The LifeQuake Blog

Posts Tagged ‘creative problem solving’

Autumn: Season of Change or Is It?

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Autumn Pictures, Images and Photos

When Barack Obama got elected as our president, everyone was expecting great change to come to America and I said then, it would depend on us as a mass consciousness, not one man or his administration or even a democratic congress. We are a nation that predominantly fears change if it means we have to disrupt the familiarity of our own lives. We want the world to change and keep our creature comforts in place. Statistically, we know that as the economy is shrinking, addiction is skyrocketing. The first inpatient facility devoted to internet addiction opened recently and that is just one of the many ways people are using external substances to distract themselves from making radical internal changes.

If you really want to see the health care issue resolved, clean up your own health habits. Instead of thinking you need a new job, come up with a new idea People who come to me seeking my advice as a career coach, get panicked over sending hundreds of resumes out and getting nowhere. I cannot tell you how many times I have assisted a client in thinking outside the box as to how to make more money and live even better than when they were working for someone else. Itis common to want to reach for the comfort ( there is that word again) of a paycheck beleiving you have to get a job right away to handle your nut. Six months pass and no job and you’re even worse off. Now you’re depressed and defeated and have no creative energy to consider another way to begin your next career chapter.
Here are some tips for career change in tough economic times:
1) begin the day ( before moving into action) with your eyes closed by visualizing yourself working in an environment where you are happy. you dont need big details right now: just your three must haves like: Here is an affirmation from the Depression era of the 1930’s that people used to have financial breakthroughs when everyone else was buying into the economy: “I am doing joyous work in a joyous way.I give joyous service for joyous pay.”
2) expect success and watch your mind so when self defeating statements begin, you can simply witness them and choose to let them go.

3) Set an intention for looking for evidence that your life is changing in a positive direction. A smile from a stranger, an extra bagel given to you by the guy behind the counter, finding a quarter on the sidewalk. It starts with little pieces of grace and gets bigger as you notice more of that than you do what is lacking in your life.

4) Before you go to sleep at night, scan the day for moments when you felt enthusiasm. write it down. then ask your unconscious to bring you a dream that guides you toward your next step. Many famous inventors and scientists discovered the solutions to problems in a dream. When you awaken, write down anything you remember, even if it doesn’t make sense yet. Set an intention for your mind to be open to new ideas throughout the day. A great idea may come from over hearing a conversation in line at the local coffee house.

5) Count your blessings three times over the course of the day. In the middle east, they stop and pray five times a day, well there is something to be said by this.

Look for signs of change. Autumn is just around the corner!

Dr. Toni Galardi is a career coach, columnist and author of her new book, The LifeQuake Phenomenon: How to Thrive ( not just survive) in Times of Personal and Global Upheaval

Ask the LifeQuake Doctor Advice Column

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

 

