neuroplasticity Archives - Easy Now Mindfulness

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout

November 6, 2017Leave a comment

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout

People often ask me how to start with mindfulness.

The easiest way to start mindfulness is to take something you are doing daily anyway, and decide to do that mindfully!

This is not going to take you any time. All you do is bring your attention to the here and now by using your body and senses.

What can you see here, what can you feel here, what can you hear, what can you smell here??

Remember your body is always in the here and now! It’s just our mind that is always wondering off!!

So this week, go back to basics and pick something from your day that you are doing anyway, and do it mindfully. Doesn’t have to take long. Just a few minutes to start is fine!

Maybe a moment when you have your morning shower, or the first sips of your morning tea.

Taking the stairs mindfully or why not park a bit further away and enjoy your walk mindfully!

Have a great week,

Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

ps Did you know I have a few hours available for private mindfulness tuition?

Make your appointment now by emailing me on monique@easynowmindfulness.com before I’m fully booked!

Free Weekly Mindfulness

September 18, 2017Leave a comment

Last Creative Mindfulness class this term is Tuesday!

We are also colouring again on Sunday, 10-12, at the Tawa Community Centre.

positive thinking

Good morning!!

Last week in the Creative Mindfulness Class ( you are welcome to our last meeting tomorrow in Tawa by the way) we did a mindfulness of thinking practice.

This is something you can easily try at home too.

The goal is to learn to notice the thoughts popping up in your mind (which is normal and happens all the time).

So no analysing, no judging, no liking, no disliking, just noticing every thought as it pops up in your mind, and disappears again.

When you become more aware of what is going on in your mind, you will get more control over your mind, and will be more able to decide what thoughts are helpful for you, and what thoughts are unhelpful. It will be easier to let those unhelpful thoughts pass by, by just noticing them and not giving them any more attention.

So this week, take a moment to find a nice quiet spot to sit, close your eyes, focus on your breathing for 10 breaths and than bring all your attention to your thinking. A couple of minutes to start with will be great!

Have an awesome week,

Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

🌷

Free Weekly Mindfulness and Upcoming classes

August 7, 2017Leave a comment

Tuesday 15 August: 6 week Creative Mindfulness in Tawa, 7.30-9pm.

Next week Creative Mindfulness starts on Tuesday, join us if you want to practice some mindfulness and want to have time to work on your creative projects!!

“My” crocheters come to this class, we have a mum and daughter, a few knitters, and we welcome colourers etc too!!

Sunday 27 August Tawa All Good Colourers at the Tawa Community Centre.

Email monique@easynowmindfulness.com to register.

Easy Now Mindfulness Zendoodle Challenge

This week I have a zendoodle challenge for you. No need to be artistic or have an arts degree, everybody can do this, just follow these 8 steps!

So here we go:

1. Grab a pencil, a black sharpie/fineliner, paper and a round or square template. I used a glass to make a circle, you can also use square coaster or whatever you can find.

2. Use your pencil to go round your template to make a circle or square.

3. With your pencil draw 2 lines right through your template, to create 4 empty spaces. Any 4 spaces are fine!

3. Get your black sharpie and fill one space with this pattern:

https://buff.ly/2uv8Au4. Do you notice how I made a mistake here?? I decided not to be bothered by that 🙂

4. Fill another space with this pattern:

http://beezinthebelfry.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/tangle-card-challenge-5-hemp-and-6.html.

5. Fill another space with this pattern:

http://www.amarylliscreations.com/zentangleharmony/2010/10/new-tangle-carres/.

6. Fill a space with this pattern:

http://beezinthebelfry.blogspot.co.nz/2009/10/tangle-of-week-man-o-man.html

7. If you have any remaining spaces, you can fill this with circles of all different sizes and colour black around them.

8. Finished, or you can colour your zendoodle if you like. What ever you do, it will look stunning!!

Post your zendoodle to my page or in the comments as I will love to see how yours turned out!!!

Have a great week,

🌷 Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout and upcoming classes

July 17, 2017Leave a comment

Upcoming classes:

Wednesday 2 August, 4 week learn to crochet at Tawa Community Adult Education.

Monday 7 August: 8 week Rewire Your Brain for Happiness MBSR in Churton Park.

