What a day…..

Last week we had the pleasure of holding a summer retreat at Rockfield Barn, Pwll Y Cwm Farm, in Rockfield. In 2022 my husband and I had our wedding reception here and I always vowed to come back and hold and event here one day.

The venue sits in a wonderful position of having views of both the Monmouth horizon on the East side and the Black Mountains on the West. The weather was perfect for the retreat which allowed the attendees to enjoy the wonderful space of being in a situation where they were surround by calmness, nature, birdsong and peace all day.

As I delivered the mindfulness session it reminded me again to be mindful in my own life and probably even more so than I have been over recent times. These are the pointers I shared with the group, maybe they will act as reminders for you too:

Release the past – enjoy the now

Stop wishing the future was now – live for today

Stop comparisons – you are who you were born to be, enjoy it

Acceptance – you can’t always change what is, accept it and use it as a springboard to move forward

Take baby steps – each day take one small step, one day you will look back and realise you have climbed a mountain

Connect with the moment – take ten minutes stillness in each day to just sit and be with yourself

Keep it simple – don’t overcomplicate your life, it’s too stressful!

I hope you can use some of these to help you become more mindful of the here and now. There is so much to enjoy in every day, but this can sometimes get lost in continuous thinking. The more you can stop your mind from tumbling about between past and future the more you can enjoy the present moment.

The mindfulness session was followed by some meditation outside with the lovely Miriam Vincent who then delivered a wonderful creative art session, I have not dabbled with paint since my school days, it’s an easy bug to catch for sure, now got the urge to paint again.

Lunch was followed by an introduction to reflexology and Indian head massage with Nicola and Yvonne then a gentle yoga session plus sound bath with Eve.

I think it is suffice to say that all attendees left feeling relaxed, rested and mindful of how important it is to take time out, take a day for you now and again, rejoice in the moment, enjoy the now as it unfolds, live it, breathe it and make the most of every single moment of the life you have.

As I shared with the attendees the mind knows no different between vision and reality, if you feed in negative thoughts and actions then that it is what unfolds, do the opposite, feed it positive thoughts and actions then guess what you get out, yep, a positive reality!

So, just for today make a conscious decision to banish any negativity, any continuous thinking, any comparisons, spend some time outside with nature, listen to the birdsong, breathe in the wonderful air of Monmouthshire (or wherever you may be), do it today and you will enjoy it so much I am sure you will want to put it on repeat.

Remember feed your mind with positivity so your life can bring more of the same to you.