Tiny-little-practices-that-make-a-difference — Fostering . . .

Here is the second in a series of tiny-little-practices-that-make-a-difference.

Now that things are opening up, what is it that you want to foster?

To Foster: Derived from the old English verb fōstrian meaning to nourish, the current dictionary definition reads: To promote the growth or development of; to further encourage and affirm.

Transitioning into a new normal is an opportunity to be conscious about where we put our attention and energy. Fostering is a remarkably powerful human activity that we invest wisely, or otherwise, depending on how intentional we are. Fostering is at the heart of mentoring, teaching, parenting, creative endeavors, and any good leadership. (There are times that we might catch ourselves fostering a negativity in our lives that is giving rise to hardship and struggle . . .)

Here are some reflection questions to consider:

What is it that you are fostering these days? 

To what do I give encouragement through my actions?

To whom do I give encouragement and affirmation? 

Looking over your responses to these last two questions . . .

How in alignment with my deepest longings is my fostering activity?

Are there any energy leaks or distractions I feel the need to address?

Are there any shifts or changes I would like to make in my fostering activities? 

Daily questions to carry forward:

What would I like to foster or encourage today? What simple action might this require?

Who needs my affirmation and encouragement? In what way can I offer it?

Where can I go for the affirmation and encouragement I need to stay connected to the golden threads in the tapestry of my life? 

And here is a poem that I hope will offer encouragement as you pick up this tiny little practice . . .

It Is I Who Must Begin
- Václav Havel

It is I who must begin.
Once I begin, once I try —
here and now,
right where I am,
not excusing myself
by saying things
would be easier elsewhere,
without grand speeches and
ostentatious gestures,
but all the more persistently
— to live in harmony
with the "voice of Being," as I
understand it within myself
— as soon as I begin that,
I suddenly discover,
to my surprise, that
I am neither the only one,
nor the first,
nor the most important one
to have set out
upon that road.

Whether all is really lost
or not depends entirely on
whether or not I am lost.

Tiny-little-practices-that-make-a-difference — Greeting the day . . .

Here is the first in a series of tiny-little-practices-that-make-a-difference.

The liminal space between sleep and waking is a fertile place for writers and artists, anyone engaged in creative endeavors, really. Here is a way to attend to the awakening you experience every day . . .

Pay close attention to the moment you become aware that you are coming awake. 

What is coming through from the dream time into the waking time? 

What sensations do you feel as you pick up your body? 

As the particulars of life come tumbling in, how are you feeling? 

How much of a ‘yes’ can you greet the day with this morning? 

Before you make that first big move of the day, before you put your feet on the floor and rise up out of bed. . . Place your hands gently on either side of your very own face. Tune into the miracle of touch as your fingers make contact with your cheeks. Holding your face in your hands as if you were an infant, whisper to yourself, “Good morning, glory.”

Note: If by chance there is a loved one beside you, turning to them and repeating some version of this gesture is a lovely addition to the practice. Finding your children, and adjusting the practice for age appropriateness is a great way to remind yourself and them of their glory. My experience is you that cannot avoid being an embarrassment to teenagers, but their take on direct gestures of appreciation will evolve over time . . .

And finally, here is a poem some dear friends shared with me the other day.

LIGHT
~ Bernadette Miller

I want to write of the light
but I do not know
whether words can illuminate
the way it hangs
upon branches and bird wings
and broken things
returning beings to beauty.
Can words spin substance
from sunshine and decay?
Can words cajole
celebration from night-weary
birds?
Can words warm surfaces
of stones and sorrows?
Can words reveal richness
in mundane
and battered
things?
I do not know.
But if we would write
a tomorrow
which is wider than wounds
we have worn,
we might wield words
like benedictions
and remember
blessings
within brokenness,
beginnings
within endings,
and beauty
within all things.

Celery juice, egg white facials and managing too-muchness, even when it is a good thing . . .

March 2021

On this morning in early March, I got my car thoroughly stuck in the mud and managed to keep my sense of humor. I sat there enjoying the sun’s warmth — the mud-lusciousness it calls forth from the ground and the melting in my body, mind, spirit while waiting for the tow truck.

I just completed a 4-day intensive Zoom gathering with my coaching colleagues from many corners of the planet. It was inspiring and wonderful, and a bit of a gusher! We delved into ways to work effectively with the collective trauma that is part of our human inheritance at this time in history with Thomas Hübl. We explored the personal and collective grief that is arising in the face of the pandemic and climate change with Philip Shepherd. Building resilience and agility individually and collectively with Peter Moreno. Making decisions and crafting interventions in everyday family and work life through retraining our body-minds to work collaboratively by attuning to the patterns in nature with Nora Bateson. How indigenous ways of sensing can support our knowledge of systems theory with Tyson Yunkaporta. Finally, with Beena Sharma, Gregory Thomas and a little help from Wynton Marsalis we explored the polarity of innovation / preservation and the parallels between the workings of our democracy and a jazz band. So much learning, connection, new uses of technology, new ideas . . . As you might imagine, my brain is full along with a serious case of Zoom fatigue!

