An interview with Linda Bucher
posted by Jackie Gaston

Ever wonder what makes anyone want to go it alone in business? There are probably as many reasons as there are solo business owners.  In an effort to shine a light on the subject, I'm featuring a series of interviews with solopreneurs from several fields of business.  Today's interview is with Linda Bucher, life and business coach.


Please tell me a little about yourself and your business.


Hi! I'm Linda Bucher. I'm a master certified life coach and coach mentor, a mom
and a musician, and I'm proud to say that I manifested the man of my dreams. I love to help people uncover their a-ha moments in life and business. More about me and more for you at lindabucher.com


How long have you been a solopreneur?


I left my corporate job as an IT project manager in March 2010 and have been
building a thriving coaching practice ever since.


Who do you serve through your business? Who is your perfect client?


My clients for both life coaching and coach mentoring are ready to take charge,
change and move forward. I especially love working with women who know there are bigger things waiting for them and are ready to build the coaching practice that supports that dream.


What was your intention when you created your business and do you feel that
your intention has changed since you started?

My original intention? I just wanted to help! I had a deep desire to help everyone with everything. Now I recognize that not everyone's journey is toward expansion is like mine, and that there are specific people whom I am meant to guide. Now my intention is to be there for those people.


What do you feel has been the biggest challenge you've faced in getting started and maintaining a business that supports you?


The bigger challenge I faced was the time I wasted trying to emulate how other successful coaches have done business, when all I needed was to give myself permission to do things my way and define what success means for me.


How do you feel that the Law of Attraction comes into play in your business?

A few years ago, I was overwhelmed with things I didn't want to do or that
required expertise I didn't have. In a journaling exercise, I envisioned what I
wanted my practice to feel like in terms of time, space and flexibility. I imagined doing the things that made me shine, feel good and made use of my talents, and opened myself up to trust that the Universe and the Law of Attraction would take care of the rest. I spent time in that feeling and, being in that place today - with a "First Officer" that helps me manage my business - feels just as delicious.


Do you differentiate your business personality from your private self or do you
feel the two are well integrated? Please give some examples or tell me how it
comes together for you.


I'm in complete alignment between Linda the entrepreneur and Linda the person and, as a solopreneur and service provider, I don't think there's any better way to run a business. In my business, my ideal clients are former versions of me - while it's easy for me to recognize them, they won't recognize me unless I share all of me. That means being completely transparent, authentic and open.


Have you ever had a big flop when launching a product or program? If so what
did you learn from the experience?


Three years ago, I prepared and launched a six-week program…to crickets.
There was absolutely zero interest. I learned an important lesson about
connecting with my audience. I hadn't taken the time or made the effort to
connect with or even put myself in front of the right people - so I was standing in the dark waiting for people to find me.


Tell me about a big success you've experienced in your business. I'm interested
in how the idea came to you, what intention(s) you set before you created it, and why you consider it a success.


My biggest success wasn't a product or a service; it was getting over the hill of
confidence in my business. Before I hit that point, I was always worried and there was always some obstacle keeping me small. The confidence happened almost accidentally. I entered master coach training to improve my skills and have an expansive experience, but what I came out with was the confidence I needed to expand my vision for my business and truly serve my clients in a big way.

Any words of wisdom for others who are interested in starting a one person business?

Get to know who you are first. Get clear on what success looks like for you,
separating out external expectations and things you think you "should" do, want  or feel. Do the things you love and are naturally good at. Hire someone else to do  the rest. Finally, trust yourself, trust your instincts, and trust the Universe.

Kindness

posted by Jackie Gaston


We are usually quick to grouse about the little rudenesses (is that a word?) that 'happen to us' out in the wide world...the driver who cuts us off, the shopping cart left in the middle of the isle, the slow line at the check out because the store manager did not plan well.

How often do we over look the kindnesses that come our way? I have been making an effort to notice each and every one. Despite the influx of people from all over the world into Austin, it is still hanging on to its soul somehow. It is seldom that anyone honks at another driver and that certainly is not the case in at least one other place in which I have lived. If you need to change lanes and simply put on your turn signal, sooner rather than later, someone will let you pull in front of them and into the lane you need. This happened to me the other night coming home down Mopac. It looked as though an accident had happened in the far left lane where I was. Everyone was slowing down at the sight of the flashing lights ahead. It seemed that the traffic in my lane was about to come to a screeching halt. Actually, all the traffic had just about stopped in every lane. I began giving my turn signal and a car two cars ahead of me practically stopped. The driver stuck his hand out of the window and motioned me to move in front of him. This person did not just let me over after we had both stopped. He made a special effort to let me around. I flashed my lights in thanks and got up to speed as soon as I could.

