The future is all-inclusive consciousness

“An experience of absolute inclusiveness has to happen to humanity and it is possible.”

– Sadhguru –

I’ve just watched a fantastic TED talk by Sadhguru on all-inclusive consciousness and I wanted to share it with you, because not only do I concur with everything that he says, but it reminded me of an experience that I had recently.

I didn’t end up sitting on a rock meditating for several days, without realising the passing of time, but I did experience some pretty profound feelings that I had never felt before.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have been going through some pretty interesting spiritual realisations over the last 8 months, and one day a couple of months ago, I decided to take a rest from the work that I was doing and skip down to the waters edge.

I live about a 2 minute walk from the beach in Manly, and in particular we live very close to a coastal path walk where there are a lot of trees, grass, rocks etc. So I took a walk along the coast and as I was walking down a grassy hill towards the rocks and the water I felt an incredibly strong sense of love for all that was around me. I felt so connected with everything. I hugged trees, knowing that they were me. I stroke the grass, knowing that every blade of grass was me, and as I got down to the waters edge I crouched down on the rocks looking at every tiny barnacle underneath me, knowing that they were me. And as I put my hand into the water I felt the most profound and incredibly deep connection with the ocean, knowing that the ocean was I, and I was the ocean was I. And as I did this I started to cry.

The tears flowed and flowed. I was overwhelmed by the enormity of what I was feeling and knowing. And all I could do was keep apologising to the ocean, on behalf of every other person on the planet (who are also me) for not having treated it well enough. For not being loving enough to it. At the same time, knowing that as much as I was apologising to the ocean, I was also apologising to myself, because we were, and are, one and the same.

Sadhguru’s TED talk, spoke to me on so many levels, it is a confluence of everything that I know to be true about myself and the Universe and it is such a wonderful articulation of something that once every human being on the planet understands will transform our lives, our experiences and our realities in ways we could never have imagined possible.

And I also know, that as I continue to expand my consciousness and connect more deeply with my inner world, it will be reflected back to me in my external world in the most beautiful, loving, compassionate and empathetic ways possible.

And so, as Sadhguru asks in his TED talk I will leave you with one simple question to ask yourself. How inclusive is your experience of life?

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Learn more

Visit Sadhguru’s website

Love TED talks? View more of my blog posts that include them.

Image gratitude – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cybergabi/5136816815/

Smile more

 

“I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.”

– Mother Teresa –

I came across this delightful TED talk entitled ‘The Hidden Power of Smiling‘ by a very sweet guy called Ron Gutman and I wanted to share it with you. It also follows on quite nicely from the post that I wrote yesterday ‘Lighten Up.’

In his talk, Ron emphasises the importance of smiling more.

He also highlights a stack of research that provides evidence that smiling can have a really positive effect on your life. Not only can one smile create the same amount of positive brain stimulation that 2000 bars of chocolate could create, but smiling is as stimulating as receiving 1600 pounds Sterling in cash.

Smiling also makes you healthier by reducing levels of stress enhancing hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine, and also increases mood enhancing hormones such as endorphins, which in turn help to reduce blood pressure.

Smiling also makes you look good in the eyes of others, as when we smile people perceive us to be more confident and competent.

He also talks about how we’re smiling when we’re born, we smile when we’re little and we’re smiling even when we’re in the womb.

Children can smile up to 400 times a day, whereas only a third of adults smile more than 20 times a day.

And he also highlights a study that was done on images of people (smiling and not smiling) and how they indicate how long you’re going to live. According to the study, the span of your smile can predict the span of your life.

So, want to feel happier, healthier and live a longer life? Smile more.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

Ron Gutman’s TED talk ‘The Hidden Power of Smiling’

Image reference – http://pinterest.com/pin/501236633497986116/

Step to the right of your left hemisphere

I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feet. I am movement. Vivid colours. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be. 

I’ve just seen the most fantastic TED talk that I absolutely must share with you all.

It’s by a lady called Jill Bolte Taylor who is a Neuroanatomist who tells the story of what happened to her when she had a stroke in the left side of her brain.

She talks about how the right side of the brain keeps us in the present moment and how the left side is concerned with the past and the future.

She puts forward the idea that if we were to spend more time processing thoughts from the right side of our brain we would be able to spend more time living in the present moment and therefore, be able to more easily experience peace and happiness.

I know that up until very recently I spent the majority of my life living in the left side of my brain. And up until a few years ago, I was very preoccupied with things from the past that I perhaps hadn’t processed and things in the future that I was worried or fearful of.

It is my intention, in every moment of my waking life, to be as present as I can, to experience as much peace, love and joy that I can, and live a life that is true for me.

And I write this blog to help to inspire others to do the same.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

A blog post from my Yin Yoga teacher Mysan – What are those levitating yogis connecting to?

