Clearing the blocks

I have just been listening to a free week of talks via the Internet on EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and business.  They have really inspired me along with clearing a few of my own blocks so I wanted to share it on here. 

As a lot of you know I believe that all of our health and well-being, yes all, comes down to our emotions.  This is why I use Bach Flower Remedies as a primary healing source and also why EFT interests me so much.  Tapping (another name for EFT) works by tapping on meridian points to clear emotional blocks within your system while saying statements about the issue - both positive and negative.  It is connected with Acupuncture in this way however with EFT there is no need to have any of the physical pain that can come with Acupuncture or the costly bills.  I have been using EFT on and off since 2006 and find that I achieve much more and feel much more centred after tapping. 

This series of talks came a great time for me as I was questioning where I was going with the business that I created, how I could combine all my interests and how I could achieve changes when I didn't have any money in the business to pay for it!  As stated in previous posts - I am an ideas person!  The trouble with this is that I often don't have time to see projects through fully before the next 'great' idea comes bounding into my head. I have a stack of folders with finished, nearly-finished, half way finished, just started and barely started 'projects' that I have got stuck on.  They all seemed like a fantastic idea when I got them and then something got in the way - the self doubt, the chatter-box in my head or someones comment that I took to heart.  I push them so far then stop. 

Dealing with issues such as self sabotage, procrastination, blocks to earning and finding your passion these free talks by leading EFT practitioners, focused on helping you to clear in order to achieve your goals in business.  Clearing blocks so the projects can come to full fruition. They couldn't have come to me at a better time or at a better price ;)  They were informative, helpful and great for getting me to move forward.  The issues though that hold most of us back and hinder us in business relate to all areas of life so the talks are great even if you don't have, or aspire to have, a business. 

The most interesting part for me was finding out that our sub-conscience dictates the majority of our behaviour.  It is operating without us knowing and creating 'realities' to fit with what it believes rather than what our conscious minds are aiming for.  Many of these 'realities' that the sub-conscience hold were formed in the first 7 years of life. What the sub-conscience holds often does not even apply anymore however it still uses these 'realities' to hold us in a certain place, allowing us to only reach a certain level, a level and place that is comfortable. 

While the talks have finished now I would like to share a few of the speakers and their websites for those interested in growing, clearing and achieving all that they were born to do.

Carol Look  www.attractingabundance.com
Kate Beeders  www.successcoachingwithkate.com
Lindsay Kenny www.proeft.com
Brad Yates www.taptofeelgood.com
Tania Prince www.eft-courses.co.uk
Mary Ayers http://www.tapintoaction.com/
Leanna Fredrich  http://www.amazingmondays.com/

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Sometimes it pays to have it in writing .....

Fiddling around on here tonight I decided to look at some old blogs that I wrote when we first came to New Zealand, while avoiding the long list of to-do jobs I have.  Goodness - did I really used to make all those foods from scratch?  Was that me writing in such an honest way? Did I really keep finding ways to save more money - well actually I believe that one as I always have been a bit tight ;)  For the most part though if it was there in black and white I really won't have believed it.

This act of procrastination has made me realise the importance of documenting our lives and the changes in it.  The mind can quickly lay aside the past as it moves forward and the memory is not always that accurate an account.  While pen and paper would have achieved the same result, here is where technology can be given every credit of enabling us to access knowledge quickly and easily.  Whether it be from the 'experts' out there or the 'expert' within us.

Herself working towards expert level hula hooping at Shantytown

Home educating as we are, often planned and more often not, I am constantly recording what we do in our diary.  It is a great record for the kids and I to see what we have been up to, changes we have made, jog our memories of good games/places/times and also to show that we are learning - all of us.  My teacher head daily wakes and thinks of what is planned for the day, my Mama heart then takes stock and listens to where I can fit the learning into the day. 

