The Mindful Living Academy

Does anyone here still use Facebook?!

I'm doing all my writing over on Substack now

It's THE NICEST social media platform ever 🥰

If you're fed up of feeling "eurgh" when you realise you've lost an hour of your life to doom scrolling, but still want something to read in your spare 5 mins, come on over 🙏

Link in comments ❤

Ps. Photo from a BANGING wedding on the weekend.

Old Me would never have had the confidence to wear this. Let alone pose in it.

Mindful Me felt like fire 🔥🔥🔥

Today I'm going on a 48 hour silent retreat.

Yup, totally silent.
Nothing to do except
- 3 meals a day
- meditate
- sleep

And 1 hour of talking to a mentor once a day.

I used to think silent retreats sounded like a form of torture.

Why sit with my own thoughts for any length of time, let alone for days?!

I knew what’d they’d say.

“This is stupid”.

“Why can’t I just talk to someone”

“God I’m pathetic it’s been 5 minutes”

“What is wrong with me?!”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, this is hard.”

“This is stupid.”

But that was 8 years ago.

Turns out people can change.

You CAN train your brain to go more slowly.

You CAN learn to turn off the internal monologue.

You CAN become that calm and peaceful person.

Even if it feels a million miles away right now 🙏

So while going on retreat right before my podcast isn’t ideal, (I like to be around to answer questions etc), it’s ended up this way.

And I hope it’s an example of how much you can change

If slowing down your mind IS something you want to do, I really hope you sign up to the SOAR podcast next week - details via the link in my bio.

I’m signing out for the weekend.

Any questions - I might get to them Sunday evening, but in all honesty, I might not.

But I WILL reply, when I get back to working on Monday.

And I’ll be a better coach, mum, wife, friend, colleague, for having taken this time totally for myself.

And I’d like to remind you to do the same - take some time for you, away from work this weekend. I promise the world won’t end.

Sending you all lots of love,

Lucy x

OR for those of you that want to experience it for yourself (why read a book about swimming when you could jump in the sea and learn first hand?), come to one of my Mindful Living Retreats.

48 hours to switch-off AND the strategies to carry the feeling into your life.

Plus my MINDFUL ™ system that will get you enjoying the little moments in life, before any more time whizzes by.

Dates and booking for both via the link in my bio.

Hi lovely people 👋

I want to drop a little intro here incase you've stumbled across my corner of the Internet 🤗

If you don't know me, hiiii, I'm Lucy, a veterinary surgeon turned mindfulness coach 🩺🧘‍♀️

I didn't think mindfulness worked for people like me

People with real jobs, with real causes of stress (make a mistake as a vet and an animal might die…)

And then I read a load of scientific papers on how meditation and mindfulness could change your life

I gave it a go

And nothing changed 🤦‍♀️

Maybe you've experienced that too?!

Maybe you’ve tried meditating but you can't understand how that helps you to be more focused, or to fly through your to-do list in half the time and enjoy doing the washing up 🤷‍♀️

Well I kept meditating (stubbornly) for almost 2 years, determined that I'd see the differences I'd read about in scientific studies

But nothing changed until I went on a retreat and actually *experienced* living mindfully

I realised it was possible to look forward to my day, even if I was fully booked from 9am-7pm

That I could go to bed feeling proud of myself every day, even if my boss told me something I could improve on (sandwiched between ten positive things that Old Me wouldn't have heard)

I realised I could learn to stop overthinking every.single.little.decision and that it wouldn't result in a minor (or major) catastrophe (and spoiler alert - it actually made them less likely 🤯)

But while I learnt a lot on those retreats, I could never make the feeling last for more than a few days once I got home

Which is why I set up The Mindful Living Academy

To teach other hard-working perfectionists actually HOW to live mindfully, day in, day out, so you enjoy the wonderful life you've built for yourself

And how to do it in less than 10 minutes a day (I know you're busy)

Now social media isn't really my thing any more

But I send emails once or twice a week covering topics like how to be switch off as soon as you finish work and enjoying your evenings without guilt about your work inbox.

If that's something you want in your life, head to the link in my bio and sign up RIGHT NOW before you forget 😉

I look forward to seeing you there 🥰

Missing regular mindfulness posts? Want more inspiration on how to enjoy more of life?

