Tag: Meditation

3 ways Meditation can help break unproductive patterns and respond to challenges more powerfully

3 ways Meditation can help break unproductive patterns and respond to challenges more powerfully

If you’ve struggled with meditation in the past, or if you’re new to it and you’d like to know more about it, this is for you.

Equally, if you’re looking for a simple, accessible way to boost your resilience, you will want to consider meditation.

I could spend at least three days detailing all the benefits of a regular meditation practice, but today I’d like to highlight 3 aspects that have made a huge difference in my life and my students’.

Before we dive into it, I’ll say this. We live in a world where the majority operate in fight or flight most of the time.

The chaos we see around us is a result of a collective overwhelmed by stress, trauma and an unsustainable pace of life. This means that we have billions of people making decisions every day from a place of fear, scarcity, limitation and insecurity.

Reclaiming our collective and personal power, resilience and balance is imperative, in order to transform the madness into harmony.

Meditation is a powerful tool that can help us achieve this.

Now onto the three benefits I wanted to share with you.

1. Reverse Fight or Flight / Access a calm, expansive state

By releasing stress, fatigue and toxins every day with a regular meditation practice, you’re able to settle into a calmer state of mind and melt away the sources of reactivity (which often show up as negative patterns).

Meditation is a powerful way to release deep-rooted stress, which is made up of unprocessed past experiences, past conditioning and lifestyle-related.

During the process of meditation, the mind-body system gets a signal that it’s safe to relax and turn on our repair and restore response.

You can achieve a very deep level of relaxation, which allows you to go well beyond the superficial level of the mind and start tapping into a different state. Which is more expansive, wiser, creative, resourceful and intelligent.

You can gain access to more of your inner resources and creative potential, which gives you a new level of resilience and capacity to respond to life and fulfil your desires more easily.

The more you practice, the more you start being established in this more productive and healthy state and, naturally, the better you’re able to make decisions that serve you.

2. Access and realise your full potential

Meditation is a journey through different layers of consciousness, until we eventually sink into the field of pure potentiality.

We start at the surface level of mind and body and journey inwards into deeper and deeper states, accessing the silence and stillness that exists within each of us.

In our meditation practice, we make this journey back and forth several times. We expand our awareness a little more each time. And we’re able to experience our true essence and start becoming more established in it.

This allows you to start living life more aligned with who you truly are and find new, creative ways to respond to life. More importantly, you start unlocking your joy, wellbeing and potential.

3. Develop witnessing awareness

A regular Meditation practice helps you develop witnessing awareness. Which is the opportunity to become the observer of your life.

This witnessing awareness allows you to create some distance between your automated ways of thinking and acting, to recognise when you’re not in the present and bring yourself back.

You create some space between what happens in your life and how you act as a result. And, from a balanced state of mind, take action, or postpone taking action where appropriate.

This gives you the opportunity to make decisions and act in ways that are life affirming.

It increases the chances of interrupting self-sabotaging behaviours and acting in ways that support what’s important to you.

Bonus way: a regular meditation practice harmonises the mind, body and spirit

Your true self is naturally healthy, wealthy, abundant, loving, compassionate, connected, creative and powerful.

Stress, past conditioning, limiting beliefs and the life circumstances we create as a result can keep us from experiencing this essence.

A regular meditation practice strips away the ego, the false stories we’ve told ourselves about who we are and who others are that keeps us disconnected and stuck.

We stop identifying with what happened to us and the coping mechanisms and ways of being we’ve adopted in response.

We start experiencing what truly makes us tick, who we are at our core and we start living life from that perspective.

We start doing the things we love, treating ourselves and others with honour, love and respect and we harmonise our lives. Wellbeing flows through every aspect of our mind-body system and we experience a sense of purpose, alignment and meaning.

Perhaps more importantly, you start realising that this essence is in everyone and release ideas of separation and fear of the other, allowing you to experience the world as a safe, friendly and beautiful place.

This last sentence will be the subject of a separate blog post, as this is not how we collectively see the world. We get fed plenty of evidence of the contrary, but is it ultimately true? I’ll write to you about this soon.

For now, I’d love to know… What’s been your experience with meditation? Out of these benefits, which one speaks to you the most?

Let me know in the comments below! 🧘🏻‍♀️😀

I’d also love to invite you to give meditation a try (or a second chance). Try these free meditations and share with me what opened up as a result.

To your wellbeing.

With love,

Goddesses in the world - Celebrating the Goddess within

Chopra Meditation Instructor™
Theta Healing Practitioner®
& Author of the children’s book “The Magic of Who You Are”

9 ways to cultivate joy and wellbeing in your life, right now

9 ways to cultivate joy and wellbeing in your life, right now

I don’t know about you, but the chaos of the last few years has been hard to digest.

It seems as though, just as some things seem to get better in the world, we get thrown another collective curve ball.

I’m an optimist at heart and I have a full toolkit to help keep me grounded and my spark and love for life alive and well.

