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A Tea Making Meditation

January 14, 2015 By Kat

Meditation can take on many different forms. It does not necessarily require you to sit in lotus position, chanting mantras for six hours day, but this is an option if you so desire. Meditation is what you make it to be & it’s a personal choice. Go with what works best for you. The aim simply is to relax your mind & bring conscious awareness to your being.

Back when I was working full time the only way I got my ten minute snippets of mind stillness was during my morning/afternoon walk to the station & funnily enough sat on the train. Yes meditation can be moving & open eyed. Or again it can be still, eyes closed & in solitude. The goal is to bring your focus within, still the mind & connect with your heart (or Soul). I admit my original way did not bring as deeper connection as it does now with the latter method. There is a lot of distractions when meditating in public, even plugged into an iPod! Better than nothing though.

A few months ago I was having a lovely chat with a friend about a totally different process of meditation, the ritual of making a cup of tea. Sounds totally bonkers right? But no wait hear me out. A meditation practice is about being consciously aware. It does not matter what you are actually physically doing. As long as you are conscious of your actions & aware of every little thing you do. Taking you out of your busy head & bring you into inner peace.

Here’s how the tea comes in.

Every morning the first thing I do is make a cup of my favourite Yorkshire tea. Before anything else tea comes first. Upon rising my mind is still & body refreshed from sleep. This is the best time for a meditative ritual as the busy thoughts have yet to start processing.

It’s quite easy to do a tea making meditation. Firstly it’s important to pay close attention to every part of the process. Don’t just fumble round the kitchen grabbing the first cup you find & mindlessly fill the kettle.

Here, I’ll walk you through the process I use.

Come to place of stillness in your kitchen ready to start. Take a few deep; long, slow breathes right into your belly. You may close your eyes if you wish.

Once you feel centred move your focus to the kettle. If it needs filling with water move slowly to grasp the handle staying very conscious of every move you make. Note how the kettle feels in your hand. Is it cold, smooth; does the kettle feel heavy to lift? Carefully fill the kettle. Listen to the noise of the water rushing hitting the metal sides, the swooshing from the tap and maybe the gentle bang from the pipes.

Return the kettle to its stand or the stovetop & turn it on to boil. Stand back & note how the kettle comes to life. Watch the light flick on, the noise of the element clicking in or the gas flames hissing.

Whilst the kettle is boiling take your time selecting a cup & teapot if you use one. If you usually just grab the first clean cup you come across, stop & pay attention to all the cups on the shelf. Examine their sizes, colours, patterns, material and shapes & notice the sounds they make when they chink together. Really see & feel what is in front of you. (It’s surprising what you find lurking in the cupboard when you really look, you may unearth an old favourite)

Now for the tea! Take your time selecting which tea you would like to start your day with. Let you gaze linger over the boxes or caddies, pick them up, read the label, note the design & colours. Which is singing out to you today? It might not even be tea at all, hot water & lemon is always a good start. If so carefully select a lemon to cut up, avoid just grabbing the first one you lay your hand on. Hold the lemon, feel the texture of its skin, the vibrancy of the colour, its shape & size.

With the same conscious awareness place you tea in your selected cup or teapot. Pay attention to how the bag feels in your fingers; look at the shape & the colour of the leaves inside. If you use loose leaf, measure out the scoop & carefully place it in the diffuser. Keep breathing deeply allowing the aroma of the tea to fill your nostrils.

Bring your awareness to your ears. Listen to the sounds all around you, the clink of the teaspoons, the boiling of the kettle, and any outside noises from nature. How are you feeling right now? Take note of your state of being, how relaxed you are & aware of your whole body & connected to your senses. Tune into any messages that come through from your inner knowing. Now is the perfect time to receive some wisdom. Quietly ask your heart “is there anything I need to know for today please?”

Once the water has boiled very carefully & slowly pour the water over your tea or lemon. Being completely aware of the sounds & smells all around you. Feel the heat from the steam warm your hand. Look at the colour of the water change as the tea steeps & infusers. Take a few very deep breaths & really be apart of the process as your tea is brewing.

Here’s the best bit, the drinking! Sit in your favourite chair or spot outside. Hold your teacup between both hands, feel the heat warm your palms. Get totally involved by bringing the cup to your nose breathing deeply the scent, feel the steam waft over your face. Now drink. Savouring the flavour, the heat in your mouth and the warm glow in your stomach. Give gratitude for receiving such a sacred experience & the nourishment to not only your body but also your Soul.

Give this tea meditation a try & see how being fully conscious in the process heightens your awareness & connection to your Soul. Let me know how you get on in the comments below.

