One of the things on my post-pandemic wish list is to bring movement back into my Big Vision Coaching sessions. In 2019, I began offering Walk Into Your Big Vision coaching. Rather than meet on Zoom, local clients could choose to have coaching-walking sessions. I did them because it seemed fun. What I discovered was that walking and talking produced movement in clients’ work lives—sometimes even more than for clients who met by Zoom.
Movement like walking, running, and dancing can help us feel less stressed, come up with new ideas, and adapt to changing circumstances. All good things if you are in the midst of a work transition, are trying to come up with a new concept, or are navigating a challenge. The science around the benefits of movement on the brain seems to support what I observed in my clients.
For example, Scientific American‘s “How Exercise Affects Your Brain” reports [bold added]:
“Exercise also promotes brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in many important cortical areas of the brain. Research from UCLA even demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain which makes it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.
From a more feel-good perspective, the same antidepressant-like effects associated with the “runner’s high” has been correlated with a drop in stress hormones.”
According to the Bustle article, “8 Ways Even A 20-Minute Walk Can Change Your Brain” [bold added]:
“[E]ven after twenty minutes of walking, ‘You become more creative and think more sharply, which is why it’s the perfect antidote for writer’s block.’ A Stanford study published in 2014 confirmed this, finding that walking increased a person’s ‘creative output’ by an average of 60 percent.”
And the TIME magazine article, Dance Like Your Doctor Is Watching: It’s Great for Your Mind and Body, says [bold added]:
“60 to 120 minutes of tai chi or dance per week could improve global cognition, even for adults who already had some impairment. These activities also appeared to positively affect cognitive flexibility — the ability to adapt to new and changing situations — language fluency, learning, memory and organization, even more than other mind-body pursuits.”
The connection between physical movement and moving towards your Big Vision for your work in the world is one of the many reasons I’m excited to teach a virtual workshop, Visioning Your Post-Pandemic Work Life on Saturday, May 15th from 10:45-11:45 AM PT through Making Waves Studios. Making Waves was founded by my wonderful Zumba teachers, Adriana Oyarzun and Andreina Febres. They offer online and in person dance, yoga, and meditation classes.
Visioning Your Post-Pandemic Work Life is a 1-hour virtual workshop designed for creative entrepreneurs, writers, artists, healers, and changemakers. This is a workshop for you if you are:
- Ready to use what you’ve learned during shelter-in-place to create a new vision for your work in the world.
- Experienced a big change in your work life during shelter-in-place.
- Want to let go of work, or ways of working that no longer serve, or interest you.
- Want to integrate the positive changes you made in your work life before things “get back to normal.”
Bring your journal and pen, or a blank Google doc and give yourself an hour to begin to design your new vision for your work in the world.
How it works
During the first part of the workshop, I’ll guide you through a series of reflection questions about your work life before and after SIP. During the second part of the workshop, I will help you begin to vision and take steps towards your ideal work day.
Depending on the size and needs of the group, there may be some small group discussion, but most of the hour will be focused on giving you the space and time to reflect upon and vision your work in the world during this unusual time in history.
And here’s a cool thing. If you want, you can take a Zumba class with Adriana right before the workshop to help get things moving!
Making Waves donates a percentage of its sales to support causes that are important to their community. Since March 2020, they’ve donated over $23,000 to 40 different causes. This month, they’ll be donating to Postpartum Support International (PSI).