This blog is a love story for Spring. All the reasons to love it and all the inspiration you need to enjoy it! Sorry Summer, you’ll have to wait! Just like life, the season’s have their high’s and low’s. They have their own contribution to offer to this experience of life. Now is the turn of that beautiful season we call Spring.
This is something that I considered many, and I mean MANY, years ago but always had a crazy busy mind that just refused to be still. I wish that someone had handed me a list of top 10 meditation tips for beginners back then! But then something clicked in me. I started down this path of self-discovery and self-development which led me very organically to meditation. After practicing meditation for over 2 year I do not consider myself an expert on the subject however I do believe wholeheartedly in the benefits. It has become so important to me that I feel cheated if I go a day without it. The sense of calm and clarity that I get from meditation cannot be achieved through any other methods that I have tried.
I got a bit carried away looking for gift ideas on Etsy! I thought I’d share all the great ideas I came across, even although my birthday is now long gone and I’m still exploring Etsy! Lol! If you are looking for gifts for the mindful in your life, take a look at these beauties!
There is so much, this post could get a bit long, so I’ve limited it to a select few (with a link to keep scrolling to your hearts desire, at the bottom)
It’s time to give the humble hobby some recognition. As I learn and growth through this Personal Growth journey I am on I uncover hidden gems like ‘the hobby!’ An overlooked and underappreciated contributor to our overall happiness! Cynical? Hear me out.
Can we guarantee a good day? No. But, we can give ourselves pretty good odds! Setting yourself up for a good day will look different for everyone, but this is what works for me, and one thing I know for sure is it all starts with your mindset.
I believe in the incredible power of journaling to change our mindset, our point of view and our sense of self. That’s a big statement, I know, but I really believe it. I’d like to talk about how journaling can be a path to self-discovery. Many years ago I was gifted a book called The Artists Way by Julia Cameron and this book really got me started in a big way in journaling. It is an inspiring read, dedicated to the artist that is within all of us and it is designed to get those creative juices flowing.
The book isn’t only about the benefits of journaling. She also talks about other ways to connect to ourselves, like what she calls ‘Artist Dates’. That is where you take time out with yourself to explore something that inspires you, like an art gallery or an indie movie for example. But, for me, the journaling stuck.
Journaling is not a new thing, it usually begins as a childhood ‘Dear Diary’ but it can evolve into an extension of ourselves, a bosom buddy of sorts. It can be there for us when nobody else can. It can store secrets and feelings too. For me, though, the essence of the journal is the coming home to yourself. And, it is this that gives journaling its power as a path to self-discovery. You can break down all walls and take down all masks with a journal. You can discover things about yourself and help yourself grow, heal or mourn. A journal is a best friend and a keeper of secrets.
We all go through our internal struggles with ourselves. Our self-doubt. Questioning everything that we do. Whether we are good enough, pretty enough, brave enough. We are in a constant state of ‘talking ourselves down from a ledge’. Trying, from a place of concern for our own best interest, to keep ourselves ‘safe’.
But, I think it’s time we cut the crap and start realizing that we are doing more to limit ourselves than we are to protect ourselves. It’s time to listen to our own self talk and realize its impact on us. Start realizing that our ‘protective approach’ is more of a barrier than a buffer.
What do we honestly believe, at our core, will happen if we put ourselves out there into the world? Is there anything so terrible that we can justify keeping ourselves small? Tight in our safe little cocoon, because we are afraid. If you have been reading my blogs and following along with me on my journey you will know that this is a process that I am working through daily.
I am trying to understand what has steered me through my life up until now (I am slowly realizing it was mainly fear). What can I learn from this and where do I go from here? What I have realized is that instead of chastising myself for every small doubt or complaint, it is time to look back at how far I have come and offer some kind and encouraging words to myself instead.
We are so hard on ourselves, no wonder we struggle to make a change. It is almost impossible to picture yourself succeeding at something if you cannot practice positive self-talk. If you were working for a boss and they spoke to you the way that you speak to yourself in your head, you would be mortified! But, somehow, we tolerate that nasty voice that keeps putting us down.
