Dear Fellow Traveller
Hi, how are things going? Thought I’d share with you some practices I am finding useful at the moment and also to let you know I have started up my counselling practice again.
While doing some personal writing this morning I reviewed once again some notes I have written in the front of my journal. I thought I would share them with you as I have found each of them invaluable practices in the past eight months as life seems to be demanding of me quite a different way of approaching my life. And from speaking with friends and clients I know it can be the same for others.
The first point suggests I “be in the moment”. I find that my life is continually encouraging me to do this, as well as to be extraordinarily flexible in the way I approach my daily life. When I make plans almost inevitably something happens “in the moment” so I have to change my plans, although on reflection it tends to all turn out perfectly anyway for everybody involved.
The next point encourages me to “keep coming back to my breath”. When I feel fear I breathe very shallowly. I have done this all my life and even fainted often as a child because I experienced situations at school that filled me with so much fear I stopped breathing. So often I still need to remain conscious of my breath so I breathe fully down into the lower part of my belly.
The third point encourages me to honour my knowing by acting from my intuition. For example, I continuously find that if I have an inner voice prompting me to do or say something I ignore it at my peril, as when I do ignore it I can see afterwards how life would have gone more smoothly if I had followed through with what it was suggesting.
The fourth point encourages me to connect with my feelings – something I naturally do while writing in my journal. Once I am aware of them I bring healing to them through gentle exploration. For example, perhaps while out walking in nature insight comes. I see how I have over reacted at a feeling level to something in my present life as it has triggered memories of a past experience. If I can gently hold these feelings and thoughts in my consciousness and perhaps with further journaling or by talking them over with a trusted friend, I gain insight as to how to approach a situation from a more balanced perspective.
The last point encourages me to take time each day to sit with myself and find peace within. This may be through activities such as meditation, drumming, dancing, knitting, singing or art – or just by sitting, preferably in a quiet, relaxing spot, such as in nature.
As many people have asked me over the years if I do counselling I thought I would let you know that I have re-started my counselling practice as I am now living back near Melbourne. I am seeing clients from the Well Being Centre at Abbotsford Convent in Collingwood. If you or anybody you know wants to make an enquiry about counselling, or if you would like to give me feedback about any of the above, I can be contacted on robyn@navigatingmidlife.com or 0412583990.
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