featured Archives ~ Page 6 of 7 ~ Clare Josa

Feeling Down? Why Meditation Could Be Just What You Need

One of the things we do when we’re feeling a yucky emotion – whether it’s sadness, depression, guilt or anger, is to run from it. We resist it. We fight it. We pretend it’s not there.

And, as I often hear from meditation students, the last thing we want to do when we’re feeling down is to meditate. Who on earth would want to sit quietly and go into silence, when their mind is reminding them of all the reasons they should feel bad?

Yet, often, that’s the best thing we could do. So how could you best handle meditating, when you’re not in the mood? [Read more…] about Feeling Down? Why Meditation Could Be Just What You Need

7 Survival Tips – How To Beat The Monday Morning Blues

featured, Inspirational Messages

“Tell me why I don’t like Mondays…”

We all know the feeling: after a great weekend, the alarm goes off and realisation dawns: it’s Monday morning. Again.

For many of us, it can trigger a sinking feeling of dread, as we take a deep breath and dive into another week.

It can go on for years, feeling stuck in a rut and unable to change anything.

But it doesn’t have to bet that way.

Here are 7 survival tips to help you beat the Monday Morning Blues.

Do you get the Monday Morning Blues?

Tip 1: Get specific
Rather than indulging in an open-ended rant about how awful Monday mornings are, it helps to get specific. What exactly is it you’re not enjoying?
Don’t be tempted to generalise – that leads to the proverbial mountain from a molehill. Being clear about specifically what is bugging you will reduce the problem to a more manageable size.

Tip 2: Time for wisdom
Remember the old saying:
“Grant me the patience to accept the things I cannot change…
… the courage to change the things I can…
… and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Tip 3: It’s up to you…
It’s up to you how much you make out of the Monday Morning Blues. Basically, if you can change things, then get active and do something about them. If you can’t, then you can always change how you choose to respond. Rather than getting wound up, stressed and frustrated, pick a different emotion – one that feels better. It’ll lift your week and that’s a promise.
Need a hand? This one should help: How to deal with difficult emotions in under five minutes.

Tip 4: Say No
Many of us end up with the Monday Morning Blues because we’re feeling overworked and undervalued. What would it take to say “no” every now and then? Not aggressively, but firmly and with compassion. How much could that change things for you?

Tip 5: Tell a new story
Do you need to tell a different story? It can be tempting to indulge in Monday Morning Whinging, but it’ll make you feel worse. Just don’t go there. How about having a Monday Morning Rule: if you can’t say something positive, say nothing?!!!
If your Monkey Mind is addicted to that old story, get a quick ‘how to’ for letting go of the story in point #1 of 3 Things You Can Do Today To Change Your Life.

Tip 6: Don’t ignore it
If Monday Morning Blues are a big issue for you, then there’s a reason for it. Ignoring them just keeps you locked in the Groundhog Day cycle. Negative emotions can be an early warning sign that you need to make changes – either in your life or in your response to it. Is there a tiny change you could make today that would help next Monday morning?

Tip 7: Say thank you
No matter how bad our Monday Morning Blues might be, there are always good things going on in our lives. How about looking for the positives and focussing on the things you enjoy about your Monday? It’s a sure-fire way to turn your Monday around and feel happier, fast.
If you’d like to dive more deeply into this one, how about joining in the fun with The Great Gratitude Challenge to discover how the simple act of saying ‘thank you’ can transform your world?

Bonus Tip 8: Start your Monday with something uplifting
How about turning things around? Mondays happen! Instead of dreading getting ready for work, how about choosing something to look forward to, instead?
What could you weave into your Monday that would make you smile? Then aim for that, instead of the bits that drag you down.

And you could keep a gratitude journal, so you could review the past week’s entries each Monday morning, to shift your mood and set your intention for the week.

What are your top tips for beating the Monday Morning Blues? We’d love to hear them – please share via the comments box, below.

x Clare
Mentor to Entrepreneurs & Passionate World-Changers

Why “Can” Is NOT The Opposite Of “Can’t”!

featured, Inspirational Messages

There’s no such thing as “can’t”. But that doesn’t mean you can.

My great aunty Yo was famous for being a teeny bit dotty, but she had a secret that she shared generously, with all who would listen.

I remember the no such thing as can’t message being thrown back at me every time she spotted one of my excuses, as a kid. Back then, I didn’t appreciate her secret much.

Couldn’t she see? Of course I couldn’t do xyz…

Then, as I got older, I started to understand. She wasn’t trying to tell me that, at 5’2″ tall, there was nothing stopping me from being an Olympic high jumper.

She just wanted me to see the blindingly obvious truth:

“I can’t” was my excuse for anything I didn’t want to do – or didn’t believe I could do.

