by Emma | Jan 30, 2017 | Calm, Connected, Creative, Uncategorized
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Image from Pinterest |
Happy new year!
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year
like I did. I have had a wonderful
couple of weeks balancing my love of teaching Pilates with spending cherished
time with my husband and children. We
managed to pack a lot of fun into the last few weeks around the extra shifts I
did and I am refreshed and ready to go for 2017.
It seems a bit weird talking about New Year now at the end
of January doesn’t it? I guess it feels
a bit more like New Year now for me though, and many others I’m guessing. Over the weekend it was the first New Moon of
the year, Chinese New Year, and the kids all go back to school this week. It signifies an end to summer holidays and
the beginning of getting back into a routine for the year.
Do you set New Years Resolutions each year? I’m not usually one to do it, and if I do it
is something trivial. I am also not
generally one to sit down and right out a list of goals, life plans or anything
like that. However, this year, things
have been a little different. I have
drawn inspiration from a number of sources including Danielle LaPorte’s
Goals with Soul course, Hal Elrod’s
Level 10 Life concept, and Amy Taylor-Kabbaz’s
Mission Statement for 2017. What drew me to each of these (and other
similar ideas) was the focus on how I want to feel in my life. Rather than being a big list of things to do,
the idea is to challenge myself to move closer towards the Core Desired
Feelings in all that I do, and use those feelings as a guide for what I want to
do/achieve. I’ve spent a fair bit of
time thinking about how I want my life to be this year, and this is what I’ve
come up with:
- ·
If I had to summarise how I would like my year
to be this year, these words come to mind- Energised, Intentional/on purpose,
nourish, action, intuition, sensual (as in living with all my five senses fully
alive), colourful, action, dream, learn, inspired, finish/complete, challenge,
reclaim, rise.
- ·
My Core Desired Feelings are Creative, Calm, Connected, and Divine
Feminine. Creative Calm Connected seem to be working really well for me
since I settled on them last year. But I
felt there was something else missing. I
feel like I’m at the beginning of a new cycle in life, and it turns out that some
people believe that 2017 is the beginning of a new nine year cycle. The past cycle for me was pretty much about
us having our family, and now that our little family is complete, I feel ready
to take on new challenges, to focus on new things (including of course spending
time with and raising our beautiful kids) and broadening my role. Now that I am a Mum I have felt the need to
slow down a little, become more childlike in some ways in that I want to be
more present in each and every moment.
And I also want to connect better with the softer, feminine side of who
I am. At the moment I am drawn to be
home, focussed on the children, spending time with those I am closely connected
with emotionally, and embracing my creative side. I’m less about the deadlines and career
ladder climbing, and more about nurturing.
Embracing the divine feminine for me is about allowing myself to be
softer, listening to my intuition, being creative, feeling beautiful, slowing
down, feeling joy and love.
- ·
I don’t want to feel just content with
life. I want to be energised and
thrilled by it. I want to wake up each
day and jump out of bed with excitement for what the day will bring.
- ·
I want to live more with intention. Making sure that I am making the most of
every minute, deciding how I will spend my time based on what my family and I
value most.
- ·
I want to tap into my intuition and allow it to
guide me and influence decisions more than just being logical and ruled by my
head. Getting more of a balance between
head and heart I suppose.
- ·
I have also decided that this is going to be the
year of the “challenge”. I seem to be
better able to manage habit change when there is a reason for the change, e.g. a
30 day challenge. So, this year I am
going to have a go at a few and see if I can kick start some good change. The first one is the 30 Days Of You Challenge
that I started last Thursday, which is focusing on the mind, body and spirit
and getting us focused and prepared for the year ahead. I will write about
other challenges as they come up, but some ideas I’ve come across and am
interested in are
o
The Modern Mrs Darcy 2017 Reading Challenge – there are actually two challenges to choose from – one if you want to be reading
for fun, and one for reading for growth, or you could do both. I plan to do both over the course of the
year. The idea is you pick books based
on a number of categories within the challenge.
