2023 – the year I rooted like a Tree

2023 was the year I rooted like a weeping Willow tree.

Our Cosmic Village was born, and we journeyed with every element of the Rose flower – petal through to thorn

Magic, meaning and belonging, we gathered with hearts and truth

Yearnings voiced of sacred longings – where we’ve been, where we’ve come from - we felt with our own intuitions, no longer searching for proof.

The year we grew in seas and skies, the embodiment of “not all those who wander are lost”

With raging grace- a gentle reorganisation, “stop doing what you dont want to” – because there is always a cost.

The Plutonian Power Portal drew us to the edges of all we thought we knew,

we donned our Cosmic Sunglasses and the Worthing-by-Shoreham Seal Pup joined us for six weeks too!

Many felt safe to let go, be seen and express full spectrum emotions, we walked through the darkness, upon and over the Rainbow Bridge of the Summer Solstice ; sacred rose petals infused into healing potions.

From Grow to Commune- magnetic land pulled us deep; retreating together so epic, it made my soul bones truly weep

The P’s kept resurfacing – their meaning deepening every time; Possibility, Portals, Patience, Purging + Perspective; we slowed right down to the pace of the Tortoise because we knew instinctively it was impossible to run out of time

Time as we knew it , dissolving, leaving traces of debris – we dusted that off. Galactic Truths + Perspectives incoming; through Pheonix, Eagle +Dove- the time had come to centre, be still- the weight was dropped.

Sacred Exhaustion was felt by many and in its expression we healed this galactic wound. The Cosmic Village assembled over and over – and really we remembered so much and not a moment too soon.

a celestial celebration, the Earth and Stars together as One;Fungi, Elementals and Angels- the four galactic points, the great central Sun.

What a year it has been for our community,

of men, women, children- all beings great and small

Thank you Thank you for being here with me – a deep sacred bow to you all for answering the Call.

———–I love you so much! Katie xxx

Connect to the Great Attractor with me today

6th December 2023

Hello everyone

It’s Katie here – your comrade, messaging you from the depths of a rather prolonged illness , flu like shenanigans. I am missing you all SO much and am really grateful to the messages I have received this last week or so.

I am emailing today with a message for our community. Because today is a very powerful day.

Today, our Sun is aligning with the Great Attractor – a really powerful cosmic galactic point, located at the heart of our cluster of galaxies, Laniakea – which is a super cluster of galaxies that contains our Milky Way galaxy as well as about 100,000 other galaxies. I have a deep connection to this galactic point along with the 3 others in our Universe (the Galactic Centre, Super Galactic Centre + Shapley Attractor) and so today is a day of immense meaning to me personally and I would love to share it with you. This galactic point may strongly awaken something inside of you today if you are open to it.

Laniakea or laniākea is a Hawaiian word that means ‘immense heaven’, ‘open skies’ or ‘wide horizons’. And I love how this very beautifully seems to link Laniakea to Haumea – the Hawaiian goddess of creation and fertility and a symbol for the New Earth. Haumea is a dwarf planet who lies beyond our solar system and is one of the planets associated with higher consciousness and the evolution of humanity – its said that her healing “reaches out to unborn generations”. She is the cosmic egg of creation and Great Attractor is said to be a point at which we can access Creator energy, and source. in the diagram above, the Great Attractor lies at the point where all of the white filaments merge and come together, just below the black dot that is marked “Regions of rich galaxies”. This point is very aligned to truth and having huge amounts of psychic abilities and foresight – so with this point aligned with our Sun, if we are open to it, we will be able to See. See the truth and see what we are a part of, because another thing that the Great Attractor does is bend light, time and space so that we can literally see “behind” what we are shown.

The more today you can come down out of your brain and into your body and ground your energy, the more ease you will be able to embody the energy the Great Attractor is transmitting – because this energy can be overwhelming and so if you stay up there in your brain and try to cognise it you may feel destabilised.

Today is about stretching our consciousness and our understanding of what our reality is.

For any of you who know me well and have practised in class with me more than once, you will have a feeling for what it is that I am saying. And I did think initially to only share this email with those of you who I “KNOW” will get it, but then thats not what is being asked of me today.

I feel really really grateful; to be able to be united with all of you and be working together toward a common goal of welcoming in an expanded consciousness of love and unity consciousness.

To join me today in connecting to this powerful galactic point, all you need to do is ground and then open. To reach a place of expansion the rooting is utterly essential, so I share the below very simple practise to support you today. I highly recommend doing this practise bare foot outside so that you can be in the sunlight but it is not essential – doing this will supercharge your practise though. Along the way of this practise (which is the simplest form I am offering here)you will likely be guided by your own intuition and guides to modify in which case please follow those threads to feel empowered and work in a way that is uniquely true for you.

clear your energy of toxicity:

-inhale both arms out and up to the sides – gathering fresh clear energy from the Earth

-exhale out of the mouth and allow both arms to heavily drop and swing – one in front of you one to the back of you as you turn your body to the left

Continue this process at least 20 times – switching side each time

-end by gathering fresh energy from the earth and pouring it down your central channel

2) connect your roots

– fold all the way down and touch the earth and as you breath in chant “LAM” (this is the seed mantra of the Root chakra and is pronounced more like LUM)

bring this chant and seed mantra up through your body and as you reach your hearth start to unfurl your body and open reaching your arms wide , out and up to the sun – changing your chant to “LANIAKEA” which is pronounced Lan-eeee-a-kay-a
Repeat at least 10 times and on the last round stand in mountain pose, visualising deep roots growing from beneath your feet
Feel yourself gravitationally and through your roots – connected to our planet and allow this feeling of rootedness to support your safe expansion as you allow the huge magnetic force of the Great Attractor to pull you Home.
You are being energetically stretched open, enhancing your breathability and your ability to ground higher consciousness
Either stay here and simply breath, setting the intention of connecting through our Sun to the Great Attractor, or come down to a yogi squat and hold the weight of your head in your hands – closing your eyes and visualising the connection
As you awaken this vast energy and transmitter of consciousness you will be able to absorb the perfect amount of light for you – to support you on your ever evolving journey

Please share with me how this resonates with you. It may be that you don’t fully understand all of this and thats ok – my intention is that this email today unlocks something within you with the most amount of love and gratitude. It is part of my ever unfolding mission to open myself more fully to the truth of who I am and why I am here without fear of judgement or ridicule and be truthfully me and I know that many of you feel that deeply within yourself too – and I see this and thank YOU for being YOU.

May The Force Be With You

Katie xxxxx

Conscious Parenting – November 2023

As a parent to two growing, unique children I have been pondering recently on the below: Are we Victims of our circumstances or empowered creators of our chosen, deeply desired lives? How much am I consciously tuning into whats positive in our life, or leaning into what I am potentially doing “wrong”?

To help me on this quest I looked up what is the opposite of a victim in psychology? In summary, the antonym to victim is a mindset characterized by self-empowerment, resilience, and agency. It involves taking responsibility for one’s circumstances and actively working to overcome challenges and adversity.

The everlasting journey of parenting as I see it and feel it so much at the moment and the main focus for us is building resilient children. How do we do this and are we doing it and should this be more of a focus for us? Up until recently it was causing me some unease and confusion because we can see that our children are different (as are all children) to many of their friends and the ones around them. Sometimes this makes us questions our choices. And our choices, for the last 6 years, have been based upon how can we create a life where family is at the centre and our children are at the centre and we are our own masters? We didn’t want to never see our children. Both of us wanted to play an equal role in their upbringing in terms of time we have with them. This began when we were in London and Rex was a baby. Ross would only see him for an hour or so after work in the week and on the weekends when there was then so much pressure on that time and on it being “perfect” and fulfilling for both of them. We decided early on (even before Rex was born) that that life style was not for us (and this is not to judge anyone who does feel fulfilled by that lifestyle cos we are all different) and so we set out to consciously create – through both hard work and dreaming the dream often (we had a beautiful painting of a beach that hung on our bedroom wall in London for a long time and we would dream about the time we would have our very own house on the beach and I would dream about the day I would have my very own yoga studio ;-)) – the life of our dreams.

Along the way there has been a huge amount of sacrifice and a massive massive massive amount of hard work, commitment, digging deep and doing our best. But we now have that life! And what we also have are two children who love us very much and who we have been with for almost every moment of their lives – one of us has always been there. We don’t have family close by we can call on to help for the odd night here and there – we don’t go out together – we don’t put our kids into clubs or get babysitters or anything like that because we don’t need to – but also because we don’t want to. We want to be together. The children have just started swimming and even though it only takes one of us to go – we both go each week and stay present with them throughout their lesson – giving them thumbs up and letting them know we have seen them. I mean – who knows if this is “right” or “wrong” – but my intuition deeply says to me that this is what I am supposed to be doing and more and more I find us in the Field, where we are beyond daily rights and wrongs anyway. We’re not on our phones when we are watching them – we are connected to them and their experience. Is this overbearing parenting??!? I suppose some could say that but what I do know is that our bond as a family of 4 is immensely strong. It runs so very very deep and a the amount of time we have had together has played a big part in that in allowing our children to feel secure in our love.

What we are wondering now is whether we have created children who are “weak” and lack the resilience that it appears to me can be built through children being put into situations where they have to go it alone without their parents to care for them and where they face hard things and have to deal with big emotions without the safety net of mum or dad.

I recently watched a video of Dr Gabor Mate where he said that there is no need to add hard times to children’s live because they will inevitably go through these times of sadness and trauma and hardship – like when their best friend doesnt want to play with them, or when their best friend moves away, or when they are not picked to go on the team at school…etc etc etc…..life is riddled with hard times and times that are received a trauma or hardship and so as parents we dont need to consciously create or add to these for our children.

So recently I have been leaning a bit to us being the victims of our choices – in that, if we had had more Money but less time, our kids would have had to have been in more clubs and would have had less time with us and therefore might be more resilient. Which you could argue is a good thing because its tough out there!!! BUT what I started to consider on my morning run today was to spin it and flip it and focus on what goodness has come out of our conscious choice.

Our children know for 100% that they can turn to us with anything and that we are always here for them – we love them and we have created healthy attachment. I feel like this can build strength from the inside out – so it can build a secureness from within that comes from being loved and nurtured gently rather than from the outside in – so, building an outer armour and hardened shell in response to an “attack” (in the form of an interaction with another when super young, or somewhere outside the home and having no choice but to deal with that alone). Its funny because as I type this this does really feed into my most favourite current motto borrowed from the incredible David Farrell https://www.quantumplanet.world/stellar-nations

“I can be centred in myself and not self centred”

With everything that comes my way as a mother I always ask myself – what are we even trying to achieve? and who said that it needs to be that way? and the person who did say that – what was their motive? When I look around me, there is so much noise and so much distraction and I often feel like this distraction starts so early for our children. By allowing them ample time and space with us, in their own home to potter, ponder, wonder and process I do believe we are helping them to grow into themselves and grow into the world from a calm grounded centre. There is no way that I can know for sure that we are doing what we should be with our children, but I do feel that they need us and their sensitivity requires us to be close to them to let them unravel and emerge slowly into this earthly reality. Without shock. I read recently that there are two forces that drive decisions – Love and Fear, and if I am honest what has driven our choices as a family is Love, and that is the most powerful force there is. I have to focus on the positives of our choices – and rather than keep second guessing us, lean into what we ARE doing and the light that is coming from that. Children that are secure in the love of their mother and father, have ample time with us and benefit from our PRESENCE. It comes back again to the fact that we are in our own lane and doing it in a way I don’t see mirrored by anyone else out there. and that is hard because there is no one to bounce opinion off but its also just the way it should be for us.Time will tell what that builds within them and I am sure there may come a time, as inevitably (perhaps??!) With all children that they will question us and our “parenting methods”. But for now, I cannot bring myself to change what we are doing. It feels right for us and trusting my intuition is enough for me.

If you find yourself in a similar place to us let this be a reminder that you are not alone. big love Katie x

Belonging and a new Vision to support our brand new chapter (March 2023)

This blog is a deep dive into belonging, power and leadership and also serves as as follow up to our most recent community ceremony which was on Weds 29th March 2023 🙂 if you were there please let me know how the ceremony landed for you, biggest love, Katie x

The ever wise and fascinating Gabor Mate says that : “attachment is a need to belong. We need to belong to our caregivers as children for our survival” – but I have realised as have many of. You that we need to belong to ourselves and our true authentic natures to THRIVE. Depending on our upbringing, at some point (as tiny little humans) we may have learned that by ignoring our own true selves, our own innate needs, wants, desires, emotions, instincts and intuitions we will belong more easily – we become more CONVENIENT and easier to MANAGE as children and members of school. Well, this is a community that boldly says NO to this. This is a community that wishes to see the truth of you and see you belong to yourself and your true unfiltered authentic essence. We boldly say NO to belonging that overrides you and we wish to raise our children in this very way.

