Costa Women Blogs

Fancy a cuppa? by Molly S.P
  HI!   Here´s my latest blog post.    Get the Kettle on (Molly´s Playground)   A few observations about living away from so long and why I don´t ask for friends to bring things to me when they visit the UK.   I´m based in Granada but from Nottingham originally. Have also written a guest post for Family in Spain´s great newsletter. Well worth a read.   Hope your enjoy this quick read!   Molly twitter:  @piccavey
The jewel of Autumn
Who can but desire the luscious juiciness, of the ruby red seeds from a Pomegranate – Like Ruby Gems, glistening awaiting to adorn dishes, with the jewel like presence.     Pomegranates (Granadas) I believe are the jewel of autumn, just as some of us take to hibernation, the beautiful pomegranate hangs from it’s tree, tempting us with its ripeness, with hues of colour from peach to scarlet.   In Ancient Greece it was thought of a symbol of prosperity and ambition , and the Moors renamed the wonderful ancient city of Granada after the precious fruit, and Spanish colonists introduced the fruit to the Caribbean and Latin America.   On our mountain as the first fruits appear to ripen, my children scramble over the shrub-land, to be the first to bagsy their autumn treasure. Their favourite way to indulge, just tear open, and pick the seeds (arils) out one by one – Natures ‘Sweet’ shop 🙂   I remember my Mother telling me a story, when she was young and after her first week at work as a florist, she walked through the ‘Bullring’ market in the centre of Birmingham, and on a stall she saw the unusual fruit, and the ruby seeds. She spent her first pay packet on a Pomegranate for her mother, my Nan, who sat with a pin and enjoyed this new tropical fruit.   There are so many uses for pomegranates here are a few of my favourites ;   Pomegranate Raita –   A cooling yoghurt salsa to go with a spicy curry.   A pot of Greek yoghurt thinned with a little milk. Seeds of a pomegranate ½ a cucumber chopped a pinch of salt a small handful of fresh mint leaves – chopped finely a small handful of coriander – chopped finely   Mix all together – Simple.   Jeweled Cous-Cous   To be enjoyed with rich Moroccan dishes.   Serves 4   250 grammes of Cous Cous Veg Stock made with 250 ml Boiling water Seeds of a pomegranate Handful of pinenuts lightly toasted in a dry pan Bag of spinach Squeeze of lemon   Prepare the cous cous, with the veg stock, and let stand for 5 mins, then fluff up with a fork. Wilt the spinach, in a pan with a little water, once wilted drain and squeeze out etc moisture, chop up. Add to cous-cous. Add pinenuts, and pomegranate. Stir to mix.   Decant into a pretty bowl, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over.   Or for a decadent tipple, try a   Pom Royale   Juice a pomegranate and put a teaspoon into the bottom of a Champagne fruit, with a few seeds too.   Top with Cava, Prosecco or Champagne.   Salut !     So if you suffer from ‘S.A.D’ or the winter blues are upon you, break open a pomegranate, and let its health giving properties benefit your body & its ruby richness, put a smile on your face.   For more seasonal recipes or a look into my life on the moutain take a look atwww.larosilla.info   Would you like to learn to make a few new dishes, taste, sip and enjoy gourmet delights in a beautiful location take a look at my Cooking & Culture Days
Public speaking is dangerous!
Did you know that the fear of public speaking is related to the fear of rejection, and that the ancient part of us knows that to be rejected from ‘the tribe’ is to place ourselves in potential danger?  So, you can see it’s understandable to feel the way we do about standing up and exposing our thoughts and feelings to a group.   But from time to time we have to present ourselves or our ideas to an audience – either at work to potential clients or in a personal environment such as a wedding or dinner.  We want to do this in the best possible way, but don’t always know how.   I understand concerns about public speaking: whether it’s getting nervous, stuttering and stammering or no matter how much you prepare your mind goes blank – there’s nothing I haven’t heard before and it’s for these kinds of reasons that people come to learn tips and tricks of how to improve.   *********************************************************   I am a Communications Skills Trainer and Life Coach with over 25 years experience facilitating workshops and courses in London, Barcelona and Andalucía.  My speciality is helping people move through their fears and doubts towards confidence.   I offer weekend workshops on Communication Skills and Public Speaking.  The itinerary for the weekend is based around the basic skills of presenting: how to prepare for a talk, the introduction and opening, how to structure the content, how to close and how to deal with questions at the end.    We look at clarifying and structuring thoughts and ideas, simplifying the message, overcoming nervousness, understanding elements of subtle body language, how to enhance your visual image and optimize your uniqueness and, finally, achieving the objective of the talk.  Starting small and building up, we do a lot of speaking practice.   If you’d like to come along but are trying to decide whether to or not, you could ask yourself the question, “What will change if I don’t do it?”  If you need or want to stand up in front of more than one person and get your message across well, then ask yourself how you’ll improve if you don’t do something like this.   *********************************************************   The cost of the weekend is €145.  A way to reduce this is by bringing along a paying friend to do the workshop with you; you’ll get a 20% reduction on your place, it will give you more confidence to have a friend along, and it will also bring in another person to practise on and vice versa.  Workshops start at 10am and finish at 6pm both days and I supply all materials.   If you have a presentation up-and-coming but feel paralyzed even thinking about it, come along and test the waters in a safe and friendly environment.   Warm wishes Jean   *********************************************************     “I attended this event and found it very beneficial. I now feel confident that I can sit down and prepare my next presentation. Jean is a lovely warm, caring person and her workshop was very relaxed but professional. I would recommend this workshop to anyone who has to stand up and give a speech! Thank you Jean for my new found confidence!!”   Kath Dillon, International Financial Advisor – Málaga, Spain       *********************************************************     Price: €145 for weekend workshop.  Maximum 10 people.  Sign up a friend and get 20% discount!   Open to all nationalities but aimed at mid-to-high level English speakers.   For next dates, an application form and payment details contact: jean@bestmoveforward.com or call +34 951 245 151     *********************************************************
Do You Love Being a Champion?
