Frankie is a talented watercolour artist and a stay at home mum of 3. She loves being outdoors and in nature, her favourite colour is yellow, and she is secretly a huge goofball!
Social media is a great place to connect with wonderful humans, if you allow yourself to follow the right accounts that will inspire, educate and motivate you, and that is how we found our way to each other, Eagle & Owl + Love, Frankie.
After connecting on many levels about motherhood, as in being a mother to actual children plus a plant mum, we knew we were in good company.
Now, the exciting news....
Eagle & Owl x Love,Frankie are creating a limited edition piece of art!
If you join the conscious community news, you'll find out exactly when its launching and how to secure this piece for your home.
You can also follow our social media pages to keep up to date!
Check out Love, Frankie x
With love,
Carla xx
]]>Do you ever feel like you can't achieve your goals or that they are too hard to reach? Did you know that you have a powerful tool at your disposal to help you reach your goals? The tool is called affirmations and it can help you to believe in yourself and your abilities.
Affirmations are positive statements that you repeat to yourself with the intention of creating a new belief or reality. For example, if you want to be a great basketball player, you might say to yourself "I am a great basketball player" or "I am confident and capable on the basketball court". When you repeat these statements to yourself, your brain starts to believe them and it can help you to see yourself in a more positive light.
Affirmations can help you to build self-esteem, promote positive thinking, and encourage you to believe in your own abilities. When you believe in yourself, you are more likely to take on new challenges and be open to new experiences. This can lead to increased creativity, problem-solving skills, and a greater ability to adapt to new situations.
One of the best things about affirmations is that you can use them for anything. Whether you want to do well in school, make new friends, go on a holiday, get your hair cut or become a better athlete, affirmations can help you to achieve your goals, whether they're big or small.
Here are a few tips to help you get started with affirmations:
Write down your affirmations: Write down your affirmations and make them specific to your goals. For example, if your goal is to make new friends, you might use an affirmation like "I am a great friend, I easily make new friends."
Repeat your affirmations: Repetition is key, repeat your affirmations to yourself every day, several times a day, especially when you are feeling down or unsure of yourself.
Believe in your affirmations: Believe in your affirmations and start to see yourself as if you have already achieved your goals. If you create a long elaborate affirmation, chances are you won't accept it. Start with something small and build on that.
Make it a habit: Consistency is also key, make affirmations part of your daily routine, such as before bed or in the morning.
Remember, affirmations are a powerful tool to help you reach your goals. By using them regularly, you can start to believe in yourself and your abilities and achieve things you never thought possible. So go ahead and give it a try, and start seeing yourself as the amazing person you are!
]]>Affirmations can be a powerful tool for helping children to develop a positive mindset, build self-esteem, and unlock the power of their mind. But as a parent, it can be challenging to know if affirmations are working for your child. Here are a few signs to look for that can indicate that affirmations are having a positive impact on your child:
Increased self-esteem: Affirmations can help children to see themselves in a more positive light, which can lead to an increase in self-esteem. You may notice your child being more confident in their abilities and less prone to negative self-talk.
Positive thinking: Affirmations can help children to focus on the positive aspects of their life, which can lead to a more positive outlook on life. You may notice your child being more optimistic and less likely to dwell on negative thoughts.
Increased motivation: Affirmations can help children to believe in their own abilities, which can lead to increased motivation. You may notice your child being more willing to take on new challenges and be open to new experiences.
Better coping mechanisms: Affirmations can help children to develop a sense of control over their thoughts and emotions. You may notice your child being more resilient in the face of negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and frustration.
Improved behaviour: Affirmations can help children to develop a sense of self-worth, which can lead to improved behaviour. You may notice your child being more respectful, kind, and considerate of others.
It is important to keep in mind that every child is different and the effects of affirmations may vary. It is also important to understand that affirmations are a tool, but they need to be used in combination with other strategies to help children to develop a positive mindset and reach their full potential. Repetition and consistency is key to truly believing in them!
To make sure your child is getting the most out of affirmations, it can be helpful to set a goal together and measure progress together. You can also ask your child how they feel after repeating affirmations and if they feel more positive or motivated. Additionally, you can encourage them to come up with their own affirmations, based on their personal goals and aspirations. This will make the affirmations more meaningful and relevant to them.
Overall, affirmations can be a powerful tool for helping children to develop a positive mindset and reach their full potential. By keeping an eye out for the signs mentioned above, parents can know if affirmations are working for their child and make adjustments to their strategies if necessary.
With love,
Eagle & Owl
As a parent, you want your child to grow up feeling loved and confident in their own skin. But with so many negative influences and messages bombarding kids every day, it can be challenging to instill a strong sense of self-worth and inner strength. That's where our products come in - designed to help your child cultivate self-love and confidence, our affirmations cards and books are perfect for young children and preteens.
What is self-love?
Self-love is the practice of accepting and loving oneself for who they are. It involves developing a positive self-image and nurturing one's mental, emotional, and physical health. Self-love allows individuals to feel comfortable with their flaws and imperfections and appreciate their unique qualities and talents. When kids develop a strong sense of self-love, they're more likely to experience greater happiness, self-esteem, and inner resilience.
