Ask an Expert: Meg Edwards Bringing Joy To Life-Ep.117

Hey welcome to she coaches, coaches, I'm your host, Candy Motzek. And I'm going to help you find the clarity, confidence and courage to become the coach that you are meant to be. If you're a new coach, or if you've always wanted to be a life coach, then this is the place for you. We're going to talk all about mindset and strategies and how to because step by step only works when you have the clarity, courage and confidence to take action. Let's get started. Hey, everyone, and welcome again to Chic coaches, coaches. Today is a special guest episode. I have my client, Meg Edwards, here with me on Zoom, we're going to have a conversation. Now you guys know that when I do one of these guest episodes, I love to read the person's bio, and then tell you a little bit about them, just my perspective on them. But today, I'm going to do it different. So like I said, Meg is one of my clients. And you know that one of the reasons that I do these episodes is I love to give my clients a place where you can hear them, you can hear the kinds of gifts they have the things that they do, how they work with clients, to support them in their business growth. But it also supports you and I, because then you hear oh, she's a really interesting person. Boy, that would be fun to work with candy, or I'd like to reach out to Meg. So here you go. Let me tell you a little bit about meg. I don't know if she knows. But I spend our coaching calls, listening and watching. And there are a couple of words that I always think of when I get on zoom with Meg. And the first one is joy. She has such a lightness and a sweetness about her. And such a kind, caring, smart individual. There is if I was to characterize her, I would say she is like spring, like those fresh flowers in spring, you know, the ones where you go outside. And you know, spring has started and the birds are just starting to sing. And then there's that hint of a flower. There's that scent on the air. Well, that is what makes us like, so I'm just telling you my thoughts on her. Now let me read you her official bio, and then we're going to have a conversation and you're gonna get to know her as well. So Meg Edwards is a wellbeing life coach. She helps successful women who feel drained and burned out, figure out what they really love so they can create a life of purpose, meaning and joy. She founded the integrated heart to help women elevate their holistic well being and live a life they love. She has a wonderful 12 week program called your well being coaching program. And she guides her clients through positive life transformation with coaching activities and practices that bring clarity, balance, peace and confidence. Meg is a Chopra certified well being coach, a meditation teacher and I are Vedic lifestyle health teacher. And she has also been a psychology professor for 14 years. She's a mum, she's a wife, she loves quiet mornings, her dog, Labyrinth walks and finding joy. You hear that joy over and over and over again here. She is committed to bringing ease and freedom and authenticity into all areas of her life. And by doing so she supports others as well. So Meg, welcome to she coaches coaches. I'm so glad you're here.

Thank you, Kandi. I loved hearing your reflections on our coaching sessions. Thank you. That's so sweet.

Yeah, right. And don't don't doesn't that remind you like? I don't know. I just What do you think? Is that sort of like your favorite time of the year to?

Yeah, I live for spring and summer. Those are my favorite. No sun and the flowers and the sense and I even posted a video on Instagram of a bee I watched to be on a flower. So there you go. I recorded it. Of a bee you know, flying around in my garden?

Yeah, totally. I get it. It's funny because I coached in my shed, as you know. And so often I'm sitting here and outside of my window in the summertime I have a whole bunch of hostels, and they have these really long flowers. And there's lots of times that the bees are just like they spend all day there on those flowers. It's amazing. It's so cool to see, right? Yes. Yeah. Love it. The let's talk a little bit about you and your journey to being a coach. So most coaches that I know, have something that happened, like and I say something, and it's kind of in quotation marks, and it's something in their life, it was the Spark Spark to decide that you wanted to be a coach. Sometimes it's a challenge sometimes since an issue, who knows? But what about you? Does it sound like a similar impetus for you tell me, tell me your story.

I think life was the impetus to becoming a coach, that was my first thought when you were starting to ask that, but really, it came about specifically in pandemic. And I think I just turned, well, maybe 47. And I have this thought, what am I going to do for the rest of my life? Am I gonna continue just to teach adjunct psychology classes and stress management classes? And would that be fulfilling to me, and I don't believe in this prescribed retirement age. So I knew I wanted to do something where I could be of service, but also have it be meaningful and fulfilling to me. And, you know, as synchronicity would have it, a week later, I received an email from chakra show for global, that they were launching a wellbeing coaching program. And back that, ah, this is how I can give this is, this is meant for me, it wasn't even a decision in my mind. It was a decision in my heart, I never questioned it. I just knew that was it. And it was something about the word being that I've been fascinated with since having my daughter 14 years ago. And the shift of being a human Doer to a human being was inspired by her because children, babies, toddlers, they expect nothing of you. And completing your to dues and checking off all the things that need to get done for the day, does not serve them. But what does is just being with them. And I realized I wasn't really sure how to just be with her. And I was always fascinated by that. How do I just be because I was really good at doing that she just wanted me to be. So there's something about Bing. And then I had a personal experience with Shep brand 2015, where I went on a retreat, and I learned primordial sound meditation, and I discovered a purpose in my life. And it really changed the way I was being in the world. So I had this profound personal experience with Oprah. And then to have that thought when I turned 47 of what's next for me in these next decades of my life. And then a week later to get that email. That was the impetus for coaching.

