Thoughts from Zion on Life Coaching and the origin of Anxiety.

This episode is divided into three segments. The first is about the uniqueness of life coaching, the second is the origin of anxiety and the third is more about the magic of living life in the now. This was originally recorded at Zion National Park. I suggest you watch the YouTube video as it certainly is more spectacular as a visual medium. The link to my YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAObeal0Ij6c_9r4GHLVPg. We recorded this in remote locations in upper Zion National Park. It is one of my favorite places on Earth. Some of you may know that my first career was as a geologist as my first degree was in science and geology. I was fortunate to have completed my Master's thesis on the rocks at Zion, so I know it well. On my Retreats I take people to this beautiful secluded place. Now let’s turn our attention to the difference between therapy and the type of life coaching that I do. Talk therapy, as most of you probably know, is where you come in to a therapist, sit down and talk about your issues. You might discuss what's happening during your day, during your week or spend months or even years talking about a wide variety of past issues and experiences. That’s not what I do. While most of my clients have already had some therapy it’s not required. What is different is that I want you to move forward faster as we focus upon where you want to go instead of where you have been. We assume you have a degree of knowledge about how your past has created your present-day life. To this purpose I do a combination hypnotherapy, guided meditation and life coaching so that we integrate into our program the idea that you are moving forward, not backwards. Letting go of the past, focusing on where you want to go and energizes this direction. We do it in a variety of ways to create a healthier subconscious mind, a healthier ego, that allows you to do deeper work because you are now stronger, more present and able to overcome the resistance of your subconscious mind. From this healthier state of mind, we move into deeper emotional work, if necessary, letting go of old issues and releasing the past in a more effective way. We are doing emotional release work and inner parts work as those parts integrate back into you as a result of this process. From this healthier place you are now open to living life in the moment, in the now. This means living a life where your old, psychological thoughts of worry and fears and doubts begin to diminish and then fade away, allowing you time and focus to enjoy places like this magnificent setting in Zion. You undoubtedly have recognized sometime in the past when you saw a beautiful sunset or mountain scenery, that your mind was quieted, momentarily still in that moment. You were in the now, without thought or interference of your negative subconscious mind. In these moments your ego is diminished and you're able to experience life as your true self, the real you that you want to be. Once you begin to experience this on a daily basis everything in your life changes for the better. People come to see me with a variety of issues and they find that underlying nearly every issue lies anxiety. This anxiety is a fear from your subconscious mind that things aren’t totally in control, that bad things could happen any time or in the future. Your subconscious mind wants to come and protect you. Unfortunately, it's like an overly protective parent who would be happiest if you never left the house. That’s right, it would like you to stay at home and watch TV all day long. It’s like that old saying, ships are safest in the harbor, but they're meant for the open seas. You are not meant to stay in the house. You were meant to get out and explore, travel, meet new people. When clients come to see me, they want to overcome their old anxiety, their old fears and concerns. They know what they want to do, but the issue resides within their subconscious mind and they aren’t sure how to change it. They learn that their ego has within it old wounds and issues that are released like time bombs by present day events. Now they are overwhelmed and might even suffer a panic attack, totally out-of-control even though their logical mind tells them there is nothing to feel panicked about. Their ego overwhelms them and they are into a full-blown emotional, mental and physical meltdown. As you get healthier in mind, body and spirit you find that you take control more and more now and those old issues of losing control just fade away. From this healthier place, you begin to experience living life in the now. Clients come to see me and tell me, “That sounds great, but how do I do that? How do I get there with all the things I need to address in my daily life? Who as the time or the energy?” We then discuss how to take it one step at a time. To first create a healthier ego, then release old emotional beliefs and issues, so that finally you have the ability with a healthier subconscious mind to begin to explore living life in the now. From this healthier state of mind, you begin to use present day challenges as openings to explore living in the moment. Your life begins to change in small, yet profound ways. Relationships improve, both at work and at home. You just feel better about you. It’s as if you have new eyes to see what you once missed, to hear more within and without, to sense with a new perspective. With this quieter mind you have more energy, for you no longer waste it on inner and outer conflict. Things just don’t trigger you as much anymore. Thus begins that brand new and better chapter of your life. One filled with amazing experiences and unique perspectives that reflect the true individual that you rediscover. You find what fits best for you in a healthier way. Your eating improves, your exercise continues to fit your needs and life finally feels like you are in control in a positive way. For the only real control you need is no control at all. You once felt a need to control when you were not in alignment with who you were or what you wanted. You had to control yourself and your environment. One of the reasons we do retreats in beautiful locations like Zion is that here you can experience nature and yourself in a new way. Without the worries and concerns pressing upon you it’s okay to rediscover who you are and how you feel connected in nature. Thoreau said that, “Wildness is the preservation of the world”. Not wilderness, wildness. We need to reconnect with our own wild self that is not held down by old programming or what others told us we had to do or become. Don’t worry about going out and becoming an out of control wild person, for intelligence directs this energy. Imagine the freedom you feel when you wake up in the morning excited about life looking forward to the day, no matter who you're around, no matter what job you have, you're the one that matters. It comes from you as you take charge of your life. Allow the healthiest you do to come forth. Experience what’s it’s like to explore life without psychological thoughts of fear, worry and concern. As your unhealthy ego diminishes you naturally are able to live the life you want to live, to experience what it’s like to be an authentic you. Your destiny is to thrive and create, moving forward, continually aware of how much better your life becomes when you become that part of you that I know you had contact with before. This part of you has always within you, waiting to burst forth, and all you have to do is allow it to flower. That’s all that is keeping you from becoming your authentic self, to help you move forward, and take away what's stopping you from being the person you're meant to be, so that you can live your life in the now.