Spirit, Soul and Chi…oh my!

I began practicing a form of karate earlier this year. After taking two months off, I began practice again on Sunday. During the philosophy portion of practice, we began to discuss the difference of spirit, soul and chi. I was relatively clear on the difference between spirit and soul.

To me, your soul is what you were born with. It’s relatively unchanging and it holds that which you value, that which you desire and that which you were made for. Spirit on the other hand develops as you experience life. Your spirit is formed as you gather better understanding of who you are, what you have to share and how you wish to share it.

Chi was the stopper for me. I wasn’t clear on how to differentiate this term from spirit and soul. My instructor brought up the point that perhaps it’s not different except that it simply encompasses everyone else’s spirit and soul as well. It’s an open flow of energy in all that you do and all that surrounds you. My chi feeds and nourishes your chi, just as yours feeds and nourishes mine. It’s natural energy that flows from within and surrounds us.

If that is so
- What kind of soul were you born with? What deep desires come forth when you sit quietly with yourself? What do you know you were made for?
- How has your spirit grown? What type of spirit would you like to grow into? How are you challenging yourself to embody that?
- When you enter a room, how does your chi affect others? Are you dark and gloomy, or bright and effervescent? Do you receive well? What can you do to be more open to the chi around you and also more generous with your own chi?

What a journey we are on. Mindfulness is a sacred practice. Keep your attention on how you feel with all your senses each moment. Life will unveil a whole new perspective in no time. If you’re already good at doing this, go deeper with it. Life will still unveil a whole new perspective in no time. Our work is never done. Our learning never completer and our joy completely unending. Sometimes we just need to open up to it.

With an open heart,
Coach Katie

Coach Katie Mattson • Momentum Coaching

Dusty Blog

Phew…it’s been ages since I’ve tapped the ol’ keys here! I have no excuses except that I just didn’t feel like a blogging diva. So, I spared you the struggle for words. My blog feed was down on my website and I took advantage of a little blogging break. It’s been an amazing and odd summer. Maybe you can relate. I’ve found an interesting procession of full on excitement, necessary patience and random personal stretches. It’s been wonderful and a bit confusing as well.

As many of you know, I am an outdoor fanatic. Most of my summer weekends are spent in the mountains blazing a trail and inhabiting a tent. I’m always on the lookout for something new to climb. But, this summer has been different. It’s been…well…rainy. I’ve taken “rain-checks” on more than my fair share of outdoor weekends. I won’t pout too much, but I am bummed about it. I always do a lot of dreaming up in the mountains. Inspiration flows forth and frustration/sadness/etc flows out. It’s very cleansing for me. Perhaps the Fall will grace me with good weather!

I’ve started a ton of exciting projects this year. And I’m waiting on almost all of them, ha! Patience is my middle name as I slowly massage the opportunities I’ve put into place. I’ll have big things to share when they come through!! For now, I’ll give you a little snack: in November, I invite you to come and pamper yourself for a weekend in the mountains. RAIN OR SHINE! I’m partnering with a massage therapist and yoga instructor to bring you an incredible weekend of pampering, silent solitude and soul searching. Ahhhh… If you’d like more information, please email me at Katie@EnergizeYourMoment.com and I’ll put you on the list. That’s just one thing I’m gearing up to bring you. But you have to exercise patience as well!

Unexpectedly, I also fell in love. Who know that was headed my way? As usual for me, I decided to try something new and took up Chuong Nhu, a form of karate. A friend of a friend was teaching the classes and well, we have a lot of the same perspectives on life, personal challenges and goals. What started as a friendship has unearthed something quite brilliant. Tricky Universe. Perfect timing as always…though unexpected! I’m a happy, happy girl.

I feel some big shifts coming down the pipeline for me. I’m not sure exactly what they all entail, but I’m partnering with some amazing professionals in town and we’re cooking up some spicy workshops, retreats and classes. Stay tuned! Personally, I’m getting a little restless and needing a bit of a change myself. I’m feeling a little saucy and not at all like playing by the rules. Not sure what that will look like yet, but I’m following my instincts. No doubt they’ll lead me to something incredible.

It’s all teaching me that patience is crucial. I always tell my clients that things don’t happen overnight. Well, now I’m practicing that mantra as well. As much I’d also like to be on the floor kicking and screaming that it’s not happening…it all will…in it’s own good time. It’s just up to all of us to follow our life’s little signals and enjoy the ride.

