Life Coaching – Sarah Collin

Coming out of hibernation

We have a month or so left of winter, and the wattles and waxes are bursting into beautiful bloom. If you’ve been hibernating in this wet July, that’s great. It’s important to retreat from the world for a while, especially in a time where there is so much bad news and negative media.

Take breaks from social media, daily news and people or places that cause you stress, and make those breaks count: get out in nature, read a book for fun, do something creative or relaxing. Gentle stretching is a nice way to keep the body moving without feeling like you have to crawl out of your shell.

But we can’t hibernate forever! If you’re having trouble finding space in the world, here are some tips:

Make sure something in your social media feed makes you smile. Follow some pages or join some groups that share funny or positive things on a regular basis. Artist pages, comic or humour-based pages, gardening or nature groups – whatever lifts your heart!
Engage with at least as much positive news as negative. Good things happen every day, so however it is you find your news, make sure you include some producers who talk about good things happening. If you read the paper, look for those little articles talking about local events and arts and small businesses. They might not have sensational headlines, but they’re the real threads in our communities.
Find one breathing practice that works for you. It could be simple diaphragmatic breathing, or it could be a more complex practice like alternate nostril breathing or sama vritti. Put a note on your bathroom mirror or next to your computer screen reminding you to do it, and every time your eyes stray to that note, stop and breathe for a minute.
If you listen to music at work or home, make some playlists and every ten or twenty songs or so (depending on how long they are), put a track in that makes you tap your foot or sway to the music. When that song comes on, that’s your cue to get up from your desk and dance or shake it out 🙂 Or, if you’re a bit reserved for jigging around the office, take a five-minute stretch break.
Put a picture of a tree or nature scene somewhere in your workspace. Trees have a remarkable effect on our brains, and just looking at a picture of one can have a positive effect!

What are your favourite ways to keep yourself uplifted?

Shining light on life

If you are reading this then you have been in training for the times we are experiencing right now. This is my personal plea for you to rise above the current fear campaign and shine your light for humanity and planet Earth.

It is time to unplug from the biased, fear-based media drama that is wearing you down and increasing your chances of becoming ill. Instead turn off your news channels, stop reading the newspapers and listening to yet another panel discussing COVID-19. What you are not being told is that as a human being you have the most amazing immune system that is capable of dealing with incredible challenges when left to its own devices. What will affect your immune system and bring you down is constant drama and fear-based news.

Start tuning inward to your inner resources. They may not have been called upon for some time, but it is not too late. What is your intuition saying to you right now? What can you do to boost your immune system? Many have been given the gift of more time at home due to less travel, if you are working from home, or loss of work. If that is the case then you have the time to work on your greatest asset: YOU.

Now is the time, if you haven’t already, to create a vision for your life that is the most empowering vision you can come up with. A vision that includes creating a better world for humanity to thrive in and an Earth that is supported to flourish. Get your creative juices flowing, find images to support your vision, and create a soulful sentence or affirmation that can become your mantra to live by.

We’re living in extreme times that call for extreme action and collaboration to create new ways of being, of living and thriving. It’s time to raise the vibration of this planet to a point where the lower frequencies and people of ill intent get blinded by light and retreat. Let us create a life where we have freedom of speech, where we focus on wellness instead of illness, where we respect difference and can live together in harmony. Let’s create a society where food becomes our medicine once again and we support quality of life, living longer, healthier lives instead of dying longer by being over-medicated and making a minority rich in the process.

The time is NOW for you to shine your light and raise your vibration. This too is infectious and we need to spread this light and beam it into all the dark places. Help others find their lights and turn them on. Together we can make a difference.

How? I hear you ask. Try these things:

Don’t let this social distancing become normalised because as human beings we need to stay connected, not distanced! Keep images of social interactions around you and keep this vision. This social distancing is not the new normal! Stay connected as much as possible to family, friends and like-minded people.

Get out in nature every chance you get. Go to places that are full of life and prana such as the beach and forests. Fill your lungs with fresh clean air and expel any stagnation and staleness.

