Today we meet the inspirational Kate Morell from Wagga Wagga, Australia. Kate is a talented graphic designer, and a mother-of-two. She also has Usher Syndrome, the most common genetic cause of combined deafness and blindness, which affects over 400,000 people worldwide. She took the Do What You Love course last October, and we were so touched and inspired by her story that we asked her to share it…
A true inspiration… the lovely Kate Morell
What better way to relax after all the excitement of Christmas than to light your wood burner, settle into a comfy armchair and get stuck into a good book. If you’re wondering what to read next, help is at hand! Here’s a round-up of the Do What You Love team’s favourite reads of 2016 – books that touched our hearts, made us think and inspired us on many different levels. Getting your read on never felt so good!
Image credit: Kelly Hoppen
Image credit: Heatons
This post is written by our Senior Editor, Rachel Kempton.
Do you remember how wonderful Christmas felt when you were a child? I don’t know about you but come December, there was always a special kind of magic in the air: a feeling of wonder and anticipation. Every year I couldn’t wait for the Christmas decorations to come out of hibernation, to count down the days on my advent calendar and to play my (never-so-leading role!) in the nativity play. At school we’d gather unwanted gifts to give to patients at local hospitals and I’d go round nursing homes with my friends and sing Christmas carols to the old folks. Christmas was about giving, as well as enjoying precious time with family, laughing, playing games, eating far too much – and of course the joy of opening the goodies Santa had left in ours sacks and stockings.
As we get older, and the pressures of daily life take over, it’s not surprising that Christmas can lose its sparkle, especially if we find ourselves overwhelmed by to-do lists, exhausted by social obligations, and swept up in the commercial side of things. In fact according to the results of a survey*, Christmas is up there with divorce, moving house and changing jobs as the sixth most stressful life event. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here are our top tips for ensuring Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year!
1. Embrace the spirit of giving
Spread some love and joy by focusing on what you’re grateful for, and what you can give. If you look around, there are kindness opportunities every day and in any situation – writing a card, helping out a friend or carrying someone’s groceries. Here are some more great ideas for giving something back:
Need inspiration? Try out this ‘Acts of kindness generator’ created by Shari’s Berries. With over 50 ideas to inspire your next thoughtful gesture it’s sure to make you to feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing you’re making somebody else’s Christmas all the more special.
2. Keep it cheap – or free!
Christmas doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact you don’t necessarily have to spend any money at all! The Do What You Love team love the idea of a ‘free’ Christmas, and last year we only gave gifts which were:
Image credit: dotcomgiftshop
Gifting ‘free’ presents worked well because it felt good to really think about the person we were giving to and we also received some lovely thoughtful gifts ourselves too.
3. Bring back the traditions you loved
Remember those things you and your family did every Christmas without fail? Whether it was writing a letter to Santa, making snowflakes for the windows, baking gingerbread men, playing games after Christmas dinner, or leaving out a mince pie, carrot and glass of sherry on Christmas Eve… childhood traditions are precisely the things that make Christmas so special and unique. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t really have any traditions; it’s never too late to start new ones!
Need inspiration? Check out this article: 50 Christmas Traditions For Having Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (perfect for kids aged 1 to 92!)
4. Swap stress for love and gratitude
These days, whenever I start to feel anxious, overtired, or angry, that’s usually a trigger for me to slow down, take a breath and ask myself: “Am I thinking and acting out of fear and stress, or am I thinking and acting in a state of love and gratitude?” I challenge you to try it.
Need more inspiration, help and advice? Read this article on How to Choose Gratitude Over Stress This Holiday Season
5. Keep it fun and festive
If you want to fully experience the Christmas magic, you have to embrace the festivities (yep, I’m wearing my Christmas jumper and reindeer socks as I type!). Whether it’s filling your playlist with Christmas songs, watching some Christmas classics, organising Secret Santa at the office, or hosting an intimate gathering with friends and family, there are loads of ways that you can spread good cheer and ignite the festive spark in everyone around you too.
