Finding Quiet was founded by Ciara McGinley (pronounced Keira), in 2021. Combining traditional meditation practices and mindfulness techniques to help make mindful living in this noisy, modern world accessible and realistic. Ciara found that her hectic life as a Beauty and Wellbeing Journalist needed the balance of Meditation and Mindfullness venture Findingquiet.co.uk In today's episode Marie and Ciara talk about the importance of introducing daily techniques to quieten the mind and restore balance.
Marie gives an insight into understanding with vibrations and frequencies matter when it comes to your skin and wellbeing. She takes you on a journey of how the environment we surround ourselves in and the people we associate with can impact our mood and health.
Finding Quiet was founded by Ciara McGinley (pronounced Keira), in 2021. Combining traditional meditation practices and mindfulness techniques to help make mindful living in this noisy, modern world accessible and realistic. Ciara found that her hectic life as a Beauty and Wellbeing Journalist needed the balance of Meditation and Mindfullness venture Findingquiet.co.uk In today's episode Marie and Ciara talk about the importance of introducing daily techniques to quieten the mind and restore balance.
Marie gives an insight into understanding with vibrations and frequencies matter when it comes to your skin and wellbeing. She takes you on a journey of how the environment we surround ourselves in and the people we associate with can impact our mood and health.
Today I'm with the beautiful kira McGinley. So Kira's a journalist and, I understand from all of the hustle and bustle of all what you do, you wanted to go and pursue your passion for meditation. And from that, your website Finding Quiet was born. So if you just want to introduce yourself and tell us a little about what you do, and then we can go into why you chose to go into meditation. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, as you said, I'm still working as a freelance health and wellbeing journalist. but a few years ago I decided that I wanted to study to be a meditation teacher cause it's had such a huge impact on my life. And that's when Finding Quiet was born. And just earlier this year, I left kind of the industry full-time and decided to do the. The freelancer, so that I could continue to grow as a teacher and also grow finding quiet and bring kind of more day retreats and more courses and more events with that side of what I do. Cause I am so passionate about it. Oh, that's fantastic. Especially as a journalist and also in the health and beauty realm or even the wellbeing realm, there is such pressure, isn't there? Within that, behind the scenes there's such pressure. There's deadlines, there's content that you have to find. So what was the reason that brought you to meditation? My kind of meditation and mindfulness journey started when I was at university. And to be honest, it was really just for some kind of relief from exam stress to be able to relax, to be able to sleep better. But it wasn't really until a few years later that I realized how much of an impact it had had on my life. And I think that really is just testament to the practice. If you. even just do 10 minutes every single day and keep it in your routine and build that habit. You'll initially, get those benefits of feeling calmer and feel more relaxed and sleeping better, but over time it can have such a shift. It can make such a difference, to your life. And I, went from this very like, highly strong anxious state. Feeling really calm and resilient and knowing that no matter what challenge came my way, I felt like I could take it on because I had this whole new perspective, and I had these new little techniques in my life that really helped me to regulate my breath, regulate my nervous system. And as you said, being a journalist, it's a very intense industry there. I also work in digital, so it's constant deadlines all day, every day. There's so much going on. There's so many, events, so much networking. It is just, a really intense job. It's an absolutely wonderful job, and I've had. The best time doing it over the last five years. It's such a brilliant industry to be in, but it is very intense. And so I really credited my meditation practice to help me find that little bit of quiet in all that chaos and be able to tap into that inner sense of stillness that I'd been able to develop throughout my practice. And that really kept me sane in the last five years. Um, it's just something that I then wanted to share with other people and help other people find that little bit of quiet and that's where fine and quiet came from. And, everything that I do there know is very much to help kind of really busy city dwellers be able to get that sense of stillness and find that little bit of quiet in all the chaos cuz it's pretty intense when you work in a. City, a very busy city like London, and also in, a really intense job. And I think a lot of people are in the same position and just want something that they can turn to, to kind of help them, relax and, have a bit more perspective