Soul Dialogue ~ a personal exercise in self-coaching
A sample dialogue for finding the light in the dark.
Your soul voice is available to you, always.
to learn more about soul dialogues, click here

It Starts with Me:
I ask that you talk through me, here and now.
I feel like shit. I am too tired to fight the fight to feel good. Today is a down day, and I am allowing it to be.

Good.

So that’s it? That’s your divine wisdom?

You have to allow me in order to hear me. Are you open to guidance? Truly? Or are you so adamant about feeling as you feel that you will block my wisdom as it pours in?

I am willing, yes. There is space for light here.

Okay, then. Let’s talk. Forget the medium of the medium... get your hands dirty with me.

Okay.
Where do I start?

With the truth. There is no greater light than the truth. Especially when you are poking around in the dark, as you are now.

Alright. Well, the truth is, I feel like crying. I feel a familiar frustration and powerlessness that comes and goes. It’s been a long time since I have felt it, but it is here now.

What does it say?

It says, that I am so blessed and yet I...

Stop making it pretty. What does it say?

It says that I am afraid. It says that I am lost again. What if all the spiritual mumbo-jumbo is bullshit? How is it that I could be flying so high for months, and then fall with such force?

Ah, well... the impact of a fall is always relative to the height from which you came. You felt higher than ever, so that much more painful is the fall.

Okay. Well that sucks.

Perhaps. Or perhaps the pain is there to paradoxically remind you how far you have ascended in your journey. And let me remind you that you never fall as far as you think. Remember the Spiral Model? {more on this soon}

I guess. But I am angry that I am still working on this piece around my livelihood. I have invited everything I have ever wanted into being. I have so much of what I want. And today, I am angry. What the hell does life want from me?

There is only one way to find out... What do you want from life?

I just want to be me. Isn’t that enough?

If it were, then wouldn’t you just do that?

It’s harder than it sounds. I suppose I really just want to feel good, to be happy.

Okay, that feels closer to the truth. And what feels good to you?

Being creative, being real to the moment, uninhibited self-expression, loving and being loved, laughing, play, adding value, smiling and dancing. So much feels good to me!

Yes, there you go. Shift your focus there.
These are the actions that you must take. Anything that aligns you with these. Let go of worry, doubt, and frustration. Become obsessed instead with joy, possibility, and fascination. You are good at this. You were born knowing how to do this. Reignite the soul through choices that align you with the sensation listed above.

But isn’t it naive to behave in such a way... when there are clearly things that aren’t working.

And so what are you proposing? That somehow focusing your attention on what is not working will help somehow? Do tell... how will worry help to mend what is tattered in your thinking, and thus in your experience?

It won’t.

Right. The only thing that will free you from the hamster wheel of self-defeating thoughts is shifting your attention in another direction. One that feels good.

So...?

So it’s just like they taught you in grade school. Should you catch fire... stop, drop, and roll. In this case... STOP by pausing and witnessing yourself, DROP the story that feels defeating (just let it go!), and ROLL into alignment with what brings you joy by no longer resisting it.

It’s that easy, huh?

Indeed. It can be. If you are willing to let go to the joy that is flowing all around you.

Thanks for the chat. I feel very loved.

Oh, and you are!!

August 2007

Walking the talk. It is the ultimate journey. Hungry for integrity, the spiritual seeker in us reaches out for connection to resources that will nourish the very foundation of who we are. Paradoxically, we discover that the more developed and trustworthy the roots at our feet, the greater potential for wingspan above.

Integrity (integrated truths as guiding principles) is a function of witnessing ourselves and others, in each and every moment, and embracing an honest approach to all of life. It is an energetic environment where the ticking time bomb of fear is diffused through acknowledging the true nature of our intentions each emerging moment. Integrity is an ally that whispers over our shoulder in search of the truth: What is my intention? Am I walking my talk to the best of my ability? How are my actions impacting the whole of life around me? Am I acting in alignment with my core values? What is motivating my actions in this moment? And most importantly - when we feel stuck face-to-face with a truth we can't swallow - it asks: What exactly am I afraid of?... inviting us to embrace the answer as the most potent and powerful truth of the moment.

Knowing the truth is fairly useless.
Feeling it is profound.
Living it makes all the difference.