“Belonging is defined as a unique and subjective experience that relates to a yearning for connection with others, the need for positive regard and the desire for interpersonal connection (Rogers, 1951). A sense of belonging does not depend on participation with, or proximity to, others or groups”

I believe we are yearning for connection that goes beyond “blood” – we seek and ,many of us see in one another, connection at a soul level, a starry level, in our values and/or beliefs. In recognising ourselves more on this multidimensional level we automatically start to call our power back.

“Power to the People”

As Pluto starts a slow transition out of Capricorn and into Aquarius (the astrology behind all of this is simply incredible and mind-blowing!!) we are being invited to call our power back and we are being 100% supported to do that. Pluto is related to our deepest fears and desires, our subconscious, transformation and where the power lies. Can we being to transform how we feel about power knowing that Aquarius is the sign of the people, freedom and humanity – this is a clear signal that the power will start to come back to us – out of the hands of the few who have used it to coerce and control for the good of the self, and the few. As we start to reclaim our power (and this is something that I am continuously being pushed to and learn more about – its so out of my comfort zone to think of myself as powerful and I think that is because I have seen power be abused throughout my life. I associate power with “bad”, “untrustworthy” “Power hungry” and during the ceremony I did ask you to consider how you feel about power as an interesting enquiry because it has certainly been very interesting for me and im so grateful to our girl Faith and Pluto for shining their lights on this :-))

Georgia shared a few passages from a wonderful book “Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature” and one part that felt so poignant for both us and this time is this:

“Around the Edge I am Traveling,

Around the Edge I am Traveling,

In a Sacred Manner

I am Traveling.”

“Traditional Lakota Song” honouring the Wolf, Fox and Coyote Nations. Translated by Gilbert Walking Bull.

I know that Georgia’s share around “we are nature” massively resonated with many of you and I am so grateful to Georgia for sharing her story with us. This Lakota Song felt to me a resemblance to the way Pluto moves – one of the outer planets of our solar system, traveling around the “edges” (our subconscious, our deepest fears and dreams…..) And also as Pluto is circling round the edge of the solar system he is acting a bit like a wrecking ball for the next year – going from Capricorn to Aquarius and back again a handful of times, this has never happened before so it is incredibly EXCITING. I know many of you are letting go of a lot of old stuff at the moment as am I and this idea of traveling round the edge in a sacred manner kind of signals to me this clearing out of the stuff that we have been too scared to look at, or too scared to let go of, until now.

Empowering in Community
In our community we seek to EMPOWER one another and that is naturally what is occurring because we are all being drawn in by what is being created in our community – we intend to empower so we do and others feel that and start to arrive. By empowering one another we start to reclaim our power through being reminded of our power of choice. My teacher Solara once said “your power lies in that you always have a choice”. We are lucky enough in this country to still have many literal choices, and as well as this we must continue to walk towards self-mastery, (bringing right and true thought, word, action, and energy to each moment) knowing that every fractal choice has an impact. I was watching an amazing video with Pam Gregory recently where she said that fractal choices matter so much – she used the example “don’t just pay for your vegetables with a chip in your arm because its convenient now” we must, I believe, think of the long term impact of the chip in the arm and what it signals agreement to. By showing up with true and right thought, word, action in every moment with every choice we are taking responsibility for ourselves, and leadership is a big responsibility. Being centred in the self with clear strong boundaries can very much help us to act responsibly – we come back to that centre point to feel what is right and true for us, not swayed by outside opinion or how we “should” think or behave.

The very great thing about reclaiming your power is that its not a one-time invitation – its continuously extended to you via energy and intention every time you connect with us and if you still resist then NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME because of the move that Pluto is making into Aquarius – POWER TO THE PEOPLE 🙂

“I feel safe”

So that being said I think its interesting to feel into meaningful , empowering community as a place we feel safe. Many of you have used “safe” as a word to describe how you feel with us and heart led leadership is a safe way to lead, it is how I intend to lead and it makes me think of that beautiful Ram Dass quote:

“We are all just walking each other home”.

Gabor Mate also says that “safety is not the absence of threat, it’s the presence of CONNECTION”. How beautiful is that.

and finally, the lovely Karen who has been a very special part of our community for a very long time recently shared that she feels our magic is “knowing you are all there. I may not get to the pod as much as I want to but knowing you are there is enough to give that sense of community and safety” – Karen – we love you!

Home can be our authentic selves, our true essence, a place alive on the inside of each of us. And so leaning into this energy of Pluto in Aquarius and the knowing that it will create flatter, less hierarchical structures “group leaderships”, let’s nod to Us and our belief in this. We are ahead of the time. We have been gathering in circle since 2017 – in person and online , as well as infusing our space with this energy of the Circle – the circle is a place of acceptance, no judgement, a symbol of Oneness and place of equality. And so as we lean more and more into this energy of the circle it felt so right to invite in three very special guests to Wednesday nights ceremony. These 3 women are integral to our community – and they turn out just as much as they turn in – somewhat over the last while they have turned out much more than in , bringing fresh perspective, learning and knowledge so that we dont end up an echo chamber – repeating the same things to each other over and over, instead welcoming in the possibilities that come with different ways of looking at life 🙂

Pennie Ludlow – who currently lives in Costa Rica, is my yoga soul wife and an incredible Yoga Nidra and Aerial Yoga teacher pennieyoga@gmail.com nidrasoundsanctuary.substack.com
Georgia Yiapanis – founder of Learning to Learn Together and co-founder along with me Katie and Eve Hardcastle of The Possibility Space – a group for parents and children who believe in all possibility and wish to explore that through creativity, story circle, time in nature and more together. @learningtolearntogether @thepossibilityspace_
Emily Graves – Emily is training to be an outdoors leader and is a director of The Living Project., a yoga and mindfulness teacher and is also my salty solstice sistar 🙂 @generaljoy Emily was unable to join us live on Weds night as she was in Wales without connection so I am sharing here some of her wisdom around leadership and community:

“Personal responsibility and commitment to growth, empowerment and truth”; “Having the courage and sensibility to listen (to self, community, source) and to sense and respond”; “surrounding yourself with guides, mentors and teachers who will support you in your role and help you to see and embrace what you don’t already know or are aware of”; and, this is a huge one I feel;

“Creating space for your voice as a leader to be expressed”. In the simplest terms, expressing your voice can be journalling , speaking your truth in the mirror and in bigger terms it could be joining another community circle or in person circle again soon 🙂

Letting You Go and Creating the space for you to feel held
A very big part of my path is to inspire leadership in you AND continuously let you go. I set that intention back in the spring of 2020 when we first had to close the doors of the studios and it immediately felt so freeing for all of us – I am not here to hold you up, hold onto you, hold you back or hold you down, but I will absolutely reach out and hold your hand. I want to see you SOAR and by letting go energetically its my intention to bring BREATHABILITY. A community built on holding on can become suffocating – toxic even – and this here is my biggest fear (thank you Pluto for shining a light on my biggest fear around community !).I believe we owe it to ourselves, and our community to stay in REVOLUTION – to turn and look out as much we look in. By continuously letting you go my hope is that you lean into your own inner well of truth, resource and wisdom; allowing your freedom to expand you so that we continue to evolve as a group / community of leaders, not bound together out of duty or putting each other on pedestals but through a desire to learn and grow and create together. We bring the medicine and we receive the medicine. Some days we lean more into the support than others and we are held in community – there is always a beautiful sense of holding that comes with us, its gentle and fierce at the same time. Sometimes my boundaries are weak and I attach to you and try to save you, and that must feel suffocating (I am so far from “perfect” or having it all figured out) but expansive love is unconditional and that is where we are headed., and I definitely do love you all beyond any condition.

Going Against The Grain

I pulled us an oracle card in ceremony from the sacred Rebels Oracle by Alana Fairchild and I kid you not, it was the same card as I pulled for us at last community ceremony in Jan 2023! The card was “going against the grain” – see image and description below. This is THE card for us. It is so so apt and resonates HARD 🙂

Your Chance to Share with community please 🙂
Journaling prompts to end

so, if we agree or perhaps feel that :

Belonging in the old world was abandoning your true authentic self to belong and be “convenient”
Power in the old world was used by the few to exert control – it was “power through, power over…”
Leadership in old world was hieracrchical and

In the new world (which I am creating on the inside of me every time I show up with true thought, word, action and energy) and in this newest iteration of our community, what do you want from belonging/power/leadership and how do you feel it should be expressed?

At the close of ceremony we co-created a patchwork magic carpet – each of us chose some words/ a picture/ a colour/ a feeling/ a symbol to be the very beginning of the first page in our new chapter. We then sent these scrolls into the starry skies where they wove magically together with those of the other 38 “vibrant souls” as described to me by the ever so wonderful Peter in our community – to create a patchwork magic carpet. The launchpad for our new vision for the future. If you would like to share it here I’d love to hear from you what you placed on your patch? I will then share these with the community 🙂 and if you wish to create your patch now all you need to do is close your eyes, centre yourself and ask of your hear “what do I wish to paint onto the very first page of this new story?” (it could come in any number of ways! be curious , receptive and open)

So here is the end of this piece on belonging and leadership. Below are some brief looks at certain concepts we explored, more as a support guide. Please do let me know how the ceremony landed for you. Big takeaway for me has been to replace Leadership with Guardianship and Stewardship – thats for sure how I feel about the space the studios occupy. Working with the land the studios sit on has been really important to me over the last year and I very much see myself as a Guardian of the space and land and one of the things I take very seriously is the clearing which I do every day – clearing out stagnant energy through burning and sweeping (so interesting to think of sweeping the decks in this way!!)

signing off ! biggest love to you all team, Katie xxxxx

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The Concept of the Compass – (Georgia mentioned this as its really key)

ALIGNING TO OUR NORTH STAR

Leaders who are aligned to their own inner compass and the compass of the earth will lead themselves and for the good of the whole – because we are part of that whole. We each have our own inner GPS/navigation system/ North Star PLUS the Earth has her own North Star which is a literal star in our skies called Polaris. A wonderful practise that we moved through together on retreat last July was to align and re-establish our own unique connection to Polaris. Below is an exert from my notes around Polaris for our Compass retreat in July 2022:

The North Star is a Star in the physical realm that aligns with earth – the mission of the north star is supposed to be the guiding light – pointing toward North. Also an etheric concept of alignment both planetary as well as for each individual being on the planet. To be in alignment is to be in alignment with the planetary north star – you’re also in alignnment with the overall direction off the planet – and by being in alignment with the planet you Tend to be in alignment with your own personal mission for the highest good of all.

Multiple stars play the role of the NS over time but the significance and importance of the NS remains the same. By connecting to the NS you are connecting to your own truth, your destiny as well as to Gaia and the path of the milky way galaxy. Your mission and Gaias mission fits into a piece of the puzzle that is the path of the Milkyway galaxy. But we know that at the moment “all eyes are on Earth” . When you’re aligned to the NS you travel the shortest distance to your own evolution without creating multiple loops to get there – the long way 😉 Say for example you’re here to learn Compassion, instead of taking the optimal path you take detours that don’t necessarily get you there. You take multiple loops. (please let me know if you want to talk about this subject more with me :-))

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The Concept of Hongik Leadership

Hongik is a word that originates in South Korea and is the idea of “widely benefitting all of life” – which includes YOU! Hongik transcends sacrifice (ie giving up your own wellbeing for the sake of others) and finds a way to care for others AND YOU at the same time. Below is a diagram that explains a little more – but its a beautiful way to lead, steward and guide.

