Costa Women Blogs

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM MARBELLA COSTA WOMEN BREAKFAST GROUP! What a great finish to the year at our Breakfast Meeting today!   We all shared our goals for next year with plenty of fun and laughter and support from everyone.This is what our meetings are all about and indeed what Costa Women is all about! I am so grateful to Ali Meehan for giving us all this opportunity to bring so many amazing women together! It’s wonderful to see so many people making new friends, swoping ideas, doing projects together and leaving the meeting on a ‘high’ and feeling part of something special. This group is mainly aimed at ‘Women in Business’ but it’s open to anyone who would like to get involved. Many women are on their own and our meetings are designed to embrace everyone to help them feel empowered and supported whatever they do. It’s more than just a Networking Group, it’s a sharing group who all want to add value to each other and there’s a real sense of caring for each other. This is very unusual in business and in life!! As a result of this I’m also forming a Coaching for Success Group to give extra support to help further personal as well as business development. More info on this soon. So lots of positives for this year and plenty of exciting things for 2014!! If you’d like to join us to kick off the New Year with a bang, make new friends, have fun and get involved put January 7th in your diary now!! All the details are on the Events page.  Thank you to all the lovely ladies who have made our Breakfast Meetings so special! I send Much Love to All Costa Women, have a Very Happy Christmas and a Great New Year Joy xx  PS If you’d like to have my Free Special Goal Setting for Success System plus other free tips, videos and ebooks go to www.joyfahey.com

Have you ever stood gazing into the fridge, knowing you weren’t really hungry, but that something wasn’t quite right, you weren’t quite right? You didn’t really know what was wrong; you just had this uneasy feeling and food seemed like the best way to fix it.   But it doesn’t fix it for long! And before you know it, there you are, back again gazing into that fridge. After many repeated visits to the fridge over a period of time, you begin to put on some weight and then some more weight, until eventually you are officially ‘overweight’.   In our culture it is just not acceptable to be overweight. So called ‘fat’ people are seen as lazy and weak willed. The media is constantly selling us the idea that being slim and beautiful equates to success. (Not so in other cultures, in Jamaica big is beautiful, in fact the bigger the better!) Added to which the government is continually bombarding us with the message that being overweight is bad for our health.   So the only thing for it is to go on a diet.   Just how many times have you tried to lose weight? How many different diets have you tried? How long were you able to keep the weight off for? Every time you put the weight back on again, you blame yourself. Just like they say, you’re lazy, weak willed and a failure. Your self esteem begins to suffer. Maybe you just give up or perhaps you decide it’s time to try another diet! And the vicious cycle continues.   It never even occurs to you to think that maybe dieting isn’t the answer. ‘Eat less, exercise more’ is the mantra of the day, the only solution we are offered (apart from the more drastic options of pills that can sometimes have ghastly side effects or surgery that on occasion can be life threatening).   Diets alone simply don’t work for many people because it’s not the food that is the problem – it’s that uneasy feeling. We’re trying to tranquilise that underlying unease in the only way we know how – by eating.   But just what makes it so difficult for us to lose that weight? The answer lies in the discovery that people with weight issues are what is termed as psychologically reversed 95% of the time with regard to their issue of weight loss. Being psychologically reversed just means that, for whatever reason, there is a part of you that is not on board with the idea of losing weight. And that part of you will sabotage all your attempts to lose weight! Psychological reversal can be very simply measured using kinesiology or muscle testing. How does muscle testing work? Whenever you say or think something that resonates as true with the subconscious mind, the electrical and magnetic fields around the body actually become stronger and as a result the muscles also become stronger. Similarly, when you say or think something that resonates as false with the subconscious mind, the electrical and magnetic fields around the body actually become weaker and as a result the muscles also become weaker! See http://www.formulaformiracles.net/muscle-testing.html for more information). The famous Lie Detector Test is based on similar principles.   Anyone having difficulty losing weight will invariably test weak for ‘I want to lose weight’ and strong for ‘I want to gain weight’. This simply means that while consciously you really, really want to lose weight, your subconscious has another agenda altogether. Subconsciously you really don’t want to lose that weight! So what is it that causes us to be psychologically reversed? Author, kinesiologist and chiropractor Dr James Durlacher identifies several primary themes: negativity, lack of self worth, issues around safety, fear and secondary benefits.   For example, someone who has tried to slim unsuccessfully many times may believe that they will never be able to lose weight (negativity). Another person may believe subconsciously that they don’t deserve to be slim and beautiful (self worth). Someone else may have suffered a traumatic event in the past, it could just have been a perceived threat that they were unable to process at the time, and which they subconsciously associate with being slim (it’s not safe for me to lose weight). Or they may believe that losing weight will in some way adversely affect a loved one – for example they think it may arouse jealousy in a sibling or damage their self esteem (it’s not safe for others). It may be that they just love eating and are not prepared to sacrifice their enjoyment (secondary benefit). Or if someone has been overweight all their life subconsciously they may be afraid to lose weight because they wouldn’t know who they were (fear).   And unfortunately, the problem with psychological reversal is that it isn’t logical, it’s emotional; identifying and understanding it, doesn’t automatically resolve it.   So, being overweight really isn’t your fault! It’s just a case of psychological reversal.   So isn’t it about time you stopped blaming yourself!   But if diets don’t address the emotional issues behind your overeating and it isn’t your fault, do you just have to resign yourself to being overweight?   The answer is a resounding ‘NO’; there is another way. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is based on the discovery that ‘ALL negative emotions are caused by a disruption in our body’s energy system’ andcombines the very best of east and west – the latest research in energy psychology with the ancient wisdomoftraditionalChinese medicine.   EFT is recommended by many internationally acclaimed doctors and leading edge scientists, like Deepak Chopra and Bruce Lipton, for its speed and effectiveness; it often works where nothing else will.   EFT addresses the underlying cause of your weight problem. The reason you keep going back to that fridge! It restores harmony and balance to your energy system, effectively eliminating those feelings of anxiety and unease.   A skilled EFT therapist will help you uncover and eradicate whatever is causing psychological reversal in your case, so that every part of you is on board. With every part of you on board, you can be sure of success.   You effectively lose weight from the inside out. First you eliminate pounds of negative emotions like anxiety, guilt, shame, anger, then you can just sit back and watch as your body changes to match your new inside, and you shed the physical pounds, with no conscious effort on your part!   Picture courtesy of Ambro

