Tag: learning

ONCE THERE IS SILENCE WORDS WILL COME

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I must have been guided to attend this special ‘writers workshop’ today. Without knowing what to expect I silently joined a group of other aspiring writers. After all I always wrote just without preparation or any instruction. Never did I know what is taught at writers workshops. Today I was to find out for myself.

The first subtle feeling that I won’t know what to write was overcome by excitement and flow as soon as we were given the first instructions and my pen hit the paper. After hour and half of intermittent writing and then reading it out loud for others in the group to hear, I went away feeling uplifted and encouraged by my progress.

Never before I wrote impromptu and read it out loud to a group of strangers. Well, there is always opportunity to learn something new and challenge our current comfort zone feelings.

Now, you might not think much of it, but for me it was a day of small breakthroughs.

These may seem insignificant wins to you, yet they mean a lot to me. Not only I went there on my own initiative and by myself, drove the car to the other side of town and found a parking spot on a street in a parallel parking space (which I never do on my own). I also found out I could easily find something to write to each given exercise.

They were a bit harder than if one just writes what comes to mind. We were given instructions and restrictions, to make it more interesting and challenging.

So to give you a taste of what I wrote, here is one 7 min piece (that’s how long we had) that we were instructed to write, with some words restrictions.
This came out of me on paper 🙂

It could be called: “WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU MEDITATE”

“What happens when it’s quiet in the mind is the most amazing of situations.
The mind sort of dissolves into the never never land and
With each thought disappearing quietness screams so loudly
It takes over the whole space
That was previously filled with chatter and fear.

There is now only nothingness in the fullness of the empty space.
Given that the heart is still beating, one achieves perfect state of bliss and well-being.
Mind no longer contains itself and expands into the outer space.
The world changes as a reflection of this experience.
Nothing creates more space for love and connection.”

Do you feel good after reading it? I certainly hope so, as I did when I reread it. 🙂
The outcome of the workshop was achieved!

I surely feel more keen for more writing workshops and also inspired for more to write.
Wait, there is more coming soon…

PS. If you have any personal experience with workshop for writers, or the above text inspired something within you, I would love to hear it in the comments.

Words from silence…

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THE SECRET GUIDE TO HEALTHY AND HAPPY 2019

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While some are still recovering from last night’s celebrations now is a great time to look at the secret truths for a healthy and happy new year.

Everything that happens in our life isn’t easily predicted or expected. We might go through situations and experiences that might seem challenging, and some even cruel lessons from life and perhaps seem unjust and unfair in that moment.

There are however some coping strategies which help with each situation and its management. Let’s put down some ground work for the healthy and happy year 2019.

1. Whatever happens in our life will change. Nothing stays the same.

Whether it be a situation or an experience that we perceive as negative, unwanted or even unfair to us, it will pass. There is something healing about the essence that we call TIME. It has a magical properties. Whether we think of time as a construct or the real thing, we all live ‘through time’.

2. All is in motion and therefore changes form and shape.

From the above first statement spans this second one. Everything on Earth and beyond is based on an energetic movement. Just as the motion of life. One day we were born, we move through life and we might transform into another form of energetic being the last day on this Earth. When we think of the planets, we perceive them as stationary with a naked eye, however they are all living moving changing objects. When we look at natural environment in general, there is all this motion about it that we call ‘life’.

3. There is no other or better time than NOW.

Focusing on the past experiences and situations steals the magic NOW from our existence. Living in each moment fully brings forward unexpected clarity and peace. There might be all this commotion in our mind taking us ‘places’ in the past or into the future. Yet, these places don’t really exist. They are just a memory of a past or a concept of the future, all just in our mind.

If we fear something will happen in the future, we are focusing our attention from this moment into the unknown. And when we would resent something or someone from the past, we bring forward some memory that is no longer here in the present moment. Both of these time travels take us away from what is happening now.

4. Nobody else is responsible for our happiness.

“He is to blame! She is to blame! They are to blame! We are to blame!”