How do our products help your child cultivate self-love?
Our affirmations cards and books are designed to help your child develop positive self-talk, inner strength, and self-confidence. Here's how our products can help your child cultivate self-love:
Develop a growth mindset: Our affirmations cards and books help your child develop a growth mindset, which means they see challenges and setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow. With a growth mindset, your child will be more resilient and better equipped to navigate life's ups and downs.
Build resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges and adapt to new situations. Our products encourage your child to develop resilience by focusing on positive affirmations and building self-confidence. When kids believe in themselves and their abilities, they're more likely to handle stress and adversity with greater ease.
Appreciate unique qualities: Our products emphasise the importance of self-love and self-acceptance. We encourage kids to celebrate their unique qualities, talents, and strengths, rather than comparing themselves to others. This helps them develop a positive self-image and greater self-confidence.
Positive self-talk: Our affirmations cards and books promote positive self-talk, which means that kids learn to speak kindly to themselves and focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses but also turn their weaknesses into strengths. This can help boost self-esteem and self-worth, leading to a happier, more confident child.
Eagle & Owl's carefully curated products are designed to help your child cultivate self-love and confidence. By developing a growth mindset, building resilience, appreciating unique qualities, and promoting positive self-talk, our products can help your child feel comfortable in their own skin and navigate life's challenges with greater ease. Give your child the gift of self-love and confidence today - order our affirmations cards and books and see the positive impact they can have on your child's life!
With love,
Eagle & Owl
]]>If you have kids aged 4-8, you may have noticed that they are at a stage where they are still learning to navigate the world around them and form their own identity. At this age, children are also more receptive to learning new things and are open to positive influences. This is why introducing affirmation cards to your kids at this age can be particularly beneficial.
Here are some reasons why affirmation cards are important for kids aged 4-8:
Affirmation cards can help children develop a positive self-image by reminding them of their strengths and capabilities. When children see and read positive affirmations, they are more likely to internalise these messages and believe in themselves. This can lead to increased confidence and self-esteem, which are essential for children to feel good about themselves and succeed in life.
When children are faced with negative emotions such as anger, frustration, or sadness, affirmation cards can provide a helpful coping mechanism. By reminding children of their positive qualities and strengths, affirmation cards can help them feel more positive and in control of their emotions.
A growth mindset is the belief that one's abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved through effort and learning. Affirmation cards can help children develop a growth mindset by reminding them that they have the power to learn and grow. This can encourage children to persevere in the face of challenges and setbacks, and to approach learning with a positive attitude.
Affirmation cards can be a fun and interactive way for children to learn positive affirmations and to practice saying them out loud. You can even create your own affirmation cards with your child and have them decorate the cards with their favourite colours and designs. This can make the experience of learning and practicing affirmations more enjoyable and engaging for children.
In conclusion, affirmation cards are a simple yet powerful tool that can help children develop a positive mindset, healthy self-esteem, and a growth mindset. If you have kids aged 4-8, consider introducing affirmation cards to your child's routine and watch as they grow and flourish with positive affirmations.
]]>Sustainability consists of fulfilling the human needs of present generations with the intention to not disrupt the needs of future generations, while we endeavour to find a harmonious balance across economic growth, environmental care and social well-being.
"Sustainability improves the quality of our lives, protects our ecosystem and preserves natural resources for future generations. In the corporate world, sustainability is associated with an organisation's holistic approach, taking into account everything, from manufacturing to logistics to customer service." captured perfectly by Bluglacier,
There's a LOT of green washing going on, which means buzz words like organic, natural, nature, eco-friendly etc, are being thrown around without the right intent, making it extremely difficult to determine what is real, ethical and what's just marketing.
Here's how we play our part in supporting sustainability initiatives:
1. The Conscious Kids Affirmation Cards are proudly Made in Australia! Huge reduction in carbon emissions as we don't have freight from getting our product manufactured off-shore.
The facility where our cards are manufactured take their environmental impact very seriously; structural materials used in the building were determined based on acoustic and thermal qualities.
Insulation, cross-ventilation and a sophisticated air extraction system (utilising temperature-controlled energy-efficient automation) helps maintain a constant temperature within our factory area without the need for air conditioning and its associated high energy use.
Printed with vegetable based inks without the heavy toxic chemical resiude.
2. Made from FSC Certified recycled materials
3. Compostable packaging from Hero
Check us out on their website here
4. Sent/posted via carbon neutral service.
When choosing gifts for your little loved ones, think of supporting a small business, reducing plastics and single use toys.
The Conscious Kids Affirmation Cards are a beautiful keepsake, for boys and girls of all ages, to use at every stage of life.
With love
Eagle & Owl
]]>Put simply, an affirmation is a positive conscious (awareness) statement, phrase, declaration or promise to yourself. What ever you want to call it, it’s a beautiful practice to harness gratitude and make room for great things to flow into your life.
When you repeat an affirmation, you are affirming positive words, which helps you to train your brain to focus and achieve what you want in life. Consistency in repeating affirmations creates a new pathway in the brain.