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A look back at our recent history as we complete a cycle : the evolution of conscious community

Friday nights circle signalled a big ending for me. The letting go I had done across the week leading up to Friday 24th March was huge and pivotal and on the drive home I felt strongly the words “Completion” and “Relief” If I had been told back in January 2020 that the next 3 years would be the most transformational of my life and for our community I have no idea if I would have believed it – it may have made me second guess my next steps – but now that the cycle is complete it feels as though we can put a big cosmic tick in our journals., Mission Complete! Grounding – done but never to be left behind and now we can re look to the stars from a place of deeper, more connected, more stable and stronger roots. My cosmic sunglasses feel SO GOOD right now lol 🙂

After Fridays circle s few messages came through for our community and those who live on this land:

I said last night in circle that the way I work in the lead up to circle is that I feel everything in the usual way, I start to really notice what themes are arising for me, how I am feeling. Then I see how this is mirrored in the community – I look for commonalities, themes or differences and a big part of my evolution is now that I completely trust the process of TRUSTING myself and following the very next bread crumb. For example – yesterday as I went to go into my usual meditation pre circle where I lay down for a nap and take all 5 decks of cards with me was met with a big “NO. Just use the work your light deck tonight for this circle” so I followed that thread. This then led me to pick two pretty big messages for us – AWAKENING + STARSEEDS….

So anyway – back to how I prepare! I feel myself, I feel the community then I look at the astrology, the energy that is arising and I look at multiple sources. I run all of these sources through my own inner system of guidance as I feel for what will MOST serve us. What is the golden nugget (and sometimes there’s is more than 1!!) Last night there was one of the most enchanting symbolisms ever. I knew that this week would be big for our community because it was big for me and we are so deeply connected to one another and to this land (side note – did you know that many of you who have found yourself living – as if by chance, in Worthing – are absolutely NOT here by chance., you are meant to be here because the land has called you back and many currently living in Worthing have once incarnated in Atlantis?). the new moon on Tuesday of this week that arrived just a few hours after the spring equinox was at 0 degrees of Aries – the most potent and powerful degree for NEW BEGINNINGS. My intuition led me to read the Sabian Symbol for this degree – I had actually been searching for the Chandra Symbol but the page I usually look at wouldn’t load so I clicked on the Sabian symbol instead and nearly fell off my chair…the Sabian symbol for 0 degrees Aries is:

“A woman just arisen from the sea, a seal is embracing her”

For about the last month a seal pup has been showing up along the beaches from shoreham to worthing . I have swum with him or her too and one a few years ago too. Many women and men have sat with this seal pup and have spoken of the magic and enchanting feel of this pup. There is magic all around us and very often animals open us up to it because we cannot communicate with them in words so we move into our energy bodies, into our hearts and in this way we go beyond our minds and what our minds can perceive or understand. I believe this seal pup was a messenger for us – perhaps previously human or of the stars (once you start looking into Sirius connection to the water on our planet let me know!!) and the clear message is; “This is a brand new beginning. A new door is opening”

Many of us see the water and I believe we are all being called “home”. We are the consciousness of water – its been recently discovered at molecular count we are 99% water (not the 70% previously thought) and the oceans and seas hold great vast depths and mysteries. As Florence sings in her epic song “never let me go”:

In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold

And all this devotion, well, I never knew at all

And the crashes are heaven for a sinner released

In the arms of the ocean deliver me”…

This song resonates with me so much as I do honestly feel a though the sea is my temple – cathedral in the deep. Perhaps you feel that too?

Saturn moved into Pisces at the start of March and so astrologically water is front and centre – the structure of water will become more important to us. And I believe that the women and men who live on the land but long for the sea have an important mission: we are bridging the gap between two worlds – earth and water – just like the seal pup has been doing. We are carrying the consciousness of the seas with us every time we move between the two and we share it – we spread it through us. The seal can be a symbol of harmony and balance – just like the equinox – as well as symbol of the feminine as the seal carries both earth and water the 2 embodied parts of the feminine – working with the seal energy can ignite our intuitive abilities and awareness deep with our subconscious; enable us to balance our head and heart; help us to stay agile and get comfortably with the ever changing energetic tides around us and ultimately is said to mean walking with Joy in your heart. A keynote for the Sabian symbol mentioned above is :”emergence of new forms and of the potentiality of consciousness” – this again makes me think of the consciousness of water and that when we flow like water we cannot help but sink into trust and faith and a belief in something greater than ourselves. We move out of battle and force and into flow.

I also love that the Pleidian symbol for 0 degrees Aries is: A mermaid and an octopus lovingly embracing – another nod to the watery depths that I do believe I have come from. I have learnt so much about the mystical depths recently from my own practise and the connection between the oceans and the star Sirius and its my intention to work ever more consciously with the water this year. I have created a deep connection to the water at my favourites swimming spots and have had some utterly breathtaking experiences of Oneness in the water. Over this last 3 years I and we have anchored and grounded so much – I used to want to escape to the stars but now and today I feel like I am already there – star essences live in the water and therefore inside all of us and I believe that the deeper we ground, the higher we soar.

This is a potent time for us in our community here – we have seemingly found ourselves here at the very edge of our land, looking out to the vast seas and I know many of you have been called back into the water just like I was in March 2020. I felt a stirring feeling of home beckoning at the waters edge as she began calling me back in – calling me back home. Over the last 3 years of mostly daily sea swims in just my swimming costume or sometimes just my pants or sometimes just my skin I have been healed deeply by her depths. Her depths supported me to confront and visit my own depths and begin a journey of descending. I grounded over and over and dived deeper and deeper. Moving through layers of thick drudge and pain and terror and fullness and depth and truth and knowing and I began to understand myself more and more and to focus my attention deeply on Earth. I was initiated over and over by dark goddess energy and actually channeled Lillith a few times in circle. I also came to intimately know and feel Hecate queen of the witches alive inside of me. This journey gave my bones soul and sustenance and I started to feel incredibly comfortable in the darkness as well as comforted by it. I and we were diving deeper and deeper into the mysteries contained within us and the land – the unknown – all the way down to the gates of hell for some of us over and over. This journey at times felt like an initiation into deep depression – it felt somewhat heavy and unbearable and sometimes deeply comforting. I feel like we were excavating ourselves and the deeper collective traumas. This was necessary and painful work but it didn’t feel scary to me because I was in complete trust. Last weekend I had a vision where I saw hundreds and hundreds of beings walking out of the sea to greet me and my family – I believe there is a deep consciousness and perhaps beings there in the depths – just like we are mostly water our planet is mostly water and so how can we truly know? We can feel and we can be curious and start to be open to higher truths. So I will leave this here for you to feel and ponder 🙂

This is a new chapter in our story and I am grateful to all of you for being here and walking this path by my side.

I would love to hear if this resonates with you, leaving you with my love Katie x

Creating the Path: One step at a time

March 2023

Amongst other things: the importance of “potter, ponder, process”; my thoughts about school and health, for our children.

Lots of you have reached out to me recently to ask me if my children attend mainstream school, and we have also had lots of health issues recently with the kids and the whole family. This has made me think pretty deeply about my beliefs and notice the way they have changed and shifted over time.

When it comes to my beliefs and the way we choose to do things and live a peaceful life with these choices we make, the things that have made a massive difference are fluidity, flow and acting from a place of sovereignty – and also understanding that absolutely NOTHING is forever and I will change, choices I made 5 years ago may not resonate so fully for me now and I get to decide why.

For any of you interested in our story, it’s a unique one (as are all of your stories) and the way I best describe it today is that we walk between the worlds, in our own lane. A lane that we create and a lane that has no restrictions or limits. The end of this lane is not visible – and neither is the next step. The next step appears beneath our feet as we walk because we live in the moment and are not guided by any external forces. We are guided from within and also from that larger force known as Universal Love. Perhaps you feel that force guiding you too – I know many of you do.

As a child I went to mainstream school, I went to the doctors whenever needed and I remember so clearly LOVING the taste of Calpol and also eating Bonjela cos me and my sister loved the taste 🙂

Between the ages of 25 – 35 I experienced multiple awakenings – all “triggered” by different events; first of all the death of my father to alcohol abuse; the birth of my son Rex; the birth of our businesses; the birth of my daughter Bonnie (births and deaths can be HUGE triggers for all of us because they shake the very ground of our beings all the way down) This all led me to where I am now which is a leader within the community – but I lead with my heart and wish all of us to lead each other. I do not fit into any box and nor do my children 😉 and if you’re reading this is likely that you don’t fit into a box either, OR that you are starting to realise the box you have been living in no longer serves you because someone tried to cram you into a “one size fits all” box 😉

Our two children aged 5 + 6 go to a local mainstream school on Shoreham Beach. Since the very beginning I have massively struggled with them being in the system because I believe that at its core it is broken – the ones holding the strings possibly don’t have the children best interests at heart, or perhaps believe that being able to add up and sit still is more important than being able to think freely and express emotions. There is so much pressure placed upon the shoulders of the teachers which inevitably filters down to the kids to some degree (I am saying all of this without any judgement – this is simply how it appears to me)- just like so many of life’s pressures!!! With or without realising it we pass it on. And as much as we can soothe ourselves by saying things like “but the intention of it is xxxx” children don’t experience the intention. They will feel it but what they experience is what actually happens – the reality of it. So taking action is really important, when and where you can, as well as not lulling yourslef into a false sense of security with that “oh everything wil be fine!” mentality that I know I sometimes get caught up in. It’s important to me that I initiate change and thats part of my path. When it comes to school this is what helps me to feel more at peace:

know that it only accounts for a small portion of their week and that you can set great examples at home and give your children freedom
Stay close to the school so you can feel what is going on
Build relationships with the teachers and be kind to them
Offer your services to support where you can – for me this has been to recently engage the school in some embodiment and energy hygiene practices for the kids, including a presentation to the staff on the “theory” behind it all. I was surprised at how open they were to it all, in my head I had built up people who are closed off and set in their ways but they aren’t at all – it reminded me of the saying I have heard recently about how all human beings in their truest nature are kind. This also saddened me because one response to a short mediation at the end for the teachers. One teacher messaged me after to say she found it emotional and she was surprised at that …… this broke my heart because to me, its so obvious that all of us are emotional beings – we are in constant motion just as the earth is and our emotions are constantly moving through us however many grown ups have been conditioned to shut their emotions off. I see this every day with students. They cannot fathom WHY its emotional to them to spend a quiet moment reconnecting to the lesser expressed parts of themselves. This teacher had no space in her life for her emotions – so how can we expect her to honour this space for the children she teaches? Being with the staff in this way gave me a huge amount of compassion for them and a strong belief that they are doing their best with what they have – their own traumas and experiences all play a part BUT they are very open to change and I am going to be working with them monthly to support them. This will have an effect on the children too – a small ripple effect.
Know that the children can be in the system but not “of it” and that also by experiencing it they can then decide if they buy into that way of life or not. Perhaps part of your path is to be in it, to affect change. Because change is always an inside job and it needs to be initiated with so much love and compassion – not through believing that the way is wrong or bad….if we can raise our children in a way that shows them there are multiple ways of doing things then perhaps they will feel freer and grow up continuing to explore; know from an early age how the system/matrix works – and just engage in the bits that they love the most 🙂
Get your children into their bodies regularly so that energy collected throughout their day can move through them
Very recently I was on a super rare long solo drive to London and spent most of it in blissed out silence but when in London turned the radio on and it tuned to LBC. I NEVER listen to the radio but I did this time because the subject was the School System and the planned strike of teachers. I listened with compassion to 3 teachers talk and all of them attests to the system being broken – too much pressure on the children and not enough focus on their mental and emotional wellbeing. They all spoke of the love they have for teaching and for the amazing children but felt the system was so broken. Rather than send me into a spin of fear this actually gave me hope – so many can see it, even from the inside. Change will not be instantaneous but think of all that has happened in this sped up time we have been in since Jan 2020 – the collapse of so many of the outdated systems continues and its only a matter of time before the school system will follow. In the meantime I am intending to show up in support of the teachers at my children’s school and help where I can.
Make sure your children have time outside of school to “potter, ponder and process”. In my humble opinion this is often overlooked in place of filling up children’s diaries with activity after activity. When they have clear space to bumble around their home, with you close by and present, they can process their day and experiences. Their bodies and minds are not forced into focus so that they can relax and feel what they need to feel. For us, water plays a huge part in our life – especially so for me and Rex. He instantly relaxes in a warm bath and the summer sea and this is often when he will start to unpack his thoughts or tell me tough things that have happened. Water is very connected to our emotional bodies so its great to get your kids into baths and showers at least a few times a week to let the water cleanse and heal them.
The hardest lesson – you cannot save your children neither can you protect them from everything. School can teach them resilience and the ability to understand that there are going to be multiple perspectives in their lives – unless they take themselves away to somewhere remote. Part of our family path for now is being “in it”.
Create something for them outside of school that fills in the blanks, For me this is how The Possibility Space came to life. A project and collaboration so close to my heart that now it lives and breathes without “me” but I get to receive from it with my children and the community. Maybe there are a group of you local who have similar beliefs and you could start connecting together?

so this is the end of my thoughts and feelings on school – as ever, take whatever resonates and leave the rest behind.

