Journies of a rainbow teacosy...

The image above is important to me – absolutely. It contains...

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:10:31 +1000

The image above is important to me – absolutely. It contains some ideals and idea’s that I really connect with.

It speaks to integrity.

It speaks to kindness.

It speaks to honouring your inner child.

It speaks to love, honesty and integrity.

Amongst other things this blog contains a lot of what I hold as the important things in life. Notice there is no mention of money or materialism. Everything that is there is within reach of EVERY. SINGLE. HUMAN BEING. ON. THIS. PLANET!

This is not to say that I am anti-money or that I have no possessions. I have both. I have income from my job and a home full of possessions. I am just practicing a lifestyle of this stuff being second tier to a life lived according to the values on the poster. It’s gets easier the more you try it AND its inexpensive.

Money and things have a place, absolutely – they are tools and resources and they allow us to pursue passions, change lives and create our space. The important thing to remember is that they are not THE most important things. Money and stuff isn’t the breeding ground of happiness. Happiness is a decision – an inside job – happiness comes from living your life in alignment with your values and being grateful for all you have – whatever that looks like!

Enjoy!

Peace & Love,

Ally

Sunsets over the busway in Coorparoo…I am not a renowned...

Sat, 11 May 2013 17:51:00 +1000

Sunsets over the busway in Coorparoo…I am not a renowned artist but with sunsets like this mother nature makes it really easy to create spectacular memories :)

A sample of sunsets from my life - in such simple things there...

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:52:52 +1000

A sample of sunsets from my life - in such simple things there is so much to be grateful for…pick on thing right now yourself and just say thanks :)

What would you say if I said “you’re every scar, illness, experience & emotion is/was/will be you responsibility…

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:50:13 +1000

Would you be starting on you plans to picket my house and drive me off the net & out of town or would you be the one knocking on my door right now…just kidding.

Are you sitting there thinking ok, keep writing, I’m not convinced, I am however willing to entertain the conversation.

If you’re in the first category then continue reading, or not…it’s up to you! This is my view, its challenge and it’s not right for everyone right now. If you’re in the second category, consider the following statements;

Without your health you impair/lose your body, without your body – you die! Simple.

You are what you eat!

You choose what your reaction is in every single situation! (Even those one’s that have you convinced you are not at fault but the world is definitely going down for this one!)

The first statement is hard to argue with and its pretty freaking obvious, well at least I think so! The second one is also pretty obvious – if you fill you unleaded petrol car with cod-liver oil is it going to work like a V8 Supercar? Probably not! Likewise if you are eating fake, pretend, 10 x removed, plastic, microwaved food that is available on mass and tastes the same everywhere on the planet – what do you HONESTLY think is going on inside?

Bush mechanic’s use a certain popular brown/black soft drink to clean a dirty car engine because it’s cheap and effective. You can clean a dirty coin in it AND you can totally dissolve a human tooth in it?

Now I am going to bet that you’re not about to take your Rum with Draino so what makes this popular nutritionally corrupt (and it’s not the only one) drink an exception to that rule.

Is it the chemically enhanced flavouring that tricks your brain into believing its delish or is it the fact that its destruction of your inside is a lot subtler and slower than the old Draino?

If you think about all this then answer for me this one question – answer it aloud, tell a friend, whatever!

“Why are you letting these nutritionally devoid products pass your lips at all, let alone as regularly as our society seems to consume them?”

Obesity, diabetes, depression, poor skin health, addiction, organ failure/toxicity & cancer – all these conditions are affected by the quality or lack-there-off of your diet? The same for the amount of exercise you do and the way you honour yourself and your mental health.

My food addictions are many but the kickers are coffee, chocolate and salty over processed rubbish. I have grown up with it and believe me I know how hard it can be to kick this stuff if you don’t have a good why…but more about that another time.

Sure it’s fine to ‘blame’ your upbringing, your parents/guardians, your experience, your trauma’s, the media, the community you live in or the people you idolise. That’s actually going to do you no favours…you’re handing your power to change to another person who may not realise it and/or doesn’t care (worst case they might keep trying to hurt you for their benefit), second – You. Are. Responsible. You choose how to budget your time, you choose who and what you listen to, what you purchase and what passes your lips – no body is there at your dinner table forcing this crap down your throat and pinching your nose till you swallow it! Nobody!

You CHOOSE it!

You PURCHASE it!

You EAT it!

See how you are the only person in this process…that’s because NO-ONE else is involved, at every stop you have a choice – to listen, or not! to buy, or not! to eat, or not! You CHOOSE busy-ness, you CHOOSE to watch TV/Ads/promotions, you CHOOSE to attend the establishments, you CHOOSE to order and you CHOOSE to eat!

That’s it…simple – it’s your commitment to the action, that’s the complex bit – figure that out the rest is a matter of process guided by the light of your commitment to yourself.

Bringing it back to responsibility as I sum up – if at every point it is your choice then it goes without saying that the results you create with you choice – are you responsibility. Owning your responsibility requires humility, openness, open-mindedness, gratitude and strength.

