I Was Never Broken: One Woman’s Journey from Victim to Victor Through Life Coaching

By Rabbi Raine Teller and Robyn L Jamison

Having virtually inhaled innumerable self-help books, courses of therapy, human development workshops plus intensive rabbinical studies, Rebba Raine Teller found what had been missing thanks to the Life Coaching she received from Robyn Jamison. Her delight was so great that she took on writing a book about it. She envisioned a book that people could read about her personal journey and gain access to the actual coaching process. To that end, she invited Robyn to write it with her.

This book is the realization of that vision. In it, we walk you through each of the sixteen sessions of Transformational Life Coaching Raine underwent, with notes and insights from the coach’s perspective and deeply moving sharing from Raine’s life as she went through the coaching.

You are likely to see yourself in Raine’s sharing - in her challenges, her insights and her breakthroughs. You can even walk yourself through the sessions by reading and applying them and doing the Follow-Up practices—rendering this a book that changes your life.



I Was Never Broken in my professional assessment will become a sacred and pragmatic manifesto for decades. The melodic, but candid heart-wrenching recounting of two intertwining paths of strangers, Robyn Jamison (a Professional Life Coach) and Rebba Raine Teller (a Rabbi and Teacher), that mushroomed into a beautiful, yet powerful transformation work of literature, will challenge and inspire every area of your life.

Just as Rabbi Teller’s personal challenges became trophies of courage, you too will find your voice and demand more of your time, talent, and resources to conquer the crevices of stagnation by identifying and cleaning up any messy components that send mixed messages into the universe that cancel out personal progress.

This book offers informative tools to help you gain emotional strength to eradicate excessive debris of thought and practices and develop a deeper spiritual awareness of your Divine Completeness because you were never broken.

- Dr. Janice Hollis, author, and media executive

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982221324

Rabbi Raine Teller

Robyn is a Transformational Life Coach with over 30 years of coaching experience. Her work is informed by her deep commitment to her client’s success as well as her natural gift of intuition. She is a published writer. Her first calling and the thread that binds all of Robyn’s endeavors is art.

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Copyright © 2019 Rabbi Raine TellerandRobyn L Jamison .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2131-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2133-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2132-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901331

Balboa Press rev. date:   08/27/2019

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1    Session 1: Laying the Foundation

Chapter 2    Session 2: What You Do and Don’t Want

Chapter 3    Session 3: The Nature of Beliefs

Chapter 4    Session 4: Presence and Gratitude

Chapter 5    Session 5: The Attraction Endeavor

Chapter 6    Session 6: Being Present and in Action

Chapter 7    Session 7: Connecting to the Divine

Chapter 8    Session 8: Turning the Corner

Chapter 9    Session 9: Achievement and Taking Stock

Chapter 10    Session 10: The Power of Trust

Chapter 11    Session 11: Setting Up Support

Chapter 12    Session 12: Deepening Integrity

Chapter 13    Session 13: LIstening and Speaking

Chapter 14    Session 14: Love

Chapter 15    Session 15: Completion

Epilogue

Glossary

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Raine Teller lives a joyous life, moment-by-moment. She will be the first to tell you it hasn’t always been that way.

Raine’s life transformed through the process of being coached by Robyn Jamison. Because of Raine’s profound shift from feeling disempowered to living life powerfully, the two of us want to share our journey with you.

Think of this book as one that both tells a tale and provides a potential path for your own journey of transformation.

Here’s how the book is set up.

• In some parts, the writing is in Raine’s voice and in others, Robyn’s. The various sections will have whichever is the ‘speaker’ shown in bold italics at the beginning of the section.

• The chapters are numbered to coincide with the coaching sessions they describe. Chapters 2 through 15 also include email that Raine and Robyn exchanged between sessions.

• Each chapter includes a synopsis of the coaching session, followed by the Follow-Up Practice. Some chapters have additional notes after the Follow-Up Practice.

• At the end of each chapter, there is blank space labeled Follow-Up Practice. You may want to record your thoughts right in the book or you may prefer to have a separate journal. We encourage you to write because it allows you to observe your thoughts in writing and discover feelings that may have otherwise eluded you.

• There is a glossary at the end of the book. Words and phrases that are included in the glossary are printed in bold the first time they appear in the text.

