Corona encouragement

Just a quick message from me to tell you in the spirit of trying to do something productive and helpful in these trying times instead of withering away with anxiety I have made some affirmation cards, please feel free to print them off, cut them up and use them for your self, stick them round the house, pop through a letterbox, tape to a lamp post, etc etc whatever you like. 

The Power of Positive (and Negative) Thinking

A little while ago I was doing my usual jog round the lake, I was doing a good pace, about normal, I wasn't puffed out or aching in any way, it was an average jog I felt ok, until for some reason in my head I began replaying a conversation I had with another mum several years ago.  I don't know why this conversation came to mind but I was replaying it back in my head word-for-word.

The conversation was about childbirth.  I was describing the experience of giving birth to my first child.  It wasn't a particular positive experience for me and I remember clearly saying in my head to myself as I was jogging along "I was so scared", recalling the experience.  At that exact moment, for no reason that I could explain I stopped running.

I wasn't tired, out of breath, in pain, but the power of that negative phrase quite literally stopped me in my tracks.

This led me to think about how powerful a negative inner voice can be and how mindful we have to be of it.  It was also a powerful reminder of the importance of using our positive inner voice.

If that one negative phrase could be so powerful so as to stop me from running think how powerful positive phrases and affirmations could be in our everyday lives.

It's no secret I am  a fan of positive affirmations, I love writing affirmations for all sorts of people and scenarios, I love sticking them round the house and keeping them in my purse, they help me to keep a positive inner voice.

In my Etsy shop I have several series of affirmation cards available for digital download, but I have also put together an exclusive set of affirmation cards just for new subscribers to my mailing list.

You can print them off and use them round your house, or gift them to friends or family, place them somewhere that you'll see them every day.

You can subscribe right here and receive a link to these downloadable affirmation cards immediately. You'll also receive notifications of new blog posts, newsletters, giveaways and updates.

As for me and my thrice weekly jogs, I am focusing hard on positive thoughts to keep me running and I haven't stopped so far.

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I stopped Eating!!

And started juicing!

Recently I watched an episode of an American TV show about weight loss. It was really inspiring, a woman was enrolled onto a special support programme of diet and fitness and with the help of specialist gym equipment, qualified instructors and nutritionists she lost loads of weight and at the end of the show she looked really amazing, I will come back to this later.

The weekend before last I finished off my three month(ish) wholefoods vegan diet with a four day juice feast to knock those last few kilos of weight (that I really didn't need) on the head and to see if I could improve my health.

It was HARD!  I wanted solid food!  Buuuuuut not as hard as I thought it would be.  Unlike a few years ago when I did Raw Till 4, I didn't get any "detoxing" symptoms (I am putting detoxing in inverted commas because I don't like the term as it is so unscientific, but what I mean is my body didn't have such a shock switching to juice as it did switching to Raw Till 4 so, no diarrhoea, no headaches or nausea etc which I think is a testament to how healthily I was eating before hand.). although I did feel tired and had a wobbly moment on the morning of the third day where my husband had to feed me some banana so I could get out of bed!

The good news is I reached my weight loss target and actually felt pretty good on the last day and like I could have carried on for longer, (I didn't of course!  I gorged myself on Chinese food that very evening and have subsequently gained two kilos!!)

                                                                                                           
 
Now I need to work at maintaining (re-achieving) my goal weight, I am already getting carried away eating toast and the like so I need to be really careful.

It is wonderful to not be overweight any more, it's is wonderful to be able to fit into all my old clothes, even if they are mostly wide legged trousers from the late 90's, to not have my thighs rub together when I wear a summer skirt, to be able to see my collar bones and most importantly to have reduced my risk of many illnesses like diabetes, cancer and heart disease.  But as I reflect on this journey I am struck by the stark fact that I am still the same person deep down that I was when I was overweight.  I don't feel like a slim person, a healthy person or any better than the person I was before.  What I have come to realise on this diet and lifestyle is that it doesn't matter how much weight you lose, how fit you are, you're still the same person you were before.

Now thankfully, over the past few years I have come to actually quite like myself, so it wasn't a massive disappointment to come to the end of the journey to find that I was in fact just as happy slim as I was overweight. But I know this isn't always the case.  In fact the mere fact of not liking ourselves to begin with can be the very things that is stopping us from losing weight in the first place.

