Want to get 2021 off to a really fun start?

Fancy a good laugh before you start the daily grind next week?

Join us for some Be Naturally Laughter this Saturday (2^nd Jan) at 10am!
It’s an hour which will have you literally laughing out loud, as well as benefitting your physical, mental and social health.

Click here to discover more and TO BOOK.
If you have a Be Naturally Gift Voucher, then just call or email us to book.

See you there!

The post Fancy a laugh to start 2021 well? appeared first on Be Naturally.

Season’s Greetings from Be Naturally 

Thank you so much for your support and connection through 2020.
We wish you a peaceful and joyful Christmas and a healthy, hopeful 2021
Go gently,
Jayne and Jules

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A warm welcome dear friends,

We at Be Naturally thought this may bring a smile to your face!

“Laughter is the best medicine”, so the saying goes … and we could all do with more of it right now, that’s for sure.  So let us help you to bring more laughter into YOUR life by joining our new ‘Connect with Laughter’ group!

Laughter is scientifically proven to be good for our physical and mental health, happiness and well-being.  Our ‘Connect with Laughter’ group helps you to ‘laugh for no reason’ –  so you can enjoy a wealth of benefits to your physical and mental health … and have some fun too!

We won’t try to tell you funny jokes or do stand-up comedy – thank goodness, we hear you say!  Instead, we help  everyone to laugh together as a group – so you can tap into your own laughter and share the laughter of others too … laughter is definitely contagious!   And yes there WILL be silliness, but for very good reasons … this is what will help you to ‘laugh for no reason’ and bring about all those positive health benefits.

All you need is a willingness to give it a go so we can get those ’feel-good’ endorphins flowing

Click here to find out all about our ‘Connect with Laughter’ group and to book your place … your mind and body will thank you for it!

The post Join our ‘Connect with Laughter’ group! appeared first on Be Naturally.

Hello dear friends,

We hope you are all doing just fine and managing to navigate safely through the transitions that we currently face.

Here at Be Naturally we are doing all we can to prepare and plan ways of making life easier and a little lighter for everyone.

Joyful June started off last night with the launch of our drop-in Simply Meditation group which went really well and already participants are telling us they had a great night’s sleep!  Why not join us?  Feel free to drop-in as and when you wish, we would love to see you there.  Just click on this link to book.

We had a delightful Mindful May, running our lovely 4 week mindful self-compassion course.  All of the participants found this course really helpful in managing the difficult and challenging situations they were facing, which has encouraged us to run similar courses in the future.  In addition, participants told us they would like to continue with meditation practice, which inspired the launch of our Simply Meditation group.

Also during May we had the opportunity to support a corporate well-being week, which catalysed the formation of Be Naturally’s first online Laughter Club!  Very good, very good YAY...  as we say in our laughter sessions!  Curious?  Then watch this space, news to follow …

Joyful June is in full swing!

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Hello dear Be Naturally friends,

We hope that you and your families are continuing to keep safe and well during these turbulent times.  We know how difficult it is, living with the pandemic and the global unrest and how this can bring about feelings of  grief and suffering.

Now, more than ever, we are finding how essential it is to be living in the present moment – and one way to do this is to take a pause.  We would like to share this free practice with you so that you can experience the benefits for yourself. We hope you find it useful – we would love to hear how you get on!

The post Try this free practice … appeared first on Be Naturally.

So how are you doing?

We are living through very unchartered waters just now.  Change, uncertainty, worry, isolation – though maybe guilt or unease because you have nothing to complain about whilst others are suffering.

Whatever is going on for you right now, we at Be Naturally have created a really accessible short course to help you develop a more supportive way of dealing with any challenging emotions that are here for you.  This uncomplicated course will enable you to lead a happier and more resilient way of being.

Our intention is to create a warm, friendly, connected environment – a place to offer ourselves some essential self-care.

Click here to find out more details and book your place.

We are offering free places to those on the NHS frontline, so please do share this with your family, friends and anyone else who may be interested.

Go gently and stay safe

With kindness from Be Naturally

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March is here, in all its glory!

The Equinox on 20th marks the astrological start of Spring – and at this point, day and night become equal in length. This heralds the transition into Summer – and the long, hot sunshine-filled days that so many people look forward to all through the deep days of Winter.

There is an abundance of natural beauty all around us at Springtime … from the cheery bright yellow daffodils to the new lambs, frolicking happily in the fields. In the woods, there is so much going on too – woodland creatures are creating nests, bees are awakening from their slumber and the birdsong is glorious. Bluebell shoots are bursting forth, with flowers soon to follow. Wood anemones are starting to carpet the forest floor and the evocative aroma of wild garlic is wafting on the breeze.

A forest therapy experience can help us to pause and open all of our senses, so we can savour all the beauty that nature has to offer us. Why not join us on our Embracing Nature event on 4th April in beautiful Blean Woods, to experience Spring as never before?

And nature offers us an abundance of beauty at night-time too. Gazing at the night sky can reward us with glimpses of literally millions of stars, all twinkling with their own unique rhythm against the black velvet backdrop. The moon can stir deep emotions, as its silvery rays bathe us, sometimes shrouded in clouds.

Next time you’re out in the dark, why not take a few moments to pause, look up and notice what’s there?

And if you pause to notice the sky on 9th March, you may see the Supermoon – a glorious full moon which will seem larger and brighter than usual, as it is closer to the earth this month. This full moon is also known as the Lenten Moon – named from the old English word ‘lencten’, meaning Spring, and also as it usually occurs during the period of Lent.