Image credit Kelly Hoppen
6. Do something different
As children, part of the reason why Christmas is so magical is because everything is new and exciting. We get swept up in the mystery of Christmas – the sights, the sounds, the smells and the atmosphere. Recapture that sense of wonder this year by visiting somewhere you have never been before or doing something you have never done. Depending on your budget you could head off to Lapland for the ultimate festive experience, visit a Christmas market in a location you have never visited before, try a festive activity such as ice skating, carol singing, going to a local panto, or baking Christmas treats. Trying something new and exciting this Christmas and we guarantee it will be one to remember.
Image credit: Next
* Results from a survey of over 3,000 people conducted by MemoriseThis.com – the UK’s largest on-line gift giving company.
Happy holidays!
Today we bring you an incredible story of courage and hope from Heather Von St. James, an incredible lady whose battle with cancer helped her to discover her true purpose in life. Here, in her own words, she tells us about her journey…
This is a guest post by Homaira Kabir, a positive psychology coach and a cognitive behavioral therapist. Homaira offers online courses and coaching programs that help women develop the self-worth it takes to lead in relationships, at work and in life.
For as long as I could remember, I had a problem with negative feedback. Not only did I constantly seek words of approval, I was equally sensitive to looks and subtle signs, and likely read into them far more than I needed to.
It almost seemed as though negative feedback would open the door to a part of me that I was hiding, perhaps from my own self. I seemed to live in constant fear that were my reality revealed, I would be rejected by others – and perhaps by myself too.
It took many years of searching within to understand my insecurities and to develop the courage to embrace them. When you’ve spent a lifetime distancing yourself from certain aspects of who you are, it can be a lesson in humility to finally accept them as your own.
Homaira Kabir
There are far too many of us caught in the search for approval, sometimes from those whose approval we didn’t receive in our early years, sometimes looking for redemption and appreciation through our partners, and sometimes seeking the approval of society at large. We’ve succumbed to the messages that we’re damaged and broken inside, and we’ll go to any length to deny our faults and weaknesses so that we’re finally worthy of love and acceptance.
But the irony is that when we shut ourselves off from who we truly are inside, we also shut out all that is bright and beautiful within us. We pursue perfection and come up empty even after we attain it, because wholeness and perfection are dialectically opposed. Wholeness is about embracing every part of our being, because that is the first step towards change. It’s about seeking out the darkness we deny so we can use our light to rise above it. And it’s about listening to the fears we succumb to, so we can use our wisdom to work through them and finally let them go.
If you’re tired of always pushing, always evaluating, and always coming up short, then here’s what you can do to begin your journey to wholeness.
This post is written by our Senior editor, Rachel Kempton.
“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn’t healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits…anything that kept me small. My judgment called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” ~ Kim McMillen
A few days ago one of my friends reminded me that “You cannot pour from an empty jug” and it rang so true. How can you possibly take proper care of the people around you if you’re not taking good care of yourself?
Her wise words got me thinking about the importance of self-love and how it really is key to living a present, positive and happy life. After all, self-love is a state of appreciation for yourself that grows from doing things that support your physical, psychological and spiritual growth.
Of course self-love also requires self-respect – an acceptance of who you are. And there may be times in life when we find ourselves making poor decisions, facing difficult situations, or being so influenced by outside circumstances, that we act out of neither self-love nor self-respect. For example, are you loving and respecting yourself if, as a working mum, you constantly put everyone else’s needs first and burn out? Are you loving and respecting yourself if you have a “successful” career that is making you unhappy or depressed? Are you loving and respecting yourself if you’re constantly being swayed by what you should do rather than what feels right? Or, are you loving and respecting yourself if you put up with the boss who is treating you badly? The answer is, probably not.
While you can’t always control external circumstances, and how others might think, feel, or act, you can control your own mind, your own body and your own soul. You can try and be more conscious about how you treat yourself.
