December 2019 – Brother died.

January 2020 : Went to Jamaica for my brother's funeral.

February: Global pandemic and lockdown.

March, April and beyond ??????

I hope you and your loved ones are well and safe.

I've been lying low so far in 2020 as it's been self-reflection, griefing and healing time.

Now, however, I felt called to write this blog …

I woke up with a jolt to the word 'generosity'. I looked at the clock – 2.45am. I felt a little startled and I was breathing fast. It was taking me a while to get back to sleep as my mind was busy with thoughts about being generous and giving...so I grabbed a pencil and wrote this. It's like a stream of consciousness. This I show the mind works. Right?

Those at the front line of Coronavirus are generous to the point of sacrificing their lives and I can only bow down to such courage.

I watched the News for about ten minutes yesterday and one of the story lines was about care home workers leaving their families to stay in the care home during the crisis so that they wouldn't carry the virus into the care home and endanger the high risk elderly residents who they described as their second family. I was moved by their generosity and kind-heartedness.

The phone rang as I was about to leave home and food shop for three separate households. When I answered the call, my nephew who was on the phone asked me to buy extra tinned and packaged food to give to the Food Bank. How thoughtful and generous, I mused.

After queuing to get into the supermarket and almost two hours shopping for food, I paid. On the way out of the shop, I walked pass the huge 'food bank' container and only then did I remember about buying extra tinned and packaged food. There was no way I was going around the supermarket again so I rummaged through the shopping bags and deposited several tinned, bottled and packaged items into the box. As I was doing this another shopper placed a package of nappies in the box. It caught my attention because it had just not occurred to me that there were mothers who needed nappies for their baby and can't afford to buy them. So, that's something useful to give.

“Giving material goods is one form of generosity, but one can extend an attitude of generosity into all one's behavior. Being kind, attentive, and honest in dealing with others, offering praise where it is due, giving comfort and advice where they are needed, and simply sharing one's time with someone - all these are forms of generosity, and they do not require any particular level of material wealth.” Dalai Lama

I watched a documentary a while ago about families in the UK who when children are on school holidays struggle to provide them with nutritious meals. School dinners are actually an essential meal for these children. Most children in the UK have been off school for several weeks and this documentary kept coming into my mind. What could I do? So, I decided to contribute by giving 10% of the money from my online yoga classes to charity. I made the first contribution a couple of days ago through B1G1 a social enterprise and non-profit organization with a mission to create a world full of giving.

As the Dalai Lama said, we can all find ways BIG or small to give especially in the current situation. Mother Teresa put it nicely: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”

We can be generous by:

• Keeping to the social distancing rules.

• Being self-reflective and caring for ourselves – eat nutritiously, getting enough sleep, exercising at home, looking after our mental health by making quiet time, meditating, listening to calming music or whatever activity is soothing to the mind.

• Checking in on people – calling a relative/friend/neighbour who may live alone or connecting virtually, for example.

There are many ways to create acts of generosity. Research shows that giving enhances our wellbeing and boosts our immunity.

“Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.” Gautama Buddha

I watched a Darshan (occasion of seeing a enlightened/holy person) by Sadhguru last week where he reminded us that most of us use only a fraction of our potential and challenged every one to think of ways in which we can improve ourselves during this crisis. And, if everyone did this, by the end of this global crisis, whenever that will be, we would create a greater, more inclusive humanity.

The post Generosity – You too can give in the Global Pandemic appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

One of my habits is doing unnecessary things like watering the plants, just before I need to leave home to get somewhere. I then leave in a mad rush because the twenty minutes that I had, is now only five minutes. For years this was unconscious behaviour for me.  Now as soon as I catch myself about to do something that will eat up time and does not need doing, I stop myself by asking: Do you need to do this now? The answer is normally “no”.

Becoming conscious of your habits,especially unhelpful habits, is like bringing light into the darkness of what is unconscious. Once you shine light on something then shifts can happen and you can make changes in your behaviour or thinking, if you want to enough.   Try this simple exercise on becoming more aware of habits:

1.   Start to be more aware of the things you may be doing or thinking or repeating daily.  Make a list of things that you repeat every day. Also notice what happens when you become more aware.   Do this for a week.
2.   Then each day the following week, select a habit from the list.
3.   At the end of each day, find a time and place where you can be alone. Relax and breathe deeply. Take the habit and ask yourself the following questions:
4. What’s the first thing that happens?
   And then what happens?  What are you seeing/hearing/feeling that lets you know this habit is taking place?
   What happens next?
5. What would someone else notice when this habit is taking place? What would they see or hear?
   And what do you know now?
6.   Record the answers in a journal and review your journal at the end of the week.  What do you notice? What do you know now that you didn’t know before? And what difference does knowing that make?  What could you do to stop yourself?

