Julia – Page 10

finding my true north – Wanderlust

August 1, 2013 by Julia 4 Comments

Isn’t it wonderful when something completely out of the ordinary happens?

I just won a ticket to Wanderlust!!

For those that aren’t aware the Wanderlust events are:

“A one-of-a-kind festival bringing together the world’s leading yoga teachers, top musical acts and DJs, renowned speakers, top chefs and wine makers, and much, much more — all in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty.”

Check out this wicked little video package of last years Wanderlust here in Whistler. It certainly wet my appetite for what’s to come!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when i opened up the email, I thought have they got this right? I hadn’t even entered a competition! No it was right. Just another example of why I work for the best company in the world – lululemon athletica. Surprising and delighting with a beautiful gift, expecting nothing in return. (Turns out some of my colleagues got a free pass too which makes it even sweeter to share the experience with my beautiful team! yay!).

Wanderlust has been something I’ve viewed from a far in awe. It’s not yet in Australia, and I would see videos, images, and hear amazing stories from this far away festival, it all sounded too good to be true. I can only imagine the sense of community formed by so many people gathering together all just wanting to connect, to love, to grow and to practice together.

It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks for me, lots of travelling to the city for work, late nights, early starts, long journeys. I’m looking forward to stopping to pause. Stopping the busy-ness to re-connect to nature, to my breath, and to my spirit which always shines brighter after practicing.

My formula is pretty simple:

NATURE + YOGA = BLISS : )

It’s time to hit the re-boot button and refresh my soul.

I have signed up to three of the most renowned international yogis – Seane Corn, Ryan Leier and Eoin Finn. What a blissful day it will be. I have had the pleasure of meeting Ryan and Eoin previously, they are two of the most beautiful human beings I’ve come across. If they are a small taste of the clientele this weekend, it’s going to be an incredible festival.

I am full of gratitude for this opportunity.

I look forward to filling you in on my wonderful Wanderlust experience.

If anyone needs me tomorrow, I’ll be on my mat.

namaste.

acknowledgement party!

July 26, 2013 by Julia 2 Comments

Our words have more power than you will ever know.

There have been two specific acknowledgement exercises in my life that I will never forget – one of which happened today.

They both involve expressing gratitude and celebrating each other for who we are. I have found them so powerful and inspiring, the effects have been profound.

Both exercises have been with my wonderful teams at lululemon athletica. I wanted to share them with you in the hope that you can experience the deep sense of gratitude that comes from them. You could get together with your colleagues, friends, family or community group.

2 WAYS TO ROCK OUT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

1) The ‘Love Note’ Exercise

Create a small card for each person with the heading “I like (person X) because . . . “. Write down the reasons why you like that person (*tip – make sure it’s authentic to you!). Pass the note around the group so that everyone has input on each individual card. It can be a word or a sentence, anything that springs to mind when you think of why you like that person – big or small. Present the card to the recipient & voila! Stand back and watch the look on their face, it’s absolutely priceless.

Below is the love note I received today, something I will cherish forever –

2) The ‘Acknowledgement Circle’

Gather into small groups of 3-5 people. Pick someone to begin with, and start by going around the group and saying the following “(Person X), who you are for me is . . . ” ie/ “Dave, who you are for me is an inspiring cheerleader who always supports my growth.” Then follow this with the statement “What I wish for you is . . .”. Look into their eyes as you tell them, and share generously from your own experience of them. Once everyone has said their part, move onto the next person until everyone in the group has been acknowledged.

Now these exercises aren’t difficult, or timely, or expensive – but the result? It’s huge –

The biggest sense of sincere gratitude, love and genuine celebration of who were are.

As Mother Teresa once said –

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the beautiful words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.

There is such power in sharing our appreciation and gratitude for others. Maybe because it’s such a rare occurrence. We often think positive things about others, but rarely communicate it. Whether you are hesitant to be vulnerable, or worried about what the other person may think of you, or simply just forget to – there’s something that holds us back.

My experience has been, if I am thinking it – I should say it. Don’t be stingy with expressing your feelings for others, be a generous giver that shares without hesitation.

We are our harshest critics, and we often focus on the things we would like to change about ourselves, the parts of our personality we are dissatisfied with, we beat ourselves up over ‘bad’ decisions, our physical looks, we compare ourselves to others – when in all honesty, those around us only ever see our truest beauty.

These exercises made that so abundantly clear to me.

The people closest to us are the best witness to our soul, and it’s so important to get that outside perspective on ourselves once in a while.

