What’s been interesting to notice is that all the healing I have been having around my asthma and cat allergies is paying off. I have not taken my inhaler or rubbed my eyes once since she’s been here. I really believe the love I have for her counteracts any allergies.

Speaking of asthma though, I received a reminder yesterday how serious it can be if not taken control of. The lady who runs the cats shelter that I volunteer at is dying after a very serious attack, yesterday her family were getting ready to have to turn off her life support machine. She was only in her early 40s. I find it shocking that asthma can still be so life threatening with all the medication and alternative help there is now. I am so so grateful for being able to heal mine.

It’s always there lurking, when I least expect it I can find my self wheezing but I have learnt to calm myself down and tell myself “I am safe”. For me asthma is about fear, fear of not being able to breathe and dying. So repeating “I am safe, there is enough air” and doing some tapping (EFT) on it, really does calm my system down.

I am on the start of another journey, a journey even deeper in to yoga. It feels like the right time as it’s becoming more and more of my way of life. I have started to have 1-1 sessions with the wonderful Hilary MacRae. We had our first session this week where she created a personal yoga practice for me based on my Ayurvedic dosha and my shoulder and lower back injuries.

The Ayurvedic doshas are 3 vital energies that are responsible for all the physiological and psychological processes in your body. They each contain two elements as follows:

Pitta = Fire & Water

Vatta = Air & Ether

Kaphan = Earth & Water

We have all of these elements in our body but usually have a predominant one. Mine is Pitta which means I generate a lot of heat, am active, my colouring is fair and a very alert focused mind. Other Pitta qualities are; ambition, concentration, confidence, courage, enthusiasm for knowledge , happiness and intelligence. (taken from The Book of Ayurdeva by Judith H Morrison.)

Pitta personalities are generally drawn towards more active and heat building yoga, such as Vinyasa Flow which is what I teach and practice. However it’s all about balance so actually Hilary explained it will be more helpful for me to practice much slower, breath and inward focused yoga. The practice she has given me is full of forward bends, there are no sun salutations or inversions at all!

This is a challenge for me, I do love my sun salutations and shoulder/head stands! I also like to feel like I am working hard. I know though it is good for me, just after a couple of days doing it as soon as I get up I can see how it grounds me and calms my mind for the day ahead.

Next week I am going to do a mung bean soup fast to then be able to really pay attention afterwards when I start to introduce new foods, noticing the effect they have on me. I eat a healthy vegetarian diet anyway but even with that it doesn’t mean all foods are good for my system.

It’s exciting! Looking back over my intentions that I set at the beginning of the year, this fits perfectly into my one “I am Divine health”. I love it when you have a goal in your consciousness it can start to evolve and happen naturally with out you realising it sometimes.

The practice Hilary has given me is so simple it’s highlighted how I cram so much stuff into my days and mind…..so my intention this week is BE SIMPLE. Just slowing down and simplifying my time. This feels good, and a bit challenging!

“The Simple Path
Silence is Prayer
Prayer is Faith
Faith is Love
Love is Service
The Fruit of Service is Peace”
Mother Teresa

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.

Namaste x

I had an interesting realisation last week in that I see myself as a single person rather than someone who is the other half of a pair. Even more fascinating was when I shared this with a friend who turns out to be completely the opposite to me, always seeing himself in a relationship even when not. I am sure you can guess which one of us is in relationships more often!

The power of our thoughts never ceases to amaze me.

The thing is I am happy on my own, I am so independent and comfortable in my own company that I don’t feel I need anyone to complete my life. However, I do want to share my life with someone, I want that special connection and intimacy that you only get with someone you are completely in love with. I want to feel cared for and to have someone to care for. I am a nurturer at heart.

As I am writing this I am cringing right down to the tips of my toes. Sharing that I want to be in a relationship is way out of my comfort zone…..which of course suggests to me that it is a good thing to do!

Alongside this intention is “being open” and “going with the flow”. I don’t believe that relationships can be forced to happen and being open to the people that are coming into my life is, of course, important.

