Blog - Martha Beck

A Guide for Navigating Portentous Times

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I’ve been alive quite some time now. I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain, I’ve looked at life from both sides now—are you youngsters getting these song references? The point is, I’ve been an avid observer of humanity for several decades. But I’ve never felt the sense of portent, of things-about-to-happen, I’m feeling now.

You may feel that way too. Maybe you find yourself getting tired in a way rest doesn’t fix. Confused about whether it’s wise, or even possible, to plan for the future. Braced for the collapse of a thousand familiar things, things we thought would hold forever.

Under these circumstances, I’m not going to […]

When Losing the Path Is Finding the Way

If you’re familiar with my coaching or writing, you know that I believe our living spaces tend to mirror our inner lives. 

Confusion in our minds may show up as clutter in our closets. A deep loss may be held in the space of a room no one uses any more. A new love may see us rearranging our furniture or putting flowers in every room. Everything in our living space is a metaphor.

Well, right now I’m in a house that’s been cleaned out to sell, and my family hasn’t yet found a house we hope to move into. Nothing [...]

In a Time of Breakdown, It’s Time to Break Through

You may have noticed that the world feels a bit like a dumpster fire these days. A dumpster fire in a nuclear waste facility. And yet, as a congenital optimist, I don’t see the chaos of our time as total ruin. It’s messy, yes—even catastrophic at times—but I also see signs of hope. Maybe even transcendence. A kind of spiritual composting is underway.

Our task is to transform the toxic waste dump into the kind of ferment that nourishes new life, new beauty, new kinds of abundance.

The Default Mode: Horror, Retraction, and Despair

Over and over these days, I hear people [...]

Joy in the Jungle

I met Wilson in the jungle. We spent just a few short days together. But in that brief time, Wilson became so much to me. He was a hero. A mentor. A friend. A role model. A sloth.

Okay, mostly a sloth.

When I first caught sight of Wilson, he seemed to be nothing more than a ball of fur wedged into the intersection of two tree branches. This particular tree stood near a gorgeous elevated yoga deck in a place called Imiloa, a retreat center nestled like a jewel into the lush Costa Rican jungle. My partner Ro and I [...]

Lessons from the Starlings

What if there were a simple, natural way to find your people, move in harmony with them, and navigate chaos—without exhausting yourself?

These days, if we just drift passively through the world, letting the chaos act upon us like a particularly aggressive leaf blower, we may end up becoming part of the mess. We absorb misinformation (mistaken information) and disinformation (deliberate lies). Worse, the people spreading those lies often attract massive attention and support—because of course they do.

In a time like this, how can we maintain inner harmony and ensure our actions are guided by integrity? There’s so much to [...]

Breaking Free from the Weasel Dance: How to Overcome Anxiety and Reclaim Your Peace

Here’s a life-coaching session in five words: Never watch a weasel dance. 

Metaphorically speaking, that is.

You see, when weasels go hunting, they locate their favorite prey—rabbits—and then, right out in the open, perform a bizarre murder dance. They flail, they leap, they spin and somersault so frenziedly they make Olympic gymnasts look kind of sluggish.

This fascinates the rabbits, who stop and stare at the dancing weasel. They’re so amazed that they just sit there, unmoving, as the weasel jitterbugs right up to them and kills them.

We humans aren’t that mesmerized by literal weasels, but we’re susceptible to the frenzied dance [...]

The Cost of Life Coach Training: Why You Should Invest in Yourself

My Coaching Origins

I didn’t start out to be a “life coach.” I’d always longed to do some good in the world, but basically, I was just trying to create a meaningful, authentic life for myself. I was startled when people began asking me to teach them the methods I’d devised to cope with my own personal and professional challenges.

I see life coaching as something that arose from a gap in the culture where things began changing so quickly that traditional institutions couldn’t keep up. People didn’t have a place to go for support when they were navigating change, so [...]

Development Alchemy + Aim
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