Today is my last day in Spain. What a difference a month makes! Being away I have learnt many things, about myself and a little more about the world around me. Taking time to relax nourishes the soul and being away from my regular environment has helped me feel more grounded and at one with nature. It feels a little like I’ve been in a time warp, time has not been important and not really touched me this month. I have just been here. Simply being.

Here are a few of the many things that I have re-remembered about life, that I’d like to share with you. Being in this wonderful place has really enabled me to focus on what I believe to be philosophies to a good life, and these can be applied no matter where you are in the world.

Self reflection

Just being, connected to nature, sounds of the ocean and spending time outside, has given me permission to spend uninterrupted time to look inside of myself. Understand more about who I truly am and how every experience, every person, everything is part of who I am. Knowing thyself is the most important thing. This is what guides us to the “what” in our life -our passions, our purpose.

We often “label” ourselves as just one thing “a wife” “mother” “artist” “Human resources officer” but in reality we are many things – multi dimensional beings. One of the exercises I gave myself was to write down all of the things “I am” – am still adding to that list.

How often do you take take for some self reflection? What would your “I am” list say?

Morning rituals rock!

Yesterday I completed Deekpak Chopra’s “21 days of meditation challenge” . I am a mediation addict and a huge fan of Deepak as it is, and this was an amazing journey. Mostly because I had this spectacular view to look at every morning, but more practically because meditation calms the mind, enables you to connect to your inner truth and set intentions for the day ahead. In fact having any type of morning ritual to reflect and set intentions can be as beneficial. Writing morning pages, sitting with your morning drink in silence, taking a bath etc, these all help calm the mind and prepare yourself for the busy day ahead.

What are some of the things you do now or would like to do as part of your morning ritual?

Self-care is essential

Every day I did something for myself, be it yoga, meditating, taking photos, exploring, drawing, eating good food, walking on the beach or just simply taking time to watch the ocean roll in and roll out. Self-care has always been a challenge for me – I always have a task to complete, a blog post to write, someone to help out which I all love doing, but self-care has to come first. Caring and nurturing yourself, your well being is the key to appreciating yourself and gives you the energy to use your gifts to help others.

What do you love to do to give yourself some self-care?

(I wish I could have captured the night sky, but alas could not) Photo credit: Toms Astronomy

Pondering the night sky

Every evening, we would sit out on the balcony and wait for the night sky to reveal itself, star by star over the ocean on one side and above the mountains on the other. We spotted constellations and used an online star mapping program to  identify the night sky from where we were seeing it. Gazing at the night sky and learning about the stars, reminded me to take time to look up and ponder the world beyond what I think I know already. Realizing the vastness of the universe and the diversity of life really blows the mind and helps us remember how amazing life on earth really is.

How often would you like to ponder life and the universe beyond what you currently know?

 

Explore

We explored new places and met new people. It was so much fun feeling like a small child embarking on an adventure as we drove high up into the mountains, through farms of olive trees and oranges and along winding coastlines through sleepy fishing villages. Taking time to explore really expands your understanding of how others might live, cultural differences and enables you to also think about changes to your own life, how you want it to be.

What is that place you have been wanting to explore for so long? Its time….

Be creative everyday

I brought my colored watercolor pencils with me and a pad of watercolor paper and every day I created a piece of affirmation art or simply just doodled as part of my relaxation and meditation practice. I also carried my camera everywhere I went photographing views and objects I found inspiring.

Being creative everyday helps us express ourselves and explore our own creative expression. This could be many different expressions such as photography, singing in the shower, dancing to your favorite music, writing a story, playing an instrument and lots more.

What are some of the ways you express yourself creatively?

Letting go

Being without my blackberry this past month has taught me that the less “connected” I am, the more “connected to myself and to nature” I am. I have not missed this piece of technology at all! This has re-enforced the decision I made before I took this journey… to let my blackberry go as it is no longer serving me. There are so many things we cling to that give us a false sense of security or are there formed by a habit or some other social conditioning. By cleansing and letting material things or even people go, clears some of the “energy clutter” which allows us to move on and let new possibilities in. This is referred to as “creating a clearing” and could involve, clearing out your wardrobe, going on an information diet, de-cluttering objects that you’ve “collected” and donating to charity.

What are some of the material or emotional things you might like to let go of, helping you “create a clearing”?


Living in the present

Taking time to notice natures little details has enabled me to question more, explore and live in the present. My eyes suddenly opened to every little detail around me, I started to notice so many things, enjoying the moment of exploring, questioning and living completely in the present. It opened my heart up to being thankful for all the wonderful things and people in my life.

By living more in the present, we are able to be more thankful for the moment, for what we have and focus on the positives. This allows  energy to flow to both give and receive – opening the door to abundance in life.

I am so thankful for this cleansing experience.

What are some of the things you are thankful for in this moment, today?

Open your heart.

The journey I have traveled this past month has certainly re-enforced one belief of life here on earth. Open your heart wide out to the world and let the world in. “A person’s world is only as big as their heart” -Tanya A. Moore

When you open and follow your heart, you find your passion and live a much fuller life. We create our own worlds and opening our hearts and heart energy can not only heal ourselves but the world around us. We are all more connected than we think we are.

Would you like to open your heart wider?

Please come back on Friday, where I will post a little challenge and some suggestions on ways we can open our hearts and spread some good heart energy out into the world for the weekend.

Have a wonderful day. Xx

P.S. Winners of the First Friday Giveaway for September announced here