But I see that society is not organised in a way that promotes wellbeing and the full expression of our potential as human beings.

It’s quite the opposite.

We’re socialised on a diet of violence, fear, drama, disenchantment, insecurities and addictions.

The message that you and I (and life itself) are not good enough as we are is exploited for profits and power.

My kids are 5 and 7 and I’ve been noticing how against the grain it is to create an environment of love, empowerment and expansion for them.

Even an innocent game of Minecraft has an underlying level of violence and addiction to it. Children’s movies too.

Some call it low-level, but is there such a thing? And is it actually needed?

Every day we receive thousands of disempowering messages through our screens, the media and other powerful institutions.

No wonder millions of people worldwide feel depressed. Our culture is geared around dimming people’s sparks and it’s time for a change.

That’s why you and I must REBEL! And do everything to empower each other to shine bright.

If enough of us insist on cultivating beauty and power in our own lives, the more this will become the way we all relate to each other as human beings.

Imagine a world designed to keep you vibrant, joyful, creative, connected and in your power.

And I see signs of this materialising all around me. There’s a real yearning from people to live from a place of love, compassion, vitality and creativity.

And the good news is that there are very simple things you can do to have this right now in your daily life.

Today I want to share with you my simple go-tos to experience more joy, love and beauty in my life every single day.

Simple changes in your daily life to have you grounded in a beautiful state

1. Create an uplifting morning routine

From the moment we wake up, we’re either setting ourselves up for joy, or making way for stress and anxiety.

A lot of us start our days with disempowering habits:

  • Looking at our phones (checking emails, social media and other notifications)
  • Watching/listening to the news
  • Snoozing until the very last minute, then rushing out the door
  • Get through our routine in auto-pilot

All of these habits activate our stress pathways. What’s worse, we’re allowing ourselves to be highjacked by negativity and for external sources to set the tone for our day without our even realising.

Instead, try this:

  • Start with meditation. If you can’t do 20 minutes, start with 5 and build up to it. This will have you start the day in a state of calm, bliss and spaciousness, before you become exposed to the demands of daily life.

  • If you have a partner or a pet, enjoy a moment of tenderness with them and really savour it. A good hug does so much for the soul!

  • Hydrate with water and notice how it feels. This is soooo underrated. Hydrating after a night’s sleep replenishes your body and gives you a chance to pause and be present to its needs.

  • Keep notifications off on your phone until you’re ready and grounded. This time is yours. Don’t let anyone/anything highjack it.

  • Set an intention for your day. Use affirmations or simply say out loud how you’d like your day to go. My favourite intention is “I am worthy of the best that love and life have to offer.”

  • Incorporate movement – from a full-on workout to gentle stretching, dancing to music in the kitchen, going for a walk. Moving gets you present in your body.

  • Take a mindful shower. Practice noticing the water running through your body, how it feels, notice your breath, inhale the scent of the soap.

  • Read/listen to something inspiring.

  • Play uplifting music

  • Eat nourishing food (if you have an appetite in the morning)

  • Add yours!

This doesn’t have to be huge or complicated. It can literally take 20 minutes. I have two kids and need to get them to school. Yet, the time between waking up and getting out of the door is infused with joy most of the time.

2. Tweak your day for more joy

Throughout the day we have tons of opportunities to shut down fear and stress and make way for joy and wellbeing.

You already know this, but here’s a reminder of some of the main ways you can explode joy in your day.

  • Cell Phone usage. Have clear boundaries with news intake, email and social media notifications. Have set periods for checking these and have notifications from apps turned off. This minimises fight or flight response.

  • Be present to your food. Before preparing or buying your food, ask yourself: what’s the most nourishing food I could give my body right now? After choosing it, be fully present. Eat with someone whose company you enjoy, savour each bite, notice the texture and how it feels in your body. Turn off devices during this time.

  • Be present to your surroundings. When you notice you’re not present, do a noticing exercise. Name 5 things you can see, something you can touch, something you can smell, sounds you can hear.

3. Swap device time for soul nourishing options

It’s so easy to grab our phones and start scrolling aimlessly as a form of relaxation/entertainment. Because of its addictive nature, it takes a real effort to choose other ways to wind down.

There’s certainly a place for Netflix and scrolling in our lives, but there are 1000 more fulfilling ways to unwind that will leave you feeling wonderful. Here are some of my favourites:

  • Playing board games (preferably funny ones)
  • Phone call with a dear friend (not text!)
  • Reading an uplifting book
  • Listening to an awesome podcast/audiobook
  • Taking a long bath
  • Handwriting love notes and gratitude lists
  • Dancing in the lounge (see a theme here?)
  • Picking up a hobby you’ve always wanted to try
  • Having a meal at the table with our favourite company
  • Walking in nature
  • Writing/ drawing/ colouring in)
  • What’s yours??

Beauty, connection, joy, love, compassion and creativity are on the menu every single day, no matter what’s going on.