Despite the hour I lost with wheels spinning in the mud, this day offered me a patch of time to breathe a little deeper, rest and putter. I’m finding sweet relief in being held by the container of home as I integrate all that is becoming relevant and practical from that gathering. This morning I’m finding comfort in my silverware drawer. I’m getting a boost from the daffodils on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. 

With the spaciousness of this morning, I turned to a self care / beauty practice that I naturally take up this time of year when I can. So I thought I’d share:

First, I put together a refreshing and cleansing spring smoothie:
-1 cup of sap from a maple tree (Fresh water or chilled green tea will suffice)
- 3 stalks of organic celery
- ½ an apple
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
All spizzed up in a blender or Nutri-Bullet.

Next, I painted my face and my wrinkly neck with this whisked mixture: 
- 1 egg white
- ½ teaspoon of white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon water

Then, I wandered around the house sipping the celery apple juice until the egg whites have gone brittle and cracked all across my skin— revealing what I will probably look like when I’m 90, if I have the privilege of getting that far! Jumping into the shower and washing off the dried-up albumin, my skin feels new. I am hatched! Onward I go into the glory of the day. 

Now it is the afternoon, and as I write this blog, my heart longs for you to have the luxury of the few hours required to play in a practice like this. . . . Or for you to make it possible for someone who is swimming in too-muchness and who would find pleasure and nourishment from it. It works wonders for integrating new learnings and gathering your forces in general.

My guiding star intention is to distill all this new knowledge into wonderfully effective practices for my clients in the coming months.

Warmly yours, 

Lyedie

Please note: Remember to make breakfast, make love, and make trouble on behalf of beauty, truth and goodness!

Oh and finally — In memory of my mom, I’d like to share one of her favorite poems. She recited it to us often when we were children. It is at its best when read aloud, so I made you a little recording.

[in Just-] by e.e. cummings

in Just-

spring      when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles      far      and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far      and         wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan      whistles

far

and

wee

By e.e. cummings

Where was the Beauty, Truth and Goodness in 2019?

Good morning from my blue chair,

I’ve been scanning back over the year in recent days with my practice development hat on. Yesterday I dropped in to an approach to reflecting on the year 2019 through the lenses of beauty, truth and goodness. I found that writing my way into the questions below shone light on this year for me. So, I’m sharing it here in the hope that it will contribute to the waking up and growing up that we all need to do in these wonderful and terrifyingly tumultuous times.

Carve out some time to reflect on the year 2019. Pull out your calendar to jog your memory if need be. Respond to the prompts below for each month in your journal. So, you will be responding to 6 prompts for each month. (Could take you as long as an hour or so to complete . . . . ) Grandness or intimacy in your answers are all appropriate. I think you will find that specificity gives wonderful depth to the process.

In the month of_________: (You could also take it season by season . . . . )

In what way(s) were you the cause of something beautiful?

Describe a time that you experienced beauty?

In what way(s) did you reveal or speak the truth?

In what way(s) was the truth revealed to you?

In what way(s) were you the cause of goodness?

In what way(s) were you on the receiving end of goodness?

Upon completion, give yourself a little time to let your responses settle. The year end practice I’ll be posting in early December will give you an opportunity to consider any action that all of this may inspire in you.

I hope and trust that you will have as much fun with this one as I have!

Warmly, Lyedie
November, 2019
Putney, VT

Photo credit: Leslie Williams

So . . . How do we do this? How do we keep up the good work?

So . . . How do we do this? How do we keep up the good work?

Out in the middle of South Pond last week, I was paddling with my dear friend, Helaine, and I found myself saying, I know I’m not alone in this — I just find I need to say it out loud; I’m feeling the uncertainty of these times and the warming of the planet in my very being so deeply . . . It is taking effort to keep my heart open and my energy up and resourceful. Helaine listened and concurred. Helaine is a good listener.

The pair of Loons that I’ve been communing with in the last few months were swimming nearby, and just then the one chick they have been fiercely protecting all summer dove below the surface of the water. I’ve been observing this little one — first riding on her parents’ back with her two siblings, then swimming alongside them solo, and now we saw that she had just learned to dive into the deep!

Often these days my heart feels as if it is dropping out of my chest (Do you know what I mean?) and then something I love, something pin feathered and brave, brings support back up under my breast bone once again. The practices in the Daily Activists’ Log are some of what helps me to keep showing up enough to be out there communing with the loons, while staying engaged with what the world seems to need from me now.

I’m also hearing words from people like Toni Morrison, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Martin Shaw that call me into my staying power.

If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then you need to empower somebody else. Toni Morrison

* * *

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times . . . Clarissa Pinkola Estes

* * *

The nightworld is where we are. I say it. I say it till we may hear it.
And in that darkness, we remember what we love the most.
That itself is the candle. Martin Shaw

So on behalf finding the candle by remembering what we love the most, the Daily Activist’s Log, which I first published in 2016, is my mid-summer offering. May it support you to make your contribution and to keeping up your resolve in these tumultuous times. Love, after all, is a verb.

