Are you listening to your own thoughts, respecting your own feelings, creating your own ideas? Are you living life to your own Tempo?

Today there are so many influences on us every day that sometimes it is hard to know whose life we are really leading!

Not only have we been raised by parents that have kindly taught us their perspective on life, their beliefs, their values, we are bombarded by thousands of communications every day, telling us how we should think, what we should say, what we should wear, how we should act/react.  Our friends, well meaning as it is, try to guide us and tell us where we are going wrong, all the people we choose to surround ourselves with all have a different idea based on their own view of life.  From a young age we are taught to conform, not make waves. As children we enjoy things naturally, we paint, we draw, we laugh, we sing. Then we decide to do things that give us praise, that are approved by our parents, give us recognition by our friends, applause from our peers. At what point do we lose our way?

So how do we make our own choices? How do we become the person we were destined to be? How do we make sure we are using our natural talents? Listening to our natural instincts?
 
So many times I hear of people who have  “fallen into things” I wasn’t sure what to do and this job came along, it’s good, it pays well – but I feel like there’s more.
If you can relate to this, well I can assure you, there is more.
 
To be yourself, to know yourself, you have time to listen to yourself. And to listen to yourself you have to still the noise. Still the voices around you until you can only hear your own.
 
Think about all the noise we have in our life. Real noise in fast moving cities and busy towns, well meaning voices of friends and family and co-workers, advertising and media messages plus all the crazy world of the internet! To stay grounded in today's world, we need to find the time to create a space that allows us to listen, to reflect and to regroup, find our flow, or as we call it "find your tempo"

How many times have you sat quietly and felt your way to an answer instead of ringing your friend or your mother, or read a magazine?
 
How can you begin to get into your Tempo? There are many ways you can still the mind to really hear your own voice. Meditation is a very effective way to create that stillness that really opens up the mind. Meditation can be a challenge for many, especially if you are just finding your feet.

If you're not up to meditation or not ready for complete stillness, try something like swimming, bushwalking, painting, anything that engages you and allows you to really be in the moment. To really engage in stillness and close out any thoughts of past events, future events or activity that is not relevant to that specific task or action. Focus on the pure enjoyment of the event, really experience it and savour the details. Feel it, smell it, touch it, hear it. This is an introduction to a human being not a human doing! Personally I enjoy all of these and try to do them regularly and if I don't, I really notice the difference of being out of my flow. There is sometimes some fear around doing this. Stopping the activity, taking time to enjoy for enjoyment sake. It can be a challenge to just sit still even. I wonder if it is because they are are afraid of what they will find if they stop doing are just start being? It is often easier to immerse ourselves in other people's lives, business and action instead of looking within and discovering our own. But one day, our own life and the choices we have made will catch up with us and we will have to address them...

It’s a busy world, if you don’t know yourself in today’s busy world, you will lose your voice and you will lose your way. Take the time to listen to yourself today. Take 5 minutes to be still, to not judge, to just be and not do. Try and hear what your inner voice is saying to you. You might be surprised, you might like what it has to say!!!!

Travelling, in my experience, is a recipe for “losing your flow” I have always struggled with travelling in time, going back to my roots which are now so different to how I live and keeping my balance. I start questioning decisions I have made in another space, another time, when I was thinking a different way with different influences in another flow. So my last trip to UK I decided to test my Tempo wheel and really try to stay in my Tempo that I have created, the one that works so well for me at home in Mosman. My philosophy is that you can be happy anywhere. We all need (or want) certain things to keep us happy, from basic needs like food, shelter, warmth, to less basic needs of comfort, relationships, fun, connection, to other desires such as entertainment, shops, material possessions. Well however we get these, they are there in most places in the world. Certain people are not fortunate enough to have even the basic food and shelter, but most have way more than they need and still complain. So when I get taken out of my comfort zone and into another time and space that is unfamiliar, it is good to test my philosophy. So on my wheel, I have walking. I love walking. I have a great walk that I enjoy at home which travels around the edge of the forest, past beautiful beaches, it’s stunning and I feel great after I walk it. Here in Southam I don’t have the same walk and my initial reaction is, oh it’s too muddy, it’s too cold, I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t have anyone to walk with. But then I remember how much I LOVED the walks I did last year with John. Yes it was less muddy, I had his company, but there’s nothing to stop me enjoying the walks right now. I’m feeling a little “stuck” a little claustrophobic and need some space so off I go. Through the thick, sticky mud, cold wind, rain. And yes I LOVED it. I found myself taken back into the moment, into the twigs and mud and brown sticks, the grey sky, the ploughed fields and the bare hedges. How different it is to Mosman, but how lovely. To be in the moment creates such beautiful memories I can take back with me and keep forever. To appreciate what you have right there, right now, while you have it. I had a precious week, time with my mum, time to myself, time to think, read, sleep, walk, whatever I want. So this is what drives me with Tempo, to think that it works with me, I can go from being frustrated, muddy headed and almost bored to being alive, excited and inspired in the space of an hour is incentive enough in itself. So roll on Tempo, I know it’s going to help a lot of people turn around in an hour too so it has to be a good thing!

Welcome to Tempo Lifestyles! We're really excited to launch our new web site and kick off  2010 with some very exciting new programs and events.

Tempo Lifestyles has been a few years in the making and everything you will find on the web site is designed to help you create a better, more inspiring, more balanced life. 

We have BIG plans for the future of Tempo and we would love to have you as part of the community.

Your life is the most important thing you have, so don't let it pass you by without giving it your best shot. Don't die with the music inside you! We want you to take full advantage of all the things we have created so you can make your life the best it can be.