Awakened Conscious Conversations
Healing the world one episode at a time by offering realistic solutions to the journey of life. Both self hosted ( By The Gentle Yoga Warrior) and guest episodes.
Many of our guests have overcome significant obstacles and transformed their lives.
Rich with deep talks and solo endeavours, often offering tips on living a more conscious life.
Many episodes include a bonus optional meditation!
Awakened Conscious Conversations
Embracing Self-Compassion: Navigating Life's Challenges and Finding Peace
Reflecting on a recent tragedy, I find myself navigating the emotional complexities that this time of year often brings. Inspired by the teachings of Louise Hay, I dive into how we choose to nurture our inner gardens, opting for self-love over self-doubt even amidst societal pressures and economic hardships. This episode becomes a heartfelt exploration of recognising our worth and finding beauty in life's unexpected twists. I share personal insights into how these challenges shape us, urging listeners to honour their brilliance and practice self-compassion despite the hurdles life may present.
To complement these reflections, I guide you through a calming three-minute meditation designed to foster self-love and peace. Whether sitting cross-legged or in a chair, I'll help you find a posture that supports tranquility. As we breathe deeply, distractions are welcomed and released, teaching us to carry positivity into our daily lives. This meditative practice serves as a gentle reminder of your best efforts, offering a space to reconnect with your inner strength and emerge with renewed mindfulness and love.
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So hello, dear listeners, and thank you to for joining me on this week's episode of Awaken Conscious Conversations podcast. As always, I'm your host and, as you know, I love to have guests, but I've felt like to do like a solo sprint of doing self-hosted podcasts for a while, but my guests will be back in the new year, which I'm looking forward to having on the show. But my guests will be back in the new year, which I'm looking forward to having on the show. For this week, I want to help people because I know this is a very tough time of year. For some people maybe it's not, but maybe you know someone who's going through a tough time and everyone's feeling kind of a little bit sensitive. And a friend of mine said that at this time of year in this part of the world, because there's light, we can become a bit more sensitive. And unfortunately I had some very tragic news in my family. I won't share details, but it's very heart-wrenching. And then I know so many people that are going through so many difficult things and as I speak to you now, it is a nice day. The sun is shining. I think there's nothing more beautiful than a winter sky in the morning with all the beautiful colors and um, and even during the middle of the day, like now, it's really beautiful, but then there can be days that you wake up and it's really gray and miserable. And, like I said, even if you want to live in a place where it's nice sunshine every day, I'm sure there's some days that are finer than others and what that impact can have on people, because I think it makes us really go within when it's this kind of dark time of year and we go further within and in many ways it's very difficult to escape from ourselves and from the reality we are in.
Speaker 1:But then I was listening to Louise Hay, a really famous self-help person sadly no longer on this plane anymore, but she's done some amazing books and she was doing this talk and it reminded me, like, of how we can kind of water where we choose. So just say that we've got two plants one plant is your self-doubt and the other plant is your self-love. Quite often we choose to water the negative thoughts, the self-doubt and all these things that we have. This is how I felt, inspired from a talk, and this is how I picture what she was saying. But in my own way is to see that like we can water this plant of self-doubt and we can be so impossibly cruel to ourselves, and it's getting a bit of a tougher terrain, I think, as as as as the decades, and even in time and the way people are changes by the year now, where it used to be kind of like you could distinguish things by the decades, which I think is more by the months, and I'm digressing a bit.
Speaker 1:What I'm trying to say is that we it's such a difficult terrain for all of us to try and navigate through life, because there's all these false images of people looking perfect, things being perfect. And I tell you right, my life has not turned out how I planned it. There are so many things that have not turned out the way I wanted them to, but there's so many things that turned out in a different way, which I hadn't planned them to be, which are beautiful, and I could just sit there and think, actually my life's not gone this way, but I but you know what, there's always a kind of gift behind it all, even if it can be painful, and in the moment there's some very difficult things that we're going through, don't get me wrong, and there's some very painful things, but there's some very beautiful things as well, and the gift through all the difficult terrains that one had to navigate through in one's life is is the wisdom and that wisdom, what that wisdom is, applied knowledge and and when applied with love, we can. We can move mountains to help other people. We can inspire other people. We can help other people see the love that that they are so blindsided to.