Click here to access the original post and to download the Daily Activists’ Log.

Warmly, Lyedie

Final note: Remember to keep making breakfast, making love, and making some trouble on behalf of beauty truth and goodness . . .

Attuning to the Gorgeous Ruckus of Summer

Mary Oliver’s last book, Upstream, is here at the top of the pile by my Blue Chair. Have you read it yet? I’m inspired by the declaration that she placed carefully on Page 8, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” That placement was clearly very intentional on Mary’s part, so I sat up and took notice when I read it. I’ve thought a lot about attention over the years, and I feel the intensity of her writerly gaze leap up from the page there, for I have never thought of attention as devotion before. So holding the idea that attention is the beginning of devotion, I turned towards what has captured my attention of late. Summer, in all its warmth and glory has expanded my heart. The cycles inherent in life have been on my mind. I’m starting to see clearly that our very well-being is dependent on our developing effective ways to attune-to and work-actively-with the cyclical nature of the gorgeous raucous. Yes, and attuning is a sensitive activity. It is a series of often small, responsive moves that generate a life enhancing coherence. I dare say, it is the feminine in devoted action.

Summer is the fullest expression of the gorgeous ruckus. Especially, here at the 45th Parallel North, we look forward to it all year and — just like with lottery winnings or rainbow money — we spend it many times over in our imaginations. The abundant apex of daylight hours that nature tenders to us all on the Summer Solstice (15 hours and 37 minutes) has a demanding invitation in it. “Grab hold of this! Enjoy this! Use it well!” The natural world splendidly orients toward responding to this invitation. In the clock-time trance of our linear calendars, the comfort of climate controlled four walls, and the tyranny of our checklists; we humans leave a lot of that warmth and sunshine out of consideration. This constitutes is a lack of attunement.

So as you hone your summer plans here a few questions to devote some attention to if you would like to attune to the gorgeous ruckus:

• Is there a seed-longing that I’m harboring that requires the warmth and sunshine of summer?

• Is there an opportunity I’d like to seize?

• Is there a new rhythm, ritual, or routine that I’d like to put in place with the buoyancy that summer affords?

• Is there a “cat” I’d like to be sure hang out with in the sun?

• What did I most enjoy about summer as a child, and how might I dip back into those experiences somehow this summer?

• When the autumnal equinox rolls around — when the daylight hours have waned back to 12 hours and 7 minutes and the air has gone crisp — what might I regret about how I spent the summer that could be attended to now with a little planning and intentionality?

Looking back over my responses to the questions above , in what way can I attune my plans for the coming months to the invitation of summer?

The summer invites us to slow down and to seize the day all at once. It requires holding the exquisite polarity of claiming life and releasing our grip on it.

Devote yourself to splendid. You might find it will require being fierce about freeing your attention from the linear trance to whatever degree you can. In the gorgeous raucous splendid is splendid, however small or grand.

Please be brave enough to tune in to your deepest longings . . . And remember to make breakfast. Make love. Make some trouble on behalf of beauty, truth, and goodness.

And thank you for the precious attention you gave to reading this post! Lyedie

Turning Toward Next With Grace and Grit

The year is turning now. As promised, I added the second part of a two part reflection practice to assist you with fully embracing all that this darkening-before-the-light has to offer.

The idea here is to take some time to close up what for many of us has been a crazy year, and begin to turn towards next year with grace and grit. The practice of closing up — your day, week, month, year — gives rise to good beginnings. The practice of turning towards what is next by listening for your emerging future gives a very different flavor to our usual New Year's Resolutions. I’m confident that you will love this practice as much as I do. My wing women describe it as both gentle and powerful — there is both grace and grit here.

May the year ahead astonish us all with its beauty, truth, and goodness.

This practice will acquaint you with your inner Wisdom Council, which is a most wonderful and effective way to experience and get access to the fundamental capacities of grace and grit. The Wisdom Council is an archetypal ever-present inner "committee" that is always with you, and as you will discover when you engage these practices I’m sharing with you today, we all have one! (I can feel myself squirm a bit as I write these words for fear of sounding too woo woo, but please bear with me. What I’m offering here is a kick ass form of woo woo, and I don’t want you to miss out on account of that little niggledy voice of judgement in me.)

So, do you already have a practice or ritual way to close up the year and open to what is next? If not, I highly recommend it. If so, you already know how wonderful and beneficial it is, and you might want to try this.

Part One - Closing Up the Year

Download the Wisdom Council inquiry questions and then carve out a little uninterrupted time (+/- 30 minutes) to cozy up with a cup of tea to really take stock with the first part of this practice. Give it your full attention to facilitate closure to the year in a very remarkable way. Have your journal handy, or just some paper and a pencil will do. Free write into these questions by putting your pencil to the page and just write whatever comes up for a few minutes without lifting the pencil. Remind yourself that your responses are for your eyes only, unless you want to share with a trusted friend, companion, or spouse.