Subconscious programming comes from subconscious beliefs that we learn in childhood. When we say affirmations, we are trying to influence subconscious thought with conscious repetition.
Affirmations are used to:
- Cultivate self-esteem
- Improve overall well-being
- Build a resilient mindset
- Harness courage, strength, confidence and more
- Help you achieve your goals and desires
- Combat negative self-talk by challenging unwanted and unhelpful thoughts
- Help decrease stress and anxiety by replacing a negative thought with a positive one
- Create a positive system of thoughts
This means we are creating a program, like an automatic program that runs in the background without consciously thinking about it.
So WHY are affirmations so important for children?
Well, children are predominately in the theta brainwave state which means they have direct access to the subconscious mind, especially in those first 7 years.
Whatever a child is exposed to, gets absorbed and stored in the subconscious as a positive or negative experience. It is critical to be the one to create an automatic program of thoughts to help navigate life with grace and ease.
Now you know what an affirmation is and how it's used, you too can contribute to creating a better society and world by empowering our future leaders.
With love,
Carla xx
First, allow me to set the scene; as an adult, we are officially programmed by society, what we are exposed to; on tv with the news and shows, movies, radio, what we read, teachers, friends, family etc - Limited beliefs about what we are capable of are well and truly formed.
And the world around us is negatively geared. The news is all about negative stories, tv shows that are about crime, people we are exposed to are generally pessimistic, so what chance do our young ones have to be better, and achieve their goals in life, if what and who they are exposed to is generally negative?
An affirmation is a positive statement, phrase or declaration to yourself. When we repeat this positive statement, we are affirming it to the subconscious mind.
Repeating a positive statement helps you to alter your subconscious thoughts, and in this case with children, we are wanting to create the system of positive thoughts BEFORE we are negatively programmed by the world around us.
As an adult, we have to now do the hard work to remove negative programming and limiting beliefs about ourselves and how we perceive the world around us. We have to work on a tonne of trauma that has accumulated over the years because we do not know how to deal with it.
So what's the catch?
You need to BELIEVE it. Yep, you need to believe what you're telling yourself. Now the more we repeat something whether it be positive or negative, will impact our thoughts.
Keep your affirmations simple so the more consistently you repeat it, the quicker you believe it.
Affirmation's can be negative:
"I can't do this",
"it's too hard",
"I can't stop eating",
"I can't be bothered".
Affirmation's can be positive:
"I can do this",
"I always try my best",
"I have a healthy relationship with food",
"I am full of energy".
It's our duty to help children to become aware of the thoughts and words one says to themselves.
A positive mental attitude ultimately determines success or failure in life.
Let's help our future leaders cultivate a positive mental attitude. After all, the foundation of a wonderful society is found in our future leaders.
With love,
Carla xx
]]>"We should all embrace our fear. Not the big fears that are life-threatening but the helpful fears that come in small doses. A little fear really wants the best for us as Eleanor Roosevelt suggested, and transforms us into better, healthier and more engaged people." - Candice Gaukel Andrews, The Adventure Blog
Here’s a great story… ✨
When my Mum was growing up she would visit her grandparents every school holidays on their farm and it was a requirement to walk to the front gate (1km) after dinner every evening, in the pitch black of the night. No torch 🔦 allowed.
Safe to say my Mum is absolutely fearless. She’s not afraid of the dark or being alone. Fear doesn't stop her from doing what she wants to do, she harnesses it into power.
Although, a bit of fear is necessary. I came across this wonderful blog post written by Candice Gaukel Andrews (mentioned above) that listed some of the benefits of fear with an elaborate explanation. Let me share here with you, some that stand out to me mixed with my own words:
⚠️helps you identify danger to keep you safe
⚠️feeling fear -in the right dose- is fun and exciting
⚠️gives you a natural high and sense of empowerment
⚠️promotes proscocial behaviour (bonds you to other people)
⚠️ gives you clarity on what’s really important in life
⚠️ helps you to stay present in the moment and focus
⚠️gives you drive to do things
Boston goes for a walk every evening with his Nanny and on the night of the full moon, my Mum and I took the kids on a walk to the front gate (well we made it 3/4 of the way).
The path was illuminated by the moonlight 🌝 no torch needed (very lucky 🙊).
What's your perspective of fear going to be? Face Everything And Rise or Forget Everything And Run?
Here's to raising our future leaders with the right dose of fear.
With love,
Carla xx
]]>For the most part, we very much are doing the best we can with what we know and our circumstances. However, are we kind of just normalising being mediocre parents by saying that statement? Does it let us off the hook to not put in effort?
I ponder this thought all the time.
To raise great children takes effort! Does effort mean you have to be "on" all the time and a slave to your child? DEFINITELY NOT!
Does what we do as parents determine the quality of life our children have? ABSOLUTELY!
There’s definitely decent sized percentage where we actually just are not doing the best we can, and I am certainly guilty of it to.
Parenthood is one of the most challenging and beautiful, draining yet fulfilling and overwhelming (at times) journeys. There's always something we could be doing but what stands out as a priority to you? For me, it's mindset, health, fitness and then academia; forever learning. What is the point being smart and successful if you are unhealthy and don't know how to find happiness? How do you reach success if you don't love yourself, truly love who you are?