A week or two before that, I went to a shopping center to which I had only been one other time. The first time I was there, there were few people around so I parked in the middle of it in the little faux main street. This time, it was busy and I didn't even try to park there. I went around the side and pulled into a parking garage. I thought that I was on ground level with the shopping until I tried to find the way out of the garage. I did see elevators but I thought that they must go up to the residential area above the shops. I walked into what I thought was the opening into the shopping area only to find a set of stairs behind a locked gate. I had seen a man get out of his car and get into an elevator. As I came back out into the garage, he said, "Are you looking for the shops?" When I said that I was, he said for me t o get on the elevator with him and he would show me the way. It seems that I had driven up hill without realizing it and that I was now two floors above the shops. What makes this such a big kindness from my point of view is that this man got off the elevator and waited for me to come back into the garage because he had seen so many people get lost in there. He then showed me the breezeway to the shops and walked part of the way down it with me so that I could see where it came out.

I am sure that we all have these kinds of experiences often but we seem to forget them as soon as they are over. I am making it a point to remember them and I hope you will, too.


This song by my friend Chuck Brodsky ( sung by David LaMotte) always comes to my mind when I witness an act of kindness.

  http://youtu.be/U8H0wbdxbAM

A Meditation for Your 3rd Chakra
posted by Jackie Gaston



Your 3rd Chakra is your perception of your powerful place in the world.  It tends to become activated when we feel that we are helpless or powerless in any situation.  Here is a meditation to help you regain a feeling of control.

As always I recommend doing this meditation in a seated lotus position or as close as you can get to seated lotus with your hands palms up on your knees. If this is impossible for you, sit in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

Close your eyes and take three long deep breaths. Hold each breath for a few seconds before completely exhaling.

Relax into the pose and your breath.



Concentrate on your breath and drop the following thought into the space at the bottom of each exhale before you inhale the next breath.


                                             My power lies within me.


Be aware of the ways that you look outside yourself for validation, the times you compare yourself to others, the times you feel the desire of someone else's approval. These are the times that you are giving your power away and looking for it outside yourself. No one can 'fix' you. You don't need to be fixed. You aren't broken.




Additional mantras:

I approve of myself.

I choose my own path.

Thoughts on Forgiveness and your 3rd Chakra

posted by Jackie Gaston



I must have had forgiveness in mind after several friends posted about it via social media and blogs. Whatever the reason, I dreampt a few nights ago that someone ( a real person) who was once the catalyst of great pain in my life was asking me to forgive him. Even in my dream I was confused about what forgiveness means so I asked him what it would mean to him if I did.

Him: You know, I'd be forgiven.

Me: No, I don't know. That's why I'm asking. What would it do for you? Would it let you off the hook? Would it make you feel better? Make you feel more guilty because I was being nice to you and you don't think you deserve it?

He didn't know an I didn't either.

I woke up still wondering about what forgiveness truly is and why we feel the need to forgive and be forgiven. One thing I'm sure about is that forgiveness is not what I was taught in Sunday School. I believe that it is impossible to forgive and forget that something ever happened. We may get over being treated badly but forgetting something that made a big impression on you is something we just aren't wired to do.

So if forgetting is impossible, just what is forgiveness and why do we feel the need for giving or receiving it?

A Google search of the word forgiveness shows 44,400,002 results. Try sifting through all of that for a definition of just what it is and just how to go about it. Most definitions cite letting go of resentment, anger and grudges as key elements of forgiveness. That all sounds well and good but why are we full of resentment, anger, and grudges in the first place? Because we feel that we've been wronged. That's why and when we feel that we've been wronged, we are playing the victim in a big way. Therefore, forgiveness may be the other side of the coin anytime we feel wronged or betrayed.

Another question in my mind regarding forgiveness is how do we know when we've done it? What does it feel like? This is where it gets down to the nitty gritty for me. What does forgiveness feel like? I'm not sure it feels the same for everyone or even in every circumstance. I know that it hasn't for me. In one instance, it was seeing the girl for whom the father of my children left our family as an angel in my life. It took twenty-five years for me to get there but I now realize that my experience of life has been much broader, deeper, and richer than it would have been had that marriage continued. Does that mean I'd trust her or want to be around her now? I seriously doubt it. I don't want to be around my ex any more than I have to either. I just know that he was who he was, is who he is, and the same goes for her. I am who I am partly because of the rolls they played in my life long ago. I've let us all off the hook.

