coachjoelle.com

Hi Guys!

Did you know I possess an amazing superpower?!

That’s right, I, Joelle Prochera can create clouds in my living room!!!

Let me elaborate.  Have you ever had a time in life when everything just seemed a little dimmer, when the colors were less bright and life seems somehow distant and removed? 

Have you noticed how a room, any room – your office, your bedroom, your living room – can be a place of possibility, creativity and joy one day, and can transform into a dark, cold and lifeless place on another, depending on the mood or perspective we bring to the moment. 

That’s it! That’s what I’m talking about – creating clouds in your living room!

I remember the moment I realized I had this awesome power.  The insight I gained that day has deeply affected my ability to access happiness in my own life and today my intention is to share what I have learned so you can access more power over your own.

It was Arizona, in the spring of 2001.  Entering into my 3rd year in the land of perpetual sun, I had long ceased checking the weather channel.  I did not even need to open my eyes in the morning to know that the day had a 95% chance of being warm and sunny (the other 5% it was HOT and sunny.)

Despite the blaring sun and brilliant blue sky, on this day, as I sat at my dining room table, I realized that I was in a decidedly un-sunny mood.

In fact, I felt awful. Totally blah.

I am sure if anyone were to peak in on me, I must have been quite a mess.  My eyes were scrunched up and I had a sour look on my face. My shoulders were hunched over and I was a million miles from feeling even remotely motivated to do anything enlivening or productive.

This was a problem. 

I had things to do! Back then, I was a fledgling coach, thick in the middle of my education, with hours of reading and homework awaiting my focus and attention.  This was no way for a coach to feel!  I had to get it together fast!

The more I sat and stewed the more I became frustrated.  How could I be grumpy or angry or bummy? I had lives to change, for heaven sakes! It was completely unacceptable.

But I couldn’t just snap out of it.

And I became truly concerned.

How could I suddenly feel so wrong when less than 24 hours before, everything was fine.  Or at least it seemed fine.

Wait a minute!! Maybe it wasn’t fine and I just didn’t realize it!!

After all, something had to be wrong with my life, wrong with ME, that I would feel this bad and this lifeless, I reasoned.

Desperate to understand my foul mood, I began scavenging for what was amiss so I could fix it!

True, on the surface, my life looked fine.  But if I strained and focused and dug down enough, there indeed appeared to be some small cracks in my fabulous life.  Hungry for answers, I stuck my nails into those cracks and pried them wide open.

The more I scrutinized each part of my life, each piece of me, the more I realized there was actually a heck of a lot wrong! 

Clearly I was not living up to my professional potential. That must be why I feel so awful!  Ah Ha!

My boyfriend was not being as sweet as usual. Perhaps it’s time I get a new one.  I think we’re getting somewhere here!

I was living in a fabulously-decorated apartment that resembled living at a resort, but it wasn’t a house.  That was definitely wrong! Clearly, if I was good enough and successful enough, I would have bought some real estate already!  That must be it!

And don’t even get me started about the size of my…..  Bingo!

Then a moment of clarity caused an abruptly halt to my brutal assault.

Everything got really quiet as a curious thought fought its way into my awareness.

Maybe, just maybe, there was no “REAL” reason that I felt bad. 

Maybe I just felt bad because my body was having a bad day.

Maybe I was hungry or dehydrated.

Maybe I was “hormonal”.

Or maybe, as my mom would so often suggest (and I would vehemently deny) I just needed a nap.

Maybe there was nothing wrong at all and tomorrow I would wake up to a new day full of hope and possibility!

Wait a minute!

UNLESS….

What if I wake up tomorrow and I feel better physically, BUT I am left with these hard won stories of why my life sucks!

Whoa!!

Let’s just say it was one of those “ton of bricks” moments.

I realized that my ardent efforts to uncover what was really wrong with me could create a new thought, a new belief about how wrong life was, about how broken I WAS!  A belief that WOULDN’T go away with a nap or a glass of water. 

This realization, changed my life. 

It gave me new appreciation for the power of my mind and how it could be used for good or for misery.  It also gave me a new respect for the state of my very influential body.

Today, if I’m crabby, I take a nap (thanks mom.)

If I am particularly annoyed, I check the calendar to see what time of month it is. My husband has become a great help with this. Oh, and I found out “there’s an app for that”.

And when I feel sad or quiet or dark, when the clouds seem to gather in my living room, instead of attempting to justify them with elaborate tales of what might be wrong with my life….

I step out for a walk in the sun,

disperse the gloom with a call to a loving friend,

or just allow them to be, knowing that it is part of life, it is fine and it will pass.

The invitation:

The next time you feel a little lost, sad or dark, consider that perhaps there is nothing wrong.  Instead of analyzing or ruminating, try getting quiet and checking in with your body.  Ask it if there is something it needs from you.  Perhaps it needs to S   T    R    E     T    C    H.  Or maybe it’s hungry.  Or maybe it needs a nap. Or perhaps, it just needs to be grumpy for a minute or an hour or a day and maybe that is ok too.

With Love,

Coach Joelle

Signing off … It’s nap time!

Hi guys,

Just in case you are one of those people who has stress in your lives (A.K.A. you are a human being)… here is a little something to help unload your work week pressures and get you chilled-out for a fabulous weekend.

STRESS, we all have it, it’s a part of life, however, I think it is fair to say that most of us:

a) Don’t fully realize what a real threat stress is to our health and happiness.

b) Don’t feel truly empowered to reduce the stress in our lives. 

Here is the deal. Prolonged, chronic stress is serious stuff.  It will make you sick and it feels crummy.  You know this.

