Meditate for Vibrant Serenity
When you sit and meditate you are entering your own inner space. It’s not a passive, stuck space. Nor is it an escape, but a place that contains an active, vibrant serenity. A vibrant serenity Firstly meditation can be a space of calm and peace. As you gather in your scattered thoughts you let yourself…
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Have you Listened to Yourself Lately?
Notice your thoughts. Do you treat yourself with kindness and love, or with impatience and harshness? In short, have you listened to yourself lately? Ratio of Positive to Negative Thoughts In her book, ‘The Sweet Spot‘, Christine Carter suggests you become more mindful of the kind of thoughts you are having. To feel happier and…
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The Healing Power of Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement from others during difficult experiences You know when you have experienced something difficult in your life? You may recognise the healing power of acknowledgement which smooths the way forward. It’s the experience of being accepted, being seen. Whatever you’ve done or are going through, you still know that your life counts, that you matter…
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Nurture Hope and Inner Strength in your Life
As we continue to be in a transitional stage of upheaval and disruption in the world, how can you nurture hope and inner strength in your life? It could be easy to feel despair and hopelessness Yet: An active state of hope holds the field of potential for the highest possibilities for beautiful positive change.…
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What Does it Mean to Live in Beauty?
Beauty is the subject for many poets, artists and philosophers. Let’s look at a patchwork quilt of ideas about what it could mean to live in beauty. Beauty as a feeling ‘Bear Heart’ from the Muskogee tribe of Native American Indians says: ‘… the way to attain the beauty in life is through harmony. Be…
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How Mindfulness Helps in this Time of Covid19
Perhaps you wonder how mindfulness helps in these unusual times of Covid19. We don’t know what the future holds, but then we never did. This is mindfulness in action; the habits and assumptions we’ve perhaps always made, we now realise were never certainties. Mindfulness invites us to be present and not take things for granted.…
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Know that You are Lovable
You are Lovable A paper heart, bouquet of flowers or box of chocolates aren’t necessary signs that you’re lovable. Being in a one-to-one relationship with another person is not the highest bench-mark that you are worthy and ‘normal’. You have goodness in your heart and you’re entirely worthy of love. Your personality, thoughts and feelings…
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How Does Being Kind to Yourself Help You?
How does being kind to yourself help you? Being kind to yourself can feel at odds with your usual thinking. It perhaps doesn’t come naturally, would you agree? Yet being kind to yourself, also known as self-compassion, is one of the most important qualities we can nurture as human beings. And of course, kindness towards…
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Let’s explore happiness!
3 Happiness Myths Perhaps you unconsciously buy into these happiness myths, as described by Dr Russ Harris* (who created ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): Happiness myth number 1 That if we have food, water, shelter and friends our natural state will be happiness. The reality is that our normal state is everchanging. Just like the…
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How to be your own Best Friend
A best friend is always on your side A cheerleader and a supporter. What better than to be your own best friend and support yourself with emotional resilience, courage and kindness? These are qualities you can nurture with mindfulness and self-compassion especially when life feels so stressful or out of balance. There has been an…
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A Meditation for Love and Strength
Love from the Heart I invite you to place a hand gently upon your heart centre, which is in the middle of your chest towards your throat. With each breath you breathe in, imagine that your whole chest area is expanding. The heart chakra here, is associated with the colour emerald green. Imagine you’re standing…
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What does it mean to live from your heart?
How can you live from your heart instead of inside your mind with it’s linear thinking, logical thoughts, problem-solving and story-telling? Follow your breath and notice your posture and find yourself moving towards your heart-space. You might like to place a hand gently on your heart centre which is in the centre of your chest…
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What you appreciate increases in value
Active appreciation = what you appreciate increases in value It seems obvious doesn’t it? I know I’ve spent much of my life dealing with a lack of self-worth and self-value. Only when I value myself do I draw experiences and people into my life who also value me. So if you perceive yourself as lacking…
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What is Forgiveness and How do I Forgive?
The word ‘forgiveness’ might sound a very heavy word and can have a lot of associations for people. For me, brought up as a child in the catholic faith, it was part of a process of judgment. You did something perceived as wrong and forgiveness only came about from an all-knowing God via a priest…
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How to create your kinder world
We all have a kind and compassionate inner self. Every single one of us. Yet how do we create a kinder world when it just doesn’t feel like it around us or within us? We feel grumpy, cross, angry or simply pre-occupied with the business of living. And we see so much nastiness, greed and…
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Transform yourself with Mindfulness
You can transform yourself with mindfulness! Ditch aspects of auto-pilot that no longer serve you and develop your capacity to be more aware and present. Consider that for 95% of the time we behave on auto-pilot. On a daily basis we turn up in our lives with ‘unconscious habits and hardwired beliefs, attitudes and perceptions.’…
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World Kindness Day
13th November is designated ‘World Kindness Day’ This sits fittingly alongside the ‘Children in Need’ charity fund-raising events here in the UK. But you don’t need a ‘day’ to talk about kindness. Every day is an opportunity to experience it and share kindnesses with others. Here are some reminders: ‘Kindness’ is a strength and an…
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What to Do When your World Caves in
What is the first thing you do when your world caves in – through bad news or a shocking experience? Christiane Wolf suggests that rather than having to face it – knowing you can’t force acceptance straight away, the best response is to ask yourself, ‘What is the kindest thing for me right now?’ When…
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Take better care of your stress and anxiety
Stress and anxiety can take on a life of their own. We end up worrying about the stress and anxiety. We feel we need to beat it, overpower it, take charge of it. Here’s an alternative: use the language of love. Be loving, inspiring and uplifting towards yourself because it’s a fact that where the…
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Open Your Heart to the World
What do you do when you hear of sad or shocking news from around the world? Difficult news In these instances you might feel helpless. Even within your own home and workplace you may experience turmoil. How can you open your heart to the world? It might feel easier to shut down. Perhaps you have…
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Shift from Anxiety to Self-compassion
We tend to be hard task-masters, tough on ourselves. We sometimes view gentleness, compassion and kindness as weaknesses. Does this sound familiar? Our media and the world around us is aggressive and harsh, cruel and judgmental. This further supports the idea that kindness and self-compassion are soft options. Yet a shift from anxiety to self-compassion…
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