Are there habits that support the outcomes that you desire? Which ones are they? And, habits that don’t support your desired outcomes? Jut them do.

The post Awareness and Habits appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

The ancient wisdom of the Vedas also tells us that  there are four main purposes or desires of life:

• Dharma - your innate mission or purpose in this lifetime. This is your inherent drive to realise everything you are capable of, thrive and positively affect the world. This is the desire to be and become who you are meant to be.
• Artha - wealth creation and abundance or the means necessary to accomplish your purpose. This includes material resources such as money, food, shelter, physical well-being, health, talents,  and your capabilities..
• Kama - pleasure of all kinds including sensory enjoyment, beauty, joy, art, sex, family,  friendship, connection and intimacy. This desire for pleasure is the motivation behind all actions.
• Moksha - spiritual pursuit. This is the longing for true freedom and lasting love, peace, joy and aliveness. It is the longing to be free from all boundaries and to realise something beyond the self. Moksha is the impulse that guides us to seek out meditation, prayer, mindfulness, self-inquiry, surrender, awareness and freedom from temporal pleasure and suffering.

No desire is greater than the others. However, dharma is considered to be preeminent as it helps to shape the expression of the other three stages.  Everyone has a unique purpose and this can find expression through multiple life missions or undertakings. If you are interested in uncovering your life purpose from your hands email me at rlbloomuk@gmail.com.

It might be helpful to consider which of the desires are reflected in the goals that you have set for the decade or the next three months, six months, one, three or five years. We are all different and have to plan in ways that work for us.

One of the things I have observed from analysing hundreds of hands so far is that most people are not having enough fun and aesthetic pleasure. Remember, pleasure is the driving force behind our actions, whether it’s physical, mental, emotional, financial, spiritual.  This is part of kama and is best aligned with living your mighty or almighty purpose and being truly alive.

“The key to happiness is very simple. First, become clear what your duty or purpose is in life. Second, learn to love it.” Swami Rama

The post Your Powerful Life Purpose appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

In yoga, sankalpa means a one-pointed intention or resolve to focus on a specific goal.  It is an invaluable tool for deciding what you would like to have happen. I like this intention setting exercise with surrender that Tosha Silver recommends. Simply say with heart-felt emotion:

“I offer this journey fully to grace (or love or God - whatever word resonates best for you). May everything that’s ready to open, open, May everything that’s ready to leave, leave. I long for the Highest to occur. May I be abundance.”

Start to Declutter your Space

An important part of allowing and inviting  is to clear your physical space especially if you have a lot of clutter. Since December 26th, I’ve been getting rid of clutter. My space is pretty organised and tidy, however, like most people, I’ve accumulated a lot of things. So, with  much glee, I’ve been letting go of lots of possessions, clothes, books, technology and it’s been very cathartic. I’m still working on my office and the paperwork there, so my clearing out is still in progress. The important thing is to start.  You can start with something small. I actually started with my car and then shifted to my wardrobes and now the office.

This clearing is connected to the practice of saucha, which means “cleanliness” or “purity” (Yoga Sutra). I found that as I picked things up, I had a sense of whether it needed to stay or go.  Common sense and logic was also involved. If I’d not used it, remembered that I had it, disliked it was on its way out. Four huge bags have already been delivered to the charity shop. I’m just loving clearing out and making space for the new to come in.  The key thing is to make it fun.

Make a Statement of Gratitude

As 2019 is about to close its door on the last decade, what are you grateful for in the days that have gone by (“auld lang syne”)?  What have you loved, achieved, felt blessed about, received, gifted? Write them down.  

There’s no need to make a huge list. Just write down what has mattered to you.  And why not take the practice into 2020 by each day finding just one thing that you’ve really appreciated. It could be someone smiling at you, being offered a cup of tea, having a few moments to put your feet up during a busy day...

This practice changes neurotransmitters in your brain so that the ones associated with appreciation and thank you become more active and the ones that complain are diminished.

