Children's meditation

I put this together for my Grandchild after I made  my first one for her. She is 9. My Grandson who is 13 said the first one made him so relaxed that he would pay for it. I am taking him at his word and decided it would be lovely to make personalised meditations for other children. These can include things, places or animals that the individual child loves. If this resonates with you then please get in touch.

I think in todays world it is too easy for children to get stressed. Teaching them to Meditate and go into a quiet space can help them.
Children's meditation

Change Is Good For The Soul

As the trees change colour and we move into Autumn what changes have you made this year? All our plants constantly go through change and rebirth. Why should we be any different? I believe we should always be changing. It may be our bodies or our mindsets. We can continue to learn as we go through this lifetime.

This year has  been a big one for me since my Hypnotherapy workshop. I finally realised what made me the weight I was. This has enabled me to change my eating habits and my thoughts. At the same time I went  Plant based. The  last thing to remove from my diet was was milk and cheese. The Milk was easier as I had been making Almond Milk for a while with Almonds and water and also found an organic Soya Milk with just Soya and water so no nasties in either. The hardest addiction to remove was the cheese which has casein in it. This triggers the same part of the Brain that hard drugs do. No wonder I was attracted to it. I found after 2 years ago going vegetarian, that I was eating so much more cheese than I ever had before too. This of course also increased my weight.

My journey started when I spoke to a lady who was removing Cancer from her body just by changing her diet. She inspired me. At that time the only meat I had eaten for many years was Chicken and Turkey. After that conversation, the next 2 times I found myself eating meat, I realised I was not actually enjoying it, so why was I eating it?

The interesting thing about change is how the word can spread. Now my daughter's family are plant based too. My son in law more recently after watching What the Health!  If you want to help your health, a good book and film to watch is Fork Over Knives.

My journey will continue as I learn new things as well as my body changes. So far without any fad diets I have lost 1 stone 7 lbs. That includes a holiday when I put a little on due to all the latte's and hot chocolates lol. The good news it it all came back off plus another kilogram.

Whatever you do with your life, remember you can change.

PS If you want to keep up with my posts join me on my Facebook page. If you like the page and interact on the competition you may win a prize! https://www.facebook.com/peaceharmonyandjoy/




Joy Fraser
www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk
Usui Reiki Master / Teacher

Changing Your Thoughts To Create Harmony In Your Life.

I am lucky to have a field locally that is securely fenced. This means that anyone walking their dogs and puppies can let them off their leads to play and socialise. Last week on a day that I was off I took my pups there and saw Willow run to the fence with another dog. On the other side of the fence was a crow. The crow walked slowly on the pavement taunting the pups who could not reach it. It then flew just above their heads landing on top of the fence looking down at them before flying to a tree. I was advised by the other owners that this happened daily as the crow came to their 9 am club. It enjoyed outsmarting the puppies each day and often would fly above just to taunt them! I must make sure I take my camera or phone with me the next time I join in with them.
                                              

It reminded me of a few years ago walking my previous dog Misty in a local park when we were suddenly attacked  by crows. I assumed that they had chicks in the tree and were being a bit over protective as my dog and I certainly could not reach the tree! The interesting thing was for the next 3 years as we passed that particular tree we always got dive bombed. It made me aware that crows have long memories. I have since seen footage of this which showed that even when people that they had not seen for one year covered their faces, the crows still remembered them.

This got me thinking about how memories play a large part in peoples lives. How many of us can say that we genuinely don't harp back to things that we saw or were said to us or others in the past? I try to live in the now but don't always succeed. This may be because what I have put behind me may still be impacting on another so it can still be brought into a conversation. I remember considering being trained in Emotional Freedom Technique and went for a couple of sessions with the trainer. After the first one the trainer said " You must have had EFT before." I advised I had not and asked why she thought this. She said I did not have any distressing memories to dissolve. I said that I had worked through these with reiki but I'm not sure she believed me.  EFT works for many people but it was not for me at that time.



