Kristina Ender Coach Pilates Yoga Instructor

Saying Yes

March 28, 2012 By enderadmin

This post is inspired by my friend Jennifer’s post (and challenge) to join her on a ‘spring cleaning’ for our diets.

I can relate to her intuitive desire to cleanse and purge closets as well as the body yet the list of ‘No’ items sent me kicking. My inner 4 year old started to toss a temper tantrum and my 46 year old self simply doesn’t like to be told I can’t do, or have, something.

Yet, I too have that spring feeling of it being time to nurture and grow better choices but a ‘no’ list will not get me anywhere. So, I took the original ‘No’ list and flipped it on its head creating a list of ‘Yes’ items. Foods and activities I will say yes to, (including a little bit of delight in dark chocolate, sorbet, and my cousin Sarah’s healthy Montana Moon Cookie.)

For me, identifying the things I enjoy will inspire me to chose them and lead me where I want to go, toward a healthy, happy me.

What will you say yes to this spring? What benefit will your yes bring you?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Giving up coffee, even though it’s hip, and I like it.

October 27, 2011 By enderadmin

That’s right, I’m giving up coffee as of today and it’s okay.

To better understand the Wellbeing Program at Live Well Studio, earlier this year I read Women, God, and Food as well as Food Rules. The former spoke loudly to me about listening to what my body needs for nourishment not what I’m in the habit, convenience, or tradition of eating. This sounds like an easy concept yet it’s not been easy for me. Yet ~8 months later, I’m starting to understand and hear my body’s requests.

(BTW – Food Rules, in my opinion simply states the obvious things we chose to ignore. “Don’t eat foods that turn your milk a different color.” Seems obvious.)

In the past few months I’ve also experienced various aspects of the Ayurveda tradition. It also speaks to listening to our bodies subtle, (and sometimes not so subtle), cues about what will nourish it, help it heal, and sustain a state a wellbeing.

So, I’ve been listening to my body’s wisdom and it’s brought me to the declaration, I don’t drink coffee. Why? To bring greater ease to my mind and body. When I drink coffee, even if it’s ½ caf, I get a jittery feeling in my body and in my mind. I behave a bit more frenetic and my thinking bounces around in not-so-productive ways.

Will this be easy? Yes, because I’m choosing to embrace the ease and comfort it’s absence brings to my life. Plus, I now have the whole world of tea to explore!

Footnote: For me coffee has played many roles: I like the taste, it’s fun being associated with it’s status as a hip habit, I adore the morning ritual of hot coffee, I hold dear memories of family gatherings sipping coffee as one by one siblings and parents wake and join in the conversation, and pragmatically it’s a cheaper way to hold a business meeting than lunch. I acknowledge and honor these roles and know life without coffee will still be sweet and gratefully, more peaceful.

Filed Under: Body, Mind, Uncategorized

Wisdom Arrives in Silence

March 31, 2011 By enderadmin

Filed Under: Inspiration

What Road Are You On?

February 17, 2011 By enderadmin

We’ve all heard the saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” It may make you chuckle and you likely see the truth in the statement yet we often continue to move through life with little plan, road map, or vision of our desired end result.

Visioning is not a one time event, it’s a process of clarifying and refining what matters to you, how you want to show up in this life, the impact you want to have, and why you do what you do. Does that sound quite grand? Esoteric? Out of reach? Like finding those answers requires a week long retreat of self discovery?

Well, that need not be the case, here’s an exercise to help you look into your future and see what’s there, what’s right for you, and what makes you happy.

Prepare with a little breathing and quiet; take 5 to 10 deep breath sets with your eyes closed. During this breathing time, imagine its 20 years from now, 2029. Who are you? What are you doing? Where are you? How do you spend your days? Stay in your picture of 2029 as long as you like and when ready, answer the following.

In 2029 I live in:

I am surrounded by:

My lifestyle includes:

I center and immerse myself in:

My world includes:

On my birthday I feel:

I am grateful for:

I am also grateful for:

Keep breathing, review your answers. How do you like your vision, your road map? If it makes you joyful, read it daily and embody the joy, knowing you’re creating the reality of your choice.

If it’s not quite what you hoped for, examine what you can change to shift the vision. The goal is to avoid sounding like the funny and poignant Ms. Lily Tomlin, “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.”