It’s a choice.

It’s a journey.

It’s worth it.

Give it a try and see what happens you might just enjoy the freedom.

Peace and Love x

Ally

My 2 week challenge...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:01:20 +1000

Yesterday I was given a two week challenge by some very important people in my life, and it is a very important challenge, but first – some context.

Lately I have been experiencing a bout of stuff (thoughts, experiences, memories and beliefs) from my past muddy my current day experience, I have been getting angry, sad, depressed (yes there is a difference), I have felt like I was losing control, of my life and my experience of it. I was panicky, anxious and not a whole lot of fun to be around to be honest. Over the last couple of weeks I have also been feeling pretty unwell, generally tired and crappy with a bit of nausea and shakiness/weakness thrown in for good measure. I felt pretty much like a ticking time bomb that was ready to explode!

I went to visit a friend of mine who helps me to balance my chakra’s and sort out my energy when I on a regular basis – energy work is a form of alternative healing that works for me. After my session I was given the 2 week challenge mentioned above.

The challenge went a little like this:

“For 2 weeks, I have to completely abstain from any new, social media or conversation that is political or negative, in anyway what-so-ever; as well as abstaining from non-inspiring or just negative social media & any gossip or negative conversation. When I do end up in one of those situations I have to smile and say ‘it will all work out’.”

Now those of you that know me, would have read that and possibly had a similar reaction to me, something along the lines of ‘how on earth is Alison going to do that!’ Am I right?

My reaction certainly wasn’t far from that, I listen to 612ABC in the morning – politics, opinionated and – despite my love of the program – it’s not positive. I LOVE nothing more than a heady debate or conversation on politics – at the moment it is difficult to sustain a positive conversation around that. I engage in my fair share of gossip even when it’s just listen – and I’m not proud of it. I am also all for a thrilling crime-scene drama or a news program. Last but not least, whilst my news feed on Facebook is actually very inspiring and positive I am also heavily interested in the political sphere and I need to abstain for 2 whole weeks. At first I was a little overwhelmed though in my gut I knew this was important. I was being totally overwhelmed in my life and to deal with that, for reasons unknown (and known) I was surrounding myself with even more negativity and depressing information and problems that won’t go away overnight.

It was almost like I had been told I have the flu and need to rest so instead I decided to run around in an air-conditioned room full of people with the flu and other contagious bugs. I thought I’d feel at home, instead I was just creating a mountain out of a mole hill and ignoring what I needed right now.

So, how am I going with it?

Well reasonably good so far, my intention is definitely there, I spent all afternoon laughing at a funny TV Show, I made some rag rug coasters, I spent a lovely lunch at my parents’ house – my folks did a spectacular job of the spread! I had a sleep in this morning and I went and helped out a mate of mine. Yesterday went pretty well too. I am choosing to spend some more time outside as well, which I know will help too being that the worst of the blockage is in my root chakra which is related to my connection to earth.

This two weeks might not end up being sunshine and roses – it just won’t involve me trying to clean my internal house by metaphorically eating dirt.

Pretty logical, maybe not so easy and I have it on good authority it will be 100% worth it!

Photo

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:23:38 +1000

Replace my 'totally justified self righteous angry fear' with love...ummmmmmm

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:17:09 +1000

So today, I decided I wanted to head down totally self justified, righteous angry road. If I am honest, I am still on the road as I write this.

First of all I want to clarify a few assumptions/statements I have made so far!

1. yes, ‘totally justified self righteous anger’ is actually fear - at its base level - its fear plain and simple. When you get angry at someone/something next time, ask yourself, what is my fear in this situation?

2. Ummmmmm is because I don’t have an answer, I have some idea’s and thoughts that I am trying, and you are welcome to try. Some will work, other’s will not - maybe none of them will & then you are going to have to find that answer completely independently - the point of life is that we constantly go deeper into the problem in the search of understanding and resolution - and then when we do, we uncover the next layer of our human onion….its a process, stop resisting, get over your perceived injustices around the challenge and start enjoying the process!

3. ‘I decided I wan..’ decided I did, it wasn’t my partners fault for making me rush to get to work, it wasn’t somebody else’s fault I went to bed late, or that I slept in! I stopped at the start of the self destructive path (for a micro-second) and asked myself what I was doing and whether it was really going to do me any favours? It wasn’t but instead I stubbornly proceeded down that path…so yes, I decided!

My reflection as I have travelled down that path and started to slow down and think about what I am really doing is that this was actually an opportunity to replace my negativity and resistance with love, pure, simple, honest LOVE. That is when the second round of resistance hit - when I started listening to all the ‘well-founded’ justifications for why I had ended up in such a shitty place.

This is where I am at now, I am jumping between the victim paddock and the empowered responsible paddock. I know what will serve me, I know what will support me and I know what I, and others around me, will get more enjoyment out of. The hurdle is letting go of my fear long enough to experience all of these positive ‘side-effects’.

