Meditation and New Year Angels
For me, 2015 started with much excitement as I began printing out the manuscript of the book I have been writing for the last nine months – Diving for Pearls: Discovering Inner Wisdom – new book from Maggie Kay. The pages were literally rolling out of the printer on the stroke of midnight, much to my delight at having completed it.
In fact, I watched the new year London fireworks on TV with the first few chapters in one hand and my wonderful husband Pat’s hand in the other, buzzing because I had just managed to finish writing my first good draft that evening. I had been aiming to complete my book by the end of the year, but had given myself some licence to go over that if necessary. When I realised I was nearly there on the morning of the 31st, however, I went all out to get it done in time for the dawn of 2015, forgoing meals and typing with happy fervour.
At Pat’s suggestion, we read out a chapter to each other before bed in the wee hours. I hadn’t shared my book with anyone before so was thrilled that he absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read it all. I feel so supported by Pat who has been nudging me to get on with book writing for years. And now I’ve finally done it!
Things took an interesting turn on New Year’s day when our Jeep broke down while food shopping in the neighboring village. Yet, even that was somewhat charmed because a lovely young farmer man with typical practical confidence and know-how spent an hour trying to start it – a bearded angel in oily jeans and a pick-up truck. I had actually put out a prayer for a mechanical angel to show up, and he did!
Despite his good-willed attempts, this angel didn’t manage to get the Jeep going, bless him, but my sister Katy, who lives in the village, kept me company at her house and supplied me with tea while we waited for my vehicle recovery service. (She also bought the helpful young man some bottles of beer as a thank you which he appreciated). As I was there, I helped Katy get some boxes into her attic and she passed on to me some lovely clothes that she no longer needed.
The recovery guy got the Jeep started first time with the help of some injector fuel (or something – I don’t quite understand) and an enormous set of jump leads, and I was able to drive home. Pat was waiting to help me unpack the shopping, having been tipped off by Katy by phone that all was well.
So, although it was dark and raining by the time I got back and things hadn’t at all gone according to plan that day, I was left feeling totally blessed, supported and loved by beautiful caring people – whether strangers or family.
I actually kind of enjoyed the whole adventure, and am reminded that if we meet ‘adversity’ with that spirit of love and acceptance, we can have fun and encounter much goodwill and human kindness along the way.
As I have just been explaining in my new book, Diving for Pearls, I nearly always find the silver lining in any clouds that come my way these days. I put this down to the clarity and positivity that my experience of meditation brings into my heart, mind and soul. The awareness – or mindfulness as it is often called – generated by meditation gives you the opportunity to respond creatively to things that happen to you and draw good fortune to you. This means that you can truly be master of your own universe and encourage things to turn out for the best.
If you are thinking about learning to meditate or having some support with an existing practice, I have a wonderful homestudy online meditation course available which results in a qualification as an accredited Thrivecraft Meditation Practitioner.
This easy-going four week course gives you tips and support as well as a thorough introduction to four fantastic meditation techniques that foster mindfulness, positivity, manifestation power and inner wisdom. Simply watch the videos, listen to the audios and try out the guidelines I am laying out for you.
As a special encouragement to help you establish your new meditation rhythm early in the new year, I have decided to offer this course at 25% off until the 31st January 2015.
To claim your 25% discount, click on ‘enter promotional code’ on the Eventbrite booking page, and enter the code newyearoffer – this will reduce the quoted course price by 25%.
So what are you waiting for? Click right here to find out more and have a sparkling start to 2015.
Happy New Year!
Thrivecraft Meditation
Practitioner Certificate
With Maggie Kay
Online home study course – 4 wk
Thorough, enjoyable, relaxed and friendly
instruction and practice in meditation
Thrivecraft Practitioner Certificate
Principles * Technique * Preparation * Practice
Suitable for experienced and new meditators alike
Four meditation techniques taught and guided
Talks on related topics
Home practice instruction
Participant experiences, comments and Q&As
Two hours of video per week/ meditation (approx)
Links to bonus videos
Written materials (e-documents)
Meditation Practices Covered:
Mindfulness of Breathing
Development of Loving Kindness
Ah / Om Manifestation
Ask Your Inner Wisdom
Week 1. Mindfulness
What is meditation, introduction to practitioner course, posture for meditation, what is mindfulness, mindfulness of breathing meditation explained, guided mindfulness of breathing practice.
Week 2. Loving Kindness
Q&A on mindfulness, higher consciousness with meditation, loving kindness meditation explained, guided loving kindness practice.