There are fundamental issues that shape the life of a champion-to-be; and it has neither specific age nor boundaries, nor physical Amazon like-built, but a lot of heart, passion, intellect, physicality, emotions, and lots and lots of “Intuition.” For some folks, the energies are amazing, and for others, they are extremely challenging, and yet, they get ready to run the Marathon or Olympiads of their lives, and once you taste the sweet and sometimes bitter flavor of Championship…there is no going back. Notice this is NOT about winning; it is not even about the physical Marathon running, it is about creating a goal, and deciding what that goal will make of YOU, and that becomes the real deal!!!! – This will move you so deeply, you will take off running, deep into your soul, from here to……..(You decide, you are in charge!) Are you ready for the finish line? What’s the difference? There are goals, and then, there are objectives. Is there a difference? You bet there is! A Goal is what you “hope” to achieve, an “Objective” is a series of deliberate steps that helps you achieve your “Goal.” Objectives help you realize that “failure” is NOT an option and aiming to win creates a frantic, accelerating and absolutely delicious and inebriating state of mind. A Goal carries a very clear picture as to what you want that goal to make of you, and not what you want to make of the goal. A Goal is always about you, your personal development, professional evolution, and money making ability. Family ties, community affairs and eternal legacy, are a few by-products of Goals. And believe me when I tell you, that Goals are always connected to “the” what…that makes you tick; and that is a great thing for you to see, understand, and above all, “realize.” CONSIDER: • Your strengths. • Your weakness. • Your talents. • Your physical location. • Where would you shine your brightest? OPTIONS: • Triumph. • Failure. (Yes, failure, just like triumph, is an option; and yet, that is the one that you never want to exercise!) • Choosing to be Alive by doing things that will add life to your years; and not necessarily, years to your life. • Learning to enjoy WHO you are. (Caching, adding LIFE!) • Knowing that the best part of you is simply being, the best YOU, you can possibly be. (Of course, share your wisdom with others) POINTS TO PONDER: • What winning circumstances show up for you each and every day? (Write them down!!!) • Who do you have to help you see them, seize them, asses them, and create action steps for you to aim towards your greatest good? • What benefits do you impart onto others for having YOU in their lives? • What particular accolade do you hear others say about you and what are you doing to OWN it? • Once owned, do you know how to make yourself highly VISIBLE and make the best out of amazing business opportunities that come your way? ACTION PLAN: • Decide to decide that you are indeed a Champion!!! • Embrace the concept, even when you think, that’s not really you….. (Yet!) • Get enthusiastic about it. • Know that you have been chosen and you must answer your calling. • Surround yourself with other “Champions.” They will be the only ones to understand your own internal growth and they will recognize you as one of their own, immediately! They will fully understand your dreams, your nightmares, your inner peace, and your inner wars, your vacillation, your resolutions, your anxieties, your radical decisions, and your inner Championship! Above all, they will respect you and treat you for the Champion that you are! • Be bold, resolute and ambitious. • Don’t let anything hold you back. • Document your evolution and beautiful transformation as you move along the intense training, to conquer, enjoy and win…..The Olympics of your Life! You are: “The Number One, Triumphant Champion!!!” (You did it after all.) A life well-lived, is a life ready to be celebrated, and as such, let’s get together and raise our glasses to you because YOU are……simply amazing! Much Love, Ali
Chocolate Eating Meditation?!?