This only reinforces what I am such an advocate for – TO JUST BE YOURSELF!

live your passions they have more power than you know.

Embrace your uniqueness – because trying to be anything other than the magical being you are is just futile. We all have a unique gift to offer this world, what is yours?

So accept the praise and the acknowledgement you will receive with these exercises – take the upgrade!

It’s time to celebrate who you are.

clarity through loss

July 15, 2013 by Julia 4 Comments

My cousin passed away today.

After a courageous battle with a brain tumour, he is now resting peacefully.

He was far too young to go, a newly wed man in his early thirties. He had his whole life ahead of him.

I found this out while eating my breakfast this morning. Oceans away from my family, I just wanted to be near them, to talk to one of them, to hug them tight. I couldn’t help the tears fall as I tried to digest the news. I thought of his wife and family, and the loss they must be feeling. I thought of how unfair this was and tried to make sense of why this happened.

Then it hit me. It felt like a jolt to my system, like a physical and mental reboot –

LIFE IS SHORT.

It really brought things home for me. I could choose to question the meaning of life and how he could be taken from us so young. OR I could realise the deeper message that this loss brings – just how precious our lives are.

The choice was made. I picked myself up and decided that I would live today to the fullest in dedication of my cousin. I would be grateful to live this day, and not take for granted the fact that I am here, and he is not. I made a commitment to myself that I would appreciate every moment.

I walked into work along the valley trail and breathed in the fresh mountain air. I passed beautiful old fir trees, I watched the sun peaking over the mountain tops – getting ready to begin a brand new day. I heard the birds singing their morning songs, smelt the pine needles, and watched the clouds float elegantly across the sky.

I smiled at strangers, I said hello to everyone (all the people I passed, not just those that I chose to speak to) I consciously didn’t get flustered or stressed throughout the day at work (at things that only yesterday affected me greatly) – instead I just laughed. I didn’t sweat the small stuff, because in the scheme of things, the small stuff doesn’t really matter. I took slower, deeper breaths. I consoled people, I hugged more, I told people I love them.

I smiled today through sad eyes, and recognised the power of compassion. That everyone we come across probably has their own battles of some kind.

It’s amazing how shifting your perspective can open up a whole new experience for you. I decided to be grateful, and it bought more joy into my day.

As i strolled on home, I realised how lucky I was to have had another day in this beautiful world. I started thinking of all the things I want to do for others, how I can contribute, how I can express my love. I got completely out of my own head, stopped navel gazing, and saw my life truly for what it is – a blank canvas that I can choose to create meaning with.

Every moment is all we ever have. Yesterday is gone, and the future is not yet promised.

All we have is right NOW.

And in this moment we have the power of choice.

We have a responsibility not only to ourselves, but to our loved ones, to our community, to this world – to live with zest, to contribute, and most importantly – to love unconditionally.

It’s a shame that sometimes it takes such tragedy to trigger this innate knowledge. We have all heard it before, we all know it – yet we don’t always act on it. Why does such an important message slip from our focus in our day-to-day living?

Stress, anxiety, worry, overwhelm, greed – a toxic mix of emotion that clouds our vision. They fog up the lens that would usually show us how short and precious life is. Sometimes we fill our lives with so much busy-ness that we don’t make time to stop and really smell the roses – to appreciate every day we have.

Then day’s like today roll around to wake us from our slumber, to jolt some clarity back into our existence.

Death always has this effect on people.

It really hit home when my uncle passed away. We lost him to the most aggressive form of cancer – melanoma. It took his life within months. Again, another young man with so much life ahead of him, or so we thought. Him and his partner had so many dreams, so many plans, so many things they were looking forward to. But they didn’t get the luxury of time that we all seem to believe is promised to us in life.

The experience really made me think – why are we here? what do I want my life to contribute to? What legacy do I want to leave behind?

I decided in that moment to stop taking my life for granted. To stop waiting for some grand day in the future when everything will be perfect and happiness will finally reign over me.

Shortly after this loss I decided to take the plunge, to live my life to the fullest. I moved overseas, as I knew I couldn’t count on having the luxury of time in the future.

Somehow by realising my own mortality, and how fleeting life can be – it took away the fear, the doubt, the deliberation – and forced me follow my heart.

“On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend’s life also, in our own, to the world.” ― Henry David Thoreau

I will be forever grateful for these realisations – what an incredible parting gift they left behind.