So there you go, my weekly confession……or should I say INTENTION! It’s definitely the kind of intention that needs to be released out to the universe, any attachment to the outcome dropped and to have faith it will happen when the time is right.

Bring it on!

xx

Although I don’t own a TV, purely to avoid wasting too much time watching rubbish I do end up watching things on my laptop. Living on my own it’s my way of switching off after a days work. I am aware of it just numbing my mind though most of the time. Having a break left me in silence. There were a few nights when I came in and just sat there thinking.

This was actually quite nice!

Then I got it together to make my own greetings cards from some of my photos and to convert some of my favourite shots to blow up canvas prints.

The creativity began…..

Prior to this break I had found myself being very distracted through out the day, my mind spinning with all I needed to do and then I would find myself caught up in the black hole of Facebook. I think it’s a great site but boy can it waste time. Over the week’s break I have allowed myself to log on quickly to pick up messages but that’s been it. What a break it’s been and I have been so productive work wise!

I have missed reading, I get my inspiration from all the books I have in my flat. It has led me to find other ways to spend my time though. On Monday night instead of coming straight home after teaching my yoga class I stayed on to try a different type of yoga. This was my “Artists date” for the week, another part of the course.

The class was very different from the yoga I normally do, it was very slow really feeling each muscle and area of fascia moving in under the skin mm by mm. We basically did squats in various ways for 2 hours long. I felt like John Wayne walking home, but it did feel good!

Out of my week off my ideas started to flow into my morning pages, the journal we are asked to keep as soon as we wake up, and a new day workshop to include life coaching and yoga was created. I am feeling really excited about it, it’s going to be amazing combining the two together.

I am a big fan of digital detox’s, as those of you who have been following my blog will know, I even ran a retreat in the Caribbean last year purely based around this! Even though the initial switch off can be quite hard, as we are all so used to immediate contact with the outside world, it really does free your mind up to be fully in the present moment. Once the constant barrage of information ceases your mind is freed up to think creatively and peacefully.

My life in Brighton is completely taking off now! My business is really flowing, my yoga classes are growing, the workshops I have run have been full…it’s completely blowing my mind. It’s even more proof for me that following your dream and doing what you love is the best way to live your life.

I will of course still be writing my blog and living my life with intention, doing so has led me to where I am at right now after all! If you would like to experience the magic of living with intention then I have extended my offer for my Journey of Intention e-course. Once you have signed up you will receive a different intention in to your inbox every week to focus on and also an extra weekly email with an affirmation to keep it in mind.

It’s a lot of fun…..and who knows what you may create out of it!

Lastly the latest development is that I have joined a dating site…..Spring has sprung and I fancy getting out on some dates. After all I can’t live by the sea and not have anyone to go for romantic walks with can I?

I often resist dating sites as I am a romantic and like the idea of chance meetings in the street…..which actually has happened quite a few times for me but it’s just never been very successful. So here we go, another journey ahead……

My intention this week is LET GO! This is based around the lunar eclipse on Thursday which symbolises a time for letting go, healing and TRANSFORMATION! YAY! For me this means just allowing myself to BE. To let go of any attachments and just allow myself into a space of emptiness. I have been practising this with my yoga this week, just getting into each asana and then dropping into silence. It’s not as easy as it sounds but the intention is there.

Have a great week and enjoy this lovely sunshine!

Namaste

xxx

(If you are reading this now you’ll know it’s been restored….)

It all began with a massage, not just any old massage but a African Rhythms massage with Magnus “magical healing hands” Agugu at his healing plantation retreat out in the middle of nowhere. I honestly could not point to exactly where I was on the map but I know I was somewhere in a cottage in the middle of fields and forest about half an hour from Lewes.

It was quite surreal and I have to admit I did smile inwardly at the situations I find myself in sometimes. I felt like I was back in India having another crazy experience. Which I LOVE!!! I love experiencing new things and anything that feels good and is healing is perfect by me.

Magnus is a beautiful soul, his energy is so lovely and his story is quite amazing. I can’t tell it in depth enough to give it full justice but basically there was a time in his life when he hit rock bottom. His only option to earn money was to become a rubbish man and due to living out in the countryside he couldn’t actually get to work on time because the buses started too late.