At a gentle level, she was helping me to learn that there are only two things that were ever going to get in my way:

1. What I believe is possible.
2. What I choose to do / not to do.

For so many of us who are used to positive thinking and all its friends, you might think that the fix for this one is to replace “can’t” with “can”. But it doesn’t work…

If we have invested time and effort into creating a belief that we can’t do something, simply picking the positive affirmation that we ‘can’ do it doesn’t change that belief. Instead, it sets up an internal conflict:

Our thinking mind says yes. Our unconscious mind (which runs the show, by the way), says no.

All that is likely to happen is that you’ll feel frustrated and miserable. If you try it out now on a “can’t” belief, you’ll most likely notice that it causes physical tension, too.

So what’s the answer?

Maybe. Perhaps. Might.

Think of that “can’t” belief. Instead of forcing in a “can”, try softening things with…

“Perhaps I might…”

Can you feel the difference? You’re opening up the possibility – gently and without creating resistance. Then, as your old belief dissolves, ‘maybe’ will naturally shift into ‘probably’, soon to become a ‘can’.

Isn’t that a kinder way of making changes in your life?

Got an opinion on this one? We’d love to hear your views via the comments box!

Discover 5 Secrets To Feeling Happier, Fast!

Books And CDs, featured

“Discover 5 Secrets To Feeling Happier, Fast!” is designed to give you a happiness lift, in minutes, not weeks.

It doesn’t pretend to be the definitive guide to happiness.

In fact, if you’re feeling in need of a happiness boost, books and courses that take weeks or months to apply are the last thing you need.

These 5 strategies are proven to be highly effective in helping you shift from feeling down to feeling happy – and they can deliver results in minutes.

But they’re not just ‘quick fixes’.

They are techniques you can use every day, to consistently raise your mood. And the amazing thing about applying them regularly is that, when they start to become a habit, you’ll notice you automatically feel happier, most of the time.

This book is quick to read – being 25 pages long – but it’s a powerful antidote to the modern stresses of busy life.

And all for less than the price of a coffee. Grab the Kindle version now and you could be feeling happier in less than 5 minutes.

So, are you ready to Discover 5 Secrets To Feeling Happier, Fast?

Local Meditation & Mindfulness Classes Near Forest Row, East Sussex

featured, Meditation Classes

Discover how to de-stress, relax, feel healthier, feel happier, calm your mind, discover your inner peace and have more fun with meditation classes with Clare Josa.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation helps you quieten your mind, to reach beyond the everyday, mundane aspects of life and reconnect with a deeper sense of “who you really are”.

It is a journey that will take you from a place of stress, drama and discontent to happiness, inner peace, contentment and connectedness.

Along that path, we all encounter things that need to be released, in order to set ourselves free from the habits, thought patterns and limiting beliefs that have kept us stuck and separate for so long.

Meditation is not…

Clare Josa, Meditation Teacher

I had been practising meditation for about 20 years, when I decided to formally train as a meditation teacher, so I could help others.

That’s when I realised that I had never really “meditated”.

It was a bit of a shock! Sure, I had done classes, retreats and had a stack of “meditation” CDs at home, but few of them took me anywhere near that point of stillness, that point of peace, deep inside, that I had been searching for.

Why?

Because the “teacher” never shut up and there was always tinkly music in the background!

After 2 decades of studying, I had never been taught how to be “ok” with silence; with stillness. All the techniques I had learned were still about “doing” – following instructions that popped up almost constantly.

Even though there are many meditation techniques that can be performed while you are active – even in a noisy environment – I had never experienced the beautiful feeling of allowing my mind to come to rest and just “be”.

Everything I had tried before had, in fact, been based on deep relaxation or guided visualisation. And I experienced a huge difference in the effect of those, compared to deep meditation, which has been profound and life-changing for me. 🙂

Meditation is NOT about twisting your legs into a pretzel, hiding in a cave and chanting ancient Sanskrit all day (though it can be!).

It is a practice that helps you change your life. It brings you peace, calm, stillness and a vibrant sense of being totally “alive”.

What Are The Benefits Of Meditation?

Some of the benefits of regular meditation practice include:

Reducing your stress levels
Getting your life back into balance
Developing a “longer fuse” – being able to remain calm, even in emotional situations
Improved physical, mental and emotional health
Feeling happier – even moments of spontaneous joy
Clearer thinking – you have been training your mind to chatter less!
Improved concentration
A sense of inner peace and stillness
Feeling the strength (and desire) to finally deal with the “stuff” that’s no longer working in your life

Dispelling Meditation Myths

Myth: You have to train under a “guru” and change who you are
Fact: Finding a good teacher helps, but even just 10 minutes a day of mindfulness can have a big impact. Check out the latest research from Sara Lazar, showing that meditation can even make your brain grow!