I might be quiet here, but check out my blog via the link in my bio 🥳

Sign up to mailing list to get the next one direct to your inbox 🥰

Popping back here to say that I won’t be returning 😮

At least not in the way I was before

See since not being on social media, I’ve noticed three things

📚 I have much more free time to do stuff I actually enjoy, like reading and writing
🥰 I’m much kinder to myself, now I’m not (virtually) surrounded by unrealistic expectations that encourage us to set impossibly high standards for ourselves
🎉 As a result of the above, I’m much happier

Sometimes you can’t realise how much something is affecting you, until it’s not

A bit like when you take off a slightly too-tight pair of jeans at the end of the day and slip into some pjs; it suddenly feels SO much better

I knew that social media could be a time-drain and that I had to be careful to not compare myself to other people here

But I also enjoyed various aspects too; the conversations, the genuinely inspirational people I follow, seeing photos of friends

Maybe you resonate?

For me, now I’ve seen life without social media, I know I’ll be a better mum, wife, friend, coach if I don’t return

Which created a problem

See if I didn’t have a business, that would be it, I’d leave social media 🤷‍♀️

But it’s the main way I meet new clients…

My mind started telling me I “couldn’t” leave 🤪

But I don’t want to go back to wearing that too tight pair of jeans

I’ve been researching and speaking to other coach friends and I’m going to try something different

It’s SCARY

But, as I’ve said so many times before, mindfulness lets me trust myself, even when I don’t have all the answers

So before I go, two prompts for you

1️⃣ HONESTLY how does social media make you feel?

Is it serving you? Is it how you want to spend your time and energy? If yes, great! If no, why are you still here?

2️⃣ If you’ve enjoyed my content, found it helpful and want to continue hearing from me, head to the link in my bio and join my mailing list 🔥

And if you're interested in coaching - send me an email!

That’s it folks!

A MASSIVE thank you for all the lovely conversations I've had with people here

I hope they’ve helped bring a bit more mindfulness, and with it a bit more joy, into your life 🙏

Please do keep in touch 🥰

[Lucy's Life Lessons] Why I'm taking 3 months off

Lovely people, I am SO excited for this!

See I have about 10 posts ready to go on how to enjoy Christmas despite an overwhelming to-do list, how to sit back and release the perfectionism when you want a day to go well...

And I even wrote a whole free masterclass on finding happiness, with advert slides and everything

And I haven't been posting them 🤷‍♀️

Why?

Initially I told myself I didn't want to get overwhelmed

But in all honesty, I've been busier than this before

So I asked myself some hard questions

Because sometimes the reason we give for doing (or not doing) something is actually just an easy answer

We say we don't have the time, or we can't afford it, but actually we just don't want to

(How often have you told a friend you were busy because you wanted a quiet night? Or said you couldn't afford something because you'd rather put the money towards a night away?)

It can be uncomfortable to recognise the real reason behind something

Just like it can be uncomfortable saying to a friend "I'm really sorry, I don't want to go out tonight" (although side note, with practise it gets easier - I now rarely find this difficult)

And I realised, that being busy wasn't the real reason for me not posting - I actually just want a break 🤷‍♀️

I started coaching again when Matilda was just 5 weeks old and that was the right thing at that time for me

And taking 3 months off, is the right thing for me now

Doing "what's right" doesn't always make sense, and definitely isn't always easy

But I know that taking the time to rest, have unlimited time with my children and use my free time for me (rather than for coaching), will be better in the long run

And mindfulness let's me BELIEVE that, genuinely, rather than knowing it's true but not having the courage to actually follow through

So a reminder before I leave you for a few months

Where do you know something to be true deep down, but you're saying an alternative answer because it's easier?

And where do you know you need to make a change, but you're not trusting yourself to do so?

Sending you all lots of love and I hope you have a truely magical Christmas x

5 signs you're not enjoying Christmas as much as you could be

1.The "fun stuff" just feels like a massive to-do list
I like to-do lists. They're useful. But when things that should be fun feel like things that need to be ticked off, something's a bit off

2. You're overwhelmed
There's too much to think about. Buying the presents. Thinking what to buy before you can buy them. Wrapping the presents. All the cards. The tree. Seeing all the people you only see once a year. Going to the Christmas Markets. Making the Christmas cake... So. Much. Stuff.

3. You're craving time on your own.
See above. You feel like the only way to "reset" is 24 hours on your own. Or a week tbh, but let's be realistic here

4. You're stressed about when to decorate the tree
Isn't decorating the tree one of the best bits of Christmas? If you're stressing about doing it, rather than looking forward to it, that's a massive sign you’re not enjoying the festivities that are supposed to make you feel good

5. You're looking forward to January so you can chill
And it's not that you don't love Christmas, it's just that it's a lot.
..

