Gratitude can be practised at any time of year. However, when the nights close in, the weather turns, the house gets colder and the days get shorter, many of us find gratitude harder to come by. Many of us struggle to appreciate the joys of winter in comparison to spring and summer, when the wonders of the world seem easier to come by.

But there are plenty of magnificent wintery things to find gratitude for. There are many brilliant bits of the chilly season that can only be found at this time of year. So, here are a few things to focus on if the blues of the bleak midwinter are closing in on you. 

1.     Snuggle Up and Hunker Down

A day spent under a blanket on the sofa can feel a little indulgent… but the feeling you get from it on a cold wet day is a feeling you just can’t get any other time of the year. For me it stems back to when I was little; on a sunny Summer day, my Mum couldn’t fathom why on Earth I’d want to be hunkering down in a den made of blankets behind the sofa when I could have been playing outside. Anyway, if there is a time to release that guilty feeling and simply enjoy a day looking out at the chilly landscape from under the covers, then Winter is that time. Embrace the Nordic tradition of Hygge; nourish your soul with the sensation of safety and cosiness.

2.     Cool of on the Social Stuff

The warmer months tend to have us out and about a lot. Summer parties, barbecues, holidays, beer gardens, picnics, and many more gatherings; we are out being social all the time. Of course, the Winter is not devoid of social events, Christmas is around the corner after all. But the average week in mid-January does not tend to be as socially buoyant as a week in May might be. This is something to embrace. Often, when we are riding a wave of social engagements, we forget to take time to be with ourselves; to check out where we are and to do literally nothing at all. Your body and brain need down time; rest and recovery. So, take the opportunity to be with yourself a little more before Spring comes.

3.     Project Time

The fact that we are indoors more often during the Winter means that we have more solo downtime on our hands. Hobbies and projects often get shelved during busier, more outdoor-friendly, periods. So, perhaps it’s time to learn that thing you’ve been meaning to learn, or to pick up that instrument, or paint that room or build that chair. If there are kids in the house, this is also an awesome time to get hands-on with them and teach them something new. Great activities for the kids (and fun for adults as well) include baking, sculpting with clay, painting, or cracking out some Lego.

4.     Winter Wardrobe

This is an oddly common thing I hear when I talk to others about winter. ‘Ooh, can’t wait to get my big coat out, I miss it.’ The change over to cold-appropriate clothing is often strangely exciting. The jumpers, scarves, jackets and gloves that you forgot you had and loved can come off the bench and back into your garment circulation. It’s like having a whole new wardrobe without having spent a penny.

5.     Quiet

At some point, you will probably have to go outside. When you do you might notice that there are less people about. This, joined with the fact that bare trees and hibernating wildlife adorn nature with a stillness, gives the world a blanket of apparent silence. If you find yourself in a peaceful clearing or on an uncluttered street, just stop for a moment and appreciate the serenity and stillness of Winter.

6.     Comfort Cooking

If there was ever a time for comfort food, now is most certainly it. Stews, casseroles, pies and hotpots; this is their territory. Sure, the salads and light dinners of the Summer were nice, but now is the season of hugging food. Put that stew together, and let it bubble away on the stove for an afternoon, filling your home with warmth, aroma, and comfort.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

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For many years I have foregone giving and receiving personal gifts at Christmas. There are a number of reasons for this all of which roll into one idea about modern gift-giving at Christmas.

About seven or eight years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, I was finding the pressure of both affording Christmas gifts and selecting gifts that the ever-expanding pantheon of friends and family would actually use and enjoy, well… overwhelming. Stressful. Not at all fun. The other main reason was that, at the time, my friends and immediate family were all adults with income to spare. People who, if they wanted something or needed something, would go out and buy it. How do you gift something to someone who can buy whatever they want at any time?

I was an outlier in my family for requesting this for a while, but now my family have come around to not spending money on buying other people mountains of tathatround Christmas. This is in part due to the reasons above, but also due to the fact that, for us, Christmas is much more about spending time with one another, cooking together, hanging out… all that stuff, than new possessions. Also, in a world where many have so much material need, excessive frivolous spending doesn’t actually feel especially conscious or Christmassy.

