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Oh Where, Oh
Where
Did My Heart Beat Go?
By Mildred Lynn
McDonald |
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Your heart beat. Listen. Can you
hear it? I’m not talking about the physical heart that
beats in your chest. I’m talking about your HEART BEAT,
the one that resonates with your being—and is a powerful
springboard for mind, body and spirit balance.
In the hustle and bustle of
everyday life, many people have lost touch with the
sound of their heart beat and replaced it with the
closest one at hand--society’s “one-size-fits-all”
version.
How do I know this? For a couple
years, I’ve been joyfully preoccupied with finding,
nourishing and following the relationship between
balance and my own heart beat. On this journey, I’ve
become astute at identifying what makes me tick and
recognizing the peek-a-boo heartbeats of other people.
Where does your heart beat go? You
never lose your heart beat, you just smother it with
mental chatter, put it in a flower pot and forget to
water it, wrap it in layers of emotional stuff, or set
it on the shelf to collect spiritual lint and fur balls.
The good news is that your heart
beat is built to last. At first your heart beat may be
faint, and then, with a little self-acceptance and TLC,
it will start showing up, revealing itself,
unannounced. Treat your heart beat like a good friend;
trust it, respect it and really open yourself to it.
Have faith that you will find your authentic heart beat,
and always remember--you are not the only one looking;
your bold, beautiful heart beat is looking for you too!
In this article, I’ll be sharing
real life exercises to help you reconnect with your
heart beat and find balance. Best of all, the
information is based on successful Life Coaching
experiences with motivated people like you!
To begin, please consider adding
this heart beat balance exercise to your meditation
toolbox.
Heart Beat Balance Exercise:
1. Go to the ocean. Stand on the
shore. Watch the tide flow in and out. Feel the
powerful, steady rhythm of the waves. Smell the fresh
air. Quiet your thoughts. Take a deep breath. What are
you experiencing? You are feeling the Ocean’s heart
beat, and it is magnificent!
2. Take the gift of this ocean
experience with you. It will be one of the best tools
you have to find, nourish and support your own
heartbeat--the one that provides fulfillment on all
levels--mind, body, spirit and emotion.
3. If you don’t have access to the
ocean, give yourself the gift of an Ocean Sounds CD,
close your eyes and gently drift away!
Good news! You can do this exercise
by yourself or with two or three other people. Enjoy!
Saying Hello Balance, Goodbye to
Extreme
As an active Life Coach, people
often ask for suggestions on how to keep their heart
beat balanced, vibrant and alive.
That’s where the idea of a heart
beat “conditioner” was created, and the most important
ingredient on the list of conditioning life-supporting
vibrations is “balance”. When I talk about
“life-supporting”, I’m referring to the work of Dr.
David Hawkins (Power vs. Force). Dr. Hawkins’ research
calibrates the energy of words into life-supporting and
non-life supporting energy. For example, in his database
of about 280 human qualities, you’ll find the positive
vibration of “balance” as an antidote to the negative
vibration of “extreme”.
Have you noticed that some people
or situations drain energy, while others nourish energy?
This is the practical application of Dr. Hawkins work.
The key is to be sea breeze fresh about the “ins and
outs” of your personal energy balance equation. One of
the best ways to do this is to give yourself the gift of
regular a reflection exercise (re: ocean exercise) that
deeply conditions your beautiful heart beat, leaving it
healthy, vibrant and alive!
Balance Conditioner Exercise:
On a piece of paper, create two
columns with the headings “Life Supporting Energy” and
“Non-life Supporting Energy”. For fun, use colorful
markers.
For one day, note the people,
situations, events (perhaps TV shows, newspapers,
e-mails) that nourish you; and the people, situations,
events that deplete your energy. Hint: A simple way to
do this is to put a “N” for nourish and “D” for deplete
next to each item listed. It is up to you what you put
on the list; the gift in the exercise is to practice
being aware of life-supporting and non-life supporting
energy, and the cumulative effect on your precious
energy (mind, body, and spirit).
Now, count the number of Ns and Ds
collected over a three-day period. Are there more Ns
than Ds or more Ds than Ns? Continue this exercise on a
regular basis until you notice that your Ns are winning
the energy race.
