"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action."
- Mother Teresa
"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action." - Mother Teresa
February has been, and probably always will be, associated with love. Whether you celebrate it or not, Valentines Day is difficult to ignore with it's commercial presence.
If you are pregnant or have children use this time to look at how you care for yourself this month. And, how you care for your unborn baby and/or children.
Care can take many shapes... nutrition, exercise, meditation. What can you add to your life that will add value and not noise?
Noise is all the ‘stuff’ that is a waste of your time - precious time, valuable energy and it takes away from doing what you really want to be doing. Being on your screen, watching TV, worrying about what could happen, creating anxiety, been concerned with what other people think of you, having too many things to do. What is the noise in your life at the moment? It can change, you have the ability to change it.
Make time for you to find out what do you really want to be doing with your time and your life. Find someone who can guide you and shed light on what stands in your way. I am available to any women who are wanting to do their life differently, with more awareness, presence and less noise.
Nurturing starts with how we are nurturing yourself, children learn for what they see and what they experience not from what they are told with verbal instruction. We need to be what we want our children to be, without the guilt and shame. Doing our best on any given day. Remembering that our best is different every day, depending on how much sleep we get, how well we have been eating, how we are feeling emotionally.
Nourishment is also a big value of my life... Why do we eat? For energy, for healing, for comfort, when bored and all of the above. Letting go of the guilt and shame, knowing we really are doing our best, learning to forgive ourselves and those we love around us. Bringing on health and healing into your life and into your home, is vital at this time. We are all in need of better health and healing.
This month, with all the emphasis on cheesy romantic love, take some time to think on all the ways you care for those you love, including yourself.
“To simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak”
“To simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak”
With the new year comes new opportunities and a new way to see the world and your life! It is a new year and a new month, but that is all that changes... YOU are the ingredient to create a different experience of your life, when YOU choose to.
Nothing will change if you are running the same patterns, belief systems and habits. When you take time to reflect (that is what end of December is for, for me), to reflect and look back on 2019, asking yourself; what did I enjoy? What do I want more of? What do I still want to do/achieve? What are the relationships/habits etc that I am wanting to do differently? What do I start with? What is in my awareness calling me to do it differently? Perhaps you want to be healthier? We need to look at what am I eating? Am I exercising? Do I take time to meditate/prayer?
And then come up with what do I need to do to make this the easiest and most effective way to succeed? Perhaps creating a meal plan for the week, that way you know what to buy (less waste) and it take the stress out of what to eat for dinner.
I have included a sheet for you that you can print and fill in Month, dates and write in lunch and dinner for the week or the month. I haven’t done a breakfast section as we all eat something different and at different times in our home. I trust that this will spark you to do it differently and take one thing that stresses you and organise it, the key is to DO it, to be consistent, be aware of self-talk and be kind with yourself.
As we start to do something differently we need be aware of our self-talk, what are we saying to ourselves, over and over again mostly without awareness. Meditation is another key to self-awareness, start small if you haven’t ever done meditation or haven’t for a long time, start with a few minutes EVERYDAY! Remember consistency is the key to creating lasting change. Make it the same time of day, or as soon as out of bed and been to bathroom, then sit down to meditate, if needs be start by sitting up in bed, unless you have a small person attached to your body and you need to lay down. Creating a positive habit is same time, every day, consistency... have I mentioned consistency enough? That really is the key. Before consistency is to START, start before you feel ready, by starting you already begin to shift energy and create changes.
Another aspect I have included this year is a digital vision board! It was really quick and easy to find pictures and I added 'I am' statements to my digital vision board. I have it saved on my laptop so each time I open it up it's there allowing me a reminder as life gets busier, on what my priorities are and what I value most and what I am doing this all for.
In
lifestyle
Posted on December 3, 2019
As we enter the last few weeks of 2019, take some time to reflect on this last year and all that has happened, changed and that you have learned. Make space to reflect on this decade too, what were the gifts and opportunities, that you have experienced or that you still want to create?
As the Chinese saying goes, “we live in interesting times”. Expecting life to be better or easier, is a human illusion, along with linear time, like the calendar. Rather focus on your strength and courage to weather whatever unfolds for the next decade to come.
During this end of year time, making time to make memories with your families and friends with whatever you are planning or allow them to spontaneously unfold. Managing your energy at this time is essential. Ask yourself what replenishes me? What can I do or not do to ensure rest and replenishment? Often we need to even say ‘no’ to things that we want to do as we only have a limited amount of time and energy available.
The end of year is also about celebrating and sharing and giving, so here is an opportunity. I would love to see each of you ☺
Celebrate with me on 10th December at 1230 at Ishta yoga studio, everyone is welcome. Please contribute with a small plate of eats. Anyone wanting to donate clothes, toys, nappies, etc can bring them to this event, I will drop off at Princess Alice Adoption house on the 17th December 2019.
Whatever you do or don’t do, enjoy it and say YES to you, First!
My practice will only be closed between Christmas and new year, I am available for you to book for kahuna massage, craniosacral therapy, NLP, and individual Confident Hypnobirthing preparations for birth.
