Hello! My name is Wendy; The Well-being Alchemist. My passion is taking a holistic approach to life and encouraging others to do the same. I am trained in quite a few modalities now and I use all my learning to support my clients. I want to talk very briefly about Meditation.
My path onto meditation started with illness. I suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ M.E. for three years of my life. At that time meditation was really an escape for me. It took me out of the painful body I was experiencing and would lead to quality sleep, which was elusive at the time. I believe it was a key factor in my recovery. Meditation, for me, has been quite a journey and continues to be. In the beginning I found Mindfulness Meditation utterly boring and I openly admit this to my students. That is not the case now. For me different meditations meet different needs at different times in my life.
The more I learnt about the mind the more I found myself frustrated in some meditation groups where the person leading the meditation would be saying things like ‘let go of your negative day, all the bad things that have happened today….’ And I sat there thinking ‘I have not had a bad day…oh hang on have I had a bad day?’ and I realised there were some people I did not want in my head whilst I was in a meditative state! This lead me to find a qualification in order to teach meditation from an educated perspective….and thus to the British School of Meditation of which I am proud to be a member.
For me meditation is personal and my learnings have been so vast that what comes out of my normally articulate mouth turns into excited garble. So I have simplified my approach; to provide a safe supportive space for people to get on their path to meditation and to see what fits for them at the time.
My favourite meditation has been the same for many years now. I was inspired many years ago to learn more about the hormone Oxytocin. This hormone plays a crucial part in forging and strengthening our social relations but also helps us stave off psychological and physiological problems too. One way you can induce the release of this fabulous hormone is using a meditation called Loving Kindness. I refer to it as a ‘Hug in a Meditation’ to my students! A good hug also releases the hormone but if you have no one around you the Loving Kindness Meditation is your opportunity to self hug.
The practice always begins with developing a loving acceptance of yourself. If there is resistance then it indicates that feelings of unworthiness are present. This means there is work to be done, as the practice itself is designed to overcome any feelings of self-doubt or negativity. Then you are ready to systematically develop loving-kindness towards others. This will have the effect of breaking down the divisions within your own mind, the source of much of the conflict we experience.
Love & hugs,
Wendy