Here are some things that can help you make self-love and respect a priority in your life:
Dear dedicated body,
From this moment forward, I promise to feed you with healthy, clean food and positive thoughts. I will water you often. I’ll cherish the spirit you so tirelessly protect and take time out to rest. I’ll strive to understand you, to exercise and inspire your mind so that I may serve you into your old age. From this moment on, I will trust that you are the perfect vehicle for my journey through life. From this moment on, we are a team and I will repay your best with my best.
With love, respect and deepest gratitude, Me xxx
Our thought-provoking course will help you start building a life that you love now by:
– Doing what you love, more often. Very often. In fact: daily.
– Getting paid to do what you love. (If that’s what you want — for some, it’s not. For many, it is!)
– Making your life simpler and sweeter — not busier and more complicated.
– Re-opening doors that you thought were locked shut… re-opening possibilities that you thought were long gone… and illuminating possibilities you never knew existed.
Self-love: it’s all about what’s inside
No one else can do these things for us. No one can take our vitamin pills for us, or make us speak our truth, or force us to choose the path that brings most joy. Even if we have the best partner/most loving family/most supportive friends in the world, we won’t feel happy and whole unless we create the space for it inside by practicing self-love and respect.
What do self-love and self-respect mean to you? We’d love to know! Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
This is our final guest post from Claire Le Hur who has just returned from an epic cycling adventure to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple started their adventure in East Africa, where they followed new ‘silk roads’ to chart the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire rode a bamboo bike built by an African social enterprise, and Stuart rode a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they met en route. They have now raised awareness and thousands of pounds for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
We got back to the UK on a very cold and grey day, and the next day was Brexit and all the ensuing madness: a political revolution in London, or just more of the same on (super) fast-forward? For anyone who hasn’t seen it, you can read Stuart’s blog post from a year ago here. He wrote it as we were leaving London for our adventure and he proved remarkably prescient when he predicted a ‘bloodbath in the corridors of Westmister’.
We were starting to wonder why we had bothered to come back to England, so to take our minds off things we got back on our bikes and made sure we cycled the full 11,000km we were aiming for (we reached 10,000km in Hong Kong.) We did our own version of the ‘London Revolution’, cycling around the M25 (or a few miles outside it!), visiting schools and friends along the way.
Our route took us to several schools in Surrey, Cambridge and London as well as two days at the Telegraph/Wellington Festival of Education at Wellington College. At Wellington we addressed teachers on ‘how to bring an adventure into the classroom’ and students on ‘Overseas Aid; Who Benefits’. We were delighted to have a photo call with renowned philosopher, A. C. Grayling.
Do you feel tired, uninspired or overwhelmed? Have you lost direction in life or feel that you’re no longer in control of your own destiny? Is there something that you wish you could change – a relationship, your career, your financial situation, a health issue, or other issue? Do you have big dreams but have no idea how to make them a reality? Well you’re in the right place…
Today we speak to Feng Shui expert Salvatore Manzi who believes that by clearing away obstacles that weigh you down, and redesigning your space to align with your intentions, you will propel yourself towards your ideal life.
An author, speaker and teacher, Salvatore has been studying the way our environment impacts us for over 20 years. He has travelled the world living and working with teachers from the East, Native Tribes and spiritualist communities. His book, Feng Shui Life Mapping is a guide to turning your home in a 3D vision board, and his latest work, Desk for Success, is designed to help you energise your work area, get clear on your purpose and shift to a mindset that allows you achieve more with less effort.
“Feng Shui is the art and science of harmonising our personal energy with our environment,” Salvatore explains. “I view my space as a reflection of who I am, who I was when I bought certain items, choose colours, spent time with friends in my space, and as my space keeps reminding me of these stories I have about myself, my space essentially shows me who I am becoming. A seemingly plain lamp in my room, on some conscious or unconscious level, reminds me of my friend who gave it to me, and attached to that memory is my intention to have healthy, light-giving relationships. The lamp thus keeps my life on course to manifesting great relationships. If the light bulb goes out, or the lamp needs dusting, it’s an opportunity for me to revisit my intention.”
