Choosing Hope this June

The other day, I was listening to the Davina McCall podcast “Begin Again” and her guest said something that really resonated with me….

“I am a woman built on hope. Everything is possible, everything is solvable”.

WOW that hit home… it’s something I’ve always subscribed to – the idea of hope. Maybe I haven’t quite realised that’s what it’s been all these years… that glass half full, anything is possible outlook, but it is- it’s hope.

Hope that I will live my best life and cultivate the world that I want to live in. Not this view of hope that we get preached about – that sort of unfathomable, let’s cure the world in one go “hope”, but this more personal hope. The belief that if I put my mind to something, it can be achieved. That people (in the most part) are innately kind and want to do their best. That all problems can be solved, no matter how difficult and grey they seem to be.

I’ve always loved that about myself, being able to see the world through… not rose-tinted glasses, I’m actually a realist… but through the eyes of hope.

I believe that hope is a mindset, it really is something you can choose. It’s a choice that even when things feel uncertain you still stay open to the positive, the good and the meaning in life.

So, this month, as so many of you voted for Hope we are going to all take a moment to choose hope in our lives.

We are going to practice Ahimsa in class – ahimsa being the concept of kindness and compassion. Ahimsa encourages us to be kind to the world, each other and of course, ourselves!

We are also going to work with our Heart chakra – opening our hearts to that love, compassion and kindness. Allowing ourselves to send it out and receive it, choosing hope.

Both concepts work beautifully together this month as they encourage us to look at ourselves with softness. Not to push ourselves too hard or to be overly critical, but instead to build trust in ourselves gently.  The belief that we are worthy of hope.

Because my friends, with that hope & that belief- anything is possible!

Personal Story of choosing hope

As I said before I’ve always been a hopeful girl. But there was a time in my career when that burning fire of hope has dwindled to a small little ember.

Now caveat here… I know I could start talking about the wider world and all the crazy shenanigans that are going on out there… but I want my stories to you guys to be deeply personal, relatable and not political in nature so I will not talk about anything wider than myself and my personal experiences.

Where was I…

When you’re feeling burnt out or exhausted, hope can be one of the first things to disappear. When this happened to me, I felt lost, stuck, not good enough, trapped and icky … I knew what I was doing didn’t align to my wider purpose but I hadn’t yet figured that out.

I actually almost got this close to Margot in real life! haha

One Friday about 5 years ago I went to go and visit a friend who had just had her baby and was benefitting from all the changes of perspective that come when a little person arrives into your life! She said something really powerful to me;  “Tash, is it worth delaying your future for”. Those words hit me like a train! She was so right….

In that moment she single handedly re-lit my little ember of hope. I started to give myself permission to think outside the box. What do I want my future to look like? Is it what I’m currently doing?

The answer was no in the long term, but in the short term my job at that time was worth delaying my future for. I was working on the Barbie movie and I bloody loved it!

That one sentence rekindled my flame of hope – not only for my future, but actually in taking the positives from the job I was currently doing and wanted to nail!! Helping me recover from burn out for that moment (although it crept back in later!!).

Once the Barbie movie was over, I asked myself that question again… and the hope was still there. A new path started to unfold for me, and we all know where that took me. Right here!

To a place where I still ask myself that question and use it to help guide me to make sure I’m living my best life according to how I want to live it.

And because of that, the hope for my future remains.

Maybe it’s a question you guys can ask yourself too. See where it leads you?

Mindful Activity

So, your little mindful activity this month is going to be super simple- it’s gratitude.

Gratitude is an amazing tool that we can use to help us gain perspective, connect to our joy and allow us to choose hope. To see the positives in the day AND those little hopeful glimmers.

I invite you each day - either when you wake up or before you go to bed, to write down on a piece of paper something you are grateful for from that day. It can be a big thing or a little thing…something as small as “I was grateful for the blue sky”.

Keep all these little gratitude’s in a jar or box … or just somewhere safe and at the end of the month take them out and read them again.

If you want to go one step further, you could even share your gratitudes with a friend or partner to really share in the joy and hope!

Can’t wait to practice this theme with you, friends.

See you in class

Love, Tash xx