I'm done! I'm out!

I'm done hiding, being silenced and told I'm breaking rules.

No more hiding no more silence and let me be clear, I've never broken any rules.

This has been stirring in me for years. I'm done. I'm out!

All weekend I have been writing, seeking, moving in meditation for more truth.

Then this morning this arrived -

"Your truth will bring out the worst in others. Your love will tingle what they've numbed. Your authenticity will provoke closed minds. Your gratitude will irritate trolls. Your success will attract haters. Your empowerment will create enemies. Your uniqueness will antagonize fear. Your courage will attract cowards. Your sexuality will freak people out. Your joy will tug at their trauma. Your compassion will unmask envy. And love, that's what it's meant to do. Your aliveness will reveal many mental prisons, but help to set even more minds free." Thank you @tanyamarkul for writing this powerful piece.

This is why I do what I do. The people I partner with want freedom and freedom of choice. They want more. They want healing on all levels.

I am a woman in long term recovery from an unhealthy relationship with alcohol - alcoholism - alcohol use disorder. Call it what you like.

I am no longer haunted by shame, guilt and remorse. I have done deep self work for the last 17 years and I continue to move deeper into my Ishtara work for more freedom. More healing and more understanding of myself.

I'm here to help. To partner. To mentor. To walk with those wanting a different life - a life of freedom and choice. I’m here to catch those falling through the cracks. For a various of reasons, some people are not comfortable with the regular recovery modalities, partnership in a coaching engagement works beautifully. No has to fall through the cracks.

I’m a life coach, a sober coach, a recovery coach, a professional coach, a teacher, a mentor and a partner.

No one will stop me. I'm out!

This is my calling. No more "pussy- footing" around. This is a part of who I am and if that makes you uncomfortable, I'd love to help you release and rewire that pattern. If its showing up with me, its showing up in all kinds of other places in your life.

If you are struggling with your relationship with alcohol and want to talk about that, let’s do that. Let’s meet and talk about what you want and what I can offer. Complimentary meeting, no obligations - just two people discussing their relationship with alcohol.

I'm here for you.

November is Birthday Month

So much going on this month - I’ve celebrated 16 years of sobriety — alcohol free lifestyle! One of the very best decisions I have ever made. One month as a Licensed Ishtara Teacher - this method of moving meditation has completely unlocked me, healing my trauma and given me a completely new perspective of my body and how She is a being and not a thing. You’ve got to join my Free Intro to see what this is all about! Go to my Teacher Page to register - multiple dates being offered. I’m celebrating 57 years around the sun on Saturday the 25th of November! Spending the day with my favorite people, I’m so excited!

A few weeks ago I had the most rich conversation with my coach and I can see my development and growth as a woman and as a coach. The last 13 years in the coaching space has helped “grow me up” sort of speak. My narrative has changed so much, it really has transformed how I speak to myself. The acceptance of all parts of me - the shadow - she is loved in all ways. My Ishtara practice has also released and rewired this energy in my body allowing me to metabolize giving me the room to accept and love. This is giving me power. All of this allows me to be a better coach and to hold a container for students and be a good Ishtara teacher.

Happy Birthday to all you November babies!! xoxo

Hold for the Next Available Agent....

What should I do while on hold with an airline, write a blog.

I’ve been on hold for three hours with WestJet and for those Canadian readers can appreciate the patience it takes to wait for the next available agent. Early this morning I booked a flight online using our banked credits and it appears to have gone sideways. I chose to book online, which I never do, thinking it would be easy and simple, but I was wrong. I was hoping not to have to wait for an agent, and here I am, waiting for an agent.

After a long, dark, cold and locked down winter, freedom grew as the days got longer and the vaccine shots were offered to everyone, shots where being scheduled and people were experiencing hope. There was a real buzz of what people where experiencing.

Spring sprung starting with an April email from a beautiful woman. A special invitation was presented to me to join a group of like minded women to learn how to write a non-fiction book. For some reason I didn’t have to ponder this offer very long. I quickly took this to my husband, Hal, who has been encouraging me for years to write a book. He quickly said “I think you should do it”.

That was that, I signed up and paid for my spot. Then I got thinking about this beautiful woman who invited me, “she has a podcast called the “Bubble Hour” maybe I could be of service to her and her listeners and share my recovery story?” So I offered and she accepted.

Whenever I offer to share my story, I always regret it after, the result of fear and a mean inner critic chirping in my head. I acknowledge and push through the feelings and thoughts with prayer and meditation and do it anyway!!

During the preparation for the Bubble Hour, I was mindful to share only my story, not my sister’s story or cousin’s story or my husband’s story. This would be the first time my story would be recorded and archived. The experience was fabulous and I learned that I needed to do more work around trying to control outcomes. I kept telling myself, just touch one person with hope, and that was the intention. Visit this link to hear the Bubble Hour interview About Coach with Nicole - Meet Nicole Cameron — Coach with Nicole

May arrives and I’m excited for the non-fiction book writing course. We’ll meet for four Saturdays 3.5 hours each time. I went into this experience without any expectations and I had a wonderful time. The leaders were fantastic, the other beginner writers were wonderful! We learned, we laughed, we wrote and we encouraged each other. I loved every minute of it! Our fierce leaders were Catherine Greer in Sydney Australia, and Jean McCarthy in Alberta, Canada. Please visit them at Catherine Greer and Jean McCarthy – Author, Blogger, Podcast Host for their list of books, blogs and podcast.

