Ah! It's here again... Spring!

I love this time of year. I don't know what I like most; the moving further away from winter or the moving toward summer?

It's like mindfulness in a sense: BE HERE NOW!

The over-arching principle of our social cognitive brain does the same thing... it drives us to move away from threat and gravitate towards our preferences - the things we find more rewarding. So, in a way, it is a natural phenomenon to find ourselves turning our backs on those aspects we would r...

Finally, I’ve finished – the last few miles on the last day of the year, and it feels great to have completed my 12 month goal: to run 1000 miles around the City of Edinburgh, Scotland.

My first run, on January 1st 2017, was a slow 6 miles down the Almond River and along Cramond prom.  I did the same run yesterday (although a bit quicker – I’m still a plodder but my pace has improved over the year). As for covering as many of the streets, roads and paths of Edinburgh as I could, I discovered pa...

When was the last time you were able to sit back, allow your mind to be at ease and just breathe?

For me it feels like I was wrestling with getting the balance right in my life for ever; working long hours, juggling work projects and making rapid fire decisions to keep moving things forward in my business.

And yet, it wasn't that long ago that this picture was taken. In fact I have a series of me-time pictures taken throughout the year that disputes the image my mind is holding of a stressed o...

Introduction by Michele Armstrong - As a trainer of professional coaches, I am priviledged to walk alongside many great people as they embark on their journey to become better equipped to support others in realising their ambitions and dreams. One of our most recent coaches-in-training blew me away with the depth of learning that he encountered on his journey, that I asked his permission to share his personal reflections in the hope that they may inspire you to begin your journey.

My perso...

Life is… Learning, connecting and growing a life you love living.

Life is…a dream;

…a struggle;

            …like a box of chocolates;

            …a journey;

Many years ago, my husband Raymy and I were walking in Paris when I noticed a man and a little girl coming towards us.  Their conversation was very animated with his hands and face expressing frustration and her body language – crossing her arms and stamping her foot down hard – reflecting her words, “Daddy, that’s not fair”.

In a mo...

On Becoming a Coach: a personal reflection on the Coach training journey by Stuart Sandeman, Executive Coach | Personal Coach | Artist Mentor 

Fully absorbed in a hedonistic lifestyle as an international DJ, coaching was not a profession I gave much airtime. I believed it was an American fad represented by sickly sweet, upbeat motivators claiming to help people get rich, happy and healthy. It wasn’t until I experienced the loss of a loved one that I found solace in various self-help techniques,...

I’m what you call an off/on jogger – and for the last 6 months it’s been mostly off. I realised that when I have something to aim for, I can usually sustain a regular running routine. Last year, I trained for and then completed the Edinburgh half Marathon – which was great!  For the 3 months leading up to the run at the end of May I more or less stuck to my training programme and enjoyed as much as I endured the run itself. And then….. I pretty much stopped running.

Having set a goal and achieved...

In considering the theme of #Advent Blogs 2016 – Heights, Hearts & Hollows... 

... my mind was filled with so many thoughts I wanted to share under each of these topics.  I spent a few days sitting with my mind full of ideas, then started to get all my thoughts out onto paper by journaling freely, until the story began to emerge. At times words would pour out in a flood and confuse my senses; at other times I would stare at a blank page in the way I imagine Ted Hughes might have done as he wait...

How many times have we promised ourselves that we’re going to do something, to start something or maybe even to finish something we started a while ago and then…….for some reason we never seem to get around to it.  Something gets in the way, the busyness, distractions, procrastination – all underpinned by that feeling of not having enough time.

Which is nonsense. We have the time we have and we make choices about how we use it. What if we thought about time in the way we think about money – how...

The Challenge

You may already know that on the 23rd July, 2016, my husband and I set ourselves a 100 Day Challenge.

If you know that, then you are probably aware that we set ourselves the challenge of building a place to work and launching a new business by 30th October, 2016.

You may also know, that this challenge came about after the untimely loss of our daughter which resulted in her two young children coming to live with us full time and changing he trajectory of our life path. As well as...