The post 3 Tips to get a headstart in 2020 appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

This research was based on following the health of 135,000 adults in 18 countries for seven years and a half years on average. People with diets high in total fat intake had a 23 percent lower risk of death. Those who ate the most carbohydrates had a 28 percent higher risk of dying early. Medical experts say the study shows fats are not bad for you, but it’s still best to consume them in moderation.

Eating more healthy fats and fewer net carbs will also help your body to burn more fat. Healthy fats include avocados, olives and olive oils, butter, raw nuts, seeds (flaxseed, hemp, pumpkin)  ghee (clarified butter) , oily fish like sardines, mackerel, coconuts and coconut oils.

What’s worrying is that public health authorities are still promoting a low-fat diet. A report by The British National Obesity Forum (NOF) and Public Health Collaboration (PHC) on obesity, which is based on the analysis of 43 studies, warn that the policy to encourage people to eat a low-fat diet is having a "disastrous impact on health."  The best thing is to educate yourself.  You can start by clicking here.

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Believing in yourself is a concept that seems pretty crazy to me. I don't mean to be flippant but when thoughts about believing in yourself arise, it implies disconnection, doubt and separation from who you are. And, the crazy part is seeing yourself as different people.

How has this happened?

Consider this for a moment, if you spend a lot of time being taken unconsciously here and there like a space traveller by your chattering mind focusing on things that are not real because they have already happened and are just memories or haven't happen yet, then yes, believing in yourself is a tricky thing to do.  Why? Because you're not actually focusing on the 'real self in the here and now moments of life. The body is present, the breath is present, the spirit is present. It's the mind that goes wandering into the past and the future and fixating on things that are not real. How can you believe in a self that's in the past or future and deal with an identity that may not be real?

So, in many ways it's not your fault that you have trouble believing in yourself when you are rarely connected with who you are,

When the mind aligns with the body and spirit and all are together and you are conscious in the present moment and experiencing who you are moment to moment there is no need for believing in yourself. Why?

Because when you are present you are connected with the infinite force and the eternal spirit within. You know who and what you are – a spirit in human form – and are not thinking or having an opinion about the self. There is oneness with spirit. There is knowing 'myself' and no need for a belief about it.

I have found that when believing in myself comes up, it's always thoughts ravaging my mind. Like ghosts they move here and there and spin and twist constantly changing form and my perspective on myself.

You see, self belief is a mental perception, a concept, that takes place in relation to an other something or someone. It is a perspective that can create separation from yourself and develop into a view of self that limits and restricts your capacity to change, expand and find flow in life personally and professionally.

What's it like to believe in yourself?

Believing in yourself comes from within and is a deep connection with spirit and a knowing that you are not your mind and body but a spirit residing in the human body. My experience of this spirit is of unfathomable depth, peace, feeling blissed out and beingness. It's difficult to put into words but this spirit feels unshakable, fathomless, limitless. It's inside the bounds of the physical body yet feels boundless. There is oneness and no need for belief, for thinking or having an opinion or belief about yourself because as you are experiencing yourself at a deeply profound level and there is no doubt.

Why is believing in yourself important? When there is doubt about yourself and a need for 'believing in myself' there is disconnection. It's a clarion call for change. A desire to get back to self instead of being in the mind and trying to grasp ghost-like identities that don't exist/are not real. They are created by the mind and mostly with a negative bias. When you are connected with the force within you feel centred and strong and courageous. It's like you can do anything. You:

• Consciously take on new challenges.

• Feel empowered and pumped up with energy.

• Feel super confident.

• Trust in your ability to accomplish goals.

• Have faith in yourself and the power to transcend obstacles.

• Have clarity about who you are, warts and all, and who you want to become.

• Have a clear vision of what you desire.

• Seek inner guidance to come up with creative solutions to challenges or problems.

And, not believing in yourself – what does that suggest?

• Self doubt.

• Feeling that you can't do/have/be what you desire.

• Seeing other people as better or more capable of achieving than you.

• Wanting to be someone else or hiding out.

• Worrying about what others think and letting their opinions take precedence over your wishes.

• Staying in your comfort zone and failing to take action or seek out and take advantage of opportunities.

• Constantly comparing yourself to others and feeling/thinking that you are lacking.

• Having no clear vision or goals for your life, not knowing what you want or the direction to take in life/work and misinterpret this is not believing in yourself.

