From Isolation to Inspiration: Exploring Community in Challenging Times
Introduction to the Episode
Welcoming listeners to her final day of a 10-day live challenge, Heather Masters passionately explores the theme of community in her latest podcast episode.
She reflects on how the past few years have often felt isolating, prompting her to advocate for the importance of finding and nurturing community connections.
Heather offers a diverse array of suggestions for those who may feel alone, including online guided meditations and discussion circles that invite participants to engage on topics ranging from personal growth to spirituality.
Her insights emphasise that community can be a source of strength and resilience, especially in tumultuous times.
The Details
Delving deeper into the subject, Heather discusses the different forms of meditation available that not only promote individual well-being but also foster a sense of shared experience among participants. She shares her personal journey with meditation practices that align with her values, underlining the significance of being mindful about the energies one engages with during these practices.
This leads to a broader discussion on the various workshops, classes, and creative expression opportunities available to individuals seeking to connect with others while exploring their personal journeys.
As the episode draws to a close, Heather encourages her audience to take proactive steps in seeking out communities that resonate with their personal goals and values.
She underscores that community is not just about socialising; it’s about creating a supportive environment where individuals can share their experiences and grow together.
The episode concludes with a heartfelt invitation to her listeners to foster connections that can enhance their lives, leaving them with a sense of hope and excitement about the possibilities that community can offer.
Takeaways:
- Building a community online can support personal growth, especially during challenging times.
- Exploring different meditation techniques is essential for finding what aligns with your beliefs.
- Participating in discussion circles can provide valuable support around specific issues or topics.
- Creative expression workshops can help unlock and heal emotions through art and writing.
- Finding and joining a community based on shared interests enhances feelings of connection.
- Mindfulness challenges and community sharing sessions can significantly boost your well-being.
Links referenced in this episode:
Chapters:
- 00:02 - Celebrating a Milestone
- 00:25 - Exploring the Power of Community
- 05:53 - Exploring Community Support and Workshops
- 09:32 - Exploring Community Practices in Meditation and Art
- 10:40 - The Value of Community
Let me know your biggest takeaways from this episode!
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Podcast Details and Links
Heather Masters
Copyright 2024 Heather Masters
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Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Headspace
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Transcript
And welcome to Wednesday.
Heather Masters:Woo.
Heather Masters:I'm Heather Masters and today is also day 10 of my 10 day challenge.
Heather Masters:So woohoo.
Heather Masters:And celebration because I've actually gone live for 10 days and it has been a bit of a challenge being such an introvert.
Heather Masters:I much prefer doing my podcast, to be perfectly honest.
Heather Masters:What I wanted to share on Wednesday.
Heather Masters:Woo.
Heather Masters:Today is the theme of community.
Heather Masters:I think over the last few years, especially the last four years, we've seen the world pulled apart in many ways and people go their separate ways rather than a coming together of community to help and support each other through these shifting and often challenging times.
Heather Masters:So I wanted to just explore community and if you're on your own and you maybe are reluctant to go meet people, there are other ways of joining communities online and being part of something that really aligns with your values and helps you focus on what's important to you, what's fulfilling for you, what's going to help you thrive through these changing times.
Heather Masters:So one of the options is guided group meditations, and there are a lot of those out online.
Heather Masters:It's really, it's not too difficult to find them.
Heather Masters:The importance is obviously finding meditations that, that work with your beliefs and value systems, I think are one of the things that's sometimes overlooked with meditations is because they're putting you in a translike state.
Heather Masters:You know, be aware of what's been spoken and how that's influencing your unconscious mind.
Heather Masters:There are some meditations that I've been on that I've had to actually pull away from because I, I, I don't align, for instance, with meditations that invite in the world's energy because right now the world energy for me is not something that I want to bring into my own energy field.
Heather Masters:So be, be careful about that.
Heather Masters:I, I know that people leading the meditations have good intentions, but if you know anything about energy, you don't want to be inviting a lot of the, the world's energy into your energy field.
Heather Masters:Right now it's about keeping your own energy field clean, in my opinion, and setting boundaries.
Heather Masters:I think we're going through a time where that is a powerful practice to learn and to take on board.
Heather Masters:And there are obviously very many meditation techniques.
Heather Masters:There's mindfulness, loving kindness, body scan, and obviously spiritual techniques as well, and healing techniques that you might want to join in with.
Heather Masters:One of the ones that's I really like at the moment is the focus on, on a new world, a new future for humanity where things have changed and we're raising consciousness and we're raising the power of light around the world.
Heather Masters:So that's, that's just me, that's just where I am.
Heather Masters:But even using apps like Headspace, you can join in the meditation without necessarily connecting to other people.
Heather Masters:So it's not like have to go online.
Heather Masters:You just know that there's a meditation starting and you follow the guided meditation at that time.
Heather Masters:But there's a community and that community effort has scientifically been proven to lift the energy and change things around the world.
Heather Masters:So that might be something you want to do from a community perspective.