This week Daniel and Jasmine have been crafting up a storm.  Daniel in particular has been eager to sew after us finding a book on making felt toys. I guess some of the family genes are showing up from himself as Daniel has been making careful stitches towards completing the chosen 'friend'.  Of course my family genes are there too - more in the 'can this be finished now' and 'can you help me sew up this part' aspects than the sewing skills though. 

 

Carefully sewing up rabbits ears.

The main thing is that he wanted to do it so much that he persevered and sat with me the whole time when I was helping him.  His 'thank you' when each one was finished was enough to know it was worth the change in my planned day and it is great watching them fully engaged in an activity.  Days are definitely lower maintenance when I can work reading, measurement, hand/eye co-ordination, fine motor skills, sorting, matching (colours, not buttons, as evidenced below) and numeracy into craft.

Two finished and more friends to join the dance.

Hope this finds you all jotting down what a great day you are having.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Excellence is only an attitude

Lately I have been having the same message appear in front of me from all different directions and people and I'm beginning to wonder if someone is trying to tell me some thing.  The message?  That attitude dictates all of life, that success and excellence is all about attitude as are failure and mediocrity.

My attitude to life is very much a 'keep the lid on' one.  I worry about showing too much emotion or sharing too much information for fear of being judged and 'found out'. Our homeschool journey so far has lead me down a path of improving my attitude (very slowly, mind) as I am reminded that I am an example to our kids of how to live life.  My desires for them to reach for the stars and pursue whatever they set their hearts on despite nay-sayers is hardly going to be achieved if I am constantly sheltering myself from any negative experience.  I am working on putting myself out there more, beginning to see life's problems as a possiblity for great things (after a moan, a bit of foot stamping and tears that is) and slowly letting more people in.  It terrifies the hell out of me most days and yet after the event I wonder what all the fuss was about.

I remember talking to a friend after the death of a colleague and her saying that she was an 'emotional cripple' - unable to share in her times of need and not sure of what to say or do in other's times of need.  That is me all over - to scared to share and show the vulernabiltiy I have and useless at face to face support of others.  Thankfully I have such a great group of friends - both near and far - that are leading the way and showing me how to live life its fullest - warts, hugs and all.  Yet I wonder if I have ever shown them how wonderful they are by trusting them fully with my worries, questions and insecurities.

Even as I write, or struggle to write this, I am receiving messages to change my attitude. "Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."  ~ Emily Kimbrough.  So thanks to all of you that have been there for me in times of doubt, need and joy.  Even if I don't say it - and I probably haven't face to face - you mean so much to me and I'm glad that we have found each other to stumble along.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Farewell Golda

We have experienced our first real death in the family and our first real grieving today.  After a rushed overnight trip to Christchurch we arrived home to find that our beloved Golda (our goldfish) had died.

A photo that Jasmine took of Golda at the beginning of the year.

I never actually thought that a fish dying would impact us the way it has today.  Then again it was the first time that Jasmine has really experience death of something that was with her everyday, that she cared for and loved.  My heart went out to her as she cried for her loss and then watching her deal with it.  She cried for a long time snuggled into me, her spirits seem to lift and then she suddenly asked to hold Golda.  I'm not sure if she thought Golda could be revived but after a futile effort of trying to get her to stay upright the tears came again as reality hit hard.  More hugs and cuddles till she decided that she wanted bury Golda in her little fish bowl and plant some seeds over top.  This we did bleary eyed, taking care to protect Golda from any insects or dirt, and then Jasmine decorated the bowl with a box of tissues near by.  This felt like her farewell as Jasmine asked to hot glue the stones on herself and was determined to get it completed without help.

Jasmine's decorated plant pot

I don't think I have ever dealt with death as well or as healthily as our wee girl did today - I'm a born emotional bottle and shove everything away as quickly as possible.  Daniel I can see is similar to me, or maybe it is his age and not really understanding the finality of death.  I remember that when Jasmine was 4, two of Golda's acquaintances (acquired with the free tank we got for Golda) went off to fishy forever land  and it was dealt with all so matter of fact.  Two years later the difference is marked, maybe it is two years of growth in emotions or maybe just two years more bonding with another living thing. 

