Last week I went to Los Angeles for a week of business, pleasure, family, and friends.  I jumped on the opportunity to attend a marketing workshop specifically designed for solo-entrepreneurs like myself.  I circulated and learned a lot at the workshop and also had a ball spending time with my family and friends.  It turns out I know quite a few great people in LA and even got invited to a small Hollywood gathering!  Who me?  You just never know where I might end up!

My sister also did some recruiting to try and get me to move out to LA and I was open to exploring the idea.  I spent some time ‘feeling’ it and tuning into the question, “Would L.A. suit me?”  It certainly requires more research but it does have me wondering:  how do we tune in to our intuition to guide us in everyday choices as well as in making those big leaps like moving across the country?

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Earlier this year I spent an afternoon on a tour of art galleries in Chelsea with a dear friend. We were having a blast hopping from one gallery to the next to see the latest in photography, painting, sculpture and more.

About halfway through the tour we came to one of the largest and most famous galleries in all of Chelsea (our guide was sure to point this out).  In this large open space only two large sculptures were on display.  One of them was constructed with a series of metal security doors welded together to form a large intertwining rectangle of rusted metal.

It was a rather distressing piece and left me with a profound sense of despair and the feeling of being locked in or trapped by all these rusted metal doors.

Up until this point I had been having fun looking at the art but this piece made me feel gloomy and heavy.  Clearly the artist intended an effect, which was certainly not uplifting, and even leaving me a bit uneasy, but I was willing to keep checking things out.

The next piece by the same artist was a big coach-style bus.  The guide gave us some background about the piece. It turned out you could also walk through it to see how the had converted the bus, using the same rusted metal security doors as the first piece.

So I went through the bus and as I did, something really terrible struck me.  I suddenly felt claustrophobic and anxious. Something felt very wrong and the feeling took over my whole body.  Every hair on the back of my neck stood up and I had to get out!  Eeek!  I managed to get off the bus without pushing anyone in front of me but it certainly wasn’t fast enough.  Ahhhhhhhh, I immediately went outside to get some air.

How often to do you tune into yourself or your environment before moving forward?  When you sense danger or even just something that feels a little off, do you listen or do you talk yourself out of it?  Do you adjust your actions?  Do you slow down?  How willing are you to trust your own intuition, those internal nudges that subtly ask for attention or, when it’s really trying to get your attention – the hair standing on the back of your neck?

If I had slowed down for even a minute to tune into the feeling I got from that bus, I would have known that I didn’t want to go inside for the tour.  The bus was painted black on the outside and there was something very dark on the inside that was not anything I needed to learn more about.  For me, I just needed to walk away.

Now this was only a bus in an art gallery, but it’s a good example of intuition at work.  It could have just as easily been a potential employer, or a man asking me out on a date, or an invitation to a party.  So what can we do to better focus our ability to tune in to our soul’s messages?

Here are a few tips that I’ve found can bring me back to my own knowing.
1. Slow down. Walk slower. Talk slower.  Open up your awareness to notice the environment around you.
2. Breathe. Deeply. Breathe.
3. Feel your feet connect with the earth (even if you are on a bustling NYC street corner!).  Connect downward through your whole body and remember that we’re all connected to the earth, no matter how much concrete or metal may be between us and the soil.
4. Tune into all your senses. Use all your senses – sights, sounds, smells, sensing, even taste.  Allow your whole body to ‘speak’ to you.
5.  Intuition often speaks through the ‘imagination’ so notice what are you ‘imagining.’  Cultivate ways to allow it in without judging or demanding instant answers.

Intuition often comes through quietly.  It doesn’t demand or get pushy (that’s the mind) and it never gives you a list of ‘to do’s.’ So often we need to cultivate some quiet space to really hear it.

Some people meditate, some go running or rock climbing, some knit or engage in a hobby that allows the creative process to unfold.  Explore and cultivate activities that nourish your spirit and in turn, you will naturally and easefully strengthen your intuition.

After letting all that negativity clear out I joined the final leg of our art exploration. The end of the gallery tour came to a close with some hand-made pieces created from tossed beer labels. It was a great reminder of how to make beauty from what most would consider garbage!  This was spectacular and inspiring!

Lately I’ve been sharing with more new people what I do and trying out different ways of expressing it.  I am getting lots of fabulous questions (which I totally love) and it is stirring up all kinds of fun with each curious person.

Over the week-end, I was asked, how is what you do different than therapy? This is such a great question because many of us have had various experiences of modern day psychotherapy at one time or another to either see us through a difficult time or provide ongoing support. For me personally, I have had some fabulous therapists in my past who were instrumental in my being able to grow and move forward in my life.

So, just how is One-to-One Mentoring with me different than traditional types of therapy?  Read on to learn more and feel free to respond with more questions if your curiosity gets the best of you by scrolling all the way down this post and submitting it to me.

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When I was in therapy years ago I realized I really wanted to bring significant change through my whole life, my whole being.  I had a soul calling in that I desired to transform myself from the inside out.  How I was living my life wasn’t working and I wanted to find a different way of living that felt authentic and true to who I was.

