"Everything you need is now free!"

"Everything you need is now free!" said the subject line of the email sitting in my inbox.

I was tempted to look - I mean, could it really be true?

At first glance it did look as though this might be something good - all sorts of items and products that used to cost money now being given away absolutely free! Even the postage, if you ordered, would be free. There was just one problem. There wasn't anything there I actually wanted let alone needed. And I couldn't imagine that anyone else would feel any different!

But it did get me thinking.

What exactly do I really need? What do any of us really need?

Philosophies and religions have been telling us since the beginning of time (or at least since the first humans began to ponder such spiritual questions) that we all already have, deep inside us, what we really need.

Once we've got our shelter and food sorted, have experienced adequate connections or relationships (because we're relational beings) and found a way to keep ourselves safe from any roaming wild animals, then anything else needed is found within the depths of our own minds and souls.

A sense of peace, calm, comfort and purpose...the ability to forgive, understand, keep things in perspective, are all already there within us if we look and if we nurture them.

We can try looking in other places for those things. We can try persuading or expecting others that those are the kinds of things they ought to be providing us with. But sooner or later us adults will come unstuck if we take that attitude.

The truth is that those things, the things we really need, are already there right inside us...absolutely free and accessible whenever we choose to go inside of ourselves to look and experience them.

"Quietness" and Story Therapy for children

You can't help but notice that there's a lot of mention and promoting these days of the benefits of deliberately finding "space" in the day or taking time out of busy lives to meditate or "just be".

There has been a big rise in the discovery and enjoyment of learning meditation techniques and Mindfulness http://mindfulnet.org/page2.htm and how this is beneficial. Mindfulness, once learnt and practiced regularly can be part of relapse prevention for mild depression and anxiety for many people.

I love the fact that people everywhere are discovering that stepping back from the pace of life, or even the lack of pace of life, and becoming quiet and still enables them to find and benefit from an inner peacefulness. And that in that inner peacefulness all sorts of profound and interesting discoveries about the self and life are found.

Teachers of meditation and spiritual things tell us that what we are discovering is our "true nature" ie we are, once we put our often inaccurate stories about ourselves, life and how life ought to be aside, in touch with a serenity and strength that is always within us. The busyness and stress of life causes us to lose touch with this. For so many people this losing touch, combined with very real stressful or even tragic life events, pushes them into distress and mental illness.

It makes sense to me that children are more receptive and much closer to their "true natures" than us adults. Children are naturally freer in spirit and enthusiasm for life. They are also more open to accepting new ideas. They absorb and take on values and views about life easily. And because of this many advocates of meditation are coming up with ways of teaching children the benefits of stilling their minds - mindfulness for children. Why? Because acquiring the skills of self-compassion, de-stressing, relaxation and the ability to mediate in some way will stand them in good stead later in life. 

It can also introduce ways of talking with children about emotional and mental states - and perhaps the stigma that, sadly, still exists around emotional and mental illness in our adult world could be reduced further in the future.

Can we help our children learn more about human emotions and emotional states than we ever learned?  And develop natural techniques they can use to help themselves and understand others? I think so.

There are programes that can be taught in fun and relaxing ways to school age children either at home or in groups in school. http://mindfulnessinschools.org/  or 
/http://www.teachchildrenmeditation.com/connected-kids-tutors/

Even very young children can be shown how to become "Quiet". I used to play a game with my nursery group children which we called The Listening Game. Sitting in a circle together, usually just before story-time and when I already knew the environment around us was fairly quiet, I'd ask the children to sit as still and silently as possible and to LISTEN carefully for any sounds. What could they hear going on outside? What could they hear within the room or along the corridor? What could they hear within themselves - their breathing? The sense of stillness and observing silence this created seemed to be enjoyed by all the children. And that peacefulness seemed to stay with them at the end of our Listening Game. Afterwards the children often wanted to either remain quiet for longer or only speak softly or in whispers for a few minutes longer! They had discovered and enjoyed a stillness within.

Using stories and especially interactive stories is also a good way of introducing children to the idea of emotional and inner states which we all have. Stories that show characters finding ways through upsets or difficulties are important as children will absorb ideas and begin to think in more helpful ways about any difficulty of their own they might have. They might spontaneously share something they have been worrying or struggling with - or they might quietly absorb. And that quiet absorbing of a new idea can become the beginnings of a solution or better way of seeing something.

