Coach Katherine

The Vipassana Way

2008-10-15T16:07:00.001-06:00

this beautiful journal was sent to me by a dear friend who followed her inspiration and took the journey of a lifetime....blessings!

I drove to Sylvan Lake to enter into a 10 day Noble Silence. The purpose was in part to ready myself to facilitate Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction with others. The closer I came to entering the Vipassana, the more I recognized I had to do this for me, or it would be an empty venture.

Arrival at Sylvan camp was mid-afternoon on Day Zero (September 22/08). Registration was followed by a light supper. Instructions were given, to give strong attention to the breath and the sensation around the nose. Then we entered into the timeless space of silence, no touching, no eye contact. We immersed ourselves in a monk-like life. For eleven hours each day we were to sit and mediate.

The “teacher’ was Goenke, a man from India, teaching us via video/CD recording. We listened to CD’s that instructed us in our focus of sensation of the body, firstly a tiny space at the nose and then to view each part of the body in the same way. Every night, for an hour, we watched his DVD explanation of the Vipassana way. I looked forward to this hour of funny stories and discourse that gave encouragement for each step of the way.

Day One I felt that I had voluntarily become a prisoner and wanted to run away! Even though in the past I have spent many days in many classes where this body of mine would easily comply with ½ lotus, the aching in the body had began almost immediately. The head began to ache. And sure enough, the discourse on Day 1 addressed this and suggested:
That the discomfort of being imprisoned in our own habits of thought out pictures in life as misery or suffering in life. In order to be free from suffering, a type of “surgery” would be occurring. One which would reveal to us deep rooted craving and aversion, and also reveal to us a place, or a way of being with life that would give at least a glimpse of the peace that is free of attachment, living an equanimous life; to be equanimous, to view all life from the place of non-attachment.

The view of life is not just any view. It is a view through Vipassana, through practice, to see things, as they really are, seeing that all ‘things’ come only to fall away, all is impermanence. All is change. All is in flux. Therefore, why cling to something that is only to leave. Rather rest in the Ultimate Truth. Vipassana asks/calls one to “right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right awareness, right concentration, right thought, right understanding”.

Sounds great!

It was/is for me deliberate and hard work! It is for this mind to become an observer of sensations that arise in the body (such as anxiety, sadness, passion, anger…) rather than reacting to any of them, be they good or bad. To purify the mind, to observe “reality as it is by observing the truth inside”. This allows me to know me experientially, by feeling, allowing the feeling(s) to come and go, remain present.

In theory this sounds so good! And in practice over the 10 days it was for me a most difficult time. I discovered within my self, deep knots, which have become rooted by repetitive reaction to life. I.e. “that” always makes me feel sad so I must avoid “it”. The pushing away creates a knot. Or “that” always feels good; I must have “that” feeling again (craving). And when I don’t get “it”, I am disappointed (sad) and push the sadness away. On and on the knots have been tied and rooted.

By day 3 of Silence, I was in such physical agony that I thought I might just pop like an over inflated balloon – or is it an over inflated ego?!?!?
In the middle of the night, when I could not cry out for help, we were in silence, I “resorted” to trying the Vipassana breathing meditation method we were taught. Slight, but very meaningful, relief came; enough for me to sit up to sleep off and on until the morning bell at 4 a.m.

The headache continued until Day 7. By this time I had watched it rise and fall in intensity. I experience how it was not permanent. I experienced how it moves from one place to another. I experienced that if I did the work of Vipassana I could experience the part that IS constant, the truth within.
The pains became signposts of knots untying, of the potential of “self-purification by self-observation” as taught by the Buddha. The pain becomes the experience to be observed. I was grateful for the pain! This was a very new experience for me, to be truly and honestly grateful for the discomfort!
Vipassana is a meditation that uses the breath. There is no imagery, no mantra, no prayers, no rites, nothing outside the framework of the body or any method other than observing. Impurities are seen for what they are and may pass away. The purpose is not to heal or change anything. It is to know self.

The 10 days passed and we were freed to speak. I didn’t want to speak. Of course, I overcame that fairly quickly! But the silence, the not having to say or explain, ask or respond verbally, was quite wonderful! We spent Day 10 sharing thoughts, meditating, learning the meditation of Loving Kindness.

Day 11 we were to go home, to practice the method – not to make everyone Buddhist – rather to have a happy life, free from suffering and misery. The only “fee” our teacher hoped for was to feel the emanation of our peace, our love, our happiness.

