A week of Simply Being in Greece

6thto 13th May 2017

• 

A week of Mindfulness, Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and more.

Do you wish you had more time to rediscover the real you? Have you forgotten who you are or where you are going?

Stimulate your senses, Raise your energy levels and Remember who you are!

Join us for a week of Simply Being in Lesbos Greece next Spring!

Accomodation for up to 16 guests in the Villa Daphnis and Chloe, in spacious apartments in a traditionally restored building. Set in beautiful grounds. Located in Thermi on the historic East Coast of Lesbos.

For more details and how to book go to http://www.the-seeds-4-change.org.uk/events

 

Pause 4 Thought in Spain

Take time out for yourself and join us for a week of Mindfulness, Meditation and Life Coaching 14th to 21st May 2016 See http://www.the-seeds-4-change.org.uk for details.

 

#Mindful30 Review

As I am coming to the end of my 30 day mindfulness challenge set by Bev James of The Coaching Academy and Do it or Ditch it fame, I have been reflecting on what the practice has done for me.

How am I feeling? The answer to that is calmer and with more control of the day to day! I can honestly say that by adopting mindful practices throughout my day, I have been able to step back and look at what is going on. What is the cause of my heightened feelings or rising stress level? Naturally the answer to that is external forces, pressure of time, relying on other people sometimes which of course is out of our control but can be stressful.

One of the patterns I was able to see is that communication or rather lack of it is a big issue for me. As a born communicator, I find it frustrating when people don’t come back to me or don’t let me know what is happening as agreed. These have been the moments when I have benefited most from taking a break, going for a walk or just undertaking a breathing exercise to help me regain some perspective. I can honestly say that there has only been one day in the month when I wasn’t able to restore my calm although I was able to reflect on what I could perhaps have done differently the next day!

So thank you Bev for inviting me to take part in this challenge. I have enjoyed continuing with some of the practices I already follow such as keeping a daily journal, capturing my Gratitudes, taking mindful walks. I have found new practices to help me focus better very beneficial and most importantly, by setting time aside each day, I find that I am naturally incorporating mindfulness more into my daily routine and not just for my ‘Me time’.

I will definitely be continuing after the #Mindful30 days have come to an end!

Mindful Challenge Week 1

So I am coming to the end of an interesting week of taking the #mindful30 challenge set by Bev James.

I am an advocate of mindfulness but have found the discipline of setting time aside in my diary for specific activities very useful.

I have started each day with a ‘self check’ over my morning coffee. How am I feeling? What am I noticing about myself, my body, my mood etc? And including a breathing exercise to start my day with clarity and in a positive mood. It is surprising how even the more challenging days have seemed more manageable once I have done this. Invaluable.

I also tried some new techniques that perhaps I wouldn’t have done before. Focusing on a specific colour throughout the day was fun and helped ground me each time I noticed the colour. I chose orange as I associate it with Autumn and warmth and it is a ‘happy’ colour for me. I will definitely be doing this exercise again!

Looking forward to week 2!

#mindful30 Mindfulness Challenge

I have been using a variety of mindful exercises for some time and so when Bev James of ‘Do it or Ditch it’ fame, invited me to take part in her 30 day mindful challenge, I jumped at the chance. It will give me the motivation to practice mindfulness on a daily basis and the opportunity to try a variety of yet more techniques.

I already keep a journal daily and capture my Gratitudes on paper regularly. I have also been introduced to the joy of mindful colouring through a wonderful gift from a thoughtful friend. I also enjoy mindful walking and meditation though not often enough! Having to keep a diary of my practice and even more importantly set aside time for mindfulness will give me a renewed focus to be even more mindful and in the present.

I find the following simple but effective

S-Stop …do nothing

T-Take a breath and relax

O-Observe…what am I thinking or feeling? How am I reacting? Is there a pattern here?

P-Proceed…when I am calm and have gathered my thoughts to respond

I am looking forward to the next thirty days. Thank you Bev James

Pause for Thought

How often in our daily lives do we make time to stop and think, allow ourselves to simply be or just to take time out? Many of you will, I am sure, answer ‘not often enough’.

Let’s pause for a moment to examine whether this is truly important.

We live in an age of instant messaging, where many of us are on call 24 hours a day- even when we are supposed to be having a holiday from work or getting away from it all. The temptation to cheat and keep that phone or laptop on is too great for many people to resist.

We can be distracted regularly from what we are doing by the constant ‘ping’ of mail, which can often be trivial or perhaps a sales message that is actually irrelevant to us. Why is this? What are we afraid of missing? Or is it perhaps a form of distraction from thinking about what is truly important in our lives?

When did taking time out become a luxury and for some even be considered an indulgence?

Being Mindful or ‘present in the now’ has been shown to help people work more effectively and creatively, be calmer, enhance wellbeing and the ability to make space for the things that bring joy to our lives.

There is a body of growing evidence to show that benefits have been experienced in health, sports performance and social and professional competence. So how can we all be mindful if there are so many benefits?

One of the beauties of mindfulness is its simplicity. In essence it means attending to being present in the moment – a shift from doing to being. Being simple does not mean however that it is easy!

Try this simple experiment: for one moment, close your eyes and focus only on the flow of your breathing. Most people report that their mind wanders after a few seconds as our minds are used to being busy- planning, remembering, dreaming etc. However, if we do remember to bring our attention back to our breathing we can experience reconnecting with the present moment and gradually coaxing our brain to relax into a more peaceful state.

By taking 10-15 minutes out of our day to be mindful and pause for thought we can feel more relaxed and reflective and increase our ability to focus on what is truly important –even for those few moments in our busy schedule. Choose somewhere that you won’t be disturbed. Better still go outside into the sounds of nature if possible. If that isn’t possible really focus on an activity – ask how your body is feeling? If you are eating or drinking, focus on the tastes, colours and textures of the food.

If you can’t make 15 minutes in your schedule – take 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes before you go to bed, to check in with how you feel.

Over time the experience becomes easier and the practice becomes second nature. All of us can benefit from the effects of taking time out whether physically, mentally or spiritually. Why don’t you give it a try today?