Dear All, it is heading in fast jumps to the end of the year and here I am even so it should be the part of the year with quiet time and reflection, Life confronts me with things I don’t really want to deal with right now. All new and old buttons are pressed with an opportunity which raised out of nowhere in the horizon, included fear and fear and more fear. An opportunity lots would think, how great, how blessed you are. For me I have right now all kind of conversations in my head, EGO talk, Soul talk, heart feelings, emotions and so much more. I had some great talks with some Costa Women, who listened, saw me, heard me and just stood with me and gave me there feedback about the situation. Coming home from a beautiful Business Breakfast with you and our friend JOY, who is a joy :), I received this in my inbox and wanted to share with you. It is just what I needed to hear and who know perhaps one of you needs exactly to hear this words right now as well. So it is not coming from me, I hope Mastin will forgive me that I copied it out of his email for you. Enjoy and ask yourself, “Are you interrupting any miracle in progress right now?” xo Lea The human mind is both a blessing and a curse. We are a genius race.   We truly are. Our minds have created so many great things on this planet.   Our minds are also capable of great amounts of darkness and fear. The human mind alone is powerful, but it is not all-powerful, nor is it always right. In fact, human beings have a track record of getting things vastly wrong before we get them right.   We tend to learn through pain and destruction and to this day, the majority of human beings are still running thought patterns that do not understand that each person is a part of a greater whole – that what one person does affects us all. We are still running thought patterns of separation and, as a result, fear.   Some folks are breaking free of this, but many are still under the hypnosis of fear, separation and are seeking to get Love from “out there” instead of looking where Love truly resides, which is always “in here.”   Our minds can be genius, but our minds can also be the source of massive suffering.   The beautiful thing about the human mind is that each one of us has an opportunity to train our mind to think like a champion. We can CHOOSE to align our thoughts with thoughts of Love, Peace, Compassion, Non-Judgment, etc. Or we can CHOOSE to align our thoughts with fear, lack, separation and the like.   When we choose to align our thoughts and actions with Love, we tap into a wisdom far greater than our mind can comprehend.   All of us were born out of a Loving and Connected Uni-verse.   We were birthed from an intelligence that we cannot understand, yet we feel intuitively. When we surrender our will and understanding to that subtle voice within, we sign up for an AWESOME and EPIC adventure. We won’t know what’s going to happen next, but we know that we will always be taken care of.   The first thing that usually happens when we surrender is that the shit literally hits the fan. Time and time again, whether we are consciously or unconsciously walking on The Path, the shit will hit the fan. Our limited perspective from our minds will want to see moments like this as bad, negative and horrible. It’s only natural. When something tragic, unplanned or painful happens, it makes total sense to see that event as a negative.   BUT – because we have NO idea what is going to happen in the next moment or in the next year as a result of these seeming disasters, we cannot, if we are tapped into Love, label them as bad, negative or disasters.   The mind that is aligned with Love simply observes these circumstances and chooses not to label them. We feel the feelings that come with each circumstance, but we do not let them define us or keep us stuck in a rut. We let the feelings come and go like a gust of wind – unattached and aware.   Because we do not know what is going to happen next, if we choose to prevent or resist the present moment, we may actually be interrupting a miracle in progress.   EVERY time something has gone to shit in my life, it’s turned out even better. This is because I choose to see every seeming disaster as Grace and then take empowered action from that mindset.   When things are falling apart in your life, consider that it might actually be Grace.   Celebrate the end of a chapter in your life and ride the wave so you can be reborn, smarter, wiser and with even more Love and Understanding in your heart.   Choose to see even THIS MOMENT as a miracle in progress, and then get out of your own way.   Can you do it?   As always, the action happens over on the BLOG; head on over there and leave a comment on my blog “Don’t interrupt your miracle in progress!” The TDL Community thrives in the comments and it’s a GREAT place to get support!   Love and miracles,