And so I now practice each day, twice a day, trusting I’ll continue to care enough for myself to add this type of practice to other avenues of care I explore and live by.

So, would I go again? Yes, in time. Would I suggest this for others? I would suggest that each one listen to one's own inner truth and follow the guidance of your own knowing. You’ll know if Vipassana is for you.

The strict boundaries I experience I understand as a way to stop old mind/body patterns long enough for me to feel/know the difference. Addictions to doing things “my way” are more like addictions to tying more internal knots rather than letting go and letting be.

It is not a new concept for me to wish each one peace, happiness, and to know of the truth each one holds within. I simply know that I can now wish this for all with a few less imbedded knots; a deeper knowing of the truth within; the peace that flows in and out on every breath; and, the joy of being in life.

THANK YOU St. Paul

2008-09-13T19:08:00.003-06:00

Whew! I thought our Grand Opening would never come and here it is come and gone! My husband and I just moved back to Alberta after being gone to Ontario for 3 years. When we decided to move back, we were uncertain where we were going to move. It was nice to have the option. The Katt's Eye Meditation Store has been in the making for many years and 2008 was going to be the year come hell or high water...LOL! So, when we decided on St. Paul, I knew that this would be the place for my new store.

I have been an Empowerment Coach for 10 years and part of my therapy is about stillness! My clients would always have a challenge finding the things they needed in order to apply a place of stillness into their homes without going to the 'city' to find it. This is where the Katt's Eye has come in. I felt it necessary (especially being north of Edmonton) while offer my coaching services, to provide a place where people could shop for the things they needed to bring stillness into their lives.

My Grand Opening proved to be once of the most exciting and rewarding times of my life and part of that was because of the warm and positive response I received from you! Thank you citizens of St. Paul for being open to my concepts and supporting my vision! It is my hope that we will grow together through all we have to offer at The Katt's Eye Meditation Store and The 8th Side Empowerment Coaching and that I can offer to you, my new community, a little stillness.

Many blessings,
Santi,
Katherine

Katherine Introduces a new form of therapy....tele-coaching

2008-04-21T09:02:00.003-06:00

Many people who are seeking alternatives to conventional counseling are engaging professional coaches to assist them with the challenges of their demanding roles in life.

Tele-coaching is becoming prevalent in personal struggles and is a convenient and economical alternative to the traditional counseling.

Regular telephone 'meetings', supported by email, electronic document exchange and web-based conference tools can be surprisingly effective and productive.

Tele-coaching can also be done in the privacy of your own home or office. There is no traffic, no highways, no makeup! Coaching by phone is also more economical. With no travel time, an hour of coaching, only takes an hour! Another thing, you can be anywhere in the world and still use our tele-coaching service.

Even more, it is discovered that a tele-coaching session can be a more intimate experience than in person. It may be nice to meet face to face, but rapport can be built over the phone and sometimes you can push a little further with someone in a less formal environment, and that's a good thing!

I encourage you, if you feel you need some extra guidance, please email me to set up your tele-coaching session. katherine@the8thside.com

2008-03-06T20:46:00.003-07:00

The Present!

It has been 12 years since I began my journey in self-discovery, learning and then teaching what I have learned in my own interpretation. Most of my reading even now, is all based on self and how I can become more present, learning and teaching as I go along. This curiosity is what brought me to being a Life Strategist, Coach, and teacher in self -development.

For 1000's of years teachers have been put on our earth to teach us how to go back to our "Original Selves". This is going back to being 'present', in the NOW, not living into the ego of identification. What is EGO?? Ego is simply living in the mind, creating stories, beliefs systems and deciding who is right and who is wrong. Identifying with things. I am what I do, I am what I have, I am what I believe, etc, etc. Ego is also the pain body or past emotional events that continue to haunt us even in our present time, where we re-act to situations, events and even people. We become our emotions instead of shining through them with our god-given grace and freedom of choice. The choice is, NOT to re-act.

A few years ago I began reading the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. I read a few of his now more popular books and it confirmed for me what I already suspected, we live in our past and in our future, but never do we spend as much time in the NOW, in the PRESENT. It is true that his books are thick and hard to comprehend, but the core of all his teachings is to simply be in the NOW. Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift and that is why it is called the Present!!

I would like to suggest that those of you who are looking for a change in your life that you simply begin to live in the present moment. Just by making this small change, you will begin to notice the small treasures of synchronicity happening in your life.

