Being critical of ourselves or others is a pretty common affliction. I say affliction as there are certainly places where we want to be critical and judge the merits of a particular action or interaction. However this type of behaviour often brings an emotional burden to it that shuts down communication both internally and externally. In an interaction between two Read More …
There are many things we may want to change about ourselves or our circumstances at any given moment but change must come through acceptance. When we rail against the strictures of our life they bind and become tighter, like trying to stretch a muscle while it’s tense. To make change you must first accept yourself as you are. And make Read More …
As a martial artist and a dancer I have become intimately aware of the condition of my body. I want it to last for a long time and I want it to be able to perform for me to the best of its capacity throughout that time. I realize for a long time I took this for granted. I would Read More …
The thing I hate about New Year’s resolutions is that they only come once per year. If you set some meaningful change for your life and fall off the wagon by February it takes an entire year before you get to try again. This year make a resolution to make resolutions. Put goals into a central place in your life. Read More …
An amazing thing I have witnessed about creative people — they don’t limit the realms of their creation. I’ve loved watching interviews with Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson, Joni Mitchell, and many others where you hear about all the different projects they’re involved in from movies, to music, to writing, to business, essentially simultaneously. Now it’s easy to look at these Read More …
At the end of my swordplay classes I offer 10 minute blocks of coaching to all of my students. In these 10 minute blocks I do my best to find one important thing to give to a particular student that will be the most impactful for their development as a martial artist. I then ask them to pass their learning Read More …
One of the most powerful ways you can honour a relationship is through transparency. Transparency is the act of sharing your internal process with someone. By sharing your internal motivations and intentions you act with true integrity: the alignment of thought, word, and deed. You will find that even if your actions do not line up with someone else’s desires Read More …
A client of mine was recently filling in for the head instructor of a personal training practice during her maternity leave. This is not the first time she’s filled in for this instructor before and she remarked that the return of the head instructor was always challenging. When the head instructor returned she usually felt that she needed to assert Read More …
When I was doing research for my very first blog post (not the first to appear here but the first I wrote) I came across 10 articles that were essentially identical to the one I had drafted. That was a bit disheartening. Here I was saying something that had been said at least 10 times before. That’s a challenge with Read More …
This is a mantra of mine right now. “I move toward things that scare me.” it has been pretty powerful. It doesn’t mean I leap into things that are way over my head. Just that I ask myself to always step closer. When I find myself shying away from talking to someone, maybe I ask them for the time. I Read More …