I have had SO many conversations with people in the last week saying the above things

This is your reminder to slow down, put boundaries in place and create a Christmas that feels good for you 🥰

Sending you all lots of love xx

When I first LIVED mindfully, I thought life had changed forever. And then it all came crashing down
 
I'd been meditating almost daily for 2 years but not a lot had changed

So I went on a mindfulness retreat
 
Five days later, I remember working a full weekend as a vet, seeing an emergency case I'd never seen before and staying SO DAMN CALM
 
Old Me would have been paralysed by indecision and panic. Not this new Mindful Me
 
I remember pausing to focusing on the present moment whenever it felt overwhelming and this feeling of "oh my god, this is so hard but I'm doing it! Finally!"
 
And then Monday morning, the feeling left me
 
And I could not for the life of me, get it back
 
The head nurse found me with my hands on my knees crying in the pharmacy as I struggled to work out the dose of an essential medication for an in-patient
 
I had less than 2 minutes to do so because my first appointment was due to start and the more I tried to focus on being calm, the more stressed I got
 
Over the next 2 years, I went on EIGHT of those mindfulness retreats

Exactly the same one, with the same workshops and the same meditations and even the same jokes. Each time it felt pressing a reset button.
 
And each time, after a few days or a week at most, the feeling would leave. And I'd have to work out how to get it back on my own
 
That's one of the reasons I set up The Mindful Living Academy

To teach you how to LIVE mindfully and give you the processes to make this part of your life all the time, not just for a few days (or hours) after a retreat or workshop
 
My MINDSET clients work with me for 12 whole weeks, which means when they finish, they often describe feeling like a totally different person
 
While in my workshops and TOOLKITs I'm giving you the tools to take mindfulness into your life, in MINDSET we're making it part of you
 
It's like the difference between going on a cookery course and learning some recipes versus being a highly trained chef who can create whatever dishes they want

And for Black Friday week it's got a massive 50% off

If you're ready to be the best version of you, send me a DM to book a free call and see if it's right for you xx

Why I'm offering 50% off for Black Friday 💛

The last few months have been HARD

Moments where I've been curled up in a ball crying because I couldn't face another day of childcare

Shouting in rage at an empty room just because I needed to let it out

A voice in my head telling me I'm a horrible person because I'd snapped at Florence

My mindfulness has let me move through those moments and then come out the other side with a small on my face

Let's me recognise that these are all symptoms of heavy sleep deprivation (anyone who says they "slept like a baby" to describe a good night's sleep, has not slept in bed with an actual baby)

It's let me say "no" to things that didn't feel good without worrying about offending people

Let me ask for help when I've needed it without feeling ashamed, embarrassed or disappointed in myself

Let me feel proud of everything I've achieved through the challenges

And I should say that when you see me happy here, it's been genuine (probably one of my proudest achievements lately - having so much joy in face of sometimes overwhelming emotions)

But I was started to feel dishonest with you all

And because this feels like a fresh start in some ways, I'd like to offer you all something special 🥳

The more I see this way of living change my life, the more I want to help others do the same

So for Black Friday Week only I'm going to be offering a massive 50% of my MINDSET coaching

8 years ago, the start of this journey looked like me living an amazing life on paper with so much to feel grateful for while feeling trapped, permanently inadequate and living for the weekends

I would have said "I love my life!" because I thought a good life was crammed with hobbies, nights outs and lunch dates

It didn't occur to me that the feelings of Sunday Night Dread, massive Imposter Syndrome and need to control everything to "avoid disaster" were signs it was actually not that great, or that I could do something about iT

To now, having a life that would have made Old Me crumble and STILL enjoying it (not all of it granted, but there lies the key 😉)

If you want to join me on this fabulous journey, see stories for more info and send me a DM🥰

Hi lovely people 👋

I recently took 3 weeks off socials and it was such a lovely feeling

Socials are just something that make it hard to be mindful at times

I can be having a really good time playing with the kids or chatting with a client and I'll think "ooo that'll make a great post"

Thoughts will pop into my head as I'm sitting down to relax with a book

And then of course there's doom scrolling - I'd like to say I'm not too bad at this but no-one's perfect 🤷‍♀️

There are days I come on here to post something or reply to messages and find myself still here 30 minutes later

So I've decided to take a week off socials once or a month or so

Like a detox, to make sure my mind stays on top-form

I'm feeling pretty rough this week (pretty sure it's COVID but no tests at home...) so it's worked out well time-wise too

