Back Home Now I’m Cocooning And Ascending

Every morning I wake up I see horizontal slices of light come through a blind and I don’t know where I am. It’s a strange discombobulating experience. Even when sighting a piece of furniture I’m in a muddle. It takes minutes to assemble my bedroom items and make sense of them. I guess part of me still wants to be in Europe. 

(Eglise Saint-Eustache in Paris.)

I went to a yoga session to ground myself. However, the universe had other plans.

I arrived and I was the only attendee. I ended up experiencing a powerful healing session the instructor created just for me. I didn’t ask for it. She told me later she was guided. It was old stuff I was dragging around – a bad mental attitude towards something big. The session knocked me around, as I was still very jet lagged. Yet it was worth it and totally needed.

(I’m super impressed that they let this lady rest and sleep here in Eglise Saint-Eustache, Paris. A safe harbour.)

Coincidences and wonderful opportunities never fell into my lap. I read or heard about them happening to others but that was not part of the world I lived in. I’ve done massive transformation to change my life and I’ve been able to tap into a different level of flow and synchronicity. I never believed in it. I honestly thought it was new age fluff.

I taught my workshop “Ignite Your Life and Rise Regardless” in Greece. I’m super pleased by how it went, and the breakthroughs and transformations that occurred. Then I flew to London and my holiday started!

(Dust in the eyes. Hyde Park in Central London. The light at this time of day was startling. I love how it shines through the green and white canvas, and the dust storm that came up out of nowhere and had everyone scurrying.)

A friend of mine had an empty flat in Central London and the dates it was empty lined up exactly for my holiday. I felt very grateful and blessed. These types of things happen more frequently when you operate in a higher frequency. After 2 weeks in London I spent a few days in Paris before heading home.

Before I left Australia to teach in Greece I had a lot going on and a massive deadline. I had certainly gone into adrenal stress mode and I didn’t like it. It was becoming a habit, one I had gotten rid of but was back. I didn’t like how my mind was operating.

I set my intention for joy, awe, astonishment, pleasure, laughter, fun and curiosity at the beginning of the holiday, and to walk a lot! (my intention for Greece was to deliver an amazing course, create powerful transformation in the participants, and be in my full power …. I changed gears for London.) This was so I could get back into a great mindset and rewire my brain out of adrenaline/deadline mode into something calmer, happier and more uplifting. This is based on the concepts of neuroplasticity. Your habits make that neural network larger and faster.

Me with all the folks on the last day of my course Ignite Your Life and Rise Regardless

I started with the art gallery I went straight to Kandinsky, who used to be my favorite painter, but now, I didn’t connect. Not me anymore.

I decided to open up all my ideas about what art I did and didn’t like. Now, I was truly on a fun hunt!

I wanted what moved me. I wasn’t interested in an intellectual appreciation of art, which is not to say at a later date these aforesaid paintings wouldn’t move me. 

I found it in surprising places. I never liked Vincent van Gough or Salvador Dali but now I do. In Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre I fell in love with Edouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, Gustave Moreau, Gustave Courbet who painted around the turn of the 19^th century, and the Italian Renaissances ~ Titian and Botticelli.

Some provoked awe, others startled, opened me up in mysterious ways or had an aching beauty. Some had composition, lines and colour that hummed in pleasing concord with me.

I became a connoisseur of the soul.

Whatever spoke to my soul.

I did this with every aspect of my day.

I broadened my approach to be far wider than gratitude, which strikes a single note. Now don’t get me wrong. Gratitude is important. It helps you focus on what is already working in your life. Whatever you focus on expands in your life.

Tower Bridge on The Thames, City Hall and all the trains for London Bridge Station.

Awe, curiosity, appreciation, fun, laughter, joy, contentment, pleasure, calm, love, ….,

When I am mentally hanging out in this space I make better decisions, love my life more on a daily basis and feel so much better. Abundance, opportunities and flow happen more often.

I did it when I got out of the Underground at London Bridge. There were so many people! That mass of humanity was something I’ve not seen in Australia. I loved the fierce and hectic energy of that. I could of gotten out at the next tube station that was much quieter and closer to home but I didn’t want to. I wanted to feel that energy. I felt at the centre of things. 

I did it with admiring the London pubs ~ their beautiful glossy paint and flowerbeds hanging from the outside enticing you ever inward.

I did it with the old ladies and gentleman who, in the evening in Paris would deliberately sit at a table on the outer edge of the bistro so locals going home would see them and stop for a quick chat, a glass of wine or stay for hours to fill themselves up with life. I ended up chatting with them.

(Street lanterns in the forecourt of The Notre Dame, Paris.)

I did it with more people watching – seeing how Parisians would catch up at the café – just two – and lean in for an intimate conversation that involved lots of hand gestures and face pulling to emphasize a point. I found it fascinating.

I did it by looking at the world through my photo lens for two days. Possible good rectangle or square compositional shots became my focus. They leap into my field of vision when I’m in this mode.

(Hanging out at the The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz Carlton, London, a favourite haunt of Winston Churchill. The champagne was divine. I loved all the textures and colours here and managed to get them in a single shot.)

I concentrated on eating mindfully and enjoying the full flavor, instead of being distracted and half noticing that dark chocolate mousse as it slid down my throat.

(A close up of the champagne glass at The Ritz Carlton and the bubbles.) 

I create mini experiences for myself. I sat at a café outside the Notre Dame to marvel at the view. I focused on the taste of the café allongé, and a éclair I had snuck in from a patisserie. An America woman watched me as everytime the waiters back was turned I snuck another mouthful.  I really enjoyed the feeling of the Autumn sun on my face.

For those of you who have read my articles, I set my RAS (Reticular Activating System) or intention. If you don’t know about the RAS you can read about it here. From a new age perspective I set my energy positive and high.

Neuroplasticity is a powerful tool. It rewired my neural network to a new level. The consistency and effort I put into it changed how my brain worked. Now, I feel different. Calmer and more content. Friends tell me I sound different.

(The Chandelier at the Ritz Carlton, London.)

Now that I’m back I’m cocooning. I’m going deep within, feeling things from the inside out. I’m figuring out my next moves and grooves. Will I stay in Brisbane? What will I do next? Will I evolve my website? What direction will it take it?

When you cocoon you invite in transformation and growth. I’m giving time for the alchemy to occur.

(The village of Skyros on Skyros Island, Greece ~ town centre at siesta time.) 

The words I use in my daily prayers and meditations are belief and ascension. As all life is always in motion, I focus on the verbs ~ to believe and to ascend. Trust too. Loads of trust. On a side note –  love is a verb too.

There are things in my life to lock down and sort out. I want to create those from the best mindset possible. Whenever I go into fear based thinking – survival, money and security I stop myself. Staying locked into the monkey brain will lead me to choices that are medium quality at best.

The inner coaching processI cerated helps me stay in the best mindset and in the plane of intention and creation ~ where we find inspiration and possibility of our future ~ high quality decision making.

I think it is true ~ head.

I feel it is true ~ gut instinct or heart or intuition.

I know it is true ~ All of the above.

Devoted love,  Monique xx

(All photography by Monique Hohnberg, except where I’m in the shot.)

PS. If you have a moment read my popular posts Change Your Story To Change Your Life and How To Rise Regardless No Matter What. Read Packing up the Farmhouse for some memoir.