done.

And I know now that it was because I was breathing.

We often forget just how important being fully grounded is. In our spiritual pursuits we meditate to quite the mind, we focus on leaving the body’s limitations and connecting with spirit.

BUT the first step is to ground yourself.

Only when fully grounded can we possibly connect with our deepest self. You get back to your roots feel grounded by a simple practice...

TAKE A DEEP BREATH. Get out of your monkey mind and be present.

That breath reminds you that you’re here, in this moment a human being. That breath separates you from the stories. That feeling of the breath coming in, expanding your body, feeding every single cell with precious oxygen, and then contracting to release that which does not serve you.

That breath allows you to stay completely present so you can serve.

Years later I sit on a call with a client. I can hear her mental chatter escalating. Even more importantly, I can hear mine joining in, thinking ‘why don’t you just do this one thing that would make all the difference?”

So I pause and take a breath myself. I don’t need to tell her anything right now... I need to help her release the anxiety she’s feeling.

I interrupt her and say simply... “BREATHE”. I reach out empathically and I can see the confines of the story she is so attached to telling me unravel it’s hold just a little. “BREATHE” I say again.

The second breath quiets her mind. The tension in her heart turns in to an opening. We start again. Back to the question that set her off originally. And the session changes. We’re no longer working on the surface level. We’ve dived deeper into the work of her soul.

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“Your breath touched my soul and I saw beyond all limits.” -Rumi Let’s clear the path. Let’s get grounded so that we can work on the root of our blocks instead of the moments we are attached to.

Where is your soul gasping for air, being suffocated by the restrictions of your doubts and insecurities? How is the anxiety of your life cutting off the oxygen in your connection with the Universe?

Can you pause long enough to take a breath.?

Open up the grip you’ve been holding on to so tightly? Relax so that you can have the clarity of an open mind? Ground yourself.

And breathe into your greatness...

Stacy Nelson is the Founder of iCoach Network, an International circle of life coaches coming together to support and inspire each other on a daily basis. Keeping with the theme of ‘As one rises, we lift each other up”, Stacy also publishes this monthly digital magazine for iCoach Network, highlighting the fabulous coaches within the network. Specifically she is a Coach & Trainer helping intuitive entrepreneurs to market with their hearts and tap into their authentic purpose through their businesses.

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YOUR BODY IS SPEAKING, ARE YOU LISTENING?

when I had a banging headache, when I was so exhausted I couldn’t get out of bed. But in each instance, my body had been telling me for some time (months, and even years in some cases) that something was up, that something needed to be done. I just hadn’t been listening. Are you listening?

Did you know you have an amazing guidance system that is always talking to you? A guidance system that tells you what you need in every moment? A guidance system that is easy to tap into, needs no special ‘hotline to the divine’ and is talking to you right now?

It’s your body. (Your mind, heart and soul too, but that’s a subject for another time…) Your body is always talking to you. Right now, my body is telling me that I need to stretch out, fill my glass of water and stop soon for my lunch.

What is your body saying to you right now? Take a moment to do a mental scan of your body – from your head to your feet. Stop whenever you notice a little tension – what’s that tension telling you? Is your dry mouth calling out for a drink?

Are your face, jaw or throat tense? Are your shoulders and back telling you that your posture needs attention? Is your bottom comfortable?

Are your feet warm?

Every day, take 2 minutes to stop and check in with what your body’s telling you today (it’s different every day) and act on the information. If you are able to hear the subtle (but very clear, if you’re listening) messages of your body, maybe it won’t need to scream to get your attention!

Donna, better known as “Donnaonthebeach” helps women who KNOW there is more to life to fall in love with their lives, and make their Dreams a R e a l i t y a l o n g t h e w a y.

Vi s i t www.donnaonthebeach.com to get her free ebook “The First Step To a Joyful Life” and to find hundreds of articles, podcasts and videos to help you fall in love with your life and make your Big Dreams come true.

Years ago, I would only listen to my body when it was screaming at me: when I lost my voice, 18

“Your body is the sacred vessel through which you can experience and live out your soul’s purpose.”

FOUR WAYS YOUR BODY CAN GUIDE YOU TO YOUR SOUL PURPOSE

“Ever y discomfort, tightness or twitch is a signal to slow down.

Every time you feel tense or find yourself holding your breath, you have an opportunity to expand into your soul”

I remember the day my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. I felt numb. Within 3 days she was taken into surgery and I watched as the nurses wheeled her down the hallway. Feelings of helplessness washed over me as I watched her go into surgery. I had no idea if she would come out alive. I felt fear, grief, pain and more fear. How had she let this happen? How did we not see this coming? I could feel in my bones that my life would never be the same again.

