A name is ‘a word or words that a particular person, animal, place or thing is known by’ (Oxford Dictionary). A name helps us to form part of our identity, who we are or what we represent. We hold so much meaning behind a name and on some occasions, it can be even something that we hide behind.
Several years ago now, after deciding to leave my full-time career as a school teacher due to stress, anxiety and generally feeling quite ‘lost’, I made the decision to retrain in ‘mindfulness’. Mindfulness had become something that I truly believe found me when I was at a point of needing something to get me through the tough times. I didn’t go searching for mindfulness, but in a strange way it seemed to show up at just the right time in just the right way. I quickly learned how profound mindfulness and meditation can be once you commit to it, and for me it really did flip my world upside down.
I now realised that I didn’t need to fill all my time working in order to feel like I was being ‘productive’ or making an impact.
I realised that I had far more control over my mental state and experience in life that I’d been giving myself credit for.
I suddenly knew that my internal experience was being generated moment to moment to moment within me, and those moments could either be spent in my own thoughts, doubts and ‘cloudy’ mind, or experienced in a rich, vibrant way that would enable me to actually LIVE those moments, truly observing and truly present.
Mindfulness is “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally”. – Jon Kabat-Zinn
In a nutshell, mindfulness allowed me to see my world in a different way than I had ever seen it before… now it appeared before my eyes in full-colour HD in all its beauty and vibrant energy!
This new way of ‘seeing’ and experiencing changed my whole outlook. I started to ‘see the world in colour again’… and so my new business venture name was born… ‘Colour Your World- Mindfulness and Wellbeing’.
Colour Your World meant so much to me, and still does. It speaks to my experience of when I first discovered that it was possible to live life in a richer, gentler, more compassionate way. My world was well and truly coloured-in using the most beautiful paints – and so from that place my business was born.
Over the last several years, I have proudly delivered countless mindfulness and meditation sessions, worked closely with schools to support children and teachers, created programmes for children and parents, supported within the corporate world, collaborated with incredible people, companies and organisations, appeared on many podcasts and in magazines and I’m now part of the UK College of Mindfulness Meditation’s training team. It has been a whirlwind – but in the most amazing way.
However, over the last few months I’ve had the time and space to really dive into my business and the name that I chose. Whilst this name speaks to me and I love to tell the story of how my world was filled with colour when I started to feel the benefits of mindfulness and meditation, from an outside perspective looking in, it didn’t really say much about who I am, what I represent, what I do and how I help people to make shifts and transformations in their lives.
And then I realised- these three little words, ‘Colour Your World’, were my safety net, my wall, my protection. If I could hide behind these words it wouldn’t really be ‘me’, it would be a company that people would see first- and that felt a little safer at the time.
Now I am ready to step forward more boldly in the world and say, ‘I am Rachel- the work that I do helps to bring about transformational change to those who I work with’, and I’m so very proud of that!
What’s in a name? It forms a part of who we are, our identity. It is not the whole picture, and we can certainly hide behind it at times if we choose to, but we can also decide to step forward as exactly who we are. I’m unapologetically ‘me’, ready to continue to serve in an impactful way with love, compassion and kindness.
I am Rachel Ashcroft, welcome to my re-branded business, ‘Rachel McKenna Mindfulness’.
Do feel free to come and say hello and I’ll put the kettle on.