Start reflecting upon the food you eat and asking how much life force, or prana, is in your food. In other words, how much fresh food are you eating? It is imperative to keep you immune system healthy. You need to be eating whole foods, unprocessed, and not sprayed with poisons. Familiarise yourself with seasonal food and reduce the need to import produce.

Move your body every day. Our physical bodies are designed to move so find ways to move that are fun and enjoyable. Walking daily is one of the best things we can do. While you walk let go of tension in your shoulders, let your arms hang loosely, find a rhythm to your walk that feels good and let your body guide you to move in the most comfortable way for you. This can be a great exploration. As you move inquire as to how your body is feeling as you walk. What if you shorten your stride and slow down? How might it feel to notice the contact your feet make with the ground, how your feet roll from step to step? Do you lift your toes when you walk? There’s a lot to explore in the simple act of walking!

Watch what you say and don’t get hooked into the negative language that we are being bombarded with right now. There is nothing to be gained in fighting anything! You’ll see this word fight everywhere: fight COVID, fight cancer, fight for your rights. Stop and reflect on what that word conjures up in your mind; check your own internal dialogue and the words you use when talking to others. Let the fight go and find the courage to move towards what you want from your heart. Feel it before you overthink it.

Meditate daily at the very least. Use this time to surround the Earth in light and the people in love. What you’re not being told is that you are an amazing being capable of whatever you choose to put your mind and effort toward. Together, we can raise the vibration of this planet. Stand up and be counted as you create the way forward that makes your heart sing.

Namaste
Sarah

Connection

Did you hear, as a child growing up, that as you get older the time passes more quickly? It seems to be ringing bells with me. My theme this year is ‘Connection’ and as the year has sped by I am left feeling that I am only just beginning to connect with my theme!

Last year my theme was “Extreme Self Care” and the year before was “Slow Living” and it’s entirely possible there was another theme in there somewhere too. The thing is they are all connected to each other as they bring me to this point of wanting to slow down, go within and connect more deeply than ever to the wisdom that is seeking to emerge.

During the last school holidays, I took the time to explore a daily yoga practice that I am considering turning into a therapeutic course in term one next year. Giving myself permission to do a daily practice that was very restorative had a lovely effect on connecting me to a deeper part of myself. I have reaffirmed that this is as important as the appointment in my diary that says it’s admin time, or time to balance the books and pay bills. As important as making time to stop and read a nourishing book or magazine, to stop and enjoy my freshly brewed tea.

It’s vital that in the busyness of life we explore making time to slow down, go within and listen. It is in that deep inner listening that we start to connect to an innate wisdom, a connection with our heart that brings us to the present moment. That is when time slows down. It’s those moments of connecting with ourselves and our deep feelings that are important in life. It’s taking time to be present in connections with family and friends, or connections to the things that make our hearts sing.

When we are caught on the treadmill of life, seeking more and more possessions that create more and more work, we get stuck in timelines. Timelines that push us to work a few more years to pay this off or to set that up for the future when the truth is no one knows what the future holds. While planning is certainly worthwhile, we also need to ensure that in the plan we have time for reflection and self care. It’s essential so that at the end of each day we can enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep because we have honoured our heart’s desire at some point in the day.

This all comes back to our connection with what is important to us: what are our values? Just as I find it vital to take time out of teaching so that I can work on my business, so too we need to take time out of our busy lives sometimes to reflect on how we feel about our one precious life right now. Spring is the season of new growth, of longer days and more sunlight as we approach summer. Now is the time to ask some deep questions to seek out what has been brewing over the winter months and maturing through spring so far:

• What is most important to you right now?
• Where do you want to be in twelve months’ time?
• What do you want to have achieved in five years’ time?
• What is the one thing you can do now that will make the biggest positive impact on your life?

Let the light in to shine on the dark places, expose your truth and start to live the life you want to live. We are living in extraordinary times and anything is possible if you set the course, have a clear vision and raise your vibration to suit your vision. Fly high and enjoy every moment.