Right now I am using, music, university (distraction), reflection and conversations with trusted people to help me spend more time in the empowered/responsible paddock until I feel comfortable sitting there by myself.

So the question I leave you will today is this; where in your life are you ‘sitting in your shit’, where in your life are you choosing fear, where in your life are you sitting in the victim paddock?

AND (if your really courageous)

‘What are you going to do, to move next door into the empowered/responsible paddock - a place where you and those around you are having fun in life’s journey?

Peace & Love,

Ally

This is one of those, stop - take a deep breath and appreciate...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:51:56 +1000

This is one of those, stop - take a deep breath and appreciate the sheer awesomeness that is around you in every moment kinda shots!

I took this photo when I was at uni the other day. The whole experience was full of metaphor’s to be completely honest.

That day was a day of stepping out of my routine in little, gentle ways…

- I parked in a different spot;

- I found out where a path I had seen and yet never taken went – which saved me time that exact afternoon!

- I walked that path after class to get to the car and go home…

…and in that exact moment I was given a beautiful opportunity. I was presented with this incredible view of the city/skyline. In that moment I had a choice, keep rushing on being busy and miss the beauty or take the opportunity to stop and enjoy the incredible art work mother nature had painted for me, and you, that afternoon.

This got me to thinking, whilst I had subconsciously refused to take that path before – somewhere in the back of my mind I was telling myself it was unsafe – the reality of taking that path was a few moments of solitude to sit within myself and an exceptional view to enjoy as I took a moment to recalibrate. My reflection then continued on to wondering, wow, how many choices, opportunities and situations have I avoided because somewhere in the back of my mind I was telling myself something scary or bad may come of it? How many beautiful things are awaiting my decision to step into courage and go a different way? Probably heaps…now I just have a different narrative to tell myself about life’s little detours.

I wonder if there are side paths and detours you are avoided because you have told yourself a story about staying safe or wasting time etc?

What are you going to do next time one such detours offers an opportunity to you?

"One young man went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the initial..."

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:23:18 +1000

“

One young man went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the initial interview, and now would meet the director for the final interview.

The director discovered from his CV that the youth’s academic achievements were excellent. He asked, “Did you obtain any scholarships in school?” the youth answered “no”.

” Was it your father who paid for your school fees?”

“My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.” he replied.

” Where did your mother work?”

“My mother worked as clothes cleaner.”

The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

” Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?”

“Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, “I have a request. When you go home today, go and clean your mother’s hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back home, he asked his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.

The youth cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother winced when he touched it.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fees. The bruises in the mother’s hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his education, his school activities and his future.

After cleaning his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director’s office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes, when he asked: “Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?”

The youth answered,” I cleaned my mother’s hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes’

“I know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, I would not be who I am today. By helping my mother, only now do I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done on your own. And I have come to appreciate the importance and value of helping one’s family.

The director said, “This is what I am looking for in a manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life.”

“You are hired.”

This young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and worked as a team. The company’s performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop an “entitlement mentality” and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent’s efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, they may be successful for a while, but eventually they would not feel a sense of achievement. They will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying our children instead?

You can let your child live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch on a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your child learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

”

- Anon (Facebook)

Busy being busy or in this case...just busy!

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:27:09 +1000

My blog is predominantly focused on me sharing life experiences - the fun stuff and the lessons. Today it’s all about the lessons.

The last two weekends, well actually it’s more like the last two weeks, have been super crazy busy for Dan and I. Last weekend was the Easter long weekend & this weekend just gone we celebrated the wedding of two close friends, Wojtek and Sarah. Easter long weekend was spent at the exquisite Cotton Tree Camping Grounds in Maroochydore & the wedding was held on the idyllic North Stradbroke Island.

Now I can hear you, reading this saying “gee I wish I had her problem two long weekends in a row - both in beautiful locations”.

Don’t worry I had my epiphany, I had a moment of clarity where it became very obvious that in choosing to get caught up in all the ‘stuff’, I was losing a beautiful opportunity to enjoy some wonderful experiences to the fullest extent. What I was choosing was to forsake the present moment by using it plan my meetings/appointments/emails/uni assignments and a fair bit of day dreaming about that point I would get home and be able to lay in my bed and relax.

Pretty strange choices I was making? Definitely.

I was so utterly caught up in all my stress, rushing, anxiety and busy-ness that I wasn’t truly appreciating the incredible opportunity I had to immerse myself in two wonderful weekend experiences that I have been blessed with.

This little epiphany lead me to realise that whilst I was having a blast camping, and celebrating my beautiful friends nuptials I wasn’t actually 100% and by virtue of that I was missing out on some pretty special opportunities, a beautiful view, my partners cuddles and smiles, and other little nuggets of beauty nestled in the view of those that take the moment to look, enjoy and appreciate.

As I sit here drinking a coffee at the little breakfast café in our resort complex, waiting to head home with a heart full of warm and fuzzies carried over from last night’s wedding I am powerfully reminded of the beautiful lesson I have learnt this fortnight.

