Author: YLK Mentors

  • A Meditation for Frustration, Anger, & Annoyance

    A Meditation for Frustration, Anger, & Annoyance

    Frustration, anger, or even annoyance can make you feel very depleted. It can keep you stuck because you can feel very low or even depressed. However, it is really important to honour these feelings, but it is choosing to stay in these feelings that can make you stuck. Honouring your emotions and seeing what they are connected to will enable you to let go, to release, and to pick you up. It’s really important to place a level of understanding to those emotions. And they don’t need to be a 10 out of 10, angry anger. These emotions can be small but still impact you.

    If we perceive them as a piece of information that is highlighting something for you, and not see them as good or bad: they are just trying to show you something. Then when you work out what that is, you have options and possibilities to move forward. I often explain that when you are triggered, which can cause anger, frustration, and annoyance, the trigger isn’t about another person or the environment – it is about yourself. This can often lead to past events, past experiences, past relationships. You may find yourself recycling the same thing over and over again. And it’s really hard in the moment to see that you actually have a choice. I respect that with people, that it can hard for them to look and be with their emotions in order to understand it.

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    Most of the time, a part of your brain is actually trying to keep you safe. But there are many ways to move out of this emotion. I’m often telling people that it is really important to write these things down. The main reason for doing this is to get it out of your headspace. The narrative that is in your headspace will just keep repeating it. You can break that cycle by writing it down. Now you can actually see it in front of you and then you can break it down a little bit more, and ask certain questions.

    These questions need to be relevant to what you are feeling and the situation you are in. You always have to bring it back to you – why are you feeling angry, frustrated or annoyed? It could be as simple as this person doesn’t make me feel valued, my partner isn’t listening to me, I feel stuck in the same routine, nobody notices me at work, my parents have never praised me, my children are not hearing me, etc. For instance, if somebody doesn’t make you feel valued, it’s often important to understand the position of where that person is, to see if they are capable of giving you that. Asking it of someone can simply not be enough for some people. It comes back to, do you value yourself? If it is in a work setting, for example, you can ask yourself if this is right job for you or is there something that you could do in the workplace to help you feel more valued. If it is in a relationship, when was the last time you both sat down and had a good talk with each other, but both of you listened to each other, and is there something you also need to do within that relationship?

    These are the kinds of things that I help my clients with because people don’t always know how to do this with themselves. It’s not something we are actually taught and so it is a skill you have to learn and implement day to day. It’s like with children: children don’t often listen to their parents because children are children. It is something that needs to be taught.

    Once you start practicing these kinds of questions and listening to yourself, and asking yourself what you can change or move, then you will learn to hear the answer quicker and to trust it. This actually builds up your self-worth, your trust in yourself, and help you with your confidence. If anybody has a question that they would like answering, please write in, get in contact, and I will answer these questions in my upcoming podcast and future posts.

    This meditation will help you with connecting to those emotions of frustration, anger, annoyance, irritation, etc. But it will help you to slow it down so you can hear, because in these moments we don’t hear ourselves fully when we are in the emotion. The video is below. Enjoy it and if you would like to share your thoughts, please do.

    With love and honour,

    Yvette

  • Meditation for Being in the Moment

    We are more grounded when we allow ourselves to be who we are, and learn not to create a reality of who we are. When you own your past and present this then creates a deeper harmony with yourself and grounds you more.

    When we allow the stillness of the mind, we then create a pathway to calmness, which in turn can still those negative thoughts that run in our heads. Give yourself a discipline of practising how to breathe; you can then learn how to become calm, focused and more positive in your future.

    Bringing the awareness to yourself can enable you to direct your focus. It helps you to take charge of your own wellbeing. Use all the tools that you have available to open up all the possibilities that are there for you.

    You can learn how to let go of troubles and emotions because you learn how to have them. When you allow this to come into your way of thinking your path becomes lighter, freer, and happier. Even learning to believe in you starts to open yourself to the universal energies, which have high understandings and this in itself helps you to see the true balance that is within us all.

    My question that I would like to ask you all is do you believe that it is easy to allow your emotions to overtake you; do they then make you feel tired, depressed, and very heavy about life?

    Can you also see that a part of this could be due to grief, which can come from many places: a death of a loved one, a pet, or a lost friendship, the loss of oneself through ill health, or the changing of one’s circumstances in life. However, how many of you are hard on yourself? Your mental thoughts can also tip you over and rule you.

    This meditation is about bringing you to the moment and it is something we can often talk about, about being in the moment, but we don’t necessarily understand what it means or what it looks like. If you can imagine and see your life, you would probably be dashing from one point to another thinking about what you would need to do tomorrow or next week. You might even be looking at what didn’t go well for you in the previous weeks that have just been. However, this can go on day after day, minute after minute. And it can really throw you off balance. This isn’t being in the moment.