I have a little mental checklist I run through each day to ensure I meet the bare minimum of care; water & adequate hydration (I do count hydrating foods in this category), exercise/movement, mindset (affirmations of course), healthy food, time outside vitamin d and nature playing, creative time, sleep routine, cuddles and books to name a few.
As I grow, I like to choose the words I use wisely and so the word 'perfect' doesn't sit right with me anymore. I don't like to use the word perfect, yet I do believe we are already perfect in our own way. I do not strive to be the perfect mother because, as aforementioned, for the most part I am doing the best I can, and in my own perfect way.
I like the mix of structure & spontaneity in our home. Structure means I know what to do every day to support great health, creativity, productivity and enhance our overall well-being, and the spontaneity means I am showing my kids how to be flexible, say yes to adventure and trying new things.
Holidays are a little different, structure dissipates and spontaneity is in full force, and I've learnt to revel in this! It also means I "encourage" the heck out of the kids to make the most of every single day and embrace each new opportunity that is presented, to make the most meaningful memories and experience of life.
If you've read my stuff before, you'll know I am a massive advocate for travel, I believe it is the best education. I love new adventures and having a change of scenery. Every time I travel, near or far in the world, I have always tried to ensure I remember to be present in every moment and make the most of every day. This made the hard times easier and the good times GREAT. Once it's over, it's over and you don't get that time back.
What we expose our children to from a young age, shapes the type of person they will grow to be and how they will contribute to this world. From different environments and experiences to trying new food and activities. But remember, our diet is more than just eating heathy food, it's people we are surrounded by (family, friends, teachers) and their behaviours/language, what we watch on tv/movies, listen to on the radio in the car/spotify, podcasts, games, conversations (positive or negatively geared), how much time we stare at a screen v time spent in nature.
I think there is no greater feeling than watching your kids have fun, "encouraging" them to do something they "don't want to do" and seeing them bloom.
To me, this means I am doing better than mediocre and I am intentionally doing the best I can. And what do ya know, they BOTH had FUN on our Easter vacay away from the city, trying new things they'd never done before, eating new fantastic foods, moonlit walks and a whole lot more.
The more we did, the easier it got to "encourage". Whilst this is such a small example, it can translate into many different areas and the FRIST BIGGEST thing I noticed is that it helped to build and support a positive mindset, so when a new opportunity presented itself, it was met with a "yes" of excitement straight away, pondering the possibilities as opposed to digging those heels in looking at a new opportunity in a negative light.
The SECOND BIGGEST thing for me, was witnessing the other child making small changes and still implementing what was learnt days later without my prompts. This was my proof that persistence is rewarding and consistency is life-changing.
Pick your battles wonderful parents, figure out when to give that expenditure of energy into something and when it's not necessary. We are doing the best we can but let's just step it up a notch and do better when we can.
Here's to great health and healthy habits!
When I found out I had a stroke, it took a while to process it. My thoughts would spiral out of control and whilst I never got to the edge or the tipping point, I had the inner strength to know I needed to do something about it because I knew I didn't want to be alive if I was stuck feeling these debilitating symptoms every single second of every single day. To entertain the thoughts of not wanting to be alive and live like this scared me.
There are two ways I want to approach this topic. The first is, I have found the term "Mental Health" to be thrown around dangerously in allopathic medicine. I have experienced first hand how damaging this can be when someone just isn't listening to you yet they are forcing a diagnosis on you or putting something down to mental health because they don't know how to find the root cause of a problem.
It is reckless, ignorant and detrimental to gaslight. One shouldn't have to second guess themselves or wind up thinking they are overreacting, this in turn can cause major mental health issues. So, it is of my opinion due to my experience, to not settle for the first or second opinion from a doctor or specialist but to keep going, keep searching for answers and don't give up, there is the right person out there to help you.
Leading into my second point, did you know, over 65,000 Australian's attempt suicide each year?
3139 Australian's took their own life in 2020, on average that is about 9 deaths per day (which is double the road toll). Check out the other statistics here from Life Line.
Males are 3 to 4 times more likely to take their own life than females.
A local teacher told me about a suicide attempt from a child that was 9 years old and it rattled me to my core.
These numbers were highlighted for me recently because a dear friends brother took his own life. I attended the funeral and it was a room filled with so much love and pain of losing someone that was utterly adored by all.
I am fortunate to not have lost someone in my immediate circle to suicide but I have now been to several funerals due to suicide and I just had no idea, like many others, how badly they were suffering.
"Suicide and self-harm can affect people of all ages, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and occupation." - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
I feel everyones pain and it drives me even more to make a difference in this world to help people.
As a parent, we try our best with what we know, to raise our little ones. All we can do is give our children the tools to navigate the challenges of life, as we cannot always be there to protect them.
However, sometimes, we just don't know what we don't know. So allow me to bring awareness into your home of how to cultivate a positive thought system from a young age.
Challenges, difficult times, hardship or heartache will always be there. The more we grow and more success we obtain, the bigger the issues we face. It takes constant work, working on ones mindset to overcome this.