Here are 3 small steps you can take to become more present:

1. Stop wherever you are and whatever you are doing and just breathe. Take 5 deep breaths and look around you, not judging, not labeling, just looking and observing.
2. Take 15 minutes every day, morning, afternoon or night to do a simple breathing meditation. Set a timer for 15 minutes, get into a nice comfortable position and begin counting your breaths. Count your breaths to 5 and then begin again. Simply observing your breath will help to keep you in the NOW. The more you practice the better you will get.
3. Start taking notice of your emotions. When you begin to get upset about something, be the observer, watch the emotion, but refrain from becoming the emotion. Once you lose yourself in the emotion, you are living out of the ego, the pain body from the past. This is not WHO you really are. This is learned behavior and you have a choice, respond or re-act.

So often, we lose ourselves somewhere along life's path. Maybe you lost yourself to marriage, your family, motherhood or your career. When we lose the power to believe in ourselves then we lose focus, desire, passion, love, friendship and the drive to live a fulfilling life - the desire to live to your fullest potential. We have programs that can help you Find a Way to Believe in You! For more information please go online to www.the8thside.com.

Santi (peace),
Katherine

Katherine Says Good-bye to the Valley

2008-01-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, what you have heard is true. I am leaving the Valley! My husband and I have decided to move back west to Alberta to be closer to our family and friends. This past 2 years has been the best. I have met and connected with so many amazing people in this area and I feel so blessed to have met all of you!

I will be finishing up some unfinished projects for February and March which I hope some of you will attend, and I will be closing my coaching practice by the end of March.

What are my plans? Well, I intend to set up out west and make myself available to all of you via E and Tele-Coaching. This I feel will be a great opportunity for us to remain connected. I invite you to stay in touch with me to let me know how you are doing and how I may be of continued support to you.

Words cannot express how fortunate I feel to have spent time in this wonderful community. You all have treated me with warmth and acceptance, you will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

Good luck to all of you and many blessings.

Santi,

Katherine

P.S. Those of you who need extra attention and require one on one in person coaching, please contact me for a local referral.

Please post any comments you may have by clicking the comments link below.

Bach Flower & Your Kids

2007-12-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

So often my clients will ask if Bach Flower will work for their children. The answer to that is yes, yes it can. And most importantly yes it can. Since I have been working with the Essences, I have done my own research with kids and found that they resonate faster and easier to the Remedies then adults do.

I had one client come to me with a child who would not sleep through the night and when she did sleep, she had horrible nightmares. I sent my client home with the outline for the remedies and had her fill it out. She came back with it the following week and I was able to determine which ones her daughter needed to help with the imbalances she spoke of.

I mixed her up a bottle of Rescue Sleep and she purchased a bottle of my Protection and Clearing Room Spray that is a combination of Bailey Flower Essence and Essential Oils. Within the first week of using this combination, her daughter woke up only one night and after 3 weeks, she has slept right through the night with no nightmares. Incredible. She says, she is a completely different kid too.

So if you have a child who is having difficulty in some aspect of their life, you may want to consider how Bach Flower Remedies can help. You can view them on my website under the link 'Power Products' and you can purchase the room sprays by contacting me via email.

What's New at the 8th Side

2007-12-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

From Psychotherapy & Natural Health to Empowerment Coaching

In the years I have been doing my work, I have discovered that people tend to shy away from psychotherapy because they think there has to be something wrong with them psychologically to seek psychotherapy. Even though this is not the case, I have decided to make the move to a more positive approach to counseling.

Psyche is the human soul mind and spirit, which, in my opinion, is why we need to deal with the client as a whole.

Psycho is a term often considered mildly offensive or derogatory. In real terms though, it can represent a person who is acting in a bizarre or dangerous manner. This can be true for any person who is under a lot of stress, has lost a loved one or even someone who feels not fulfilled in some way. Psycho can refer to all of us at one point or another.

Therapy is a treatment intended to treat or heal a disorder through psychological means.

Psycho-therapy then is treatment of a mental state or disorder through means of psychology. Psychotherapy is different than psychology in the way that it aids clients in problems of living. This includes increasing the individuals sense of well-being by employing a range of techniques based on experiential relationship building and behavior change that are designed to improve mental health.

Empowerment coaching or life coaching is a practice of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals which may include multiple methods to help clients with the process of setting and reaching life, career, relationship, health, or personal development goals.

This is where we come in. The 8th Side Empowerment Coaching provides you with the support, resources, strategies and skills that help you find your power again. We are your devoted listener, your partner, your collaborator. We work with you to develop solutions so you can overcome personal challenges.