I hope they are resting in peace with the knowledge that they have had such a profound effect on the lives of others.

ditch plan B

July 9, 2013 by Julia 6 Comments

“Ditch plan B. Go all in on plan A, plan B is a distraction from your dreams. When you go in all in on plan A, not only will plan A happen, it will be better, because what the divine has in store for you is so much greater than you could possibly imagine, and it’s mot going to look anything like what you want. Please ditch plan B. That would be my only advice” – Mastin Kipp, The Daily Love.

WOW.

This statement has literally just stopped me dead in my tracks.

I was just about to curl up in bed, but instead I’m now writing to you in response to reading this.

I have always had a plan B. I have never imagined my life without a plan B. I never even thought for a second that having a plan B could be a negative thing! (That’s the planner in me, I like to have an element of control).

Could having another option to fall back on actually be an enormous distraction from my true dreams?

My dream is to grow my business, coaching people on how to live a life they love. I want to continue my one on one coaching sessions, and also expand out into group workshops, business development days, youth workshops, programs for the underprivileged, school and university sessions and more!

My vision is to create a ripple effect of people who are actively creating their lives, authoring their own destiny, doing what lights them up and makes their heart sing. (Not being a passive observer of their life that hopes for the best and then gets disappointed with the result).

People who are willing to do the work to authentically define who they are and what they want. And then have the courage to go out and make it happen, to bring their dreams to life. I encourage people to live from a place of possibility. To step outside the self-imposed restraints, and consider – what if anything was possible?

My 10 year BHAG (big, scary, audacious goal) is to have a vision and goals program on the curriculum of Australian primary and secondary schools. Yup, it certainly is big.

I want to make a difference in the world.

That is my plan A.

Plan B on the other hand puts this dream on hold.

Plan B belittles me and tells me I’m not yet ready for that yet, that I should continue my day job and slowly, very slowly, build towards plan A. The practical, logical (probably fearful) voice in my head tells me that is the right thing to do.

Hmmm . . . that seemed like a good idea up until 10 minutes ago.

Now I’ve hit the pause button. I’m forced to reassess, and to review my thought process. Isn’t it amazing the power inspiring words can have on us?

The questions I am now pondering:

What if went all out and put everything I had into plan A?
What if i backed my dreams with the same encouragement, positivity and certainty that I back other people’s dreams?
What would be possible for me then?

** Note to self – I NEED TO BE MY OWN CHEER LEADER.

I’m not proclaiming we should all quit our day jobs tomorrow and blindly chase our dreams. However, check in with yourself – do you have some big aspirations, lofty dreams that you keep putting off? Waiting for that perfect moment, the perfect time – when everything in your life is aligned, then and only then, can you can finally pursue those dreams?

Why do we impose these restricting guidelines on ourselves?

If that is what we truly desire, why would we put it off? Why are we choosing to restrain our velocity – to walk when really we could run?

Perhaps it’s time to bring some of those big goals forward . . .

Maybe it’s time to ditch Plan B.

power from passion

July 1, 2013 by Julia 5 Comments

I am high on life.

It sounds corny I know, but it’s true.

I feel alive. My heart feels bigger and is brimming with gratitude.

All because I truly LOVE what I do.

I have just finished a group vision and goal coaching session. This is one of my biggest passions, and when expressed, a powerful energy flows through me. I feel like I can accomplish anything! (To read my post on living your passion click here)

I haven’t always felt this way. In fact, this is probably the first time in my life. And it’s solely the result of consistently focusing on what I love:

communication. inspiration. personal growth.

By focusing on these things, I have brought more of what I love into my life. It’s the law of attraction working.

For me, the barrier between work and play has been removed. I don’t live for the weekends, I no longer dread Monday or celebrate Friday. I have a true balance in my life. My time ebbs and flows effortlessly between my personal, professional and social lives.

To tell the truth, I never really believed it was possible to feel this way. A few years ago I thought that stress, anxiety and the pressure of the daily grind were just part of life. Nope, turns out it was just part of the wrong life for me.

I yearned for something more. I made some big changes. And with those changes opened up new possibilities.

I now know my purpose.

I know what I was put on this earth to do. I have found my happiness through teaching happiness.

Its taken many years for me to stand in this place, and I’m forever grateful for the winding journey. I dedicated a lot of time towards self exploration and enquiry. It was frustrating at times, wanting to know all the answers right NOW! I tried to remain patient, as I knew that with time what I was searching for would come organically.

