"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin

“The idea behind a kaleidoscope is that it's a structure that's filled with broken bits and pieces, and somehow if you can look through them, you still see something beautiful. And I feel like we are all that way a little bit.” Sara Bareilles

“Wasting time is a basic human need. Once we accept that, we can stop fearing our inner “laziness” and begin to build healthy, happy, well-balanced lives.” Devon Price

"Is the world a lying asshole, with bogus expectations? Or is there something wrong with us?" Emily and Amelia Nagoski

"When you reach your edge, soften. Soften until you slip through the constraints and can create a new rhythm, a new route, a new release. Water is soft yet powerful. Reach your edge, and soften." Victoria Erickson

“Just like a sunbeam can't separate itself from the sun, and a wave can't separate itself from the ocean, we can't separate ourselves from one another. We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.” Marianne Williamson

"Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That's just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it's breathtakingly beautiful.” L.R. Knost

“My love language is safety. And feeling emotionally safe means collecting evidence that I can be my authentic, messy, sometimes dysregulated and struggling human self, and still be valued, cared for, and not abandoned.” Daniell Koepke

“Unless I can discover the alchemical trick of turning this muck into gold. I am lost.” Nietzsche

"The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to discover those jewels - that's creative living.” Elizabeth Gilbert

“The most important aspect of love is not in giving or the receiving: it's in the being." Ram Dass

"Let me bathe my soul in colours, let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow." Kahlil Gibran

Slow down settle soften

January 30, 2017

Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax. - Bryant McGill

January is almost over already and I feel like life is going quick. It took us years and years of patience to fall pregnant and now here I am almost half way through my pregnancy already. Also recently I was shocked to receive an invite to my 20 year high school reunion! I feel like life can speed past us at a crazy pace.

For years I lived a fast paced life full of deadlines, working long hours, with long commutes and travel fueled by coffee and sweet biscuits through the day and wine at night. During this period of my life I was content and loved the fun fast pace but I wasn't balanced. I was completely out of tune with my body. I learnt the hard way that if you are out of balance and not mindful for too long you break. We are not invincible. Our bodies (and the universe) constantly give us subtle signs on what is good and bad for us. The problem is most of the time we are too busy to notice.

To care for ourselves better, we need to make a conscious effort to slow down and not just get swept away. To constantly check in with ourselves. To notice if we are feeling good, relaxed and happy and then make changes accordingly.

To awaken instead of staying asleep

Because life is more beautiful when we notice the little things. If we don't stop to smell the roses we miss out on enjoying life!

Our focus in class for term 1 will be on slowing down, settling and softening into ourself, to remember how good it feels to be alive and just be without trying to achieve anything because just being is enough.