The belief in those and other cultures is that Chi/Ki/Sen/Prana… runs through energy lines in the body that are not visible, but which can be sensed by trained practitioners and even the aware individual.

Recent studies suggest that those energy lines can in fact be traced in the myo-facial tissue, but further studies need to be done until this can be confirmed.

Different exercise forms work with Chi:

Qi Gong is a yin (slow) martial arts form that supports the cultivation of Chi. Traditionally it is practised to energise the energy in the body in order to cure or prevent illnesses.

Qi Gong helps to harmonise, balance and cleanse the body and the mind.

Tai Chi is the art of managing Chi. The movements in Tai Chi help to distribute Chi throughout the body, energising parts or organs that might be effected by illness or simply to ground and warm the body.

Tai Chi helps to build awareness and calm the mind, which support concentration and relaxation.

Both Qi Gong and Tai Chi can be referred to as ‘Meditation in Motion’.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy

How is Gratitude related to the relief, management or prevention of stress?

It has been a big challenge for me to be grateful when I was younger and when things happened that either made no sense at that time, that confused me or that I did not like/want to be an experience in my life.

When I was challenged I tended to get upset either with myself, others or the situation. Blame was my good friend.

As you can imagine neither of this was very effective in terms of moving on. The worst experience was when I found out that my (then) husband had an affair with my best friend. That moment I felt like drawn into a black hole, spiraling downwards.

I went through the whole spectrum of negative emotions: anger, sadness, frustration, self-pity, fear, grief, aggression and once through started all over again. Only a few friends who really cared about me dared to be physically and mentally close when the ‘fire horse’ in me came out and the volcano was braking loose.

Today I have the deepest respect for these friends – I really wasn’t a pleasure to be around.

Fast forward 10 years. A few months ago I reconnected with ‘the adulteress’. To be honest, I was very surprised myself when I felt the need to get in contact with her. Even more as she tried to apologise for what happened (back then) and there was no way I would have even listened.

It feels really odd now to use the word adulteress, because this is not how I see her any more. Today I can see the pain that she went through herself. I no longer feel any kind of stress calling her name, while before I almost felt physical pain when I even only thought of her.

Besides time of course, there is one virtue that helped me to see this event differently now:

Gratitude

By practicing Nuad Thai – Traditional Thai Massage and studying its roots in Buddhist tradition as well as becoming a life coach I learned to take responsibility for my actions and my non-actions.

Instead of blaming others, I rather look for the gift in the situation and ask myself better questions:

What can I learn to avoid/do better next time?
How does this help me to grow?
How can I use this to become a better person?

By establishing some resources like a trusted source, a coach I can share insights with, journaling and meditation it is now easy and almost effortless to tap onto the power of Gratitude.

A heartfelt Thank-You to whoever you pray to invites harmony and instant relief to your life. The answer is often a knowing deep inside, that once you have accepted the gift of the situation as an opportunity for learning and growth, it will no longer cause any physical or mental stress.

How to practice Gratitude

Practicing Gratitude is very easy. To start with, ask yourself a simple question:

What happened today that you could choose to be grateful for?

Maybe you got a smile from a stranger, someone picked up your bag when it fell down, you got a nice call from a friend…

Even the simplest things can be a great source to experience Gratitude: the song of a bird, the beauty of a tree, the blue of the sky, a raindrop on a leaf…

Once you get in the habit of practicing Gratitude for the small things, you will find it easier to see the hidden presents in a situation that is more challenging.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. – Albert Schweitzer

Every person has a story and we are all connected.

The story of ‘The Little Soul And The Sun‘ by Neale Donald Walsh gives an insight of how each of us is a shining light and why sometimes the ones that bring us the biggest pain are those we need to show our deepest appreciation. (A review and summary will be available soon).

The Gift Of Gratitude

By practicing Gratitude you will connect with your higher spirit. This is one of the most powerful resources to increase the balance of your body, mind & spirit and will help you to stay much more relaxed when the road of life gets a bit bumpy and challenging.

I would like to share my gratitude for the organiser of the eco fiesta and lifestyle expo, who put together a wonderful event that enabled me to connect with new prospective and re-connect with existing friends.

My deepest appreciation goes to my husband Thomas and my youngest son Noah, who support me unconditionally in everything that I do and who enrich my life beyond words.