Myth: Meditation drop-in classes work
Fact: You need commitment and dedication, to make progress.

Just as with any form of skill, to see results, a meditation student needs to commit to regular practice. A weekly, local meditation or mindfulness class is the ideal environment for this, because:

you can ask the meditation teacher questions – they have been trained how to teach this stuff!

you can benefit from the fact the teacher has probably faced similar challenges to you, on their meditation journey, and will have discovered some short cuts

you can get feedback on your posture (meditating doesn’t need to hurt!)

you can learn how to prepare for meditation, to get maximumm impact from your practice

you can learn techniques to get back into that ‘meditative calm’ state, even when time is short

you can share the experience with other students and even make new friends

this moral support can help you find ways to fit yoga into your life, to help you feel happier, healthier and less stressed.

Over the years, we have repeatedly found that people attending drop-in classes make much slower progress than those who make the personal commitment to attending a term’s course.

Myth: You have to change your religious beliefs, to meditate
Fact: Meditation is accessible to everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs

Although the practice of meditation is rooted in ancient philosophy, to enjoy and benefit from meditation doesn’t require you to adopt any particular belief systems and it certainly doesn’t ask its students to have any particular religious background.

If you can daydream, then you can meditate.

Most cultures have practices that are akin to meditation. There’s nothing scary or cult-based about it.

What Makes Beyond Alchemy’s Meditation & Mindfulness Classes Different?

Rather than expecting you to turn up, rushed and stressed, twist your legs into a pretzel shape and suddenly empty your mind and feel inner peace, our meditation & mindfulness classes focus on good preparation first.

In order to be able to meditate successfully, you need to be relaxed and able to concentrate.

Is it time to tame your 'grasshopper mind'?

Few of us can do that spontaneously, as part of our busy lives. Most of us are more like grasshoppers, flitting from one thought or action to the next.

So our meditation classes typically take students through the following stages:

Physical movement, to help you release the body’s tension and start to relax
Deep relaxation – sitting or lying down – to help you let go and unwind
Concentration techniques, to help you train your mind to focus on just one thing, rather than being a mutli-tasking grasshopper
Training on how correct posture during meditation can impact the effectiveness of your meditating
Discovering meditation and mindfulness techniques that work for real people, with busy lives

Our students tell us that they really value the level of preparation they get during the classes and see it as a ‘gold standard’ of meditation experience. This helps them relax and de-stress more easily during their day-to-day lives, and means they are more quickly able to get into a relaxed state of body and mind, to meditate at home.

How will I feel afterwards?
Students leave their classes feeling more balanced, less stressed, energised, refreshed and revitalised.

The goal of our meditation and mindfulness classes is to help you find a point of stillness, deep within you, that you can connect with, no matter how busy and stressful life becomes.

Why Bother With A Meditation Class?

Why on earth bother going to a meditation class?

Why not just listen to a CD or read a book?

Clare Josa, our meditation teacher, shares her personal story on this one in the video on the right.

Our research shows that a regular meditation or mindfulness class can have a major impact on the results you achieve.

Books and CDs are a great start, if you don’t have a good meditation class locally. But they have their limitations, too:

Most ‘meditation’ CDs are in fact guided visualisations or deep relaxations. Whislt they help you relax, they are unlikely to take you to a real experience of meditating.
Books can teach you techniques, but the experience of being guided through that technique by a real, live teacher is very different.
You can’t ask a book or CD questions!
Meditating with other people creates an wonderful space that allows you to go even deeper.
A good teacher can tailor your meditation class to the needs of the individuals in the group. A book or CD has to be created to work for the ‘average’ student.
Attending a weekly class gives you the moral support (and kick up the butt!) that most of us need to actually commit to regular meditation practice. It’s by far the quickest and most effective way to make progress and experience deep-acting results.

Weekly Classes

Our spring 2012 term of meditation and mindfulness classes will be starting soon.

They will be held near Forest Row in East Sussex.

We’ll be publishing times and dates, as soon as they are finalised.

Find Out More / Reserve Your Place

To find out more and reserve your place, please call Peter or Clare on 07919 11 4440. Or you can fill in the contact form below and one of the team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Can’t Make It To A Weekly Class?

We run regular yoga and meditation weekend workshops in the East Sussex area (Forest Row / East Grinstead / Ashdown Forest). If you’d like to find out when the next course is running, please get in touch!

Shiatsu Therapy

featured, Shiatsu Therapy

Find out more about Shiatsu therapy with Peter Briant