Yeah. So, so interesting. And I love how you describe this about? I mean, essentially, it's the What am I going to be when I grow up? Question. And that happens for us at different parts of our life. Like usually it happens as a teenager, you know, when you're in high school, and somebody says, What are you going to do after you graduate? But I know that I spent a lot of time even though I was outwardly successful, I checked all the boxes, but I still have that thought almost every day. Literally, what do I want to be when I grow up? Who do I want to be? What do I want to do? And so such a universal question, right? I love it. And I also love how you talked about having your daughter and how that helped you to, I guess learn how to be. That is funny. Our kids are some of our best teachers, right?

Oh, absolutely. And she was my mirror for a lot of personal development that I had an opportunity to step into if I chose to, which I did. I think in my life up until that point, all of my pain points. I could always point to someone else and say it was on them. It was their issue. It was their problem. And then having this this new baby and still experiencing the same issues in relationship to how am I a mom. I knew it wasn't her. She's perfect. She's absolutely perfect. So it was definitely a mirror that oh, these themes of perfectionism views themes of overwhelm, and just struggling with coping skills with anxiety. That's you. That's yours to carry. It's it's not the other person's. So yeah, she's very much I always say my greatest teacher.

Wonderful. And there's, you said, it's not her. She's perfect, right? And I mean, I've got children as well, they're adults. And I remember that. I remember looking at them when they were little babies, or toddlers or whatever, and feeling the same way and having those same thoughts. And you were that, too? Yes. So at what point? Did you, you know, did you sort of forget that you're completely whole and capable and just 100%? Worthy, right, somehow along the way, we kind of forget that. Yeah,

absolutely. And I think that's our life's work is remembering that, because it does get forgotten through conditioning and layers and layers of what we've heard other people say about us beliefs we come to have about ourselves. And so that's a lot of coaching to it's helping women for me, I my clients are women remember their wholeness, and that they are perfect and resilient, and no fixing needed? But uncovering the layers? Do you remember that?

Yeah. Just remember? Just the huh? Yeah. And there's, it's this word, remember, is interesting, because you know, when you look at what it really means it's like re member, it's like bringing your parts back, reclaiming those parts that were already yours. It's kind of

cool. Absolutely. Coming back to our true self.

Super cool. So next question, what do you love most about coaching.

I love the deep one on one connection that arises with my clients with the women I work with, and helping them envision their most optimal state of well being their highest self, their best self, and also then getting to show up as my best self, and helping guide them to create positive transformation in their life, knowing that there's a ripple effect for that as well, that when they show up as their highest self and elevate their well being everybody in their life benefits from it, their family, their friends, co workers, neighbors, their community. And, and so the ripple effect keeps going. And so for me, coaching is absolutely a spiritual practice. It's one that reminds me of our common humanity, how alike we all are. And so it's easy to bring compassion and empathy and love, even to my clients, and the challenges that they're facing. Because we all have this human experience and have challenges in in similar ways, even though they may look different for each individual. There are definitely universal themes. And so yeah, I love that connection. And their aha moments, when it's just a simple little shift. And maybe the way they looked at something or a powerful question I may have asked or just they remembered, they remembered something. And what's awesome about that is it's an, it's an honor to watch the aha moment, but also to witness that it happens effortlessly. For them. And for me that there is this effortlessness to transformation. It's almost like magic, and that transformation aspect, and yeah, so coaching is very much a spiritual practice for me. And I love the connection that I get to form with my clients.

I love that it's so profound. And yes, to the end, yes, you know, 100 times yes to the ripple effect. And it started with you. Right, like you did your own work. You did the primordial sound training, and I'm sure many other things that got you to this point in your life where now, you know, this is sort of that next iteration of your impact on the world.

Yeah, absolutely.

I always wonder who did their work that you were the ripple of right, you know that you were the ripple recipient, right?