Here Salvatore shares more about how we can combine the powerful forces of Feng Shui an the Law of Attraction to take a new look at our world and redesign our reality.
Discovering Feng Shui completely changed my life. Feng Shui came into my life when I was at a real low point, I was in a job I hated, in an apartment that was a dump, and struggling through a relationship that was unhealthy at best. Someone gave me a book on Feng Shui. I tried out some of the things it suggested and my life turned around. My work relationships improved, my partner and I stopped fighting, and we moved into a beautiful new apartment, all within a few months.
My journey began in Paris. I was roaming the streets late one night when I stopped to see the full moon reflecting off the River Seine beneath the Notre Dame. Bearing witness to that beautiful reflection, I had an epiphany: I’d lived my life searching for beauty and perfection on the outside, and the world was really just reflecting what was on the inside. So began my inner journey, and it’s one I’m far from finishing!Over the last 20 years, I’ve studied with a Master Taoist and learned about energy systems, the flow of energy, and Feng Shui. I studied with a Native American Shaman, and learned about the plants and animals and the power of ritual, ceremony and intention. And for eight years I studied with a spiritual teacher who taught me unconditional love in personal relationships. At the moment I’m honoured to be studying with a Feng Shui Master from the East to learn more about Chinese mysticism. Feng Shui has become the foundation of my life’s work.
My current work is to energise people and their spaces. It is a culmination of my past 20 years experience and training. My days are extremely varied and in any given week, I’ll have a number of on-site consultations, both business and residences. I have follow up consultations via phone or on-site. The rest of my work time is filled in with my coaching practice.
My clients range from entrepreneurs who are expanding or launching businesses to new home owners to couples who are moving in together, to parents who want to ensure their child’s room is supporting him/her. Men often call me because they get complaints about their home/office space and want to know how to make others feel comfortable in it. Women often contact me because they feel stuck in a relationship cycle or they are desperate for a career change. Everyone wants to know how to increase the flow of abundance into their lives.
The most common issues that clients need help with are work, relationships and health. When these issues arise I always focus on the entrance to the home (career), the bedroom (relationships), and the kitchen (health). I tend to address issues like this, which can have a big impact on people’s lives:
To help create a success-enhancing space at home I also advise people to:
‘What if my home or office is a mess?’ I hear you say… Everyone has a room in their home or space in their office that’s a big mess! Feng and Shui mean “wind” and “water” respectively and those are metaphors to help understand the natural flow of energy in a space. If there is too much resistance in the space (clutter), the flow is reduced. If there is too little resistance, the flow can be overwhelming. Balance is the goal. In other words, clutter slows down everything. If you feel stuck, or like things just aren’t working out the way you wanted, chances are you have some stuck energy in your psyche/emotion/mental world and it is being reflected by the clutter in your space. Reduce your excess physically, and the “weight” of those energetic blocks get lifted so you can make the changes you want.
The best way to begin is to START SMALL! Pick the smallest table top, the smallest drawer, the smallest cabinet and clear the clutter. The next day, do the next smallest, and so on. The energy begins as space is freed up and soon the momentum builds until you are ready to tackle what used to seem like the impossible clutter mountain in that room you try to ignore!
A principle of Feng Shui is that our lives are shaped by three things: Fate (things we can’t control like who are parents are); personal character (that which we can control and grow like our intellectually and self-awareness); and environment (the space which holds us and energetically and ideally supports us by reflecting the stories we have about ourselves, past, present and future).
When it comes to using Feng Shui to transform your life, the best advice is always to look at your environment and see how it reflects who you are right now, versus how you were and no longer want to be. Then, ask yourself what you can do to the space so that it reflects the you that you are becoming.
A powerful technique for manifesting your dreams is to create a vision board. In 1992 I created a collage of images that inspired me. Immediately, things started shifting in my life that were inexplicably synched up to that collage, and the shifts continued unfolding for years. My accidental discovery of the art vision boarding sparked a thirst for just how it is that we can create and turn dreams into reality.