Repeat this balancing conditioning
exercise once a week, or as needed. Enjoy!
Seven Balance Questions with
Coaching Tips
From coast-to-coast, heart beats
(people) love digging into interactive questions that
give practical perspectives on the inner journey. This
is one of the most intriguing aspects of being a Life
Coach, so I’m always on the lookout for excellent tools
that motivate, inspire and meet people where they are
along the happy trail.
I’d like to share with you seven
questions around the theme of balance that have been
successful with my “Bridging the Gap” coaching clients.
Under each question, I’ve added “Coaching Tips” based on
real life experience and results--including FUN and
LAUGHTER; two of the best heart beat “balancers” of all!
Here are the questions:
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If the life-supporting vibration of
balance were a color, what would it be?
-
If the life supporting vibration of
balance were a shape, what would it be?
-
Explore the concept of balance. How
do you feel? Any resistance?
-
Name three people in your life that
represent balance. What characteristics do they share?
-
What three things can you do this
week to support and nurture balance in your life?
On a scale from 1 to 10, (10 =
maximum), how important is balance in your life? What is
it today?
Create a positive affirmation for
the positive, life-supporting vibration of balance. If
balance were a song, what would, it be?
Q1: If the life-supporting
vibration of balance were a color, what would it be?
Life Coaching Tips:
Sometimes we take familiar concepts
like “balance” for granted as we scurry through our
daily lives. This question provides an opportunity to
look at balance as a pulsating, vibration of color.
Notice the color that shows up for
you. Hint: If you have trouble quieting your mind,
connect your breath with your heart by taking three deep
breaths. Once you have your balance color, embrace it,
play with it--sprinkle in some lightness and fun. For
example, if your balance color is orange, you might
place a bowl of oranges on a desk or table. The good
news is that the more you work with your balance color;
the more it will work for you!
Q2: If the life supporting
vibration of balance were a shape, what would it be?
Life Coaching Tips:
Allow the concept of balance to
flow through you. Start at the top of your head.
Envision balance as a smooth stream of energy flowing
through your body, from your head to the tips of your
toes. Does this feel natural or is your balance energy
is getting stuck along the inner path? Give yourself
the gift of noticing where the energy ebbs and flows.
Now, envision this energy as a shape. Is it a smooth,
round orb or a prickly burr, large and imposing, or
perhaps tiny and dense?
Q3: Explore the concept of
balance. How do you feel? Any resistance?
Life Coaching Tips:
A great way to help you play with
the concept of balance is the “What Branch Are You
Sitting On?” exercise. Close your eyes and envision a
beautiful birch tree pulsating with life force energy.
As you climb the tree, notice that the first branches
provide a bird’s eye view of your day-to-day life. Sit
for a while. Next, climb up a little higher; from this
vantage point you have the whole week spread out like
wild flowers in front of your eyes. Then climb higher;
from this spot, you get a panoramic view of the month
ahead. Continue climbing up until you reach a point
where the view is not relevant to your life (as you
perceive it today).
Slowly descend, resting at each of
the look off-points. Where do you feel most
comfortable? Is it day-to-day, week-to-week,
month-to-month, or perhaps year-to-year? Most people
feel that they have the satisfaction, happiness and
fulfillment balancing the “now”; with a bird’s eye view
of the future. Are you living in the now, or are you on
a lopsided merry-go-round, swirling in the details of
the details?
Q4: Name three people in your life
that represent balance. What characteristics do they
share?
Life Coaching Tips:
Once you find the people (local or
virtual) that personify “balance” to you, take a few
moments to explore the characteristics that you have in
common (it is no accident that you were attracted to
these people). Once you identify two or more
characteristics, set an intention to attract more
balance into your life. The good news is that these
characteristics are your personal starting point—a
position of heart beat balance, growth and strength.
Q5: What three things can you do
this week to support and nurture balance in your life?
Life Coaching Tips:
Take your two or three balance
characteristics from Q4 and settle in with a cup of hot
beverage--in Nova Scotia, Canada, we love hot tea!
