My old friend from Sydney, yoga teacher and fellow lover-of-life Stella, has launched a brand new e-course called 21 Days of Nourishing which starts on June 1, 2012. There's still a few places left and one of them is up for grabs for one lucky SLSB fan! As it's an e-course it can be done from anywhere, any time, so this giveaway is open to ALL!
21 Days of Nourishing has been designed, by Stella and her friend and fellow yoga teacher Jacqui, with busy people in mind; busy people who need some spark, passion, direction and mindfulness in their lives. Stella and Jacqui are both super busy people too and understand the need for balance, nourishment and reminders of the power and resources we have within ourselves to live the happiest life possible. "We both lead jam-packed lives filled with excitement and fun, and don’t always have an hour each day (or the cash for that matter) to nourish ourself with a massage or homecooked meal or reading the next great novel," Stella explains. "We wanted to show everyone – from busy mums, to single working gals, to office managers to bankers and everyone in between – that nourishment can happen in just a few mindful moments every day."
It's a course jam-packed with inspiration. There's podcasts, guest teachers, meditations-on-the-go, yoga sequences, prompts to get your creative juices flowing and daily nuggets of wisdom. One a day, for 21 days, to get you inspired, centred and feeling good! While it's been designed with the Australian winter in mind, you never know what the British summer is going to do (touch wood, it's been beautiful here for the last week!) and let's face it, we can all use some nourishment and warmth in our lives, whatever the season!
The course is also self-paced so the time commitment is self-imposed. Some hOMework assignments will encourage you to read (for as long as you’re inspired), to play (till you get bored), to create (till you get your full of dirty hands and bare feet!), to go to a yoga class (an hour), or to bust out a couple of yoga poses in your own lounge room (5 minutes). There are also online forums so you can post your thoughts, findings and inspiration to share with your fellow nourishers if you wish. You will get as much out of it as you put in, but remember even a couple of minutes daily is better than none at all. Stella and Jacqui even say that if simply reading the “inbox package” each day allows you to reconnect and remember that YOU deserve nourishing then that’s definitely a successful investment! 21 days is the amount of time it takes to form a new habit, after all :)
21 Days of Nourishing is perfect for you if you feel a bit run-down, overwhelmed and ready to hibernate (whether it's summer or winter where you are!). It's perfect for you if you want some clarity, balance and direction but don't know where to start. It's perfect for you if you want to feel some spark and zest, some creativity, and reconnected to yourself. It's perfect if you want to feel inspired. It's perfect if you want a bit of "me time" but always feel too busy.
Interested? I thought you might be :)
Here's a little taster from the course which Stella and Jacqui very kindly agreed to share (and I've done the hOMework!):
Nourishing JOY & MEANING in our lives
We've been longtime fans of the inspirational Brene Brown here at TwentyOne Days. Her books speak to the heart, crack open our defences and make us realise that our lives - just as they are (messy, broken, shame filled, bright, tidy, or hectic) - are worth celebrating.
One of the gorgeous takeaways Brene shares in The Gifts of Imperfection is the idea of creating our own list, a reminder of what nourishes and feeds us, our own personal ingredients of JOY and MEANING.
In a moment of bright inspiration, Stella pulled together her list - and it sits atop her desk on a pinboard for a daily reminder to LIVE BIG!
Stella's Ingredients of Joy & Meaning
aka what makes Stella sing, hum, do cartwheels and smile
* creativity
* being barefeet in the grass
* time with the nieces
* face to face time with friends over cups of tea
* strawberries
* wholefoods from the earth
* weekly yoga time on the mat as a student
Now it's over to you...
hOMework
- what are the 6-8 ingredients, the must-haves for joy and meaning in your life? What does it take for you to live from a place of worthiness? What gives you juju and spark? Don't just think about these things, but get out the coloured textas, the magazines, the paper and pens, and write, draw and create YOUR recipe for Joy and Meaning. Then stick it somewhere you're going to see it daily. And then, dear nourishing peeps, LIVE BY IT.
