Here are 5 ways to help you and yours thrive in 2021, from our friend, Nikki Levitan. They are based on her expertise as a wellness educator and are good for everyone of any age, life stage, gender and experience – 

1. STAY CONNECTED: Reach out each day to a friend. Share something that was good – and also something that was not so good.
2. BE ACTIVE: Leave the house to breathe some air, look at a tree or the sky. Move your body. Dance! Or try 10mins of Yoga. 
3. TAKE NOTICE: Be conscious of the small things that usually go unnoticed: a nice bath, the smell of home-cooked food, the colour of the sky, a message from a friend that makes you smile. Perhaps keep a gratitude list? 
4. KEEP LEARNING: What do you learn today, that you did not know before? What are you learning about yourself in these times? Join a She Leads Change event or programme to learn more, with others. 
5. GIVE: Your time, love, energy to someone else. Offer support to a shielding neighbour, call a relative you know is alone or a friend who has poor mental health. A little kindness goes a long way and makes you feel good too.

At She Leads Change, we offer both learning and community – please join us for: 

• A She Leads Change Experience – an evening to connect and learn with like-minded people on 19th Jan from 17:00 – 18:30GMT
• LeadMore – a regular dose of expert learning and thoughtful connection every month for anyone wanting to be part of a vibrant, learning community
• Leading from Within – a 3month transformative leadership programme, for women at any stage of their journey, wanting to bring themselves more fully to their work and lives, starting 23rd of February 2021. 
• Leading Collective Impact: a 4month programme to explore and expand your leadership capability – engage the collective in leading transformational change, in diversity and inclusion, starting May 2021. 

“IT IS NOT HOW WE LIVE IN THE LIGHT THAT ENLIGHTENS US, IT IS HOW WE LIVE IN THE DARK.” —RUNE LAZULI

Let’s imagine our best possible year and find ways to live into it, together. 

See you soon. 

Much love,

Nicola 

The post The time of the tortoise… appeared first on She Leads Change.

Diversity drives innovation and science needs innovators. Therefore, we want to build a culture in science education where difference is valued and part of what makes science inspiring.

Passionate about learning and development, Pearson are proud supporters of She Leads Change. We’ve loved working alongside Pearson and are looking forward to their next cohort joining our Open Programme and Collective Impact programme in September.

“I have been given a glimpse of the future and the path I can follow, safe in the knowledge I am making a difference and a change, so world here I come…” – Melanie, Pearson She Leads Change participant

If you’d like to find out more about our upcoming programmes and how we can support you on your leadership journey, join our virtual taster sessions running throughout July.

The post Diversity in Science appeared first on She Leads Change.

Today over lunch we shared on coping with shifting goalposts: how did we feel when lockdown was extended? How did we react and how were we supporting others, feeling the same?

Holding both family and friends during a time of crisis – whilst navigating it yourself – is a steep learning curve. Our shared experiences of living through sudden, unexpected change, gave the following encouragement:

“Make the decision to not give up!”

“Know that you can choose how to react and by doing so, choose what energy to inject into the situation…”

“Understand the importance of role-modelling behaviour in a crisis for our children and it’s impact over the long-term.”

“Take time to pause before responding – there’s power in reflection!”

There’s a great deal of comfort from having regular, touchpoints of conversation and connection during a time of great change and uncertainty.  Why not join us every week for a conversation over lunch? Next week’s topic is on letting things slide…!

Join us on zoom- https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 – from 12-1pm every Thursday.  The password is LeadChange – all welcome!

With love, all of us at She Leads Change

The post Holding Family & Friends #6 – When the goalposts shift… appeared first on She Leads Change.

When so much of our lockdown conversation revolves around the negative and what we can’t, aren’t or able to do, it can be really hard to feel like we’re winning at anything. Taking time out to reflect on the positives of this experience and acknowledging our successes, builds our resilience. Sharing together reminds us we’re not alone and solidarity is a powerful tonic when feeling like all you’re doing, is treading water.

Some of the wins shared today:

“the gift of being present”

“being able to slow down”

“focussing on what we want to do rather than those we need to do…”

“recognising we can be happy and experience joy in the now”

“joy of reciprocity in our community”

“the opportunity to see this time as a reboot”

What are you doing really well?  What one thing are you doing daily, that you can celebrate?

Join us again next week – this time our conversation revolves around the possibility of lockdown being extended…How do you feel when the goal posts shift – especially when it’s a shift not of our choosing or control?