So many, you are one of them. Oh, and yeah, every day I reflect on that. And in my morning practice and extending gratitude to all the souls who have helped me on my spiritual journey, currently and up past. So that's a long list. It's a very long list, but

your gratitude practice can take up days, right? My morning gratitude practice? Oh, darn, have to start again.

Totally, totally.

What do you think is possible for somebody with coaching? Like, you know, what are some of the transformations that you've seen? And what do you think is possible for them?

Well, I think what's possible for coaches is that they, there's no one set model of how to do coaching. It's very individualized. And what coaching requires is that you are continually referring to yourself, to discern what's best for you. So what kind of coach do you want to be? What's your niche, what kind of clients do you want to work with, there is no one size fits all. And that's why working with you has been so impactful, because it has allowed me to explore those themes. From my point of view, what feels joyful, for me, what feels good to me. But transformation can look like a lot of different things, I think it's tramp, transforming what we believe is possible and stepping into the infinite possibilities, that with our conditioning, and our lack of remembering, we tend to be a little laser focused on possible on possibilities, possible solutions, outcomes. And so coaching allows you to widen your lens and see different perspectives, these little shifts in your life, that when added up, create big change in a person's daily life, and how they're taking care of themselves. So with me, in particular, in my type of coaching, transformation could look a lot of different ways it could be resolving a certain challenge you're having in your life, maybe, because there's a transition, I have clients who are taking care of their aging parents, as well as their own aging children, as they remember High School in college, and that transition can be difficult, there could be a life transition, because you're moving to a different state to support your partner. So it could be these life transitions that are creating the challenge, or, and a certain amount of drain and burnout with where you currently are. It's what you were referring to earlier, I did this, this and this, I followed what I was supposed to do, and air quotes based off what culture told me. And it's not bringing me the fulfillment that I thought it would. And I've been delaying my happiness. And I noticed I still delay my happiness. I'm overwhelmed with anxiety, the whirlwind of thoughts going on in my mind, and I can't quite seem to get to that place of peace, or contentment. So the transformation can also look like a knowingness, that happiness can be now that joy can be found now that we don't need to wait for something else to happen, especially outside of ourselves, which we don't control, but it can happen within ourselves. And that's what I help guide women towards is that that space where they can connect once again, with their true selves. Remember what it is they love? What brings them joy? And take the steps to find it right now? Yeah, yeah, every day and practices and tools to bring that in. To their daily life.

Yeah. And in that it's in that every day, right? You know, so it's like, remember what they want, like lots of lots of women who have even forgotten to want even forgotten that they had a desire, right? And so to remember what they want to believe that they can actually do it. Claim at that it's possible for them and then that these transformations could just be in the way you experience every moment of every day. Right like kind of that be happy now.

Yeah. And the between now and accepting it when it's not happy. And so that's a lot of the transformation to is helping women, except their emotions process their emotions, things that we were not taught to do. We don't, it's a skill that can be learned. But if you don't know it, you don't know it. But there's still this wisdom in them that knows there's a different way, there's a way to process the difficult emotions. Because they are temporary, they do move through, so that they can spend more time in the joy and in the happiness. And I find that to be really fulfilling to to help people through the difficult as well. And I loved what one of my clients said. And she told me that she looked at coaching as a week, like a one hour weekly wellness retreat for herself. A beautiful way of saying it.

Yeah. What a great reframe on timing, right.

So it is your one hour a week, to set up your day, your life, your week, to how you want to experience it, what will bring you the most fulfillment, joy, purpose, meaning, contentment, creativity, flow, compassion, all the good stuff that that we want to bring into the world.

Yeah. And it's funny, because I kind of my preferences, I like the word content, or satisfied more than happy, happy feels very. I don't know, it feels like the surface on the pond as opposed to the depths of the pond. But that's just my interpretation of the words, you know,

well, that would make sense because the surface of the pond is fleeting, yeah, it changes regularly. So happiness is almost this fleeting state. Well, it is it's an emotion. So that's where the deeper way of being the contentment, it's below the surface. And so I can bring that with me, no matter what is happening around me on the surface, that I'm connecting to this deeper sense of meaning, wellbeing, purpose and happiness that I take with me, it's like a companion, it's just how I be, it's just how I be in this world, no matter what's happening around me. And then that way, I have this confidence, to face life's challenges with more ease and grace, that I'm not going to be thrown off as easily. And as reactive as I might have once been, by the way, this is all going back to my early stages of mommyhood. And what I had to learn and or what the opportunity was for me to learn, then, you know, I don't need her to behave in a certain way in order for me to be happy, like, how can I or Okay, so for me to be content? Yeah, for me to be at peace or calm, doesn't mean that she's required to behave a certain way. So, you know, that's, you know, a perfect example of why she was such a great teacher, to me that I don't need circumstances to line up perfectly around me, and I don't need people to do exactly what I want them to do, in order for me to be content, joy, filled, at peace, calm, you know, all the

perfect ownership, right? It's the perfect ownership.

