The Happy Hunt
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Private Yoga Breaks
  • Retreats

"When you stop comparing what is right here and now with what you wish were, you can begin to enjoy what is".  Cheri Huber

29/5/2013

8 Comments

 
Contemplation this week...

When I signed up for Yoga teaching training I never imagined I would struggle to find confidence in delivering instruction. But I felt awkward, uncomfortable and anxious.  I worked hard, and delivered my sequence the best I could for my practical  assessment.  I felt elated and that I had turned a HUGE corner. 

And then I got my feedback... A couple of points really stuck in my throat. But rather than focus on working on them I started to compare myself to other students.  Even though I had passed I was judging myself against my peers.  Something I have never done before.  I have always been content to be who I am, even if I am working towards change.  

After investing in something that had been such a challenge for me, the lack of positive feedback left me bereft.  Where had my experience, their perception and my response got in such a muddle? 

I then got some truly excellent advice and after a good chat with the course leader things were put into perspective.  

One of my favourite lessons from yoga is to act free from attachment to the   outcome.  Rather than focusing on the criticism I am now focusing on the energy and intention that I put into it. I did my best.  I showed up and stepped into the arena. I did battle with the things that challenged me. For that I will always be proud of
myself.
It is the will to step into the area when the outcome is uncertain which is important to me. 

If I worried about what everyone might think of my ability I would never try anything. If I compared myself to everyone I would never embrace my individualism. 
 
With love
Charlotte
Picture
Photo by Jenny Geering https://www.facebook.com/thefulljenny
If you would like to sign up for blog updates pop your email address in here - it is completely free!
8 Comments

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony".  Thomas Merton

22/5/2013

1 Comment

 
When we have commitments, work hard, want a life and to have nice things, it can be hard to find a balance and do everything. 
  
Everyone is busy, so it must be right, right?  I believe it’s a modern fallacy that if
we are not busier than others we are not doing life right.  Life is so full of stuff, but is it the right stuff?  Is that stuff making you happy?

Again and again I hear this idea we have to do more, have less free time, less sleep, more stress in order to be accepted and our efforts acknowledged. 

When did this happen? Why is it wrong to relax, have time and energy to enjoy the fruits of our labours? And I mean each day, not in a time slot we had to book 3 months in advance and re-schedule twice.

How do we create balance?   For me, this started by writing a personal statement.  I began brainstorming the things I wanted, who I am, what is important to me etc.  I developed those words into sentences, and tied it all together.  I revisit and review
this statement regularly. 

No matter what your current obligations and constraints may be.  With clarity, focus, and will you can achieve a better life balance. It might take compromise, giving some things up completely, accepting help, investment, and time. 
PictureNurturing my meadow means I can relax there!
And, if you would like some help writing that personal statement, sign up to The Happy Hunt to download the pdf on Personal Statements in the Resources Page – it is completely free.

See you soon!

Charlotte

Thank you for reading my blog today.  If you would like to join me for updates pop your name in the box to the right - it is free and I wont share your details with anyone else.
1 Comment

“Human affection, warmth, friendship, and so on, are conditions absolutely necessary for happiness”. Dalai Lama

15/5/2013

8 Comments

 
Why do people react to us in a harmful and aggressive way sometimes?  When we have been bruised by another it can be easy to retaliate or withdraw.  In these situations it is important to show compassion, without being walked over.  Coming from a place of compassion allows us to maintain our peace.  It stops us from shutting
ourselves off to all of the love and life there is out there.  

Compassion is something I feel strongly about.  I want to share with you something the Dalai Lama once said -

“Compassion can be roughly defined in terms of a state of mind that is nonviolent, nonharming, and nonaggressive.  It is a mental attitude based on the wish for others to be free of their suffering and is associated with a sense of commitment,  responsibility, and respect towards others…..perhaps one could begin with the
wish that oneself be free of suffering and then take that natural feeling towards oneself and cultivate it, enhance it, and extend it out to include and embrace others.”

If everyone cultivated compassion within themselves there would be less harmful and aggressive behaviour.  But, we cannot change other people. We can cultivate compassion within ourselves though, and then when these things  inevitably happen, we can cope better.
PictureIt really really does!
We can extend our compassion towards someone else who is clearly in negative space, and move on to extend our love and compassion to others.

With Love and Light
Charlotte

Dalai Lama quotes are taken from The Art Of Happiness.

Subscription to my mailing list is completely free. Pop your email in the box on the right to sign up and you will receive weekly emails with my blogs.  

Feel free to share my blog too!
8 Comments

I Don't Care If I Suck at Sales & Marketing.

8/5/2013

15 Comments

 
Apparently sales and marketing are important for business. Having always considered myself to be terrible at them I invested in training.  

My issue is I don’t want to be pushy or slimy. 
  
I found someone who promoted their on-line sales and marketing course as a new specifically non slimy and sleazy way.  I contemplated, investigated, and jumped in, keen to learn and full of hope.

A few weeks in we were being told to offer ‘bribes’…can you hear my heart sinking?  I contemplated some more.  I don’t have to bribe, I can leave that and learn the other
stuff.  Phew.

By the final module we were being told to use techniques which were creating a lot of resistance.  
 
Feeling vulnerable I reached out on the weekly coaching call, submitting a question asking if there was another way and what I could do to help my resistance.  

Well…I received a very public and humiliating ‘smack down’ (as it was described
afterwards on the forum).  

Read More
15 Comments

"The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered your become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become".  Gisele Bundchen  

1/5/2013

12 Comments

 
Sometimes, even though we have a niggling feeling that something is not right for us, we do it anyway. Why?

In my past I have ignored my intuition because of my eternal optimism that things will be fine and lack of confidence in my decision making. For example, I commit to something, and then get a bad feeling.  Instead of calling time I keep going – sure that I committed for a reason; there is something I can learn. 

Maybe as we get older we become more confident in our decision making?  Foreseeing which possible outcomes are more likely as a result of our life experience.

Also, as I become more committed to myself, my gifts, outlook, and potential, I can feel an actual intuitive presence guiding me. Authenticity, integrity, and honestly have
become increasingly important to me.  As my life has become more aligned with these values, so my sense of when they are and are not present is heightened. 

Now I see that these alarm bells are vital to my happiness.  If I am not honouring my intuition I am not honouring my values. As I am more able to trust what is good and right for me, so I am able to respectfully decline and withdraw from what is not.  
 
The voice within us, the niggle, the shiver, the headache, the tension – can become the flutter of joy, the leap of the heart, the good night sleep, the sigh of relief.
I would love for you to share your thoughts on intuition and how/if you tune in – please feel free to share any ideas in the comments below.

See you next week!

Charlotte
Picture
My mailing list is free, and I wont share your information with anyone else.  

I send out my weekly blogs, with some extra ideas, notes or photos.  And it includes access to my free resources page.
12 Comments
    Join The Happy Hunt 
    (Its Free!)

    Monthly(ish) email with my blog updates, offers, free courses, and a few extra ramblings!
    Pop your email in below and click Subscribe.

    Subscribe

    * indicates required

    All my YouTube vids can be found here! 
    www.youtube.com/thehappyhunt

    Archives

    March 2022
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Picture
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Private Yoga Breaks
  • Retreats