                                                 

How often do you hear that people are the way they are due to how they were brought up? This can sometimes be seen that an alcoholic or drug addict brings up a child that goes on to have alcohol or drug  related problems. I truly believe that for each of those children that take after the family there will be loads of others that go in the totally opposite direction. They often grow up stronger and successful, knowing that they have done it all by themselves. Of course they will have memories of how they were brought up but they don't let these hold them back. They use the memory to know what they do not want to be.

One thing to remember is how you react or speak to anyone can live on in their memory so be careful of what you say or do to others.  Once you say something, it cannot be taken back. The best type of memory to have is a positive one. Isn't it much better to be remembered for something good that you have said or done? We are all able to contribute to life in this way and it's never too late to start.

Let us be like the crow and create memories to hold on to but make sure from now on that they are only good ones. One of the things I love doing is Paying it forward. It always make me feel better to help others. This creates lovely memories for me to  keep.  You can check PIF out here and  also  in the UK. I also love just going out in all weathers to see the changes the seasons bring. When your mind takes a snapshot of all the colours and sounds surrounding you, these can be brought out to revisit anytime you want to feel back in those places.



If you live in Edinburgh, check out my workshops if you want to help change your life for the  better.

www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk
UK Reiki Federation Master / Teacher

The Social Media Effect

I was thinking today about what social media has brought into my life. I then found myself in a collage photo on a special persons page. This person Lives in India and I connected with him through a lovely lady who lives in  Spain.  Please check out his website and share it. He is a Heart surgeon and has already operated on 100 children for free due to his charity efforts.You may remember my blog last September when I holidayed with the author of the children's Skellee Rescue series in Spain. In fact back then she was on book number one but has since made a few more. You can find out more here and download a free book if you have young children.

This got me thinking that through her and others, I have connected with people all over the world that enrich my life daily. I have to say that previously I  had paid attention to what was just in my own locality, unless a major catastrophe was brought to my attention elsewhere in the world. Now I get information from all over the world and some of it speaks to me so that I also end up sharing it. This is one of the perks of social media. When someone shares something interesting it can go viral within hours and spread all over the world. Of course we need to make sure the information we share is correct before posting!

I have also read some fantastic books that I would never have considered before when some of these new friends have recommended them. The latest one took me three days (in between work) but I just did not want to put it down. It was called Bouncing Back:The life of Bill Bartmann and is all about Bill's life making and losing millions and at one time  he was even a Billionaire. I won't ruin the story but I loved the outcome. I have been able to read a lot of books on Positivity through these new friends and a lot about overcoming adversity. Today I read a story about how determined a  10 year old was to get  his first book published in India which took him 3 years so he became a publisher at 13 and by then he had written 4 books! Check this out here.. It put into perspective how much work can go into getting a book published although now it is easier with Ebooks but you then have to get your books noticed.

The internet has certainly opened up the world of communication and I love it. I would rather spend time on it than watching Television. In fact in the last few months my TV viewing has consisted of only switching on to watch the UK XFactor. Don't feel sad for me though as I love my life and don't really have time to watch TV. These days I would much rather be playing with or walking my puppies. I am also blessed to be able to pass the gift of reiki on to others which can make a big impact on both my life and theirs. If I was asked what had made the biggest impact on my life, the answer would be reiki but social media comes a close second. Through social media I have also met many people in person who have enriched me in many ways and for that I am most grateful. To everyone that I have connected to both online and in person I would like to say "Thank you for being in my life".

What does social media mean to you? Post in the comments box to let me know.


p.s. In the UK the clocks just went back last night so that means it gets darker earlier. Please everyone take more care and make sure you are able to be seen (especially cyclists).




You can find me on these sites. Feel free to like my pages if you would like to connect with me.
http://www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/peaceharmonyandjoy
https://twitter.com/Mistyspice

SPREAD A LITTLE HAPPINESS

PLEASE SHARE THIS and spread a little Happiness

How does it make you feel if someone steps in to help you unexpectedly? Does it give you a warm feeling?

