Mindfulness

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Finding A Way Through

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Finding A Way Through

I’ve been working with my son recently, gently showing him there is a link between our mind and body. Sometimes our thoughts can lead to feelings and physical sensations in our body. Which in turn can lead to actions, like not wanting to go to school.

As a parent, it can be hard to see clearly and not let our own emotions and worries dictate what we do. Having the ability to observe my own thoughts and feelings as I work with my son’s thoughts and feelings is a delicate balancing act that allows us both to find a way through our challenges.

We call this the mind-body connection…

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Best Mindfulness Lessons Of 2017

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Best Mindfulness Lessons Of 2017

We've curated a list of some of our best lessons, tips and tools from our 2017 blogs.

From self-care, emotional intelligence and self-awareness, to work-life happiness,  we hope you enjoy this simple summary of our best content this year! 

Be sure to check out the blog that inspired lesson #4. It's one of our most popular posts of 2017, with over 500 likes and shares on Facebook!

Here's eleven favourite mindful lessons from this year:

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When you stop looking, you'll find it.

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When you stop looking, you'll find it.

There was a time when I'd lose something or something would get lost, like a house key or my glasses. I'd worry about memory loss, wrack my brains trying to find whatever I lost and usually never could.

A causal search would swiftly turn into a frantic search. I'd get others involved in my quest, like my partner, and spread my frustration and panic onto them. And yes, I may have even gone a little berserk. 

Slowly but surely this has changed over the years.

It's not that I don't still lose things, it's that I'm more likely to let things be. When I lose something, one of the first things I do now, is I intentionally say to myself, "It will show up, I know it will." 

And you know what? It always does.

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How to calm the voice in your head

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How to calm the voice in your head

I was heading to an appointment not long ago, it was one of those rare days when I wasn't rushing to get somewhere on time.

As I eased my way into the busy waiting room, I noticed there was only a short line-up at reception. What a stroke of luck! I headed straight over to register.

After letting the receptionist know I'd arrived, I asked her how she was doing? I knew a little bit about her, I knew she was interested in running or jogging at one time. So I casually asked her if she had done any running lately?

She shared with me that she hadn't been running nor had she been to the gym lately.  I remember the look on her face, she looked resigned and disappointed.

It's what happened next that I really want to share with you...

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Your breath. A powerful ally.

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Your breath. A powerful ally.

"As long as you're breathing, there's far more right than wrong with you no matter how ill or hopeless you feel." Jon Kabat-Zinn

If the only thing you do today is breathe, it's all good.

From the moment we're born, we breathe. It's instinctive. We don't learn how to breathe, it just happens. The trouble is, as we get older, we forget how to breathe. In fact, we aren't even consciously aware of our breathing. 

So we don't focus our attention on our breathing.

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How to turn wounds into wisdom

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How to turn wounds into wisdom
"Sometimes it takes great suffering to pierce the soul and open it up to greatness." Jocelyn Murray

Often we think of pain as something that has been inflicted on us, a stroke of very bad luck, the result of an unfair world, or bad fate in some way. An immense obstacle that propels us into primitive survival mode. It's ugly, uncomfortable and lonely. 

I'm going to throw caution to the wind here and say, I believe it is a gift to feel discomfort, and that when we avoid, ignore or try to hide from it, we are missing one of the greatest lessons that life has to offer. Every person wanting to find true peace and happiness should know this....

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The realization

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The realization

Do you find you go through periods in your life when everything feels pretty good? It’s kind of like those times when there’s nothing really significant going wrong and life feels, dare I say it? Complete. Maybe you just had a great family vacation, maybe you’re starting a new relationship, maybe business is growing, maybe you just published your first book. Basically - you’ve got it going on!

And then, in what seems like a split second, everything changes.  

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The expectation trap

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The expectation trap

I'm going to write about a small change in mindset that could have a major impact on your life.

It's to do with letting go of expectations.

I fully appreciate this may seem like a strange idea.

We all have expectations. Expectations of how we want others to be. Expectations of who we think we should be. Expectations of what we want to achieve. Expectations of what we want for our children, family, friends. We expect things about our bodies, our jobs, our lives...

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What's the point of silence?

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What's the point of silence?

I remember my first retreat only too well.

I had announced to some of my work colleagues at the time, that I was heading to a monastery for 8 days of total silence with a bunch of monks. The look on their faces said it all. Heck..I had the same look on my face, which equated to: "Am I nuts? I'm a globe-trotting marketing executive and I'm voluntarily going to go spend my vacation with some monks in complete silence, sitting and meditating all day." 

So what's the point in silence you may be wondering...?

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Why you're more than your thoughts

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Why you're more than your thoughts

Before I started meditating years ago, I had no idea I could disentangle myself from my busy mind. Our constant thinking and wandering mind, often leaves us feeling completely exhausted, stressed, and relieved to get to the end of each day. You know that feeling? When your inner voice says: "Thank god it's almost the weekend, so I can forget about my challenging week for a while." The trouble is, it's our constant thinking which pulls our attention in a thousand different directions, in very subtle ways, that we're very rarely aware of. This is what we call continuous stress.

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Do you know your Why?

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Do you know your Why?

I've been asked some provoking questions recently that have made me stop and consider more deeply what Wake Up Kate is all about.

After carefully processing each question, I realized they all came down to one single question:

Why Wake Up Kate?

Wake Up Kate originally started as a call to action to myself to WAKE UP in my life and take greater care of ME. 

I soon discovered that staying awake in my life and practising self care wasn't just another 'to do'... it was a habit that became a way of life.

That's one of the secrets you need to know about how to maintain any kind of REAL change in your work and life........

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How I stay motivated in stressful times

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How I stay motivated in stressful times

Here's what I tell my audiences, my clients and myself... 

YOU CAN ALWAYS COME BACK TO THE BREATH.

Last year I walked away from stability and a healthy six figure income to launch Wake Up Kate, a mindfulness and stress resilience consultancy. What can I say?... It's been amazing. A truly powerful experience. It's the most incredible rewarding work I've ever done and I have to pinch myself sometimes that this is really happening. But as we all know (and sometimes forget) great things take time. You have to think of it as a 'ten year project'.... so I can assure you, there's plenty of impatience, frustration and worry to deal with as well. 

Actually, something happened while I was writing this blog, that should have caused a complete meltdown (aka significant stress) but it didn't. Read on to hear about it....

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The holidays, stress and mindfulness

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The holidays, stress and mindfulness

I'm somewhat disconnected from the mad rush of Christmas, because my family and I have chosen to spend it this year focusing more on creating small but meaningful experiences throughout the month of December, rather than giving many gifts.

Christmas is of course one of the biggest holidays of the year for many of us.

A time of joy and celebration, and yet it can also be a time of emotional worry. The mad rush of last minute shopping, waiting in huge lines, feeling frustrated, having frayed nerves.........

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The truth about meditating

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The truth about meditating

It was exactly one year ago today I went on a 9-day silent retreat. 

I remember a sinking feeling in my stomach as we approached the monastery.

I felt nervous. But most of all what I remember were thoughts screaming at me: "Why on earth am I going to a monastery to spend nine days in silence with some monks?"

We pulled into the parking lot and my husband offered to carry my bags into the reception area. I told him to leave me there and just go. I wanted my family to depart as quickly as possible, or else I'd be too tempted to jump back in the car and go with them!

I checked in and found my room. The door next to mine led to a chapel and prayer room. There was a crucifix above my bed. Nothing else on the walls. Oh god, what had I let myself in for?.......