As we enter autumn, can we pause to savor the abundance we've harvested? It's essential to remember what we're grateful for - especially in a time of uncertainty. In this issue I describe a process that can help us recover our joy. We also celebrate the unveiling of our new website. Enjoy.

Last month for five days I stood in front of a piece of white paper tacked to the wall. Brush in hand, with a wide array of luscious colors to choose from, I painted whatever came out of me. The intention of the workshop I was attending was to access that place in myself from which creativity springs. To get there, I first had to move through everything that gets in my way. So for the first four days I emptied onto that paper all the machinations of my mind. As I painted the good, the bad, and the ugly, everything - even the most dreadful and unacceptable - became beautiful in its expression. By the fifth day I had arrived at what my teacher, Michele Cassou, calls Point Zero, and what was pouring out of me was joy.

In the world of recovery we talk about what we're recovering from - alcoholism, drug abuse, compulsive shopping, and so on. How often do we talk about what we want to recover back? Through coaching, clients in recovery can reclaim their innate capacity to be wise, insightful, creative, playful, and free: They can recover back their joy.

Recovery is a multi-layered process that may include therapy, counseling, sponsorship, and working a Twelve Step program. When the client is ready, recovery coaching can open up their capacity to identify what really matters to them in the present, so they can shape a future infused with these values. As a recovery coach, I guide clients to unearth and move through their stuck places so they can access their own Point Zero. From there, they can set goals and take actions to shape a life that has purpose and meaning.

Experience has shown me that if we do not create from this essential place, we cannot truly realize our goals. We may set goals and take actions that look right on the outside, or we may pursue goals that others have set for us, but ultimately we will find it difficult to follow through and bring them into reality - unless we go within and ensure they are connected to our values.

A client came to me six months into her recovery from drug addiction. In the beginning she did some exercises to discover core values that had been hidden beneath her addiction. Then I asked her, "If you really lived by these values, and dared to dream, what would your life look like?" She envisioned a beautiful home in a peaceful setting and an infant in her arms. Now, two years later, she lives in that home and is about to have a baby.

Another one of my clients is a business professional who runs a small company.

When he arrives for our session, he's often agitated and distressed. For him, coaching is an opportunity to access his Point Zero, and ground himself. Sometimes all he needs is a five minute guided meditation. As he follows his breath, he returns to the present moment and quiets the chatter in his mind. Then, often without any further guidance, he is able to intuitively solve the problems that were overwhelming him at the beginning of the session.

Sometimes I offer clients this exercise to help them tap into their inner source:

Place on a flat surface an 8 ½ x 11 piece of white paper and hold in one hand a colored pencil or crayon. Close your eyes, be with your breath, and begin to sense the weight of the pencil in your hands. Now allow your eyes to open and place the pencil on the paper. Stay present with your breathing as you begin to move your hand. Let the pencil guide you, notice the mind wanting to make something, and keep moving. Follow the flow, feel the pencil, and sense the texture of paper for several minutes. Do your best to not judge your creation. Your job is to be with the experience, not the result. Now stop, take a couple of breaths, and be with whatever it is you created. Put your name and date on it, and set it aside. Then notice how this process affects the rest of your day.

Coaching is a courageous act. It supports us to tap into a reservoir of possibility and potential that is so much bigger than who we have thought ourselves to be. To face and shift who we think we are is not always comfortable - and it can bring us great joy.

For more info about Point Zero painting workshops please contact Michele Cassou at http://www.michelecassou.com.

~Linda

Please check it out! www.lindalandon.com.

Do you long for equanimity in these unsettling times?
Led by Stefan Laeng-Gilliatt

Rediscover the potential for health and fulfillment that springs from full presence in stillness and in motion. Being in full touch with ourselves and our surroundings, we can find our way to a more authentic, connected and healthy way of living. Through simple explorations with everyday movements, playful experiments with gravity, quiet presence and lively interactions with others, we rediscover what it means to be fully alive and engaged.

Introductory Evening:
Friday, November 7, 2008

Time: 7:30 - 9:00 PM
Location: Hari's RIE Studio
2901 Ocean Park Blvd. Suite 121

Introductory Special: $10

Weekend Workshop: Saturday and Sunday
November 8 - 9, 2008

Time: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Location: Hari's RIE Studio
2901 Ocean Park Blvd. Suite 121

Cost: $195

To register, contact: stelaeng@mac.com or click HERE.