Openhearted Living with Alison Dinnie

29/03/2024

After a lot of thought and soul searching I’ve made the decision to step away from my business and take a pause from Openhearted Living for the foreseeable future.

It’s not easy to step away from something that I love, but I have to honour that the timing just doesn’t feel quite right and deep down I know I need to focus my energy, my soul and all my love in to other areas of my life.

I have been so honoured to witness so many beautiful stories and shares since I started holding circles in 2020, and I know that those women’s strength and vulnerability has helped to form a little piece of the woman I am today.

I owe so much to the women that have shared these spaces, and I owe so much to circle too. I truly believe in the power of circle which is why I will continue to seek out and to be held in circles, and weave them into my life in different ways.

Sadly, this decision does mean that my upcoming tarot journey with will not be going ahead, but do give her a follow as I know she has some fabulous offerings in the making.

Thank you for supporting me in whatever way you have. It means so much to me to have been able to do this work and I have no doubt I’ll return to it in some form at some time.

I’ve tagged some amazing space holders below so do check them out!

15/03/2024

Spring feels like it is really springing today! ☺️

My next circle coincides with Spring Equinox and I’m feeling called to mark and celebrate this with you.

I’m inviting you to gather with me to visualise what you may wish to bring to life this spring, to journal on all that arises within you as you look forward and then to share what you wish to give voice to after giving yourself time to connect inwards and reflect.

We will close with a simple grounding equinox practice and my intentions are for you to leave feeling energised, nourished and ready to move forward into spring. 🌱

Use the link in my bio to book or reach out to me. I offer my circles on a pay what you can basis from £5-£20 and encourage you to pay what you feel you can at this time. This is never questioned, judged or discussed. I want to hold this space for you if you wish to be there and I wouldn’t want money to be a barrier to this nourishing and supportive practice.

As always, reach out if you have any questions. ❤️

04/03/2024

Did you know that your heart is sending messages to your brain, as well as your brain sending messages to your heart. In fact more signals are sent from the heart to the brain than the other way around!

This is referred to as the heart’s intuitive intelligence and it has also been discovered that our hearts can “talk” to other people’s hearts. This is all to do with the size and strength of the heart’s magnetic field, apparently it can be felt 3 feet from our body!

This can explain why there are some people that exude a feeling of ease. I believe those people are the ones that have cultivated strong heart-brain coherence, where your heart and mind are in good relationship with each other.

There are so many benefits of cultivating heart and brain coherence. It reduces stress, helps with decision making, allows access to intuitive wisdom, helps you feel peaceful, increases creativity and helps support a feeling of wholeness.

I’ve often talked about checking in with yourself, checking in on your heart, and taking time for your heart, body and soul. But now that you know that your heart has an effect on all the things I’ve mentioned above, and it has the strength to impact people close to you, now do you see why it is so important to cultivate a strong relationship with our own heart?

Which leads me to ask, how often are you checking in with your own heart? How do you tend to the needs of your own heart?

Take some time today to check in with your heart, and feel what is alive for you in your heart at the moment. No judgement, no trying to “fix” anything, just being aware and feeling yourself connected to this beautiful, wise and magical part of you.

Use the link in my bio to see upcoming circle dates and join my Openhearted community. ❤️

22/02/2024

And we gathered…and it was beautiful.

This time spent in circle is food for my soul, and a soothing balm for my heart.

You need a space to soothe and hold yourself, especially in a world that continues to try and make you harden and become unfeeling.

We all need spaces that allow us to take a deep exhale, to soften, to let go of all that we’re holding, and for a while share the weight.

If you’re craving a space to soften, to lighten, to be held then circle is waiting for you. You can join my email community through my bio, or comment “circle” below if you’d like to be added and I’ll reach out to you.

13/02/2024

Holding space doesn’t have to involve beautiful spaces and ornate centrepieces. It’s beautiful when it does but it doesn’t always appear in this way.

It can be in the silent phone calls at 2am, it can be in the holding of a hand, it can be in the moments when you’re just being with another human in their struggle.

Invite yourself to step away from problem solving and wonder, what could you be providing that’s even more special by just listening?

I’d love to hear all the ways you hold space in the comments and don’t forget to save the post to return to when you need reminding!

❤️Found this useful? Join my email musings for more topics and conversations like this. Link in bio.

09/02/2024

A conversation with my 14 year old daughter last night sparked something within me, and I wanted to share because I feel it may be something a lot of us wrestle with.

Why do we struggle to be with someone when they are in discomfort?

We seek to pull them into a place where they are OK, when this isn’t going to happen because they are NOT OK, yet.

We search for words that will fix the situation, even though the situation is literally unfixable!

We want to be the saviour, we want to find the magic combination of words that move them into feeling fine so we don’t have to be in our own discomfort.

Not only is this kinda selfish (understandable of course, and perfectly human of us!) but it’s also undermining and diminishing their experience.

We all deserve to fully experience all parts of our life. We wouldn’t seek to hurry someone through an enjoyable or pleasurable experience, so I don’t believe we should hurry people through harder, heavier and more challenging parts either.

We have to feel them to heal and move through them.

Unprocessed emotions will always catch up with us.

If, like me, you still read captions, then please add any other reasons in the comments that you find it hard to be with other people’s discomfort/struggles/hurt.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and hopefully share some ways to support you.