Every moment, yes every single moment is perfect and precious in its own unique way and it is very easy to lose out on the beauty & lose sight of what’s really important when we are caught up in the busy-ness…in the stuff that we fill our lives, and our minds with.

Enjoy the beauty in the moment!

Peace and Love,

Ally xx

My HMAA Conference Call Homework

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:22:26 +1000

Today I would like to share with you all the homework we had to complete for our team conference call for Health Mastery Athlete’s Advanced…the questions and my answers are outlined below. If you feel inspired too - take a look at the questions and answer them for yourself, its a good exercise for focus :)

==========

What are your three most important life values?

* Community (being a part of, and creating that space)

* Responsibility

* Gratitude

What do I value in my health?

* That it enables me to achieve all my projects, goals, hopes and dreams.

* My health also directly represents how well I am loving myself right now (and my body is brutally honest about my health assessment too!)

* It enables me to live my mandate & my values (& most importantly, enjoy the process!)

* I had an epiphany the other day, I woke up with boundless alertness and energy. I am grateful for that because I know now just what I am working towards with my detox (recovery from adrenal fatigue), my restructuring of my diet and my continued commitment to my exercise.

* My ability to demonstrate & really model a life lied well, passionately & with ease, to my loved ones.

What do I need to do to fulfil my values?

* Release my emotional attachment to eating (my stories about how only eating junk food calms me down, about how I ‘need’ to internally bash myself when I don’t eat so supportively).

* Return to a diet that is 80% raw, natural, un/minimally processed food.

* Release my need for coffee (I am two days down with no ‘need’ arising.

* Release my addiction to sugar.

* Compete my naturopath supervised detox.

* Eat as though I deserve good, enjoyable, supportive, fun nutrition.

* Continue developing my relationship of love with myself.

At the end of your life what would you regret not having accomplished?

I would regret…

* Failing to engage in loving, supportive, inspiring, positive relationships with every person I meet.

* Failing to consistently develop my loving relationship with myself.

* Using my words in a negative, hurtful, destructionary way that harmed my loved ones and my community.

* Not living my big game and in turn not leaving the world having given it all the gifts I have to offer.

* Not walking my talk.

* Not walking with people where their at.

* Living my life the way society expects & failing to rock the necessary boats.

And what do you need to do around health to accomplish them?

* I need to take action in the areas that I have outlined above, rather than taking a ‘set and forget’ approach!

What do you want to leave as your legacy? The things you did, the kind of person you were, how do you want people to remember you?

* Being, living, breathing, speaking and acting LOVE!

* Walking and talking gratitude!

* Commitment to my values and my dreams!

* Responsibility - I owned mine and set the bar for others.

* Encouraging, creating, supporting and being involved in community!

* Loving and welcoming my challenges and imperfections!

* Colour (all of them - yup a RAINBOW), craziness and love!

* That people were positively impacted for having known me, no matter the length of time, the setting or the person!

Love & peace,

Ally xx

I'm walking 60kms in October...why, you ask...read on!

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:42:53 +1000

Tody I am doing blog that diverts from health in some respects and in other respects & in others is profoundly related to it!

In the middle of 200, June 28th to be exact my confident, powerful, independent Nana, Lorraine, passed away - off on her journey to whatever is next. This happened after a 10 year rollercoaster journey with cancer. Over ten years Nana, experienced four different types of cancer, one of which was a women only cancer, three of these cancer’s went into remission the last, unfortunately just not the last one!

I was lucky that in growing up I got to spend a lot of time in my Nana’s awesome company. That is except for around my birthday - Nana loved to travel, I’m a spring baby & well let’s face it, Spring is and AWESOME time to travel! The upside was that I got extra special presents on her return & there were cuddles, stories & photo’s as well.

Across her 10 year journey Nana’s refused to be consumed by her illness! Instead her travel schedule became even more amazing - an a lot busier! Nana, despite the cancer’s challenges, mastered a pretty insane 10 year long bucket list!

By this stage you are probably wondering why I am sharing these brief excerpts o what is a formidable journey mad by an amazing women?

Well there is a point…on October 26t and 27th (Saturday and Sunday) this year I am fortunate enough to be walking 60kms, in memory of my Nana’s journey & in solidarity with he thousands of women & their families and communities, who are affected by women’s cancers.

Part of the weekend is fundraising, I am raising $2000 (minimum) towards support services and researching a cure for women’s cancer. The other part is the walk. It is 30km each day walking through the suburbs of Brisbane to raise awareness.

I do a fair bit of exercise and consider myself to be fit enough to walk the distance and yet I do need your help!

Will you make a contribution of $5 (or more if your able) to my walking target of $2000. So far I have raised $90 ($1910 to go).

Will you stand with women, children, families & communities who are being affected in some way by women’s cancer?

Ultimately will you help me raise necessary funds for a cure?

