REMIND YOURSELF WHAT MATTERS BY ASHLEIGH GUTHRIE

REMIND YOURSELF WHAT MATTERS BY ASHLEIGH GUTHRIE

© BROOD MAGAZINE

Remind Yourself of What Matters

 As I sit here and breathe deeply, sipping my tea, eating a morning pastry, I am reminded of the importance of taking time to pause.

Questions swirling through my mind, “Who are you beneath the fast paced ‘doingness’ of life?” Chopping and changing, constantly moving.

Oceanic waves of emotions rise to the surface before crashing to the shores of my active mind. I ask myself “what would happen if you just stopped for a moment, closed your eyes and took a long deep breath?”

“What would happen If you slowed down long enough to FEEL what was bubbling beneath the surface, to be with the swirling sensations lingering in the pit of my stomach.”

Who are you beneath the surface level responses to “How are you?”

If lock down taught us anything it is that we as human ‘beings’ are not meant to be living life at a million miles an hour. Savour every moment, take time to rest and recalibrate, allow yourself the space to regularly reflect in order to see how far you’ve come.

Remember to celebrate the beauty of who you are, in both the shadow and the light.

Release Rituals

To honour the change in season, we can begin by exploring if there is anything in your life that you feel it is time for you to let go of and forgive or if there is anyone you wish to apologize to. You can ritualise this by lighting a candle and incense.

A great practice to accompany this is the ritual of Ho’oponopono, a traditional Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. You can listen to a version of this practice on one of my playlists here.

Taking time to pause and go within can help you to remember that you have the power to bring awareness to all that has been holding you back. Walks in nature could be ideal at this time for helping you to become grounded in your body as you connect with where you are storing dense energy, people or situations that are ready to be released.

 Self-Care

We are continuously reminded that our world is facing many challenges and that caring for ourselves is more important than ever. You can bring awareness to this by making time to be intentional in your self-care routine daily. 

My invitation is to take a moment before you start your day to look in the mirror and ask yourself, what you need in order to cultivate peace from within your own mental health.

When I wake up, I like to ask myself these 3 questions.

“How am I feeling today?”

“What do I need today?”

“How can I best show up in the world today?”

When we practice genuine self-care, we get the opportunity to understand ourselves better, recharge our batteries before they’re empty, and maintain the ability to make a difference for our loved ones and communities.

“It’s okay to take time for yourself. We give so much of ourselves to others, and we need to be fuelled both physically and mentally. If we are in balance, it helps us in all our interactions.”
— Faith Hill

An Act of Love

Take time this month to express love in all its beautiful ways throughout all your relations. Love is the most powerful force we can experience as humans. It helps us to call upon strength to transmute all suffering on earth. I recommend taking time to pause and tune in to the love you cherish in your life and offer gratitude. Write out a list of all the people you love, how they have impacted you, and how you have felt loved throughout your life so far.

Wishing you a magical October!

Want to get in touch with Ashleigh? She is available weekdays at courage.freedom.joy@gmail.com or chat with her directly on Instagram @ashleighguthrie01

Ashleigh Guthrie is a spiritual mentor, women’s circle facilitator, sound healer and trauma informed child hypnotherapist – trained by teachers from different traditions all over the world. Ashleigh is BROOD Magazine’s bonus mum and earth angel. 

Written by Ashleigh Guthrie

 KEEP UP TO DATE WITH BROOD:

* indicates required
Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Brood Magazine:
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.
We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Related Articles

Sarah Jayne Dunn & Jon Smith: On Creating more time with your family outdoors

It can be hard to find balance in life when we are so busy with all the other things that we have to juggle. One thing that has stood out since starting BROOD, is just how many of us are constantly looking for more ways to try switch off and spend quality time as a family. It’s also clear that we all want to incorporate ways to exercise into our weekly routine and encourage our kids to be active and outdoors too, but it can be hard to fit it in when there is only so many hours in the day! So, with a new sport activity sweeping exciting across the UK – Padel – we just had to find out what all the hype was all about, and to see if it was an activity that would fit into family life.

read more

How children can enrich your spiritual path

How children can enrich your spiritual path

Little People London

How children can enrich your spiritual path.

