Are you out of alignment?

Are you out of alignment?

Are you out of alignment?

After a few niggles resurfaced recently I booked myself in for a physio MOT.

I was expecting to have a few small adjustments.

A once over to iron out any little things before they became bigger. A self care top up.

It turns out my ribs were completely out of alignment!

For a long time I’d been walking around slightly twisted to the left. Compressed on one side, with my poor neck constantly stretched to try and keep my eyes level.

Yikes.

And yet it hadn’t felt ALL wrong.

It hadn’t felt completely right either, but my body had adapted and was doing a brilliant job of keeping me upright.

Until it got too tired and started to send out some signals.

How do you know when it’s time to take a break?

How do you know when it’s time to take a break?

How do you know when it’s time to take a break?

It can be so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of life.

To keep going, even when we feel exhausted.

To bounce from high to low with the support of sugar and caffeine.

To not even realise that we need to stop until it’s too late.

The topic of how to manage energy - both physical and mental - has come up a lot in coaching recently.

How to be productive without burning out?

How to know when to push on and when to take a break?

And how to do so in a sustainable way?

It’s a topic that’s close to my heart.

Which books have changed your life?

Which books have changed your life?

I love to read.

It’s one of my favourite ways to spend time and I am often found curled up in a favourite chair, book on knee, mug in hand. Not to be disturbed :-)

It’s also one of my favourite ways to learn. To absorb ideas and to filter them through my brain. What really stands out? What brings a different perspective or opens up a new way of seeing something? What do I know now that I didn’t before?

Some books have changed my thinking and perspective in an instant - Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott comes to mind, recommended to me by my first coach well over a decade ago.

Some have had a slower burn.

Some I read once and some are well thumbed and underlined in a million places.

It’s these books - the ones that have changed my life - that I love to share.

Who are your energisers?

Who are your energisers?

Who are your energisers?

The people who you love to spend time with?

The friends who leave you feeling lit up after being in their company?

Where there is a natural reciprocity - of sharing and listening, of give and take, of uplifting and supporting?

I’m just back from a walk and talk with coffee in the park with someone who I feel this way about.

She’s a relatively new friend, from a short overlap in a volunteering role, and we meet up every few months.

We spent the whole time chatting away about everything and anything. I feel happy and connected and energised, and ready to take that into the rest of my day.

What a gift.

Have you met your Future Self?

Have you met your Future Self?

Have you met your future self?

The older, wiser version of you?

The you that’s waiting to emerge over time?

The calm, clear, quiet voice of wisdom we all have within us?

In a powerful yoga session, the brilliant Roisin spoke about making choices that day that our future selves would be grateful for.

They were words that snagged in my brain - and those of other people in the class too. Lots of us gathered round her at the end to ask her to repeat the words.

They were wise words.

And useful ones too.

It’s why visualising our future self - who we will become in 20 years or more - can be a powerful thing to do.

How do you love to learn?

How do you love to learn?

I’ve realised recently that I love to learn by listening.

Preferably outside and walking as I do it.

It’s a rather astonishing discovery!

For years I have sat down at a desk and taken notes as I absorbed information. Lots of notes.

I’ve also read a lot, and taken a lot of notes.

And it’s worked in lots of ways. It’s got me here.

But now it’s my least favourite way to take on information and get insight.

So what’s changed?

Have I changed?

Or have I been able to test out different ways of learning and found ones that work better?

#ThisLittleGirlIsMe

#ThisLittleGirlIsMe

This little girl is about to head off for her first day at school. She loves to read and learn, and so it’s exciting - as well as a bit overwhelming - to be starting something new.

At school she will work hard, follow all the things that interest her, and have some brilliant teachers who bring out the best in her.

She will also learn how to be a perfect pupil.

To learn that there’s always a right answer, and that it’s important to get that answer right.

A big part of her identity will be being the clever one who always does well and rarely makes a mistake – which will come with some pros and a good few cons.

 

This little girl is me, and the advice I would give my younger self is that it’s OK not to be a perfect pupil.

Do you need to speed up or slow down?

Do you need to speed up or slow down?

When I’m coaching with someone - and when I’m being coached - there can often be a sense of stuckness.

We know what we need to do to move forward.

To get closer to where we want to be.

And yet, we don’t do it.

Sometimes we can be stuck with our foot on the brake, teetering on the edge of a step. Worried about making a mistake or going in the wrong direction.

Sometimes we can be stuck with our foot on the accelerator, not daring to slow down because we think we don’t have time. Scared that if we stop things could fall apart.

In the worst cases, it’s both. Pulling us in different directions and adding to the overwhelm.

It’s so easy to find ourselves here. Stuck between speeding up, and slowing down.

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

I never thought I’d be a person who wrote Morning Pages.

I had always heard about people doing them and thought it wasn’t for me. 3 pages of A4 felt an awful lot, and I didn’t think I had the time.

Even after I bought The Artist’s Way it sat on my bookshelf for at least 2 years. Committing to the whole 12 week plan felt overwhelming.

And yet….

Since September 22nd last year, I’ve filled 7 note books with my (pretty illegible) handwriting.

Every morning for the last 369 days I’ve woken up, opened my notebook, and emptied my head.

Sometimes it’s simply a list of things I’m doing that day, and what I want to remember.

Sometimes there’s a thought in my head that needs to come up.

Some days I’m full of inspiration, other days I write about what the dog is doing at the end of the bed.

And now I can’t imagine missing a day.

How do you feel about changing your mind?

How do you feel about changing your mind?

How do you feel about changing your mind?

About unravelling a decision.

About saying no to something that felt like a wholehearted yes when you started? Or vice versa?

It can be hard to reverse a decision that once felt good.

And yet it’s really important to pay attention to where you are now, rather than where you were when you started.

Because circumstances can change. And so can you.