Energy Coaching

A few days ago, the sunset was painting the sky orange in beautiful Istanbul as I was lingering at the airport waiting for my flight to Hong Kong en route from Brazil.  I began to focus on the changing colors in the sky and I felt so grateful for having the life I designed for myself!  My life includes traveling, partnering with others in their growing process and witnessing their success, being married to my best friend, living in the city I chose and love, being in good terms with my family, pursing my spiritual growth freely and without restrictions…  Truly, I cannot ask for more.  Being able to achieve all that is a direct result of many important lessons I’ve learned.  I am very grateful to The Infinite One  and to all the teachers that I’ve had in my life so far.  So, going back to the sunset at Istanbul airport, I felt inspired to write down a list of the lessons that have made a big difference in my life so far and I thought I would share it with you.  They are not numbered by their order of importance.  It’s just what came to me first, second, third and so on.  They were all equally crucial for what I consider to be a successful life.

1.  TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING IS TOO MUCH. – This was probably the first life lesson I learned.  My nanny taught me that and I never forgot it.  It seems to apply to everything in life; from food, to money, power, prestige, holidays, work, etc.

2.  THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OUT OF EVERY SITUATION, EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF DEATH AND EVEN THEN, IF THE INFINITE ONE WANTS IT, THERE IS A WAY OUT! – This I learned from my mother.  It stuck with me and I’m always sure that I’ll find a way for every problem I face.  Later on, I realized that it’s not up to me to find a way; the way will find me.

3.  SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA! – When I became a coach, I learned that drama is like rust, it corrodes our lives, our relationships, and every situation.  As a coach, I listen to my clients and focus on the issue minus the drama.  They are extremely grateful when I mirror the situation back to them without the drama in it.  It’s amazing how much of the “fog” in our lives is caused by our addiction to drama.

4.  IF YOU BELIEVE IN IT, YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN. – That I learned from my passion for swimming.  I strived for excelence and always wanted to become the best swimmer I could be.  I chose a school in the US that was ranked in the top 10 swimming schools in the country.  I was far from being a swimmer at that level and I decided that I would get a scholarship there.  Two years later, I was on their squad with a full ride scholarship.

5.  THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A DAY AFTER ANOTHER AND A NIGHT IN BETWEEN. – The first part is a famous Brazilian adage and “the night in between” was added by me.  Sleep does wonders for me.  If something bothers me, I feel the feeling, acknowledge it, and go to sleep.  The next morning everything seems clearer.

6.  KEEP MOVING. – This one has two meanings.  The first one is that no matter what happens we need to move forward.  The past belongs in the past and we belong to the present.  The only way to create our future is to ground ourselves in the present and keep moving forward.  The second meaning is that moving our body creates energy.  I always find solace and clarity while exercising.

7.  BECOME FINANCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY INDEPENDENT. – These two are deeply interrelated.  We want security and money brings us the illusion of security.  Once we believe in this illusion, we become emotionally dependent of money and of who/what provides it to us.  Learning to master the energy of money and fulfilling our own emotional needs is a great way to get on the path of freedom.

8.  FIND YOUR SPIRITUAL CENTER. – My connection to The Infinite One centers me no matter what I am going through.  Whatever way you find your spirituality, that is the true gateway to your core.  There will be no more running away from life and from yourself.  You will find peace because you will find the place where your true essence meets the essence of the Divine.

9.  LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST. – As an athlete, I knew this one naturally because without food, rest and focus on my goals my body would not perform.  Later on, as I became a coach, I learned the importance of focus on myself in order to become aware of my own power and in order to become stronger to share more with others from a place of abundance.  We can only give what we have.

10.  BE GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING; EVEN FOR THE TRIALS IN YOUR LIFE. – My personal belief is that everything that happens in our life is always for the best.  It’s hard for us to see it right away because we are very close to our own lives and to what is happening at the moment.  However, as time passes by, we look back and recognize that whatever happened was the best thing for us.  This realization brings us a tremendous amount of faith in life.

So there you have it!  What have you learned in your life?  Share your lessons with me and I will post them as well.

Let’s learn together!

With energy,

Ana

Some people feel like home is the place where they were born.  Others feel like home is where they grew up.  There are others who feel that home is where they are.  But what makes us call a place “home”?

My impression is that the most immediate associations one makes with the word “home” are the feelings of security and comfort.  Normally we find these two things in people and things that are familiar to us.  As a result, we tend to get attached to those things and people that are familiar to us and have a hard time letting them go.  We also begin to think that these people and things are ours; that they belong to us.  That’s when the mess begins.  Once we begin to believe that they are ours, we feel entitled and possessive.  We begin to put our whole sense of security, comfort and trust on keeping them close to us.  We fail to see them as gifts and teachers that come to our lives for a purpose and then leave. Yes, they leave.  That’s the natural order of things; they go because their work is done and we no longer need them and vice-versa.

Sometimes they come into our lives, leave, and come back again renewed, and with another lesson to teach us.  That is, if we let them go in the first place!  When we hold on to people and things as if they belong to us, we don’t realize the gifts that they are.  We don’t understand that we don’t actually own anything and that all that is close to us is in our lives for a higher purpose.

Now, let’s go back to the original point of the “home”.  What if we extend the concept of “home” to all that comes our way?  Be a new job, a new place, a new friend; what if we look at the new as familiar and secure?  It is a radical idea, I realize.  However, think about the time when you faced something new – how long did it take to become familiar to you?  When you make a choice to accept the new in your life, doesn’t it always become familiar?  When you meet someone new and that person slowly turns into a friend, or when you move to a new place and you begin to find your favorite spots, don’t they all become familiar after a little while?

