Having disciplined and an organized “rhythm”  to your lifestyle, helps you handle life’s unexpected events.

How well do YOU cope when life throws one of its “surprises”  at you? We all know they come and we are never ready. Whether it’s a life threatening illness or injury, a life changing message, even a death of a loved one, we need to know that we can get through these times, learn and move on the best way we can.

There is a process that we go through and we are all different. Whether its grief, sadness, anger, denial, these are all emotions that are necessary to heal. We all handle situations differently. They say it’s not what happens to you, but how you handle it and in my opinion there was never a truer word said. So how do YOU handle it?

One thing is for sure, life changing events, small or large do need to be handled and how you choose to handle them is entirely your choice. One thing we know is we all need support of some kind. Handling things alone is not easy and not recommended. Support comes in many different ways. People are usually the first port of call. Usually we turn to our loved ones, friends, family and a certain “Circle of Support” that we have developed over the years. These people are there for us to listen and help us get through.  Sometimes we don’t actually know who these people are until we need them. We don’t recognize that they are always there. Sometimes we neglect those that help us the most.

And there are many other things in our life that help us maintain a strong and positive outlook on life and help us handle day to day issues as well as the larger challenges we experience. Things we do to keep our mind and body strong. At Tempo Lifestyles, we help you to develop a “Lifestyle Wheel” that documents all these things that we do on a regular basis to help us keep our lives in balance and better equipped to handle life’s “challenges”.


A recent event that I am still “handling”  was the loss of my dear Abbey, my Cocker Spaniel that has literally been at my side for 13 years. Only now when I need the support do I look at who and what is there for me to help me recover and get on with “business as usual” I looked at my mobile phone and realized that there they were, all the people that have and will continue to be my circle of support and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I am lucky, I have a great network of friends and family that understand me and are there for me, my “Circle of Support”. Unfortunately, the rest of my Tempo had been neglected. I had not been attending to my “Lifestyle Wheel” My health is not as it should be, knowing that yoga is a highly valued thing in my life, I have not made the effort to keep it there, now as I go through the pain of loss, I have not got the physical strength that would have made it so much easier. Emotional pain and physical pain combined is not much fun! SO my commitment is to get back into physical exercise as soon as I can. I now have to go through various treatments to get me back into shape, whereas if I have continued with my health regime, I KNOW I would be a better shape mentally and physically now. So I have learned and I WILL change my habits TODAY! I will get back into my tempo. My Lifestyle Wheel includes yoga, exercise, walking, (painful as it will be without my faithful friend), art, reading, getting into nature, all these things I have on my Tempo Lifestyle as regular activities that keep me balanced and at my peak.


When you are looking after yourself, you are better equipped to handle events that you are not prepared for.


What does your “Circle of Support” look like? Do you know who will be there for you when you need them? Do you love and appreciate them and spend quality time with them on a regular basis? Do you look after yourself well enough to cope with events you’d rather not have to cope with? Spend the time now to think about some of the people who are there for you, every day, every week, every month or every year. People that you trust, love and care for. People you have fun with, share you thoughts and dreams with, discuss your worries with. Make sure you plan regular quality time with them and don’t forget to thank them for being there. Because one day you will really need them.


What is a Lifestyle Wheel and how do you create one?

A Lifestyle Wheel is a way of recognizing, documenting and caring for all those people and activities in your life that you KNOW you NEED to keep going.

It is a picture of your life as you choose to create it. It is all the things we wish to put into our lives and are prepared to work for to keep them there. And you do have to work at it. Things just don’t happen on their own. Tempo Lifestyles will help you develop habits that will keep those actions in your life ongoing. Whether it’s spending time with precious people, keeping fit and healthy, learning what we need to know, or developing a rewarding career, if we recognize and are willing to attend to these things, they will stay in our lives and will support us when we need them the most.

If you think you would like to recognise who and what it is that you have in your life that helps you get through life’s ups and downs I would love to help you develop your Tempo “Circle of Support”.

Please call me on +61 (0) 419 702 459 or email me at sandra@tempolifestyles.com.au

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.