    Being in the moment looks completely different. You may look at something from the past to improve it, but you feel settled. You may look for something that you want to achieve in the weeks to come, but you wouldn’t be whittling or worrying. You would be more focused, have a lot more clarity, and you would be more settled within yourself. You would have appreciation for everything that you have done or need to do. And you would extend an understanding to yourself of your efforts or where you are in the present moment; an understanding that is filled with compassion, both for yourself, others, and for the world around you.

    It might seem like a lot to ask for or to possess. But when we are in the present moment, present within ourselves, we are more capable of going through the ups and downs of life, no matter how big or  small. Because most importantly we can understand that we are always in a state of movement and change, something we can flow with on a regular basis, coming to our own sense of self and inner power. 

    With Love

    Yvette xx

     

  • CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER 2023

    LOVE TO ALL

    As we come to the end of the year – which is just over a month away! – we start to reflect on the year that we have had, but most importantly, the year that is yet to come. What opportunities will wait in our future? What will be over the horizon? Well, we hope from this newsletter that there will be plenty of events and moments of connection to look forward to that will give you clarity and direction.

    First of all, we have a new Reiki Morning in December, allowing you to cast your eye into the future year, set your own goals with intention, and how we can use Reiki to achieve those goals. This is an in person and online event, open to everyone including non-Reiki students.

    Reiki Morning – Set your Intentions for the Coming Year – In person

    December 16 @ 9:45 am – 12:45 pm £45.00

    All documents needed for the Reiki Morning will be given to you on the day

    There are only a few places left so be quick to book your place now!

     

    Attend our upcoming Reiki Morning, open to everyone including non-Reiki students. Using your intention helps you to connect and to gain clarity, especially in times of uncertainty. Some people find it really difficult to connect to their intuition, and this Reiki morning will help you to realise the benefits of discipline and how easy it really is to connect to yourself. This isn’t about setting new year’s resolutions; this is more about working with a form of energy that helps you reconnect to yourself and see what you really want in your life. We will guide you through setting an intention for your goals and milestones, and how you will plan, execute your plan, and discover your strengths and weaknesses to make the path ahead a little clearer.

     

    Reiki Morning – Set your Intentions for the  Year – Virtual Online

    February 18th  @ 9:30 am – 12:30 pm £45.00

    Check out these tips for coping with the darker winter months as one year comes to a close and another blooms anew.

     For some people, it is incredibly normal to feel low during the winter months. The weather starts to become gloomier with clouds and rain and cold, and the sun sets a lot sooner in the day when many people are still at work. Many try to fight this feeling, because they simply do not like it. And we often use language like ‘I feel bad’, ‘It’s not right that I feel like this’, ‘It’s wrong’. If we change some of the language round and say ‘I know I feel sad because its dark and cold, but …’. The word ‘but’ moves what you just said and moves your focus away from the negative feeling, and it gives you an opportunity to move it towards something you are looking forward to or something that you have achieved. It’s more about accepting that we don’t have to feel perfect and on top of the world all the time.

     

    If you are a procrastinator or feel like you can’t get out of bed sometimes, have you noticed how you might tell yourself off, beat yourself up about it and tell yourself how bad you are for not getting things done and being productive? Again, it’s more about accepting sometimes that we don’t always get things done or we don’t always get out of bed. Winter is the month for rest, reserving your energy, and hibernating. The greatest tip to help yourself in this is acceptance first and, in those moments, when you feel you aren’t getting on with something or not getting out of bed, don’t think about it just do. We are very beautiful human beings who sometimes want to tell ourselves off for being bad when we probably haven’t done anything wrong. The best thing is to take an action straight away even if you just got up and brushed your teeth. It’s all about changing focus. It’s not going to be easy to get things done when all you can think about is how bad you are for not getting them done sooner.

     

    We also have some exciting news about The Coven, a gathering created by Rachel Petheram from Catkin Flowers spanning the entirety of the year. January 2024 – November 2024

     

    I’ve been invited to collaborate with Rachel from Catkin Flowers…

     

    Rachel, who is also an Ambassador of YLK Mentors, has designed The Coven for those who wish to take the next step in their life – to step into your own personal power and ground yourself in moments of transformation and change. The gathering consists of 6 sessions a year, in collaboration with experts whose work is centred around supporting and empowering women.

    The gathering of these sessions will focus on creating a supportive community; a space created for guidance, building confidence, and solidifying the connection you have with yourself.

    It is a wonderful way to not only connect with nature, but also with ourselves. This event in 6 sessions spans the entirety of the year, with its debut event happening next year.

    As a Mentor, Coach, Hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master, Yvette Karan will be joining The Coven and collaborating with Rachel as one of the visiting experts for two of the sessions.

