SARAH BIRD

Inner Peace

2011-04-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

How would you know if you found inner peace?
Would you be happy, still, in love with everything and everyone around you?

Most of us don't know what that would look like, feel like, have no sense of it at all. And sadly, have never experienced inner peace.

How do you find it, do you have to have a map? Do you have to sit and stare at a wall for hours/days? Maybe even travel to an Ashram and be in silence for days.

Ask yourself "what would my life be like if I lived within this experience?"

Make a start right now and put everything down and just pay attention. What can you hear, what are you looking at? What are you physically feeling? Breathe.

The first step is to be present, the next step is to be present, and the next step is to be present....and the next....Get the idea.

Living in the moment is all there is. Make sure you make the most of your time here and become present and at peace.

September 21st: Today is Peace Day

2010-09-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

Today is Peace Day and one of my core values is my desire for Peace. I am constantly working towards achieving that internal state, so that I may fully connect to myself. From that place, I am fully able to connect to life around me. One of the ways I do this is a mindful practice. It can be just for a minute or two when I become fully present to what I am experiencing.

How often do you become still enough to connect to you?

Yesterday, while I was swimming, I became fully aware of the water gliding over my skin and, as I did, I noticed how the water offered me support. All resistance dissipated and I became one with the water! As I think of it now, I can experience the effortlessness of my swim and the feel the water running over me like silk.

Do you remember the last time you stopped and enjoyed being in the moment and re-live the experience now?

So today, please take a quiet moment and join the world and focus on the word Peace.

May blessings of Peace come into your life daily.

Sarah.

"Stop the World I want to get off!"

Well, now you can, just for the day...

Share in the unique experience that "Clearing Your Path to Personal Peace" gives you. This day-long retreat takes place in the beautiful house and grounds of Woodford House, in the heart of Blackrock, Co. Dublin. This is a day designed exclusively for you, to completely switch off and clear unwanted thoughts, emotions or beliefs that may be preventing you from being at Peace. You will feel restored, relaxed and rejuvenated.

This retreat is limited to a very small group, to ensure that you will have the best opportunity to completely unwind. For more information, see here or call me on 087 2193343.

Spending time with friends.

2010-06-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last week I was lucky to catch a glorious day in Devon with my friend Ann. To prove how lovely it was here is a picture of the River Otter as it comes meet the sea.
To spend time with a friend and in such beautiful surroundings is very special.
As we walked, chatted and took in the scenery we were able to relax and unwind comfortable in our friendship.
I wonder as you read this if you are thinking how wonderful! So let me ask you, how often do you make the time to appreciate the company of good friends or stop and see nature in all it's glory?
So why not make a commitment now to share some time with a friend or to enjoy natures glory. It will re-charge the batteries of life, relax you and bring you into the joy of the present moment.

Golden Showers

2010-04-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

What a treat we are experiencing this month. We are being showered in golden sunlight in Ireland.

As I was walking today I came across a Cherry tree weighed down with beautiful pale pink blossom that was gently falling like snowflakes or confetti. I went to stand under the tree to experience the falling of the blossom. There was a noise like the distant buzzing of large propeller plane so I looked into the branches and to my delight saw about 50 bumble bees collecting the pollen. I was so thankful to see they had survived the coldest winter we have had here in 47 years.

So what can we do to build our resilience this month. Lets take a leaf out of the bees book and GET ACTIVE!

- Start walking: Stretch your body before and after your walk.
- Practice Mindfulness while you are walking. Notice how your feet plant themselves with each step.
- Stop and focus for 2 minutes on a tree or flower. What do you see?

Mindfulness and exercise are proven to contribute to your Brain's growth, isn't it worth taking care of! And, did you know that your Brain keeps growing until the day you die?

Amit Goswami - The Quantum Activist

2010-03-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

This is Amit Goswami. He is a world-renowned theoretical nuclear physicist interested in the relationship between science and religion. He became best known as one of the interviewed scientists featured in the 2004 film "What the Bleep Do We Know!?", and stars in the newly released documentary "The Quantum Activist".

I had the great, mind-expanding, pleasure of hearing him speak and of spending an entire day with Amit in his workshop on Quantum Activism, when he came to Ireland recently.

Buddha Bag 'Minds Of Our Times' Interview

2010-03-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed by Tino Curione for the Buddha Bag Minds Of Our Times series.

Treating Combat Stress using Energy Psychology Techniques

2010-02-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

Combat Stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects many men and women in armed and civilian forces around the world today.

In summer 2008 I was asked to participate in a unique event in Colombia, Georgia, USA, when a selected team of Energy Psychology professional practitioners, using a technique called TAT, facilitated a two-week workshop for serving and veteran members of the US armed forces.

