Developing a Movement Mindset
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Developing a Movement Mindset

How our mental and emotional wellbeing affects our physical health.

I’ve known for a long time how much our mindset impacts all aspects of our lives, and this week I was reminded about  how important mindset is in shifting our perspective on our physical health.

It wasn’t until this week that I fully realized how scared I’ve been about the lack of improvement in my hand function since breaking my wrist and having surgery in early April. Appointments with the doctor who performed the surgery have done little to alleviate my fears as he pronounced me “100% healed”. Excuse me? My thumb and part of my hand are still numb and the whole hand still seems virtually useless. How can it be healed? Thankfully, when I questioned him about that at my last appointment he finally gave me a referral for physiotherapy. 

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Soul Gardening
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Soul Gardening

Creating your own personal space for cultivating inner peace and serenity.

I love gardens. I love sitting in them, walking through them, and visualizing them during meditation. I love beautiful flowers, trees, and the perfume they can create! I enjoy watching birds and butterflies dancing among the foliage. I love everything about them except the actual gardening part.

I really don’t like gardening. Ok, here’s the truth - I detest it. I don’t enjoy planning a garden, digging in the garden, pulling weeds, or really just about anything to do with working in the garden.

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Is it Fact or Fiction?
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Is it Fact or Fiction?

Our thoughts, feelings, and the stories we tell

A few weeks ago I had a nasty fall resulting in a broken wrist. I had surgery the day after the fall and am still recovering. The other day I went to see the surgeon for a follow up appointment and, after looking at my x-ray, he declared that the surgery was successful and I was fine.

I didn’t, and still don’t, feel “fine”. My fingers and hands are swollen and I can't get them to bend properly. My thumb and part of my hand are still numb. After seeing the surgeon I felt anxious. What if my hand never works properly again? What if the numbness doesn't go away? The “what ifs” had succeeded in getting a firm hold in my thoughts. Despite the surgeon’s assurances that my hand would return to normal with physiotherapy, my thoughts were spiralling out of control.

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Finding Your Inner Coach
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Finding Your Inner Coach

A visualization practice to help tame the inner critic

“You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise Hay

Almost every time I sit down to write this blog, post something on my Facebook page, write a report for work, do something creative, or start any project that’s important to me, I hear the voice of my inner critic telling me some version of “I’m not good enough”. Does that sound familiar? I suspect you too probably have an inner critic and, if you’re like me, you hear from her every single day. She calls you names like stupid, wrong, inadequate, untalented, useless, etc. This voice tells us we don't know enough and keeps us from reaching our full potential.

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Mindfulness and Creativity
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Mindfulness and Creativity

Starting a creative mindfulness practice to uncover new possibilities.

“There’s no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There’s just people who use their creativity and people who don’t.” — Brené Brown

I have spent most of my life repeating the same limiting belief over and over again to myself and it’s always been a version of “I am not creative”. That limiting belief kept me stuck for years. Like many people, I’ve always associated the word “creative” primarily with the arts (i.e., painting, drawing, dance, theatre, writing fiction, etc.). While it’s true that these artistic pursuits an important aspect of creativity, I’ve discovered that creativity also encompasses how we show up in the world, solve problems, and connect with others, just to name a few things.

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The Unknown Impact of Kindness
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

The Unknown Impact of Kindness

Writing a Letter of Gratitude

One day, many years ago (it seems like another lifetime ago!), I was standing in line waiting to get into my favourite gym. It was a Sunday morning and I was lined up outside the gym before it opened with at least a dozen other women waiting for our morning spin class. This spin class was our version of a Sunday church service. It felt as vital as breathing. As I was standing in line, I was listening to the conversation a group of women were having ahead of me. One of the women, a beautiful, vibrant, and very energetic woman who was at least 20 tears older than the rest of us, was being asked her tips for a healthy life. I know she talked about diet, exercise, yoga and meditation, but for some reason, the one thing I recall her saying (and can still hear her saying in my mind) was, “I eat oatmeal for breakfast every single morning”.

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Building Emotional Resilience in Stressful Times
Sharon Ashton Sharon Ashton

Building Emotional Resilience in Stressful Times

Surviving (and even thriving) through the pandemic.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” — Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

This darned pandemic problem just won’t go away!

As I write this, Canada (where I live) is in the middle of a third wave of the pandemic and more lockdown rules have just been put in place. The pandemic feels like it is worse than it has ever been. The media tells us that our healthcare system is in crisis with our hospitals reaching capacity and becoming unable to cope. It is a collective trauma that people all over the world have in common.

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