Hello Everyone,
As we start 2025 remember this:
‘Life gets sweeter when we realise the magic behind childhood wasn’t because we were children, it was because we were present.’
I hope your Christmas and New Year brought joyous and peaceful moments, and as we go onwards, you feel a sense of moving forward with curiosity and insight, a compassionate and tender awareness of discord and discomfort, and a willingness to befriend with, soft strength, whatever arises . The following poem really resonates with me on all these points.
One Life
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember, time waits for no-one.
Alfred D’Souza
FREE COURSE : Find Calm in Nature
I am busy putting together the next FREE Find Calm in Nature Course at Tewksbury Nature Reserve. It’s almost here! I will be leading 4 sessions, starting Friday January 10th, 10.30-12.30. These sessions are open to EVERYONE and are particularly helpful if life feels anxious, overwhelming and stressful. The research shows how being in nature cultivates and grows better well-being, activates the soothing parasympathetic nervous system, and encourages the building and embedding of helpful skills to manage life. Please contact the number and email on the poster to book your space, and if you think someone would find this helpful, please do share the details; thank you.
or Call 07398634438
Using S.T.O.P. when things are stressful
S. Stop, step back when feeling anxious/caught up.
T. Take a slow breath in, and let the breath sigh all the way out. Repeat several times.
O. Observe your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, soften into them and let them go.
P. Proceed with this mindful awareness into the next moments.
Mindful Events:
Monthly On-Line Mindful Drop In
Wednesday 15th January 7-8pm:.
Just £10 per session or £35 for four booked sessions.
Join me on-line for our regular checking in, the opportunity to pause and connect to the stillness and ripples of our life with mindful meditations and approaches. It is a chance to step into how we are, giving kind focus and acceptance to whatever is unfolding with our friendly and supportive online community. Drop me a message and I will send you the details.
DAY RETREAT 2nd March 2025
I am looking forward to sharing a Retreat Day at Hellens Manor, Much Marcle. This day embraces the sense of being with the unfolding moments of the day with kindly interest and compassionate enquiry. We will share meditations of stillness, movement and attune to the quiet, usually unheard, innate connections within us and find the still places of nourishment and renewal. With time to spend in the abundant spring gardens and grounds of Hellens, a delicious lunch, tea and cake, this is a day for you, to repair and reset, and restore and invigorate. Book your place now.
I am delighted to be part of the WOW Day, Women of Wellbeing, celebrating Womens Day, on 7th March, collaborating with Soesan of Edan Sounds and others, offering a day of celebration, connection and restoration. Join us for a special day - Book HERE!
Research: on the benefits of just 10 minutes a day of mindful practice.
“This study highlights that even short, daily practices of mindfulness can offer benefits, making it a simple yet powerful tool for enhancing mental health.”
Click here to follow the link to a summary of the research:
Reflections on 2024
It has been a busy year ‘being mindful’ and on reflecting, I have found my most illuminating moments have been about making time to slow down, be in my ‘real life’, pause into a moment even when my thoughts are insistent, telling me, ‘just keep going’. By practising conscious pause moments, developing helpful responsive habits to what the moment holds, I am more aware of this way to be, when difficult, stressful and anxious moments arise, and my reactive habits want to kick in. Like any new approach, practising new ways when the pressure is not acute, develops a more attuned and helpful response habit when the ‘big’ adrenaline and cortisol situations arise. In this way, I am learning to change my relationship to how life is, to what I cannot change, rather than endlessly fight with what I don’t like about my life. Cultivating this awareness allows me to be more open to all the smallest of pleasures and joys which creates a balance and steady awareness within the often busy pace of life. This is why I so often post about the immediate moments of being in the senses: the wonder of a sunset, the call of a bird, the touch of my cats fur, the fragrance of pine trees, the exquisite taste of the first sip of the tea.
I support these mindful pause moments of daily life with regular meditations that reflect the concepts of mindfulness, being open, aware, non-judgementally in the present moment, which, in turn, help build the practice of being mindful in all aspects of life.
When I share workshops and all-day practices, I love leading the longer meditation practices that develop and embed the mindful insights and skills in safe and healing spaces. In 2024, I enjoyed my collaborations with Yoga teacher Clare Johnson, Massage Therapist Martina Mules, and Soesan of Edan Sounds in day-long sessions, sharing gentle movement, stillness of mind and body, sound therapy, healing self-massage, and the exploration of what Nature offers.
Sharing a Mindfulness in Nature Course in Tewksbury Nature Reserve was a magical experience. Exploring the wetlands, seeing the silent power and tenacity of the elegant herons, the majesty of the slow moving swans, playful, swooping egrets, the emerging spring greenery over the course sessions, and the water in its ebb and flow, and observing the guardians of the river, the willows all along the banks, continued to bow and weave in the breezy sunlight. We explored how we innately connect to Natures elements of air, fire, earth and water and how they are reflected all around us, whether in a woodland, garden or growing plants in pots on a windowsill. Our connections provide spaces for soothing and revitalising pauses, so anxiety and stress ease and reduce, and increases the moments of joy, pleasure and contentment, so necessary to bring balance into our life.
This life journey has so many unknowns which can often cause a quivering of my being, a trembling of my resolve, and I am reminded that the fear of future, anticipatory challenges that stifle and stultify my pathway, is almost the same as of feeling the emotion of excitement. So, I remember that my mind may say, ‘it’s too risky, you will fail, its too ridiculous,’ I ask myself, ‘but what if it doesn’t?‘ Every time I hear that soft question, a thrill of curiosity and openness is awoken and I remind myself, ‘I only need to go forward into the next moment, then the next, steadying into each breath, softening into each pleasure or disquiet.’
So as I look into 2025, I feel my feet on the ground, I feel the air on my skin, I notice the warmth of my hands and the colours and sounds all around me, and feel my heart intention of kindly awareness to all that is unfolding. With events and workshops spread throughout the year, I hope you will join me to explore the tender strengths, insights and skills of being mindful.
If you have any questions, please do let me know.
With kindest everythings and wishing you joyful spaces and moments for 2025,
Gail
YOU TUBE
I recorded a few meditation videos during Covid and put them onto a YouTube channel. Their content can be helpful now as it was then, so have a look if you would like to follow guided practices. I hope to add to them soon Follow the link HERE!
What I Offer...
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Mindfulness crept into my life about 12 years ago after I completed a Mindfulness Based Reduction for Stress Course [MBSR], offered by my workplace, a Hospice. The teachings touched a need in me to want to experience life in a calmer and more enjoyable way; to find ways to be present helpfully to the way my life was unfolding rather than engage in battling with the automatic behaviours with repeating conflicting thoughts and emotions, with all the attendant emotional and physical fallouts.
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