Going Slow to Go Fast

Despite a house full of kids, the chaos of dogs and paying bills I am at peace.

I just came from 4 days on Destination Coach- in their own words:

"This is where you uncover your own Inspired Future, whilst also learning how to influence, inspire and coach others into their future." from the Inspired Future Website- www.inspiredfuture.org


I was going in to be a support on this one, providing optional CranioSacral Therapy treatments to the participants. Everyone took us up on the offer and that is a totally other wonderful story.

When I arrived I was invited to fully participate- an opportunity I jumped at.

I'm going to back up to the week leading up to the event.

Have you ever wrestled with going away? My ego was on full alert- and I received a visit from a gremlin from my past. This particular gremlin loves to say "That's enough, you don't need any more". I'm going away in both April and May and the story I started to tell myself was- enough...enough....

Of course this is not accurate and I shushed this and went anyway.

The result.

I gave my husband a chance to shine (and he did), I met some AMAZING people and fell in love with some new parts of myself.

One of Aileen Gibbs lessons is "Go Slow to Go Fast" and that's how I feel today- these 4 days are going to propel me forward- more because I lost resistance than 'gaining' anymore. I let things go.

This is not meant as an ad for Inspired Future (although I can't think of anyone who would not benefit).

I just wanted to capture the value of time out. The value of reflection and connecting with yourself and others in a deep and meaningful way.

Not only this but it hit me that I thought I didn't need it- I did! I am not always the best judge of what I need- ha ha ha.

I am so grateful that I was open enough to accepting this time away and my families help.

I am energized towards finishing my book and responding to business.

I am filled up.

Sound good?

You Matter

I invite you to take this in, "I Matter".

How does that make you feel? How much do you believe it? Can you
just sit with it?

The truth is - you matter- there is a plan for us to remember
that we are all connected and that we are One.

You have a part to play in this.

Your part is unique. No looking outside of yourself, no comparisons,
no following anyone else can tell you what that is.

That's all, I need to go to bed now- but I wanted you to know that
I matter, and you matter- all of you.

Your Life Is Art

Today’s piece is two parts- one part point, one part soapbox!

Love you, enjoy.

Your Life is Art

What if you went to a gallery and only stood in one spot for every item? What if you walked through the gallery quickly- glancing at each item- “I like it, I hate it, like, like, hate, hate, hate”.

Art galleries invite us to stop, invite us to take things in, invite us to walk around a piece and take in all of its nuance and to truly experience the piece. Lighting, set up and atmosphere are purposefully orchestrated to have us slow down and focus.

Imagine a situation you have had recently- one with an emotional charge. Put that on the pedestal in your mind and step back. Step back and take a look. Walk around it.

Give yourself different perspectives walking closer and then further away. What do you see? What do you feel? Is it exactly the way you ‘perceived it’ at first sight.

Okay, let’s ground this in a true story.

My daughter is almost 13. Breathe. She gets up in the morning and mopes about, tries to get out of going to school (every morning since she was 6).

On the mornings when I look at the story from 2D – stand in one position I get this “Smarten up, you are messing up my morning by being so grumpy, get your butt to school and with a smile on your face, why do I have to do this every morning!!! AARRGHHH!”.

When I step back and take in the story I see how beautiful she is, I see how funny it is that we play this game EVERY morning, I see that this will not last forever, I see that most of the times she is smirking under the mope and if I don’t focus on the mope the smirk grows and the mope fades. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

In shifting perspective I can get the beauty.

And one more thing….

Do you like to go to art galleries alone? Sometimes. Often however, we enjoy looking at things with another person. We enjoy sharing the experience and it grows richer.

Truly this is the role of coaches and counselors.

Recently I have heard this sentiment a lot “why are there so many coaches?, everyone and their dog are now calling themselves a coach!” It is an emerging field, but I hazard a guess that there are still more hairdressers then coaches. I can’t think of anyone who would not benefit from having a great coach.

Aileen Gibb puts it beautifully:

“My purpose as a coach is to:

• Be another pair of eyes for my client to see with.
• Be another pair of ears for my client to listen with.
• Be another voice to ask questions my client might otherwise ignore or avoid.
  

Being A Coach, Inspired Future Publishing, 2010

Like a fantastic hairdresser a coach or counselor can be a true gift you give yourself.

Your life is a piece of art- every single moment- **take**it** in**.

Hot Tips for a Happy Life
January 2011


I haven't been inspired to do my newsletter for the last two months but after hearing and seeing the raft of "Top _____ of 2010" I was thinking about what 'tip' made me the HAPPIEST in 2010.

After thinking for a little while, this one story keeps coming back- I think of this comparison often and I hope it's helpful to you too.

I would love to hear your top 'happy maker' in the comment section- would be great to create a list.

Thank You for your support in 2010, it was a year abundant in amazing people.