Part 2: Health

The Fear Factor…..

When Rex was a baby I went through one of my biggest ever awakenings. I remember so clearly all of the conditions people presented to me about birth and bringing up children and none of them felt right to me. Cue “Orgasmic Birthing” and I knew I was onto something.

I didn’t go to antenatal classes and nor did I join a group of other local mums. Instead, I listened to hypnobirthing tracks and went to hot yoga 🙂 I trained in a the gym and taught hot yoga and spinning until I was 35 weeks pregnant. Wen Rex was a baby I was told by my the health visitor that he would need a whole host of injections, starting at 6 weeks old. The story around this process is so huge it would take pages so I wont go into details here but cue a big wake up. We decided that he would not be vaccinated at all.

But then one day, fear got to me. A friend looked at rex’s white tongue one day and said that she thought it looked like he had thrush. I was confused – he always had a white tongue., from all of my milk he was guzzling but my well-meaning friend was sure it looks suspicious so I reluctantly rang the doctors who got us in. The doctor wasn’t sure what it was but even so gave us medicine. My first experience that led me to dis-trust the medical system. The other was a truly horrific experience at my postpartum check – a new mum with a 5 week old baby – who was asked by a male doctor “how will you forgive yourself if your son gets meningitis and dies because you haven’t vaccinated him???” Truly awful. Both these experiences set me on the path of pursuing natural health for us all and in particular homeopathy, a beautiful way of dealing with the whole being and a way that we follow to this day. However I have softened my hard line approach (as a result of the way I was treated and the traumatic experiences at the hands of the NHS) over the last 6 years since Rex was a newborn has the way that I have firstly felt more confident in our way and secondly how I have become more compassionate to the medical system., I know that the 2 experiences I had were just that – 2 experiences – and although they scarred and impacted me those two doctors are not all doctors. Wherever possible when the children are unwell we follow the water – fresh air- rest protocol, we allow fevers to run their course and clear whatever needs to be cleared (I could go on and on about this and was lucky to attend lectures by a homeopath who was also a doctor when Rex was a baby and I went on a big fact finding mission to back up my intuitive instinctual hunches!) but I am very open to all ways. For the first 5 years of Rex’s life he never had any medicine but then one illness he was in pain and I relented to give him some Calpol to relieve his pain, and so with Bonnie this is the approach we take now too. What this has meant today is that I lean into both when needed. I took Bonnie to the doctors for the first time in her life today – aged 5. She was born at home so has never been to the doctors and her last homeopathic treatment was on the phone. But today we needed some help, so I took her to the doctors who was lovely and just did that lovely thing of putting my fretting mind to ease.Bonnie has had a cough for about 5 weeks and then a really bad ear today so because she was crying in pain I knew that we needed help. However, I also chose to support her with a visit to the homeopath. Kat was incredible and asked so many questions about every part of Bonnie and I know that a lot of Bonnies current pain is emotional and related to being separated from me – something that I know stems back to our early few years together when I was leaving so much to work. The remedy Kat has prescribed will help all parts of Bonnie. However, I was also so pleasantly surprised by the amazing pharmacist who, upon meeting us earlier, said things to Bonnie like “whats your favourite fruit? Make sure you drink lots of water today! Oh isn’t fresh air lovely. Lots of mummy love today will sort you out. Oh I’ve taken the junk food off my kids now – no sweet or anything!” The way she delivered all of this advice was in such a way that it felt like a friendly chat and I left the pharmacy feeling so happy that she tells hopefully all mums and dads this!

My overall belief today is that there is not just one way of doing things, and that everyone is doing their best. Some people think their way is “better” and our way is “worse” but I don’t. I genuinely don’t believe that – but I do believe that we are evolving. For so long so many people have felt the need to conform, or have conformed without asking why. Have been contained and constrained, unable to see beyond what they are told is best for them and their children but that tide is turning. I can literally feel that in the collective and see it in our community – which is just a small portion of the whole. As a family we lean towards whatever resonates with us moment to moment and leave the rest behind. We all create whatever we need and do this in a way that is unafraid. We lean fully to love and a knowing that all human beings are kind.

My humble advice to you would be to not turn your back on anyone who wants to help you, or any “way” but to absolutely run everything through your own inner system and trust your instincts. Nothing is perfect – there are pluses and minuses to every way so try to, through all of the chaos, find your own path and take it one day, one illness, one experience at a time and stay Open to all Possibility. I am here lovingly seeing and supporting you from afar, Katie x

A letter to your Higher Heart

On the other side of your pain and suffering is the key to the highest frequency of energy you will bring down into embodiment – you have the potential to bring this energy into your body and spread it as healing magic for yourself and all those you meet in this life.

Before you came here you stood before the Councils of Light and entered into an agreement. You would agree to forget the truth of who you are. You would go to Earth and experience all of the density, the polarity, the intense pain, sadness and suffering. The hatred, the heartache, the discourse, the disconnect, the despair. You would collide, connect and create with and alongside others and learn deep painful lessons from your relationships. Sometimes, it can feel so heavy and dense down here that it’s a wonder you can go on. And yet. Something urges you on. You always find a way don’t you….

If you are yet to remember all that you are I would like to try and remind you now. The essence of you is Divine Light and Love. You are a pure expression of love and this is at your very core. No experience is wasted down here because they all play a part. Waking up is painful. Sometimes I wish I could fall back asleep. But I keep remembering that I, just like you, am here for a reason.

If I were to consider my deepest sufferings and darkest pains it would be feeling unlovable and unwanted. Not good enough. Unworthy. Caused to me by someone who was “supposed” to love me unconditionally. I was “abandoned” – and yet still this person was with me, at least physically. I replayed this entanglement in my early relationships. I was abandoned and unloved over and over. I felt so unworthy of Love. I wanted to be loved so so much. What did I need to do?? And then one day I realised that I needed to embark on my own healing journey which involved in no particular order (yoga, eating well, studying something I was passionate about, cleansing my physical body, crying, laying in hot, hot, hot baths filled with magnesium and essential oils, I began my own small wellbeing business, I learnt to teach yoga, I qualified as a PT, I studied nutrition, I studied natural skincare, I started writing….) this sparked a light in me. I wouldn’t understand exactly what was happening until years later, but what I do know now is that because I felt so unloved and so unworthy I found my way to the other side of that energy signature. I found myself beginning to embody the frequency of Love. I was here to bring Love down and in. To myself and to whoever I meet. I know what it feels like to be scared of being abandoned and unlovable – so it is my mission to remind you that YOU are worthy of love. Over the years the fear of being abandoned stayed. It was deeply rooted into my inner child and still she cries out sometimes. A father who (in my eyes) chose alcohol over his daughter. Who didnt “love” me in the way I wished a father would. Was not present. Made me feel choked and stifled in the place I should have felt safest in – my home – because I wasn’t “allowed” to speak out and voice my heartbreak, rage, disgust, sadness and anger at his behaviour. I pushed it down and shut myself down over and over and over again. For more than 10 years. Literally I felt choked as I was not provided with the space to speak my Truth.

This constant fear in being abandoned plays out in me to this day as a need to please others and help them to feel secure – anything to soothe them. But sometimes to the detriment of my own wellbeing and my own boundaries. Now in a place where I can stand wholly in my own centre and place of truth and sovereignty I know that the only way we can be abandoned is if we abandon ourselves. If I had been able to speak up as a child I may not have ever felt the way that I did.

this fear also blocks me from receiving – which I know for many of you is hard too. I tried and tried to be “good enough” so that I would receive love from the men in my life. I was never able to become “good enough” – in my eyes I failed. I then set about controlling what I could – my food intake – so that I achieved a number on the scales that meant I aligned with what society deemed “good enough” and just by chance this coincided with me meeting the love of my life. A great man fell in love with me, and that, in my muddled up brain, signalled that I was lovable because I was thin. I had found a way of achieving love and so I started to receive it – into a muddled and broken me who on the outside was happy, successful and healthy. I think that what then happened over the next few years was that I started to break down. When my dad died I began a big descent down to the gates of hell. I was so broken and so lost and yet so relieved, which in intself made me feel terrible. Thus began a big process of healing, in the ways I knew how to from that point in my life. We had our son Rex and I then had a big awakening – I started to break free from cognitive dissonance and “see” what I was truly a part of. I saw the matrix for what it was and luckily, I had a husband who agreed to come with me. This period of time where I took a one-woman stand against the brainwashing of new mothers was a time in my life when I actually felt on the inside like I was falling apart. I felt like I would never feel secure again. I stood up to doctors and health visitors who claimed they had my newborn sons best interest at heart and went on a crusade of knowledge. I made an agreement with myself and my newborn son that I would learn as much as possible to support him to thrive. Everything that I did was against what new mothers are told by those who claim to want to support them. I was made to feel like the devil and a witch by a doctor when I went to our 8 week check “how will you feel if your son gets meningitis and dies because you haven’t done what you are told?” – his words still ring in my ears. And then invoke a rage within me so deep – the patriarchy trying to squash and use the deepest fear tactics possible to coerce and control. The indoctrination must continue AT ALL COSTS. Well, suffice to say this doctor did not break me – although he did induce a break down inside of me that I know now was an awakening. What I thought I knew and the systems that I had semi trusted and that I, as a child, had been entrusted to, where not what I thought. Old ground inside of me was shaking and quaking, – this was a woman and mother who was awake. And she would never go back to sleep.

Have digressed slightly but the reason I go back over this time is be cause it was absolutely pivotal to the now. I can trace back the times of my awakening: 2004; 2014; 2016; 2018; and then in rapid succession continuing from 2020 to now.

These periods also coincide with deep descents down into the shadow lands. These times were when I needed to receive the most but I felt so bad that I felt completely unworthy of receiving. I actually put up walls instead. The times when I needed love the most I pushed it away until the ‘time was right’.

What I can see now is that I have people around me who love me unconditionally. They are never ever saying to me ‘I will love you when…’ if I am to believe in the power of love beyond condition then I owe it to the higher hearts of all of us to Receive. To be open to letting the love flow in. Its funny that this additional part of this letter has meandered me back to unconditional love – I had forgotten what I was actually writing about when I opened the laptop today to add in this section. So like a sign from the angels this confirms it – we are all capable of giving and receiving a love that is beyond all human conditions. A love that doesn’t wait. A love that says I love you now, and I will love you always. I will always love you…..

My mission and path is complex and ever unfolding. I find myself bringing in unconditional love – this is the merging of a love that doesn’t need to be gifted back anything to love. It just is and you are already enough to receive it.

So – I ask you. What lies on the other side of your deepest pain and suffering? What is it that you are already holding the keys to within you? Will you bring that down here for the highest good of all…please say you will. Please remember the truth of who you are and why you came and once you have finished reading this close your eyes, place your hands to your higher heart (where the collar bones are) and Remember. Honour your journey; all of the tangled webs, winding paths, all of the experiences and Remember Who You Are. Choose to remember now xxxxx

Community ~ Humanity ~ Unity

I was wandering along the beach and started to receive the next download in this series of transmissions – given to me was the title and some of the content that I am expanding on here and now 🙂

Now – up until very recently I have considered what I do, and what many of us do within the teaching community – as the art of holding space. There has been a huge disconnect for me here between this feeling that this is what I am doing AND between what I have felt so strongly since January of this year. That I am not here to hold onto any of you – I’m not here to hold you up, hold you back, hold you down or hold you. I am in fact here to let you go. I am continually bringing in the energy of releasing our community which might sound strange but hear me out…

I look out and I see other teachers doing a great job of holding onto people, hooking people into believing that they “need” these teachers and that these teachers can somehow save me. Rewind to a circle back in 2018 or 2019 when I said that I wanted to save the world. This now makes me CRINGE down to my bones!! How fucking dare I utter such words, I mean seriously – who the hell did I think I was? I laugh now at this idea and I remember at the time my sister Jess’s mum saying to me “you cant do that – that idea will cause you so much pain, you can only save yourself”. I remember inwardly scoffing….I genuinely WANTED to save the world. I looked around me and saw so much pain and suffering and I wanted to help. I wanted to serve. The wanting to save came from a good place inside me but was strongly I believe guided by my ego. This feeling that I needed to control was in part guided by the tight grip that we thought we needed to have on things from the beginning. In the beginning the team was drawn IN by me and Bonnie – she was the homing beacon! The circle was tight as we navigated unchartered waters in a truly all encompassing way for the first time ; so many firsts! A first birthday for our son – our first daughter born – my first time as a vinyasa yoga teacher (having come from Bikram – so much control there!!) – our first time running our own business – a new town without any family close by for the first time,. We had truly gone it alone. Over the first few years we hit rock bottom many times, and yet still the community continued to rise. We learned to surrender. Truly its an art and letting go for me is the pathway to so much. And yet – I work to constantly create a strong container for my chaos 🙂 Now – older, and with wisdom that can only come from a combination of knowledge and experience the circle expands outward. We have let go. And as the crick expands outwardly from a grounded rooted centre the ripples reach others. They bounce in – find themselves at home with soul family. We look at one another for the first time but with gazes that say we see each other from across space and time. We have been together before. We know. We see. We smile 😃

Since that circle in 2018 I started to realise that I could not the save the world and nor did I “want” to – I wanted the world to save herself and I wanted to play my part by saving myself and creating safe, nourishing spaces for others to remember that they are worth saving.