If you lack clarity of vision and purpose this can leave you feeling rudderless and directionless and not believing in yourself creeps in often like a thief in the night.

You lose clarity and self belief when the monkey mind prevails. There is a sense of wanting to fixing something. Often we start to search outside for answers. Start doing what others want or think we should be doing. We focus on pleasing others and may even let go of our dreams.

While it can be helpful to seek the advice and counsel of parents, friends and mentors ultimately you must trust yourself and have faith in your own counsel, authority, capabilities and inner wisdom. Do your research and make informed decisions. Any mistakes that you make are part of growing and developing and you will have stretched yourself and left the comfort zone behind.

Wanting self belief suggests the desire for change, to have an identity overhaul, to make a shift into an unknown state or reconnect with the state of adventure, possibilities and probabilities that is no longer being experienced or felt.

The good thing is that you realise and accept the current situation as it is (not 'believing in myself') and this is the starting point for change.

Six Tips for Believing in Yourself

1. Do your inner work. Go within by meditating for at least 10 – 20 minutes daily. This is training to be present more and more, to create the conditions for the mind to quieten and the space for connecting with spirit (self) and feeling good.

2. Create a clear vision of what you would like to have happen in your life. Schedule time in your diary to sit in a quiet and inspirational space and visualise who you want to be and what you want without knowing how it will happen. Get creative and document your vision by producing a vision board.

3. Get clear about the talents, gifts and capabilities that make you stand out and will boost your confidence. Remember that you are unique – there is no one exactly like you on the planet.

   Seek out the knowledge, skills and support that will help you to grow personally and professionally. With technology the world is changing very quickly so be a lifelong learner. Keep upgrading your skills and learning new things. If you become out of touch or your skills are eroded this can affect your self belief.

   Pause for a moment, now.

   
   Bring into your conscious awareness something that you do really, really well. What is that talent? Smile and pat yourself on the back for doing this thing so extraordinarily well.

   Maybe you are magnificent at coming up with new ideas or projects or fantastic at sales and marketing or superb at helping people to excel or great at connecting people or wonderful at customer service or really good at research and project management or fantastic at shifting through and analysing data or teaching, training, dancing, cooking, painting, performing, leading people...

4. Take small steps daily/weekly to move towards your vision or goals. Write that email, make that phone call, register for that course, read that book, write that proposal. Step out of your comfort zone by taking simple actions. Create smaller goals that take you towards your vision to reduce any sense of overwhelm. Make sure that they stretch you while being achievable. Start doing little things that are aligned with believing in yourself and creating the new identity that you seek.

5. Seek feedback from the right people like a mentor, accountability partner or someone who believes in you more that you believe in yourself and will support you through thick and thin. Make sure that the feedback you receive is evidence-based – what worked well, didn't work so well and could be done better and differently. Set yourself a small measurable task for what you would like to have happen next and keep setting new development tasks as the current one is achieved.

6. Celebrate each goal that you achieve or milestone that you reach. Smile, dance, jump for joy and embody that feeling of success and a task well done. Yippee! You made that phone call that you were dreading making and got your result. Treat yourself to something that you love/enjoy. Buy a celebratory gift, soak in a luxurious scented bath, book a massage, go out to dinner, have some chocolate, go for a walk in the park – whatever is a celebration for you.

Believing in yourself is a journey of self awareness, self discovery and walking step by step into the unknown. You will likely have to move out of your comfort zone. If lack of self belief is an obstacle to taking a baby step into the unfamiliar then this is where you need to put your attention so that you can uncover what's preventing you from taking that step.

You will likely have to quell your inner (mind) critic and let go of limiting beliefs in order to leave your comfort zone/develop self belief. Self belief often develops through taking action, having new experiences, trusting your inner guidance/wisdom.

Feeling the fear and doing it anyway may not move you forward as there may be aspects of your internal system that want to stay the same and stop you from taking action. The reptilian brain is primed for survival and safety trumps risk when it comes to survival. Find out what you are gaining from the comfort zone that serves you in some way. Is it worth staying there?

How can you move forward?

Ask yourself: 'What would you like to have happen?' as a way to move towards a desired outcome. I have found that clients often struggle to answer this question. We have a negative bias in our thinking and often want to focus on what isn't working because we know a lot about that. Switching your attention to an outcome and through that process moving towards a task that results in your growth will over time move you towards being who you would like to be.

