Katherine Hamblett (Certificate in Mindbody Healing)
Mindful Journaling
I am aware of the stillness of my body and the calmness I possess in this moment. I am aware of how quiet it is, apart from the seagulls calling outside and my bunnies nibbling away at hay. I am aware of the light fading as the sun sets and puts the world to bed. I am aware of the ache in the back of my neck, but I am also aware of the aches in my legs and my sides from the dancing I did last night. I am aware of my full and content stomach after slowly eating a healthy dinner.
I pay attention to the cool spring air inside my nose as I breathe. I pay attention to the way I am feeling in this moment, noticing how relaxed and happy I am right now. I pay attention to the pulse of my heart throughout my body that reminds me I am alive and well and healthy. I pay attention to the flow of my thoughts as I let my mind drift.
I accept that yesterday has gone and tomorrow will come. I accept that I am who I am in this present moment. I accept that lockdown and social distancing is going to be a struggle, but a struggle that I am not going through alone. I accept that my mood and my feelings are going to fluctuate.
I appreciate that I have a lot of wonderful, caring people looking out for me even if they can’t be around me at the moment. I appreciate how lucky I am that I got hired in a well-paid job where I can work from home, just before the country went into lockdown. I appreciate all the beautiful tulips blossoming in my garden that I planted from bulbs last year, and the birds that visit the bird feeder and take a wash in the bird bath.
I have affection for myself for dealing with so much change on my own. I have affection for the keyworkers who are working their socks off and all the volunteers with their kind hearts. I have affection for my friends, family and my two bunnies. I have affection for my mind, my body and my soul.
I affirm that I am in control of my emotions and that it’s in my hands to start the day off right. I affirm that I am doing my best in the circumstances. I affirm that it is OK to have moments of feeling worried and uncertain. I affirm that I am strong, capable, adaptable, healthy and doing amazingly well.
Nature Journaling
It’s about 8am and I am sitting on an old golf course that has been left for wildlife to take over. I have taken my shoes and socks off so I can do some ‘grounding’ and really feel like I am at one with Mother Nature. The grass is slightly cold, but it feels so refreshing and natural under-feet. I can hear magpies cawing, a strange metallic sound on the air. The sound of wood pigeons’ wings hit the air like paddles against water as they tussle for a good sitting spot on a nearby tree. Little birds dart between the hedgerows – maybe wrens or dunnocks or robins, they are so small and quick it’s hard to tell! Suddenly a beautiful bird call rings across the landscape, so loud, like a call to prayer, echoing across the open space. The swells and dips and the rolling landscape of the old gold course is dotted with nettles with their little white flowers. There are strange and beautiful little pink and blue flowers too, so tiny that fairies could wear them for hats. The naked branches of the tree above me bears no leaves just yet, but instead is covered in dainty white Spring blossoms. The clouds look like scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces, and where the sun is shining through, streams of pure angelic light pour down to earth, hitting the surface of the ocean. A lone Fishermans boat hovers on the horizon and I can almost see the cliffs of The Seven Sisters in the distance. I feel incredibly peaceful.
Parable – The Girl on the Island
Once upon a time there was a young woman living by herself on an island. It was a small island, but it was just the right size for her. She had time to dance around, to be wild and silly and free. She enjoyed tending to the plants and flowers, learning to climb the tallest trees, reading stories of days gone by, and writing poetry.
On one very sunny day, as she was gazing out at the horizon, she noticed something she hadn’t seen before! She could see more islands dotted across the sea in the distance, each one inhabiting free spirits, just like her! She pulled out her binoculars to take a closer look.
On the first island she saw a handsome young man, attempting to play songs with a broken guitar. ‘Oh, how sad!’, she thought, and decided at once, that she must send him the strings from her very own heart.
She looked over to the next island and again was in dismay, to see a wearisome father with a son on his knee. ‘I must do something to take care of them!’, she thought, vowing to write them a thousand letters and stories.
She was nervous to look at the next island, but it was something she just couldn’t help. A girl dragging emotional baggage across the dirt. ‘I could take that baggage on my empty shoulders!’, she thought, and promised herself to carry the entire load.
A few months later, she sat by the fire on a starry night, fingers calloused and struggling to write, chest sore and empty from tugging out her heartstrings, her body tired and aching from the weight of the world on her shoulders. She stopped suddenly and glanced around at her island, how bare and sorrowful it had become. Where had all the flowers gone? When had she last had the energy to dance in the sun? She had spent so long filling her time with other people’s problems that she had forgotten to look after her own little island.
She decided to send a note in a bottle:
‘I am ever so sorry, but I can no longer help. I care so dearly, but I have lost myself.’
Night drew in and she fell asleep under the stars. She felt so terrible for giving up, she was supposed to be a light in the dark. When morning came and she finally awoke, she prised her eyes open and let out a yawn. And there, in vibrant rainbow colours, was a flower garden, more beautiful than the one before. To her amazement, the friends she had helped stood there beaming before her. They had sailed across the seas to come and show her just how much she meant to them. They explained to her, that she had shown them love, so selfishly from her heart, so they had planted her the most special garden to show her their care, appreciation and gratitude for being who she was.
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