And as always I’ll be sharing in more depth in my email community around this topic and ways that we can move towards feeling more confident at holding space for people. Link to sign up to emails in my bio. ❤️

05/02/2024

I know that as women we’ve not always found it easy to take what we need for ourselves (Thanks patriarchal conditioning!)...

So sometimes when we DO take the time we can then almost swing the other way towards a more self-centred idea that we have to focus solely on our own self care and not community care (Oh, Capitalism, is that you?!)

But when we can find a space in community with other women to rest into, which not only supports us but supports others too; when we have a space that we can find the sweet relief of not being alone in it all…

That’s when we can start to truly recharge ourselves and feel more resourced for the caring responsibilities we have, and maybe, just maybe, even for taking on the systems that have got us stuck in this insular space in the first place.

I try to often ask myself how I’m making space to nourish myself, and I’d love for you to start inviting in that question more often.

And with that in mind I’d love to extend a warm invitation to you to a space I’m co-creating with the wonderful on Sunday 11th February.

A space for you to find what I’ve described above, a space to connect deeply to yourself, to others and a space to take the time to nourish your body with restorative movement and relaxation.

Booking link in stories and bio, as always if you have any questions please just reach out.

29/01/2024

I truly believe circle is an amazing space for helping you soften and untangle all the internalised stories we carry about ourselves, and when we offer ourselves this space we can discover so much.

I explore this more in my newsletter coming out about 7pm this evening so if you’d like to explore this with me then sign up using the link in my bio, or comment below and I’ll be in touch to send it to you.

22/01/2024

So excited to bring this into the world. It’s going to be beautiful!

I’m really excited about what I am sharing today. I know what a difference accessing work like this has made in my own life and so I can’t wait to facilitate something so special for you.

As we come out of the darkest nights and the energy of spring starts to build, it is an important time to nourish ourselves and ensure we have met our need for rest throughout the winter.
I am teaming up with the wonderful .dinnie.openheartedliving for our first online event together:

Awakening Joy Circle

We are inviting you to immerse yourself in a virtual sanctuary, curated for women seeking connection, wellness, and joy with the transformative art of circling.

Ali, a seasoned facilitator, will create a space where women come together to share, uplift, and celebrate their unique journeys.
Through meaningful conversations, laughter, and shared wisdom, Ali weaves a tapestry of connection that transcends boundaries and helps us feel connected to ourselves and to others.

Women that have joined Ali’s sharing circles have described the experience as:
“Peaceful and grounding”
“Refreshing to have a space where I can just be and not have any demands put on me”
“I initially struggled with the long pauses but as I relaxed I started to really enjoy the silence.”
“I had the best night’s sleep afterwards-thank you!”

I will also teach a restorative and invigorating Women’s Health Pilates session, where strength and mobility intertwine to enhance both physical and mental well-being. I will guide you through tailored exercises, fostering a harmonious balance within your body and the session will finish with a deep relaxation to restore you and get you ready for your week.

Our first circle will be on Sunday 11th February 7.30pm-9.30pm and your investment in your wellbeing is £25.

Embark on a journey of self-discovery and sisterhood within the virtual embrace of our “Awakening Joy Circle.”
This is more than an online gathering; it’s a vibrant community where joy blossoms, and women flourish in the spirit of the emerging spring months.

Link to book is in my bio

03/01/2024

I’ve been inspired by several wonderful people I follow sharing these and thought I’d join in!

I’ve been reflecting a lot over the festive period about what I wish to call closer and what I’d like to move further away from, where feasible of course.

Share in the comments what’s in and out for you in 2024.

#2024

(Image description- 1st slide: What’s in and what’s out in 2024 written over a photo of me laughing. 2nd slide: white background with the following list written in gold font:
IN FOR 2024
Reading more fiction
More cooking from scratch
More speaking up & speaking out
Being a part of spaces that challenge the status quo & allow us to move towards bringing to life a more equitable & less power hungry world
More time spent outdoors
More Circle
More herbal tea
3rd slide: white background with the following written in a gold font:
OUT for 2024
Scrolling too much
Settling for convenience
The fu***ng Tories
Being embarrassed about my disappointments
Doubting myself
Hyper individualism
Not sharing and doing things that matter to me)

22/12/2023

I don’t know about you but Christmas feels weird this year, to be honest I’ve been moving towards trying to “do less” for a few years now but with the current state of the world, 🇵🇸 I’m being drawn to not only doing less but making what I’m choosing to do more meaningful.

This is a lovely way to open any meal (I try and do it with my children each day but often don’t get the most inspiring of answers! 🤦🏻‍♀️) but I invite you to take the time with the people you are gathered with to simply go round the table and share one thing you’ve been grateful for this year.

My top tip for this would be to let them know ahead of time, a WhatsApp or email the day before with a clearly crafted invitation can just make sure they don’t feel too taken aback on the day and can help them prepare what they may like to say.

I’d also suggest explaining your intention for this exercise within your invite, let them know why you’d like to create this moment for everyone this year.

Wishing you all magical Yuletide greetings and I hope you have a beautiful, restorative and nourishing break.

❤️❤️❤️

09/12/2023

Carve out intentional and nourishing time for yourself this winter with my wintering circle collection. ❄️

I was planning on having a fancy sales page up on my website for this but you know, life, so if you’re interested in joining us then please reach out in the DMs or email me.

A beautiful group is forming already and I cannot wait to hold this space for you through the winter season.