    The Coven – Reconnecting with your Confidence & Power by Rachel from Catkin Flowers

     

     

    Special Spotlight – Ruth Karan | Ambassador and Tarot Reader

    Sometimes as we go through life, we can feel confused and lost, especially as we come to the end of a year and winter begins. The darker months can make us feel low and it is understandable that the world and all that is going on in it starts to close around us, and our direction in life starts to become a question. With the new year coming, and new possibilities with new directions, clarity can offer a helping hand. If you want to give a gift to somebody during the giving season, or buy something just for yourself, follow the link in the header to receive a written tarot reading by Ruth Karan. These are email readings, written in the style of a letter, to help you treasure the guidance within as you take your next steps forward.

     

    Ruth Karan is an ambassador of YLK Mentors, a Writer, Historian, Reiki Master, and Tarot Reader. Her insights and abilities have enabled a lot of our clients to gain clarity and understanding of their journey. Her passion for writing shows through all her readings and talents that she has.

     

    Special Spotlight – Katie Pande | Ambassador and Herbalist

    Sometimes hormones can play up, the winter bug or cold is passed around, and sometimes it sticks and makes us feel under the weather. Whatever the case, Katie can help with her herbs and potions – don’t worry, we are only pulling your leg – and her special talents as a herbalist to get you through the long winter nights and freezing early mornings. You don’t have to put up with the random symptoms your body is displaying or the continuous onslaught of cold and flu symptoms. Contact Katie for an appointment to find out how she can help you during this time.

     

    Herbal medicine has a unique ability to stimulate the body’s natural healing potential rather than simply mask unpleasant symptoms; it encourages the body to heal itself, bringing back a sense of whole-body balance and harmony, connecting you to your true self. To maximise and capture the real essence and healing potential of each plant, Katie uses organic herbal extracts where possible.

     

    Katie Pande is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) and a Bach Flower Registered Practitioner (BFRP). Her treatments often use a combination of both herbal and flower remedies but they can also be used as separate treatments. Herbal medicine is very physical in its treatment potential, often used to deal with clear physical symptoms and can positively support every body system. The Bach flower remedies work on a purely emotional level, targeting specific emotional states such as trauma or anxiety.

     

     Special Spotlight – Hattie Rees | Ambassador and Nutritionist

    Have you ever noticed sometimes in the winter months, all you want to do is to eat warm and soothing foods. It can be quite normal. It’s all about that hibernation and wanting to gather energy to keep us warm and cozy. We have been on the theme of telling ourselves off in this newsletter – a lot of people do this with food. If you create an understanding with yourself about food, it can help you tremendously. If you would like to find out more about what help Hattie can offer you, click on the link above.

     

    Hattie Rees is a Registered Associate Nutritionist with a First-class Bachelor (BSc) degree in Nutrition from the University of Leeds. She is also qualified as a Reiki practitioner.   She believes in a ‘whole-self’ approach to treatment using a combination of nutritional science and holistic teachings to improve your relationship with you, leading to an overall improved health and nutrition. Hattie works very intuitively – it’s not about shoulds or shouldn’t’s. It’s more about working intuitively with eating habits. Sometimes its about moving the mindset and not necessarily what we eat.

     

    Take a step, just for a moment, and breathe. Then turn around, look at everything that you have done within the year, give thanks, and appreciation to everything that you have done. Smile, be happy, appreciate this moment. Give yourself a hug and a well done.

     

    Love Yvette.

     

     

  • Creating the Connection – Meditation

    Creating the Connection – Meditation

    It is amazing how we always use the phrase, ‘I’ll give myself time later’ or ‘I’ll set aside time for a meditation’, or a walk, or something for ourselves. From the moment we wake up, till the moment we go to bed, that is all our time. It is a funny concept that we don’t always have time, and yet that full day is all the time we have for ourselves – even when we are working, or doing things around the house or with our kids, that time is always there for us.

    Imagine if you had been taught that while you were brushing your teeth, having a shower, eating your breakfast, driving to work, and at work, that you could meditate and be mindful in every single moment. Meditation in a way is about stilling the mind and the chatter, and the negative talk that you have with yourself. And mindfulness has always been about being mindful about what you are saying, how you are saying it, what you are telling yourself.

    If we had been taught this, we wouldn’t have a need to set any time aside because we would have accepted that all the time that we have is at our disposal to meditate and be mindful – at any point of the day (although I’m sure we would find some other excuse). We have to learn to recognise why it is we tell ourselves that we will put time aside, but then never use that time. And sometimes it’s more about breathing, reconnecting to ourselves, and asking a simple question.

    Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it

    – Leonardo da Vinci

    A lot of people might then say – is this my head giving me an answer or is it my inner knowing/intuition. Basically, this is diverting ourselves from what we really need to see. And that is ourselves. As humans we are really great at diverting, and some of us then begin to take one small problem and create it into a bigger one without even realising it. This is often because of an anxiety or fear that it can create. We sometimes don’t want to face it, because we feel it is too great, too big. But the best thing you can do for yourself is to allow space to connect with yourself and work through the obstacles you are facing. This can be done at any time, any where.