It means I've postponed The SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT for a week too - something Old Me would never have done but Mindful Me knows it's better for everyone if I'm on top form

I'll be back here in a week or so - if you've got last minute FOMO on The SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT it means there's still time to join, just send me an email [email protected]

Sending lots of love xx

[Lucy's Life Lessons] Why I've stopped saying "I love this period of my life"

I haven't done a life lesson in a while so thought it was time to share another

A big lesson lately has been about labels

Labels we apply to life

Labels like "life with two little kids is hard but good"

A sentence I started saying very early on after M was born

And I genuinely meant it

But a month ago, I wasn't so sure if that was true

And I kept thinking "but life's good, why are you finding it hard?"

But if I tried saying "it's a hard period, you have two very young kids" I felt equally confused because there's a lot I love about life right now too

Once I stopped trying to find a label that worked (like "the hard period" or "the good period"), it felt so much more liberating

Otherwise it's like when you have those sweets that are a different flavour to their colour - if you're expecting blackcurrent and you get orange, it messes with you

So much of life is like that, we carry so many of these little labels around with us (work is hard, Mondays suck, mistakes are awful)

And sometimes the labels don't serve us anymore but we're so used to using them that we don't realise things have changed

You might actually like the orange flavoured skittles now but you'll never know and will continue to feel disappointed when that's the only flavour left 🤷‍♀️

It's something that makes up a lot of my one-to-one work - helping my clients notice what labels (aka filters, judgements, limiting beliefs) they have

And it's a massive part of The SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT starting Monday 6th Nov

It's why I offer unlimited WhatsApp support, so you can check in regularly to see when you're looking at something through your "I'm not good enough glasses" (and if so, I'll help you take them off too)

So a little prompt for you today. Where are you applying labels, juto your life? Do they still serve you? Or are they holding you back?

PS. There's still time to join us in The SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT on Monday - send me a DM for more info 🔥

She text me the next day

"Thanks for last night. I feel so much lighter. It's made a massive difference"

…..

Want to find out if you're subconsciously blocking your confidence? 

For this week only, I’m offering 3 free diagnostic calls to help you see what internal dams you're holding closed

This is exactly the work I do with my one-to-one MINDSET clients and will be teaching in The SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT next week

Because once you see how you’re blocking your confidence, you can choose to do something about it

DM me DIAGNOSTIC CALL to claim your spot

PS. Not everyone can dislodge their blocks as quickly as V (even me!). But all my clients love EFT for the way it speeds up their transformation 🔥

[pt2] It's possible to trust yourself WITHOUT waiting for proof that you can do everything

When I was in vet practice, I was wearing a massive pair of "I'm not good enough" glasses.

These glasses affected everything I saw, everything I heard, everything I did.

I saw everything through these glasses.

So even when I did do something well (because in hindsight, I can see that I was a good vet, even if I thought I wasn't at the time), I couldn't see it. 

I wish I knew then what I know now.

That it's possible to trust yourself WITHOUT waiting for proof that you can do everything. 

It's about taking off the glasses that bias EVERYTHING. Without the "I'm not good enough". glasses, I would have done a surgery, recognised that it was difficult, asked for help and felt excited about learning something new. Then ironically my confidence would have actually increased over time as I learnt more too.

As it was, I was too busy chastising myself for being stupid to learn much.

Helping clients take off their "I'm not good enough" glasses has got to be one of the best bits of being a coach.

And it's why I'm so excited about the upcoming SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT.

For 4 weeks, we'll be looking at exactly what glasses you're wearing and helping you take them off.

It means you'll be able to actually see how good you are (when you're actually good) and ask for help when you need it and still learn from it.

And what that means is even bigger than that.

It means you can enjoy your job.

It means you can go to bed at night and feel proud of yourself.

It means you can get up in the morning and feel excited about learning something new.

Because if you're working in a job you've been aiming towards for your whole life, the least you owe yourself is to feel good now you've made it there.

This is honestly one of my favourite things about my one-to-one MINDSET coaching and I'm so excited to be able to explore this some of you in a TOOLKIT too - and at 12% of the cost 🤯

If you want to learn more about the SELF-TRUST TOOLKIT, send me a DM and I'll send you the details.

We start Nov 6th

[Pt1]. When I left veterinary practice, I felt like a failure.
 
I'd heard that you were counted as a "young vet" until you were 8 years qualified and I thought "if it's going to take me another 6 years to have seen enough cases to count as experienced, I can't feel like this every day for another 6 years".
 