With love, K xx

New Year, New Focus

January 7, 2015 By Kat

We’ve closed off another year again & started a new. Doesn’t seem five minutes that I was writing these exact same words 12 months ago. 2014 sky rocketed by at a fast pace but it’s been lots of fun. How’s the past year been for you?

For me it was my first full year of being self-employed as I left my full time city job at the end of September 2013. Even though I was leaving a team & a job I loved it was the best decision I have made to go out there alone. Being completely in control of my life was what I needed last year. It made me fully responsible for my actions; I found this to be very empowering. There have been challenges for sure but overall it’s been a year full of joy. I feel this is why the months have breezed by. Time flies when you’re having fun!

2014 was the year for ‘Simplicity’

My intention for 2014 was ‘simplicity.‘ How did that go? Oh it was challenging especially having to manage three different branches of my business, travelling between three yoga studios on top of having a personal life. At times there did not seem to be anything-simple going on. I was busier than ever but in a good way. Four months in I felt the need to strip life back & bring it back to simple as my intention set out to be.

To get back on track I took myself out of my comfort zone to the other side of the country for ten weeks of personal development. Stepping away from my everyday helped me forge a new way of being – a simpler one. Without a house full of my ‘stuff’ or my usual work roster & house keeping duties everything was back to basics.

I was staying in fairly remote location that gave me the solitude I was craving. Most things I needed were in walking distance. With no unlimited Wi-Fi there was less time wasted on mindless online trawling. I was left with more time for myself to do things I loved. I actually read three books. (A small but huge achievement!) Life was simple again, as I had no choice. It was wonderful.

My time away showed me how I could manage my modalities more efficiently. The whole point of being my own boss in the first place was to regain my sense of self, be in control & live life on my terms. It took me nearly the whole year to discover the true meaning of ‘simplicity’ but I got there in the end. Just because the year is complete doesn’t mean I let go of this intention. Simplicity will now be integrated into my lifestyle forever as part of my growth.

New Year, New Major Theme

Now is the time to reflect on my New Year intention or ‘major theme’ I’m drawn to calling it today. 2015 will be a year of great acceleration & change for most. It’ll be all about taking action. No doubt thing will get uncomfortable at times, especially as you get pushed into new ways of being & start to see things differently.

However nothing will improve if you just sit back & expect it to be handed to you on a plate. The most successful people in life go out there & make things happen. They take action & above all lead by example. The proactive doers in 2015 will have a ball! Trust the Universe has your back & enjoy the ride ahead.

Over the last two weeks of December I sat in meditation to ask “what will be my major theme for 2015?” I was surprised to receive a dual answer to my question. No one theme shone out, the two words that were delivered were equally as strong.

Leadership & balance.

Two very powerful & complimentary themes.

The theme ‘leadership’ has presented itself to me I feel as a message to go deeper within myself. Like everything in life the inner work comes first so it can then be projected into the outer world. My task for 2015 is therefore to be the leader in my own life first & foremost. Most importantly making sure whatever I’m doing brings me joy & happiness. Walking my talk by following my Soul’s guidance closely. Undertaking projects that are a good fit for me that will help me to expand. Leading with passion, focus & determination from within resonates strongly.

Another desired outcome of stepping up the leadership role in my life is to show others they can take the lead in their life too. I won’t be doing this by projecting onto people & telling them directly ‘ you should do this or that.’ I wish to move away from this myself, the external influences. My aim is to lead by example, share the ways I do things that have brought me success. By doing so hopefully pave the way for self-discovery within you. Leading from the inside out. This is feeling really good for me right now.

With this greater role of self-responsibility I can see where the second part of my theme comes in – ‘balance.’ This is an area where I’ve fallen short in the past. This New Year I feel is time to get on top of this lesson & own it.

Without balance it’s easy to get bogged down & activities that once brought you joy become a burden. Focusing too much on one area & neglecting the others is countered productive. Not good. Every part of my life needs to be of equal balance to maintain the happiness aspect of each. I thrive on variety therefore I still need a little bit of everything going on. To just do the same one thing day in & out wouldn’t suit me. In order to create this balance I will be setting very clear boundaries. Most importantly sticking to these boundaries.

Time for action

My brain dump notebook is over flowing with hot ideas for the year. It’s just up to me now to get the ball rolling, take action & be the leader in my life then I can bring this through for others.

Thank you 2014 for a wonderful year of growth & for all that I have learned.