Week 3. Manifestation
Q&A on loving kindness, hinderances to meditation, antidotes to hinderances, principles of manifestation, Ah/Om manifestation meditation explained, guided Ah/Om manifestation practice.
Week 4. Inner Wisdom
Q&A on Ah/Om manifestation, what is inner wisdom, Ask Your Inner Wisdom meditation explained, guided Ask Your Inner Wisdom practice, where to go from here.
The Thrivecraft Practitioner Certificate is a prerequisite
for the Thrivecraft Meditation Teacher Certificate
Thrivecraft is an Approved Training Provider
Accredited by the IICT
……………………………………………………………………………
For more information and to book the
home study online audio/video course
click orange button below:
to claim your 25% discount
enter the promotional code newyearoffer
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
In this video extract from meditation practitioner course, below, Maggie Kay describes the benefits of meditation.
How is your writing going, Maggie?
As many of you know, my main focus this summer is completing the writing of my first book – something I’ve been working up to for many years. Understandably, the first question I am asked these days is usually “How is your writing going, Maggie?”
In April, I had the extraordinary fortune of winning 1st place on a scholarship programme which means I am being personally mentored for six months by the brilliant and lovely Julia McCutchen, founder of the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writers. (Find out more about Julia below and at www.iaacw.com )
And so, when Julia invited me to follow her on an ‘intuitive writers’ blog tour’ to share more about my current writing, I was only too pleased to take part.
The idea is that, when invited to do so by the writer before us, we answer four questions about our writing and post a blog about it. We then invite another writer to follow us on the tour to do likewise.
So here are my answers to the questions…
What am I working on now?
I am working on completing my first book – Diving for Pearls: How to Discover Your Inner Wisdom.
It feels amazing to be able to state that so clearly – quite a landmark announcement, in fact – as I have only just finally decided which book to complete out of several book ideas that have been fitting and starting for years.
Julia encouraged me to remain patient and “live the question until the answer reveals itself”, and in the end, the decision on which book to focus on for completion came suddenly, spontaneously and unshakeably. I just KNEW that this is the one. What had all that agonising been about?
Reviewing all the articles, courses, blogs, workshops, journals, videos and audios I have produced in recent years, it is starkly obvious that what I am most passionate and inspired about is the beauty and power of harnessing our inner wisdom. I am known as the Inner Wisdom Coach, after all – of course that’s what I want to write about first!
And so, Diving for Pearls is about how we can connect with and use our own inner wisdom along with encouraging stories from my own experience. My wish is for this book to be the kind of warm, wise, companion handbook that I would have liked by my side in earlier years.
How does my writing process work?
I have learned a HUGE amount about the book writing process during these last few months. I have been a writer all my life, in one way or another, but Julia was right when she told me that creating a book is a very different process to other sorts of writing.
In May, I attended Julia’s fantastic four day Conscious Writers’ Retreat, which was a complete immersion in the holistic writing process that Julia teaches so beautifully. (I can’t wait for her forthcoming book, Conscious Writing, to come out!) And so, I feel my book writing process has had the best possible elucidation and support, right from the start.
This month, I have decided to focus on my book every morning, usually for two or three hours, before getting on with any other work. (This follows writing my journal and a brief reflection / meditation practice which I like to do first thing every day.) Julia has encouraged me to establish a daily writing rhythm, even if only for half an hour, and I am appreciating the momentum of this.
One of the things I absorbed early on is that actual writing isn’t the only activity involved in writing a book. Nurturing the whole body and soul, stimulating the imagination and allowing creativity to arise are also important. Julia speaks of writing words being just the tip of the iceberg. So this bit of time ‘working on my book’ every morning, might involve one of several activities. More often than not, however, I am in the conservatory on the laptop, preferring to bring in the other elements of holistic, conscious writing at other times of the day.
More than half way into the scholarship programme, I discovered that most of the writing for this book has already been done. For the last few weeks, I have been compiling the material I have already written, and transcribing videos where I have been teaching inner wisdom on my workshops and courses. It is rather wonderful to realise that I am so much closer to completing my first draft than I thought!
How does my work differ from others in my genre?
Because I am connected with so many kindred spirits – authors, coaches, speakers, teachers – it can seem like everyone is writing similar books to me. But this isn’t so. It is very true that each of us has a unique message, a unique voice and a unique audience waiting to receive what we are inspired to share.
Having said that, I did have a start when a successful Hay House author, Becky Walsh, recently published a book about intuition called You Do Know. I wondered if she had written the book I was meant to write because, five years ago, I was talking to Hay House about my proposal to write a book on intuition called You Know Best. Now that Becky had pipped me to the post, was there still room in the market for another similar book?