Often we could succumb into believing some form of the above statements. How others ‘make us’ feel is not their responsibility. Don’t despair upon hearing that. The liberation from this knowing comes with deeper understanding of this truth. We are liberated once we realize and furthermore practice, that we are the only one who is able to choose to be happy and content, no matter what happens around us.
Yes, it might take practicing. Yes, there are situations that are harder to deal with than others. Yet, it’s well worth the go.

5. Let’s be gentle with ourselves this year.

“Busyness isn’t brave it ends us in a grave.”

There is so much to do! So much to accomplish! So much to learn! And so little time!

Well, if your mental stimulation involves the above notion you need to hear this now.

A baby is full of joy when playing and has no concept of time. An average civilized adult has ‘so much on their plate’ on a regular basis that they struggle to find the time to breathe well. And a mature adult, who is close to the end of their time on Earth, often realizes the truth that the struggle of a too busy life led nowhere in particular. All the worldly possessions all pointless at the end. We can’t take them with us.

So what is the solution in this busyness praising world? Come to understand life’s obvious secrets.

Air, water, food, love all we need to live a happy life. There are cultures we can still learn from, which have as little as some rain water and some bush food, yet they don’t know the word hate or greed. And looking at their facial expressions we can see that they have more happy laughter lines than some of their more ‘civilized’ counterparts.

6. Make a space in your life for the ‘me time’.

Prioritize ‘me time’. Put it on the top of your ‘to do list’ for this year. Pick your favorite essential oil, switch on the diffuser and if you can’t stand pure silence, put on some relaxing natural sounds.

And then just sit there and breathe. You could call it a meditation if you like. You don’t need to give it a name though. Just relax and be in the present moment. Mindful of where you are, focus on the sense of smell, enjoy the favorite essence of the oil and then just focus on your nostrils and breathing style.

If you have already been doing some form of meditative practice, good for you. Keep going with it or try a new style and see if you like it too.

7. Share your life energy and presence with others.

Sometimes people might come to us with an issue and we might feel that we need to tell them something wise or give an advice. To help them, to assist, to teach them, to show them how to…

What might be better received and needed by that person is our best energetic presence.

When we are in a presence of a caring person, who listens to our stories, there is nothing more healing. No words can heal as much as genuine caring. The act of active listening and the calm balanced presence is all that is needed. Often we overstimulate our brains with knowledge and unnecessary advice sharing.

8. Be appreciative of life’s moments

If you like to keep a journal, write down all the things you can recall that brought you or someone you met some joy in life. Be positively geared towards more good coming your way.

There is truth in the saying that:
“If you are grateful, there will be more things to be grateful for.”

Saying that, if we are grateful for the sake of getting more ‘stuff’, that is a better way to go about it. Appreciation is a quality that can be developed, of a deeper understanding of the pure magic called the GIFT of life.

9. We attract to our life what we focus on.

Now this truth can be a tad hard to accept for some of us. Until the light bulb switches on and we truly understand the truth in it we can fight with it all we want.

The science proves to us that we have a part of the back of our brain, which is called RAS (Reticular Activating System). What this brain function does is this. First time we put our attention on something, the automatic response of this RAS part is switched on and does search and sift through all the possibilities available to find more evidence of the same.

Ever saw something ‘rarely seen’ for the first time? Then suddenly, you saw the same thing much more often than before? Your RAS helped you to bring the evidence of the same thing out of the unknown into the visible.

It can help to point out that to be able to sift through all the available input data (sounds, smells, feel, tastes and visual images) that are coming at us every second from the outside world, human kind needed to develop a filtering mechanism to keep our conscious mind in order.

That is why researchers say that we can only absorb 2+/- chunks of data coming at us at any given moment. Out of the billions out there.

10. There are no coincidences as such.

All is a very well organized chaos. And by that I mean to state that the serendipity that we can often see in life is real and there for a reason. And yet, to give us the proverbial reigns I will add: “We are the co-creators of our destinies.“

When we put our full focus and energy upon something there is no stopping us. And all the events and people align with our vision and energy.

Integrate the above knowing into a happy and healthy life existence in 2019 and beyond.

May these guiding truths bring us closer to our true wisdom and clarity.

Sharing my piece of mind with a peace of heart.

