How do we Relate to Each Other?

Sometimes it takes stormy weather to bring us together.
 

This weekend it snowed and snowed, and the winds whipped it up into deep drifts, then the digging began.  It is such a nuisance when the roads are blocked, it’s dangerous for the elderly and I know it stops the wheels of industry and commerce turning but for some of us, being forced to stop in our tracks makes us see things from a completely different perspective.

After a long winter of being huddled in our homes hardly venturing out we suddenly find ourselves digging our paths and taking time to talk to our neighbours.  Everyone complains at first, but after an hour or so when the realisation sets in that no one is going anywhere, the frustration falls away and a feeling of comradeship takes over.  It’s a bit like a little battle where we all pull together against the common enemy.

Love they neighbour is what we were taught, but most of us avoid each other whenever possible, rarely saying more than simply passing the time of day because we are all so busy.  A’ snow day’ brings us together, it is a leveller.  We all look the same in our gloves, hats and wellies. 

Then there’s the humour.  The typically British sense of humour that only seems to surface in a crisis, it is so refreshing.  I didn’t know that Maureen four doors down was so funny.  As the digging continues that holiday feeling rises.  We discover each other’s forgotten personalities as we gather in the lane, then someone brings out mugs of coffee and we rest for a while, watching the children delight in their transformed surroundings.   We get mutual satisfaction from pushing the first car out of the cul-de-sac and up the lane.  It feels good to help our neighbours.

As soon as the pressure of time is taken away from us we become different people, likeable, helpful, fun-loving and caring.  We find ourselves talking to and helping perfect strangers, as if we’ve known them all our lives. We communicate and relate to our fellow man as we battle with the elements together and find that helping others gives us that warm glow inside.

Few things these days bring people closer together, but a really heavy snowfall does!

For one to one Skype coaching sessions contact Susan on susan@susanloveday.com or visit www.susanloveday.com for more information.

Instant Spring

After a long hard winter we grow restless after spending too much time indoors.  Never more so than the gardeners among us who are eager to get out there and plant our seeds, get them going, and bring them on.

These days we have become accustomed to having things happen instantly by man’s ingenious innovations.  We become impatient with the computer if it takes a few seconds longer than usual to boot up.  We expect things to work instantly.  We have instant coffee, instant lighting, instant TV and instant access to the web (well some do).  Most of the time we are working in the fast zone where we make instant decisions and instant purchases.  It can be very exciting working at full speed on an adrenalin rush.  We do get through such a lot in a day, then we collapse exhausted into a chair and stare at the TV watching others running round like headless chickens. We lose the balance.

Take a moment to think about what we miss.

Scientists have spent the last decade studying the human brain and which parts we use for coming up with creative insight. They are now able to see inside your brain using MRI scanners and witness the spark as it happens and what they have discovered is that you and every one of us can become more creative.

Most of our waking hours we use our left logical side of the brain where the brain waves are fast and furiously coming up with logical solutions to life’s problems.  However, in order to allow the right brain to begin its work we need to slow down, relax and be patient.

Nothing in nature is instant.  Everything takes its time.  The only reason we get to see snowdrops pushing through the snow is that the shoots have evolved and developed thick waxy short structures that can withstand the freezing temperatures.  Most other plants have to wait.

I know we can trick seedlings into growing in propagators early, but if we plant them outside too early before the soil has had chance to warm up, they will die.  We can’t fool nature.  She wins every time.

If we want to get the best out of ourselves and our lives then we need to make some time for it.

Why miss out on those wonderful eureka moments when sudden flashes of inspiration jump into our conscious minds, when all we need to do is relax and be patient.

Oxford English Dictionary definition

‘Patience'  – Calm endurance of hardship, provocation, pain and delay.  Tolerance, perseverance or forbearance.  The capacity for calm self-possessed waiting.

For one to one Skype coaching sessions contact Susan on susan@susanloveday.com or visit www.susanloveday.com for more information.

 

Finding Alpha Level in Spring

I have just returned from a lovely break in the countryside.  Having had that essential connection with nature, my spirits are raised and my soul is centred again.  I feel invigorated with new ideas and a new resolve to build more relaxation into my daily routine this springtime.

It is the pace of life that we struggle with in these modern times.  Our minds race through at Beta level as we busily juggle our lives.  When we are in a relaxed state our brain waves slow down to Alpha level creating a wakeful relaxed feeling enabling us to make connections with our subconscious mind to help us find solutions to the challenges life brings.

You may find during restful sleep in the night, you wake up with an idea or a solution to a problem that has been with you for some time.  Solutions to life’s problems often come to us while we are on holiday in a relaxed state for the same reason.  When our body and our mind are fully relaxed we allow the genius within us to emerge.

Keeping busy until bedtime every day and working hard on the To Do list, ticking off the boxes and ignoring the need for relaxation, leads to our general health paying the price.  We become mentally and physically exhausted.

Choosing not to build any proper relaxation time into our busy schedules on a regular basis means we are depriving ourselves of our natural resources that lie within us.

Relaxation if as vital as exercise in helping us to keep the balance of our emotional and physical selves centred.

Many of us are not lucky enough to have the countryside on our doorstep but a simple walk round the block will give us fresh air and some precious present moments to enjoy the emerging signs of spring and clear our heads.  If walking is not an option then simply find a quiet place, close your eyes, take deep breaths and focus on each area of your body until it is completely relaxed.  Then allow your mind to relax.

Building healthy relaxation into our lives will help us to grow and flourish, as we were meant to.

There is a saying that ‘If March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.’  For us here, it began with biting winds and snow showers, and so it bodes well then that we shall see some lambs and warmer days very soon.  It’s all in front of us!

For one to one Skype coaching sessions contact Susan on susan@susanloveday.com or visit www.susanloveday.com for more information.

 

 

March on to Better Health

The word March comes from the Roman word ‘Martius’ named after Mars the god of war. In those times March was the first month of the calendar year when the start of the Mediterranean spring made it possible for the imperial armies to get back to fighting after the winter break.

These days we use the Gregorian calendar, also called the Western calendar and the Christian calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582.

March and the season of spring now symbolises the beginnings of new life not death.

When I was little, spring marked the beginning of our school ‘nature walks’ that I loved so much.  We would skip across the fields and Miss would point out all the swollen buds on the trees and primroses in the grass. We collected pussy willow branches with their soft silvery tufts and yellow Willow Catkins that bobbed up and down like lambs tails.  Miss would arrange them in a vase on our return to the classroom to study and draw. The magic of those little buds and flowers formed my lifelong fascination for things that grow.

Nature knows when it has its best chance of success and that’s not the beginning of January.  All through the winter the trees have been resting, the soil around the roots has been broken up by the frost and the autumn leaves have decomposed and washed back into it by the rain for nourishment. 

Early spring is a great time to ease our way into building new patterns of healthy exercise into our daily routine and getting back to nature.  Try and use the two extra hours of daylight we now have to give you that extra incentive to get outdoors.  Just walking for half an hour a day is a great way to begin exercising and being aware of the beauty that is awakening all around us in our environment as the new season emerges.

If the Romans New Year’s resolutions were made in March then why not make yours now too?

A fresh season and a fresh start, this is the perfect time.

For one to one Skype coaching sessions contact Susan on susan@susanloveday.com or visit www.susanloveday.com for more information.