Sometimes I think when people look back at this time on earth, they’re going to call it ‘The Age of Uncertainty.’ It feels like we’re living in a bubbling cauldron of change. Remember that ride at the fun park that whirled you around and then removed the floor? It seems like the ground we’ve been standing on is getting pretty shaky.

Many of the people I work with struggle with survival anxiety. Sometimes I do too. Our survival personalities are very strong and deep. They want safety, security, approval, and known quantities to live by. These are very natural human urges. The only thing is, they have nothing to do with the deeper impulses of the heart, soul and spirit.

I read a great book a while ago, called ‘Deep Survival.’ It is a well documented and researched account of who makes it through drastic survival situations, and why. It touched on all kinds of wilderness disasters, concentration camp episodes, and 9/11.

What the author discovered is not what you would think. In all these situations, it was not the well- trained and experienced ones who survived. It was the people who could remain present, and respond creatively, from their intuitive wisdom. That really got to me. Presence and creativity are the foundation stones for all the work I do. I’ve always known that they are essential for our evolution and awakening. I didn’t know that they were essential for our survival.

It was fascinating to read about the range of responses. Some people got caught up in thinking, “ This can’t be happening-I’ll wake up in a few minutes,” or “Why is this happening to me?” or “Fuck you God!” Those people did not survive. The ones who survived faced the situation exactly as it was, moment to moment, and responded from a place of profound creativity and intuitive intelligence. They didn’t go by the rules. They stayed open, alert and flexible. They asked themselves questions, and waited for the answers.

One woman who survived 9/11 was standing with a group of people at an elevator, when the wing of the plane sliced right through the lobby. When she came to a few minutes later, she was covered in blood, and she could hear and see people dying all around her in the smoke and flames. She was gripped by a very powerful sense that she was going not going to die in that building. It was so strong, she never even thought to question it. She followed that inner voice, not the crowd, and not what she was told to do by the police and firemen. And she made it out alive.

Our deep intuitive wisdom is a mysterious thing. It doesn’t belong to special, elevated people-it’s right at the core of who we are. But if we don’t trust it and learn to listen for it, it remains hidden and silent.

Our intuition is not always easy to listen to. First of all, because it functions very much in the moment. It appears when you need it, like a flash of lightning in the dark sky, and then it’s gone. And it doesn’t explain. It’s not logical. It moves without thought. Our thinking process is very slow and laborious compared to our intuitive wisdom. If that woman in the twin towers had stopped to argue with her intuition- “Why should I go down these stairs, when everyone else is going up?” we would never have heard her story.

Consider for a moment that the same intelligence that guides a flock of birds, that pushes a seed up through the soil, lives in your body. How can you access that mysterious force? One way is to start with baby steps. Whenever there’s a pause in your day, and you’re deciding what to do next, take a deep breath and ask your heart, your belly, your inner knowing, what to do. Instead of following your mind, or your schedule, turn whenever you can toward an inner, bodily sense of what is appropriate. Of course, your mind may give you many reasons why you can’t live like that. And you have the choice, again and again, to go with the mind and what it believes, or to follow something inside you that is fluid, alive and vivid. Some day, it may be a matter of life and death.
with love
Shayla

The Book: ‘Deep Survival-Who Lives, Who Dies and Why’ by Laurence Gonzales

Personal Coaching
As your coach I stand present for you, with a profound faith and trust in your capacity to transform. I know that each one of us has a song to sing, a call to answer, an evolutionary impulse that moves from deep inside us. I don’t know what that will look like, I have no idea of how it will happen.
I do know that you cannot change yourself. That intention only creates conflict, struggle and doubt- the battle between what you are and what you believe you should be. The heart is so much more simple, a space of sacred presence that allows everything to be as it is. The more space you learn to give yourself and your experience, the more your basic goodness and sanity reveal themselves. There is nothing to get rid of, nothing to fix, nothing to manipulate. Everything inside you is worthy of your attention.
What if there is no problem with any experience, as long as there is enough space for it to be there? There is already a natural movement in you toward wholeness, completeness and fulfillment. You can trust that movement, the way you trust a river flowing to the sea, or a flower that turns to the light.
What if the way to freedom, love and integrity is about gentleness, non-violence, and the willingness to be vulnerable? What if powerful gifts lie within you, just waiting like seeds for the water of your recognition? Each one of us carries the power to bless, heal and transform our lives. There’s another world right in front of you that you can only see with your Heart.
I stand by the truth of that as your coach. I witness the miracle of who you are in your absolute uniqueness, and who you are in your non-separateness. What you are is not separate and solid. It’s a living, flowing, unfolding mystery.
Please call me for a free 30 min. initial consultation, by phone or in person. 250. 352.7908, or 1.866.795.4968