There are two sides to this. Firstly, that voice is actually NOT you! It is years and years of listening to society’s views on how things should be. The good news about that is it is within your power to STOP listening RIGHT NOW! Don’t believe a word they say! You are capable!
There is a vast difference between being alone and being lonely. Loneliness is a feeling of separateness, a feeling of emptiness that can be overwhelming. Being alone doesn’t need to feel like this. In fact, being alone should be a time to reconnect with yourself and reassess your priorities. A time spent entirely on your own life questions, goals and aspirations.
I love spending time alone because I find life can become too ‘noisy’. There is so much going on around us every day, in society and in our own homes, that we sometimes need to take a break from it all. We forget that we are more than the 9-5. More than the School Lunch Prep and the Birthday Party planning. Spending time alone gives us an opportunity to remember our own wants and needs. It’s self-care at it’s finest.
For many people being alone brings on negative emotions. When this happens you need to ask yourself why that is. Why are you afraid to be alone with your own thoughts and emotions? To me this is an indicator that there is something that you need to work through. There is a reason why you don’t want to hear the thoughts in your own head.
Let me ask you this. Do you find your own self talk often turns towards the negative? Do you rip yourself to pieces because of the way you spoke to your in-laws or the fact that you just can’t seem to give up the junkfood? Or, are there things from your past that are troubling you, that flood into your consciousness when you are left alone? Does time alone leave you thinking about all the reasons your life isn’t what it should be? Do you come down hard for all your shortcomings?
For me there are layers of self-care that make up a good day. On the top of the list of self-care ideas is sleep. It all starts with good sleep! So, a good bed and a good headspace is your foundation for your day. If you wake up feeling grumpy you’re off to a bad start. If you wake up feeling rested you’re doing well. So, make sure you’ve ticked all your sleepy time boxes the night before. Have a relaxing shower before bed, make sure you’re snug and comfy, wear your favourite pj’s and don’t drink caffeine too close to bedtime. For me these are the best tips for getting a good nights sleep, and staying sane, because without sleep we are basically useless!
Mindset can make or break a day. I like to ease into my day. It starts me off in the right mindset. Hitting snooze repeatedly and dragging yourself out of bed is a sure fire way to a bad day. Give yourself time to ease into it. Take the time to sit in bed with a cup of coffee and a good book. If you have kids, this is the best time to just be quiet. I love this time, when all I can hear is the birds singing outside. It is peaceful and my quality ‘me time’.
The next thing I do is set my intentions for the day. This follows on from choosing your mindset. Setting your intention is like making a decision to be happy. It’s a conscious choice when you wake up in the morning to say thank you for being alive and well. Wriggle your toes, stretch out your limbs and remember the blessing of a new day. Set an intention to have a productive day, a joyful day, a healthy day etc. When you step into your day making a conscious choice you are much more likely to achieve your goal.
Next, let’s look at the resources and products that I use to set up my self-care routine.
Let me start with the process of soul searching that I found myself going on as I started the process of finding my why. You would think your why would be obvious, and in some ways it is, but it requires a deeper level of questioning. A ‘big picture’ kind of thinking. On the surface my why is easy, it is my family! Family time, as much as I can get of it! When you think about the shortness of this life experience and the way we spend our time, the percentage of it that is spent with the one’s we love is a sad statistic indeed! So, yes, a big chunk of my why is family. After all, they are the ones we do it all for! They are the ones that matter at the end of the day. They absolutely should be our why!
But, my why also goes deeper than this. It goes to the core of who I am and what matters to me as a spiritual being. One of the main reasons that I started this blog, was because I believe that many of us feel misunderstood and alone. We have a message in our hearts that we want heard. Or, we don’t quite know what our message is but we know it’s there waiting to be uncovered. We feel like we are walking this path alone.
I wanted to share my personal experiences and lessons on personal growth, to be there to let you know you are not alone. To walk you through the questions and struggles and help you realize that every step forward, no matter how small, is growth!
I believe that when we have a nagging inside us, a voice that needs to be heard, that we need to sit up and pay attention, that it’s time for a change. It’s time to reassess our priorities and where our heart is at. One of the greatest tragedies in this life is the masses of us that are not honest with ourselves and our true identities. That haven’t learnt to understand their Why.
