I have just returned to London from a month long holiday visiting my family in Sydney, which is where I still in many ways refer to as 'home'. The notion of home can be a hard concept to define. The author Lucy Christopher said recently in an article,
"home for me is not a house or a place or a person: it's nothing that can so easily be defined as a 'thing'. Home instead, is a way of feeling, a way of acting. Home is accepting that I am in permanent flight."
This idea of where I feel most at home is often on my mind when I return to Sydney. I always have this need to reconnect, not only with my family, but also with myself. It's a chance to reflect on where I came from and where I am now in my life. I was also very fortunate this trip to connect with the writer Amy Taylor-Kabbaz (pictured above) and meet up with her over a coffee. We had connected online through our blogs, and it was so wonderful to make that physical connection with someone who I had previously only spoken with in cyber-space. Amy had just launched her new website Happy Mama, and was also launching the first week of her "Reconnect Program". I had the privilege of being a part of the first week of the Reconnect Program which focused on Kindness.
The Reconnect Program is a self-care program for mothers designed to carve out some time for themselves and reclaim that sense of self. It is based around a very simple idea of devoting one week a month to yourself to reconnect and re-charge the soul. As Amy explains on her site,
"we want to connect with ourselves again. We want to feel a deeper connection to our wisdom as women, and as Mamas, as soul sisters. We want to learn and thrive."
During the week you are given daily emails and messages of encouragement from Amy with suggestions on how to deepen your reconnection. Amy provides you with calls to action throughout the week to ignite those steps towards better self-care. A personally written meditation to listen to throughout the week helps focus on the purpose of that week. You are also part of an on-line Facebook community exclusively for those taking part in the program. It provides a supportive environment and is a reassuring way for you to remember you are not alone on this journey.
As I mentioned, I joined for the first Reconnect week of Kindness. For me, it was the perfect opportunity to slow down and take some time out for myself. We (my 4 year old daughter and I) had a turbulent first week settling into the local time zone, and a family death had meant by husband was unable to come out with us as planned, and would not be joining us until later on in the trip. Emotionally and energetically I was feeling drained and a bit lost. I was able to dip into a week of kindness in those moments when I needed to ground myself again and reconnect. For me, the highlight was Amy's guided meditation. It was about 10 minutes long, which was perfect as I didn't have much spare time on my hands. As all mothers know, you have to take advantage of any window of respite, no matter how small it is! I have also listened to the meditation a few times on my return to London this week, while I once again try and settle my mind and body.
From September 9th, the Reconnect Program will commence again with a week dedicated toEmpower. A chance to focus on your strengths as a mother and encourage you to be the woman you were always meant to be.
For more information on the Reconnect Program, visit Amy's website Happy Mama. You have the opportunity to sign up for the remaining three months, or you can take one month at a time (the focus for October is Rebuild and for November it is about Joy). I thoroughly enjoyed my week of Kindness and it gave me helpful and practical steps towards working on my own transformation and reconnecting with myself once again.
To read more from Amy Tucker visit her website Shining Muse