Below are a number of stories about that experience, and their follow-up one year later; the stories of Special Forces Staff Sergeant Brian Davis (Rtd), Master Sergeant (E8) Mario Cirinise and Special Forces Colonel Biff Hadden (Rtd), with professional assessment of the results by my colleague, Harold McRae.

Energy Psychology techniques incorporate a number of different protocols, such as TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). The final video shows how EFT has been used with combat veterans in VA hospitals in the USA, and the remarkeable results that have been achieved.

Thought For The Day: 2010.02.21

2010-02-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

New event in Dublin: ZPoint Process

2010-02-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled that Grant Connolly has agreed to come to Dublin to teach in person, for the very first time. I have used his ZPoint Process technique myself, and with some clients, and I am really impressed at the results we have achieved. It really does achieve 'peace of mind'.

The details are here

I hope that you will take advantage of what Grant has promised will be a genuinely life-changing experience. He has generously agreed to keep the cost to you as low as possible. Watch out, though! The Early Bird runs out on Sunday 28th Feb.

I look forward to welcoming you on the day.

(PS: I've added a video of Grant onto the Booking page so that you can hear him speak about it in his own words.)

Article: Staying Clear And Focused In Times Of Pressure.

2009-11-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

(Article first published in 'Accountancy Plus' magazine, Oct.09)

Staying Clear And Focused In Times Of Pressure.

How simple Energy Psychology techniques can eliminate stress and lead you on to peak performance

No matter what the stock market may be doing right now, there’s one investment opportunity that always pays off – an investment in yourself. And with demands on management and individuals running at levels that have rarely, if ever, been experienced before, it’s essential that you’re delivering peak performance - despite the fact that you may well be experiencing peak anxiety.

That’s easier said than done, of course. Because when extreme pressure is applied to any aspect of our lives, the negative beliefs and emotions that have been running quietly in the background rapidly come to the surface. To counter this, it’s essential that you create enough calm in the middle of the storm to make sure that your responses to today’s challenges are based on logic, and not on these negative beliefs and emotions.

Every single one of us has a number of ‘stories’ that we like to tell ourselves. This can be quite harmless a lot of the time, but if the stories are negative – and if they’re repeated often enough – we can start to believe them, to identify with them, and eventually to let them control our lives.

Most people will identify – at least occasionally – with some of the following common stories:

I have simply too much to do and I’ll never be able to make enough time to slow down and consider just what I’m doing.
No matter what I do, outside economic factors mean that I just can’t win.
Even though I’m more talented than others, they seem to get the plum jobs.
Things are going to get worse rather than better in the future.
I’m always too tired at the end of the day to go out or have a decent personal life.

If you identify with any of these self-sabotaging stories, you owe it to yourself to simply tear up the script and write some better, more constructive and more helpful stories - then start telling them.

And if that sounds like mere wishful thinking, rest assured that deep, meaningful change is possible – assuming you’re willing to make an investment in yourself. Because if you fail to make the changes that you deserve, you’ll join countless individuals out there right now who are avoiding making tough decisions because of emotional factors such as fear of change, fear of the consequences of failure – or even fear of success?

Coping with extreme pressure – and the negativity that can accompany it, is a skill. And like any skill, it can be acquired, whether through a formal personal development programme, or perhaps a less formal mentoring initiative.

The skills that are in greatest demand in Irish management right now are the skills of self-mastery and awareness, which allow you to clear out the emotional turmoil that’s preventing you from making focused value judgements.

Successful self-management can only be achieved when executives display appropriate levels of empathy, hearing, encouragement and confidence in their own position. It is this last element – confidence - that is so often the stumbling block. If executives don’t feel secure and in control of their lives, they are bound to reflect that in their day-to-day business decisions.

Such emotional blocks to peak corporate performance can be easily removed by a number of simple, easily applied techniques that are available to all. Of specific benefit are a number of interventions under the heading of Energy Psychology, a scientific discipline that seeks to harmonise the body’s natural bio-field for the treatment and relief of emotional challenges such as stress, anxiety, limiting beliefs and trauma.

Energy psychology interventions work with the body’s natural energies to shift the chemical patterns in the brain that maintain unwanted habits, inappropriate emotional responses and self-limiting ways of thinking.

The field of Energy Psychology is making a very deep-rooted contribution to how we can manage our emotions and maximise our potential. Whether used for corporate, relationship, leadership or sporting development, it allows us to access the master switch that is our energy field.

And in controlling this master switch, we can learn how to enhance our ability to succeed and to enjoy life to its fullest. The bottom line is that it can help business professionals to:

Become more self-aware, knowing and trusting their own gut feelings
Manage their moods, being able to modify their own emotional state
Develop greater levels of self-motivation, being able to generate feelings of enthusiasm, confidence and optimism.
Control impulses – those who can delay their gratification tend to excel
Improve people skills, as those who can develop genuine networks with a wide range of people tend to be peak performers.

