Upward spirals...the very best kind.
This is the first ever guest post here by my clever and talented husband Greg Sarney. One of my deepest wishes for him is that he own the writer that he is. I'm his champion, but not his Coach. He'll own it when he's good and ready. We’re on vacation up at our family cottage right now and I’ve invited him to retell the experience that the brilliant Tania Wojciechowski shared with me about the Step into Your Starring Role program, activating his storytelling mastery. I thought it would be valuable:: a) for you to experience his writing b) for HIM to experience his writing c) for you to hear his perspective on this program that he knows intimately well, but from the outside in and d) to honour Tania’s experience fully by handing her story to someone who can see it with a fresh and clean perspective. And to boot, he pulled in the yoga context…something he’s already written about.
And by the way, I am beyond excited to hear about what Tania's stepping into. She's my go-to for creating sanctuary. She may well be yours too.
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It’s wonderful when seemingly disparate parts of your life converge and complement each other. Our family is spending this week at a cottage, away from the bustle of the city and everyday life. Part of our routine is a regular yoga practice with an instructional DVD on the laptop, warm sunshine through the windows and a panoramic view of an icy windswept lake.
Part of the DVD commentary includes the notion of creating an upward spiral of positive energy through the combination of physical asanas and deep breathing. In the middle of a sun salutation, Tanya pointed out that this was the point of the Step into Your Starring Role program. She talks of it in terms of revolutions. One spin up the spiral gets you to a new place. Then you activate another revolution up the spiral. Up and up.
About an hour later, she received some feedback from Tania Wojciechowski about the program, which she shared with me. Serendipitous.
Tania's starting point represents a point at the base of her upward spiral—a vague notion of her desires but without the all-important direction, and theoretically, momentum.
In her words.
Before the program, I felt like I was flailing. I had recently quit my job, and I was taking some time to recover from burn out, while also jumping into entrepreneurship. I wanted to be a creativity coach without really knowing how I wanted to help people in real terms… I felt like a failure, like I couldn’t do it, like having a business maybe wasn’t for me. I did not feel “enough” – of a business woman, of a decision-maker, of a successful-quitter, of me, of anything.
Within the program, Tania was able to contain and focus her energy—this represents the middle of the upward spiral:
My initial shift brought me home to my role as a creator of sanctuary. I’d been creating sanctuary my whole life –whether I was making something, decorating my home, welcoming guests, or acting as peace-keeper and easeful space-maker in my jobs and my family.
Upon further reflection after the program Tania neared the top of her spiral:
I had been shying away from the role of interior designer, thinking it was too audacious to consider. I’m now ready to step into it. By helping people with the spaces they inhabit, and the patterns of life they create, I’m helping people create sanctuary, and I’m coaching people to have a greater connection to themselves. I am an “interior” designer in all senses, empowering women and giving them the tools to create their own authentic spaces… turning tea time, dinner time, resting time, into moments that heighten our connection to ourselves and our spaces.
Because I was able to come home to myself in this way through SIYSR, I have found the courage, the clarity, and the fire to help others in a way that most reflects the best of me, something I’d lost for a time.
Of course, the top of the spiral is the action Tania will take to live the life she envisions for herself, sharing her gifts and her positive energy with the women she’ll engage in her work. And then she'll her sights on the next revolution up the spiral. She has the tools. Powerful stuff indeed. And like a good yoga practice, this journey of self-realization happens mindfully, purposefully and incrementally:
You can make the shifts you need to make at the time, and then when you are ready, the work brings you to your next level, and then the next.
Upward spirals are the very best kind. Are you ready to do the work, feel the shifts, and create your powerful upward spiral?
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.