This kind of season can feel like a holding pattern - waiting to launch, waiting to exhale, waiting to figure out what the next thing is (project, job, plan, holiday, whatever). 

 

To counter this, I invited the utterly serene Marie Penrose of Penrose Meditation to lead The Rewriters Community’s first ever Special Members event this March. So many of the women in the group are wired for perfectionism so Marie’s focus was guiding us to a practice that was perfectly imperfect. Marie says meditation isn’t about clearing your mind, it’s quite the opposite - it’s to accept it as it is and just be present with it. That’s all.

 

Meditation has been such a salve for me in times of stress, stuck-ness and overwhelm and it bothered me that so many people ruled it out because they believe they can’t do it ‘the right way’. I know from personal experience that even just a few minutes a day is a powerful and transformative practice. Scientific evidence backs its efficacy too - it reduces stress and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, improves immune function and (over time) can lead to ACTUAL structural changes in the brain. 

 

If you need some room to breathe in your day, I’ve put a 5-minute morning meditation practice below, that I’ve found doable before my kids wake up and the chaos begins.

 

The next Special Members event is happening inside the membership on the 22nd of April where I will be running one of my Life Pie Workshops, an illuminating and highly practical session to audit and reset how we spend our precious time, energy and attention – and make sure its aligned to our most important priorities.  

THE REWRITERS COMMUNITY is my private membership for passionate and creative professional women transforming how they work and live – on their terms and at their pace. Membership is £41 per month and includes special members events and workshops, monthly accountability sessions, weekly accountability check-ins, quarterly 1:1 private coaching interventions with me, access to a catalogue of resources, an online community and to just to hang out with these brilliant and supportive women from around the world. We would love to welcome anyone in who is craving deep, sustainable change in work and life.

In other Rewrite updates, the latest episode of The Rewriters pod dropped yesterday, How to Present Like a Pro: Speaking with Courage and Impact.

 

If I was to describe all of the work I do in a single theme, it’s about rewriting stories (the inside ones and the outside ones). This episode focuses on helping you to take up space and tell your stories, in any setting and to any audience.

 

During the episode I make the case for WHY you should invest in learning to present like a pro. I then break down HOW to do it in 4 parts: Mindset, The Story, Delivery and The Deck. I cover Common Presentation Fears and how to deal with them and wrap up with some Self-Coaching Questions to help you start the fundamental inside work necessary to becoming a presenting pro (mindset and belief is critical).

If you're prone to perfectionism and need a salve for the overwhelm, these resources will help…

That's all for this month First name / Rewriter, wishing you a gorgeous rest of the week and a perfectly imperfect start to your April.