Claire’s Blog
Some inspiration from Claire
Ever get that Sunday night feeling? It’s not that you don’t like your work, as such, it’s just that the thought of the new week and all of the items on your to-do list seem a little overwhelming perhaps?
Every Sunday night, The Hive of Wellbeing offers words of encouragement, hope, aspiration and a funny story or two to support Educators in smoothly breaking themselves into a new school week. The ‘Sunday Night Blues Spot’ is based around a favourite song whose title or theme reflects a thought for the week ahead. From Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you gonna go my way?”, a story of supporting positive relationships in schools; to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”, the tale of managing workload and aspirations; there is a song and an inspirational reflection for everyone!
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The Hive of Wellbeing
The Hive of Wellbeing is for teachers and school leaders who want to transform their own lives in order to transform the lives of their young people.
I love this! What is ‘normal’ now??![]()
Do what you need to do to feel good ie to feel positively about your experiences and to use this to resource yourself when dealing with your external circumstances. ![]()
It might not be what others expect you to do but it’s about being true to yourself and your inner knowing. Intuition is one type of knowledge. Tune in, listen, align ❤️Type 'being me is the norm'![]()
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#higherfrequency #higherawareness #mindfulness #soulsjourney #soulguidance #positivity #motivating #spiritual #cosmic #consciousness #divine #Dailyinspiration #dailyenergy #thirdeye #masteryourmind #positiveenergy #thirdeyeopen #lifepath #lawofattraction #highervibrations #lifequotes #reflection #betrue #raiseyourvibration #intuition #thirdeye #higherawakening
Sunday Night Blues Spot: Happy New Year to you all and I hope that 2022 brings each of you good health, success and happiness. I know some of you will have returned last week and some of you are returning tomorrow or this week. The theme of tonight’s post is about finding your rhythm and ways that work best for you. ![]()
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It is really difficult in Education not to be swept along by the demands of others or by the job itself. Education focuses on meeting the learning and care needs of all. However, it’s not always possible to meet everyone’s needs, as each of us is only one very precious resource with only so much that is possible to give. ![]()
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That’s why it’s so important to be conscious and deliberate about all of our choices in the work that we do. Where the demands and the needs are always in existence, where is there space for you and your needs so that you can work from your best version of yourself? ![]()
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This may be particularly challenging on this return when having enjoyed a restful break, it may be that the ‘spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ ie the thought of going back to work to see our young people and to get back into a routine may be welcome, but we may still be feeling physically sluggish after being so exhausted from the most demanding of terms last year and indeed, from the last 22months! ![]()
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Maybe it’s about finding a rhythm that works for you in the next couple of weeks? Maybe it’s not about your usual routine, but deliberately creating a routine that works better for you both in and outside of work? Maybe this is a new year and a new era where you can be radical about the changes and self-care you need?![]()
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So often we might feel that others would judge us or have a different opinion about what you need. But others have no idea what it is to be YOU! Not even family members. You are you living in your body and in your mind. You may need a nap when others don’t. You may need to eat when others don’t. We each have our own biorhythms that tell us what we need so long as we listen. When you have a few quiet moments and you listen to your body and mind, what do you hear/feel/sense about what your body and mind need? And what do you want to do about it tonight, today, tomorrow or this week? ![]()
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Many of us have been conditioned to put others’ needs before our own. We see it as service or as our moral purpose. But these are different times, and as noble as these ideas are, it may be an absolute necessity now to put yourself first in ways that you have never dared to do before. This might provide you with the inner resourcefulness you need in order to feel more equipped to do the work you love to do. In addition, this might just be what you need to reconnect with your work in wars that have been difficult to do in recent terms. Joy in one area of your life is infectious and can affect every other area in helping us see life through a lighter lens. ![]()
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So tonight and looking ahead this week, how do you plan to use your time in work and outside of work to provide you with greater energy? How do you plan to use your energy in ways that create new rhythms of working and being? Leaving work early on which days? Leaving the laptop in its case on which nights? Going for a whole lunchtime to the staff room on which days? Replacing scrolling on your phone for a lunchtime walk on which days? ![]()
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People speak to me sometimes about getting into a ‘rut’. On reflection, a rut is simply a state we get into when we have allowed a certain rhythm to take us there. So let’s consider making different, deliberate, conscious choices this year which protect us from any usual rut-like patterns. Let the rhythm of our lives take us to new behaviours, new experiences and new dreams. ❤️![]()
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Sunday Night Blues Spot: Last post from me this year and quite simply…THANK YOU! 🙏![]()
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Thank you so much to everyone for your continued support to me over this last year. I am very grateful to you all for your encouragement, your likes and your comments throughout this year and I look forward to making a return on Sundays in 2022 to offer a little bit of support for the start of each week. ![]()
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However, for now, I hope that you can enjoy a well-deserved rest this holiday and make the most of your time with family and friends this Christmas. ![]()
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Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a good New Year. 🎅🏻🎄🎁❤️![]()
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Happy Christmas(War is Over)-by John Lennon
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Happy Christmas(War is Over)-by John LennonSo this is ChristmasAnd what have you doneAnother year overAnd a new one just begunAns so this is ChristmasI hope ...