Where Does Gift Giving Come From?

The reasons listed above all point, as stated, to one thing. In today’s world, where profit is king, we have kind of forgotten why we gave gifts in the first place.

The festive season hasn’t always been about multiple gifts, swapped at equivalent monetary value regardless of circumstances or personal wealth. The older generations used to give to younger generations, primarily on wedding days, in order to set them up for their lives with essentials when they were still too young to have much to their name. The principle was that, when that younger generation grew up, after they had accumulated their own wealth over many decades, they would then pay that forward to the generation under them, creating a circle of gift-giving.

Then the mid-20th century came along, capitalism crept in, and gift-giving exploded.

Sometimes You Take More Than You Give

It may feel like you are treating someone when you buy them an audacious gift or an abundance of stuff. However, if this person is not in a position to reciprocate your generosity you can trigger pressure, guilt, embarrassment or even shame on them. Gift giving can be such a minefield, and we would do well to think more consciously about how and why we exchange gifts at Christmas, and whether it is adding to the occasion or taking away.

A Few Thoughts On Mindful Ways to Give… 

1.     Secret Santa

My sister-in-law’s family does Secret Santa with whoever is going to be in their house on Christmas day. There is a budget set, and everyone receives and gives a single gift. This has numerous benefits. Spending a little more on one gift costs much less than having to cater to several people. The stress of thinking of what to buy for multiple people is gone. The day is not completely taken over by gifts… and so, there is more time to enjoy simply being together.

2.     Ask

Don’t buy blindly. The worst thing, for me anyway, was receiving gifts that I had no use for. I had the awkwardness of performing elation, and the gift giver would have had the pressure of trying to know, magically, exactly what I wanted. Ask people what they want. Tell people what you want. Do a shortlist if you still want a surprise. Take some of the pressure and awkwardness away.

3.     Agree on Budget

Gift giving can often mean spending the same on one another even if your financial statuses are hugely different. If you HAVE to swap gifts with everyone, maybe have a conversation about budget first.

4.     Gifts to Share

Instead of single gifts, my family often each bring something to contribute to the celebration of the occasion. Maybe one person will bring a new board game, another will bring a cheese board, another might supply a fancy breakfast, another might buy everyone new slippers… and on and on.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Why We Give: A Brief History of Gifting appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

In many ways the last year has felt like it never really happened, because other than being in the middle of a pandemic, not much actually happened! There were no weddings, no social events, no after-work drinks, no holidays, no road-trips, not many family visits and not many leisure activities to enjoy. It is easy to feel like this last year has been wasted time.

But all has not been lost.

It is extreme situations, such as the one we have found ourselves in, that force us to exercise different parts of ourselves. Situations such as this one can be a catalyst for strengthening skills and characteristics we didn’t know you had nor needed.

So, be mindful of your own progress, and ponder on those attributes that you have gained throughout the last twelve months. I am conscious of a few strengths that I think, to varying degrees, we have all acquired during this past year. We are all, at least a little bit, stronger. Would you agree?

1. Emotional Resilience

For many of us, we don’t remember another time when it has been more necessary to soldier on. The fluctuating tide of restrictions, losses, mistakes, and disappointments has made emotional stability harder to come by, and yet we have found a way to keep going. Handling significant emotional blows and finding a way to work through them is a hard skill to learn, and one that can’t be learnt ahead of time. I put to you that our collective emotional resilience is in a much more robust place than it was before the pandemic, and therefore so is our capacity for looking after our wellbeing going forward.

2. Resourcefulness

Problem solving is something we have all had to get to grips with of late. The problems have ranges from the enormous to the everyday. Of course, it is easy to pinpoint significant occasions when one might have solved a large problem; perhaps as regards planning a big event or working out how to operate a business safely. But those everyday problems, like meal planning, ensuring that your household has everything it needs with as few shop visits as possible, childcare, connecting with family and friends; these were problems that were just as significant to solve, and perhaps more important for our resilience and wellbeing.