Sometimes we do not acknowledge how much we are able to help other people and the impact it has on them. It may be you giving someone a cup of coffee. It may be helping someone with a project though not necessarily only when they ask. It may be holding a door open for someone or even just giving them a smile.

How often do you hear of a problem that someone has and come up with a solution to it?

I had a great experience of this a few years ago when a friend of mine on hearing I had a lack of space in the summertime decided to convert my attic on a budget at barely any charge at all. His answer to me was “You supported me when I needed it” This was completely unexpected and made me feel fantastic.

I also get a buzz out of helping others. I like to offer the use of my Chi machines or my time if I hear of someone in pain or needing to chill out. This week people have been helping me through my back pain. It is important to accept help when it is offered too as the sooner you fix a problem, you can then get back to helping others.

Are you like I was and feel that if you help someone you should not blow your own trumpet? I have struggled with this over the years but have come to realise that if people know what I am doing, it may make them think differently if they come across a situation they can then help with.  I’m not doing anything extra as far as I’m concerned. It's just the way I live my life and I am sure there are thousands more out there who are the same.

We’ve all been brought up to thank people for helping us.  I want to turn this on its head and put the onus on you to raise the good feeling of wherever you work from or in the home. In fact I think the children would also love to become involved with this. For the next 3 weeks I want you all to take part in an experiment. Hopefully after this you will continue and allow the idea to spread.

 The idea is to go to the http://www.kindspring.org/ website. There you can download for free a Smile card design and print them out. Alternatively you can make your own, something again that I think children will love to join in with. Give each person in your team area or home 5 cards. If you need more then that's great. What I want is for you to do something for colleagues/ family/ friends unexpectedly. It may be offering to help with something someone is struggling with. It may be just having a listening ear when they need you to. It can be something simple like offering to carry a load for someone, to suggesting you can help with a problem you know they have. For children it is not doing what they are expected to do in the home. Instead it is when they decide to help in another unexpected way! 

When you have helped someone you then give them a Smile card and ask them to pass it along.


 I would like you to keep a note of what you did and who you gave the card to. I also would like anyone given a card to write down their thoughts on receiving it. This will let you recognise how often that you have helped spread the word.  You should be proud of this. It is not about Ego- more about making everyone feel they are in an environment where people are aware of each other and go that little bit extra to help. The idea is NOT to collect cards but to give them away.

I know my readers are positive minded (or hoping to get there) and I know we all have different skills that enable us to help others. All I am asking that you do not wait for others to come to you. If you hear of or see a problem, then if you can, offer to help.  Please remember that although many people are very good at offering help to each other many others do not feel this way and we want to change this. 

The website I was originally going to link to was called Help others but they have now changed to Kindspring and I see that they did something similar in September so please take a good look at their website.

I wish you a successful time and please share this to get the word out that helping others is a great thing to do. I would love you to come back here and let me know what you have been doing to share the Smile cards.

www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/peaceharmonyandjoy

Gratitude, Intention and Living a Positive Life

A few years ago when I was first attuned to reiki I felt I was starting out on a new journey. There were only a couple of people I knew that also practised reiki and although I loved it I was also a little insecure as many people thought of it as being airy fairy! Admittedly, some still do.

One day I was walking along my local seashore and came across this quote on a bench and it really resonated with me so much that when the time came to make my business cards this went on it. I felt a little bit like a Trailblazer at this time as I was telling everyone I met about reiki and what it was doing for me.

Last night I went to see Medium Jane Dawson and Psychic surgeon Chris Ratter in Edinburgh and it left me thinking how my life has changed for the better. I now know so many people who not only work with reiki but also Angels and energy in so many different forms.The world is changing for the better and I love being part of it.Through all the people I have met I get introduced to so many new things that my knowledge keeps on expanding. It was the first time I had seen either of them and really enjoyed the night.

