Adventures in home working

Stephie and I went for a long walk this morning beside the salt marshes, just a short walk from our house. 

Stephie has just got back from hospital having been in for a couple of nights with concussion, she was still struggling with her balance and not very confident,  by the end of the 3 mile walk though she was much better.

I decided to take some snaps to give her a break and this old tree caught my eye,  I have often seen Herons wading just beyond the tree, but unfortunately not today.

I even managed to get a picture of Steph sitting in the sand dunes and smiling,  which is quite unusual as she is pretty camera shy!

I went out for a walk on the beach with the kids tonight, they played in the park while I sat in the sand dunes and made some notes for a speech I will be giving next week.  .  When I finished we walked along the promenade and watched this glorious sunset!

We get a lot of great sunsets here, but this one was pretty special because of the reflections on the wet beach and the clouds.

I have been meditating twice a day now for just over 3 years and it now plays a major part in my life, initialy I started to meditate just to help me manage the constant pain I am in, but as the years went by I realised that it has had a much broader effect.  There is no doubt that pain management has improved significantly, but I am also much more tolerant, easy going, mindful, and generally happier.  I also think it has helped me to focus more on enjoying everything that I do and to accept the parts of my life that are difficult/impossible to change and have the energy to change the rest.

For 2 years I used probably the most simple technique:

• I sit cross legged – in a quiet place
• close my eyes
• count my first 30 breaths
• from 30 onwards I just focus my attention on the air as it flows through my nose
• I do this for roughly 10 minutes, if my thoughts wander, I just bring them back to my breath and carry on

Recently I realised that I could also meditate very successfully in a constantly noisy place, which is really useful when I am waiting for a plane, or if the kids are off playing somewhere. My latest refinement is only a week old and it’s to meditate with background music. 

I came across the perfect music while out walking at Bolton Abbey, Debbie and I went into the Priory Church and there was a beautiful background chanting music playing,  as soon as I heard it I felt myself being drawn into the meditative state.  Unfortunately there was no one there to buy a copy from so I dragged Debbie back the next day and managed to get a CD, wonderful!  As luck would have it, when I got home I found a pair of noise isolating headphones – that I had bought off eBay a few weeks ago – had arrived from America and these are perfect for creating a completely quiet environment to listen in.

So that I don’t get in a rut I try and read a little about meditation each day and I have found Ezine articles to be the perfect way to do this,  I have subscribed to the meditation category using RSS and so at least one new article appears in my reading list every day.

the Village is a real gem!

I love my food, so a great bakers and butchers are essential

I loved the fact that most walks combined beach, cliff top and woodland elements.  Especially useful on a sunny day

I came across this wood within a few minutes of leaving the cottage we were staying in

I feel as though I have lived most of my life by the sea, and when I haven’t I have still been walking in the woods or the hills, so my favourite places always have great views.  Up until now though my favourite place to visit has been Filey in North Yorkshire,  it has a great beach,  good cliff top walks and a lovely Victorian town, everything I need to relax.  Whilst it was only 45 minutes from home Filey certainly deserved the Favourite place status, but now we live on the other side of the country and it’s now a 4 hour drive away so I reluctantly admit that I need to find somewhere new.  Arnside is that place,  Arnside has wonderful views, a great craggy coastline, lots of little bays and cliffs to explore, wonderful woodland, hill top and beach walks.  Not only that but just as important the village is a gem, the people are really friendly and it has a great bakery!

One of the things I noticed as I walked around chatting to people was just how many of them seem to have moved there because they fell in love whilst on holiday, which is always a good sign.  I have saved the best for last,  Arnside is only 1 hours drive and 1.5 hours away by train – pretty much perfect.  If you get bored of the place you can jump on the train and go over the river to Grange over stands or walk around the headland to Silverdale.

It was interesting to see that Debbie was also really taken with the place, which surprised me a little because we already live in a great Sea Side town which she doesn’t seem to appreciate enough.  When I asked he about this tonight on the way back from Tennis she agreed and said that she had thought the same thing and that it had needed her to enjoy being in a place in a holiday setting in order for her to appreciate all the great things about our current home.

The photo’s in this post were taken during a 3 hour walk that I managed to cram in on my first and only – so far – day there, but stay tuned for news of more visits!

I came across these stunning flowers whilst out walking this week!

When you live by the sea, it can be quite shocking to see just how green the English countryside is.  This picture was taken in the grounds of Capernwray hall.