    The meditation is a short one – again, doesn’t require you to set aside time. Maybe you listen to it when you have a break at work, before you go to sleep, while you are watching the TV. See where it can fit into your life and the time you have, where you can ALLOW yourself the TIME to do it. It is designed for you to connect into your body and mind as this is the place clarity can be found. Clarity is never outside of us; it is always within us. Direction is within us, so is the answers we may be looking for.

    Since you are the only one who knows the truth of yourself, allow yourself to build up that trust, connection, confidence, and self-reliance. Enjoy the meditation…

    If it helps you then please feel free to share it with anyone.

    Simply click here for the free meditation – Creating the Connection


    Love and Blessings,

    Yvette Karan

  • Meditation – The Return Journey of the Heart

    Meditation – The Return Journey of the Heart

    Meditation of the Heart Chakra – Creating the Connection

    Reiki offers a connection of the chakras to help heal and guide you through life, teaching you an incredibly useful discipline that will help you make time and space for you. Modern life can often make us feel all mixed up and thrown off balance, Reiki is a way to learn to bring that balanced connection back to your life. Life is forever moving and changing, and so grounding yourself with a deeper inner connection to yourself can guide you to where you want to be. That deep connection can then help you bring peace, clarity, direction, and understanding. An understanding that becomes clear through this journey.

    My own journey was prompted by something my grandfather used to say to me…

    “To get somewhere, you need to know what you want – what is your desired outcome?”

    He would say that if you choose to walk blindly through life, then that’s okay. But if you want more, then you really need to wake up and know who you are. You need to create time and understanding of and for yourself so that you can truly reach a place of peace and connection. I have always used my grandfather’s words wisely and while training over the years in many different therapies, it all began to unfold for me. Over time I started to know what I wanted. A big part of that is also to know what you don’t want.

    Have you heard the phrase many times before that it is not about the destination but the journey? This is true. There are many different ways, different roads and paths to follow, different disciplines and different hearts. One understanding can often be found in many. Sometimes it is as simple as just opening your eyes to see. To clearly see the lessons around you, the understanding and guidance that is on hand to help you.

    Never be in a rush – truly you have time, you have the space, but most importantly, don’t ignore you. There is nothing more important in life than you. Allow yourself to face who you are and love everything there is about you. Allow yourself to feel peace with all that you have done and all that you think and know that you are – become friends with yourself, even if you feel you have made mistakes in the past. We all have. That is normal, it is natural and human, be friends with it. Learn not to judge who you are or the people who have helped you to become the way you are, whether you think or know their actions and your reactions to be good or bad. When you stand on the bridge of understanding, all things will become clear and open to you.

    Ever feel something is missing – you may have found that you are or were looking for something, almost as if you feel something or someone is missing in your life – you may have no idea what it is or where to look – and as crazy as it sound it may be that you are in fact looking for YOU. You might have spent a long time looking for someone or something else that will give you love and understanding and a sense of completeness, but sometimes it’s actually the love and understanding of ourselves that we need to truly feel whole. Of course, all things that are missing could be valid, both people and experiences, and finding them can help our sense of wellbeing but sometimes finding  yourself amongst it all will actually reveal what you truly want out of life.

    The heart is a magical place of fulfilment and joy but often people feel disappointment or pain in their heart chakra. When this happens, you may want to run away and think that you will be better without it. Often that’s not the case. If you walk to the pain instead of away and become friends with it, just as you would be friends with the love and the joy, you will see something different.

    It may take a while but you can get there.

    The heart chakra is open at the front of our body and at the back. All new things that happen flow through the front of the chakra and flows back out. So, if we close the back because of the pain and suffering, when the new things come through it is difficult for us to feel the joy as it mixes with the pain. If we close the front, nothing new can come in and we are stuck with the pain and the suffering again.

    By creating the understanding and acknowledgement of the things that happen to us, whether we see or know it to be good or bad, will keep this flow open so we can experience all things with equal respect and acceptance.

    So, as we sit on the bridge of decisions, choices, direction, clarity, love and compassion, try to understand that the heart is the bridge between the realms of the soul and the physical body. As you stand on the bridge in life, the guidance is truly within you here and now.

    I have created this healing meditation inspired by a friend for opening the heart chakra and helping you achieve peace, clarity, direction, and understanding. Find a quiet moment in your day to take some time for you. Sit or lie down, be ready to listen, relax and open to deepening this link. It is my pleasure to share this with you and make it freely available for everyone to use.

    If it helps you then please feel free to share it with anyone in need. All the questions and answers are within.

    Simply click here for the free meditation – The return Journey of the heart

    Love and blessings,

    Yvette Karan`

     

     

  • A Thought for You All

    2021 brings a new start to a new year…with a new year people often see new opportunities, new adventures and, of course, new challenges! Some of you may have made new year resolutions and they may be the very thing that keeps you going. Whatever you do, be kind to yourself and not just in these strange times but always.

