Finding Me

Finding Me

On the commencement of 2018, I made a New Year’s resolution, I have tried them before and some I stuck to and some I did not. However, this one was different. The pact I made to myself was to spend 2018 finding me, the real me, the authentic me and see how the way I live my life is in true alignment to this. I started the journey with key questions: Who is the authentic me? Do I know the authentic me? Am I living as the authentic me? You see it occurred to me, I have spent my life acquiring skills (education), applying skills (job) and gaining more skills (moving up the career ladder). On a personal level I am a girlfriend, daughter, sister, auntie, friend, cousin, niece, granddaughter and the list could go. Now I am roles. So for most of my life I fluctuate from role to skill and back again. Knowing yourself The first thing I found out is I know myself really well in the ‘doing’ mode of life. I am determined, ambitious, passionate about what I do, extremely organised, reliable, friendly, speak my mind, get things done – not waiting around boom they are done! I also know myself really well with the many different facets of roles I play. Whatever role I am in I have these basic ingredients: empathetic, caring, nurturing, I will give you my time (hours of it), I have the ability to say the right thing at the right time and I am very honest with it. What I found out is I didn’t know myself that well...
The Emotional Carousel

The Emotional Carousel

The Emotional Carousel that encompasses the inner emotional turmoil gathered through the journey of life. It lays in the wake of our existence, sometimes gentle vibrating, sometimes engulfs every essence of you and sometimes it feels like it has vacated somewhere new as you feel emotional freedom from the pain and suffering life has endured. The natural duality of life will send you storms and sunshine as you meander your way through the unknown path of life. There is power, real inner power being able to see the sunshine through the darkest of storms. This is not easy and may not come as you are experiencing the storm, it can come if you let your mind drift there after the turbulence as you give yourself permission to view things from different perspectives. What is the Emotional Carousel? So, what is this Emotional Carousel? It is full of life lessons, it is full of time that has past, it is you in the here and now, it is transparent as well as a solid feeling force when the control and balance is tilted away from your central core, your central being. It is your blueprint full of all the aspects that makes you – you, the past you, the present you and the future you. It is full of the all the cycles you have had, and it has the ability for ever changing if you let the Carousel flow. It can have momentum and move you along or it can act like an anchor keeping you stationary. This stationary position felt over time, will feel like being stuck because...
Self-Care The Antidote For Teachers’ Wellbeing!

Self-Care The Antidote For Teachers’ Wellbeing!

In the journey of life with the trials and tribulations it is so easy to focus on the heaviness of life, which seems to accumulate momentum as we travel our path. These burdens we carry, like lead weight boulders and the more we focus on them the more they travel with us. It is not that they should be ignored as they have influenced us, and they usually come with valuable life lessons, but it is about not letting them help us ignore those moments that brings us joy, peace and love. The need to rest and play With the busy, rushing and fast paced life styles that is so easy to adopt in this modern world, the need for rest and play seems to be an afterthought. As we activate our daily lives in the doing mode, we build tension and stress levels which slowly over time impact on our emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. As the demands for Ofsted ready, lesson plans, resources, tracking, assessment, professional development, differentiation, intervention… the work pile increases, the time decreases, and your mind struggles to shut of at the end of the day because there is still so much left to do. We focus on the scarcity – what’s not done, who hasn’t reach their progress level, which student caused a negative impact on the class, who’s in detention and the list goes on. The draining effect on energy levels while focusing on the negativity reduces creativity and expansion. This does need to be acknowledged but it is important to access the positive outcomes to maintain an equilibrium. The need for...
Compassion Is…

Compassion Is…

The vibration of laughter, the experience of joy, the most authentic part of being a human being. A lightness, a soft glow and an expanding energy field which helps us attract our desires, hopes and dreams. It makes you feel like flying, being free and a peacefulness in your heart. It is light and has the ability to connect souls, a community energy where we are all at one. It is where our greatest confidence lies, the strongest part of our self-worth and the deepest part of our self-love. It provides warmth, the ability to have clear judgement and allows you not to take life too seriously. It is about having personal responsibility but understanding how fun can be part of the journey. It is the happiest part of us. Under the winds of time, it offers multidimensional pathways for life. It’s glimmer of hope, faith and belief which all sit in a transparent vibration for all of us to touch upon. It is a constant stream of support which can be clearly seen in the depths of suffering, or by the most awakened souls. It journeys, meander through highs and lows offering threads of understanding to the lives we live. It draws on the mysteries of life – yet there is no secret code, just a trust in something greater than the human self. Something that connects us all but at the same time allows us to be individual with our unique attributes. All of us a puzzle part in a divine plan. All connected through the flow of compassion. What is compassion? Compassion is the key to...
Life in the Positive Lane

Life in the Positive Lane

When we face adversity, I find I get to know myself better. This is because it shines the light onto the areas that cement me in my fears. However, I find these challenging times, which storms my world from peace, is enough on its own, without the well of despair from pastures long ago to add to the turmoil. Emotional turmoil You see, during these times, we not only deal with the presenting difficulty, we also deal with the emotional turmoil and beliefs which kindly laid doormat when things feel better. The positivity doesn’t seem to give them air to breathe. However when fear sets in, they come out to play. They create a momentum of chaos, a heaviness which fogs over our clarity. It acts as an internal battle, which has no place for you to escape if you sit with them too long. For some it is a temporary phase and the light and calm waters do eventually come in. As I sit writing this, I wonder what it would be like to instead of having a negative bias, what would it be like if in these times of woe, instead of accompanying it with more stress, worry, concern, despair. What would it feel like to naturally link it with compassion more easily? As this does not come naturally to me. Then I think, as a teacher this shift in mind-set, which does not happen overnight would aid so many of my students in so many ways. Positive changes in teaching So, for me the curriculum needs to add more room for wellbeing, mindfulness practice, self-compassion to...
Be The Change

Be The Change

A paradigm shift of consciousness on all levels seems to be gathering momentum. A shift from old habitual negative patterns. Those restrictive patterns that fear bound thinking, emotions and behaviours bring about, to a new positive pattern of adventure, joy and authenticity. The view of hard work, sacrificing and working your way up the ladder seems to be being replaced with the need for flow, living in balance and variety. Transformations As I sit contemplating the interactions and conversations I have had of late, everyone I know seems to be going through some significant life changing event, which is leading to a transformation of the self, family dynamics, career direction and so forth. Like a snake shedding its skin the comfort zone is shedding itself. Even though we are all experiencing different changes, the similarity is the transformation at a core level of existence. It is as if life has taken over the direction to these unknown territories. It is speaking from deep within, navigating us onto a more authentic path, living a more truer self and encompassing a higher sense of purpose. The positive self It feels like it’s the dawn of the positive self. Where we are exploring ourselves, relationships and organisations from the view of our ideals, strengths and appreciation. We know from hearing headlines of high levels of depression, anxiety and mental illness. It is like the suffering of the world is crying out for the essence of positive change in any format it can, as we have a deep sense of knowing that greater things can be done. A shift is happening and has...