
The Power of Presence
― Thich Nhat Hanh
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them.” Marcus Aurelius
The first day of the new year always feels so fresh, like a big, beautiful canvas just waiting to be filled with your magic.
When I think back on the past year, it is like one big beautiful mess. It is a year that has rocked our worlds in so many ways. We have experienced such loss and grief on a global scale, tragedies that have impacted and united people around the world. Family and friends have divided over differing beliefs, compliance or non-compliance based on individual perceptions of their inner and outer worlds.
It has rocked people to their core, pushed people beyond their perceived edges of safety and yet when we take the time to dig deeper, there is so much more.
On the flip side, we have witnessed incredible innovation, potential, resilience, kindness, growth and we have witnessed people around the world coming together in the most beautiful ways.
I spent the morning reflecting on the things that both shaped and supported me throughout last year. I had to pivot my work as a self-employed, single parent when schools shut down in the spring. One of the most challenging things was not being able to see my Mom who lives in a retirement home that was in lock-down for several months, the death of two family members, my son getting COVID and the subsequent challenges of continuing long term effects.
These events have shaped how I showed up in my life this year. I have been rocked to the core, experienced fear and sadness so intensely and spent a great deal of time being comfortably (and at times uncomfortably) numb.
Yet these moments were surpassed by an incredible outpouring of love and support from others, my relationship with my son is so strong, my mom’s home has been successful at keeping COVID out of the home, my on-line coaching continues to thrive with clients around the world, I have been able to continue my volunteer work with women and children who have been trafficked, I love coaching kids and teens and we had a great launch for our ‘It’s Good To Be Me’ workshops for kids and teens.
So. Totally. Blessed.
I decided to take some time last night to reflect on things I appreciate about the past year. I received a beautiful journal as a Christmas gift (I am a journal junkie). The quote at the beginning of this post is the one I chose to put on the first page. I spent the evening doing a 10 x 10 exercise (it sounds technical, but I just made it up). I highly recommend taking the time to do this, it’s a gift to give yourself as you start the new year.
Here’s how you do it:
Choose 10 themes (for me I chose things like Mom, Friendships, Knowledge, Health, Personal Life, etc) and for each of these things write down 10 things about each of the themes you appreciate. Sounds simple enough right? I’m only halfway through because it is a beautiful, reflective way to close out 2020. I think this is something I will do at the end of/beginning of each year.
I love how fitting it is that hindsight really is 2020!
Wishing you all a spectacular year ahead filled with much love, laughter and wonderful adventures.
Much love,
Jessie-Lynn
“Today Is The Most Important Day Of Our Lives.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are feeling recharged as we enter into a new decade.
Big changes have been happening over the past few months. In September of last year, I took the lead on an exciting new campaign in Canada – My Mental Health Rocks. This amazing campaign started in the UK is all about promoting wellbeing, resilience and raising awareness of our innate mental health and wellbeing in children, youth and teens. I’ll provide more details about that in a separate post.
This new role has taken all my focus and effort, as a result, I put The CPR of Life podcast on hold. I’m happy to be starting it up again next month with some fabulous new conversations focused on mental health and wellbeing.
For now, I want to share a few words with you as we enter 2020.
I see a lot of posts about resolutions, not having resolutions, what the new year means, etc. I wanted to share a few thoughts as we begin a new decade. Let this time be whatever best serves you moving forward in your life.
If it helps you to have resolutions go ahead and create a list, but leave room for the beauty of the unknown. Don’t get caught up in the anxiety of not meeting an expectation you created for yourself. If you have no desire to create a list then don’t.
There is so much magic in the unknown. Be curious, be open to new experiences, opinions, beliefs.
My wish for you as you start this decade is that you embrace your greatness. No-one can do you as good as you can, so you do you. Embrace all that you are beyond the stories you engage in – beyond the fears, the judgement and the criticism. You are a beautiful bundle of infinite potential.
