Tuesday 12th May will see our 4th annual #EmergingProud day celebrations – do join for this years FREE LIVE ONLINE SESSIONS – scroll down to find out how to sign up for each one. 

This will be the final #EP day annual event; as from 2021 #EmergingProud will merge with Co-Creating Europe’s Caravan of Unity – the biggest movement for peace in human history. The future is all about uniting…

Until then, join us on Tuesday for some embodied self- care, meditation and dancing!

Here is what is happening, and how you can join in! 

Session 1.) 7.30am PT, US / 3.30pm UK / 4.30pm CET

DEACTIVATE YOUR STRESS; FREE LIVE ONLINE HAVENING SESSION HOSTED BY JOINHER

Join us for a 45 minute collective group havening session to connect people from all over the world. Havening is a psycho-sensory approach to self soothe in the moment, reducing any stressful or anxious response and allow your body and mind to glide safely into a state of personal balance. We are inviting you to take some time to just be and place the focus of your attention on who you would like to become after all of this has passed, will you be Emerging Proud?

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE PLACE

Session 2.) 11am Central Time (US and Canada), 5pm BST, 6pm CET

Emerging Proud Day LIVE Gathering of Light Meditation, hosted by Elizabeth Sabet of ACISTE 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR FREE PLACE

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Session 3.) 11am Pacific Time, 7pm UK, 8pm CET

LIVE ONLINE GROOVE SESSION, HOSTED BY AMY WOODS

Join in the Zoom Meeting room at 7pm

For more info see HERE

Please see the live blogs at http://www.emergingproud.com throughout the day on 12th May for what has happened so far, stories and more of the good stuff!

Additional offering;

Akasha Yoga session hosted by Jordana; DATE TO BE CONFIRMED, THIS SAT IS CANCELLED DUE TO SICKNESS 

Akasha is in the throat chakra, which holds space for the elements of earth, water, fire, and air, uniting them in their diversity into the one space of ether. Yoga is Union. In Akasha Yoga we unite the feminine with the masculine, accepting and loving unconditionally our shadow by shedding the light of our soul on it. When we can embrace both our darkness and our light we become whole human beings, transcending the war of duality and uniting in peace and Oneness from within and throughout.

Each class is a fusion of Hatha and Kundalini Yoga, mantra, pranayama breathing exercises, spiritual philosophy, meditation, and relaxation. There is an emphasis on the bandhas, the locks that tone our core strength and raise our healing energy, as well as the chakras, our energetic anatomy that keep us balanced in nature with the five elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth. Akasha Yoga helps to relieve dis-ease, pain, tension, stress, anxiety, depression and more. Classes focus on balance, strength, flexibility, and openness, while honouring each student’s potential as well as their limitations. Intention and effort are valued over level in our classes, making them available to anyone who wants to practice.

Please do join us for a session of inner and outer connection….

What you will need;

Please make sure you have a warm, peaceful space with a good internet connection, a yoga mat, a blanket and cushion, some water and only practice as far as your body will allow. This session is about being loving and kind with yourself, no pushing beyond your limits.

Follow the blog at http://www.emergingproud.com to discover more regular offerings between 12th May and the launch of the Caravan of Unity on 1st September 2020

To find out more about the progress of the Caravan of Unity, follow Co-Creating Europe’s Facebook page HERE

We look forward to connecting with you in virtual space ❤

The 12th May 2020 will see the 4th International #EmergingProud day celebrations;

This will be a year to celebrate what has gone on so far in the movement, and to mark our merging with Co-Creating Europe’s #CaravanofUnity 

To follow the progress of the Caravan of Unity please follow Co-Creating Europe’s Facebook page HERE 

We have a schedule of FREE ONLINE events to offer you on the day courtesy of some of our wonderful #EmergingProud community members.

One such offering creating a bridge from #EmergingProud day up until the official launch of the Caravan of Unity in Sept with a fortnightly series is;

Meditations of Light Series 

Hosted by Denise (ISISI ALL THINGS) and Sandy Veneziani.