I am grateful to tears for the conversations and the wise teachers of 2010-
thank you, thank you, thank you.

Blessings to you into 2011,
May your year be all that you want it to be.

Love,
Fawna
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A Big Assumption

The thought that has been most helpful in maintaining happiness this year is

........(drum roll)......

God Loves Me.

I know that all three little words are emotionally charged-

GOD- insert whatever word you like for a benevolent creative force.

Loves- insert a word that you can grasp- caring, compassionate, unconditional positive regard (a counseling term) and

ME- by me I am referring to that changeless perfection- that full value that never goes away- the original you.

I will explain with a word picture- please stay with me as it might not make sense at first.

I trust McDonalds, I trust them so much that when I go to the drive thru window I order confidently, I order and I drive forward. I expect them to deliver exactly what I want and in 5 minutes or less. If they do not provide me with what I want I am MAD!!! No straws? No fries? watch out.


Now, here is me with the Divine. I put in my order, I reword my order and put it in again. I order again, I order again, I beg, I do a bit of bargaining...Sometimes I drive forward, but usually just a bit and then I go back to the order window- "did you get that?", "did you hear me?", "maybe if I light a candle, chant and wear the right shirt?".

I trust McDonalds, I am getting better at Trusting God.

I am getting better at trusting that God Loves Me- it changes the way that I look at everything, it changes what I expect, it changes how I see the people around me.

Now, before I go on, I need to squeeze this metaphor a little bit more.

I don't want anyone to get the impression that I believe that if I order a car, a relationship or a full night of sleep at the Divine Drive Up window that if I just drive forward I will get it. God loves me. She knows what I really want.

At the Divine Drive Inn the menu reads like this:

Faithfulness
Gentleness
Goodness
Joy
Kindness
Patience
Love
Peace.

The price that I need to pay is only this thought

- that I am not worth it-

in all the ways that that this thought shows up (for me it's usually guilt).

If I put in an order for this menu, I will get it- I've tried it this year, if I ask and trust it will be there I will dine on the menu item of my choice.

The funniest part, usually while I am driving forward I look over and- bam- there it is- it was
with me all the time.

Happily Yours,
Fawna

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2011 Events

May 10 and 11 I will be hosting Jason Warwick- a 'Messenger of Peace' and ACIM teacher
He will be doing a Tuesday evening workshop in Calgary
and a day workshop in Longview on Wednesday- with a movie night!!

90 minute healing sessions, flexible times available

More Kitchen Table Awareness coming...

www.fawnabews.com for more details

HOT TIPS FOR A HAPPY LIFE- NOVEMBER

Hot Tips for a Happy Life
November 2010

Hello,

The way this month has gone you probably would have liked a hot tip sooner,
a hot anything!

I have been wanting to write on the subject of today's newsletter for quite a while.

Today, after spending the day in the mall with my 3 children, it is top of mind!

Acceptance: today I had to accept that 13 year olds are not that excited about
Santa pictures, that 12 year old girls do not have a lot of patience, particularly
with 4 year old brothers who ask a lot of questions and change every song to
include the word 'poop' in it.

I had to accept that when shopping with the agenda's of 4 different people the
ability to stay peaceful is less easy.

The last few months the tips have been based around 'noticing' your thoughts.
Once they are noticed the next step to happy is acceptance.

It is what it is,
Love,
Fawna
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ACCEPTANCE

Have you ever felt the frustration of going on a full rant and having someone say
"you just have to accept it". Accept a 'broken' healthcare system, children getting hurt or starvation in Africa???

The clearest I've been able to get on this is that acceptance means looking clearly at
what is in front of you and having a sense that 'it is what it is', taking away the
suffering aspect- the arguing aspect.

This does not mean that you don't notice how something might be improved-
or hold you back fromtaking inspired action on those thoughts. Acceptance is
not necessarily a passive decision.

What has helped me with acceptance are babies and flowers. Babies cannot walk,
they cannot talk, they poop their pants- but are they 'broken'? They are babies.
Flowers grow in a process, when they break through the dirt we are not disappointed
that they are not in bloom- we trust in growth. We trust in growth.

Have you ever considered that our health and education systems in Canada are
100 years old- thisis pretty young in the whole scheme of things.

I just watched a program tonight that described human time on earth as a 'blink'
in earth time- we are young. I heard the saying once "What can we expect, none
of us has been raised by an adult yet". Does that resonate with you?

In most situations if we had ALL of the information we would be able to 'accept' what
we see has happened or is happening. As it is we have a sliver of information with which
to take in information. If we could see it all we would also be able to see that things can
move forward, there is a way to connect to this- but that is another story, . for the purposes
of this article you might just try 'trusting' that if you knew the big picture it would make more sense.