How’s YOUR summer going? Haven’t heard from many of you in a while. And, that’s probably because I’ve been a bad blogger. Shoot me an update when you get a chance! I haven’t forgotten about this blog and I know it’s gotten a little dusty. We’ll get it back to a good shine.

Have a groovy day,
Coach Katie • Momentum Coaching

Listen up!

Phew, what a ride right now. Life, that is. Synchronicity. Life’s little whispers, nudges and full on kicks. I call the moments of coincidence and synchronicity “Life Signs.” When you’re calling people going, “you will never guess what just happened…” those are the times when your life is in alignment. Opportunity, people, adventure…falls into your lap. Life is a steady flow instead of a constant struggle.

When my dog wants to be pet, she snuggles up to me and nudges her nose under my hand. It’s hard to ignore her. Life plays this game sometimes. It drops money into your hands, introduces you to new sets of friends, a new lover, a business partner… Most of us hand it back, talk ourselves out of it or find something wrong with accepting it. Why?

You are listening.

To what? To your purpose. Subconsciously, you are listening to life’s little signs pointing you forward, cheering you on. Consciously, you are in disbelief that all these amazing coincidences are happening. Truth is, I don’t believe in coincidence. Only awareness. So, now that your awareness is raised to the flow that life can have…where is it whispering to you?

Recap of Feed Your Soul, Nourishment for Passionate Women

June 20-22 marked a very powerful weekend for Momentum Coaching and eight fearless women. It was the weekend of 2008’s FEED YOUR SOUL: Nourishment for Passionate Living women’s retreat. Our location was absolutely perfect for space, growth and discovery on the 7.5 acres of walking trails at the Garden Spirit Retreat Center. As facilitators, Laura Neff and I could not have been more touched by these eight women.

Their trust, honesty and strength absolutely saturated the weekend. We ate nourishing food, gave our spirits room to play and explored our higher selves for three days. What a playground! We were totally blown away with their open spirits to share their demons and angels. And totally touched to be so trusted right off the bat. It opened up the weekends for whole new levels of personal empowerment and we are so grateful for that!

Plans are already in the works for next year. If you missed it this year, we’re sorry, but keep us in mind for next summer!

I want your feedback!

In coming posts and articles, I intend to feature YOUR questions and stories. I always love reading your feedback and I appreciate the time you take to reach out and say hello and offer a suggestion, story or constructive criticism. Send me an email letting me know what you’d like to see in the coming months, what coaching questions you have and how I can be more effective for you! Thanks in advance for you time, energy and thoughts.

Contact Katie at: katie@energizeyourmoment.com

What Does Daily Inspiration Look Like?

In case you missed this month’s SHIFT article, hot off the presses, here you go!

What Does Daily Inspiration Look Like?
Think of a quick snapshot memory. Something energizing – when life was abundantly overflowing with fulfilling friendships, truly cascading with love or rapidly moving toward your goals. One of those moments when you tilted your head back in laughter, enveloped someone with your love or shared a success with unabashed glee.

What was within you to cause such elation? Those were not external forces at work. Those scenarios were self-created. You extended the invitation to receive such joyous feelings. I’d be bold enough to say that everyone has experienced such a moment of excitement. Ever wonder what internal process creates those experiences? How do we make more of them? My hope is that this month’s newsletter will bring as much heat to your energy levels as we’re about to encounter in our summer days!

Achieving Daily Inspiration:

1. Open up!
   Even as I write this, I am a student of each of these steps. How’s this for a story: I’m sitting in a friend’s backyard and these words are flowing forth. I stopped writing to take a brief moment to enjoy the breeze and reflect on how to illustrate opening oneself up. Suddenly the breeze kicked up and the pages of my notebook surrendered to the wind. Before long, my friend’s white cat had followed the wind across the backyard and into my lap. Not bad for only having written the two words: “open up.” I suppose it can be described in another pair of words: loosen up!

   In order to do this, practice finding your breathing pattern, using a touchstone or simply closing your eyes for a moment with a deep breath. Whatever it takes to ground you back in your body during a stressful day or a distracting moment. When you can master opening up and loosening up on a daily basis, you may move on to #2, which is keen awareness.