and be a little bit more present in their life. Yeah, absolutely. I think as well, we are hardwired from children to, automatically rush. As soon as you wake up, rush, get out of bed, go to the shower, and you can actually have some little tiny tips just to quiet and then slow down. So it's all about Rewiring these hardwired behaviors. And just doing this repetitive every day because I think a lot of people think, oh my God, I haven't got time to sit there. And I always say some clients. Actually go through the motions of doing mindfulness meditation, but they don't receive this. The analytical mind. Mm-hmm. So how would you maybe advise somebody if they can't find that they can sit and do a meditation, if they find that their mind's always racing, what would you advise So I think that there's, there's kind of a lot of misconceptions around what meditation is and what you should get out of it, and I think a lot of people expect that their mind is just gonna. Go quiet, they're not gonna have any thoughts. when really in reality, it's about, yes, it's about slowing the kind of chatter of the mind, but it's also just about becoming aware of your thoughts and your feelings and the sensations in your body and your kind of internal world and external world, and just becoming aware of them and not having any judgment for them. There are days where I will sit down to melody it and my mind will be going a hundred miles an hour and I'll be thinking about massive to-do list and all things I need to do this evening and what I need to do tomorrow. And. On those days, it would be very easy for me to say, oh, you know, I just can't meditate today and I've failed. But in reality, that is when you're actually putting what you've been training your mind to do what you've been doing in your practice, that's when you're putting it into action and you're just absorbing those thoughts and those feelings without judgment. And I think for, for people who are really busy, it could be as simple as five minutes on your morning. To do a breathing exercise. I have a lot of clients who do live in London and have very busy lives and are juggling work and family. And if you can just carve out five minutes on the tube in the morning or on the train just to regulate your breath, do a really simple breathing exercise, and you'll feel so much calmer and so much more, ready to take on the day by just having that little bit of time for yourself. Yeah, and I think it's important as well to say, I've been doing this like for many years and I still have moments. You know, someone barges passing on the chair, but I still, you know, get annoyed and I'm like, oh gosh. It just, everyone's rushing around and like, people are, they're still really irritating and, and it can make you feel, just a bit riled off and a bit, a bit annoyed, but. Yeah, absolutely. But having those little techniques is really small, simple things that you can do just to bring you back into the present moment, to regulate the breath, to help you feel calm is so important. And if you can just, sprinkle them throughout your day. Yeah, that's, I think, makes a huge difference. I think that's a really good tip because, if people feel overwhelmed and overloaded, it's not about adding extra things in. It's about managing what you are doing and implementing what you are doing in a different way. So, even when you are eating, just being mindful what you're eating is. Slowing down your chewing and looking at what's on your plate, so tell me how you started and why you started finding. So I did my training in 2020 when I had a little bit more time on my hands as we all kind of did. And I did my training with the British School of Meditation, and I feel like that even Made the practice so much more special and so much more,, a part of my life was doing that training and same ways I could, introduce meditation and mindfulness techniques to other people. And so the following year after I did my qualification and graduated there, I, set up finding quiet. And on that platform I. work with clients on a one-to-one basis virtually and in London. But I also support wellness studios and yoga studios and venues with hosting workshops and day retreats all around meditation, mindfulness and breath work. And that's been a really and experience cuz as much as I, do a lot on my computer and I do a lot of virtual. I've actually been able to get out there and to meet people in person and to share, mindfulness, and meditation practices with them is, is so brilliant. And it's just been, a brilliant experience and I've only been doing it full-time since the start of this year. Because I was previously full-time in media before that. Yeah. It's been brilliant. And really what we focus on in kind of all of my classes and my workshops and my retreats is how we can use meditation and mindfulness to manage stress, to sleep better and to boost resilience and, to help you find that inner sense of calm within you that allows you to take on any challenge that that comes your. Because especially from, the point of view of lockdown and what we've just been through with