If this sounds like you, or you family, friends and work colleagues, and you are willing to stand with me and make a contribution please head to my fundraising page and follow the links to donate.

Thanks for your willingness to support me in this journey of solidarity & continue to check back here for more updates on my progress!

Peace, love and hugs x

Ally

** If the underlined links to my fundraising page don’t work, please visit the following URL »>

http://br13.endcancer.org.au/site/TR/Events/Brisbane2013?px=1002006&pg=personal&fr_id=1050

Food Myths and other stories we like to hold onto with both hands and a industrial strength harness…

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:22:00 +1000

Today’s blog post is dedicated to my experience of food myths and other stories we tell ourselves about what we do and don’t eat and why it’s totally justified. Rather than regurgitating the myths outlined in my readings I am going to share with you all some of my food myths, ones I am still vehemently attached too! I hope that my experience with food rings true in some way with your own and I would to encourage you to reflect upon your own relationship with food – after all – awareness and acknowledgement are two very powerful steps towards positive change!

My top 3 food myths:

I’m exercising 5 days a week for about an hour each day SO I can eat whatever I want!

Logically this works…and it doesn’t, sure you’re working out, burning calories and staying fit, but let’s be honest for a moment here…that’s a story and a very un-supportive one at that.

I have written a little calorie example below….this is for a person who is seeking to lose weight…

Jane Doe needs 1800 calories per day for her basic body’s needs (no gaining or losing weight). She does exercise for an hour and her calories burned are 300 (focus on losing weight). Today Jane ate 2400 calories – even with her workout she is still over consuming by 100 calories that day. This is an average day for Jane.

Current studies indicate that the consumption of just 100 calories (less than a freddo frog) equates to approximated 2-3kgs of fat gain per year! Therefore if Jane continues on her current path she is looking at 2-3kg of weight gain every year despite her best efforts.

I am working out 4 days per week for 1 hour – 3 cardio session, 2 strength sessions and then some kind of physical activity on the weekend in training for various commitments I have upcoming. I am reasonably fit and have good strength.

I am also medically overweight, blowing out my calorie intake by 400 – 600 calories each day and being treated for adrenal fatigue (early phases) and malnourishment (unbalanced nutrition not a lack-thereof). I am a walking talking example of the very accurate statement “you will never out-run, or out-train a bad diet”. Not only do I eat way more than my body requires nutritionally, I also make un-supportive food choice every day. The beauty is that I know this, and even though I continue to make un-supportive food choices I am making less of them with each passing day and I am learning to stop attaching meaning to my eating. When I do consume a large quantity of chips and chocolate in a day or period of the day I am learning not to kick myself repeatedly and make up stories about how I did it because am un-lovable, or because I am fat and deserve punishment. Instead I am learning to say “I love you Alison, it’s okay we will get through this together” and then I pick myself up and try again.

I am now in the midst of replacing this food myth with one’s that say;

“I comfortably and enjoyable consume my recommended daily intake of calories for optimum function through supportive food choices and my exercise program is just an added beneficial experience of my day!”

“I eat a balanced and nutritious diet filled with yummy fresh produce and fun that supports my health because I am loved, lovable and totally worth it.”

I will eat better when I am worthy and loveable.

This is a chicken or egg myth, self-love is not something found externally, not in our relationships, our diet or our wardrobe and especially not in our weight/complexion/looks; it’s something we choose, yep – we CHOOSE to acknowledge our innate awesomeness and we CHOOSE to love ourselves NO – MATTER – WHAT!

Sure being healthy, feeling nice, having access to food, shelter and positive relationships helps – yes, eating well, exercising and having the finances to live our life the way we want is important, definitely! Just don’t go believing that myth that you will love yourself when you like what you see in the mirror, when you can buy Size 8 clothes or when you look like your favourite svelte and sexy idol. Loving yourself first however will set you on a pretty awesome path to being healthy and that could lead to weight loss and that pair of jeans – either that or you might realise that as long as you are honouring your body and healthy you are blessed and that those jeans are actually down right uncomfortable no matter how skinny you are!

Even now I think that I will love myself more when I get to that magic 60kg mark, I was 54kgs once (post growth spurts and physical development) and I didn’t love myself then – I am now 68kgs and I don’t unconditionally like love myself and I am punishing myself (mostly mentally) to get back to a mere 60kg let alone the ‘amazing 54kgs’ – if I was 100kgs 10 years from now I don’t think I would love myself anymore and I’d probably be lamenting that time when I was a beautiful 68kgs – the difference is not my weight – the difference is how I think about myself, the difference is my willingness to be grateful, happy and in love with me unconditionally.

I have found in my own journey that when my motivation is inspired by an deep seated dislike, hatred, criticism or unhealthy thought patterns; I ‘attack’ the problem in negative, angry, defensive and punishment oriented ways – I also fail regularly and in the end have a bigger problem than the one I started with. On the other hand, when I choose to make change around something in my life because I love myself and I am worthy of supportive, respectful decisions and actions, the change just flows, I find the right tools and services appear in my life and I enjoy the process and the effort required to make that shift rather that fighting it every step of the way. The only challenge in that space is when my internal self-sabotage makes an appearance and tries to fight the change that comes from challenging long seated beliefs about myself; and when that happens – I am loved, deserving and worthy.

