New Moon - How Are You Going to Use Its Power?

New Moon – How are you going to use its power?

A new moon has arrived this week!

Did you notice any changes in the people or animals around you, or even yourself?

In my household our two cats started to act more crazy than normal, jumping around from sofa to sofa & bopping poor Megan (dog) on the nose for absolutely no crime committed!

My husband decided we were good enough to be promoted into the advanced Salsa group (after a measly 5 sessions). Regardless of whether this was due to any lunar effect, it was a big mistake, but that is another story!

A new moon is said to represent magical new beginnings and a great time to set new goals or adapt existing ones.

What would be the one goal you would really like to achieve or make happen this year?

Is it a family holiday? Maybe you would like to sign up for a new course which would further your learning in a subject you are passionate about?

It could even be working on bringing a personal quality such as patience or compassion into your life more often?

There is great power in setting an intention and putting it “out there” into the universe. Once you make the commitment to the idea it usually happens that the resources, people and opportunities will come your way to help you manifest your desire.

What will be your intention?

One of mine will be to learn the moves from the advanced Salsa class by joining the intermediate sessions first and learning at my own pace!!

Something for me and hubby to aim for!!!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

What surprises you about your life now, compared to 10 years ago?

As they say life is full of surprises. 

What things have you done or achieved that 10 years ago you would never have imagined or thought you would do? What are your interests now compared to 10 years ago? Does any of this surprise you?

What are the positives you can take from this comparison?

I never thought for one moment I would be or would have:

Living in a foreign country 

Running my own business in a foreign country

A Yoga teacher

A Professional Life Coach

Reading spiritual literature like a sponge

Learning to salsa dance

Travelled to the USA and participated in an inspirational success retreat

Travelled on a plane on my own (big fear of mine!)

When I look back and think about these achievements, or interests I have developed it really helps me to feel encouraged and happy that I have tried new things. It also makes me realize that it has taken some courage to leave behind everything I knew and start afresh. As well it gives me hope and faith that I will continue to follow my dreams and do the things that I love to do. The thing that most surprises me is that I love to feel a spiritual connection with the universe (I don’t consider myself religious just to let you know) and through meditation, yoga and mindfulness I have much more hope and faith that everything is okay.

What positives can you gain from looking at where you are now compared to where you were 10 or more years ago? I would love to hear what surprises you!

 Free Digital Photos

Bottle Your Good Feelings!

My friend Sarah completed the Versailles to Paris run this year. Well done Sarah (& Lexie & Ruth too!) She returned home feeling elated, on a high and with a real sense of achievement. Her excitement was infectious. It really made me think about how wonderful it is when we enjoy such moments of joy, aliveness and fulfillment in our lives.

In order to enjoy more good feeling moments like this, it is really helpful to connect physically with the feelings, as well as have an understanding of why those feelings are important to you.

In other words, bottle those feelings so you can use them as a reference and recreate them, in order to help attract more good feelings and moments into your life.

Let’s start with your bottle, what would it look like?

·      (This is just a bit of fun to help you connect to certain things you value in your life. Choose something that you can relate to, which represents something you love to have, do or be).

Would it be a champagne bottle signifying fizz, excitement & celebration?

Or maybe a hot water bottle because you love to be warm, cozy and wrapped up under the duvet?

Mine is a beautiful, ornate bottle full of bath oil. It represents my love of soaking in a hot bath with essential oils. Taking a bath allows me to completely chill out, to relax, and enjoy some “me time”. I don’t have to “do” anything but can just “be”.

Now, what to put in your bottle…..

If you could bottle your feelings what would they be?

Here are some questions to help you:

·      What events in your life have made you feel excited, proud, successful, happy (or other feelings that resonate with you)

·      What is it exactly about these events that were important to you?

·      If you could increase the occurrence of certain feelings in your life which ones would you choose? E.g. freedom, happiness, peace, tranquility, security, success.

Once you have decided on the feelings you would like to bottle and have more of in your life, do the following exercise which will help you connect to those good feelings and also bring them into your vibration, therefore making it much more likely that you will attract them again and again. This only needs to take a few seconds.

·      Recall the events or occasions you chose in answer to the question above. Briefly imagine yourself at the event.

·      Take a deep breath in and imagine all the good feelings, which represent that event filling your whole body.

·      You can also choose a word to say to yourself as you do this, which symbolizes all those good feelings.

I would love to hear about the feelings you would like to bottle! You can comment here or email me at michele@stressednomore.com

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/champagnebottleimage

 http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/hotwaterbottleimage

What do you have an Abundance of in your life?

It has just taken me the whole afternoon trying to take up some curtains! I am pretty rubbish at any needlework type of activity but even I thought I could manage this task! It was only a case of ironing some sticky stuff to make a hem, so no need for any complicated sewing machine or technical no-how.
So how come I have ironed the hem on the side of the curtain that needs to be showing!!

I am noticing how my mood has changed and I am in a bit of a grump as I like to do things well. I have recently written an article on changing your focus if you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed or fed up and realise that I would probably benefit from following my own advice! So, I ask myself the question "what do I have an abundance of in my life right now?"

The answer is........

Snow! There is beaucoup de neige all around where I live. And it is stunning & magical. It makes a nice crunching noise under my feet whilst making everything seem so peaceful at the same time. I have a winter wonderland outside my front door and for that I am very grateful.

And what about those curtains? I think the best thing to do is realise that no-one will probably notice anyway & at least I tried!

What do you have an abundance of right now in your life? Let me know!

What Does Fun Mean To You?

Can you describe what the word "FUN" means to you? 
What does "FUN" feel like or look like? 
How do you know when you are having "FUN"?


