Posts

3 Simple Steps to Becoming Your Best - an Overview (part 1 of 5)

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Let’s juxtapose two familiar moments. If you’re like most people, you have moments of your life that feel wonky. Unproductive. Negative. Out of control. Not yourself. Off. We know in our heart of hearts that we are better than those moments. Likewise, you probably experience moments of uncontrollable shiny brilliance. You are an all-powerful Being. Loving. Loved. Glowing. Flowing. Magical. Everything you touch turns to gold. We wish we could stay in THOSE moments forever. Sometimes these moments seem to happen to us . While I have nothing against receiving blessings, I believe we can step beyond letting the Universe give us gifts. I believe we can create them on purpose , bringing our best selves to our lives - work and play, friends and family. I propose a path to Becoming Your Best - one of many - and I invite you to practice with me. (I will cover each section in greater depth in the rest of this series on my WonderPlay Coaching blog - visit me there for more!) Step Zer

Declaring Value is a Choice: 5 Gifts From My Stolen Car

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We were about to take a drive to Humboldt Park (to scout locations for a community event for  The Sacred Circus ), and my car isn't where we parked it after we got groceries the night before. Towed? No. Stolen? Yes. The situation is (almost) resolved as I type this. Nothing was ever broken in the first place, but as usual, I am creating a lot of value in this journey! The bottom line is: Declaring Value is a Choice. When we make a mindset habit of declaring value, the circumstances seem to reorganize themselves around that idea. These 5 gifts (that I choose to receive) are ways I am declaring value from this whole experience. Selfie from a day I was feeling really boss that week, regardless of missing car. I was channeling Power, Creativity, and Love! Declared Value #1: Recognizing That I Am Warrior.  That doesn't mean I'm not a Worrier sometimes. But I am prepared to step up and take appropriate action in the circumstances I find myself in. I prio

How My First Ice-Bath Changed My Life

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How My First Ice-Bath Changed My Life A Tale in Six Chapters (and it wasn't even the therapeutic benefits) Hear me out, friends. [CW: pole dancing happens in this post.] [I tried to capture some media to share in this post, but we did this at nighttime, and the images turned out pretty poorly. You'll have to use your imagination...!] TL;DR: skip to the 6 points below! A little background: I classify myself as an athlete.  Specifically, Pole Athlete & Artist. Witness my only Eagle in a public performance, lessons from which I mention in my previous blog post . Photo by Peter Yeung Photography I am familiar with much of the wisdom readily available about common rituals and remedies that athletes of different ilks might use in their routines. I am certainly not an expert by any means, but I have gained some knowledge and some practices that I like and that have worked for me.  Mindset practices Meditation Goal-setting Success/victory minds

Five Lessons from My Eagle

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Content Advisory: This is (another) pole dance heavy post, centered around my personal journey. I am approaching the final competition in my season (Pole Theatre USA in Atlanta!) , and upon reflection, I was struck by the fact that the delicious lessons I've learned from my eagle are majorly applicable to coaching. Hence, blog post. To clarify, when I say "Eagle," I'm not talking about the feathery one. It's this one, where the Instagram hashtag is #pdeagle. (“pd” is for “pole dancing” for the uninitiated.) This is my very first one, and my teacher (taking this photo in the background) had to sort of shove my foot into my hands. I had unconsciously applied this formula in a few previous competition seasons with great success, and I am inspired to share what I've taken away from that. Finally, someone who would not only agree to teach me #pdeagle, but also said, "Oh, that's easy!" before we had even warmed up, just from hearing that I was be

Chaos As Perfection

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I’d like to introduce you to a tiny video clip from a final dress rehearsal . This is from my 2018 pole competition piece. Turn the sound up to hear my reaction to breaking a piece of a prop: “Sh*t. There goes that!” Unexpected result: it was one hell of a dress rehearsal run - arguably even better than the actual performance, when the props all stayed in one piece. What is possible when our best-laid plans go awry? BluesSHOUT! 2016, featuring myself and partner Curtis Ellis when we heard an unexpected lyric during our [blues dance] competition final. Who KNOWS what happened next. PC Mélanie Bert I know that I can create a Win-Win situation  out of seemingly impossible dichotomies.  And so I ask: How can life be Perfect when it seems Messy? Where am I willing to generate Perfection within Chaos? How could I see Chaos AS Perfection? I’ve collected many thoughts on this in the last few years. I was in a coaching group led by Megan Taylor Mor