Joyce Dillon

How to Build Resilience During Difficult Times of Transition and Transformation

August 2, 2022 By Joyce Dillon Leave a Comment

At this point in the world, we must all realize that we’re living in very challenging times and yet at the same time, a very profound transformational period. It seems everybody I know is going through something on a personal level-illness, fatigue, sadness, depression. grief, and or loss.

In addition to your personal journeys, we are being threatened by, political breakdowns, mass shootings, devastating earthquakes, merciless wildfires, and severe storms- with mass flooding.

Humanity is in the throes of an ever-growing collective consciousness that wants to evolve, yet old ways of being and outdated modes of consciousness are struggling to hold on to the known.

So, the big question today, is ‘How do we build resilience so that we do not collapse under stress, grief, loss, and fear and at the same time keep our hearts open to others and take care of ourselves?’

Awakening is no longer a luxury or an idea. It is critical.

It is also critical that we deal with our own anger, feelings of separation, addictions, and fear.

Mayo Clinic reports that Resilience is the ability to adapt well and recover quickly after stress, adversity, trauma, or tragedy.

I believe I have developed strong resilience over my lifetime resulting from my childhood and the traumas I experienced as well as the transition tools and spiritual practices I have taught and engaged in over the years.

I have had losses that have taken me to the underworld of darkness, but I have always been able to rebound.

The eye of a hurricane is a place of calm, around which spins the storm. We become the eye when we pull ourselves out of the chaos and into the present moment.

Here are several ways that I recommend to pull yourself out of the storm and into the calm of the eye of the storm that will help you build resilience to deal with emotional and physical pain during these difficult times.

Five Daily Practices to Build Resilience

Mindful Awareness of Thoughts
Stop and experience what you are doing driving, doing the laundry, or walking. If you are thinking thoughts of the past or future bring your mind to the now. Focus on your heart, and breath, and come back into the awareness of the present moment to help regulate yourself.

Heart-Coherence Meditation
New research indicates that you do not need to meditate for long periods of time to have a positive effect. You do have to connect the breath to the heart and the brain. Start by sitting and relaxing for 5-15 minutes. Inhale from the heart to the head and exhale the breath from the head to the heart. When you connect the heart and the brain you develop less resistance to meditating.

Support Group
Join a spiritual, grief, walking, hiking, or meditation group with at least 4 people who come together live or remotely to support each other in moving through these difficult but transformational times. It is critical to have a support network that you can count on during these challenging times.
Walk and engage with Nature Walking outside allows your nervous system to calm your cognitive systems to rest and lift your mood. Sit under a tree, and explore what is around you-animals, plants, flowers, and rocks. Allow yourself to see and experience the beauty around you.

Gratitude
Start your morning by saying what you are grateful for. If you think you have nothing to be grateful for being grateful for your breath and that you woke up today. Gratitude for your life will change your life

Extreme Self-Care and Compassion
During periods of stress, we often fall back on old patterns of relating to ourselves and the world. We can be harsh and critical, and not care for our bodies. To build resilience we must support our body and mind to heal with healthy food, water, and exercise. You must care for yourself!

These are just a few of the ways to develop tools that help you become more resilient. How have you become more resilient? Let me know, I am always interested in learning what helps others.

Can You Dare To Be Your True, Authentic Self?

June 14, 2022 By Joyce Dillon Leave a Comment

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” ~ Marianne Williamson

What does it really take to live from your authentic self? What does it take to dare to be who you are? Do you have a vision of what you want your life to be like?

These are critical questions we will all need to ask and answer for ourselves at this time of Deep Change and Transformation on the Earth.

Authenticity means being your true self and honoring yourself; It means finding the answers within, rather than looking outside ourselves in order to figure life out.

There’s nothing more attractive and inviting than someone who is confident in who they are and what they believe in.

Contrary to that is someone who doesn’t know him or herself well, someone who depends on other people’s opinions for validity, or self-worth and their identity. These types of people are unsure of their values and purpose.

If you have no idea who you are, it can be confusing and painful. with lots of judgment, denial, hiding out and defending yourself.

Can you identify with these situations?

To live an authentic life, we must clear away the unworthiness, fear, doubt, and darkness to get to the real true you.

Finding My Authentic Self

For most of my early life (birth-30) I was a very shy, quiet, young woman who did not speak up and sat in the back of the room in school. I was terrified of being seen and having to open up to and speak about myself. This was distressing for me when I was accepted to nursing school and was constantly being required to speak up and be seen.

I had no idea who I really was. It took courage, faith, and deep soul work to believe in me and to choose to live the life God had given me and live my authentic life with purpose and meaning.

Here are five ways to honor yourself and embrace the power of being you. As you start to adopt them in your life, notice how your view of yourself and the world becomes brighter, more meaningful, and more mystical.

Deepen your spiritual practice. A spiritual practice means taking time to look inward and experience your true nature. Examples of spiritual practices are meditation, prayer, yoga, being in nature, doing something you love, engaging in an art project, sitting in silence, or even immersing yourself in sound.
Love Yourself. Embrace all the parts of yourself, the parts you like, and the parts that need more love and healing.
Express Your Desires. Say no when you feel unsure and when you doubt the people around you have your best interest at heart, say yes when you are excited and a little nervous about exploring something new,
Be willing to dig deep into your beliefs and self-sabotaging behavior and emotions. Become aware of the recurrent thoughts about which you often think. Note how often you rehash a conversation that took place weeks or even years ago, or how often you imagine negative, fearful outcomes.
Use your unique gifts and talents to help others. We are all one and at the same time, everyone is unique and has a specific place in the universe. You have been given talents and skills that are unique to your journey, but you must relate to others to survive and thrive.

