Something the Dalai Lama said at a conference some time ago, and which has done the rounds several times on Twitter since, were the words, 'The world will be saved by the Western woman'. There's been a degree of controversy on exactly what he meant by this but, whatever he intended, it struck a chord for me - and many other people, men and women, it would seem Read More...
Life is beautiful – a reminder
April 24th, 2012 by Tonya
I was browsing the shelves of a bookshop a couple of weeks ago (the friend I was due to meet, a wonderful guy who's been connecting and supporting people in the local area for years, had been held up - and I had a few minutes to spare). First, my eyes fell on a beautiful card with vibrant pink cherry blossom on it Read More...
What’s your ‘five-a-day’?
April 23rd, 2012 by Tonya
I set the group that gathered for the Joy Club last week some 'homework'. What was it? To discover their wellbeing 'five-a-day'. Now, we've all heard of the 'five-a-day' concept – at least you will have if you've lived in the UK in the past few years. It's a simple and popular device that the powers that be have been using to get us to eat more of the things that will keep us healthy: so a handful of dried mango pieces is, say, one of your five-a-day, where a salad - full of freshly sprouted mung beans (one point), tomatoes (another point) and lettuce (one point) might be three Read More...
A word on resilience
March 30th, 2012 by Tonya
I was on my way to The Starting Over Show a few months ago when someone drove into the back of my car. Bit of universal humour there, methinks! I'd arranged with the organiser, who I was really looking forward to meeting (a lot of synchronicities linked us and I was looking forward to seeing what was seeking to unfold) to hand out some leaflets for my forthcoming Power of Play (ing with your Problems) workshop (which, in the event - as you've probably guessed - never happened) Read More...
The power of vulnerability
February 27th, 2012 by Tonya
One morning a couple of weeks ago I asked Source (you can substitute this word for God, Life, your 'inner voice' or whatever suits you), 'What would You have me do?' 'Allow yourself to crumble,' came the reply. I got a sense to put this out on Twitter - even though it made me feel more than a little 'raw', exposing my inner workings so openly Read More...
Be a lamp unto yourself
September 19th, 2011 by Tonya
Speaking of the nights drawing in and seasonal affective disorder or SAD, there's something in Gautama the Buddha's words: 'Be a lamp unto yourself'. When our inner fire is fully lit we don't need an external light quite so much! One of the things that facilitates finding this inner fire, I think, is finding our joy Read More...
‘Learning to dance on a shifting carpet’
September 19th, 2011 by Tonya
As the nights draw in, a lot of people in the UK experience a dip in mood and start booking winter breaks to foreign climes. I'm not one of them. There are things you get in winter that you just don't get any other time of year. I get to wear big, soft, roll neck jumpers. I get to splash in puddles in my welly boots Read More...
What’s your soul food?
June 2nd, 2011 by Tonya
An acquaintance from Berlin mentioned to me recently that he was working too hard, feeling run down and eating unhealthily - but didn't have the energy to make the lifestyle changes he wanted to make. He also said he was facing a difficult life decision, but didn't feel able to give this the energy it merited for the same reason Read More...
