Lessons Are Everywhere (in which I learn about myself in a most unusual way)

Posted on November 22, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 18 Conversations

Ever notice how anything in life can teach you if you let it?

While on retreat recently, as part of a group exercise I was invited to choose a leaf from a table covered with leaves of all shapes, colours and sizes. The beauty of fall lay before me.

While initially drawn to the intense red of the Japanese Maple, I found my hand reaching out to this leaf.

I didn’t question it or try to convince myself otherwise. I simply trusted my intuition, something I sometimes forget in the busyness of life.

The invitation was to notice if the chosen leaf had anything to teach me.

Funny how the oddest things seem perfectly natural when I’m on retreat.

Up in my room, I placed it on the desk where I did my writing.

And so I sat with my leaf.

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Choose Your Path

Posted on November 15, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 16 Conversations

Do you view life as a maze, full of challenges and competition OR as a labyrinth, an opportunity to find yourself along the path?

A maze is designed to confuse you and test your ability to solve the challenge of getting to the centre.

A labyrinth is unicursal, designed with one single path that always leads to the centre.

The Labyrinth at Rivendell

You are not born on one path or the other.

You get to choose your path.

Every single day.

Rational, logical, competitive, pressured ==> You’re in the maze.

Relaxed, present, connected to spirit ==> You’re walking the labyrinth.

Labyrinth thinking takes letting go of societal conditioning to get things done and win at all costs, ie: Who gets to the centre first? It takes letting go of traditional education’s conditioning to do it right and do as your told, ie: Follow the path exactly in order to get a gold star.

Notice your default view.

Maze or Labyrinth.

My work as a coach is not to tell you which path to choose.

It’s not about which path is right, but which path feels right for you.

If you’re alive you’re on the path.

Which would you rather walk?

Here I Am

Posted on November 14, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

Reflections From A Retreat

Here I am, again.

Reacquainted with my Self.

Time slows down,

Here.

Here, I am in need. . .

Of rest and connection.

It always seems easier,

Here.

Here I am, ready,

To let go of all plans.

To start anew,

Here.

Here, I am centred.

I am always here,

But I’m only now,

Remembering.

The Body Never Lies

Posted on November 7, 2011March 28, 2016 by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

“Your body has a story to tell you. In order to take better care of your body, you have to find out about its needs. And the best way of discovering what will nourish and nurture you is to simply ask yourself.” – Cigdem Kobu

If you’ve never asked yourself this type of question, you might be surprised at how your body responds, how willing it is to communicate.

Your body has a story to tell. Your job is to listen.

Listening to your body is about letting its messages come through; messages you’ve ignored or avoided, messages overshadowed by the busyness of life.

Not listening has a significant cost to your well-being as I remember so well.

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Let Them Eat Cake

Posted on November 4, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 15 Conversations

If every behaviour has a positive intention, instead of flogging yourself and donning a hairshirt, why not look back and see a lifetime of you taking care of you?

Shaking your head in disbelief and doubt? I know, I hear it from clients all the time. I’m not going to lie, I even have to remind myself now and then.

But think about it like this for a moment. . .

You wouldn’t keep doing the things you do unless there was value for you in there somewhere. You just wouldn’t.

The stuff you do that feels good ==> positive intent.

ie: You buy organic because it’s healthier for you and better for the environment, which leads back to you feeling good.

The stuff you do that you suffer about ==> positive intent.

ie: You ate the stale cupcake because in that moment you felt sad about a friend that passed away recently, which lead to a need for comfort and the cupcake reminded you of your mom and how she used to bake treats for you as a kid (comfort), which leads back to you feeling good.

See? Positive.

Whether it looks healthy and organic or iced and stale. . .all positive.

Are you getting this?

That’s why everything you do is self-care in some way.

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The End Is Always the Beginning

Posted on October 30, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 9 Conversations

The idea for this homage to self-care came out of a conversation with Cadi Jordan and Tara Cieko over lunch some time in early September. There we were enjoying lunch, conversation and a little pampering, when we found ourselves wondering how we could take better care of ourselves in general.

The three of us are extremely capable business women, but we noticed we didn’t always look after our own well-being the way we look after others. Business, clients, family. . .all frequently took precedence. Sad, but true and not unique to us as this comes up often for many of my clients.

Of course that got my little grey cells working!

What would it take to commit to self-care for one month?

That’s the question that got me thinking. As a solution-focused coach I’m all about finding ways to move forward rather than focusing on the ‘right’ or perfect solution, and in my experience that often takes getting creative and getting support.

Years ago I did a year-long personal development program with a core belief that anything you want is available through community. And so I began by reaching out to my network of coaches and consultants with a passion for human potential.

And what an extraordinary group of people I’m blessed to know. I was reminded of the saying, “if you can make a dream happen on your own, your dream’s not big enough.”

Improving or honouring your self-care may not seem like a big dream to some, but when you’re struggling in this area of life, feeling more energized and taken care of is HUGE.

But where to start?

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The First 66 Days of Taking Better Care of Yourself

Posted on October 29, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 30 Conversations

The Homage to Self-Care continues with C.A. Kobu delivering a generous helping of wisdom and self-care resources!

You’ve been reading fantastic articles about self-care during this month-long Homage to Self-Care.

You learned about different methods of practicing radical self-care.

[pullquote]“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional and mental states.” – Carol Welch[/pullquote]

You realized you could be selfish.

And you discovered the formula for an instant self-care vacation along with many other fabulous lessons.

