by Emma | Feb 19, 2020 | Blog, Spirituality
I love watching the Balinese Hindus place their puja in the mornings around their statues, homes and businesses – offering their gods gifts and welcoming their presence. There is something so beautiful in the humble act of ritual offering, in acknowledging a belief system that brings you peace.
Today is Galungan in Bali – the start of a celebration honouring ancestors passed. As we drove around today, we saw everyone in their best white clothes, bringing their puja to their temples. Everyone smiling and happy. Later they will spend time with their families.
Maybe religion is not for you, but maybe there is something you do which brings you peace – making your morning coffee, yoga….whatever your ritual, I invite you to bring your whole, joyful awareness to it
by Emma | Feb 18, 2020 | Blog, Resources
Breathe. Whatever is happening, however you feel, come back to your breath.
I’m being reminded these last few days how powerful our breath is: how much it controls our nervous system and how we can release the tension held in our bodies when we remember to use it consciously. The breath is one of the few systems in our body which is both conscious and unconscious – it happens all by itself, without any intervention from us, quietly, in the background of our lives, requiring no effort and, when we choose, we can consciously direct our breath to cool us down, warm us up, calm us, enliven us and heal us.
I am so grateful to the yogic teachings of pranayama for all the wisdom that has been shared with me about how powerful the breath is, and yet, at it’s most simple, it is equally as potent a healing tool.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Allow yourself a few moments of calm to turn inward and rest
by Emma | Feb 17, 2020 | Blog, Confidence, Resources
What would life look like if we truly chose to bring full awareness to our thoughts, feelings, actions and beliefs in each moment? How many unconscious patterns would we bring to light? How many opportunities would we have to choose again?
A few days ago I made a conscious decision that I’d been making less consciously for a while, and I voiced it, out loud. I decided that I would rather stare my limiting beliefs in the face, and choose differently, than continue to live parts of my life restricted and from a fearful mentality centred around lack and limitation. I decided I was tired of fear showing up every time I was in this particular situation.
Whilst this will require a LOT of showing up on my part, it will also lead to massive expansion as I look for the moments when my actions are informed by my visualising lack, instead of unlimited abundance, limitation instead of expansion, and fear and conditions instead of unconditional love.
There is nothing we can’t have, do, or be in this world, it is simply a case of choosing to see with love and abundance, and letting go of our judgements, opinions and limiting beliefs
by Emma | Feb 16, 2020 | Blog, Heart Words, Self-Worth
She made a decision, a long time ago, not to settle. She had lost, felt left behind, and been hurt too many times. She knew that the only way to change this was to choose differently for herself: to choose better.
And yet, she repeated the same patterns for many years to come. She choose again, chose better, lost herself, found herself, and chose again. As a pattern, it was tiring, and boring, and all together frustrating as hell, and she also knew that each time she realised she’d lost herself, she was a step closer to staying with herself longer the next time.
She chose again, she chose the challenge. She chose to stay, and work, because being afraid of life wasn’t something she was willing to accept any longer. So even if it was hard, even if there were tears, even if she had to course-correct another 100 times, she would continue to consciously choose better for herself: to choose love instead of fear
by Emma | Feb 15, 2020 | Blog, Relationships
Sometimes it’s not about trying to take a bulldozer to the walls to break them down, it’s about seeing the walls, and just sharing that with the other person.
Connecting with people isn’t about getting them to open up, or forcing a conversation that isn’t ready to be spoken, it’s about sharing how you feel – to speak the elephant in the room to life, and just say, I know there’s an elephant here. I’m not ready to talk about it, but it’s here and I feel it and it’s not comfortable.
Will that change anything? Maybe not. But maybe, knowing that you both see the elephant, might just create a common ground, and a sense of connection where there wasn’t before. Maybe, it gives us space to breathe, and take the time we need to feel safe
by Emma | Feb 13, 2020 | Blog, Confidence, Heart Words, Self-Worth, Spirituality
Maybe it was possible to find peace without contrast. Maybe you found peace IN the contrast?
Maybe, as she experienced the edges of her comfort zone, it was possible to discover her peace, even in the midst of the discomfort, in the situations and experiences that scared her, brought out her desire to defend herself, or brought on a weariness that made her want to run away to the comfort of a life less interesting, and all together less inspiring.
Maybe that was the goal: not to be happy with everything, but to be able to find her centre, her own source of peace and comfort, even when faced with the random human challenges of day to day life?
My journey in Bali has only just begun, and yet it’s already pushed so many of my buttons; physically, emotionally and mentally. I am grateful for more opportunities to clear the blocks to love, despite how it feels at the time.
I have gone to sleep the last couple of nights with scary flashbacks every time I close my eyes, and feeling the most unsettled I’ve felt in a long time. So is the journey. So is the practice. I haven’t done yoga since I got here and my body felt it when I finally made one of the longest paddle outs ever this morning on my new board with half the volume I’m used to. And. I did it.
I spend my time chanting sanskrit mantras in my head when I’m riding my scooter because it terrifies me, and remind myself that all is well, and everything is as it should be, for my highest good.
I catch the stories I tell myself and the judgements I make about any and every situation, relax my shoulders, and breathe.
I am so far from having it ‘figured out’, and yet, I still find myself with faith, trusting that I’m in the right place, being of the most service to my clients, and excited to start my ICF Coach training tonight thanks to the power of the internet, even in the remote corners of Bali. Whatever we learn individually, benefits the collective
