Be Boujee Be True Be You

Grief can effect us in so many different ways and sometimes, the wide range of different emotions can have a big impact on our mental health.

David has struggled with depression anxiety and suicidal ideation for most of his life and his battles with mental illness began at six years old.

He was relentlessly bullied throughout primary and secondary school and suffered a double bereavement when he was 25 years old, losing both his parents within a year of each other.

His constant battles with depression and anxiety fuelled his quest to find daily coping mechanisms and strategies to combat his mental illness.

He subsequently became a private counsellor specialising in bereavement, depression and anxiety and he currently counsels clients over zoom and face-to-face.

David is passionate about sharing physical and cognitive techniques to deal with mental illness and launched an online video course called Depression A New Hope. He also has a guided meditation podcast. The website is healyourgrief.co.uk

Instagram:
@healyourgrief
@charlottejonespresents

"Knowing when to pick your battles" is such a common phrase that we can hear in most areas of our lives.
I always used to see this as a way of avoiding dealing with difficult situations or not having the awkward conversation. However, over the last two years or so I feel there is more to this saying than I initially thought.

I would love to know your thoughts.

Instagram - @charlottejonespresents

Going through a divorce is such a huge life change and it can often feel turbulent and traumatic.

After going through such a heartbreaking time, the idea of dating can seem extremely daunting.

I had such a lovely and interesting conversation with matchmaker Hayley Bystram, who shared how she helps her clients who are wanting to start dating after divorce.

Hayley Bystram is Managing Director and Founder of Bowes-Lyon Partnership, a high-end matchmaking agency with offices in Mayfair and Surrey. Previously Hayley worked as a wedding planner helping high-profile couples plan their big day. Now, as a leading dating and relationship expert, Hayley specialises in bringing together eligible and accomplished individuals, who are looking for a committed and meaningful relationship. Founded in 2009, the agency works with clientele from the age of 30 to 75 and has helped to create many long-term relationships, marriages and even families.

Where you can find Hayley:

* Website - https://bowes-lyonpartnership.co.uk/
* Instagram - @boweslyonpartnership

In the age of social media, comparing our lives to pretty much  everything can almost feel impossible to avoid at times, especially when it comes to our romantic relationships.

Although we know comparison is usually never helpful, in this episode I share my thoughts on both the positives and the negatives of comparing  your romantic relationship.

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents

This is not the first time I have covered gaslighting and manipulation in this series of 'Be Boujee Be True Be You' however, I feel that the perspective this episode gives is such an important one, and a perspective you don't often hear about.

Oscar Cuthbert experienced a traumatic and devastating relationship with his long term friend and ex partner which he is still dealing with today.

In this episode, Oscar explains in detail how his ex partner had been affected by years of abuse, manipulation and gaslighting, how it impacted him and their relationship and what the consequences of this were.

Oscar also shares what has helped him to get his heal from his ordeal and what to look out for in this kind of situation.

You can find Oscar here:
- Instagram: @ozzyc1987
- Facebook: facebook.com/OscarCuthbertVoiceOverArtist


Instagram: @charlottejonespresents

Going through a breakup is one of the most upsetting things we can experience in life and no matter how calm we try to keep things, with emotions running so high, breakups can take an upsetting turn.

In this episode I share different examples of practices that can help you navigate your way through a bad breakup.

No matter how hard a breakup can feel there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents

Rejection is something that can highly impact the important decisions we make in almost every area of our lives.
In this episode, I spoke with Intimacy & Relationship Expert Nora Wendel, who opened up about her own experiences with rejection and about how she created a whole new relationship with the feeling of rejection.
We discussed the different reasons why fear of rejection can come about and the ways we can   work with this fear, to stop it impacting the important decisions we need to make in our lives when it comes to our relationships.

Instagram:
@norawendel
@charlottejonespresents

Last week I went on my first single girls holiday... ever!