He told his wife he was going to spend the night in their spare room to have some alone time to think and speak with God to ask for guidance. After praying desperately he fell to sleep to be awakened by a woman’s voice telling him to be a masseur! He couldn’t believe it and hoped if he fell asleep he might be woken again with something a bit more sensible. He felt it was wrong to be massaging other people’s bodies when he was married.

When morning rose and Magnus opened his eyes there had been no other message. He sheepishly came out of his room and when his wife asked if he had received any guidance he embarrassedly told her what he had heard. To his surprise she said “I told you that years ago!” and to his amazement even more his mother told him that the voice must have been his grandmother who had been a great healer. They were both so on board with the idea that he decided to go for it and the rest is history. 8 years later he has massaged thousands of people and his testimonials are outstanding.

Magnus combines elements of life coaching and powerful affirmations to help heal any discomfort in the body. He got me to think about my vision for the next year which of course involved going back to India. So then he played Indian vibe music whilst I was having the treatment to help visualize it.

I was left feeling very grounded, in my body, calm and in touch with what emotionally could have been causing my shoulder and lower back pain. According to Louise Hay any pain in the back is around feeling of lack of support. Your lower back is around money and your upper back around love. The week my lower back pulled I was feeling tension around money and whilst I have a lot of love and support in my life from my friends and family I don’t have romantic love.

I am so independent and in love with my life that I don’t often acknowledge that it would be nice to have someone to share it with. However I would love that. In fact I would love nothing more than to be in love, sharing life by the sea and all the magic it brings.

Just expressing this to you all is BIG for me.

From one experience to another and a day later I was in a voice workshop with Narayani, an amazing Kirtan singer, voice coach and yoga teacher. There was a point where we were asked to chant back to back to feel the support from the other person and my shoulders just melted. I love touch on my upper back and again it brought to mind the realisation I had received from the massage.

And that it’s OK! It’s all OK.

The voice workshop was me stepping out of my comfort zone. There were 2 things that stuck in my mind from teachers at school:

1) I could not spell

2) I could not sing

Firstly, thank goodness for spell check and secondly…..as a result of being told this numerous times at school I have pretty much avoided singing most of my life. In most singing “situations” I would mime. It was not until I spent time at Sivananda ashram that I discovered how beautiful it is to sing, after chanting there I felt heart opened and completely buzzing from the energy it creates.

The great thing about Indian chanting is you do not have to sing in tone!! It’s singing from the heart, it doesn’t matter what it sounds like and actually when you sing like this it sounds pretty perfect anyway.

Even so the prospect of singing with a small group of people and the possibility I may have to sing solo was a bit nerve racking  However I love to challenge myself and push my comfort zone, it’s the only way a grow and it makes me feel alive.

So there we were, singing back to back, singing looking into each others eyes, singing dancing freely around the room….and yes that inward smile crept over me about the situations I find myself in and feeling like I was back in India again. It was just perfect

After singing all morning I started to notice my voice straining, which often happens when I feel a bit uncomfortable in what I am saying or when I am trying to project my voice. Narayani pointed out that although that can be something mechanical to work on often it’s a sign of something else emotionally going on. Were there other times in my life when I felt like I need to push something out?

I remember growing up there were times when I felt shy and there were people who told me to speak up, even when I didn’t want to. That pressure led me to want to keep quiet even more but there were times when I literally had to force myself to speak.

I don’t often get that now but every now and then in situations where I am really baring my soul, expressing myself around something that is important to me I can feel the need to force it out.

What I realised on Sunday that how ever it comes out of me, what ever words I use, how ever I choose to express myself is perfect. It doesn’t have to be said in a certain way. I don’t have to sing at a certain pitch, tone, volume. As long as I am singing from my heart then it’s all OK.

My intention this week is to SING! Just to get used to singing out loud. I know this will sound crazy to some of you who are used to singing all the time. I drove up to Glasgow with a friend a few weeks ago, she was singing all the way and couldn’t believe I don’t sing along to the radio. So that’s what I am going to do….I am going to sing along to the radio and to life!