It’s absolutely fine to identify something in your life that is not serving you and then choosing to change it – just make sure you are being honest with yourself? Are you reflecting upon something and then changing it from a place of love, or are you using it to beat yourself over the head repeatedly and in the process, justifying some internal self-hatred?

I am too busy to plan my nutrition, I’m addicted to sugar and other self-sabotaging EXCUSES!

Excuses are the realm of your internal sabotage – notice your excuses, reflect on them and then decided to recommit or just stop listening to the ‘story’ you have taken on about that issue?

When I come up against excuses it is an alarm bell saying, where’s your commitment?

If I am coming up against excuse after excuse around something I am doing then I am not sitting at the top of the commitment ladder. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to achieve that outcome or goal – it may just mean that I am more committed to a goal that conflicts with the above goal.

For example, I have a goal to stop eating chocolate, chips and lollies unless I am at a party or it’s Easter/Christmas. I have been clear about this goal for about 2 months now and still at least 1-2 times a week I am binge eating on chocolate and chips. When I sat down and though about it I realised that actually I have another goal that I am super committed too and that goal is – to use sweet and salty foods to silence my internal discomfort when I am stressed or distressed rather than reassuring myself and acknowledging that certain situations make me really upset. I have a level of commitment to each of my goals however they conflict with each other so upon my reflection I now get to decide and then recommit to the goal that serves me the best and is most important to me at the time - no judgement.

Of the three things I have talked about here the ABSOLUTE and most important thing is that it doesn’t matter if I’m not perfect right now, that’s not the point, it’s the face that I’m standing back up every time – no matter how many times I fall!

I hope that through sharing a little of my relationship with food and food myths you have the opportunity to lovingly and honestly look at your own relationship with food an shift your relationship with yourself and your food, to one of love and commitment to what serves and supports you!

Peace, love & hugs,

Ally x

Personal growth on steriods...

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:09:40 +1000

I don’t know if this feeling is mutual, exclusive or mutually exclusive but do you ever get that feeling that you are experiencing personal growth and development on steriods?

I am under going one of these phases at the moment, and there have been five or six of them over the last 12 months. My healer (energy balancing and all round spiritual mentor) Maria told me that we move through the elements and each element represents a particular focus (phsyical, emotional, spiritual etc) I don’t remember what element personal growth is but I have established unequivocally that being under this elements sphere of influence literally ignites gundpowder change within me. So much so that I feel like a different person after two or three days rather that over years of work.

Sometimes I don’t notice the changes so clearly and I just get that intuitive ‘knowing’ that something has clicked into place, much like a chiro adjustment or a puzzle. Othertimes the change is really clear and defined - a behaviour or belief that I once held and wanted to change is no longer an issue.

Recently I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated by the actions of another group. I was awaiting the results of a funding application to start a program that I am very passionate about. Unfortunately, the delay and barriers appeared to be coming thick and fast, and then thicker and faster (to date they still are). On one particular day this all consuming project really started to take a toll on my mental health, I was becoming sad, aggressive and diochotomous (thinking in black and white) about the project, people and barriers that were involved.

I knew this wasn’t healthy and I knew that it was increasingly imperative that I simply let go and allow the tea leaves to fall as they would. The challenge was that I simply couldn’t get my brain and my psyche to talk to each other or my body. I was a ticking time bomb about ripe to implode.

It was here that one of these PD on steriod moments occured….whilst driving to my next shift at work I become almost immediately calm, it was almost as tangible as something snapping in my head. Not the bad kind of ‘uh oh’ snapping but a releasing, relaxing, letting go type of snap. Suddenly this project which had consumed my entire space, my entire world for almost 2 months transitioned to a simple project that I was passionate about free from all of the negative, stressful and toxic emotion adn energy that I had lathered on with gusto previously.

It was a welcome relief however initially I was concerned that the snap was not as healthy as it felt. I thought that I had pushed myself to the brink and then just a little further. I started pondering the consequences of having pushed my psyche and my body that hard. For a few weeks I was thinking that my (driven to the dark side) determination and focus would start to build again and that I would be stuck in the same position of waiting until something snapped for some relief. This never happened and with each day of healthy distance from ‘that dark side place’ I came to the realisation that the snap wasn’t bad disgused as good, it was good painly packaged, as good. I give credit here to my many mentors for their gentle nudging towards this conclusion and their infinite wisdom in allowing me to learn this in my own way and my own time.

This conclusion was reinforced when I was faced with smaller projects and barriers over the coming weeks that I was now approaching in a totally different way to my previous ‘standard operating procedure’.