I now know more about myself, and as a result feel more connected to who I truly am. To what’s authentically me.

So my advice to you – get out of your head, and listen to what your heart is saying.

Listen again . . . listen harder.

Your body intrinsically knows what it truly desires.

What do you LOVE to do? The more you pay attention to your heart – to your passions, to what excites you – the clearer the message will become.

It will become so loud that you can no longer ignore it, or push it aside for a rainy day.

It will force you to act upon it, and your life will never be the same again.

life lessons from a monster

June 27, 2013 by Julia Leave a Comment

I found myself last night watching ‘Monsters University’ – wearing 3D glasses, eating popcorn and surrounded by little kids (and other adults that love a good animated flick!).

I originally went just to relax and have a laugh, but it ended up being a little more than that. I was impressed with the key lessons in the game of life that were sprinkled throughout the story.

A little unexpected side order of enlightenment to my entertainment! And a good example of art imitating life.

life lessons from a monster

harness your strengths: utilise what you’re great at, the things you naturally do the BEST. You will get much further in life by harnessing your strengths, instead of trying to improve on your weaknesses.

ditch the mould, be unique: don’t focus on trying to be like everyone else, or what society expects of you. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Instead, focus on being the full expression of YOU. We all have a unique gift to offer the world, and we flourish when we find and use that gifting. Life works best when we celebrate our uniqueness, our differences. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, be true to who you are, always.

do what you love: follow your passions, do what makes your heart sing. There is a power that comes from focusing on what lights you up inside. Do what you love – even if you fail at the first attempt, failing is good for the soul and builds endurance. Everyone has some kind of capability that can be tapped into and allowed to let flourish. (To read my post on living your passion, click here)

believe!: determination and self conviction will get you everywhere. Ignore the nay-sayers, the pessimists, and the downright bullies in life. Believe in yourself whole heartedly. You never know what you are capable of unless you try. Change your thoughts, and you will change your world.

Not everything in life will go according to your plan. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be happy or find new dreams.

You will make a new plan, a better plan, one that is more aligned with your unique calling in life.

I truly believe that everyone has their own purpose, their life work.

Sometimes you just have to forget the path you think has been laid out for you and follow your own.

hesitation

June 24, 2013 by Julia 4 Comments

I recently watched a friend bungee jump.

It was an interesting experience, let me tell you the story . .

There was one woman ahead of our friend, so we all stood by on the bridge and watched. This woman was all geared up and ready to go. She stepped out onto the platform and looked down at the rushing river below. Then she made the worst mistake. She hesitated.

From there on in it was a downward spiral of doubt, fear and downright freaking out. You could see the thoughts processing through her mind, then physically manifest in her body. She turned white, tears started rolling down her cheeks. All of the coaxing, cheering and positive talk in the world couldn’t get her to jump. There was no way in hell she was leaping off that bridge. She eventually came back off the platform, it wasn’t her day to jump.

Our friend was up next. I had butterflies in my stomach, what a nerve-wracking build up. But she wasn’t fazed. She didn’t let fear or doubt enter her mind. She knew what she came to do. She had come to jump.

She stepped out onto the platform, took one look down and leaped head first off the bridge with the ease and grace of a diver into a swimming pool.

Her life motto?

“hesitation is devastation”

How fitting.

What an incredible display of mind over matter to witness. Watching these two totally opposing experiences. The only difference between them? One person hesitated. One let her mind stray and entertain her negative thoughts. And one stuck to her guns, with an unwavering conviction.

It got me thinking – when have I hesitated and missed out on an incredible experience? When have I psyched myself out of something because of fear?

My fear may not be as obvious as bungee jumping, but perhaps more subtle hesitations around being out of my comfort zone, fear of embarrassment or rejection, fear of failure, or worse – fear of success?

These things may be subtle to the eye, but they have a far more devastating effect on us in the long run.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
― Neale Donald Walsch

What do you hesitate with?

It may seem huge, it may be seem trivial. Your fear is real regardless – but feel the fear and do it anyway! So go book that sky-dive, chat to the cute stranger, apply for your dream job, sign up for that half-marathon, declare your love to someone . . . Whatever it is, just don’t hesitate.

Growth is on the other side of fear.

dream day recipe

June 20, 2013 by Julia Leave a Comment

You know the days when you’re floating on cloud 9?

Everything just falls into place and your day is full of all your favourite things. You have a lightness in your heart and a smile permanently planted on your face.

I’m so grateful for those days. For me, those days are what life is all about.