Chocolate Eating Meditation?!?   Is such a thing as a chocolate eating meditation even possible, I hear you ask. Isn’t meditation supposed to be all about sitting in weird and uncomfortable positions, clearing your mind and all that other boring stuff….   Vipassana is sometimes referred to as Mindfulness meditation precisely because it teaches us to be become totally present whatever we are doing whether we are walking, eating chocolate, or even making love.   Saturday’s meditation workshop will include meditation exercises covering a variety of activities and will include a walking and a chocolate eating meditation. Bring along a piece of your favourite chocolate or if you are not a chocaholic your favourite snack food, whatever that may be. (We won’t be including a love making meditation during the workshop, but you can always have it as homework).   For more information about the meditation workshop, please see the poster below.   For those of you are intrigued by the idea of a chocolate meditation but can’t make it on Saturday, why not try it yourself.   In today’s hectic world, we’re so busy multi-tasking that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to stay in the moment. When was the last time you really put all of your attention on what you were doing.     Select a small piece of your favourite food:  chocolate bar; biscuit; savoury snack.   Notice what it feels like to touch, is it sticky, warm, cold (do you keep yours in the fridge?)   Take the time to really look at it.  (We’re usually far too busy just cramming it into our mouths to take a real look). Look at it from different angles and notice the textures; the colours; the contours: allow yourself to get lost looking, as if you were a painter extracting every last detail.   And now bring the chocolate slowly upwards towards your nose, what does it smell like, what does it remind you of, what memories does it invoke?   Notice any sensations you may have in your mouth, are you beginning to salivate? What are you thinking? Do you really want it? Do you just want to eat it already, or has it lost some of its appeal?     Now just bring it gently to your lips, what does it feel like. Take a small bite and just allow it to rest there for a few moments, noticing any sensations or thoughts. Are you anticipating the pleasure or feeling guilty? Notice any conversations you may be having with yourself positive or negative, ‘Oh wow, it tastes soooooo good… I really deserve this treat… this is me time…’ or  ‘I shouldn’t really have this chocolate… chocolate is so bad for me… it’s fattening… I can’t afford to put on any more weight… I just can’t resist it…’. Does anyone else figure in your conversation? ‘Go on, you deserve it… You’re so lucky you can eat all the chocolate you like and not put on any weight…’ or ‘You have no self control, you never did… You never could say no to chocolate… You’re just like me… You greedy girl… You’ll get fat if you eat chocolate…’   Has your mind started to wander to other tasks ‘I really must remember to ring… What can I wear to…’ If so, just bring your attention back to the chocolate!   And now slowly start to eat the chocolate (if it hasn’t already melted in your mouth by now) noticing the different flavours, sensations and thoughts.   Once you finish that mouthful, take a pause to notice how you feel now. Do you want any more or was that one bite enough?   If you want more, repeat the process from the beginning, really taking your time. (On a meditation retreat I once took a full half hour to eat a biscuit. It was all we were given by way of dinner and yet it was amazing at how satisfying one biscuit could be, by eating it mindfully.)   Why not join me on Saturday 1st October for a full day of mindfulness and deep healing. And chocolate!  See details below.   With love and light Lucy    
Learning from the Past - But NOT Living There!
In the past I’ve spent some time commenting on the fact that if we look too much to the past: either to its pain or its perceived happiness and glory, we risk becoming caught in a loop that will not allow us to live fully in the present. By going through an experience that somehow resonates with something similar in the past, in particular if the past one was painful, the present one will tend to pull us fully back there and literally keep parts of us in the past, meaning that those parts of us are simply not available for us in the present.   However, despite that caveat, there is much to be said for examining our past, for being familiar with its crests and troughs, and in particular, with its patterns. However, in order to be able to recognize all of this, we need to thoroughly know our past, and in order to do that, it needs to have been examined. It needs thinking about, in other words.   One of the easiest ways I know of doing precisely that is by following this simple system – A Life Timeline Exercise: take one sheet of paper for each year of your life, including year ‘0’, when you were born on the top of each sheet write the year and your age write – as most of us know this – your city of residence, and perhaps the actual street address write who lived in the household with you, including parents, siblings, grandparents or other relatives, household staff and any pets if you are old enough to be in kindergarten, write that, or else school, college, etc your first job any birthdays you remember and why, ditto Christmases and vacations best friends your first set of roller skates or bike sports activities studies church clubs, etc. In other words, the point is to write the obvious, because by so doing, you begin to remember snippets of the less obvious, or the partially forgotten. The object is to have a maximum of 1-3 sheets per year of life, written in bullet-style. And by the way, just do one bit at a time. If you get out the requisite sheets of paper and just write the year and your age at the top on the first day, that’s fine. Then leave them in a convenient place in your house, where you may pass frequently, and add a bit each time you remember something.   Slowly, you will begin to form a picture of your past that goes far beyond just the painful or happy memories and this picture, just as surely as a puzzle coming together, will help you understand not only your past, but more importantly, what you can learn from it in order to make your future better.   How are you improving your future today?   To read more about bringing greater well-being into your life, greater inner peace, happiness, harmony and joy, get a copy of my book Rewiring the Soul: Finding the Possible Self, available at Amazon in paperback or e-book for Kindle format.Click here to download the first chapter.   From the Reviews on Amazon:   A revelation of insight into the foundations of human suffering & transcendence. It not only lays out essential steps for inner freedom & joy but illuminates the way to true human potential. Dr. Kortsch is a spiritual master for our time. Paul Rademacher, Exec Dir, The Monroe Institute; author: A Spiritual Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe  
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