Interestingly enough I had just read about how important adaption caused by feelings of futility is.  "...when we have lost a loved one, ........it is not enough that we know they are absent....  We must come to terms with this emotionally, through waves and waves of felt futility.  Only when the futility sinks in and we apprehend on the deepest emotional level the impossibility of preserving physical and emotional contact with someone forever gone from our lives do the tears come and adaption begins. " Pg 135 Neufeld and Mate. I think that our wee girl has certainly surfed many waves today, with more to come I'm sure, and I am left in admiration of the ride she shared with me today.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz

All things brown......

Well this update has been a long time coming!!  It is not that we have been doing anything exciting just enjoying life with friends and family and not getting as much time on here to do things like update everyone.  January was a big month for us; we had friends over, Jasmine turned 6, driftwood and sand sculptures adorned our beach (first brown thing), 2 wobbly teeth began, I actually finished a knitted vest that looks like a vest (second brown thing) and we got a dog all of our very own (third brown thing that produces additional brown presents daily - sorry couldn't resist). 



Kids having lunch by one of the amazing driftwood sculptures.

After a whole year of waiting and asking Jasmine finally enjoyed her 6th birthday.  Not sure who was more excited in the end as Daniel got to stay up a bit later on the eve of said birthday to wrap presents.  Since then he keeps asking if he can stay up and wrap Jasmine's number 7 birthday present.  I mean I'm organized but not that much??!!  At the beginning of her birthday week Jasmine began talking about sore teeth but having had a friend here who did actually have wobbly teeth we thought it may be just the contagious kind of wobbly teeth. How wrong we were as the morning of her birthday she showed just how much her teeth can wobble now (barely visible be the human eye it has to be said but wobbly all the same).  Birthdays and wobbly teeth in one week - what more can you ask for ;)


Guess who is finally 6!

Rex is our latest addition to our family and we just love him.  The kids and I have begun volunteering at the local SPCA and as we had been talking about getting a dog for a while we plunged in.  My initial love was a very jumpy little lady with a love of birds (not in the good sense) who would of needed a lot of time which we don't always have.  Rex was Liam's first choice and a very fine choice it is ;)  We have had him on a 2 week trial and have just officially adopted him into our family.  He already has lots of manners - more than the kids at the moment - and is lovely to go for a run with.  He is almost a year old so a good mixture of pup with maturity.  I was a little nervous a first about getting a dog after our Lady incident, luckily the SPCA told me about a great site http://www.theonlinedogtrainer.com/ which gave me loads of confidence to owning and maintaining a good dog.  Lots of good tips on there for sorting our dog problems which strangely enough work quite well on children too! So glad I found it and Rex.

Our Rexy boy

Last thing that I just have to mention is my completed vest for Daniel.  It has taken the best part of 6 months to knit up and finish as I mainly did it when at Mum's - help on hand to explain where I had mucked up, lack of my household jobs and a mother that still wants to cook for me all helpped ;)  I am very proud that it actually looks like an article of clothing and fits him nicely.  My last attempt at knitting clothing ended in a jersey with two different lengths and sized sleeves due to changing tension and a front and back that were wondering what they were meant to do with each other!!  Needless to say it put me off even looking at a set of needles for the following 24 years.  Now with some confidence under my belt, keyhole winter scarves for the kids are the next knitting mission.

Daniel modelling his new vest,  briefly due to heat. 

Hope this finds you all happy, healthy and in a bit of shade.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz




Merry Christmas Ya'll

Well it has been a while, yet again, since I have posted!!  Great news that the world continues to live on - in whatever state it is in ;)  It has mostly been a busy and enjoyable month though as we have been working around the house and preparing in the least (me more than Liam) possible way for Christmas.  So thought I'd fill in a few gaps, post a few photos and wish you all Happy Holiday / Merry Christmas before it is the New Year.

Themselves at the Santa parade in town, in which  Liam drove a float.