Affirmations are simple yet powerful tool to strengthen the muscle of the mind. Practising positive affirmations each day invites a positive outlook on life and this perspective is everything. The way we view the world changes our experience of it.
Affirmations help build mental resilience, courage and confidence to soar through each day.
Most importantly, the power of affirmations allows one to find inner peace. Cultivating self-love, truly understanding how to love yourself because happiness comes from within.
Now is the time to start and create a positive new habit in your home, making affirmations a part of your child's daily routine. Infant, toddler or at school, children are sponges and absorb what they are exposed to because they are predominately in the theta brainwave state, which means they have that direct access to the subconscious mind.
As we become adults, we all have unresolved trauma from our childhood whether we know it or not. Building a solid foundation from a young age won't avoid trauma but it means one will be better equipped to deal with it later on. A positive mindset shortens the recovery time of hardship.
I am in no way saying affirmations are THE answer to saving someone's life, but I strongly believe they are a part of the well-being puzzle, to build a strong mindset and mental resilience. Everything flows better when we have a good mindset; more motivation to exercise and eat healthier food, more productive with work or projects, social engagements etc.
I speak from experience, my own personal experience, how affirmations largely contributed to improving my quality of life, along with exercise, better food choices, sleep routine, sunrise and sunsets, being in nature, frequencies, breath-work, qi qong and meditation and my list goes on and on!
I like to view affirmations as an invisible shield, they protect you from the bad stuff and allow the good inside.
My goal is to reach many homes, hearts and hands. Homes that are desperate for help, struggling parents or parents that want to do more for their children but don't know where to start. Reaching the hands of children that are coming out the other side of the pandemic damaged, depressed, anxious and scared. Children that are being bullied and turning to suicide or the bullies that have broken homes and take it out on others (hurt people tend to hurt people). Children lacking self-confidence, no friends, learning difficulties, body issues, disabilities or behavioural issues.
This is also for the children that are happy, the ones that know what they want to be when they grow up, the ones with a great bunch of friends, the ones that enjoy their own company and getting lost in books, the ones that dream big and love using their imagination.
Children's affirmation cards are available to purchase, a small tool to make a major impact on mental health as your child navigates this crazy thing we call life.
With love,
Carla xx
]]>And so, I thought I knew what type of mother I wanted to be; loving, caring, playful, lots of cuddles and kisses, and whilst that is GREAT, it is still only surface level, this is kind of non-negotiable stuff that should typically come with parenting. I didn't really "get it", as in doing the proper work to think of what type of mother I wanted to be, until now.. well, the beginning of 2020 to be exact, when I needed to world to slow down and it did (cue lockdown!).
This time at home made me think of the type of parent I wanted to be and how I could help my children navigate the challenges of life.
It's our duty as a parent to give them the tools before we send them out into the world, as we cannot always be there to protect them.
The type of parent I want to be is one that creates opportunity, delivering hands on experiences and making beautiful memories that won't fade.
I am the mother that will show my children it's ok to make mistakes but you have to try and learn from them.
I am the mother that will do something that makes me feel uncomfortable so my children can see and know it's safe to do so to achieve goals and dreams.
I am the mother uses positive affirmations every single day in my household to remind everyone the way we speak to ourself counts, positive self-talk is critical.
I am the mother that takes good care of myself because showing my children my self-love means they will be empowered to love themselves too. And true happiness comes from within.
Now I know, I want to show them (my children) the real important stuff, stuff that is necessary for growth and a successful life. My "parenting tool box" is now pretty big, and these are some of the tools I use and plan on using in the near future (but not limited to):
- Buying investments; property, businesses, cryptocurrencies, NFT's, gold, silver, stocks / shares, and being next to me at the "table" making that deal.
- Starting a business and revenue streams, again, right next to me at the table watching what I do and explaining as I go.
The best lessons are the hands on ones, experience far outweighs something from a textbook. Showing them there is no limit to what we can do but the limitations we put on ourselves.
- How to cultivate a positive mindset to navigate the challenges of life with ease. Having a positive mindset and positive outlook on life doesn't mean you become invincible or your problems go away, it means you get better at dealing with it. The more growth you have the bigger the problems get too, in every area of life.
- The difference between an asset and a liability as we grow as a family unit each year so they can make smarter choices. This also reduces the sense of entitlement without having to work or put in the effort for something.
- Travel is the best education, I want to take them travelling around the world to see how other people live.
- Forever students, learning doesn't stop once you finish school. I want to learn different languages and read tonnes of books with them so we can keep our brains healthy, absorb information and retain it easily, and have this extraordinary vocabulary and knowledge.
- Let them be bored so they can cultivate the power of their imagination. Executing an idea is what creates success. If we don't give them the time to be bored so the creativity and imagination can kick in, well, that just means we're settling for mediocre, not greatness.
- "You didn't come this far to come this far!", teaching them the difference between never giving up, and knowing when something is not worth your time and energy.
- Showing them how to take small steps to create big things! Stepping out of your comfort zone is when real growth happens.
- You simply just need to 'do the work'. No one is coming to save you or do it for you. TAKE ACTION!
- Decision making
- Taking risks! Calculated risks.
- How to cultivate gratitude. Appreciating everything you currently have and showing gratitude for what will come.
