The Breathing Space

10/12/2025

Yesterday, walking through a busy shopping mall, the energy of the season felt almost overwhelming. Crowds, noise, urgency… but through it all, a single line from an old poem kept circling in my mind:

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…”

When I got home, I looked up If by Rudyard Kipling, and reading it again, I realised how profoundly relevant it still is today.

In a world that asks us to move faster, react quicker, and stretch ourselves thinner, the poem offers a different invitation:
Kipling’s If is more than a poem. It’s a quiet roadmap for living with steadiness and grace when the world feels overwhelming.

A few lines feel especially needed right now:
Keep your centre even when others lose theirs
Trust yourself, even when doubt echoes around you
Respond with integrity, not retaliation
Hold your dreams lightly
Meet both triumph and struggle with the same steady breath
Rebuild, even with worn-out tools
Be the same grounded soul in every room
Fill each minute with what truly matters.

The wisdom inside this poem feels like a quiet compass for this season.
Maybe even a guide for modern living.

As December rises into its familiar swirl of activity, may we remember:
Keep your centre.
Keep your breath.
Keep your truth.

Even in the rush, you can choose calm.
Even in the noise, you can return to yourself.
Even in the chaos, you can stay steady.

Sometimes, old words are exactly the reminder we need.

04/12/2025

Shifting Perspective & Reframing Our Inner Dialogue

This week reminded me just how powerful a small shift in direction, or perspective, can be.

I had some technical issues with my laptop and ended up driving to a small town I don’t normally visit. The route took me through endless farmlands… golden wheat fields glowing in the morning sun, soft shadows drifting across them as the clouds moved.
It was one of those unexpectedly breathtaking drives that makes you slow down inside.

My laptop was repaired quickly by the kindest gentleman. The sort of warm, genuine person you almost expect to meet in a small town.
But the real shift happened on the drive home.

I realised how easy it is to become stuck in our habits, routines, and even the way we think.
We turn right every day because that’s what we’ve always done.
We say the same things to ourselves because that’s what we’ve always said.
And those small patterns shape the way we feel.

I often hear people say things like:
“I need to change this.”
“I have to do that.”
“Everything feels hard.”

Our bodies hear those words.
Our subconscious absorbs them.
And without realising it, we reinforce the very pressure we’re trying to escape.

But here’s the thing:
A tiny shift in language can shift the entire energy behind it.

“I have to…” → “I get to…”
A reminder of privilege and possibility.

“I need to be better…” → “I’m learning more about myself every day.”
A reminder of growth.

“This is so hard…” → “I’m finding my way through this.”
A reminder of resilience.

Reframing doesn’t ignore reality, it simply meets it with a kinder voice and a clearer heart.

It’s like turning left instead of right…
the world may be the same,
but how you see it becomes completely different.

So maybe this week, try noticing the words you use with yourself.
Try shifting one sentence.
One phrase.
One inner tone.

You might be surprised by how much lighter everything feels.
Sometimes, a small change in direction opens up a whole new view.

02/12/2025

December always holds two worlds: the gentle winding down of a long year and the fast, festive build-up that can leave us feeling stretched thin.

This year, I’m reminding myself that peace isn’t found by escaping the chaos…
It’s found by nurturing a calm centre within it.

Mindfulness gives us a simple path home:

Seeing the season with fresh eyes. Beginner’s mind invites us to see our days with openness instead of expectation. Every moment becomes an opportunity to choose peace.

Letting our emotions be what they are. Non-judgement reminds us that we don’t need to “fix” our experience or compare it to anyone else’s. Our emotional landscape has permission to exist.

Accepting moments as they come. Acceptance is acknowledging what is without resistance. When we stop fighting what’s happening, we reclaim our energy for what truly matters.

Slowing our pace. Patience is an act of self-compassion. Let things take the time they need.

Trusting our timing. Trust shifts December from chaos into clarity.

Releasing the pressure to perform. Non-striving allows you to be present rather than just productive. Peace lives here.

Letting go of expectations. Non-attachment is a doorway to serenity. When we loosen our grip, we create freedom.

Noticing the small blessings. Gratitude softens the nervous system and widens the heart.

Shedding what we no longer want to carry. Letting go creates inner spaciousness. Spaciousness creates peace.

Peace grows in the moments we choose to breathe, soften, and come back to ourselves.

As the year winds down and the world speeds up, may you find a quiet sanctuary within.

May this December be a season of calm, clarity, and deep inner grounding.

27/11/2025

It’s Thanksgiving Day. A moment to pause, honour, and give thanks.

Today, I’m celebrating the journey I’ve walked over these past months. I felt a deep call to be still… to listen… and to follow the quiet wisdom rising from within.

I didn’t know where it would lead, only that it was time.

In that stillness, I learnt to let go of fear, of old hurts, of the stories I no longer needed to carry.

I met myself again… the real me, free of pretence and old weight.

For the first time in many years, I can sit with myself in silence and in peace.

No more noise. No more scattered thoughts.

Just presence.

I know who I am.

I trust my timing.

I move through my days with love and a quiet confidence that feels like coming home.

There is joy in the small moments again.

And I have remembered what true freedom feels like.

Today, I’m grateful for the unfolding.

And for every step that brought me here.

25/10/2025

Every emotion you feel is energy moving through you — intelligence in motion. It is not here to harm you; it is here to guide you. When you feel sadness, it is life asking for your gentleness. When you feel fear, it is your system calling for safety. When you feel anger, it is your life-force asking to be honoured.

You do not need to resist or analyse your feelings — only to listen. Each sensation is your energy communicating, reminding you that you are alive, that you are connected, that you are becoming.

Healing begins not through effort, but through permission. The moment you allow yourself to feel without judgment, the energy starts to move again. It’s like ice melting into water — flow returning where it was once frozen.

