From Surviving to Thriving: A No Tools, No Techniques Shift from Stress and Overwhelm to Fulfilment

Being in the present moment is much sought after but it can seem like there is a lot to do to live life there. Mindfulness courses, meditation and affirmations. But your clever system is set up perfectly to let you know when you are not in the present moment. It feels awful! Anxious, overwhelmed and depressed. Once are aware of this signal from your body, you naturally fall back into the present m...

Are you aware of how your beliefs create your reality? All day every day they are the means by which our brain prioritises what you see and what you don't. You cannot possibly absorb all of reality so your brain very cleverly saves you from overloading by taking out the bits which don't fit with your beliefs. Once you realise this system is at play, a different reality is naturally created. Join m...

Have you noticed how much in life you are trying to control? People, circumstances and situations. But ultimately underpinning this is our need to control our feelings. When we think those feelings come from the outside world, we will continually try to control that world to make ourselves feel okay. Once we realise that feelings are not coming from the outside world, we stop trying to control it....

Resilience can look like something to get from outside us. That we need to train hard to get it. But what if you knew that every day you are alive resilience is there. Like a rope around your middle moving you forward. It cannot be lost or taken away. It's part of who you really are. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.sub...

When we are feeling anxious, it can often seem like things in the world need to change for us to feel better. Once we see that thought in the moment is creating our suffering, it makes sense to stop certain trains of thought. It takes time and practise but eventually we see this sooner and sooner. That way we can spend less time suffering and naturally reset. Join me as I explore this from a new p...

When we are in a low mood, it is really easy to think that means there is something wrong with us. We might get caught up in trying to fix the mood. That can be pretty exhausting to say the least. Something magical happens when we accept that, as human beings, we are supposed to go up and down with our moods. There is nothing to do once you see a low mood as information. Join me as I explore this...

When it looks like our circumstances are in the way of us staying calm, we can feel like a victim. Ranting and raving can result as we try to think our way out of the feeling. The inside out realisation changes all this. The truth is your feelings don't come from the outside world. When you realise that ranting is you hurting yourself with your think it stops making sense to rant. Join me as I exp...

I was plagued by imposter syndrome at work. I took it with me into self-employment. That voice in my head telling me I was not good enough. I tried all sorts to get rid of it but it didn't work. Then I simply learnt to take that voice less seriously and it gradually fell away. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.c...

Are you in the habit of putting things off? I noticed this about myself a long time ago and then tried to fix it. I used to be waiting for a certain feeling to do things. But then I saw that feelings come from thoughts. I realised that my thinking does not know what I am capable of. Now there is no need to wait for a feeling to do things. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get full...

Knowledge can be truly powerful. Particularly if that knowledge is universal. Something which is true all the time like gravity. There is some knowledge about our human psychology which is truly transformational once we understand it deeply. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.com/subscribe

Do you need to Carve out Time for Mental Wellbeing Activities? It can look like that is the right thing to do. But have you noticed how guilty you feel if you don't do it. Or maybe even if you miss a day. But what if you saw that your wellbeing was already inside you. What if you saw it was only a thought away. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to...

Are you trying to always be calm? Doing endless tools and techniques and suffering every time you don't feel calm. There are two things which might be helpful. Knowing you are made of calm and knowing that all your feelings are created inside out. Once you realise this deeply there is less and less to do.  Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.com/subscribe

Are you able to follow your joy?  Take the next step when wisdom emerges.  Or is there a voice in your head saying, "You can't do that".  The voice of Niggly Nelly.  Taking you away from your joy. Really all you need is the awareness of that voice and a reconnection to the joy. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.c...

Do you wonder what to do when you feel angry? I used to spend a lot of time pondering that one. I tried to control anger in all sorts of ways. It was exhausting. Now I understand anger and my own humanness, the need to do that has fallen away. There's is freedom if you can see there is nothing to do about anger but some things to understand. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Get fu...

Imagine if you had a way of knowing when your thoughts were unhelpful. It's good to know that you have. Not all your thinking is true (in fact most of it isn't). The most unhelpful thinking feels awful. It feels anxious, angry, upset etc. That's how you know it is unhelpful. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective. Join the Calm Café on 23rd November at 1pm (and weekly after that): https:...

What Fears are Holding You back? Stopping you from taking on a big new client, a promotion or asking that dreamy person out on a date. It doesn't really matter what it is. Just know that the feeling that you have about it isn't coming from the thing. It's coming from your old habitual thinking about the thing. Join me as I explore this from a new perspective Get full access to From Surviving to Th...

Clarity can seem like something we need to get. That we must work on it endlessly. But what if you just trusted that it is always there? That even when you are caught up in misty thinking, you could access that clarity in a moment. Once you see this, clarity emerges naturally.  Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.sub...

Being spontaneous can be something wonderful. But we all feel differently about it. Some people find it really uncomfortable. Some people love it. However you feel, it's helpful to know that it isn't the thing you are about to do but your thinking about it which is creating the feeling. Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredo...

We are often pointed to the physical symptoms to identify whether we are stressed but there is something available much earlier than that. Having an awareness of our state of mind. The speed of our thinking. The mood of our thinking. The quantity of thinking. As we grow in awareness of these things, we begin to be able to guide ourselves away from that path more quickly. Join me as I explore this...

Searching for the next stress management technique can seem like the thing to do if you are feeling stressed. But when you realise that stress is caused by having a busy mind, that started to make less sense. Understanding stress is a much better idea. Like anything else, once you understand stress, you can navigate it more easily. Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Are you a...

I used to keep a gratitude journal every day. That seems to be a thing to do if you want to feel good doesn't it. But have you noticed where your thinking is as you write in that journal. It's in the past, not the present. But when you are in the present, gratitude is your natural state. Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at clared...

Have you ever wondered where the voices in your head come from? They can seem so familiar that they feel like you. But they are not you. They are something you learnt and when you see the poor quality of them you just start to take them less seriously.  Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.com/subscribe

All stress is psychological. In other words, all stress is created via thought in the moment. It doesn't come from the outside world. That's a misunderstanding. Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Surviving to Thriving at claredownham.substack.com/subscribe

When we have racing thoughts, it can look like we need to slow them down. Yet another thing to manage. But when you see that your racing thoughts are being managed by yet more racing thoughts, that makes less and less sense. When you come from a place of awareness without judgement, your psychological immune system comes into play and things naturally reset. There's nothing much to do. Join me as...

Have you noticed how you feel when you rant about someone? Pretty rubbish I guess. It really looks like that feeling is coming from the person we are ranting about but that is a misunderstanding. The feeling is coming from our ranting thinking not the other person. When you see this, calm is only a breath away. Join me as I explore this topic from a new perspective. Get full access to From Survivi...