My Story

Christyn Rittenhouse

3/4 of the way to certification through CTI, Coach Training International. Co-Active Coaching

PQ (Positive Intelligence) trained  

BA from NIU in psychology and a minor in sociology

 

Hi, I'm Christyn.

Long ago a dear friend once suggested that I take a 'little dip in Lake Me'. This is a bit of what my swim looked like.

 

 When I began coaching I'd already been on an epic two decade plus quest to find contentment and happiness. Actually, happiness was really on the back burner by then. While I would have loved a more joyful life, I'd settle for a  touch of inner peace or even the absence of consistent and persistent inner turmoil.

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For years I got lost in cul-de-sacs constantly, heading down to the next road to 'the answer' that would finally help me figure shit out. I'd have moments, even seasons of relief...but nothing really stuck for the long haul. I sailed courageously into my inner depths. I was not coward when it come to self discovery. I was COMMITTED. I would peel that damned onion until I was all cried out. Whatever it took, I told myself.

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I drove on country roads with the radio blaring (so no one could hear me screaming, lest they call the police) and got loud! I went on silent retreats and got quiet. I charted dreams and meditated. I walked labyrinths and sat in sweat lodges. I tried Family Constellation, tapping, brain charting, EMDR, talk therapy, visited shamans, holistic practitioners, and psychics (just to name a few things). 

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All of those things taught me something. Some moved the needle more than others. One of them landed me in the ER.  But none of them created the transformation I was desperate to find. What really changed me, altered my emotional DNA were three things:

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1. Staying put (thanks, pandemic!)

2. Practicing self-compassion

3. Life Coaching

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Despite all the books I'd read, the answers for me were not on paper - they were inside me. I could only really change in community - with another. This practice of checking in over and over, looking to my heart and my intuition for the answers of my own truth again and again was the true and real healing I'd been searching for. This real time practice gave me skills and tools I could take out of "the lab" (aka, my couch) and into "the field" (real world). That's where the real change happened.

 

Our world needs healing. We can start with ourselves, which can inspire others.  With inspiration comes hope and with hope anything is possible. 

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I can't wait to hear what your story.