My personal lessons almost always come in three. Yesterday my lesson was about Respect.

First I was reminded how important it is to Respect our body. Visiting a client in a nursing home brought memories back when my Grandmother had a stroke and needed care. Living in the same little village, my mother saw her three times a day to do the daily tasks like washing and feeding her, cleaning the house, giving her comfort and company.

We lived across the road from my Grandma’s place, but having three little children at that time and studying Architecture, I did not always find or take the time to visit her. However, when my mother needed a break, I took over her duties.

Grandma always loved gardening. Before she moved to the village where my Mum lived and I grew up, she had her own house with a garden that was huge (at least that’s what it seemed to me as a child). It was big enough to be almost self-sustainable, anyway with fruit and vegetables.

I owe my Grandma many wonderful memories of us together in the garden, eating fresh carrots, just simply wiping off the dirt or raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, apples, apricots, directly from bush or tree to mouth and standing in the kitchen cooking the world’s best vegetable soups.

She always had those rosy cheeks and the strong and healthy body that you would expect from a woman who has survived a war and managed an immaculate garden, which she loved keeping in perfect shape and knew everything about how to do it.

Seeing how my Grandma’s body changed made me appreciate even more that I was healthy and fit and that I could do the things I love to do like dance, work out, go for a walk…

My client and ‘Anna-Oma’ (that’s how I called Grandma) reminded me how important it is to

Respect Your BODY

Respect the signs your body is giving you. Typically, your body will tell you what you need to do.

If you are tired, rest and find out why you are tired.
Have you eaten too much food that does not deliver enough energy? Did you drink enough? Did you have enough sleep? Does your body get enough exercise to feel refreshed? Do you get enough fresh air? Do you breath deeply to get lots of oxygen in your system to sustain your brain and other organ to function at their best?

Respect your MIND

If you experience symptoms of discomfort or dis-ease, where do you feel them in your body?
Every body part is related to a topic in life. For example the throat, thyroids and shoulder area is related to truth and communication. A hoarse voice, a tenacious cough or a cold could be a sign that it is time to speak up, to speak your own truth or to find your truth, to learn how to communicate what bothers you or what would make you happy.

It also works the other way around: if your mind (conscious and unconscious) feels neglected, ignored or misunderstood, it will cause blockages in your body. If you are not congruent living your values, your mind will find ways to avoid those situations.

For example when someone highly values Health and works in a fast food restaurant (where they get paid to provide the customers with food they would not eat themselves), the value system would ‘go nuts’. Everything inside would be screaming “This is WRONG!” In order to avoid the situation the mind would cause blockages in the body that causes the person to feel sick, get heavy headaches, feel ill in the stomach – just about anything that will do the trick to avoid going back to work.

By knowing and respecting your values, you can take a lot of stress out of work. They will find ways to make you uncomfortable until you do anyway. For peace of mind it would be a great idea to get clear on your values (or virtues) and align them with work that is meaningful to you.

I am reading The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
again (the original from Irving Stone from 1963!), one of my favourite artists from the Renaissance. At the moment I am at the part where he is conducting dissections to explore and get an understanding how the body works, how muscles and bones are connected.

He respected the human body so much that he was even prepared to carry the burden and guilt of desecrating the dead in order to be able to honour the beauty of the ones alive.

Respect the Moment

The second reminder for Respect came through a documentary about a chef who explores the preparation of food and creation of dishes in the kitchens of Asia. On his journey he focuses rather on the ‘basic’ meals than the haute cuisine. Meals prepared from the people who prepare the food they grow locally or catch fresh.

In the sequel yesterday he was in Bali, where he spoke to a Swiss immigrant who explained why he would never ever leave the island again. He said what fascinates him most there is that the Bali people ‘live in the moment’.

“Look at them, they come from a fishing trip and may have caught five fish, but they are happy because it is enough for today. A young man had a bad car accident, broke his leg – but he is alive. That’s reason enough to be happy, because ‘it could have been worse’.”

He also said that the people are very respectful and very friendly towards visitors of their country. They look at other without judgment, take them as they come. They respect that you may have another religion, another skin colour or other interests.

A very typical scene in Bali is to see someone pray for guidance and protection and the sacrifice of food. Every feast will start with a ‘Thank You’ to the Gods in form of a plate of food that is brought to a shrine. The Respect for their Gods and their traditions is part of daily life in Bali.

From this respect for the moment, for others and for traditions comes a deep sense of calmness and peace.

Communities support each other, they fish together and share their catch, they live in big families while still respecting each other’s space (a family may share the same property and live close to each other, but each generation might have a separate ‘building’ and just share the amenities and the (outdoor) kitchen).

There would hardly be any reason for stress, because in Bali the elements that cause stress in a typical Western country are turned around into resources for a mind that is at peace with itself, with the community and with nature.

Respect your SPIRIT

And thirdly I shouldn’t have been surprised when I looked at my calendar and found this quote from Wayne Dyer:

Respect your oneness, and resist any pressure to be a conformist – be the being you came here to be.

You are unique and special and it is my personal belief that we are all here to serve a purpose. We come from one light and we are the light.

When we are out of alignment with ourselves, that’s when we feel overwhelmed or bored, but when we respect that we have a purpose and are willing to fulfill it, when we surrender to our purpose, that’s when true magic happens.

Respect your Purpose

Living on and with purpose and taking your life in your own hands can be challenging, because not everybody will be supportive if you step up to live to that standard. It may even be your own ego that is sabotaging you to find what you are meant to do and who you are meant to be in the first place.

From my own experience I would like to share that despite (or maybe even more because) of all the challenges, living an authentic life is extremely rewarding.

