CONSCIOUSNESS

 

Marian @ Krysan

THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY

Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham

_________________________________ 

 

MYSELF OF SELVES

A Visit to the Northumberland Voice Hearers' Gathering 2012 

by

Marian @ Krysan 

 

Angel of the North 

THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH

 One does not become fully human painlessly

 

LETTER 1 

20 June 2012  

Dear Friends

OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK

Smiley faceYesterday, I went along to Northumberland's Voice Hearers' Gathering. The Gathering was held on a sunny June day at the Holiday Inn in Seaton Burn in the County of Northumberland. 

Angel of the North.  

This was an entirely new experience for me and I was there as an invited guest with a job to do - more of that in my next letter. Supported as always by the Angel of the North (above), these letters are a tribute to the people I met.

Dr. Rufus May.

Gatherings such as this bring renewed hope to many people - care givers and cared for. Yesterday they were out in force, all listening intently as Dr. Rufus May opened up a dialogue into the science of the mind. This took us far beyond the traditional medical model and changed forever the way we think about hearing voices. 

Myself of selves.  

Rufus is certainly not alone in his firmly held beliefs and - and thanks to people like him - we move steadily towards a paradigm shift in our understanding and treatment of psychosis. This was surely a day for the raising of consciousness - an inner journey into 'myself of selves'. I am reminded of another psychologist who once said, "One does not become fully human painlessly". Wise words.

Positive psychology.

I speak from the heart when I ask that we continue to accommodate - with an optimistic outlook - new insights into mental distress and recovery; and that we seek to retain our sense of wonder at the self-healing power that lies within each one of us.  Below are details of a new book on how we can indeed help ourselves using proven strategies from the world of positive psychology.

An Aide-Mémoire :

  • Positive Psychology Book (2011) :
  • Overcoming Depression Self-help :
  • Miriam Akhtar

Sincerely yours

Marian


LETTER 2 

22 June 2012

Dear Friends

MYSELF OF SELVES

Smiley face

In case you're wondering, my Storytelling Workshop was yet another opportunity to step outside the box of the ordinary and everyday at the Northumberland Gathering.

A Button Collection. 

First ... imagine six or seven people sitting around a table and in the middle of the table is an old-fashioned jar of buttons.  Sourced from charity shops in Newcastle upon Tyne, each button is very different in size, shape and colour and each carries the trace of a memory ...

Buttons R Us. 

One of the best ice-breakers I have come across involves (1) tipping your Button Collection onto the table, (2) asking your audience to choose the button that 'best' describes their first impressions of the person on the left, and then (3) asking each in turn to explain the reason for the choice of button to the others in the group.  

Listening Buttons.

With buttons still on the table, (1) ask people to think of an emotion, (2) choose a button that 'best' represents their chosen emotion, (3) take turns to tell the group as much (or as little) as they wish about what the button is saying, (4) hang on to this button as it is needed for the next exercise. 

Talking Buttons. 

Choose a second very different button, (1) thinking of the emotion it 'best' represents, (2) imagine that the two buttons are talking to each other, their conversation being around the garment to which they were once stitched, and how its wearer might have felt wearing this garment, (3) take turns to tell the group as much (or as little) as you wish about the conversation between the two buttons.

Learnèd Buttons. 

Aided and abetted by 'The Button Collection' and trace memories, a free and open dialogue ensued around: 

  • how far and why first impressions count, 
  • our reticence to talk about our emotions and the consequences,
  • the importance of paying heed to the inner child, and
  • becoming a conduit for passing family stories down through the generations - written and/or oral. 

Myself of selves. 

Sincere thanks are winged to all those whose gifts made this gathering possible and also to those who took a chance, ventured outside the box of their professional training, and embraced something extraordinary.  Myself of selves ... 

An Aide-Mémoire :
  • Writing exercises that work (2011):
  • A handbook - using writing for health with groups and for personal development:
  • Pen & Tonic CIC 

Sincerely Yours

Marian

 


  

   TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY VALUES 

Based on the words of
Pastor Martin Niemoeller,
victim of the Nazis

First they came for the dispossessed

But we didn’t speak up -

Because we thought that we weren’t dispossessed.

Then they came for the marginalized

But we didn’t speak up –

Because we thought we weren’t marginalized.

Then they came for the dissidents

But we didn’t speak up -

Because we thought that we weren’t dissidents.

Next they came for the asylum seekers

But we didn’t speak up –

Because we thought that we would never be asylum seekers.

Then they came for the mentally ill

And there was no one left to speak for anyone.

Download - Reality 2

 


WEBSITES THAT MATTER

*1.  Rufus May

http://rufusmay.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=33

*2.  Miriam Akhtar 

http://www.positivepsychologytraining.co.uk/

*3.  Pen & Tonic 

http://www.penandtonic.org

*4.  Krysan for Wellbeing (on Twitter)
 http://twitter.com/krysan1

 

 
We all hold views that we may be forced to evaluate in the light of new evidence.
 
- Marian Moore
____________________________

Be the change you want to see in the world.

- Mahatma Gandhi.

___________________

 

Click on the link for:
"God Will Make A Way" - Don Moen. 
 

 

ENDS

3,584  reads @ 2015-12-18

 


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