Tuesday 15 August: 6 week Creative Mindfulness in Tawa.

Email monique@easynowmindfulness.com to register.

tree

This picture is of an amazingly glorious tree in Dunedin that I just couldn’t stop looking at!! It reminded me of one of the attitudes of mindfulness, that is to notice things, as if you are seeing them for the very first time.

Not only do we often take our surroundings for granted. The same counts for our ability to see and notice all the beauty around us!

So this week, as you go about your days, take a few moments to look at everything around you, as if you are seeing it all, for the first time.

You might discover things that you have never noticed before!

One of my students for exampe, was amazed by how many shades of green she could notice, when she was on the bus, taking in the views mindfully!

Have a great week!

Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

🌷

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout and upcoming classes.

July 3, 2017Leave a comment

Upcoming classes:

Wednesday 2 August, 4 week learn to crochet at Tawa Community Adult Education

Monday 7 August: 8 week Rewire Your Brain for Happiness.

Tuesday 15 August: 6 week Creative Mindfulness.

Email monique@easynowmindfulness.com to register.

Free Mindfulness Workout.

Most people will come up with “being in the here and now” or “being present” when they think about what mindfulness is.

And they are right! Mindfulness is bringing your full atttention to the present moment.

However that doesn’t mean that we cannot reflect upon things. It’s actually a healthy thing to do!

It’s good to take time to plan something, have a good think about something, when you decide when you want to do that. (Middle of the night is usually not a good time!)

Reflecting is not the same as overthinking, worrying or ruminating. If thinking makes you feel bad, that’s probably where you go wrong.

This week try to take a moment every day, to reflect upon a situation that happened that day or something you just want to have a good think about. You can ask yourself questions. What went well, what made it happen, how could things have worked out better etc etc.

Try to take one thing out of it, that you would like to improve on, and make that your goal for the next day, or the next time. And remember to be kind to yourself!

Have a great week,

look after you,

🌷Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

Free Weekly Mindfulness and upcoming courses.

June 26, 2017Leave a comment

Upcoming classes:

Sunday 2 July: Tawa All Good Colourers, at the Community Centre 10-12.

Wednesday 2 August, 4 week learn to crochet at Tawa Community Adult Education

Monday 7 August: 8 week Rewire Your Brain for Happiness.

Tuesday 15 August: 6 week Creative Mindfulness.

Email monique@easynowmindfulness.com to register.

yogarock

Good morning from Dunedin!! Feeling grateful to be here and I couldn’t have done this without one of my best friends, looking after our kids!!

Mindfulness is easy, it’s paying attention, in the here and now, with curiosity, acceptance and openheartedness, and without judging.

That means, it’s mostly an attention trainer!

This week, try to bring your attention to your body, the sensations in your body, just a couple of times a day.

Usually when you’re walking, your mind will wander off. Bringing your focus back to your body can help in stopping this wandering. As often the wandering can be ruminating, worrying, stressing, planning etc. Which only fatigues the brain and makes you feel bad.

Another way to be more mindful of the body is to start practicing yoga. I use the downdog app and absolutely love it! Great for beginners too! You can use it any time, any where, even at your work 🙂

Have a great week!

Don’t forget to register for the upcoming courses, the 8 week MBSR, 6 week creative mindfulness or the just crochet!!!

Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

www.facebook.com/easynowmindfulness

🌷the yoga app: https://www.downdogapp.com

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout and upcoming classes.

June 19, 2017Leave a comment

Upcoming classes:

Sunday 2 July: Tawa All Good Colourers, at the Community Centre 10-12.

Wednesday 2 August, learn to crochet at Tawa Community Adult Education

Monday 7 August: 8 week Rewire Your Brain for Happiness.

Tuesday 15 August: Creative Mindfulness.

Email monique@easynowmindfulness.com to register.

spiral staircase

FREE Weekly Mindfulness Workout.

I had a fun week, teaching mindfulness at Tawa College to teenagers and at the community centre to a younger age group.

I explained to the teens about how thoughts, feelings and actions relate to each other in every day situations. When I asked them if that was already known information, I was so surprised that this basic understanding of our wellbeing, was missing!