Lists are grand and all, but don't let them become just more tallies of unfinished tasks. Once a week over the next 21 days, cross off at least one yummy, nourishing ingredient a week as you actually put it into your life.
Phil's hOMework:
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| image made by me in Photoshop. All the individual pics sourced from Pinterest for personal creative purposes only :) |
I think I had about 11 there, rather than the 6-8 stipulated ;)
I really enjoyed doing this. Once I worked out how layering in Photoshop worked ;) I really like being creative in ways other than writing sometimes. It was really nice to take the time to think about these things - and not only that, to make sure that I make these things a priority in my life. When I find myself feeling overwhelmed and out of sorts, it's usually because some of these things are lacking (and it's usually the first one, as when I'm stressed I tend to hide away and not reach out - I'm slowly changing!).
My must-haves for joy and meaning in my life are:
* Connection with others - making time to Skype friends and family in Australia and elsewhere, particularly my sisters - nurturing my friendships - even some days, now that I work from home, it's as simple as getting out of the house and having a conversation with someone at the shops or library! Feeling connected to other people is so essential for my well-being.
* At the same time, solitude is important to me. Silence, contemplation, meditation. Letting the noise in my head stop for a while. It's why I love yoga so much too.
* Books and reading. They are my lifeblood. I feel so at home in a bookshop or a library. I seek them out in every place I find myself. They inspire me and fire me up, but also help me escape and feel rejuvenated. I learn so much for my own work too.
* Travelling feeds my soul and my love of adventure. Even if it's just a day trip to a nearby town I haven't been to before, I love getting out and seeing the world.
* Getting out into nature helps me breathe fresh air in the literal and metaphorical sense. It is perfect for blowing the cobwebs away. Inhaling deeply in the middle of the woods or on top of a hill, taking in the view; running your hands through a cold, flowing stream; foraging for edible plants; digging in the dirt.
* Running is something I always return to as a builder of self esteem. When I have a good run, I feel invincible.
* A cup of tea, a favourite CD playing and my feet on my husband's lap - my favourite way to end the day. Depending on the weather, maybe replace the tea with a glass of wine ;)
So, there's my first taster of 21 Days of Nourishing! Bring on the hOMework :)
*****
I am so looking forward to the course. Even though it's coming in to summer here and I don't quite feel the need to hibernate and retreat as I would (and indeed do!) if I were in the midst of winter, with all the changes and highs and lows of the past six months I do feel the need to reconnect to some parts of myself I feel I have neglected a little, to regroup, reflect and rebalance. I've realised that one of the (few, I admit) downfalls to doing what you love for a living is that when what you used to do to feed your soul is now your "work" you need to put time and energy into other things purely for enjoyment so you can have some downtime that is truly relaxing. I find that I am always "on" and it can be very draining. I'm a bit of a workaholic and I'm not very good at switching off! I'll always be a work in progress, I know, but right now I'd like to move on from the rough sketches and start using more colour :)
I'm also looking forward to getting to know the other course participants as well - they're an inspiring tribe of people! I'm very inspired by Stella who truly is the living embodiment of "making things happen" - she had an idea for this e-course, shared it with a friend, faced her fears about the logistics of it and did it anyway, and now here it is - happening! It's amazing what you can do when you decide to give your dreams a shot and, as Stella puts it, live out loud.
I hope you'll join us! Stella and Jacqui have made the course really affordable, it's available for $21AUD, that's one dollar a day! You can sign up here or you can try your luck and win a place they have very kindly offered to a SLSB reader.
Here's all you have to do to win!
1. Like the SLSB Facebook Page, if you haven't already (!), and also check out the inspiring 21 Days Facebook page.
and
2. Leave a comment on the SLSB Facebook post! "Pick me, pick me!" is fine :)
As the course starts really soon, this is 24 hours only! I will draw a winner at random at 2pm UK time tomorrow, Wednesday May 30. Remember, this give-away is open worldwide!! Good luck!
And if you know someone who needs 21 Days of Nourishing, send them this way!
After a rather manic May, here's to a nurturing and nourishing June! :)