With love K xx

October Intentions

October 1, 2014 By Kat

It doesn’t seem five minutes since the last time Mercury was in Retrograde. Three months to be precise. Over the past few years I have learned to embrace Mercury Retrograde thanks to my Soul mentor Elizabeth Peru. Elizabeth reports positively about how Mercury assists us in clearing out what no longer serves us in life. It’s a GREAT time to hone your focus back onto yourself & allow your voice to be heard. There is nothing to fear about Mercury in retrograde.

There are a few key characteristics though we should all be aware of during this period. Communication is strongly themed at this time. Devices used for communicating can get disrupted & may go a tad squiffy. Mercury loves to wreak havoc with electrical equipment. Don’t be surprised if your phone plays up or your computer keeps crashing. Make sure all your files are backed up! Take this time to actually disconnect from the ‘online’ world & start a conversation with you Soul.

Discovering your own personal truth will serve you well. We are all well supported right now by the universe to get down to the gritty details of who we really are. Over the past few months I have felt a huge push to get clear on what I want & where I’d like to be going based on my Soul truth. No more playing it safe & staying within the boundaries that are so limiting. Start to trust what your intuition is telling you & take action by following what you are told.

It’s also a good time to be free, easy & non-committal. Again loosen up if you’re usually quite strict. Avoid locking in long-term contracts. Everything is under review when Mercury is in Retro. Travel plans can easily change to so avoid making any grand plans. Especially if you are making decisions that are not in your best interests, the universe will help you realise this. Other fantastic opportunities you don’t know about yet may well be right around the corner. If you do plan to travel maybe keep it open ended.

My favourite part of Mercury Retrograde is the intention setting followed by the clear out & action phase. We are just ending the pre-shadow period that started on Sunday 14^th September till Friday 3^rd October. These three weeks held the theme on what we each need to work on for the coming retrograde. Think back over the past weeks. Were there recurring messages coming through trying to grab your attention? They may have presented in different ways but still had the same key essence. These recurring messages will be the base of what you need to work on from Saturday 4^th till Saturday 15^th October.

The theme that was hitting me in the face is very much based around career direction & where I wish to focus my business next year. I’ve had a grand two months living in a different state being surrounded by new influences & inspiration. The Spring Equinox was awesome for me. It gave me a real boost of positive energy & a great big shove in the right direction. It left me feeling empowered & strong enough to tackle any challenges ahead.

Stepping away from my ‘every-day’ life has revealed what hasn’t been serving me back home in the way I’ve run my business. Being away from home I could see everything from a different perspective. Nothing was too close, it was actually really far away, and details can easily missed if you’re in too close. It’s time for a stock check & a tidy up.

This experience has also shown me what I am capable of achieving using processes I wouldn’t usually have used. Discovering the new. My old ways were not serving me any longer; I’d outgrown them. I’ve had a huge eye opener to what works well for me to achieve maximum output with minimal input. By simply trusting, not pushing too hard & holding my intentions for manifestation strongly from within. How nice is that?

Another part of my theme has been to own my own worth. Standing firm on equal exchanges & not under valuing my skills. In the past I have been notorious for working my butt off by going above & beyond for a return that was not equal. This leaves me feeling under appreciated & doubting my skills aren’t worth it. Even though my Soul is screaming at me to tune in so she can tell me I’m more than worth it. This is a recurring one for me & I feel it will keep coming up the more I grow & expand. My worth will increase as I increase from within.

My theme therefore over the next three weeks will be focused around streamlining my business activity, owning my worth & implementing firmly the new processes I have discovered. It all comes back to my main 2014 theme of ‘simplicity.’ Now it’s action-taking time! No holding back & running away from the challenges when they present. I’m clear on what I need to do.

The major challenge for me will be when I return home just after Retrograde ends. It may be easy to fall back into old habits once I’m back on home soil forgetting everything I’ve learned. I’m confident that new habits will be formed over the 21 days retrograde period. By the time I return home I’m hopeful these habits will be strongly implemented enough that I won’t waiver & undo all the good work.

Let’s wait & see what unfolds. I trust everything will work out the way it should & for my best intentions. It will certainly be a pilgrimage, journeing further down the amazing pathway of life.

Have you set any intentions for Mercury Retrograde next month? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Till soon, Kat xx

Being a Scrooge

September 10, 2014 By Kat

Some of us depending on our culture may feel uncomfortable or deem it ‘tacky’ to talk about money. Personal finance is a private subject. Saying that though there should never be guilt, shame or embarrassment (all low vibration emotions) attached to money whether you have lots or very little. Money is just a tool for exchange. It’s an energy source that allows to us give and receive equally. We should to strive to have a loving relationship with money in order to keep a healthy balance.