At our most recent teachers circle my wise sister Sher channelled a message for us teachers – the message centred around us not HOLDING space but CREATING space. This shift energetically felt like complete freedom and liberation – the art of creating safe space feels so different to holding it and it completely aligns with the guidance from my team of angels, star family and ancestors that I must let you all go.

The reason I must and do let you go is because our community is not bound together. There is no duty here. And yet – we are together out of a desire to do our part. Many of you come and go and I love that. You dip in and out and you circle and weave with many other communities. In this way we are showing that there is no separation – that we are part of one big, bold, love centred community called HUMANITY and we are interlinked by the desire and inner yearning for unity. We’re not bound together out of duty. We’re not BOUND together at all. We choose to be together in the Ether. It’s a choice we make. Every time we show up for ourselves we simultaneously show up for each other – we choose community over separation. we choose humanity over self. We choose the heart. We chose the path of heart to unity.

My heart yearns for a life where we live in woodland, all together, all with different roles and all there to support one another. And today I also had the realisation that in our own way we are already doing that. The studios are our “woodland” and we all have different roles there. We all add to the energy of the space that feeds the hearts of the others who come and we continue to expand beyond the walls….we dip into our sacred woodland so that when we go out there we go with full heart knowing that we have the hearts of our rising force of sacred disrupters behind us. In a recent reiki healing with Christie the Goddess Pallas Athena came through as a bright golden light by my left eye and Christie found herself cladding me in golden armour. I believe that the Goddess Pallas Athena is strongly alive within our community.

She is a Goddess in Greek mythology and also an asteroid who represents the wisdom, creative intelligence + balance of active + receptive energy. A formidable being of light – goddess of Truth – who manifests the cosmic conscious ness of truth. Pallas herself is the messenger from the water (in Greek mythology Pallas and Athena began as two individuals – Pallas was the daughter of Triton who was a god of the sea and son of the mighty Posideon) and I know that the sea is so special to many of us in a very deep way.

Pallas Athena is the embodiment of the head + heart combined (which interestingly is the meeting place of the Altar Major, a chakra that has been coming online for more and more, rapidly so over the last 2 years. At our last women’s circle we did a physical and energetic clearing of the Alta major) Pallas Athena can bridge intellect with intuition and build an inner wisdom within us. This is calming any fears by listening to the higher knowing and using the information you have to support and act on it. We must find ways to understand the world on a deeper level and use our creativity and tact for the greater good. We have to have courage in ourselves and fight for what we truly believe in. Pallas Athena may be diplomatic but she also represents liberation and political activism – in many ways the Champion in our chart. Justice above all else. This is us. We work for the good of the whole and defend community in a peaceful way. Pallas brings healing energy and intuitive guidance and wisdom Pallas energy can encourage us to speak up, drop self consciousness and know you are right where you need to be.

I woud love t hear back from you as ever if any of this resonates with you.

with love Katie x

The Path of the Heart – the love-led warrior who sacredly disrupts the “order”

I find myself very often walking a path that is not paved – there are no sign posts and as I look about me I see I am alone. There are lights way off in the distance that belong to the torches of my ancestors who usher me onward. When I look for guidance out there – (by there I mean social media mainly!! This is where I have connected to so many brilliant light bearers!) There is so much but none that is precisely what I feel I need. There is no one offering me the blueprint, the map. And so I resolve that I will lean into my inner knowing and compass…

The path I speak of I will try to formulate into words now.

It is the path of the heart – where the heart leads the way and lays down all arms of fight, of will, of battle, of control. And in the laying down of these arms there is space for sacred activist and disruptor to rise up. This woman is in both parts soft and strong. Gentle and fierce. She is light and darkness and she turns me like a corkscrew ever deeper into this land, my centre and my truth. Recently she has been rattling around very loudly in there, she has been taking me deeply into sorrow and pain and asking me to not turn away – neither from myself nor any longer from those I love the most. I have learnt that when I seek something it eludes me. When I try to ignore my pain and confusion it grows in strength and power. The rattling inside has been to shake me. In one final push (for now at least until the next time – because there will always be a next time!) To purge me of war. The witch that lives inside me takes the form of sometimes wild woman, sometimes healer, very often alchemist, very often transmuter and Mother. She has been guiding me more and more to, with full love, release my community because in releasing we are all given more space to expand and grow.

I say this often anyway, that I am not here to hold on, hold you up, hold you down, hold you back or hold you in any way. Today in class the words “I’m not taking any prisoners today!” Fell out of my mouth and I just felt how utterly perfect that is for us. We are all leaders in our own rights – we are all masters – and no one is greater than the other. This feeling of equality among beings feels so right to me when I consider my internal world. The path to Unity of heart, of sacred activism, of masculine and feminine energy – of strength and weakness – of good and bad – of right and wrong – takes me to a land beyond all of that. A land where all is welcome. It takes me to The Field. And here in the Field of all Possibility is where I ALWAYS find the most blissful peace because I KNOW deep to my bones, all the way up and all the way down, that absolutely anything is possible. In the Field I lay down the fight. I lay down the wondering and worrying. My ego settles down and curls up like a little baby wolf into the lap of the dark mother. There are no words here. And when I see others appear as they often do – we communicate in pure energy. Heart to heart – speaking to one another and flowing with one another.

My mission for now is walk the oath of the heart in union with sacredly disrupting the order (yes I have thought of the symbolic reference to Order 66 in Star Wars lol!!!) – but this is a disruption – NOT a resistance as I recently felt. We disrupt by expanding – by doing it from the heart with the purest intention of loving one another. We are walking each other home to Oneness. And so it is…..

I will leave this here for now. I would love to hear if this ignited anything within you and if you have any thoughts you would be willing to share with me. If you do – please reach out to me via katie.robertson@hotpodyoga.com or on the text 07852999716

Moving from being always on to consciously unhooking.

Moving from Being “always on” to consciously unhooking for all of my fellow yoga studio owners – energy workers who wear multiple “business” hats

There is a lot I have to say and share at the moment so I’m going to start with the words I shared in circle on Friday night. I generally open by asking each woman to introduce herself and share one or two words to describe how she is feeling. I said “my name is Katie and I feel like I am on a rollercoaster at the moment”. At the forefront of me right now are feelings of a dismantling, overwhelm, anxiety and exhaustion. I actually feel like I am a broken record when I say daily “I am so tired!” And so this post is me holding space for myself to validate my feelings and also maybe act as a doorway in for others in similar positions as me to find compassion and deeper understanding of yourself.

I’ll begin on a personal “self” level. What many people don’t know is that I wear multiple hats when it comes to my work. I have 3 instagram handles and that in itself gives me anxiety LOL. My priorities shift on a minute by minute basis and I serve multiple stakeholders. I am Mrs Hotpod Yoga, Mrs Salt Water Studios and Mrs Katie Robertson Yoga Circle holder. Let’s not even get started on me as Mother (although very very lovely my soul sister Sher said to me on the way home from circle on Friday night that she saw I was “all in” as a mother and this just made me feel completely seen. Digressing slightly – the New Moon is in the sign of Cancer – the sign of the divine mother and so for me at the moment my children and wanting to protect them is very very present – more so than normal it feels- this may resonate with you too) anyway back to Business….My friend Andy summed it up so perfectly recently. He said “people say you’re so lucky cos you’re hardly ever “working” – but we are ALWAYS working!” That is so true. For those of us lucky enough to be able to do our soul work for life we LOVE what we do and so we may never switch off. I struggle with this immensely because the part of my job that I love the absolute most is holding space as a Communitarian (a term I have stolen from the incredible Danielle La Porte) – this is where my energy naturally flows too – but it also requires a LOT of rest and because I also have roles as Marketeer, Admin, Cleaner, Driver, Manager of teaching team, Updater of booking system, Membership manager, Social media manager plus all the other stuff I cannot even remember I don’t have as much time as I would like or need. This leaves me often times feeling overwhelmed and depleted. The type of work that I do in classes and circles requires energetic hygiene and strong boundaries and limitless self love and its something I am a million percent better at than when we started this wild journey but I am constantly learning and evolving my practices.

When you add to this The Collective then I can begin to understand why I feel the way I do. There is a DISMANTLING and a reconfiguring taking place – as we all rebirth – over and over. As more of the collective shadow is lit up. I said to a friend last week that it feels more so than ever before to me like people are searching for something – students that come are ripe and ready to explore and expand and it is completely exciting and empowering. There is also a lot of Fear still present and I have realised again recently that I am running that through my own system. I am getting mixed up thinking that its mine. The practices that support me to release are (1) sit with it, be fully in it (2) allow it to pass (3) zoom out to get that birds eye view – change the perspective to change the narrative (4) get into water – all bodies of water as much as possible to heal (5) unhook from any and all forms of conflict/ step back from going into defence mode and instead save that energy for me and channel it into wishing for peace for all.

We are in a big “go” period now so that we can consciously unhook for much of the summer because I want to be fully present with my beautiful children. Being aware of the effort that will be put into the businesses and my upcoming retreat is actually helping me to feel strong – and I had the epiphany as I drove home from the studio earlier that there is NOTHING I CANNOT DO. Just as there is nothing you cannot do…..Nothing is beyond us when we step into our pure potentiality in the field of all possibility. We built Hotpod Yoga Worthing, Salt Water Studios as my Circles from nothing and if we can do that then so can you.

For all of you who run your own soul love businesses – I see you. Remember to give yourself regular pats on the back and time off that you know about in advance so that you know there will be that pause. It’s easy to lose sight of things but to keep returning to your WHY and knowing that its ok if that changes is freeing.

So I hope this waffle has been helpful in some way to those of you who find yourselves in similar positions. Lets keep holding space for ourselves alongside that which we hold for others and checking in on each other. To our community – thank you for all that you do and all that you allow me to do. Lets keep our hearts high and our energy clear and full. Boundaries in tact so that we can continue to evolve. One breath at a time. Big love Katie xxxx

Living with Intention

I was walking along the beach yesterday and suddenly heard loud and clear “you need to write about living with intention!”…so, here goes. I thought I would start with a bit of scholarly fact:

Intentional living requires one to be aware of one’s fundamental beliefs and to be willing to make an effort to have their behaviour reflect these beliefs in a form of integrity in relation to his or her conscience and environment.

According to the writer Joshua Becker, the steps can be summarised as:

Realise that life is made of choices. Attitudes and decisions do not have to be determined by our past but can be chosen.
We are surrounded by a culture. We can determine its direction and see if we want the same or not.
Know who we are and what we want (to do, communicate and contribute). Give time to our passions.

A few years ago my amazing friend and soul wife Pennie introduced me to the idea of intentions. We were planning our first Women’s Circles together and she was helping me to shape what I wanted to bring to the circle. She asked me what my intention was behind the circle? At that time I dint understand what that meant, so she would ask me questions like ‘What does it feel like to you? What do you need from the circle? What do you feel everyone else needs from the circle?” This was a completely new concept to me and something I felt very out of my comfort zone with, I didn’t fully understand it but obviously I went with it. We held our circles together, our first one I can still remember so clearly. Bonnie was 8 months old and I was completely consumed by grief and loss (that I understand now was loss for our time together with her as a baby as I retuned to work so soon)….I had never felt so sad, lost and broken in my life. I remember my heart beating so strongly in my chest as I started to welcome the brave women into circle, I thought it would surely explode. I was sweating, I was so nervous…those first few circles passed in much of a blur. I cried deep down to my bones for the pain I was feeling, and yet sitting in circle with these other women I KNEW would heal me….I was being held by the women in circle and in turn we were all being held by the circle. So Pennie and I continued with our intention led circles. And now teaching and leading in this way is second nature to me, it’s so innate and so in built in me it’s part of me to LIVE with intention. So I wanted to share it with you I case it might be supportive to you.

