Níl sé éasca a bheith féinfhostaithe ach rud gur maith liom faoi ná gur féidir liom cinneadh a dhéanamh an bhfuil mé le rudaí áirithe a dhéanamh agus cathain an ndéanfaidh mé iad. Sin an fáth nár chuala sibh uaim ó thús an samhraidh! Bhí mí Meitheamh an-deacair dom. Mar a mhínigh mé sa bhlag deireanach bhí mé tinn de bharr an mhéid oibre a bhí mé ag déanamh. Thosaigh rudaí difriúla ag críochnú ag amanna difriúla le linn mí Meitheamh ach ag an am céanna bhí níos mó brú orm maidir le lóistín. Bhí orm bogadh tí agus mar atá a fhios ag madraí na sráide tá ganntanas tithe in Éirinn faoi láthair.
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Self-employment isn’t easy but what I do like about it is that I get to decide what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it and that is the reason that ye haven’t heard from me since the beginning of June. I had a tough June. I mentioned in my last blog that I had been sick because of the amount of work I was doing, June saw a lot of that come to an end but as work stress decreased housing stress increased. My landlord evicted me so I had to find somewhere else to live which is always a stressful thing, despite all of the times I try to convince myself it’s not!

Bhí a fhios agam go mbeadh sé ceart go leor ar deireadh mar bíonn i gcónaí ach ní chabhraíonn sé sin nuair atá tú ag dul trí rud éigin. Fuair mé arasán álainn sa Spidéal ar deireadh agus bhog mé tí sa cúpla lá deireanach a bhí agam sa seanteach. Mar a dúirt mé bhí sé go breá ar deireadh ach bhí an bóthar go dtí an pointe sin an-deacair!

I knew it would all be fine, because it always is but that didn’t help me as I went through it! I got a little place in An Spidéal in the end and I’m delighted with it! I found it just before I had to leave the old place which is how renting works in the south. You find it and you have to take it whereas in Belfast I was used to having time between finding it and then taking it.

Le linn an samhraidh tá daoine ag fíriú dom céard a cheapaim faoin a bheith i mo chónaí sa Spidéal ach le bheith ionraic níl a fhios agam! Bhog mé isteach agus cúpla lá i ndiaidh bhí mé imithe go Sligeach i gcomhair bainise mo dheirfiúr. I ndiaidh sin, bhí mé imithe agus ar ais agus imithe arís ag múineadh le hOideas Gael. Bhí sé iontach a bheith i nGleann Cholm Cille arís, ceantar álainn agus mé ag múineadh daoine ar an láthair, rud nach raibh déanta agam ó thús na paindéime!

People have been asking me throughout the summer how I like living in An Spidéal but I couldn’t tell them because I don’t feel like I have been living here! I moved in and then I was away for my sister’s wedding and a week later I was away again for work. I was up and down to Donegal three times in the end working with Oideas Gael and it was lovely! Teaching in person classes was really nice after so long online and being in the beautiful Gleanncholmcille was fantastic as well!

Bhí samhradh álainn agam ach anois tá mé ag iarraidh srian a chur orm féin agus roinnt oibre a dhéanamh nach ndearna mé le míonna, an blag seo san áireamh! Ach anois agus mé ar ais tá mé réidh leis an gcéad chúrsa eile aireachais a thosú le daoine fásta. Fanfaidh mé ar líne agus mar sin is cuma cén áit atá tú bheadh míle fáilte romhat ar an gcúrsa! Cúrsa cleachtais aireachais do dhaoine fásta a bheidh ann agus tá na sonraí ar fad ar fáil anseo.

I had a lovely summer but now I’m trying to focus myself and get all the work I didn’t do over the summer done, including this blog! I have also launched my next Adult Mindfulness Practice Course. I’ll be staying online for it so you would be very welcome to join us from wherever you are. I have found the benefits of the online classes means that people learn to practice meditation and mindfulness from their own homes. Meditation then becomes something you do at home and not just something you do elsewhere. The classes will be on Thursday evenings from 8-9pm and all of the information is available here.

Ba bhreá liom cloisteáil uaibhse agus faoi do shamhradh féin! Cuirigí scéal chugam más maith libh anseo  nó tríd an ríomhphost ag  solasrelaxation@gmail.com.

I would love to hear about your summer. What did you get up to? Did you do what you set out to do? Send me a message or an email to solasrelaxation@gmail.com if you fancy sharing! 

Fada an lá ó go raibh blag agam anseo daoibh ach rinne mé rud an-aisteach dom an tseachtain seo caite agus bhí mé ag iarraidh nóta a dhéanamh dó! Bhí gealach lán mór againn an tseachtain seo caite ach níor éirigh liomsa é a fheiceáil mar bhí mé tinn!

It has been a hot minute since I posted a blog here but I did something very unusual for myself last week and I wanted to document it! During last week we had a super full moon which means that the moon appears bigger in the sky because it is closer to the earth, I however missed it. I didn’t get to see it because I was sick.

