What does success mean to you? Many years ago, a friend announced she was envious of an ex-boyfriend. ‘He’s just happy with his lot in life’ she said. He lived a few minutes away from his parents in the town where he grew up, with no desire to leave. He was doing the same job he’d done all his life, which allowed him to turn his hobby into a successful side hustle. All without the pressure of trying to make…
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” — Confucius The Lake District was the first place my husband and I went on holiday together. We stayed in a small log cabin in Ulverston, so it wasn’t technically the Lake District, but it was all we could afford. By night, we snuggled up underneath a blanket in front of the TV to keep warm. By day, we drove up to Ambleside, taking our first tentative steps into the world of…
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” — Anne Frank The benefits of journalling are huge, and it’s a practice I hold close to my heart. When feeling out of alignment, disconnected, overwhelmed or stressed, journalling provides a way to connect with whatever is happening inside us. If we have a problem or are struggling with our emotions, journalling can help us clarify why we feel the way we do. Last year,…
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” — Eckhart Tolle Practising gratitude has seen a surge in popularity over the last few years. It makes sense that being grateful for what we have, rather than concentrating on the negative, is better for our mental health, but it’s not always easy. Being stuck in a job you hate, arguing with your partner or dealing with loss and grief can make it hard to feel…
Listening effectively is a skill. It sounds so easy. We do it every day – or so we think. As it happens, really listening is more challenging than it appears. Most times, we’re otherwise engaged, holding onto our phones for dear life while simultaneously scrolling through Instagram. We seem to think that being in the same room or on the other end of the line is enough. At other times, we’re too busy thinking about how to turn the conversation…
Living in alignment with our values helps us make decisions based on what’s important to us. Along with mindfulness and wellness, the phrases ‘be authentic’ and ‘living in alignment’ have become buzzwords over the last few years. We frequently see phrases on social media, often on a brightly coloured Instagram feed promoting positivity about ‘being your best self’ or simply, ‘live in alignment!’. What they fail to tell us is that to live in alignment, we first need to understand…
It’s official, we’re hurtling towards the end of spring. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m only just waking up after winter. I feel like life is moving at lightning speed, and my word for the year is now just a blur. Each year my seasonal affective disorder (SAD) gets worse and last winter, I really struggled. All I wanted to do was hunker down, snuggle under a blanket, and crank the heating up. But the rise in energy…
What are boundaries? If you look up boundary in the dictionary, you will find several definitions. Boundary: A real or imagined line that marks the edge or limit of something. The limit of a subject or principle. The limit of what someone considers to be acceptable behaviour. Until I started training to become a counsellor, I hadn’t given much thought to boundaries. But I soon learnt they are an important part of the counselling process. Within a therapeutic relationship, boundaries are…
Remember to celebrate the small wins. I’d been so caught up in the bigger picture of building my photography business, I’d forgotten about the smaller goals – also known as micro-goals. I sat there in silence, replaying the words over and over in my head. Why did I need somebody to tell me this? I spent seven years running my own photography/videography business and invested in many courses to help me learn the skills I needed to make it a…