We are sold the idea that if you're slim and fit and healthy you'll be happy too, and there is always this tendency to chase this idea, but sadly it's a lie.  It doesn't matter how slim or fit, or healthy we are, if there is something broken inside us no amount of dieting and exercising will fix it.

We might manage to fight our way along the road to a slim, toned body, but no true healing will have taken place if that journey doesn't also include a process of internal healing as well.

True happiness doesn't come from how you look on the outside, it comes from working hard on the important relationship we have with ourselves; addressing issues we have, facing up to ourselves and doing the really hard work internally.

One of my affirmations from my be series available as a digital download in my shop

Going back to that American TV show.  The most important change the woman made in her life wasn't changing her diet or getting to the gym it was addressing some very deep pain she had from the past, issues with her family and a terrible incident that dramatically affected her life and caused her so much pain, self hatred and guilt. When she finally faced up to everything that happened and was able to put the past behind her the real change in her life occurred and she was able to be truly happy again.

I believe that the journey to a healthy body starts with a healthy mind and that somehow releasing the past opens up pathways that enable the weight to go; and to go forever.

I am reminded of some lyrics from a Dolly Parton  song that I love called "Better Get to Livin'":

                                          I said you'd better get to livin', givin'

Be willing and forgivin'

Cause all healing has to start with you

You better stop whining, pining

Get your dreams in line

And then just shine, design, refine

Until they come true

And you better get to livin'[....]

You better get to livin', givin'

A little more thought about bein'

A little more willin' to make a better way

Don't sweat the small stuff

Keep your chin up

Just hang tough

And if it gets too rough

Fall on your knees and pray

And do that everyday

Then you'll get to livin'.

Her words somehow sum up what we need to improve our lives; there is definitely a message about working on yourself from the inside, some positive visualisation, mindfulness and affirmations and last but not least submitting our lives to a higher power, and not just on the days when things get tough, but every. single. day. I am writing this to remind myself as much as to share with you as I face a future with a healthy body, I need to remember always to be working on my heart and mind, they are the most important and affect everything else.

This was my first breakfast after my juice feast, I was seriously craving something savory and this really hit the spot.

If you're interested in the diet I followed to lose weight, check it out HERE, I am still offering this 7 day vegan wholefoods meal plan for "pay what you want".

My first ever E-Workshop

Hi friends,

I really pleased to share with you something I have been working on for some time; my first ever E-workshop.

This workshop teaches you how to make these fabulous Positive Affirmation Cards, but it does so much more than that.  Included in the E-workshop are:

An photo-illustrated e-book which includes:

• 15 beautiful pages,
• All you need to know about why positive affirmations are useful and how they work,
• A reflective, healing tutorial for coming up with your own positive affirmations,
• A huge list of over 70 ideas for positive affirmations you could use,
• A materials list,
• A guided meditation to lead you into a reflective and healing art activity,
• Detailed instructions on how to create your affirmations cards, including suggestions on how to choose your colours,
• Ways to extend the process creatively, personally and socially.

A video tutorial:

• Me, making the affirmation cards and talking you through how to do it.

You get all this for an amazing price of just £5.00!!

Why should you trust in me to lead you through this E-workshop?

I am a practicing artist, with 7 years art education under my belt (though I am always learning and currently taking an online course in Introduction to Art Therapy).  I studied art at Oxford Brookes University and eventually trained at Reading University to teach art to people of all ages.  I have a further 7 years experience teaching art and a personal interest in how positive thinking can change our lives. I have been a practicing artist for 14 years.

How you can get your creative paws on this E-Workshop:

There are a couple of ways to purchase this E-Workshop.  Either you can simply click on the "add to cart" to take you through to Paypal:

And I will email you the e-boo and video within 3 working days,

OR, you can shop through Etsy via this link:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/505938036/positive-affirmation-card-mini-e

And you will immediately receive the e-book and the video will be emailed to you within 3 working days .

So there you have it, are you willing to take a leap of faith in yourself (and in me)?  Give it a go, you may just be opening a door to somewhere you never thought you would be.