It’s unbelievable the impact of what teachers said to us at school can have. All these years I have not sung purely because I was told I couldn’t. How crazy is that? If someone was to tell me now I couldn’t that would be my signal to do just that!

Is there anything you have been holding on to since your school days? Anything you believe you can’t do just because one person told you that you couldn’t? Maybe now is the time to challenge that and find out why it’s a load of old rubbish!

Namaste xx

I’ve been resting this week after hurting my back standing at a show over the past few weeks, it’s healing now thanks to restorative yoga but I am excited to be going to have a special magical healing massage tomorrow with Magnus Agugu. The testimonials he receives are amazing so I can’t wait to experience it for myself. I will of course report back afterwards.

Listening to what my body needs and booking in regular massages is a new thing for me after my shoulder injury last year. Any kind of injury is so frustrating and it really impacts on your emotional health. The constant pain, not being able to fully exercise as normal and lack of sleep just takes over. So I am looking forward to starting to teach people with injuries next week at Studio 57, a clinic for runners and cyclists. I can really relate to tight hamstrings, hips, lower back and shoulders after all the running I used to do before I discovered the magic of yoga!

This time last year I was in India becoming a yoga teacher, and now here I am in Brighton teaching yoga 3 nights a week and running yoga workshops once a month. It just goes to show your dreams really can happen when you put your mind to it.

I often chat people who are running their own business’s and it’s no secret that it’s a roller-coaster of a journey. One minute everything is flying, the next you can be caught up in a whirl pool of anxiety. 2 intentions that get me through are FAITH and PATIENCE, trusting that everything is working out perfectly.

The wonderful thing about working for yourself is being open to synchronicity and noticing it. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen any other time, it happens for everyone all of the time but I just really notice it in terms of my business. For example the chance meeting of new people leading to new business, new bookings coming in just as I am needing to create some finance, just as I am looking for something someone comes into my life with the information I need.

I see these little events as reminders that I am on the right path and to keep moving ahead.

If you are setting up on your own I really recommend connecting with other people who are working for themselves as well. It can keep you sane to have someone to share the ups and downs with. Also if I can help at all with coaching please do let me know!

My intention at the moment is self care, I am committed to perfect health. The impact of having this intention is that I am doing what feels good and putting lots of healthy fresh food in to my body. I have never eaten so much broccoli and spinach in my life but I can tell my body is thanking me for it

In the spirit of perfect health, what is one healthy habit you could create? Make it something fun that’s easy to do and will make you feel good! A few examples could be:

• Booking a massage once a month
• Doing 6 sun salutations every morning
• Turning off your laptop/phone at least 2 hours before bedtime
• Going for a long walk once a week
• Going dancing once a week
• Indulging in a long salt bath once a week
• Making delicious juices every morning and adding some spirulina powder for extra power
• Giving someone a hug, at least once a day

So what are you going to create….I’d love to hear?

Namaste xx

I did some lovely restorative yoga this morning, my favourite asana  being Viparita Karani. Basically you lie on the floor with your legs up against the wall, with a cushion under your hips so they are raised to be higher that your head. It relieves tired legs, water retention, is restorative for the entire nervous system, balances blood sugar, hormones and sends fresh blood to your brain. It’s so calming and easy to do I recommend doing it for at least 10 mins every day if you can. (Although not good if you have high blood pressure, eye problems like glaucoma, neck injuries or your period!)

I have been learning all about restorative yoga and how our bodies react under stress from a fantastic yoga teacher called Judith Lasater. When we feel stressed in busy times the body produces hormones that increase our heart rate, blood pressure, mental alertness and muscle tension. This response shuts down our digestion, growth and repair systems, amongst others. Our ancestors thousands of years ago were designed like this for the flight or fight response to defend against an immediate danger. However their “in danger” situations only lasted for a short time and then their body returned to normal. When we get stressed now a days it can go on and on.

It’s so easy to keep going and going in our modern day lifestyle, I especially found this when I lived in London. When ever I go up there now I feel it’s high energy and really notice how drained people look on the tube!