Navigating Change, Uncertainty and Transition

May 17, 2022 By Joyce Dillon Leave a Comment

You may have experienced radical change that has shifted you into a major life transition. Perhaps you’ve lost a spouse, child, or parent, or are going through a health crisis, divorce, job loss, or are caring for parents, or redefining yourself.

You will likely experience one or more life transitions during your 40s or 50s.

Like everyone else, in the last several years I have experienced my own turbulent changes including reinventing my career, relocation nightmares, and health issues.

All of these unexpected changes thrust me into a period of uncertainty, and another powerful life transition.

It is easy to get lost, frustrated, and overwhelmed.

Perhaps you can relate.

The unrest that occurs at this period of our life is about sorting out and separating who you are becoming from who you have been.

It is a time for deep introspection, and for exploring how you want to live this part of your life and how to become more authentically who you really are.

During these challenging times, I continue to implement these seven important ways to navigate change, uncertainty, and transition.

Perhaps they will be helpful for you as well.

Get grounded in your body. Take deep breaths and feel yourself in your physical body. Breathe into your back, shoulders, and neck, into your energy centers, and your heart. You will feel your body become stable.
Find a sense of safety and security. Getting grounded will help you feel more secure. Decrease, and ultimately rid yourself of negative input from the news and overwhelm from the Internet. Surround yourself with positive, like-minded, conscious, people as much as possible.
Quiet your mind, and dream. Creating a daily practice to quiet your mind is imperative. Meditate, walk in silence, or do breathwork – whatever works for you. Ask your higher self questions such as, “what is my next step in my life? What does my higher self desire for me?” Keep a journal to write down the answers.
Get support from friends. Have at least two friends who love and support you with whom you can share your true, authentic feelings. They should be willing to listen to you on good and bad days.
Find a support community. Join a support community that you can relate to, like a loss and grief group, a group that enjoys art and creativity, dinner and chat, movie nights, or walking and exercise. Do what you love to do!
Take care of your mental health. It is hard to make decisions if you are overwhelmed, anxious and depressed. Find a good therapist or hire a life coach. Get support!
Get plenty of sleep. When you have experienced a crisis or sudden change, you need more sleep. The body cannot heal without rest and sleep. Get at least eight hours.

At some point, you may know you want to change your life, but you may have no idea how to move forward so you can make that change.

If you are at a crossroads and looking for support and ideas that can help you move forward, you are in the right place.

I offer Personal Transition Coaching. We work together to create a plan to help you manage life’s uncertainty and transitions, and then we will build new perspectives on possibilities for your new way of living.

ALSO

Join me for the launch of my new Six-week workshop in June 2022, Navigating Through Change, Uncertainty, and Transition. It is a powerful program to help you take steps forward and explore possibilities, feel supported by other women in transition, and help create an action plan that guides and supports you in taking small steps forward.

Much love to everyone,
Joyce
P.S.
Learn More.
Send an email to schedule a 30- minute complimentary call and we will see if this is the right next step for you.

The Scary, Winding Road Through Change and Transition

October 30, 2021 By Joyce Dillon Leave a Comment

Most of us would agree that the last few years have been some of the most challenging times of our lives. These years have been a truly “dark night of the Soul” period.

There is so much change in our world right now, it is confusing about what is really happening. Several of my clients asked me to define and discuss the difference between change and transition.

In his book, Managing Transitions, author William Bridges defines change as “situational.” Change could include working from home or working with a new boss, homeschooling children, ordering food online, or having your doctor’s appointment on Zoom.

There are also systemic changes occurring rapidly throughout our world in areas such as education, politics, medicine, and our environment, all of which impact our lives.

Change in itself is not a transition, Bridges explains. “Transition is the internal psychological process we go through to come to terms with the new external situation such as divorce, loss, death, isolation, fear of the pandemic, loss of job, a business, or a marriage, and relocation.

Change is external. Transition is internal.

Transitions are the internal shifts in our identity that help us adjust to deep external changes that we are experiencing. These are psychological issues that must be overcome or moved through before we can move ahead.

Often people get stuck in their old beliefs, shut down, and refuse to go through the doorway of change and allow for good endings.

All transition starts with an ending in mind.

Even if change is good, one must let go of something to make that change. When you let go of what is holding you back, you are in a neutral or wilderness space and time, and the ending is still not clear, or even perceivable.

We make new beginnings only if we experience successful, healthy endings. So it goes:

Endings first, then the neutral zone, and then new beginnings.

It has always been difficult for most of us to accept change and move through transitions to achieve new beginnings. And today’s rapidly changing world doesn’t make it any easier.

So be kind to yourself and others during this challenging time as we all navigate our external world to make successful transitions. Trust in yourself and others that we can, and we will!

Do you have patterns in how you deal with endings?

What endings are incomplete in your life?
Do you accept that someone or something has passed?
Please let me know if you have any questions about your transitions.

Joyce

Five Ways to Live More Deeply During Challenging Times

August 26, 2020 By Joyce Dillon Leave a Comment

According to Abraham Maslow’s higher order of needs, we all need to feel our basic needs are met. During this time of loss, depression, and disconnection from each other, we are moving back and forth from our higher needs to our basic safety ones.

Take a minute to answer these questions and ask yourself, “Are my needs being met?”

Are you eating healthfully?
Are you giving your body enough exercise and sunshine
Do you have emotional or physical issues that need more conscious attention?
Are you getting enough rest and sleep?
Are you feeling safe in your home and work environments?

If you are feeling frustrated with not reaching your higher potential, perhaps you can explore whether your basic needs are being met.

Contact me to schedule a 30-minute call and we will explore whether this is a good next step for you.

Joyce Dillon

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