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Booed on stage: Lessons in Confidence and Courage

coaching confidence life lessons storytelling voice Oct 16, 2024

I want to share a personal story with you today, one that reminds me of how important it is to rise back up after failure and the lessons we can learn when things don’t go as planned.

About 30 years ago, when I was studying for a degree in theatre and performance at drama school, I found myself presenting a show with a friend of mine. It was actually her show, and I was helping her out. I said yes because I wanted to support her, and although I was confident getting on stage as an actor, being...

Happy New Year! What's been, what's ahead and a poem by Rumi

coaching healing life lessons storytelling Jan 08, 2024

Happy New (Gregorian) Year! I hope you've had a restful and fun break. I've recorded a short Rumi poem above and a reflection of what's been and what's ahead below. Thank you for reading 💜

What's been...

Since 2019 it's definitely been a rollercoaster both personally and globally. The troubles globally continue and deserve a separate post for my thoughts around this, and of course we're interconnected, there is always an impact felt in whatever capacity for each human being when we are ...

Finding Your Voice To Celebrate Your Loved One's Life

creativity healing life lessons spoken word storytelling Oct 24, 2023

Sadly, my mum died in May this year, she was 76. My dad phoned me and although it wasn't unexpected, the timing was and of course we can never time these things. I'd desperately wanted to be there, or at least someone she loved be there, my dad was sick and hadn't been for a few days, nor my sister and I was back here in Australia, so she died alone in the nursing home after feistily refusing her breakfast that morning from the nurse. I'm grateful she had a bed and care. Many don't.

I'd bee...

Heart and Advocacy

coaching confidence creativity healing life lessons voice Jul 11, 2022

Nicky West

Heart and Advocacy

6:03

Being Present

It's been a while since I've posted here, time has morphed and I've adapted and morphed with it! I imagine for many of us it's been a case of finding our edges, capacity and (hopefully) supportive resources. I'm just back from a trip home to the UK, ahhh loved the long light days! It's been 7 years, way too long and this trip was about connection with family and advocating for and with my parents as they navigate this next stage in life.

My mum has been in and out of hospital...

Self-Care Conversations: The Power of Yoga and Voice

confidence life lessons meditation storytelling voice yoga Apr 20, 2020

Self Care Conversations Episode 2 from Jane Hardy on Vimeo. The Power of Yoga and Voice with Nicky West.

I hope everyone is keeping well. It was wonderful to be interviewed by Jane Hardy from https://bodymastery.studio last week about self-care during this time of isolation. I hope you enjoy. She has regular interviews happening at the moment all around different ways to approach self-care.

I moved my classes and most of my one to one clients online on March 23rd. It's lifted us all to cont...

15 Lessons from 15 Years of Marriage

coaching confidence life lessons storytelling voice Jul 14, 2019

I’m not sure why but I desperately wanted to visit Australia during my early teens. At 16 yrs old, I borrowed a book from the library with offers for ‘jobs abroad’. Sat in my bedroom clutching the book, I carefully hand wrote letters to various fruit picking farms all over Australia.

Amazingly I got a letter back from somewhere in Western Australia offering me a job! I remember the excitement, although there was one big problem. I needed permission from my horrified mum, plus the airfare, w...

Confidence and Vulnerability

coaching confidence life lessons storytelling voice May 29, 2018

What is confidence really? I’ve been thinking about confidence, my own and others perception of what confidence is. To me, having more confidence is about self-trust, inner belief, courage and vulnerability. Which doesn’t mean everything will be perfect and turn out as expected, although it can. It’s more to do with having inner confidence or trust that we can handle it if things don’t go to plan.

I think we build resilience, trust and confidence by having the courage to try things and not...

Blind Drunk and Angels

life lessons meditation storytelling voice Apr 16, 2018

The wind was howling, my ears burning from the cold, I wrapped my woolly scarf and winter jacket tighter. I was walking along Westbourne Grove, a fairly busy shopping street in West London, on my way to get some food for dinner. ‘Help’ ‘Help me’ ‘Help!’ there was a man hanging onto a post on the pavement, swinging around it, trepidatiously, moving from the pavement into the road and back, his white hair standing upright from the wind, with a terrified look on his face.

People were walking p...

What I learned teaching yoga in a prison rehab project

life lessons meditation social justice storytelling voice yoga Feb 26, 2018

“Dat was da bomb” were the words from one of the women as I finished teaching yoga relaxation. Having moved through some resistance, this bright outgoing woman emerging with a big grin on her face.

Most of the women in the room hadn’t experienced yoga, meditation or relaxation. The majority didn’t know how to relax their bodies. Many couldn’t remember feeling a sense of peace in their minds from the constant bombardment of worry and stress. They’d never experienced how that felt.

The...

Loving Kindness Check-in

confidence life lessons meditation storytelling Nov 19, 2015

My partner and I were driving back from a weekend away recently. It was dark, and suddenly in the middle of a winding twisty road, a huge huntsman spider (the size of my hand) decided to pop out a few inches from me, and scuttle along the inside of our windscreen, giving us both a bit of a surprise!

Fortunately, I don’t have much fear of spiders, which I think is partly due to being brought up in the UK, we didn’t have the big (or poisonous) variety, and I didn’t develop that fear, so I often f...

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