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

Amplify Your Abundant feelings!

When faced with the realities of the world as well as being consumed by our different roles and busy schedules, it is often difficult for us adults to think and feel abundant.

Children, on the otherhand, are much more adept at tapping in to their own sense of abundance. They can be pretty good at asking for what they want and have a great sense of expectation that their wishes will be granted.

I'd like to share with you an exercise I did with my lovely yoga group this morning. It can really help you to connect with a whole host of positive feelings and thus feel a greater sense of abundance:

• Think of something you love to do and you know makes you feel great!
• Spend a couple of moments connecting with how it makes you feel - for example, is it joy, peace, aliveness, excitement, creativity, freedom, vitality or something else?
• Imagine yourself taking part in your chosen activity. Imagine you are there, right now. See the colours, hear the noises, smell the scent.
• Try to bring all of the feelings you experience, into your body as much as you can. Then try to amplify them by taking a big, deep breath in & feel your whole body expand with these good feelings.

This may be something which needs a little practice at first. But 5 minutes a day spent connecting with your good feelings will keep more of them coming your way!

Apart from my Salsa dancing which connects me with feelings of joy, fun, happiness, aliveness and letting go, I love to take a walk in nature. Here I feel freedom, space, peace & aliveness.

What activities make you feel abundant and why? I would love to hear from you.

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=982

Abundance - Spend, Spend, Spend, is that the answer?

Abundance Scale - 7/10
I am really into the idea of spending with joy! Spending my money on things I love, pretty things, things that taste nice and things that I love doing (anything to do with Salsa and going on lovely trips to new, exciting places).

What to do though when my spending is more than my earnings on a monthly basis?

One part of me wants to carry on in the knowledge that I live in an abundant world and always have enough! But another part wants to dig its heels in, put the breaks on and say "stop, you are being seriously irresponsible!"

I would like to think that one day I will spend my money on the things that I love, always feel in the flow and not doubt, for a single second, that it should be any other way. However, the resistance I am feeling on and off at the moment, suggests to me the need for balance in terms of spending behaviour.  What does that balance look and feel like? For me, it is a slight change in our habits. So for example, how much do we usually spend on us and what about reducing it slightly and then saying "ok what would we like to spend it on?"
This has uncovered an interesting point for me: saying "Yes" to the things I do want to do or experience and "No" to the things I'm not bothered about or don't want to do! It will be a good exercise for me in being true to myself and making choices that will really benefit or uplift me.

I would love to hear any tips on how you balance your spending habits to help you stay feeling abundant!
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=987

How do You Deal With Disappointment?

Yesterday I went for a very slow and gingerly walk with Megan puppy dog (actually 3 years old - but always a puppy to me!) due to my bottom injury (see Day 1). I was pondering over my disappointment at not being able to go to Salsa or drive to Geneva to continue networking for my coaching business. I know that I don't always deal with disappointment easily and get frustrated at things seemingly not going how I think they should.

I got home and there, sat in my email inbox, was my daily dream builder from Mary Morrissey. This is how it started, "How Do We Deal With Disappointment?" Talk about synchronicity! The rest came as follows:

I remember a time in the airport I was very disappointed that my flight was delayed by several hours.  I wanted very much to go home and see my husband and our kids but engine trouble caused the plane to turn around and come back.  There was a lot of temptation to just be frustrated and whine a bit. 

I bet you have times in your life when you feel exactly the same way.  I was thinking to my spiritual took kit and how I have learned to deal with disappointment in the past.  One of the tools I remembered is to do a blessing list.  Just start paying attention to your blessings.

I felt blessed to have a place I really wanted to get to.  I felt blessed to have people I really wanted to be with.  I was grateful that they noticed the engine trouble while we were still on the tarmac.  My blessing list went on and on. Before long, even though I still would’ve preferred to be home, my whole energy and my whole emotional center was different.  I had changed my energy. 

I don't know if you are dealing with disappointment today or not --But if you are, try what I am suggesting.  If not, put it in your spiritual tool kit and the next time you feel some disappointment, do a blessing list.  You’ll find yourself in a brighter place in no time.  

www.MaryMorrissey.com

Despite being flat on my back today, not wanting to move for fear of making this injury worse, it has given me the time to notice what I like to call the magic (some would say coincidence) of the universe. I feel like I have had so many gifts today, in one form or another and my belief in abundance is thus further fuelled!

Watch this video!
Paul Parry thank you for being the provider of this gift and reminder that I am very lucky. Some of you may have seen this video but I dare you to watch it again without the welling up of a tear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU7w0Z35XEE

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

A Conversation Between "MySelves!"

I was feeling in the flow when I wrote my post yesterday, it felt good in more ways than one. Firstly, it was great just to get "stuff" down on paper and secondly it helped me feel more trusting and positive about life in general and the amazing power of our beautiful universe!
An interesting thing happened to me this morning however. Without knocking, in barged one of my saboteur voices, putting me down and making me question what the hell I was doing posting such trivial information on the internet for the whole world to see! The voice of the saboteur, a slimy gollum type creature, with sharp teeth & sallow skin had the following to say about my blog:
"It's not interesting, in fact it's boring! Where is it going to get you? What's the point! You'll only embarrass yourself and people will laugh at you! You are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment!"

On the otherhand the part of me who enjoyed writing the blog had the following retort:
"I find it interesting and it's fun writing about stuff that I like. I help Michele connect with her sense of aliveness as well as her spiritual side. I help her trust that everything is going to be ok and that it is safe to put herself "out there". What if writing this blog serves to help her feel more abundant and release any inner limitations regarding her capabilities? And what if just one person reads it and is able to benefit from it in some way!?"