Each of my older children, Aaron, David and Lukas, gave my life a twist which was extremely valuable and I am grateful for their strong personalities and enriching characters.

To all my existing clients: your appreciation for my work makes my days. You are all precious to me and I cherish our relationship no matter how often or seldom we see each other.

Without the people who read this, I would just be talking to myself, so my Gratitude includes you as well.

And before this starts to sound like the acknowledgements in the foreword of a book, I stop here – curious to hear what you are grateful for today, tomorrow and the day after. Please share your thoughts and insights below. Thank you.

What a powerful word, don’t you think?

What is Faith?

According to the dictionary it is a…

…confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

or a

strong or unshakeable belief in something, especially without proof or evidence.

Descriptions of Faith also include:

a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny;
(as in: “he lost his faith but not his morality”)

A belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

Loyalty or even allegiance to a person, dogma, principle, cause or thing.

secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will

a set of principles or beliefs

the body of dogma of a religion

How Faith works

Keep the Faith

Believe in yourself no matter what it willl take
You can be a winner but you got to keep the Faith!

Popular examples for an external universal trusted sources are God, Jesus, Mary, Allah, Buddha, Mohammed, Odin, Zeus, Grace, …
Their main characteristic is that they would know everybody’s purpose or answers to each person’s questions about life.

An external personal source could be a deceased loved one or a personal angel who is specifically assigned to you and only knows and cares about your purpose, no one else’s.

an internal source is something that you see as being a part of your self (but NOT your unconscious mind). It is an aspect of your psyche that can provide the answers you are looking for in terms of your purpose or other important aspects of your life.

There are three criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to define a trusted source:

You need to believe that

• it exists
• it already knows your purpose
• you can communicate with each other

You can learn more about trusted source and 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make in Tim Kelley’ book True Purpose.

Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal. – Earl Nightingale

A definition by Earl Nightingale

(Excerpt from “The Strangest Secret“):

…The only person who succeeds is the person who is progressively realising a worthy ideal. It’s the person who says “I’m going to become this” and then begins to work toward that goal. I tell you who successful people are:

A success is the school teacher, because that’s what he or she wants to do.
A success is a woman who’s a wife and mother, because she wanted to become a wife and mother and is doing a good job of it.
A success is the man who runs the corner gas station because that was his dream, that’s what he wanted to do.
A success is the successful salesman who wants to become a top notch salesman and grow and build up this organisation.

A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a predetermined job, because that’s what he decided to do deliberately.

Your turn:

What does success mean to you?
How do you know that you are successful?
How do you measure your success/what are your KPI (Key Performance Indicators)?

S – Specific and Simple

Make it simple and specific. “I don’t want to be alone” is a simple statement, but it is far from being specific. With goal setting it is important to say what you want, not what you don’t want.

Have you ever heard the expression “What you focus on is what you get”? That’s what Specific and Simple is about: Say not what you don’t want, but what you want. Focus on the positive.

How would you like not to be alone? Do you want a partner, a lover, children, grand children, a friend, be part of a club or the community? What do you want, specifically?

M – Measurable

This one goes hand in hand with the one above. “I want more money” is simple, positive and more or less specific, but it is not measurable. How much is more? Is it one dollar or 10, 100 or thousands?

Make sure there is a number involved. In case it can’t be measured by numbers, imagine a scale from 1-10, where 10 is where you want to be. What are the criteria that need to be fulfilled for you to be at a 10? Write them down as a tick-off list.

A – Achievable and Attainable by you, As if now

Again, make it your goal, one that you can achieve by yourself. It is not about your partner, family, child or the world, it is not someone else’s goal, it is yours!

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present. – Babatunde Olatunji

Some languages haven’t even got grammar for future or past. They totally live in the here and now. Use present tense when you write down your goal. “I am…, I have…” are the most powerful words on earth, in any language.

R – Realistic

If you have set goals before and not achieved them, maybe they have been set too high. Making a million in a year could be a bit challenging if you are earning 50.000 a year and have no savings and no plan.

On the other side, if you have always achieved your goals without effort, it may be time to challenge your self. Stretch a little further than comfortable, you will grow into it.

T – Time frame

Give your goal a time frame, have a date involved. “By December 31st 2010 …” or “the 15th of May2015…” will make your goal even more measurable, specific and easy to plan for.

