​It’s been found that regular 'awe walks' in healthy older adults can contribute to a host of benefits. These include increased positive emotions, promotion of social connection and less distress in daily life a study published yesterday has revealed https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Femo0000876.
This shift was reflected in “selfies” participants took on their weekly walks, in which an increasing focus on their surroundings rather than themselves was paralleled by measurably broader smiles by the end of the study.
Awe shifts our energy and attention outward instead of inward and is a positive emotion triggered by awareness of something vastly larger than the self.
There are suggested places where awe might be readily available https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/awe-inspiring-walks-nature-boost-wellbeing-scientists...although these are only the tip of the awe-location iceberg.
Coaching with nature and landscape engages awe. Please contact me for a free discussion if you are interested in this.
#coaching #nature #emotions #awe #mentalhealth #mindfulness #wellness
 

Great North Run.... inspiring stories and wonderful achievements running and raising funds for charities- congratulations to all participants.

Stewart Temple, 90 running in his 21st GNR, took up running in his 60s after the death of his wife. (Image Shields gazette)
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/26777663
#GreatNorthRun #running #feelgood #inspiring
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​As schools start again after summer, there will be parents and carers experiencing change today.
This can be especially apparent as your only or youngest child goes to school for the first time, maybe there is the sense of feeling bereft and of loss, despite the desire to see your child grow and develop
It’s poignant to remember too bereaved parents for whom the day when their child would have started school is an emotional milestone.
 
Change is described as the outer situational shift and can be immediate. Transition is the way we come to terms with change, the process of letting go of the way things used to be and taking hold of the way they subsequently become.  It is a process of inner adjustment and readjustment and takes time and in the process we can find ourselves in a kind of limbo, while we are adjusting to the new reality and forming new identities for ourselves.
 
The three-phase model of transition developed by William Bridges helps us make sense of what happens to us. 

The first stage is the ending, losing and letting go.
 
The second is the neutral zone- a confusing, uncomfortable time of flux, when everything is ‘up for grabs’, potentially creative and option laden where things are neither the old way nor the new way.
 
The third and final stage is new beginnings where we develop our new identity, experience new energy and discover the sense of purpose that makes the change begin to work.  We are ready to start the new chapter – life feels back on track again. We have a new sense of ourselves, new outlook, sense of purpose and possibility. 
 
Coaching is extremely valuable in the management of transitions, to acknowledge and be with the loss letting it go to emerge into the neutral zone with its options and possibilities developing the motivation to make decisions and develop actions for the new beginning.
 
I’ve worked with many people in their professional and personal transitions; through organisational change management, leadership development and promotion to life shortening health diagnoses, relationship breakdown, redundancy and retirement and it has opened up new ways of thinking, being and the skills and relationships to negotiate the new phase of life with adaptability and heightened well-being.
 
Please contact me if you’d like to know more and discuss ways in which Whitespace Coaching can support you through work and personal transitions.
 
What are you experiences of transitions and what do you value from them?
 
Sue