Creating a vision board on top of the Feng Shui bagua, the grid which depicts the nine life areas of life (below) act as visual reminders of what we want to be, do or have in our lives. They are powerful because they are visual representations of our intentions and can quickly align our mind with where we want to take our lives. That alignment may take a day, or 30 days or 6 months, but with our eye on where we are going, we cannot help but end up there!
Having taught, written, and practiced vision boarding over the decades, I’ve learned secrets that separate successful vision boards from those that are just pretty images. Everyone knows that having a goal is good. Writing a goal down, however, increases the chances of success exponentially. So imagine what having a visual representation of our goal that activates the visual cortex and reticular activating system portion of our brain can do! Shazam!
You can use the idea of a vision board to create a Feng Shui Life Map. This involves going around your living space or office to ensure what you have placed as your intention on your vision board is being reflected in every area of your space. Essentially, the aim of Feng Shui Life Mapping is to turn your entire home into a 3-D vision board, by placing, orienting and envisioning the various items in your home in such a way that they continuously remind you of your desires and intentions.
Layered vision boards takes intention to the next level. Imagine you’re having an off day and someone tells you to “cheer up”. Do you? Probably not! When it comes to vision boards, if you’ve make yours when you’re in a state of inspiration and hope, and make a point of looking at it when you’re feeling happy, it’s likely that your positive energy and momentum will accelerate the manifesting of your desires.
However if you made it when you were in a negative frame of mind or subconsciously you had a strong negative momentum going even if you were trying to be positive, you might react to it as if it were that annoying person telling you to “cheer up!” we you’re in no mood to hear it. And this can elicit a knee-jerk rejection to the very things you were trying to manifest.
Placing a neutral picture over the vision board guarantees that we look at our vision board from a neutral energetic state. From that place, if we’re in a good mood, we can peel back the picture and reveal the full expression of our Vision Board as we align with the positive momentum it brings. If not, we can just enjoy the neutral picture. It’s not necessary for everyone to cover their vision board with an image. If the board is in a place where there is a lot of stress (like an office), having the image to cover the board is helpful.
Life mapping can take us all closer to doing what we love. It can help us find greater fulfillment in the professional world by helping us get clear first on what it is that we wish to create in our life and in the world. From that clear place, it helps us set SMART goals to get there, and the big impact is that it teaches us how to use objects in our environment to help us remain focused on creating that reality.
Transforming our workspace or desk can help us do this too. Everything about my office is reflecting some aspect of my professional life. If I consciously create an intentional space that inspired and uplifts my energy, I will definitely launch my career to great heights! I’ve just created a self-guided, 4-week course called Desk for Success that will help anyone create an office that will launch their career.
Applying the principles of Feng Shui in the work place can can be hugely beneficial to entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have the benefit of complete control over their environment and from that place can curate a work environment that supports their mission, and their team. Whenever I want to “energise” a space or team, I turn to any number of tools that “add” energy to a space: lighting that is balanced and uplifting, aromas that spark creativity and joy, plants that give off positive ions/oxygen, moving objects such as water features or desk toys or mobiles that keep energy moving healthfully, and sounds that are pleasing such as water fountains or music or even chimes.
My big dream now is to create a conscious awareness of our space. The current trend of meditation and mindfulness leads naturally to such consciousness. As we build appreciation, we can create spaces that reflect the very best of who we are and flow effortlessly towards our collective highest good.
For more information about Salvatore, visit his website. You can also check out his desk for success course here and order a copy of his book: Feng Shui Life Mapping Master the Art of Designing your Future here.
Did you know that on average we sleep for one-third of our lives? That’s a whole lot of time spent in dreamland! So what if we could use some of this time to not only have fun, but to transform how we experience the world and who we are? Well, according to lucid dreaming expert Charlie Morley, we can do just that. How? By simply bringing mindful awareness into all stages of our dream, sleep and waking life.
