The 2016-adventure

The 2016-adventure continues...

Thank you for joining this adventure (If you have not done so yet, it is not too late to start).
Welcome to a journey on how to break habits. Let us stop operating on autopilot and start living a life of joy and curiosity!

There are many reasons why you would want to 'wake up'. Feel free to share the reason(s) and comment(s) about your journey by clicking on 'No comments:' below. You may influence the flow of this adventure and it may be to your benefit!

I will introduce the new experiments for the following 4 weeks:

• WEEK ONE I want to meditate for 10 minutes every morning for at least a week.

• WEEK TWO I want to let my mind wander, for 5 minutes, or for an afternoon or a weekend.

• WEEK THREE I want at least one fun activity per day.

• WEEK FOUR I want to wear a different piece of jewellery each day, like a watch, ankle bracelet or rings (even on my toes!).

You might like some of our experiments, like the 10-minute meditation (click, to see an animation) and want to incorporate it into your life or another new productive habit. You might want to form a good study habit or change something that doesn't work.

If so, here are some guidelines to help you form a new good habit:

Do the new action at the same time of the day (and possibly, at the same location). Take note that some days it might be easier than on other days, very much like surfing or swimming on a wave in the ocean. So stay with the ups and downs, without judgment.

1. Your cue to do the activity (to study for example) needs a bit of willpower to follow through. Your reaction to it is what counts, like starting a study session immediately (setting a timer and focusing) and resisting the urge to procrastinate by asking, for instance, "Do I need to check my WhatsApp messages now?".
2. Make your routine uninterrupted 25-minute focused work sessions, with 5-minute breaks.
3. Reward yourself by for example having a cup of tea or watering your pot plants.
4. A belief that you ARE capable of doing what needs to be done is vital. What other beliefs might be holding you back?


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I provide a Complete Study Course to students and/or learners. We follow a Mindfulness Approach learning how to study and we form good study habits.

The Course is meant to give you or your children practical insight on how to learn more effectively and with less frustration. The lessons in this course can help in learning many different subjects and skills. Whether you love language or math, music or physics or history, you will have a lot of fun, and learn a LOT about how to study!

Contact Details
082 782 4747
luciabrand@cybersmart.co.za

Ouers, alles maak saak

Alles maak saak wanneer jy leer om te leer...

Ek is bly jy is hier. Waarom word jy nie deel van die gesprek nie?

(Please scroll down for a summary in English.)

Vanoggend vra ek myself ‘n paar ernstige vrae: Wanneer sal ek uiteindelik voel ek is goed genoeg vir GOED?; Wanneer sal ek nooit meer oorweldig voel deur my kinders nie?; Wanneer sal heeltemal gemaklik voel om my ware self vir die wêreld te wys? Wanneer gaan ek finaal aanvaar ek is besig om ouer te word (en dood te gaan) en daar is nie juis veel is wat ek daaraan kan doen nie? Toe moes ek al hierdie vrae met een woord antwoord:

Nooit.

En dankie, tog!

Ons praat oor bewustelik lewe en groei - alles maak saak in hierdie reistog oor leer hoe om te leer.

Dis asof ons almal 'n berg uitklim - die berg met die naam Self-wording (sy offisiële naam is Self-aktualisering). Dis 'n lang en harde pad (waarin daar dikwels heling moet plaasvind) en soms kan dinge hulself herhaal. Dieselfde sake kom weer en weer na vore. Ons maak klein vooruitgang; klein interne skuiwe bring groot verandering in ons lewe, sodat dit lyk asof alles ‘okay‘ gaan wees.

Maar dan sê of doen iemand iets, wat ons skielik laat voel of ons terug is by die beginpunt.

Dis natuurlik nie waar nie, ons is al verder op, op hierdie Pad van Wording. So ons is nou bietjie hoër op die helling van die berg, maar met dieselfde dinge wat opkom as vroeër. Byvoorbeeld ‘n bakleiery met jou kind, wat tydmors en nie besef wat die erns is van leer nie. Vrae ontstaan soos, “Moes ek nie nou al baie verder op gewees het nie? Moes ek nie al hoog genoeg gewees het sodat daardie probleme klein en onbeduidend lyk nie? Moes ek nie al een of ander piek bereik het nie?“

Hierdie behoefte om vinniger-te-groei; ‘n gevoel-van-vasgevang-wees en skaamte dat dit (wat jy wil hê) nie vinnig-genoeg gebeur nie, is baie algemeen in my praktyk. Ek hoor weer hierdie week, “Aren’t you tired of me coming in with the same questions and being so... stuck?“

Ek glimlag en antwoord, “You are not stuck, you are being human!” So lank as wat daar bloed deur ons are loop en gedagtes deur ons kop, sal daar heling moet plaasvind. Om heel te wees beteken nie om perfek te wees nie, maar dit wat ontbreek te omhels. Om daardie spanning tussen wat ek nou is en wat ek wil wees te aanvaar as uitdaging.

Ons onsekerhede, vrese en verdriete moet versorging kry net soos jou kinders se borde weer en weer gevul moet word. Dis soos die vrugbare grond in jou tuin – as jy daarna omsien kan jy sien wat daaruit groei. Ons wag om te sien watter vrugte hulle dra. 

Totdat hulle vrugte dra is dié geseënde bewustheid:

Vreugde is nie om geheel en al sonder verdriete te wees nie, maar om te leer om dit te verwelkom wanneer dit terugkom. Totdat dié omhelsing sy eie tipe vryheid word en die reistog self, die beloning.

Voorwaarts... opwaarts!

Encouragement for you as parent (and for me!) that we are human when we encounter problems (Even the same ones recurring over and over like fighting with our children about studying). There is a freedom in embracing and attending to the insecurities, uncertainties, fears and sorrows and to keep climbing the Mountain of Becoming...

*Complete Study Course* - Lucia Brand

082 782 4747