Keep developing your self awareness and ability to be present and in the moment so you build a strong relationship with spirit.

If you would like an easy way to discover what your talents are that takes minutes to do, then I have a special Halloween offer for you to take a tried and tested profile test called Talent Dynamics. You have a talent inside you and when you are using it enough it is a vehicle for being yourself, having self belief and feeling liberated.

There are similar elements within Talent Dynamics and popular psychometric tests, as they all have a common modern origin in Carl Jung’s work on archetypes. But Talent Dynamics is different in that it provides an intuitive structure, practical strategies, modern role models and a link back to the roots of profiling 5,000 years ago.

Knowing and understanding your profile means that you can organise your time to focus on what you do best and love most. When you do this, your effectiveness and fulfilment increase and stress and struggle decrease. When you're doing something that you are naturally talented at you will feel energised, productive and efficient.

If you are an employee, business owner, team leader or curious about your talents and how you can uniquely add value, create trust and make your mark in the world, this test is for you.

Your special introductory Halloween offer:

Option 1 - Take the test for £50. Normal investment is $97 approximately £75. I've trained and joined as a partner to provide this profile test and can offer it at a reduced investment. Once you take the test you will receive a detailed report to read.

Please click here to book your test.

Option 2 – Test, detailed report and 60-minute debrief with me. Total investment £245. If you are keen to increase your self belief, the debrief will help you to start to move forward towards transformational change (a small step). Often the way that we look at things or things that we are not doing create issues and reduced self belief but we may not realise that this is the case.

Please click here to book your test.

With the debrief your assumptions come into your conscious awareness, with questions from me, they are challenged and you come to the realisation that there are new ways to look at and do things. This is a paradigm shift and you can make a choice about what to do or not . You'll understand better the true nature of who you are, get more flow and flourish within a business and life.

Halloween Offer expires 31st October. Once you've paid I will send you a token to take the test. Please click here to book your test.

The post 6 Tips for Believing in Yourself with Unshakable Faith appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

Wikipedia states that “Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it.”

This can be challenging to do even for seemingly ‘small’ things. I’ve been having some work done on my home and I was astonished by my dissatisfaction with many things: the untidiness and dust, with the smell of paint (I’d forgotten to ask for odour free paint for the wood), with what I considered to be a poor finish sometimes,  work that had to be redone, the fact that workmen were in my space - some days I could not wait for him/them to leave and more… 

I got into serious drama at times and kept my sanity by continuing with my daily practices - walking, yoga postures, breathing exercises and meditation, which always took me to a calm inner place.  We go into unhelpful drama when we are not getting what we want and the challenge is to accept situations that are not going the way that we would like. “I like this, I don’t like that, this isn’t up to [my] standard, s/he is really annoying…”

This is all mental chatter, conditioning  and having expectations that we want to be met or everything to be perfect..

I decided to research what the enlightened masters and spiritual teachers say about acceptance.

Sadhguru says that “acceptance facilitates a free flow of life...Either your body or your mind being in some way constricted means your ability to experience life also gets constipated…[and] there is no free flow of life”

Eckhart Tolle tells us “to accept the present moment, not the entire situation...Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it...This will miraculously transform your whole life.”

Spiritual teacher Jiddu Kristnamurit said, “...don’t mind what happens.”

Lao Tzu says, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

Accept the present moment and then consider what action needs to be taken, without resisting what is.  It is when we ‘mind’ something that there is a problem.

 How does this work in everyday life when the mind has such a strong negative bias. My humble experience is that self awareness is the key. We have to pay attention to what is happening in the moment without any desire to change it, to see the situation for what it is without wanting or trying to control it - often we can’t control it anyway.  Once we accept, we can take action that isn’t driven by resistance or the need for control.

One day, the mobile phone of the man working in my homerang. He had it on speaker and as he spoke to his daughter she asked him how the work that he was doing at his home was going. “The kitchen was almost finished,'' he said,  “and he would be working on his bedroom next”. She felt that he should do his living room first and they went back and forth for a while about this.

As I listened to this conversation, I thought, “He sounds like a nice man. She obviously cares about him. He’s not a demon to her but her dad - a loving person.”

This stopped me in my tracks. I felt acceptance that he was a human being. Right now in the moment all was well.  My own mind and body were getting in my way and I was creating all sorts of stories in my head. I could see that he was used to a cluttered environment and I was not. He worked one way and I would have preferred him to do certain things a different way. I expected things to be a certain way and was indeed trying to control how things happened. However, it wasn’t working.