Charlie has been lucid dreaming since his teens but he only began teaching it about six years ago through a holistic approach to lucid dreaming within the context of mindfulness meditation and Tibetan Buddhism, Mindfulness of Dream & Sleep, which he co-founded. Charlie passionately believes that anyone can learn how to become conscious within their dreams and he’s living proof that doing so can change be life-changing.
Charlie now spends his time travelling the world running workshops and retreats and giving talks based on his books Dreams of Awakening and Lucid Dreaming: A Beginners Guide to help people on the path to spiritual and psychological awakening. I just had to talk to him to find out how we can all open ourselves up to a world of limitless possibilities… without even getting out of bed! ~ Rachel
1. First of all, for those who’ve never heard of it, can you tell us exactly what lucid dreaming is?
Lucid dreaming is the art of becoming conscious within your dreams. A lucid dream is one in which you think, a-ha, I’m dreaming! while you’re still asleep. Once you become conscious within a dream, you can interact with and direct it at will, dancing with your unconscious mind. With practice, you can have lucid dreams of an hour in length. Imagine spending an hour inside your own mind: think of what you could do; what you could explore; the people you could meet: aspects of yourself, your higher self, guides. And remember, everyone you meet in the lucid dream is you – they are reflections of you, your own consciousness. In a lucid dream if I meet an elderly African woman, I’m meeting an aspect of my own femininity, an aspect of my own age-old wisdom, and an aspect of my own ideas and energy of Africa. So it’s a fascinating way to gain insight into yourself – and particularly into aspects of yourself that normally remain hidden because in our waking state we have filters. We can suppress things. When we go to sleep all this content can come up. A lucid dream shows that this content is you – the good, the bad and the ugly. The key is to show love towards everyone – all parts of you – in your dream.
2. How long have you been lucid dreaming?
When I was a kid I was scared of monsters under the bed so I didn’t want to wake up and use the toilet when I needed to pee. I remember the feeling of a full bladder seeping into the dream and making me become fully lucid. Then, from within the dream, I would think to myself: I really don’t want to get out of bed to pee. Maybe I’ll just do it while I’m still in the dream?
Then I kind of forgot about it all but then when I was 17, I bought some books and taught myself how to do it and I started having regular lucid dreams. I found that I had gained access to a virtual reality of incredible realism in which social norms didn’t apply. Not yet aware of the Tibetan Buddhist lucid dream practices that I now teach, and at the peak of my wild teenage years, I didn’t view the lucid dream state as a potential training ground for enlightened action. I saw it purely as a place to get laid! So it was just for having fun first but then when I got into Buddhism a couple of years later I started to use it for more beneficial stuff.
3. What kind of healing work can we do on ourselves in a lucid dream?
Lucid dreaming can offer some really powerful opportunities to unpack, accept and heal our baggage within the dream state.
Let’s say you’re scared of spiders? Gradual exposure to spiders within the lucid dream can be used to help overcome a phobia of them in a similar way to cognitive behavioural therapy. By engaging fearlessly with the source of a phobia (whether it’s spiders or anything else) within the lucid dream – while holding in mind that it’s all a mental projection – sufferers can begin to gradually integrate the phobia. I’ve worked with people who’ve all used their lucid dreams to heal all sorts of things. One man used his lucid dreams to explore his sexual behaviour – by meeting a dream character who told him he was ‘the physical manifestation of your fear of commitment’, while a young woman used her lucid dream to meet and forgive the memory of the abuser from her childhood. This potential for healing is one of the deepest benefits of the practice.
4. Why does lucid dream training wake us up to the real beauty of life and help us become more mindful of the way we think, feel and behave?
Through learning to dream lucidly, we can learn to live lucidly and wake up to life. Every time we lucid dream we are experiencing a new perception of reality, one in which we are the co-creator, and the more we experience this, the more we may also perceive waking reality in a similar way. Each time we do this we are creating a habit of recognition. It is this habit of seeing through illusion that forms the crux of lucid living.