Namaste
Sarah

If you need help with moving forward or figuring out your life path you might like to consider an Awaken Your Heart Song coaching package. Please contact me for details.

Gratitude from my heart to yours

Gratitude for where I am right now.

Wow, wow, wow: I am so very grateful for where I am at this mid-year point.

I set myself some very significant goals this year and as well as graduating from the three-year, 650-hour Dru Yoga Therapy Course with my Yoga Therapy Diploma, I have also now achieved Senior Registered Teacher status with Yoga Australia.

The process of applying for this level of recognition is to collect evidence to support the following standards:

Minimum of 1000 hours specific teacher training
Minimum 12 years personal practice
10 years and 1000 hours of professional teaching
Ongoing mentoring both as a mentor and mentee
90 hours study on anatomy and functional physiology with minimum
20 hours application to yoga teaching
50 hours of yogic physiology i.e. koshas, nadis, chakras, gunas, etc.
70 hours of supervised teaching
300 hours specialties

The process of putting all this together was very rich. I was taken back to all the classes, courses and retreats I have run over the past eleven years as I gathered the evidence to support my application. I then needed to collect student testimonials to back up what I presented.

I put out a call for support from a number of students, both long-term and some more recent, and it is this that has opened my heart in gratitude for the depth of sharing and heartfelt appreciation that came back to me.

So many of you took the time to reflect and share your stories of transformation. Some I had no idea of how much you had gone through and how coming to yoga helped your recovery in times of need. I have compiled these into a document and sent them to Dru Australia as I thought they might like to know that the vision they hold, that of transforming the world by offering people the tools to transform themselves, is so powerful. Shared before me was a testament to the value of people working at what they love to do and sharing the wisdom worldwide.

I would therefore like to thank all my Dru teachers and teachers of other traditions whose work I have dipped into, who have contributed to shaping the teacher I am today. I would equally like to thank all of you who took the time to share your stories and open your hearts to me as you did so honestly and willingly.

Thank you from the deepest part of my heart. I look forward to continuing the journey as I work from a place of pure love to offer you the best I can in yoga, meditation, yoga therapy, transformational coaching and all things that support living a deeply rich and meaningful life.

Namaste

Sarah

Living with awareness and being responsible

I start a class asking everyone to check in with their ‘koshas’, or layers of being. Specifically, I direct people to feel into their physical, emotional and mental layers so that they have an awareness of what they have walked into the class with. There is much written about koshas already and I see no reason to reproduce what others have done really well: here’s a great article if you want more detail on koshas. What I would like to use this space for is exploring how we can connect with these layers to make life richer.

Anamaya kosha

When I ask about the physical layer, anamaya kosha, I am asking you to feel into your body and notice where it is calling your attention. This might be a tight neck, aching shoulder, or sore foot. If you stop long enough to notice that’s a great start; next, explore what you need to do about it. Is there something you can do immediately to relieve the discomfort? If not, is this something you need to address as part of your overall health plan to bring balance back into your physical body? It could be a postural adjustment and by bringing your awareness to it you can easily adjust and get some relief. It could be you discover that your sleeping position causes you some discomfort upon rising and changing your pillow might help. Maybe it’s an ergonomic issue of how you sit at work, whether that is at a desk, driving a vehicle or standing for long periods on hard surfaces. It really is worth taking the time to feel, explore and hopefully fix some of the issues.

Pranamaya kosha

If we are exploring the pranic layer, pranamaya kosha, then we are checking in on our energy levels, how energised we do or do not feel. How are we breathing? How is our general energy level? By bringing our awareness to the breath, it changes and gives us the opportunity to breathe a little deeper and spend a moment connecting deeply to the breathing process. The benefits of this are so huge that it is well worth the few minutes of your time to practice. You could do this before you even get out of bed in the morning. Deepen your breath and feel like you are charging up your body for the day ahead, bringing fresh prana into all the cells of your body, oxygenating your blood, loosening up fascia (the connective tissue beneath the skin) and getting an overall kickstart to the day before you take a step.