the pandemic, there was ever such a lot of fear, especially with what we were looking at on the news and a lot of anxiety and stress. So are there any particular, tips or techniques that you would advise somebody if they do suffer from this feeling of being overwhelmed? Yeah, so, so when we're kind of feeling in that really overwhelmed and anxious state, we're in our kind of fight and flight response in the nervous system. So we wanna try and neutralize that response, and get into our rest and digest and kickstart our parasympathetic nervous system, which is our rest and digest response. And when we do that, we're lowering our heart rate, we're lowering our breathing rates, we're improving our overall bodily functions, improving digestion. So the way that we can get into that state is by doing little breathing exercises that have a, a longer extended axial cause that stimulates the nerve that signals to our body that it's time to go into that rest and digest response. So a really easy one that I always suggest for beginners is the box breathing technique, which is really, really popular. it's easy to do alone and it's an easy one to remember. And essentially it's you just imagine a box or a square in your. And as you imagine one side of the box, you inhale for four, as you imagine the top of the box you hold for four. As you imagine the other side of the box, you exhale for four. And as you imagine the bottom of the box you hold for four. And that just really helps to regulate the breath and to lower the heart rate and lower your breathing rate. And I'd say do that little technique maybe two or three times. And once you feel comfortable with that exercise, you could move on to. 4, 7, 8 technique, which is inhaling for a count of four, holding for seven and exhaling for a count of eight. And you would normally do that little breathing sequence like maybe three or four times. and that's just a really nice way to, to regulate the breath, and to bring into the present moment to bring back into your body and outta the chatter and the chaos that might be in your. Because breathing is a huge part of wellbeing, isn't it? Breathing is, obviously it's crucial to life. We all need breath, but how you breathe, shallow breathing and from the opposite, part of the, chest tends to not allow your lungs to utilize that for oxygen. So, breathing techniques are so important and everybody can do them. So you also do individual meditation classes? You do that virtually, don't you? Or do you do it one to one? So I do, individual, client classes, virtually and also in London, in a studio. So that's really good for people who want like a bespoke, meditation course. I know that there are so many meditation recordings out there and I have ones on Instagram and there's so much on YouTube and Until you have that one-on-one bespoke support, it can be really difficult to get your mind around the concept of what you're actually doing while you're doing it. And so it kind of provides a bit more context, and can really support your individual needs and mm-hmm. Maybe what you wanna get out of your process. if you can go to a class in person, cuz we're so. Wrapped up in this digital age, mm-hmm. Everything is online, everything is virtual. Whereas if you, have that class where you're actually with somebody, it's much more personable, it's much more relatable. What about, corporate wellbeing classes? So this is where you're going into businesses, Yeah, so working with businesses feels like a very full circle moment for me cuz I've certainly been to many kind of corporate wellbeing sessions myself as an employee. So it's really rewarding to be able to take what I do into businesses because it is very much, catered towards the kind of busy city dwell or whose balancing life and social life and work and family and all of that. And so taken. The meditation workshops and the mindfulness sessions into businesses has been, been brilliant, and given me a chance to share it with even more people who are maybe aren't necessarily in my, close circle in that work. Yeah. Oh, that's fantastic. And, you actually do courses as well Yeah, so courses, are very much catered to maybe a specific major, a specific, um, challenge. So if you're struggling with stress, maybe a meditation course around stress could be really helpful. Sleep is a really big one. Yeah. If wanna come across a lot and it's so important sleep as well for mental health and overall health Yeah. And what people don't realize. Kind of initially is how much everything that you do from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed could impact your sleep. And how to have really good sleep hygiene. You have to go back as far as what you do first thing in the morning and when you get liked first thing in the morning. and as a journalist, I've written a lot about the topic of sleep and learned a lot. So it's just a really interesting Topic for me and something that I find absolutely fascinating. So being able to create courses around sleep and bring in, clients techniques that can help them sleep better, that they can do in the morning to prep