As it happens, only last week, I finally put this concern down. I noticed that Julia was broadcasting a recent interview with Becky. As I listened, I realised that Becky was approaching the topic of intuition from a completely different angle, based on her unique life experience and passions. As well as enjoying Becky’s perspective and contribution on the subject, I was left feeling encouraged and reassured that I have something quite different to share.
Diving for Pearls (the title that replaced You Know Best), is about inner wisdom rather than just intuition. It draws on my deep knowledge of meditation and Buddhism (having been an ordained Buddhist Minister in my former vocation) as well as my last 12 years experiencing other mystical wisdom. The book is practical as well as inspiring and has an accompanying guided meditation – Ask Your Inner Wisdom.
Since founding Thrivecraft in 2003, I have been translating my learning and insight into contemporary, non-religious, accessible, everyday know-how through my coaching and teaching. I haven’t considered myself to be a Buddhist for many years, preferring to embrace a more universal vocation. I value connecting with all sorts of people regardless of their spiritual framework.
My hope is that Diving for Pearls will bring alive these powerful wisdom teachings in a fresh, relevant and user-friendly way, empowering hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people worldwide with the gifts of their own inner wisdom.
Why do I write what I do?
You know, I’m not sure I can answer that. I have no idea! It just happens, like breathing. Writing is what I do to engage with life, and the subject – inner wisdom, or whatever I am writing about – is simply whatever fascinates me.
In some ways, I cannot understand how I have got to the age of 50 and have not yet published a single book. I have a sense that being a published book author is part of my destiny (several of my friends and I have had prophetic meditations, dreams and visions indicating that I will be). And now, with Julia’s help and the emergence of Diving for Pearls, it seems I am finally on my way to fulfilling that destiny.
*****
Thanks for the invite, Julia!
Julia McCutchen
Julia is an author, intuitive coach and mentor, and the founder & creative director of the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW).
Following a successful career as a publisher of books on spiritual and personal development (Element and Random House), a life changing accident in 1999 triggered a series of major quantum leaps in her own spiritual awakening. She left the world of publishing to prioritise exploring the deepest mystery of conscious and creative truth.
Today, Julia teaches conscious (self-realisation) creativity (self-expression), and conscious writing, and is dedicated to opening the way for people to wake up to the truth of who they are, and live consciously and creatively in the world
Julia is the author of The Writer’s Journey: From Inspiration to Publication and Conscious Writing (forthcoming).
Find out more about Julia at www.iaccw.com
Who is next on the tour?
As soon as Julia invited me to participate in the blog tour, I knew instantly who I wanted to ask to follow me – my gorgeous, soul sister, intuitive author friend, Kimberely Jones. And she said yes!
Look out for Kimberely’s blog next week where she will tell us all about her writing work. I am sure you will love browsing what Kimberley has to offer, and in the meantime, here’s a little more about her:-
Kimberley Jones
Kimberley is a 4th generation intuitive ‘seer’ and mystic and an award-winning spiritual mentor. She is also an intuitive writer, artist and filmmaker.
Her purpose in this lifetime is as a ‘spiritual midwife’ for the re-emergence of the Divine Feminine in the real lives of real women.
In 1998 she experienced a profound transformation and spiritual awakening following the passing of her mother. Kimberley’s extraordinary story of awakening has been the subject of psychological research, several books and is currently being turned into a film.
Kimberley now works from home using her experience, gifts, training and wisdom to empower women as they awaken to their true essence.
Find out more about Kimberely at www.kimberleyjones.com
*****
Wake Up your
5 Day Discovery Programme
I am delighted to announce the launch of my brand new home study programme to discover and make great use of your own, reliable inner wisdom.
Equipped with this magical personal resource, you will be able to find answers to questions, solve problems and make decisions from the deeper, wiser part of yourself that knows best.
This easy, uplifting and powerful programme enables you to find, activate and consult with your own ever-ready, trustworthy inner wisdom.
Simply relax each day with a short guided meditation, video lesson and bonus resource to take you on your transformational journey (approx 30 minutes a day at your convenience).
Waking up your wisdom is a life changer!
The benefits to you
The Wake Up Your Wisdom discovery programme equips you to:
– Easily connect with your own powerful source of inner wisdom
– Relax into a simple, fast and effective meditation practice
– Answer questions, solve problems and make wise decisions
– Develop intuition and discover when to trust your hunches
– Feel calm, clear, positive and confident in everyday life
Huge thanks to the amazing team at Source TV who have supported me to launch this exciting new programme.
Thrivecraft with Maggie Kay 