Cup of Calm #18 Beauty

We started a new week with our guest speaker Rachel who, inspired by a previous Cup of Calm session on ‘forgiveness’ took us through the topic of ‘beauty’. We were treated to some images of beauty together with the beautiful words from T S Elliot’s Four Quartets which stirred up unique emotions in each of us and conjured up stark visualizations of beauty. 
Rachel recommended two books which offer extraordinary gifts of beauty on every page: 

Who can afford to live without beauty? Beauty fills us with passion; it graces us with joy and lights up our existence. A landscape, a piece of music, a film, a dance … suddenly all dreariness is gone [and] we are left betwitched. Beauty has a formidable, liberating effect on the human spirit. [It] harmonizes the mind. Inevitable Grace – Pier Ferrucci

A world without beauty would be unbearable. The subtle touches of beauty are what enable most people to survive. Yet beauty is so quietly woven through our ordinary days that we hardly notice it. When we experience beauty, we feel called. Divine Beauty – John O’ Donohue

We asked ourselves – what would my life be like with more beauty? And what images of beauty could we offer to each other to sustain each other over the coming week? Slowing down, listening, noticing, peace, beauty from relationships, being present, beauty from loved ones, slow moments and beauty in nature were just some of the gifts we offered one another.

Listen. Put on the morning.

Waken into fallen light.

G. S. Graham

Thank you Rachel for such a beautiful start to our morning! Following on from today’s Cup of Calm, one of our listeners – Antonia – shared this podcast she found extraordinary, in light of John O’ Donohue’s words – we thought you’d might like to take a listen too: https://onbeing.org/programs/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty-aug2017/

We look forward to seeing you on a Cup of Calm tomorrow. Please join us via: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 and, if asked, the password is LeadChange. Do invite others – everyone is welcome!

This event is free to join. If you would like to, please donate as you are able – with no obligation and no upper or lower limit. The link to donate is: paypal.me/weleadchange. All profits will go towards supporting our community of freelancers, small business owners and independents during this time. We suggest the price of a cup of coffee – £2.50 per day or £40 per month.


With love from of us at She Leads Change x

Cup of Calm #17 Inviting Joy

Today, our lovely Lamese talked about inviting joy in to our lives during this ‘period of pause’. Many of us have been discovering joy in the smallest of things and rediscovering forgotten joys… or joy that we didn’t know we needed.

Our natural state is being still, quiet awareness. It is one with a feeling of inner peace, joy and love. Like when we were children playing for long periods just with a stick or chasing others around and laughing til our belly hurt.

In this state you can see that you are one with everything around you, and that your sense of self depends on nothing. You no longer have to look to anything to give you a sense of engulfment or satisfaction, because it is already there inside you.

When the noise is dialed down we can start to appreciate different things. And most of these things are completely free. Some of the things that have been bringing us joy recently:

Walking in wide open spaces.
Baking, cooking and enjoying.
Zoom calls – seeing each other and connecting.
Looking at the bluebells.
Getting in touch with my playful side.
Interaction with my children.
Walking to the shop without any traffic around me.
Gardening – really looking at the flowers and plants.
Talking to family and connecting more frequently than I usually would.
Our daily connection through Cup of Calm!

We look forward to seeing you on a Cup of Calm next week. Please join us via: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 and, if asked, the password is LeadChange. Do invite others – everyone is welcome!

This event is free to join. If you would like to, please donate as you are able – with no obligation and no upper or lower limit. The link to donate is: paypal.me/weleadchange. All profits will go towards supporting our community of freelancers, small business owners and independents during this time. We suggest the price of a cup of coffee – £2.50 per day or £40 per month.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead – see you next week!
With love from of us at She Leads Change x

Cup of Calm #14 Resilience

We had a reflective Cup of Calm this morning with participants from the UK, South Africa and Dubai! We focused on the fascinating topic of resilience – a skill that we are needing to use a lot at the moment. The dictionary describes resilience as “the capacity to recover from difficulties; toughness” and other definitions include “knowing how to cope in spite of setbacks, barriers or limited resources” and “a measure of how much you want something and how much you are willing and able to overcome obstacles to get it”. 

We discussed in groups how we have dealt with resilience in the past and shared wisdom. Some nuggets shared were the clearing process – writing everything down and categorizing – what can I control, what do I need help with? Thinking of resilience as a survival technique and the test of emotional rather than physical strength really resonated with us. 

Resilience – Elizabeth Anna 
don’t look away from these issues you know,

the ones that make you uncomfortable –

the ones you would rather turn your head to

that you don’t believe apply to you,

until they do.

look steadily at them

longingly learn to bear the unbearable

to feel discomfort gazing back at you

for those are the people you must love 

into your empty spaces 

and that is the view which will eventually make you whole.

the time to look ahead and not away, is now. 

We look to seeing you next Tuesday. Please join us via: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 and, if asked, the password is LeadChange. Bring your friends and family to join us for a moment of calm in the morning. 

Please donate as you are able – with no obligation and no upper or lower limit. The link to donate is: paypal.me/weleadchange. All profits will go towards supporting our community of freelancers, small business owners and independents during this time. We suggest the price of a cup of coffee – £2.50 per day or £40 per month.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend.
With love, all of us at She Leads Change

Cup of Calm #8 Connecting with Nature

“Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.” – Anton Chekhov

How can you connect with nature today? Will it be through taking a short walk or a run? Walking in a direction that you haven’t walked in before? Maybe going ‘off road’ and walking a more unconventional route? 

During our Cup of Calm today, Stephanie read us an extract from the beautiful book ‘Delight’ by JB Priestly which reminds us of where we can find joy in the simplest of things such as walking in a pine wood, opening our eyes and observing what’s around us.

Tomorrow we will be joined by another wonderful guest facilitator, Gina Gleeson who will be taking us through some self-soothing practices. Perfect if you’re feeling at all anxious. Please do join us and, as always, feel free to invite others.  The link to join is here.

Please donate as you are able – with no obligation and no upper or lower limit. The link to donate is: paypal.me/weleadchange. All profits will go towards supporting our community of freelancers, small business owners and independents during this time. We suggest the price of a cup of coffee – £2.50 per day or £40 per month.

Thank you for your support,


She Leads Change