Meanderings with Trudy

Treats! Everyone loves treats... and they can be a crucial tool in supporting you in the joy diet. They can help offset the inner challenge of taking a risk, and they can reinforce good habits.

I hope you enjoy this meander as I share some of the things that I think of as "treats." It's more than chocolate and pizza, I can assure you! I hope you'll take some time to consider what a treat means to you. Beck calls treats things that make you smile, so what's your list? Feel free to share your thoughts with me at [email protected].

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

The iconic song, "My Favourite Things" from the epic movie "The Sound of Music" is used here with great thanks to Julie Andrews and Fox Family Entertainment.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lily.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

As the saying goes, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Risk is the pathway through something that you fear, which paradoxically, helps you grow. Risk is a skill you can practice, and this chapter helps you find your way through. 

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to:  [email protected]. 

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

Comfortable Hiking Holidays

Zion National Park, Angel’s Landing

Zion National Park, The Narrows on the Virgin River

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lily.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

In chapter five of Dina’s book, we’re looking at the gifts that come out of embodying our grief, of healing the wounds in a healthy way. I found this chapter a wonderful way of pulling together all the threads of learning in this book. In fact, the invited homework from the previous chapter on continuing bonds helped me with this too. 

The notion of post traumatic growth is a centrepiece of this chapter, and it is a much-overlooked reality of our effectively growing through our grief from a loss. This idea spotlights all the ways in which we as people grow stronger, learn more about ourselves, develop resilience and insight by experiencing grief and big life losses. All this helps us as we become our future selves. Or as Dina puts it “… post traumatic growth… describes the positive psychological change that is experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life occurrences.” The gifts of grief are many, sometimes simple, others profound. But always nurturing to us as we move forward into tomorrow.

Invitations:

Out of each episode this season, we are offering people ways to increase their grief literacy. This month, we’re offering an invitation to you to explore one of the seven growth opportunities coming out of grief that Dina outlined for us from the literature. How have you experienced flourishing coming out of a loss experience you have had? And how has this affected your life?

In the meanwhile, feedback is welcome, so please drop us a note at [email protected].

Episode Links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Dina’s company is Grief Unleashed

Dina’s book, “Grief Unleashed: Moving from the hole in our hearts to whole-hearted” can be purchased through her publisher or at Singing Pebble Bookstore in Ottawa

She read us the poem “Hands of a Woman,” the wonderful BC poet Caroline Miskenack

An article from Karl Abrecht on the five basic human fears

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

Creativity is this week’s focus in chapter 4 of “The Joy Diet.” I found this chapter really helpful and I encourage you to grab a pen and a piece of paper so you too can work through the exercises she offers. She doesn’t as much talk about creativity as much as invite you into a few practices that help you explore yours, in relation to the desire you may have articulated in the previous chapter. In today's episode, I show my work and talk about what I learned about taking steps to make my desire a reality. 

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to:  [email protected]. 

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lily.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

As winter turns to spring, we're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck. We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes will help us live more joy-filled lives. We're on chapter three, which dives into finding your heart's desire.

Today, I meander with you from the hot tub, the site of my daily meditation practice. Truth be told, I've been struggling with this week's practice on Desire. I had a whole script written, but instead, by instinct, I set it aside and just spoke from my heart. You'll hear the hiss from the hot tub's filtre for a while, then the sound of the wind brushing the mic and the birds tweeting in the background. It's all real, I promise you! After that, I share with you what I have learned about stillness and how it has applied in my life. I keep coming back to this first practice as it is just that pivotal. Then we turn to the book and the topic of desire and how I have worked with that practice. I'm hoping you are reading along  and so will learn also from Martha Beck herself as I stray a bit away from her work in this meander, and into my experience with it. 

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to:  [email protected]. Let me know how this practice lands for you.

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lily.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

As Angie is taking a pause from the PauseCast, due to her move to Phoenix and her new job, I am taking a little time to do a book review with everyone. We're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck. We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes will help us live more joy-filled lives. 

