New Website Home

I am super excited to share with you .. my new website!

It is finally here – www.quietmindmeditation.com.au

This has been a complete labour of love.  One that has consumed me and distracted me, nourished and confused me.

But it is here.  Not finished or highly polished as yet .. but a starting point.

I realised it was time to upgrade my website over a year ago. I needed more space and clarity and clean lines.  Like all the exciting projects and ideas that I come up with (often after meditation) there was, at first, a big rush of activity to get started, closely followed by a severe case of overwhelm at all the new technology, then family life and studies became my focus .. but after finishing the meditation retreat in Sedona in February; I came back to this project with renewed 2016 energy!

Huge thanks to my sister who managed all of the uncertainty, mind changes and techie stuff .. and my teen who gave me beautiful images and patience when trying to interpret my vision.

It is no surprise to those who know me, that I enjoy the conceptualising and the dreaming - even the last minute push to the finish line .. but I also need space to process and ponder, allowing time for the path to present itself.  I know to trust that it will.

I shall continue unpacking and moving things around in our new home. There are over 1000+ posts on this old site and it is going to take some time to review and shift good content to the new site.  So ..

Please come visit our new home. Bring a cup of tea. Stay awhile. Read. Pause. Meditate.

Bupa Blog Awards 2016

Super excited yesterday to hear that this blog had been nominated for in the 2016 Bupa Blog Awards.

I received a message letting me know that I was nominated for the awards that "recognise the increasing influence and growing professionalism of the Australian influencer community.  The awards aim to celebrate the outstanding work produced in the blogging community, and reward bloggers for their achievements in spreading positive health and wellbeing messages – a core part of Bupa’s philosophy".  

There are now over 1000+ posts on the Quiet Mind blog .. and I have to say it has been a labour of love from the very first entry on Saturday, 18 January 2008. 

There are now hundreds of posts on the practical aspects of meditation - the 'how' and the 'why' - along with personal insights on the journey, research and scientific articles, local and international programs and content, messages from friends and students. 

I am constantly inspired to share my passion for meditation .. and find new and unique ways to engage and support your meditation journey!

This year has been the busiest ever for Quiet Mind Meditation, and unfortunately that has taken me away from this blog space as I have been designing and content filling my totally new website and blog-home!  After diving into a year of new studies, and (yeah!) becoming a McLean Meditation Institute Certified Meditation & Mindfulness Teacher in January 2016 .. I felt we really needed a bright, fresh, sparkling new home.

So along with our new look Quiet Mind monthly newsletter and Monday Meditation Musing alert (SIGN UP HERE) .. our new look home is almost ready to be revealed.  

Stay tuned

Eternally grateful and doing a little happy dance right now!

You can find out more about the Bupa Blog Awards HERE 

Website, iMac, Classes & a RETREAT

Have you noticed? 

I have (sadly) been missing from this neighbourhood recently.  

Not because I wanted to be away.

But life has gotten seriously busy and topsy-turvy and full .. in a good and positive way, but nonetheless.

2016 took off from the gate at a gallop.  I feel like I haven't really stopped this year, and there have been so many juicy experiences, meetings, collaborations, challenges and 'moments'  .. and in recent weeks I have been focused on:

1. Finishing my new website.  This project has been way bigger and more consuming than I realised.  But I am getting there.  I hope to tell you all the secret new destination and all the new resources and tools .. soon, very soon .. let's agree this is probably going to happen by the end of this month (May)

2. I bought an iMac. Just this week after pondering and contemplating this huge world-order change for about a year.  I definitely had to put on my big-girl pants and take a leap of faith (albeit half pushed by my teen).  So all activities are taking just a little bit longer to complete.  But my brain and neural pathways are going to benefit!

3. Classes and online classes.  All my classes this year have been almost fully booked and the eCourse is currently running - with the next round starting on 1st June due to the waiting list.  Yes.  Happy dance.

4. I am running a retreat.  A long held dream is now live.  I have wanted to host a wellness/yoga-mediation/urban holistic retreat for years.  I have pictures on my vision board.  I was waiting .. for the right person to share this new adventure, and when she arrived .. I JUST KNEW IT WAS TIME!

I met Jennifer Elllinghaus at a business workshop last year.  We actually met at the coffee machine - such a Melbourne story.  I then interviewed Jenny about her yoga, her new book 'Yoga for Travellers' and her meditation practice HERE.

  So, we met up again, after I returned from my meditation intensive in January (about the retreat here) and it just unfolded in our conversation .. we both wanted to share our passion for yoga and meditation.  Jenny will be sharing her passion and extensive knowledge of yoga at the retreat .. I shall be guiding and steering the meditation.

And so, the Bliss Bomb Retreats was born.

If you are located in Melbourne (the retreat is being held in the very cool and very urban, Prahran) and would like a day of self-care .. of yoga, pranayama, mindfulness practices, meditation and yoga nidra .. think .. stretching, shifting inward, engaging, nourishing, rejuvenating, unfolding, laughing and resting.

This is going to be an amazing day: all about YOU!

We have an Early Bird Special available RIGHT NOW

So, please forgive my absence.  

I have so much content and resources to share in our new home online .. just a few more days now.

I am ever grateful that I have my meditation in times like this .. to ride the storm of ups and downs, balance the emotions and transcend the challenges.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Almost time ..

Have you noticed it has been a bit quiet here of late?

I promise you .. I have been super busy over here in my little meditation space.  I recently finished our last 2015 Exploring Meditation course and this put me into planning mode for our 2016 classes (I shall post these shortly) .. and I have been passionately studying and meditating and reflecting in the final stages of Meditation Teacher Certification with McLean Meditation Institute prior to the Intensive Retreat in January. PLUS I have been stealing late (and early morning) hours for the birth of my new website .. which has been by far the longest journey.  

Somewhat like giving birth 

.. in the beginning along with all the waiting and expectation, there is the sharing of new ideas and everything seems sparkling and exciting - a real labour of love .. and then before you know it you are immersed in tantrums and your 'baby' keeps getting away from you .. there are the late nights of no sleep and arguments over parameters (much like the teenage years). 

My first website started as a blog.  It was a simple time.  I set it up on a sunny afternoon .. and I have loved and tended to it almost daily since.  I tested my likes and dislikes .. colours and fonts, images and voice .. and then suddenly the world appeared much 'cooler' and more sophisticated and I realised there was a world of new possibilities out 'there'.

And so .. over the last many months I have sat at the big dining room table working with my sister and support team (ie. extended family) to nut out what the new home for Quiet Mind Meditation may look like.  I had to learn WordPress and play around with plug-ins and widgets, themes and new parameters .. but ..

.. it is almost ready

This will be a completely new site .. with a new location and new look.   I have taken with me some of the most popular and revisited posts (from the almost 1000 posts here) and over time (at a more leisurely pace) I shall move across even more .. with a little refreshing and prettying up.  

I hope our new home is even more welcoming .. and that it will be easier for you to find what you need (by the way, why don't you take a moment and tell me what you need to support your meditation practice? .. in the comments below) and where I can share with you a whole range of new resources and tools and inspiration.

Stay tuned for the birth announcement.