Pause Purpose Play

In this episode, I’ll talk about how busyness kills productivity and how flexibility saves it, through softening rigid rules and SHOULDs into softer COULDs. I discuss the different reactions I hear from clients to a full to-do list, and three actions you can take to find a more sustainable pace in your work.   Find me at www.thethomasconnection.co.uk Instagram @the_thomas_connection Facebook www.facebook.com/thethomasconnection   This episode was edited by Emily Crosby Media

In this week's episode, I talk to Suzy Reading about self-care in tough times. Suzy is a mother of two, an author, Chartered Psychologist and Coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people manage their stress, emotions, and energetic bank balance. It was her life experience of motherhood colliding with the terminal illness of her father that sparked her passion for self-care which she now teaches to her clients, young and old, to cope during periods of stress, loss and change and to boost their resilience in the face of future challenges. Suzy's first book ‘The Self-Care Revolution’ published by Aster came out in 2017, 'Stand Tall Like a Mountain: Mindfulness & Self-Care for Children and Parents' and 'The Little Book of Self-Care’ came out in 2019 and her new book ‘Self-Care for Tough Times’ came out in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. 03:55 Suzy busts the myth that being tough on yourself gets you through tough times 05:44 Overcoming harsh self-criticism with self-forgiveness 08:23 Making healthier choices when talking to ourselves kindly 10:14 Self-compassion and the nourishing action of self-care 13:54 How 'compassion' supports us in a way that 'resilience' doesn't 16:30 Not letting maternal guilt stopping us from nourishing ourselves 19:42 Pressure and success in motherhood - the Nourish app 23:28 The toxicity of the compensatory crutches we use to cope  26:50 What to do when you realise your current habits are unsustainable 31:11 Suzy's micro movements approach to change 31:58 Making daily habits more nourishing 33:02 Suzy shares a physical exercise to help with posture 43:16 We talk about the power of visualisation if you are not able to physically play during hard times 44:26 Suzy's takeaway for you - to let guilt slide from your shoulders   Website www.suzyreading.co.uk/ Instagram @suzyreading   This episode was edited by Emily Crosby Media

In this episode, I talk about the problems that come from trying to please all the people, all the time - and how this is especially problematic in your relationship.  Do you struggle to say no to others, even when saying yes means less time with your family, or less time for you?  Do you find it hard to ask for your needs to be met? Or are you living with someone who finds it hard to articulate what they want?  Do they constantly run around doing tasks for others, until they burn themselves out?   It takes courage to balance your own needs with those of others, especially resisting the urge to people please, but with a small steps approach, we can overcome that sense of obligation and learn to ask for what we need.    Find me at www.thethomasconnection.co.uk Instagram @the_thomas_connection Facebook www.facebook.com/thethomasconnection   This episode was edited by Emily Crosby Media

In this episode, I talk to Executive Coach and founder of Wisdom for Working Mums, Nicky Lowe about when her body told her in no uncertain terms to pause. She experienced burnout in a corporate career, following her high standards and need for striving.  Nicky is a qualified and accredited Executive Coach who is an advocate for achievement orientated, motivated, ambitious women who also want to be amazing mums.  She's spent the last 15 years being invited by some of the world’s largest organisations to support their leaders as an executive coach.  Many of these are working mums and this led her to contribute to the book “Mentoring for Working Parents” based on her experience.  As a busy working mum of 2 she knows only too well the challenges of combining motherhood with the work that fulfils her.  Her passion is helping women combine their work and motherhood in a successful and sustainable way - without losing their sanity or wellbeing!  03:30 Nicky finding herself trapped as a ‘corporate prisoner’ and retraining as a coach 05:45 Hitting a brick wall of exhaustion as a new mum - adrenal fatigue 09:30 How Nicky turned a painful episode into a life change 14:30 Finding the balance between motherhood and work on our own terms 20:00 Consciously choosing to pause as an ambitious woman 21:20 Redefining self worth away from productivity 24:45 What Nicky does to rest and recover 29:30 Recalibrating needs as circumstances change 32:15 How Nicky allows herself to play 35:40 Finding joy in imperfect play    Website: www.wisdomforworkingmums.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicky_wisdomforworkingmums/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/wisdomforworkingmums/

This episode focuses on how a lack of problem-solving can get you stuck going around in circles in your life, and your relationship, but even if you’re not in a relationship, this episode is still for you. I will tell you about getting started, continuing and completing problem-solving, guiding you through a step by step approach to productive problem solving, if you stay with me to the end of the episode. I know you have lots to do, but if you keep addressing your problems the wrong way, you’ll have even less time to do those things.  You can't solve your problems when you're overwhelmed, exhausted and stuck. ⁠ ⁠- Hands up if you've kept going in an argument with your partner long after any chance of resolving things.⁠ ⁠- Hands up if you've kept thinking about something you NEED to solve, and it just goes around and around in your head.⁠ - Hands up if you feel so overwhelmed and anxious by the problem that you don't even START to find a resolution. ⁠ ⁠- Hands up if you often don't even notice how much time you've wasted on trying to figure something out. ⁠⁠ Imagine how your relationship would be if you could approach your problems together.   

