nature

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Having It Easy

In our lives we are often facing challenges. We dream the grandest of dreams as young people only to discover that we must have enormous inner strength and determination in order to meet our goals. Our hard work does not always yield the results we expect though.  And it is when we find ourselves frustrated by the trials we face or we seem to be  unable to meet our own expectations that we are most likely to take notice of those individuals who appear to accomplish great feats effortlessly. Some people’s lives seem to magically fall into place. We can see the blessings they have received, the ease with which they have attained their desires, their unwavering confidence, and their wealth. But, we can never see the story of their lives as a whole, therefore it is important that we don’t pass judgement or becoming envious.

dream text on green leaves

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In general we glimpse only the outer hull of others’ life experiences, so it’s tempting to believe that the abundance they enjoy is the result of luck rather than diligent effort.  This may be the case in a small number of people so our assumptions may mirror reality. But very few people “have it easy.” We all must overcome difficulties and each of us has been granted a distinctive set of talents with which to do so. Someone who is highly gifted may nonetheless have to practice industriously and correct themselves repeatedly so they can cultivate their talents. Their myriad of accomplishments are more likely than not the result of ongoing hard work and sacrifice. You, no doubt, have natural abilities that you have nurtured and your gifts may be the very reason you strive as tirelessly as you do. Yet others see only the outcome of your efforts and not the efforts themselves

The universe is constantly testing our intellects, our hearts, and our souls. Life will create new challenges for you to face each time you prove yourself capable of overcoming the challenges of the past. What you think is difficult will always differ from that which others think is difficult. The tests you will be given will be as unique as you are. If you focus on doing the best you can and making use of the blessings you have been granted, the outcome of your efforts will be the reflection of your dedication.

I would love to hear from you about your experiences.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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The flavours of life

Growing food in our gardens is an experience many of us can enjoy. It could be a hanging basket of herbs or a cherry tomato plant in a pot on the windowsill, it can enhance our connection with the cycle of life. If there is the space outdoors, the green and blooming colours of the edible delights growing will decorate any view while tempting us to enjoy the outdoors more often. The edible plants we nurture allow us to taste the fruits of our labour while helping us more consciously participate in the circulating energy of nature.

close up photography of green leafed plant

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Allow yourself to begin slowly and simply, so you can learn to dance with nature’s intricate orchestrations. If you are not sure what to grow, there are many experienced gardeners out there to help you as you choose seeds or small plants to start your growing experience.   As you learn to understand and obey the seasons, soil, sun, frost, and shade, you will become more than a mere spectator of life’s cycle. Instead, you step into the role of co-creator and enhance what you nurture. No matter how large or small the size of your garden, you can benefit from growing your own fresh and nutritious food while also revelling in the depth of flavour and texture that comes from plants that have been well-tended, nurtured, and loved. As we appreciate the food we’ve grown, we can recognise the care that farmers put into the produce most of us buy at the supermarket. With this new understanding, we can acknowledge the roles other living creatures fill as participants in cultivating the cycle of life. We may even learn to peacefully co-exist with the animals and insects that share an interest in our garden.

When we grow our food, we will participate more fully in nature’s cycles and form a closer bond with Mother Earth. Knowing how to grow your own food allows for a sense of freedom and pride that you can feed and provide for yourself, one of the most basic necessities. Gratitude may fill us as we marvel at the beauty of nature and the majesty of the universe that orchestrates such natural wonders. When we allow our appreciation of life to expand, we harvest so much more than food and the taste is that much sweeter.

When you want to learn to relax and have more fun in your life and less stress,  contact me and begin your journey. I would love to work with you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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The boundaries of experience

None of us is born with an instruction manual that provides explicit rules for thought and behaviour that will help us to navigate life successfully. To cope with the plethora of complexities to which all of humanity is subject, we each develop a set of habits and routines that ground us, and make us feel safe. Most of us know, whether instinctively or by experience, that changes can be uncomfortable, but we always learn and gain so much. Any initial discomfort we experience when expanding our comfort zones diminishes gradually as we become accustomed to change and begin to understand that temporary discomfort is a small price to pay.

close up photo of fallen leaves

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Your current comfort zone did, at one time, serve a purpose in your life. But it is representative of behaviours and patterns of thought that empowered you to cope with challenges of days past. Now, this comfort zone does little to help the growth you wish to achieve in the present. Expanding your comfort zone through personal growth of any kind can prepare you to take some larger leaps that will, in time, help you refine your purpose. Work your way outward at your own pace, and try not to let your discomfort interfere with your resolve. With the passage of each well-earned triumph, you will have grown and your comfort zone will have expanded to accommodate this evolution.

Whether your comfort zone is living with your parents, or perhaps being too shy to socialise, or maybe it’s not realising your capabilities, whatever it is, start small, and you will discover that venturing beyond the limited comfort zone you now cling to is not as stressful an experience as you imagined it might be. And the joy you feel upon challenging yourself in this way will nearly always outweigh your discomfort. As you continue to expand your comfort zone to include new ideas, activities, goals, and experiences, you will see that you are capable of stimulating change and coping with the fresh challenges that accompany it.

