#71 - Staying Slow In The Fast Lane

I'm giving up speed for Lent. It's losing its appeal. More and more, I'm experiencing the benefits of slowing down and creating space for breath, for inspiration.

I came back to my emails after a gloriously relaxing and nurturing week away with a commitment to process them fully. I am allowing myself time to engage fully with the person and ideas behind the words, instead of feeling I have to frantically catch up.

Then my pace changed. In the last couple of days, I've received three HUGE and fantastic pieces of news (I'll reveal all soon!) and the latest, this morning, just sent me buzzing with excitement. After a good amount of running around and squealing with joy, I sat down to write this blog post. Adrenalin was rushing round and my mind created ten possible drafts in as many minutes and promptly discarded them all. My pace was too hectic; it wasn't comfortable.

Later, as I walked in the beautiful Botanic Gardens, I realised that one of my Saboteur's most cunning strategies is to wind me up so fast that I start stumbling and no longer hear that quiet, still, secure inner voice - that part of me which breathes in excitement, which basks, floats and savours.

This week, I've also received emails from several of my clients sharing their big news. Outer achievements such as an album launch and a TV interview, inner shifts such as relationship breakthroughs and realisations about their evolving Contribution Footprint™. It's been a total pleasure to really 'meet' each one - to slow down, sink deeply into that encounter and respond from my heart.

My speedy Saboteur loves to tell me that life is a race and the faster I go, the safer I am. In calmness and steadiness, I can see that my inner voice is continually wanting to lead me and I feel so much more secure listening to and following that. I am making a resolution to go a new way. Old Saboteur with his rollercoastering and brake screeching can't compete when I remember I get to choose my pace.

Do Things Differently
1) Right in this moment, what pace are you moving at - internally and externally? Speed up 10% for a few minutes and then slow down 10% for another few minutes to get a sense of where you are on the full spectrum of possibilities. Which animal, vehicle or aspect of nature is your pace like? How does this current pace serve you? What does it make possible and what does it hinder?

2) Let us know whether you're someone who could do with a jump-start and acceleration or whether you need to take a breather and move slower. I'd love to get a sense from these blog comments of what the most common challenges are - and what speed settings YOU might like to give up for Lent! And if you're craving more slow, take the opportunity of this moment to do that right now: re-read this blog post at a languid tortoise pace and notice what's different.

3) Resolving to pursue a new way is often a process of forward-movement and slip-backs, rather than a done-and-dusted one-off event. Let my New Way Resolution e-course support you through that process for a whole month for just £7.50. Click here to read how the e-course has helped others and subscribe by next Monday to join the March course.

(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009

#70 - Give Me A Journey

I have been immersed in workshops this weekend. I ran my full-day Fail Is Not A Four Letter Word on Saturday and then threw myself into the experience of Katie Rose's Singing The Song That We Are on Sunday. Both were gloriously full with eager participants, despite the snow and distance they had to travel.

Many of us have been to workshops which engaged only our brains. We've sat with paper and pen, talked through relatively superficial questions, and left without knowing each others' names. When I go to a workshop, I want to be taken on a journey. I want to go from somewhere to somewhere and I want to trust the workshop facilitator to be my guide. I want them to have a map, but not grip on to it too firmly. Katie did this beautifully. There was a flow from one exercise to the next and my whole body was involved through sound, movement, words, drama and more. She stood back and allowed us to explore and then stepped in with her exquisite intuition to nudge us towards new places to look. I left the day with so much serenity, humming contentedly to myself all the way home.

When I go on these journeys, I also want to feel like others are there with me - that's we're seeing each other and being seen. I am always blown away by how my fear-of-failure-busting gang connects and supports each other. This group shared hugs and tears, acknowledgements and whoops of celebration. They've all swapped emails and are already continuing their conversations. In fact, a couple of them have suggested that they have a six month reunion - and this is a group who spent just six hours with each other.

It is a precious honour to be trusted to guide people through a learning journey and this weekend I've been reminded of how equally wonderful it is to find someone, such as Katie, who can do that for me. It's a true skill to create a space safe enough for a group of strangers to explore an issue such as fear of failure, resistance, self-doubt, and insecurities. After my workshop, one of the more apprehensive participants said to me: "It was amazing how quickly and easily I could open up to people I didn't know. I realised that we were all in the same boat so no-one was judging anyone else". If as a workshop facilitator you can set up the expectation of openness and model vulnerability, something sacred is created. It's a container which allows people to let go and go deep. They can cry and sing and shout - as they did this weekend! - and actually move through a block, rather than merely thinking about it.

Do Things Differently
1) What kind of journey do you already take others on? Fear to freedom? Stress to calm? Overwhelm to simplicity? Unfitness to health? What do you do naturally, just because of who you are? - and are there ways in which you could package this and actually offer that journey as a 1-1 or group process?
2) What journey are you ready for? Where do you want to go from and to? Who can be your guide?
3) Check out Katie's website, The Rose Window, for her full moon chanting, workshops & upcoming second album launch.


(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009

** There's no Doing Things Differently next week so here's a challenge... If YOU were writing this blog, what would you write about? Where are you noticing yourself doing - or wanting to do - things differently? How could your experiences help others in finding new pathways? **

** Fail workshop coming to London.... June 2009, date and venue tbc. Book early to avoid disappointment**

#69 - Out Of The Extra-Ordinary

Today in Cambridge, my neighbourhood is at its most beautiful. Covered in powdery snow, the landscape exudes a regal calm. I've been out for several walks and whoops, the cold air waking me up to the magnificence of being alive. I've chatted with neighbours I've never seen before and laughed with kids throwing snow-balls. There's a real feeling of community here as the extra-ordinariness of today takes us out of our houses and jobs and into our streets. We've been given the chance to see the familiar anew.

For some, weather like this is inconvenient at best, dangerous at worst. I'm under no illusions that snow is pure magic. If you're dependent on help arriving at your door or need to get somewhere urgently, this is no fun and my heart goes out to you. For many of us, though, we can seize today as a chance to get off the treadmill, postpone till tomorrow, grab our friends, family, partner and colleagues and reconnect, rest, energise and reflect. We can take time out of the ordinary to enjoy the full potential of the extra-ordinary.

At its very least, this weather reminds us of how beholden we are to nature, to our climate. We are not in control, no matter how much we pretend to be. The huge snowflakes blowing in my face this morning said loud and clear: Sometimes you have to receive and adapt. We must be open to negotiating new ways of living. When the bus doesn't run, the car's snowed under or the school's shut down, we create new options - for one day, maybe for more. When we allow ourselves to detach from business as usual, we find different - sometimes preferable - ways of living in these times.

Sometimes our world does things differently - and we just get to follow...

Do Things Differently
1) Inquiry: How do I respond when the extra-ordinary happens, when 'business as usual' is not possible?
2) Inquiry: Where in my life am I trying to fight to re-establish business as usual when I could let go and trust that another way is possible? Which of life's circumstances could I receive and adapt to?
3) For goodness sake, get out there! In the UK as in other parts of the world, this snow is so rare and so precious. Let's get wet, get dirty, take the risk of saying hello to people, swing out.
4) Please feel free to comment on this post, letting us know about your laughter and learnings on this snow day.

(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009

** Does fear of failing keep you plodding on with business as usual, even though you're longing for the extra-ordinary? **
My Fail Is Not A Four Letter Word workshop this Saturday only has ONE place left and I may have a taker so instead of promoting that, I'm including a link to an 'expression of interest' form. This means you'll be first to hear about future workshops, 1-1 coaching & e-products to support you with breaking free from this discomfort.
Click here to let me know you'd like to be free from fear of failure sometime soon!