What happens when I say period in class and why I keep doing it anyway… I came away from my Well Woman Yoga Therapy training empowered to make changes to the language I used and how I spoke about the female experience in class. I could see how this could help reduce the risk of injury and empower people to make informed choices about their bodies and their energy. I wasn’t planning to tell people what to do, that’s simply not the way I choose to teach but I planned to expand
Two weeks ago I took myself to the lake on our land for a few hours to drink cacao and meditate in nature to harness the often insightful time just before my period arrives. At this time I often overflow with ideas, insights and understanding, so it can be a potent opportunity to get clear on life. As I meditated one word came through over and over loud and clear... Soften. Like so many I was not shown or role modelled the value of softness. I was taught that to be safe I nee
I was listening to Aubrey Marcus' podcast this week (big love to my man for introducing me to this gem) and he said something like this... 'releasing is often spoken about as though it's like putting down a suitcase... it's NOTHING like putting down a suitcase! It's more like being ripped apart'. Hear fucking hear! 3 weeks ago I was ripped apart harder than I have been in quite some time and I broke more fully than I ever have, especially since being sober. It was as though I
When we are taught to suppress, deny and ignore our menstrual cycles it serves only to reinforce the already ever-present feeling within so many women that something is wrong with us, that suffering and discomfort are a normal part of being a woman and should be expected and endured. ‘Imagine a doctor telling you to ignore your circadian rhythm. Ignore the natural inclination to sleep at night, just keep going until you drop. Not only would it be difficult to order society, i
You can’t put a timeline on healing, you can’t put a deadline on suffering and sadly you can’t neatly package grief and trauma into a week off sick as much as I have wished for that over the years. Deep emotions take a long time to excavate and even longer to heal and sometimes it feels like there is no end to what is there to be unearthed. And maybe that’s true, maybe we’re constantly burying things for later retrieval or maybe there will always be more to find if we keep lo
I went to bed feeling disheartened. Thanks to years of work, therapy, dear friends and perfectly timed books I now have the knowledge of how I can end up in emotional shut down and how to break free but there are still days where it just feels so much easier to sit in the sedatory sensations of numbness. It takes so much emotional strength to choose a different path and sometimes I just feel too tired and done to try. It feels simpler and safer to reside in the empty familiar
Our calendars may have started over but nature is still in the grips of winter. We are still wrapped in this season of rest, replenishment and renewal, the nights are still long, though growing ever shorter, and perhaps our bodies are still calling out for slowness, sleep and rest. There is something special about the changing of a year, a chance to step out of old skins, an invitation to start over, but it should be just that… an invitation. And perhaps you quite like the sk
What an incredible year. I wanted to happy new year and most importantly to say thank you to each and every one of you who came to a gathering, a retreat, a women’s circle, a yoga class, a private session, to each and every one of you who read and shared my writing, downloaded my nidras, trusted in my offerings and supported my visions. I can't tell you how much it means to me. This year I took a chance and took Moon Forest Flow full time and thanks to the full support of all
We are at the cusp of the longest night of year at Winter Solstice. A time to soak up the healing balms of winter darkness and harness the rites and rituals of mid-winter, the traditions of retreating to rest, reconnecting by candlelight and bringing our darkness into the light ready to clear out and make space for new beginnings. The soft transition from the natural pause of autumn to the essential respite of winter is a call to reclaim the dormant cyclical wisdom lying deep
Menstrual cycle awareness together with yoga, meditation and nature are my essential life supports and help me to navigate much of the emotional messiness that life and menstruation bring to the table but that is not to say that I always get it right. The premenstrual time can and does still catch me off guard and lead back down the path of habitual behavioural patterns and into some very unhealthy ways of relating to myself and to others. Sometimes it can feel as though the
Menstrual cycle awareness has quite literally saved my life. Despite experiencing crushing lows, debilitating pain and extreme uncontrolled rage for much of my bleeding life from menarche at 11 through to learning how to cooperate with my cycle at 29, I consistently turned down medical intervention. Maybe I’m a masochist but I felt that the pain and rage were happening for a reason and I didn’t feel that numbing it out was going to help me move through it. I had tracked my cy