Sandy Veneziani is an accredited psycho-therapeutic counsellor and hypnotherapist who offers regression and counselling methods for healing of present and past issues. It can be useful to understand your repeating patterns which hold you back from reaching out for your fuller potential and present peace of mind. Isisi Allthings is a Holistic Mentor, Author of a book about overcoming a traumatic and abusive religious upbringing and also a Reiki Master Healer. Her current work is a supportive free listening service during COVID19 for her clients so please book yourself in for a free session to talk, using our email below. email: peacefulmindsandsouls@gmail.com Website “All Is Well” 

The first offering in the meditation series

1. “Overcoming Fear” meditation

This meditation will help you to gain mastery over any fear or anxiety and return you to your true centre and grounded presence, which is your true nature.

Sign up to Denise and Sandy’s channel Peaceful Minds, HERE 

A live online Groove session with the intention of dancing and connecting for inner & outer peace.

This FREE session will take place on 12th May at 11am PT, 7pm UK time, 8pm CET 

The 12th May 2020 will see the 4th International #EmergingProud day celebrations;

This will be a year to celebrate what has gone on so far in the movement, and to mark our merging with Co-Creating Europe’s #CaravanofUnity 

We have a schedule of FREE LIVE ONLINE events to offer you, courtesy of some of our wonderful #EmergingProud community members. One such offering is;

DEACTIVATE YOUR STRESS; FREE LIVE ONLINE HAVENING SESSION HOSTED BY JOINHER

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT HAVENING

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE PLACE

Join us on the 12th May at 3.30PM for a 45 minute collective group havening session to connect people from all over the world. Havening is a psychosensory approach to self soothe in the moment, reducing any stressful or anxious response and allow your body and mind to glide safely into a state of personal balance. We are inviting you to take some time to just be and place the focus of your attention on who you would like to become after all of this has passed, will you be Emerging Proud?

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE PLACE

Do you have an ‘Eye Inspire’ story of #Emerging Proud through Eye Sight Loss you’d like to share?

Please GET IN TOUCH HERE

Or contact: yvette@syncinspire.org

Sometimes when we follow our joy instead of thinking about what is logically possible it leads to trusting our intuition and honing other senses more than we had previously realised their capacity. Amanda has discovered that following her joy of photography has led her to not only realising a smaller dream, but recognising that her biggest dream is now a possibility…

My name is Amanda and I was registered as a visually impaired person when I was 22 years old.

My sight has always been pretty bad since I was little but, when I was 14, I went for a routine eye exam and was told my vision had got a lot worse. They couldn’t really see a reason why but I was told then that I would never be able to drive and just got on with my life. At that time of my life, I discovered rock music and Green Day and that really helped a lot.

My parents and my family have been absolutely amazing throughout my life. I got through normal school, with my fantastic friends helping me to read the board and helping me copy notes and stuff. I always had a bit of a lazy eye, but in my teenage life it seemed to get a lot worse and that is when my mum first got in contact with Moorfield’s eye hospital as she was worried there was something seriously wrong with my eyes.

That was probably when I was about 17 and since then I have been visiting Moorfield’s who have been so helpful. It has taken a while to get a diagnosis as my condition does not tick all the boxes of certain things but I have been diagnosed with cone dysfunction because of having a condition called Biedet Bardel Syndrome. (BBS)

At 20, I had an operation to help me with my lazy eye and it seems to have helped a lot. That was my first operation in my life and I was really scared at the time. At the time I was in the middle of my course at University and again, I managed to get through it by having great friends and a great social life at Herts Uni. I absolutely loved being a student and will never forget my time I spent there and the people I met.

I managed to get through my degree at Uni, which I absolutely loved, but I had a friend who was really good at photography and I thought I would give it a go.

When I finished my studies, I had to register with another optician and that was the first time anyone had ever said to me that I was a visually impaired person. The optician asked me to go through my GP to get referred back to Moorfeild’s Eye hospital.

Since then, I have had a lot of tests and eye exams to determine what is actually wrong. They thought that I had a condition called Achromatopsia but I have been given the diagnosis of having cone dysfunction. It is so great to have a diagnosis as it has taken a long time to find this out, but I am so grateful to my parents and Moorfield’s eye hospital for all their help with this.