We meet every Thursday from 12-1pm – find us on zoom: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 . Bring lunch 🙂 All welcome!

With love, all of us at She Leads Change

The post Holding Family & Friends #5 – Celebrating the wins! appeared first on She Leads Change.

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

The post Cup of Calm #18 Beauty appeared first on She Leads Change.

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

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It’s one thing to manage, support and care for those living with us during lockdown, but what about those we love, living afar?  How do we feel about not being about to be there for them – and how do we manage those feelings?  

Some of the take-aways from today’s conversation were: 

Feel the feels…

Be kind to yourself

Be honest with yourself and your loved ones about your love and appreciation – as well as the worry

Routine is a wonderful antidote to stress: so get ready, do your hair and get dressed for zoom outings!

Make peace with “good enough” in this time and use that as your yard-stick…

We might be living alone, but we don’t have to be lonely…

Please join us next week for lunch – via: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 – if asked, the password is LeadChange. We meet every Thursday from 12-1pm and share a different topic.  Do invite others – everyone is welcome!

With love, all of us at She Leads Change

The post Holding Family & Friends #4 – Feeling the Feels… appeared first on She Leads Change.

Today many of our participants couldn’t get into our zoom room due to a technology fail. This meant that instead of starting our day with calm – we started with frustration and disappointment! Our apologies for those who tried and couldn’t find a way in. And our thank you to the ever gracious Katrien for her humour and lightness around ‘missing’ her session.

We have two offers for those that missed this morning (and anyone else who could do with Calm, right now.

The first is this recording of a short mindful session with Jo Kaye. Jo is a facilitator on She Leads Change and these mindful session is one of many beautiful things she brings to the world.

The Second offer is an invitation to take a brief moment to pause and ask yourself – what is it that you would like to breath into the day? Our participants said: presence, compassion, understanding, calm, enjoy the sun on my face, beautiful nature, gratitude for life and hope.

May your day be calm, your technology work and your breaths out into the world bring joy and peace to yourself and others….

We look forward to seeing you on a Cup of Calm tomorrow morning. 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 week ahead!

With love, all of us at She Leads Change

The post Cup of Calm #16 – Finding calm even when technology fails appeared first on She Leads Change.

This mornings ‘cuppa’ was led by Elizabeth Stopford. She is a story-teller and filmaker who has a special interest in forgiveness as a way to resolve trauma. She began today by reading a short passage  from Toni Morrison’s  Beloved, a haunting lyrical response to the legacy of slavery.

“Everybody knew what she was called, but nobody anywhere knew her name. Disremembered and unaccounted for, she cannot be lost because no one is looking for her, and even if they were, how can they call her if they don’t know her name? Although she has claim, she is not claimed. In the place where the long grass opens, the girl who waited to be loved and cry shame erupts into her separate parts, to make it easy for the chewing laughter to swallow her all away. It was not a story to pass on.They forgot her like a bad dream.”

Elizabeth says: “Beloved is about the ways we can be haunted by what we “look away from”. There’s one  image in the book that has never left me. Sethe is a slave woman on the run.  A young girl describes her lying there before her, with a  “chokecherry tree” blossoming out of her  back. We come to understand that Sethe’s is a back riddled with wounds from being wipped, the seeping pussing scars of slavery. but that those same scars, through this lens, become roots for a tree.  New, hopeful life, blossoming out of scars. When  I first read this  20 years ago it ‘blew open my understanding of trauma and the transformative potential of forgiveness in my own life. It made me wonder whether our diverse but universal experiences of trauma, in themselves so isolating, have the potential to unite us, to transform us. New, hopeful life, blossoming out of scars. For me it is an image of forgiveness; of what might be possible if we together our scars to become our roots, with a spirit of forgiveness.   There is a spiritual quality to this image for me. It feels timely – akin to the resurrection”.

Elizabeth suggested: “Offering  this image up I  invite you to reflect on something that has scarred you, or your community, that has  become (or might become) the roots for new life.”

What cherry trees can you notice and nurture this week that have grown in the fertile soils of deep harm? We welcome you to reflect today and bring this beautiful imagery and sense of possibility into the week ahead.

Please do join us for a Cup of Calm each morning.

Please join us via: https://zoom.us/j/8044531372 and, if asked, the password is LeadChange. Do invite others – everyone is welcome.

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 week ahead!

With love, all of us at She Leads Change

The post Cup of Calm #15 The transformative potential of forgiveness appeared first on She Leads Change.

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

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