As soon as I accepted him the way he is, I felt lighter and freer. I was no longer resisting the situation. My whole energy shifted to calmness as I accepted the situation.  Acceptance is freedom indeed.

By focusing on the real person, on his own unique way of being and doing things, I saw more of his humanity and decided to change my behaviour. Acceptance also leads to behavioural flexibility.

It was not passive acceptance.  This was a decision point. I chose to have a chat with him from a place of no resistance and agreed what needed to be done, including what I wanted to have happen.

Coach’s Tip

When you become aware that you are resisting rather than accepting a situation, take you attention to the present by focusing on your breathing. Do this for as long as necessary to feel centred and more at peace. Often a five to ten breaths are  enough.

Then take a metaphorical step out of the situation and become the witness.  Look without judgment at what us happening - that isn’t working out or in some cases is working well and still creating resistance. Consider what you would like to have happen instead that is in your control and create an action plan. Then take the first action step.

The post Acceptance appeared first on Yoga Blooming.

In my expereince, for most people, it's about helping others to thrive in some way. At a recent networking meeting, I attended,  one person had a corporate job that she loved and her side activity was being the founder of  an organisation to uplift young people. Another woman's business is about etiquette and helping to facilitate behavioural changes. Yet another produces healthy sauces to make food taste delicious, someone else has three businesses - a thriving cleaning business  and two other businesses...

Deep down connections are really important to me. As some of you know, one of my specialist skills is scientific hand analysis. My hands show that one of the things that I am here on the planet to do is to be a leader helping people to create peaceful, harmonious relationships - with themselves first and then with others. I am also in the Schools of Love and Peace (it’s not surprising really that I also teach yoga).

In hand analysis your life school is your underlying operating system or personal development theme. Being in the school of Love is about making connections and developing emotional clarity and self acceptance.  Love matters most and relationships are really important. The School of Peace is about developing inner peace and seeking peace and calm versus panic or paralysis/freezing. These are things to master in this life.

There are two other schools: Service, developing the ability to provide joyous service through communication - teaching, instructing, being an ideas person  and the School of Wisdom, which is about trusting your wisdom, making choices and taking action rather than indecision and sitting on the fence. We all have aspects of the other schools in us and at least one dominant school. If you don’t already know your life school or theme can you guess which school you might be in?

My heart lines (left and right hand) show that I have three different emotional styles - Big Heart, Romantic Idealist and Hermit. The first two are others focused meaning that I consider others before myself. If you have the Hermit heart line you consider yourself before others.  There is also the passionate heart line and if you have this heart line you also consider yourself first and then others.

I also have the spiritual teacher marking in my hands. This means that I  am also here to help people who are experiencing a crisis of meaning or purpose in life and with their core identity. Or people having an identity crisis, changing a job/career, going through relationship breakdown/divorce or empty-nester wondering what to do now the kids have left.

We all have our unique design and patterns and my design and when I had my hands read and had this revealed I was amazed that all of this information was in my hands and actually confirmed that I was on the right path when I was doubting my direction.

My Big Why is improving health and wellbeing on the planet. I am passionate about health and wellness - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. From yoga to identifying life missions and coaching individuals using fabulous tools like David Grove’s Clean Language and Symbolic and Systemic Modelling taught to me by expert trainers/mentors so that I can use these processes to help promote inner wellbeing, stretch capabilities so we can be and do our best in life, relationships and work. In this lifetime, I am here to help increase people’s self awareness and self knowledge so that they can be themselves and not a copy.

What's your big why?  Schedule some time in your diary to consider this. What are you here on the planet to do? Write it down so that it becomes more tangible for you.

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Celery juice is the craze at the moment as celery is touted as another superfood. Here are some of the health benefits:

• Vitamin K, which helps with blood clotting  and preventing arterial calcification.
• Detoxification of heavy metals in the body.
• Vitamins A and C, folate and potassium.
• Rich source of antioxidants and phytonutrients.
• Helps the digestive tract and cardiovascular functioning
• Substantial amounts of fibre (juicing removes the fibre).
• Hydrating - it's 95% water.
• Anti-inflammatory and restores immune balance.
• Enhances neurons in the brain.
• Contains a compound called  apigenin that has possible cancer-fighting properties.