The good new is that you have the power to make a significant and immediate impact on your stress levels with a little conscious INTENTION-setting and some focused ATTENTION to that amazing body of yours (watch the video – you will see what I mean.)

Why not take 5 minutes, right now, and bring a little more Zen to your busy day.  Join “That’s Life” host, Robin Swoboda, Dr. Michael McKee of the Cleveland Clinic, and I as we discuss how you can effectively manage your stress.

Ok, sit back….

Deeeeeeep Breath….

You are 5 minutes away from a less stressed you!

Let’s go!

Coach Joelle

 Having troubles viewing this video?  Click Here to watch in on Youtube.

With the coming of spring, I find there is part of me that warms and expands with the thawing of the earth. 

A piece of me that has been waiting quietly for the time when I can return to living with the windows open, to inhaling the subtle scents of dirt and growing things, and, like a cat in the windowsill, to laying in grassy patches, the sun warming my chilled bones.  It is a time when nature calls me to come and dance with her, and when I heed her call, my body and mind invariably are rewarded with what can be best described as a long, deep, cellular exhale. Ahhhhhhhhhhh

Today the call was loud and clear; her lure undeniable, I followed. 

I walked the 300 feet to our little patch of community wilderness (some would call it a park, but that would be a stretch.)

A mug of hot water and lemon in hand, I planted myself on top of a picnic table, unconcerned that the boards, damp from last night’s rain, would leave me a little soggy.

My plan was to meditate, eyes closed, mind open, maybe a little “OM” for good measure, but as often happens, today meditation found its own form.

Today, I sat in the tress, and grass and just ….was.

I sipped my lemon tonic and took in the world around me.

I spotted out of the corner of my eye, a robin digging up breakfast. I followed her until a cloud caught my attention.

Like Alice’s “White Rabbit” he moved across the sky rapidly, late for some important date, literally forming as he traversed the sky. 

My cloud moved on and was replaced in my awareness by a lone leaf on a maple tree cordially waving “hello”.

Racing clouds and waving trees are all fine and good but my call to nature and desire to meditate this morning were not merely born of some noble quest for enlightenment.  No, my body and mind has been stressed. I have been living with a background of anxiety for several days and I made this trip with the explicit intention to get free.

For as long as I can remember, the forest has been a welcome reprieve to the stresses of life.  As I was growing up in the Canadian north, we had a cabin on a lake. A favorite pastime was to hike to my prized discovery, an outcropping of bedrock nestled between the cottages.  Hidden on 3 sides by trees, the forth side of my little piece of paradise was lakeside property. I spent countless afternoons feeling the sun warm the rocks, listening to the loons call, dipping my feet in the numbing water and having conversations with my creator. 

You can take the girl out of the woods but it seems you can’t take the woods out of the girl, for no sooner had I gotten settled into my spot in the park this morning, I found myself recreating those connected moments at Setting Lake, asking questions of the universe,  my subconscious, and the trees.

“Ok, what’s up? Why the anxiety? What am I afraid of? How can I find peace?”   I asked.

The answer came quickly, “because you are confused. You have forgotten who you are.”

I was suspicious.  This sounded familiar, every self empowerment/path to enlightenment book on the planet was going to take me down this path. I challenged the thought, concerned my mind was playing tricks, throwing out random bits of disembodied wisdom it had saved for just such an occasion. 

Unphased by my skepticism, it continued.

“Look at the tree…the cloud…the dandelion…”

I looked, and as I looked, I saw that they were beautiful; that they were perfect; each in their own unique way.  Whether the tree was a big tree or a little one, whether the dandelion was a bright yellow sun or its frail remains, disbursed by the slightest wind or a child’s wish; they were good.

In the next moment, the question came,

“How are you different from the tree?”

“The cloud?”

“The dandelion?…”

And I saw it.  I saw truth in that moment.

I am not different.  The tree, the dandelion, the cloud, and me, we all came from the same place.  We are all built to do what is in our nature to do.  To grow, to head towards the sun, to move with the seasons and the cycles of life. 

I would never ask anything from the tree but to BE and to do what it is here to do; flower in the spring, sleep in the winter, grow with each passing year.  Why would I think there is any greater expectation of me?

And In that moment, I saw life in a way that relieved every fear, every touch of anxiety, ever bit of pressure and expectation, and left only peace and knowing.

Maybe this is what little ten year old Joey instinctually knew back on the rock at Setting Lake. Regardless, I am so grateful to know it now, if even for a fleeting moment.

You may not have grown up in the woods like I did.  You may not even be a big fan of trees and dirt and the things that come with them, and you may not be searching for the meaning of life. 

But let me tell you this.  

You are a part of nature and the natural world calls to every single cell of your being.

The world we have created allows us to live without ever stepping foot in a garden or being surrounded by silent wilderness. We have done an excellent job of separating ourselves, but along with the comforts of a warm bed and central air, we have deprived our souls of the wisdom and beauty that is nature’s alone to give.

 
The invitation:

I do not know what your brushes with nature will reveal to you but I know she holds a piece of you in her hands;  some wisdom, some peace, some beauty, something uniquely for you and the nurturing of your soul.

No matter where you live – there is nature waiting for you; in a nearby park, a walking path, a community garden or your own backyard creation. 

Do yourself a favor, go there. Be there, and let the natural world share her wonders, healing and love. 

When nature calls…. PICK UP!

With Love,

Coach Joelle

Share Yourself:   Do you have a favorite spot to go be with nature? Have you had a moment in nature that deepened your experience of life or brought you new answers and wisdom?  Tell us about it here  on the Coach Joelle Blog.