Speaker 1:I've seen it so many times when people that have that lack have self-doubt or lack confidence and actually brilliant at what they're doing, they just can't see it, and then sometimes you just think we're completely useless at things or we're not heard, and and the way the economics are, this money goes to a very few rich elite, and even the rich aren't rich anymore. I've noticed that it's just like this big industry seem to have a lot of the money and the rest of us are like living hand to mouth, even when we kind of do we regard ourselves as as successful or or not. Either way it's, it's there's so many things that are there to squash us, but then there's so many ways that we can see the light and the love and we can navigate through this and we are not alone, and I want each and every one of you to know that you are not alone and that you are brilliant and fantastic and you are doing the best you can in this very bumpy terrain that is life. And I just want you to know that you are amazing and I want you to remind yourself each day you're amazing, you're doing your best. Yes, the humanness of ourselves. We're going to make mistakes. We're going to make mistakes, but we're going to make good things as well. And it's learning, seeing the lens of the whole big picture and kind of giving ourselves some slack. Okay, maybe you set yourself a resolution of doing this and maybe you didn't stick to 100%, but the times that you do remember, or the times that you try your best and the compassion that you can have towards yourself and towards others and to learn through life and to inspire, and how can you help yourself today, how, what's the one thing that you can do today to remind yourself of how brilliant you are? And just picture those two plants do you want to water the plant that is, that is not serving you in life, or you're going to water the plant that is serving you in life, and yet we are going to have emotions. We are.
Speaker 1:Emotions aren't permanent. I know that sometimes we can feel ecstatically happy, other times we can feel sad. And these emotions, it's just like I'm going through a bit of grief at the moment and you know, it's like I could just say, oh, I must be happy. No, I am allowing this grief to be here, but also seeing the beauty in life at the same time, because I know this grief isn't going to be here forever. It's just it's. I'm allowing it to be here so I can feel whole. But at the same time I'm feeling like the beauty that there is in life and realizing that we all have such a gift to be here right now. So many people don't have this gift of being alive at this moment. And you know, life is short. We just never know when our last day is. We never, you know. It's a guaranteed thing in life. Is that our mortality, in a sense of being in this body right now, whatever your beliefs are beyond that, in my feeling, is that we live forever in some sort of extent. But but who we are in this life at this moment does it has an um, an impermanence to it. It's we're not here forever. And and also this this is western concept that we have to be extraordinary to be of value.
Speaker 1:I think that the value comes from being ordinary, sometimes like being a true, authentic self, doing ordinary things, allowing ourselves to be bored about trying to kind of stuff information 24-7 into our brain where it just kind of feels like there's so much in there. Meditation, nature walks, all these things which you may have heard so many times on mindfulness, but these things are great tools to have in a toolkit. Put it this way right Imagine you've got two toolkits. One is the thing where you do the comfort thing which we do sometimes don't get get me wrong which is where we watch our Netflix series, we eat comfort foods, we do things that are really comfortable. Or there's the other toolkit where we kind of it might take a little bit of effort, but the value is it's going to be so good.
Speaker 1:It's like I never regret doing a yoga class that, even if I don't want to go, when I get on the mat I feel better, whereas I don't drink anymore. But in my youth I might have thought, oh yes, that's what I need, but it wasn't really what I needed, if that makes sense, like I was always a rubbish drinker anyway. But you know, and again, no judgment if people drink, that's their business, you know. But I'm saying that there's choices that we can make. Sometimes we can go down the kind of comfort route which sometimes you know, like we've had a big trauma, maybe just sitting and watching like some sort of like comfort movie and having a nice hot chocolate is what we need and maybe we need to rest. But then there's other times where we, if we set our alarm, we get up a bit earlier, or we set along twice a day just to do some meditation or some mindfulness, that is going to sound service long term. It's like exercise. I say this so often Again, we don't have to train like we're kind of like athletes, like the great Michael Jordan or anyone like this, but we can make an effort to get some sort of movement in our body because I know that really helps me.
