Today I paid a visit to one of my favourite grocery stores “The National” in Westmount Village.  Like many of the stores these days, they are requesting customers to either bring their own bags or buy one from the store.  I did not have a bag with me so I asked them to supply me with one.  I was given a lovely solid plastic reusable bag with a big green sign across it that said “Respect the Environment”.   Later in the day I was walking along the street and I saw a woman wearing a t shirt with the words “Respect Above Else” boldly written across her chest.   Ok, I thought, the universe is clearly getting my attention and so the topic of my musing today.

There are many who believe, and I am one of them, that our relationship with the earth and how we see our connection to this beautiful planet which we inhabit is very much a reflection of how we treat ourselves. We don’t have to go far to consider the ways that pollution, disrespecting and trashing the precious resources that we have been gifted is affecting all of us.  For example, we all know that without water we cannot survive yet for many years we have ignored this truth, allowing these waters to be poisoned and harmed by our reckless behaviour.  Yes, we are waking up to all this and, for sure, there is much we can do to reverse the damage but it can only happen if we hold “water” in its highest regard truly valuing the role it plays in our lives.   It also requires us to place Nature as a more important commodity than money.

In my work, I see the way I can contribute to this honouring of nature and the environment is by holding the space for others to come back to a right relationship with themselves.   Basically, to love and honour ourselves for the beautiful creation that we are.  This in turn will translate naturally into how we treat others and our natural habitat.  After all, when we hold ourselves in the highest regard, we care what we put into our bodies, how we spend our precious time and energy and what thoughts and beliefs we hold about ourselves.  Our feelings are met with love rather than something to be ignored, rejected or dumped on others.    We now know that the ways we respond to different situations can affect our health and wellbeing more than we have previously thought.

Consider the work of Lynne McTaggert who wrote the book “The Intention Experiment”.   There is much evidence that holding a heartfelt intention can do much to facilitate healing.  Contrary it is thought that when we worry or live in fear we are likely to be creating an inner environment of stress and contraction.  We have many tools at our disposal to create more ease and harmony within and most involve relaxing the mind and connecting with our feelings so something more spacious can emerge; breathwork, meditation, journaling, tapping, bodywork can facilitate this process just to name a few.

Caring about our emotional ecology is good for all.  Our job is to take these simple truths and apply them to our lives.

Much love, everyone!

Vivianne

One of the main times many of us reach out to a therapist, coach or trusted friend is when life’s circumstances become intense or stressful.  We become overwhelmed emotionally and need support and assistance in processing what we are experiencing.

When faced with intense feelings there can be a tendency to want to get rid of, escape from or fix our emotions as soon as possible so we can get on with our lives.

But what if we could find a way in those moments to recognise that our emotions are just energy in motion and turn inwards to explore our inner landscape in order to restore the harmony we are seeking.

Here are six simple steps to assist in this process:

1. Create some space to listen to whatever is going on inside of you.
2. Soften and breathe into the situation that is upsetting or stressful
3. Take a few moments or write out your thoughts, reactions and beliefs e.g. Why does this always happen to me?  Or this is never going to change.Journal prompts such as: I am feeling……I am sensing……can be useful.
4. Identify the thoughts that you might believe in but may not necessarily be true. The work of Byron Katie can be very useful to assist us in this.  For example, questioning our habitual thinking “is it true that this is never going to change?” can show us where we might be buying into false assumptions keeping us stuck and scared.
5. Embracing and feeling our feelings without judgement or blame softens and dissipates them.
6. Connect to the calm and ease that is always within us when we get out of our own way!

Taking care of our emotional landscape helps to balance our mind, body and spirit.  The result is we can choose to feel peaceful and empowered to respond to life’s situations in ways that serve us and those around us.

Have a great month everyone,

Much love,

Vivianne