If you would like to begin to make changes in your life,  then contact me and begin your journey. I would love work with you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Ducks

We are lucky enough to live in a part of the world that is also a home to ducks, and we are familiar with the image of their cute feathery bottoms sticking up in the air as their heads disappear under the surface of the water. Perhaps you’ve even taken a moment to wonder what they see in their underwater world, and if they will resurface with a fish or an insect in their beaks. As we observe them, we see that ducks are denizens of three worlds—the world of air, the world of water, and the world of earth. As such, they have adapted themselves to be able to swim, fly, and walk, and they seek and find nourishment in more than one place. They are symbols of versatility and can inspire us to explore our own ability to adapt and find nourishment in a variety of places.

female mallard duck on green grass during daytime

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Ducks are able to float, swim, and dive into the water, fishing for food. They can walk on the ground, eating vegetation, seeds and insects, and they fly in the air to travel long distances relatively quickly. Equipped with webbed feet that are equally good at paddling and walking, as well as wings to fly, ducks seem very comfortable in just about any natural environment. Next time you see a duck bottom poking up out of the water, you might be inspired to examine your own ability to both float on the surface and to dive beneath it. In many traditions, water symbolizes the emotions—to duck our heads into our emotions means we are able to surrender our minds to our hearts, to go into the watery realm of feeling and see what there is to see, often coming to the surface with nourishment and treasure.

We also share the duck’s ability to get solid ground under our feet by connecting to the earth on which we live simply by walking on it. And finally, when we reside in our spirits, we fly above the mental, emotional, and material realms, free of all the ties that bind us to this earth, traveling faster and farther than we ever thought possible.

If you would like to begin to change your world,  then contact me and begin your journey. I would love work with you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Be open and listen to nature

Whether we like it or not, much of the world we experience is dominated and controlled by human beings. We spend our days in houses, cars and buildings,and inside these structures, we are in control. We manipulate our environment and assert our wills. Within the context of the human world, this is natural. However, we often carry this attitude with us into the world of nature. as we enter the forest, or sit on the edge of a pond, we forget  that we are moving into another realm, one that asks us to drop our baggage and surrender to a different sense of order and meaning.

bloom blooming blossom blur

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

When we move into the world of nature from our everyday world, we may not even notice at first. We might continue talking loudly into our mobile phone or to people who are with us. We might walk quickly as if we are on a busy street, our eyes downcast, our thoughts hectic and hurried. In the best case, if we are sensitive to our environment, we will soon notice that it has changed. We may hear wind moving through the leaves on a tree or ducks calling. If we notice the shift, we will naturally shift as well. If we don’t, we may get all the way through a beautiful park without having lowered our voices or slackened our pace. Next time you find yourself in the presence of wildlife—even if it’s just a duck pond in the midst of urban hustle—try to move into a receptive state of openness and listening, no matter how much or how little time you have. Allow yourself to be captivated and calmed by the energy of the wildlife that covers this earth. Teaching our children to be respectful of nature and to stop and observe is a gift they can always cherish.

We preserve pockets of nature in our urban centres and large expanses of nature in our parks because of the magic we feel in its presence. It reminds us of our smallness and calls us back to a deeper, quieter part of ourselves. When we honour nature by being respectful in its presence, we honour the mystery and wild beauty of our origin.

If you would like to begin to change your world,  then contact me and begin your journey. I would love work with you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Tree House

There is no greater way to escape the troubles of daily life than to climb up into the welcoming space of a tree house. Like a bird in its nest, we feel held and safe in the branches, hidden within a curtain of green leaves. Here we can breathe more freely and think more clearly, our hearts and brains fed by the oxygen released by the leaves. We appear to float above the everyday world of the ground, we have a bird’s-eye view of all that remains below.

girl climbing ladder

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We may choose to be alone or we may invite a special friend to join us. Whichever we choose, this is our private world in which we get to decide who comes and goes. It is our haven where we can fully be who we are, and reveal our most hidden secrets, dreams, and desires. It is also an ideal vantage point on the life that continues below the branches. Often, a new view of a situation is just what we need to answer a difficult question, solve a challenging problem, or see something we’ve haven’t noticed before. It is as if we have climbed up into the heavens and are able to tap into a higher awareness. We can draw on this airy energy to revitalise us, relax us, and feed us new ideas. When we climb down, we are ready to enter the world again, cleaner, clearer, and often more inspired.

If you haven’t been in a tree house for a while, now may be the time to make one for yourself or find someone else’s and ask if you can borrow it for a short while. If you can’t find or create an actual tree house, see if you can find a rooftop garden, or a quiet spot in a grove of trees on a hilltop, or perhaps a light-filled attic. Or just close your eyes and create a virtual tree house  in the branches of your favourite tree.