Speaker 1:If I'm feeling it and I've I am feeling it at the moment it's strong things. I'm feeling it for myself, I'm feeling it for my family, I'm feeling it for quite a few people right now where you want to love and support them and show them our love and support in life. And yeah, you know it's. We should send love and healing to ourselves as well as to others, but I do. I'm digressing a bit, but a friend of mine said like if you're not going to self-care for yourself, no one else is going to really do it.
Speaker 1:And I think that's so important to put those boundaries in for yourself, to make time to look after yourself but then look after loved ones. You know, sometimes we get so busy that we forget to give them a call and, like I know, sometimes as people get older not always, but they can be a bit more awkward to be with, can be quite fixed in the way and it can be quite draining sometimes to be around these people, but then it's like you know we're all here, they're doing their best as well and it gets hard for them, you know, as they get older and and people around them are dying and that sounds really morbid but it's the truth. Equally, we don't want to let people like be abusive or horrible to us or have their own agenda where they're trying to hurt us. That's a different kettle of fish. But just remember to call loved ones every now and again and just all frequently, depending on what relationship you have, and let them know that you love them and you care about them. You know that's, that's the greatest thing you can do.
Speaker 1:And I think when we show our vulnerability and we're honest, and people think that's a weakness, but that is such strength. I am feeling vulnerable at the moment, but not in a way where I feel like, oh, vulnerable, but just because there's some sad terrain that, um, I'm navigating through. But, like I said, we're coming out the other end. But then I have great moments of happiness and joy. Like I was looking at the trees earlier and they're making me feel so much love and joy. And like my house plants. There's something really majestic and beautiful about them. Like one of them has just grown so big and it's it's so beautiful and so fantastic. And and like don't underestimate the power of a cuddle or a hug with a loved one. Like that sends so much goodwill and feeling towards loved ones. We give each other a nice hug and we show our appreciation and our care. So I want to reach out to you, dear listeners, and let you know that you're not alone. It is.
Speaker 1:It can be a difficult time of year for people. Try and treat yourself with some self-care. Make sure you're getting enough rest, make sure you're doing plenty of holistic things as well, but not to the extent where it becomes like so hard that you can't fit it in. It's all about balance and as we navigate through this Scorpio time, which can be very stingy, but also there is a strength that comes when you come out the other end of it as well. So I hope this is of help for you.
Speaker 1:I fought for our meditation today as not to over complicate things I'm just going to do a three-minute guided meditation, but just to help you on your quest through this difficult terrain. Top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back Always nice to sit on a block or a cushion or, if that's not available for you, you sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching, and if you're doing something that requires your concentration, all you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you. If you're doing the meditation, let's begin. So, as you close your eyes, just feel that darkness around you and remember the universal womb of the world, the way that we're held as we sleep at night, and by going into that space, within that space of stillness, a space without distractions. And yet, if distractions come and go in this meditation, just allow them to be like a wave going over you.
Speaker 1:You do not have to, you do not have to attach yourself to any thoughts. Just because they come does not make them so and you can allow them to be there without fighting them. But equally, you can be in who you are now. So you're just going to take some slow, calm, deep breaths. This is all that you need to do as you navigate through today's meditation.
Speaker 1:Just think slowness, calmness, allowing ourselves to fully be in and out through the nostrils, as you just allow the slow, calm breath of the inhalation, the slow, calm breath of the exhalation, as you flow with this breath and you just allow it to be so calm breaths, in a rhythm that is in rhythm with you.
Speaker 1:Do no need to force, do held, loved and supported, feeling the universal hug of the universal womb, that place of being, that place of knowing, that place of stillness within, just feeling the warmth, the kindness, the care, and as you are here in this moment, breathing and allowing yourself to simply be. Can you think of a word to boost your morale, something that you respect and like about yourself, something that you allow yourself to be this calmness, this love, and you can remind yourself of that kind word as you go throughout the day. So, when some negativity tries to creep in, can you bring this word, this vision, into your everyday life. Vision into your everyday life, and this is the way to take the mindfulness, the yoga, the philosophy off the mat and into your everyday life. So take a nice, final, calm, deep breath in this meditation, as you inhale, as you exhale, as you slowly come back into the room, back into the moment, and, thank you, you are doing your best. Lots of love from us, lots of love from me. You take care.