According to Anthony William who started what’s being called the Global Celery Juice Movement, celery juice is "a healing tool”.  And, the most benefits are gained from drinking the juice on its own in the morning on an empty stomach and waiting 15 minutes before eating anything else. I have tried it and it settled my digestion.

Anthony William claims that celery juice helps  "improve digestion, mental clarity, energy levels, autoimmune conditions, acne, eczema, psoriasis, migraines, acid reflux, addictions, anxiety, depression, fatigue, weight issues, bloating (and) constipation.”

Celery has a lot of nutrients so why not. Even if you don’t like the taste , like me, do what is needed for health.  I first started to eat it when I had knee pain and during a yoga masterclass, the teacher said that it was good for knees (the anti-inflammatory properties would certainly help).

Just bear in mind that you lose all the roughage when vegetables are juiced. For this reason my preference is to blend vegetables. Celery is a very healthy snack and/or food when eaten raw.  Studies show it loses a significant amount of its antioxidants when boiled or blanched - between 38 percent and 41 percent. It’s therefore better to steam it for about 10 minutes as it then retains between 83-99 percent of its antioxidant nutrients.

For celery soup, I steam it for 3-4 minutes only with half a cube of organic vegetable stock for flavour. Let it cool a little and then blend it.

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I want to see deer today, Maria proclaimed at breakfast. Her eyes sparkled and she was excited about the possibility of this intention manifesting. All week we had all been hoping to see deer. It was the penultimate day of the retreat and we were going to hike to the summit of the island.

We set off for the hike and are naturally silent as we move through the heather and clamber over rocks here and there. I can see why the island was an inspiration for JM Barrie’s Neverland (Peter Pan).  It’s idyllic wildness is magical.

There is no defined path and we’re all focused as lack of attention could lead to a mishap. We reach the summit without much ado and enjoy the spectacular scenery of neighbouring islands, the loch and the vastness of the Atlantic  ocean.

The descent is another story. It would be more challenging than anticipated. Instead of going back the way we came, we decided to try another route although it was not totally clear from the map. The island is just over 5 kilometres so we cannot get lost.
We start the descent, which turned into a three hour adventure (It was only a one-hour hike to the summit) .

The terrain is rugged and wild and in places the descent is quite tricky. Someone
questions why we decided to choose this route down. Everyone is super present and focused on where feet are being placed and the terrain generally. We are immersed in the nature around us. We haven’t encountered any other people and it’s like being in a different world.

Suddenly, the hiking leader, softly says, “shhh”. He starts to tip toe forward and we all do the same. Then we see three deer gracefully sprinting away. We are all delighted and excited. We watch as they disappear out of view.

Looking ahead we see that our way down is blocked by the deer fence. We scratch our heads. Going back up the hill is not an option. The only way forward is to get over that fence. Some reconnaissance shows a fairly accessible way over the fence by going to the top of some rocks that are more or less level with the fence.

The hiking leader goes first and then one at a time the rest of us follow working as a team and helping each other safely over the fence. Once on the other side of the fence we are back to easier terrain and split up - most of us head back to the cottages and couple go to the beach.

The hike was not free of personal drama. Choices and decisions made in the moment were questioned.  Issues about not being heard rose to the surface. I dropped my banana skin thinking it was okay because it was biodegradable and was angrily reprimanded for this by the hike leader who does a lot of mountaineering. This was an incorrect assumption and I thanked him for bringing it to my attention.

I saw an article online yesterday, which stated that it can take two years, I think it was, for banana skin to decompose in the cold climate. It is alien to the Scottish Highlands and over time can become a problem for the environment including birds and animals that eat banana skin and other fruit peel. It’s actually a problem on Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, and other mountain regions with increasing numbers of people climbing the mountains each year.

Once we returned some analysis took place. Why had we decided to take such a whacky descent from the summit. Then, we remembered Maria’s intention about seeing deer today.Perhaps the way ‘chosen’ was all about seeing deer.

The moral of the story for me is never to assume that what works in one environment is okay in another. And, don’t leave banana skin and orange peel on mountains. Take these ‘organic’ litter with you.

Plus, when an intention is set (seeing deer), you never know exactly how it will manifest. It is important to specify clearly WHAT you want. Most of the time when we want something, we don’t know exactly how it will be attained and can get stuck on “how” with no clarity about what is desired.

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