In another instance, a woman I worked for owes me a paycheck that she'll never pay me. She was terribly ugly to me in many ways. Forgiving her means that I have to take responsibility for continuing to work for her when I saw how she was treating others. In reality, I put myself in that position so it's really myself I have to let off the hook for that one.

The common theme in these two stories is that I have reached the point of forgiveness in both incidents because I no longer see myself as a victim. I have taken responsibility for my parts in these situations.

I was staying in a miserable relationship because I didn't see a way out and I certainly wasn't making things any better for myself or for my kids. I worked for someone I saw was treating people badly but kept doing it because I thought I needed the money. When I finally stood up to her, she stopped paying me but a great new job was already on it's way to me.

Since forgiveness seems like the flip side of victimhood, I see it as relating to the 3rd chakra. When we allow ourselves to become victims, we are giving up our power. Forgiveness is one way to reclaim it. Claim your power. Let yourself off the hook. Forgive.

Symbol: Ten petals, circle containing down-facing triangle


Location: Solar plexus, upper abdomen


Color: Yellow


Stones: citrine, yellow topaz, amber


Musical Note: D


Scents: rose, myrrh, melissa


Body Parts: pancreas, liver, small intestine, gall bladder


Sense: Sight, both physical and metaphysical


Foods: grains, dairy, ginger, cumin


Asanas: Bow, cobra, fish. Sun salutations, twists


Planet: Mars and Sun


Astrological sign: Aries


Element: Fire


Known as the power chakra, the energy of the third chakra tends to be more masculine than feminine. It is heavily involved with the ego and the intellect as well as intuition.


It's planet is Mars, named for the god of war and it is also heavily influenced by the Sun. Add in the astrological sign of Aries and you've got one hot chakra. The trick to using the influence of Mars to your advantage is to realize that the same fire that can be destructive and all consuming can also be harnessed to give its energy to your more positive aspects. The 4th chakra can burn with anger, fear or feed an overbearing ego in its quest for a feeling of control. However, it can burn with ambition, love and confidence.


An unbalanced third chakra can be related to anger, control issues, and hatred if it is over active. If it is under active, feelings of helplessness and lack of control can be present. Physical symptoms may include digestive problems and eating disorders.


A person operating from a healthy third chakra feels in control of his/her life and listens to his/her intuition.

Posted by Jackie Gaston
How to Manifest Clean Restrooms


I recently left Colorado with no clear plan of where I'd be when I stopped traveling. We thought we would stay in on state and things were looking like that would happen. Then a unexpected occurrence sent us on our way again. We are now in Texas where we will start house sitting next week and will be here at least through the summer.

All together, I traveled through ten states...Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Texas. I set an intention for a pleasant trip. I didn't make any specific parameters for that but several things happened that made the trip pleasant indeed.

First there was the miracle of the PODS. I had used shipping containers for a move once before but this time I picked another company because it looked less expensive. It turned out to be a much bigger hassle. They didn't deliver the pods. We had to rent a truck from them and pull the pods to our place on a trailer and then pull them back after they were loaded. Not only that, but the pods were about half the size of the others I'd used. I knew they were some smaller but not that much smaller. We were really, really stressed about how we'd get our things packed into them. My partner had wanted to ask the kid downstairs to find a friend of his to help us load and pay them a certain amount. I insisted that we find a pro to do it. For the same amount of money we had thought about paying the kids, we got Robert the Packing Wizard and his helper. He managed to get everything except a futon and some camping equipment that we hadn't used in years into the pods. We were in awe. The first miracle of the trip had happened.

The second really nice thing that I noticed was the ease we had in finding hotel rooms that accepted dogs. We did have to stop at more than one hotel in a couple of towns but we found great rooms at reasonable prices every night.

By the third day on the road, I noticed something that really amazed me. We had been through six states by then and every restroom I'd gone into had been not just clean, but sparkling clean. This continued for the entire trip. To be honest, there were a couple of facilities in Arkansas that could have been better but none of them were really dirty.

