October
2008
In this issue...
- Recession:
A Downshifter's Guide.
- Your exploration this month.
- Quotes of the month
- Want to comment or contribute?
- Teleclasses and personal coaching
News and Events
Recession Teleclass: I
thought it might be useful to run an introductory teleclass
on surviving
a recession. We would explore the questions that you have
around living sustainably during a recession. Email
me to register your interest,
including which country you would be calling from and the
most important question that
you’d like to ask. I envisage running the class some
time in November, with a repeat in December if there’s
sufficient interest.
Downshifting Audio Guide: Available
to download from my website later this month, this will
be in a question and answer interview format. If you
would
like the opportunity to have your most burning downshifting
question answered in this guide, please email
me with your
question by 14th October.
For those who love trees: Seed Gathering
Season, organised by the Tree Council runs from 23 September
- 23 October
2008, and aims to inspire us all to gather seeds, fruits
and nuts to grow the trees of the future. Find out more here.
In the UK, many garden plants are also setting seed around
this time, and it's
easy to collect and save them for planting next year.Click
here for a step-by-step guide. (From Friends of
the Earth.)
Big Green Bus:The Big Green Idea is a
dynamic new charity dedicated to showing people how sustainable
living can be easy, healthy,
inexpensive and fun. They aim to do this in an accessible
and hands-on way - using their specially adapted eco-busthe
Big Green Bus, which is now ready to take bookings for
2009. For further information see www.thebiggreenidea.org
1. Recession:
A Downshifter's Guide.
Despite not having a television,
somehow the gloom and doom of the media hype on our “dire
economic situation” has
still filtered through to this downshifter’s awareness.
An alien from outer space visiting our planet for the
first time might despair at our lack of understanding
of the very basics of living within our planetary means.
We have a rapidly growing global population and a finite
supply of delicately balanced, essential resources. Yet,
our economic system in the West (the richest and highest
consumption section of the globe) is hanging on the rather
loose thread of “persistent economic growth”.
Rather than own up to
the fact that this is obviously not a sustainable way of proceeding,
we have been fudging
the system by playing games with virtual money, underpinned
by the crippling debt of the poorest in our society and
hoping that nothing would collapse too dramatically within
our lifetimes. Well, in the words of Peak Oil expert
Richard Heinberg “The Party’s Over” and
we are now suffering the hangover of our adolescent over-indulgence.
Time for us to grow up?
We might well recover
from this little recession episode propped up by an over-indulgent parent government, keen
to smooth things over and dry our tears. Meanwhile, the
basic, fundamental need for a long-standing global recession
continues. We do need to drastically decrease our consumption
of oil, energy, everything if the human species is to
survive.
What are the benefits
to us personally of cutting back, or owning up to our personal need
to go into recession?
What if we were each to decide to do this anyway, whatever
happens in the “global marketplace”?
One of my coaching clients,
Peggy, recently explained to me the effects
of coming off medication for suspected
arthritis. She had been taking strong prescription medicines
in order to numb the pain of her condition and allow
her to “carry on living” as normal. She had
wanted to continue in her job, be a mother to her children,
a supportive wife to her husband. She came to me originally
for coaching on stress management, having felt under
intense pressure with trying to fit too many tasks into
one day and fulfill too many roles for other people whilst
not attending to her own needs. During our discussions
on time management, she had started to experience some
undesirable side-effects from her medication and decided
to stop taking them for a while.
What she discovered on
deciding to go cold turkey with
her pain killers, apart from the fact that it was extremely
uncomfortable of course and made her feel much worse,
was that she started to focus on only the very bare essentials
in her life. This was all she could handle in her painful
condition and this was the place of transformation for
her. She decided to:
1. Feel and acknowledge the pain
and then return to basics with investigating the real
cause of it. (She
wasn’t sure it was actually arthritis. That was
the first explanation she’d been given with only
a cursory physical examination.)
2. Discuss with her family how they would all like to
live.
3. Discuss with her family what their individual needs
and aspirations were, what was essential and what was
material consumption masquerading as needs.
4. Continue with her coaching in order to elicit her
core values and how she could change her working and
home life to be aligned with those values.
What she discovered as a result of this was that:
1. She felt a lot more relaxed about her work.
2. Her pain reduced.
3. She felt empowered to return to her Doctor and request
a more in depth diagnosis.
4. She felt closer to her family.
5. She felt less stressed both at home and at work.
By waking up to our behaviour
and how it no longer serves us, we can return to our
roots – the essence of
what’s really important to us – and thus
allow our lives to mature into something more sustainable.
A recession, on a global or a personal scale, can be
the essential beginning of a transformation to a more
sustainable and life-serving way of existing.
2. Your
exploration this month.
Imagine someone from a completely different culture
visiting you and observing your way of life. If they
were to write a report on what they saw, what would they
say was inspirational about your life?
What would they say didn’t
make sense?
What does that tell you about your need for a personal
recession?
3. Quotes
of the month.
“To attain
knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom,
remove things every day.”
Lao Tzu
" You must be the change you wish to see in
the world."
Gandhi
" The Lord is a good psychologist: he knows
the way our minds run. Turmoil can be the Lord's way
of tapping us on the shoulder and saying, 'Don't forget
me.'"
Eknath Easwaran
4. Want
to comment or contribute?
If you would like to comment on any aspect of this newsletter
or submit an article for inclusion in it, please contact
me by email.
5. Personal
Coaching.
One-to-one coaching can help you:
- let go of your old,stressful
way of life, find a new path of vitality and an improved
way of living.
- deal with fears surrounding
financial responsibilities, your relationships with
others and other consequences of making a major life
change.
- improve your health, wellbeing
and spiritual life.
- further your personal growth.
- achieve balance, clarity and
peace.
You can view further details on personal coaching here.
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policy
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Have a fruitful
month!
Sally
Sally Lever
Sustainable Living Coach
+44 (0)1749 674842
sally@sallylever.co.uk
http://www.sallylever.co.uk/
7 Welsford Avenue, Wells, Somerset.
BA5 2HX. UK. |