Part Two - Turning Towards the Next

Give yourself as much as a week, or as little as an hour, before picking up Part Two, wherein the Wisdom Council questions will have you look ahead with the clarity and compassion of the closure afforded you by of Part One.

Click here to download the questions in pdf format

Please feel free to be guided through the practice with the audio recordings below if you’d like.

(Be sure to Bookmark this page so that you can refer back to it easily later . . .)

Guided Wisdom Council Reflection Questions-Part 1 (17 minutes)

Lyedie Geer

Guided Wisdom Council Reflection Questions - Part 2 (23 minutes)

Lyedie Geer

Note: Wisdom Council inquiries are powerful stuff. Please let these questions, and your responses to them, penetrate your heart, mind, and will-to-act. Let them begin to do their work as the year turns and unfolds in the coming months.

No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. - Epictetus

May the year ahead astonish us with all its beauty, truth and goodness!

Warmly, Lyedie
Putney, Vermont

Starting your day with a potent pause . . .

It's up!! The Fulfillment Journal is now freely available to you as you start your day!

These are crazy times we are living in. Normalcy has been pitched out of our political system. People are describing to me how they are reeling from the effects of disruptive uncertainty and paralyzed by the hungry ghosts in the relentless news feed. Daring greatly is called for now, and our deepest longings and callings can seem audacious. With the Fulfillment Journal I offer you a practice that is simple and sustainable. Working with it for 10 minutes each morning will help you keep replenishing your resolve to fulfill your longing, to make your contribution, and to enjoy the gift of living on this beautiful planet.

Click here to download this basic version of my Fulfillment Journal to help you start your day with what deeply matters to you. I'm a big believer in starting with a pause to connect, reflect, replenish, and then set a trajectory for your day. Begin to develop the habit of dropping in with this page on a daily basis . . . but if you find yourself struggling to forge that discipline, don't worry—many have reported that it provides a significant uplift when they are feeling un-tethered or discouraged, however often they remember to make use of it.

This is a potent practice:

3/1/2017 Dear Lyedie, I have been using your 10 minute practice for several weeks now,
and have found it immensely, wonderfully inspiring :)

3/27/2018 - Dear Lyedie, Now looking back over the year I can see that your 10 minute practice is what got me started with finding this dream job overseas and getting started on this new project.

Yes! This is the small stuff that reverberates . . . builds on itself  . . . and generates transformation.

Please be brave enough to tune in to your deepest longings . . . And always remember to make breakfast. Make love. Make some trouble on behalf of beauty, truth, and goodness.

Thank you for everything you do to keep putting power in the hands of love.

Warmly, Lyedie

I hope you have found this helpful in some way. If you are looking to make a shift in your approach to life — to developing your resilience and to getting on to fulfilling  those longings, click here to learn more about working with me. Or click here to schedule a free 20 minute discovery session with me.

Why I've been quiet about MeToo and Time's Up

Truth is, I've been quiet about the MeToo and Time’s Up movements only because they strike so deeply into the heart of my life's path.

For many years now I have been traveling from survivor to thriver — My Guiding Star has been to be strong so that I can be soft. I would even whisper those words to myself on occasion, ‘I have to be strong so that I can be soft’ as I endeavored to be brave on behalf of tenderness. What is your Guiding Star?  I hope that you have one . . .

Last winter, I published the Daily Activist’s Log as a way to contribute to the activism that was stirring in all of us. It is a “morning page” created to strengthen our individual and collective resolve. After all, great rivers are made up of tiny drops of water as they make their way to the ocean. And with that in mind, I had the idea that if many of us start our day this way, we will make progress for ourselves and for humanity. It continues to surprise me, and strengthens my heart, to know that thousands of women (and men) downloaded the Daily Activist’s Log from my website and now begin their day with this powerful pause. Many of you are among them. Thank you.

These days I’m turning my attention towards thriving. And so, in honor of the activism that has risen up in all of us, I'm offering up the Daily Activist's Log for just one more week. I'll be archiving it on February 22 to make room for a new morning page I’m calling the Fulfillment Journal.

Please keep strengthening the muscle of your activism.

And always remember to make breakfast. Make love. Make some trouble on behalf of beauty, truth, and goodness.

Thank you for everything you do to keep putting power in the hands of love.

Blessings, Lyedie

To whomever deserves credit for the photo in this blog . . . This image enchanted me and I have no idea where I got it from, so if you are the artist, please contact me so I can give you credit. Thanks!

Your Greatest Resource is . . .Your Attention

Your attention itself is essentially your greatest resource. As I see it, managing your attention well is a key to fulfillment and to developing the resilience we all need in these times. Lyedie
 
It is mid-January. The frenzy of resolution-making is settling down, and I find this to be a good time to hunker down into the basics so as to set a solid trajectory for the year. So please bear with me, and consider your attention itself as a resource — I'm defining attention here as being the flow of the most essential energy particles that you direct (consciously and/or unconsciously) as you move through life. Within this definition, thoughts and feelings are forms of attention.
 