When you set an intention, for anything, you are creating an energetic blueprint that is carried out into the universe, and this energetic signature, or blueprint, will attract people, places, things and other energies that are aligned with your intention – thats to say that SUPPORT this intention coming to life and becoming reality. Say for example you are going to Lidl to do the food shop with the children. You say to yourself and the little ones “how shall we best move around Lidl? What do you think will support us in Lidl?” And you might come up with something like “compassion for ourselves and all shoppers!” Stepping into the madness of Lidl with INTENTION frees you from any chaos that may ensue, anyone who looks at you with their resting bitch face will be greeted with loving eyes from you because, by setting your intention, you will have projected into the future and laid the energetic pathway on which you are then pushing your trolley. See if you can really meet all those who look upon you from a place of fear and pain with true kindness…not that act of “killing with kindness” that can be so fake. See if you can really understand that they must be so scared, suffering so much, so angry that they cannot feel clearly what is true. We are all getting squeezed so tightly at the moment, even I have had moments where I have thought “oh maybe I should be doing xyz…maybe…” and then I realise that I am getting pulled into the story, because the narrative is so strong! This last ditch attempt to control at all costs is happening now, thats why it’s even more important that at this time now we are seeding good energy out, and staying in our truth. I’ve kind of gone off on a tangent here but I feel this message is important too. Try to release yourself from the illusions that the darkness is rising – pain, fear and anger are very hot and loud – they grab for attention – they grab for Hearts and minds. Love is quiet….but no less powerful – in fact it is the most powerful. Love is rising with a quiet force across Earth right now and anything you can do to be a beacon for Love and Truth will support everyone, no matter how lost, sad, scared and angry that might appear. All of this is really just about getting very CONSCIOUS and present. So much of our days we can be on autopilot, we might be doing the same things in the same way over and over, so that were not actually needing to THINK about that we’re doing – its become such a habit and so much like second “nature”, that we become unconscious. By setting an intention , even if you are then going to do similar things, you are changing the energy of the task, or whatever it is. You are gifting yourself a pause to really consider how you want to interact with the world and what you wish to bring to the collective consciousness.

“When you have clarity of intention, the universe conspires with you to make it happen.”

– Fabienne Fredrickson

Start really simple – set an intention for the day that lies ahead of you. Your intention could be about aligning you with your beliefs and values, it can also be about listening to your own needs and taking time to reconnect to yourself, ahead of the day.

All you have to do is take a minute to think about what you want for the day. Think about your hopes for the day, as well as how you might hope to positively impact the world around you. what you want to give as well as receive from the day. The start of the day is a great time to do this because all possibility awaits you – so instead of reaching for you phone – lay a hand on your heart as ask your heart quietly.

Here are some other things to think about:

What kind of person do you want to be today?
What attitude do you want to have towards other people?
What do you need to commit to in order to live a meaningful life?
What do you need to focus on to achieve your goals?
How might I live from my heart today?

Your intentions might change from day to day, or you might stick to one intention that you use all the time.

Once you’ve set an intention, ask yourself why this intention is important. What bigger goal, value, or desire does this relate to? This helps connect the intention to a greater purpose. See if you can FEEL the intention in your heart, and take some deep breaths into your heart imagining this intention coming to life…then simply allow the intention to be carried away. You can return to it throughout your day if you like to – simply pause, close your eyes, breath Inyo your heart and feel the energy of your intention.

In the first chapter of Christopher Isherwood‘s ‘My Guru and his Disciple, written in 1940, the writer tells of conversations with Gerald Heard concerning Heard’s spiritual values.Heard said that one of the hardest parts of the discipline was to be aware of one’s own pretensions. ‘You may rid yourself of all worldly addictions and aversions … the most deadly pretension may raise its head. You may begin to believe you are a spiritually superior person …’this is a valuable lesson. Remain humble – remain open – remember that you are not better than anyone else – we are all the same, we all came from love, we all are love and we all shall eventually return to love.

I hope this is helpful and supportive in some way! Living with intention is definitely something that is very important to me and helps me to stay connected to my heart. let me know what you think and if this supports you. With all my love Katie xxx

Transitioning into New Beginnings

This article is written in collaboration with the entire teaching family – each teacher has kindly written about how this resonates with them:-)

SEASONAL TRANSITIONS by Anne-Marie of Taste of Space Acupunture
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, late summer, related to the Earth element and the Spleen/Stomach digestive system, is seen as a distinct season marking the transition between yang (spring and summer) and yin (autumn and winter).
Nature’s abundant fruit and foliage ripens and starts to droop towards the ground, the light softens and the days gently shorten. Overall there’s a sense of lessening. The holiday season is over and school’s back – although we’re often thrown a few unexpected morsels of prime sunshine – that one last dance at the party! Late summer is a place to recentre, nourish and find our balance. A time of coming to ground, coming home.
For some it can be a tricky time as we long for the warmth, activity and social connections that summer brings to continue, maybe even fearing the coming cold and dark. Others feel relief that the intensity of summer is over. Whatever you feel about this transition, take the time to be present with the changes that are happening around and within you. See what you can lessen in order to create space to marvel at all that our beautiful earth has to offer us. The transition comes every year, but never in quite the same way.
Late summer is the perfect time to learn and do what nourishes and grounds you – physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. Think about what you digest on a daily basis through the news, social media, the people around you and see how you can bring more balance. Seek out people, places and practices that make you feel held and supported. Familiar territory, home turf, comfort.
I’m definitely one that loves the warmth and spontaneity of summer, but I’m really feeling the call for some comfortable routine and stability this year. And I especially can’t wait to “come home” to the utterly supportive and oh so earthy Salt Water Studios!
The community acupuncture clinic is back – every Wednesday from 22nd Sept. Everyone is welcome, and treatment is offered on a sliding scale £25 – £45 you decide how much you can pay. Make space to repair, relax and restore.

The wonderful Helen Cooper-Harding teaches Pilates every Tuesday + Thursday, read Helen’s thoughts below:

So…. It’s been quite the year!!
We have all faced multiple challenges, personal and shared. In addition to those everyday mountains we have to climb, my challenges continue to be trying to please everyone all the time and not being able to …
My life revolves around my children, my home and my work. Pilates is my passion and it also my livelihood.
My teaching has had to change. Zoom allowing us to connect every week and 1:1s giving me the privilege to work more closely with many of you. I have also enjoyed teaching on the *reformer more regularly and love seeing the progress clients are making with their confidence and good movement patterns.
I am helping many clients rehab and see the importance, now more than ever, of a healthy & strong mind and body.

Pre-hab- a term my colleagues in Health care are using to help people take steps to selfcare, injury prevention, delaying the need for operations/proceedures, and improving quality of life – all good, positive steps we should all be taking. One does not have to wait for an issue/injury to arise before taking up Pilates practice. By this I mean, you don’t need to wait until your back hurts, you become less flexible, your joints ache… start your Pilates practice now and condition your body and mind into good, safe movement practices.
I continue to Zoom and have welcomed the opportunity to teach small group classes at the beautiful Saltwater Studios.
I would like to recommend to all of you that either a course of 1:1s ( a 10% discount if you book 6 sessions) or a monthly ‘check in’ 1:1 to ensure your alignment is correct and to fine tune your practice – giving you more confidence to work in your own space in the Zoom environment.
I will be starting classes from 13th Sept and continuing (with a half term break ) until December.
TUESDAY 9.30-10.30 £10.00
Book in advance (t&cs apply)
THURSDAY 18.00-19.00
(This class will also be zoomed to those who’d rather work from home). £10.00
Book in advance (t&cs apply)

Dreamy Christie of Bodywaves Yoga teaches every Thursday, as well as Reiki once a month, read Christies thoughts below:
This summer has been an odd one. Transitioning from making no plans and doing simple things, back to being out there, open, and organising and socialising. As a usually busy and social creature, re-emergence this summer after the strange year we had before has been surprisingly difficult and still taking me a while to warm up to. I am getting there and taking my time. I feel like this whole experience has been one of constant transitions and change although literally the only constant in life is hard for us humans! Adaptable as we are for some reason some of us fight these things. I know I do. So treading kindly, being compassionate with myself and my boundaries or limitations and witnessing them as they shift. Trying not to judge that! After all, that’s what yoga teachers us isn’t it?!
I’m a massively summer person, fire energy! However, even with the non starter I am looking forward to a late summer autumn 🍂 beauty that this time of year brings. Slowly, yielding, accepting what is and letting go. Or at least trying to do those things with grace and less kicking and screaming 🤪🥰 Classes every Thursday 7.30pm 75mins of Astanga Yin Breath & Meditation – Bodywaves Yoga
All bookable via my website www.bodywaves.co.uk £10 per class (class passes available)

Josephine of Echo Yoga is bringing a brand new class to the studios as of next Monday – read all about Transitions in her own words below:

This August, I granted myself “time off”, however, even when we rest and take time away from work lessons are still being learnt.

So many things floated to the surface once I had granted myself space and a slower pace. I would judge myself harshly for still being tired, a common symptom I’m realising a lot of us have after the last year and a half. I found my mind and thoughts would weave their way through moments of calm, rest, compassion and then a harsher voice of judgement, anxiety for not rallying quickly enough, and how can I take this time off when there is still stuff to do?!

Truth is, there will always be something to do, places to be, pressure to be busy… but this idea of earnt rest vibrates through my body and mind, and I am still dancing the dance with it.

But I’m moving into my days leaning into the space of EXPLORING and being INQUISITIVE instead of judgemental. Honour the need to rest, when you need to rest. And honour the need to move, when you need to move. Which leads me nicely onto…
This September in my yin yang class, we look at balance, at the magic of breath, that within an hour we can move with strength, focus, control, then release into softness, be still and let go.
I am over-joyed to be starting at Salt Water Studios. I can’t wait to greet familiar faces and meet many new ones!

FLOW: Yin Yang Yoga Expand, Space & Growth

Monday 6.00 – 7.00pm Running from September 6th To December 6th

Contact Josephine at Echo Yoga Info@echoyoga.com

Louise Windsor is a magical teacher who brings her wisdom to every Wednesday nights Yin Yoga class – here are Louises’ thoughts:

Late Summer, and in fact any time of transition, relates to the Earth element in Chinese medicine. It’s time to come home to yourself after the more outward energy of the Summer, time to check in with “how am I and what do I need?”. I love change, I also recognise the need to stay grounded and steady with in it. This is why I love Yin yoga, it’s a chance to press pause, create some space and soften around the edges.
My Yin Yoga class is on Wednesdays 7-8pm. £10 drop in or £48 for session. Link to book:https://yoga-with-louise-windsor.reservie.net/checkout/event/djEsMjUzLDY0NDAsMA==

Angelic Renee teaches QiGong every Sunday morning at the studios:

Transitioning into a new beginning is such an apt theme as we move from late summer to early autumn – from the slowness of holiday mode to the routine of going back to school or work. I am reminded that transitions are not always big or dramatic. They are also subtle and constantly happening in our day-to-day lives – from the minute we open our eyes and move from sleep to wakefulness; the ebb and flow of every breath cycle; the way our weight shifts from one foot to another as we walk. Every day, every moment, every breath is a gift to start over and be reborn. I was also reminded the other day that ‘reborn’ is what my name means.

There are so many things I have loved about this summer: the leisurely pace of the days; spending so much quality time by the sea with my family; taking my practice outside with my bare feet on the ground.

My practice, teaching style and offerings continue to develop and transform. My mind, body and spirit crave slow flowing movement practices that focus on energy balancing, self-care, meditation and connecting with the natural world.

As I make my way through the transitions in my journey, I wobble and make blunders. My practice gives me grace, grounding, encouragement and inspiration to keep going. These are qualities that I continue to cultivate and hope to share with others.