LifeQuake™
Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi
Dear Dr. Toni:
I am an entrepreneur who was doing quite well in my business until last year. I know I need to give up the freedom I’ve had in my career and get a job, but every time I think of letting go of my business, I get a panic attack. I don’t want to go on medication. I’m afraid that if I see a doctor, that is what he/she will recommend. Can you suggest the best way for me to handle the stress and chaos I am experiencing during this career transition?
Terrified in Toronto
Dear Friend:
Before you can resolve the outer decision about your business, it is important to learn how to quiet the mind and the nervous system so that you can access your inner wisdom.
When we are at peace within, not only are we able to get to our gut intuition, but we can open to a universal intelligence. Albert Einstein spoke about the idea that there is an unlimited force in the universe that we can tap into for answers. Here is an exercise from my book The LifeQuake Phenomenon and The LifeQuake Method CD that can help to calm your brain and nervous system to allow for greater access to creative solutions.
Re-patterning Your Blueprint Meditation
Read the exercise in its entirety first. Sit or lie down comfortably in a position that supports your entire body. If you’re on the floor, put pillows under your knees. If you’re sitting, make sure your back is supported and your feet are touching the floor.
Now close your eyes. Breathe in to the count of five, and then out to the count of five. With each breath you take, feel yourself becoming more deeply relaxed. Now allow your awareness to move to the top of your head. Begin to experience your radiant light energy entering the top of your head. This begins the recognition of your full potential self. With each breath you take, set the intention of allowing this light to enter your brain.
Continue breathing in and out. As you breathe in now, allow your entire brain to be bathed in this light. If you find it easy to visualize, see it gently entering into the top of your head and permeating the entire circumference of your brain. If visual imagery doesn’t come readily for you, simply allow for a feeling to emerge as light enters into your crown and surrounds your head. This light is imprinting a new pattern into the neuropathways of your brain. Now allow this light to expand and spread through your entire nervous system. You don’t have to know how to do this. Just breathe it in with your intention.
Now breathe the light deeply into the front of your head, relaxing your temples and forehead. As you breathe in and out, your body goes even deeper into relaxation. Next allow the light to permeate and embrace your jaw, relaxing it. Keep focusing your breath into each body part, allowing for a gentle softening and release.
Now move to your neck and your shoulders. With each breath you take, this radiant healing light releases all tension, replacing it with a deep sense of harmony and balance.
Now move to your chest. Allow this radiant light to move into your lungs. Breathe in and out. Next move into your heart, filling it with light. As you do this, set the intention that your innate intelligence is transforming every cell of your body, releasing any and all past programming based on fears of the unknown. Repeat the following: It is now safe to change. When I make changes that are authentic, I always win. I can trust myself to move forward into the unknown.
Return your focus to your heart and ask to be shown a symbol that represents an answer to any question you have about making changes now. When the symbol appears, ask to be shown its message. What is the next step?
Now take another extra deep breath into your heart. You’re now releasing the structure of your old life with positive expectancy. A new behavioral groove is developing. Throughout the day ahead, if you experience fear, you can automatically take a long, deep breath, relaxing your body. You can now ask for guidance from universal intelligence, listen to the message, and act in accordance with its wisdom. If you don’t hear anything, set the intention that the answer will come spontaneously at another time. Just know that you are now imprinted with this new pattern as you deal with stress.
Now bring your awareness back to your heart, placing both hands over it. This is your anchor. From now on, when you place your hands over your heart, it will center you and allow you to use your breath to soften and receive. With daily practice, this will allow you to adapt more easily and effortlessly to both expected and unexpected change. You now make changes and resolve conflicts much more rapidly because you are in the flow. As crises present themselves, you now access solutions through a nervous system that has been programmed for adaptability. You respond with humor and lightness to what would have once triggered fear of loss. You’re now spreading this light to every person you meet. At the end of the day, experience yourself feeling more balanced. You can close with this affirmation: I am now at peace. I am now in deep gratitude. I experience the world as the same. And so it is done.
To submit questions for Ask the LifeQuake Doctor, contact Dr. Toni Galardi through www.LifeQuake.net or DrToni@LifeQuake.net (no period after the Dr). For those seeking private consultation, Dr. Toni can be reached at 310.712.2600.
Pr_Kit_pic
Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi
Dear Dr. Toni:
I am an entrepreneur who was doing quite well in my business until last year. I know I need to give up the freedom I’ve had in my career and get a job, but every time I think of letting go of my business, I get a panic attack. I don’t want to go on medication. I’m afraid that if I see a doctor, that is what he/she will recommend. Can you suggest the best way for me to handle the stress and chaos I am experiencing during this career transition?
Terrified in Toronto
Dear Friend:
Before you can resolve the outer decision about your business, it is important to learn how to quiet the mind and the nervous system so that you can access your inner wisdom.
When we are at peace within, not only are we able to get to our gut intuition, but we can open to a universal intelligence. Albert Einstein spoke about the idea that there is an unlimited force in the universe that we can tap into for answers. Here is an exercise from my book The LifeQuake Phenomenon and The LifeQuake Method CD that can help to calm your brain and nervous system to allow for greater access to creative solutions.
Re-patterning Your Blueprint Meditation
Read the exercise in its entirety first. Sit or lie down comfortably in a position that supports your entire body. If you’re on the floor, put pillows under your knees. If you’re sitting, make sure your back is supported and your feet are touching the floor.
Now close your eyes. Breathe in to the count of five, and then out to the count of five. With each breath you take, feel yourself becoming more deeply relaxed. Now allow your awareness to move to the top of your head. Begin to experience your radiant light energy entering the top of your head. This begins the recognition of your full potential self. With each breath you take, set the intention of allowing this light to enter your brain.
Continue breathing in and out. As you breathe in now, allow your entire brain to be bathed in this light. If you find it easy to visualize, see it gently entering into the top of your head and permeating the entire circumference of your brain. If visual imagery doesn’t come readily for you, simply allow for a feeling to emerge as light enters into your crown and surrounds your head. The key is to have the intention of receiving your full potential self. This light is imprinting a new pattern into the neuropathways of your brain. Now allow this light to expand and spread through your entire nervous system. You don’t have to know how to do this. Just breathe it in with your intention.
Now breathe the light deeply into the front of your head, relaxing your temples and forehead. As you breathe in and out, your body goes even deeper into relaxation. Next allow the light to permeate and embrace your jaw, relaxing it. Keep focusing your breath into each body part, allowing for a gentle softening and release.
Now move to your neck and your shoulders. With each breath you take, this radiant healing light releases all tension, replacing it with a deep sense of harmony and balance.
Now move to your chest. Allow this radiant light to move into your lungs. Breathe in and out. Next move into your heart, filling it with light. As you do this, set the intention that your innate intelligence is transforming every cell of your body, releasing any and all past programming based on fears of the unknown. Repeat the following: “It is now safe to change. When I make changes that are authentic, I always win. I can trust myself to move forward into the unknown.”
Return your focus to your heart and ask to be shown a symbol that represents an answer to any question you have about making changes now. When the symbol appears, ask to be shown its message. What is the next step? All you need to know is the next step, not the five year plan!
Now take another extra deep breath into your heart. You’re now releasing the structure of your old life with positive expectancy. A new behavioral groove is developing. Throughout the day ahead, if you experience fear, you can automatically take a long, deep breath, relaxing your body. You can now ask for guidance from universal intelligence, listen to the message, and act in accordance with its wisdom. If you don’t hear anything, set the intention that the answer will come spontaneously at another time. Just know that you are now imprinted with this new pattern as you deal with stress.
Now bring your awareness back to your heart, placing both hands over it. This is your anchor. From now on, when you place your hands over your heart, it will center you and allow you to use your breath to soften, receive rebalancing, and adapt. With daily practice, this allows you to adapt more easily and effortlessly to both expected and unexpected change. You now make changes and resolve conflicts much more rapidly because you are in the flow. As crises present themselves, you now access solutions through a nervous system that has been programmed for adaptability. You respond with humor and lightness to what would have once triggered fear of loss. You’re now spreading this light to every person you meet. At the end of the day, experience yourself feeling more balanced. You can close with this affirmation: “I am now at peace. I am now in deep gratitude. I experience the world as the same. And so it is done.”
To submit questions for Ask the LifeQuake Doctor, contact Dr. Toni Galardi through www.LifeQuake.net or DrToni@LifeQuake.net (no period after the Dr). For those seeking private consultation, Dr. Toni can be reached at 310.712.2600. This column appears in Vision Magazine on the stands and online - http://www.visionmagazine.com/archives/0907/Lifequake.html