A give a way sign that my body and mind are under stress is when I notice my jaw and tongue clenching, plus my shoulders. I also start to do things really quickly! It’s useful when meditate to bring your attention to the middle line through your forehead, mouth, chest and stomach and consciously relax them. This is where we tend to hold tension.

So that’s it from me for today, I am off to teach some lovely peaceful flow yoga now. Make time to relax this week, it’s important for your physical and mental health.

Namaste x

Statue outside The National Art Gallery in London

Happy New Moon! The new moon is a time for new beginnings, so perfect for setting your intentions. To coincide with this I have just started the next Deepak Chopra 21 day meditation challenge on perfect health. Seems like perfect timing!

The first affirmation he has set for the challenge is “I commit to living perfect health”. What does this mean to me? Being asthma and allergy free, feeling energised, light, eating fresh vegetables and fruit every day, practising yoga daily and not poisoning my body with toxins.

Thinking about what I would like to create from this 21 day challenge, it would be the following:

1) Rebalance my blood sugar again, it’s gone a bit out of whack recently! I blame the new mint kit kat chunky’s

2) To fully heal my allergy to animals, it’s gone now when I stay with my own cat in London  but not when I volunteer at the cats home.

This really is perfect timing for the challenge as I have just returned from 5 days working up in Scotland living out of a teeny tiny hotel room eating out every day and missing my daily yoga sessions. It’s amazing how just a few days away from a healthy routine can affect  how I feel.

From experience being healthy is a choice. We are constantly making choices every day, and every one has a consequence. It’s very easy to make unconscious choices, the ones you make in a hurry not really considering what reaction they will create. This is often what happens when we make unhealthy choices, I know that is definitely the case for me. If I am in a rush, tired, hungry I won’t always choose the best option for feeling my best. For example last night at the airport, feeling starving hungry I opted for a veggie burger and chips (and then cake) instead of a nice healthy salad!

This is where an affirmation like “I commit to living perfect health” comes in so useful. It gives you a choice, do I choose to be perfect health or not? Then it’s a clear decision to make.

I’ve still been enjoying “The Artist’s Way”, last week I took myself to the National Gallery in London to get lost in some big paintings. I actually broke the rules slightly and invited a a friend along as doing things on my own is fairly normal for me, I like to take myself off on adventures and I enjoy my own company. However I enjoy others company too, so it was nice to share my “artist’s date” with a friend.

I’ve booked myself on to a life drawing class, should be fun, I have not drawn naked bodies since my college days! Also at a craft fair I’ve picked up some decoupage paper to start to create some small canvas paintings I have been thinking about for a while.  So my creative side is definitely becoming unlocked.

What’s been surprising though are the morning pages. I have been using them to write my intentions, what I’d like to create and what I am grateful for. Since starting them some wonderful unexpected things have come my way; opportunities to teach more yoga, a lovely new life coaching client  and a chance to be completely self expressed from my heart with someone I didn’t really expect to speak to again.

I feel like the universe is guiding me to teach more yoga, it feels so right and I love sharing it with other people. In April I will be starting 2 more classes for runners and cyclists with injuries. I am so excited about helping people with their healing journey as I have been through it myself with a bad lower back and more recently shoulder and neck pain.

What all of this is, is a reminder of focusing on what you love and what you want to create in your life. Simply writing it down in my morning pages (a daily exercise from “The Artist’s Way) seems to accelerate the process as putting pen to paper helps to clarify your thoughts and direct your attention to your intention.

On this night of a new moon, remember to make some time to day dream about your new beginnings and what you would like to create.

Namaste x

Joy

A few weeks ago I went on a course called Embodiment Training for Coaches it was basically to learn techniques of gaining self awareness through how you move your body which I can now use with my clients. As a result of it I set my self a challenge to wash up really slowly from there on. Not one of my most fun challenges I have to admit!