Here are a few questions to help you explore and assess how resourcefully you are working with the essential currency of your own attention. 

1. Locating your attention: Where has your attention been in the last hour? Has it been out the window, on your best friend in high school or, deep in the project you've been working on? Has it been in the past (remembering), the present (now), or in the future (planning)? Have you been directing it, or has it been commandeered somehow?
 
Here is a surprisingly beneficial little practice: Stop yourself a few times a day and just notice where your attention is located. Setting a timer on your smartphone to prompt yourself to take note of this will gently help you awaken to your attention. After all, where your attention is is where you are. Choosing to notice, in and of itself, is an act of taking control and directing your attention.
 
2. Then there is the quality of your attention: What is the quality of attention you are giving to this moment?  Is it focused and penetrating, or is it diffuse and receptive? As you consider these words is your brow slightly furrowed as you engage your focused attention in an effort to understand, or is your brow soft indicating that your quality of attention may be more receptive? What kind of attention you give to what, and when, can make a big difference in the quality of your experience and the quality of what you produce.
 
3. And how do you decide?  How aware are you of your default priorities? Do you tend to put attention on making progress or tending to things?  Do you approach challenges by springing in to action, seeking perspective, fostering others, or nourishing yourself? Which of these areas do you privilege in your approach to life?
 
Getting back to the basics of working with our attention and energy provides foundational support to working effectively with the balance of work - rest - play - collapse that is critical to developing resilience. This can allow for making good contact with the ache of our longings, and then to getting around to fulfilling them. As the prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief, so aptly revealed to to me many years ago, “My favorite class is still Ballet I.”
 
I hope you have found this helpful in some way. If you are looking to make a shift in your approach to life — to developing your resilience and to getting on to fulfilling those longings, click here to learn more about working with me. Or go ahead and just schedule a discovery session with me.
 
Warmly, Lyedie

 

Gratitude 3.1 - Disarmingly Simple

Click on this photo to hear Lyedie read a story about chasing this rainbow, and catching it!

Daily Gratitude 3.1 - Can be played solo or as a duet on Facebook

This disarmingly simple practice will build your gratitude muscle. The Daily Gratitude 3.1 Practice is designed to build your pre-frontal cortex and to wire up the neural pathways between your brain and your heart.  The truth is we can accomplish goal after goal and never experience the joy of fulfillment if we haven't developed the ability to pause and experience gratitude.  Gratitude is one of the capacities on the grace side of the grace and grit continuum. It takes dancing the whole continuum to fulfill our longings. 

Follow these instructions carefully, and to ensure your success, be sure to KISS (keep it simple stupid).
What it takes:

• Three minutes a day and the willingness to respond in writing to your 3.1 prompt (Solo)

• Showing up on Facebook for your partner-in-gratitude on a daily basis. (+Three minutes to Duet)

• Your willingness to see the good and to take a few moments to savor it. + 1 minute

Making Gratitude 3.1 a daily practice (solo or as a duet) will calm your nervous system by developing the integrative functions of your brain.  It is one way to evolve beyond the negativity bias that keeps you safe, but that often generates ill serving responses to the complexities of modern life. Gratitude 3.1 invites you to fire the appreciative capacity of your heart together with thoughts, events, people in your every day life. Sharing it with another over the course of a month or more, is an opportunity to develop discipline, trust and attuned communication.  This practice feels good because it rewires your brain to take in the good. As the Interpersonal Neuro-biologist, Daniel Siegel aptly observes about the process of retraining the brain, “What fires together, wires together.”

Let me know how it goes, and please do share this practice with your friends. The more buoyant spirits we have in the world the better!

Step 1. Start Solo by practicing with this simple writing prompt on a daily basis. This is a melody you can always find, even in the midst of uncertainty, chaos and complexity.

List three things you feel grateful* for: (Brief answers are best)

Describe one thing that went well in the last 24 hours. (Briefly)

Take a few minutes to breathe in and savor each entry.

*Important Note: Gratitude is not positive thinking. No need to get smarmy and try to sugar coat your life with this practice. Look for 3 things you feel genuinely grateful for or glad about (however small or grand) and list them.  Some days it will be something big and fabulous, other days it may be that the sun came up this morning, your neighbors dog didn't bark all night, or you found ripe avocados at the grocery store. You can always find something, even in the midst of a challenging day, or if you are going through a rough patch.

Duet Option - Step 2: Invite someone to play with you as a duet on Facebook (Highly recommended).

Find a friend who longs to experience more gratitude; who you trust enough to share your answers to these questions with on a daily basis, who is willing to share their answers to these questions with you on a daily basis, and who doesn’t mind being on Facebook for 6-7 minutes a day for the next 30 days. This should be someone who you deem both reliable and trustworthy. Share this link with them in your invitation.

Step 3: Designate a space

Create a Secret Facebook Group and invite them to be your only friend in that group.

Step 4: Agree to post every day at a specified time (morning, mid-day, evening) using the 3.1 writing prompt in Step 1.