Elviria, Marbella – an oasis of flora and fauna   “A marvellous position on the Mediterranean, every building has unspoilt contact with the sea.” Jørn Utzon – Elviria architect, 1960   Poised at the foot of UNESCO’s protected Sierra de las Nieves mountain range, midway between Málaga and Puerto Banús, Elviria’s laid-back village feel, natural vegetation and long sandy beaches offer year-round sanctuary to birds of a feathered and two-legged variety. Literally meaning ‘Truth’, Elviria owes its name to Elvira Taillefer, treasured wife of urban designer Salvador Guerrero – applauded alongside Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe, Ricardo Soriano and José Banús for converting the Costa del Sol into today’s cult tourist destination. In 1960, as proprietor of 3,200 acres of forest in Marbella’s Las Chapas district, Guerrero presented his grand idea for the coast’s first residential development. Working with Danish architect Jørn Utzon (winner of the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honour), their town plan details Guerrero’s vision for the land with its “marvellous position on the Mediterranean, its sea view the dominating motif where every building has unspoilt contact with the sea, no matter how far from the beach. Special qualities of the terrain reveal points in this grand country that stand out. This point has been selected for our commercial centre, hotels, restaurants, etc.” Naming the urbanisation after Elvira, Salvador’s acorn of an idea grew to become headquarters for the Costa del Sol tourism studies centre (ECOS), soon followed by an ECOS school, a German school and Marbella’s first fire station. Salvador received Marbella’s Municipal Gold Award in 1961 – the first developer to promote the Costa del Sol as Europe’s finest place to live. The couple attended the inauguration of Salvador Guerrero Avenue in 2009, a one-kilometre link road to the Elviria Park development named in Elvira’s honour. Following his death in 2011, Marbella mayor Ángeles Muñoz announced infrastructure upgrades in Elviria and Salvador Guerrero Avenue as part of the €2 million Neighbourhood Plan 2013, responding to “lots of demand from residents and visitors who daily access the two malls in Elviria and use the taxi rank.” Surrounded by attractive apartments and villas, the popular Commercial Centre houses banks, boutiques, bars, restaurants, convenience stores and a supermarket, while sports and leisure activities count among its attributes with immaculately manicured lawns at Santa María Golf & Country Club, Greenlife Golf and El Soto Golf in the hills nearby. Luxury beach clubs at Nikki Beach and The Beach House are within easy reach, frequented by high-calibre celebrities and global personalities. For kids, a massive Coca-Cola can signposts the entrance to Funny Beach karting and jet-ski centre, while adults can escape to Blue Flag Artola-Cabopino Beach with its marina and protected natural sand dunes for a spot of nudist sunbathing. Campaigning to protect Elviria’s natural environment and the habitat of its wildlife – including 78 bird species; the Mediterranean Rabbit, a key prey; and the Iberian Peninsula’s smallest Roe Deer – BirdLife International, the Spanish Ornithology Society and Ecologists in Action called on authorities to “guarantee the highest environmental value to the ‘Alcornocales de Elviria’ cork-tree forest and its plant and animal communities, for its educational, cultural, scientific or leisure characteristics, with or without a profit motive.”   Edited version to be published in Russian this month, Ideal Home Magazine, idealhomespain.ru Image: Elviria beach by casademare.de Image: Birds of Marbella – Warbler by Juan Caracuel

Thank you to ALI to a wonderful, joyous, fun, delicious, great, special, well thought of Christmas Party. You have put so much love, work, care, ideas in this evening. You had all night always an ear for anyone who needed you, even so you were most of the time so busy making sure that everything works out smooth and that we all don’t see what huge work is still requested behind the scene. Your main goal as always was that every single woman and men could relax and enjoy the show. Even yesterday evening when sometimes 10 people at one time wanted and needed you, as always when you listen you hear and see only that person who needs you right than and there which is one of your many great values you have and we honor. You are very special, we see this and appreciate it a lot and we are soooo happy and in gratitude that you our our COSTA WOMAN . Lots of LOVE, HUGS, Respect, Grace, Gratitude, and Appreciatiation from us on the other side of Costa Women We See you !!!!

Hello everyone My niece – Laura Williams (she became a Costa Woman recently) is teaching in Vietnam at the moment and would like to come here to teach when her contract finishes . Laura would really appreciate any contact from teachers here who could help her with advice on where to start looking – what qualifications are necessary – salaries to be expected any any other relevant information she needs to be aware of. Thank you all so much for taking the time to contact her. Hope to see many of you at the Xmas Cracker Party on Friday Besos Eunice