During a recent Reiki workshop that I offered, a participant looked at my business card with a picture of a wolf, and asked, “why the name ‘Sage Spirit’?” The brief response is that, in my experience, coaching creates the space for the client’s sage-ness or innate wisdom to come forth and guide life-building adventures. Often times, the converse is that ego runs the show, keeping us small and safe, rooted in predictable patterns. Of course there’s a deeper inspiration for choosing “Sage Spirit.”

Sage, my animal companion of fourteen years, lived with a brain tumor during her last several years that provoked intermittent seizures increasing in intensity as she became older. The first one permanently removed her hearing, and so we learned a new way to communicate using hand signals. Through it all, she would accept life each day, just as it presented itself.

Sage remained in her body long past her time to go because she knew that I still needed her. I felt her spirit slip away from me during her final seizure, three days of complete incapacitation. My selfish, anguished tears brought her back into her body. They fueled her determination to hang onto life in spite of her suffering. Once she committed herself to life once more, she channeled her perseverance into relearning how to walk even with huge neurological barriers. What always remained, no matter what she faced, was her innate sweetness, her loving spirit, and her capacity to accept her life, whatever came.

Here are some of Sage’s qualities that I wish to invoke in my life and in my coaching, Reiki, and writing:

• Kindness and loving compassion
• Sensitivity to emotions and energy
• Natural healing abilities (her tongue worked as well as any antiseptic, but her sweet energy alone worked miracles)
• Loyal but playful
• Always ready for adventure (especially camping and road trips to her closest friends)
• Cunning (she would use the back of my cross-country skiis for a lift, and she learned the gliding motion so well that I wouldn’t notice for awhile)
• Resolve to live authentically in the moment

What better mentor for my work here on earth? I’ve asked myself, “How can I enfold Sage’s spirit into my life and work?” This is what has evolved in my creation of Sage Spirit:

My clients experience a spiritual nudge to make life changes that feel too big, such as changing jobs, residences, relationship styles, or partnership status. They may feel stressed, confused, fearful of the future, or unfocused on their dreams. Their bodies give them indicators of needing attention, such as changed dietary needs, increased or reduced exercise, insomnia, fatigue, restlessness, and/or digestive problems. Health and vitality seem to slip away, but they are unsure of how to respond. They sense that they are off path somehow, a little lost, and unsure how to re-align with, or even identify, their life’s purpose. Perhaps they are diagnosed with chronic health problems, and traditional medicine offers only part of the solution, while spiritual exploration seems to be an important component to consider in the healing process.

As a life coach, I help clients to explore their underlying beliefs about themselves, their world, and their capacity to heal or transition. My clients define new ways of living joyfully, vibrantly, and abundantly. They identify a life that’s perfectly spiritually aligned with their authentic self and expressions of higher purpose. My clients explore their dreams and visions, create action plans, identify support structures, and engage in powerful actions to move forward.

I welcome your responses to the following coaching questions, either on this blog site, through email (denise@sagespiritcoaching.com) or phone (775.970.5476):

Where do you find inspiration in the plant or animal kingdom?

How can you use your challenges and barriers as an avenue to express your true essence?

Each day, each moment, we have the choice to fill our experience in ways that inspire our hopes or provoke our fears. What will you choose to place in your experience today?