FROM “RICHES TO RAGS”, THE ROAD THROUGH HELL

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Growing up in the time Czechoslovakia was under the communist regime sure was different from the freedom there is now. So while there were many restrictions, I learned that resilience is the key to overcoming obstacles, to keep my mouth shut when not asked, to be invisible, and that there are both borders and boundaries defining everything.

While at college I was part of the demonstrators against the communist government. At times we faced human shielded barriers and were expecting tanks to come rolling down at us. Fortunately for us all the time was right and the communist regime fell down before our eyes.

Later on after college I took on a few good jobs. English was still not a commonly used international language like it is today. Nudged by my parents I went to London  for a year to study English.

While there I supported my studies by living with, and looking after, two young girls. Childcare was never my strength. The younger girl was at times so challenging, that I would leave them both downstairs playing and watching TV and locked myself in my room upstairs.

One day I was so tired after a long weekend partying, that I slept when the family came home without keys. As they could not get in, the younger girl had to climb through an upstairs window to get home. All I recall was her entering my room, and as I was still asleep she screamed on the top of her lungs: “HANAAAA”! That much for my child minding qualities.

Upon return back to Prague I worked in a few good jobs and then found my way to the finance department of the British Embassy in Prague. A dream job working in a prestigious organization; with lovely group of people, meeting some well-known authorities. Among them was a quick personal chat with Prince Charles when he visited. I also assisted with the convoy transport of the delegates of NATO summit in Prague, having a great opportunity to enter the Air Force One plane while the crew was having a break.

All that was just perfect. However, I knew that if I stayed in that job, not much would change. I would most likely retire there and would still live with my parents.

So at a spur of a moment, I decided to take a chance and travel to the other side of the world to go to my friend’s wedding. It is a long journey so I decided to make the best of it and arranged to stay for the whole year. Not at my friends place of course, as that would be overstaying my welcome.

The first 6 months were tough learning. I went from a high profile jobs in Prague to not being able to find work in my field. Everywhere I asked, they told me they wanted someone with ‘local experience’. After some searching I took a job in hospitality, preparing sandwiches.

Coincidence had it that after some time making delicious sandwiches I was offered to run an overseas student agency in Sydney. One thing led to another and soon enough I have met Rado. Now, as it turned out, he was a great reason to stay in Australia. So I did extend my stay for another year, then another few, and later on made it permanent.

We happily settled in windy Sydney and later moved to sunny Brisbane. Life was good most of the time. Then in 2008 I went to all the possible and impossible seminars out there. Whether it was healing, investing or internet marketing, I’d done them all. After the massive dose of personal development, I left my corporate carrier and started my own healing venture. That seemed to be a bad move at first, as my confidence in my skills was lower than that of my clients.

So after a while at my home office, I fell into a depression which lasted for a few months.

Then I regained strength and trust in life and found an interesting retreat that promised (in my mind) the ultimate peace of mind and well-being on all levels. So I eagerly signed up.

After 6 days in total silence I was in total bliss. THEN ON DAY 8 MY WORLD SHATTERED.

Several years later I was still in the midst of the mental upheaval that had spun from the retreat.

I went through a massive dose of depression on several occasions, only to find out that depression is a sign of changing values and beliefs about our world construct and us.

The hopelessness that I felt back in those days was only understood by those who once went through it. There was no rational reason for me to be depressed. I had the life of other people’s dreams. And still… or maybe just because of that… I felt life was pointless and each day was a dreaded nightmare. That feeling lasted for some time. Understand months and years.

Then, after the worse passed and with a lot of support, I was back on my feet and ‘right in my head’. To be back to normal state of the mind was such a bonus. I felt recharged and regained some of my former self, with a new zest for living.

Only when I could see and accepted that I was actually fine, that life was worthy living, that people cared and that I had a mission to live, I recovered.

I found my calling in guiding others. In writing articles, blogs and books, coaching and teaching. I love the AHA moments of clarity, when things just come together. There is the deeper knowing, which means the truth is being revealed. Whether that is during writing of a text or the coaching session, it’s one of the most profound moments offered on the journey of self-discovery.

