Going Long

It's July, and believe it or not, for those of us who are football fans, it's time to think about football. The players are already at training camp, pre-season games will start in the next few weeks, and before we know it, the season will be going in earnest.

When you grow up in Pittsburgh like I did, you just know football. It isn't something that you learn, necessarily -- it's in the water, kind of like fluoride. It's impossible to miss. You know you live in a football city when the top story on the evening news is that the Steelers arrived at St. Vincent's College to begin training camp. (They had not started camp, mind you; all they did was arrive.) And you know you live in a football town when you can't have Halloween Trick or Treating on a Friday night -- even when October 31st falls on a Friday (because everyone will be at the high school football game.) And you know you are from these places when none of this seems weird to you.

Often we go through life just trying to make the next first down. We are life's running backs, and if we are good at it, we get 3 or 4 yards a carry and keep making forward progress. Sometime we get thrown for a loss (lose yardage), sometimes we find a hole and have a great run, but most of the time, we just try to hold onto the ball and move it forward. That's what I think that life feels like for most of us.

But I don't think we have to settle for that. I like to think we get to be wide receivers and go for the long pass. We might not make every catch, but when we do, we've done something significant. Of course, we run the risk of getting intercepted, but if we focus on the route we've learned and we know where the ball is coming and we trust the quarterback to get it there, we improve our chances immensely. And we can reach our goal much faster than if we decide play it safe and keep the ball on the ground.

I want to be the one who goes long. I'm not going to settle for being the running back any more. I want to go long, reach the end zone and celebrate (although not excessively) and I want to go back to the scrimmage line and do it all again. This is what we do in life coaching. We help you see the end zone and get there faster than you could do it alone.

Have you ever watched a football team try to play without a coach? It isn't pretty. Well, sometimes we need a coach, too. And a life coach will help you decide what it is you want to accomplish in life and help you create a game plan -- I mean, life plan -- that will help you get there.

But remember, it's up to you to go long.

The Power of Restorative Yoga

Wow. I just spent the last two hours in a restorative yoga workshop that my friend took me to. It was a great reminder that we all need to take the time for restoration and rejuvenation. And all too often we are too busy and too stressed to realize that we need it.

It also is a good reminder to leave any resentments or struggles that you might be having in your personal and professional life at the door. And I’ve been struggling with this. I found myself on the receiving end of a very painful situation and I’ve been carrying around more resentment than I would like to admit. And I’ve realized it’s time to let it go and move on.

I’m done talking about it, and I’m done feeling as though I have to defend myself. I’m not going to let it define who I am. I think that women are particularly susceptible to both allowing others to define us by our circumstances, and doing it ourselves. We just need to say no.

One of the clear benefits of yoga is it’s ability to shift your energy from a lower level to higher one – and to integrate all of our energies, or chakras. I also use this approach in coaching through the core energy coaching process that I use with my clients. But I love the idea of this deep integration of mind, body and spirit that happens during yoga practice and I see the real benefits for me as both a coach, a writer, a mentor and a consultant.

Restorative yoga is great because you don’t have to be a regular yoga practitioner to enjoy the class or get achieve a good outcome. All you have to do is open your mind, your heart and your spirit, and be willing to trust the process. The same is true for coaching. You don’t have to do anything but be open to the process and be willing to work for the change that you want to see if your life – and change will happen.

Life is a journey. Do everything you can every day to enjoy and truly experience who you are and what you are doing in each moment. As someone once said, “Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” Our challenge is to live mindfully – living the here and now – letting go of the past and stepping into each new day as a hopeful promise of what is to come.