How often do you pause to connect with your true self?

If you are anything like me this might be something that feels challenging or uncomfortable.

Yet it is much simpler than we think.

I have been on an incredible journey these past few years, connecting with and learning from some lovely people. I have shared their stories and marvelled in their work.

In the meantime, my kind Husband has been watching me on the side lines, constantly trying to tell me that I am also ‘lovely’ and doing good work.

However, unfortunately I struggled to take this in as I strove to try harder and do more, stuck in the never-ending story of ‘not enough’ that came simply from my own thoughts.

I guess I had thought that ‘connecting and sitting with myself’ involved struggling against the self -critical and negative thoughts in my own head. Yet thankfully I am now learning that that is not what connecting with yourself is all about.

I am incredibly grateful to have been invited to a 6 week Women’s circle with the wonderful women at Brookside Farm these past few weeks, and I am finally starting to understand the crucial part spirituality plays in Health and Wellbeing, from my own direct experience.

We were invited to connect with each other, ourselves, and nature, and it is has sparked the start of a transformation in me.

Over the past few weeks Katie has guided us through some special Sahaja yoga meditations and practices. I have watched with awe and wonder as these special women have kindly shared their gifts with us all. They embody peace, love, and joy, leaving me initially confused as they kindly said to me ‘You do not realise how special you are.’

However, finally all the pennies are starting to drop. Perhaps I am special after all because the truth is we are ALL special. We are all connected by this miracle of life. Our very conception and birth into this world was an absolute miracle as is any new life on earth, and we are still the very essence of that baby that was born, however many years ago that was! That is the true spirit of who we are, not the self -limiting beliefs and negative thoughts we have picked up along the way. We as much a part of nature as the beautiful trees, flowers, and green spaces we look to with awe and joy.

A lady on one of my early group coaching programs shared Eckhart Tolle’s beautiful, simple book, ‘The Guardians of Being’  which describes this beautifully:

‘You are not separate from the whole, you are one with the sun, the earth, the air. You don’t have a life. You are life.’

He also explains so beautifully how we can look to nature to help us to find stillness.

‘We have forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still know. We have forgotten how to be – to be still, to be ourselves, to be where life is.’

Life is certainly not easy. So many people face heart breaking challenges every day, and everyone will find comfort in different ways, but the greatest comfort is always found in being connected to something bigger than ourselves, whatever that might look like.

Being connected to ourselves means coming from the spirit of who we are: our heart, not our heads. I was introduced to heart focused breathing earlier this year and have been sharing their special breathwork practices ever since.

When we learn to tune into our heart, we can access all our hearts intuition, but also access all the beautiful qualities of the heart, such as joy, gratitude, appreciation, love, courage.

I invited one of our special Nurture Club members to lead our session last night and with magical timing she shared a whole session on the importance of Joy. She explained how Joy comes from within, as opposed to happiness which tends to come from temporary external experiences. She encouraged us all to prioritise making time for Joy, whatever that looks like from consistently feeding our passions for 5 minutes every day, to something that we do once a week or once a month.

She described JOY as a choice and encouraged us all to make time to nurture our passions. Experiencing passion is as being as crucial to our wellbeing as eating food that nourishes us, or movement that energises us. She described passion as things that excite us, that energise us, and that light the flame within us all.

She has had the most incredibly challenging year, so it even more poignant that she had made this very intentional choice to keep her flame alight for herself and all the others around her.

It is my absolute privilege to create space for the incredible members of Nurture Club every fortnight. They all give so much of themselves to care for others, so it is crucial that they make time for tiny rituals of self-care, because this builds resilience, they need to face every challenge in life. The gentle care and support they give to each other within the group is also something that warms my heart every time.

We all agreed at the end of Nurture Club last night that January can be a tough month for everyone. As the joy and light of Christmas fades, the dark cold days of winter can feel long and challenging. It is therefore more important than ever to choose to keep that flame alight through gentle nurturing self-care practices.

So, before you start writing those punishing and self-deprecating New Year’s Resolutions as the year ends, why not take some time to really connect with yourself, to the heart of who you are, and make time to nurture the flame that is within you all.

If you would like to try Nurture Club in January, we would be delighted to welcome you to our special group. Please just get in touch.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year, and all the peace, love and joy you so deserve.

I really hope to see you soon,

Harriet x