So I do think there is such a thing as "story therapy" - where stories become the gateway for exploring thoughts, feelings, emotions and finding different and new ways of seeing things that can be taken from the stories and used in real life. Some can also be used with children as a starting point for finding a quiet space for relaxing, pausing and enjoying the benefits of sometimes stopping and just being.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Tree-Hilary-Hawkes/dp/1910257176/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432556417&sr=1-4&keywords=hilary+hawkes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Feelings-children-Illustrated-Hilary/dp/1910257184/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432296232&sr=1-1&keywords=hilary+hawkes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Feelings-children-Hilary-Hawkes/dp/1910257095/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432556417&sr=1-3&keywords=hilary+hawkes

Celebrating One Year of Kidliterature!

If you're a parent, teacher or involved in the world of children's books and you haven't discovered "Kidliterature" yet then you'll definitively want to know what it's all about. Kidliterature is an online place of news, tips and advice, reviews, support for children's authors and artists and generally all things children's books. Kidliterature are advocates for children's literacy and you can check out the website and links to facebook and twitter here:

https://www.facebook.com/KidLiterature?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/KidLiterature


Kidliterature was set up by talented author/artist Karen Emma Hall a year ago. Karen quickly gathered a team of like-minded authors/illustrators around her and together they form the Kidliterature admin team (which I joined at the end of last summer)- supporting each other and other authors and illustrators and promoting children's literature around the world.

Inspite of the fact that writing children's books is the best job in the world, it can be a lonely task at times and creative people need other creative people for the right kind of support and friendly advice probably only they can give each other! Kidliterature does that. And the website and facebook page is also a great place for parents, teachers and others to look in for inspiration and news about authors, children's books, ideas and resources too.

So this week Kidliterature are celebrating their first "birthday" with author signed books, giveaways, games, videos, a raffle and an exciting brand new webiste:

Kidliterature

And an eight minute long celebratory anniversary video:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/k8uPODt_2cA

So if you love children's books as much as I do and as much as everyone at Kidliterature does, then don't miss out on this whole week of fun!

Find out about and enter the rafflecopter giveaways here:

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When "Books are the most constant of friends...and the wisest of counselors..."

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." So said Charles William Eliot in his The Happy Life, 1896.

That's one of my favourite quotes because I've always loved the idea of stories that are a kind of "therapy" and not just an entertainment or distraction or means of obtaining information.

Stories can take you out of yourself and transport you into the worlds and thoughts and emotions of others. Through stories the youngest of readers can absorb values and comforts and discover how to think and see truths for themselves. Step into the right story, the right book at the right time and when you step out again you'll have almost imperceptibly acquired a just-for-you 'gift' that will stay with you long after you've read the last sentence or put the book down.

The kind of 'gift' I'm talking about is a realisation, a resolution or a quiet comfort or certainty that makes life suddenly feel a tiny bit different or better or happier or hopeful. And for children as much a adults that is a gift that is especially needed at times of anxiety or change or loss or sadness. The right stories, as the "quietest and most constant of friends" can offer children that gift in a indirect, subtle and cheerful way that won't make them feel the adult world is trying to intrude and bombard them with answers that they can't take in.

The intention of The Forever Tree and Stories for Feelings is that they become books for children with those kinds of gifts. A shared reading of them between a parent (or other adult) and child that enables a gentle and non-frightening way of opening up to nurturing ideas - helping children explore emotions, feelings, thoughts and situations they may be going through. Or just a way to understand themselves or others. They can be revisited by the child alone or shared again - their messages still there whenever they are needed

.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Feelings-children-Illustrated-Hilary/dp/1910257184/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427554285&sr=1-3&keywords=hilary+hawkes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Tree-Hilary-Hawkes/dp/1910257176/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427554285&sr=1-9&keywords=hilary+hawkes

Learning to dance in the rain

http://philosiblog.com/2013/07/31/life-isnt-about-waiting-for-the-storm-to-pass-its-about-learning-to-dance-in-the-rain     

Take a moment to let the goodness in life touch your spirit and calm your thoughts.

Then share it with others.

The goodness in life grows stronger and more magnificent every time it is given away.

(Based on quote by Ralph Marston)

New possibilities

Give birth to new possibilities with your ability to reach into the future and let go of the past.

From http://www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk/new-possibilities/