Perspectives Issue 10: December, 2012
In This Issue
- Living Into the Change
- Upcoming Workshop: Tools for Getting Unstuck
- New Coaching Group starts in January
- Individual Facilitation
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I was sitting down to write an article for this month’s newsletter this morning, feeling a little frantic because of all the other wonderful but… present (as in, needing to be done in the present) things on my plate right now, and in my email inbox was a newsletter from my friend and yoga teacher, Eugene Lewins. Feeling in need of the calm, reflective wisdom that I so often find in his newsletter (and his class), I set aside my rising sense of “I can’t get it all done” stress and took a minute to savor his words.
That 60 seconds opened me up again to that lovely spacious stillness that lives inside me, but so often gets “lost” in the noise in my daily life. His article was so resonant with the work I’ve been doing with people in the last month or two that I emailed him for permission and am passing the gift along (and in the process, giving myself permission to not write an article of my own this month; Ah, spaciousness). Enjoy!
Living Into the Change
A guest article by Eugene Lewins
Teaching yoga this week, thinking of the students in the room and their own stories, of cancer recovery, of heartbreak over adult children’s struggles, of moving beyond chronic shoulder pain, of daring to get back into yoga after major surgeries, I was struck by an insight so visceral that it was hard to keep saying words to the room. Tears welled behind my eyes as I realized how hard we are all trying to envision a future beyond these challenges, how much effort we are putting to be in that future, and yet at the same time we are all yearning to be in this present moment.
How do we live in the present without feeling stuck? As if it was somehow settling. After all, our optimistic American nature, our new frontier hope, calls us to something more than staying at home.
And suddenly I realized that our yoga practice is really daring us to live in the change. In the transition. In the be-coming.
The present is not the stuck place. That is the past. We are in the gear-slip wind-tousling wrenching-free movement that is the change. A flexibility which is not just about muscles – about time itself, about not standing still.
We had done one side of the classic hamstring strap-stretch, and as we paused, I invited class to check into the softness of the body, to resist the urge to ‘complete’ the pose. And then, once reconnected to the breath, even then don’t move into the future – instead let it come to us as this second side of the stretch, as this next stage of our life.
Perhaps we become new, not by forcing our awareness into the future, but by focusing on the change that is happening right here in this moment, and letting the future come to us – with all its terror, joy and hope.
Eugene Lewins teaches yoga, provides therapeutic massage, and is about to have his first novel published. You’ll find more articles, and more information on all these things, at his website.
Join the Conversation
I’d love to hear what you are discovering. You can share your experiences and response to this article in the comments box at the bottom of this page.
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Upcoming Workshops
Tools for Getting Unstuck – free at the Multnomah County Library
Feeling stuck is an experience common to us all. It stifles our creativity, brings up judgment and anxiety, and wastes a lot of time. Come spend three hours in this highly interactive workshop learning some ways to get out of stuck spots, make decisions you’ll feel good about and create the forward motion you need to create the changes you desire. These techniques can be used at a personal level and in organizations (workplaces, boards, families, recreational and creative organizations, etc.).
Date and Time: Thursday, February 21st, from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Multnomah County downtown library, SW 10th and Taylor.
This workshop is free, and preregistration is invited, but not required. If you would like to preregister (which tells them I am an exciting speaker!), the CRN is 17844, and info on how to preregister is in the workshop descriptions below.
Creating Your New Year
What changes do you want to create for yourself in the coming year? Take a Saturday afternoon to reflect on what you most want, set some clear goals for your new year that are rooted in your core values, and learn some tools for making change happen.
Date and Time: Saturday, February 9th from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Portland Community College Southeast Center, at SE Division and 82nd, Tabor Hall, room 145
Cost and Registration: Pre-registration is required. The CRN is 17298. The cost is $29. You can register online (the most efficient way), or by calling 971-722-8888, pressing 2 and then pressing 2 again.
Creative Problem Solving
Creativity is never more important than when you’re searching for an answer. Come spend three hours in this highly interactive workshop learning some ways to tap into your most creative self when tackling any problem.
Date and Time: Wednesday, March 13th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Location: Portland Community College Southeast Center, at SE Division and 82nd, Tabor Hall, room 140
Cost and Registration: Pre-registration is required. The CRN is 17302. The cost is $29. You can register online (the most efficient way), or by calling 971-722-8888, pressing 2 and then pressing 2 again.
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New Coaching Group starts in January
A new Creating Your Year coaching group will start in January. This group will focus on supporting you to move through the year in ways that deepen your relationships with yourself, your strengths, and your desires.
It will offer:
- Time set aside to focus just on you and what you want to be creating
- Honest, open, reflective conversations with others who are creating change in their own lives
- New tools for figuring out what you most want, getting out of stuck spots and accessing your strengths, your imagination, your best self
The group will meet on the second Tuesday of each month between January and November 2013 (10 sessions total because we skip either July or August), with an optional day-long retreat in the summer. We meet at my home in outer SE Portland.
There are more details on the website page dedicated to this group.
Want to register?
If you want to register, contact me to let me know, and to get information about where to to send a check for $75 to reserve your spot.
Questions?
If you are intrigued, but have questions that are not answered on the website, please contact me; I’d love to talk with you about the group.
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Individual Facilitation
If you are feeling stuck and want to do more in-depth work to move through your stuck spots and begin creating the life you want to be living, I invite you to do three months of individual facilitation (“coaching”).
We will focus in on what is most alive for you, most stuck, most confusing, and discover ways for you to access your own deep wisdom and to release old patterns that have stopped serving you and are preventing you from making the changes you want to make. Individual facilitation is practical — learning and action are integrated, so you are actually taking the steps you want to be taking while getting more clarity about what makes these changes challenging and how to make it easy. The cost for three months of facilitation is $425.
You will find information about individual facilitation with me on that page if this website.
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Call for Questions
Are there things you are struggling with, or coaching-related things you are curious about, that you’d like to see me write about in this eNewsletter? I’d love to know what they are. Please email me at Tasha@LifeWorkChanges.com and if I feel like I can address it in the newsletter format, I will.
Happy almost Winter Solstice!
Tasha
PS: Pass it on
If you know someone who’d benefit from this newsletter, please pass it on to them. Thanks for helping me connect with the people who want what I’ve got to offer.
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