Still On Hold - Update: 3 hours 43 minutes

June was filled with teaching myself how to write a book, research for the book, interviews for the book, and lots of mental work reminding myself that I’m a beginner and teaching myself how to write a book. There were emails to Jean and Catherine asking for help and wondering if what I was going through was normal, they both continued to encourage me and lift me up. I continued to write.

Here we are in July and I’ve invested in a laptop and write outside every chance I have. I’ve created a writing schedule around my coaching calendar for clients and its working really well. I am consciously reminding myself of time boundaries and being disciplined to my clients and my writing with pockets of time for client reschedules, mentorship calls and booking conversations about coaching with curious people.

Still On Hold - Update: 4 hour wait time - Meghan picked with a friendly and warm “Hello”. Another hour and our flights are all organized and booked!! All set to spend my 55th birthday on the beach.

Two weeks ago I came across an Instagram post, Brene Brown announcing she’s hosting a series of discussions with her twin sisters about “The Gifts of Imperfections”. I jumped on “Unlocking Us” podcast via Spotify to get caught up, since the discussions started at the end of June. “The Gifts” was an instrumental book in my early years of sobriety. If you really want to do personal work, start with this book and podcast. Then call me for some coaching hours and we’ll get busy working on real sustainable change. If you don’t know anything about coaching, let’s have a conversation. You can reach me at nicole@coachwithnicole.ca.

Until next time, be patient, good things happen when we’re patient. Stay connected. Want to make some changes to your life, ask for help!

Gifts of Sobriety - Gratitude

This was truly is the most cherished gift of sobriety, a daily gratitude practice.  This is where I started learning how to get out of myself and focus on the good happening around me and within me.  This gift was the beginning.  When sorrow of a sixth miscarriage showed up in early recovery, it was this gift that showed me how to feel and move through the grief, pain, and loss instead of pushing it down.  I used this practice to focus on what was good in a very painful time. Gratitude keeps me out of self centered fear and victimhood. Today I’m victorious!

Gifts of Sobriety - Changed Perception

The miracle of sobriety has brought about the gift in a change in my perception.  I have shifted living from fear based to faith based, from negative to positive, and from dark to light.  I’ve been given the opportunity to let go of prejudices that kept me sick in alcoholism, codependence, and unhealthy attachment styles.   I am ecstatic that I have been taught and willing to receive new perceptions of the world.  All of this is a practice, daily routines and a choice I seek daily. The change is not wished for its worked for.

Gifts of Sobriety - Choice

Once I received the gift of humility, the power of choice came quickly, and it brought the power to act and to make decisions for myself.  I have my personal power in perspective by seeing through faith that God is the True Power.  While in addiction, I had no choice in anything, alcohol stole everything from me, I was its slave, but in recovery, I know who I am and I have choice.  Today I choose love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.

Gifts of Sobriety - Humility

If I had a favorite gift this one might be it! 

Humility has given me a strong sense of who I am and a clearer vision of myself.  I am no longer in judgement of myself.  With humility I can say, “This is what I did, it’s done.”  My mistakes/failures are simply my mistakes/failures; they do not define me.  I humbly forgive myself and ask for help to do things differently and use them for good moving forward.  Today, I see things as they are.  True humility gives me an understanding of self – I realize my limitations and acknowledge my strengths.  This quote crossed my path.  It reads: “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you’re lower than yourself but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you the smallness of your greatness.”  Being great and small at the same time is an interesting idea.

Gifts of Sobriety - Clarity

The gift of seeing the past clearly and gaining understanding is a gift of sobriety.  Clarity of past mistakes and failures I’ve made brings about self-honesty and self-forgiveness.  This has taught me how to forgive others, wish them well and let them go.  I’ve also learned through this gift how to embrace and live in the gray area, life is neither white nor black.

Gifts of Sobriety - Freedom

My very first inklings of a new freedom were upon awakening, knowing it was 6 am and not 6 pm.  Opening my eyes without my head pounding and my mouth parched.   Feelings of happiness and not of shame and guilt of what took place in the previous hours. At days end, lying my head on the pillow with a smile and a full heart with one more day of sobriety.

Today I am free from the obsessive drinking and obsessive thinking of drinking.

Acceptance and surrender signal the beginning of freedom and happiness.  Once I arrived at this place, my healing began.

Transformed Thinking #4

“Manifesting Through Your Words”

Do you magnify your negative emotional state of well-being by talking about it repetitively with others?

Every time you repeat a story that involves a negative emotion it reinforces the experience that your body has from it.

Catch yourself when you are talking with others, are you seeking for agreement/validation about how bad a situation is? Or are you truly trying to find a resolution for the experience?

Be mindful of what you are manifesting by reliving the negative.

What kind of seeds are you planting if the narrative is negative?