The journey after that was a life altering journey. I became acutely aware of how the body is a replica of our thoughts and feelings. I understood this mentally and witnessing my mother go through two surgeries and full recovery from ovarian cancer opened the door for exploration in this area.

The body is a replica of our mind and emotions.

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What would it take to restore the original spiritual blueprint of the physical body? I knew in my gut that the body was meant to be healthy and alive.

I wanted to know what it took to prevent such terrifying diseases to manifest in the body and instead have a healthy and happy body. So I dived deep into personal development and wellness. I learned how the energy field is directly impacted by our thoughts. I imagined light flowing through my head and out of my hands and focusing with all my might on healing just one thing at a time. I discovered my gift to perform miraculous healings by calling in higher frequencies of light and believing there was no other option other than wholeness. I even healed my own body when the doctors said they wanted to do surgery.

What I discovered is that every thought we think and every feeling we feel is infused with a specific frequency or vibration. Perhaps you wake up feeling unhappy even if everything in your life is great. Perhaps you are struggling with your health or energy, or maybe you are wondering how to create more money or fulfillment in your life.

Every discomfort, tightness or twitch is a signal to slow down and tune in to your soul. Every time you feel tense or find yourself holding your breath, you have an opportunity to expand into your soul.

Your body responds to every thought and feeling and is full of messages for you. When you decide to stop suffering, fearing, struggling or worrying, you open the door for something magical to happen. You are designed to experience more feelings of joy, fulfillment, wholeness and completion in this life.

There is a universal longing that exists in the heart of humanity. We all want fulfillment, success, love, joy and health. However, searching for ways to create these in your life only adds to the gap we are trying to close. My mother is a living example of this. After her diagnosis, she realized that she had to stop searching on the outside for what she desperately wanted on the inside.

SLOW DOWN The key to having everything you want is to slow down.

Slow down enough to hear what your body is telling you. Slow down enough to breathe. Slow down enough to create what you want to create.

When you slow down, you are able to hear the whispers of your soul. Your soul is whole and complete. It needs nothing and knows everything. Listen to the guidance of your soul and pay attention to the undeniable impressions you get. Doing this will lead you to feeling health and wholeness on deeper levels. And that is why you have a body. It gives you messages you require to get back on track and stay on purpose. It guides you to the true essence of your soul, like your very own Soul Compass Rose.

GET TO KNOW YOUR SOUL The most powerful and profound way to soothe your human emotional experience and decrease emotional stress on your body is to get to know your own soul. Your soul is whole, complete, infinite and eternal. Spend time going on soul journeys. Explore what it might be like to live as a high vibrating individual. Soul journeys increase your vibration and lift you above the realm of certain human thoughts and emotions that cause 20

stress. This is essential to creating inner peace which creates peace in body, mind and spirit.

Your divine destiny requires you to know your own soul.

ELIMINATE ENERGY DRAINERS If there is anything in your life that stresses you out or drains you, then it is time to eliminate it.

These energy drainers can show up as not-so ideal clients, family drama, and negative self-talk or behaviors. When your life is filled with energy drainers it becomes challenging to create the life you dream of because there is no room for your dreams. When you wake up and are able to take a deep breath and know that certain negatives will not show up in your life because you have either created boundaries around them or simply removed them from your life, you will have more energy and focus. Your body will be relaxed and in many instances will begin to restore itself.

Vitality is normal. Depletion is not. Make a plan to eliminate what drains your energy and replace it with what you dream of so you can move forward and embody your soul’s purpose.

KNOW WHO YOU ARE One of the most powerful questions I have ever been asked came through in one of my coaching sessions when my coach said to me, “Who are you?” There was so much power in that question that I had nothing to say. There was silence. I could feel that question vibrating in my entire being and for a moment, it took my breath away.

Who am I really? This question catapulted me into the depths of my own soul.

I am LOVE. That is me. That is you.

The moment I got this, everything changed. I could simply BE with my life. There was no forcing or struggling. No manifesting or attracting.

Just BEING. You don’t have to force anything in your life. Everything can flow and be effortless when you allow yourself to just BE. Knowing who you truly are beyond the façade of who you think you are will set you free. And when you feel free, anything is possible.

Your body is the sacred vessel through which you can experience and live out your soul’s purpose. By focusing intentionally on slowing down, going on soul journeys, eliminating negatives and exploring who you truly are, you can discover the freedom, fulfillment and success you have dreamed of and perhaps known deep in your soul was possible.