Manomaya kosha

Then there’s the emotional layer, manomaya kosha, and it really is valuable to check in with how your heart is feeling. This incredible organ pumps continuously for us to keep us alive and would greatly benefit from some loving attention throughout the day. Check in with how you feel, your emotional state of being, so that you can respond appropriately. Again, by noticing, we get more in touch with our feelings and can then choose what to do about how we feel. For example say you got up and noticed you were feeling a bit low and you were aware that this was from a recent loss where the sense of grief comes and goes. On those days you notice this you may be able to be kinder to yourself, have an easier day and fit in something that you know nourishes you deeply. It is about honouring the ebbs and flows but if we don’t take the time to notice then we often charge on and numb out the feelings, which over a period of time will create problems.

Vignanamaya kosha

What about the mood you carry around with you? Are you aware of what mood you take to work, take to a meeting or walk into your yoga class with? This is the mental layer or vignanamaya kosha and you may well be unaware of what you are carrying around with you for the simple reason of not taking the time to inquire.

Raising your awareness of the koshas will evoke change and make your life richer as you make conscious choices of how to bring balance back into these layers. You will over time develop ways to change how you feel, to change your mood if you notice a black cloud hanging over your head. You’ll develop your own effective tools that will help you live life more fully.

Here are some quick tips for working with these layers:

Physical: move your body, stretch, walk and get a drink of water

Pranic: breathe deeply, take one big breath sighing the breath out and pausing at the end of the out breath. Do this three times and notice the difference.

Emotional: stop what you are doing and feel into your heart, notice the breath flowing in and out and imagine this is flowing in and out of your heart like a light bringing loving kindness to your heart.

Mental: notice your mood, name it and if you don’t like it change it by doing all the above! If you feel stuck and can’t change it then get out in nature, walk around the block, call a trusted friend who will let you have a rant then hopefully you will feel better for the release. Make a deal with yourself that if you have a story that keeps coming up, tell it, vent it and let it out but if after three story-telling sessions you still feel you need to tell it some more, seek some professional help – that way you can explore the situation productively and keep your friends!

The practice of regularly checking in with your koshas is a practice, and responsibility, worthy of your attention. Could you allow enough time upon waking to reflect on how you are about to start this brand new day ahead of you? We’re not talking about an extra twenty minutes out of your day, merely five to six minutes reflection before jumping out of bed to stretch, breathe deeply, notice and be aware of what you are about to take out and share with others. Then perhaps you could check in a few times throughout the day. If nothing else you will have stopped what you are doing, started to breathe more fully and maybe even stretch the body to see what is going on.

Enjoy the journey.

Namaste

Sarah

Making ‘Connection’ a self-care theme

As I sit in the café at the Dolphin Discovery Centre, I am surrounded by the happy sounds of people enjoying the café: the open space, families enjoying time together, and in some cases the celebration of a birthday with generations of the family together. Happy gatherings of people wait for the next cruise to take them out to see dolphins in their natural environment. As I observe all this it reinforces my focus word for 2019 and that is “Connection”.

As many of you know, over the past few years I have taken a word and intention to journey the year with. Last year was my year of Extreme Self Care and upon reflection, I find it is an ongoing journey as I realise how challenging it is to put oneself first in the area of self-care! I used the word extreme because I personally felt I needed to take extreme action due to a long absence of any meaningful self-care. When reflecting with a wise friend we discussed the use of the word extreme. My friend felt it was a bit harsh and that we don’t need any extreme of anything, rather balance being more the order of things. I pondered this and came to the conclusion that at the time I needed to take extreme action in the area of self-care to make it meaningful after so long neglecting myself. Now that I have had a year of exploring that and what that means I have found a balance in what I need and how that might look as I embark on bringing that self-care into my daily life in 2019.

