An Alternative Advent Calendar

 

An Alternative Advent Calendar - A Moment of Calm This Christmas

This December, join my friend and fellow coach Beth Wright, for an alternative advent calendar - A Moment of Calm This Christmas.

Each day, Mon thru Friday, we'll be sharing 10 minutes of thoughts and activities on the themes of intentional or mindful living, simplicity and slow living in our pop-up Facebook group. (It's free to join in).

At the weekends we will be sharing a (simple) challenge.

Christmas is such a magical time, but it can also end up being busy, stressful and the enjoyment taken out of it because we are run ragged and exhausted by Christmas Day! So, we wanted to bring you a Moment of Calm this year so you can fully enjoy and be present with loved ones.

We're looking forward to creating a peaceful space for you all. 

Sarah x

Mindfulness and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice

Giving Back

I volunteer at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice each week where I run a mindfulness meditation session for the out-patient visitors. It's actually one of the highlights of my week, and I'm delighted to be able to give back in this way. (I lost my mum to cancer when I was a teenager, and she spent a few weeks in a hospice in Aberdeen before she passed).

Peaceful Productivity and Intentional Living

I'm acutely aware of our limited time (more on my story here), and as a result am an advocate of making the best use of the time that's available to us... I'm less about 'busy, busy, busy' (which was definitely my crux if we were to rewind 5, or 10 years), whereas now it's more about peaceful productivity and intentional living. 

Rest is Productive

The other week I was at the Prince and Princess of Wales hospice salon, Beauty with a Conscious, which is in the Battlefield area. It's open to the public, and all profits go to the hospice. Taking time out to rest and recharge is important to me, and it's even better when it involves a massage!! I had a facial, back massage and head massage… and it was bliss, and reasonably priced (I took advantage of their Halloween special offer and had the 3 express treatments, 1.5 hours, for £44... and I believe they're running this offer until the end of November). You’ll find them on Instagram here. 

Mindfulness

Circling back to mindfulness, it's been a year that I've been volunteering at the hospice now (albeit with a break due to Covid when we had to stop the out-patient service at Christmas-time last year) and I'm self-taught... what I've decided to do is make it 'official', and I'm now training to become a mindfulness practitioner. I'm not totally sure how long it will take to qualify, perhaps a year, but that's me started on the path... and I'm excited for what's next.

Candle Gazing Mindfulness Meditation

I've written a blog post sharing an easy way to get started with mindfulness meditation, it's a candle gazing mindfulness meditation - you can read the full post here on my business blog.

As an aside, I had a brand photoshoot the other month with Bex from www.bexphoto.com, and here's one of my photos taken in the grounds of the hospice: