Festival of Hobbies - Travelling and Meditation (Featuring Naomi Whitehead)
“My experience of travelling and meditation with lots of fun, dancing, learning, laughing and cultural activities thrown in, is my idea of perfect entertainment”
Based at Harland Works, Naomi Whitehead is a solution-focused coach, trainer and therapist.
As part of her job, Naomi supports individuals, groups and organisations in reaching their goals and in making desired changes in any area of life. Solution focused therapy aims to work backwards from a perceived goal or outcome, to locate the steps necessary to reach targets and to find the skills and attributes that someone may already have within themselves, but have been unable to utilise to the fullest of their abilities. Naomi loves her work, and a large part of what she does has been informed by principles learned while practicing hobbies.
Naomi explains more about solution focused therapy and why it’s so important to her, saying, “It’s a fundamentally respectful practice and based in facilitating equality in society. I work with a lot of people who are dealing with trauma or bereavement, or are suffering with depression, and you work with people by treating them as the experts in their own lives and as already possessing the strengths and skills required to make changes. My job is to ask useful questions to help them notice these strengths and resources, and also to help them realise what a miracle day looks like for them”.
“Be it a team at work, a group or an individual, we work backwards from their goal and break it down into the smallest details; how they might feel or think, the things they might smell or notice first thing in the morning. What we find when analysing a miracle day is that people tend to want to change simple things, like to be a little happier, or change the way they hold their posture or to do a little more exercise or to smile at someone they care about in the morning. It is truly a beautiful way to work because its very pragmatic and practical - you’re working with what already exists”.
As someone who works on personal development both for themselves and others for a living, Naomi found that her hobbies seemed to come naturally.
“My hobbies are a combination of travelling and meditation, with a specific focus on myself and others achieving contentment, confidence, equality and most hoped for outcomes”, Naomi explains. “I was first drawn to a type of meditation called Reiki, when I was studying Spanish in Guatemala in 2005. I had this overwhelming instinct that there was a better way to process difficult thoughts and feelings and achieve a sense of clarity and confidence. I was also fascinated by complimenting the light jogging I was doing at the time with a meditation practice that would keep me focused and peaceful”
“I am, and have always been, sure that developing hobbies or interests that can be done anywhere with no equipment is preferable because of my love of travelling and simplicity. So, with all this in mind I discovered a centre on the edge of Lake Atitlan that offered training in Reiki meditation. This training was challenging, uplifting and beautiful, following the final session I was completely blissed out and able to notice details in nature that I never had before. In addition, my ability to listen to and support others and enjoy whatever I was doing in the present moment increased profoundly. My experience of travelling and meditation with lots of fun, dancing, learning, laughing and cultural activities thrown in, is my idea of perfect entertainment”
Reiki meditation, the form that Naomi practices, was developed In the 1920s by a Japanese Buddhist monk named Mikao Usui. Reiki was the name given to his devised system of natural healing, which literally translated means ‘spiritually guided life force energy’. Reiki takes a unique approach to meditation that also incorporates an element of healing - both physically and mentally - using your hands to transfer restoring life energies into the body. It is a practice that is centred around experiencing true silence and a quiet mind and creating a healing, loving energy and often involves certain symbols and mantras that are used to facilitate and enhance the meditation experience and ranks highly among the world’s many traditional healing systems.
“It was then that I really started to notice that the Reiki meditation practice I was developing along the way was so beneficial - it was allowing me to have clarity of mind so that I could help others more effectively”
Meditation is a practice that is recommended by professionals around the world, and had been proven to be extremely beneficial for our mental health. Many different forms and disciples exist, but it was Reiki that really captured Naomi’s attention.
“Whenever I am confused or stressed or concerned about others, I have this meditation practice which enables me to focus on love and the most hoped for outcomes in a way that quickly brings clarity on how to help in the most useful way possible. When travelling, as soon as I arrive in a new place I get this wonderful sense of anticipation and appreciation of the physical surroundings that makes even the mundane seem like art. Like a bus shelter that is a particular shape, or stylish graffiti in your own city you may take for granted. I think what I most enjoy about travelling and meditation is that not only is it pleasurable at the time, but it also can change the way you experience your own life, and see it as more of an adventure”.
