by Endorsed Mind- Body Coach, Linda Fennell

Whoa, the past month and a half has been a bit of a whirlwind. I want to say that I flowed with it like a champ, but the truth is I felt like a giant piece of tumbleweed, dry and ungrounded, blowing around in the hot sun.

The wonderful thing that I learned, though, is that as part of the tumbleweed life cycle the adult plant dries up and dies, detaches from the root system, blows off in the wind, and in the process cracks open and little seeds or spores fall out and are absorbed into the earth when it rains. It’s how tumbleweeds regenerate and multiply.

It was super fun to learn that. I have a tendency to freak out when I go through a so-called dry cycle. I think things like, “Oh no, I’ve shut down forever! … I shouldn’t feel dry and ungrounded, I should always feel fresh and bursting with dewy energy.” I make it mean there must be something wrong with me. I also think scary thoughts like, “Who’s going to want to work with a Life Coach who gets dried up and freaks out?!” Because, you know, if you become a Life Coach it means your life should always feel easy-peasy and joyful—otherwise you’d obviously be a phony, right?

The truth is … my life doesn’t always feel easy and I do freak out and feel dried up sometimes. I’d be a phony if I pretended otherwise.

What I believe I’m here to share isn’t how to never struggle or how to always feel happy and peaceful. No. What I’m here to share is how to keep finding ways to be kind and compassionate to yourself no matter what’s going on, and how to find your way back to that always well, always OK part of yourself each time you do feel disconnected. (I say “feel” disconnected because I don’t believe we can ever be disconnected from that always-well place inside ourselves—we just think we are. It’s a scary illusion.)

One of the ways I help myself reconnect to my always-well core is by playing around with nature and animal symbolism. It helps me to make new feel-good connections within my life. Use my tumbleweed reference as an example.

When I first thought of myself as a tumbleweed, it had a negative connotation.

Yet, after playing around with the question, “How is it actually helpful and positive to be tumbleweed-like?” I realized that it could actually be a perfectly fine and positive part of my growth process. I began to imagine where it would be helpful to let ways of being or thoughts that no longer served me dry up and die (to stop feeding and watering them with my attention and action) and instead water and tend new seeds that represent feel-good ways of being and thoughts that are life-enhancing and nourishing to me.

Now it’s your turn to play. Think of something in your life that feels troubling or upsetting to you. Imagine that thing is an animal or something in nature. How might this thing actually be here to help you? You can pretend the thing you’ve imagined is sitting across from you. Interview it. Ask it how it’s here to help and what it wants you to know. You can also do what I did with the tumbleweed and look up facts about it. What insights does the information trigger for you?

Feel free to share what you notice here—or if you have questions about the process or want to share with me privately, send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Endorsed Coach – Linda Bayly-Fennell

I am a Mind-Body Coach and a Martha Beck Certified Life Coach. I live in upstate NY with my husband, two elementary school aged kids and our dear and wild Australian cattle dog.

Most of my life I’ve struggled with trying to be the ‘right’ thing … the right person, daughter, friend, employee, mother, wife, coach … whatever it was, I desperately wanted to do it ‘perfectly’ and be ‘good’. Not a fun way to live. It took its toll on my body and wellbeing. Through my coach trainings I learned how to tune in to my own internal wisdom, letting it guide me toward what was right for me. As a coach, I’m here to help you on your journey. My clients appreciate the warm, welcoming, safe space I provide. They also say I’m wise, funny and open…. irreverent and kind.

If you would like to learn more about coaching together, please send me an email or visit my website.