Narelle Hunter RURAL LIFESTYLE

I have an inner critic. It tells me sometimes, I am not good enough to be a writer. That it is unlikely my book will ever be complete. It tells me to be careful who I talk to about my novel. I can't imagine writing full time is ever going to sound as impressive as whatever 'they' are doing. I can't imagine it is not going to sound contrite even 35ooo words in.  It doesn't remind me about the people who love to talk about writing, who are interested in what my novel is about and who love the idea of me finally doing something I wanted to do since, forever. It doesn't remind me that I have to pinch myself some days that life feels peaceful and simple, that I have never been so interested in the landscape and the details big or small. It forgets to remind me, I feel more at home and content on the farm than ever before and yet connected to others who also love writing, that I have found a group of friends who also love to write and how they feel like soul mates. Th

10.11.23    Discovering Meditation   If I can define meditation in the simplest way, I would say meditation is ‘ being in the space in between our thoughts .’    Meditation is no ‘easy’ task when we have over 70 000 thoughts a day.  This is why I stepped todays class through a 3-stage process, in preparation for a brief meditation experience. Below is an explanation of each of these stages I taught and why these techniques are great preparation for potent stillness.    Stage 1.   It is more challenging to meditate with lots of tension in the body, so the first step is to let go of the extra holding that we may not even be aware of. This is done by noticing the body and slightly moving each area, or tensing and releasing each body part. (Starting at the feet, legs, spine and then the belly as we breathe. Open and close the hands, stretch the arms, lift and drop the shoulders, carefully stretch the neck and face.)   Stage 2.   Secondly, we can begin to be more aware of our breathing patt

Introduction to Meditation. IF YOU WOULD ENJOY NARELLE'S AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS POST, PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK TO THREE RECORDINGS ON SOUNDCLOUD:  Introduction to meditation by Narelle Hunter Moving Meditation AUDIO by Narelle Awareness Meditation AUDIO by Narelle    “Meditation is the practice of moving towards an inner stillness. Some days this feels easier to achieve than others.  Therefore, there are many ways to adapt our practice, depending on how we feel and what commitments we have on the day.    Meditation can be anything from sitting in stillness, focusing on the breath for a few moments to walking in nature, drawing our attention to the trees or other details we enjoy.    If practiced regularly, meditation has the potential to anchor us to an inner steadiness that can serve us well when during times of stress.    Learning a breath focused meditation can be particularly helpful.  The body is watching the breath, therefore if we can maintain a smooth, calm inhalation and ex

Where is your attention?  This is actually an interesting question.  ·        Our focus can be outside of us (exteroception)  ·        We can be noticing where we fit within our environment (proprioception) and  ·        The other place we can have our attention is within ourselves ( interoception.)  Another way of understanding these 3 ways to focus our attention is by asking  1/ What is going on around me?  2/ Where is my body within this space ? (This is handy if we don’t want to bump into others in a crowd or we are trying a new yoga posture or a stretch.)  3/ What is my gut instinct in this situation? What is going on within my own body and mind. Is there a steadiness within me? What does my body, mind and spirit need right now?   In our busy world it is easy to have our focus outside of ourselves most of the time. We can become concerned with what others people think and what others need, putting our own dreams and needs to the side. It sometimes feels easier to be flexible and n

I noticed something about my daily mindfulness practice that really works for me and I would love to share this with you. Mindfulness has consistently pointed me in the direction of my most purposeful and peaceful life. There is something so magical about pausing and seeing the world in a whole new way.  Finding the pause is the tricky part.    I recently gave an example of this on Instagram @narelle.hunter. I recorded what the landscape looked like when I was rushing, then I stopped for just one minute and took a short video of the sheep by a dam on sunset. Reflections of red and orange clouds where in the water as two ducks swam by. It was truly lovely and my whole body took a breath.    I often say that I try to keep one foot in the present but what I noticed this morning, might be a more useful tip.  There are very precise places in my garden and on the farm, that stop me in my tracks.  For example, I have a little garden outside our kitchen window. There are two bird baths there a

"A few years ago, when teaching meditation privately, a young mother made an interesting comment to me. While in meditation she could hear a bird singing just outside the window. “I loved how the bird was coming and going. It seemed so close,” she said. I explained the bird was in fact there, singing the whole time.  She was coming in and out of mindfulness. It made us wonder what we are missing by being drawn out of the present moment over and over again.   What do we not hear, see, taste, smell and touch?  There is such a richness to the everyday, if we can remain curious about the details. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to miss a thing! Mindfulness can be a way of life that grounds the body in steadiness, a mind-set in wonder. We can ‘achieve’ our goals without the inner anxiety that comes with rushing, using mindfulness as a coping tool." Instagram by Narelle Hunter (narelle.hunter)     SO HOW DO WE LIVE MINDFULLY EACH DAY?   Firstly, I would suggest you aim for

Hello, It has been a while between blogs but as my intention for 2023 is to write full time, I should manage a regular post once again. Writing has always been something I do early in the morning or in the tiny spaces in between all else, but this year I am putting creativity at the top of my priority list.  If you know me well, you would know I have always wanted to write a book. The sensible project would be to share what I have learnt over the past 12 years about health, yoga, breath work and mindfulness, to support the healing of trauma and rural challenges, but at the moment it is a farm based novel that is flowing well. Perhaps all of the above topics will turn up in the lives of my characters, we will see.  It is so liberating, giving myself permission to do what I love, here on the farm. Although on some level it also feels isolating to be here on my own each day at the desk. The opportunity to witness this landscape from this quiet space feels deeply healing and quite confront