Episode Details

Episode 113 Being well with Lauren

Life source breathing a simple exercise in happiness

Hello, Lauren here. I am a mum of four incredibly awesome, amazing children including twins. I am a passionate blogger, podcaster, writer, personal trainer, and You Tuber. My podcast is about spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. Welcome to my podcast

Today I read from my book 'Daily Rituals For Happiness' a simple exercise I call 'life source breathing....

"This idea of space is a really important to me because for much of my life, I simply did not allow myself any room for happiness. I was too busy rushing around, keeping fit for my next triathlon, trying to find or keep a relationship, seeking approval from others, gaining another qualification, holding onto the past, and worrying obsessively about the future. Does this sound like you? So many of us have lives like this. We are busy, distracted and bouncing around without any true focus or clarity. We keep looking towards a brighter future that never seems to arrive, rather than experiencing happiness in the now. We allow ourselves to be drawn into other people's stories. We ruminate, we obsess and we overthink our lives. On top of that, will fill our physical environment with all kinds of possessions. We fill our bodies with junk. We try to cram so much into every single day that our lives end up being overcrowded. It is no wonder we lack the space to be happy.

Space can be defined as being a continuous area or expanse which is free and available. Just think about those words 'free' and 'available' for a moment. What do they mean to you? How do you feel when you say them out loud? What images appear in your mind? For me, I imagine feeling free to love, free to run, free to be myself, and free to be available to possibility and opportunity. I visualise myself walking along the beach, holding hands with a friend, playing with my children, or laughing with friends. I also imagine a spacious room with natural light streaming in as I meditate in contentment. You might like to write about your responses to these words or draw images of them in your journal. Ask yourself if you have a sense of freedom and availability in your life.

Often we end up being distracted and cluttered by habits, objects, people and places that take us away from ourselves and our happiness. So how do we get this back? How do we get back to our true selves? When we create space, it is like pruning back an overgrown tree and seeing the sun shine through the branches. When we clear away the physical and emotional clutter in our lives, we are making room to focus upon one sensation at a time. We allow ourselves the calmness and clarity to practice the art of noticing and to become fully aware of ourselves and our surroundings. We also rediscover what really matters to us and can begin to see who we really are.

As I went through the process of grieving after my marriage ended, there were several stages when I needed to create space in order to heal and be happy. I kept so much stuff from my marriage. I had in a treasured box every card and letter my ex-husband ever sent me, along with gifts and other things which reminded me of my married life. And yes, at times I would look inside this box and reminisce. Sometimes it is positive to hold on to memories, but in this situation, all this stuff was taking up space and keeping me stuck in the past. It was cluttering up my mind and stopping me from moving on. On one occasion, one of my friends pointed in frustration at a wedding picture still displayed on the kitchen buffet and said, "For heaven's sake, get that dinosaur out!" After a while, my girlfriends began coming over to my house and to help me declutter. With their assistance, I cleared out the house and let go of the things I no longer needed. The funny thing was that as much as I felt better when I decluttered and g