Today, we’re looking at chapter 2, called “Truth.” The practice in this case is all about getting quiet enough in our body and mind to hear what is true for us in this very moment. Beck walks us through just how we can do that. I also weave in a bit of my favourite Indigenous author, Richard Wagamese with a few excepts from his book “Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations.” 

If you are interested in reading along, you can buy her book from your local independent bookstore and join me each week to explore her offering.

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to:  [email protected]. Tell me how exploring your truth has worked for you!

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood. Same thing with “Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations” by Richard Wagamese.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lily.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

I was able to view the 2024 solar eclipse totality and captured the sound. It’s a little windy later in the tape, so pardon that part. You’ll note that the geese and the birds do not go silent as the moon obscures the sun. And the crowd, as was the case all over, the crowd are jubilant! 

As I listen to this, I am transported back to the experience, and feel the excitement and the wonder all over again. I hope you enjoy this bonus piece from my experience of this amazing event.

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Video of solar eclipse totality from Kingston Ontario, just two hours down the road from where I was. Thanks to CBC News for the video link.

I wrote a blog piece about it on my website, if you'd like to have a read.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

As Angie is taking a pause from the PauseCast, due to her move to Phoenix and her new job, I am taking a little time to do a book review with everyone. We're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck.

We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes will help us live more joy full lives. 

We are starting this week with habit #1: do nothing. In this episode, I explore this practice a bit with you, talk about how doing nothing has helped me live a more balanced life, and invite you into the practice using Martha Beck's directions.  

If you are interested in reading along, you can buy her book from your local independent bookstore and join me each week to explore her offering.

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to [email protected]. Tell me how doing nothing has worked for you!

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

You can find "The Joy Diet: 10 Daily Practices for a Happier Life" by Martha Beck at Indigo in Canada, and at local bookstores near you, like Books on Beechwood.

Learn more about Martha Beck.

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

My friend Richard Godin shot this beautiful picture of the water lilly.  I use it with permission.

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

In chapter four of Dina’s book, we’re looking at this idea of continuing bonds, of continuing our relationship with people who have died, by way of better owning, embodying, and coping with, our feelings of loss.  The thing about death is that we often can’t accept the reality of our loss. Continuing bonds normalizes our desire to maintain a relationship with those who have died, and for this to be seen as a healthy way of coping. Continuing bonds can look like different things for different people – I like to invite my mom’s spirit to come and meditate with me, for example. And for some, this idea of continuing bonds is not for them at all, and that’s ok too.

Another big part of this meander explores fear. It seems to us that understanding fear a bit better will help us cope through periods of grief, so Dina shares a bit about the five basic human fears, and how these manifest in us, in our lives.

Invitations:

Out of each episode this season, we are offering people ways to increase their grief literacy. This month, we’re offering an invitation to you to explore two things: first, how does fear hold you in unhealthy ways of coping with loss? And second, if the idea of continuing bonds makes sense to you, what could that look like in your life? And if you try, how does this shift your experience of your grief?

In the meanwhile, feedback is welcome, so please drop us a note at [email protected].

Episode Links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Dina’s company is Grief Unleashed

Dina’s book, “Grief Unleashed: Moving from the hole in our hearts to whole-hearted” can be purchased through her publisher or at Singing Pebble Bookstore in Ottawa

Dina’s song, cowritten with Leslie Rohonczy

An article from Karl Abrecht on the five basic human fears

The Enneagram Institute on Enneagram types

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.

Change is in the air… this is a special PauseCast with Angie as she prepares to move to Phoenix, Arizona from Almonte, Ont… from Canada to the US. And I am visiting family in Vancouver, BC. So, we sound a little different today, which is fine, and good, and as it should be. 

Angie and I explore joy in the concept of change, which probably resonates for each of you, as change is one thing we can count on in life. Change can bring grief and anxiety, doubt, and also, joy. And the thing about making a choice that sparks change is that such a process can bring clarity to what we value and want for ourselves, right here, right now.

I hope you’ll enjoy this episode, it’s a real special one. Please, share our work widely, give us a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send them to [email protected].

Episode links:

Chapman Coaching Inc.

Big Stone House

Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Hold On Loosely, by 38 Special

Royalty free music is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc.

Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma

Live life joyfully, and always let kindness guide you.