How to Embrace The Aging Journey

About your Coach, Mental Fitness, Mindfulness, Personal Development, ,

Yesterday I went for a health check. The doctor told me that everything is mostly fine. There are just a few small things that could be counteracted. For example, the natural aging process. Hormone deficiency, fat around the middle, and muscle loss were mentioned. Medication was contraindicated. Suggestions for optimal nutrition were made. The doctor also suggested endurance and strength training twice a week. In addition, one could counteract the hormone deficiency, preferably with creams. As I sat listening to the wealth of information and suggestions, I also asked myself to what extent Western medicine attributes positive aspects to the aging process, or whether the focus is purely on the body bending to life. That sounds rather deterministic, doesn’t it?

What about, for example, wisdom, empathy, and a greater sense of acceptance?

Yes, I will continue working on my physical fitness, while keeping an eye on the bigger picture. I believe (and as a coach, beliefs are a great topic that we like to devote ourselves to intensively) that I continue to grow and learn as a person. And so I will continue to apply cream to my wrinkles, but also love them, because every wrinkle tells a story.

How does aging show up for you? What do you like to grow in? Which aspects of your life would you like to adjust a little?

Contact me at any time to arrange a free initial consultation.

Coaching works!

Coaching with #ManuCoach4You

About your Coach, Getting to know your Coach, , ,

I work with people with a strong environmental conscience, who want to live a sustainable and responsible life without sacrificing what they love doing and thereby creating and strengthening their authentic self.

My target group feels stuck between the responsibilities of (mid-)life, while yearning for more self-determination and connectedness to the natural world and the freedom of their younger years. There might be stress, anxiety, burn-out, and other internal or external conflicts that seem daunting.

Through mental fitness training and coaching in, around and with the help of nature, I assist them in carving out time and energy to step into their full potential and experience their autonomy and authenticity. I do that by assisting them in reframing the problems into opportunities for growth.

I have a long history of living in very close proximity with nature. My background as a sociologist, a teacher, and a homesteader (always making the most of the limited means at hand), as well as my very analytical and empathic nature make me the ideal coach for my target client.

What sets me apart from others in the field: I am authentic in the way I live in and around nature embedded into our modern world. I am empathic, intuitive, and honest. I use metaphors and stories. I incorporate a systemic view in my approach, and I advocate for (and coach toward) mental fitness. And very importantly, I respect the power of the human mind.

I am looking forward to meeting you in your

In My Own Way

About your Coach, Mental Fitness, Mindfulness, Personal Development, , , , , ,

Have you battled internal obstacles – problems that were entirely created by your way of approaching the world in your thinking and actions? – I have!

For more than a year I had been bothered by a digestive issue: There was a knot in my intestines, always in the same spot. It never went away. The intensity of the discomfort varied. I consulted my family doctor. I consulted an Ayurvedic doctor. Nothing. I researched online. – A partial breakthrough was achieved when I found a useful video how to alleviate the symptoms temporarily. But no solution appeared. I started to despair.

Then, we went on vacation and I did not drink my tap water. The discomfort was gone.

I had stumbled upon the solution. The problem – or obstacle – had been too close to me to be visible.

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Question: What is an obstacle you have come to live with, because you do not perceive there to be a way around or over it?

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Manuela Zeitlhofer | Authenticity & Mental Fitness Coach

(photo by Ethan Dow, Unsplash)

Doing Little Things That Matter

About your Coach, Connecting with Nature, ,

Do you remember the story “The Star Thrower” who was rescuing starfish one at a time, and even it did not seem to make a difference in the big picture, it made every difference to the starfish he did rescue. Here is how this story resonates with my life:

I believe in minimizing my footprint and taking care of nature. I own a little piece of land – 4 acres – and I feel that I am the steward of this land. I am responsible for, but I am not entitled to do any damage to this land. I have the right to live here, to grow my plants, to live in my house, to be who I am.

I see this stewardship as our calling as humans. We have the power to destroy, but we also have to power to manage what we were entrusted with responsibly and sustainably. It may – and it does – feel daunting at times to do my little part in taking care of the world.

What I do includes: growing my own garden, buying organic food, buying what’s locally in season, buying fewer things that are packed in plastic, and more that are not packed, or packed in paper, consuming less, buying second hand, passing on things I no longer need to someone else who can use them, seeking happiness where I am and not where a car or a plane can take me.

It might feel hypocritical at times, when I do drive my car, or when I do buy things that are disposable or wrapped in plastic (or both). Then I try to forgive myself – because as the little boy said “It makes a difference to this one”.

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Question: What are your thoughts about this topic?

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Manuela Zeitlhofer | Mental Fitness Coach

I am a Lady

1 CommentAbout your Coach, Self-Reliance

… most of the time just from the inside.

I should probably start by define my interpretation of the term: A “lady” is stylish, unique, a bit eccentric, but not annoyingly so, who is not following trends but creating her own. That is me. Normally, I would not refer to myself as a lady tough, because I spend a lot of time doing things that I would not consider typical for a lady – like fixing roofs.

Last Thursday, I was fortunate to go to a small music event. And there, surrounded by inspirational music, beautiful people, and the gorgeous backdrop of our river, I did feel like a lady. The setting reminded me of a similar event in London (Great Britain) in 1993. It was called “Music in the Park”, and there I was introduced to the fine art of enjoying myself and the company I was in, in a natural setting, sitting on blankets, surrounded by picnic baskets and beautiful old trees. It all felt so exquisite that it stayed with me all this time.

When do YOU feel exceptionally yourself?

Nurture with Intention

About your Coach, Connecting with Nature, Philosophy, Self-Reliance

I love my house. And I love my garden. My property is surrounded by wilderness, I have started o draw a line of where my endeavors end and the freedom of the wild space around me begins. In some way, that is also where my freedom (the freedom to enjoy instead of trying to control and modify for example) begins. I cannot help it. I pull out the grass from the well-fertilized garden beds, and I start grass on the less fertilized and sandy soil around. “Of course”, I thought yesterday, “the grass wants to grow in my garden beds – that’s what I nurture. I have to nurture the grass where I want it to grow.”

What do you want to nurture in your life? And do you do that with the intended outcome in mind?

Meet the Coach

About your Coach, Self-Reliance

My name is Manuela Zeitlhofer.

I was born in Austria, Europe. When I was a young adult, I left Austria to immigrate to Canada. It was not so much that I did not want to live in Austria, it was more the strong desire to live in the wilderness that led me to Canada – more specifically to the Yukon Territory.

At first, I worked as a tour guide. I was very fortunate to guide tourists into the most pristine parts of the Yukon Territory and Canada. The winters were quiet and long, and so I started teaching as a substitute teacher during the winter. After several years of guiding tourists in the summer and teaching little kids in the winter, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. It seemed only natural, as in my work as a tour guide, I was also the advocate of nature, guiding and coaching people how to respect nature while enjoying its beauty.

(TBC)