Skip to main content

I fall completely into the present moment and notice my breath.


Uni and school have started for another term so the house is strangely quiet again and I am not quite sure what to do with myself. The Easter holidays where wonderful with lots of horse riding, great food, lovely visitor’s and fun days out. Shearing and sowing started on the farm so we gave a hand when needed and squeezed in bookwork and schoolwork in the little gaps in between.  

I miss the girls already; there is no loud music or the television on at the other end of the house. There is no one bouncing the Polocrosse ball or looking up a good recipe for lunch. I love how the girls want to stay on the farm during the holidays and as much as a week in Kiama appealed to me, its lovely that they enjoy the farm so much. It is certainly quiet when they go though. 

I take a break from looking at the month ahead or listening out for the washing machine to be finished and walk out onto the front verandah. The breeze is warm, clouds are building overhead and the air smells of gum leaves and green grass. Water is falling over the sides of the large fountain in the front garden; I fall completely into the present moment and notice my breath. I stretch and hear the birds. A ute comes up the driveway; it’s the man checking the electricity meter. The moment is lost, I return to the washing machine and the ringing phone but the next moment is ready for my return when I decide it’s important enough to visit.

Over the next month I would like to focus on visualization and affirmations. Louise Hay is the guru of optimistic thinking and in her recent book ‘Heart Thoughts, a Treasury of Inner Wisdom’ I am reminded that ‘Everything in your life - every experience, every relationship - is a mirror of the mental pattern that is going on inside of you,’ as Louise explains. So what is going on in my mind not only directly affects my health but the details in the lifestyle in which surrounds me. Healthy thoughts matter!

Coming into the present moment as much as possible is a great start. The part of us that worries about body image, past experiences or future circumstances in a negative way is really trying to be our friend. It is just a part of us that is trying to protect us from danger, embarrassment or failure. The problem is if these habits are allowed to take over, these fearful thoughts can leave us stuck and unable to move forward for fear of more going wrong.

Affirmations are statements that encourage us to live bravely with courage and determination.  We have to believe our dreams or something even greater than we can imagine for ourselves is coming true e.g. ‘Everyday things are getting better and better.’

Visualization is more like an image or scene we picture in detail. I could picture myself teaching meditation and mindfulness in front of a large group of like-minded friends. What can you imagine for yourself? Visualization is like looking into the future through the eyes of gratitude and wonder found in the present moment. It is free from doubt and anxiety. It is trusting, it is strong and clear, accepting and in tune with the abundant stream of opportunity all around us. 

If my mind is a ‘garden’ then mindfulness, visualization, affirmations and meditations are the fertilizers; the present moment is the water and a sense of trust or faith is the soil. And the Sun.. Well that is the life running through my veins. If what Louise says is true than the garden we grow within, becomes the harmony we can experience today.   














Comments

Post a Comment

I would love to hear your thoughts on the blogs you most enjoy.

Popular posts from this blog

Bribbaree Show, One direction, Boarding School and Hay Making. What a week!!

#Champion Bloom of the Show!! One Direction Concert Breakfast at Bronte Beach   Mowing Hay    Yo u wouldn’t believe what I have been doing in the past week. The local Bribbaree Show was on during the final weekend of the school holidays so our 2 youngest girls entered a few events on their horses and Howard joined in the team penning. I walked around with our eldest daughter, passing some very well groomed dogs on our way to the equestrian area. The show ground was filling with families and local women were dropping off cakes and sandwich fillings at the canteen, while the children convinced their parents to let them go on some rides. Howard entered a big red rose for me, that had opened in our garden a few days earlier and I am pleased to ‘announce’ that we won ‘Best Bloom of the Show’. What fun!! We had tea, sandwiches and cake for lunch, Howard skipping the fatty food this year. By late afternoon we gathered with everyone for a cool drink befor
Post a Comment
Read more

Can creativity be good for our health?

Hello, It has been a while between blogs but as my intention for 2023 is to write full time, I should manage a regular post once again. Writing has always been something I do early in the morning or in the tiny spaces in between all else, but this year I am putting creativity at the top of my priority list.  If you know me well, you would know I have always wanted to write a book. The sensible project would be to share what I have learnt over the past 12 years about health, yoga, breath work and mindfulness, to support the healing of trauma and rural challenges, but at the moment it is a farm based novel that is flowing well. Perhaps all of the above topics will turn up in the lives of my characters, we will see.  It is so liberating, giving myself permission to do what I love, here on the farm. Although on some level it also feels isolating to be here on my own each day at the desk. The opportunity to witness this landscape from this quiet space feels deeply healing and quite confront
1 comment
Read more

Discovering Meditation in small stages - 3 Audio Recordings attached.

10.11.23    Discovering Meditation   If I can define meditation in the simplest way, I would say meditation is ‘ being in the space in between our thoughts .’    Meditation is no ‘easy’ task when we have over 70 000 thoughts a day.  This is why I stepped todays class through a 3-stage process, in preparation for a brief meditation experience. Below is an explanation of each of these stages I taught and why these techniques are great preparation for potent stillness.    Stage 1.   It is more challenging to meditate with lots of tension in the body, so the first step is to let go of the extra holding that we may not even be aware of. This is done by noticing the body and slightly moving each area, or tensing and releasing each body part. (Starting at the feet, legs, spine and then the belly as we breathe. Open and close the hands, stretch the arms, lift and drop the shoulders, carefully stretch the neck and face.)   Stage 2.   Secondly, we can begin to be more aware of our breathing patt
Post a Comment
Read more