I spend a lovely week in Ibiza with one of my best friends and while we were away, we both realised this is the first time we have both been away single together (and we have been on plenty of holidays and trips over the years).

This really got me thinking about what I used to think a "single girls holiday" meant and what you were supposed to do, compared to how I actually see them now.

It was one of the best holidays I have ever had...

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents 

We  communicate with others as much as we breathe which is why so often, we don't give it a second thought.

How we communicate with others is crucial if we want to have positive, passionate and good relationships in our lives.

Nicky Perfect is a qualified coach and trainer who has over a decade of experience coaching executive level leaders, corporations and one to one clients in behavior change. She is a trainer specialising in negotiation and communication after working as an International Hostage and Crisis Negotiator for over a decade.

 For 31 years Nicky worked for the Metropolitan Police Service, where she served in a number of roles across London including as a specialist Public Order Officer and an

Inspector on the Armed Response Unit, where she was the first female Inspector externally recruited into this role in the UK and one of only 7 women on a unit of over 450 personnel. 

Through this experience Nicky is an expert when it comes to communication and in this episode we discussed why communication can be so difficult with those closest to us, what tips we can add to our day to day life to enhance our communication and what is so important to remember when it comes to difficult and emotional conversations.

If you would like to find out more about Nicky, please see below:

Website: https://www.thecommunicationcoach.co.uk
Instagram: @nickycommscoach

My instagram: @charlottejonespresents

It has been a running joke between my friends and I that I am "too honest", which in the past could have lead me to oversharing amongst other things.

In this episode, I discuss why I think I can be too honest, what does it really mean and are there ever situations where it is ok to tell a cheeky white lie? 

I would love to know your thoughts! Message me on instagram @charlottejonespresents.

We are learning more and more about what it means as a woman to truly connect to your confidence and your inner self and Courtney Tillia is a lady who has not only done this herself, but she teaches women all over the world how to live your best life by tuning into your feminine power.

I learned so much from my conversation with Courtney, and I think you will be able to hear throughout the episode just how much she inspired me.

We discussed how Courtney grew into her confidence, how she created her dream life with complete freedom, how this has strengthened her relationship with her husband Nick and what three things she does to connect to her ultimate feminine, goddess side.

Coutney's website: https://www.courtneytillia.com

Courtney's Instagram: @courtneytillia

One of the most important and valuable lessons I have learned over the last two and a half years is how to not only connect to, but listen and act on my intuition.

At the end of 2018, my marriage hit a huge road block and I always remember describing myself as like a deer in the headlights, something hitting me hard out of the blue, which sent me into a kind of shock and rather than dealing with it, I just froze.

I remember feeling so helpless and having no idea what I wanted, or which next step to take.

I reached out to Persia on Instagram and worked with her 1-2-1 for two months and in that time, my whole understanding around dating, love and relationships changed for the better.

In this episode, we discuss what our intuition actually is, how to connect with it and how to tell the difference between our fears, insecurities, anxieties and our intuition, which means we can live the life we truly want to live and stop letting our fears make our decisions for us.

Persia's new book 'Love is Coming: How To Find Real Love in a Superficial World' is being released in July 2021 but you can now have a sneak peak and read the introduction for FREE over at www.persialawson.com/love-is-coming-book-waitlist (which I highly recommend!).

Where you can find Persia:
*Instagram: @persialawson
*Website: https://www.persialawson.com

If you have any questions on this episode, my instagram is @charlottejonespresents.

Enjoy!

When it comes to making a mistake, no matter how big or small, I feel we are so conditioned to believe that making the mistake is the worst thing that we can do, but what has become apparent recently is, how the mistake is handled by the person that made it is actually SO much more important for so many reasons.

We are all human and we are all going to make a mistake of some kind throughout our life (I know I have), but the longer we try and hide our mistakes and cover them up, the more damage this can create long term.

I would love to know your thoughts on how you feel it is best to deal with a mistake of any kind. My instagram is @charlottejonespresents.

