I spent a blissful weekend in my friend’s Derbyshire garden last week. She has transformed a plot of land into a magical garden of multi-coloured nooks and crannies; every plant carefully selected for timing, colour and purpose. It was a rare summer-hot day in this rain soaked spring we are having and so we took full advantage and enjoyed Pimms in the sun, drank tea on the swing and contemplated life and the universe, just as we have always done over the last few decades. We met at primary school and never stopped being friends. Nothing much has changed except for the fact she used to come round to my house to play in the garden, and now I drive for two and a half hours to play in hers.  I always leave this little sanctury at the foothills of the Peak District inspired in many ways. Horticulturally, I was re-invigorated to tackle my own little estate. So yesterday I communed with nature and spent a meditative couple of hours knuckle deep in potting compost, planting a few new geraniums in the remaining empty pots and reviving the soil of the balcony boxes, whose incumbents survived the winter for the first time in [...]

Her face red, her curly raven hair looking like it had been electrocuted, and her words vaporising before they had condensed into anything that made sense. Nothing usually escaped the Drama Queen, except important words at important moments. On these occasions the Drama Queen became speechless and her usually regal demeanour faded as frustration welled up inside. The Drama Queen was having one of her customary internal melt downs. They had grown fewer and further between episodes as the decades passed, but once in a while they reared their head to remind her she was not being understood. Friends and family would give her gifts but not the gifts she wanted. They would give her compliments but not the compliments she needed. They gave her time, but not in the way she needed it. “Mirror mirror on the wall when will ever be about me?” the Drama Queen asked her reflection one day when one of her friends did not seem to be taking her into consideration any more. “What is so hard about asking someone how they are and what have they been up to?” the Drama Queen thundered after a particularly wet and lonely weekend. “On what planet does [...]

This will be my first encounter with Stephen Russell, aka The Barefoot Doctor, and if the energy and humour in his book The Man Who Drove with His Eyes Closed is anything to go by, the evening at Sadler’s Wells is going to be fun. I have so many books piling up asking to be read and concepts jumping up and down dying to be explored that right now another author and teacher to connect with is the last thing I am looking for. But the event came with two endorsements that made me think this avenue was worth at least investing a little time, money and energy in. The first endorsement, and for me the most important because it was personal, was from my teacher and friend Davina MacKail mentioning the upcoming talk in her own New Year newsletter. The second was the enthusiastic forward, written by author John Parkin for Stephen’s book The Man Who Drove with His Eyes Closed. I love the idea that Stephen Russell has studied with masters ahead of, as John put it, “an era before you could do Yoga in your local gym, tai Chi in the church [...]

The Mayan long calendar is ending but the world is not. The year 2012 has the power of the number five and, while it might be a roller coaster ride for some, five is all about change. The energy of the number five is about exploring the structure, says Colin Baker in his illustrated book on Numerology. Five is a number not constrained by convention; it sees new possibilities in existing structures and communicates them with enthusiasm, says Colin. Five is about being on an exciting voyage of discovery, which is very much in line with the dawning of The Age of Aquarius. On her Way Ahead tour, Shelley von Strunckel gave us an insight about what it will be like to live in The Age of Aquarius for the next 2,150 years. This is the era of the individual; the time of the alpha female (and the metro-sexual man); it is all about what you as a unique individual have to offer not who you know, says Shelley.  Last year I discovered the Alpha Female Club launched by a lady in the hedge fund industry doing a tough job during the day and a [...]

 “A delicate face looks up from a fiery mane of Pre-Raphaelite hair and beams enthusiastically at each and every student assembled in the circle of seats. The smell of burning white sage surrounded Anne Aylor the first time I walked into her class.” The scent: a hall mark of her creative ritual and the eye catching cow—one of her infrequently used teaching aides—were assembled along with Ganesh, Buddha and a few Crystals on a small table. Anne Aylor believes that to teach you have to channel other energies, such as compassion and wisdom and these small icons remind her of this. I first met Anne in the middle of October 2009 when I attended on impulse her two-day Release the Writer in You workshop. It changed the way I looked at my life. As I think back to that chilly October Saturday when I first met Anne, I still remember her cow. “Asking a student to stop reading when they have been reading for too long is difficult when they are in mid sentence, but if they do this or if they apologise for what they are about to read, it is a cow offence [...]

