Latest / ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿 / ✨ Miracles Now Ep. 1: From Attack Thoughts to Asking & Choosing Peace ✨

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✨ Miracles Now Ep. 1: From Attack Thoughts to Asking & Choosing Peace ✨ · ✨️Aligned and Thriving: For Teachers🌿

• 0:05
  Hello beautiful humans, and welcome back to another episode
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  of Aligned and Thriving for Teachers.
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  The podcast where teachers who are ready to live intentionally
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  lead with their heart and thrive both in and out of the
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  classroom. This is for you, no matter what.
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  I'm Mel, and I am so glad that you are here.
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  This episode is something I am really excited about.
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  I really enjoyed taking some notes down of what I was going
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  to talk to you about today. And I want to talk to you about
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  something just a little bit different, but oh, it's so
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  powerful. So I've been reading the book
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  Miracles Now by Gabrielle Bernstein and wow, just wow.
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  I've read it so you don't have to like I can give you the gist
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  of it, but if you want to read it, go for it.
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  There are so, so many Nuggets of wisdom in this book.
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  So if you haven't, I would highly recommend.
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  But for now, I'm going to share with you a few gems that have
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  really hit home for me. And I think that they will hit
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  home for you too. So whether you are in your
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  classroom, parenting, working on your side hustles, or just
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  trying to make it through this week, like let's dive in.
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  I'm going to start with one of my absolute favourite lines from
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  the book. Happiness is a choice I make and
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  I want you to sit with that for a second.
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  Happiness is a choice I make. When I first read that I
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  literally just said wow out loud because how often do we forget
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  this? Like we let the world, the
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  chaos, the classroom behaviour, the kids fighting, the late
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  emails, the marking pile, just everything dictate how we feel.
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  But the truth is, we get to choose.
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  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that that's always easy.
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  It takes effort, it's going to be a daily practise.
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  But when we remember that we, we control our thoughts and we
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  choose how we respond, that's where our power lies.
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  It's just like I said in the Hope episode, like hope is a
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  choice. Well, guess what?
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  So is happiness. So try these today.
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  And I've tried it and I've worked on, I've been working on
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  it for a while now. But when something annoying
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  happens, instead of spiralling or venting, and we all do it,
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  honestly, hands up. Two hands up for me.
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  Take a breath and ask how do I want to feel right now and what
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  can I do to get myself closer to that feeling?
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  That tiny little moment of awareness is everything because
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  you're making a choice. Happiness is a choice I make.
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  Remember when you talk about things with children and you say
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  that their behaviour is a choice because they are choosing how
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  they react to something. I know if you're not a mom, you
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  may not understand, but for moms, for me, I react very
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  quickly to situations. I get frustrated very quickly
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  and I've had to work on that. I own that and I'm still working
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  on that. But This is why I do things like
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  read and listen to podcasts to try and better myself and better
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  my reactions. Excuse me, the hiccups, my
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  reactions to situations. So one in particular is I'm very
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  quick to respond or get agitated when the kids aren't doing what
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  I've asked them to do. But then I've got to remember
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  that I'm making a choice on how I'm reacting to that.
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  Could choose to just get really angry, or I could choose to just
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  take a deep breath and go, OK, you've got this long.
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  We're going to get this done because we always do.
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  I mean, we get frustrated, but it all gets done.
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  And I could choose to react to that situation like this or like
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  that. So which choice you're going to
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  make? So happiness is a choice I make,
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  and I'm going to choose as much as I possibly can to force
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  myself to choose that over anything else.
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  I'm going to choose the happier response, the positive response,
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  because that's the way I want my life to be.
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  So why don't you try that too? Now there we go, the next one.
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  This one hit me deep in the heart, Gabby writes.
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  If I want to feel supported, I must support myself.
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  Mark drop shebang. Hello, how many times have I
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  told you you've got to put your mask on first before you can put
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  anyone else's on? You've got to fill your cup
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  first before you can fill anyone else's.
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  It's the same thing. If you want to feel supported,
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  you have to support yourself first.
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  You have to support yourself to then feel supported and receive
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  that back. I hope that made sense.
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  We're all looking for that external validation.
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  Like, does my team get me? Why does leadership not check in
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  with me? Why am I always the one holding
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  everything together? But the truth is that support
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  starts within, when our thoughts are kind and our energy is
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  aligned. And when we stop being so darn
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  hard on ourselves, the world around us actually shifts.
