Category: HEALTH & WELL-BEING

Letter to My Body

Dear Body,

We have had 33 years together so far and I really just want to take the time to appreciate and thank you for everything you have done for me… despite my frustration with you in those times where you are not ‘complying’ with my wishes. I am really beginning to understand that you are helping me, getting my attention to let me know that the way I am living isn’t our natural way.

You have constantly communicated to me when things are not going so well and need to be looked at and have equally told me when I am on the right track. I must apologise for all the times I don’t listen to you when you are trying to get my attention: this must be hard work so I appreciate your patience and unwavering support. Continue reading “Letter to My Body” →

Communicating with Whole Body Intelligence

Our body shares so much with us and is so intelligent, but how do we make contact with its communication again? Why do we avoid all the signals that it sends, and how do we recognise or feel those signals?

Babies and little children are pure and honest and they show us clearly what their body communicates. Gradually this changes because she/he is imposed upon by the outside world: what can and what cannot be expressed, what is allowed, what is not allowed, how to behave, dress, etc.

Such outside influences made me uncertain when I was a little child and I didn’t know anymore who I was and what I felt. Of course my body sent me all kind of signals, but those were usually avoided, and not recognised. Continue reading “Communicating with Whole Body Intelligence” →

My Relationship with Writing

Ever felt that it has been hard to sit down and write something that you feel within to express, but the actual writing process (whether it be by pen or keyboard) leaves you feeling agitated and stressed?

This has been my recent experience – feeling a strong impulse and beautiful expression within me to be shared, yet once sitting at the table or desk to commence writing I quickly observed that my shoulders were tight, my hands were hard and I was caught in a drive to get it done that did not feel very nice. To make things worse, because I so desperately wanted the words and process to flow, I judged myself harshly and this left me feeling deflated and exhausted! Continue reading “My Relationship with Writing” →

Breakdown or Breakthrough?

In a world obsessed with the pursuit of happiness – an ever-elusive destination we live in a constant search of, but never seem to arrive at – having feelings that your life is moving in the opposite direction can be a very scary prospect. But is there something very necessary, honest and real about going through an apparent breakdown that could actually be an opportunity for a breakthrough?

Learning to cope, to be resilient and ‘keep it all together,’ are skills we’re taught to develop as children, with boys in particular feeling the pressure to ‘toughen up’ and ‘soldier on.’ Whilst these can appear like they’re serving us in the world and bringing the acceptance we’re desperately seeking, could this lack of expression actually be holding us in a prison of suffering, when being vulnerable could be the key to emotional freedom? Continue reading “Breakdown or Breakthrough?” →

Girls and Contact Sports: What are We not Discussing?

Recently a wave of excitement rippled through many of the 9 to 12-year-old girls at the Primary School where I work. The girls were presented with the opportunity of participating in an exclusively all girl AFL* training programme during their lunch breaks – the latest example of the way in which girls are mixing it with the boys and claiming their apparent gender ‘equality.’

I could share neither in their excitement, nor in the vaunted claims of this being another positive step towards gender equity in sport. Rather, this for me marked a backward step.

Girls are now raised and educated to compete with the boys, and in this are laying down a foundation for a possible lifetime of competing with men on the terms dictated by a society that drives girls to toughen up and harden their bodies in exactly the same way as boys are exhorted to do – to the absolute detriment of their own emerging femininity. Continue reading “Girls and Contact Sports: What are We not Discussing?” →

Cleaning Up My Mess – True Self Care or Keeping Up Appearances?

I’m sure most people would list living in a clean and orderly environment as being high on their list of self-care priorities. After all, living in a messy environment is not nurturing or supportive for anyone. For quite some time now I’ve been pondering whether the way I clean my surroundings is truly caring and supportive, or pure function carried out only for the sake of keeping up appearances.

When I create mess and disorganisation, I know it is a reflection of the relationship I have with life and the relationship I have with myself. At times I have found myself heaping harsh judgement on others when I clock the mess they live in, and I’ve certainly harshly judged myself too. Continue reading “Cleaning Up My Mess – True Self Care or Keeping Up Appearances?” →