It’s the Autumn Equinox, (in the Northern Hemisphere) the time of year when we sense the shift in the seasons, our moods and our lifestyles… It’s when plants and trees are slowing down as sunlight decreases to get ready for the colder season ahead. We too are being called to slow down and turn inward but how we choose to do that nowadays is somewhat confusing in today’s hectic modern world.

September is when I start to reflect on what I wanted from and for myself this year, it's a time when I renew my intentions and have a deep desire to make these next few weeks and months really count! If you feel the same it’s easy to see how easily you can get caught up in the hustling energy and become impatient. It’s when we allow ourselves to get swept up in the doing that we lose a sense of why we’re doing it in the first place.

How you choose to take care of yourself depends on what makes you feel good, what helps you relax, what energises and replenishes you. Self-care is unique and personal, it’s also seasonal. With a shift in seasons comes a need to alter how we do things in reflection of how we are feeling within that transition.

Grounding has become a daily practice and one of the most important things I do to support myself when feeling flustered, anxious or overwhelmed, whether I am worried about an experience or an event in the future it is a simple practice self-care that works by bringing me back into the present and helping to reconnect to my body.

How to find focus and consistency with your health and wellness intentions.
Do you have the best intentions only to lose interest within the first few days or weeks of starting something new? Are you initially enthusiastic about making changes to your lifestyle yet life seems to get in the way, and nothing seems to stick? Have you ever found something you loved yet fallen out of practice? Have you lost your rhythm, or perhaps, never really found it? When it comes to your health and wellbeing we all have the best intentions but how can we keep ourselves focused and consistent?

Your mind is highly intelligent and incredibly creative. You experience over 6,000 thoughts throughout the day paying attention to only a few which are often either the most unhelpful ones or the all-singing, all-dancing ones. We humans like to play to extremes. Notice I said, ‘experience’…
It’s important to consider a mental thought as something you experience, observing your thoughts and being witness to them rather than allowing your negative thinking to run the show!

Let me tell you a story… About 5 years ago I started practising mindfulness, in a small way every day because I needed something to focus my mind on and help cultivate more positive thoughts. My internal chatter had become pretty challenging and it was hard to silence the negative self-talk especially at night, I was unhappy but didn’t think I had any justification for feeling the way I did.

Mindfulness supports you by helping you cope better with stress by drawing you back into the present, slowing things down and quietening the internal worry; the mind-chatter.

When you learn to slow things down, even for a short while, you’ll find you have more focus, what you’re focusing on will flow better and everything you do will get a little kickstart!