Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I will meet you there. – Rumi

I’m pretty sure I just came back from that field.  I attended the Martha Beck Life Coaches convention (called The Summit) in San Diego.  It was 4 amazing days filled with inspiration, hilarity, dancing, singing, weeping, writing, eating, drinking. 

I expected it to be a worthwhile convention, but I was/am over the top amazed.  I met so many people, learned so many new things, acquired new skills and tools and experienced energy like never before.  Of course there were moments of fear and self-doubt – it seemed like everyone knew everyone else, or came with a friend or a group – there were many, many reports of the same perceptions – but the feelings/doubts lasted milliseconds once I stepped into the activities and the groups.  The organizers created such a cocoon for us to learn and grow and share.  There were workshops on exceptionally interesting topics – there were so many workshops offered, because there are so many talented Martha Beck coaches, that it was not possible to attend them all over the four days!  There were meditation rooms, quiet rooms, and yoga rooms.  There were fantastic meals, snacks and great coffee!  And an evening of African drumming and dancing.  The bestest, most fascinating of all though, was Martha herself.  She spoke to us 3 times over 3 days.  She never fails to inspire, but this weekend her gifts for motivation, inspiration and infinite love were exceptional. 

It really was a field.  An Energetic Field.  A Field of Infinite Possibility.  The Force Field.  It truly felt like another dimension.  Imagine being in a place where you are completely accepted.  Where everyone thinks you’re amazing.  Where you’re surrounded by encouragement and belief that you can do any thing.  Where everyone is fascinating, glowing, smiling, laughing, crying, dancing with no self-consciousness.  Everyone is exactly who they are and it’s astounding.  Imagine living in a field like that.  It exists and it exists everywhere!  We don’t always feel it or acknowledge it.  We tend to believe the scary world that we’ve created around us, but it’s still here.  Just as a wee example of how the ‘field’ works.  A guy by the name of Dr. Emoto did an experiment with water where he studied the effects of words and thoughts on waters crystalline structure.  He used words, prayers, music and the environment and was astounded at the results.  The frozen water crystals that were prayed over, sang to and generally treated positively had amazingly beautiful structures.  The frozen water crystals that were treated with fear and negativety, created fractured, damaged looking structures.  Now imagine the same ‘environment’ and surroundings on yourself and others – who just happen to be 50-65% water. 

The size and intensity of the ‘Field’ at the Summit certainly had its affects on my wee body.  I’ve had difficulty transitioning back into my daily life.  I had a lot of trouble at first remembering the names of things and places.  I was gesturing a lot.  Then I had to mentally retrieve and calculate time and dates.  They ceased to have meaning for me.  Luckily and gratefully,  I was able to vacation in California for the week after the Summit.  Since returning home I feel like a space ship that has re-entered the atmosphere – it’s like I’m surrounded by fire that needs to be burnt off.  All my engines are turned on, even though my body is physically tired.  I’ve had to literally run off the excess energy in order to sleep at night. 

What are the take-aways from the whole experience?  I’ve been expanded.  I’m not sure how that’s going to play out in my day-to-day life but I’m not worried about it.  I took in a lot.  A lot of information and energy.  I was physically bloated for days afterward, which makes me know I need to rest and digest for a while.  I do know I have brought the energy of the ‘Field’ back with me and it feels really good.

Today, I am hosting Ali Lynn from Perception Trainers, as my guest blogger.  I completely love her blog about Gratitude and she graciously allowed me to share it here, with you.  Enjoy.
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I am sure that you have heard a sentiment similar to this one a thousand times in your life just like I have and may even write it off as being cliché at this point.  That is totally understandable.

Now you may have heard this sentence said in a way that was meant to make you feel badly about complaining. You may have been lectured on how much we have, how rich we really are, how there are people out there starving and dying and we get upset about our iphone breaking or not being able to get a clear internet connection. This is true, there is huge suffering in the world and if you live in a modernized society you are most likely not faced with physical threat on a daily basis. If you are on the computer reading this right now it is probable that you are not seconds away from ceasing to exist due to lack of nutrition or being tortured.

The problem is that most of us “feel” like these life threatening things are happening to us. Let me explain.

Your body has one stress response and one stress response only. There are not different chemical reactions for emotional stress, physical stress, mental stress or spiritual stress. Your body reacts in absolutely the same way when faced with a pack of hungry wolves that want to eat you as it does when you really wanted that promotion and did not get it. It reacts the same way to you almost getting in a car accident as it would if your house were burning down.

This cycle of stress would not exist for us in the same way if we were living out in the wild somewhere. In nature threats to our survival would be our main source of stress, and those threats would come, be very intense, and then go allowing us to rest and recover.

For most people living in the modern world, threat and stress are perceived on a much more frequent basis. To put it plainly, we have a lot more that can stress us out and push us over the edge these days. Some of the things that stress us, that we are exposed to on a consistent basis are:

-Work

-School

-Childcare

-Relationships

-Driving

-Tests

-Social pressure

-Eating/diet

It seems that from the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the moment we fall asleep at night we are continually in a position to have something stressful happen to us.

