What’s up doc?

Hi Compassionates,

How are you?  An unbelievable 4 days to go until the end of the YEAR. WOW! where did that go? Time has that habit doesn’t it? Of acting like a rabbit and disappearing down a hole!  Well if you are a rabbit lover or not, and I sincerely hope you are…because they are so incredible cute….you have to agree that year endings make a pretty good time for reflection, and reflection is a very good rabbit, I mean habit, to cultivate, to guide us on the compassionate path 🙂

This year has been eventful hasn’t it?  Following on from last year, undoubtedly we have all been faced again with challenges this year, whilst adapting to new ways of living as a result of pandemic.  Change can be healthy, can’t it? And good for us, but fairly tricky when circumstances fall outside of our control.  We can all empathise with that one. But let’s remember that we do have some control, control with regards to how we respond, and I guess that’s the point. We could all focus on what’s gone wrong this year, and the shambolic drama that’s unfolded as a result, or alternatively we choose to focus on the good, whatever that may be collectively and individually, and by doing so we’d be practicing some mindfulness.

I am feeling grateful this year, not least for my health, and the health of my friends and family, but also for having the opportunity to launch the planet compassion project. The inspiration for the enterprise started some five years ago, when I embarked on an adventure to India, following a calling to connect future generations with the natural world, and worked in the city of Bangalore with children, and other urban areas.

As time passed, the world of planet compassion evolved in my imagination, as I worked on my writing, and then the pandemic hit, and opportunity presented itself to launch what I had been dreaming about, so to speak. A huge thanks to Becky Sigston, and all the teachers and children at Ivy Chimneys primary school, for helping to make that possible, and also to Shobna Dhamija, and the teachers and children at Silver Oaks school in Bangalore. The collaborations have been pretty close to my heart, seeing as Ivy Chimneys was my primary school all those years ago, and Silver Oaks is the school I worked with whilst in India. 

For me, 2021 has been a continuing journey of appreciation for nature. I have enjoyed and appreciated my time outdoors immensely, working with others, facilitating forest schools, and also time spent alone, simply being with nature, and exploring. But this year has also been about a greater appreciation of technology, as technology has provided opportunities to learn, grow, and connect with others, and collaborate on aspirations for creating a better world.

So I will leave you with that thought, as our planet completes it’s annual orbit around our star, and we transition to 2022. What are you grateful for this year? Let’s start the new year as we mean to go on, let’s make gratitude a habit this year… let’s all practice some mindfulness, and create a touch of magic! Lets evolve towards the idea of planet compassion. 🙂

Little Miss Compassion. xx

Be the sunshine, cuppa anyone?

Hi Compassionates,

I hope you are having a good week.  I sent compassionate vibes your way, in case you didn’t notice 🙂  I hope you are showing yourself some compassion this week too. you deserve your compassion too, taking the time to tune into your inner world, to understand what you need to care for yourself a little bit better, so you can experience greater well-being and happiness, and extend that to others too. 

A nice little mindfulness exercise, to help us practice, is called ‘cup of sunshine.’  We could all do with a little extra sunshine every day couldn’t we? Especially in the Northern hemisphere at the moment. Sunshine makes us feel good.  It bathes us in warmth, brings out the colour in the world, and triggers serotonin in our brains which makes us smile more too. We are hardwired for sunshine, because we are part of the natural world, so take a few moments to think about how important sunshine is to you, and how it makes you feel.

Now take a cup or mug from your kitchen, and place it on your desk, or somewhere else visible, as a visual reminder. This is your cup of sunshine, a vessel that needs your attention. You see, the sun doesn’t shine every day right? Well, OK yes, in outer space is does, and at a certain level in Earth’s atmosphere, but in our reality, the sun is obscured by different types of weather. To give you a clue, the view from my window is currently less than optimal, with wind, rain, angry tree’s 🙂 Which means that we can’t rely on the sunshine to make us feel happy every day, and we to need find other ways to make the sunshine for us too.

We can do that by performing acts of self compassion, big or small, to help fill up our cup of sunshine. A good place to start is by journaling or listing all the things that make us feel happy, writing them down, to increase our awareness about them, before popping them into the cup. Then as you go through your day, you can take the time to notice the small or large things that are helping to shape our well-being. It could be something small, like having something nutritious to eat, or not:) I LOVE chocolate too! 🙂 Taking the time to exercise, or get fresh air, exchanging a smile with a stranger on the street, doing a job, or chore more mindfully, learning something new, performing a caring or kind act for a friend, colleague, or loved one. Whatever it is, once you start to become aware of what feels good in the mind, body, and heart, and you can make a note of it, and pop it into your cup. That way you can have inner sunshine, whatever the weather. Arm well and truly twisted? I hope so! Because now you are in a better position to send rays of sunshine to others too.

That requires some practice, some dedication, founded on the belief of the genuine merits of mindfulness, and compassion. A wish to see all sentient beings free from suffering, including yourself. 🙂 I’m definitely going to practice filling up my cup this coming week, I hope you will join me too.

Little Miss Compassion. xx

Appreciate the Little Things

Hi Compassionates. I hope you’re managing to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature as we have transitioned from summer to Autumn, as our little planet tilts away from the sun, and days begin to shorten, nights lengthen, and temperatures dip.  A fresh, crisp air has enveloped the planet, well the northern hemisphere anyway, making time outdoors more invigorating, refreshing the senses.

I have to admit I am feeling wistful already for all things great and small, as growth slows and wildlife prepares to retire. I have especially relished some wonderful mindfulness through the warmer months, reaping the benefits for health and well-being.  Amongst my favourite moments were definitely watching the bats in the garden at dusk, performing amazing acrobatics whilst feasting on insects, and fattening for the winter months. And also bug hunting with the children at forest school, and on occasions alone, putting my new macro lens to the test, a small detachable lens that slips over the camera of your smartphone/tablet, that helps you to take close up shots.

The lens kit is a grand total of £16.00, and encourages creativity. It comes with 10 different lenses with varying effects, such as fisheye eye, star filter, and kaleidoscope.  I think this is a great tool for children,  especially those that enjoy taking photos. For me it has definitely whet my appetite for macro photography, increasing my appreciation for the finer details of the small things.  It’s incredible to see the anatomy of a bug in all it’s glory, the bright colours, patterns, delicate appendages, wings, and antennae.  It’s all too often we miss the small things, due to being distracted by the mind, and noticing the finer detail, in my experience, can really inspire greater curiosity, awe and wonder. Even the humble fly has gone up in my opinion, warranting the opening of windows to set them free, before they buzz themselves into a stupor.  But my favourite invertebrate has to be the ladybird larvae this year, resembling a little alligator…. awwww, It’s so incredibly endearing,  I don’t have a picture to show you, so you will have to Google it, but it’s so cool the transformation it undergoes.

Ladybirds are a particular favourite at forest school, and this year there have been no shortage of them in the London urban garden, but sadly that might not always be the case, as Insect biodiversity is under threat, with a third of insects being at risk of extinction. Insects and bugs are the bedrock of any ecosystem and crucial to the integrity of our planet, so having this in mind when you look for one, and spot one makes it all the more meaningful.  But bypassing logic, the children’s smiles say it all. 🙂

I’ll leave you with a few pics taken with the macro lens, to help inspire some of your own nature photography and bug hunting.  I hope you too will enjoy spotting and admiring the little things that run our planet, and will take a compassionate pledge to help wildlife too.

Little Miss Compassion x