Self Care....The Smile Coach says.....just do it!

 Self Care.....The Smile Coach says...just do it!

You have to look after yourself……..the rest will follow along behind.

Hi Everyone,

Another blog, only a couple of weeks after the last, I’m getting back into the flow, but without making it “have” to happen…life is busy for us all, let’s just do what we can!

So self care….this has been on my mind lately, so it’s time to write it out, remove it from my brain, and share it with you….hopefully it resonates with you and will keep the conversation going that if you look after yourself, you can then look after everyone else, but you must make yourself number 1…..not the one at the back of the queue, that only gets the scraps, if there’s anything left.

As lovely as it would be to book ourselves into Champneys for an luxurious 5 star Spa break every weekend, I’m not talking about the big things. For me it’s all about the small things, the everyday things that you can do to add a little sparkle to your day.

One day last week, I had 30 mins in between the school run and starting work, so I got home, made a coffee ( I love a proper expresso in the morning), grabbed my book and walked to my 6 minute bench…why 6 minutes? During Lockdown I worked out that I could get to the bench in 6 mins, so I could time my lunch breaks around a little time out, to breath and take in the views of beautiful Hastings Old Town. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see most of my posts involve pictures of the Old Town, it really is one of my happy places, again nothing big, just seeing views that I love can just reset your brain enough to deal with the rest of that day/week/month.

Bliss....

...with the best view!

Back to my coffee, I did feel a bit of a wally walking with my little expresso cup, but sod it, sometimes you just have to do it, and it was a talking point for anyone that returned my greeting of “morning” as I passed people walking to my bench. I’ve written in previous blogs about how I greet most people I pass; a smile can go far and it’s lovely when you get one back too!

Limited time, a coffee and reading a bit more of my book, set me up for the day, which was a busy one, but when I looked back over the day, I had done something for me, in amongst the many things done for others throughout the day and evening.

Get outside feel the sunshine on your back, ground yourself, dance in the rain, whatever works for you.

Meet up with a friend, put the world to rights! Running gives, me that and now I love sea swimming too, I get into the sea, and it feels like you really do leave any emotional baggage on the beach. A good chat as you swim up and down completely replenishes your mind, body, and soul and hopefully does some toning up as you go to!

A view from a self care swim

Tonight, as I type, I’ve had something that became very rare during the pandemic…. a night to myself with the freedom of the remote! Before the pandemic, we were always in and out during the week, but as with us all, life became very “together” during Covid, and remote control freedom wasn’t quite so free! The only problem being that sometimes I get bored flicking through, trying to find something that I will enjoy on my own. The best bit about these evenings, is just sitting down and relaxing, some chocolate may have also jumped into my palm tonight, but that’s all good, just what we’re talking about, doing what’s good for you at that moment in time.

You may have a completely different list of self-care things that you like to do, that’s ok, it’s all about doing what works for you, what you can fit in.

I do have long term thoughts on what I can do to look after myself, I love meditation, I love anything spiritual and one day I’d love to dedicate time to the practice of Yoga. I’ve done classes over the years, but I’d like to learn more about the spiritual side of it too. I’d love to study it I guess, but not to teach it, just to understand more about how it combines, exercise with the intricate systems within the body and gives you time to just stop and breathe.

Breathing is another form of self-care, that I love to do, there doesn’t have to be a way to do it, just go to a favourite place and breathe! Simple! When you feel stressed, just stop and breathe, deep breaths can just allow you time to find another perspective on something, stop you striving and keep you in the moment. Mindfulness is the practice of learning to listen to your body by bringing it back to the breath, I love it because you can do it anywhere, for any length of time, but it will always work, no matter how you do it.

Lastly…. book yourself a treat, small or large it’s up to you, but do it! You’d do it for everyone else, so why not for yourself? Maybe it’s an eyebrow wax, or a manicure or maybe a haircut, a little bit of time out, just do it.

Whatever you do, the smile that you will gain from taking that little bit of time will be worth it. If you think of yourself as a phone, low on charge, what would you do? You’d plug it in to charge it up, that’s what self-care is, rebuilding your power and energy to maintain your resilience and grow your confidence and contribute to yours and everyone else’s lives around you, there’s no shame in that!

Stay strong, keep smiling and maybe Reiki could be part of that self-care routine!

Lots of Love

Emma

The Smile Coach 😊

The Smile Coach is Evolving: Who am I? 2021….

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, am I who I used to be? Am I who I want to be?

I think it’s fair to say that none of us are probably who we used to be, we’ve survived a pandemic, and are now learning to live again, re-entering the world around us, getting used to the fact that things we used to take for granted, are things that we can now do again, but we were forced to switch off from many things, like, meeting friends and family, we lived in our bubble and although we had the technology to communicate virtually, actual human contact we are rebuilding, renewing and restarting! So, apologies if you know me personally and we haven’t yet met up post-pandemic, let’s make plans, I’m ready to take on the world again!

A few weeks back I thought I was ready to do that too, I felt excited that there were things in the calendar again, life was becoming normal and then…I tested positive for Covid. I will be forever grateful that it was a very mild case, just a cold, pre-pandemic, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, the worst part of it was thinking about who I could have passed it onto, the worry put knots in my stomach and a maze of too many thoughts in my mind.

