Unlocking New Beginnings: The Bear – The Power of Introspection | Spirit & Destiny

December 26, 2024February 12, 2026spiritbearcoach

In December, winter starts to become cold as nights get longer. At this time, all bears may have already started hibernating in their dark caves.

It is the perfect time of year, in wishing everyone Peace and Joy for Christmas and the New Year to come.

The symbolism of the Bear in Native American traditions, representing introspection, inner strength, and a time for healing and renewal, marks a “new beginning” as a shift in perception, releasing the past and embracing the present moment.

Bear’s hibernation is a metaphor for going within, confronting shadows, and emerging, transformed by forgiving the past and recognising our inherent innocence. This perspective encourages self-reflection to uncover limiting beliefs and embrace a new perspective.

In life coaching, this synthesis provides a powerful framework for personal growth. The “new beginning” isn’t merely a change in circumstances but a profound inner shift. Like the Bear retreating to its den, we must create space for introspection in order to identify what no longer serves us. By integrating forgiveness and the Bear’s wisdom of inner strength, we can emerge from our “hibernation” with renewed purpose and a clear vision for the future, ready to create a truly new beginning.

To have a shift in perception to create a “new beginning’ is to recognise that there is a link to shifting our thoughts and decsions from Sepeartion (fear) to Oneness (love), clearly it takes practice as we make decisions all day based on our judgements of situations.

Bear’s introspection symbolises the process of recognising how our judmental decisions influence us. By going within, we can identify the limiting beliefs and fear-based thoughts that keep us bound by the illusion of separation. This awareness empowers us to exercise our free will by choosing to release those thoughts and embrace the truth of our Oneness with Spirit.

In essence, the “new beginning” is the moment we consciously choose to align our will with Spirit, thereby reclaiming true freedom. This is not a freedom to do, as any thought pleases, but the freedom to experience the Peace and Joy that comes from remembering our true nature as being of Love and Light.

Enquire: Have your thoughts confused your perception of your true goals?

If you would like to work with me on gaining clarity on your visions and removing what stops you taking actions, then Click here to contact me.

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Walk in Peace;

Walk in Beauty

until we meet again…

BIO: Johnathan Brooks MA, PG Dip, FMAC is an experienced Master Executive and Personal Coach with 1,800+ hrs in the field, who has trained in a wide range of personal development methods including CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming, has a Postgraduate Diploma Degree in ‘Coaching and NLP’, which he passed with a ‘Commendation’, a Master of Arts in ‘Applied Coaching’ and certified Career Coach. He is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Bio Trivia: Johnathan is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and whose godfather was Yul Brynner who won an Oscar for the ‘King and I’ film (1957).

He is a Fellow of the Association for Coaching (FMAC), Master member of the European and Mentoring Council (UK) and a professional member of the Association of NLP.

Click here for Johnathan’s L inkedIn

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Beaver Moon: Lessons in Mindful Work | Spirit & Destiny

November 22, 2024February 12, 2026spiritbearcoach

The month of November, the Native Americans or First Nations say it’s the Beaver Moon, as by the end of the month all dams have finished being built and marks the start of bitter cold winter months to come.

The beaver, a creature often overlooked, offers a fascinating metaphor for mindful work towards one’s dream, as many people dream of starting a family and having a home. Known for its industrious nature and meticulous planning, the beaver embodies principles of focused attention and strategic action. To ‘beaver away’ at something is a phrase muched used today.

Here is how the beaver can inspire mindful work practices:

Goal-Oriented Focus: Beavers have a clear vision of what they want to achieve: a dam (home) with many tunnels and food facilities. This focus allows them to work tirelessly towards their goals. Similarly, setting clear, achievable goals can help us stay focused on and motivated in our work.

Strategic Planning: Before starting construction, beavers carefully assess the terrain and resources available. This strategic approach ensures the efficient use of time and materials. We can also benefit from planning our work in advance, breaking down large tasks into smaller manageable steps.

Mindful Execution: As beavers work, they are fully present in the moment, using their tools (teeth) skilfully with precision and purpose. This mindful work approach can enhance productivity and reduce stress.

Resilience and Adaptation: Beavers are remarkably resilient, able to overcome obstacles, and adapt to changing conditions. When faced with challenges, we can draw inspiration from a beaver’s tenacity and flexibility.

