Have you heard about ‘whispers’, when you keep hearing the same name or topic crop up in a short period of time?

Recently for me ‘Preston’ has been cropping up every which way I turn, including when I’ll be one of the speakers at Michelle Thomas’ ‘Dream Builders and World Changers’ epic event on 1^st November. I don’t know what the Preston whispers are about, but I shall be interested to see if anything comes of them.

Then there are the little coincidences. The shut road that takes you on a diversion, so you stop to grab a sandwich and have a random conversation and find that you both know your mother (true story). Or you have a random conversation out on a walk, they suggest a book, and whilst attempting to buy the book, you have another random conversation with someone who knows someone that somebody else told you the month before that you need to meet, so they introduce you (another true story). Or perhaps you tried to organise a holiday in one place and it was like pushing water uphill, so you gave up and then another opportunity cropped up and it was easy so you did it, and then you discovered a new area that has become your go to place.

How about some timeline weirdness? There was that time that I ended up in the same pub as the Bath Uni biochemistry final year students as they celebrated the end of their exams. I hadn’t got the 'A' level results I needed to be with them on their course, so had gone to Hatfield Poly instead, yet there I was, in the same pub that I would have been. Disappointingly, nothing of any significance occurred, but it was a strange little port hole. Although, having written it down, and reflected on the many wonderful and significant things that occurred at Hatfield and the lifelong friends that I made, perhaps it was just a little confirmation everything was exactly as it should be.

What about whispers in relation to health? The ones hinting that ‘less is more’ would be a smart option right now? My embodiment coaching teacher and mentor, Mark Walsh talks about orange and yellow flags. We all know about the concept of red flags, but the softer colours are gentle hints that drinking some water and maybe a week of early nights might be in order. I get a bit clumsy (yellow) and stub my toes (orange). I also start losing things (train of thought, car keys, whatever I was just holding in my hand…). When the flags are getting redder, I start getting headaches more, and eventually infections. And I usually find that I get upset more easily, and less tolerant of other people. It’s not difficult to string together the cause and effect of it…

Listening to the whispers early is often helpful

I have had a couple of times in my life when I’ve been pressing on regardless, working really hard and persisting through numerous infections. A GP tried to sign me off work ‘you can try, but I’m self employed’ I proclaimed. She (Dr Dawn off the telly) quite rightly pointed out that this was the third course of antibiotics in as many months and asked what was really going on. I eased off a bit then but was soon back to my heroic ways and not letting people down. It was an attitude I drastically needed to readjust. But I didn't...

In late 2018 a cough I had been pretending wasn’t a thing developed firstly into a nasty chest infection and then swiftly segued into pneumonia. Pneumonia, I soon learned, is so much more than an infection – it is a whole system collapse where the single question becomes whether there is sufficient energy available for breathing. It’s a surprisingly peaceful experience (despite the pain). In conversation with a friend a few weeks later, she wryly commented, in that beautifully wise and softly insightful way that the Irish have, that my body had given up screaming at me to slow down and simply pulled the plug out of the power socket, leaving me with no choice but to stop. After a five month recovery, I hope I have finally learned that lesson.

Nowadays, I share that learning; it’s one of the key principles I weave into the vitality triangle and working well without burning out. It’s the whole ethos of ‘contributing with confidence’.

Whispers are generally best heeded while they are still quiet;

especially when they lead to fresh opportunities sooner, and richer living

Thinking back to times in your life when you have made big decisions, were there whispers? Or shouts? Were there coincidences? Have you got any current whispers?

Meditation practise is a great way to get quieter so the whispers can be heard more easily. For me, meditation is a great way of noticing. I’ve been practising for years, gradually building skills and learning a range of techniques, some more complex than others in terms of creating the right internal conditions. However, my favourite is waking naturally in the morning and listening to how the internal and external world is today. I’m fortunate to live in a quiet place, where there are trees and birds to see from my bedroom window. Other favourite meditation techniques include walking without music or podcasts and doing the washing up.

What are your favourite ways of getting quiet? And what are the whispers currently trying to tell you?