Tá sé ráite agam anseo cheana go mbíonn éifeacht ag an ngealach agus timthriall na gealaí ar an taoide agus mar sin luíonn sé le ciall go mbíonn éifeacht aici orainn freisin. An mhí seo bhí an ghealach ag iarraidh insint dom go raibh sos ag teastáil uaim! Go tobann, i ndiaidh na hoibre ar an Máirt bhí mé tinn. Ní raibh mé iomlán cinnte an raibh mé tinn mar is ceart nó an raibh mé i ndiaidh dearmaid a dhéanamh ar mo dhinnéar an lá sin ach gan moill bhí mé sa leaba, ag siúl le nach gcuirfinn amach. An lá dár gcionn, dhúisigh mé leis an aláram ach bhí a fhios agam nach raibh mé rómhaith.
‘Ach tá lá gnóthach agam. Tá barraíocht ranganna agam len iad a chur ar ceal,’ a dúirt m’intinn liom.

The full moon energy causes the rise and fall of the tides in our oceans. Us humans are made up hugely of water so it makes sense that the moon cycles would affect us too. My experience with the moon is that the bigger and brighter it gets in our skies the more it is able to highlight things within us that we are ready to release, things that are no longer serving us. I can usually feel the energy of the moon for a few days before the actual full moon and then I feel a huge release and sense of ease once the fullness has passed. This month, the night before the full moon, after I had finished all my work I suddenly started to feel really really sick. I couldn’t tell if it was that strange ‘I haven’t eaten all day’ feeling or maybe I was tired because I hadn’t slept well the night before but I eventually realised the only thing I could do was go to bed and quickly! Keeping my eyes closed was the only way through. The next morning I woke up with the alarm and I knew I didn’t feel 100%.
‘But I have a really busy day. I need to teach those classes. I can’t cancel them.’

Ach bhí a fhios agam nach fiú dom na ranganna a mhúineadh agus mise tinn agus mar sin níor éist mé le m’intinn agus chuir mé na ranganna ar fad ar ceal. Ní rud é sin atá déanta agam rómhinic agus toisc go bhfuil mé féinfhostaithe bhí mé buartha faoin gcuma a bheadh orm agus faoin aiseolas go dtabharfaidh na scoileanna dom. Ní raibh fadhb ar bith ag éinne leis, dár ndóigh! Mar mhúinteoir aireachais bím ag múineadh do dhaoine an bealach le teacht isteach chucu féin agus éisteacht lena gcolainn féin. Bhí orm mo chomhairle féin a thógáil an tseachtain seo caite agus ar deireadh chuir mé dhá lá iomlán ar ceal agus níor tháinig deireadh leis an domhain. Fuair mé cúpla teachtaireacht ag rá ‘Katie bocht, tabhair aire duit féin’ agus bhí príomhoide an lá inniu ag cur ceiste faoi mo shláinte inniu.  

I had the usual train of thought but I knew if I went on to teach those classes as I had planned that they wouldn’t be great and I would feel worse for it so I rang one school and texted another principal and cancelled my classes. This was a big step for me and I know that I am not alone in my ‘I’ll just struggle through, it’ll be fine’ way of thinking and being but considering that I am teaching people to come back into their bodies so they can listen to what their bodies need it would have been hypocritical of me to not listen to my own body this week. I ended up taking my two busiest days off work this week. I cancelled a total of seven classes and the world did not end. Nobody gave out to me, in fact I got a lot of Poor Katie’s and ‘look after yourself’s.

Maireann muid in sochaí a deir linn nach fiú muid muna bhfuil muid gnóthach agus ag saothrú airgid. Le teachtaireachtaí mar sin ag teacht chugainn i rith an ama ní haon iontas é nach gcreideann muid gur féidir linn am saoire a thógáil, go háirithe nuair a thagann sé go cúrsaí oibre.
‘Céard a cheapfá dá má rud é nach raibh mé ar fáil leis seo a dhéanamh? Ní iarrfaidh siad orm obair a dhéanamh leo amach anseo.’
Sin cuid de na smaointe a bhíonn againn ach creidim go láidir gur cuid den chúis go raibh mé tinn an tseachtain seo caite ná toisc go raibh mé ag obair go dian le cúpla seachtain anuas agus nach raibh mé i ndiaidh sosa a thógáil. Mar sin, tá mé ag smaoineamh ar an tseachain seo caite mar bhriseadh lár téarma de mo chuid féin!

Living in a capitalist society that values productivity and profit over all else can lead us to thinking that we cannot take time off. We think we must be productive all the time so I am your friendly reminder that you need to take breaks and it is OK to take a break. I think part of the reason I got sick this week was because I’ve been working so much recently, and I haven’t had time to take time off so I’m thinking of this week as a little self-imposed midterm break.