Notice that the intention I set did not specifically identify anything about packing the pods, nice hotel rooms, or clean restrooms while on the road. I went really general with my intention which gave the Universe a lot of room to set things up on my behalf. I didn't even notice the string of clean restrooms until we'd been on the road for two and a half days. It wasn't apparent until we stopped traveling that the rooms had all be nice. Those things were just part of what made a pleasant trip along with the car we'd just bought, nice weather (only a little rain and most of the wind was at our backs) and many other little things.

Going general in our intentions and desires can be challenging. It comes down to knowing what your core desire is. It would have been easy get caught up in setting a dozen little intentions for things like smooth roads, no car problems, etc. However, I'm sure that I'd have left out clean restrooms because that wouldn't have been something I'd have thought of. By going general, I gave the Universe all of the instruction It needed and the results were better than I imagined.

posted by Jackie Gaston
A Meditation for Your 2nd Chakra

One of the best  ways to balance your chakras is through meditation. Here is a meditation for your second chakra. I recommend doing these meditations in a seated lotus position or as close as you can get to seated lotus with your hands palms down on your knees. If this is impossible for you, sit in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

Close your eyes and take three long deep breaths. Hold each breath for a few seconds before completely exhaling.

Relax into the pose and your breath.


Meditation:

The mantra for this meditation is: I accept myself and/or I fully accept myself. You may ask in what ways you are not currently accepting yourself. Listen for the answer. Remember it is very difficult to accept another without judgment if you are unable to accept yourself in the same way. Your hands should be positioned with the edge of each hand on the corresponding knee and your palms facing each other. The pads or tips of your index fingers touch the pads or tips of your thumbs.
Additional meditations:

The second chakra is creative and active so walking meditation is helpful for it. Meditation involving music and chanting serve the second chakra very well.  My favorite music for meditation right now is Anaguma's Shamanic Dream.

posted by Jackie Gaston

Thoughts on Gratitude


I've been thinking a lot about the concept of gratitude and what it means. For me it has had a somewhat negative connotation. That sounds kind of weird in a way but I don't think I'm the only one who has had a charge around it. How many times have you heard or been told that you should be grateful that things aren't worse for you or that you should be grateful for what you have even though you don't have what you want? I've been so busy feeling guilty for having any less than grateful feelings that I've never stopped  to figure out what gratitude really is until recently.


Dictionary dot com cites gratitude as a synonym of thankful. I know how to be thankful but that definition doesn't seem quite full enough for me. Gratitude has had an element of groveling, being thankful things that are less than what I want or for whatever someone else thinks I should have. There's that S word again. Maybe the charge I've had around the G word is more about the S word. Dictionary dot come gives the definition of should as: must; ought (used to indicate duty, propriety, or expediency). Duty is the key word here for me. Gratitude as something that I have a duty to feel just doesn't seem right. In fact, until very recently, I just didn't grok the concept at all.


Then something changed. It changed in an instant during the very ordinary act of taking a pan out of my cabinet. You see, for more than a year, I lived in furnished apartments. This meant that I had no access to my own things. I didn't mind it very much except for my kitchen things. I have acquired each pot, each pan, each gadget, and each dish because it fits with my own concept of ease of use and my own aesthetic sensibilities. My pots and pans are plenty sturdy but not to heavy. My dishes are a discontinued pattern that I collect via eBay. Cooking with other peoples kitchen equipment was annoying to say the least. I was constantly missing some gadget or bowl that I'm accustomed to using for a particular task. Oddly, the thing I missed the most was my wooden fork. I use that fork for all kinds of things and I found myself reaching for it when I knew it wasn't there.


A few months ago, we were able to retrieve our things and get rid of all the stuff that wasn't ours. I have been reveling in having my things back. Eating from my own plates. Drinking from my own glasses. Having all of my little gadgets that make cooking a fun and creative activity for me. Then last week I reached down to get a pan to make tortilla soup and was overcome by a feeling of gratitude that I'd never felt before. I wasn't thinking about how nice it was to have my own things again. The feeling just washed over me and took my breath away. It only lasted a few seconds at that intensity but it changed my view of gratitude forever.


I now have more than an intellectual idea of what gratitude is. No one, not even me, was telling me what I should feel. It is impossible to intellectualize feelings but we all do it to one degree or another. Many times it takes the form of rationalization. We think that we have to have a reason for feeling or not feeling something. Rationalization keeps us in our heads rather than in our hearts and keeps us from hearing the messages that our feelings have for us. When we deny our feelings or don't pay attention to them, we set ourselves up for all kinds of unwanted moods and situations. We get so used to ignoring our feelings that we don't even know we are doing it. Then we wonder why things turn out the way they do in our lives. It's as though the UPS guy is knocking at our door but we don't open it and wonder why our package isn't here.

