HOW TO ACCEPT, EMBRACE AND SELF-MOTIVATE YOURSELF TO FULFILMENT

I use this season as a time for ‘shedding’, for ‘letting go’ for ‘lightening my personal load’.  I see it as a time to prepare to revert back into myself, to reflect on what’s serving me well in my life and what is depleting me before the winter season, where I love to retract, restore, renew and revitalise myself. 

When I teach Mindfulness and in my own daily practice, I love to use the analogy of ‘Natures Life Cycle’ to teach people how to honour and embrace each of the seasons in their own ‘life cycles’.  Mother Earth and nature in general carry thousands of years of wisdom, of grace, of hope, of inspiration and of growth.  So wise is Mother Earth to realise that her elements of foliage need time and patience to seed, nurture, grow, bloom, shed and restore.  We too as humans need to adapt this very wise cycle into our own human  lives.  We are not superhumans, we are not robots.  We all need time to gently seed ourselves, to grow, to bloom, to repair and recover in our own life cycles.

Think of how each season in nature works.  In Spring, there is a very gentle, neutral pace of growth or budding under the surface or internally that occurs on our trees, plants, shrubs and flowers.  A lot of this phase of the life cycle is not seen by the naked human eye until the little buds start to sprout.  This stage is one of personal and individual growth, at each host’s own steady pace.  There is no pressure to keep up with a ‘defined’ or ‘expected’ growth pattern.    Then during the season of Summer, most of Mother Earths foliage is in full bloom and blossom.  This is a period of great colour, of expression, of vibrancy.  There are long hours of daylight and warmer temperatures to be absorbed by our trees, plants, shrubs and flowers.  It is a season of celebration. 

Then as Autumn approaches, the foliage is so full, so heavy, filled to the top of absorbed nutrients from the previous season.  This is a welcome season to start to ‘lighten the load’, to ‘shed’ and ‘let go’ of leaves, of bloom, of colour.  This is a season to start to bare the soul and expose elements that have been covered over or ‘hidden’ up to now. 

Nature next welcomes the season of Winter.  This is a time for deep reflection, for retracting back into oneself, for hibernating, for repairing, renewing and restoring deep under the surface of the earth or internally.  This is a time to rejoice for the planting, growth and bloom seasons just had and a time for really embracing the shorter days of light, the cooler air temperatures, the frost tipped grass, perhaps the fall of snow. 

So how can we apply this concept to our own daily lives?  I find it very useful to visualise and embrace my own life and my life cycles just like nature does.  Through Mindfulness, Meditation and Self-Compassion, I have grown to understand, accept and love that I need time in my life to plant my own internal seeds, to nurture my thoughts, mind and body to budding and growth.  I need to nourish myself with fresh air, with water, with good food, with sufficient rest time, with all the elements that I need to help me to progress and embrace my cycle of bloom and full blossom.  I have also learned the importance of being able to let go of any worries, stresses, strains or fears that do not pose an immediate threat or physical danger to my life.  I don’t need to carry around these extra burdens, or pains, or emotions with me every day.  I have learned the extreme necessity of creating rest, restore, renew and reflection time in my life.  I now embrace any opportunity to deeply retract into myself, to sit in stillness, to listen to my heart more so than my thoughts, to nourish and nurture myself deep below my own surface and below my own roots. 

The most beautiful thing about adapting this analogy to our everyday living is that our own life cycles don’t have to be in sync with natures life cycles.  We might need different elements of growth, rest, repair or retraction at different or numerous stages throughout our own lives! 

An inspiring quote that I love is:

“There is beauty to be found in the changing of earth’s seasons, and an inner grace in honouring the cycles of life”

(Jack Kornfield)

HOW to ‘Shed’ and ‘Let Go’ using Mindfulness:

The following is a step by step guide on how to ‘shed’ and ‘let go’ using Mindfulness:

1. As you sit with a straight spine or lie down, bring your awareness to your breath, your natural breathing rhythm.

2. Now take 3 regulating breaths, in through your nose, out through your mouth.

3. As you do so, consciously give yourself permission to lighten the tension in your jaw, your shoulders, your arms, your legs. Say to yourself “I give myself permission to let go of anything not serving me well at the moment”.

4. On your next in-breath, bring an awareness to the fact that it is impossible for you to take this next in-breath before you physically let the last in-breath go. With this awareness, as you breathe in, say to yourself, “I give myself permission” and on the out-breath, say to yourself, “to let go of fear and anxiety”.

5. On the next in-breath, say to yourself, “I give myself permission” and on the out-breath, say to yourself “to let go of pain, grief or trauma”.

6. On the next in-breath, say to yourself, “I give myself permission” and on the out-breath, say to yourself “to let go of stress and suffering”.

7. You can continue steps 4,5 and 6 for as long as you wish, personally choosing what you wish to say to yourself on your out-breath, you as let go.

8. When you are ready, bring your awareness to how calm, peaceful, lighter and rejuvenated you feel in your mental, emotional and physical body. When you are ready, gently open your eyes and let go of the practice.

