In a previous blog, ‘Hope’ I talked about my love of colour and how that inspired my re-brand.  I talked about feeling like I’ve spent much of my life hiding in the shadows, not necessarily feeling heard and how wearing bright colours has possibly been an unconscious attempt to be seen, but most definitely a conscious desire to express myself.

My new logo is based on the shape of a Poppy, which to me represents hope; something which feels more important than ever in the world at the moment.

I’ve always loved the symbolism of poppies and how fragile they are on their own but how beautiful, powerful and so full of hope they are, when they stand together; just like people.

The different colour petals on my Poppy logo represent how important it is to fully express ourselves in a healthy way so we are not suppressing or internalising emotion or projecting anger or blame onto others, which could ultimately show up in our bodies as dis-ease.

The purple centre of the Poppy to me represents the sense of joy and peace experienced when we have a clear understanding and acceptance of all that we are.  When we can listen to our intuition, access a state of Flow, and follow our heart, we ultimately attract more positive experiences into our lives.

Having done many years of personal development to learn to express myself from the inside out I’ve realised that my unconscious desire to be seen by wearing bright colours and express myself from the outside in was also very effective.

Fashion expert and TV presenter, Gok Wan, used to give women the confidence to appreciate their bodies, whatever their size and shape, and transform them into bright, sexy individuals by changing how they presented themselves on the outside.

Butterflies and bees go to flowers because they are bright, beautiful and have an attractive scent before they go off and propagate the world.

That surface can be the meeting point; the point at which we access the essence of who we are, enabling the feeling and beauty of who we really are to emerge (or return).

Our body language sends messages about how we’re thinking and feeling about a situation to our brain. If we are making ourselves small or ‘hiding’ with our body language or external appearance we are likely to be sending signals to our brain there is a perceived ‘threat’ in our environment that we need to protect ourselves from.

Amy Cuddy’s fabulous TED Talk talks about practicing power poses prior to a potentially worrying situation which increases the testosterone (the hormone which makes us feel powerful) in our body. This sends the message to the brain that we are in control. Amy Cuddy talks about “faking it until you become it” – practicing a new way of behaving which will get you the outcome you want. Act as if you have all the resources and skills needed to achieve that goal and you can fool your unconscious mind into believing that you actually do. The more you can take action and practice the new behaviour the more comfortable it will become and the more it will become unconscious behaviour; a new, resourceful habit.

Just as Amy Cuddy talks about ‘Faking it until you become it’ when we choose to look good it is likely to have a positive impact on how we are feeling.  And feeling good can be an access point into changing our internal dialogue, or changing unhelpful stories we might have learned to believe about ourselves.

Thoughts lead to feelings which lead to behaviour and that is a bi-directional process so doing something different can also change the way we feel which can have a positive impact on our thoughts (the internal script we are running about ourselves in our heads).

Just as the bright and beautiful flower attracts more butterflies and bees, when we look and feel bright and beautiful we attract more positive experiences into our lives which can have a ripple effect on those around us.  And who knows how far that could spread across the world.

Listening to what makes us feel good and taking action to make that happen can help us ‘show-up’ and be seen for who we really are.  This can accelerate the process of deconstructing the unhelpful stories we might have learned to believe about ourselves, help us notice what doesn’t feel good in our lives and explore why we need to make changes, what needs to change and how we might go about doing that.

If that feeling and essence of who you really are has become buried under layers of unhelpful thinking patterns, unhealthy coping strategies or limiting beliefs contact Niki Hall (see introduction below) or I to discuss how we could help you access that meeting point where you can allow the essence of you to emerge (or return).  Niki is an expert is helping you reconnect with yourself from the outside in and I can help you reconnect with yourself from the inside out.

Niki runs her Image Consultancy, The Style Hall, to help women embrace who they are, feel fabulous and give them renewed confidence.  Women who want to look good can sometimes lose confidence in how to achieve that. They want to be fashionable, but age appropriate. They want dressing to be easy, everything to work together in their wardrobe so that when they have an event they don’t panic and spend ages worrying about what to wear.

Niki has learnt many tricks to help with all of the above and can help overcome anguish and take the stress out of dressing. She loves helping women feel fabulous and giving them renewed confidence. Stylists aren’t just for the rich and famous, but for any woman who wants to look good.

Niki Hall, Image Consultant / 07891086162 / www.thestylehall.co.uk

 

Image by Nowaja from Pixabay