Emotional health and wellness

Exercising emotional health and wellness is a learned skill that depends partly on our brain's ability to adapt.

BUT, it starts with our heart.

Our heart has 40,000 neurons of its own so when we experience positive emotions, such as compassion, forgiveness or appreciation, the heart’s rhythm becomes more coherent and harmonious, positively changing the physiology of our entire body.You know this is activated and you've shifted some energy when you can laugh heartily at yourself, you become excited about change or you've the ability to step back and intuitively look at the bigger picture – or hey you even realise that there is a bigger picture!

Repetition...

As in all fitness, repetition in thinking will build stronger neural pathways. So to keep our "go to" positive pathways in use and healthy, it's of great benefit to deliberately practice getting ourselves into a positive emotional state each and every morning.
Nourish yourself, relax, let your body settle...watch your breath rise and fall, observe your body expand and contract, notice your heartbeat, appreciate your heartbeat, gently smile. 

You are amazing ƸӜƷ  ~ Dawn

En-route to learning

We're all en-route to learning.... have you set your GPS to Lovesville?

Some of us may have to drive down the same road many many times, some of us get stuck on a round-a-bout, a few of us glimpse the slip road at the first junction and have to turn back.

Ultimately the sparkling destination that we are all in pursuit of is.... "self-love"...

It's a gentle beautiful place, fuelled by the frequency of love, where infinite miracles are waiting for you so all things are possible...have you been there yet? have you given yourself permission to stay? I'll meet you there.

                                                               

Maya Angelou

We heard today of the passing of the wonderful and wise teacher Maya Angelou.
 Just a week ago whilst I was meditating at sunrise on my Greek holiday I was blessed to be joined by this delightful swallow...

We met at the same time every morning for the whole week,  we'd sit quietly together for 20 minutes whilst the sun rose out of the sea and she'd click and sing for a few minutes more before she swooped to join her feathered sisters. Watching the swallows and feeling my sense of holiday freedom, I thought of my female teachers which of course included Maya Angelou and her book "I know why the caged bird sings". 

The first edition of her first book was being produced just as I was learning to take my first early steps into the world, and now as an adult female, working with women guiding them to a deeper more empowered state, I appreciate even more her true grit, her gentle but empowered determination and most of all her love.

Reading Maya's teachings and following her energy has been a huge catalyst for me realising and valuing my own worth.

For her, I will be eternally grateful xx

Caged Bird  BY MAYA ANGELOU

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

Let love be your guide

When our attitude becomes one of gratitude, in acceptance of who we really came here to be,

When our personality aligns to be guided by our higher self,

When our attitude is one of co-creation whilst allowing space for the unknown,

When we see the spark of human potential in everyone,

When we fully awaken to live effortlessly in service,

When we're in a state of coherence and know the energy of our authentic power...

Then the impossible becomes possible, because We Know we are love.

Keeping it Fresh

Halloo Fresh peeps....I've been posting my daily smoothie/juicing recipes on the Facebook page and a few of you have asked how I keep it affordable plus keep up with the variety of ingredients.

Well that's simple, I've made it easy and sustainable for myself with these six tips.....

1. Firstly, although I live in the middle of nowhere, I do have two farm shops nearby and usually when I pop in after work they've just bagged up end of the day produce into £1 bags, so I’ll often grab those. When I get home I give them a rinse and prepare the items, so as an example if it's pineapples or bananas - they get peeled then I roughly chop them and pop them into resealable zip freezer bags. I even freeze limes, lemons, ginger & turmeric root in 2inch wedges as well.

All of the fruit (and veg) is easily accessible in one place in the freezer, when I pull out the basket it's like a colourful jewellery box of delights to choose from.

2. I'm blessed with a love of gardening and a greenhouse which means I grow a lot of fruit. During the warmer months I pick and freeze a lot of raspberries, strawberries, red and blackcurrants etc. Spinach is very easy to grow and has a long growing season here, as does mint and other herbs that get much use in my teas and juices.

3. Sometimes I use barley grass powder in my green health drinks, it's only £2.64 for a good size tub from Canterbury wholefoods which could be an affordable option over Spirulina that often is way more expensive. Chia seeds may seem expensive in the first place but a little seed goes a long way.

4. The forth reason is that apart from biscuits  (look I never said I was a saint!) I will not eat processed food so I always have fresh veg/salad/fruit in the kitchen anyway. In the morning I'll gather the fresh ingredients for my health drink then decide which nibbly jewels from the freezer I'll add for balance of flavour and vitamins.

5. Jars of seeds, nuts, powders and oils are kept next to my Vitamix so that everything is to hand exactly when it's needed. I'm not an early morning person so if it was all too complicated I wouldn't be doing it!

6. My last tip is get yourself a couple of great receptacles for taking your drink out with you. Most of my recipes make 2 glasses, the first glass I drink straight away and the second I sip through out the day. I have a couple of shakers from Buchsteiner bought for a couple of pounds from the internet, they rinse easily, they never leak and I'll use these when it's not appropriate to carry a glass bottle.

ps, I've a lifelong obsession with limes...if you're new to making health drinks and maybe been a little exuberant and added too many ingredients to your drink then a few squirts of fresh lime can often perk up what may at first have seemed a murky mistake :-)

If you have a favourite smoothie or juice recipe do get in touch as I'd be delighted to share it on the https://www.facebook.com/freshconnectivecoaching?ref=hl page

Big Bright Blessings & wishing you exceptional wellness, Dawn 

SHIFT YOUR ENERGY

To be the best that you can be...you're gonna have to love who you are right now...