2. Keen Awareness
   In addition to practicing the act of being open, also begin to practice awareness. What is happening in those energizing moments and how do you feel about it? If I had been anyone else, I might not have noticed the symphony being created between the breeze, the pages of my journal and the white cat. Pay attention to the energy in your open moments. Take your time to form thoughts around the delight that you sensed and what created it. For me, it was the feeling of surrendering the focus I had on this article to a soft breeze blowing my hair and teasing me into enjoying the moment of sunshine and nature. For you, it will be something completely different. When you’ve started to pinpoint the commonality in your happiest moments, your next challenge is to practice personal acceptance.
3. Personal Acceptance
   This step is one of the most difficult since it involves changing your own self-limiting beliefs. Most of us shush our thoughts when something intrigues or moves us. We turn instead to memories of someone who once looked at us funny or felt we were childish for being captured by something so small. Personal acceptance is about realizing when those small moments occur, understanding why you find energy in them and truly believing that you are a more complete person for noticing the world in such an intimate way. When you honestly say to yourself, “I love that I choose to surrender my valuable seconds to study what the wind feels like against my skin,” [insert your own energizing moment here] then you have begun to fully accept the daily gifts that life has to offer.

   Let me put it another way. How does it feel when someone brings you a gift unexpectedly, or delivers a compliment out of the blue? Pretty good, right? Now, how many times do you try to give those gifts back or make excuses for why that compliment isn’t necessary? How often do you just say ‘thank you’ and leave it at that? Think of every moment you are energized and work to accept that moment as your own gift from the Universe (or God, or however you choose to name it).

Each moment is yours to find the inspiration in, or to blow past without awareness. Begin to regularly and deliberately energize each one of your moments. You’ll find that as you crack open the door to awareness, it just might fly wide open and expose a new viewpoint on the world that you didn’t have before. Listen to yourself and accept the daily inspiration that life has to offer. Energize the moment you’re in.

SHIFT is a monthly e-newsletter sent out with the intention of empowering you to be your best self. In SHIFT, you will find articles meant to give you the tools and resources to jumpstart your life. If you enjoy SHIFT, please spread the word by sending it on to a friend to enjoy as well! To sign up for SHIFT, click here!

Daily Inspiration

For the entire 10 days I was out West, I received daily inspiration. I apologize for not sharing sooner, but we’ve been having some technical difficulties with my blog feeds. Rest assured there are copious amounts of inspiration swirling in my mind that I can’t wait to share with you!

For now, here is a sneak peek at the beauty that the mid-west states have to offer. How could I not be formally taught in the ways of being one with nature while out there?

In order from left to right: Lost Dutchman state Park at sunset, Superstition Mountains, Canyon Lake Trail, Wire Pass, Bryce Canyon.

Many stories are waiting to be told, but I’ll leave you with this thought today:
The more you open your eyes to what the world has to offer, the more trivial your daily problems become and the wider your lens on life’s true meaning becomes.

Bitten by the travel bug,
Coach Katie

The Power of Attitude

Well, it’s Friday again! I return soon and I hope to have journeyed through many inspiration points over the past week. Today’s resource for you is a short movie on the Power of Attitude. Click here to view: The Power of Attitude.

I hope you’ve had a truly energizing and inspired week. New tales, adventures and photos to come next week!
Best,
Coach Katie

Katie Mattson, Life Coach • Momentum Coaching • www.EnergizeYourMoment.com

Where is your quiet place?

I have a very distinct feelings that as you read this, I am off on a trail in AZ or Utah experiencing a flavorful type of meditation myself. Have you ever meditated? Some prefer to do so quietly and alone. Others in a movement room such as a yoga studio. Still others on a trail or mountaintop. Guided or not, meditation can be a powerful tool for centering one’s thoughts and actions. If you’ve never tried it, I invite you to visit this website and experience a brief meditation for yourself: Meditation.

Should you enjoy it, and I think you will, I recommend Rod Strykers Meditation CD, Three Meditation to Live By. It’s a great tool for beginners while advanced users can skip over his introductions and move straight into the 20 minute meditations.

Peace be within you,
Coach Katie

Katie Mattson, Life Coach • Momentum Coaching • www.EnergizeYourMoment.com

Arizona’s playground

These are my most energizing moments! I’ve been seduced into the playground of Arizona for a little over a week. I’ll return with more inspired musings, I promise you. In the meantime, I’ve set up a few automated resources for you this week. Keep an eye out! Upon return, I’ll share my inspirations, insights and experiences from the wild west. So excited to be nourishing my spirit in such a richly diverse landscape! Here is a taste of photos and stories to come in April:

Last year, I ventured out through Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Here is a snippet from my trip: Katie’s Journal

I did not take this photo, but I hope to see scenery similar in the next few days.