My first camera that I bought was a tiny little point and shoot camera that was pink and I loved it! I took it on my holidays and my outings and just played around with it really. That started my love for taking photos.

The first time I knew I really wanted to try and succeed as a photographer was in 2011. I entered a photo into the Herts Open Arts Exhibition and won the under 30’s art prize for my shot of a Heron that I took. It gave me the confidence and drive to really want to exhibit my photos.

After that, I saved up and bought my first proper camera. It wasn’t a DLSR but it was a bridge camera and it was a lot more technical and a lot better than my little pink one!

Since then I went to college to learn the basics of photography and go out as much as possible taking photos of things.  As you can imagine, I can’t really see too much of the subject that I am taking, especially if I am outdoors in the sunshine, but I take loads of shots and then come home and have a look on my monitor at home to see if I have any good ones. My camera is also pretty noisy so I know when it has taken a shot which helps a lot.

One of my traits, which I am sure is just as bad as good sometimes, is that I am a very stubborn person and I wanted to prove that, despite my bad eyesight, I could do anything that I wanted with my life. I have never given up, despite having to work really hard for what I want, even if people think it is a bit mad!

I was registered as a visually impaired person as I really cannot deal with bright light and have really bad photophobia. I am really lucky as Moorfield’s Eye hospital managed to find me some really dark tinted contact lenses so I can deal with the glare inside and I have to wear category 4 sunglasses outside to deal with the sunshine outside. I would not be able to deal with the outside world otherwise.

I am really lucky I have enough sight to get on with what I want to do in my life, and also that I was born into a world where there is a lot of technology to help when I need it!

I know that sounds completely bizarre to a lot of people that I am a partially sighted person and a photographer at the same time! It is what I truly love doing. I believe I understand the camera quite a bit because I can relate to it like my eyes.  For example, with exposure I can understand that because it is a bit like my eyesight not dealing with bright light, as photography is all about understanding lighting and how it affects an image.

I have been really lucky, through being a member of my local arts group, that I have been able to exhibit my photos in my local town and have sold a few. It gives me such happiness to know that someone loved a photo that I have taken so much that they have bought it.

In 2020, the arts group I belong to asked me to have my own gallery of work up and I was so excited to have my first proper gallery. Unfortunately, due to the Corona Virus, it has been postponed as the gallery is shut. I hope to have many more exhibits in the future.

I have had my sad days, where I really doubt myself and wonder why I am trying to achieve this but it makes me even more determined to prove all the naysayers wrong. One day I want to have my own gallery in London with all my work hanging up and then I can say that I finally made it!

My thanks go out to all my friends and family for always helping me out with my journey so far. Without them, I just wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I have so far.

Thanks so much for reading my story. If you would like to have a look at my photography, I have my photos up online at www.flickr.com/mandyclarkie

Here are a couple…

Blue hour at the Tower, copyright Amanda Ramsay

St Paul’s Catherdral, copyright Amanda Ramsay

Do you have an ‘Eye Inspire’ story of #Emerging Proud through Eye Sight Loss you’d like to share?

Please GET IN TOUCH HERE

Or contact: yvette@syncinspire.org

Do you remember Jordana from the #EmergingProud film in 2017?

Here’s an update about where she’s at now, and what she’s got to offer us all for honouring #EmergingProud! (scroll down for details on that)

How can we transform the stigma and taboo around so called ‘mental illness’? Why is it that other ‘dis-eases’ receive compassion and ‘mental illness’ results in marginalization? I’ve been asking myself these questions lately and would love to hear your feedback on them too!!!

Find out a bit more about Jordana’s story, and what she has to say…

Jordana’s story;