them for the day, but then that they can also do before bed to relax a body in the mind because,, there's so much research into this area, and very much all that I teach is led by this scientific research in the area and what we can see. When we meditate, the brain waves that we have very much mimic the brain waves, that we'll see in the early stages of sleep. So to be able to kind of bring you techniques that can help you get into that relaxed day before bed,, has been brilliant and really great to see some amazing results from clients who have really struggled with their sleep. If you have somebody that is, non-responsive to meditation, how would you convince these clients if they said, oh, you know, meditation isn't for me. I've tried it and, I can't sit still for five minutes, and that's definitely something that I hear a lot is, just not for me. I can't do it. I've tried it, I've done this technique, I've done that technique, and it just doesn't work for me. You need to find a meditation or a mindfulness technique that works for you. So meditation is very much like a formal practice. It requires focus, it requires attention, and it's you're training in your mind,, to bring yourself into the present moment by focusing on an anchor, which could be a visualization, a sensation, a mantra. An affirmation or your breath, whereas mindfulness is very much like a sense of awareness and it comes from paying attention to those things like the thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body, in the world around you as well. Yeah. So while meditation requires you to really not necessarily sit down, but to, take that time to have that focus and that attention and do a visualization practice or do your body scan. Mindful, this techniques can be kind of done anytime and anywhere, and you don't necessarily have to meditate to be mindful. You know, you mentioned there's like mindful eating, mindful drawing, there's loads of other mindful walk-in, there's loads of other ways that you can bring a little bit of mindfulness into your day. Mm-hmm. So if the meditation practice feels like a bit of a block for you at the moment and a challenge, and it's something that you really struggle to do, Try and implement some mindfulness techniques into your day instead, and that could literally just be every time you open your email, take a moment to do. Deep breaths, inhaling through the nose, A through the mic. And then over time you might find such a benefit and you will find such a benefit from doing those techniques that you might want a bit of a longer practice. You might want some more guidance, you might wanna experiment with mantras, affirmations, and visualizations. So just start small. And it can literally be like five or 10 minutes. I'm never gonna ask. To wake up at 5:00 AM to meditate before their commuter, before they start their day. I think it is about finding a way to bring the practice and bring those techniques into your everyday life, and that's what's sustainable as well. If you have to, wake up at 5:00 AM to do a 20 minute meditation before you have to start to get ready for work, get your kids ready for school, get out the door, commute. You're not gonna be able to do that. It's not sustainable. So just find little techniques that you can connect with and that you can implement into your everyday life. and they can be super small. If people want to, embark on your meditation courses, where do they find you? Where can they reach out to you? So you can find all the information on my website, which is Finding Quiet dot Code uk and I'm also on Instagram at Finding Quiet. I share a weekly newsletter as well, which I also have all the details on my kind of upcoming courses, ways that you can work with me. The workshops I have come up this summer and the day retreats as well. So all of that is on the website. Fantastic. And what workshops have you got coming up? So I've just announced, a workshop with a really beautiful, studio in Parsons Green in southwest London called Resilience Zone. Yep. And, I've worked with them before on sleep retreats, so I'm really excited to be working with them again. And that is a workshop on how mindfulness is a tool for managing stress and boosting resilience, which is very much my area that I love to talk about and that I've really, felt the benefit of, in my life. So yeah, that's in July. If anyone wants to come along, please let me know and I can send you all the. Fantastic. So yep. If you want to find out more about Kira's, finding Quiet Practice and her workshops and her courses, then make sure that you hop on to finding quiet.co.uk and all of her socials are on there as well, Well, Kira, it's been lovely talking to you. Thank you so much for popping on. And it's really important to understand that just tiny little techniques implemented throughout your day really does make a difference. It's all about, Changing that hardwired behavior into something that you can implement quite easily. it's been lovely speaking to you and thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for having me, Marie. You are more than welcome.