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  And this was big for me because as teachers, parents, humans
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  like we are so quick to support everyone else.
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  But when is the last time you actually stopped and supported
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  you and had your own back and backed yourself and gave
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  yourself some grace and hi? Sometimes supporting yourself
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  means asking for help. Yep, fill your own cup.
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  You are worthy of that. It is not selfish, I've told you
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  that before. We need to focus on these things
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  to make sure that we're actually looking after ourselves because
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  then we can start doing things for others and we can feel like
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  it's coming back in return because what you're putting out
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  is what you're going to get back.
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  OK, OK, here's a little tool from the book that you can
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  literally do right now, right now with me.
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  OK, so we're going to do a quick little reset because peace
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  begins with me. Peace begins with me.
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  So let's reset together. I want you to take a breath, a
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  big deep breath. So you're going to breathe in
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  through your nose for three and out through your mouth for
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  three. Now, this time when you take a
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  breath, I want you to touch your thumb to your index finger and
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  say the word peace. OK, so thumb and index finger
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  together and you're going to say peace.
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  So and then breathe in peace. Then you're going to move your
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  thumb to your middle finger and say the word begins.
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  OK, begins. Then you're going to move to
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  your ring finger and your thumb and go with and then your thumb
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  to your pinky and say me. OK, so then it sounds like this
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  when you put it all together, is it your thumb?
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  You're working your way through your fingers.
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  So your thumb touches first finger, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.
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  OK, so breathing in peace begins with me and you breathe deep and
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  you can do it again. Peace begins with me.
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  OK? You can do this with your class,
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  you can do it with your own kids, or you can do it by
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  yourself or before a meeting or even in the car.
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  It is a grounding technique. It's really simple, It works.
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  Try it. Honestly, you've just done it
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  with me. I'm hoping unless you were
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  driving, then that was very dangerous of you, so don't do
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  that again, but try that. It's a quick little grounding
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  technique that has got lots of research behind how it resets
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  your brain to stop, think and breathe.
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  OK, next one, let's talk about those nasty little thoughts that
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  sneak into your head. You know, the ones like, I'm not
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  good enough, why do I even bother?
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  I always mess it up. They don't respect me.
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  My house is a mess, so I'm failing.
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  These are called attack thoughts.
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  Attack thoughts because they're literally attacking you from the
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  inside out. Gabby Gabrielle Bernstein So
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  Gabby suggests that wearing a hair tie or a rubber band on
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  your wrist and snapping it every time one of those little nasty
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  thoughts creeps in, literally, it's called snap out of it.
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  You can notice how often during the day these thoughts actually
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  come up and that's your clue. You can't change what you don't
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  acknowledge. So this is helping you to
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  acknowledge that when those little attack thoughts are
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  coming, those little negatives, those little things that gnaw
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  away at you from the inside out, you just give it a flick.
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  You might even have a bracelet and you might just flick your
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  bracelet so it's not obvious. And you take a breath and I
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  forgive this thought. It's not real.
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  I forgive this thought. It's not real because you are
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  not your thoughts, OK? We are the thinker behind the
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  thought, and that's where our power lives.
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  We are the thinker behind the thought.
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  You're not your thought, so you're going to change it.
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  OK, So another little strategy. She's just full of these helpful
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  mindful strategies. And yes, I have tried them all
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  and yes, they have been helping me in my general Wellness of my
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  life. OK, next one.
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  This is a good one and this one was huge for me.
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  So when you feel helpless, help someone.
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  This is actually a quote from, and I won't probably say it
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  right, but Aung San Suu Kyi, OK. And it's a quote from them.
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  And it is so 110% true. When you feel helpless, help
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  someone. When you're stuck in your own
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  head and you're overwhelmed and you're burnt out and you're
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  spinning, do something for someone else.
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  It doesn't have to be big. Just send a kind message to
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  someone, cover a duty, bring a coffee to someone, clean out a
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  drawer, go shave your legs. If it makes you feel better, I
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  just had to throw that one in there because sometimes when I
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  honestly can't get to the bottom of something and my brain is
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  just overloaded, I will go and have a long shower and I will
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  shave my legs and I've just, it helps decompress.
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  Just one of those things. I actually think there's another
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  author that I've read and when I was reading, I was like, Oh my
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  gosh, someone else does that. What's her name?
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  Oh, Denise Dudfield Thomas, She's an Australian author.