Filed Under: Creative, Inspiration, Vision

What to Carry Forward

December 30, 2010 By enderadmin

The end of the year tends to bring about forward thinking. Almost without knowing we begin to dream up big plans, things to do, goals to achieve, places to see in the New Year. This can be a very seductive path to travel yet it can also create misalignment particularly if these grand ideas are not in sync with where you are and don’t leverage your successes from the previous year.

Before leaping head first into your visions for the New Year, take a moment to reflect, acknowledge, and celebrate your achievements from the previous year. I know, it can be challenging yet craft a list your success. Consider these questions to get your list started.

What am I most proud of from 2010? Personally and professionally?
How did I serve my family, friends, and community?
What was meaningful to me this past year?
Pull out your calendar and review it, noting your achievements.

Read your list, savory it and celebrate you and your achievements.

Now consider the coming year. If it’s helpful narrow your areas of focus by considering what 2 or 3 areas of your life you most want to focus on in 2011. Family? Career? Spirituality? Health? Creativity?

With your area(s) of focus in mind ask yourself:

What would like to create in this area in the coming year?
What habits/characteristics from your list of successes would you like to carry forward?
What commitments will you expand? Which will you contract?
What three elements will a wildly joyful 2011 include?

Be mindful to keep your goals and visions within reason. What’s the right balance of stretching yourself without overwhelming yourself.

Finally, create a system for reviewing your 2011 goals on a regular basis so they remain present for you.

Best wishes for a joyful and love filled New Year.

Filed Under: Vision

What is a vision board?

December 3, 2010 By enderadmin

Vision boards are a deceptively simply and powerful tool for bringing about desired change. It is a visual representation of your preferred future. Vision boards are typically created with images and words from magazines yet can also be hand drawn, photo colleges, computer generated, or a combination of the above.

The idea behind Vision Boards is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to be, what you want to have, where you want to live, vacation, or travel, your life changes to match those images and desires.

Vision boards add clarity to your desires and more importantly, they help you feel your vision. The combination of seeing and feeling your preferred future on a regular basis makes it indelible in your conscious and subconscious mind, calling your desires into reality.

Does it work? Here are portions of my vision board from 2007. I desired to learn to fuse glass and have a dedicated home space for being creative so I included images of someone working with glass as well as someone working in a art studio space. Today I fuse glass in the small ‘art shed’ we built in our backyard.

How does it work? While much of the fun lies in creating the colorful, inspiring masterpiece, the key to success of vision boards is using them regularly. Just like exercise if you don’t move your body, it gets soft in the middle. If you create and never look at your vision board, you won’t draw your preferred future to you.

To maximize your results, place you vision board where you’ll see it frequently. Additionally, take a few minutes every day to focus on your board. Enjoy the images, feel the emotions it represents, and experience your vision as if it’s real.

Above all embrace your preferred future as if it already exists.

Filed Under: Coaching, Creative, Inspiration, Vision Tagged With: thoughts, vision board

10 Things You Like…

October 6, 2010 By enderadmin

I’ve been enjoying, ‘to-do list’ by Sasha Cagen. It’s playful, light hearted, profound, wise, touching, and full of laugh out loud moments. Ms. Cagen has brought together a collection of to-do lists from a broad demographic and geography. She’s right about it being a bit voyeuristic yet it also speaks volumes of the human spirit, psyche, and the mysterious ways we get things done.

The list that struck me last night is by a 23 year old who apparently put off answering a question from her father. He asked her to tell him 10 things she liked about herself, so for his birthday she included her list in his card. Here’s her list

Of course, this made me consider the 10 things I like about myself. My list rolled onto paper fairly quickly and upon review I realized most of the list was about things in my life I like not things about me I like. For example, I like the car I drive vs. I like my sense of curiosity. My second list took more patience and self reflection. It is lovingly hanging over my desk as a reminder of my gifts, (written if various colors of sharpie of course!).

What about you? What do you like about you?

Filed Under: General

White Space: Creating Time Off Line

September 1, 2010 By enderadmin

It’s all too easy to get online and stay on line. The web has become a primary source of communication, connection, work, and play. While I’m a huge fan of the power of technology to help me stay in touch, in the know, and in business, I’m an even bigger fan of my weekly technology black out creating white space.