Lucid dreamers naturally begin to take charge of their waking life in much the same way as they do in their dreams. Empowered by the experiences of their lucid dreams, they strive consciously to direct and co-create their waking lives, too. They become more positive, proactive and discerningly optimistic in their waking interactions.
In his first book, Dreams of Awakening, Charlie says that while 99 per cent of what we experience in a lucid dream is our own unconscious, there’s always room for other possibilities. “If you think of the classic iceberg description of the mind that Freud popularized, it’s as if when you go into a lucid dream, you go into the depths of your personal iceberg, which is normally hidden below water,” he explains. “But you also might move to the edge of the iceberg, or even into the sea surrounding the iceberg, and this might be exploring the edges of the collective unconscious, or even interacting with the universal mind.”
5. Why is practicing compassionate motivation in our lucid dreams, and in reality, the key to manifesting what we really want in this life?
Because this is a compassionate universe and so the universe responds to compassionate motivation. Do something for others and it will manifest way more easily than doing something just for yourself. That’s how karma works in fact too.
6. Can we all get lucid and how do we do it? Is there a step-by-step guide to follow or will having the right intention, and lots of enthusiasm, be enough to make it happen?
Yeah there a step by step guide by which anybody can teach themselves how to do it. Intention and enthusiasm are key but without the correct techniques they may not be enough. My books and online courses are pretty good at teaching people. And yes that was a shameless plug.
7. Is it easy to get confused between reality and the lucid dream state? What checks can we do in the reality state to check that we aren’t lucid dreaming?
Some people worry that lucid dreamers stand to lose touch with what’s real but in fact quite the opposite happens. Once we can see through the hallucinatory reality of the dreamscape, and know it as illusion, we become better
equipped to recognize illusion in the waking state. This makes us more mentally stable and self-aware.
Reality checks, ways of telling if you are dreaming or awake (in the dream it can be a bit confusing) are used by lucid dreamers to become lucid and so in fact nobody knows the difference between reality and dream better than a lucid dreamer because becoming lucid depends upon it!
8. What is the most amazing things that’s happened to you in a lucid dream and did it affect your life?
Oh god, we could be here all day with this one but some of the standout moments where healing my eye sight, curing my nightmares, communicating with someone who had recently died, precognitive possibility and being able to meet both my internal Jesus and the Devil in lucid dreams. Both of them were embraced equally!
9. You have many amazing teachers. Who are you looking to right now and what lessons have you learned most recently?
Ok so here’s an exclusive for you because I just revved this teaching today. I bought my teacher Lama Yeshe Rinpoche a Nutibullet so that he could wizz up his nettles for his nettle soup: the only thing he eats during his annual 3 month retreat. This morning he sent me a thank you e mail with the following teaching in it: “always remain joyful and humble. No hope of achieving anything, no fear of losing anything and being kind, honest and true will bring you good benefit.”
10. You are truly doing what you love. How did your lucid dreams guide you towards teaching, writing and speaking – and reassure you that helping others is your true calling?
I actually asked the lucid dream “what should I do with my life?” I literally yelled it out in a lucid dream about seven years ago. The dream then presented me with all these dream characters who told me to do the lucid dream teaching full time. I just took their advice.
11. What’s your ultimate goal?
It’s the same as the poet Patti Smith’s actually: “My mission is to communicate. To wake people up. To give them my energy and to accept theirs. We are all in this together.”
12. How can we all use lucid dreaming to take us closer to doing what we love?
Lucid dreaming will show your highest potential and can also be used to ask for advice on how you can manifest that highest potential. Follow your dreams, they know the way.
13. Finally can you share your tips for helping your mind move towards the lucid dreaming state?
For more information about Lucid Dreaming, watch Charlie’s TED talk at the San Diego TEDx conference, below:
For more information about Charlie and his work, visit his website, YouTube or connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
What is it you really want? The courage to start a new career? The time to pursue passions and hobbies? The freedom to travel and have big adventures? Or simply to “feel differently” about your life, just as it is? All of those wants — and so many others — stem from one big desire… you love. The desire to do what
And if that’s what you want, you’ve arrived in the best possible place you can be. This is your launchpad — and this is your community. And this online course might just change your life.