My self care begins this year with a renewed connection to silence. This means that I spend Monday mornings in silence so my morning walk or bike ride will be in silence by myself, followed by some study of sacred teachings. I had this practice well established a couple of years ago but it got eroded away until it vanished completely.

My self care will also be:

Regular connections with my family
Regular connections with nature
Regular connections with creative activity

Connection came up for me during last year and I had a feeling it would be my focus for 2019. If I needed any signs to confirm that feeling I got them many times with the most recent being at Christmas when my son gave me a book with the title “Connect”. That was it! The final confirmation that I was on track.

Connection, for me, is part of this self-care process as I realise how much I benefit from connection to nature, connection to my family, connection I feel when exploring spirituality. I felt the deepest connection recently to my exploration of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras as I studied for my final yoga therapy assignment, a sense of wonder and joy in profound learning that will carry on past my graduation this month.

I look forward to sharing with you the many aspects of connection in our lives as we continue the journey of exploring our deeper selves in our ongoing yoga practice.

Namaste

Sarah

Yoga for balancing your energy system: aligning into one’s own place

I like to think of my body as a temple that facilitates the full expression of my soul. It puts a whole new meaning on how I care for this body temple! As we continue our theme of extreme self care, what could be more important than honouring our own temple? In my last post, we explored the first chakra and the importance of grounding to establish your foundation within your body. I hope you felt the difference some intentional grounding can make to centre the base chakra. This week we will explore the second chakra, svadhisthana, and its meaning and importance as we work our way up the chakra system and learn how we can manage our energy to bring about transformation in ourselves and our lives. We’ll look at how this chakra can have a huge impact on aligning us with our values and vision.

Hopefully you have already started with my last post by deeply grounding and forming a firm foundation for this work to sit upon; if not, go back and read it here and do a little grounding work. Moving into the realm of the second chakra, we start to work with feeling and sensation and how harnessing this power of feeling can empower our values and vision.

Feeling into our emotions is vital so we can allow the releasing that takes place when we open up to unexpressed emotion that may be ready to let go. When we allow ourselves to feel we bring consciousness into our body. Feeling in the svadhistana chakra includes emotional and sensory experience. Sensation is like a gateway between the inner and outer worlds. As we allow our senses to come alive, we become fully present to feeling, sensing, hearing, smelling and we allow the outside experience to be felt on the inside. Through our second chakra, we enhance our ability to relate deeply in the moment.

Great yoga practice for our second chakra is hip opening movements. To start with, try some gentle figure-of-eight movements starting with one hip then swap over and go the other way. Circle your hips around one way then the other. Latin dance moves are great for this so maybe put on some Latin music, leave any inhibitions behind and move those hips, get that body swaying and transmute some energy. If you attend my classes you might remember our hip release sequence where we lie on our back with feet on the floor, interlace your fingers and place hands under your head. Then with feet hip width apart let your knees lower to one side then the other, repeat a few times then do the same again with feet and knees touching. Take hold of both knees and hug them into your chest, gently circle around and massage your sacrum into the mat. That should leave you feeling a little freer in the sacral region.

As we open to this centre we may discover pockets of stuck emotion ready to bubble up. When we are grounded in the base we find the courage to go deeper into our practice, stay a little longer, and let the amazing wisdom of our body/mind/heart to come more into balance. I encourage you to start to notice the sensations and feelings that may be there during your practice and when you notice something have a sense of wonder. Explore with your breath as you breathe into this feeling and breathe out of it, letting your breath transform this feeling and release it.

“Let the breath be the thread that weaves your mind and body together.” Rodney Yee

In the practice of extreme self care be kind to yourself. When you feel emotion bubbling up go with it, feel it, express it then allow yourself to rest. Give yourself the gift of yoga nidra, relaxation practice or restorative yoga that soothes your whole being.