Just like any relationship we can suffocate & stifle the flow of energy connected to money by focusing too much on the ‘external.’ What we have on the outside instead of on the inside. The result being we can actually start to push money away instead of attracting more. This happened to me earlier in the year.

Financial planning is a sensible & essential part of life. Bills need paying. Part of my business coaching course work I had set myself a financial goal to reach ‘X amount’ of dollars by April this year. The idea being I would collect a ‘nest egg’ or ‘safety net’ as we call it to fall back on ‘just in case.’ The Aim of my target goal meant I’d have all my big bills covered for the next year with some left over. Then if business hit a slow point I’d be okay, there was money in the bank.

Hello ‘fear’ based activity. Worrying about ‘what if everything went wrong how would I manage for money?’ This thinking is just what fuels such situations as our thoughts create our reality. All I needed to do was surrender to the now in which I am fully abundant, instead of fearing the ‘what if’s of the future.’ Affirming to myself ‘I will always be provided for.’ I realise that now but I had to learn the hard way of course to break the cycle!

Here’s what happened…

When I started to get close to reaching my financial goal my mentality started to change. Just like Mr Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol’ I was storing cash away where ever I could. I was constantly checking my Internet banking & watching the amount go up (& down). ‘Where could I cut corners to reach my final goal I started to think?’ There was suddenly a great thirst to reach the target I’d set myself.

Yes it’s good to question the difference between necessities & wants but I went too far. I stopped investing money in self-love activities. Cancelling much needed massages & skipping past the organic produce section of Woolworths. Cutting back on what would actually serve me well. Squirreling money away to meet a number in my account was way off line for me; it’s not how I roll. I’m usually relaxed & carefree but not totally reckless. What I was doing was all too restrictive & tight.

I’ve always had a healthy personal relationship with money. In numerology I am an ‘8 path.’ This means my life has a strong financial focus & I’m a natural born entrepreneur. It also means I have the ability to start again from scratch if needs be. (Which I have done.) Looking back over my life I have never gone without, ends have always been met, someway, somehow. Money has turned up when I needed it the most.

Why was I getting all worried about it now?

I should have been focusing on how grateful I was with what I actually already had in that moment. Which was plenty, not just in money but also in health & happiness. An attitude of gratitude.

The wake up call came thick and fast. My outward focus on collecting money meant I was constricting the energy flow. In order for new money to come in, some had to go out to make room. The old saying of ‘you have to spend money to make money’ springs to mind. No money was going out, as I was being stingy with myself so the universe helped me spend some.

First came the cracked windscreen (I’d not renewed the extra glass insurance cover so this turned out to be a lot), then some other big business expenses turned up & finally I chipped my tooth. Bills, bills & more bills. All things I would consider ‘annoying things to spend money on’ especially when they seemed to turn of out of the blue. (There are no coincidences)

The chipped tooth was interesting. Teeth issues are related to fear, guilt, self-neglect & difficulty making empowered decisions. I certainly had lost a grasp on my personal power by giving it over to my bank account. Cancelling self-love activities is totally self-neglect.

The moment I came close to meeting my financial goal I didn’t quite make it, as something needed paying for. A subtle Universal hint it was time to release the strangle hold & ditch the goal. I was limiting myself to that X amount of money. I’d capped my abundance at that limit. It would never accede it. Shifting my focus back to abundance & fully trusting the universe would provide for me worked wonders. A stack of cash just sitting there didn’t matter.

Once I loosened the grip, relaxed about spending & grateful for what I already had the flow returned. Money came in & it went out again freely with no fear. If I had a bill or an activity that needed paying for the cash would turn up for me. Sometimes it didn’t even hit the sides. I’d get paid for a job then give the money straight back to someone else. It worked the other way too. I would pay for something then I earn the same amount right back again. Consistent giving & regiving.

Focusing on love & giving from pure intent meant that what I gave was returned to me. All the fear melted away once I stopped number watching. You know what the interesting outcome was? I then reached & actually exceeded my ‘financial goal’ without even thinking. The moment I ditched the goal I achieved it. It came as a pleasant surprise when I did check in on my account.

Action plan:

Release the fear & limited thinking regarding what you don’t have. We are all right now in this moment so abundant. Live with an open heart full of gratitude & fully trust the Universe will provide for you. Relax & watch life flow.

Another great resource that has helped me understand the exchange of money if this brilliant book from Kate Northup ‘Money: A love story.’ Well worth a read for sure.

Do you have any interesting money & emotions stories you’d like to share. Please feel free to drop a comment below!

Till soon, love K xx

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