Do What You Love is an acclaimed course for people who want to spend more time doing what they love and less time doing what they don’t. Simple as that. It’s about finding freedom and building the life you really want.
You can find out more about our life-changing Do What You Love e-course, or sign up, HERE.
Happy Wednesday!
Friday is fast approaching but if you’re feeling the midweek blues you’re in the right place to be inspired!
Today the Do What You Love team is sharing what they’re up to and what is motivating them at the moment. We hope their thoughts get you thinking about what lights you up and how you can get more of this into your life…
I’ve been meaning to brush up on my sewing skills for years but since becoming a mum it’s a creative dream that’s fallen to the wayside… until recently! Through Hagglers Corner, a creative community of makers and doers, I was introduced to Running With Scissors, a business which runs small craft workshops, and it has inspired me to make time to make. It’s been over 10 years since I last used a sewing machine so I’ve carved out some ‘me-time’ and booked myself onto a beginner’s sewing course. Being a beginner can be scary so it’s good to know that I’ll be amongst others who are also there learn the basics. I hope that my new-found knowledge and skills will give me the confidence to experiment with interesting tools and techniques and that (one day!) I’ll be making all sorts of gorgeous gifts for my family and friends and giving my home a truly handmade feel.
My thought of the week: Maybe you feel stuck. Or bored. Or frustrated. Or maybe you quite like the life you live, it’s just that you suspect there’s something more. Some greater sense of meaning or excitement. New connections. New adventures. New possibilities. Well possibilities are always within reach. You may not be able to quit your job or develop new skills by osmosis, but every day brings new opportunities, dictated by the choices you make. Sometimes even the smallest shift in thinking or doing can create the biggest opportunity and set the stage for positive life changes. Nourish your mind, body and soul today by making choices that make you feel most alive and give your creative dreams a boost by living them. How can you give yourself time and space to create today? Do you have any passion projects right now? What creative dream are you going to start working on?
As soon as I wake up (and before logging onto my computer!), I head down to the beach for my morning walk. This is such a great way to start the day as I take time to appreciate a quiet moment in nature and sink my feet into the sand to soak up the earth’s healing electrons. This time of year is perfect as it is quiet and the sun is rising over the sea which sends beautiful reflections across the water. Spending time in the great outdoors is so good for us all, whether it’s a walk on the beach or through a local park on the way to work. Taking time to do this first thing in the morning sets me up for the busy day ahead, and leaves me feeling inspired, motivated and positive.
Louise’s thought of the week: Leading naturalist and author of the nature Principle, Richard Louv, is right when he says: “We can be happier, healthier and smarter if we weave more nature into our lives.” You can read more about why nature does good things in this article.
How can you strengthen your connection with nature today?
I recently joined the team at Do What You Love to help Beth with the launch of her book Freedom Seeker, to be released in April 2017. I’m lucky that more often than not I feel very energised in the work I do. On reflection I realise that is because I always try to set myself realistic and personal goals that are super-aligned to the work projects I’m a part of. Doing this means that ‘work’ actually feels like ‘me-time’ as I can clearly see how my job is enriching my life on a daily basis.
For example, whilst the team here supports Beth with her book launch, I plan to use the stories and exercises within the book (lucky me, I get a sneak peek!) to identify exactly what it is that makes me feel free, and introduce more of it to my working day, and life.
Fiona’s thought of the week: I’ve found that choosing fun and uplifting locations to work from, like cafés and co-working spaces, and jazzing up my home office to make it an inspiring place to hang out, makes me feel creative, free and ready to take on the day.
What changes – small or big – could you make to enhance your workspace today?
We’d love to hear what is inspiring and motivating you this week so please do share your thoughts in the comments below.