If anything resonates with you in this article, I will be delighted to hear from you, and of course be happy to help you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. Build your confidence in your abilities.  Read my clients’ testimonials here. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Grounding Ourselves

We often hear people telling us to ground ourselves, but we may not be sure what that means or even how we might do it. Grounding ourselves is a way of bringing ourselves literally back to earth. Some of us are more prone than others to essentially leaving our bodies and not being firmly rooted in our bodies. There’s nothing terribly wrong with this, but while we are living on the earth it is best to stay grounded in the body.

One of the easiest ways to ground ourselves is to bring our attention to our breath as it enters and leaves our bodies.  Concentrate on your breathing for a moment. After about 10 breaths, you will probably find that you feel much more connected to your physical self. You can then bring your awareness to the sensations in your body, moving from your head down to your feet, exploring and inquiring. Just a few minutes of this can bring you  home to your body and to the earth, and this is what it means to ground yourself.

tree of support

You can go further by imagining that you have roots growing out of the bottoms of your feet, connecting you to the earth. The roots flow with you so you can always move, but at the same time they keep you grounded. We all receive powerful energy from the earth just as we do from the forms of energy we associate with the sky, and our body is a tool that brings these two energies together in a sacred union. When we are grounded, we essentially become a strong container in which our spirits can safely and productively dwell. This is why grounding ourselves every day, especially at the beginning of the day, is such a beneficial practice. Fortunately, it’s as simple as bringing our conscious awareness to our bodies and the earth on which we walk.

If anything resonates with you in this article, I will be delighted to hear from you, and of course be happy to help you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Allowing Nature to Work

We all see things about ourselves, our relationships, and our world that we want to change. Often, this desire leads us to take action toward some inner work that we need to do or toward some external goal we want to achieve. Sometimes, without any big announcement or momentous shift, we wake up to find that change has happened, seemingly without us. This can feel like a miracle as we suddenly see that our self-esteem really does seem to be intact, or our partner actually is helping out around the house more. We may even wonder whether all of our hard work had anything to do with it, or if it just happened by way of grace.

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As humans, sometimes we have relatively short attention spans, and we can easily lose track of time. We may worry about a seedling in a pot with our constant attention and watering for several weeks only to find ourselves enjoying the blooms it offers and wondering when that happened, and how we didn’t notice it.  Nature, on the other hand, has infinite patience and stays with a thing all the way through its life. This doesn’t mean that our efforts play no part in the miracle of change – they do. It’s just that they are one small part of the picture that finally results in the flowering of a plant, the shifting of a relationship, the softening of our hearts.

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The same laws that govern the growth of plants oversee our own internal and external changes. We observe, consider, work, and wonder, tilling the soil of our lives, planting seeds, and tending them. Sometimes the hard part is knowing when to stop and let go, handing it over to the universe. Usually this happens by way of distraction or disruption, our attention being called away to other more pressing concerns. And it is often at these times, when we are not looking, in the silence of nature’s embrace, that the miracle of change happens.

If anything resonates with you from the above, I will be delighted to hear from you, and of course be happy to help you.

I offer coaching and mentoring to you – for you to make the changes you want to in your life. To help you to have more fun, more freedom and less stress. That is it. There is no catch. I believe in you.

Maggie Currie

maggieheart

Professional Transformational Coach, Consultant
Founder of MAGGIE CURRIE COACHING

Website:       http://www.maggiecurrie.co.uk

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/maggielifecoach/

Email:            hello@maggiecurrie.co.uk

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Where would I rather be?

I would rather be sitting in a deck chair with a good book, ‘Living Your Design: A Manual for Cellular Transformation (Student Manual)’ by Lynda Stone comes to mind. I don’t mind where I place the deck chair, it could be in the middle of a field, on a beach, in a clearing in a forest, in a park – but it has to be in nature. I love watching the animals and birds going about their daily business. Watching children playing happily, laughing and having fun.

deckchair

So where am I now? In my office finishing off the final bits of work that I had on my to do list, doing the last bits of washing and packing clothes and things for my road trip to Scotland that starts tomorrow.

Leaving home at around 8am to get my caravan that is stored on a farm about 10 miles away. Hitch it up to our van and then off to East Cowes to get the ferry to Southampton. Then off to Perth via County Durham and the Beamish museum and aiming to arrive in Perth on Thursday.

I have planned to meet up with an old friend just outside Leeds on Tuesday, someone I haven’t seen for 5 years, and I am really looking forward to having a cuppa and a chat with her.

The camp sites are booked for our overnight stays on the way up to Perth and then we will be at Scone Palace at the Rewind Festival from Thursday to Monday. I love the change of scenery, the change of work (we will be offering Indian Head massage to the festival goers and traders) and scenery.

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Heading back home on Monday, staying overnight in Lancashire and then home on Tuesday evening.

So back to where I would rather be. Reading a book in nature. I am going to achieve this over the next few days.

I have some availability for coaching clients, we just need to fix some dates if and when you want to get started. Get in touch today.

Maggie Currie 

Creedence – Confidence for You

International Confidence Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author

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