3. Creativity

Netflix and local walks can only fill up so much time. We have had to get really creative to keep ourselves entertained and to fend of both boredom and madness! We have learnt new things, picked up old hobbies, read books, created online content, started new traditions, and utilised our homes in ways that we had never considered before. People have written books, painted pictures, created banquets and played many, many games. IN years to come, when your grandchildren complain of boredom you will remember what real boredom felt like, and how you dug deep into your creativity and fought it off!

4. Gratitude

It has been said many times, but when this is all over, a hug from a friend will feel like pure magic. We have collectively become aware of many simple, seemingly insignificant, things that we desperately miss now that they are not available to us. It has made us appreciate simplicity, and to value everyday occurrences more highly than before. Personally, I am dreaming of the day that I can buy a coffee on the way to work to drink on the tube, that I don’t have to check my pockets for a mask before I leave the house, and that I can enter a pub and walk up to the bar whenever I feel like it. And on that day, I shall be very grateful indeed!

5. Togetherness and Galvanisation

Extreme shared experiences ultimately bring us all closer together; to make our connections stronger. Although I haven’t seen anyone in person, other than my wife and kids, in many months, I would also say that I feel closer to many of my loved ones than I have ever been. Openness and permission to feel our feelings has become more normalised, and I dearly hope that this trend continues, alongside kindness and compassion for our fellow people.

By Chris Thomson 

Here is a closer look at how the pandemic has made the world’s emotional resolve stronger: What Has 2020 Taught Us About Emotional Resilience?

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post 5 Ways In Which The Last Year Has Made Us All Stronger appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Just like most things in 2020, I think we can all agree that Christmas is going to be a little different this year. The festive season is a time of year that is very close to our hearts in the UK, and making this year’s celebrations the very best that they can be might well be vital to the overarching resilience of us all!

Sure, the restrictions are moving and changing all the time, and planning to far in advance has seen many of us disappointed throughout the year, with cancelled celebrations and memorials littering our barely used calendars and diaries. The events of 2020 demand that we take the time, this Christmas, to remember what we do have and to practice gratitude for it.

Yes, there are many cherished frivolities, social traditions and festive accessories associated with Christmas that may not come to pass this year. Nevertheless, that does not mean that we cannot appreciate the things about the festive season that remain, and indeed, the uniquely positive occurrences bought on by whatever restrictions may be in place. These are the things that really matter for Christmas 2020…

1. Quality Time

For many of us, the days and weeks surrounding December the 25^th are full. Our diaries are backed up and crammed with social engagements. People. People. So many people to see. I’m sure there are mixed feelings about this Christmas reality; some people love it, for others it is a bit of a slog. However, regardless of how you feel about festive socialising, the fact is that you will not require the same resilience as usual.

The social engagements are going to be far fewer and much less crowded! This means that you will not have to wildly flit between many friends and relatives, catching up with them as fast as you can, always conscious that there is someone you haven’t gotten to yet. We can take our time this year. We can relax and enjoy real quality time with those people closest to us.

2. Making an Effort

Whatever your role in your family Christmas this year, whether you are hosting or just turning up, the likelihood is that you will have had to make a little more effort than you would normally have done. Perhaps it means that you had to take up some slack, as there are less people to put the festive prep work in than usual. Perhaps you had to self-isolate to even get there! Christmas is all about making that bit of effort to make things special. We should all be conscious and grateful that everyone will have gone to extra lengths to make it happen!

3. Giving and Sharing

Giving and sharing has always been a cornerstone of the festive season. Gestures of goodwill and glad tidings are not only going to be just as possible this year as they have always been, but their impact will be more significant. In many cases the need and desire for such gestures will be enormous. Give and share among your nearest and dearest, and give and share to your wider community if you can. Spreading the love is especially important this year. Be conscious of others and feed their resilience and wellbeing with acts of giving.