Anything is possible (Part 3)

“Anything is possible if you just believe.”

Walt Disney’s Pinocchio

Today is a very special day, as it is my 100th blog post. When I started my blog on 15th March earlier this year, I never thought I would be writing my 100th post so soon, but here it is! Thank you so much for reading.

Recently I watched the a fantastic TED talk by David Blaine about how he held his breath under water for 17 minutes. It truly is breathtaking. Yet another example of someone making the impossible possible.

In my blog post yesterday, Part 2 of Anything is possible, I talked about how Darren and I have been cultivating our relationship with the cockatoos that regularly come to visit our balcony for nuts.

Well, after I had told Darren that I had invited a Cocky to come and sit on my arm, he wanted to have the same experience too. And here’s what happened . . . .

And the most amazing thing. These are wild birds. Wild birds, who we have tamed by giving them love, kindness and food. Birds who trust us. Birds who know we only want to be their friends. Birds that are a true reflection of us as human beings. The moment we trusted that we wouldn’t be frightened of them, they weren’t frightened of us.

And this is what happens in life. The minute that you decide to show loving kindness and trust in others, it will be shown and reflected right back to you.

So, the question is, how can you show loving kindness to other human beings or other animals? And what would you like to manifest in return. We have been blessed with the most beautiful relationship with these birds, who we consider our friends. Wild birds that we initially thought it would be impossible to become close to. Further proof, that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and desire it enough.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 4 of Anything is Possible, when a friend of mine comes to visit, and is introduced to our beautiful friends. . . . .

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

David Blaine’s TED talk – How I held my breath under water for 17 minutes

Take care of the pale blue dot

“Heal the world, make it a better place.”

– Michael Jackson –

Image gratitude – Georgia – chrisroberson.net

At the moment I am working on my book ‘A Brand New World – 25 ways conscious brands are changing the world for good.’ and interestingly I am manifesting some really beautiful things to inspire me in my writing.

Today I watched the most fantastic TED talk from the brilliant Mr Brian Cox, which I can highly recommend. He puts forward a case for why we need explorers. But more profoundly draws our attention to the importance of taking care of planet earth. By the end of the talk I was in tears.

Brian closes his TED talk with reading a quote from an astronomer, astrophysicist and cosmologist, Carl Sagan’s book ‘Pale Blue Dot‘. Sagan wrote the book after being inspired by a photo taken of earth from 4 billion miles away.

‘From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.’ – Carl Sagan

And it is this idea of taking care of the earth and it’s inhabitants that is at the centre of what my company ‘Thought Cloud‘ and my new book ‘A Brand New World‘ represents.

So the thought for the day is very simple, what are you doing in your every day life to take care of the pale blue dot?

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

Brian Cox’s TED talk – Why we need explorers

Carl Sagan’s book ‘Pale Blue Dot – A Vision of the future in space’

Image reference – Georgia Roberson – http://www.chrisroberson.net/2008/04/save-earth.html

Stop learning, start creating

“It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.”

– Julius Ceasar –

I have just watched a fantastic TED Teen talk by an 11 year old astro physicist called Jacob Barnett, who society labelled autistic. It has a very salient message. Stop learning, start thinking, start creating.

And it got me thinking. We spend so much of our lives learning, reading books, studying for courses, taking on other people’s views and opinions, that sometimes we forget to think for ourselves. Sometimes we forget that our own unique take on something, could actually be valuable.

I am currently writing a book on Conscious Branding and I have been researching it for the last month or so. However, every book that I read, doesn’t really satisfy what I’m looking for. There aren’t any useful quotes or references out there to inspire me. So I have actually stopped writing for a few weeks.

After watching this video, I have realised that I need to stop learning and start creating. And as Jacob concludes. I need to be the field, rather than keep looking for it.

Sometimes we just need permission to create. We are brought up in a society that tells us we need to be constantly learning, studying, reading. We have to go to school, we’re encouraged to go to college or university and gain further knowledge, higher education. When in actual fact, perhaps we already know all we need to know and we have everything we could possibly need to create, inside of us.

So my thought for today is, stop learning and start creating. Whatever thing you’re passionate about in life, whether it’s writing, painting, photography, nature . . . . start creating something amazing. Something that is unique. Something that is special.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this blog

Forget What You Know: Jacob Barnett at TEDx Teen – You Tube video

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Tidy house, tidy mind

“Less might actually equal more.” 

– Graham Hill –

I have just spent the last hour and a half tidying and cleaning our flat. My sister and her husband have just been to stay for 5 days and we have more friends coming to visit tomorrow. So, I wanted to make sure our place is spick and span.