When we open ourselves up to the present, to “what is”, we being to understand and truly live what the old adage says: “Home is where the heart is”.  Because when our heart is open, every place and every new experience feels like home.

With energy,

Ana

This is the time of the year that I love the most.  It is a wonderful gift we receive from the Infinite One:  The opportunity to start over!  The ultimate goal of our lives is to aligned our will with God’s will for us and live a life that is meaningful and extremely fulfilling.

Aligning our will with God’s will for us is what we need to keep in mind as we proceed to examine our past year and look at where we erred, what we will let go, where we can improve and what we will commit to in the coming year.  When we do that, we bring in the potential of infinitize-ing our actions, as my teacher and I like to say.

And what does it mean to infinitize your actions?  It means that you want to have a long lasting impact in the lives of whomever you may encounter.  It means that you give people 100% of yourself when you are with them.  It means that you do everything completely conscious of the act itself and it means that you are living in the present with the utmost intensity.

It also means that you are always asking “how can I be of service to this person” or “how can I be my best self in this situation”.  It means that you are focused on being a partner with God in making this world a better place.  Ultimately, it means that you forget yourself and lend your body and soul to be of service to God and to others.  That translates into being ego-less.

When we have a long lasting impact into people’s lives we help them expand.  For instance, when we use our listening abilities to give the other person a stage on which they can be themselves and get it all out of their chest, they feel it and expand.  They empty themselves and then they begin to develop room to breath, to see the situation with new eyes, to think outside of the box, to solve their problems.  We help them expand the way a coach does with his/her clients.  They come out of the conversation feeling energized and ready to face their problems.  You had just given them the gift of expansion by virtue of listening and supporting them.  They will feel inspired to have more conversations like these and will spread this model around their circle of friends and use it with whomever they interact.  The model becomes infinitized.

You also feel expanded by listening because you get an immense satisfaction of having helped another person.  By listening and posing open-ended questions, you begin to delve deeper into the soul of the other.  You create a profound interaction that brings the best out of both parties involved in the conversation.  That’s how we create meaningful and long lasting relationships.  In other words, that’s how we infinitize our interaction with others.

The gift of this time of the year, the opportunity to look inside and start over is available to everyone and not just to the Jews.  Take the energy of this month and create your new reality, one that will inspire and bring you to a new level of awareness.  Begin to infinitize your actions and making this world a better place!

Shanah Tovah to all!

With energy,

Ana

Our sages say in one of my favorite works of the Jewish tradition “Ethics of the Fathers”, that a wise person is one who learns from everyone.  It is a great way to live our lives albeit not an easy one.  Its very humbling and yet quite powerful to commit to live by this principle.  One begins to look at people very differently and the natural by-product of that is that the need to put others down in order to feel good about oneself begins to vanish.

Living in China provides me with many wonderful opportunities to put this principle in practice.  China is quite unique and, as a Western, it’s easy for me to categorize  many of the local habits as “bad”, “weird” and downright “rude”.  Slowly I began to understand a lot more about the culture and about where many of their habits came from.  Needless to say that’s the subject for a thesis, but my point here is that I decided to make an effort to meet people where they were and learn from them whilst respecting my own limitations.

I am writing this post from Harbin, a city in the Northern part of China, near Russia.  The city is quite interesting.  Today I went running in the morning and walked around in the afternoon.  I needed to get water, money from the ATM and a good cup of coffee after lunch.  I don’t speak Mandarin yet (I will one day) and it’s not like there are signs in English pointing out to the nearest supermarket or coffee shop – Starbucks is not here yet!  There are signs in Russian but apart from “espaciba” which means thanks, I don’t know much else.  So I decided to smile at my every attempt to communicate and ask for information that would lead me to an ATM, a supermarket and a coffee shop.  It turned out that my efforts and my smiles were met with more smiles.  I learned that kindness is to be found everywhere even when I cannot communicate, and that people will respond depending on what I give.

Look around you for opportunities to learn from the most unexpected people.  You will be surprised at what they can teach you!

With energy,

Ana

Life is like dancing.  Sometimes you lead, sometimes you let others lead you.  Sometimes you must be quick as if you were dancing salsa, sometimes you must be strategic as if you were doing the tango, sometimes you must slow down as if you were gliding through the sound of a beautiful waltz.  Yes, it is all about being connected to the moment and becoming aware of what life is asking of you.

There are times when your partner needs the spotlight and you gladly step back and give that to him/her.  There are times when your friend wants a shoulder to cry on and you need to put aside your troubles and show up as a good listener.  It’s all about knowing when to step in and when to step out.  And that’s how relationships grow.  Just like dancing, building a relationship requires giving and taking.  It doesn’t matter if it’s your partner, a friend, or your client.  Every relationship needs to have these two dynamics happening or else it is not going to work.

Look at your relationships and observe if you are willing to dance, to invest in the dance of giving and taking.  Are you willing to give up your own space for a bit so that the other can have more space  to grow?  This could mean to say you are sorry, to stay silent when you want to give your opinion, to listen intently to your client’s/partner’s/friend’s needs, to recognize that the other’s idea is more appropriate than yours, or to simply say thank you when someone pays you a compliment.

Dancing requires you to be gracious, focused and in the moment.  Sounds like a great recipe for our lives as well.

With energy,

Ana