Class: Qigong with yoga | Sundays, 9:30–10:30am | £10 per class | £45 for a block booking of five classes (to be used within five weeks)

Emma brings her passion to the studio every Tuesday night:

Moving through old paths and into new opportunities. A shedding of what is no longer needed. And opening yourself up to new experiences. Sometimes these transitions require reflection and pause for thought, for contemplation on how far you’ve come, and what is to come next. Sometimes transition can be big and loud, shaking your very foundations. Most of the time it is a quite, gentle nudge in a different direction. A soft encouragement to let go and move on. A subtle change in your outlook and how you interact with your environment. A shift in your perspective. And a settling into new routines. We transition each day, when we wake, our bodies have regenerated. Each day is different. And sometimes we barely notice those changes. We just all of a sudden feel different. And in a good way. This is transition for me.

Tuesday 5.45pm Yang Yin Yoga – £10 or class pass £50/ 1^st Monday of each month 8pm – Guide Yoga Nidra – Chillout Session – £10 per session. Next class Mon 6^th Sept and Mon 4^th Oct 2021.

Link to book: https://bookinghawk.com/events-overview/yoga-with-emma/564

Annette of I am Yoga Worthing is with us every Wednesday and brings kind eyes every time:

As we move into September, we start to merge from summer to autumn, which is my favourite time of the year. As we move into autumn, not only do the leaves start to turn in colour and fall from the trees, I also believe it’s a time for us to transition within. It’s an opportunity to shed what no longer serves us and leave behind what we don’t want to take with us in to the remainder of the year. As we make that transition within, we start to evolve in to what is meant to be, and leave behind what was.

The wonder that is Linzi returns to the studios on Sept 18th for her workshop Structure + Space:

What does transitioning into a new beginning mean to me?

I believe we are guided by our intuition more than we realise. The tiny veers onto a different course can be very subtle, and conversely catastrophic events in our lives can also force a transition beyond preparation and logic. But, both can set us on a path of spiritual rebirth. There will always be subconscious referencing of who we were before this shift. The event. The moment where life will never be the same again.

I believe our most powerful transitions can come about from distress, grief, shock and also repetition. Obviously we don’t want repeated exposure to negative scenarios, but stress is the litmus paper to change. And a little stress everyday is actually a good thing. In my opinion this stops our bodies and minds turning to mush.

This year for me has highlighted my flight/fight mode and a deeper enquiry into who I am without this reactive behaviour. I am a great warrior, but can I sit and simply be? I can now. To sit with grief has shown me this. In all it’s painful glory.

And here lies the new beginning, a deeper appreciation of just how precious our lives are and a determination as a parent/partner/daughter/friend/teacher/therapist to leave a legacy.

Freedom is there when we dig deep into our neural pathways and rewire old programs.

And remember this, the transition doesn’t necessarily happen immediately. Everything happens in divine timing.

See you soon I hope

My workshop Structure and Space is at SWS on Saturday 18th September from 8-9:30am

£25 – we will explore and extinguish old teachings of typical poses and you will also experience a deep mind reboot while in Savasana. Bookings via my website.

————–

“There is no magic wand that can solve our problems. The solution rests with our work and discipline”

March 2021

Can diet effect attitude/performance?

YES. Simply put, when you simplify and purify your diet, this expands to the rest of your life. As Bruce Lee saidI “t is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessential.” … when you can do this you will be left with the really special stuff, and this can extend to your diet of course!

What do we know about how the body works which can help us be better and more productive?

We are not made to survive on processed “food” – our bodies need all of the colours of the rainbow in abundance to get all of the nutrients we need. One thing I would like to touch on in relation to this is the current situation and the last 20 years or so – we have seen a rise in low-level-anxiety that is present for so many of us. We are stressed – and that depletes us of magnesium, a macro mineral that we need in abundance for so many important functions including sleep!!! Eating sugar, drinking caffeine and alcohol also deplete us of magnesium. So we are less able to sleep well and so many of us start the day tired, also with this low-level anxiety which can manifest as the inability to concentrate, heart palpitations, lack of motivation and feeling confused and overwhelmed. If you feel like this, then firstly know you are not alone and know that you can VERY simply make some positive changes that will affect your sleep and your feelings.

Eat Magnesium Rich Foods

Magnesium foods will also help – so some complex carbohydrates before bed like some brown rice, green leafy vegetables, legumes, tofu, nuts and seeds, avocado, banana with the addition of tryptophan foods (these help make seratonin with magnesium, and that converts to melatonin): spirulina, eggs, turkey, seeds and nuts.

Take a magnesium bath

Magnesium is described as “nature’s relaxant” and is vital for numerous functions within the body, particularly important for energy levels and generally making you feel good. Unfortunately due to the modern diet high in fat/sugar/salt most people are deficient in Magnesium as these things work to deplete the body of magnesium. Aside from eating more magnesium rich foods, the best way to absorb magnesium is through the skin and via an Epsom salt bath (Magnesium chloride or magnesium sulfate) before sleep to help relax the muscles and remove tension. Baths also help as you attempt to lower body temperature after the bath which simulates the process of going to sleep at a lower temperature.

Remove caffeine

Caffeine makes you tired: the reason people get hooked on drinking coffee (particularly in the morning) is because it makes them feel better, more energised and alert. Dr Peter Roberts a psychologist from Bristol University, wanted to find out if coffee actually increased energy and mental performance, or just relieved the symptoms of withdrawal. His research showed that coffee-drinkers just felt better than they did when they first woke up – in other words, drinking coffee just relieved their symptoms of withdrawal. It is addictive and reduces mental performance. Depending on how sensitive to it you are, you will metabolise it differently to your friend. So, some people seem “fine” on a few coffees, whilst others suffer the jitters and heart palpitations. Cutting it out for 2 weeks is a great way to kick the habit. Delicious alternatives include dandelion, caro, chicory, barley and matcha. I go through phases with coffee to be honest. I cut it out entirely a few years ago whilst on yoga teacher training and felt hugely better for it. Now, I will have one occasionally with a nut milk, or coconut cream and some coconut sugar. I also add a scoop of collagen and a few sprinkles of cinnamon a long-chain amino acid and the most abundant protein in the body, responsible for elastic skin, strong hair, and connective tissue.

Remove sugar

Also with relation to this low level anxiety – we are actually feeding it with the sugar, the caffeine and the alcohol…your body is constantly “up” on the sugar etc so that when the effects wear off your body suddenly drops to its more natural state (which is calm, balanced) yet it is unable to cope here, and so you reach for the next biscuit, coffee or whatever it is. Believe me I know I have been there. It takes commitment to go trough the withdrawal phase of cutting out caffeine and sugar – for me I suffer intense headaches for 4-5 days as I come back to my equilibrium

STRIPPING BACK IS KEY. There is no magic formula but what does work is focusing on eating as nature intended. Simply put – soaking fruits and nuts and blending them for breakfast so that the digestive work is already “done”. Eating warmed salads for lunch, snacking on raw nuts and fruit and eating dinners that are nourishing. Cutting out caffeine had a huge impact on me as did cutting out sugar. I was no longer a “slave” to any food or drink. I felt empowered – because I had made these choices for myself.

Eat a Rainbow

Then, you consider that variety is the spice of life! Especially as we move into winter it is a good time to consider veggies and fruits of all colours and “eat a rainbow” as they all have different properties and antioxidants that help to boost your immunity:

RED

Red fruits and vegetables are coloured by a natural plant pigment called lycopene. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that can help reduce the risk of cancer and keep our heart healthy.

PURPLE /BLUEThe plant pigment anthocyanin is what gives blue/purple fruits and vegetables their distinctive colour. Anthocyanin also has antioxidant properties that protect cells from damage and can help reduce the risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease.

ORANGE/YELLOW

Carotenoids give this group their vibrant colour. A well-known carotenoid called Betacarotene is found in sweet potatoes, pumpkins and carrots. It is converted to vitamin A, which helps maintain healthy mucous membranes and healthy eyes. Another carotenoid called lutein is stored in the eye and has been found to prevent cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.

GREEN

Green vegetables contain a range of phytochemicals including carotenoids, indoles and saponins, all of which have anti-cancer properties. Leafy greens such as spinach and broccoli are also excellent sources of folate, needed in abundance during pregnancy.

BROWN/WHITE

White fruits and vegetables contain a range of health-promoting phytochemicals such as allicin (found in garlic) which is known for its antiviral and antibacterial properties. Some members of the white group, such as bananas and potatoes, are also a good source of potassium.

Are there any food groups which are proven to really help with clarity of thinking, positivity and to help us be the best we can be?

I honestly believe its not about adding more its about taking away and really assessing and being honest with yourself about what you eat and drink and how you treat your body

Fat is crucial – particularly Omega 3’s

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are one of the basic building blocks of the brain and unlike many nutrients, our bodies cannot produce it. They also enhance your mood: Healthy brains and nerve cells depend on omega-3s because the nervous system is made mostly of fat. The signals that travel through our flesh (feelings, thoughts, commands to our bodies) skip along cells and their arms sheathed in fat. Throughout both my pregnancies I took a high does of omega 3 for this reason – my son and daughter needed this in abundance and I have no doubt that this contributed to Rex being such a calm, happy, creative little soul. Gaining more fat from omega 3 sources will also help you obtain Vitamin A, D, E and K better and crucially enable you to absorb the important antioxidants as well.

Brilliant sources of omega 3 are Walnuts Flaxseeds Chia seeds Hemp seeds

Wild fish (mackerel, salmon, trout, sardines, tuna); leafy greens

Water

Our bodies are made of up to 60% water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

Therefore Dehydration will affect every function your body attempts to carry out. If you struggle to remember to drink water do these things:

Take a pint of water to bed and drink it as soon as you wake up
Get into the habit of carrying a bottle of water with you everywhere
Leave a bottle of water in the car to sip whilst driving
If you have an office job, keep a 1.5 litre bottle at your desk and aim to drink the entire thing every day
Start your day with my health elixir of warm water, lemon, turmeric, ginger & honey

“Why am I so tired?”

I know many of you are feeling tired – me too. And one of the reasons for this is that our nervous systems simply did not evolve to handle the amount of stress we have felt collectively in the past 12 months.

A Normal stress cycle looks like this: STRESSOR -> Sympathetic nervous system is activated (fight/flight) -> Mobilisation -> Deactivation -> Parasympathetic nervous system is activated (ventral vagal dominance – rest/digest)

But for many we are now in this Chronic stress cycle: STRESSOR -> we experience increases in heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and a slowing of or decrease in digestion, immune system, sex hormones -> STRESSOR _> and the cycle repeats again we experience the increases and decreases of vital basic functions within the body…and over and over again

Being stuck in a chronic stress cycle makes us feel TIRED, experience FATIGUE, BRAIN FOG, have difficulty FOCUSING, even when we’re engaging in self care habits. Chronic stress can also cause TRAUMA SYMPTOMS, dissociation, numbness, hopelessness, and depression when we freeze or feel immobilised in response to stress.

So what can we do? First be kind to yourself and let yourself know it’s ok…. BUT KNOW IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BECOME YOUR NEW NORMAL!. If you can continue to be gentle with yourself and work with your body and mind to help release stress and calm your nervous system you will recover. We can stimulate our vagus nerve to counter the activation of fight/flight and sympathetic nervous system dominate through:

Yoga, chanting, singing, a cold shower or swim, meditation, movement, cuddling, laughter, massage, breath work, connection….

My Top Tips for Living Well

“There is a a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”

Eat a rainbow: Aim for 5 servings of veg and 2 of fruit every day
Aim for 2 days every week that are 100% meat free
Stay well hydrated and go easy on stressors like dairy, caffeine, sugar and alcohol
Move your body every day because it has an amazing endorphin effect – it makes you feel GOOD
Go easy on yourself! No one is perfect, but it is our imperfections that make us who we are. Celebrate the things about yourself that are different, accept yourself for who you are and start focusing your energy on positive things
Meditate and see how it affects any stomach troubles you have
Say bye bye to the cows & soy milk
Eat fats with every meal (the good ones)
Prepare for success – stock up on healthy snacks
Accept that sometime you are going to feel bad or under the weather; that is just the natural ebb and flow of life. But start checking your reactions to stressful situations or feelings that you don’t necessarily enjoy feeling, because it’s how we deal with the tough times that can affect how quickly we bounce back. And, also, its those lows that make the highs even sweeter 🙂
Learn to be more understanding and forgiving of yourself, as research has shown that makes us more motivated to do what we need to to take care of ourselves – and that includes eating well

“You give a little love and it all comes back to you”

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LOVE, KINDNESS & COOPERATION – what more is there?

