Ginger Pai Wholehearted Living

03/05/2025

Attempted to sit quietly and meditate this morning and this dude is staring intensely at me, bringing every one of his toys to my mat!
At first I was irritated. "I need this time, stop bothering me, you've had a walk" etc.
And then I caved, he's cracking me up laughing.
I'm playing with his Sponge bob toy and I'm reminded, this is it.

Presence... Laughter 🤣🐾.

Thank you Arnold, I love ya. ❤️

23/04/2025

🕯️🙏🏼❤️
11 years have spun by yet still feels like yesterday.
I Miss you, I always will. Especially felt in life's sharpest stings and sweetest moments.
I sat by the ocean today, contemplating what's next. These recent years, a bewildering tide of weariness and awe. Often paddling hard beneath the surface, when I really just need to float...
I often wonder what you'd say if I could call. Today, I asked you for guidance, and moments later, a poem appeared. The last part, you often said these words to me.
Thank you for always believing in me. I needed to hear this again.

Love always
Carly

The Poem by Tahlia Hunter

Take the love you have for me
And radiate it outwards
Allowing it to touch and impact others

Take the memory you have of me
And use it as a source of inspiration
To live fully, meaningfully and intentionally

Take the image you have of me in your mind
And allow it to fuel you
To take action
Seize the day
And be reminded of what is most important in life

Take the care you have for me
And let it remind you
To care for yourself fully
And shower yourself with your own love
And take the pain and grief you feel
Following my loss
And alchemize it into
Love, compassion and beauty

Build a castle
From the wreckage of my passing
And allow it to unlock your greatness and potential
And empower you to become more than you ever thought you were capable of being
And know that I can never truly leave you
And will always remain beside you
Watching over you in spirit
And that the love I have for you lives on
Through the connections you form
The kindness and compassion you share
And the future relationships and friendships you cultivate.

And until we are one day reunited
I will remain with you
💜Through the storms and chaos of life
And am always beside you
Walking with you, laughing with you, crying with you and smiling with you

💜And I am proud of you for being strong

💜I am proud of you for being brave

💜And I am proud of you for being you.

09/05/2024

Today I felt the warmth of the sunshine on my skin for the first time in so long.🌿 Like a plant literally feeding off the light!

🌊Splashed my feet in the water.
Gazing at the colours of turquoise blue and green, my favourite...

Laid down on the warm sand...

Exhale "Be Held" 🙏🏼💗

What holds you?

05/05/2024

Hello everyone

Sharing with you a little bit of Sunday.

🌸 Some of my simple weekly / daily non negotiatiables that really support me to regulate my nervous system and feel well. There's definitely more to add to the list, however these things I tend to find I commit to with more ease.

🙏🏼Little morning metta prayer and breathing practice (loving kindness is so needed in the world and it starts at home).

🌲🏞️Walkies in nature close to the water.

🚗Cleaning my car! Not so fun & not a non negotiatiable but there's such satisfaction in completing a practical task with a shiney result. A seagull will prob p**p on it soon though 😅

🧘🏼‍♀️ Rolling about on my yoga mat. Doesn't need to look like yoga! Breathing, gently moving, connecting.

🐶 Cuddles with my dog Arnold.

🤦🏼‍♀️😬 Laughing with myself as I attempt to write a useful post, slightly cringing and then saying F it at the same time 😂.
🚧 And avoiding the news for a day!

I have shared this before and will share again no doubt.
Nothing new, nothing radical, keeping it simple.
Grounding, anchors in a slightly franetic world.
Be gentle with yourself.

Love Carly 💗

12/04/2024

Important conversations about something that is guaranteed in life... Death. It is not morbid, that's fear.
Having these conversations can be very helpful and not waiting until the end of life to have them. Especially for your loved ones who may need to take care of everything.
A tiny bit of information for a grief illiterate society 🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼

31/03/2024

A poem / verse by one of my favourites, Irish poet, John ODonohue.

🌷Easter Blessing🌷
by John O'Donohue

"On this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry -- old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling -- and let us have the courage to begin again. Life is very short, and we are no sooner here than it is time to depart again, and we should use to the full the time that we still have.

We don't realize all the good we can do. A kind, encouraging word or helping hand can bring many a person through dark valleys in their lives. We weren't put here to make money or to acquire status or reputation. We were sent here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously. The dawn that is rising this Easter morning is a gift to our hearts and we are meant to celebrate it and to carry away from this holy, ancient place the gifts of healing and light and the courage of a new beginning."

26/02/2024

🙏 Meh mornings, nature and honest acceptance. Keeping it real.