During my coaching sessions I often ask the above questions. The responses I get are very interesting. Many people find it difficult to answer immediately & some people struggle to come up with any answer at all. Adult life is so often full of responsible roles, looking after others and rushing around trying to pack everything in, that sometimes we don't seem to have time for "FUN"! We can then disconnect with what it really feels like and what it really means to us.

So what do you already do that would come into the fun category?
If you can't think of anything, what have you done in the past that you would describe as fun?


Why is/was it fun?
How did it make you feel?






Does having fun mean any of the following descriptions for you?


Spontaniety
Freedom
Silliness
Outrageousness
Going with the flow
Not planning
Excitement
Laughter
Happy
Childishness
Carefree
No awareness of time
Lack of responsility


Many mothers, with whom I work, have described fun in the form of: not having to plan anything; just going with the flow especially when with their children; and seeing things through the eyes of their child. 

For me, fun means dancing, moving my body and this makes me feel happy, excited, free & in the moment. It also means playing with Megan puppy dog and talking to her in a baby voice (I try not to do that in public, but it has been known!). Laughing with good friends is fun and not worrying about what they think of me. Being very silly with my husband - something I must do more of! Rolling down hills covered in snow where we live in the French Alps - lots of fun!

What Else?...
Enjoying new experiences 

Partying with friends

Having 2 glasses of wine, trying to do the splits (fun at the time) but the consequences - not fun!!


So, are you having enough fun? If the answer is yes, great, let us know your secrets! If your answer is no, maybe you have just lost touch with what the term fun actually means to you. The next step is to try to bring it into your life more often. Start off with small things that are fun, that don't take up too much of your time. 


My Salsa classes have ended until the New Year now. If I'm not careful I won't do any until then. But what I can do in the meantime is practice once a week, in the kitchen with hubby (Matt are you reading this!!??) to just keep up those levels of fun in my life.

If you have any tips for increasing the fun in your life please let me know!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2125

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=283

PJHMCYG2U7AE

Are You Enjoying Your Journey?

Excited, daunted, frustrated & scared! These words describe my state of mind since making the decision to give up my career and start afresh. The 12 years I spent as a P.E teacher were not exactly dire, they helped me accumulate numerous useful skills as well as giving me the opportunity to work with some great people. However, I always knew in my heart that it wasn't a long term career for me. Cutting a long story short I am now a professional Life Coach and I love it.

Starting from scratch has proven to be a very interesting ride. There is a huge part of me who wants to "get there" right now. And by "get there", I mean have all the clients, experience, qualifications & recognition which would say that "I've made it"! This side of me is to a large extent very helpful as it gives me the drive and determination to be as good a coach as I can be.
But there is also a little angel on my shoulder reminding me to "enjoy the journey" & "savour the moment".  

I was thinking about this the other day and decided to come up with a list of things which I can be grateful for right now and thus highlight the reasons why I can enjoy the journey, as opposed to wishing I was some place else.
So, my "enjoying the journey" looks like this:

• Having the opportunity to learn new marketing & business skills
• Having time to take a break when I like
• Being able to organise my day as I wish
• Spending longer meditating & visualising
• Having time to enjoy reading the ideas and opinions of other coaches
• Being able to search the internet to find great resources
• Writing my blogs
• Networking and meeting like-minded people
• Enjoying the excitement of not knowing where this is all going to go
• Enjoying helping people feel great about themselves and their lives!

By focusing on what we have got and what we are achieving on a day to day basis, this helps us to stay present, grounded & to cultivate a sense of appreciation for ourself. It helps us stay away from a state of negative mind chatter where we can beat ourself up for not being as successful, or as good as we think we "should" be.

I would love to hear about Your Journey and what there is to enjoy about it!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1529

Aaahhh.... A Cup Of Tea & A Yummy Cake! What's On Your Bliss List?

Day 6 5th November 2011
I am sitting in "Tartines De Martines", a fab, kitschy tea shop in Samoens village (French Alps). I have a magazine, a pot of herbal tea and a homestyle magazine with pretty cushions & nice recipes (that I make a mental note to make at a later date - but know that in reality it will not happen). I also have my husband sitting next to me, with his nose in a book, pretending he is some SAS hero stalking the latest terroist.
This simple activity, I can only describe as "yummy". Yummy not only because I also have a chocolate chip muffin to indulge in (yes - sugar, to those people who know me well!) but, because it is something which makes me feel warm, cosy and relaxed. Where I can just go "aaahhhh!" I have nowhere to go, nothing to do and it is really really nice.

Having a cup of tea in a nice tea shop is one of the activities I have on my Bliss List. This is a list of the things I love to do that represent to me a treat or a sense of feeling pampered and relaxed. The list also consists of anything that constitutes a break or some "me time" whether it be in a relaxing or more energetic form.




Some other things on my Bliss List are:

• Taking a nice hot bath with lots of bubbles
• Standing outside and looking at our beautiful view and just breathing
• Listening to upbeat, pop music (& generally dancing to it in the kitchen)
• Having a cuppa with a good friend
• Having a full body massage
• Salsa dancing
• Browsing a book shop
• Having lunch out on my own
• Lying on the floor and playing with Megan puppy dog (I think it's the one time she feels that she is bigger and more in charge than me!)
• Travelling anywhere with hubby 
• Having a foot rub
• Watching a girlie chick flick on a rainy day underneath a soft, cuddly throw
• Going out for the day to somewhere new and exploring

I remember going to a workshop in the Lake District, led by an author named Gill Edwards. She talked about the importance of trying to make sure that you do something off your Bliss List every day. In this way, you get to prioritise, value and nurture yourself. In this way you ca help yourself maintain a sense of balance in the midst of what is often complete chaos or "running around like a blue a**se fly syndrome!"

What would be on Your Bliss List? Think of some easy, less time consuming things first and then build up your list with all those things which make you go aaaahhhhh!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2664

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=989