My mission is to live as an example of recovery, assist to found joy in life, help others create a future by design and trust in the higher power to deliver it.

May you be inspired and find your truth and joy.

ALL RELATIONSHIP ISSUES SOLVED!

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When it comes to relationships, there are many in our lives. There are many people in different relationships to us. Some people are in relationship with us and we call them family. Others we have a different type of relationship with and call them friends.

Another kind of relationship we might have with someone in a position of authority. Perhaps a doctor, coach, landlady, or teacher. Whatever the reason we are interacting with another person on a regular basis, we tend to enter into some form of a relationship with them.

The best thing about relationships is, as many of you might have realized, that they are usually involving two and more people. Yet, we also have some kind of a relationship with ourselves.

What I want to discuss with you today, is how we are handling these interactions with other people. Whether with family, friends, or others in our life.

I will give you an example here.

Here we have Betty and her partner of many years, Don. Betty loves Don and Don loves Betty. Let’s start with Betty.

Betty has been feeling a  bit frustrated lately. When we examine it closer, the reason Betty is not happy is because Don doesn’t pay much attention to Betty. At least not as much as he used to.  Don, who is at work the whole day, is fairly happy just to crash on the couch, watch some TV, have a beer and go to sleep.

Betty tries to talk to Don, but as she is not getting the kind of interaction that she would be pleased with, she soon stops her attempts to start the talk. As a result, she starts to look for another way to feel better and to fill the void. Betty finds herself a solution. She goes to shops and buys designers clothing.

When Betty shows Don her newly bought treasures, at least there she generates some form of interaction between her and Don. It might also mean, that Don will have to look at her in her bright new outfit, and might even compliment her.

From the above scenario, we can see that Betty is finding another way of getting to feel better. However, avoiding the real issue.

Now, here is Don.

Don doesn’t usually tend to express much, in terms of feelings and emotions. He doesn’t tend to talk much with Betty, as he doesn’t think she can understand him. Don is sometimes upset that Betty does things without his consent, but he doesn’t talk about it much.

Don thinks life is a struggle and one has to build up resilience and overcome the struggle by being virtuous. So he tries his best to live a virtuous existence. At times, Don’s internal pressure valve bursts open and the steam comes out with others around him.

Look at Betty and Don. Are you able to perhaps see anyone you know in this example?

Now let me tell you how I see this scenario from the external viewpoint. And what would serve best both Betty and Don.

Betty and Don had become a bit intertwined with each other over the years. And truly, that happens to many of us, when we live with someone long enough.

At the beginning, we spoke about the different reasons we all enter into relationships. The partnership relationship is one that many of us, or at least some of us, will go through in this life.

We learn very young how relationships are, by observing people around us. Then when we are growing up, we learn from other sources like media. The mixture of these is indeed a big influence on how we form and handle our own relationships.

Have you ever heard yourself say something to another, and then realized that you just sounded like one of your parents or carer?

So how to best deal with conflicts and issues underlying the often overlooked problems, before they snowball into a bigger problem in our relationship?

The best way about building lasting and fulfilling relationship is to start with oneself. When we are still single and at the stage when we dream about the other half. That is the time we need to start building a strong relationship with oneself.

What does that look like?

When we learn to understand, that the reason we would like to be in a relationship is for the beautiful shared moments of peace and harmony, of joy and content with life, of excitement from living and sharing this existence with another being. Then the person of such a confidence with life, is ready to attract their match.

On the other hand, when we come to partnership relationship from needs and expectations on the other person, we don’t come from a place of wholeness and love. Then the other person we attract to ourselves is also in the same boat. They are responding to the energetic vibration we are sending (we could call it a certain degree of low self-confidence, lack of self-love and desire for any kind of personal attachment).

The true solution to Betty and Don is to go back to their own basic needs and fulfill them with self-love. They, and we all, can be sure to do ourselves a big favor, when we come back and start the journey within.

And if that all sounds too airy fairy, then perhaps just have a power session at the gym and couple of green smoothies, before delving into the unknown field of self exploration and self-help.

I wish you the best new self discoveries. As we all can benefit from some more meditation, internal observing, reflection and self-awareness.

Live well aware.