This will seem like a very odd blog to anyone who does not know that there is and has almost always been a ladybird theme running through my life. I even once had a red Ford KA on which I put black spots, an unofficial Ford Ladybird. But on closer inspection it seems that ladybirds are quite a powerful Symbol. For me, it has nearly always been a sign of change when a very large number of images or actual ladybirds appear in my life at any one time.  So when one landed on my pillow at the end of July I started to think a blog on the subject was due. But when a ladybird landed on my desk the other day it triggered me to add one to the masthead. Afterall there are ladybirds everywhere else in my life–on towels, mugs, stationary, my hoover is a large ladybird, and I even have a stain glass window–so why not on my blog? Aside from my life long fascination with all things ladybird, red strategically placed one third of the way down and one third of the way across in any corner of an image is a photographic trick to enhance a [...]

Mum turned 80 today and my niece, who turned eight a few months ago, gleefully announced that they were now both the same age. “What are you on about darling?” I asked, knowing she would have an amusing answer. “Zeros don’t count aunty,” she said with certainty. “Eighty is eight plus zero, which is eight, so the zero does not count.” Who can argue with the logic of an eight year old? Numerologically, she sort of has a point. When calculating Life Path, Expression and Personality numbers, according to Sonia Ducie, author of Do It Yourself Numerology,  zeros don’t count when doing the basic mathematics. But just because they do not have a value, does not mean zero has no meaning.  In An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper, zero is described as non-existence; nothingness; the un-manifest; the unlimited and the eternal.  The meaning of zero changes depending on the philosophy: in Taoism zero symbolises the void; while in Buddhism it is the void and no-thingness; and in Qabalism it is the boundless. For Pythagoras, zero was the perfect form and in Islam zero is the divine essence, according to J.C’s encyclopaedia.   A [...]

The more I enjoy my bike, the more I zip back in my mind to the days of when I was fit and healthy. While I am not that unfit or that unhealthy, I have noticed my midriff expanding and I have hit 11 stone, which I have never been in my life. I have also never dieted but I have been severely underweight at least three times. Not through food abuse, but simply Stress, which is why I associate being too thin, with being unhappy and depressed. Now I understand how belief systems operate, I know that this can be changed. Right now I am happy, but that does not take away the fact that something is happening to my body that does not feel right. The expanded bloated feeling around my waist is not a healthy feeling and it is one that I want to get to the bottom of. So I am embarking on Operation Clean & Lean to see if a programme of clean, lean and healthy living is what it takes. I have set up a programme that does not attempt to “lose” weight but creates positive attainable goals by taking [...]

Every so often I go through a phases of feeling overwhelmed by the amount I want to do and frustrated by the pile so high of what I have to do. Instead of breaking things down into manageable chunks and starting with the most important, as per Leo Babauta’s Power of Less philosphy, I have developed a new little habit of slumping in front of the TV and procrastinating. So today when one of Leo’s Zen Habits hit my inbox I took it as a sign to dictate which of the pile of articles I want to write, I would write first. But when I saw the blog was entitled De-cluttering as Zen Meditation I felt a little cheated. This subject is not a priority as I don’t see my flat as cluttered. But using my new way of thinking, based on the concept that there are no accidents, I asked: “How does this concept apply to me and my life right now?” Leo sees clutter is a manifestation of two things: firstly holding onto the past; and secondly a fear of what might happen in the future. “Letting go of clutter is a way to [...]

I first read The Celestine Prophecy about 15 years ago and I remember liking the idea of the Indiana Jones style adventure being set in Peru. I was looking for life’s answers and planning my “escape” to South America, so this spiritual quest-infused novel by James Redfield struck a chord. I never finished the book first time round but still vividly recall this passage where there is a fork in the road and the narrator has to make a choice: “Let your perception of beauty and iridescence lead your way. Places and people who have answers for you will appear more luminous and attractive.” Having planned to spend Easter weekend writing about making choices, I thought I would try to find that passage again and see what the context and conclusion of that choice was. As I opened the dusty now yellowing book, I noticed a happy birthday dedication from one of my first friends at university. Before starting the book, I gave her a call. Just by chance she happened to be in the country and said my call had coincided with my being on her mind too. I had forgotten that the first [...]