Stop searching and start living. Often when working with clients they are striving for something, to be something, to have something. They are so focused on all the absence of things they are missing out on the most incredible gift we all have – the present moment. What about right now?
Be grateful for all that you are, you are enough, right now just as you are. Whatever you are searching for will not make you more amazing. I’m not saying don’t try to better yourself, to learn a new skill, etc. Just know that you are starting from a place of already being more than enough, just as you are.
Be more than kind to yourself, your inner being is always with you, it is the unique light that makes you literally one in 7.8 billion. Read that again, you are one in 7.8 billion! As you move forward in this decade embrace that unique statistic. Embrace all the things that make you so incredibly unique. Have more presence, find beauty in the ordinary, have amazing adventures and beautiful connections.
Cultivate the most extraordinary relationship with that inner being that is always with you. Ready to shine through the layers of judgement, criticism, the excuses, the stories. I promise you that it will be the most rewarding relationship you will ever have. It will be the most valuable way to spend your time as you move forward.
I wish you all much love, peace, gratitude, curiosity and presence as you begin 2020.
Life is a journey. Depending on the stage we are at, we may be discovering something new about ourselves or rediscovering something we touched on at another time in our journey. In this podcast episode, my guest is author and coach Ankush Jain.
It’s a wonderful and easy read. It was great to talk to Ankush about writing a book and the wisdom behind rediscovering (or discovering) who you really are.
We talk about:
As I mentioned I recommend this book, it is an easy read filled with gorgeous nuggets. It’s always nice to hear the background of how and why a book is written.
Here are a few thought bomb takeaways:
I hope you enjoy this conversation.
To listen to the podcast on Podbean:
https://thecproflife.podbean.com/e/rediscovering-who-you-really-are/
To listen to the podcast on iTunes:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/rediscovering-who-you-really-are/id1438553484?i=1000445340272
Until next time: Be well. Be inspired. Be You.
Much love, Jessie-Lynn
To reach Ankush or to access the many valuable resources he has on his webpage:
Ankush’s Book “Sweet Sharing”
I am so blessed to connect with and have such beautiful conversations with amazing souls around the world. I never know what will unfold in my conversations and I love that. In my conversation with rebel girl and transformation coach Nicky Bartley, we talk about her journey from suicidal ideation to living a beautiful life.
We cover a lot of ground in this conversation including:
Here are a few thought bomb takeaways:
I’m grateful to know Nicky. She has a special gift and the work she does has an incredible ripple effect. I hope you enjoy this conversation.
To listen on ITUNES:
To listen on Podbean:
https://thecproflife.podbean.com/e/from-suicide-ideation-to-living-a-spirited-life/
Until next time: Be well. Be inspired. Be You.
Much love,
Jessie-Lynn
To reach Nicky:
This month I’m travelling the world vicariously with my guests. Today I am jet setting to Isreal to chat with author, coach and speaker Chana Studley. Chana and I met on a course on Mind, Brain and Body (fabulous course by the way). She survived three separate vicious attacks (rather mindblowing to think about the odds) which led to a period of time suffered debilitating PTSD and severe anxiety, in this episode, we talk about her journey to wellness.
In this information-packed podcast, we take a deep dive into:
Here are a few thought bomb takeaways:
I hope you enjoy this conversation. It’s a deep one filled with many nuggets of wisdom.
To listen to the episode on iTunes:
To listen to the episode on Podbean:
https://thecproflife.podbean.com/e/the-journey-to-mental-health-after-three-vicious-attacks/
Happy Friday you beautiful souls. Until next time: Be well. Be inspired. Be You.
Much love,
Jessie-Lynn
To reach Chana:
To learn more about Chana’s FB group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/understandinganxietystressandtrauma/
To purchase Chana’s book (which I highly recommend):
https://www.amazon.ca/Myth-Low-Self-Esteem-Hollywood-healing
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Low-Self-Esteem-Hollywood-healing/