4. Rest

Although the ideas is that the holidays offer a period of rest, the likelihood is that your Christmas is anything but restful. With all the preparation required, the parties to attend and the people to see, Christmas can actually be pretty exhausting. This year, most of us will have no choice but to take it a bit easier. Think of it as a positive. Look after your wellbeing and be conscious of ensuring that you actually get a little rest.

5. Appreciating What You Do Have

In a year where the world has gone through so much, and many have lost so much, now is a time to focus on what it is that we do have, and to be appreciative of these things. Christmas has a always been a good time to practice gratitude, but this year holds extra poignancy in that regard. For every little thing you enjoy this year, and for every little thing you have gained throughout the last 12 months, pause for a moment of gratitude.

By Chris Thomson

A stripped back Christmas can be extremely liberating, and leaves space for conscious giving and genuine gratitude and connection, presents or no presents! Appreciating A Christmas Without Presents

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Your Restricted Christmas: What Really Matters? appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

In times of peril and confusion, such as we currently are, it is important to remember the simple pleasures in our lives and to practice gratitude for all that we have that is good. We have just had a lovely hot summer, and with the air now getting colder and the days shorter, it is only natural for us to mourn for the lovely hot summer that we have just had. Indeed, if we are further restricted over the coming months, the prospect of at least being able to get outside may seem a little less appealing that it has been of late.

But hold up there! There is always something to appreciate, and our collective wellbeing and resilience depends on us both noticing and being grateful for those things. Even with the pandemic still in full swing, and with all the madness that comes with it, there are, and always will be, plenty of wonderful things to appreciate about the autumn. Let’s remind ourselves of a few of them…

1. Cosiness and Warmth

Have you ever stopped to stare out of the window at the rain? Have you ever closed your eyes and listened to the cracking of a fire and the holing of a distant wind at the same time? On a cold night, have you ever hidden yourself beneath a blanket with a hot drink and a good book? These are all things that belong firmly in the grips of autumn and winter, and things that you do not get to appreciate in mid-June when it is 30 degrees outside. The juxtaposition of the harshness of the world on the other side of your front door, and your own safe and cosy space is one of the true pleasures of our long dark nights.

2. No Sweat

We have just enjoyed a long, hot summer. Wonderful weather is, of course, a wonderful thing, and should be enjoyed when it is here. However, if you are anything like me, you will have been craving a cool breeze or a rainy weekend at many a point over the last 6 months, especially when confined to the indoors. As nice as heat is, you might also want to consider how nice lovely, mild, sometimes drizzly and grey, British weather can be. I, for one, am rather enjoying wearing a jumper in the house and listening to the comforting whistle of the wind.

3. Hearty Food

Nothing boosts your resilience and wellbeing, nor fills you with warmth and comfort like a hearty plate of food. Gone are the days of light salads, picnics and ice cream (though they will be welcomed back with open arms around May). Now is the season of pies, soups, stews and hot toddys.

4. Colour

Every season has a colour palette, and the rusts, reds, yellows and oranges of autumn come but once a year. The crispness of fallen leaves and the hue of the now dormant plant life is somewhat majestic. An autumn walk is not like a walk at any other time of year; still mild enough to be comfortable and full of colour.

5. Coats and Jumpers

Do you ever miss your winter coat? I put on my favourite sheepskin jacket last week and felt like I was greeting an old friend; I had really missed wearing it. I have always preferred autumnal and wintery clothing; jumpers, jackets, coats, hats and scarves, there is something very safe and protective about them. When was the last time you wore your favourite jumper?

Practising Gratitude…

Practising gratitude is not hard. All that you need to do is be conscious of those things that you are pleased about, the good things in your life, and to take a moment or two to focus on them every day. Our wellbeing is boosted when we appreciate positive things; this also helps our resilience and our general outlook. Here are a few simple things you can do to practice gratitude every day…

Meditate every day. It needn’t be a huge deal. All you need to do is close your eyes for five minutes every morning and focus on something you appreciate, and to give thanks for the new day.

Keep a journal. Write down all the things you are grateful for in your life. They can be big or small, and you can write every day or every week.