Liam has been working hard on the house again, in between a fishing trip up north which has given us a yummy supply of Christmas fish, and we are getting through the list of jobs.  Funny though as we stand and revel in our work and the improvements made if someone came around who hadn't seen the place before they would probably be thinking "Man this house is in bits and needs heaps of work!!".  Hei aha.  We can see the improvements, and feel them through lack of 'giraffes and leeks', so we are all happy.


After chicken bits completed



Behind the garage when we arrived

   One of the best improvements to our wee cottage on the hill is tidying up the back of the garage and building a chicken run that connects to our compost so that the girls can do our work for us.  Only 2 this time and Daniel has named his 'Boney' again while Jasmine has called hers 'Rose'.  They are currently giving us 2 eggs each day and letting the kids pat and pick them up so it is great.  So nice to have animals again to tend to that is aside from our beloved 'Golda' the goldfish who survived a ferry ride, a weeks holiday in Canterbury and then a trip over the alps before moving here.  There is something very rewarding about getting a wee present, the eggy kind that is, for all the love and attention given to the chickens.

 

 The kids are very excited about Christmas!  They have been counting down to when Nan and Aunty Christine arrive with Yuri dog (Daniel is very put out the Nan's cat isn't coming too) on Christmas Eve and then another count down till Christmas Day.  We are yet to decorate as we have begun a bit of a family tradition of waiting till Christmas Eve to put everything up.  It creates lots of anticipation and then a very festival feeling for 2 days.  Though this year we already have presents under the tree, thank you everyone, as Liam went and chopped one down from a workmates place and brought it home in the absence of our own in the garden.

Anyway enough waffle and I hope this finds you all happy, healthy, warm and ready for a lovely break - in whatever capacity you can.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Nearly December again!!

Well I haven't been on here for a couple of weeks so thought that I'd better get another update in before the final month of the year is upon us and Christmas mania sets in - maybe life as we know it too if the Mayans have anything to say about it.  I do hope they are wrong though as Jasmine has just be inspired (through the lure of winning a prize it has to be said) to try a local library book challenge which starts on the 21st Dec.  Would be a bit of shame if the world ended on the same day, then again maybe that is the transformative event - children everywhere actually wanting to read more real paper books that can be held in their hot little hands ;)

Anyway all jokes aside we did agree to engage in the aforementioned challenge after going to a presentation of 'Reading Rocks', with the home school group here.  It was held at a local school which was exciting for the kids and made me remember just how horribly hot and sticky classrooms get in warm weather with lots of bodies in them.  The guy was funny and entertaining as he juggled and joked along however while he made his point that books and reading were cool it became very evident to me that my kids were a world away from most of the school kids in the room.  There were so many references to movies, DVD's and television programmes that many of the 'jokes' were lost on two little ones without TV and who don't watch DVD's or movies.  I did notice that there was one other girl who sat as quite as my two during certain parts and guessed that she too was TVless (confirmed shortly after by her friends making comments).  It was somehow comforting though to know that I wasn't the only one who didn't put much importance on such things.

Jasmine making her Flat Traveller

Even when we went to send off a 'Flat Traveller' (a glorified pen pal system for homeschoolers based on a book Flat Stanley) I was asked if we could email journals and photos rather than posting so that the kids could practise keyboard skills.  What about writing skills and going down the post office to send it!!  So often I think I may be depriving our kids of important media and technology knowledge then I remember that all the big players in the IT world certainly didn't grow up with the technology that is around today, if any.  Instead they used other life skills such as problem solving, communication and thinking skills to create, design and engineer the world surrounding us today.  I'm not against technology - obviously otherwise you would be getting a handwritten letter each month ;)  It is just I don't see that the benefits of being computer savvy at 6, 7 or even 10 out weigh all those other skills that can be had through playing, reading, making, talking, writing and good old imagination. 

So that's my unintended rant ;) Goodness who knew!!

Hope this finds you happy, well read and prepared.

Arohanui
Y
www.becominghealthy.co.nz