     

    For some, the start of this year may have felt a little unexpected. For many, it would not have been a surprise.  Managing the reality of where we are with where we would like to be can be challenging, especially when some of the circumstances may be out of our control. The how’s and the when’s may rely on factors outside of your influence – your external world.  Being able to plan in the uncertainty we are facing at the moment is undoubtedly challenging. This is when tapping into your intuition, your inner knowing, can provide you with a great sense of calm, clarity, and understanding.

    When you take the time to connect to yourself, whether it’s 5 minutes or 30, you drown out the outside world for a moment. Putting down deadlines, expectations, worries, emotions, and simply focusing on the present moment, allows you the chance to re-connect. It is in this moment of silence, a moment of stillness, when you regain your balance and focus. Ask a simple question such as “what matters most?” to help you. It is in this stillness that you are more likely to hear and pay attention to the answers. Practice this regularly and your intuitive side will grow and kick in naturally.

    “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein

    You may ‘connect’ in many ways…for example you may go for a run, sit in meditation, spend time with a friend (albeit virtually at the moment!), do the housework, or spend time in the garden. To connect can mean different things to each of us and the method we use to put down the stresses, worries, and emotions of our day, and listen to our own self, will be different. It is about finding what allows you to quieten those well practised thoughts and reactions. For us, if you have followed our work for sometime (or even just a short time!), you will know we advocate the use of your breath. Those small moments of taking time to breathe fully, wholly and consciously really do add up!

    If you would like to deepen your connection and develop a greater sense of knowing (intuition), then Reiki is a wonderful way to do this, whether this is receiving a reiki treatment or learning how to harness the reiki energy yourself (see our upcoming events).  Reiki can receive a bad press, being seen as woo-woo or a bit “airy fairy”, but the team at YLK Mentors are here to challenge that view and show you it really is quite logical.

    Whatever way you choose to connect to you, we are encouraging you today to recognise when emotions are getting the better of you, when stress levels are rising or anxiety is creeping in and hit that pause button. Allow yourself to change the course of that thought process and connect…

    With love, the Team at YLK Mentors x

     

  • Gratitude #youlovekindness

    Gratitude is the theme of our post, we are extremely grateful for the love and support of our colleagues and clients so we start with a heartfelt thank you. Find a little about our Ambassadors along with a tip on how to kickstart the New Year with purpose and focus….We know many of you are looking forward to waving 2020 goodbye it has undoubtedly brought about new challenges.  Yet in our experience with those challenges have come many lessons and reasons to be grateful.  It’s always important to recognise the challenges, acknowledge any pain or hardship relative to your own experience before letting this go and moving to gratitude.

     

    #YouLoveKindness

    We are sending a heart felt thank you to Kerry Burridge and our Ambassadors Rachel and Hattie for all their support in helping you maintain and develop a positive approach to your challenges, health and wellbeing this year. We would also like to thank all of our clients, current and old, for your continued support. We look forward to continuing to work with.

     

    The love of food and healthy intuitive eating with Hattie :- 

    Christmas is a time of cheer and joy and food. But in 2020, it’s been tough for many…Hattie has a natural way to help you learn to trust in your mind and your body. Get in touch with her, to help you begin that journey with trust in food.

    This year, we have introduced Hattie Rees as an Ambassador of YLK Mentors in our virtual online Reiki sessions. Hattie is a Nutritionist using the ‘whole-self’ approach to treatment, combining nutritional science with holistic teachings. She is here to guide you in every aspect of your relationship with food, health and wellbeing. If you feel you have strayed away from what you feel is healthy, or you are unsure about your relationship with food, talk to Hattie about her Intuitive Eating. After completing her degree in Nutrition, Hattie completed her training with the London Centre of Intuitive Eating. This process includes mechanisms of coping with disordered eating habits, as well as rediscovering what hunger/fullness cues mean, ultimately leading to a lifestyle with no nutritional restrictions. Take that step and have a chat with Hattie to better fulfil your eating patterns. Look out for our Workshop with Hattie in the coming year…

    Click here to find out more about Hattie’s approach and Intuitive Eating

     

    Acknowledging trust and focus

    We would like to thank Kerry Burridge for all her hard work this year despite the Pandemic. She has shown that if you put your mind  to it, you can achieve anything that you want to. We were talking to Kerry, late last year, about the reasons why people struggle with swimming and why they feel they can’t swim or why their kids can’t swim. The reason, as Kerry said, was lack of trust – lack of trust in themselves and their capabilities. She also explained to us, that it is about the story that people tell themselves. Kerry’s way of manoeuvring beyond this is not giving them a chance to think about it…to hesitate…to second guess their capabilities. Action, without thought, can bring out the best in people. Kerry has continued her own massage and bodywork business throughout this crazy year while continuing to teach people how to swim and overcome their fear of water.