If you're giving yourself a hard time about over-eating the wrong foods, drinking too much alcohol, things you did or didn't say or even that you haven't started a new regime yet, remember that beating yourself over the head isn't productive to positive change, it simply robs you of the power to make a positive decision right now. Give yourself permission to forgive yourself for past decisions, let them go knowing you're free to move forward, free yourself up to fall in love with your 2014 journey.

The distance between dreams and reality are the decisions and action you take, and to persevere with strength and stamina it certainly helps if you can be enthusiastic about your fresh journey whilst making sustainable new choices.

If you've spent any time with me you'll already know that I like to take the most simple route to healing or creating change, I mean all we're ever really doing is shifting energy around right?

Although clients prefer a unique combination of energy shifting tools be it straight talking psychology, tapping (EFT), guided inner work, Reiki or relationship strategies, at it's most basic level I'm helping shift energy around and creating interventions to find a fresh perspective. I'm simply coaching the client to make fresh connective pathways in her brain so she's more able to look at the presenting situation from a greater perspective, and then, more easily create new possibilities in her life or just make wiser life choices.

Making great choices includes loving yourself, you don't have to be rigid and harsh with yourself, nothing is fixed, all ideas are fluid and flowing, we can progress to new positive experiences any time we choose and it really is much easier to love ourselves when we're being kind to ourselves.

So lets start at the very beginning, the very first easy and sustainable little detox action step that you can take to an emotionally and healthy you, is to alkalise you body. Make the very first drink of the day simply warm water with half a small fresh lemon or grapefruit squeezed in.

Drinking this on an empty stomach stimulates your digestive system, it helps flush out the toxins in your body, it stimulates your gallbladder, kidney and liver. If drank regularly it will decrease the acidity in your body, which is where disease states occur. It removes uric acid in your joints, which is one of the main causes of inflammation. You can then even upgrade your morning elixir by adding some fresh mint, lemon balm or a slice of ginger.

Plus if you start the day by taking control and being kind to yourself in this way, not only will your nerves thank you but you're more likely to continue making calmer healthful choices throughout the day which in turn facilitates your positive emotional wellness.

Be the very thing you love in others...you deserve the very best

I'll be posting my fave juicing/smoothie recipes daily here...https://www.facebook.com/freshconnectivecoaching?ref=hl

With love, Dawn

Girls guide to your 2014 Goddess revolution

New year, new beginnings. Setting goals for your new year revolution.

Eliminate clutter  from your life and get ready to focus....

Writing down clear specific goals can be motivating in itself as it'll engage your subconscious mind, however making your dreams a successful reality may also take a little more visualisation, oomph and sparkle....heres how....

The late Steve Jobs once skilfully pointed out  "deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do" 

So, with that in mind forget excuses or procrastination, focus forward and prepare yourself for your own next level of fantasticleness.

Top girl priority when setting your goal is to get into a great state of mind, bounce around, have a dance, giggle a bit,  spend time remembering the last time you achieved something and it felt fantastic, punch the air, really allow yourself some minutes making these fresh connectives in your mind to bring you into a GREAT space, this is the mindset and energy you need to achieve your goal, start as you mean to go on.

1 Visualise your goal, once achieved what will it look like?  sense how will it feel? who will you be? how could it benefit others?

2  Write your goal down stating why it's your goal. Plus write down how YOU will know when you've achieved it? where it will happen, who will see it and when?  what will it feel like? what will you wear?

3 Write down a deadline on your calendar, tell people your intention to hold you accountable and cement your commitment.

4 Break the process into small achievable stiletto steps.

5 Mark stages on a diary timeline so you know when it's time to step up.

6 Either create a personal "moodling" space or take a regular walk or similar that is just for "being" not "doing". Use this time simply for smiling and heart breathing. Re-connecting with your Inner Goddess is where you'll find the answers you're after.

7 Feed and nurture your goal like it's a dependant plant.

8  Practice, practice, practice visualising your success. See it, Smell it, Hear it.

9 Get over perfectionism, just get going.

10 Eliminate distractions to avoid procrastination.

11 Only make commitments that are important to you, let the rest go.

12 Know that  occasionally setbacks occur. Shit happens, learn from it, keep going.

13 Be prepared to raise your game (see above)

14 Be sure that if you do nothing, nothing will happen. You reap what you sow.

15 Who do you know who has achieved this before? study their process, enlist their help.

16 Create your own vision board, take a blank canvas/cork board/scrapbook or PC screen and cover it with images, words, pictures and quotes, be flamboyant, use colour, dates or anything relevant to your goal's development and success. Look at your collage everyday for motivation and confirmation of what you're creating.

17 You can not afford the luxury of a negative thought, learn to sit back, breathe in deeply and breathe that thought right back out, smile as you watch it leave.

18 Remember as Glinda the good witch of the north told us "you've always had the power my dear" YOU have it now, get your best heels on and make your dreams your reality.

19 ____________ write in your own affirmation, make it beautiful, make it about self love, write it so that you tell yourself everyday that you are fantastically unique and that you are enough.

20 Believe in your creative greatness, your life is totally your own design, it's your own unique story, write, create & tell the one you want.

Ps.. remember this is YOUR revolution, YOU have the power, give it a go!