Tuning Up yOur Inner Circuitry
Welcome friends, colleagues, and comrades! I feel so blessed to be here in this moment, alive and well, writing this first blog to share my new endeavor with you all. We’ve all been through so much change these past few years and we are all continuing to learn, grow and evolve in ways we may never have even imagined before!
As for me, before the lockdown in March 2020, I owned a business, Skyheart Aging, supporting individuals, families and professionals with the aging process as a Care Manager, a Coach and a Death Doula. As engaged as I was with this work, I promptly needed to turn my attention toward my child at home to support him with on-line school during the first year of the pandemic, which shifted my focus quite a bit, as it did for so many of us. I basically stopped doing that work.
During the initial months of this time, a colleague friend gave me a tip that a mental health start up business, Lyra Health, was hiring Certified Coaches to provide a Cognitive Behavioral approach of coaching to clients on-line. This job was a true gift because I was able to work with the flexibility and abundance I needed, as the demand for mental health support increased so steadily in our world. Lyra’s clients are big companies such as Google, Starbucks, Facebook (now Meta), Nike, etc. and the employees of these companies were feeling more stress, anxieties, struggles with depression, difficulties with relationships, understanding their emotions and processing life’s uncertainties than ever before.
To me, ‘The Great Pause’ in the beginning of the pandemic felt like the world really slowed down in a sense. Although it was disorienting as our reality changed, it also felt re-orienting to have more space and time to focus on what was essential and most important to us. Of course, we experienced shocking panic and fear of getting sick, some of us getting sick and staying sick, grief at the loss of those we love dying, and social isolation that re-calibrated our social needs in different ways. As time went on, we began to acclimate to the constancy of change and things not being in our control. Many of us began to realize that the way of living we considered “normal” was not returning. More recently, some things in life have resumed with a sense of familiarity of how we previously functioned in our lives pre-pandemic, and we continue to confront personal and collective challenges, to cope, to awaken, to unearth, to heal, to adapt to new normals, and to evolve to meet the challenges of our time.
So, here we are. Here I am, beginning a new chapter in my work with a renewed sense of purpose in this world, along with a perpetual curiosity of what we all need to live truly meaningful lives. My business is now Erin Chourey, LLC, Emotional Wellness and Alignment Coach. I am focusing on supporting my clients on their personal growth journey to tune inward, to regard their emotions as messengers, to learn to meet themselves and others with greater compassion and to clarify their values as guideposts to align their intentions, goals and dreams in wholeness. I’ve seen so many of my coaching clients make significant progress toward feeling better, and become more clear about who they are, what they want, when they are going to make it happen, where they need support and why it’s important to them.
One way we can think of what my coaching can do for you is this thinking of it as a “Tuning up of Your Inner Circuitry.” This begins with a question of how do you currently function and how do you want to function? Let’s consider it like getting your car tuned up at the shop after an eventful summer of roadtrips before the winter months kick in:
First, we open the hood to take a look at what’s happening inside. We can call this “going inward” or becoming mindful by bringing attention to your inner workings, or getting an overall picture of what’s under the surface and what attention it needs from you. We might notice that the ‘spark’ plugs need cleaning or replacement, bringing more joy into your life. We may see that the oil needs to be changed for a smoother running engine, shifting your mindset or thoughts to liberate pathways. Likely, we will need your fuel and fluids filled or topped off, nourishing your energy and regulation tanks. When you take care of these parts, you can fire your engine back up and listen to it purr, feeling good that you have met yourself with respect and compassion and given yourself the attention and love you need. You might then feel how all these important elements function together to align to get you where you want to go. Finally, you can collect and organize the tools you have learned to use and have them ready to pick up when you need them, for the next tune up or for when something in the system needs your attention again.
It will be my pleasure to be your partner in this tuning up process! I will be with you each step of the way as you tune up your body, you mind, your heart and your spirit and will sit in the passenger’s seat when you are ready to drive. The destination is yours. I will help you navigate and keep you company while you focus on the road in front of you. If you still aren’t sure where you want to go, we will figure that out too, and test it out together, until you feel ready to drive yourself in that direction confidently on your own!