Raine

There’s a country and western song, If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It. I I had an aha moment when that song title really meant something to me personally. I felt stuck at the time. I was about to fall back into my old pattern of seeking out yet another therapist. But the title of that song kept running through my thoughts. Perhaps it was time to try something new. Perhaps I was not broken after all; that would explain why I couldn’t get fixed by therapy.

So, I didn’t opt for more psychotherapy and a year later, I met Robyn. When we began our coaching, I shared with her that I had finally come to the realization that not only was I not broken, but I never had been broken.

I had spent most of my life, from the time I got thrown out of Hebrew School at age 12, feeling that there was something horribly wrong with me. I had felt lost and confused, as if I didn’t fit in anywhere including in my own family. I did everything I could to be the perfect little girl and please everyone in the whole world in order to feel accepted and it had never worked. They weren’t pleased and I didn’t fit in.

At last I knew I didn’t need to be fixed and certainly didn’t need other people’s often well-intentioned, yet useless advice. A teacher had once told me that when you are giving unasked-for advice, you feel it as a pleasurable experience. The person who is receiving the unasked-for advice, however, feels it as pain. I think Robyn knew this instinctively. So there she was, both willing and equipped to guide me rather than advise me. For the first time in many years, there was hope that I could find a way of living in this life that wasn’t so painful. The coaching opened up and fulfilled on the possibility of my living a much saner, more peaceful life with less need for drama.

There was a distinct point in our coaching where it was clear that I had turned a corner. Life had begun to work. The struggle had disappeared and it became a matter of creating a future that I wanted, where I could contribute my talents and receive the things that were most important to me.

Life coaching was the answer to my cry for help. Here was a path I could understand and follow, using techniques that neither frightened nor intimidated me. It happened in such a giving, loving way that we both stand here today, saying This works! Take a chance — follow us. It may work for you as well!

Here is how we found each other and started our work together. Robyn was a Transformational Life Coach as well as an artist, piano teacher and writer. I was a retired professor who had become an ordained rabbi and interfaith minister. I was a veteran of many years of therapy, self-help books and workshops, I had recently come to that realization that I wasn’t broken after all and didn’t need any more fixing. Therapy had served to take me beyond my past self-destructive patterns, and I was ready for more. I was seeking assistance to live a truly empowered life. Having received a small inheritance, I had the time and money to fulfill my commitment to spiritual and emotional growth. Robyn had been a life coach and a course leader for over 30 years, assisting people in bringing about powerful alterations in their lives.

Events conspired to bring us together. I made a split-second decision after years of unknowing preparation to attend a Ho’Oponopono workshop in Maui that took place in November 2009. At the reception dinner in Maui, the night before the workshop started, Robyn had approached me to introduce herself and share the fact that she too was Jewish. I always wear a yamulke, which was a dead giveaway to Robyn that I’m Jewish. When I informed her that I was a rabbi, she asked where my synagogue was. I replied that it wasn’t yet in existence, but it would be in Austin.

Little did I know that, before the end of the workshop, I would declare that my synagogue was open right there and then. Nor did I expect that it would be because of Robyn. On the second morning of the workshop, the visibly shaken workshop leader announced that Robyn had taken a fall and had suffered a head wound around her eye and had been rushed to an emergency clinic. He said that there had been a lot of blood. So the leader led the group in doing the Hawaiian healing process, Ho’Oponopono, for Robyn.

I was Divinely inspired to open my synagogue, HaShem’s House, on the spot. I asked the group’s indulgence as I said a short opening prayer. The participants instantly became my congregation as I declared, "It’s Sabbath all over the world, and Torahs are being removed from their cabinets so that prayers can be prayed. At this moment, HaShem’s House is now open and I will now say a Mishabeyrach for Robyn. This is the same prayer that Moses prayed to G-d when his sister Miriam appeared with leprosy: I now ask of G-d, ‘Please heal her.’

Before Robyn returned and we were assured that she was indeed all right, I had this glorious sensation that this is who I am. I am the Rabbi of a congregation called HaShem’s House. This was where I was and this was what I needed to be doing. There were no more questions in my mind about who I am, where I need to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. The issue of not fitting in was gone.