Everyone is dealing with some aspect that is hard to accept or change. There are many aspects of our lives that are out of our control. I find that when I spend time and energy thinking about what is out of my control I can quickly feel overcome with helplessness and overwhelm. Having the awareness to catch your thoughts before you get to overwhelm is key.
The aspects of our lives that are out of our control are;
We are unable to control the weather, natural disasters, news, economy, what other people think of you etc
The aspects we have control over;
We are able to control our attitude and enthusiasm. Businesses that you start/have. Work you do in the world. What you read. What you buy. Where you live. What skills you learn. Places you travel.
The last few months I have incorporated a centred exercise in my Confident Hypnobirthing Course to assist parents-to-be.
What does being centred mean? How does it feel? Being able to be centred in your life is vital to manage your energy and well-being.
It is our tendency as human beings to be scattered and fragmented: we multitask and are busy with too many tasks, thoughts and emotions. We have “to do” lists that seem to grow daily. All of these may cause us to lose our centre and our focus.
Being centred is especially valuable when going through the transition of pregnancy, labour, birth and the ongoing demands of parenting. As this is a new role or experience we find ourselves in, we are often negatively influenced and swayed by others and our surroundings.
It is important to cultivate our own centre that is aligned, internal, safe and unique. Being centred enables us to observe ourselves and our emotions as they arise within us. We will talk more about the 'observer state' later on.
A noticeable feature of powerful people in any field is the feeling of solidity or centred-ness when you meet them. Whether such was inborn or developed through life’s experiences it does not matter, the fact is that all true power comes from inside, or via our own centre.
If you have ever been in a car accident, or received a big fright, you lose your centre very quickly, as an example. Once you have assessed that everyone is not badly injured you can be confused etc. The tow truck drivers arrive and before you know it your car is gone and you are unsure of what happened.
This is how to remain centred;
Upon awaking up, take a moment to say your personal prayer.* Then clarify your intentions for the day, smooth traffic to work, be patient with the children, get x done, going through your list and intending them. Then let that go, with eyes closed begin to imagine where your centre is inside your body. Perhaps you see or sense an image, shape, colour, texture etc Keep focusing on it until it feels clear and complete. Now that you know and feel where your centre is you can now go there at any time you need to.
Another way is to as you go about your day, say you go to shop then go back to work or home. We leave parts of our energy (parts of ourself) wherever we go. Remember to bring your energy back towards yourself all the energy that you have perhaps left behind, I imaging them as trails of light. However, you imagine them, as it works for you and bring them back towards yourself.
In doing that you are bringing yourself back to yourself as well as have all of your energy available to you and your task at hand.
* A personal prayer is a daily prayer or blessing for yourself, it can be the same and/or it may change as your life changes. It is something to hold your focus and purpose.
We live in such a different time from when we were children. The world is fast changing; navigating our daily lives can be overwhelming and exhausting. Unless you have made space for yourself.
Too often our own subconscious patterns come up without us realising it, especially with our children, our partner and those closest to us. These can often be painful and frustrating.
It is important to have some sort of practice (time for you) that cultivates awareness, it can be meditation, yoga, mindfulness or prayer. It can be as little as 3 mins a day. I know I have spoken of this many times before. Why? Because it works and because it is so important.
Another way to make time for yourself, is to look at how you are doing social media, it is part of our lives and our children's lives. We need to find ways to manage it and ourselves (more importantly). Here are some ways to do it differently and two links to articles, that I found useful.
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Give yourself a daily limit, and stick to it
- Follow people that uplift you
- Slow your scrolling
- Be present and learn something
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Get what to need and then log off
Social media benefits and risks: children and teenagers
5 Reasons You Don't Need to Worry About Kids and Social Media
In
health , lifestyle
Posted on September 11, 2019
As we move forward into Spring, with the days getting longer and more daylight hours available to us, it's a good time to search for what aspects or parts of yourself could do with more light.
Parts of yourself could also mean the roles we play in life. We could liken ourselves to diamonds, each one unique, but, also, multi-faceted. By embracing all our our many facets, we smooth our experience of life.
Are there places or parts inside of you that feel stuck, dark or closed off? Take some time to become aware of anything that may be stuck. Perhaps an old shoulder injury? Perhaps a dream you once had and have forgotten about, or put aside for some time? Are you aware of any place that feels dark or closed off?
Take a few moments, while reading this to close your eyes and connect with your breath. Take three lovely breaths in and let go as you breathe out. DO IT NOW.
Then, close your eyes and scan yourself, mind and body, what is the first part or aspect that comes up, become aware of it and then begin to imagine that you are breathing in sunlight to that part or aspect of yourself or your life. Keep breathing and imagining bright warm sunlight bringing in new, fresh, energy. Continue to bring more and more light into those places that feel stuck and dark until you feel called to stop.
Once you are done, check in and feel if you feel different from before you did this exercise. If you do and it makes a difference to you do this for a few minutes every day. After a week check in again and see has this made a difference to you.
I have attached a clip below from Brad Yates, it is a great clip about 10 minutes using EFT to release emotional pain, yours and others, thinking more big picture with everything going on in South Africa and the world.