Some other acts of self care may be:

walk barefoot on the beach and let your feet be washed by the salty sea
take a walk in the bush, breathe deeply and take in the freshness of nature
read something inspiring; you may have a book of quotes that inspire you or some spiritual reading that nourishes your soul
listen to music
light a candle and prepare a nourishing meal for yourself

A balanced second chakra will allow you to feel more balanced, less reactive, to come from a place of understanding and acceptance not only with yourself but when relating to others. Balance here will also allow a sense of flow in life and easeful creating; therefore, spending time to bring balance here will allow you to clear the way forward to align with your values and vision, raising your vibration to match your vision.

Happy exploring of your second chakra, let the feelings flow, let light flow in, move with ease and grace into more balance and harmony and see your life in more colour.

Namaste

Sarah

Yoga for balancing your energy system: entering the physical body

Balance in life is all about energy management. Your energy management.

As energy beings we are made of energy. Everything we interact with is energy, all of varying vibrations.

An example of a vision board

Last week I talked about values and vision. I’m working on my new vision board collecting pictures, words, photos and planning where I’m going to place them. I’m also working on bringing my vibration into alignment with my vision. That brings me to the issue of balancing my whole energy system, starting with my base chakra.

A chakra is an energy centre, a spinning vortex of subtle energy. In Sanskrit the meaning of ‘chakra’ translates to ‘wheel’. It is generally accepted that you have seven main chakras and many minor ones throughout the body. We are going to work with the seven major chakras over the next few weeks in this blog.

“A chakra is a chamber in the temple of the body that receives, assimilates, and transmits life force energy.” Anodea Judith

In yoga we refer to life force energy as prana. Prana can be found everywhere in varying levels of vibrancy. It’s in the sunlight, the air, the food you eat, and it’s in and affected by the interactions you have moment by moment with people, places, experiences and more.

Your chakras receive, assmilate and express prana all the time. They are like portals between the outer world you live in and your inner world connecting your body mind as they filter and assimilate from your environment. How well you know and manage your energy is dependent upon how well you know and manage your chakra system. Yoga gives you tools to open pathways and raise your awareness of what’s going on inside. Everyone has the capacity to develop this awareness.

“Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.” Eckhart Tolle

Mooladhara Chakra

We will start with Mooladhara, the base or root chakra, associated with the element of Earth and the colour of a rich, ruby red. When balanced this chakra provides support, stability, and a solid foundation to feel grounded and stable in life. When unbalanced or deficient we may feel scattered, ungrounded, flighty and or fearful. If this chakra is in excess we may feel heavy and weighed down. When Mooladhara is out of balance, it can affect all the other chakras.

How can your yoga practice support your base chakra? By connecting with your physical body. Your body is your vehicle from which to begin this journey. To be deeply rooted in your body temple is embodiment. You need to be comfortable in your skin, notice and learn how best you can serve your body.

In our Dru yoga tradition we use activation at the beginning of a class to bring your awareness into your physical body by shaking, twisting and stretching with full awareness and presence. This helps bring you more fully into your body and become aware of your body in the space around you. The root chakra element of Earth will help you connect and ground your body. This is why, if you are currently attending regular classes with me, you will notice that I guide you to check in with how you are feeling in your body, heart and mind. This helps to bring you into the present and be fully mindful.

The key to entering your body according to Anodea Judith (2016) is to embrace the first chakra element, which is Earth. This element represents everything solid – not only the dirt beneath your feet but all material substance, especially the flesh and bones of your body. The essential properties of the Earth element are gravity and solidity, and they make an important pair.

Here’s an example of this at work. If you wanted to jump you would first have to bend your knees and push down into the earth to enable you to spring upwards. The pushing down activates and energises your muscles and this energy then can fill your legs allowing you to rise upwards. So you see that your yoga practice can benefit greatly by being aware of and practicing this principal. All this is relevant to managing your energy because when you can generate and manage this energy you can fill your body and direct this prana where it needs to go to bring balance into your whole being.

Try practicing this in Tadasana (mountain pose), setting up a great foundation to begin your standing postures from.