- Taking responsibility and admitting when at fault. Accountability for ones own actions and consequences.
- How to create a positive habit because a bad one is hard to break as an adult.
The behaviour I model, the actions I take, the people we surround ourselves with, what we watch on tv/movies, different environments and the experiences we have, will shape how they see the world.
I want a life of greatness for us all. So without pushing my beliefs on to them, all I can do is give my children the tools by showing and letting them have these experiences. The good, the bad and the ugly. Triumph and failure. Winning and losing. You need the hard times to appreciate the good times.
If I can ingrain these important life lessons from a young age, I can spark curiosity, determination, imagination, persistence, creativity, gratitude, empathy, compassion, resilience and happiness.
Have you thought about the type of parent you want to be?
With Love,
Carla xx
]]>From my experience in the workforce, giving birth and healing from a stroke to building a business and even buying a new car, there is still so much inequality. And this is just in the past 3 years!
Spreading awareness is important because ignorance is a destroyer.
Today I celebrate women. When we realise how powerful we are, so much changes. Truth be told, we haven't been taught how to harness the power we hold.
We have a chance to make a difference in this world by the way we raise our future leaders. This is a message I've been spreading since I started Eagle & Owl.
It is my mission to raise my son full of love, compassion and kindness. To treat everyone as an equal, we are all human and we are all connected.
I treat my son and stepdaughter the same - they get showered with love, they get growled at when they're misbehaving and they get disciplined with the same rules.
My partner and I treat each other as equals. We both pitch in, no job is beneath us and we can see when the other is struggling and needs a break.
So how do we create men that see women's as equals, and women that believe men our not our competitors?
Well, it starts at home. The behaviour we model, the language we use, the way we treat others and the healthy habits we create in our home to nurture and cultivate self-love. When we love who we are wholeheartedly, we love each other and our planet.
I do all of this using affirmations every day! This is one way I know how to contribute to a better world. It works, it's an easy tool for children to use.
On this day, celebrate women and those around you that are in support of women.
Together, we can make a difference.
Carla xx
]]>That means I avoided doing lots of things growing up, I kept things to myself, became a "private person" and really fed the shy wolf inside me, all for this fear of being embarrassed.
I'm sure you can also recall a moment in time from your childhood that has affected you into adulthood?
We cannot control our external environment but we can master our internal world.
As parents, we cannot always protect our child/children 24/7, yet we can give them the tools to navigate the challenges that constantly arise. My favourite being affirmations to unlock the power of the mind.
FEAR has two meanings; Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours.
The time has come where we send our little loves back into the hands of the education system. Starting anew, figuring out how to make friends or returning hoping your friends will still be your friends.
It's a pretty big deal to be away from our child/children for 8+ hours a day and leave them with other people. And leave them with others that might not share the same beliefs or core values as you.
One of my best friends is a teacher, I see her genuine intentions to help children, her love for learning and desire to promote well-being. She is doing GREAT things to improve the culture in her school around mindfulness & well-being. I learn a lot from her and my eyes are opened to the benefits of the education system.
Teachers, I see you. I see that teachers are more than just teachers; they're counsellors, mediators, mentors, that kinda need to know a lot about life to give the correct guidance/advice. It can be a lot of pressure, some parents might not agree with ones style of teaching and that can cause unwanted conflict. Yet that all comes down to an individuals belief system.
If you, the parent or the teacher, have a positive outlook on life, you can handle the challenges that come at you with grace and ease.
Developing a positive mindset isn't just for children but for adults too. However, its easier to create a positive new habit when you're young instead of trying to break bad or negative habits when you're older, and we all know how incredibly challenging it is to break a bad habit.
So perhaps it's time to make a change and create a new positive habit in your home to help your child develop a positive thought system, a positive mental attitude towards life to navigate the challenges of life, using the power of affirmations.
Or maybe you already incorporate affirmations into your daily routine but you need to step it up a notch and deliver a solid routine because majority of the time "it all starts at home".
'Back to School' excitement and happiness can turn into, nerves, worry, doubt or lack of self-confidence and fear very quickly. Something as simple as saying positive affirmations will set up the day for success to help your child get in the right mindset, let alone help them to believe in themselves and their abilities.
How did I overcome my fear as an adult? I took small steps daily outside of my comfort zone. I practiced my affirmations to rewire my thoughts and develop a strong mindset. I am still consistent with my practice of this and it is one of the best habits I've created for myself.
Let's grow and nurture a network of like-minded beings.
Let's raise our future leaders full of love, compassion and kindness for one another.
The mind is a muscle we need to strengthen just like the muscles in our body. The more we work it, the stronger it gets.
Together, we can make a difference, one affirmation at a time.
Carla xx
]]>My partner asked me a "hard" question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?". Instantly, I got shitty and thought what sort of a dumb question is that, obviously I want to be here with my family.
It wasn't until two years later, I finally understood how important that question is! So my partner asked me again, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I was so excited to give him my answer.
This is now a question we ask and review every year. And now I know, goal-setting is actually a big part of optimal well-being, to thrive in life.
