The Grace Notes
Often we women who are juggling the demands of life, tend to put ourselves last. We know we should be more self-nurturing but life gets in the way. It is easy to come up with excuses like I don’t have the time and I don’t have the money to spend on self-actualisation. We might know that we need to sort out some emotional stuff but we think that we’ll get to it later. We’re just too preoccupied with ‘real’ life right now and it is much easier to just shove our ‘stuff’ to the side and get on with things. But how good do you actually feel when you do engage in some self-nurturing? How good do you feel when you do go and get that massage (even if someone has treated you)? When you do have a bubble-bath? When you do take the time out to spend some time alone even if just going for a walk? It is always worth it but somehow is seems nearly impossible to achieve. I wonder why that is? Is it because we women are really strong and don’t need this nurture? Is it because we really are too busy? Or is it because we might not actually think that we deserve it? I suspect that there is more than an element of truth in the latter. We feel uncomfortable investing in ourselves because it’s all a little decadent, maybe unnecessary and definitely self-indulgent. What would others think of me if I am self-centered enough to consider my own needs, or (heaven forbid) actually put my own needs first?
I have come to realise that you set your own self-worth. That if you don’t think you are important enough, if you don’t value yourself as deserving of the good things in life then you won’t be able to achieve them. It comes down to self-love really. I had all of these reservations swirling around my head when I considered signing up for the “Be Daring and Mighty” three month programme. Yes, it all looked good from the outside but did I really need it? Was I really ready? Wasn’t it all a bit self-indulgent? Could I really afford it? I had to adjust my own self-worth beliefs before I plunged in but I am so glad that I did! It is turning out to be just the sort of immersive experience I need to get back in touch with myself; to heal some stuff from my past and to begin again to dream and I mean dream BIG.
The Be Daring and Mighty programme is a mixture of face to face workshops, skype calls and online chat. Katie’s teaching style involves a lot of music affirmations, mediation and visualisations to affect change. In essence I suppose the programme is designed to help women overcome limiting self-beliefs and to align themselves with their spiritual core-being so that they can manifest their desires in life. Brilliant stuff! Katie only works with three women at a time and so you have the support of the other women as well as focussed mentoring from Katie herself who is so generous with herself and her time.
Whilst it is impossible to convey the individual experience of the programme and of course there is confidentiality that won’t be breached with respect to its participants, I do hope to allow you to take a peek through the keyhole into the programme so that you can see a little of what it’s about for yourself.
There are so many things that are awesome about the programme so far. Firstly the spoily setting of the gorgeous Alexander House Spa where the full-day workshops take place is wonderful. It is well-worth the palaver of getting childcare set up to find yourself in a gorgeously decorated room with candlelight overlooking lovely gardens. It is a space with such peaceful, healing energy and the treat of having the whole uninterrupted day ahead to just do some work on oneself is utterly priceless. And what work I did! The first section of the programme is entitled Right Here Right Now and it is designed so that we would gain greater clarity on where we are at in our lives and why. We looked at childhood programming and identified the areas of our lives we are most dissatisfied with and why. I’ll admit it is pretty heavy stuff. Through several writing exercises I did an audit of various areas of my life and rated my satisfaction. We looked at a lot of the things that I wanted to be doing in life and the reasons or stories surrounding why I am not doing them. The stories as to why I am not doing those things were quite revealing actually and I did a lot of questioning surrounding why I held on to them. Were they actually convenient? Did I hold onto them out of fear? What were those fears? We also looked at avoidance strategies and where my fears might have stemmed from. I asked myself whose critical voice it actually is that might be holding me back. And through all of this I dreamed. We wrote about our lives as if there were no limitations. I looked at how my life would look if I did not hold some current beliefs. This vision was definitely the fun part!
Among other things, (and high on my list is writing my novel), a large part of my vision is to achieve a deeper spirituality. I aim to achieve a state of grace, flow, joy and happiness; to feel centered and grounded, to reduce my anxiety, to open my heart and become more deeply in touch with my core-self. The programme has spurred me to begin this blog. The programme has restarted my long-abandoned habit of keeping a gratitude journal in which each day I write five things that I am grateful for. One of the most amazing moments of the first workshop was a guided meditation. This was a really powerful mediation which helped us to get in touch with our true selves through imagining light filling our bodies and breathing out negative energy. I left the room feeling excited and energised about the journey I had embarked upon and with lots of homework exercises on which to focus before we next met. Yes, it was totally worth it.
p.s. and so am I.
Grace notes are written on a musical score. They are tiny musical notes written next to regular notes in smaller notation. Grace notes denote sounds which are shorter than the actual note and exist to embellish the music. Alone, a grace note has no meaning but coupled with a principle note they create a richer tone. This blog exists as an adjunct to Daring and Mighty – rather like a grace note.