A Christmas Offering 🎅🏻🎄🎁 - For any educator who is looking for a little reflection-time on coming into the end of this term, this video offers some thoughts and ideas around this theme of making the transition from term-time to holiday-time.![]()
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Kevin Brack and myself spend some time thinking and reflecting on well-being as we come into, during and beyond the holidays. Take what you need from this conversation. Take what you need as you go through your week. 🙏😊❤️![]()
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NB -This face becomes less scary as the video proceeds…. I think 🤔🤣🤣
Sunday Night Blues Spot: We may be on the ‘home-run’ before Christmas, but it may feel like the longest run into a holiday for a while. Staffing absences, illness, unrealistic expectations and pressures have all made this term really challenging and unprecedented. ![]()
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However, can we also take some time to consider how far we have travelled this term? Look at how we have coped and come through to this end of term week that we are in now. Certainly, it is not without its cost to our energy levels, our motivation at times, and even sometimes our sense of purpose and direction. However, in reflecting on how far we have travelled, we may also consider how these experiences have made us stronger. For example, it may have strengthened our boundaries and made us see more clearly what it is that we now need to take into next term, regarding our practice and our well-being. Another example is that it may have strengthened our sense of individual and collective mission as we go forward into next term.![]()
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But for now and for this week, what do we need as we “drive” towards Christmas? Do we need to ease ourselves into a new rhythm with an easier pace by being clear with ourselves tonight about what realistically is going to be achieved this week? Do we need to consider that our key focus is going to be on relationships as opposed to planned outcomes this week? How we drive towards this end of term may be the difference between gently landing into the holidays or approaching it with a bit of a “crash & burn” feel. Easier said than done, I know…![]()
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So perhaps it is a case of imagining our end of week now and what we might want to feel - setting an intention for our end of week. Then we might like to think of what we might need from day to day, moment to moment, in our intention to reach that end of week destination. What do we need to let go of? What do we need to keep our wider focus on and avoid the immersion in details that are inconsequential overall? Do we need a physical reminder each day on a post-it note or a notepad? Do we need to download/offload onto a notepad at the end of each day what and how we are feeling? ![]()
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Perhaps at the start of this week, one main intention might be to take pressure off ourselves to make everything “perfect” for everyone else? It seems to me that Christmas time often puts a lot of pressure on people to “get it right” for others in ways that tend towards perfectionism or are unrealistic. Perhaps this week, it’s simply about how we safely and kindly steer ourselves and others towards a well-deserved break. ![]()
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Look at how far you have travelled. Celebrate your successes together. And when it begins to feel a little overwhelming, take what you need to be present. Your life and your work are gifts to the world. Thank you for all that you are and all that you do. Have a thoroughly well-deserved rest this Christmas! ❤️🎅🏻![]()
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m.youtube.com/watch?v=DDt3u2Ev1cI&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1dD-ywggZMlmpduRREmVbfxOGYtP36udYX8jtf...
Chris Rea ~ Driving Home For Christmas (1986)
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This great song by "Chris Rea" was first released in 1986 as a non album single, but it was not until 1988 that it got to number 53 in the UK singles chart, ...
Sunday Night Blues Spot: It has been nothing less than a war-like effort made by every educator in these last 21 months. Working on the frontlines of the pandemic has been a reality throughout this time…![]()
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But there have to be times to STOP. Even during wartimes, as described in this song tonight, the soldiers stopped. Their efforts stopped to rest, reflect, reconnect with their humanity. ![]()
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It strikes me that the next two weeks may continue to feel relentless and that connecting with who we are as human beings may feel challenging at times. We can get carried along by a momentum of ‘just getting through’ whilst losing sight of those really important humanly-rich moments of connection with ourselves and with one another. ![]()
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What are the opportunities to STOP in class or with colleagues, just to reconnect with who we ARE and not just with what we have to DO? In amidst the Christmas preparations too, how might we approach them from a place within ourselves that supports connection? Yet to STOP in any work in Education seems counterintuitive. How do we build in the STOPs when there is so much to do? ![]()
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Firstly, do we STOP having unrealistic expectations about what can be done? What is realistically going to be achieved in these next two weeks? Do we have realistic expectations of the time we have? And do we have to support others in their understanding that their expectations might be a little unrealistic too? Also, there will come a time when the school or setting will physically come to a STOP for Christmas. A very helpful finishing line or boundary for all. ![]()
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Secondly, if it helps, STOP can be used as an acronym for taking a moment to connect with ourselves: S - Stop what you are doing; T -Take several breaths; O - Observe what you are doing and what/who is around you; P - Proceed with what you were doing. ![]()
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In the next couple of weeks or so, before you take a thoroughly well-deserved holiday this Christmas, how might you build in regular STOPs from your efforts? How might these STOPs remind you of why you do what you do and where it is coming from within yourself? And how might these STOPs support you to manage your precious energy as you come into a new rhythm of the holidays? Transitioning from “full pelt” straight into holidays can be tricky for educators, so how might you manage your ‘stepping into Christmas’, as Elton might say! ![]()
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Wishing you a week punctuated with useful pit-STOPs and heart-centred connections with yourself and others. ❤️![]()
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The classic anti-war song that became a Christmas hit single.Download the Best of Jona Lewie album on iTunes : apple.co/29kzFGIBuy the Best of Jona Le...