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What can you learn by pondering these images?

YIN AND YANG

For an emotionally healthy life, ying yang is a powerful metaphor to understand and use.

That two is better than one…that there is always one other option to take..that there is never no change or just one direction …that a move always creates its own reaction and that so much of what we do comes in pairs, working against each other in some way.

But that the two are connected – that there is a unity in everything. Enjoy the image of yinyang fish.

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ALL CHANGE

Can you think of a better image to convey the universal truth that everything changes and nothing ever stays the same? Surely it was not that long ago when we all used these phone boxes and we saw them as red, reassuring and redolent of continuity. And now just ten years on, they are rusty, redundant and replaceable. (I hope you like the alliteration.)

So what are the right lessons for us as we view the telephone graveyard? Not to hold on too tightly to the past for sure but to gently mourn and mark the past and its passing. Not always to view the change as necessarily good for us, but always to be open to change and know that it is part of life and cultivate the expectation that change can be made to work for us.

And finally, to learn what the lesson might for us by the change. Because only then can we let go.

Back to Self Development

THE SYMBOL OF THE POND

The pond is deep and we can only imagine how calm and peaceful it might be. Yet on the surface there is a small disturbance - a pebble has created a rippling circle, slowly fading until calm returns.

None of us can go through our lives without disturbance. It is when disturbances are contained and we know of a peaceful place not far away - then we will have found the tools we need.

Back to Life Coaching

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THESE FLOWERS?

These flowers have been well looked after - growing in well watered soil with good nutrition and plentiful sun. Needs have been met and there has been time for the flowers to show themselves at their best.

We can wonder how these blooms would look if the soil had been poor and the weather hostile. How might you then go about restoring the flowers to full health?

Back to Needs

JUST BEING THERE

To look at this is enough to relax most of us - blue sky, a gorgeous Mediterranean sea and framed by rock and green vegetation.

Just close your eyes and recall a holiday memory that brings back calm and pleasure to you. Be aware of what you are feeling. Where is it located in your body? Stay with it.

It is good to know that that feeling is there for you - perhaps whenever you wish.

Back to Relaxation

ISN'T HE SWEET?

Behavioural templates (part of our genetic inheitance) are evident from the first moment - witness the sucking instinct of the newly born baby. And right from the beginning, these patterns are not only evolving but being modified by experience.

This small boy is stretching and discovering but other experiences in his early life may be more difficult. Human Givens therapy works to change unhelpful patterns from the past - of feeling and thinking and acting - not by delving into them, but indirectly and working with the unconscious mind.

Back to Human Givens Counselling

WE KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS - OR DO WE?

Tower Bridge is instantly recognizable - a London sight, icon even, that most of us will be able to relate to. What are you finding is your reaction to this picture? What associations are there for you and what feelings too?

These may be very specific and if you keep the image of the bridge in your mind's eye, it may surprise you what comes up.

Back to Emotions

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

Expectations, based on the pleasant memories or (more accurately) the pattern matches of past pleasures, drive dopomine to the decision centres of the brain. Can you sense this happening to you as you look at this picture? The dopomine can be hard to resist, which is why we eat and drink and smoke when we know it will not be good for us in the longer term.

But dominant patterns can be replaced - in as little as a few weeks. The dopomine surge is temporary - and just a chemical (no different from that dollop of cream).

Back to Addictions

PERFECT HARMONY

These three musicians are in harmony - not just as they sound (we can guess) but as they pace. Pacing in this context means moving together. For people in harmony, pacing is unconscious and extends to body movements, facial expressions, voice tones, rhythm of speaking and breathing.

Watch yourself with those you are close to and those you are not - and be aware of differences.

Back to Relationship Tools

SBI!

andrew

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Change and pain are part of life, but suffering is optional. Anonymous