By Leona McDonnell Mindfulness and Wellness/

As published by The Celtic Media Group in The Anglo Celt, Connaught Telegraph, Meath Chronicle, Offaly Independent, Westmeath Examiner and Westmeath Independent newspapers w/c 9/11/2020)

Thank you to Brian o’Loughlin at the Westmeath Examiner https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/ for all his wonderful help!

Great for anchoring you into the present moment. Simple present moment awareness, nothing else for your mind, body or emotions to do other than to just be present with this beautiful sound!!

#birdsong #sunrise #goodmorning #mindfulness

Grounding and earthing myself has become the forefront of my daily life over the last number of years and I use this in all my teachings. It is amazing though that so many people are not really sure of what ‘grounding’ or ‘earthing’ means or how to do it!

Mindfulness has really helped me to learn to see the beauty and simplicity in my life and of my beautiful surroundings. I am naturally a very earthy person and find so much solace, peace and inner tranquillity from spending time outdoors in nature, experiencing the simple natural presence of nature and how therapeutic connecting to Mother Earth can be.

I am very lucky to live in the beautiful green and open countryside where there is an abundance of natural peace and serenity but anyone can experience grounding and earthing by just stepping outside the front or back door of their home, their work or getting out of their cars!

For me personally, every-time I step outside, I automatically feel alive! I feel so calm, so centred, so relaxed and for those few moments, the normal hectic pace of life and trying to keep up with the never ending rat race we are all living in, somehow all abates to the background and I can just be present in that moment. I can feel the calmness, the solidness, the stability from deep beneath the earths surface, pulling my whole physical and energetic body deeply below its surface. I can feel my body getting heavy and weighted as I just let go and let myself sink deeper down towards the earths floor.

I often describe this feeling as if the earth is gently pulling the roots of your spinal cord down through your legs, your feet and continues to pull you deeply below its surface and then firmly anchors and connects you to the earths bed, just like the roots of tree. A tree’s roots gently spread deeply and widely into and across the earths floor to give it strength, stability, presence and most of all the nourishment and life force it needs to grow strongly and stable.

This is how we can ‘ground’ and ‘earth’ ourselves daily in our own lives. I use this visualisation daily of my roots deeply anchoring and connecting to the earths floor from the base of my spine. You will often see me just leaning or sitting against beautiful tree’s or logs in my garden or wherever I am when I’m out and about. I’ve often being caught hugging these trees too!!

You can also use the therapeutic sound of water to cleanse and restore you and to connect you to another element of the earth’s natural peace and tranquillity. That is why some people love lake or sea swimming, as they feel so earthed and connected to one of life’s sources.

As I don’t get to swim outside daily, one thing I love doing at the end of my shower is turning the water onto a really cold setting and ‘cold water immersing’ my body in it! It is so invigorating, gets the circulation and blood pumping around your body but it has to be really cold! No cheating! You have to be panting as your breathing reacts to the shock of the cold water! It is an incredible, you will feel so alive!

So HOW do I ‘Ground’ and ‘Earth’ myself?

The following is a step by step guide on how to ‘ground’ and ‘earth’ yourself daily:

1. In a sitting or standing position, whether inside or outside, barefoot or with shoes, bring your awareness to your connection to the earth beneath you through the soles of your feet.
2. Gently close your eyes over if you wish or relax your gaze gently downwards, allowing your arms to hang loosely down by your sides and resting your palms facing upwards on your lap if you are sitting. Arms hanging down by your sides with palms facing outwards if you are standing.
3. Now bring your awareness to the strength and solid pull of the earth down through the soles of your feet as you rest in this simple awareness. Imagine that the earth is pulling the roots of your spine down through your lower body, down through the top of your feet and out through the soles of your feet. As you breathe in through your nose and blow the breath gently out through your mouth, gently allowing your roots to continue to be pulled deep below the earths surface.
4. Resting in this present awareness now, gently breathe in through your nose the earths ‘strength’ and gently breathe out through your mouth, the earth’s ‘stability’, breathe in the earth’s ‘strength’, breathe out the earth’s ‘stability’, breathe in the earth’s ‘strength’, breathe out the earth’s ‘stability’.
5. Continuing to breathe in this rhythm, feel your spine becoming straighter, taller and longer. Feel the strength and stability in your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your torso, your spine, your pelvis, your legs and your feet.
6. Breathing in ‘strength’ and breathing out ‘stability’ into all of these areas as you continue to feel your physical and energetic body becoming more weighted and anchored below the earth’s surface.
7. Continuing to rest firmly and solidly in this present and earthed awareness for as long as you wish. When you are ready, gently open your eyes if they were closed, gently stretch your neck, shoulders, arms and legs as you end this grounding and earthing practice.

By Leona McDonnell Mindfulness and Wellness

(As published in The Anglo Celt, Connaught Telegraph, Meath Chronicle, Offaly Independent, Westmeath Examiner and Westmeath Independent newspapers w/c 14/09/2020)