By embracing the beaver’s work ethics, we can cultivate a more mindful and productive approach to our lives. By setting clear goals, planning strategically, executing tasks mindfully, and maintaining resilience, we can achieve our aspirations and live a fulfilling life.

Lessons from the Beaver your co-coach, look at this as an opportunity, to discover what is blocking the flow of your dreams.

Enquire: Have you neglected your dreams or created obstacles to your productivity?

A beaver (earth) reminds us of taking action on passionate (fire) dreams (air). How would it feel (water) to have your dream become reality? This completes the manifestation cycle or medicine wheel Air>>>Fire>>>Water>>>Earth.

If you would like to work with me on gaining clarity on your visions and removing what stops you taking actions, then Click here to contact me.

Click here to save and download the article here >>> Download Article

Walk in Peace;

Walk in Beauty

until we meet again…

Bio Trivia: Johnathan is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and whose godfather was Yul Brynner who won an Oscar for the ‘King and I’ film (1957).

He is a Fellow of the Association for Coaching (FMAC), Master member of the European and Mentoring Council (UK) and a professional member of the Association of NLP.

Click here for Johnathan’s L inkedIn

Support This Work

If this reflection has offered insight or comfort, and you’d like to help sustain this work and help make coaching accessible to others, you’re welcome to contribute here.

Support Spirit Bear ☕ →

The Stage Before Goal Setting

December 31, 2018June 9, 2019spiritbearcoach

As we enter the period of resolutions and goal setting for 2019, I thought it would be worth mentioning that there is an important first stage before goal setting, which is ‘reflecting’ how 2018 went?

When reflecting we want ask what happened? What was good ie what worked? And what was bad ie what didn’t work? Then list them both. This way we learn from our mistakes. Then we can ask what did we learn from those mistakes? And how would I do it differently in 2019? These then become the basis of our goal setting for 2019.

If you want to go into reflecting more deeply for a full treatment, google Gibb’s Reflection Cycle (Learning by Doing by Graham Gibbs. Oxford Polytechnic, 1988) and also google Johns’ Model of Reflection (2006), which is a set of questions and even perhaps, if you want, combine the models.

I’m not going to go into goal setting as much has been written about the topic already. The only suggestion I would make, is to ask yourself ‘Who would I become if I achieved this goal?’

You can do a future visualisation where you have this goal and ask yourself, “Now that I have this fully and completely, what does it give me, or allow me to experience? What does this allow me to do or be?”

Who you would become unearths your motivation (the why). If your goal is to be rich, who would you become? What would being rich allow you to do? Someone who simply stock piles wealth? Or, would it allow you to start a foundation for some greater good that is meaningful to you. So who you would become is perhaps Generous, an expression of who you really are. Of course we are much more than that, as possibilities are infinite. Approaching goals this way, is what leads us to ultimate fulfilment.

Meanwhile, celebrate your 2018 achievements with a glass of fizz tonight, and start your reflections tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

’til we meet again,

Walk in Beauty;

Walk in Peace.

‘Causing the Miraculous by Spreading Beauty, Truth & Harmony’

BIO: Johnathan Brooks MA, PG Dip, MAC is an expert in Life/Career Executive Coach with 1,500+ hrs experience, who has trained in a wide range of personal development methods including the “Power Therapies” (CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming), has a Postgraduate Diploma Degree in ‘Coaching and NLP’ which he passed with a ‘Commendation’, a Master of Arts in ‘Applied Coaching’ and certified Firework Career Coach. He is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

He is a full member of the Association for Coaching (MAC), full member of the European and Mentoring Council (UK) and a professional member of the Association of NLP.

Reflection Archives – Spirit Bear Coaching

December 6, 2015April 10, 2018spiritbearcoach

The Law of Attraction In A Nutshell

‘Purposeful Manifestation Through Focusing’

When the book and subsequent movie of The Secret came out, people everywhere were buzzing about its revelation: the Law of Attraction. Revealed as the key to the prolific success of some of history’s greatest minds, like Michelangelo and Thomas Jefferson, the Law of Attraction is a powerful insight into the workings of nature that can be consciously, intentional used as a tool for manifestation. A tool whose ideas underlie many, if not most, other manifestation processes.