Envision what your life would look like if you made the
choice to acknowledge these special balance
characteristics; and then make a commitment to put them
into action. Are you feeling any resistance? Is any
part of your body reacting? If you answered, “yes” to
these questions, please pay attention. Your inner
wisdom is giving you valuable data for future
exploration.
For example, when one of the people
in the Life Coaching program listed quiet time alone in
the garden as a characteristic, her heart and stomach
felt heavy. As it turns out, she was associating taking
time to balance herself with selfishness, rather than
self-care. Once aware of this, she was able to flip her
perception from selfishness to self-care, and now freely
enjoys quiet time in the garden 100%!
Q6: On a scale from 1 to 10, how
important is balance in your life? What is it today?
Life Coaching Tips:
If you answered this question with
a gap between level of importance and reality of today,
you have an excellent opportunity to create your own
unique balance equation, from a place of gentleness,
compassion and focus. Creating balance in your life is
not about adding one more action item to an already
bursting at the seams “To Do’ list. It is about creating
a healthy, vitalized foundation to support a vital
life.
Just for fun, grab a sheet of
paper. Create two columns called “What balance looks
today” and “What balance looks like in my highest
vision”. List 5 to 10 words (the more the merrier) in
each column. Once complete, put your list away for a
week. After one week, revisit your two columns. Pay
special attention to what nourishes and what drains you.
If you have not completed the “Balance Conditioner
Exercise” (above), this would be an excellent starting
point. Enjoy!
Q7: Create an affirmation for
balance. If balance were a song, what would, it be?
Life Coaching Tips:
The most beautiful aspect of
shifting energy and creating more balance is that once
you get the hang of it, you may feel empowered to
transfer the “how-to” to other areas of your life such
as time management, body image and self talk--with
absolutely amazing results!
Another idea is to design your own
personal definition of balance. To get the ball rolling,
visit a great on-line dictionary called
www.allwords.com. Simply pick out words that
represent the concept of balance to you, string them
together and revisit the process in three months. This
approach also works wonderfully for the concept of heart
beat.
To create your personal
affirmation, please refer to the nuggets of wisdom
gleaned from the six questions above. For those who are
extra keen and fun loving, select a popular song that
represents balance to you--maybe one with a strong
upbeat. For example, one of my life coaching clients
chose the song “Catch a Falling Star”, another selected
“Life is a Cabaret”, and another the Latin “The Breeze
and I”.
Sing or hum along. It won’t be long
before you’re smiling because when you choose to
acknowledge and balance the magic thump-thump-thump of
your heat beat; the whole Universe jumps up with joy and
joins in the fun!
Good Vibrations!
If you enjoyed the Life Coach
exercises, please feel free to email
soulnudge@appliedability, I’d be more than happy to
send you a Life Coaching exercise centered on the theme
of positive body image.
© Copyright Mildred Lynn McDonald
2005. All Rights Reserved.
Mildred Lynn’s life adventure has
whisked her across North America, through the industries
of Health & Fitness, High Tech and Publishing, and into
the executive halls of Fortune 50 companies. The common
thread has been a love of people and the sincere desire
to help everyone live their passion, find their joy and
experience life fully and completely.
She turned her heart’s vision into
Applied Ability (www.appliedability.com),
a Canada-USA coaching, mentoring and marketing company
for mind-body-soul advocates ready to apply their
abilities to fulfill their heart’s passion. Her clients
span from California to Nova Scotia.
Mildred Lynn is a Registered
Dietitian (RD), a Certified Integrative Coach (CIC),
member of the International Association of Integrative
Coaches (IAIC), and author of "Dance to the Beat of Your
Own Heart" e-course. In 2005, Mildred Lynn launched
SoulNudge Creates! e-zine to share insights, resources
and inspiration from fascinating people (like you!) who
have followed their heart's passion to successfully
apply their abilities to their life’s work.
SoulNudge Creates! e-zine:
www.appliedability.com/newsletter/issue0605/
Join Nudge Creates! e-zine:
soulnudge@appliedability.com
“Bridging the Gap” Coaching
Program:
info@appliedability.com
Email Mildred Lynn:
mildred@appliedability.com
Visit Mildred Lynn at her Website:
www.AppliedAbility.com
“Ready or not, here comes your
life. Set yours in motion!”
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