Tag Archive for: Toronto life coach

,

Time for reflection

I have always had a reflective practice. It has helped me connect, align (my guiding word for 2020) and grow forward, in both my business and in my life. 

It began when I was little; I was always the deep thinker, the seeker, the sensitive one who always looked further than what was in front of her. I found it has helped me to see what worked, what didn’t work, and what could be changed. It allowed me to reframe my perspective and improve, which lead me to living a magical life of freedom. 

In my healing journey, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life. The funny thing about having space for yourself in life is that you are almost forced to reflect.  It happens naturally within that sacred space, and that my dreamers, is where the magic happens. 

I get it. Some of you are thinking to yourself, “but how can I create space in my already full and busy life? It’s impossible. I just can’t right now. Maybe down the road when the kids are grown, the bills are paid, blah, blah, blah.” Nope. Sorry, not sorry, but that’s not how it works. That’s not how big magic is created.

Creating Space

Creating space for yourself in your life to think, to breathe, to reflect, to feel and to HEAL must be intentional and deliberate for it to empower you. It’s not always perfect timing and it doesn’t always feel safe and comfortable. Creating space can be downright scary! But let me tell you something; when space is needed in your life, it doesn’t ask permission. It comes barging in, in the form of resistance, illness, “stuckness”, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, feelings of “lostness” and disconnection, compensatory strategies (emotional eating, anyone?), the list goes on. It forces its way in until you have no choice but to do something about it.  Sound familiar? 

Making the brave and bold move to create space in your life, to slow down and to simplify things so you can get clear about what you actually want, need and wish to create, is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself. I know because I’ve done it. Many times. Sometimes by choice; sometimes by force, but when I’ve allowed space to partner with me in this deliberate and intentional way, ALWAYS, yes, ALWAYS, my eyes were opened to what my heart and soul had been crying for. Then, and only then, have I been able to see the magic, make the magic, be the magic that creates a life aligned and fulfilled. A life of Freedom. 

Big Magic

2019 forced me to create space. I was grieving the loss of my parents, I was sick, tired, sad and lost. Not exactly the ingredient to make magic, right? But, I have honed the skill of radical self- awareness. I can now see the signs. I reflected on my past and realized my own “stuckness” was begging me to make space, to be brave and courageous enough to take a step back. To slow down. And to allow myself to feel, to heal, to see clearly and to decide what I needed in MY OWN LIFE to truly feel free.

And I found it.

I found my magic again.  And I couldn’t see it or feel it through the clutter of a busy (ugh, that word) life. I couldn’t see it through the forcing and the “shoulding” and the continuing to try to show up in a way that didn’t align to my core. That didn’t align with what I value most in all aspects of my life. FREEDOM. 

Then I got to work. 

What was missing from my life? What needed to go? What could I improve on and what was going well? What new habits did I need to practice that supported this freedom life?  When I cut out the noise around me, I was able to tap into my soul and ask myself all of the questions I had been avoiding, and then to answer them with truth and realness. The answers WERE the magic! 

The Other Side of HEAL with Shari

By creating space, I was able to feel.

By being stuck, I was able to heal.

By going deep, I was able to get real.

The pain of “stuckness” forced me to create space. Space guided me to connect to my core. The connection allowed me to find my magic again.

I realized what was missing, went out and found it, and I invited it into my life. Intentionally and deliberately.

I needed to be part of a team again.

I needed to feel the energy exchange only hands-on healing can provide.

I needed to reignite my passion for holistic skincare.

And so, I did.

The Magic and Freedom I have created in my life, being able to work from home as a Holistic Freedom Life Coach AND to work with an incredible team of hands-on healers at Province Apothecary as a Holistic Skincare Therapist is a dream. A dream I created for myself by creating space for the answers to arrive, and then to act in the direction of my dreams.

Magic, freedom and a life fulfilled are available to us all.

If you feel stuck, let me help you.

You can find me at Province Apothecary, Wednesdays, Thursdays + Sundays.

Love + freedom + glowing skin,

Shari xo

,

Aligned + Awake

Everyone has heard the saying, “everything in your life happens FOR you, not TO you”, right?

And what about, “everything that is meant for you will not pass you by”? 

How about, “you are exactly where you should be”? 

These are quotes we see, hear and read everywhere these days in order to feel aligned, awake and free. 

I truly believe this. I drink the Kool-Aid. In fact, I’ll take it one step further and say that I truly LIVE MY LIFE by all of these sayings, and I have never felt more aligned and awake than I do right this second.

The last few years have been the most challenging ones of my life, for many different reasons. My husband had a bad accident and lost a finger (could have been his life!) whilst completing his final commission before closing down his wood working side-gig. It was scary shit. 

My parents passed away within 18 months of each other, and as an only child, I felt alone, detached, sad and broken. Hello, grief storm! We moved from the city to a small town on the water, only to realize after three years that it wasn’t for us and we needed to move back. Packing sucks. Making values-aligned decisions does not. 

Space to Heal

Oh, did I mention that in the midst of losing limbs, parents and the inability to remember my postal code, I launched my biz out into the real world AND assumed my husband’s name (no simple feat). The dream is free; the hustle is sold separately (or so they say).

When 2019 kicked-off, I thought I was just going to slide back into a flow state because I wanted to.  Because it had to after all this craziness, right? I deserved a break after all the life changes I fought through, right? (some obviously self-inflicted). There is no way things could NOT just fall back into place so I could move forward with ease; pretty please?! Ha, ha, nope. That’s not how life works, My Dreamers. That’s not how freedom is found.

I felt stuck. I felt sad. I felt sick. I felt unmotivated. I felt lost. And I most certainly did not feel FREE in any sense of the word. After a couple months of pushing, pulling, forcing and fighting, I finally surrendered to “The Plan” and began to HEAL: mind, body and soul. Deep and dirty work.

I worked on getting my adrenally exhausted body back to normal functioning. I worked on balancing my way-out-of-whack hormones so I could have energy to do things again and to feel joy again. I fed myself well, let myself sleep and focused on my yoga practice with healing intentions. I read and I wrote, and I cried. 

I sought support through my husband, my friends and family, also a grief counsellor who all allowed me to unravel in a safe way so that I could piece myself back together again. I took a huge and scary step back from my business so I could have space to heal. I slowed things down. I nourished and nurtured myself, I let myself feel in order to heal. 

Time to awaken

You see, in the forcing, I was keeping myself stuck. In the pulling, I myself, was being pulled backwards. In the pushing, I was met only with resistance. It was only when I leaned into the space I gave myself to heal and the permission to take my time to do it right, was I able to trust and surrender to the unfolding of my life.

I knew something needed to shift. I knew something was missing and out of alignment. I knew whatever it was, needed time, love, compassion, trust and to be able to show up.

I needed to be ready and I needed the space to heal. I didn’t know what it looked like but I called it in. I believed in it. I believed in myself. Funny thing about time and space; they help us heal. My body began to heal. My heart began to heal. My mind began to heal. My soul began to heal.

“Everything in my life has happened FOR me, not to me.”

“Nothing that is meant for me will pass me by.”

“I am exactly where I should be.”

I feel Aligned and Awake and ready for a new decade to begin.

I found my Freedom.

Love + Freedom,

Shari xo