During the eight year span of my spiritual emergencies and diagnosis of bipolar with cyclicle psychotic episodes, not only did the prescribed medicines disconnect me from Spirit and turn me into the walking dead, but the prejudice from society alienated me from my community, making my recovery all the more challenging. Here in Spain mental illness is still seeded deep in the closet of shame. Yes, people go to therapy, but more for coping with anxiety, stress, or depression… ailments that are currently somewhat tolerated. But a full blown mental illness diagnosis, from what I’ve seen, is only treated here with forced medication and shame, which in my case, completely surpressed my body, mind and soul’s innate knowing that Jordana was just waking up. I had awakened to a higher consciousness of energetic paradigms, realms, and dimensions that weren’t tangibly rooted in the three dimensional world, and therefore defined as psychotic. The openings were filled with extremes of lightness and dark. And the world wasn’t ready to see God consciousness in everything from a leaf, to the garbage, to a murderer, like I suddenly did. Or my radical acceptance and unconditional love for the narcissist, and the knowing that my extreme empathy wasn’t the better and had actually been part of the creation of it. Let alone open to me channeling messages from Akasha, the divine feminine aspect of God, as I tried to show people that heaven was actually here on Earth. And what about “ALL IS ONE”, the tagline my spiritual community used and then rejected me for when I had direct experience with it.

Feeling completely unsupported, I had no choice but to turn inwards, finding solace in Akasha, intuition, wisdom, and the peace in knowing that I wasn’t suffering from mental illness, but just a sudden transformation in how I perceived reality, that didn’t fit into the current social paradigm that I was living in. Moved by the extremes of the old and the new, and the highs and lows, and the world of duality that society fed me and then punished me for, I strove to find the middle path of balance within. I worked on not getting too excited by the good times, nor the bad. Seeking balance and neutrality in everything I did, from eating, to sleeping, to exercising, to working, to socializing, to my spiritual practice, to even finding balance in how I spent my time in action and more importantly, stillness. The more I vibrated with balance, the more it would come into my reality and the extremes of perfectionism at the expense of denying my shadow, slowly dissipated. This was the face of mental illness. Not some scary unknown that needed to be shoved in a closet and kept from society, but just an opportunity for my Being to come to know all of it’s aspects in full true color, to observe my evolving soul and the twists and turns that it had taken on this crazy journey called life. To radically accept my shadow, my dark side, and the parts of me that society didn’t want to see, nor did I, but maybe, just maybe if I slowly met with love and compassion, would have the courage to come out to the world and bask in the joyful transformative light of dawn.

I saw that society’s inability to love and accept me for who I was, came from my own incapacity to love myself fully and wholly, imperfections and all. Ultimately, we are all different. It’s an illusion to think that there is one norm that we all have to fit into, when no two people are alike. Maybe we need to stop buying the “normal” that society sells us and just let the shadow out of the closet and embrace our own uniqueness. Maybe from here we can find common ground in acceptance, love, and compassion for all dis-ease, which for me, is just the obstacle that pushes us all to grow and evolve to be better people, each day closer to reclaiming our true nature.

So while 3 years ago I proudly emerged out of the spiritual emergency closet, today I fully take off my mask and begin my journey to advocate for mental health in honor of my grandmother whose unheard suicidal voice motivated me this morning to write this blog. To open the doors of communication and dialogue. To normalize the crazy antics of the mind that we all experience, while only some get outed, shamed, and medically treated for. To shed light on the stigma and taboo of mental illness, by sharing lived experience of awakening and diagnosis. To show how responsibility for healing through self acceptance, unconditional love, and respect can transform reality without the need for medication and it’s unfortunate side effects. And even though I was commited to a mental hospital, given a diagnosis of mental illness, treated with meds for eight years, and supressed and shamed for all of it, I am just as worthy as any other. I am just as wise, just as intelligent, just as intuitive and just as powerful. Because if I weren’t, Spirit wouldn’t have given me this challenge in the first place. We are all waking up and each person’s path is uniquely different. Our challenge now is to see THIS as normal.

One love,

Jordana Jyoti

Life Coach, Healer, Teacher of Meditation & Yoga, Mental Health Activist

If this blogpost sparks your interest to learn more of what I’m up to these days, follow me @

www.jordanajyoti.com

https://www.facebook.com/jordana.j.goldstein

https://www.instagram.com/jordanajyoti/

www.yogamaresme.org

Here’s a wonderful FREE offer from Jordana to all of you!

I will be hosting a live online event for #EmergingProud and the #CaravanofUnity – DATE TO BE CONFIRMED, SAT 16th IS CANCELLED DUE TO SICKNESS

Akasha is in the throat chakra, which holds space for the elements of earth, water, fire, and air, uniting them in their diversity into the one space of ether. Yoga is Union. In Akasha Yoga we unite the feminine with the masculine, accepting and loving unconditionally our shadow by shedding the light of our soul on it. When we can embrace both our darkness and our light we become whole human beings, transcending the war of duality and uniting in peace and Oneness from within and throughout.