Family Gratitude. Why not, at dinner time, give every family member an opportunity to voice something that they are grateful for today?

Gratitude is important, and can be practised and found every day. Practising it regularly is a vital ingredient to your ongoing resilience, wellbeing and happiness.

By Chris Thomson

Meditation offers a fantastic opportunity for practising daily gratitude. Here is how to get started… Beginners Guide to Meditation

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Gratitude: Things to Look Forward to This Autumn appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Lockdown, I think it is fair to say, has changed things for everyone. It’s a tough time, cluttered with many worries and difficulties. However, I would argue that there have been some pleasures and benefits to be enjoyed.

It seems to me that this is a particularly important time to practice gratitude. It is the positive that drives us, the good things in life. These are the things that not only humble us, but also uplift us; they remind us of the great tongs we have in our lives and give us hope.

Everybody is different. Although the pandemic crisis is affecting us all, it is doing so in different ways. We will all have different things to be grateful for. Here are the positives I have drawn this time… perhaps you will recognise some of them and feel uplifted…

1.What I Have

Of course, there are many things that I miss; shop bought coffee, seeing people in person, restaurants, hugs… maybe even public transport a little bit! There are many things to miss. However, the stripping down of both my material and social life has made me feel more grateful towards the things that I do have. I have a lovely family at home, a nice flat to live in, that flat is in a part of London filled with trees and greenery. I live in a time with technology and easily available entertainment… contact and amusement might not have been so easily available even 20 years ago. I have food in the house and I can lie in more.

There are so many things to appreciate… things that we take for granted on a daily basis as they often make up a smaller part of our day. I also am lucky enough to have things that others, perhaps, do not. I am grateful for what I have. What do you have?

2. My New Skills

I have learnt to skip. I have taken time to learn technique (there is knack to it, believe it or not!), put time into practice and researched what equipment will best help me achieve my goals. It might seem like a simple skill. However, it is an activity I now really enjoy, and one that I wouldn’t have found time to work on had I been going about my normal life. I have friends who have taken this time to learnt to cook, or dance, or do a handstand, or pick an instrument back up, or sew, or (in my sisters case) build a deck in the garden. What have you found more time for recently?

3. Time With My Loved Ones

Funnily enough, although I have not been in the same room as them, I have found time (thank you technology) to speak to friends more regularly in more casual way. I’d normally see friends occasionally… in fact, planning to get together with people often has to be planned weeks in advance. I have been speaking to friends without it being a big event; more casually. This has been a joy as it oddly feels more as if we are in each other’s everyday lives than usual.

4. Self-Improvement

Time filled with nothing has given me time to simply focus on the self. Stress often comes, certainly in my case, from a lack of time to check in with myself. I have found time to consider myself and my thoughts and opinions far more than I would have done usually.

5. The Need (and Ability) to Adapt

We have all had to adapt. I have been reminded how brilliant most people are at adapting when the situation requires it. Yes, I have had to work around restrictions on movement, work and food supplies, but I have made it work. From what I can see, so have many other people. I have been impressed at this ability to adapt, grateful for my own, and found myself feeling more hopeful about our future because of it.

When this is over…

This pandemic period will be over one day. One day we will once again be able to go into coffee shops and pubs again, walk in parks, see friends and family at will and travel wherever we wish. These things we always a privilege, and this time has reminded me as such. When things to begin to feel more ‘normal’ again, remember this time, and be grateful that it is done and for the freedoms we will once again be able to enjoy.

By Chris Thomson

Quarantining can make gratitude tricky to practice, especially on days when it is really getting you down. Here are a few ideas on how to manage those negative thoughts… 6 Ways to Override Negative Thoughts

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Access Free Live Meditations & Energy Transmissions

Inside our private Facebook Group, The Conscious Professional Mindful Community where Neil leads live weekly community events. Join now for free.

2. Learn To Meditate With Neil Seligman In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.  

3. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Conscious Coaching Partnership is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil here.

4. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Gratitude: Being Grateful in ‘The Lockdown Age’ appeared first on The Conscious Professional.