The beginning of my spiritual journey was one spent in solitude, I loved creating my own temple space within my living room, I meditated within the forest at the back of my home, I travelled globally escaping the reality of the ‘normal world’, learning the landscapes of my inner world, and this served me well as a single woman who was desperately trying to find herself.

 

Now, 2.5 years into a committed relationship and co-parenting I find myself reflecting on how children an enrich your spiritual path. I personally have experienced a heightened state of appreciation, wonder and inspiration from watching my partners son navigate the world in his own unique way. Becoming a bonus parent has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my life. Teaching a child how to take responsibility for themselves whilst facing the fears of having responsibility of another human has been quite sobering!

 

Having a child in my home has grounded and rooted me into the realities of relationships and connected me into deeper states of joy. My inner child is constantly inspired by Theo’s artistic imagination, he reminds me to tap into the innocence of taking pleasure from the simplest of experiences and to stop taking life so seriously. Because of him I wish to show up as the best version of myself within my relationship, which means learning to forgive myself and each other when we “lose our shit.”

 

I’ve learnt to slow right down and be patient when Theo is sharing his own wisdom on the meaning of things he sees in nature, his perspective on past lives, manifestation and what happens when we die. In him I see a little shaman who is an old soul, connected to the subtle energies of this world. I enjoy being mindful with his curiosity and seeing life through his eyes.

 

Children constantly teach us the marvels of the world around us, to be grateful for the daily mircles, and come back to meaningful playfulness. They remind us to step outside the mindless wheel of worry and to take time to be present, to connect and listen.

 

 

Ways to cultivate your child’s spiritual curiosity

 

Be patient, when your child is asking their cosmic questions go down the rabbit hole with them until they feel complete in your conversation.

 

Teach them to be kind to other and stand up for what they believe in.

 

By introducing spiritual practices and rituals when they are young, such as lighting candles or incantations (prayers) – your child will view them as a natural part of life, and you’ll have a creative influence over them before others supress’ it within them.

 

This can be incorporated into ordinary actions and words. When you get out of bed in the morning, you can fling your arms up in the air and say out loud, “Today is going to be a good day”, At bedtime, you can say good night by sharing something you appreciate about each other and express gratitude for something you received during the day.

 

Try to limit the amount of time they watch tv, scroll on their phones and play video games, encourage your child to play outside in nature as much as possible. Teach them to respect nature by picking up their rubbish and thanking the tree’s.

 

Play guided meditations and relaxation music to help them sleep at night.

 

Above all make it fun, sing, dance, get dirty in the mud, make up stories, read stories together, paint pictures and let your imaginations run wild!

 

Let your child lead, you might discover something you never thought of before.

Talk to other parents. Reach out to your fellow Brood members and find other families who share your passion and values.

 

Ashleigh Guthrie

Ashleigh Guthrie is a spiritual mentor and wellness practitioner. She lives with her partner in Prestwich, Manchester and is a bonus parent to Theo, age 11. She especially enjoys working with women who are interested in mapping their menstrual cycles for the benefit of their business growth, cultivating conscious relationships and women’s circles.

Connect with her on Instagram and send her a DM o book a free discovery call. @ashleighguthrie01

Written by Ashleigh Guthrie

 KEEP UP TO DATE WITH BROOD:

* indicates required
Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Brood Magazine:
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.
We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Related Articles

Sarah Jayne Dunn & Jon Smith: On Creating more time with your family outdoors

It can be hard to find balance in life when we are so busy with all the other things that we have to juggle. One thing that has stood out since starting BROOD, is just how many of us are constantly looking for more ways to try switch off and spend quality time as a family. It’s also clear that we all want to incorporate ways to exercise into our weekly routine and encourage our kids to be active and outdoors too, but it can be hard to fit it in when there is only so many hours in the day! So, with a new sport activity sweeping exciting across the UK – Padel – we just had to find out what all the hype was all about, and to see if it was an activity that would fit into family life.

read more
4 Simple ways to reset when you’re feeling burnt out and overwhelmed

4 Simple ways to reset when you’re feeling burnt out and overwhelmed

ASHLEIGH GUTHRIE. IMAGE © TOM PITFIELD PHOTOGRAPHY

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PIECES OF ADVICE FOR CREATIVE PRODUCTIVITY IS, “IF YOUR MIND IS EMPTY READ, IF YOUR MIND IS FULL WRITE.” 