So, here I am on the path of where I want to go. I know what I want my life to look like and setting goals helps realise the steps I need to take. I am designing my life!
Goals give you a clear sense of direction.
Goals can help you discover your life purpose if you're feeling lost. If you already know your life purpose, goal setting will help you get you where you want to go!
Goals are actually very necessary to motivate us to keep striving.
Now, I know there is the whole 'SMART' acronym for goal-setting but it just wasn't quite hitting the mark for me, something was missing. I found my own formula and what worked for me.
So let me share it with you:
1. Dream big - Set BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE goals. Think big.
What does your dream life look like? Yes, add the most "outrageous" trimmings. Expensive car? Beach front home? Hot tub on your balcony off the master bedroom...why not? Flying first class around the world, working 4 hours a week, playing tennis every Wednesday?
Or perhaps it's simply sitting on the deck watching the sunset with your soulmate every evening, camping every other weekend with family or learning new skills.
2. Emotion - use it to your advantage. Think about how it will feel with you get something you desire, excitement, happiness, joy + gratitude. These are all high vibrational states. When we vibrate at a higher frequency, we attract more of the things we want into our life.
You can use your emotions as a gauge, if you can tap into the right feels when you're setting the goal or taking action and it feels right, then that's generally a good sign. Even do something thats out of your comfort zone and you feel nervous but excited, yep, that's good sign too.
3. Clarity - get clear and know why you're setting each goal.
In my previous blog post, Life's Lessons - Part 2, lesson #30 your 'why' should always start with you.
4. Vision board - get some pics, get creative and put your vision where you can see it. Stimulate the mind with a visual representation of what you want.
I have a vision board in my home office for my business and my personal one plastered all over my bedroom cupboard where I can see it every morning.
5. Affirmations - use affirmations to achieve your goals.
Write an affirmation statement as if the goal has already been achieved.
Here is an example:
Goal- Author
Clear Goal - I am a best-selling author.
Emotion - I am so happy & grateful now I am a best-selling author.
6. Meditate - allow your mind to stop being stimulated by whats around you, just let the thoughts flow through. When you focus on meditation, it's like you give you mind the chance to be free of outside distraction and the best ideas can come forward.
7. Take Action - when you get those golden ideas come through, you can take inspired action! One step at a time, day by day.
No one is coming to save you, it's on you to "do the work"!
Want to be fit? Well then move your body and do some exercise every day!
8. Journal - write it all down!! Put it into writing and on to paper, every idea even if it seems silly or out of reach.
Write down your affirmations as goals. Any thoughts you don't want to forget or thoughts you need to remove, get it in your journal so it doesn't take up prime realestate needed for other things.
9. Visualise - I prefer to do this first thing in the morning before I get out of bed and last thing at night before I fall asleep, when I am in the theta brainwave state. This means I go to sleep with a request to my subconscious mind.
The idea is to see the image of yourself and the life you desire, with your goal achieved. Using your vision board to help pull the image together, use your imagination and add details, even the tiniest detail. If you are struggling to create an imagine in your mind, you have to repeat all the steps, use your vision board and be consistent until you can clearly see your vision - it takes practice!
10. Gratitude - grateful life is a great life. Practice your gratitude daily.
Say what you're grateful for to yourself when you wake up before you get out of bed. Write down your goals in your journal being grateful that you've already achieved them.
What comes next? You need to work out how to schedule your goals into your day, how to measure them to see if they've been achieved and what needs to be reevaluated.
This is my own personal formula that I have discovered and it's what works for me! Take the bits and pieces that resonate and start designing your life.
Here are my top 3 resources:
1. Jack Canfield - Goal Setting Tips To Creating An Extraordinary Life
2. Brendon Burchard - I use his High Performance planner
3. Dawn Warrior - If you need help and guidance, Tara is an incredible coach, holistic counsellor & author that has a special course to help you find your way.
With Love,
Carla
]]>My mission is to help people to thrive in life.
I have goals, foundational goals and then a 'golden goal', which I remind myself day-in-day-out; to thrive. If I am thriving then I have quality of life. I can check in with my actions to ensure they are aligned with my golden goal. To me, quality of life is being able-bodied and to move with effortless ease. To be present and capable of something like skiing down a mountain right now and even at 80+ years of living.
It's these little things that motivate me to take the best care of myself now, to live my best life full of travel, adventure, exploration, memories, love, laughter and family, all the things that make me happy.
Go forth with these valuable lessons and see how you can insert this new way of thinking into your life.
16. Our mind is our most powerful asset. Use it or lose it.30. Your ‘why’, your reason for doing something should always start with you.
Allow me to elaborate on #30, life is meant to be enjoyed, we are meant to be happy. If you are a slave to your work, a slave to your kids or someone else, that just breeds misery. You can be a wonderful parent, business owner or friend and still put yourself first. The reason I choose me, is because when I achieve my goals and desires, I reach fulfilment and it makes me a better mother, daughter, business woman and partner etc.
When I embody my values and live in integrity to my values and beliefs, it's contagious and it teaches our future generations intangible lessons. This is one of many ways we can create positive change in this world, by fulfilling our own desires and cultivating love, happiness, joy and excitement in the process. We shape the future with our thoughts as well as our actions. If we operate out of love, compassion and kindness it's because we are happy and fulfilled.