Now you’re inspired enough to start a love affair with yourself. And the first step of that love affair is resolving to make self-care a deep-rooted habit.

How long will it take for you to be able to say that self-care is a part of your daily life?
When will you be able to feel the joy and comfort of having attended the needs of your mind, body and soul?

You must have heard that it takes 28 or 30 days to form a habit, but let me tell you that it’s not true.

66 Days in a Row

According to a recent research reported in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 66 days on average for a healthy resolution to become an enduring habit.

This means, unless you commit to taking better care of yourself for 66 days in a row, self-care will not a become a part of your life.

It will sit there in the air just as an idea you cherish and be excited about from time to time whenever something makes you realize how much you need to care for yourself.

It will remain as a “should” or a “must” but it will never be a soothing and healing part of your daily life. Thus, your love affair with yourself will be nothing but a one-night stand.

You don’t want that, do you?

So, I’m here to challenge you to commit to a 66-day program.

Will you join me? If you do, the rewards will be terrific and you will have formed a powerful habit of daily self-care!

You can’t cut your well-being out of any part of your life, including your business. So, it’s about time you (and I) started working on this long-neglected relationship.

[pullquote]“Motivation is not a matter of will-power, it is a matter of want-power.” – Paul Karasik[/pullquote]

But Be Careful About Your Motivators

Self-care should not stem from fear or blind ambition. It’s true that when you take better care of yourself, you become healthier, slimmer and more beautiful. But you should accept these delights only as the natural byproducts of self-care and not consider them the sole goal of your efforts.

In other words, commit to taking better care of yourself chiefly because you love yourself and you know you deserve that kindness.

Your Free 66-Day Self-Care Program

Each week of your 66-day self-care program includes a writing/journaling exercise, breathing and fitness exercises, meditation and/or yoga and another activity that will strengthen your relationship with your body.

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25 Breaks to Energize You

Posted on October 12, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 36 Conversations

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, stressed and drained in your day-to-day life isn’t it?

Inundated by email, voicemail and texts for starters, there’s an unspoken assumption that you should be available 24/7. And that’s before taking into account your kids, spouse or partner!

24/7 . . .

Do you really want to be that available?

I felt my energy drain just writing that!

The truth is everything in life is either giving you energy or draining it. The best way to combat the energy drain is to be at your most resourceful by building up and replenishing your energy throughout the day.

This is an opportunity to get creative and proactive about your self-care – a very good thing to take on during this month-long Homage to Self-Care

With a little attention, you can integrate these breaks into your life and with practice, develop new habits that top up your energy leaving you feeling better than ever.

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The System of You: Mind, Body & Spirit

Posted on October 3, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

You are a system that consists of mind, body and soul.

You are a system that consists of mind, body and spirit.

In this trinity, you probably have a preference, an area that comes effortlessly and alongside that, an area of challenge.

For me, the focus on the mind is taken care of with almost no thought as I read constantly, love learning and sharing what I’ve learned with others.

My spirit is cared for, although a bit less reliably, but I do make time to meditate, unplug and attend silent retreats as often as I can.

The system is challenged most in the physical, my body, and over time, this has taken a toll.

As I shared in the introduction to this month-long Homage, what works for me is to take things on in community with an aspect of accountability.

Well then, what better place to be held accountable than right here on my blog?!

Because here’s the thing…

Your body doesn’t lie.

This comes up a lot in my coaching work with clients.

Mostly because we don’t generally pay enough attention to what’s going on in our bodies and there’s a cost to that. A cost to our well-being and energy, but also to our emotional resourcefulness.

But instead of listening to our bodies, we ignore, rationalize and suppress most of the messages our bodies are giving us every day.

What do you think might show up if you really started paying attention, listening to those messages?

What positive impact would it have to check in with yourself throughout the day asking,

“What message is my body giving me right now?”

For example:

Your back twinges.
- Do you move away from your desk, stretch and/or make yourself a cup of tea?
- Or do you push through the twinge and keep working for another hour?
Your neck feels tense.
- Do you drop your chin, close your eyes and roll your neck from left to right feeling the tension release?
- Or do you give your shoulders a quick shrug and quickly get back to work?
Your belly growls.
- Do you jump up to grab a snack?
- Or do you check in, listening for what it needs. Food? Water? Distraction?

“No more words. Hear only the voice within.” – Rumi

Your body is constantly talking to you; are you listening?

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Paying Homage to Self-Care

Posted on October 1, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 53 Conversations

Homage: respect or reverence paid

Self-care: care for oneself

For a few months I’ve been shifting my focus to self-care due to some physical challenges. Nothing life threatening, but challenging none the less.

In my enthusiasm and passion for the work I love (coaching & writing), I’d been spending increasingly more time at my desk, focusing on my mind and forgetting the body and spirit part of the system.

Here’s what my body reminded me of. . .

It’s not about what you know, it’s about how you live and the choices you make each day.

Ouch. They say we teach what we most need to learn, and I’m getting the message loud and clear!

Brene Brown says that calm is the ability to manage your emotional reactivity.

Calm is a superpower.

Truth is, it’s pretty tough to manage your reactivity when you don’t feel resourceful or when you’re body’s in crisis.

The shift to focusing on myself, specifically my body has not been easy and it doesn’t come naturally to me.

My tendency is usually to focus on and be there for others, and I know I’m not alone in this.

Friends, family, clients – I hear it often – everyone is challenged by the daunting task of taking care of ourselves.

Why is that?

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