Step 5. Read and Like each others posts every day. Comment sparingly and, if at all, supportively. The key is to not get caught up in the content of each others melody but to maintain the duet by keeping it simple and staying connected. KISS

Step 6. Take a few moments to breathe in and savor your entries as well as appreciate your partner’s entries. Metabolize that gratitude and feel how it optimizes, shifts and shapes, your state of being.

Keys to Optimizing a Gratitude 3.1 Duet on Facebook:

Finding a reliable and trustworthy gratitude duet partner.

Being a reliable and trustworthy gratitude duet partner. Show up for yourself, your partner, and for the gratitude. Just by making your daily post you will encourage each other. On the contrary, not showing up with your daily post and Like can turn this from being an uplifting experience into a downer . . . Be the cause of gratitude, yours and theirs.

Keeping it to just the two of you.  If you invite others into the group you will have more posts to read and the process will complexify and get bogged down. A duo is fundamental and potent, you’ll see. More KISSing.

Sharing: If your enthusiasm for gratitude gets infectious and someone else expresses interest in being part of a Daily Gratitude Duet, share these instructions with them and encourage them to get a partner.

Sticking to the Structure: Structure is what makes marvelous improvisation. Use the Secret Face book group you created only for playing the Daily Gratitude Duet – Refrain from muddying the tune with other melodies . .

Working with 30-day increments: Agree to play for 30 days and then evaluate. You can always decide to re-up for another 30 days. My friend, Gregor, and I kept it up for 8 months before we recognized that it was time to complete.

Complete and Celebrate: Recognize when your Daily Gratitude Duet is coming to a close. Some signs that could indicate that it is time to “consciously uncouple” are boredom with the process, decreased frequency, along with a marked increase in the buoyancy of your spirit and capacity for gratitude.  (No this is not a marriage, it is just a duet.) Clear endings are enormously satisfying. Trickle outs reduce potency and give rise to disappointment. You will get more benefit if you complete and celebrate.

Here is one way to structure your final posts with a great endnote:

Three things about playing this duet that I’m grateful for:

Three things about you (your partner) that I’m grateful for:

2. .

3. .

What went well in the last 30 days?

Let me know how it goes, and please do share this practice with your friends. The more buoyant spirits we have in the world the better!

May your everyday life be filled with gratitude.

Blessings, Lyedie

Chasing Rainbows - The Story

Last week I had occasion to be out chasing rainbows.

It was a steamy Saturday afternoon and William and I had just been driven off of Crane’s Beach by a hauntingly beautiful thunderstorm. While making our way back to the city a double rainbow began flirting with us from behind the power lines on the east side of Route 1.  At one point, we pulled over to take some pictures, and lo and behold so did everyone else! There we all were by the side of the road, enthralled, a bit giddy even , and laughing while trying to capture the moment without those damn power lines. One woman leaped out of her car, turned to me (a perfect stranger), “Wow. How lucky are we? There just must be a God. Who else could it be?”

Even when you know the science of it, a rainbow is a miracle. I was all caught up in trying to get a good shot. I stopped peering at the miracle through the tiny screen of my I Phone. And I looked up, softened my scrunched up brow and just stood there for a moment to soak in what was happening in the sky. I felt a familiar melt in my heart. I stood as witness to that phenomenon that appears only when sunlight strike rain droplets and conspires to create a spectrum of light hovering in the sky. Rainbow.

I'd caught myself in the middle of missing a rainbow, while I was trying to catch it.  For a coach who is all about presence and cultivating gratitude and all that razzmatazz, it was a humbling moment to put it mildly.  I know that appreciative moments aren't just caused by the dramatic generosities and occurrences like rainbows. They are generated in specific neural pathways that connect our brain to our heart.  When those pathways are hijacked, we miss stuff, even flirtatious double rainbows. I took in that side-of-the-road infusion of awe and gratitude and then I turned toward my friend William, "Let's find a side road down that way, where we can lose these power lines."  That was when we found this sweet spot and, I found the presence of mind to compose this photo.

A few years ago a good friend and colleague and I were in the winter doldrums. It was January and we noticed in our conversations that we had a strong tendency to share our challenges and struggles. We were both studying the relatively new field of neurobiology and we knew that the lower regions of our brain gives challenge and struggle priority. We got intrigued by the idea of retraining our brains to look for was what was working and to generate the unique constellation of neural connections that create the feeling of gratitude. That is the science of it. We also knew that it takes repetition over time to retrain the brain. (There is considerable debate among experts about how much time and how much repetition, so I'm not going to get all sci-ency with you about it here.) We make our livelihood designing practices to develop resourceful capacities in our clients and we are always experimenting onourselves.