However, I must point out that I never used to be this clean and tidy. In fact I was a pretty good hoarder. So much so that one of my ex boyfriends used to affectionately refer to me as a pack rat. At the time, I took offence to this. How could he not understand my need to keep a hold of tonnes of things that meant something to me? Now I understand the importance of not getting attached to material things, that they do not define me, and that in order to make space for new things and people in my life, I must let go of that which no longer serves me.

I’m not advocating that everyone runs home and throws out everything that they own, however, I am a massive advocate of regular spring cleaning. A clean house maximizes positive energy flow and reflects your state of mind.

I now know that my need to hold on to things, reflected the fact that I spent a lot of my 20s living in the past, trying to control events and people in my life, rather than living in the present and making space for the new, by letting go of the old. I also know that a lot of the time I wouldn’t think before I bought, and that I would also buy things to make me feel happy, rather than understanding that happiness comes from inside me, not from external things.

So, how do you spring clean? I have devised a full proof method over the last years and I actually came across the concept in a book I once read about de-cluttering your house (and in turn your mind).

Here is a 8 step process to follow for maintaining a tidy living space.

1. Find three separate boxes, baskets or crates.
2. Ideally every day, or every other day set aside 15 mins for a quick tidy.
3. Put this in your phone as a 15 minute timer with an alarm. Stop when the alarm goes off.
4. If you have a large house, just stick to tidying one room each day, if your house or flat is relatively small you can nip around it efficiently in 15 mins easily.
5. Have one box for things to throw out.
6. Have another box for things to keep, but tidy away into a draw, book shelf, cupboard etc.
7. Have another box for things to donate to a charity shop, recycle or give away.
8. At the end of the 15 mins take action and throw away, recycle, make plans to give away or donate all of the things in each of the three boxes.

And if you have a family, you can delegate a room to each family member, to speed up the process and have every help create a tidy living space. If you can’t find 15 mins a day, then try every other day or once a week. The most important thing is to start, even if it is with something small and simple like a drawer.

The Universe loves it when there is not only space for positive energy to flow, but when there is a flow of energy of things in your living space. This is why it is important not to hoard or hold on to things unnecessarily.

If you really aren’t sure about which things to hold on to or not, just ask yourself do I love this piece of clothing, pair of shoes, lamp, book, piece of furniture? If the answer is no, then you can set it free and let go of it.

Of course, it is nice to have things around you at home, but essentially, we don’t ever really need any material items to define us or our happiness. I learnt this when I was travelling in 2011. All I had was a bag, my passport, some money and the clothes on my back and I was always super happy and contented. This was because I knew that even if I lost all of my possessions, as long as I had myself and my health, I’d be able to continue on and replace them. I defined my happiness, not my stuff.

Here is also a fantastic, short, sharp and sweet TED talk called ‘Less stuff, more happiness‘ by writer, designer and founder of treehugger.com, Graham Hill. He puts forward a strong case for having less and using less space can lead to increased happiness. He also introduces his concept of life editing and gives three tips on how you can ‘live little‘.

So my question for today is, what are you holding on to unnecessarily that you can let go of, so as to create more space in your life?

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.”

– Margaret Young –

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

Decluttter your home and your head – article from bodyandsoul.com.au

Graham Hill’s TED talk – ‘Less stuff, more happiness’

Thank You More Please

‘With gratitude the Universe is eternally abundant.’

happythankyoumoreplease

Darren and I watched a fantastic film the other night called happythankyoumoreplease and it has inspired me to write a blog post on the importance of gratitude.

I’ve known this for quite some time, and the messages have been coming to me from all over the place about the importance of being grateful for all that you have in life, especially when we are wishing to manifest something that we would love to experience in our lives.

The first time the message came to me strongly was when I watched Shaun Anchor’s fantastic TED talk ‘The Happiness Advantage‘ where he says that it’s important to list at least three things you are grateful for every day.

Last week I went on a course about finances, and the lady running the course reminded us that in order for us to go with the flow of the energy of the Universe, we must first be grateful for all that we have, before it can send any more energy our way, especially in the form of money.

And so I decided to start (and most importantly, commit to) Daily Gratitudes.

Have an attitude of gratitude

So, the first thing I do when I wake up, before I meditate, shower, eat breakfast or touch my laptop or phone, is pick up a piece of paper and pen from my bedside table and make a list of everything that I am grateful for in my life.

Importantly, this is an exhaustive list. A list that I keep writing until I can’t think of anything else to write. A list that can sometimes include around 40 items (the longer the better!). I these are all things that I am genuinely, wholeheartedly and honestly grateful for.

Then I pop the list back on my bedside table and make a point of reading it again before I go to bed. This is so that before I drift off to sleep, I have filled me head and my subconscious with positive, grateful thoughts, that will then ensure I have a good, happy nights sleep and enjoy positive dreams.