Lent is traditionally a time that we can choose to give something up. Many people opt to give up alcohol or sugar, for example, during Lent. But how would it be to choose to give up an unhelpful habit instead?

• What habit do you recognise as being unhelpful to you?
• How might you give it up?
• Can you replace it with a positive, helpful habit?

We offer you this simple breathing mantra as a support:

“Breathing in, a new beginning ……. breathing out, a letting go”

We would love to hear what YOU are giving up for Lent and your experience of letting it go – please do feel free to share it with us.

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Welcome, dear friends.

We hope that the year has started off well for you and that you have perhaps set some intentions, to help you live well through 2020.

January is already coming to an end – and we welcome the arrival of Imbolc.

Imbolc is a pagan festival held on or around the 1st February – the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox – which celebrates new beginnings.

A gentle energy is starting to rise within the Earth. Although the days are still short, we have over an hour more daylight now than we did at the start of the month.  Nature is starting to stir from its winter slumber – and Spring is not far away now.

We are often so busy dashing around in our lives – preoccupied with what’s in our heads, rather than noticing what’s actually here.   However, when we take time to pause, the signs of Spring are all around us.

Fresh new catkins sway in their glory, hedgerows are in bud, leaves are slowly unfurling, bluebell shoots are bursting forth and birds are singing even more joyfully in the skies. And so many of our wildlife creatures such as foxes, rabbits and badgers are in their peak mating season right now. You may have already heard the blood-curdling calls that come from the vixens, carrying far in the still night air.

We at Be Naturally invite you to pause and open up all of your senses to the beauty and wonder of nature – whether you are in the woods, a park, the coast or even in a town or city. Or perhaps you are taking a visit to a river, stream or lake … or even in your own garden.

Wherever you are … what signs of the changing seasons do YOU notice?

Imbolc is a time to let go of the past and to allow the future to unfold and blossom.   If you are inspired to follow Nature’s lead, then perhaps you may wish to do some decluttering and spring cleaning – even if it is just one drawer in the kitchen … and notice how you feel after you have completed it.

And we invite you to take an even wider ‘life perspective’ by asking yourself:

• What do I choose to let go of, right now?
• What would I like to grow and flourish – and how will I nurture this?

We would love to hear your insights.

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“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” as the Christmas song goes.  And indeed, for many of us it is.

The festive preparations are in full swing and there’s an air of great excitement.  Families and friends plan gatherings, festive treats are being prepared, trees are being decorated and special gifts are being wrapped and given with love.

However, many of us get caught up in striving for the ‘perfect’ Christmas.  We may have a seemingly never-ending list of people to buy presents for, so find ourselves rushing around feeling frazzled and desperately searching for ‘the’ gift for a loved one.  We can spend so much time and energy worrying about how it will all work out and getting caught up in over-planning, that we reach the Big Day itself anxious and exhausted. Perhaps we are worrying so much about whether the Christmas pud will ignite in spectacular fashion, that we can’t enjoy our turkey.

And Christmas may not be a “wonderful time of the year” for everyone, for many different reasons.  For example, some of us will be missing someone dear, some of us will be feeling alone, some of us will not be feeling very festive at all.  All of this can give rise to challenging emotions – so we may miss the true joy of the festive season altogether.

Whether you are full of the joys of Christmas or not we offer you the gift of a Festive Pause – a short mindfulness meditation to help you to come back to the present moment … to find some peace, any time you wish.

Why not take time for you,  find somewhere cosy and comfortable, and give it a try?

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Nature is preparing itself through winter and it is celebrated through the festival of Sawhain.

The evening of October 31st is known as Samhain and it is a time to celebrate the transition from light into dark.  It marks the end of the harvest and is a time to give thanks for the old year’s cycle that is finishing and the beginning of the Celtic New Year.

In nature, vegetation dies back and leaves fall from the trees, decomposing on the forest floor.  To many people, this may seem bleak.  Yet the decomposed leaves provide nutrients which are transported via underground fungal networks back to the trees through their roots, so they can grow and flourish the following Spring.  It is all part of the continuous cycle of life, decay, death … and rebirth.

At Samhain, the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead is considered especially thin – and for this reason, Samhain celebrations traditionally include remembering and honouring our ancestors and loved ones who have died.

Just as nature is a continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth, we too can connect to the new energy marked by Samhain and move gently, and well, into winter.  Why not …

• Give thanks for the ‘old year’: pause and reflect on what you are grateful for.  Notice how you have grown and developed, explore what you have learned.  Name the good things, no matter how small – and look for the silver linings from the difficult things you may have encountered … rest assured, life will give us what we need.
• Honour your ancestors and loved ones who have died: collect photographs and other personal mementos of loved ones and / or pets and arrange them on a table, together with some candles. Light the candles and bring some fond memories of your loved ones to mind, then thank them for being part of your life and wish them well.  Hold them in your heart as you blow the candles out.
• Go on a Noticing Nature Walk: get out into nature, walk slowly and open up all of your senses to really become aware of what’s there. Notice signs of the season – colours, shapes, sounds – and also notice how you can observe life and death in nature.  Know that we, as humans, are a part of nature too – we are interconnected … see if you can experience a sense of inter-being with nature.
• Bring the outdoors in: create natural displays of seasonal items such as miniature pumpkins, squash, acorns, twigs, leaves, logs and sweet chestnuts.
• Choose what you would like to let go of: just as the trees shed their leaves then regain this energy through their roots – ask yourself “what do I want to let go of, right now”?  Give yourself permission to let go of anything unwanted – and allow this to create space for new things to unfold.

… and why not join us for our Winter Woodland Mini-Retreat to help nourish you through the darker days ahead?

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