Menu
Lucy is an outgoing, gregarious woman, full of life. I wonder why she has made an appointment with me. She is successful in work, has lots of friends and lives a full life. If you met Lucy you would believe that she is confident, outgoing and self-assured.
But that’s not the woman who sit’s in front of me. Wracked with self doubt and anxiety, she feels a constant knot of stress in her stomach and she’s not sleeping well. Recently she has been making mistakes at work and this has shaken her confidence.
She is at a loss as to what to do. The harder she tries the more mistakes that she makes, her stress levels are on the rise and its beginning to affect her relationships.
We sit down together and I ask her about her patterns in the day –
“What has this to do with anxiety?” she says.
Stay with me, I reply
She tells me how she loves the evening and the morning time they are her favourite parts of the day.
Do you find it hard to get out of bed in the morning?
Now she thinks I’m completely bonkers.
“I jump up out of bed, grab my phone and check what’s going on. I have my breakfast while getting ready!”
Do you like Spring?
She’s about to walk out.
“Emm yes but I’m just eager to get to summer”
Ok so let me ask you – in work, when you are given the concept for a project what do you do?
“I start planning straight away and I pride myself that I can deliver before the deadline, sometimes days before it”
And what about the planning steps, the conversations and information gathering, intention setting, having a clear vision, etc – do you spend time on these steps?
“A little but not very much, I just want to get to the delivery”
Tell me, in the last few months have you been making mistakes, overlooking key components?
“Yes, that’s why I’m here and that’s what feeds my anxiety – I’ve made so many mistakes that I’m filled with anxiety that I will make more .It’s like a self fulfilling prophecy”
Lucy needs to spend more time in Spring (Imbolc & Spring Equinox) on the Celtic wheel as they will teach Lucy how to slow down, how to take simple steps (tortoise not the hare) and see the bigger picture, because it’s not Lucy’s ability that’s causing the mistakes, it’s her lack of planning (spring).
This is reflected in her day – jumping out of bed she goes from Winter to Summer, in work she goes from concept to manifestation – Winter to summer again, Lucy is missing Spring entirely.
This is a classic example of the wheel in action, it gave Lucy insight as to where she needed to spend more time and by becoming aware of her habits she could make changes that now show her how to plan, to take small steps, see the bigger picture, have an intention and think abut the process.
In so doing Lucy is making far fewer mistakes (she’s still human) and better still her anxiety is gone. Planning has helped her feel more grounded, in control and capable.
This is the value of working with the wheel and if you’d like to hear more stories like Lucy’s you might like to join me for a free workshop on Wednesday 15th Feb online, 7:30pm GMT – sign up here
Your wellness coach for 1:1 training and community-based learning in meditation, mindfulness, and living a more joyful life.