And the film, well I won’t tell you too much about it, but I will say that there is a beautiful message in the film about the importance of saying thank you whenever something good happens, or someone does something nice for you. Followed by ‘More Please’, so that the Universe knows to give you more lovely things.

It’s written and directed by Josh Radnor or ‘How I Met Your Mother’ fame and I can highly recommend it as a feel good film. Oh, and it won an award at the Sundance Film Festival in  2010.

Thank You More Please.

Sending you lots of love, hugs and light,

Kat x x x

Inspiration for this post

The film ‘happythankyoumoreplease‘

The Happiness Advantage TED talk by Shaun Anchor

Live beyond limits

“If your life was a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?”

– Amy Purdy –

I stumbled across the most beautiful TED talk this morning thanks to You Tube suggesting it to me after having watched Shaun Anchor’s talk on The Happiness Advantage for the umpteenth time (it’s SO awesome!).

Amy, a keen snowboarder and lover of life and travel, sadly lost both of her legs below the knee at the age of 19. However, her story is not that of sorrow or sadness, but one rather of a celebration of what happened and how it forced her to push through the boundaries and limitations in front of her. And most importantly, her choice of embracing the magic of her imagination to create the kind of life she wanted to live.

She didn’t allow herself to be held back by anything in her quest to get back on her board, and after years of rehabilitation, hard work, effort and sheer perseverance, she became the top ranked adaptive female snowboarder in the world. And rather than be held back by the seeming limits of having lost both of her legs, she used these as a jumping off point to transcend them.

She also now spends a great deal of time helping others, especially those with physical challenges get involved with adventure sports like snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding. And she has set up a Not for Profit organisation called Adaptive Action Sports.

The beauty of this story is that Amy is has not only challenged herself to be able to continue to do what she truly loves, but she has made a wonderfully positive impact on the world at the same time.

So the question for you today is, what boarders do you need to push off of in order to ensure that the story of your life goes the positive way you wish it to go?

Inspiration for today’s post

TEDx talk – Amy Purdy – Living Beyond Limits

 

Believe in yourself

“All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”

– L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz –

Today I woke up and needed to give myself a pep talk (something that happens from time to time). After all, we all need a good pep talk every now and then.

I have set myself a few goals recently that I am currently working towards, and every now and then I get a little worried or scared that I might not achieve them. The same thing happened a lot last year when I was pursuing my goal of gaining sponsorship status for my company, so I could sponsor myself and get a visa to stay in Australia. It’s a long (and very awesome story) and you can read the whole thing on my About Me page.

The fact is, sometimes when we want to achieve something more than ever, and its something that is really important to us and we would absolutely love to achieve it, we allow the little voice in our head to plant the seed of doubt. And this voice, if we allow it, can sometimes get louder and louder the more attention we give to it. This is not cool, because if we’re not careful, we actually end up sabotaging the thing that we’re trying to achieve, because we’ve convinced ourselves that we can’t actually achieve it, despite that we set the goal in the first place. So it can become one big paradox.

I watched a really great TED talk this morning called ‘The Skill of Self Confidence’ on this exact subject by Dr Ivan Joseph. He talks about how important it is to believe in yourself, especially when perhaps no one else will. And he also gives some helpful hints and tips of things you can do to build your self-confidence.

My favourite piece of advice that he gives is to write a self-confidence letter to yourself – I LOVE this idea, and I’m going to write one today. He says that when you’re feeling particularly good about something you have done, write a letter congratulating yourself on all of the awesome things you have achieved in your life, and pull it out whenever you need a pick me up. I used to do this with my Linked In profile when I was feeling particularly rubbish at work, or if someone had criticised me. I would read all of the beautiful recommendations that people have made about me throughout my career and focus my energies on all of the good things about myself.

Another thing that I have in my life, that gets me through the tough times is a positive motto or mantra. My motto is ‘Onwards and Upwards‘. Whenever things get a little too tough, I do whatever I need to do to improve or fix the situation I’m in, get over it as quickly as possible and move onwards and upwards. I even have a Pinterest board that I go to for inspiration if I’m having a particularly tricky day.

We came up with an awesome motto for the festival that I’m working on at the moment yesterday, which is ‘Keep bouncing‘. We were talking about how if you’re at a gig moshing, or on a trampoline or bouncy castle it’s impossible not to feel happy or have fun when you’re bouncing. And more importantly, you can’t continue to have fun, without keeping bouncing. It’s the same approach to life that Tigger has too.

And I’ll leave you with a beautiful quote from J.M.Barrie’s Peter Pan which brings this post back to the importance of believing in yourself:

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” 

Have a fantastically positive day, brimming with self belief and confidence. x x x

Inspiration for this post

Dr Ivan Joseph’s TED talk – The Skill of Self Confidence

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

Tigger 

Peter Pan – J.M.Barrie