We cooked up a daily gratitude practice and we played it together as a duet on Facebook over the course of what turned out to be 8 months.  The practice was simple. We shared three things that we were grateful for and one thing that went well in the private container of a secret group on Facebook. Posting every day created a sweet intimacy between us, gave us both greater capacity to notice the good stuff that was right there in our lives. I treasure the memories of those mornings that I would wake up, go down to my kitchen and settle down with a cup of coffee to make my daily post only to find that my dear friend in Toronto was out ahead of me with his 3.1. This wasn’t a rainbow occurrence, it was a wow-the-sun-rises-every-day practice.

In the spirit of chance encounters with rainbows, and seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary, here are some instructions for the gratitude practice that my friend Gregor and I cooked up on a cold day in January and managed to keep up well into September. Don't just wait for rainbows. Find a trustworthy and reliable partner, and practice gratitude with as much devotion and gentle, but firm self discipline as you can muster. Showing up for this will bring you the sweetness of connection and train your brain to connect with your heart so that gratitude becomes an every day occurrence. My wish is that it will unleash as quietly powerful a shift in your life as it did in mine. The buoyancy of your spirit will sneak up on you. You might find yourself skipping down the sidewalk, singing in the shower, or unabashedly telling someone what you love about them . . . And if you happen to catch yourself missing a rainbow, you'll be more likely recover yourself in time to savor the moment. Make it work for you. And let me know how it goes.

Getting More Productive: Tip #1 and Four Simple Truths

Do you find yourself longing to be more productive?

Well, you are not alone. This longing is shared by many of us as we navigate the complexity of modern life. There is no one secret to becoming more productive ­­-- I have no formula for success to offer. What I've found is that for each of us the path to being truly productive is an evolving set of practices, an ongoing personal adventure. Alongside developing clarity on the big picture, I help people put their shoulders to the wheel and develop truly productive life habits and structures. Today I'm offering you a high leverage tip that magnetizes productivity, and reminding you of a few habits that you already know are the very foundation of a highly productive life.

The Four Simple Truths: (The ones that you already know)

1. Get enough sleep

2. Eat well

3. Exercise often

4. Contemplate daily

Tip #1 –Determine One Thing That Will Make a Difference

Take a look at your long list of to-dos and ask yourself:

What is the one thing that will make the difference if I get it done today?

Choose one thing that will have an impact, that is feasible to accomplish today.Write that down in bold letters across the top of your list, then orchestrate your day to accomplish that one task and let the rest of your to-dos follow suit --  believe me they will! Drive your day with the one thing that will make a difference, keep putting your time, attention and energy on it. When you get it done shout out, “Yes!”

Check in with your list at the end of the day and take note of all your accomplishments. Celebrate your wins and let them give you energy. Then determine what the "one thing" is for tomorrow and put that at the top of the list, big and bold,  before you close up the day. Set it up so the “one thing” greets you in the morning when you start your day.Do the "one thing" on a daily basis and keep repeating.The "one thing" will serve as a magnet, attracting your accomplishments with each daily, “Yes!” that you shout out. You will be amazed at the momentum that putting this simple tip into practice will produce.

This simple tip addresses focusing your attention in the midst of distraction and complexity. Your own productivity challenge may call for a different approach. Contact me for a free initial coaching consultation.To learn more about productivity read on.

So, what do I mean when I use the term productivity? Well, I don’t mean just getting things done. Productivity is the result of using your time, energy and attention in concert such that you are sustainably making progress on the things that support your well-being and bring meaning to your life. Productivity is the driver of fulfilling our promise. Being truly productive creates momentum. It gives us juice!

In the weeks to come I’ll offer more tips on working with time, energy and attention more effectively. But now I want to explore the four simple truths.They are the foundation of a sustainably productive life. They are “no brainers” but many of us have trouble maintaining at least one of them and when we get stressed they tend to fall away leaving us depleted, unfocused and moody. A productive life is built on a solid albeit simple foundation. Nothing will get you more productive than getting these four in place. Nothing will challenge their dynamic equilibrium more than success. So, let go of doing it perfectly, be kind to yourself, and enjoy the ride!

Invite yourself to continually work the four simple truths into your life habits:

Get Enough Sleep – Work with your bio-rhythms and make it a priority

• Refrain from caffeine in the second half of your day

• Sleep clean -- in a room free of the distractions of TV, tablet, and phone

• Invest in an old-fashioned alarm clock and charge your phone in another room

• Take naps if at all possible (10-30 minutes is optimal. Too long and you will wake up groggy)

Eat well – Keep it simple and delicious

• Eat early and well over the course of the day

• Include lots of leafy green vegetables in your diet

• Get enough protein

• Limit your sugar intake

• Drink plenty of water

Exercise Regularly- Moderation is key to keeping it daily

• Greet the day with a quick walk or run (10- 20 minutes)

• Take a short walk during your lunch break

• Ride your bike or walk, if possible

• Build upper body strength somehow – lift weights, stack wood, carry children

• Take an exercise class or go to the gym regularly

Develop a Contemplative Practice – Build your Jedi brain capacity and reduce the allostatic load of modern life

• If you already have one: Commit to it and deepen it.

• If you haven’t established one yet: Investigate a way to “meditate” that is right for you.There are many methods available for busy people with busy minds from many traditions.