Maybe they are so special because of their rarity. But have you ever stopped to think that every day could be that way?

Next time you experience a dream day ask yourself – What made today so special? What activities did I do? Who was I with? What was my frame of mind?

With this precious information, you can make the recipe for a dream day any day!

My dream day recipe

1 handful of loved ones

lashings of outdoor adventures

2 cups of contribution

1 sweet sweat session

1 sprinkling of food shared together

1 gallon of laughter.

My best days are always spent connecting with people I love, getting outside the house and into nature, doing any kind of sweat date (yoga, hiking, a bike ride, or a swim in the ocean) and wrapping up the day sharing food and laughter together.

What things do you love? What’s authentically important to you? What are the things that bring a smile to your face?

With that in mind – What do you now need to make time for? What do you need to schedule? Who do you need to enrol?

Get to planning your days, weeks and even months – full of all of these things. Start to plant the seeds for many abundant dream day harvests!

Don’t leave your happiness to chance, to the whim of others, or to circumstance.

Make your happiness a priority. Today.

What is your dream day recipe?

Use your recipe to float on cloud 9 all weekend 🙂

new life

June 17, 2013 by Julia Leave a Comment

I will never forget the day my best friend’s baby was born.

Getting that phone call from the hospital felt surreal. In a daze I dropped everything to go and meet this little person. Everything felt like it was in slow motion, like in a dream.

I’d been staring at my girlfriends growing stomach for the past nine months wondering – Who was inside? What do they look like? What are they going to be? When do we get to meet?

Walking into the hospital and seeing her with a baby girl bought on an onslaught of emotion. There were no words.

As I held this tiny bub, I could hardly even register her weight in my arms. I stared into her squinty little eyes and was completely in awe. Probably for the first time in my whole life.

Her name is Aurelia and she is the most precious thing I’ve ever seen.

It’s amazing how new life makes you evaluate your own.

I started thinking – How can I support her? What can I teach her? Who will I be for her? Fundamentally, it made me shift my focus away from self, and direct it towards others. For Aurelia I am committed to being a loving, fun, supportive friend and mentor.

I hope to make her journey through life a little better for having known me. I know my life is already better for knowing her.

Happy first birthday! xxx

Do you have any little people in your life?

If so, what have they taught you?

Who are you committed to being for them?

law of attraction

June 12, 2013 by Julia 6 Comments

What do you put your energy into?

What do you think about?

What do you tell yourself?

Choose them wisely, as whatever we direct our energy, attention and focus towards, we inevitably bring into our lives. Whether it’s good or bad, negative or positive.

If this sounds too ‘new age’ for you, stick with me for a minute . . .

The Law Of Attraction is the science of attracting more of what you want, and less of what you don’t want in your life.

“The law of attraction is the name given to the belief that “like attracts like” and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results. This belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from pure energy, and the belief that like energy attracts like energy.”

Everything is made up of energy, everything vibrates, and at every moment we are sending out positive or negative vibrations. The universe doesn’t know whether you want that or not, whether it’s good or bad for you, and it doesn’t care! All it picks up on is the vibration you emit, and it sends back a direct match.

How the law of attraction works:

words -> thoughts -> feelings/vibrations -> results

Based on this law, your results in life are a direct outcome of your choice of language.

Words begin in our mind first, long before we speak them – it’s that little voice in your head. You know the one. “What voice?” you may be thinking – THAT ONE!

When our words change, our thoughts, vibes and results change.

You can only ever omit one vibration at a time. It’s not physically possible to think two thoughts at once. Which means we have the power of choice.

Do you have people in your life that are constantly in a state of complaint? You know the drill ‘I hate my job’, ‘my partner just doesn’t get it’, ‘I have no money’. They tell the story of what they don’t want in their lives, yet rarely focus on what they do want.

The universe cannot work with what you don’t want in your life.

If you are dissatisfied with something, then focus on what you do want to happen. What does the desired result look like? How does it feel? What’s changed? Now those are things that the universe can work in your favour.

So if our language creates our reality, here are 3 words to eliminate from your vocabulary:

“Don’t”
“Not”
“No”

The average person says these 150 times before noon!

We also have the power to push the reset button at any moment.

We can retrace backwards from the desired result to make it happen. Ask yourself – what is the desired result? Then work backwards from that – so what do I need to feel? What do I need to think? What do I need to say?

What vibrations will you choose to send out to the universe today?

Start today to tell yourself a better story. And believe it.

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