Darcie Ziel Coaching
Testimonials
Our work together reminded me that dark times are also a time of growth. This helped me re-frame what I always have thought about these times. Dark times still happen but I breathe easier thinking about that growth I'm going through (even if unpleasant) and that this time will pass too.
Another tool was sharing with me small ways to bring back exercise to my daily life -even in the time between when my coffee is brewing and the time I write in the morning.
Setting weekly goals helps me feel grounded and that I can accomplish things even if I feel no accomplishment in any other area of my life.
I am truly blessed to have been able to do this work and to have Darcie be there with me. She is a wonderful guide.
- Michelle Jez
I have worked with Darcie for more than a year, in both 1:1 and group coaching containers. Before I started working with Darcie, I was experiencing burnout in my life and in my work. I was struggling to find meaning in my work and in my relationships. I was interested in building a business and interested in healing from the burnout.
What I had not imagined was how long this process would take and how there would be progress and setbacks. Darcie’s presence throughout this work provided a perspective of where I started and how far I had come.
Darcie was kind and gentle, but also challenged me when I needed it. The best part of having this relationship over months was that Darcie kept track of things that I said and used them to help me remember why I wanted to heal and move forward. She reminded me of the immense work I had already done and of what I was capable of. Darcie has a knack for asking a powerful question that really gets to the heart of what I say I want. The question pulls together all of what she knows about me and my goals and points me in the direction of identifying MY answer, MY internal knowing.
I’ve had so many benefits, it will be impossible to list them! I would say that I achieved an ability to reflect; to consider how I am feeling and how I want to be feeling and then take steps toward how I want to be feeling; to listen to music; to understand some of the physiology behind why a marriage can become strained in stressful times and how men and women manage stress differently; to know that I have accomplished many great things in my job and that it’s okay to be ready to leave that job behind; and that I have a powerful medicine to offer!
Darcie coaches high-achieving women. Many of the things I/we need coaching around are things that get in our way of building a business. And her perspective from being ahead of me is so valuable. She may not label herself as a business coach but her coaching has helped me build my self so that I can build a business.
I believe Darcie has the ability to coach anyone! Her particular strengths are in the areas of managing emotions around parenting and partnering; regaining health despite auto-immune genetics; and holding space for the individual (inside a group and 1:1) as the stories emerge and the work takes shape. Darcie has a vast support network and has referred me a couple of times to others who will be better able to help me with a particular issue. This is so valuable.
- Janet, Oregon City, OR
I reached out to Darcie regarding Life Coaching because I found myself becoming increasingly depressed and anxious about the current medical crisis and economical as well as ecological situations as well as other external areas of stress. I had episodes of feeling hopeless and disorganized and unable to be of use.
Darcie helped me to set goals for actions that would help me come to terms with my concerns. She had a lovely and positive way of clarifying my statements in a way that made it easy to make steps forward. I feel like the sessions helped me be more confident in myself and gave me tools to work on decreasing my anxiety and addressing my needs.
She was easy to interact with and I liked that she paused to consider what I had just said before responding. I felt like she was really listening to what I was saying. It was a new concept that I could give myself permission to let go of insecurities and Darcie had a way of making a direction forward appear out of my somewhat chaotic ideas. She was good at restating and summarizing, without making it seem overly obvious.
I thought this was a valuable process and would recommend the program to anyone who is struggling to adjust to difficult and uncharted situations.
- P.K. RN, Alaska
I am grateful for the enlightening mindfulness exercises that you have presented over our sessions. Your professionalism and skilled guidance has provided me with a focused meditation Toolkit that I can apply daily. Your reassuring and calm voice has guided me with therapeutic imagery in a safe environment and allowed me to access my inner resources. You have provided resiliency and support on a deeper level. Thank you for that gift.
- Rob, RN
At the time I started coaching sessions it was two months into the covid-19 lock down. It was a high stress time because I was working from home and homeschooling two kids. Darcie's coaching positively impacted my life by helping me refocus my energy and become grounded during this very crazy time. I love working with Darcie. It was an easy and smooth process. Just the weekly check in’s to see how I was doing on my weekly challenges was huge! I was able to talk about a couple areas that I felt like I was struggling with. Darcie was able to direct some resources in my direction. These resources were helpful in developing and deciding how I wanted to proceed with my weekly goals for myself. With the support of coaching I was able to put processes in place in my busy life that have allowed me to slowly lose weight and keep it off. More often than not we are harder on ourselves then we should be, and I was able to discover ways to see my value and make progress toward personal goals. I think everyone can benefit from coaching. It is a wonderful resource.
- J.O., Alaska
Before I started working with Darcie I wanted to incorporate exercise and mindful eating in to my routine. With her wonderful and gentle encouragement, I surpassed my goals! Darcie is a natural organizer and a wonderful listener. I loved that I was able to be vulnerable and open in the safe space she created. This enabled me to find the courage within, despite my fears of moving forward, to care for myself in the ways I desire. I gained insight in how to keep moving forward despite fears and self-doubt. I would recommend Darcie to anyone that wishes to be heard in a respectful, gentle and safe space. Darcie has wonderful resources in her tool kit, such as yoga sites, nutrition information, and mindfulness practices. Anyone that needs help with goals and organizing desires for creating their best possible life will benefit from Darcie's coaching!
- Susan, RN
My time with Darcie was empowering. Our sessions positively impacted me by setting the stage to allow me to take a breath, slow down and take a look at the process and looking outside the box and creating positive motivation to achieve goals and move beyond procrastination. My experience was awesome and I love the way that she was open to whatever. I learned to trust the process. I would recommend anyone to her layer back style. Her unconditional approach was calming.
