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Identify what matters over what is the matter

6/28/2013

Lifestyle coaching as a profession is awesome!.. I feel humbled and honoured all at the same time to be a part of the process in people's growth and development. My role is to not 'fix' or to offer advice, (other coaches may do this), but it's simply to help people unlock their own potential through what is known as a person centred approach. We all get a bit clouded at times, losing sight of the bigger picture. More often than not we get caught up in the details of things we can not control, like whose saying what and whose doing what to whom. Whilst very real, if we arn't careful we can actually start to let it adversely affect us, taking us further away from where we want to be in our lives.. All of us have experienced some sort of injustice or conflict, although for some people the experiences are so extreme they go way beyond what is imaginable. Our feelings of anger, sadness, right and wrong in our own minds are all justified. We are all unique individuals and no two lives are exactly the same. These unique experiences shape us and are responsible for every decision we ever make. My role as a facilitator in lifestyle management isn't to try and change people, but it is to try and help people balance things up with helping them remember the other important values that lay within them as well, the nice 'stuff' that gets pushed away by the yucky stuff. Although the mechanics behind what I do has it's roots in neuroscience, the delivery is simple, safe and non threatening, it can even be fun. My model of coaching isnt for everybody, there has to be an absolute conviction to leave the old habits behind which have been identified as liabilities. Coupled with this the desire to awaken previous successes or to be open enough to create new habits. Coping better with stress doesnt mean a free ticket from life's challenges, but it does mean a less adverse impact and for lesser time frame. My ongoing training is non clinical, which makes it often difficult to work in a health system which is based on the medical and pathological model. All norms, measurements and statistics are largely gathered from this model. My training in narrative counselling skills, and people like Dr Kerry Spackman are my influence. Kerry is a kiwi neuroscientist who brings understanding to the body/mind/and spirit connection in a practical way which seems to resonate with the determined logical types who like a bit of structure combined with the flexibility to be open enough to change. Im not here to tell others what to do, Im here to live a life that matters to me and in the process hopefully I can pass that on to others. No one can ever take way our thoughts, they are ours to own. My testimonials speak for themselves you can check them out online @

Www.carlascoachingforhealth.com

Kia kaha

Carla

www.carlascoachingforhealth.com

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Judgement free is an illusion

6/18/2013

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Stigma and discrimination manifest as a result of silent and powerful judgments. If you consider yourself to be judgement free...think again. It's impossible – we all have them, it's just mostly we arn't aware of them and the impact that they have on us and how they manifest in our relationships, cultures, spirituality, community, societal norms, the world over!. Ignorance might be bliss for some, but it's also responsible for all conflict through our lack of ability to try and understand another human being. Unlocking mindful doors which question who we are and how we fit is for most people too scary!.. Unleashing a hunger for awareness and understanding others will and does change us. Understanding has its roots in our own individual thoughts values and belief systems. These beliefs of ours have been formed from our predisposition and/or the environment in which we have been subjected to from our early years. We are imprinted by the values of the generation before us, who were imprinted from the one before them and so on. This is evolution. What we do with these imprints forms the basis of our choices we make, consciously and subconsciously. Difference between people need not be threatning, we don't have to sacrifice our own beliefs to try and understand someone elses. How can we when every individual on this planet has had a unique and completely different life experience? However there is a point that can be reached to transcend all conflict but it takes looking at ourselves first. To reduce conflict stigma and discrimination actually starts with ourselves. Get informed about who you think you are and open up doors that you are possibly not even aware of yet. Open up to your potential and be flexible enough to know that you are not always right and you are not always wrong.

Carla

www.carlascoachingforhealth.com

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Just WHO is in charge of our thoughts?

6/6/2013

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Change can be very challenging, it requires stepping into unknown and uncertain territory, yet all of us have been doing it from birth. Change is fundamental to our human development, both personally and as a species. As an 'older' person I now tend to see change as more of an opportunity to keep developing as opposed to something which should be feared. The bigger the change the bigger the potential for growth. My life has been a whirlwind of change since my adolescent years and to survive it I have had to find new ways to look at things. I was pleased to recently discover that science can now give us more understanding into the reasons why change is so hard, and it lies in our brain circuitry. Our environment causes us to think in certain ways, which then makes us feel certain feelings, and how we feel re-affirms our thinking and round it goes. In other words, we feel exactly the way we are thinking and vice versa. Lets hope that our perceptions are accurate because they will set our conditioning, which can also change us on a cellular level. That's why stress is so important to identify and reduce as early as possible before the body manifests stress related illness or disease. Those of us who want our lives to be different need to think bigger than our environment – we need to resist our very selves at times. Nerve cells that fire together – wire together, so thinking differently will create new brain circuitry. No longer is this pie in the sky stuff, this is science, and we can create different thinking given the opportunity, the time, effort and most importantly the personal desire to change our conditioning. Most people arnt interested in the mechanics so I describe this to my clients as turning the good stuff up until the destructive stuff loses it's power over us. It takes practise and requires certain strategies which are targeted for specific reasons. Gone are the days of new agey wishful thinking and unrealistic affirmations, alone they are not enough, they need to be coupled with practicalities. When wanting change, identifying the problem and barriers is important, however constantly dwelling on the problem in itself becomes a barrier. Sometimes support groups, although with good intention, can keep people stuck in their thinking and feeling cycle. Opening up to new ways of thinking and behaving can expose hidden strengths and qualities which may be lying dormant just waiting for an opportunity to shine!..We only know ourselves up to our current stage of development but rest assured there is much more that lies within, we just need help sometimes to discover what that may be, and we can only find these qualities through change.
Carla www.carlascoachingforhealh.com

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Identify what matters over what is the matter

Judgement free is an illusion

Just WHO is in charge of our thoughts?

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