Life is about creating space

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I believe life is about creating spaces.

Create spaces in your house where you can feel happy, creative and motivated.

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Create space in your garden where you can escape and feel calm.

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Create space in your heart to allow love to enter in.

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Create space in your thoughts to focus on positive things.

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Create space in your life to spend the time with people you care about and who care about you.

Create space in your day to take a moment for you.

Life is about creating spaces, start creating the space that feels right for you.

Like a tidal wave gratitude washed over my body

If you are really lucky you will experience a few unexceptional moments in life, that feel exceptional.

Those unsuspecting moments that creep up on you out of nowhere, that send jolts of clarity and waves of happiness through your body.

This morning at 8:16am (I know, because when it hit, I looked at my watch, and made a point to capture the moment).

At 8:16am this morning, waves of gratitude crashed over my body like a tidal wave.

At 8:32 am I sit by the Brisbane River, I eat the yoghurt and banana I had prepared and I try to put into words everything that is bursting from my heart.

As I said, if you are lucky, you will experience these magical moments where you feel exactly where you are meant to be in life.

This morning I dragged my sore, tired body out of bed to teach two people Pilates in the garden. These two people I am helping improve their fitness and strengthen an injury.

This morning before 8am I had positively helped two people, what a beautiful way to start the day.

At lunch I will help 10 more, I will give them a respite from their day in the office, to breathe in the fresh air, to find 45 minutes of peacefulness and calmness in their otherwise hectic day.

Last night I pushed 35 people to their limit and challenged them mentally and physically .

This past month I have had several people cry in class, for the simple reason that for that brief moment in time they had felt the best they had done in a long time. I won’t get into the reasons why, it’s not my place, but to make someone feel good even for a moment is a rare treasure.

There are a lot of people who do amazing things in this world, being a fitness instructor may not be considered one of them, but being involved in improving someone’s state of mind in a positive way for a few moments of their life, feels pretty amazing to me.

I don’t think it matters what you are doing with your life, if you are doing something that makes your life richer, that fills you and or others with joy and happiness then you are doing what you should be doing with your life.

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If you feel gratitude for your life when you wake up, does it matter what life you are living in the eyes of others.

If you are walking along and you get wave after wave of happiness hit you for no particular reason then I feel you are definitely where you are meant to be, doing what you are meant to be doing.

Blissful in Bali

I have just returned from a 5 day mini sabbatical to Bali.

Taking time out of your normal routine while a luxury I believe is also a necessity. Seeing a world outside of your own can only help to change the way you see your own world.

Not only is this energising it helps to change your perspective or confirm for you what you already knew.

If we keep doing what we have always done we will obviously keep getting the same results. If you want to break a habit you need to change.

Bali was blissful, not just for the idyllic scenery, the relaxing massages, but having the time to slow down, the chance to be still and spend some time alone with my thoughts allowed me to contemplate what is working well in my life, and what can be improved.

While taking a 5 day mini overseas trip is not the most achievable way to change this perspective, taking a drive to a different location, or sitting outside in a different room is.

Try new things, give yourself permission to relax, find your own blissful moments within your everyday life.

Isn’t that what life should be about?

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Step outside your comfort zone

Sometimes to get the most out of your exercise routine, diet or just life in general you need to step out of your comfort zone. Try a new form of exercise, a new way of eating, a new hobby.

Quite often even though the choices we have made are working for us, if we don’t try new things we can become complacent and bored. When we become complacent we are not performing at optimum level.

To get the most out of your exercise routine try mixing it up every now and then, I trust you will notice the difference.

Try varying your diet to keep your taste buds alive and stop the bad cravings.

As for life well stepping outside your comfort zone can only ever be a good thing; if you try and fail you can take pride in the lessons learnt from the experience, the satisfaction of being brave and the huge rewards you can feel for achieving and conquering a new goal.

Balance and harmony

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Finding the perfect balance in life isn’t always easy.

Balancing work, kids, exercise, hobbies, it seems as though time is often against us.

When we have balance we find harmony, when our lives are in harmony we find fulfillment and isn’t that what we are all striving for?

Something I have found helpful lately is compiling a list of how I spend my time.

While I feel a little silly doing it and admitting this publicly, it has been such a useful exercise to find more balance and harmony in my life.

If you are being totally honest with yourself (as I was) you will be shocked just how much time you spend on Facebook and other social media platforms.

If this brings you great joy then I say continue, if you however are not enjoying this, or feeling time poor, then I say it may be time to re-evaluate as I did.

Spend the time doing what makes you feel good any chance you get.

Spend less time (outside of work/family commitments) doing things that make you feel bad.

It seems so obvious when I say it, but often so hard to actually do.

Find balance and create harmony.

Live don’t just exist

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Short and sweet today.

Live your lives with passion, with love with hope, with energy and enthusiasm.

Live don’t just exist!

Enjoy your weekends of living wildly, cherishing each moment.

Living rather than existing!

Imagine if ….

Imagine if you could re live every ordinary day as though it were extraordinary?

Imagine if you loved every part of your body and didn’t want to change a thing?

Imagine if you were the smartest, richest, funniest, most talented person in the world?

Imagine if each time you posted on Facebook you instantly got a million likes?

Imagine if you never had to work at anything and you were automatically thin, successful, fit?

Imagine if…..

Imagine if:

You actually lived out every ordinary day having extraordinary thoughts, seeing the world through extraordinary eyes, imagine how amazing and fulfilling each day could be….

You loved your body flaws and all, you realized that everyone has their own in securities and while each body is different none are perfect.

Imagine how happy you could be if you were comfortable in your own skin and you focused on all the things you love, rather than the things you hate…..

You didn’t strive to be richer, smarter, more talented but you learnt to appreciate and feel gratitude for all the amazing things you already have in your life…..

You stopped posting on Facebook and instantly checked for likes, you didn’t feel sad when you only got two likes rather than twenty.

You realized that the amount of Facebook likes does not equate to your successful status as a human being…..

You stopped wishing for more, you appreciated working hard to get results, so you could feel a deep sense of achievement and pride……

Imagine if you spent less time thinking, worrying and more time being present in the moment, more time feeling genuine gratitude and happiness.

Imagine if you spent less time worrying about people’s opinion of you and more time focussing on how YOU feel about you.

Imagine a world where you can start to create and control your own happiness……

Imagine……
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A time to reflect, to plan, to celebrate

After a few soul searching days by myself at the beach, I have come to the conclusion that:
A – you are never too old to change your life.
B – happiness is a choice, a way of life, something we all have the power to experience.
C – you can achieve anything with determination and by setting little realistic goals.

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I have been walking on the beach, exercising, relaxing and after setting myself some fitness goals for the new year have been already challenging myself to learn some new yoga poses.

Like anything worth achieving, we must first be dedicated, motivated and patient.

Enjoying the journey along the way ….

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Whatever your plans are for the new year, I thank you for your support, for your dedication in striving to be fit, healthy and happy.

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Happy New Years

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Choose greatness

Most great things in your life won’t happen by chance, they will happen by choice.

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I saw this sign at some markets on the weekend, and I have been thinking about choices ever since.

Everything we do in life is a choice.

Happiness, dedication, the will to succeed.

You can choose to feel great simply by changing your mindset, habits, situation.

You can choose to feel great on the inside by eating well, and choosing positive thoughts over negative ones.

You can choose to feel great on the outside by exercising, looking after your skin.

You can choose greatness.

Choose to be a winner or a quitter.

Choose whether you surround yourself with negative or positive people.

Choose greatness.

Everything is a choice!