KNOWING WHEN TO REST AND WHEN TO ACT THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT CYCLES OF THE MONTH AND SEASONS HAS CREATED MORE JOY AND CONNECTION WITHIN MYSELF, MY RELATIONSHIPS AND BUSINESS.

HERE ARE FOUR WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR SELF AWARENESS AND TRANSFORM YOUR HABITS OF STRESS INTO A STRONG SELF-CARE PRACTICE

Mentally

Ever felt like your brain to mouth co-ordination has disappeared? Then you know what it’s like to need mental rest, especially leading up to your time of the month or before launching a big work project.

You may realise you’ve been distracting yourself more by scrolling or sending a barely comprehensible voice note. Perhaps you notice your thoughts starting to turn negative, judging everything you do, or sabotaging and procrastination kicks in.  

The next time you need a mental break, turn off your screens and take a few moments to ground yourself outside, get your feet on the earth and take some deep breaths. I’ve found that creating a 10-30minute morning practice of meditation, gentle movement and writing down 5 things I’m grateful for really helps to set me up for the day.

Physically 

Physical burnout and overwhelm can feel like walking through quicksand. When we ignore the warning signs of overwhelm, the body and nervous system can become overly sensitive to loud noises and all you want is your bed, not the greatest when you have a business to run and little ones needing your attention.

The most healing form of physical rest is sleep and I love bedtime rituals, consider going to bed 30 minutes earlier, or taking a hot bath with lavender and magnesium salts. 

Catching up on physical rest can also mean stepping away from your desk regularly and taking deep breaths during the workday, eating a balanced died or perhaps booking in a restorative yoga class to give your body some time to stretch. Knowing what your body needs during the different hormonal stages of the month may help you to feel more refreshed and energised, for those family gatherings and work projects.

Spiritually

Sometimes it can feel like we are doing things alone. So, for me, spiritual rest & reset can look like finding people who are in my tribe — I enjoy attending women’s circles, safe spaces where I know I will be held, looked after and nourished at a soul level.

For you, social rest might mean catching up with a friend who knows you inside and out. Or perhaps it’s just taking a night off from socialising and reconnecting with yourself in a way that feels good.

At times we just need to remember the things that brought us joy as a child, like painting, riding horses, smelling a flower, eating a strawberry. Come back to the things that feel like home.

Emotionally

Think of how you feel after a you’ve over given and put everyone else’s needs before your own — after a while you may begin to feel resentful, exhausted, and confused as to why you have less patience to engage with family and more easily frustrated. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the signals from your emotional body and have awareness of when you tank is almost full.

A favourite tool of mine when I find myself spiralling is to put a timer on and tip out how you’re feeling. This can look like journaling or speaking to someone who is available and capable of validating and listening to your needs.

That could mean scheduling regular therapy sessions or finding people with whom you can be authentically yourself with and perhaps offer you a hug.

If you enjoyed reading this post, then do join me for a FREE monthly Ask Ashleigh New Moon Ceremony in which I share more self awareness techniques and spiritual insight. Link can be found on my Instagram bio.

You might also like to join my wonderful Facebook community at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/612248250194973

Written by Ashleigh Guthrie

 KEEP UP TO DATE WITH BROOD:

* indicates required
Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Brood Magazine:
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.
We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Related Articles

Sarah Jayne Dunn & Jon Smith: On Creating more time with your family outdoors

It can be hard to find balance in life when we are so busy with all the other things that we have to juggle. One thing that has stood out since starting BROOD, is just how many of us are constantly looking for more ways to try switch off and spend quality time as a family. It’s also clear that we all want to incorporate ways to exercise into our weekly routine and encourage our kids to be active and outdoors too, but it can be hard to fit it in when there is only so many hours in the day! So, with a new sport activity sweeping exciting across the UK – Padel – we just had to find out what all the hype was all about, and to see if it was an activity that would fit into family life.

read more