    With the sponsorship of YLK Mentors, Kerry has built up a new business – KB Swim and Coaching. With her determination and hard work, Kerry has managed to stay afloat, so to speak, and grow beyond what she ever expected.

     

     

    Time to look after you in the best way you can…

    Rachel from Catkin flowers work throughout this year has been all about love and care– she has some great exciting new work that she will be offering next year – she often reminds us of the importance of keeping occupied and nurturing our mental and emotional wellbeing amongst the parade of self-isolation, lockdowns, and social distancing. Connecting ourselves back to nature and the mental harmony we can find in letting go of stressful pressures is something that Rachel promotes through her work. We are sure that the trips you have managed to make outside of your house during this year have been crucial to your mental state, especially when it is focused on getting some fresh air and new surroundings. Find out more about Rachel here.

     

    Time for Reflection…thoughts from Yvette & Lindsey 

    Sometimes life can be so busy going from one task to the next you may feel you are constantly ticking the next item off the list without pausing to recognise the successes, fails, value and fulfilment each item may bring.  Before you know it a whole year has passed and you may be left wondering what you achieved!  No matter if you are well-practised in the skill of positive reflection or not, taking time to reflect on your whole year can have a great impact on what’s to come in 2021…

    If you haven’t done this already perhaps schedule a little time in your diary (between the 26th and 31st December can work well) to sit quietly and consider the following questions:

    • What has this year taught me?
    • What has worked well for me….and what hasn’t? And (perhaps most importantly) at what cost?
    • What changes would I like to make?
    • What would I like to achieve in 2021?

    Answering these questions honestly and constructively can really help you see what is important to you, what is fulfilling you, your beliefs, values and passion along with what you could let go of. Take time to reflect and step into 2021 with clarity, purpose and focus. We will be thinking and sending good thoughts out to you all. Love Yvette & Lindsey.

  • YLK Ambassador – Rachel Petheram of Catkin – Florist, Tutor, lover of “Woo” and all round beautiful soul

    YLK Ambassador – Rachel Petheram of Catkin – Florist, Tutor, lover of “Woo” and all round beautiful soul

    Taking a moment to reflect in the Power of Nature and its benefits

    It is easy to become overwhelmed with the stress and worry of the situation we find ourselves in and it may be that we are spending a lot of time in our heads. As our normal routines are disrupted it is easy for our mind to become full of worry – lots of ‘what ifs’ and ‘I shoulds’ and ‘I feel bad because…..’

    There are many ways that we can overcome this – meditation, breathing properly and exercise, to name a few, and these are really important to weave into your routine. Sometimes though the feeling of being overwhelmed means that we are overcome with lethargy and can’t find the energy to do even the most simple things. This is not unusual – our sleep cycles may be disrupted, we may feel on high alert all the time, adjusting to ‘a new normal’ is energy sapping. We then find that we don’t have the energy to do the things that make us feel better so we continue to worry, which saps our energy further and so it’s a vicious cycle.

    One very simple thing you can do to take you out of your head for a while and help you to feel more grounded is to connect with nature. The idea that spending time in nature can make you feel better is intuitive – we all know it and feel it. Researchers are amassing a body of evidence, proving what we all know to be true: nature is good for us and has both long and short term mental and physical health benefits. Previous research in environmental psychology has shown that a natural environment has a positive effect on well-being through restoration from stress and attentional fatigue. It has been termed ‘Vitamin G’ where G stands for the green space around us. It could also stand for grounding because being in nature does exactly that – it takes us out of our heads and helps us to feel more balanced.

     

    Blog post – 8

    We all know the benefits of gardening: good exercise, having something to nurture and tend, the myriad benefits of soil. But many people don’t have access to a garden, or have the time to spend in it, and many don’t have access to beautiful surroundings outside, but ‘nature’ doesn’t have to be a garden or a national park – it is just being in contact with plants. A 2008 study found that hospital patients who had flowers in their room felt less anxious. They were also more positive about their recovery and needed less post-operative care than patients without plants. In 2005 a team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction. The results show that flowers are a natural and beneficial moderator of moods. From an energetic perspective this makes total sense, flowers are living entities whose unique vibratory pattern (i.e. energy) can be deeply healing.

    I have been working with flowers for 18 years and it is very clear to me that working with flowers has a profound effect on people – over and above the pure joy that creating luscious arrangements can bring. Flowers have different ‘personalities’, each one has its own energetic signature and we may be drawn to different flowers at different times depending on our own needs.