Robyn returned to the workshop a couple of hours later. She had received 9 stitches and a pill for the pain. That was the last pain pill she ever took for that injury. She never experienced any more pain, and the wound healed in less than half the expected time. Despite the fact that the doctor had told her that she would have a scar, she doesn’t have one. There is no doubt in our minds that this remarkable healing took place as a result of our prayers. Robyn’s and my connection deepened as result of this shared experience. Robyn would return the favor I did for her a hundred fold.

Although we believe that all human beings are inherently whole and complete as they are, there is much to be gained through the self-examination that conscious seeking requires. Life coaching is one effective way of catalyzing this self-growth.

Each lesson learned brings us to greater wholeness, peace and unity, for, as Robyn and I believe, each of us is a small part of the Divine. Therefore, we are all exactly as we should be in every moment. We are beautiful, whole and holy. We human beings are not broken! In fact, we were never broken!

I’ve given you a sense of what led me to Robyn. Next, Robyn will tell clue you in about her approach to the work we did together.

Robyn

I will express one main thing that gives an overview of both my orientation to life and my approach to the coaching I provide. I am an artist. I knew I was an artist as a toddler. My main artistic expression is visual art, but like many artists, I engage in other art forms, which in my case include music, dance, writing and life coaching. I play and teach piano, study and perform tap dance and have co-written and am illustrating a children’s book about creativity and imagination. I am also writing a book aimed at giving people access to the life-changing impact of contemporary, avant-garde art. In coaching, I find creative ways to address and root out the issues that cause difficulties and suffering in my clients’ lives.

In order to prepare you to get the most from the rest of this book, I will explain the type of coaching I do. You may have heard of life coaching but may not know what it actually is. Most of us are familiar with coaching as it pertains to sports; we are familiar with the football coach, the swimming coach and so on. Although life coaching is different from athletic coaching, the two are alike in one respect: a coach is essential for anyone who wants to operate at peak performance.

Often, people equate life coaching to psychotherapy, yet the two disciplines are quite distinct. Therapy is, by design, remedial. People usually seek therapy for assistance with their problems, and it can be a very effective tool for dealing with them. Therapy is based on a psychological model. In psychology, behavior, feelings and thoughts are examined, as are influences from the past. Therapy is aimed at helping the patients or clients function effectively in their lives. This is a very, very good thing.

Coaching, however, is not intended to be a remedy; its aim is catalyzing personal and professional growth in people such that they perform at a much higher level and experience a greater sense of fulfillment. Coaching applies not only to professional performance, but also to every aspect of daily life. This does not mean that life coaching doesn’t address problems – it does. But it addresses them within the context of our clients’ aspirations, goals and endeavors. We have an open-ended set of potential results. We work on causing breakthroughs, which can take our clients further than they originally thought possible.

I look at it like there’s an imaginary horizontal line that represents a normal, or satisfactory level of functioning. Anything below the line indicates functioning at a level that is less than workable. Anything above the line is beyond satisfactory — it’s rich. I look at therapy as getting folks from below the line up to the line, and even somewhat above the line. Coaching facilitates moving farther and farther above the line. Tools are incorporated in the process so the breakthroughs continue beyond the end of the coaching sessions.

The coaching I did with Raine was mostly a combination of Transformational and Law of Attraction Coaching, which are highly compatible with each other. I do Transformational or Ontological Coaching, in which people create breakthroughs – that is, shifts in being. We do address specific behaviors, but when there has been a breakthrough at the level of being, people experience life itself differently from before. Changes in behavior come effortlessly when life simply seems easier than in the past. The beauty of breakthroughs (as distinct from improvements) is that, while one heads towards a breakthrough by focusing on a specific area of life, yet when the breakthrough occurs, every aspect of life is affected. The person has moved to a new level of effectiveness all in one leap, rather than step-by-step.

When a breakthrough has occurred, initially there is a great flood of delight and excitement. After a while, the breakthrough is integrated and the broken through state of being becomes the new normal, and the memory of how it used to be fades. We often forget what life was like before the breakthrough. And then, there’s the next breakthrough. As you will see when Raine shares her experiences of ongoing growth, the foundation of the coaching that I did with her is transformational in nature.

The other aspect of the coaching I did with Raine was developing proficiency in harnessing the Law of Attraction. The theory behind the Law of Attraction is that like attracts like. The Law of Attraction is evident when people are on a roll; good things are happening for them with seemingly little effort. Work may be put