If we ignore our feelings long enough they go into hiding and start to find other ways to get our attention. Bad moods, physical symptoms, other emotions that are too intense for us to ignore. If you think you have some feelings that you have ignored for so long you don't know what they are, give me a shout. The biggest part of my work is helping you find out what feelings you're not acknowledging and hearing the messages those feelings have for you.

posted by Jackie Gaston
Second Chakra - Sacral Chakra-Svadhisthana



This is the third post in the series about your chakra system.  It might be helpful to read this post and this post before continuing.







Second Chakra – Sacral chakra - Svadhisthana

Symbol: Six petals, circle containing a crescent moon

Location: Lower abdomen about three finger widths below the navel

Color: Orange

Musical note: D

Scents: Patchouli, Geranium, Jasmine, Clary Sage

Stones: carnelian, fire agate, orange calcite

Body parts: Blood, tears, urine, reproductive organs, hips, sacrum. Sex organs

Sense: Taste

Foods: Sweet fruits, nuts, cinnamon, cardamom

Asanas: cobra, triangle, backward and forward bends.

Planet: Jupiter

Astrological sign: Cancer

Element: Water


The second chakra is the seat of sexuality. Creativity and emotion. It seeks excitement, sexual expression, and learning new things. Closely related to the first chakra, it also craves a certain groundedness and balance. Music and art feed the second chakra. It is considered to have more feminine than masculine energy.

The sense of taste is connected to the second chakra as it is highly sensual and pleasure bringing. Sharing food creates a connection with others and with our communities. The types of food that we eat and share help define us culturally.

The astrological sign Cancer is said to rule emotions, receptiveness and fertility, all of which are associate with the second chakra. Cancer is also a water sign and the element for the second chakra is water.

The second chakra is said to be aligned with the planet Jupiter. We view the first chakra as the seat of the individual self and the second chakra as seeking connection to others. Jupiter brings connection to culture in its creating of music, art and life style. Jupiter's energy calms and warms that of Saturn which can at times be cool and unsettling.

Signs that the second chakra may be out of balance include an over active or under active sex drive, craving for sweet foods and a general lack of creativity. Physical symptoms may include lower back pain, abdominal pain and intestinal disruptions; gastro intestinal problems. Resistance to change and frequent emotional drama can also be associated with an unbalanced second chakra.

A person operating from a balanced second chakra tends to trust his/her instincts and intuition and tend to attract people who explore esoteric realms.

If you'd like to read the whole series, you may go to my Goodies page and request my free ebook, Chakras 101. 

posted by Jackie Gaston

Loving Your First Chakra



In this post I wrote about your first chakra, how it works for you, what happens if it's out of balance and gave some meditations to help balance it.


Lately I've been thinking and meditating on ways to really your first chakra some love.  Here is a list of things that really nourish the first chakra.  I'm sure there are many more but these are things that anyone can do almost any time.

1. Belly breathing:  There are a lot of good resources to tell you how to do this.  Here's one.

2.Dancing:  Dancing really gets your body moving, especially your lower body and it just makes you feel good all over.  I like to dance while I'm cleaning house.

3. Unclutter/Clean your environment:  Clutter really messes with your first chakra.  A clean uncluttered home or work space gives you first chakra the message that you honor your place in the world.  Besides, you can dance while you do it.

4. Yoga:  There are specific asanas for your root chakra including Mountain pose, Bridge pose, and Warrior one.

5.  Spending time in nature:  Walking in the woods is my favorite activity for nourishing my first chakra but any activity in nature is great.

6.  Gardening:  How could you possibly be more connected to the earth than when you are gardening?

7.  Eating comfoft foods:  This one can be carried to the extreme as we all know.  However, making sure you get adequate protein and eating root vegetables are wonderful for your first chakra.

8.  Taking a shower:  Running water is a great way to clear any unwanted energy.

9.  Meditate out doors:  There is something about being out side and doing a meditation that is just so clearing and relaxing.  Your first chakra loves it.

10:  Ride the earth:  This is an exercise from Llyn Roberts' book, Shamanic Reiki.  It is pretty much what the name implies.  You will need to find a private place to do this.

11:  Get someone like me to help you:  Sometimes we just can't pinpoint just what it is that is causing us to feel ungrounded and anxious.  That's when we need someone to help us get clear and do some of the heaving lifting for us.