    A simple exercise to tune in to the healing properties of flowers and to take you out of your head for a while would be to choose a flower – it can simply be a flower picked from a verge, or a flower bought in a supermarket, but make sure it is something that you are drawn to. Take that flower and hold it in your hand. Or if it’s growing somewhere and you can’t pick it then just look at the flower where it is growing. If you have no access to flowers then just looking at a picture of one would also help. Sit and really look at it. Look at it as if it’s the first time you’ve ever seen a flower. Discover what it actually looks like. Notice the shape of the petals, notice the texture – is it velvety, is it satiny? Really look at the colour – is it one colour, is it many colours? Does it have a fragrance? Does it remind you of anything, does it take you anywhere? When thoughts and emotions come up, notice them, and then gently redirect your attention to the flower in front of you. Let the flower fill up the whole of your focus for a while. This simple practice will make you feel calmer, will relax your body and practiced regularly can help us to connect to our true selves. It will help to bring you out of your head and back into your body and hopefully bring you some calmness, clarity and focus so you can take further steps to enhance your wellbeing.

    Rachel is an Artisan florist, flower grower and teacher. Creating abundant arrangements that reflect the seasons. Using nature intuitively to restore and renew.  She runs courses and personal training in all things floral, guiding you in your health and wellbeing as well as building your floral knowledge and skills.

    You can reach Rachel via insta @catkinflowers, facebook @CatkinEnglishFlowers and on the www @ www.catkinflowers.com.  Stay tuned here for more from Rachel in the coming months!

    With love from

    the Team

    @YLKMentors

  • Guest – Lisa Brown on our Choices: “One Choice that we do have is how we respond to the situation we find ourselves in…”

    Guest – Lisa Brown on our Choices: “One Choice that we do have is how we respond to the situation we find ourselves in…”

    Introducing Guest Blogger, Lisa Brown – Health & Fitness Guru

    Exercising Regularly supports your immune system and releases those feel-good endorphins promoting your mental and emotional wellbeing.  Having admired Lisa and her work for years we are so pleased we are able to share her wisdom with you here.

    Lisa Brown – Director of Innervate Health & Fitness, Owner of Coogee Gym, elite personal trainer. English by birth, Lisa studied Physical Education at the prestigious Exeter University. An innate wanderlust and teaching degree led her to Hong Kong, a seven year stint in an International School in the Middle East and eventually to her beloved Sydney, Australia. Here after a couple of years as Head of Primary PE and Sports at MLC School she followed her lifelong passion for exercise and jumped headfirst into the business of fitness. The first year she travelled around the parks and beaches of Sydney as a mobile outdoor PT. But soon she formed her company Innervate. At it’s peak the business employed 20 personal trainers servicing on average 200 sessions per week. Lisa is an educator, mentor and coach but her real jam is face-to-face PT. Her work is varied and ranges from turning a 75-year-old woman onto the physical and mental advantages of strength training to literally helping a client walk and thrive again after a horrific motorbike accident. The joy of helping people move without pain in strong and healthy bodies is the stuff that gets Lisa up at 4.55am every morning, that and a double shot cappuccino and Leroy Brown her black Labrador.

     

    Layla one of my online personal training clients shared the following last week in our WhatsApp community group chat:

    “I read today ‘it is inevitable that isolation will change your body …it is your choice whether that is for the better or the worse’ – we are choosing option A” Layla Lockie 

    It struck me how powerful this was.  It can feel like many of our choices have been taken away.  Our governments are dictating what we are allowed to do, who we are allowed to see, where we go or not go.  We know this is essential for our health and the health of our World but the daily choices we are allowed to make have taken a massive nosedive.  One choice that we do have is how we respond to the situation we find ourselves in.  My gym is situated in a place called Coogee Beach in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Australia.  It is a small community space where everyone regardless of age, gender, experience, injury, level of fitness or background can get their groove on and achieve things that they never thought possible.  My jam is strength and like my bio says: I love to empower people to move better without pain in strong, kick-ass, healthy bodies.  I was observing what was happening around the World regarding COVID-19 and chatting to friends in the UK.  I knew that soon things would start to change here in Australia too and that my gym would be forced to close.  So I made a choice.  I chose to move my whole business online.  I thought I would have more time for this transition but things esculated pretty quickly and as the government made the call to close all gyms on the Sunday, I am proud to say that by the evening we were ready to rock and look after our community online the very next day.  A new way of working, communication and spreading my message of health, strength and fitness was born, overnight, just like that.  I am grateful that I had the opportunity to make this choice.  For me exercise, healthy nutrition, quality sleep, controlling my stress is now a conditioned and habitual way of living but for many in my community it is not, throw a Worldwide Pandemic in the mix and you have a perfect excuse to disregard all of the above.  Here is where you have the opportunity to choose.  My client Layla made that choice.  She refers only to the physical aspect in her WhatsApp post but her choice to invest in her health and fitness has positive effects that reach way further than her body.  She has empowered herself to take control of the situation that she finds herself in.  She has chosen to look after herself by moving her body in a nourishing way thus boosting her immune system, improving her bone and muscle health, increasing her energy levels, promoting feel-good chemicals in her brain that can help improve her mood and enhance her self esteem.  She made the choice.  I take my role as a health practitioner and the leader of my community extremely seriously and I feel that now, more than ever people like me need to step up and be beacons of light and motivate and inspire others that struggle to make choices that will help them to thrive not just survive through these challenging times.  None of us are perfect; we don’t always make the right choices at the right time.  We are living through days that our generation has never experienced or could ever have imagined experiencing.  But here we are.  The many choices that we took for granted are not at our disposal at this time but we always have choices that we are in control of.

