Nicola Walker Coaching

Reignite Your Joy, Align with Your Deepest Desires

Loving Your Life

Not Feeling Joy in Life: Find Your Truth and Live The Full You

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Sunlit Path in Redwoods - when not feeling joy in life, find your truthHave you noticed that you are not feeling joy in life? If you yearn for a sense of completeness and a richer, fuller life, choose to honor your truth. Discover how to find your real truth, the truth that makes you feel alive, rather than the false truth that flattens you.

Many years ago, unhappy in my marriage and not feeling joy in life, I attended a personal growth workshop where I burst into tears, sobbing that I was “living half a life.” My words seem to land in every woman’s heart that day. One of them approached me later to say that she realized that she too was living half a life. She promptly announced that she was leaving her job and moving. She drove off to live in another city. I faced the truth of how I really felt about my marriage and ended it. This was the right choice for me at the time, and in retrospect.

Since then, I have had billions of opportunities to face my truth. Each day, I have to find what is true for me. Sometimes my truth is obvious; my truth moves me into action that feels good and right. Other times I can wrestle with my truth, trying to convince myself that it’s really something else. I don’t know quite why I’m sometimes unwilling to face my truth, because I suffer the consequences. I feel small, incapable, confused, anxious, tired and don’t enjoy life. However, when I find, face and follow my truth, I feel alive, vibrant and joyful. I am courageous and free inside, which results in me feeling enriched by who I am and by the richness of life.

If you are not feeling joy in life, take some time to reflect on what is going on in your heart.

Most importantly, find and honor your truth. Follow the career that calls you deep in your heart, make your business joyful, or launch yourself into the special project that makes your heart sing. Life is too short to settle for second best.

Here are three steps you can take to find your truth: [Read more…] about Not Feeling Joy in Life: Find Your Truth and Live The Full You

Self Care During the Holidays: Five Ways to Return to Peace

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Warmth of candle flame - self care during the holidaysEach year rolls into a whirlwind of light, dark, joy (for some) and overwhelm in the final month of December. Practice self care during the holidays and remember to love yourself. It’s so easy to get blown away from your wise center by the surge of activity pulling you in a myriad of directions at this time of year.

This is a time when we become extremely vulnerable to the sadness in our life as well as the opportunities for joy and connection. If you have lost a loved one, especially recently, the glaring gap that was once filled by their presence is extremely painful. If you don’t have family, a partner or friends to be with, it is easy to feel lonely and isolated.

As daylight contracts to its smallest offering and the sun is often blanketed by cloud, it is natural to want to give yourself some quiet time, your own version of hibernation. This is why it is always so important to know how to practice self care during the holidays and return to peace.

This dark end to the year is also the season of the light. Light is available to us all. We are made of light. If you feel like you have wandered away from the light, you can choose to turn it on again. Being with those you love, sparkling at parties and the warm glow of holiday gatherings is one way to light up your heart. However, it is good to know how to also find peace, love and light when you are alone, especially when you feel stressed, sad or lonely.

Here are five ways you can practice self care during the holidays so you can return to peace, light and love:

[Read more…] about Self Care During the Holidays: Five Ways to Return to Peace

Thank Yourself for Being You

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Tip of the IcebergIt takes time to know who you truly are, especially if you want to lift the veils of superficial perception to peer below into the depths of your soul. Such a concept is daunting for some, and not such an obvious thing to do for many, as it’s easy to get swept up by the overall impression we have built up of ourselves over the years. Yet our own impressions of ourselves are often flawed by self-judgment and distorted memories.

Fortunately for myself, life saw me as a coconut that needed cracking open. I was chugging along, when all of a sudden the rug was pulled out from under me catapulting me into an intense transition that lasted several years. Forced to face my fears around my survival and the beliefs I held that were holding me back from blossoming, I found relief by dropping into the well of joy within myself that existed despite all my judgments and self-inflicted suffering.

There is a succulence deep within you that feeds you, like the store of water a cactus holds for the dry days.  [Read more…] about Thank Yourself for Being You

You Are the Source of Your Joy

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WaterfallMost of us have days, hours, or for some, extended periods of time when we feel burdened by life. Peering out from the weight of problems or just feeling plain pissy, we lose our bright, joyful self that is miraculously burden-free, watching our inner sparkle become a mere misty memory at best.

I’ve chosen to dedicate myself to my inner sparkle, to keeping my joy alive. I think it needs dedication because life never ceases to shower us with its gifts, then rock our boat. Part of the challenge of life, is that it is very easy to lose our joy.

How well do you know your joy?

Has your joy drowned in a sea of responsibilities, a swamp of seriousness, or is it tangled up in a thicket of gnarly obstacles?

Think of your joy like a mountain spring that continually sources fresh, sparkling clear water. You simply have to locate the spring again, each time you move away from it.

One simple way to get closer to your joy again that works for me is to be willing to drop everything, all my concerns, desires, worries and frustrations to simply be in the present moment. You become an empty vessel. It’s like clicking the “refresh” button on your computer.

How do you do this? [Read more…] about You Are the Source of Your Joy

How to Rediscover the Magic in Life: Part Two – Feed Your Heart and Soul

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Do you sometimes feel lost inside your own life? Almost like being swept away by a river’s current, beyond your control? Maybe you’re feeling the challenges of change and transition, where life doesn’t seem the same anymore. You wonder what happened to the magic in life.

It’s important to find your feet in simple ways that restore a sense of balance: a connection with who you feel you really are. Then you can begin to take back the driver’s seat.

Appreciation is a wonderful way to open yourself up to seeing and experiencing a sense of magic in life. Think of simple pleasures, and do something that feeds your heart and soul each day. So often people focus on the big things that they think will help them to find happiness, when really the best way to find happiness is in the little things. The simpler your focus, the greater your sense of gratitude.

When you can find happiness in simple ways, the big things will come much more easily. And if they don’t, you’ll still be happy. You don’t have to look far for happiness because it is inside you — it is your innate being.

For example, one way I can always restore that sense of balance and connection within myself is to go on an appreciation walk. Genuine appreciation helps you to feel your heart and soul.

An appreciation walk can take 5-10 minutes or longer if you prefer. Either take your walk in your neighborhood or near your office if you only have time to just step out the door. Or stop off when you’re driving in a pleasant area and take a stroll. Look out for things to appreciate: flowers, trees, buildings, architecture, birds, the blue sky, clouds, sunshine or rain.

Just recently, I was walking down a favorite path through some redwoods by a creek. I saw one of those big floppy butterflies fluttering down the path ahead of me. I stopped to enjoy the sight. The butterfly then turned around and flew towards me, circled around me and then glided off back in the direction it had been going. I love butterflies. They are also very meaningful to me. I stood in joy and gratitude for this moment.

I wonder about the precious moments I have missed through being caught up in my thoughts and not really seeing what’s around me.

Give yourself time every day to get really present and find something to appreciate and enjoy. And take the time to do some of those things that really nourish your soul. When you take time out and truly let go of your troubles, it is easier for you to see the life choices that are available to you.

I’ll publish Part 3 of Rediscovering Magic in Life next Tuesday.