Why did I do this? Our of all the natural elements my personality type is mainly AIR which means I am often caught up in my mind, I value freedom, inspiration and creativity, and I float around at a fairly fast pace a lot of the time . This is one of the reason I love yoga so much as it brings me in to balance, slows me down, gets me into my body and completely calms every part of my being. Mark Walsh , the course trainer, suggested the practice of washing up slowly is like a meditation and good to get you back into your body, connected with the earth.

Wow what a challenge it has been, I hate washing up, the water gets too hot and my hands get really dry. I can’t say I am washing up completely slowly every day now but I am definitely bring awareness to it, each time I consciously feel the water and my feet on the ground. For those few moments of washing up I become present, purely focused on what I am doing right here and now. It’s spilled in to other areas of my life and I catch myself when I am too caught up in a head spin then consciously slow myself down.

Still not impressed with the dry hands though! Someone really should invent an oil based washing up liquid.

As a result of my last intention, FUN, I took some time off last week. I decided I had been in front of my laptop way too much and as the weather was so beautiful at the start of the week I stayed longer than expected with my parents, after going back there for a wedding. It was so lovely to spend 4 days in the sunshine on the beach, just to feel the sun on my face and listen to the waves was exactly what I needed. REALLY looking forward to Springtime now, it’s so close….

The amazing thing that happens when you do things that bring you joy is that other unexpected stuff occurs. I had more enquiries and bookings last week than I had had in ages!

A few day’s ago I started a 12 week course called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I have set up an Inspirational Book Club in Brighton and this is the book we are now reading together. It’s not just any old book through, it requires daily action to unlock your creative spirit that is inside you.

There are 2 main activities that you have to do;

Morning Pages – writing 3 sides of paper as soon as you get up in the morning, simply what ever comes out of your head.

A weekly artists date – you have to take yourself off each week on your own to do something to nurture your creativity, that inspires you and is fun.

I had my first artists date this weekend, I went to a little art’s cinema in Brighton and watched a documentary on the history of modern yoga called “The Breath of The Gods”. It was really fascinating and also lovely to see India again, where it was filmed.

There is something really lovely about taking yourself off to do something just for you that is fun and uplifting. I also found on my walk home some really fun stickers to stick all over my morning pages….I do love stickers, it’s the kid part of me coming out.

I find that writing as soon as I wake up is a great way to off load thoughts, dreams, pray and to clarify my intention for the day ahead. It’s actually rather funny attempting to write down dreams; they seem to make sense at the time but on paper they jump around and are so completely random.

Each week there are also exercises to do to help you rediscover and connect with your creative side. During the first week we are to look into our past for the people/events that go in the way of our creativity, and the people/events who supported it.

Reflecting in this way it’s not surprising that after my first year of university I stopped doing art altogether. Over the years I had been told I couldn’t spell, I couldn’t sing, I was given low marks for my art a level (which was for a piece of art I was really proud of) and I didn’t get into art school.

It wasn’t all bad though, I had a brilliant A Level Communications teacher who really supported me, she encouraged me to produce a programme for the college play, Cabaret, and create a display in the college foyer promoting it. I loved it, I was in my element and as a result my highest A level mark was in this subject.

My parents have always supported me too, they have my art hung on their wall at home and for Christmas my father gave me a canvas print of  my A Level art piece! It’s now hanging on my lounge wall as a reminder that I can paint and STUFF all those silly teachers from my past.

Some teachers have a lot to answer for…..

Since starting this Journey of Intention, with the first month being creativity, I have begun to really unlock this part of me. In fact I have realised that it never left me, it’s just come out in other guises.

Over the past few months I have had an increasing desire to paint something again, so my intention now is to paint a new canvas to hang in my lounge by the end of the 12 week course. I can’t wait.

Our creative side is part of each and every one of us. We are here to create;  our lives, our relationships, our dreams and who we are being in each and every moment.

In fact we are CREATION.

….and this is my intention, being creative in every part of my life.

I love these affirmations from the Artist’s Way:

“My creativity heals myself and others”

“My creativity always leads me to truth and love”

“I am willing to be of service through my creativity”

What are you going to create this week?

xxx

My week of “allowing” was lovely, relaxing, fun and in that state actually very productive but with out any force. I even got to work on the beach for a few hours in the sunshine, it was bliss feeling the sun on my face and hearing the sea quietly lapping at the shore.