Don't get me wrong- acceptance to me does not mean that something is okay or great.
I would never say to an abuse victim- you just need to accept it- what I have heard from people who have been abused though is that they truly move forward once they come to this decision themselves.

So, what is the problem with NOT accepting? Not accepting is not trusting, not trusting is fear. Fear offersthree options: Fight, Flight or Freeze. These three options have done little to aid our human growth.

I am not implying apathy in any way by suggesting acceptance, I am encouraging trusting a way forward andlooking for your part in it.

Our greatest improvements have been based in people being willing to take a total look at something, offer compassion and offer nourishment. Like the babies and the blooms,
how can you nourish an immature event in your life? A marriage, a frustration, world peace!

Finally, and you can probably predict this- most important is self-acceptance. Our self judgements are not always readily obvious, but underneath most judgment of other people
is the shadow of our own self loathing.

Try this "I Accept Myself, right now, just as I am"- journal what comes out- thoughts, feelings, arguments, agreements. On a scale of 1-10 how close are you to fully accepting yourself. In your minds eye push thatlittle guage up to 10 and see how it feels.

The truth is, you are perfect, just the way you are. Whether you are fully blooming or just pushing through the
dirt, you are connected and part of a perfect whole.

Peace to you as you prepare for Christmas
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UPCOMING EVENTS

Currently I have no upcoming events, I am happy to come and teach/ share a circle for your group. If you are interested in the area's of 'the ego', 'who am I, truly', the etheric/unseen world, the chakra's/energy world, how to connect to your body, the mind or spirit or how to truly listen- please call me and we will set something up.

Byron Katie Workshop at Highwood River Inn
Author of "Loving What IS"
A trained factilitator of 'The Work'- Paul, will be doing a 3 day intensive in February.
If you truly want to dig out the BS that is interfering with your happiness- this is
the course for you. Contact me for more information.

$60 hour treatments in my cozy cabin will come to an end at the end of this year.
Prices will be going up, If you would like to purchase gift certificates I will make that available on my website or you can contact me directly.

Celebrating Gentle

Celebrating Gentle

When I’m asked “what is CranioSacral Therapy” I almost always use the word “gentle”.

After months of chemotherapy, acupuncture, radiation and every medical test known to man (or so it seemed) I was SO relieved to experience gentle.

Not only was the experience amazing, the results- a return of my energy and freedom from pain, led me to train in this ‘gentle’ modality.

Have you noticed how harsh our North America has become, the commercials, the music, the media? Not a lot of ‘gentle’ reporting on Fox news!

Don’t get me wrong- there is a time and a place for force- opening Ketchup jars, splitting firewood or firemen kicking in doors or instance.

What I am thinking about is balance- let us not save gentleness for babies, small animals and new love.

Like the light touch of CranioSacral (generally no greater than the weight of a nickel), how much more effective might we be if we used kinder and softer words, gentle reactions, gentle self talk?

Draw some gentle into your day today, take a quiet walk, watch your words (yes, the ones in your head too!) embrace yourself as you would a newborn.

In your meditation, or the quiet minutes before you get up – taste the word gentle on your tongue- think the word and try to feel and absorb gentle into every part of you.

My experience is that gentle can be an exquisite form of strength.

In the words of Ghandi “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” And I know that you are a world shaker!

Fear and Public Washrooms

Likely connection right?

This morning I was thinking about fear and wanting a metaphor to ground it for me. I like to do that, think in stories and pictures to make abstract concepts easier to grasp.

So, I was thinking of fear and I asked Holy Spirit (use whatever inner wisdom word you like here) to help me with that one.

Well, as is often the case, the answer that showed up made me laugh.

Fear is like a public washroom, a necessary evil for a time. There are times when you just have to go in, get done what needs to get done and then GET OUT! Don't hang out in there!!!!

It can be nasty in there, it can be smelly and yucky and uncomfortable, get in, get out.

What do I mean by 'do what needs to be done', not in the bathroom- you know that part, but what about fear. There are times on the way Home that you need to sit with your fear, don't ignore it. The metaphor still works here- you will get a stomach ache- or something worse if you just pretend that it is not happening.

Deal with it, go to that place, be there, do what needs to be done. This can be forgiveness, noticing, finding a way to let it go-for me it is remembering where I came from and who I truly am- and wash your hands of what you don't want hanging around. Practice mental and spiritual hygiene.

I mentioned near the beginning that this is just on the way Home, so will this always be the case? NO! Here is the light at the end of the tunnel, a time will come when you are just done with it. When you accept that you are one with all, let go of duality and are in the now, then the public washroom and a beautiful meadow are no different- because you are there. In complete presence you can see and experience the underlying fabric of wonder. You can actually look for it right now if you like- it's always there.

In the mean time, same advice for a public washroom, go into fear (or it's siblings- anger, guilt, worry), do what is necessary and as quickly as possible- get out, back into the light of day.

Any thoughts?