Your body hears everything you think, everything you speak. It responds to kindness and awareness. When you speak gently to yourself, you realign your entire vibration. Whisper softly:
“I am listening.”
“I am safe to feel.”
“I am returning to balance.”

As you breathe, imagine light filling your chest — not from outside, but from within. This is your natural radiance, awakening. It knows how to heal, how to harmonise, how to bring you back to peace.

Remember: nothing is wrong with you. Nothing is broken. You are in the process of remembering who you really are — pure, intelligent energy in constant communication with love itself.

Breathe into that truth. Feel it. Let it soften you.
Everything is moving toward harmony.

Love Seka

18/10/2025

We often live as if time is infinite.
We run, stack, procrastinate...

But there comes a moment — sometimes silent, sometimes sudden — in which we understand a deeper truth:
“Our main goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will. ”

These words reflect the spirit of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who reminded us that life is not measured by its length, but by its depth: by how much we love, by how we touch the lives of others, and by how we choose to grow even in the midst of pain.
Every act of love, every comforting word, every moment of true presence leaves a mark.

And in those footprints, we continue to exist beyond time.
What are you creating today that can live tomorrow, even when you're no longer here?.

Legacy is not about being remembered by many, it's about having been truly present. To have lived with an open heart.

https://www.ekrfoundation.org/

27/08/2025

I’ve been a little quieter here recently, not because I’ve stepped away, but because I’ve been stepping inward.

Life moves fast. Change arrives unannounced. And sometimes, the only way to meet that pace is to pause. To recalibrate. To let the noise fall away so you can hear the truth beneath it all.

These last weeks, I chose to step out of the constant push and sit with myself. To peel back the layers that had quietly gathered. To remember who I am, what I’m made of, and how I want to move forward.

Reflection asks for courage. The courage to face the patterns you’ve lived, the choices you’ve made, and the whispers of what’s calling next. The courage to nourish yourself in new ways, not only through food, but through movement, through rituals of rest, through the breath that softens the edges of your day.

Every small choice becomes a message to your body and soul:
I honour you. I see you. I am coming home to you.

Silence isn’t always absence it’s where transformation begins.

28/07/2025

Have you ever wanted to trust yourself…
but felt like you just couldn’t?

Like no matter how much advice you read, or how many intuitive nudges you try to follow, there’s always a part of you that second-guesses, spins, or freezes?

Here’s the truth we rarely speak:
Sometimes we don’t struggle with clarity.

We struggle with self-trust...
Because we’ve spent too long abandoning ourselves.
We say yes when we mean no.
We look to others for permission.
We silence the small, wise voice inside because somewhere along the way, we learned it wasn’t safe to listen.

And when that happens enough times…
Our inner compass doesn’t just go quiet. It stops working altogether.
Not because we lack intuition but because we no longer feel safe inside ourselves.

But here's the beautiful part:
Self-trust can be rebuilt.
Not through pressure or perfection.
But through presence. Through reverence. Through a thousand quiet moments of choosing to stay with yourself instead of abandoning your truth.

If this resonates, you're not too far gone.
Every gentle yes to yourself is a stitch in the thread of trust.

I’ve written a new blog about this very process: rebuilding inner safety after years of self-abandonment. You can read it here: https://carolric681.substack.com/p/when-you-dont-trust-yourself-anymore

Drop a 💛 if this speaks to where you are right now.



https://linktr.ee/carolric

Reclaiming Inner Safety After Self-Abandonment

25/07/2025

What if it’s not only about Letting Go… but also Letting In?

We spend so much of our healing journey focused on letting go.
Letting go of pain.
Letting go of stories.
Letting go of control.

But in all our releasing…
Have we forgotten how to let in?
Let in nourishment.
Let in support.
Let in the things we deeply desire, the ones we think we must “earn.”

I know I had.
For a long time I sat in nothingness.

It slowly came back to me..
True healing lives in the finely tuned balance of release and receive.
Like the tide, like the breath, it’s a natural rhythm not something to force or chase.

As we allow what no longer serves to move through us,
We make space for what does.
No pushing.
No proving.

By standing in the energy of readiness.
Ready to believe.
Ready to receive.
Ready to let life meet you, where you are.

What if your next chapter isn’t about doing more…
But simply being available for all that’s trying to arrive?

21/07/2025

The hidden cost of betraying your own boundaries

Notice how hard it is to speak up when you’ve spent a lifetime staying quiet?

Sometimes the deepest boundary wounds don’t come from others.
They come from the places we abandon ourselves.
The yes we didn’t mean.
The silence we held too long.
The resentment we swallowed to keep the peace.

What happens to our emotional wellbeing when we don’t honour our own boundaries?

The longer we override our truth,
the more we lose access to our clarity… our confidence… and our calm
Every time we abandon ourselves to say yes, we chip away at trust, not with others, with ourselves.
Over time, this self-abandonment becomes a pattern:
We feel resentful but don’t speak up
We stay silent when something doesn’t feel right
We become anxious or over-responsible for others’ emotions

This tension doesn’t just sit in our minds it lives in our body.
And left unchecked, it can lead to long-term emotional exhaustion, burnout, and disconnection from our own intuition.

If we spend too long living without boundaries, something eventually snaps.
We go from people-pleasing to pushing people away.
Because when you’ve been chronically disrespected, especially by yourself the only way to feel safe again can seem like shutting everything out.
But this isn’t healing. It’s reaction.

And to heal means coming back to centre to the place where you can hold yourself with both firmness and compassion.

Compassionate boundaries don’t start with scripts or strategies.
They start with truth.
With a quiet knowing:
I am worthy of space.
I am safe to say no.
I can trust myself to protect my peace always.

We teach the world how to treat us by how we treat ourselves.