It seems that my saboteur in the guise of gollum wants to keep me toeing the line, doing "normal" things and not drawing attention to myself, for fear of embarrassment and disappointment. I can see how he wants to keep me safe and is trying to serve me.

I do get where he is coming from. But the part of me which wants to say "what the hell, just go for it, it's not going to hurt you or anyone! You never know where it might lead" is much stronger these days. I suppose this comes from taking the plunge and leaving a long term career in teaching, moving abroad and starting a new business from scratch.

If I look back and think of all the risks I've taken I definitely don't regret them (although maybe I would have done some of them slightly differently). Stepping across the comfort zone line is always a challenge,  but one that I will keep doing in the knowledge of the feelings of expansion, growth & aliveness that result from taking those steps!

I would really like to recommend the work of John Kent from the UK. John is a trainer & facilitator in "Voice Dialogue". This is a fascinating and extremely beneficial technique which enables us to embrace and respect all the many selves that exist inside us. The great thing is that by not making any of these selves wrong, it helps us to gain balance and awareness in our lives. It has helped me enormously and is also a really fun process to experience. Here is the website link:
http://www.voicedialogue.org.uk/home

To be or not to be Abundant?

Abundance Scale - 5/10

I start off my Abundance Diary with a whinge I’m afraid! This is because today I am struggling with feeling abundant! I’m just being honest! I have torn a muscle in my bum and can hardly sit down (if you want to find out how I did it read on….).  The worst thing about this is it means I cannot go to Salsa tonight! Boo! I have fallen completely in love with Salsa dancing. It makes me feel alive, excited and above all I have so much fun. I have the biggest grin in the room, so says my hubby. And I know this too as my cheeks ache by the end of the night! Plus I’m sure that the other guys in the class who have to dance with me are looking at me weirdly thinking “why is she grinning so much, is she slightly insane or does she fancy the pants off me?”

I was desperate to go the class tonight (despite the fact I have to travel over an hour to get there and there is a guy who likes to ping my bra strap – oh well, if that keeps him happy!) but, hubby Matt reminded me that my health and well-being is my numero uno value. Humph! When did he get so wise! He is right though, and as much as I want to go I need to rest my body otherwise I risk not being able to go for a much longer period. Double boo!

Abundance is my BIG WORD. I love it. I love feeling it and when I do, I feel life running through my veins. I feel joyous, happy, expansive and in the flow.

Whoops, nearly forgot to tell you how I tore my buttock muscle! Well, I would like to say I did it overstretching during one of my Yoga classes (I am a Yoga teacher). Unfortunately, I have a slightly less virtuous & seedier story to share! I was at a party nearly 2 months ago now and we were having a good old boogie, as you do, when some clever soul pipes up “who can do the splits?” Still having retained some of the competitive spirit from my sportier days & being the valley’s Yoga teacher I thought I would volunteer my expertise! To cut a long story short, 5 minutes later sliding into the splits on my weaker leg, with tights on, on a slippery floor, there was a pop! The pop was not another bottle of fizz being opened but came from the inside of my bottom! Ouch!

Now the thing is, and this may appear fluffy and wishy washy to many people, my Life Purpose is to help others see and feel the greatness and abundance of the Universe! Told you, wishy washy! I found this out after taking part in a number of exercises during my training to be a coach. After the training I sort of just left this information on the back burner not really knowing what to do with it. However, just recently I have noticed how it keeps coming up in my mind and it just seems to feel right! Another part of me is now shouting out upon hearing these words, “how can this be right, you are not always abundant, so how can you help others?”

Here is my challenge! To work on my own feelings of abundance so that I live it, feel it, breathe it, ooze it from every pore in my body! Then surely I help others tap into their own sense of abundance and not forgetting, the abundance of our wonderful, magical universe! And I say magical because it surely is magic? Have you ever really tapped into how the universe provides for you? Watched things unfolding before your very eyes? And held your breath in anticipation of what is coming next? Sometimes it actually freaks me out how things seem to work out! Whether this is an opportunity coming my way to help improve my business or meeting someone new who really helps me to be more authentic, more real so that I experience the feelings and qualities that I long to have in my relationships. But once I start to look at the gifts that are brought to me, this is what gives me the hope and faith that the Universe truly does have our best interests at heart and is working to help bring us our desires.

Once we begin to tap into the abundance of the universe we can really connect with our own sense of abundance. Of having enough money, love, good health, happiness, time, peace, joy. When we connect with this place we feel that everything is okay, we are in the flow of life and are being supported.

I have a great quote which sums this up in simple words better than my own:

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into." Wayne Dyer.

I love this as I think it highlights the fact that many people think of the word Abundance in purely financial or wealth terms. And therefore it’s something we work hard to get or we are just lucky and acquire as a result of being born into a rich family!

To finish off my daily write up I’d like to say that I know that I do have a choice about how I look at things and therefore how I feel. So bearing this in mind I decided, upon waking, despite my disappointment at not being able to go to Salsa & really feel that wonderful sense of aliveness and fun that goes with the swinging of the hips (snake hips as my friend Sarah calls them!) that I can still tune into these feelings if I really want to.

The first thing I did was put my headphones on and listen to 2 guided meditations courtesy of Youtube. By imagining myself taking part in activities which I already know help me feel alive and full of joy I can turn my focus towards a much more positive way of thinking and feeling.

Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vevDOPpYmg&feature=mh_lolz&list=FLue6-Idj_BygS1BDliVWTYw

http://www.youtube.com/user/IntuitiveWudotcom