But we MUST insist on cultivating it. It’s a choice.

If we don’t do it, we’ll keep being steered, by default, in the direction of fear and hopelessness.

And your spark is too precious and needed to be dimmed that way.

So, what are YOUR ways of stoking your inner fire and getting out of hopelessness?

I’d love to hear what you do to keep your vibes high.

With love,

Goddesses in the world - Celebrating the Goddess within

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, I’d love to invite you to sign up to my mailing list here. Every week I share loving insights & tips on how to reignite your inner spark and I’d love you to join our community.

How to Love Yourself and Let Go of Self-doubt – For Good [FREE Guide]

How to Love Yourself and Let Go of Self-doubt – For Good [FREE Guide]

Self-hatred is the number one killer of your joy – and quality of life. It sucks away your dreams, keeps you unhappy and on a treadmill of seeking external validation.

It’s exhausting, debilitating and, frankly, a complete waste of the limited time we have on this planet.

Now imagine this. Imagine trusting yourself so deeply and loving yourself so much, that nothing you (or others) do could shake it.

Imagine being able to make decisions easily, feel great in your own skin, have immediate compassion for your shortcomings and love and honour every inch of your body and soul.

Even more wildly, imagine the voice in your head becoming a cheerleader, instead of your most vicious critic.

Imagine giving yourself permission to do what’s dear to your heart and live the way you’ve always secretly desired…. That’s what I want for you.

There was a time when I thought this was impossible and that self-doubt was just something I’d have to learn to manage – I’m so glad I was wrong!

The truth is I’ve struggled with my self-worth for most of my life. And I know I’m not alone.

I see so many people (especially women) who don’t know their value and suffer at the hands of their crippling low self-esteem. Are you one of them?

I certainly was. And believing that I wasn’t good enough was killing my soul and sabotaging my desires.

Deciding to start loving yourself is not for the faint of heart and requires inner work and commitment.

But, let me tell you, it’s 1000 times easier than carrying the heavy and bitter burden of the past that got you to believe the lie that you’re not good enough as you are.

I feel like it’s taken me a lifetime, but I’m finally at a place where I trust, love and know who I am. And I can tell you that my experience of life has completely transformed as a result of it.

If I had a magic wand, I’d gift this kind of feeling to every single person on the planet. And that’s why I created this free guide: “How to Love Yourself and Let Go of Self-doubt – For Good“.

Four Ways to Love Yourself Unconditionally & Stop Self-sabotaging

My quest for self-love started when I became a mum. I couldn’t bear the thought of my daughters learning their self-doubt from me (like some of us have learnt from our mothers).

The thought of them being tortured by a harsh inner critic daily at the expense of their happy, vibrant souls was a wake-up call for me to do something about my own.

My heart also knew I didn’t want to waste any more of my life settling for any kind of suffering or misery.

So I rolled up my sleeves and went on a mission to heal myself and rediscover what I’m truly made of.

I decided to create this self-love guide because it’s something I wish I had when I started.

Download your free guide here

To make it extremely easy for you and fast-track your results, I compiled the key tools and practices that reignited my soul and turned me into the goddess I am today – so you can do the same.

To really get the results you’re after, you’ll really want to do all the exercises in the guide and follow each step. But I’ll highlight what’s covered for you here:

Practice #1: Releasing negative beliefs and adopting a new perspective.
Uncover the disempowering ways you view and treat yourself, create a new, loving way to look at yourself and your life and learn how to make it stick.

Practice #2: Gratitude.
Harness the full (scientifically-proven) power of this practice and expand your self-esteem and wellbeing.

Practice #3: Affirmations.
Learn how to use this practice to cultivate unconditional self-love and complete the challenge designed for you.

Practice #4: Meditation.
If you decide to skip the entire guide and only do one section, make it this one! Learn how to meditate effectively, guided by a Chopra Meditation™ Instructor (yours truly) and access + reclaim your spark, your joy and the wellbeing that’s already inside you.

The guide is easy to follow/action and you’ll feel better and notice changes pretty much instantly.

The End Goal = Your Power, Freedom & Spark Back, Fast

I believe that there’s no end to the journey towards self-love. Your/my personal expansion is limitless and is a life-long journey and commitment. In my experience, the better it gets, the better it gets.

This is not to say there will be no setbacks and growing pains.

When I chose the title of this guide, I added the words “for good”. Here’s what I mean. You will still experience moments of self-doubt. But they will be fewer and far between. They won’t last as long either. And your baseline of self-love will be so much higher that you’ll never go as low as you have before.

Healing takes courage, for sure. And, on the surface, it may seem much harder to tend to our wounds than to carry on tiptoeing around them. But the toll this takes on our spark is brutal.

So healing is the way, and this guide will take you through it gently, but powerfully.

Grab your free guide here and start reclaiming your spark and confidence.

With love,

Goddesses in the world - Celebrating the Goddess within