For at least 24 hours every week, I unplug, tune out, and turn off most things electronic. No email, mindless surfing, writing via computer, (old fashion pen to paper is allowed!). No Face Book, Twitter, Linked In, blog reading or writing, nothing, nada, nil. For 24 hours my full attention shifts to the living and breathing things surrounding me and my mind opens to new possibilities. I take in the colors, textures, senses, and sounds of everyday life.

The result is a heighten appreciation of my surroundings and clear mind. When I return to the tools of technology, my productivity increases, I’m armed with new solutions, and eager to dive back into the deep end of the information pool.

The only thing better then 24 hours of white space is days of white space. And that’s just where I’m headed. I’m taking a break from blogging to focus on a major project. Posting will resume in late September. Until then, find your version of white space and enjoy the sounds and insights it brings you.

White Space – Creating Time Off Line

Filed Under: Creative, Inspiration

Managing Change – an Oxymoron

August 20, 2010 By enderadmin

I’m often asked, ‘how do you manage change?’ This strikes me as an oxymoron, we don’t learn to manage change, we learn to manage ourselves.

Change is typically an external situation, a situation we have limited if any ability to manage, influence, or control. Your neighbor decides to paint their house chartreuse, the CEO distributes a new vacation policy, it rains, it snows, the sun shines, your best customer moves out of state, your spouse forgets to pick up the milk, etc. These are all changes in your external environment and changes you can’t manage.

What you can manage is how you decide to interpret, perceive, and interact with the change. This is where coaching can help. Coaching can guide you in the process of better understanding your internal world, your mind, your heart, your hopes, and dreams. Learning to manage your mind allows you to decide how you want to react to and be in relation to external change. It gives you power and creates more joy.

A great, and easy first step, is to start to notice your internal environment.

What am I feeling?
What am I thinking?
What thought will better serve me?

You’re in complete control of your internal world; strive to use your powers for good.

Photo courtesy of bethan

Filed Under: Coaching, Mind Tagged With: attitude, being thinking, change, thoughts

This I Choose to Believe

June 21, 2010 By enderadmin

I’m a big fan of NPR’s This I Believe and am endlessly inspired by the essays. I’m also a fan of consciously choosing what we believe and taking time to rewrite limiting beliefs.

Limiting beliefs are those nagging thoughts, comments, and quiet (or not so quiet!) whispers in the back of our mind that deflate us. They steal our power, hold us back, keep us stuck, rob us of potential, and draw us toward the dark side. And guess what? You’re choosing to have and hang onto those limiting beliefs.

The great news is you can choose to call these limiting beliefs out, expose them, rewrite them, and choose to believe something more in alignment with your vision and passion for life.

Create a ‘This I Choose to Believe’ Log

Step One: Create a simple 5 column spreadsheet, online or in your journal. Ideally craft it in a manner and location you can easily return to with ease.

Step Two: Observe and log the limiting beliefs you find yourself having. Log any belief or attitude you percieve to be holding you back and/or creating unhappiness. Do this over the course of 3-7 days. Don’t judge what you notice, simply breathe and jot down the belief. After your collection period complete the next steps.

Step Three: Prove to yourself each limiting belief is false. Funny thing about beliefs is they are just stories we decide to take as truths. Search your memory for examples to disprove the belief. Ask your loved ones for examples is you’re having trouble unearthing an example.

Step Four: Re-write your belief into an empowering belief in alignment with who you are, what you value, and your vision of happiness and success.

Step Five: Action. The best way to get from here to there is to take actions. You must decide what you’ll do to reshape this belief. Chose actions you’ll do, they maybe outward focused as in organizing events or inward in the form of journaling or meditation.

Step Six: Celebrate and cross out your limiting belief. When you feel satisfied with the grounding of your new belief, take a bold marker and cross the limiting belief off you list.

Words of encouragement:

It’s okay if you don’t finish all the steps for one of your beliefs. Do as many as you can, trusting the rest will come with time.

Even if you think some of your beliefs can never be changed, write them down. A new observation or perspective may come along when you least expect it.

Having trouble finding your limiting beliefs? Listen for when you use words like “should” or “if only” or “but” in your thinking. Search for thoughts holding you back from being happy.

To aid in rewriting the belief, visualize someone you admire – how would they rewrite the belief or manage the situation? How might you use them as your inspiration?