Heather Masters:There are also discussion circles and I used to be part of a woman's discussion circle and I absolutely loved it.
Heather Masters:And these are topic based discussions.
Heather Masters:They can be topic based discussions where there are conversations obviously around specific topics like personal growth or mental health or spirituality or even, you know, going deeper into that, not getting more specific.
Heather Masters:So something around loss or grief or being a carer, whatever it is that you need support on.
Heather Masters:There are circles out there and it's just a matter of again, looking around and finding the right ones for you.
Heather Masters:There are Q and A sessions that allow participants to ask questions.
Heather Masters:And this can be related to meditation practices or spiritual concepts or more practical things like how you stay resilient when you're caring for a loved one.
Heather Masters:There are also, as everybody probably knows, a whole range of workshops and classes and I'm developing some of my own.
Heather Masters:I've kind of made a decision this week to develop some classes around the the Choosing Happy podcast because I explore a lot of mindfulness and resilience and other techniques, especially around visualization and success.
Heather Masters:And I also have guest speakers.
Heather Masters:So I'm intending to pull all of that into workshops and classes that really benefit people.
Heather Masters:There are, there's the option of community sharing sessions where you can join a community space that is safe and private, where participants get to share their journeys or their breakthroughs, or request feedback and support.
Heather Masters:That's something I do with my creative writing tips, which is kind of, I think I've mentioned before, is an accidental group.
Heather Masters:But I do that in the group and I do that in the private group as well.
Heather Masters:So there's, there's those options and again, you can find them by searching.
Heather Masters:And again, it's something.
Heather Masters:The community side, especially the sharing in sessions, is something I encourage with all of my personal and spiritual development courses.
Heather Masters:In fact, all of my courses, whether you're building a business, whether you're creative writing, or whether you're looking for mindset support, I think that community with Those sharing sessions is key.
Heather Masters:Mindfulness challenges.
Heather Masters:Again, you can find this on Headspace.
Heather Masters:I, I support Headspace only because I use it.
Heather Masters:I'm sure there are many others.
Heather Masters:You know, I just find it really, really useful.
Heather Masters:You can find 30 day challenges, you can find themed weeks focusing.
Heather Masters:So for instance, with Head Space, you can meditate around stress, you can meditate around grief, you can meditate around, around joy, whatever it is that you want to focus on.
Heather Masters:And those meditations are really specific to support you on that particular subject.
Heather Masters:There are silent retreats.
Heather Masters:You can find virtual silent retreats where participants engage in silent meditation followed by group reflections.
Heather Masters:And there are mini retreats that focus on specific themes or practices over a few hours.
Heather Masters:So yeah, you can look around and find those as well.
Heather Masters:The creative expression workshops.
Heather Masters:So there's art and meditation, combining art with meditation that allows participants to express their experiences of creativity.
Heather Masters:And art and meditation workshops can really help if you're going through something.
Heather Masters:They can help release limiting beliefs or they can help heal if you're in a grieving state or there's something that you, you just haven't expressed.
Heather Masters:Sometimes the unconscious mind chooses art and meditation to express those kind of blocks and on unexplored feelings.
Heather Masters:And the same is with writing circles.
Heather Masters:And again, this is something that I do and I've been putting off my journaling, but I now have a few participants waiting for it.
Heather Masters:So I'm going to be facilitating 30 days of journaling where participants get to write about not just their meditation experiences, but their experiences of what comes up for them in journaling.
Heather Masters:And they again can join in the community and share and ask questions and explore.
Heather Masters:So that's something that I'll be putting out there very soon and I'll drop the link in the comments.
Heather Masters:So all of these different practices can help to create an engaging and supportive community environment.
Heather Masters:Now, there are obviously lots and lots of communities out there based on subjects, based on topics, based on interests, based on what each participant wants from that community.
Heather Masters:So that's probably the place to start is to really sit down and contemplate what it is you're looking for from the community and then look for a community that really can support you in getting your goals met.
Heather Masters:But the main thing is that community enhances connection around the world and it enhances connection to the subject that you're exploring.
Heather Masters:So I would recommend, if you can, to reach out and find a community at this time who can support you and help you, especially if you're alone and feeling isolated.
Heather Masters:So that's Wednesday Woo for today, all about community.
Heather Masters:And as I say it's also day 10 so I won't be going live tomorrow.
Heather Masters:It's the end of my live consistent challenge.
Heather Masters:Please do like share, subscribe and follow because it does help me with my channels and I really do appreciate it and I appreciate you for staying with me and for listening over the last few days.
Heather Masters:So my next live video will be Friday for Friday features and I look forward to seeing you then.
Heather Masters:Have an amazing and miraculous week.
Heather Masters:Until then, thanks again for watching.
Heather Masters:Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode.
Heather Masters:If you enjoyed it or think it would be valuable to others, please do share.
Heather Masters:And if you really enjoyed it, please leave me a review.
Heather Masters:It really helps the podcast.
Heather Masters:All of the links are in the show notes and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Choosing Happy Podcast.