Marilyn Rodriguez is “The Soul Compass Rose Coach” specializing in guiding thought leaders and visionaries to their TRUE purpose. She has shared the virtual stage with Marianne Williamson, Lisa Nichols and Marci Shimoff as well as other spiritual leaders. A third generation healer, Marilyn discovered her gifts at an early age and continues to transform lives with her gifts. Marilyn is available for one-on-one transformational soul compass rose coaching by application, media interviews and speaking engagements. For more information, contact Marilyn Rodriguez atmarilyn@themarilynrodriguez.com or 256-2589357.

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USE YOUR PHYSICAL BODY: IT’S YOUR COMPASS is telling you, you need to be willing to slow down, be mindful, and then act accordingly. If you don’t follow that inner knowing, eventually, your body will turn up the volume on the message. Turn it up so you can’t ignore it through your busy-ness and multi-tasking. Your body will MAKE you slow down with back pain, gastrointestinal issues, headaches, physically debilitating panic attacks, and many more physical cues.

What if there was something that could point you in the right direction with clarity and assurance when you are faced with a challenging situation or a difficult decision. Wouldn’t life be simpler if we had a built-in barometer to tell us when we are out of alignment or balance?

Are you ready for your life to become more simple? You are already in possession of this amazing fool-proof barometer. You don’t have to spend any money on the latest book or program — it is with you every day — IT is your body. The trick is, you need to be willing to listen to what it is telling you, AND not only listen, but also be ready to occasionally surrender logic in response to clear signals and messages leading you down the right path for you at this moment.

We’ve all had the experience of feeling something in our gut — a knowing that something is wrong or right, but how often do we follow it?

How can we know it is truth? When we are wedded to the path of multi-tasking and busy-ness, we can’t. To be able to tune in to what your body

You don’t need to wait for the alarm to sound, though. You can listen carefully, to the soft music of your heart that warns you against decisions and choices that will take you away from your truth and celebrates those that ring out joyfully, “This is the way!”

Stop. Breathe deeply – again and again. Connect. Listen. Act. Repeat.

Heather Doyle Fraser is a Transformational Life Coach and founder/owner of Beyond Change, LLC. As a coach, Heather works with highly successful people who feel blocked, stuck or lost in one or more areas of their lives. She holds the space for her clients as they move toward and acknowledge their inherent greatness while achieving their goals and vision for an extraordinary life. Heather’s mission is to inspire joy and transformation and give people the knowledge, skills, and strategies to live their most authentic and fulfilled lives.

If you would like to learn more about coaching or contact Heather, please visit her website atwww.beyondchangecoach.com or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @hdoylefraser.

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BODIES

finds this complicated? What IS balance? Why does it matter? Does it at all matter? As I rounded the first curve, I heard a whisper: they are all bodies that matter.

When I was asked to write this text about BODY, I was enthusiastic: What an amazing topic, how cool!

The same night I went to bed and fell asleep instantly. In my dream, I was a scientist researching something around the physical body. I needed a break, and took a walk in the garden to clear my thoughts. This lead me down a path of thoughts. On both sides of the path, were different kinds of bodies with different shapes and colors. They were many personalities. Dressed accordingly.

The body of a woman.

One of a man.

Then there was a kid, a young couple, an old rockstar with tattoos and a body builder. He had a scar on his left shoulder that looked like a heart. They moved slowly to the rhythm of a distant drum.

I was thinking about everything I have learned through life. To take care of my body, work out, eat healthy, create a body that reflects my inner self. Balance BODY, MIND and SOUL. However, what does that mean? Am I the only one that

I woke up, and right in front of me, I could see my mother. I blinked. My mother passed away in 2009, and was not supposed to stand there right in front of me, so I blinked again. She was gone, but the shape of her was still there. This lead to the final conclusion.

Bodies that matter are here, although we cannot always see them. They are here to remind us of the eternal wisdom that we can only imagine.

And in our imagination, we can see the shape of who we really are. If it matters.

Jamie Siv works together with her clients on realizing their life purpose by finding their gifts and talents. She uses the powerful tool of Archetypes, which, in a high vibration, contain all the gifts and talents that added up, point at the life purpose. Her webpage and Facebook pages are in Norwegian, however, Google is your friend, so Google translate anything you want to know. The sites will be in English before the summer. h t t p : / / j a t i l m e g . n o https://www.facebook.com/jatilmeg.no

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