“I recommend these two hobbies practiced together to anyone who would like to have a new way of being - where life feels more full of possibilities than limitations. This concept is a core principle of the work I am lucky enough to now specialise in”
This shared core principal is just one way in which Naomi’s hobbies and work as a solution-focused therapist are similar. Naomi laughs and notes that the two go hand in hand more often than not! “My hobbies and my work really interact with each other. The solution focused practice that I work in I discovered in 2003, and another part of that practice is that you look at any situation in terms of the possibilities and not the limitations. When I applied this to my life, I started to notice that I would really like to be fluent in Spanish, maybe travel Latin America, develop a more peaceful mind and perhaps even develop a meditation practice that would allow me to explore the possibilities of light touch healing. These were all things I had wanted to do, but it was incorporating a solution focused practice into my life that invited me to believe that it was possible”
“Eventually, I ended up travelling across 13 countries; starting in Mexico, through Guatemala and Columbia and I actually ended up living in Bolivia for four months and working in prisons with young people. It was then that I really started to notice that the Reiki meditation practice I was developing along the way was so beneficial - it was allowing me to have clarity of mind so that I could help others more effectively”
“I think because of the combination of solution focused training and my meditation practices, I had the confidence to say to the children in the prison I was working in; ‘If I were to be really useful for you over the next 2 months, what would I do? What would that look like?’ And they said that they wanted to learn history and they wanted to learn about politics and that they needed to learn to be safe around drugs...and so my work and my hobby combined meant that I could travel and learn and grow in a way that was really clear”
“It’s actually always a good start to use some solution focused questions if you’re looking to get into something like meditation, or any hobby really. In a perfect world, if there were no ifs or buts or shoulds and there were no limits, what would I do more of? What do I enjoy?”
Like many advocates of a hobby-rich lifestyle, Naomi is quick to stress the importance of hobbies and the benefits they can have on our lives in therms of enrichment and fulfillment.
“I think that most hobbies, be that running, meditation, bungee jumping - whatever they are, if they give you that creative, meditative space, that escapism from a normal pattern of thinking and doing, it means that you can be more emphatic, more creative and innovative in every other aspect of you life and more capable because you always know that you always have something for yourself that you can retreat to”.
Meditation, specifically, is a hobby that has the power to boost mental wellbeing and overall health. The idea and practice of meditation has been growing in recent years, and Naomi has some ideas so to why. “Meditation enables you to protect some time for yourself. It allows you to visualise every aspect of your mind and body being as well as it possible can be, and connect to your unique qualities”, she says. “The clarity that if offers you also means that afterwards, you naturally want to go and do things that are more healthy - you want to go jogging or do yoga - you have more of a laugh with friends because you’re more present. When I was attuned into the practice by a Reiki practitioner, I remember seeing a butterfly with transparent wings and being blown away because I had never seen nature that way. It was like being in the middle of a David Attenbrough documentary! It makes you feel so much more grateful for everything around you. Also, in my work, whether I’m doing coaching or therapy, the more present I am, the more engaging and thoughtful and creative the session will be”
So what advice would Naomi give to anyone looking for a new hobby? It seems that her approach to life can be applied to this question, to. “It’s actually always a good start to use some solution focused questions if you’re looking to get into something like meditation, or any hobby really”, Naomi laughs. “In a perfect world, if there were no ifs or buts or shoulds and there were no limits, what would I do more of? What do I enjoy? What am I good at? What would I do if I could do anything? Even though it might seem far fetched at first - like wanting to fly a plane for example - just ask yourself one more question...what difference would it make to my life if I could do that thing? Suddenly, the smaller changes, which are what we are often really searching for, become more apparent. You will notice a lot of other hobbies or solutions that will give you the life changes that you are looking for”
For more information about Naomi and her Solution Focused Therapy Practice, please visit her Facebook page here.
Want to learn more about Reiki Meditation? You can do so here.
Live locally and want to give guided meditation a try? The Sheffield Buddhist Centre offer introductory courses throughout the year! You can find them here.