So one more time:

Our daily life is a string of situations up on situations. In every situation there will be thoughts popping up in our minds, we feel things in our body, have emotions and we will do something. Or we will avoid doing something.

This determines whether we are on an upwards way, in our spiral of well-being, or on a downward way.

By becoming more mindful of ourselves, and how we react in daily situations, we will get more insight in why we feel the way we feel. And that gives us the opportunity to make changes to what we think, what we feel and what we do so we make sure we get on the way up in this spiral.

This week take some time, to have a good look at where you are on this spiral. At the bottom, half way up, or are you generally feeling all good, standing at the top of your spiral??

Can you think of changes you can make, to keep going upwards? Or to stop from going downwards?

Have a great week, remember to register for the 8 week mindfulness that starts next term, (the above is part of this course). This is a great course for teenagers too! And not just for women 🙂

Monique

💜Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

ps, quiet for the storm. Tawa College session about mindfulness last Monday.

Upcoming classes & Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout

June 5, 2017Leave a comment

Upcoming classes:

Tuesday 6 June: Creative Mindfulness.

Saturday 17 June: Mindfulness for Kids workshop

Sunday 24 June: All Good Colourers

Monday 7 August: 8 week Rewire Your Brain for Happiness

Free Weekly Mindfulness Workout

Queen’s Birthday, and drama’s in London. So much happening in the world always. Makes you appreciate your normal day to day life even more.

This picture is my go to motivation for life. I found it once in the States and have carried it with my back to England, to the Netherlands and now it’s here in NZ.

It makes me smile, it motivates me to do stuff, and it makes me feel good.

With mindfulness you train your attention when you give it something to focus on. This can be your breathing, or your senses, or a mantra, a word, a sentence.

What is your best motivational quote? What has helped you? What words make you feel good? What always pulls you through??

Let me know what quotes have helped you, and I will post them out on the page this week!

I have a few things coming up, mindfulness for kids, creative mindfulness classes and the 8 week mindfulness based stress reduction starts after the holidays too. Don’t forget to register!!

Have a good week,

🌷Healthy Mind, Happy Heart

Finishing up this term …..

July 4, 2016Leave a comment

☀️☀️FREE MINDFULNESS WEEKLY WORKOUT☀️☀️

This term is going by so quickly!

I finished my training and now I am a facilitator for Pause Breathe Smile mindfulness in schools!! I’m also nearly done with my small business management training, I’m going to miss my classmates!

After saying goodbye to all the awesome mums that finished the Mindfulness for Parents this term, I’m very proud of my 8-Week class in Lower Hutt, that are finishing Tuesday!💐

If you also want to rewire your brain for happiness, let me know!! Pm or email monique@easynowmindfulness.com.

Next term I’m running the class again, last one this year already, you don’t want to miss it!

I’m also running the kids Zendoodle & Colouring workshop again, Wednesday 13 July 10-12, in Tawa, limited places.

→ WORKOUT FOR THIS WEEK←

Mindfulness is a concentration training. If you get control over where your mind is going, you can control your feelings too! Start your training with little steps. Take a minute first, once a day, and all you do is focus your attention on your breathing and notice when the thoughts arise in your mind. You can say silently to yourself “thinking” and redirect your attention to your breathing. Waiting for more thoughts that will pop up. Maybe seeing your thoughts as clouds, just sailing by.

Have a great week,

🌷

Feel good about you, rewire your brain!

June 27, 2016Leave a comment

✨✨✨󾀽 FREE MINDFULNESS WORKOUT 󾀽✨✨✨

Did you know your brain is wired to focus on negative things and to quickly forget about positive things? Because that’s what helping for survival!
However that makes us easily forget all the good things we do.
If you want to feel more postive about yourself, you need to train your brain to focus on the things that are good about you. This might feel a bit uneasy at first, but you will get good at it, really quickly!

So this week, every day, take a moment to pause and think about what was good about you so far today. And when you think about it, also bring back all the sensations about it. The sounds, the smells, what did you see, how did it feel. That is important to really make the change.

Have a great week!
<3

ps I hope the people that planned to plant persil all around the Wellington Station, feel really good about themselves. Because I love it! Did you know??