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how mindful you are, how aware you are, sometimes, you just can’t avoid feeling lost, confused, a little low too, we are all human and it’s going to happen.

What’s important is how we deal with that and how we get through the other side….not so easy when you self-isolate within your self-isolating household , just to make sure that they don’t catch it…..this part was a success though…..manic cleaning and spraying of all surfaces and handles, wearing a face mask around the house, and living like I was back in Halls of Residence at university (except this time I had to cook for all my housemates too), these all worked…and 10 days later we came out the other side, phew! What an experience, but we did it! The best part was when the Self-isolating rules changed, so it meant that my little Warehams could go out, but the adults couldn’t, off you go Jack, see you later! Hmmm, maybe not!

A Self Isolation Sunset :)

So here we are again, looking forward to going out and about, slightly more reserved than previously, back to basics of masks and sprays again…. but grateful that we can do it!

I got a little sidetracked there, but who am I? Well, I’m still Emma, I’m still a married mum of 2 lovely children, Aimee being my chilled out teenage bundle of fun and Jack being my 7-year-old bundle of never-ending energy.

I still have a long-held vision of spreading smiles, positivity and supporting the world to do whatever it wants to do. How can I back that up? I feel I’ve been on this pathway for a longtime, I gained 10 years coaching experience in my day job and then life experiences kept on coming, weight loss, fitness journey’s, being an allergy mum, otherwise known as a warrior mum in my eyes, and I’m sure life will keep on giving too, well it already has, but I’ll save that for future blogs!

To back that all up I have worked through a Life Coaching course, and in 2019 I began a journey of becoming a Reiki practitioner, something that has become a passion, learning and evolving as I go, this journey will never end as it enables me to spread smiles in person or to anywhere across the world using the powerful lifeforce energy of Reiki. It’s something I am never the best at explaining, I prefer to let someone experience it, because every treatment is unique to that person, but all that it can be is a positive release, bringing you calm, peace and a way out from whatever energy is no longer serving you well. It’s like a massage without touch and a clear out of your mind all in one.

I have always had an interest in spirituality too, dabbling in many experiences over my lifetime, but during 2020 a chance Zoom event led to me joining a mediumship circle and I have finally found a way to develop the sense of “knowing” that I’ve always had…it just makes a lot more sense now. I’ve met many people across the world doing this and again will be forever grateful for this Covid experience.. I can channel spirit, I have learnt to structure a reading, but most importantly I have learnt that this is just part of me, nothing to be scared of, just like a radio, I can tune in and tune out too. But what an honour it is to do it, and to finally understand more, another piece of my own puzzle slots into place.

Developing in this way has really infused my Reiki experiences too, it has evolved just like me, I’m more certain of what comes through in messages or pictures and I can call on spirit to work with me too…sometimes they just do it anyway. Although I would only find the right way to communicate this with a smiler, if it was wanted. 

. I can channel spirit, I have learnt to structure a reading, but most importantly I have learnt that this is just part of me, nothing to be scared of, just like a radio, I can tune in and tune out too. But what an honour it is to do it, and to finally understand more, another piece of my own puzzle slots into place.

Developing in this way has really infused my Reiki healing too, it has evolved just like me, I’m more certain of what comes through in messages or pictures and I can call on spirit to work with me too…sometimes they just do it anyway. Although I would only find the right way to communicate this with a smiler, if it was wanted.

When I began Smile Coaching, I thought I knew what I was here to do, I thought Weight loss coaching was what it was going to be, but again it’s evolved, through all of the above, I now find myself providing  Intuitive and motivational coaching, of course I have studied coaching, coaching models and lots of theory, but what I find myself saying and doing comes from the gut, what fits with my Smiler comes from what feels right to say or suggest.

In all the studies that I have completed, spiritual or technical, uni degree, everyday life, I have realised am not one for technical, analytical jargon, I’m rubbish at using the “right” phrases, the “words” of the day, it’s just not how I work, I can’t tell you the history of the matriarchal and/ or patriarchal society, or why you should be looking at this piece of research as opposed to this one, because I just don’t retain that kind of info, although I can promise you that I have read it and taken in  a little pieces of information from it all, in order to learn and develop my own knowledge.

What is important to me is people, how they feel, how they are doing and how I can help to support them. I have come to realise that it’s not important what language I use, but it is importantly that I speak in a clear way that is comfortable to me, in order for me to have confidence in the guidance that I share, I think I am a plain speaking Intuitive Life coach combined with Reiki Practitioner, I can’t always tell you the name of the dimension that you are entering, but I can definitely help you to feel it….How does that sound? Let’s get started!!!!

So who do I want to be going forward?

Plain and simply, I just want to be me, I want to do what feels natural, right and in doing that, I want to be a successful Smile Coach. I have thoughts and plans, but knowing how I’ve evolved already, I am prepared to be led by the universe, but also by anyone that I encounter along the way.

I want to keep an open mind, because I do know that Smilers can appear anywhere…and I can’t wait to meet you!

Sending out some Reiki love :)

Lots of Love,

Emma

The Smile Coach

2021

 

If you like what you have just read, have a look at www.thesmilecoachforyou.co.uk for more blogs, follow me on Facebook/Instagram @thesmilecoachforyou and then get in touch for a chat to see how I can support you, I really can’t wait to get started.