As big a “secret” as it may be (or rather, may once have been) it is actually quite a simple concept to understand. It is divided into three steps for manifesting, or “attracting”, anything you want into your life. Those three steps are as follows:

1. Ask
2. Accept
3. Allow

Now let’s break these steps down for you, one at a time.

1. Ask

To have what you want, you first must know what you want. Asking is a process of letting the universe know what you want. And maybe even more importantly, letting it know that you know what you want.

Why is this important? Because in doing so, you’re generating a very clear and decisive energy. The source likes that. The clearer and more definitive, the better. Because it is that clarity of vision of knowing what you want, coupled with the singularity of desire that comes from asking for it that targets the “object” of your desire with laser-point accuracy.

2. Accept

Most people have some experience with step 1. Whether in prayer or goal-setting, most of you reading this have already at one time or another asked for what you want. Many of us also know (some, all to well) the experience of asking for what we want and not getting it. That is because asking for it is only the 1st step of the process, and many people either stop here or worse, take actions completely counterproductive to the law of attraction. We ask for what we want, then we promptly, clumsily get in our own way and thwart it’s manifestation.

What actions? Those they display doubt and uncertainty about getting those goals met. Like whining and fretting and complaining about “not having” it yet. Like worrying about your future should you not get it, or worse taking actions that imagine it not happening instead of taking actions that imagine success.

That’s where steps 2 and 3 come into the picture.

Step 2, or Accept, could also be called Receive, because it’s about trusting that your request was heard, and more, that it’s been granted. It’s the meaning of “Ask and ye shall Receive”: that in the asking, you instantaneously set in motion a cycle of energetic events that has the object of your desire already on its way to you.

So what do you do? You sit back and relax, content in the knowledge that your request has been heard and granted and you can move onto other things. If you don’t, and you constantly obsess over this thing you want to manifest, then you’re showing the universe that you don’t really believe it’s coming. You push it away with your distrust of the process instead of accepting that it’s on its way.

3. Allow

The other way we push the manifestation of our desires away is with a sense of undeserving-ness. We don’t act like we get what we want in life, so our life produces evidence of that. But if we act like we get what we want in life, our life produces evidence of that. We must Allow the fulfillment of our wishes to come into our life by creating the energy that supports their existence.

And the way that we do that is by feeling inside what it’s like (not what it would be like, but what it is like) to have the fulfillment of your desires here and now. If step 2 is about Knowing, step 3 is about Feeling. You must exude the energy of someone who’s living as if their next fulfilment is on its way, like a houseguest. You need do nothing but prepare your home for their arrival.

Live life purposefully manifesting, through focusing!

’til we meet again,

Walk in Peace;
Walk in Beauty.

‘Causing the Miraculous by Spreading Beauty, Truth & Harmony‘

Johnathan Brooks, MAC, PG Dip is a Cognitive Behavioural Coach who has trained in a wide range of personal development treatment methods including the “Power Therapies” (CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has a Post Graduate Diploma in ‘Coaching and NLP’ which he passed with a ‘Commendation’.

He is a full member of the Association for Coaching (MAC) and is a Gold member of The Professional Guild of NLP.

Why we shouldn’t celebrate Osama Bin Ladin’s death?

We are One….deep down in our shadow self, there may be a part of us all that is part Osama.

If you believe in Oneness one can’t pick and choose which we’re one with and which one we’re not. Perhaps he reflected mans lack of ‘Brotherhood’. Either case, there’s little point in popping Champaign. One needs to go deeper in much the same way in Germany’s role in the ‘shadow of Europe’ twice!

Why does one need to mourn or celebrate? The only thing people should ask themselves is: How does this affect me? If Osama is a reflection of me (in some way), is there a part of me that is a bit fanatical? And if so, how can I neutralise it?

We can’t have Peace in the world until you have Peace within us first. People that celebrate the death are not seeing the whole picture the ‘complete change’ into the Compassionate Age.

Those that celebrate are coming from the old reactionary state are stuck in the old ideas of retribution, an eye for an eye, but that just makes people blind.

Jung said that (and he wasn’t the only one) only when there is nothing else you can do then you let go and let in the Higher energies. Let go meaning letting go of our personality Self to have it our way only. I’ll leave that for your own interpretation as to what he meant by Higher energies.