And then there's freedom. There's freedom in that ownership. So now we're, you know, we're finding freedom, and maybe a little bit of playfulness, and there's a light now there's a lightness to be how, you know, freeing is that, can you discover what's really valuable to you. So for me, it might be freedom, and as somebody else it, it might look different. It could be authenticity, or ease, or whatever that success is, whatever that value is, you determine it, what it is for you, and then how you can bring more of that into your daily life.

Wow, I love that. Ah, so much to think about. Let me ask you this other question. So I wanted to ask you, what's the one thing that you took away from coaching with me? What's the one valuable thing that's been the most helpful?

Well, not one thing, candy. There's been a lot, but if I had to pick one, I would say confidence and you do talk about, you know, helping Coaches find confidence and I absolutely have with working with you. And, specifically, I think you've affirmed how powerful my thoughts and my feelings are in manifesting what it is that I want. And, and not only that, but also providing me practical ways to do that in a way that does serve my highest and best self. Right. And then if I can just add one more thing on the confidence coming as a new certified coach, let's say I have a menu of what I can be doing or how I can set up my business or what my niche is, and all of that. And let's say there's only five things on that menu. Working with you, I realized, oh, there was a second page to that menu, you just open up new possibilities, which is inspirational to me, like, even from our last coaching sessions, but something has been sparked some creativity, some form of inspiration. And so it's been very valuable working with you.

Thank you, I so appreciate it. And, and I noticed my, like, I want to move on fast from from, from appreciating the kind words and the good feelings. It's just it's interesting, from my perspective, as you're saying these nice things about coaching with me, I'm like, Okay, next question. I can just feel that that's a place for growth for me to learn to receive these things. So that's super fun as well.

savoring but good ah, Dave,

savoring it. Okay, last question. I got to read this question. So if you were stranded on a desert island or out in the jungle, what one book would you choose to have with you and why?

That's a tough one for me candy. my bookcase.

For for those of you who are listening, there's a huge bookcase behind bag

Hold on, I think the book I would bring is Eckhart Tolle. He's the power of now. It was pretty transformation. I mean, there's so many he's one of many on that list of souls who have helped me along my spiritual journey. The reminder that happiness, contentment life, let's just say life is only found right here in the now. And that's been a pivotal lesson that I take with me everyday. So maybe that one,

okay. Okay, cool.

You know, it's funny, because I have that book. I have this condition. And I know there's a name for it. I don't know what it's called. I can't remember right now, the condition is the one where you go and you buy all these amazing books, but then you only read about a quarter of them. And then you go back to the bookstore again, and you buy some more amazing books. And so my work, books to be read pile is always growing, even though I always read but still my books to be read pile is always going. I know there's a name for the condition. But I can't remember what it's called. And I have that book, but I've never read it all this time. Right? That's funny. Well,

first of all, I resemble that. Secondly, you know, books have vibrational frequencies too. And I believe that just having them near us. You know, we still extract some wisdom from it. So I'm glad that you have it and it's on your bookcase or your nightstand or wherever. Yeah,

I could read it at any time. If I wanted to. You'd be surprised all the books I've got so cool. All right. I really enjoyed the conversation. So I know there's going to be people who listen to this episode and they're going to say, how do I find out more about you? How do I get in touch with you so what's the best way for them to find out more about you and get in touch with you?

The best way would be my website which is the integrated heart.com and they can find out more about me there and I also offer free connection call for those who feel they would benefit or have an interest in my 12 week sessions coaching program on your well being and You can also find me on Facebook, under the integrated heart, but I mostly post on Instagram. And I, there I go by mag dot Edwards underscore

So Meg, I know there's people who are going to really be interested in connecting with you. What's the easiest way for them to get into your world to meet you and to find out more about what you do.

People can find me at my website, the integrated heart.com. I also offer a free connection call for anyone interested in my 12 session, your well being coaching program. And I also post pretty frequently on Instagram. So you can find me there, under my name of mag, dot Edwards underscore. Awesome,