I have come to realise that this smaller projects and barriers where actually training or rehabilitation. They were the small exercises that allowed me to train this new muscle in a safe environment so that next time I am faced with a situation of similar commitment, focus and magituted, I am ‘strong’ enough to gather the good I have to offer and commit it 100% without allow myself to fall to the ‘dark side’ and project unhealthy, negative, damaging energy to that which I am working on.

This was such a small burst of personal development and it definately felt like it was done on steriods. It was not even an element of myself that I was aiming to work on right now. It didn’t matter…in line with my beliefs a plan was already laid out of my choosing and that lesson was slated for now.

I could continue on for hours about all of the mini lessons that have come my way (whether in line with ’my’ plan or the bigger picture one) over the last 12 months in these intense little mini sessions. Instead, I shall leave you for now with a series of quick questiosn for your own reflection….

…when was the last time you experienced growth on steriods?

…what did you learn (can be one thing or many)? …and last but not least

…have you stop to show gratitude for it? Have you said ‘Thankyou’?

Peace and Love,

Ally

A point of clarification....

Mon, 14 May 2012 12:53:25 +1000

I have recieved some feedback (thankyou wonderful SSL) that my last to blog posts seem to jump from on track to the websites release to putting the breaks on the project to pursue a intermediate opportunity. As such I am posting this blog to clarify what is going on and give as much detail as I am able to at this point about the intermediate opportunity that I am pusuing.

As you may have read in previous blogs I am a disability support worker and I work with adults with intellectual disabilities. I have been working in the field since early 2006 in both volunteer and paid roles.

In late 2011, myself and two others where brainstorming as part of a training day a program that would increase skills and social opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities which would be intergrative and link members with everyday (non disability specific) activities and opportunities within Brisbane. Recently my workplace was informed of an opportunity to apply for funding to run a new program which we jumped at as we only lacked funding to make the above program idea a reality. We dubbed the project - Passport Program - and went about the proccess of adding the detail and information that was necessary to apply for the funding. We have been waiting for the outcome of the funding application since early April and were recently informed that the successful applicants would hopefully be informed by the end of May - just a mere 2 weeks away. Due to my passion and involvement in the program so far I will be coordinating the programs delivery when we find out we are successful (thinking positively here)!

Whilst preparing the submission I had to do some hard thinking about the realities of managing part time coordination of the new program, part time in my current role, ful time uni and working on Tanzania. I came to the conclusion that at least in the first year of the program I would not be doing justice to any of my commitments trying to juggling them all. As I mentioned in my previous blog this new program is an excellent opportunity but not just because of the professional benefits. This new program will provide me with a number of skills that I don’t have yet that will be of immense benefit to the Tanzanian project and my efforts to network and fundraise for the equipment and costs of running the project. The conclusion that I reached has prompted me to put a temporary pause on my work for the Tanzania project so that I can learn what I need to in this new role and come back to the project with greater knowledge, understanding and resources to kick the project into high gear.

It is my intention as mentioned previously to continue blogging here to inform everyone of my progress with this new venture and what I am learning. I am really looking forward to sharing this exciting detour with everyone and coming back to A Hole in the Wall for Tanzania with renewed enthusiams and ideas!

Until next week :)

Peace and Love,

Ally

A Pause in Play!

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:08:33 +1000

As I explored in my previous post it is looking very much like I will be pausing progress on the wonderful “A Hole in the Wall from Tanzania” project for just a short while as I pursue an opportunity that will have phenomenal long term benefits for the project when I return.

This has been an incredibly tough decision to make as Tanzania is very close to my heart for many many reasons.

I will have confirmation and more details on this opportunity by June 1st which I will of course be sharing on this blog and on my plan on PlanBig.com.au.

In the meantime I will be holding off on the release of my website until I am settled in my new role and have returned to regularly focusing on the project.

As for my blog I am very excited to confirm that I will be continuing with my blog and though the posts won’t be directly related to Tanzania all the time I will continue to share my experience, lessons and discoveries, particularly those from this new opportunity are developing my skills and how I will progress with the project once I return.

It is my sincere hope that you continue to follow my jounrey as I continue towards revolutionising education in Tanzania!

Love and peace,

Ally

Updating the journey to online life!

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:40:46 +1000

Hi all,

So tonight I jsut wanted to write a brief blog on the progress of Teacosy in Tanzania’s website.

The structure of the website is complete, and I am very happy with it overall - the reason I have not yet released its adress is two fold. Firstly, I have a few small tweeks and corrections that need to be make to make the site absolutely true to my initial intention. Secondly, I haven’t filled the different pages with the relevant content.

That said I have the content pretty much ready to go and the tweeks are very minor so I am pleased to annouce that the weekend after easter (the 15th of April) I will be releasing the website to the public and I am very keen to hear feedback! I really ecourage you to check out the website so that you can continue to be involved in the project and thus revolutionising the educational situation of the young people in Tanzania!

Thankyou for the continued support of this project and me! I will be putting up a post on Good Friday before I head on a very important 3 day camp to refresh and revitalise and then I will be delaying my post on the 13th of April until Sunday the 15th and it will be completely focused on the website release!