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  I've read a few of her books and she actually says when you're
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  really stuck in a situation, just go shave your legs.
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  And I was like, it is a thing. It doesn't have to be a thing,
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  but it is a thing for me and obviously other people.
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  But it just helps to shift your energy.
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  It completely unblocks you. It goes from your stuckness, not
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  a word, but from your stuck self to being useful.
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  And that's where the magic sort of begins.
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  Now, I know when we say you've got to look after yourself, you
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  can't just go look after others and and fill your own cup first.
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  But I'm not saying do this all the time saying do one thing.
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  These are in those moments that you're utterly and ridiculously
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  just trapped and stuck in those thoughts and you just can't.
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  You just don't know what to do. So you're getting out of that
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  headspace. It's just breaking the link
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  basically and starting over. Cool.
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  Next one for you. Now, this one is for those of
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  us, me, who hold on to things which be honest, probably more
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  than just me, but forgiveness is an attitude.
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  It really is, Martin Luther King Junior says forgiveness is not
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  an occasional act. It is a constant attitude.
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  Doesn't that hit hard? Let's forgive ourselves.
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  Let's forgive the rough day, the things we said, the thing that
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  we didn't say. Forgiveness clears space for
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  healing or love and just for energy to just flow, and you've
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  got to start with yourself and then let that ripple out.
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  So forgiveness is an attitude. It's not something that you just
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  do once. You have to continually be doing
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  it and be working on it. Sound good?
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  You do that next one. This is the final one for today,
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  the final little snippet out of this book.
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  The final one is to be more childlike.
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  Yes, even as an adult, even as the teacher, you want to be
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  curious, be silly, Daydream, let go of needing to control
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  everything. And this is when I point to
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  myself. Let go of needing to control
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  everything. Kids are present, they're
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  curious. They forgive really quickly.
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  Literally it's like 5 seconds and then they're playing
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  together again. We can learn so much from them
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  and their innocence. So today when you're doing all
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  of the things, you're flicking your little, you're snapping out
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  of it, you're being forgiving. You're also going to go and be
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  more playful, laugh at something dumb, sing in the car, paint, be
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  curious about something. Just get back into the flow of
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  things. All right, now here were my
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  little Nuggets from today's episode.
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  I just got to recap them for you.
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  So the first one was happiness is a choice that you make.
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  OK? Support starts with you.
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  Peace begins with me. Snap out of your attack thoughts
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  help someone when you feel helpless.
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  Forgiveness is an attitude and be more childlike.
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  So take those little snippets with you today when you need a
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  reset at home, at work, in life. And before I go, because I love
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  to give you just that little bit of work to do your little bit of
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  homework, your quick journal prompts for today, I want you to
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  have a think about #1 like what does happiness look like for you
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  today? What does happiness look like
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  for you #2 how can I support myself better this week #3 what
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  attack thought or thoughts am I ready to release?
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  And make sure you're snapping out of them #4 where do I need
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  to forgive? Is it yourself?
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  Is it someone else? OK, remember, it's an attitude.
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  You've got to choose. Make that choice #5 when's the
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  last time I felt playful or childlike?
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  And how can I invite invite more of that in?
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  OK, so thank you guys. As I keep reading, I'll more
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  than likely do another episode about Miracles now because it is
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  honestly amazing. It is 108 little snippets of
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  Nuggets that she's learned over her growth journey again.
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  So Gabrielle Bernstein, if you haven't read any of her books,
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  she's written quite a few. I've read Super Attractor, which
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  is 1 of hers. I'm in the process of reading
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  and finishing Miracles now and the next one I've got is Self
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  Help. So again, quite a few and she's
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  got more, I know, but they're just the ones that I have.
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  But amazing. OK, so that is your little
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  snippet and I'm sure I'll give you more, but some really
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  helpful strategies to just assist you with your
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  development, your growth, your mindset.
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  And if you love these little chats, please don't forget to
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  share them with a teacher friend or come and say hi at over at
• 15:31
  Instagram. All of my links are always in
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  the notes down the bottom. I love connecting with all of
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  you and hearing how things are going.
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  But keep showing up, keep choosing happiness and keep
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  believing in your magic. And if no one told you today,
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  just in case they didn't, you are amazing.
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  I love you all and I hope you have the most amazing day,
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  night, evening, whatever you're up to when you're listening.
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  And until next time, stay aligned and keep thriving.
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  And I'll talk to you again soon. Bye, guys.