Well, that has been a lot of fun

Feeling very fortunate in life at the mo I must say. Sorrento from Friday until Monday last week which was beyond glorious (check out my Instagram ‘Sorrento’ Highlights if you didn’t catch the stories), and then this weekend we get another three-dayer! Lovely.

Friday night I was out on the raz celebrating one of my very best mates’ 50th birthdays.

I bloody love getting together with mates like that – a tonne of us who have known each other for years and years, been through so much together, seen so many guises of each other and… well it’s just the most comfortable, enriching space to be in.

I digress…

Danced for a solid five hours, to the best music with the best of friends. Some going back years, some newer, some very new (made on the evening!). I had face ache all night from smiling so much.

Coming just off the back of the same in Sorrento, I feel very heart-filled, very ALIVE, very regulated…

Which is interesting actually, because…

Actually before I go into the “because” – I want to tell you I meet some resistance writing this email, you know. I can feel the resistance as I go to type – it’s not a conscious thing, it’s a physical feeling of tightening like my body wants to hold me back from writing it. So ace when you learn to tune into your body – you start to really feel how the body literally acts way before you consciously think, to protect you.

What are you on about Georgie? Protect you from what? I’ll get on with it…

That resistance I noticed/felt (that I’m pushing past as you can see) is about the fact I’m going to be telling you I was up till 1:30am in the morning, drinking shots of tequila, dancing my little socks off (that bit doesn’t meet resistance!), woke up the next day with a head like a shrivelled raisin, having had five hours of terrible sleep. Felt like I needed to eat the world, and had very little voice. A hoarse whisper at best is how I’d describe it.

So yeah… not your average wellness world email. But it is me. And the resistance I feel is that as a nervous system strategist – I have no reservation in telling you booze is not a recommended tool!

Now I know that if I lived my life like this every weekend – as I did for many, many years (the anxiety, depression, paranoia, low self-worth and panic attack years… but yes, hedonistic fun indeed!) – I would be a husk of the person I am today, and a carbon copy of the person I once was then. No thank you.

But once in a while – or twice in a while – or even thrice as it seems to have been recently, when things come up and they speak to your soul and you just want to dive in and be there… listen.

You always know what’s right for you and in what measure – if you learn to really connect to yourself. We are not talking about overriding the messages from the body here, we are talking about going with the body. And if it is calling for some free expression, whatever that might look like, and it’s in a way that supports and enhances your life overall – BLUMMIN WELL DO IT!

But here, it’s come to my very felt attention, that I find it quite difficult to admit to you all when I’ve had a big old hedonistic weekend – and that’s nothing to do with your judgement and all to do with my own.

So there came to light a very clear area of personal exploration for me to give some attention to hey?

I’m clearly, behind the scenes, judging myself in some way and not just allowing myself to be led and enjoy without feeling some levels of maybe guilt or possibly even a slight flavouring of shame? Which is MAD!

But I’ve started a little thinking on it, and actually that judgement of myself all comes down to expectation – and the high expectations I still have of myself.

Still very much a work in progress. As we all are.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m very happy with the person I am and the way I live my life. In the main, I’m really proud of it all.

But I do recognise there is still a large element of being hard on myself and not just allowing myself to flow and let go.

No, that’s wrong. I do let go – I’m very good at that in the moment – I realise I then question if it was the right thing to have done after the event. That’s rubbish too!

But a wise friend said to me the other day, “You’re not a monk. You live in the most authentic, wonderful, life-enriching way. And if sometimes that means you go back to the party days because that’s what your soul needs – and you enjoy it – then so be it. Allow that part. It’s a small part of this great life you’ve built for yourself. It’s a part of you and a part you get great joy and fulfilment from.”

Correct! He was so right.

That same conversation led us to talk about expectation too – for a number of reasons – and I recognise this is also still it being such a huge piece of work. It’s an ongoing one for me, and I don’t doubt most of us can relate.

Our expectation is so often – usually, actually – the very thing that creates disappointment and frustration.

Learning not to expect, but just accept things as they are, is possibly the most freeing thing we can do.

Learning to notice when we’re forming an expectation and choosing to let it go – that’s where the real magic of life happens.

So now I’m consciously looking out for it, and choosing to let it go, and already in a day or so it makes me smile every time (It happens a lot I see).

You feel your shoulders drop.

Expectation has weight – allowing things just to unfold is so light!

So when I woke up hungover on Saturday, I had zero expectation for what I might do that day – no way of letting myself down – and actually just allowed the day to be less structured, more fridge visits and more kindness to me. Lovely!

Can you do this in any area of your life? Have a think – where are you forming expectations you can just release and let go of? Have a quick go now. Feel the weight lift (you really will feel it).

Honestly, in real time – the minute you consciously recognise you’re forming an expectation – notice the story you’re creating – and decide to intentionally drop it and let things just be…

The freer you feel.

Because the truth of the matter is…

The more open we are to unexpected opportunities and experiences, the more comes our way - our hand is open to receive...

I don’t want my whole life mapped out.

It suddenly feels even more exciting not to ‘expect’ but to just ‘see what happens’…

I’m excited to see what’s to come. Very.

Ha – but that doesn’t mean you don’t live in an intentional way most of the time. You absolutely do and i recommend it in order to create and live in a way that helps _you_ feel your best, live to _your_ full potential, and stay true to who _you_ are inside – every day, every moment.

And that, my beautiful friends, is our real work here.

And actually – today – despite the boozay do and the lack of sleep and routine – my nervous system feels incredible. Because my heart is full.

I haven’t pushed myself or expected on myself one bit.

I’ve allowed myself to potter, do, be, smile, absorb, listen to music, and laugh at the ridiculous number of steps on my watch created by jumping like a lunatic and singing out loud.

(Trust me – dictating this into my phone today is a struggle though. I have very limited voice.)

But my relationship and heart cup is well and truly filled.

(I hate the expression ‘fill up your cup’ – but here we are. I wrote it - yuk)

So there you go.

That’s a few weekends on the bounce – heart-filled, champagne glasses and shot glasses filled, feet painful from dancing. Throat husky from singing. Face hurting from laughing.

And nervous system feeling an absolute treat.

But now?
Back to intentionality.

Sleep.
Hydration.
All the good food.
the lovely tools and practices I enjoy so much.
None of the head and body mashing booze.

Just those memories to take me onto the next time…

And please can the next time not be for a while?
I’m done.
I’m ready to welcome back that feeling of vitality in my life and grab that gorgeous daytime vibe by the horns.
Feel that passion in all areas return.
So can we keep it that way for a bit?

And before I hop off and let you get on with your Sunday, let me give you a gentle nervous system thought provoker to ponder over...

This is the beauty and importance of this nervous system work.
When your system finally feels safe, it means you have physically created the capacity within it to be able to dip a toe back into the fun, wild, nostalgic and hedonistic times if you wish – and trust that you’ll come back to centre feeling just as good if not better for it.

You don’t have to shut parts of yourself down completely to live well.

You just need to know how to build the capacity in your system to hold them Shout me if I can help you there - click here to see how.

Small doses of what you want.
Massive doses of what you need.
(Which, in time, becomes what you want anyway.)

Now that is what I call living a glorious life.

Have a gorgeous Sunday, Monday and week to follow...