This idea is appealing to me because I have felt stuck in a bit of a
reading rut lately, always picking the same type of books. Hopefully this challenge will inspire some
diversity in my reading.
o
Hal Elrod’s
30 Day Miracle Morning Challenge – Based
on the principles outlined in
The Miracle
Morning, the 30 day challenge could be a great way for me to kick start some
positive morning routines.
o
An alcohol free month – eg dry July/Octsober
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I have been inspired by a couple of quotes
lately from podcasts lately and I thought they could almost be like little
motto’s or mantras for me this year:
o
The first one was Danielle LaPorte in a podcast
I listened featuring her and she was discussing the importance of saying no to
others so that you have room to say yes to yourself and what you
want/need. She said to listen to your
instincts when someone asks you to go somewhere/do something. “If it’s not a HELL YES¸ then it’s a no.”
o
The other one is from Gretchen Rubin’s podcast, HappJhHappier HApppHHHHhhhhahahHHapppier Happier, where she said a recent
philosophy of hers is “if you cant get
out of it, get into it”. The idea being, if there is something that you have to do, but are not really wanting to, it will probably be better for you and all involved if you just let go and decide to really make the most of it. I like this idea. A change in your attitude to something is sometimes all you need to make it much more enjoyable.
I would love to hear from you about your
resolutions/goals/plans for the year. Did you make any new years resolutions? How are you going with them so far? Do
you have any ideas for other challenges I should undertake? Would you like to do any of the challenges
with me? I would love to hear your
thoughts so make sure you comment below.
Until next time,
E xx
by Emma | Dec 24, 2016 | Connected, Uncategorized

I hope you all have a magical Christmas and make some treasured memories with your loved ones in the coming days.
Thankyou all for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you. You have made my dreams come true this year, so THANKYOU xx
I might take a little break for a week or so and spend some much needed time with my husband and babies. I hope you will be doing the same.
Until next time, I hope Santa is good to you
Merry Christmas
Love E xx
by Emma | Dec 20, 2016 | Connected, Uncategorized

This time of year is crazy for everyone. I am proud of myself this year, I managed to get all my shopping for Christmas done (with the exception of one gift) before my son finished school. Once that was done, I felt an enormous weight lift off of me.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that our kids will have a good Christmas. Now I can rest easy in the knowledge that they will. We just need to organise the food for Christmas day and everything will be done.
Yesterday I woke with a sore throat, my son woke up feeling unwell, and my daughter slept in. I am getting much better at listening to signals from the Universe. This week, we need to slow down. We need to give ourselves time to relax and rejuvenate after the craziness that was 2016. It has been a big year in our house. Busy, full of milestones, lots of good times and happy memories. But it has left us a bit exhausted.
This week, the first gift I am giving my children and myself for Christmas is to slow down. We are enjoying a few lazy days at home, without being super scheduled. We are sleeping until we wake up, having lazy breakfasts and enjoying spending time at home just doing what we enjoy doing when we have some time for ourselves. I have also been pottering around doing some of those nagging things that are on my “important but not urgent” list. Those jobs that once they are done make me feel so much better.
Most of all I am enjoying this special time by being with the kids and not stressing that I’ve started 10,00 things today and finished none of them! By giving them my full attention when they seek it. By playing with them. Watching telly together. Singing songs and Christmas carols and dancing. And it feels so freeing. So happy. These are the moments I treasure. I am noticing the good in things much more this week, the lovely manners, sneaking glimpses of the children playing together or having a snuggle on the couch while they watch TV. Enjoying the delight of my daughter at having he brother home during the day. And, as always, it seems that what I focus on attracts more. More laughs, more cuddles, more good manners, more good behaviour. More positives.
I am so grateful to have this opportunity to reconnect before the year ends. I am looking forward to sitting down in the coming weeks to set some intentions and goals for the new year (there will be a post on that sometime soon). I feel like taking this time to slow down and literally smell the roses puts me in a really good place to end 2016 the way I want to. Focused on my family and connection with others.
I leave you with this thought from Rubin: “Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how much more life she had time for”. I hope that you all get some peace during this holiday season. Breathe in those close to you and snuggle them hard.
Until next time,
E xx
by Emma | Dec 18, 2016 | Connected, Uncategorized

December 18 is a day that will never be the same in our house again. It is the day that should have been our little baby boy’s birthday. Today he would have turned three if he had made it through the pregnancy.
On this day in particular each year, I give myself permission to withdraw, feel the hurt, and ride the wave of grief that never goes away but I suppress because that’s what my family and I need in order to live our lives. We need to live. We need to make the most of every day. We owe it to Daniel and his big sister Hannah and the one that went before them to make the most of every day. Because we got to stay and they didn’t. We get the chance to live each day and they didn’t.
But, I always feel the emptiness that was their place in my heart. It will never leave me, nor do I want it to. I never want to forget them. Nobody knew them like me. Nobody felt their little legs kicking other than me. We had hopes and dreams for their futures and imagined them living in our lives with us.