Following on from last week's episode around how women's anger is generally perceived, gaslighting and how important it is to have these conversations, I invited Georgia Holliday to come and have a conversation with me to gain a wider perspective. 

Georgia is a Self-Worth + Confidence Coach who is not afraid to be open and discuss her views.

Georgia really opened my eyes to the way both men and women have been conditioned to perceive anger and how dangerous gaslighting can be, even when it starts as something that appears so small.

Georgia's Instagram: @georgiaholliday_

Georgia's Website: www.georgiaholliday.co.uk

Last night I was watching through Instagram stories, when I came across my friend Georgia Holliday's post, which was an extract from a book "Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger", by Soraya Chemaly.

Although it was only a page, it resonated with me so much that I decided to delay today's planned episode for another day, and record an episode around this while it was fresh in my mind.

So often, women's anger is portrayed in a variety of ways that makes us feel we don't need to take it seriously or look deeper to see what is really going on.

In this episode, I discuss women's anger, how gaslighting can be a big part of this and just how dangerous gas lighting can be and how we could try and turn this into a force for good.

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents

WARNING: DISCUSSION ABOUT MISCARRIAGE.

Shelley Wilson is a midwife with a lot of strings to her bow,  so much so she now runs her own business Baybee Beginnings, which offers a variety of services for expectant mum's to be. 

Although I have never been pregnant, I am now at an age when pregnancy is all around me, but the subject of miscarriage (for obvious reasons) seems so hard to talk about.

Shelley gives an insight into what she has experienced working with mothers who have suffered the tragedy of a miscarriage, ways that we can help to support both the mother and partner and why she feels it is so important to have open conversations about miscarriage.

If you would like to know more about Shelley please see the following links below: 

Instagram: @baybeebeginnings

Website: https://www.baybeebeginnings.com/



My instagram: @charlottejonespresents

Setting boundaries can be such a hard thing to do, especially when sometimes we don't even realise we need to set them in the first place!

This episode discusses when the time has come to set a boundary, what I use to help me put boundaries in place with both myself and others and why I feel it is SO important that we set boundaries throughout our lifetime.

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents

WARNING: This episode contains strong themes of rape and sexual assault. 

In England in March 2021, we learned the awful news of the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard.

This heartbreaking news triggered a nationwide protest into women's safety and opened up conversations about what more can be done, it also lead to a lot of women sharing stories over social media about abuse and attacks they have been through personally.

Aimee Jackson was one of the very brave women that came forward and admitted on her personal platform that she had been raped.

In this episode Aimee and I opened up in a very raw and real way, sharing our own experiences and what we think can be done to help move this area of life move forward in a positive way.

If you have been affected by any stories that have been shared, please feel free to message Aimee or I on instagram:

@agjx
@charlottejonespresents

Please know that if something has ever happened to you, you are not alone.



 

There are so many ways that we communicate with each other and unfortunately not a lot of them are actually helpful when it comes to having our wants and needs heard or resolving conflict.

In this episode I discuss the various forms of negative communication and although we know the basics of how to communicate positively, why is it so hard for us to do it?

Instagram: @charlottejonespresents 

Mike Bernhardt is a writer and poet based in California who wrote poetry to deal with the death of his first wife almost thirty years ago.

The term 'grief' has been given a whole new meaning over the last year because not only have we lost loved ones to this horrible disease, but we have also had to grieve for a way of life that for the time being, we are no longer able to live.

Mike opens up about how coping with his grief using this creative outlet helped him to process and overcome many difficult emotions.

"Voices of the Grieving Heart", a book filled with poetry and artwork from contributors all around the work and put together by Mike himself, has been re-released this month, to help people deal with the grief that surrounds the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mike's website: www.mikebernhardt.net

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Voices-Grieving-Heart-Mike-Bernhardt/dp/0964281015/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Voices+of+the+grieving+heart&qid=1617795011&sr=8-1