Each class is a fusion of Hatha and Kundalini Yoga, mantra, pranayama breathing exercises, spiritual philosophy, meditation, and relaxation. There is an emphasis on the bandhas, the locks that tone our core strength and raise our healing energy, as well as the chakras, our energetic anatomy that keep us balanced in nature with the five elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth. Akasha Yoga helps to relieve dis-ease, pain, tension, stress, anxiety, depression and more. Classes focus on balance, strength, flexibility, and openness, while honoring each student’s potential as well as their limitations. Intention and effort are valued over level in our classes, making them available to anyone who wants to practice.

What you will need; 

Please make sure you have a warm, peaceful space with a good internet connection, a yoga mat, a blanket and cushion, some water and only practice as far as your body will allow. This session is about being loving and kind with yourself, no pushing beyond your limits.

DATE TO BE CONFIRMED, THIS SAT IS CANCELLED DUE TO SICKNESS

We look forward to seeing you on our mats in virtual space ❤

The 12th May 2020 will see the 4th International #EmergingProud day celebrations;

This will be a year to celebrate what has gone on so far in the movement, and to mark our merging with Co-Creating Europe’s #CaravanofUnity 

We have a schedule of FREE LIVE ONLINE EVENTS to offer you, courtesy of some of our wonderful #EmergingProud community members. One such offering is;

Emerging Proud Day LIVE Gathering of Light Meditation

Hi there,

You are invited to a live Zoom webinar.

 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR FREE PLACE

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

CLICK HERE to sign up for further Gathering of Light meditations

Do you have an ‘Eye Inspire’ story of #Emerging Proud through Eye Sight Loss you’d like to share?

Please GET IN TOUCH HERE

Or contact: yvette@syncinspire.org

Sometimes it takes being sent off-course to rediscover what we are truly passionate about, and allowing ourselves to be supported back to where we need to be. Elliot has found that, through accepting help from his family and teammates, that has helped him to reach the heights that he always dreamed of…

My name is Elliot Stewart, I was born on the 22^nd February 1988 and I am an under 90kg Para-athlete heading for Tokyo 2020. For a little bit of back story – I did Judo from a young age, my dad was at the 1988 Seoul Games and won a bronze medal. That was the year I was born, so I was basically born into Judo and have done Judo for most of my life.

I had quite a successful cadet career and quite a successful junior career. I trained hard, and worked hard, and Judo was pretty much everything I did. But then I got to about 20 years old and I moved countries over to Hong Kong. I started up my own Judo club over there. I had a successful club, coaching and was still training and doing a bit of Judo myself.

I started a family over there, in Hong Kong. I had two kids and then came back to the UK with my children so that they could come back here to be educated and then also had another child over here and got married. So, at the age of 25 I was married with three kids.

I decided to go to University and become a PE teacher over here in the UK. I attended Wolverhampton University doing a Physical Education course. Year one and year two were great – I really enjoyed it.

In year three, when I was 27, the final year of my course, I started struggling to see what was on the board. I thought it was just my eyes deteriorating; I was getting a bit older. I went to the opticians and they gave me some glasses. They worked for a little bit but then the month after I had to go back again to get them changed and change my prescription. I did this about three or four months in a row. On the fourth month they said that I might have a condition called Keratoconus, which is where my cornea is in a cone shape.

Surprisingly it is actually quite common in a really mild form but I went to go to hospital to get it checked. They said that how much my cornea had morphed was quite a lot. So I had to have an operation. I decided on private because it was such a long wait on the NHS, they said it was a five month wait and within that five months I might have to have a corneal transplant, which I didn’t want to have. All my family (my brothers, my wife, my wife’s family) put together, they all chipped in some money to have my eyes done. Both my eyes have cross linking on both, so the operation was to stop the morph on my cornea and to keep the vision that I had currently.