David Deida
from The Blue Truth

I love this quote by Deida. It speaks to my journey to find integrity... a slow-moving maturation to greater and greater alignment with my values and practices. I have discoverd that learning is an elementary frolic with the truth... and that embodying is the adolescent struggle to hold tight to truths that we hope to find salvation in. Yet when we master the truth as a way of being, there is no longer need to hold on to anything. Integrity becomes a way of life, an integrated and effortless way of being that embraces it all. And so, wholeness finds us... again and again and again... as we are willing to let the light of truth in. In short, living truth (how ever-changing) is the path that leads to integrity.

Riding the winds of change, I am doing my best to welcome truth in. In order to develop greater intimacy with my own integrity, I have been openly sharing my truth with you, via my blog, to get to know its resonance as a way of life. You see, I believe that truth is not at its best when it is a static adherence to values and principles. It can better be experienced as a living resonance that can be sensed... a tonal quality that speaks of integrity in the moment and says, "I am delivering the truth of who I am, right here, right now." Truth at its worst is the fragmented reflection of self-righteousness. Truth at its best is the integrated experience of self-acceptance, wholeness expressed in thought, word, and action.

I want to invite you along on this journey of self-discovery with me. Invite the illumination of the truth of you. There are a number of avenues for you to travel that are offered here in theMessenger. It is my hope that wherever you may choose to plant yourself for a season of discovery, you accept the ways in which it awakens you to wholeness. Rest into the truth of each moment so that your roots may spread deep into an earth that feeds you. Welcome each and every opportunity, and push against it to reach higher than you ever thought possible.

Rooting in Richer Soils to Soar Higher,
Candice

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Tags: shine coaching, life coaching , integrity, truth telling, david deida

We just completed Day One of the Level One HoopGirl Teacher Training. I am in San Francisco through the weekend for another 3-day intensive, preparing teachers in the HoopGirl Format. This is the fourth training that I have led with Christabel Zamor (HoopGirl Founder). It is such a joy to train teachers to facilitate and guide others. I am ever so grateful to Christabel for inviting me to be the first Master Trainer to work alongside her. We have such a graceful synergy together. It is a testament to collaboration... and the power that comes from combining energies to serve in the best possible way. I look forward to bringing this training to Portland in September of this year.

Although I am passionate about training in this capacity (as the HoopGirl organization is one I believe in), I know that my experiences leading others in this way is destined preparation for SHiNE Seminars to come. I witness myself light up when I have the opportunity to inspire another individual to recognize his or her unique genius. When I notice that sparkle in the eyes... the one that emerges when a trainee realizes that they do have something to offer... that everything needed to reach his or her ultimate potential exists within... when I see that brilliance reflected in their eyes even for a moment, I know that I am living my purpose.

Certainly, my experience as a somatic educator lends itself to training teachers in a movement modality. Yet, in the past six months, it has become very clear that so much of what I bring to the training environment has to do with my passion for the illumination that can be found in seeking out truth. Truth, to me, is shining a loving light on what is there. And what is there may in fact be changing from moment to moment... yet, the truth speaks only to the moment. It says, "this is what is here now." It says, "I dare to shine light on what is here... and use this awareness to transform my reality from this moment forward." In that way, honoring the truth of our experience in each moment IS what makes transformation possible

As a facilitator, I find that telling the truth is a medicinal art to be delivered with purity... the purest aim: to liberate the light within. We can each learn to tell ourselves the truth about who we are... what matters to us... and how we are keeping ourselves from being the most luminous version of ourselves. When we are able to see with this degree of clarity and an open heart, then awareness dissolves fears and freedom is found.

I look forward to moving SHiNE to a place where we can do this work together. Regardless of your medium of self-expression in life, you have the option to live in dim lit awareness... or bask in the glory of truth and illumination.

Truth says, "ah, there is light in here... let us move towards it."

I look forward to offering the first SHiNE Seminar in the coming months so that we can share the journey with one another. Stay tuned... and let me know if you have areas of interest that might inform the creation of the SHiNE seminar programming. What are your interests as it relates to SHiNE? What fears do you want most to overcome as it relates to living a brilliant life? What stops you from doing more of what you love today? I would love to hear from you! Email me with your ideas and insights...

Tags: truth telling, shine coaching, life coaching