Last week I was at a workshop and learned that even though I know our thoughts are more important than our words,  I was also surprised at what I learned. One of the things we were asked to do was stand with our legs hip distance apart and then move only our body (not our feet) while stretching out our arm with one finger pointing outwards. The aim was to see how far you could turn and point without moving your feet. You were then to see a point on the wall that you had reached to and mark it in your mind. Next we spent a couple of minutes with our eyes closed intending that we would go over 12 inches further when we did it again. I was astounded when this time my body moved more than 12 inches even though the time before I felt really stretched.  Try it and see for yourselves. I for one will definitely will be practising Intention more often now.

The same person also gave us information that when you smile at someone, even if they don't see it, both your brains light up. A fantastic reason to smile more! Although  Karen is a relationship coach I learned more than I expected that night and would recommend her in helping you to think differently.

Next weekend I am going to the Body and Soul fair in Edinburgh to hear   Dr David Hamilton in one of his workshops. Here is a man who specialised in biological and medicinal chemistry until he found out what the power of thought could do. He often found people being given placebo drugs did as well as those given the new trial drugs so decided to look into it more and has since written books on the subject. I am really looking forward to his workshop.

The interesting thing is that because I now know so many positive people who all enlighten me daily I don't have the time to go to all the events I would like to attend. How different is this from a few years ago when my life was made up of work and watching the TV! Even better, many people have now heard of reiki and thousands more have learned it in the last few years (including being trained or treated by me) so I no longer feel the odd one out. Of course, anyone that knows me still thinks I am odd lol.

If you want to change your life for the better can I suggest you look out groups on positivity, happiness, meditation,spirituality, reiki and any energy groups locally and become involved with at least one of them. This will help you to grow in the right direction. Just as important, intend that your life will change for the better.  Remember your thoughts are important. Find something to be grateful for daily and you will find yourself becoming a much more positive person. I would also suggest moving away from anyone that brings you down (we all know / knew at least one person that drains our energy). Instead, increase contact with more positive people. I know sometimes this is not possible if they are a family member but by joining one of the above groups you will learn how to leave with your energy at a better level than before.

You can also help yourself grow by helping others. One thing I like is the Pay it Forward movement. This was started by Catherine Ryan Hyde who wrote the book. If you check her out on Facebook you can also see a link to the offshoots from this book.To PIF you just help others without expecting anything in return. This way you can bring a smile to someone as well as feeling good yourself. It may be as simple as helping someone with their shopping or buying a homeless person something to eat or drink. In fact some shops are allowing you to buy food or a drink and pay to suspend another. This is a great idea that then lets a homeless person go in and ask for the suspended item that you have paid for. I love this idea.

Today I am grateful for all my family and friends that make up my life and wish to thank them all for being part of it, even if we don't manage to meet up as often as I would like.With true friends you always know that you can pick up and continue from where you left off previously, regardless of the time in between visits.

If you would like to start a journey using reiki and live in the Edinburgh area please feel free to contact me through my website. I would love to help change your life in the same way reiki has touched mine.






www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk

Happiness

I hope this finds you well and coping with our very unsettled weather both here in the UK and elsewhere.

No one ever becomes an expert at life. We all still learn new things on a daily basis. I recently took part in a Happiness workshop run by Lauren Robertson. She had me looking at something I thought I had resolved long ago but in fact I found it was still in my life. Sometimes we need another person to teach us a way to move forward and that weekend was my lightbulb moment. I am pleased to say that I now have resolved the problem. It was also helped that for 10 days after the workshop the subject came to my attention every day from all different places. When the Universe puts it in your face you just have to sit up and take note.The day was made all the more special as I was also able to have my adult daughter there with me.

I love life even through all its hiccups that we come across and am usually positive about most things but the workshop still made me look at things in a different way. One of the things Lauren asked was how we woke up in the morning. Did we grump and crawl back under the bed covers or did we shout out  " Hellooooo World!" I realised that I jumped out of bed when my dog was alive but now had problems getting out of bed since October last year when she died. I decided that this needed to change and now find myself the proud owner of 2 puppies. Now I jump out of bed as soon as I hear the first bark in the morning (partly to stop them annoying my neighbours!)   This weekend they have been allowed out so I will also be able to get back to my routine of an early morning walk in the park.

