Mind is Full

Hello! How did you all go at dancing in the kitchen? Or singing in the toilet? Or maybe both? Awkward, but possible!

It was a bit difficult for me first thing in the morning. I struggle to keep the volume at an appropriate level and with Miss B finished school for the year and her need for at least 11 hours of non-interrupted sleep, high decibels just weren’t appreciated. Blah. So I made up for it in the car on the way to work! I got jiggy with Will Smith, Pushed it with Salt N Pepper and screamed with Wham! Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions! I’ll publish the list on Facebook!

Anyway, the blog….

One thing that has always fascinated me was the practice of mindfulness. I mean, how do you “do” mindfulness? Who is able to just switch off and think of nothing without falling asleep? I struggle to do that in bed! My mind is whirling with thoughts of what my tomorrow will be like, what shampoo I should use to produce long, luscious locks, whether I sent the correct email to the correct recipient, if that noise I hear is someone breaking into our house, whether life on Mars really would be that great, what outfit I might wear to a wedding we have next year. You now, normal night time thoughts. But I really would like to become more mindful, not have my mind full! I want to be more “in the moment” or perhaps more “present” (hushed tones…)

Now becoming more mindful is tough, especially as a mum. We have so many distractions. When do mother’s actually get to practice mindfulness? I mean, really? I’m very mindful of sitting my butt on the coach every night and scrolling through Facebook. That’s about the extent of my mindfulness! But as my mothering role is kind of changing, I appear to have a little spare time on my hands. What a shock to the system! Two of my kids have their licences which has freed up quite a chunk of time. But just because they are all getting older, should most of my mothering thoughts just disappear and make way for soothing music and incense? Probably not. The things I worry about just change. Instead of keeping up with their sporting events, I have other things to worry about. Different worries are thrown into the mix. I mean, I still think about what the hell I’m going to cook for tea, but I also worry about the kid’s “adult” problems. Problems like are they arriving safely at their various destinations in their cars, like do they have enough money to pay their bills. Even them remembering to pay their bills! Do they feel loved and worthwhile? Are they getting enough sleep? Do they love what they do?

I often look at mum’s and their little ones around town and wish I could go back in time. Would I do things differently? I don’t really know. But I knew where they were. I knew they were safe. I knew they felt loved. I protected them from the big, wide world while at the same time, tried to prepare them for it as much as possible. Ahhh I’m being distracted by nostalgia……

So maybe a part of my journey needs to involve some inner peace. Because I’m not very peaceful!

I’m really not sure whether I can jump straight into meditation. I literally feel like I would fall asleep which possibly defeats the purpose of being (hushed tone again) “conscious and fully aware of the present moment”. Snore…..

So because I’m a procrastinator, I thought about other ways to become more mindful. Can a walk be a form of mindfulness? I mean, if I can just ignore the crazy thought my mind conjures up and enjoy the fresh air and the sound of birds chirping, the sound of the wind blowing the leaves of the trees, would that count as mindfulness? And would it help me in my search for purpose and passion? I don’t really know! But I need to change some things to be a better version of myself and that possibly, ok definately, involves doing things outside my comfort zone. So walking for mindfulness may be a bit of a cop out. And this blog is about change, not comfort. I did do a meditation course a long, long time ago and I loved it. Trouble was I struggled to meditate at home amongst the piles of washing and the constant chatter of small children! It just didn’t work. So what to do?

Oddly enough, the universe sent me an opportunity! Go figure! An old friend of mine was visiting from interstate and she happens to be an Energetic Healer, Communicator and Medium. So I nabbed myself a time slot with her and went in with an open mind because that’s what I’ve vowed to do in this blog. GO ME!!

It. Was. Amazing. She brought out feelings in me that I had buried deep down. She validated me, and those feelings. Feelings I had held on to for many years. And then she managed to “reframe “ those feelings. She managed to make me look at the past in a totally different light. Something I’d always seen as a weakness on my behalf, she saw as a strength. Now, I’ve hung on to this “weakness” of mine for 20 something years. And on that day of my appointment, I let it go. I really did. Instead of telling myself I was pathetic and weak, I can now see that I was, in fact, the opposite. I held my morals and values to a standard and never once wavered from them. And I dealt with some fairly difficult times by digging my heels in and making sure my little family was not affected by those difficult times. And yet, I viewed that as a weakness. That’s just kind of stupid! I was one tough chick! And I still am! Strong and grounded. She gave me an understanding of my “superpowers” and I left feeling confident and motivated to open myself up to excitement and joy.

BUT…..guess what she mentioned I need to work on? My crown chakra…….and guess how I work on that? Oh yes…..the elusive MEDITATION!!!

So although I didn’t think meditation was for me, I’m going to give it a go. Guided meditation will be the way to go. I’ve done it before, I can do it again. I’m going to look up guided meditation and I’m going to straighten that crown chakra of mine.

Inner peace…come at me.

Do you meditate? All suggestions, hints and tips would be greatly appreciated!

Have a fabulous, peaceful week.

Love,

Cherie with a C

xxx

PS: The friend of mine is Kerry Brown and her Facebook page is Kerry Brown Activator. Check it out and hit “Like” on her page. She really is quite an amazing woman who has inspired me to be the best possible version of myself. Thanks Kez…your timing was impeccable! xxx