Our bodies were not designed to have this much stress all the time.

The stress hormones are produced at a risk every time. Adrenaline will give you the boost of energy that you need in order to run from a bear, but it will also cause joint inflammation and damage if it is produced too often. The body has to decide if the risk of long-term damage to the body is worth the ability to have super human speed to run away from a threat.

This constant influx of stress causing situations is not only physically harmful, but mentally harmful as well.

Perceiving stress all the time actually tunes your awareness to look for stressful situations. The reason that your mind does this is to protect you. If you can see a stressful situation coming, you will generally have a better chance of reacting in a way that is life preserving. Thus with this you are setting yourself up to see more and more stress, to be more and more stressed until you get to the point where missing a green light can throw you over the edge.

So to sum up, here is what is going on:

1.     You perceive stress

2.     Your body reacts to the stress with stress hormones

3.     Your mind reacts to the stress by developing a heightened awareness for stress

4.     You start perceiving more and more stress

5.     Your body becomes run down with the over production of stress hormones

6.     You feel totally overwhelmed, like everything in your life is stressful and you most likely feel sick

7.     This causes you stress.

We have a vicious cycle of stress begetting stress.

So what do you do when you are in this cycle?  How do you get out?

The answer is gratitude.

Why does gratitude help? It is because getting yourself to think about and speak out loud all of the things that you are grateful for will change your vibrational state.

You are emitting a vibration at all times. This can actually be measured! When you are in a state of stress, fear, shame, guilt and or anger, the vibration that you are emitting will be a low, dense one. This vibration will attract similar low vibrations because like a radio you will be tuned to that low vibrational “station.”  You will notice all the other things that align with your low vibration thus continuing the low vibration within yourself.

When you actively step into gratitude, you are raising your own personal vibration.

You are choosing to change the radio station from stress to things you are happy about. By getting yourself in a state of gratitude, you will be in the vibration of gratitude. This is a higher, lighter frequency. Not only will it feel better to be here, it will also switch your awareness from all the things in your life that are causing your stress to all of the things that are going well, that make you feel good and connected to abundance.

Remember that the world can be viewed through several difference lenses.  When you take the time to actively choose to view your life thought the lens of gratitude you will most likely find that you have more and more to be grateful for. Your stress levels will diminish because you will now be perceiving all the of things that are going well in your life. You will stop the vicious cycle of stress and place yourself in a much lighter, brighter state.

Next time you are feeling overwhelmed, sit with a pen and paper and list at least 10 things you are grateful for. Then sit with each item for a moment. Hold it in your mind and feel what it feels like to have this thing. What does it feel like to be grateful for it? Why are you grateful for it?  How does it make you feel to have this item in your life? Do this for every item on your list and see how it transforms your state of being.

We all have things that we can be stressed about, and we all have things to be grateful for. Choose to focus on that which you wish to create more of in your life, be grateful at every opportunity.


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Ali Washington is a Registered Nutritional Counselor, Yoga Instructor, Trained Life Coach and published author. After deciding that she was not only going to be an anorexia survivor but someone who thrived post recovery, she knew that helping others to see their bodies as miraculous gifts rather than enemies was going to be a large part of her work here on earth. Ali loves to work with clients one on one because providing that safe space for others to open and discover more about who they really are and what they have to offer is the most rewarding work she can think of. If just one person starts to view their body in a more positive light and feels more empowered to make the life choices they want to through reading her story, then she will sleep soundly knowing it was all worth the effort.

You can find Ali @ http://perceptiontrainers.com/

While I was in Life Coach Training my daughter, Ali was recovering from anorexia.  My training was in fact my recovery.  I needed to make many, many shifts in my thinking.  The training did that for me.   Life coaching tools lead my daughter through and out of her toughest times. They literally saved her life. I did not ‘coach’ Ali.  Ali coached herself. 

There were long, excruciatingly painful times before and during this for Ali and I.  Because of the journey and the recovery we are much different people.  I would say we are more of who we really are, if that makes any sense. 

Somewhere in the midst of Ali’s struggle I began viewing Anorexia as an entity, another person in our home.  Anorexia was our greatest enemy.  It ripped apart our home and our relationships.  However, Anorexia became our greatest teacher.  Anorexia and our journey with it is what Martha Beck calls a “Hell and Back Story.”  Most people have one. 

Ali shares her story and the tools that she developed and practiced in her book
“The Perception Diet.”  I teach the tools I learned and that have changed me in coach training classes and in client sessions.  It seemed only natural that Ali and I would collaborate to present her book as a class.  We have developed the Perception Diet Tele-course.

It may not be anorexia.  It could be anything that is occupying a permanent space where real joy could be in your life. Maybe you are stuck in the “Hell” part of your story?   Because of our journey, Ali and I have a very real desire to help people.  Our intention is to help people end the pain-filled struggle with themselves.  The class is all about shifts in your inner being, which leads you out of ‘hell.’

Please join us.  Please pass this along to anyone you think needs this.