Category: – Anxiety, Depression & Stress

Bringing the Quality of Love into Cleaning

My background has been in the Hospitality and Hotel Accommodation Industry working as a Hotel Executive Housekeeper, in Interior design, Managing and Building hotels, and as a professional House Cleaner, cleaning homes. The quality of cleaning I would offer was always very high, but nevertheless there was something missing.

In my experience working as an Executive Housekeeper, I was always feeling pressured for time. With every task that I did I had a very high expectation of myself and others. Continue reading “Bringing the Quality of Love into Cleaning” →

Learning About Feeling Confident in my Expression Through heART

by Amber Goodwin, Merchandiser, Goonellabah, Australia

When I was little I was always freely expressing, I loved to make sounds and tones, and sing. I loved to move my body, music or no music, I loved to play and make things with not a thought on ‘how it would turn out’… my heart had something it was feeling confident to express and I loved this feeling.

However, after a few knocks here and there I began to believe the harsh rules, conditions, expectations and beliefs that were placed on me and I began to squash my own expression so as to not upset anyone else … and in doing so I have held my natural expression back, which has felt crippling for me ever since. Continue reading “Learning About Feeling Confident in my Expression Through heART” →

Bringing Self-care to Dentistry: 7 Steps to Returning to Love

by Dr Rachel Mascord BDS, Sydney 

As a student dentist I geared myself up with hope that upon final graduation I would become confident and secure within myself. I believed that success and ease would be the natural outcomes of all the hard work I’d done. I had achieved great success as a student by pushing and driving myself: what I did not grasp was that my developed patterns of self-neglect and anxious drive had become an entrenched and normal way of operating.

The picture of ‘perfection’ I had formulated was so narrow it would hurt me for many years to come. I made life about getting everything ‘right’. Without that, I did not feel like a worthy member of the profession, or indeed a worthy human being.

My picture of a ‘life of success’ did not eventuate, and every day at work was in the dullness of just getting by and coping with the fear that I never felt ‘good enough’. I existed in this state for 17 years… Continue reading “Bringing Self-care to Dentistry: 7 Steps to Returning to Love” →

Settled

by Dr Rachel Hall, Holistic Dentist, Brisbane

No matter what I was doing, be it working, reading, walking, swimming, resting, chatting with friends or trying to get to sleep, my body always felt agitated or shaky and my mind would be in a whirl, spinning with constant chatter.

I never felt at rest, there was always a tension and a sense of having to get on with the next thing. That there was more to do, better things to achieve, one more hurdle, goal or milestone to hit and then I could rest, be at ease and achieve a sense of completion. But when I reached that goal there was another and another and another to strive for. My restlessness built and built until my body felt wired and my mind could hold several conversations simultaneously without my being even really involved in them. Continue reading “Settled” →

Stress & Work: Learning to Trust Myself As a Woman

by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia

Lately, as I’ve been reflecting on my motives for choosing the roles I’ve had throughout my working life, I’ve realised these had little to do with the real me, and everything to do with mind-created ideals and beliefs. I’ve also examined my propensity to choose industries and jobs that have been challenging to the point of debilitation, with no consideration for myself… again the result of the ideals and beliefs I held.

But the revelations haven’t stopped there: in the course of my explorations, I’ve come to see there is a third, equally important element to consider in the work equation: how I’ve gone about the business of work itself. Continue reading “Stress & Work: Learning to Trust Myself As a Woman” →

Celebrity Chef or Self-Loving Chef: Where is the Love in the Work that We Do?

by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia

For six or so years, across the mid 1980s to the mid 90s, I trained and worked as a chef. One thing I’ll never forget is my first day in a commercial kitchen. I was completely overwhelmed – by the sharp banter of the staff as they prepared for the busy weekend ahead, by the controlled chaos of the kitchen itself, by the pungent, unforgettable smells of simmering stocks and chopped, fresh herbs, and by the stern-looking, mostly silent head chef and the glamorous restaurant owner.

Both the head chef and owner were famous – the restaurant I’d been lucky enough to score a day’s work experience in was at that time widely regarded as Australia’s best. It was out of town and could only be accessed by water, but this did nothing to prevent local and visiting foodies making the inconvenient trek to its doors. It opened for a limited time each week, with staff staying on site for the duration. I was daunted by the rather basic accommodation, and the fact the restaurant would be lived and breathed for days at a time. But I could also tell that the ‘privilege’ of working there out-weighed any disadvantages in the minds of the staff. Continue reading “Celebrity Chef or Self-Loving Chef: Where is the Love in the Work that We Do?” →