It is simple to change your life and sometimes it’s not easy. That’s why it is my aim to help you live the life you were born to live, to live on and with purpose, to show you how you can take your life back in your own hands and to offer you guidance during that transition.

Do you already live on and with purpose?

Please share your insights:

How did you find what you are meant to do? What did it take to become who you are meant to be? What is your mission to the world?

I’d love to hear your story. And if you think yours is nothing special, remember Amanda Marshall’s song: ‘Everybody’s Got A Story‘ and it may be yours that is inspiring another person who reads this.

Are you feeling …

…stressed or overwhelmed?
…stuck or out of alignment?
…burned out or of low energy?

Are you concerned about…

…your ability to perform to your usual personal or professional standard?
…your lack of concentration, memory or learning difficulties?
…social isolation, an urge to withdraw from social activities or communicational challenges?
…unexplainable moodiness, depression, constant fatigue, allergic reactions or rashes, eczema or itches?
…reduced libido, temper or frustration, feelings of loneliness or not being worthy?
…hallucination, sleeplessness or nightmares?

If you recognise some of the above symptoms in your life, here are the good news:

Your body, mind and spirit are giving you signals that either or all of them are out of balance and need some time (and maybe support) to even themselves out.  In order to do that it is important to have a rest, listen to your self talk, observe your emotions and look at the signals of your body. That way the relevant part can do its work, respectively all three work together symbiotically.

The real reason for an imbalance of body, mind and spirit always comes back to one of three causes:

• physical stress (tensions and blockages in your body)
• mental stress (draining thoughts and limiting beliefs that seem to run around in circles, drag you down and make you feel powerless, weak or tired)
• spiritual/emotional stress (when you seem to be controlled by your emotions rather than being in control of them, when there is a conflict in your values or a lack of purpose)

Often a stress in one area is the reason for tension or blockages in another, because they are interconnected and feed from each other.

This is why Transition Guidance looks at the whole person and offers a holistic approach to reducing stress, improving your overall wellbeing and supporting relaxation for the body, the mind and the spirit.

What we do:

We balance and relax

body, mind and spirit.

We guide

through transition by choice or necessity.

We empower

to live an authentic life with purpose

We connect

you with your inner resources

and with like-minded people

Using traditional Thai healing techniques, Transition Guidance combines body treatments with one-on-one coaching to invigorate mind, body and spirit. Specialising in work-life harmony, qualified coach and massage therapist Petra Creutziger’s approach allows wellbeing seekers to let go of the mental and physical blockages that are more-often-than-not caused by stress.

Transition Guidance offers many options for physical and mental stress release, stress management and stress prevention. Some of our treatments include:

• Indian head massage – release tension and eliminate toxins
• Nuad Thai – relax plus treat pain and body imbalances
• Laser coaching – your umbrella on a rainy day
• Discover your purpose – move forward with your life.

Special packages are available for ultimate value.

Take your life back in your hands… make a guided transition.

More than anything else, I believe it’s our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.

“Awaken The Giant Within” – How to take control of your mental, emotional, physical and financial destiny by Anthony Robbins.

Free Press; Soft Cover edition (November 1, 1992) – 544 pages – ISBN: 978-0671791544

The international best-seller is divided in four parts.

In part I, author Anthony Robbins, is setting the stage for the reader to ‘unleash your power’, when he explains the impact of our decisions, the forces that shape our life, our belief systems, the science of Neuro-Associative Conditioning, the vocabulary of success, ten emotions of power and how we can create a compelling future. He finishes part one with a ten-day mental challenge, where the reader is challenged to focus on solutions for 10 consecutive days.

Part II concentrates on ‘taking control – the master system’, with topics like ultimate influence, life values, rules, references and identity, where Robbins explains the six master steps to change, five areas of intervention, how to discover, order and rearrange values and how to make them strong and powerful, the challenge of changing rules and how to communicate them as well as how to use references to put your life in perspective and how we define and defend our identities.

Part III then is an instruction for  ‘the seven days to shape your life’, where the reader is guided to create his emotional, physical, relationship and financial destiny, his own code of conduct and how to master time and life.

In part IV we read a short but powerful ‘lesson in destiny’ and how heroes are made.

What I like most: Once you have ‘worked’ your way through the book, you can not feel but empowered. With all his detailed explanations, descriptions, examples, stories and exercises, Tony Robbins leaves you with the message, that the results you get in life are your responsibility and that each of us has the ability to design our own destiny.

Conclusion: a must for coaches, a great start for every one who likes guidance and is disciplined enough to actually make the exercises.

Valuation: 41/2 of 5 stars

Look inside

We all have a different environment we live in, a different “map of the world”, education, strategy…
When we want to step up, we are transitioning to being a person with new, different or better skills than we had before. Those transitions make the stories of our lives. They are what makes it interesting, challenging and rewarding. The bigger the challenge, the more interesting is the story and the bigger is the reward that we experience when have grown beyond what we thought we are capable of achieving.

The bigger the challenge, the more inspiring the story.

No matter where the wonderful people who gave their statements below came from, they were facing change maybe just like you do. What separates them from the crowd is that they were and still are committed to face the challenges that often come with change, they got some guidance to lead them on their journey and they followed through with action.

Whether you are a business owner, want to start a business, want to find your passion or new motivation for your work, increase your confidence and (self-) leadership skills or simply look for support and guidance through a challenging phase in your life where you face change by choice or necessity, Transition Guidance is supporting you to come out stronger on the other side and to create the life you dream of.

So, what’s YOUR inspirational story?

Have a look at this inspiring story:

What is it that is challenging you at the moment? What is the opportunity that lies in there?

Read about more transformations here.