There are lots of messages out there about how to make the most of the pandemic-induced lockdown. You might feel pressure to do all those things you’ve always wished you had time to do…and then berate yourself for not doing them. Continue reading
If you’ve never tried choosing a theme for your year instead of making resolutions, I can highly recommend it. I’ve been doing this for several years now. I love how:
a) it sets a general positive intention (rather than resolutions which are often about restricting something or punishing ourselves in some way); and
b) it can shape your year in unexpected ways (rather than resolutions which you often either succeed or fail to keep). Continue reading
How do you feel about resolutions? I like to choose a theme on New Years Day instead, to guide me through and shape the year ahead.
I find this tradition so much more fulfilling and positive and the typical New Years resolutions that often stem from a sense of not being good enough. Continue reading
Having a baby has made me much more conscious of how important it is to be present, so you may notice this theme in my recent posts.
Here’s a really simple way to bring yourself into the present moment, ease stressful or anxious thoughts, and enjoy the beauty that can always be found around you. Continue reading
Over the last three years, on New Year’s Day, I have chosen a theme or a ‘sankalpa’ (an intention formed by the heart and mind) for the coming year. In 2017, my theme was ‘clarity’.
I have come to love this tradition and find it so much more valuable than making resolutions. For anyone who is new to this, the idea is to pick a word or theme that you would like to shape your year – something you feel drawn to, or something you want to be more conscious of. It feels very different from making resolutions which, so often, are restrictions or unrealistic demands we place on ourselves, driven by the sense of not being good enough as we are. Continue reading
Last year, I chose a theme for my year instead of making New Years resolutions. Those specific resolutions we all make so often fall by the wayside over the first few weeks of the year because other things become more important, or because those resolutions don’t inspire us, or because they are about giving something up and feel like a chore. I loved the way a theme gave me a vision for the year while allowing the space to respond to events as they unfolded. So this year I did it again. Continue reading
My mum and I are 30 years apart in age. Over the years we have both developed a love of yoga, so when we reached the milestone ages of 60 and 30 we decided to celebrate by spending a weekend together at a yoga retreat. We had a wonderful time and this quickly became an annual event. It’s now 4 years later and we have just returned from a blissful week-long yoga holiday on the Greek island of Paros with inspiring teacher Oona Giesen. Continue reading
At the beginning of this year, inspired by Sahaj Kohli, I chose the theme of balance for the year ahead. The idea of choosing a theme rather than making resolutions really appealed to me. Specific resolutions are, lets face it, almost always broken and usually focus on depriving ourselves of something. Setting a theme felt more like a vision for how I’d like my year to be. A theme also leaves space for the year to unfold and, as it does, to uncover different ways for that vision to be realised – in the form of things you may not have come up with on the 1st of January. Continue reading