In this episode, I talk to actor, personal branding coach and host of Dreaming and Doing podcast, Nicky Raby, about her career, how we find the courage to pause and reflect on what we want from our careers. We touch on making mistakes in business and finding play through flexibility. And we finish with Nicky's one piece of advice for you. Nicky is a huge advocate of the portfolio career; she’s an actor, personal branding coach, writer and speaker. She is passionate about supporting other women (and men!) to create a business and life that defines their version of success. She trained at Mountview and continues to enjoy a thriving career across theatre, television, film and commercial work. She has worked with Stylist Magazine, Nat West, MTV, Google to name a few.  Her podcast ‘Dreaming and Doing with Nicky Raby’ regularly features on the top 100 business podcasts on iTunes and is heard worldwide. She has worked with over 1000 clients to help them consolidate their personal brand and become visible so they can do more of what they love and get paid for it.  She has a son and a daughter and lives in London.  03:00 - The power of a portfolio career 05:41 - How Nicky has navigated the mindset behind self-promotion 08:30 - Allowing yourself to be a work in progress 12:00 - The limiting beliefs of ‘enough’ 14:14 - Handling criticism in your career 18:46 - Achieving success without burnout 22:15 - How does Nicky pause? - pausing through movement 26:16 - Doing more of what you love 29:35 - Making mistakes in business 33:55 - Finding play in her work - flexibility 38:48 - Investing in yourself 44:08 - Nicky’s gift for the audience - finding the right answers   Website: www.nickyraby.com/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/nickyraby Facebook: www.facebook.com/nickyraby/

A tricky lesson from Eastern philosophy is about the impermanence of things, of how everything changes rather than stays the same. This is a hard pill to swallow in the Western world, where we focus so much of our time and efforts around chasing and clinging onto happiness. Especially now, as we have spent almost half a year in the global pandemic of the Corona virus. But these lessons are valid regardless of what pain or hardship we find ourselves in. Join Michaela Thomas this week, as she talks about how hard it is to just let things be as they are, and reminds us that this too shall pass. Then join in with an exercise to Stop the Struggle.

In this episode, Natalie Costa, performance coach, author and founder of Power Thoughts, talks about how we support our children’s emotional wellbeing, to build greater confidence and resilience by noticing their inner critic and also sitting with their big feelings. We end this episode thinking about how we can support children returning back to school in September, after the Coronavirus crisis.   Natalie Costa provides a teaching and coaching service designed to give children the ‘power’ over their own thoughts. With a background in psychology and having spent 12 years within the educational sector as well as becoming an accredited Performance Coach, Power Thoughts was born - which blends her past experience and deep understanding of children and their needs, now providing them with the tools to help them cope and thrive in the modern world. Natalie has been featured in national press and TV, such as Stella Magazine, BBC Breakfast, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Good Morning Britain and had co-authored two books called "Find your Power" and "Stretch your Confidence”. 3:50 – Natalie’s busy mind, and what she does to take a break from productivity 7:02 – Switching off through pausing and being still, versus switching off with creativity  10:20 – Rewriting the belief that it has to be hard work to be successful 12:04 – Finding purpose, fulfilment and opportunity in an evolving start up business 15:30 – Helping children to be aware of their internal dialogue, their inner critic 18:10 – Becoming mindful of Big Feelings, locating them in the body 19:54 – The power of breath and Take Five Breathing exercise 21:45 – The internal weather report of feelings, to get the power back and self-soothe 24:39 – How we create purpose and meaning for children, what lights you up? 28:35 – Working on our own confidence and inner critic alongside our children 29:40 – Coping with negative thoughts with the compassionate voice we use with friends 33:20 – The power of modelling to our children all the feelings, not trying to be perfect 35:16 – Returning to school after COVID-19, having done the best you could in a crisis 37:40 – The life lessons from lockdown around resilience, adaptation and dealing with grief 41:10 – The importance of play for both adults and children, helping them soothe feelings   Website: https://www.powerthoughts.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/powerthoughtsbync Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerthoughtsnataliecosta

It's hard to get started. When we fear something, we are more likely to procrastinate. The inner critical voice shows up and has an opinion. It’s fearful of failure, so naturally it would show up when we're trying to do something new. Something which means stepping out of the comfort zone. If you only look at where you currently are, and seeing all that you haven’t yet mastered, you’re likely to feel daunted. Stuck. Overwhelmed. Looking up at the next mountain towering over you. But life isn’t just one mountain, it’s a mountain range of peaks and valleys. Of challenges and of rest. If you also look back down, you’ll see that you’ve already wandered really far, climbed a few peaks on this mountain range already. So the secret to getting up the next mountain, is to start the climb. Join Michaela Thomas on this first episode of The Pause Purpose Play podcast, covering how hard it is for ambitious professionals to get started, have support, appreciate their achievements and also knowing when to slow down and take in the view.

Welcome to this new podcast. I hope you’ve tuned in because in one way or another, you’re looking for some more pause, purpose and play in your life. This trailer covers what Pause Purpose Play is all about - finding balance over burnout so you can follow your ambition without drowning in it.  The first season has 12 episodes, with a mixture of solo episodes and guest interviews, to help you find more joy and vitality.  The solo episodes cover psychology concepts such as procrastination, impostor syndrome, the inner critic, joy, connection and compassion. The guest interviews dive deep into the guests' zone of genius and learning about how they have found pause, purpose and play in their life and in their work.