Once you have aligned yourself into Tadasana start to push down into the earth as you breathe in, bending your knees slightly, then exhale and slowly push down through each leg. As you do this your legs will begin to straighten; ensure the knees do not lock as that will block the energy flow and prana you are creating. Repeat this, breathing fully and slowly with all your awareness on grounding and bringing that prana up into your legs and imagine it filling your base chakra. Explore in your own practice and observe.

Sarah doing the Tree pose

You can bring this practice into other postures like Vrksasana (tree pose, pictured left), Uttanasana (peace pose) and Setubandhasana (bridge pose). Try it with Adhomukha svanasana (dog pose) and also Bhujangasana (cobra pose) as you use the same principal with the arms and hands to push down.

I hope you enjoy exploring energising your base chakra and the self inquiry that comes with practicing at a deeper level.

Happy practicing,

Namaste

Sarah

Judith, Anodea. 2016. Chakra Yoga, 1st ed. Llewellyn Publications. USA.

Cultivating Creativity

This week I thought I would mention an idea that has come about from this year’s Spring Retreat.

We were blessed to have Kelly Fox on retreat this year who very kindly agreed to come along and not only nourish us with beautiful food but also share a session on creative writing. I like to include a creative session on my retreats as we are all born with creativity within us but often as we get older it isn’t expressed or we lose the ability to express ourselves creatively in the belief that we are not able or that it wouldn’t be good enough. “I can’t draw” or “I can’t write” are common excuses for not engaging.

Kelly’s session was on”Ekphrasis”, which is about harnessing the power of images put into words. We had a selection of the free postcards that you often find in local cafes and Kelly demonstrated how to look at an image and start to express what you see using all your senses. So you look at the card and jot down how it makes you feel, what you see, what you might hear, smell, taste and so on. Put these words onto a piece of paper and let your pen start writing with no expectations at all. It is a great way to start expressing that suits any level of writing experience you may or may not have. It is also a great practice to lead into journal writing, letting anything at all roll out onto the page.

As a result of that session we are about to start a project that you may like to join us for. We are challenging ourselves to write once a week about the photo of the week and the photo will be taken by one of the participants of the group. We will all take a turn at sharing a photo via our mobile phones then have a week to pen our response. We will all be writing about the same photo each week and I am excited to see the individual expressions that will emerge as we share via an email group.

If this is something you might like to join us in please email me with your intention and I will include you in the challenge which we are hoping to start within the next ten days.

We all have an innate artist within us that is really just waiting for the opportunity to express so come on, give this a go and join us for some fun and free expression as we create a space to share that is safe, non-judgemental, caring and compassionate.

Namaste from my inner artist who is excited about this creative project. I leave you with this quote to contemplate your participation.

“Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience.” Masaru Ibuka

Sarah

Applying the Three Keys

A couple of weeks ago, I reflected on being half way through my year of slow living. Slow living is about becoming more aware, more conscious of the wonder of the world around us. I identified three keys to unlocking the power of our consciousness. I then brought these to the most recent Dru Soul Spa.

You don’t need to nominate a year of slow living or raising consciousness. That’s an exercise – a valuable one, yes – but the real thing is to bring these ideas into your daily life.

I challenge you with committing to the three keys of slow living:

Commitment

See where commitment might serve you in daily life. What would it feel like to commit to ten minutes of silent sitting every day before your start your day? Or five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening before you go to bed?

Presence

Can you commit to practicing being more present firstly with yourself and secondly with the people you love in your life? When they are talking to you, stop whatever you were doing and be there, fully present, and hear them. Take time to listen to yourself too. How are you feeling? Can you acknowledge and release energies or thoughts that are no longer serving you?

Gratitude

Can you make a commitment to stop and acknowledge every day three things you are truly grateful for? Maybe keep a diary or a photo board, or write them on the fridge with a whiteboard marker.

Feel free to share your findings with me and meanwhile, be kind to yourself! It is never too late to start these practices. If you miss a day, start again with loving kindness, trusting that with your genuine intention, it will turn into a habit that serves you well.