The Reiter Coaching Letter

For Creating the Life You Want

Issue 2

www.stevereiter.com

October 3, 2001

Tending Your Spirit
by the Rev. Meg Riley

It is important to tend to our deeper selves in a time of crisis.  Here are some tips for spiritual well-being at this time:
 

1. Turn off the media.  You do not need to know what every pundit on the planet has to say right now.
2. Take time to meditate and pray.  Allow yourself to connect with the larger universe, including all that is beautiful and spacious.
3. Touch is very important at a time like this.  As my daughter said, when I reminded her that I am always in her heart even when we are not together, "My heart can't smell you or hold your hand."  Our physical bodies need to be together at this time.  Pets are amazing friends right now, too.
4. Music has amazing healing power.  Sing and listen to music that bolsters your spirits at this time, or that helps you to hold your grief.
5. Especially if you are an introvert, claim plenty of alone time.  Walk in the woods, take candlelit baths, stare into space.
6. Although regaining some normal routines is healing, it is important not to bury deeper feelings.  Buddhist philosopher Joanna May has developed a wonderful series of exercises, in a book called Coming Back to Life, to reduce psychic numbing.  Find a group of people who might use this book to work through some of the big feelings together.
7. Create an altar in your home to hold your evolving feelings.  Light candles, put up photos that have moved you, put fresh flowers or bowls of water or other sacred objects on the altar.
8. Take time to write about your feelings in whatever ways would be most healing for you.  E-mail close friends, write in a journal, write letters to the editor, write to the people at your local mosque.
9. Ask neighbors you don't know how they're doing.  Extending your circle outward at this time is an affirmation of your commitment to be connected to the larger world.
10. People who have lived through horrible times before have a great deal to teach us.  Find poetry, fiction, and non-fiction which supports your deepest intuitions about what is true.
11. Turn your angst into activity.  It may be that painting or working with clay can help to hold your feelings, or it may be that gardening, dancing, or community organizing is balm for your soul.  Don't allow yourself to become immobile.
12. Take time to connect with your nearest and dearest on a deep level.  Let go of some of the frantic activities which can define our lives and take a walk with your spouse, watch a movie with your kids, or call your far-away friends on the phone for heart-to-heart conversations.
13. Cultivate gratitude for life, for another day, and for a chance to make peace with those in your neighborhood, workplace, or family.

Steve Reiter is a Life Coach.  He gets his kicks by helping executives, entrepreneurs, professionals, and other dynamic individuals to create the lives of their dreams while learning a whole lot about themselves.  Interested?  For a complimentary coaching session, call 315-472-0504, e-mail to: coach@stevereiter.com, or visit his website at 
<a href=http://www.stevereiter.com>Click</a>

The Reiter Coaching Letter is published by Steve Reiter on the first and third Tuesday of each month.  The purpose is to challenge you and support you in creating success and fulfillment throughout your life.

The names of newsletter subscribers will never be shared or sold.

Unless otherwise indicated, all content is written and edited by Steve Reiter, MS, PCC.  You are welcome to republish any or all parts of this newsletter; I ask only that you honor the copyright by including full acknowledgment and a listing of my contact information (name, e-mail, web site).

The Reiter Coaching Letter
Copyright (c) 2001, all rights reserved.
U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: Coming Soon