    …’it is inevitable that isolation will change your body …it is your choice whether that is for the better or the worse’ – we are choosing option A”  Layla Lockie 

    It is your choice. What do you choose?

    Want to join our tribe? I am doing everything I can to look after as many people as possible regarding their health and fitness amongst the situation we are in.  I am so pumped to now be working with people from many different countries.  Would you like to jump in on our online workouts?

    I will provide you with five workouts a week delivered to your inbox, all with simple video explanations and descriptions.  All fitness levels are catered for.  Cost is per household and so the whole family can jump in.  WhatsApp group to keep community and each other accountable.  No equipment needed apart from an easily available thin resistance band.  I’m using tempo and paused methods for intensity instead of load.  It’s intelligent progressive overload programming.  There will be two strength and conditioning sessions (Monday and Wednesday’s sessions), Tuesday is a short interval session with core and glutes, Thursday is a recovery, yin, flow session and Friday is a ‘Big Bang’ circuit style workout.  This does not mean that you have to do these workouts on these specific days or that you have to perform all of them.  These sessions are all about you and your lifestyle and your schedule.  So make them work for you.  If you would like to know more flick me an email at lisa.brown@innervate.net.au

    If you would like to follow me on my socials please check me out on insta:
    https://www.instagram.com/lisaatinnervate/
    https://www.instagram.com/coogeegym/  

  • Meditation for Breathing

    Meditation for Breathing

    Have you ever noticed  what happens to your body when you feel Stressed, does it cause shortness of breath, tense muscles, headaches, panic attacks, sweaty palms or simply make your problems seem worse?

    When an event happens that triggers you to feel stressed, your body releases stress hormones that instigate your  natural “fight or flight” response, our prehistoric survival mechanism to protect us from danger.  It is these hormones which are responsible for tightening your muscles, increasing your heart rate, and quickening your breath.  All to increase your alertness and prepare your body to either defend you against the perceived danger or run away from it.  As these physiological responses happen to non-life threatening events where you no longer need to fight or run you have no release …without a release your stress levels increase, heightening feelings of anxiety and panic and so the cycle is repeated.…  

    …being anxious tightens the muscles that help you  breathe, and you start to  breathe  faster and struggle to catch your breath. This is the same for when you get angry or frustrated – emotions which the body translate as stress.  Have you ever noticed that whilst stress may seem to be limited to the mind, it also shows through the body even when you have not mentally recognised a stimulant for stress?

    Thankfully we have been gifted with a very simple tool to help inhibit our body’s natural stress response…our breath…but can the key really be as simple as learning and training yourself to harness your breath fully?! We breathe all the time right!…but there is a difference between breath with awareness provoked voluntarily with thought and breath without.

    It is true that breathing is generally a simple thing for our body to do, something which we do naturally.  It is important however to pay attention to how you are breathing. As shown, your breathing patterns can indicate what your body is doing, even when it seems not to match up with your mind, and is especially significant when it comes to experiencing stress. Certain breathing exercises can help to reduce your body’s reaction to stress and bring clarity of mind – a simple task that when paid attention to, can help relax your body and help you move forward through otherwise potentially stressful situations freely. 

    You see your natural, physical response to a stressful trigger (the “fight or flight” response) is controlled by part of your involuntary nervous system (Autonomic Nervous System)  known as your sympathetic nervous system. It is this system which is responsible for increasing your heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar to help you perform under stress. Conversely, your  parasympathetic nervous system (also part of your involuntary nervous system) does the opposite, inducing the “rest and digest” response after the perceived threat has passed, bringing the body’s reactions back to equilibrium. This is significant as the mind’s perception of stress can trigger the body to react in a fight or flight response, changing our breathing patterns and heart rate until they seem to be out of our own control –  regulating your breath voluntarily can break the cycle and help instigate your body’s  “rest and digest” response.   Therefore certain breathing exercises can help to calm the body and in turn your mind in the face of stress.  

    Practicing breathing exercises and bringing awareness to your breath daily helps train your body to use this response more naturally when faced with potential stress of a non-life threatening nature.  Helping you to remain calm under pressure, build strong relationships and meet deadlines.  

    We regularly teach our students, mentees and clients to connect to their breath and find it common place for many to only breathe in the upper section of their chest indicating a shortened fast breathing pattern – part of the fight or flight – as opposed to a deep full relaxing breath. Directional breathing is great method to help relieve this.  TIP:  bring a focus to your “belly” as you breathe, ensure your abdomen expands as your breathe in and contracts as you breathe out.  If you find this tricky then this is definitely something that will be useful to you so stick with it!