This photo was posted on Instagram April 8th 2018

Why Make a Mindfulness Board?

Nearly everyone has been brought up on a model of a promise of happiness to be delivered further down the line, the carrot dangles in the hopefully not too distant future if you just keep going; and so starves the quality of life right now. Few people realise the rod of this carrot is attached to the speed of their mind, so without slowing down, sorry to say, you will never reach that carrot. Thankfully, realising this is one of the gifts of lockdown.

This obsession with the speed at which we can achieve our goals, leads us to forget to smell the roses along the way. Most stress boils down to running away from being in the present moment, forgetting to absorb the subtle essences in which we find ourselves immersed and so forgetting how to stay connected to ourselves while enjoying the journey. Instead with a gun to our head in the shape of a clock, we have designed our lives to run on a time is money model. This is the accepted norm and anything outside of it is considered weird and impractical.

When I moved back from Nz to Uk I couldn’t believe the speed of life here in UK, and so I got caught on that “normal” treadmill because it was a case of do or die. It is such an unnatural pressure that we are forced into, but you don’t get a minute to question or reflect on its value – or lack of.  Now that we are in lockdown many people are finding their dreams are coming into alignment automatically – ironically that was the point I was trying to make in this article.

I became a professional actor a year ago after being a therapist for most of my life and was reminded of that all too familiar feeling of being constantly pushed forcefully from behind rather than pulled forwards by your intuitive response that is so unhealthy and unproductive AND accepted as the norm; a sign of success even. Hopefully during lockdown you can feel that difference and the value and wisdom in slowing down and will be able to use this time to realign your life so it works for you instead of you work for it!

Social Media Magnifies this dysfunction

Proportionally we have 2 ears and one mouth ~ Nature is very clever at dropping hints! Yet there is no listening icon on social media (yet!) In communication listening is not really valued or recognised, there are no “great listener” accolades, it’s just not where the spotlight is. Yet, why talk if no one really listens? Crossed wires are the norm online, conclusions jumped to, reacted and shared and off we go multiplying the confusion in self justified defiance, which often then translates into division off-line and a complete shut down of friendship and communication………… leading to loneliness.

IMHO there is a tsunami of talkers and a drought of listeners.

Few try to address this imbalance. What if the listener has a valuable contribution to make that goes unrecognised? You will find them in the shadows of the spotlight, at the back of the room, reflecting and absorbing what they hear but rarely voicing their opinions. Don’t think for one minute they don’t know what is going on! Sideline listeners have to be encouraged to speak up now because their norm is to be silenced and undervalued by this hierachial dangerous masculine energy model of fastest, biggest, greatest, best and in the front. 

This is a sad reflection of the marketing manipulation we have been subjected to all our lives

The quiet ones end up without a voice dulled down by the so called “leaders” and the rest of us blindly do what the boss says which is precisely what is happening in the world right now; except our “bosses” are rapidly losing  our respect. In this new world we are creating now for ourselves how about we slow down, breathe, smell the roses, switch our phones off, simplify and reach for less instead of more? What if instead each persons uniqueness, their perspective, their contribution were celebrated, not controlled?

Making a mindfulness board helps you unplug from all the noise, find stillness in the chaos and get back in touch with you. The beauty is you have a simple activity to focus on to cut through the overwhelm. The great news is you can not get this wrong, and nor can you get it right so whatever you create is perfect. There is no test to compare whose is best or what could be done to improve it, because it is the action of making it that matters NOT how good/pretty/artistic the end result is. So you are 100% free to explore a pressure off new reality. How does that sound?

Even better all you have to do is find these inexpensive materials below that you likely have lying around the house.   Shall we meet online and we can make one together? Or you can follow along with this free video series just click here

Feel free to ask questions