I woke up this morning feeling really tired, unmotivated and anxty. Tried all my go to practices to shift a gear, breathing, stretching, journal dump, and a large coffee ☕😁.
Still not happening...!
Kid myself into thinking I'm ramping up the acceptance, self compassion. (I mean I coach this, it's gotta work 😂)! "trying to" welcome all the frustration, irritation, meh stuff... Now feeling even more irritated and it doesn't appear to be going anywhere!

Find myself doom scrolling, distracting. Feel even more guilty for procrastinating!
Look at my calender to see when I'm due on in the hope that I could blame it on my hormones, or the moon!

💥 Basta! Enough.

Decide to get my discombobulated self out for a walk and be near the ocean. At least It's not peeing down and the sun is shining for a change. ("trying" to have a grateful moment!)

I arrive at one of my favourite beaches. Had to motivate myself to get walking. Arnold meanwhile is chomping at the bit with wild enthusiasm 🐶. Makes me smile.
We get going, wind blowing like crazy. The ocean is crashing down and the sky is bright.

I decide that even if I still feel tired and groggy later, it's really OK. Not a fake OK but really OK. Can do no more. Something about a big heart felt "f**k it!" feels right!

Exhale...

My cringey forced gratitude starts to shift to feel more genuine. Seeing Arnold's joy, feeling the wind and sunlight, hearing the waves. An empty wild beach. Does actually feel good.

"Clearing, cleansing, expansive, release, freedom, grounded, strength 💪🙏."

Words I found myself saying out loud (of course I'm saying it out loud when the one other person there walks by. I pretend I'm talking to my dog!

We get back to the car.
Feeling like the fog is parting. Less ruminating, more space. Nothing has changed yet things start to feel lighter!🙏

Navigating feeling crappy, isn't about a wonder cure. I don't think a walk in nature or any of the other tools or practices are the sovereign remedies. Life is much more complex than that.
Different things can help, different people to shift a gear on different days.

Today nature, walking, accepting not accepting and being bloody honest with myself helped me. Feeling brighter.
Still trying to blame the planets though 😉!
😅🌊😶‍🌫️🌞

Keeping it real🙏.

25/02/2024

My faith is that of LOVE 🙏❤️...
Usually my alter is by the ocean or in the forest🌊🌲.
Today the bells where ringing beautifully at the cathedral. I felt called to go inside and light candles🕯️🕯️🕯️. For loved ones who have passed over, for all those suffering in the world right now, for peace🙏🕊️.
Equally acknowledging with gratitude all that is beautiful in the world, all that's full of joy, light, laughter, creativity, possibility, hope, connection, compassion, inspiration, light, love and magic. ❤️. Thank you 🙏

11/01/2024

“In the Lakota/Sioux tradition, a person who is grieving is considered most waken, most holy.

There's a sense that when someone is struck by the sudden lightning of loss, he or she stands on the threshold of the spirit world. The prayers of those who grieve are considered especially strong, and it is proper to ask them for their help.
You might recall what it's like to be with someone who has grieved deeply. The person has no layer of protection, nothing left to defend. The mystery is looking out through that person's eyes. For the time being, he or she has accepted the reality of loss and has stopped clinging to the past or grasping at the future. In the groundless openness of sorrow, there is a wholeness of presence and a deep natural wisdom.”

― Tara Brach
art by Helena Nelson Reed.

Paul Denniston for sharing the original post.

07/01/2024

"Just trying to breathe"
This scene...

Many of those who have navigated grief and trauma, have faced the complexity and confusion that can arise in the aftermath.
A gaping hole, yearning for support yet maybe acting in ways that others can't understand...
Patience, compassion, courage and most of all love for yourself is needed right now.
Yes sometimes people supporting grievers could do better yet mostly they are doing their best with the resources and wisdom they have in the moment.
We are all learning and a beautiful, imperfect work in progress.
Compassion for all 🙏❤️🕊️

07/01/2024

I really appreciated this short film.
It touches on many aspects of grief, loss and the beautiful gift of friendship with all it's complexity. Subtle, deep, moving 🙏❤️🙏🕊️.




https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/07/good-grief-review-dan-levy-satisfyingly-grown-up-drama?fbclid=IwAR3bBJkKzLClgg8kesQ1n7VsqI1XG-ChXY3PQ87hzEZywWwA3I077XOsSoY

The Schitt’s Creek co-creator stars in his directorial debut – a crisp, bittersweet tale of loss and friendship

22/12/2023

Beannacht 🙏🕯️♥️✨