Affirmations are a big deal in my life. I use them every day for my goals, to boost my morale, to tackle challenges and more!
2. Learn the difference between an asset and a liability, yesterday!
Take care of you because this lifetime is precious.
With love,
I could write for days the many more lessons but I will leave you with this fun fact: in ancient healing, it was believed empathy was a gift meaning your body became a barometer for others. Aches, pains, emotions, and attitudes of others are felt within the empathetic persons body, as if it were his/her own. This gift could be developed to the point that the empathetic person could heal another illness whilst it was within them.
So, the key takeaway here, heal yourself, heal the world.
With love,
Carla xx
]]>It was such a healthy way to reevaluate what no longer served me, or possibly never did and I just didn’t realise it. This was a huge step on my road to recovery, to let go of what I thought I knew and open my mind to the possibilities.
It came on hard and fast and never went away.
I am doing much better, but it’s still a long road ahead. And I am ok, the sensation is debilitating I want to scream with pain and pressure on my brain but I manage with my techniques.
Not only is it invisible symptoms I suffer but I had such a lack of comprehension for the best part of 13 months. I simply couldn’t understand a sentence or when I read a text message or book, sometimes I pretended I knew or I would have to sit there and analyse it for days to decipher it. This made it bloody hard starting a business but it wasn’t going to get in my way because I made the decision to not be a victim.
The big question, why did this happen? Why did I have a stroke?
To be honest, we will never truly know the cause. However, when I connect the dots and listen to my body, my intuition, this is what makes sense.
After having my baby, my GP (at the time!) was for some reason really forcing me to take the pill, get the “rod”, get this in my uterus and that. I was flat out against it and I always have been.
A few months after I gave birth, I started reading a book about balancing my hormones and gut health - I had severe gut health issues and it got worse postnatal.
So here I was reading a book about our body, learning of hormones estrogen and what the contraceptive pill actually is, it’s carcinogenic, which means it’s deadly. Research trials stopped years and years and years ago because they caused cancer and the women were dying. It detailed HRT (hormone replacement therapy for women after menopause) and all these other things that we are led to believe are “good for us”. In no way is it good to put a synthetic drug in your body to mimic what our system is meant to do! Too much estrogen and progesterone cause cancer, stroke, blood clots and a shit load more issues.
The pill is not safe for anyone over 30, the risk of a stroke is so much higher but do doctors tell us that? Do they sit there and seriously discuss the risks? It’s more than a risk, it’s putting your life in danger! Why do we put so much faith in the medical system without out questioning it?
My doctor kept hounding me to take the pill, “it’s not safe to get pregnant again so soon” and she got me good, on a bad day when I went to see her for my other issues of my sore gut and I left with a prescription for the pill.
I asked my doctor, “how do you know this is the correct pill for me?”
Doctor said: “you’ve been in it before it’s pretty generic”.
I said: “yeah when I was a teenager! So much has changed. I’ve had a baby! I am now in my 30’s!”
Doctor said: “it’s fine, it’s a low dose”
I said: “should I do a blood test or something to see where my hormone levels are at?”
Doctor said: “no you’ll be fine”
And so, I TRUSTED my doctor. Surely she was correct? Even though I was reading a book about how the pill is DEADLY, I still walked away in my sickly, painful state with a prescription ready to go fulfil it.
Something inside me was telling me not to take the pill. I was having an internal battle. But I was just too sick, I just wanted to get the doctor off my case and I thought she is obviously very skilled, she knows what is safe for me, surely!
The 3 things deep down I know, contributed to having a stroke:
Stress can look like anything, not getting enough sleep, waking up for a crying baby, a job you despise, a high pressure situation, a family feud, being too hard on yourself, a bad diet of processed foods, feeling pressure of society anything and everything can contribute to stress, and if you don’t know how to manage it properly.. well that’s a recipe for disaster.
I should have listened to my (very sick) gut, telling me not to do this! There are many books and research out there that detail the gut-brain connection.
Was I also suffering something inside my gut that was a contributing factor to this situation? We will never know! It was also my intuition speaking to me, I kept dismissing it.
This is what you need to be aware of and realise:
This is why self-care and balance is so important! We still need our stress hormone cortisol, it’s what makes us get out of bed in the morning but we need to keep it in check.
I am now stuck in a fight or flight kind of mode, my body is overproducing the stress hormone and it’s stuck in a vicious cycle. This has a huge effect on my adrenal system and I am suffering extreme adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is serious yet it’s not a recognised diagnosis by our mainstream medical system.
Instead of listing the things that are wrong, I will start on what's right. I am feeling much better, I have accelerated my recovery with holistic techniques and alternative medicine (I will detail what this looks like in my next blog post). I have enhanced my lifestyle and I am getting so much more out of life. I found my purpose and how I can contribute to this world in a positive way.
My hope is that no-one has to suffer severe trauma to wake up and realise what a healthy, balanced lifestyle should look like. We can’t look after anyone else if we don’t look after ourselves first and foremost.
Take care, self-care!
With Love,
Carla x
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