Over the past few weeks I have been receiving many messages around fear vs love, since experiencing what now call “my week of fear” back in January. It was a horrible week and all consuming, how ever what has come out of it is beautiful. I think fear gives you an opportunity to clear and to heal something, a chance to grow and to learn.

Finding peace and your connection to Universal unconditional love within the fear is the key. We all feel fear, it’s a completely normal emotion that we all experience but yet I think sometimes we can feel very alone in it. It can seem like everyone else is perfectly OK, when actually most of us are afraid of something.

Having that courage to share your fears with someone you feel safe with, someone who sees how amazing you truly are, helps. Allow support, love and encouragement into your life, it’s all there if we are open to receive it. Never feel ashamed of your fear, it’s a sign that you are stepping out of your comfort zone, demonstrating belief in your dreams and really living your life to the full.

A question that has come up for me since a coaching session I had last week is;

“What would make it fun?”

I am so action orientated, writing out my to do lists and enjoying as I tick them off before the deadline. Sometimes I can catch myself not paying attention to the actual experience of the action and making it as enjoyable as possible. For me that also means bringing creativity into everything I do.

So my intention this week is for everything I do to ask myself “what would make it more  fun?”.

A week of fun……now I like that idea

Is there something you are afraid of that you have been putting off, what could you do to bring some fun into it instead?

We sing Indian chants together, meditate, listen to a talk from a teacher and connect with each other. Last night we were blessed with the presence of a lady called Rev Padma Priya who spoke to us about living in the heart and transcending the  mind. She was not talking about our physical heart but from a space of pure consciousness,  unconditional love and the knowing that we are all one. This is our true state.

As she pointed out the moment you say something like “who me?” or “myself” your hands will naturally go to your chest. You never say “me” and put your hands on your forehead do you?

Simply by placing your hands together on your chest, closing your eyes and breathing deeply into your heart you connect with this place. You connect with universal consciousness.

To experience this I really recommend, sitting down comfortably and listening to her guided meditation that is available on YouTube

We did a similar meditation last night and then chanted together. There was a moment when my eyes were closed, I was singing along to the chants, really feeling their vibration when I realised I felt exactly as I did when I was having similar experiences in India this time last year. I deeply miss being there but last night I had a reminder that you don’t need to travel to far flung places to have a spiritual experience. It is all around us, it’s how we choose to spend our days, who we choose to spend time with, making time to connect with deep with in ourselves and others as the spiritual beings that we are.

Needless to say I floated home last night feeling a strong sense that we are all connected, it’s just our bodies, time and space that make us feel like we are not. Also feeling very grateful as always for living in Brighton and getting to know so many lovely people here.

Last week I went on a course with Mark Walsh called Embodiment Training for coaches/trainers and anyone else who helps clients with transformation. Embodiment is basically getting out of the mind and feeling your body and breath. It’s amazing what you can learn from how you move your body and even simply stand. I have gained a whole new set of tools to add to my already bulging tool kit to help people become self aware, manage their emotions, have control of their lives and interactions with others.

The course was also great to do personally it highlighted how I am a leader and don’t like to feel pushed around. This has it’s benefits of course but also there is something for me to learn around simply allowing. Allowing life to just happen and allowing interactions with others to evolve naturally without feeling the need to be the one in control.

Interestingly in the exercises we did where I felt like I was pushing (the word push was never actually used, it’s interesting to note the use of our own language to uncover how we are in life) the other person my shoulders became painful again. It’s left me contemplating if my shoulder injury could be a manifestation of something around a sense of “pushing through life”. I often feel like I have so much to do and that I need to do it as quickly as possible!

As a result of this realisation my intention this week is to ALLOW. Allow my life to evolve at it’s natural pace, dropping feelings of how I think things “should” be, allow and receive others with no expectations, allow myself to be in the natural state of my heart centre, allow my shoulders to heal, allow silence, allow my inner guidance to be heard and allow myself to follow it.

What could you allow this week?

Namaste x