Optimize your wellbeing..

Direct youtube link:   https://youtu.be/_ryN6vQeUxU Four Tuesday mornings starting 13th of April. Sign up with Luisne Spirituality Centre

Checking in..

So the last few days I've been involved with the International World Summit of Positive Psychology. I'm delighted to have made some wonderful connection of similar minded people.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see that now Spirituality and Meaningfulness is having an equal table at the conference as there is now so much evidence of how we all need meaning in our lives and connection to something bigger beyond ourselves. 

One workshop was about experiencing the sacred, that connection we can feel in the moment if we allow ourselves to take a breath and just be.

Another workshop was on synchronicity and how much we can experience of that when we open ourselves to seeing it. E.g. when we think of somebody and they ring us, we bump into them or connect in some way even though we haven't seen or thought of them for ages.

How our lives often seem co-incidental and yet in hindsight we can see a 'plan' in it all, that it wasn't just a random path or decision we made, it brought us into other beautiful/valuable experiences.

I'm stepping a little bit away from the blog as I'm still catching up with the conference and another summit on how to bring my course to those who need it, but watch this space as I will keep connecting. Thank you for your attention and love.

Photo from a trip to Vancouver that I was privileged to visit a while back and connect with a number of Secondary Schools K6-K12 and Universities there regarding my Wellbeing and Happiness Skills program.

PS did you see my jerusalema dance moves I made for st Patricks day. Go to st Patricks day blog and you can connect there

Music linking us all on this St Patrick's day

 or direct youtube link: https://youtu.be/h6zsTfnbyZE

What gets you out of bed?

We human beings function by optimism. Why would we get out of bed unless we believed something good is going to happen today? Unless we thought we could somehow make a difference in the world. Even if it's just by smiling to someone, that smile can make all the difference in someone's life. A feeling of acceptance and yes optimism. The world is a good place to be.

It can take an effort to access an uplifting thought but isn't that what gives us energy and purpose. We are part of the human race. We are part of something bigger and together we can help each other make this a good place to be.

And so the type of car, house or family I have isn't what makes the difference, it's the amount of optimism I have within me. The belief that I have something worthwhile to contribute and that I will eventually get a chance to do that even though we all have to lie low for the moment.

And there are ways: e.g.take on the Jerusalema dance challenge, there are plenty of helpful tutorials. Film yourself/others with your phone, doing a few moves and challenge others to do the same. Or volunteer to help somewhere. There are lots of possibilities if you're not already involved. Lots of interesting courses to take.

Currently, I'm signed up for the yearly Positive Psychology Conference this time taking place in Australia (virtual), the educational branch of it, in my optimism hoping that connecting with other people in this area will bring me closer to my goal of bringing the wellbeing & happiness skills into the Irish schools and beyond. 

Picture above of my friend 'Shep' who passed a few years ago but gave me plenty of sound therapy through her purring on my lap over her 18 wonderful years on this planet. 

When the Light comes in..

So many things can go wrong in life but where there is love, somehow everything becomes alright. And when there isn't love that's when we need to look for it and keep searching til we find it. 

Generally I'm not attracted to poetry, I don't get a lot of poems and wonder 'why don't you just say it as it is?' but I know there are people who relate deeply to poetry and I have to admit I was deeply moved by the Irish, Nigerian born, girl FeliSpeaks who recited her 'For Our Mothers' poem which has been included in the Leaving Cert Curriculum here in Ireland.

The poem describes the thoughts and sufferings of a Mother trapped in a loveless marriage and how she manages to live in that yet hoping that her own children will find true love. The way FeliSpeaks recites it is deeply moving, perhaps also because I know my own mother's marriage wasn't always easy even though I love my dad deeply. The sadness, yet the hope. And my own mother's ability to laugh at her own inability to cope with life's challenges I always found very healing.

And so today being a day of gratitude I am deeply grateful for my own mother and whatever she was able to share with me, or not. Without her I wouldn't be who I am, I wouldn't be😍

 

Woop Problem-Solving

WOOP is a way of motivating yourself to dream big but also to consider the obstacles to fulfilling your dream and make a plan how to overcome them. 

Wish for something meaningful and wonderful for yourself

Outcome: Imagine vividly for a while the best  possible outcome of your wish. What does it look and feel like? Who is involved? What is happening?

Obstacles: Realistically speaking, what are the obstacles to your wish coming true?

Plan: Put a plan in place how to overcome the obstacles, write down what you're going to do when the obstacle comes your way.

Seemingly, people get a lot more positive results in their challenged area whether it's health, work or social connections, when they not only dream of a positive change or outcome but also consider the obstacles and make a plan to tackle them. Much more so than people who simply dream or imagine good things happening but don't expect difficulties, they might become disillusioned and never dream again.

I've downloaded the WOOP app, which helps the process as it guides you forward step by step, helping me to make the best of my fantasy of my wellbeing program being implemented in schools and homes all over the country and beyond.

You can also go onto the website woopmylife.org and find scientific research to support this process and lots of videos guiding you through.

Picture above: collecting my daily birch-sap from a birch tree in this short season before the leaves need the sap and I plug up the hole again. Very popular drink in Finland and Eastern Europe as it is full of minerals. I was dreaming of doing this for some years as I'm surrounded by birch trees in this area. That dream has come true and I'm sharing the abundance of birch water with various neighbours equally fascinated by the generosity of the birch tree.

 

To be or not to be..Creative

Needs must is probably the greatest incentive to creativity. In interviews with actors or singers you often hear them say that they're shy in ordinary life but feel totally alive in front of an audience. Acting is their way out of shyness.

Anthony Hinton who was on death-row for 28 years for a crime he didn't commit started a little book club there where miraculously the prisoners were allowed to meet once a month. Here they started to listen to and help each other understand their lives in the light of love and forgiveness.

My own writing came about after losing a precious friendship, where before I was trying to make someone else happy suddenly I had to dig deeper and see who I was. One of the wonderful things I discovered was the freedom I experience through writing and later making educational videos. 

During this corona time we are learning to connect with each other, to appreciate each other, to find meaningful ways of passing the time having been stopped from travelling. So I'm off on a cycle around the back roads waving and nodding to people on my way😀and later I'm connecting to two childhood friends who I haven't 'seen' forever, meeting on messenger group call.