I – Inspirational

Often money comes up in goal setting. But is it really about the money? I don’t think so. Generally it is about what you can or want to do with the money. What is it that inspires you to get up? What motivates you to persevere when times get tough?

When a goal is not about money but what really inspires you, you may suddenly find other ways to achieve it.

Be open and allow the universe or God to provide for you in whatever way they may think is appropriate. Extend your opportunities by making your goal inspirational.

E – Evidence and Endstep

What is the final thing that needs to happen for you to know that you have achieved your goal? What is the picture that you see, what do you hear or tell yourself, how do you feel?

What is the evidence that proofs you have made it? For example when do you know you have lost enough weight? Is it when you see a certain number standing on your scale? When you fit in your favourite dress or pants? When you have achieved a certain fat percentage? Or when the tape measure shows a specific number?

Make your Evidence and Endstep very clear and involve as many senses as possible: see, hear, feel, smell or taste your success.

When we are little, we adopt our parents’ values as our own, before we become influenced by our friends, their parents, religion, culture and other social groups and communities.

At times, our values may change and what we held true as children is no longer valid. This is often an unconscious process that only gets realised when some of our values either conflict with each other or with what we (have to or choose to) do, for example at work.

A values alignment gives you clarity about the values that you have currently and the ones you wish or need to have (for example if you start a business or need to get out of a relationship), brings them into the most appropriate order and helps you to make your values strong and supportive in order to achieve your goal(s).

What does I Ging mean?
The “I” means “changes in the flow of life energy (“Chi”) and “Ching” is the word for classic.  The I Ging is often referred to as the “Book of Changes”, and the philosophical backbone to Chinese medicine, astrology and architecture as well as physical education like T’ai Chi Chuan or Qi Gong and the principles of Feng Shui.

Where does the I Ging come from?
I Ging is the essence of 6000 years of ancient wisdom, which initially has been passed on verbally before it was eventually written down, still being polished, adjusted and refined over time.

It consists of 64 sacred hexagrams, each of them a different combination of six solid and broken lines.

Examples:

hexagram 30-fire

hexagram 47-affliction

hexagram 61-inner truth

What does it mean?

Each line has a symbolic meaning (from top to bottom):

1. Spirit (religion, tao, the end or ‘beyond’ things)
2. Structure (organising, leading, ideals)
3. Choice (decisions, finding solutions or the road)
4. Emotions (exploration and evaluation)
5. Connection (with people, finding a place in the world, environment)
6. Reality (action, matter, the way one stands on the earth, beginnings)

Using the I Ging
The I Ging can be used as an oracle, a suggestion or a guide, depending on your preferences. Working with the I Ging has become an art. In the beginning there was only a Yes or No answer, then the system has become more and more complex by broadening the possibilities for interpretation. Adding imagination again has lifted the interpretation process to another level.

Because of its complexity, it may take several attempts until the I Ging reveals the information you are looking for.

What can you  expect?
As always, what you put in is what you get out. The quality of the questions you are asking the I Ging will determine the answer you get. At the same time, a question/problem well stated is a problem half solved.

The I Ging can help find answers to questions that expect a complex answer, allow to balance two outcomes, focus on special times, ask for clarification, describe a state or situation or simply asks for a comment.

At least, the I Ging offers an opportunity for self reflection, which is always a good thing.

Examples of meta-programs are:

Reason-Filters (Focus on possibility – “I can..” vs necessity – “I must…”)
Action-Filters (Active, Reflective, both, Inactive)
Attention Direction (Self, Others)
Primary Interest Filter (people, places, things, activity, information)
Chunk Size Filters (specific, global)

Neuro Linguistic Programming – neuro refers to our nervous system, the neuro pathways in our brain, linguistic to the language and other non-verbal communication system we use through which our neural representations are coded, ordered and given meaning and programming relates to the ability to program our brain, like we can program software for a computer.

NLP is the study of human excellence and communication and provides us with the tools to run our own brain and manage our states, emotions and our behaviours. Studying NLP means finding out how we use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes.

In coaching NLP is for example used to get quick results, to dissolve phobia, elicit values conflicts and resolve them, to change patterns and behaviour or to get rid of limiting beliefs.