So for their birthdays and anniversary’s I allow myself the luxury of grief. I feel the pain. I acknowledge all that could have been but is not. I pray for them, I feel their presence, I sleep with their special blankets. I allow myself these special days to love them like a Mother can and should love her babies.
Because that is what they were, are, and always will be to me.
Happy 3rd birthday Daniel.
We love you always and miss you so much that my heart breaks again every day.
xxxx
by Emma | Dec 16, 2016 | Connected, Uncategorized
About four months ago, I had the privilege of meeting a kind
lady who would teach me so much in a short amount of time. Today her family farewelled her from this
world as she lost her long drawn out battle with cancer.
I have been sitting here tonight thinking of her after I was
told of her passing, and wondering how it is possible for someone to make such
a mark on you after such a short time.
In those few short months, I saw her once a week, when she was well
enough to meet me for some gentle exercise.
In those few short months, she taught me so much.
I must admit, I had selfish reservations about getting to
know someone who I knew had a terminal illness.
I didn’t want to get close, because I knew this day would come. I wanted to protect myself from the hurt that
comes from losing someone who inspired you or taught you something important
about yourself. Tonight though, as I sit
here, thinking of the gentle soul that now flies with the angels, I feel humble
that she gave those hours to me in the last months of her life.
I feel grateful that she taught me what a great honour it is
to serve. To be able to contribute
something positive to someone who is fighting so hard. To be touched by her positivity, her grace
and her courage.
She never complained.
She was in pain, suffering through horrible treatments but never once said
anything negative about her situation.
Faced with her own mortality, she bought joy and light to those she saw
at that same time each week. She lifted
us up without even trying (or maybe she was trying very hard to do it, but it
looked effortless).
She showed me what it is to live with grace.
I hope that she enjoyed her time with me. That after our sessions she felt more able to
enjoy her day.
In thinking of her I am wondering what others might feel
about me when I pass. I hope that in
some way I am able to light someone else up inside the way she did for me. We have a lifetime of small, simple, every
day moments that we need to make the most of.
Everyday moments that you might think mean nothing to those around you
but might actually be having a profound effect.
For all of us, those moments are running out. And we don’t know when our time will
come.
We are only guaranteed right now.
So tonight Lea, I raise my glass to you. I thank you for the time you shared with
me. I thank you for the lessons you taught
me. I wish you peace.
E xx
by Emma | Dec 14, 2016 | Connected, Uncategorized
On Saturday night I went to the Keith Urban concert. It was the BEST concert I have ever been
to. And I have been to a lot of live
shows having worked for Ticketek for a number of years when I was a bit
younger.
It was always going to be a special night because my Aunty
was coming with me and we are both huge fans.
I have been to a Keith Urban concert before and had a great time. He is a wonderful artist, so talented and
still humble and grateful for the life he leads.
But what happened at that show was more than that (which is
amazing on its own). It was a beautiful
Canberra summer evening, warm with clear
skies. With the first guitar chord, the
whole crowd stood, cheered, and the energy in the stadium changed. It became electric. Souls united in a common love of good music. The sun set, the stars and moon came out and
soft breeze gently cooled us as we danced and sung our hearts out.
There is something very special about attending a live music
event. A magical transformation from the
every day to the BEST day. When you
truly let yourself go, sing like no one is listening, dance like no one is
watching, just being in the moment.
Feeling the music deep within you, united with every other person in the
place in a few hours of pure joy.
And that’s what I think is so special about that night. Both Keith Urban and most people in the crowd
really just lived in that moment. There
is something quite mesmerising about watching a talented artist do their thing. But Keith more than most. He can really play the guitar. And the utter joy that drips off him when he
does is infectious. Several times
throughout the night I watched him get so into his guitar solos that he seemed
both so present yet so far away. Really
here in the moment, but at the same time, transported to a place deep within
where it almost felt voyeuristic to watch.
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Image credit: RIchard Gabriel Ford/WireImage via Eonline.com |
I caught myself several times throughout the night looking up to the heavens, taking a big breath in and
thanking the Universe for this moment. I
thought “more of this please”. More of
this feeling of joy. Of being connected
to myself and others. Of feeling united
with other people in a common goal.
Imagine if we could harness the type of energy that was in GIO Stadium
on Saturday night and use it in our every day lives to bring that same sense of
joy and connectedness to those we interact with. Imagine if we could carry that feeling with
us into every area of our lives, sharing it, spreading it, making it grow.
I’m going to try it.
There is so much hype about mindfulness recently, and this was a really
good demonstration for me about how being present in this moment right now, can
be so rewarding.
Until next time,
E xx