- Angela Carmichael Smith, RN
When I started coaching sessions I had some specific goals but was having a hard time getting started. When the opportunity to have Darcie as a coach came up, it was perfect timing. Darcie is a great reflective listener, which allowed space and time in our sessions for unexpected insights and ideas to come up.
She helped me see that I need to include fun spirit feeding goals when setting goals for my health. They make a huge difference with quality of life, and help fuel the goals that feel more like "shoulds".
I would recommend Darcie to anyone who feels stuck or who is wanting to make healthy changes to their life. Coaching allows time to take stock and choose areas to make progress. It is a gift.
- R.V., Alaska
When I decide to do nurse coaching, I was in the midst of making a decision about a major job change, and had just had some scary health challenges. Darcie helped me to see things in my life that I could change to help these challenges, and she encouraged me to set my own goals and my own timeline. I have been doing better taking care of my health with some dietary changes, more regular exercise, and getting more organized which helps my emotional health, which then benefits my overall health!
Darcie started out each meeting by checking to see if I had any major concerns, then we did some controlled deep breathing meditation. We also ended each meeting by returning to the same grounding activity. I found that this opening and closing time helped me to stay focused and to leave other worries behind during our time together.
During our working time, it was most helpful that we first reviewed my goals for the previous week and talked about what I had accomplished, what worked, what didn’t, and then talked about goals for the next week. I always took short notes, but really appreciated the follow-up email from Darcie listing my goals for the next week and sometimes links to resources we had discussed. The emails were very helpful.
I do better when I have someone I have to be accountable to, when I know someone cares that I am reaching these goals. I would recommend this coaching to anyone who really needs a person in their corner to help set goals, plan how to accomplish the goals and follow-up that the goals are being worked on and even achieved! Change is hard, and it can be difficult and painful to take some first steps. Having a coach can really help.
- Kathy RN, Alaska
Darcie has a warm and caring, yet powerful coaching style. With Darcie, I definitely feel heard. She coaches with compassion and wisdom. After encouraging me to look inward to craft powerful goals, she offers additional guidance from a place of knowledge and experience. She never ceases to amaze me with her widespread repertoire of resources! Thank you Darcie, for helping craft a powerful transformation!
- Priscilla, MSN, RN, CEN
When I met with Darcie, I had just entering Motherhood. I was still in a blissful cocoon phase of postpartum and beginning to wonder/dream about the best life-work balance I wanted to create for myself, my partner, and my daughter in the coming months.
Darcie was so helpful to sort through ideas and logistics for my self-run business as I weighed the many possibilities of heading back into the work-world. Coaching allowed me to organize my thoughts, figure out best next steps, and advocate for the work I want to offer. Darcie’s patient listening, gentle, probing questions, and calm guidance helped feed the spark of motivation to work towards these upcoming work goals, while also finding a balance as an individual and new mother. She certainly has the keen ability to help me fully embrace and feel pride in my set goals for the future.
I would highly recommend coaching with Darcie, especially for those running a female-owned business, and to parents who are trying to sort through the details of a healthy work-life balance.
- L.K., 35, Washington State
Darcie was an instrumental coach to me during my postpartum period. I was really struggling about how to balance life with a nine month old baby, meet his needs with love but also support myself, my partner and career. I felt incredibly lost, anxious and sad. I wanted to find the joy I knew was there in motherhood but that I was too overwhelmed to see.
Darcie provided me with incredibly specific, and supportive tools with which to reframe my days, my relationship with my family, and most importantly with myself. She helped me to organize my day so that I could be more present with my beautiful son and feel more grounded in my own identity.
She infuses her sessions with care and love and her own wisdom from raising her own two children. I deeply trust Darcie and her intuition about how to navigate the complex, chaotic, beautiful, messy journey of parenthood. I am grateful for her guidance and for being a pivotal turning point for me in being able capture the joy of being a mother. I highly recommend Darcie!
- Kristen, Alaska
Darcie is a powerful life coach. I have benefited greatly from one-on-one and group coaching sessions with Darcie. This year I am participating in the Joyful Intentions year-long coaching group, led by Darcie. This group provides the unique opportunity to have regular coaching calls with a group of women. It compounds the benefits of coaching through direct coaching for you, inspiration of witnessing your peers coaching journeys and also the peer support gained through being coached inside a caring community. It's truly a wonderful community complimented by monthly yoga and breathwork and an intimate retreat in the summer with your coaching group.
In each session, one-on-one and group, Darcie is present and thoughtfully engaged. She has a generous patience while listening to me sort through choices, challenges and goals. I often feel like our sessions are spiced with just the right amount of challenge. It's less like a thought exercise class with an aerobics instructor constantly pumping you up (to exhaustion) and more like walking with a trail guide who points out wonderful new flora and fauna and suggests other routes you might enjoy at another time. The sense of being heard and seen is confirmed with the session notes Darcie provides to us very soon after each session. These serve as a wonderful set of trail markers along your journey and also reminders of intentions set, and important life realities discovered along the way.
In both our individual and our group sessions, I appreciate that Darcie is always ready to offer an exercise in mindfulness or bringing you back into your body. She is skilled in helping her clients find somatic connection to their thoughts and habits.
Darcie consistently offers wise possibilities for approaching various struggles. She has an uncanny ability to help me see opportunities in the midst of challenges and a path of rest in the middle of overwhelm. As an inpatient nurse and entrepreneur, I've been encouraged by Darcie's ability to understand the need for balance between taking on challenges and empowering celebration of our limits and with that joy in the larger miracles constantly at play around us in this big, generous world.
I often feel like my coaching sessions with Darcie have a constant generosity like the poetry of Mary Oliver and that is a life approach I can trust. As Mary Oliver wrote,
'Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.'
- Ruth U.