My next posts will introduce the productivity triad of Time, Energy, and Attention. I’ll be offering you ways to boost and harmonize these three critical elements to achieve true productivity.In the meantime, try focusing your attention by using Tip #1 to hone in on the one thing that will make the difference, and shore up the very foundation of your productivity by inviting yourself to implement the four simple truths.

If you feel called to action and you want to work closely with me in a program that I design just for you, click here to schedule a free initial consultation.

I hope that you are enjoying these glorious summer days as much as I am!

Warmly, Lyedie Geer

Harnessing the Energy of Spring

May 2nd, Walpole, New Hampshire

It is a glorious May morning and I'm just in from a walk. While I was out there I got inspired to offer up a few simple practices for harnessing the energy that spring offers. My hope is that you enjoy them, and they are helpful to you in some way.

Many of us are looking to further our intentionality, resourcefulness and the ability to enjoy life.  Working with the cycles of nature can help us to understand how to sustain these capacities over time. The practices below are intended to build your capacity:

  - To initiate more intentional communications with others

  - To work actively with the cycles of the creative process that are inherent in nature

  - To be more resourceful

Harnessing the Energy of Spring   (A few practices)

Recent breakthroughs in the field of neurobiology are telling us just how connected we are to the natural world and to each other. The palpable uptick of spring is a gorgeous example of this truth.  Our bodies and minds are attuned to the waking up energy at play in the natural world. This provides great support for initiating communication, moving up and out in purposeful ways.

Take a Daily Infusion: Carve out time on a daily basis for an infusion of spring. This could be just 7-10 minutes of your lunch break or a longer stretch if your schedule allows. The idea is to go outside and commune with spring as it bursts forth.  Leave your mobile phone behind and refrain from engaging in conversation. Dedicate this time to being fully receptive and aware of what is occurring in the natural world — the rain falling, sun warming, buds swelling, ferns unfurling, sap rising. Let it all bring a smile to your face. Invite it infuse your energy level and mood as you go on with your day. Doing this on a daily basis will support the initiating practices outlined below

Reflection: Take note of how being receptive to the uptick of Spring actually shifts your well-being, how it changes your energy level and emotional state.

Look for Opportunities to Break out of Winter’s Grip:  As you go through your day, look for ways to break out of the stasis of winter and to push forward into new possibility. The stasis of winter is something we often experience internally as a kind of inertia.  When you are on the verge of breaking out of it you might feel euphoric (and a even a little reckless) from the uptick that spring is giving your limbic system. But it is just as likely that you will experience at least a twinge of anxiety and feel your courage quicken. At those times consciously attune yourself to the energy of spring, the “yes” energy of inspiration and yearning; go with that.

Two Ways to Break out of Winter’s Grip:

1. Start Something: Start a project (small or large) that is dear to your heart, one that you have been considering but that has been in the grip of winter's inertia. Initiate that new project at work. Make that recipe that appears daunting. Throw that dinner party. Send that letter of intent. Teach your child how to knit.  Hurl yourself into preparing that garden bed.

Reflection: How much energy do you gain by applying your attention and energy to something that is meaningful to you?

2. Break Through and Melt Ice: Communicate intentionally by saying what you see and what you’d like to see.  Tell someone what you notice is happening in the space between you. Begin with the data; describe what you observe in as objective and straight forward a way as you can. Then express your warmth and what you hope for, what you would really like to experience and perhaps why. (It could be that there is something you'd like to see more of, or something you’d like to have less of, or perhaps there is something you wish was different than it is.) Be as real as you can, be your authentic self, listen to their response, stand in your intention.  This may feel risky at first and I encourage you to start with the small stuff. Sentence stems are a great help:  

I notice that . . . 

I see that . . . 

Followed by

What I’d really like to . . .

What is important to me is . . .

Here are some examples:  

I notice that we don't have dinner as a family the way we used to . . . I really miss it and it is important to me that we get back on track by having dinner together at least three times a week.

I notice that when you ask me to make changes in the work I submit for approval, even though I value your input, I get defensive. . . . I'd really like to be able to accept criticism more gracefully and be open to feedback so that we can collaborate more effectively .

I notice that when you greet me at the end of the day with that quick little kiss on my cheek . . . that I really want you to linger there with me a little longer. 

Reflections:

What does it take for you to say what you see and to offer your tender hopes to another?

What happens when you do?

How could you become more adept at these conversations?

Go ahead.  The idea here is to work with the inherent full-bodied invitation of spring. Experience how spring works with you to support your intentions. Notice how spring invites us, by its very nature, to be restless in our frozen old habits, to envision new patterns and potential, and to move up and out into the fullness of life. I urge you to harness the energy it offers to do what really matters to you.

Feel free to let me know how it goes.

As a life and leadership coach I help my clients develop capacities they need to meet their objectives, and to fulfill their promise.  Developing a new capacity is building a new muscle; it takes repeated effort and awareness through practice. 

May spring bring be all that you hope for!

Warmly, Lyedie