I recognized that talking in therapy about my thoughts, feelings, frustrations, blocks, and limitations only marginally shifted things for me – it was merely a temporary shift until I was back in the old habits, behaviors, and thoughts – and disenchanted once again.  I realized the cleverness of the mind and working with the mind just created more cleverness, justification, excuses, and even suffering.  I knew I had to go around the mind . . . my hunch told me the change I sought was not through the mind, but beyond it.

There are many traditions, practices, and methods of going beyond the mind.  I’ve done my own exploring. . .including meditation, yoga, sacred places, gurus, workshops, and through it something kept tapping on my shoulder telling me:  it is direct (I can know it through own experience – even my own body), aligns with God/Universe (It connects me to know the truth of who I am) and is free of the usual spiritual trappings (Doesn’t have rules, rituals, leaders, or levels to gain access).

How is my One-to-One Mentoring process different than therapy?

First, you are already perfect as who you are – uniquely and naturally. Your journey is to allow that uniqueness of who you are to unfold and shine.  To follow your joy and create a life that fulfills your needs, desires and the authentic expression of you.  Simply, feel into the magnificence of who you are now. (If that’s the last thing you know how to experience, no worries, I can guide you there and help you discover it for yourself!)

The process is a whole being experience.  In each session, we are working with your physical body, emotional body, mental body, and spiritual body – this includes your energy centers and your life’s soul callings.  This allows the healing and changes you want to fully integrate into your cells, your mindset and your day-to-day life in a powerful way.  Traditional therapy tends to take place only in the mental field and limits any deep underlying transformation or healing that can take place.

Clearing out the gunk.  We clear the limiting beliefs, thoughts, and stories that have been holding you back.  Old trauma, foreign energies, entities, and past life experiences are released making room for you to feel more grounded, heart-centered, present and connected to who you are.  I’ll guide you on how you access your divine self and expand to know your true spiritual nature and purpose.  Therapy does not generally take place within the context of spirituality and spiritual connection and, thus, does not connect you with your true nature and the source of all life.

Each session is fully interactive.  Like therapy, we are both talking and listening on the phone.  I am asking you questions and providing you with feedback.  However, I am facilitating the process for you to open up to your intuition and channels of insight in an experiential way.  You are having a direct experience of your own spiritual nature with me and I am guiding you to notice and recognize the truth of who you are.

Training you to do this for yourself.  I consider myself a guide, facilitator, and a teacher. This is more than a means for healing but an opportunity to learn how to live authentically and relate to your life altogether differently – in joy, and ease with the freedom to be uniquely you.  I am showing you how to bring this into your life with the underlying belief that you can do this every minute, everyday, anytime.  I support you to be even more of who you are!

It happens over time.  I have specifically designed my programs to support your journey over a minimum of three to five months as a starting point.  The process keeps bringing you back to a grounded, centered, and connected place to live your life from as your daily existence.  Even with a commitment of three to five months, this is just a starting place.  All deeper, transformational change takes place gradually over time with the integration of your own unique opening to who you are, naturally and graciously.

Joy! You feel it. You experience it (in the sessions and then in your life).  It comes through the body, the cells!  You let the old stuff go.  You naturally open to your own gifts and talents!  You naturally open to relating and connecting with others!  You naturally feel more creative.

You start having more fun and freedom and ease by being YOU!  You allow your instincts to lead you, which naturally moves you to the best part of the sand box to play in!

Now, is everything perfect?  Possibly, but if life throws you a curve ball, you are able to acknowledge it, process it, and move on more easily and quickly.  You trust yourself. You trust the universe.  Waking up becomes a LOT more fun.

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Within hours of my first session, I got my first job offer.

“Two months ago I attended a Soul Callings event and met Elizabeth.  I was unemployed, uncertain about my career path, and unhappy with my weight; the idea of a regular centering practice appealed to me.  And I was curious about the stories I’d heard from acquaintances about her work!  I took the leap and signed up.

Within hours of my first session, I got my first job offer.  The day after my second session, my ex called me out of the blue to apologize for the way he’d treated me two years before.  These were huge shifts that I didn’t see coming at all!

Since then I’ve chosen a wonderful job from among the three offers that have come my way (within six weeks of starting my One-to-One mentoring with Elizabeth), and I’ve begun training for a half marathon.

The best way I can describe the process I’m undergoing right now is that I’m putting things in the right place: I’m aligning ideas, dreams, resources, relationships, and opportunities around a clear vision of self.  I’m processing some old stuff, and letting go of what I don’t need.  The shift in my emotional landscape has been subtle but real.”

Nancy R., Investor Relations, New York, NY

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Come play with me!!!

Join Jena La Flamme and me for a webinar scheduled for Wednesday, March 17^th at 8pm.  Who is Jena? She will focus on how weight loss can be a fun and easy process that returns you to your own power as a living, breathing woman. More details on how to register coming soon!

Taaaa daaaaa. . . . .The Live Authentically Tribe has a beautiful location!  Save the date for Saturday, April 10^th from 3-5:30pm.

I can’t wait for you to join me in living your savviest, soulful life.  Surround yourself in a tribe doing the same and your light only brightens!  Register now at The Live Authentically Tribe Event.

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