Just to explain my vision – it varies day to day, it is basically like looking through tears, or the bottom of a glass. Where everything is blurred and you can’t focus on anything, you just can’t focus. So nothing is ever clear. That is the vision that I have been able to get used to over the last three years. I had that operation. (Cross linking you are basically staying awake and they numb your eyes and they use vitamin D and laser treatment to harden the cornea).

The recovery was a lot worse than the actual operation. It took me two weeks to recover, three days with my eyes tightly shut. Again I was around my family, around my kids, so that was really difficult. Them knowing what was happening to me and seeing me going from being with vision to losing my vision. That was a really difficult time.  My wife was there helping me through all the tough times, and without them I don’t think I would have been able to do it.

After I had the operation, I finished my university course, luckily, and they really accommodated for me. They understood my operation and they helped me out. I was able to use voice notes for all my exams, all my coursework, my dissertation and presentations that I had to do. They really accommodated and helped me to finish my final year. I passed my degree, which I am really proud of because I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it with the vision that I had at the time and the operation going ahead.

After I had finished that I didn’t feel like there was anything left. I was working in schools at the time, teaching Judo in the UK whilst I was at University. Because it was my vision they had taken my driving licence off me and I wasn’t able to work anymore. I felt like I wasn’t able to look after my family because I didn’t have a job. I didn’t think I would be able to get another job with my vision because I always thought ‘why would you want some who has a visual impairment when you could pick someone who has totally fine sight compared to me?’

Two or three weeks after my operation I was pretty down, I had given up really. Then through Judo, yet again, I found out about the visually impaired team, and found out about the Paralympics and that they had quite a strong team here at the British Judo Centre of Excellence.

I went back to Judo, after speaking to Denny Roberts and British Judo Paralympic Head Coach, Ian Johns, about it. They were really keen to get me tested, get my vision tested, to see if I qualified to be a para-athlete and luckily I did.

I had my operation in the April, and in the August  I was in my first event which was the European Championships. That was my first real big event back in six years and since then I have been back on the programme. I have been training hard and I’m back at Judo with my new set of goals to achieve and new achievements to get like; the World championships, European Championship and the Paralympics.

So far I’ve been in the system for just coming up to three years now and I have got two world bronze medals and a European bronze medal. So I am achieving those goals, training hard and back doing the sport that I love and those days where I gave up and didn’t think I would be able to do anything (I wanted to but I didn’t think I could) – those days are behind me now. With the athletes around me, and the rest of the team, they’ve taught me how to be a VI athlete and how to be a visually impaired member of the community.

It was difficult for me to adapt from being fully sighted to being visually impaired because there are a lot of things that I still try and do like I did when I was sighted because I lost my vision later on. I had a lot of time being sighted, luckily. Now I struggle getting my head round doing things differently and accommodating for my vision. With athletes around me, (the whole of the of the VI team; Jack Hodgson, Chris Skelley, Evan Molloy and Dan Powell, all of them) they have helped me be visually impaired because they have been visually impaired a lot longer than me.

Even though I am the oldest person on the team, in some ways I guide the team and I’m an older brother to the team, I still rely on them a lot to help me get through everyday life because they are a lot more experienced in being visually impaired than me. With that network of people around me; my family the VI team, the coaches around the Centre, it gives me the confidence to try and do anything I need to do, or at least ask for help to accomplish the easier tasks.

Now my sole goal is for Tokyo 2020 and to try and medal and be on that rostrum at the Games. The way things are going, training is going well, preparations are going well, and recently competitions are going well, so it’s looking good at the minute.

5/8/2017 Walsall, England. Day2 Championship U90 kg action Oleksandr Nazarenko (UKR) white V. Elliot Stewart (GBR) blue.

5/8/2017 Walsall, England. Day2 Championship U90 kg action Elliot Stewart (GBR)

Follow’s Elliot’s progress on;

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/britishjudo/ 

https://www.facebook.com/ElliotJudoStewart/

Twitter:

@ElliotJudo

Instagram:

@britishjudo

@ElliotJudo

Do you have an ‘Eye Inspire’ story of #Emerging Proud through Eye Sight Loss you’d like to share?

Please GET IN TOUCH HERE

Or contact: yvette@syncinspire.org