Suzanne Sterling’s Off the Mat program, mobilizing yoga students toward activating social change. The Shift Network is dedicated to creating an online community that shares the tools of self-actualization, empow- ering a global movement of people creating an evolutionary shift of consciousness that leads to a more enlightened society, built on principles of sustainability, peace, health and prosper- ity. This new model for the human poten- tial movement has roots in the grandfather of retreat centers; The Shift Network’s founder, Stephen Dinan, both worked at Esalen and contributed to Esalen’s Center for Theory & Research.


Dinan explains that at a meditation


retreat, he received a detailed vision of “a large global trans- formation network that would be helping to usher in a shift to the new era.” The Shift Network now offers free telesemi- nars and online summits on subjects ranging from meditation and parenting with presence to enlightened business prac- tices and cultivating peace. “We started with The Sacred Awakening Series—40 days with 40 spiritual leaders—and 30,000 people signed up in 21 days,” says Dinan. The Inspiring Women Summit attracted 25,000 participants. Since 2010, more than 400,000 people from 160 countries have participated in free teleseminars;


Career Coaches Can Help


Identify the Perfect Job by Kelly Lewis


P


oor-fitting careers can compromise our physical and emotional health. Career stress, dissatisfaction and work and life imbalance can be destructive forces. In


a survey conducted by the career coaching organization Rockport Institute, 70 percent of Americans reported feeling neutral or dissatisfied with their current careers. Choosing work that rewards us for being exactly our-


selves is powerful. It can make all the difference between a life of struggle and dissatisfaction and one that is thriving, inspired and extraordinary. We must choose work that mat- ters to us and offer the world something that counts. Innate gifts, aptitudes and the story of one’s life provide enormous clues to finding work that fits perfectly. Each of us is a unique and specialized individual. We have a “right fit” place in the world, including the working world. We should re-frame ourselves from the perspective of our natural strengths, not just learned skills and knowledge.


How to Choose a Career Get clear on who you are; consider your nature and dynam- ics. Start seeing how you best relate in the working world. Decide on a set of key career components. Then choose a job or career that fits all of you. If you’re trying to sort it out


18,000 have paid for online courses such as Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Agents of Conscious Evolution, Andrew Harvey’s Christ Path and Thomas Hüebl’s Authentic Awakening. The Shift Network has already reached profitability and donated more than $50,000 to nonprofits. Dinan’s vision in- cludes providing education program certi- fications; building a multimedia platform of e-zines, mobile phone apps and web TV broadcasts; and eventually building facilities and intentional communities to model the possibilities of a more healthy, peaceful, sustainable way of life. From reading a book on meditation


to attending a yoga intensive or tapping into a multifaceted community striving to


change the world, we have myriad opportunities to lead an examined life. While the seeker may have a personal goal in mind, each mode of self-inquiry can expand outward toward making the world a better place. Hay encourages us all. “You’ve been criticizing yourself


for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”


Bess Hochstein is a freelance writer enjoying bicoastal bliss in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and Sonoma County, California. Connect at BessHochstein.com.


but feel overwhelmed, consider hiring a coach.


Why Coaching? Sometimes it’s difficult to sort through it all and put the puzzle back together into an actionable plan. Coaches can help you get “unstuck” and provide an objective outside perspective. They have expertise in gaining clarity and tak- ing action. They can also be accountability partners.


How to Choose a Career Coach Look for one that specializes in career coaching versus broader life coaching. Choose one who uses tools that actually test for aptitudes, talents, personality and tempera- ment, not just interests. Find a coach that has personally experienced a career change. He or she knows what it feels like to be stuck in a career that doesn’t fit and the challenges and fears that come with making a major life transition.


Kelly Lewis, of Kelly M. Lewis Coaching & Associates, in Edina, is a certified career coach specializing in career aptitude testing and career choice programs for mid-career changers and students making an original career choice. For more information, visit KellyMarieLewis. com. See ad, page 18.


natural awakenings November 2013 19


Photo by Ali Kaukas / Wanderlust Festival


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