I’m a transformational coach working primarily with ‘women on a mission’ – that’s women leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers, who are carving their own path of purpose and impact in the world. Transformational coaching takes a more holistic approach to moving a client forward, than traditional performance driven coaching, exploring a client’s underlying belief system and paradigms for deeper, lasting shifts. I believe that we create our world from the inside out and the first step to doing so is knowing oneself. From here we can access our intuition, values & vision, aligning our internal and external worlds.
How did you begin on this journey?
In 2012 my best friend Rita was killed when her bus crashed down the side of a mountain in Bolivia. She was living her dream of travelling solo around South America at the time. A year later I was run over by a black cab and almost lost my own life. It was the shock I needed to pull me out of my depression. I woke up (quite literally in an ambulance), I became acutely aware of the fleeting fragility of life, and I vowed to make the most of mine. I switched off autopilot and took the reigns of my world. I began developing my mindset and emotional well being, empowering myself to not only survive the challenges I faced, but to thrive beyond them. Now I coach others to develop their own emotional resilience and create their best lives and businesses from the inside out.
Why did you want to get involved in MHAW?
I was 15 when my uncle committed suicide. I was plagued with guilt, convinced I could have done something to stop this from happening. I should have known, I told myself, I should have made him feel better. Of course I was too young to really understand the complexities of mental health. Afterwards I struggled with severe depression myself, I became obsessed with different ways I could end it and was admitted to hospital to stop me from hurting myself. It feels vulnerable and strange to admit this now. I’m so far from that reality I barely recognise my teenage self. But I know that so many people in the world are still there, still struggling to get through each day. Helping people realise the power they have to transform their own mental & emotional well-being and in turn their world is what drives me.
How can Vision Boarding help people?
There are many benefits of creating a vision board. When we are stressed or anxious we tend to look outside of ourselves for answers, when really the answers we are seeking are within us all along. Creating a vision board is a beautiful way to reconnect with ourselves and begin to gain some clarity around what we really want and need in our lives, giving us more focus and creating intention. Once you have created your vision board you can use it alongside affirmations (which I will talk more about in the workshop) to increase your chance of success by reprogramming your mind. The very act of creating your board will also relax you and give you an opportunity to be mindful, as well as boosting your mood and self-confidence.
Do you think there is a link between mindfulness and this form of creative expression?
Absolutely. Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, says that mindfulness means knowing directly what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment. There are many ways to do this in our every day lives of course, but it can be difficult to put the mind chatter on ice. I find doing something fun and creative with my hands, like making a vision board makes this easier, as you’re completely immersed in what you’re doing.
Tell us a little more about manifestation and how vision board can help to manifest our goals for the future?
Whether you believe in manifestation or not, not many people can deny that what we put our focus, time and energy into grows. Making a vision board on its own is not enough to create your best life or business of course, but it’s a good place to start. At a basic level it will help you become clearer on your goals and will motivate you to keep moving towards them when the going gets tough (which it inevitably will). There is also some strong scientific evidence to show that visualisation works. Olympic athletes have been using it for decades to improve performance, and Psychology Today reported that the brain patterns activated when a weightlifter lifts heavy weights are also similarly activated when the lifter just imagined (visualised) lifting weights.
Alice Carder, www.alicecarder.com
Mind, Body & Goals – Yoga and Vision Board workshop with Alice Carder & Liz Joy Oakley
1-3pm | Saturday 19th May | MoreYoga Bermondsey | £25
Alice Carder is a transformational coach working primarily with female leaders and entrepreneurs. Alice has seen first-hand the important role our vision plays in realising our dreams, and believes in vision boards as a practical tool for supporting ourselves in moving forward.
Liz Joy Oakley is a MoreYoga teacher specialising in Yoga therapy for Stress & Anxiety. Liz will open the workshop with a soothing Yoga flow class focused on the Third Eye Chakra of awareness. The class will give you the time to still the mind, relax the body and lift the spirit.
Alice will then guide you through a powerful exercise, inviting you to get clearer on your priorities, before creating your personal vision board, a piece of take-home inspiration for what you want to create in your life and how you would like to feel.
We are raising for Samaritans Charity – The Samaritans is a nationwide charity available 24 hours a day providing support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide regardless of age, race, colour, creed or gender.
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