Peace,

Ally

Where is this education revolution happening?

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:49:57 +1000

So now you know the inspiration and evolution of the project and what I am doing I am going to share with you a little more about where all this is going to happen.

In the planning stage the majority of the work will be done online via social media, PlanBig, Email, skype as well as phone and face to face meetings. However at present all the work I am doing is online via email, PlanBig and social media. The meetings and actually installation of the learning pods are my predictions on how the project will develop over its journey.

Whilst I will be visiting Tanzania is 2016 to see the finished product, the coordination and installation will be managed by A Hole in the Wall Foundation with my involvement done electronically to minimise the costs and increase the fundraising that will be used to purchase and install as many of the learning pods as we can.

The second phase of the project is the trip I mentioned above to Tanzania in 2016 to see and report back upon the progress of the project. It is this trip that will enable me to visit some of the schools in the Moshi region, Tanzania who have recieved the learning pods through this project and the AHITW Foundation. The journey is 3 weeks long incorporating time at the School of St Jude, time spent in the state schools of the Moshi Region - teaching classes (hopefully with the Learning Pods) and running a sports carnival, 6 days summiting Mt Kiliminjaro and some time discovering Tanzania through the eyes of the community. The last stop will be 3 days in ZanZibar to reflect on what we have achieved personally and within the Tanzanian community. I will be using the reflection time in ZanZibar and the time when I return home to write up my reflections on the project and to share all of my experiences with everyone that has supported me in this journey. Now you know the not-so-secret locations that will be visited and used to make this project happen I encourage you to check in next week for my next posting “A Blogging Good Opportunity”

Peace and love,

Ally

P.S As I mentioned above this is my anticipation of the way that the project will proceed given that I am still in the project design and networking phase.

Past and Present (the evolution)!

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:42:06 +1000

As promised I am continuing with my break down of the “A Hole in the Wall for Tanzania Project” and tonight I would like to share the evolution this project has undertaken with you!

My project has evolved in a very exciting way since my first exposure to the idea at the RYLA (the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). At RYLA I was introduced to the opportunity to visit Tanzania on a 3 week Immersion incorporating Service, Challenge, Discovery and Reflection. Initially I was not very inspired as my exposure to global poverty was limited to World Vision ads and the 40hr Famine fundraisers of my school days. I felt overwhelmed and disempowered so I distanced myself from the challenges facing our global community. Little did I know that a tiny seed have been placted in my subconcious that would grow into this phenomenal, world chaning, life changing project!

Initially my project was focused on this journey with yLead to grow through service to the Moshi region of Tanzania! I was psyched, scared, overwhelmed and mindblown by the opportunity…I really didn’t know where to start but that didn’t matter because my determination was bigger that Mt Kililminjaro!

After some initial brainstorming it became clear just how big this project was and I started to feel more than a little lost. With the recommendation and support of some beautiful friends and family I started to share my intention with people that I met. One chance day at my partners Christmas party I met the lady that changed my project forever! The lady that introduced me to Sugata Mitra’s TED Talk and the child driven education revolution!

Rather than repeat myself I encourage you check out my blog posting on “what” I am doing, it goes in to all of the detail that I have right now! I am still seeking the ideal title for my merged project and will be sure to post as soon as I have found the perfect title!

Thankyou as always for the continued support!

Ally “Teacosy” Dower

You're doing WHAT! Part 2

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:56:39 +1000

Hi again,

So here is part two of the ‘what’ section of my project :) This section focuses on my journey to Tanzania in 2016 to see what has been achieved and to bring back reflections and photos of the ‘finished’ project. It is at this point that I seek to have the networks all working well together so that I can reduce my direct involvement and focus on other projects that I have on my list however I will always be in-touch and involved with what is happening and supporting the progress of the project to see the learning-pods implemented across Tanzania and beyond :)

Phase two of the project will be my visit to Tanzania in 2016 (December) where I will visit for 3 weeks with yLead. On this trip I will spend time with Gemma Sissia and the School of St Jude, the State Schools of the Moshi Region and the broader community. I will also be spending 6 days summiting the impressive and challenging Mt Kiliminjaro as a tangible reminder that nothing is impossible - just like this project! I will get to visit the State Schools in the Moshi Region where I will see some of the learning pods that we have installed and I will be able to see the progress and involvement of students in the child driven education revolution! From here I will return with all the reporting and observations, blog posts and tweets that I was able to make during the trip to do a final report to everyone that has supported this project and its journey! As I mentioned above throughout this project I will be working to to create a process that is self sustainable through networks and experience so that I can take a back seat and remain in touch with the progress of the project whilst also persuing other dreams of my own! This is not just my baby it is the joint baby of everyone who has supported its progress no matter the level of involvement :)

WOW what a journey! Again I am filled with the fire of inspiration and excitiment about this project and we are only at the beginning!

Thankyou, as always, for you continued love and support!

Ally ‘Teacosy’ Dower