And the best part is that they are quick and simple to learn, so you can very soon have this resource at your fingertips on a permanent basis.

The impact on an individual’s working and personal life can be truly astonishing. The Managing Director of a leading financial services company approached me with a view to reducing stress levels and becoming more productive on a day-to-day basis.

At the end of a series of sessions, he was applying a number of simple techniques in his business and private lives, with excellent results. He reported that “my head is definitely free of whatever blocks were in the way and I am now thinking more clearly and making faster decisions, which in turn, is increasing my productivity.”

There was further good news on the personal front: “My relationships with those around me are also improving - not that they were bad in the first place. It's just that they are more fulfilling because I am focussed on what is important. And would you believe it, my golf has improved dramatically!”

A second example relates to a middle-ranked manager who believed that she simply didn’t have the ability to perform well enough at interview to land the kind of jobs she knew she was qualified for. Using a range of Energy Psychology techniques, she managed to completely turn around her negative attitude to interviews.

She reported that “using these techniques has helped me greatly to get through emotional and difficult times, both at work and at home. Recently I went for an interview for a very senior job and I was successful. Your techniques were an integral part of that success. I see them as the tools for enabling me to make the most of myself.”

The bottom line is that achieving genuine, deep-rooted change is not just a self-help pipe dream, but a realistic prospect that will repay the investment in yourself many times over. It’s also an investment that will yield dividends for the entire rest of your life, and right across the full spectrum of your business, personal and sporting lives.

Quite simply, there’s nobody who’s more deserving of investment than yourself.

Some simple exercises to get you started

Notice when you're talking about what you don't like or want, and then immediately make an effort to focus on what you do like or want.
Notice when you're complaining, and then mention something you really appreciate.
Notice when you’re hearing yourself telling yet another person what went wrong in your week, and then remark on something that went right this week.
Notice your focus - and then make the change.
If you’re under severe stress and need to re-calibrate your brain to deal with it, here’s a simple exercise called ‘Box Breathing’. Breathe in on a count to four, hold the inhalation for a count of four, exhale on a count of four, then hold the exhalation for a count of four.

Sarah Bird is a leading Personal Development Consultant specialising in Corporate Mentoring and Sports excellence. She is an International Speaker and Trainer in Energy Psychology Techniques, and is part of an international team developing a programme for working with Combat Veterans and service personnel suffering from the effects of combat trauma. Sarah practices both in Ireland and internationally. She can be contacted on 08 7-2193343 or sarah@sarahbird.ie

" A Hero's Heart": New Article in Positive Life Magazine

2009-09-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

My new article on finding the hero within you has been published in Positive Life magazine. To read the online version click here and go to page 12. There are some other great articles well worth reading. Enjoy!

TAT for Combat Trauma: Mario's Story

2009-09-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Master Sergeant (E8) Mario Cirinise describes how he is getting over Combat Trauma using an Energy Psychology technique called TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) following a ten-day workshop for combat veterans and active servicemen and their families in Columbus, Georgia, USA, in 2008. (Video courtesy of Harold McRae & Mario Cirinise).

Brian's Story: Using TAT for Combat Stress

2009-04-08T01:57:00.000-07:00

Combat Stress (and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)) affects many men and women in armed and civilian forces around the world today. Last summer I was asked to participate in a unique event in Colombia, Georgia, USA, when Tapas Fleming and a selected team of TAT Professionals facilitated a two-week workshop for serving and veteran members of the armed forces. Here is just one story about that experience; the story of Staff Sergeant Brian Davis (Rtd)...

Pakistan 2006

2009-01-23T12:16:00.001-08:00

Who am I?

2009-01-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

DO YOU NEED TO CHANGE?
ARE YOU GETTING THE RESULTS YOU DESERVE?

I am a leading practitioner of ‘Energy Psychology’, a scientific discipline that seeks to channel the body’s natural energy fields for the treatment and relief of emotional challenges such as addictions and compulsions, anxiety, depression, limiting beliefs, fears and phobias, panic attacks, stress, and trauma.

Working out of Dublin, Ireland, and in the international arena, I use Energy Psychology interventions to work with the body’s natural energies; shifting the chemical patterns in the brain that maintain unwanted habits, inappropriate emotional responses and self-limiting ways of thinking.

Sometimes referred to as ‘The New Psychology’, it combines modern cognitive psychology with bio-energy principles that are thousands of years old, the value of which is only now being recognised by Western Science. Energy Psychology re-connects us with age-old wisdoms that can reunite us with the unbelievable potential that lies within each and every one of us.

“I find it hard to recognise the man who first walked into Sarah’s offices just weeks ago. The change she’s brought about has been way beyond anything I could ever have expected or dreamt of.” Brendan Keane, Meath.