Although I teach people Reiki here in Edinburgh it shows that we all need teachers ongoing in our lives and we should never stop learning. I saw a post recently of a lady in her 80's going to study at college as she had always wanted to do this. Age was not a barrier for her. This is much better than thinking that you have reached a point in your life that you stagnate. How often do you see people in later years living life to the full but younger ones either sitting in a pub every evening or sitting at home watching television? I know both  kinds of people and can tell you that the happier ones are those that keep on doing things including learning.

I am so lucky in Edinburgh that there is always something going on with many events and workshops to choose from so I can continue with my own self development. Check out what you can join within your local area. You might be surprised at what is on offer. One club I am a member of is SPICE. In fact I am running a Reiki workshop for Spice Scotland on Saturday May 18th 2013 here in Edinburgh. With Spice you get to try out all different types of events all across the UK. It is also where I initialy met Lauren too so you get to meet many people through the club.

My  wish for everyone reading this is to have a look at their lives and see if change is needed. Then see how you can make this happen. Everybody deserves to be happy and you CAN make it happen. It may not be immediate but you can take the steps one at a time to reach your goal of feeling fulfilled. It's up to you to choose where to start.

One of the things I like in my life is how synchronicity keeps happening. I just realised Laurens Blog that she posted  minutes ago on Facebook is on Happiness so I am off to read it now! Have a contented and happy life everyone.


www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk

Happiness is all in the mind

I have just spent the day walking around smiling. Do you ever have a day when this happens to you and you don't know why? I found myself pondering on this when walking home from work in the pouring rain I heard myself singing " I'm walking on Sunshine"! Maybe you'll just all think I'm mad lol.

As usual everything, especially the weather, changes here. I wakened up this morning to a Facebook post from someone in Maine in the USA who advised there was over 4 feet of snow there and it was on it's way across to the UK. I got quite a surprise when I looked out of my window to see my car and the streets covered in snow. By the time I was coming home it was raining and all the snow had melted. I was grateful for 2 things. The first was the snow here was not bad enough to grind the city to a halt. I'm sure countries more used to the snowy weather can cope but we have not many roads gritted so it can cause problems over here. The second was I had remembered to take my umbrella to work today as I needed it on the way home. I love all the changes that we get in our weather. In Edinburgh we have to be adaptable.  We can sometimes appear to have 4 seasons in one day.

 Some of you may have read my previous post about the loss of my dog in October. I decided that I needed a dog in my life and contacted a rescue centre. Yesterday I had my home visit and now it's a waiting game to get a dog that is correct for my circumstances as well as me being the right owner for her / him. All the dogs that I have owned apart from one have come from rescue centres. In particular this centre tries to match up dogs and prospective owners and go into a lot of depth to make sure the owner knows what they may be taking on. This means there is a much lower chance of a dog being returned. I am excited that I have made the commitment to take on another family pet.

At the weekend I had time with my family and once again know how grateful I am to have them in my life. It is especially good to see the children learning different things and I also let the siblings have time apart which we all know is sometimes needed!

I have ended today by going to a workshop run by Angel Healing Waters with a few others and had a lovely evening including an Attunement with Rose Quartz Crystal. Tomorrow is Valentines day and if you did not know it this crystal is the stone of love. Whether you have a partner or not the most important person to love both tomorrow and always is YOU. This workshop also had an addition to it tonight. A very special rescue dog that lapped up all the attention given to it. Wendy- she is adorable.

After reading what I have written I now know why I feel so happy today. Sometimes you just have to write things down to become more aware of all the good things in your life. Make sure you take the time too to appreciate what you have in your life.




www.peaceharmonyandjoy.co.uk