Because every day I felt inadequate. I felt stupid. I felt this constant worry that a case would come in that I couldn't handle and a patient would die and it would be all my fault.
 
So I constantly checked my diagnoses and treatment plan with colleagues. Sometimes more than one colleague.
 
It seemed like a good way to prevent something dying due to my incompetence but it gradually ate away at my confidence.
 
See I was waiting for external proof that I was good at my job, before I could trust myself. I wanted to know FOR SURE that I was right before sending a dog home with some medication, or that I could do a surgery totally on my own before booking it in.
 
I didn't realise that I was wearing a massive pair of "I'm not good enough" glasses. These glasses affected everything I saw, everything I heard, everything I did.
 
I saw everything through these glasses.
 
So even when I did do something well (because in hindsight, I can see that I was a good vet, even if I thought I wasn't at the time), I couldn't see it.
 
It meant that when a colleague kindly said "Lucy I think you can do this on your own, but call me if you need me" I would feel myself tighten. I'd panic a little. I'd say to myself "you can do this, you can do this, you can do this" as if that would help. I'd find it hard to concentrate. So I'd end up calling for the help they'd offered, while feeling like more of a failure than I did before.
 
My confidence got LOWER over time.
 
I recognised that even at 8 years qualified, I wouldn't feel like I knew enough.
 
Because even then I knew you could never know everything. And I knew that unless I knew EVERYTHING, I'd worry.
 
I wish I knew then what I know now.
 
That it's possible to trust yourself WITHOUT waiting for proof that you can do everything.
 
[Part 2 tomorrow]

Think leaving work on time without cutting corners is impossible?

I get it.

You feel like you're drowning in repeat prescriptions and that's before you even start trying to do reading on that new case

And you're finding it really hard to work out what to say to that client about the blood results

Maybe you should call the lab quickly, just to check your approach is reasonable and you haven't missed anything?

But how is it 6.30pm already?!

You never get out of work on time and don't see how anyone does

You can't cut any corners - animal's lives are at stake

And there are only so many hours in the day

I know because I was you 🙋‍♀️

When I worked as a veterinary surgeon, I had one early finish a week and rarely got out on time

Now I know why - and it's not because there was too much to do

My feelings of "never being good enough" were driving all my behaviour

I didn't trust myself to make decisions so I ran things over and over and over in my mind

I double (triple) checked all my repeat prescriptions, just in case I missed something

And I often asked for a second opinion, because, you guessed it, I didn't trust myself

Know I now how to break that cycle

How to believe you're good enough and know when enough is enough

To trust yourself to call that client, without double checking with a colleague

I'm not saying you'll never doubt yourself again

But you can learn to recognise when the doubt is reasonable and when the doubt is in your mind

(like when you KNOW you locked the front door but some invisible force makes you go back and check anyway 🤦‍♀️)

We'll be doing this for a whole month in my next TOOLKIT in November and there's a free masterclass covering the basics on Monday 23rd Oct

Send me a DM to join or for more info, so you too can trust yourself enough to leave work on time 🥰

10 things that happen when you trust yourself The Mindful Living Academy way

(ie. You're honest not modest about your ability. You're not cocky so you don't put yourself in situations that you can't handle. And you're calm, so you don't push yourself to exhaustion either)
......

🏆You go for that extra qualification that you've secretly wanted to do for ages

🤩You stop feeling terrified of mistakes - you still avoid them, of course, and if anything they happen less often now, but you're not crippled by that fear of something going wrong

🦸‍♀️You don't feel like guilty or lazy (or both) if you don't achieve everything on your to-do list

💪You don't feel like a failure if need to ask for help doing a task at work - you know you'll be able to do it on your own eventually and that it's just part of the learning process

🤓In fact, you sometimes even get excited about the opportunity to learn something new when you need to ask for help

💃You're able to be spontaneous, accept last minute plans and go with the flow

💁‍♀️You make a decision without extensively weighing up all the pros and cons first - no more spread sheets to decide where to eat for dinner on your anniversary

🔥You finish work on time in faith you've done enough

🧠You're not phased if other people do things differently to you; rather than being plagued by self-doubt, you listen with interest and make an educated decision

🧘‍♂️Day-to-day you feel calm and relaxed, rather than you're constantly running from a lion
..

Want to learn more about how to live like this?

Join my free masterclass on how to believe you're good enough on Monday 23rd October, 8-9pm

DM me for the link 🥰