You are reading this for a reason. It’s because the words above LOVE, KINDNESS and COOPERATION resonate with you. We are here in this very place because of these ways of being. We aspire to give out and create spaces where these feelings, ways of being and ways of working can flourish.

We are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

2020….this is the year that we will all step forward together in great literal and more felt circles of love, kindness and cooperation. This is the year that we will build on the foundations we all worked so hard to lay in 2019….in even the last DECADE. Do you notice the cycles of life? If you look back, can you see all you have come through to get to where you are? Do you take the time even to appreciate where you have been, but at the same time, continually release yourself from where you have been so that you can keep moving onwards, yet all the time spiralling round and back around? Sounds a bit trippy and even a little dizzy doesn’t it? But that’s life. Whilst listening to our new fave podcast recently “Lightworkers Lounge” something stood out – “it’s not awakening that is tough – it is LIVING AWAKENED” because unless you are able to live off-grid, without the trappings of modern life you will have shit to do and shit to deal with. And actually I did have the thought recently that as much as I know my heart and soul yearn for that what is more rewarding for me is to live amongst and with all people so that I can be of service to all people. Daily life will continue to rumble on but and the trick is to continue to live an awakened life around and amongst all of this. We are here for a reason and you are here for a reason.

Salt Water Studios will very soon turn 2 years old and it feels as though we are all rising from the ashes. We have been refining our offering over the last 2 years and making it even simpler, making it even easier for people to join us – whether that is literally in classes and groups and workshops, or through the internet. We stand for Love, Kindness and Cooperation.

“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things with great love, and together we can do something wonderful”

Every day that passes more Love, more Kindness and more Cooperation is poured into soul of the studios and the magic grows. It comes from every single person who steps foot inside. It is tangible – we all feel it and we hope that just by reading this you can feel it too. If you are awakened, or if you are just starting to wake up – we feel you. We are here for you and we are listening. The challenge that lies ahead of us now is not one to be afraid of – it is to simply LIVE AWAKENED. And to do the hum-drum daily life stuff and try in all small and big ways to carve out time for the awakened you, the magical, wonderous, ascending you to flourish. Eyes open (all three ;-)) and reaching out hand after hand after hand after hand to every being around you.

We are here for you and Together We Will Rise.

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“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.

As we approach the end of this year thoughts can often turn to reflection – and looking back to see how far we have come and who we now are. Looking around the studios one evening I was struck at how many people were there, for 3 different styles of class (QiGong, hot yoga and Scaravelli inspired yoga), from all walks of life, and was suddenly overwhelmed at how many different personal journeys were unfolding under this one roof. All of the students and teachers on their own personal journey. Some just starting to walk the path and others further along the line. At this time I had also been reflecting a lot on my own personal journey because I had been writing a poem about our Women’s Circles and what they mean to me. And then, just like it was supposed to be, I came across this wonderful quote from Maya Angelou:

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

It made me realise that healing cannot take place if we are trying to get back to who we were before. And in actual fact, real freedom is

“what you do with what’s been done to you.”
Jean Paul Sartre

I started to ponder this in great depth, thinking about it so deeply and it had a really grounding effect on me – a deep settling took place as I came to realise that a new me was being born. In times prior, when I had thought back to the “me” that lived in this body before I had children and before we moved and before the intensity of the last 2 years took place, I had got kind of stuck and thought that I should be returning to that Katie. But actually, I can see now that healing is not about stepping back into the old , it is about stepping into the new shoes and moving forward for the rebirth, but with compassion for all the previous versions of me – because they have all contributed to where I am today. Pretty potent thoughts at this time of year. This then took me back to my first encounter with the practise of Kindfulness, a practice by monk Ajahn Brahm ,which is what you get when you add Kindness to your Mindfulness practice. It was a major lightbulb moment for me when I first discovered it 4 years ago because for me Kindness is central to my life and the way we run our businesses. Being kind is also the most wonderful thing to add to your mindfulness or meditation practise – it give the practise extreme power because it means that I really do care about everything I feel and everything I experience – I don’t just feel it.

In the original Kindfulness talk, Ajahn Brahm encourages us to DO SOMETHING about the things we are aware of, if we can, and if we can’t do something about them then at least change our attitude to what is happening. He answers some really important questions:

When is the most important time? NOW. It is the time your future is being made! So be peaceful, happy, forgiving, and kind NOW and you will be creating for yourself a wonderful future.

Who is the most important person? THE ONE IN FRONT OF YOU. Do one thing at a time – don’t try and get rid of things because a lot of life is trying to teach you something. Give everything value, even sleepiness in meditation (which I know for people just starting out in their practice is hard!) – let it be. That changes the attitude and whole experience of life.

What is the most important thing to do? TO CARE. You can’t cure everybody BUT you can care for everybody. You can never fail at this. It helps you to appreciate people exactly as they are, and give you a bit more wisdom in life.

And it 100% applies to you too. If you have scars (literal or not) it’s important to care for them because it’s our scars that make us who we are, real and natural. We don’t need to try to be perfect or cure everything, just care: and this is what kindfulness is. It really is much more potent than mindfulness because you are aware of your thoughts and feelings AND you show them warmth. Imagine opening the door of your heart to whatever you are, wherever you have been and to everything that has happened to you and welcoming it inside. What a huge relief, that instead of trying to solve the dark parts of you and your life you simply love them. Because not everything can be solved – sometimes things just happen to us, but we can choose to NOT be reduced by them, as Maya Angelou so beautifully once said. I continue to learn this every day. I thought that the parts of me I was kind of ashamed of I had “solved”, I sometimes think the darkness is now all light, but they resurface time and again and it has been SO healing and brought me so much peace to just welcome these feelings in and love them, rather than exhaust myself by trying to push them or shut them away, or work through them over and over. They are not me but they are a part of me still, it is just that now I know how to change my attitude towards them. I don’t let these feelings define me, because I have grown so much in the years that have passed, but I do show them compassion; I show young, insecure me love. And then I show depressed, dark me love. These two versions of me have taken up most of my teens and adult life – but now I am welcoming in a new dawn, and a new me, that is different in so many ways, yet still with that childlike essence and vulnerability – this will never change.

Treating every part of yourself with kindness really can transform you: it allows you to find peace and truly heal because there really is nothing to be done, nothing to try and change. Nothing to battle against. And so then you can become still, and get a real insight from that stillness, a really accurate reflection of what is happening in your mind. Only through Stillness can you see things as they truly are.

Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.
Hans Margolius

Brahm believes that kindfulness will solve all of your problems, and I am inclined to agree!

You can also get to know where feelings manifest in the body. Every emotion generates a physical feeling and response, so if you feel anger or sadness get to know where you physically feel that and massage it. Show it some love and kindness!

Adding kindness compassion to your meditation practise is what it’s like when someone doesn’t try to change you and simply accepts you as being IMPERFECT, which is really one of the founding principles of us at SWS. So Kindfulness just feels so right to me. It is so perfect for all of us for the very fact that it is not about being perfect.

Next time you experience a hard time, or something from your past resurfaces that you thought you had “buried” or solved, try welcoming the feelings it creates and treating them with warmth and compassion, I feel sure it will help you and bring you some peace and free you to step forward into creating and manifesting your own destiny.

I hope this has been helpful for you and would like to thank Ajahn Brahm for bringing the practice of Kindfulness to my life.

with love

Katie xxx

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Awaken, Transform…..Transcend

This months blog is all about TRUSTING YOUR OWN INTUITION and listening to your own heart, written with love by me Katie

From almost the moment we are born other peoples ideals and ideas are thrust, maybe forced upon us. Some children grow up never having the chance to think for themselves because their parents want to control them and “do what they think is right for them”. School then steps in, rewarding children at such a young age for doing homework (errr….NO!!!); the media tells us what we should eat, how we should look and what are the “right” things to do. The society we live in also plays a huge part with cultural influences making us believe we should behave in certain ways, make certain choices and follow certain paths and rules. It’s so rare that we even have that pause point in modern life to actually even realise we are not listening to ourselves – maybe we don’t even realise it!

Yet…..we are human beings and we all have that in-built compass. There is really no need to continue to look elsewhere, to others, outside of yourself for the answers. Who could possibly know YOU as well as YOU?? No one. No one but you can feel that internal dialogue and internal barometer of whether you are feeling GOOD deep to your core and soul or not. And so shouldn’t you start to learn to really listen to your own gut and own instincts ?

I say YES YOU SHOULD, Because these are uncertain times for our Mother Earth. Look what has happened to the sacred Amazon Rainforest….She needs us now more than ever and so what needs to happen now on a very large scale is a waking up of humankind. Of you, of me, of your mother, your son, your neighbour, your friend. This is about all of us coming together as strong, knowing individuals with a deep realisation and full grasping of the fact that EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS INSIDE OF YOU. All power lies inside you. You are great, you are wise and you know your own truth. What I mean by that is – you will know what makes your heart beat loud and clear – what makes you feel alive deep down to the souls of your feet and deep down to core of the earth, as well as all the way up to the crown of your head and up to the cosmos and ether above. To everything that ever was and everything that ever will be. Living in your heart in this way will elevate your vibrations – and if the collective vibrations of the many rise then certain good will happen. What needs to happen will happen.

And the good news is that there are many of us who are here to help. Until very recently I had my unique role on planet earth all wrong. I thought that I was here to hold your hand and help you smile, help you feel safe and ok. But my job (like so many others we are lucky enough to have at Salt Water Studios) is actually to help you wake up to yourself and send you all the way UP….to fully realise yourself – to be completely aware of everything you can do and your full consciousness. I know this because I was confirmed to be through numerous signs on our recent yoga retreat to Ibiza, led by Pennie Pea and I. Via shooting stars, cicadas elevating their song as I spoke certain words, by the very wind and, most importantly, during a solitary moment meditating I felt it, I FELT EVERYTHING IN THE PALMS OF MY HANDS. I would say, I had a transformational experience and deep awakening, oh yes. I would also say my dear sister Pennie had something greater too. She helped me find the way, she can show the way, to so many. There is so much more I could write but I will leave it at that for now 😉

But for now, back to you. How can you start to listen to your own intuition? well, start by trying! Be creative and free in the way you move – this is something I encourage throughout every single yoga class I teach. Sit in silence and place your hands gently on yourself and really feel what is happening beneath both palms. Take yourself off into nature as much as you can. When you seek an answer to something, practice asking yourself and check in with your heart as to how this makes you feel. Dedicate some time really truly to you and allow yourself to start connecting your head and heart again. You need the whole body to work in harmony – and to start reaching for your Hearts desire you must start to actually FEEL EXACTLY WHAT IT MIGHT FEEL LIKE TO EXPERIENCE YOUR HEARTS DESIRE. You cannot be half-hearted about it. This is about expanding and connecting back to the source – which is YOU.

Join us on 28th September for a day like no other – we stepped it up about a million notches in Ibiza and are so excited to join forces once again for our UPLIFT AFTERNOON 🙂 to find out more email info@saltwaterstudios.co

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Choosing a new path

My name is Katie and I am the co-founder and owner, along with my husband Ross, of Salt Water Studios and Hotpod Yoga Worthing, and this is a blog from me.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting recently about the last 3 years and I have kept coming back to the word change, risk, and also choice. I have been pondering why we have done the things we have done; these things that have seemed natural and the obvious choice to us, whilst in reality I know that they are far from the norm. I can still remember the feelings I used to get, stuck behind a desk, doing something that did not feed my heart and soul in any way. I always hoped that one day things would be different but it wasn’t until Rex came along that we made the really big life changing move. We had already planned it and got the wheels in motion but having a child and having a glimpse at the life that so easily could still be us now was the final push we needed to make the change and take the first step. Together Ross and I have complementary characteristics that have made what we have done possible – the two of us together have chosen to keep stepping up and keep doing what needs to be done. And as we have gone on, the bigger things have almost felt easier as now we know for certain that we have work to do, and we need to be here in Worthing.

For me personally, I have come a long way in the last 3 years. I have taken huge leaps in my personal growth, in realising myself even more and my true true purpose in life and why I am here. Ross enables me to do what I need to do and without each other neither of us would be able to do what we are doing – we need to be in this together as the gate-keepers of this community in Worthing.

So this is a little blog about risk, change, showing up and doing what needs to be done and it is also about how we have done this, as my hope is that this will give YOU the push you need to go for the big dream 🙂

So conducting a little research online I came across some key traits/ points about risk takers and people who inspire change and have added some of my own:

Refuse to accept the status quo
Are in touch with a much greater purpose in life and trust
Value talented people and surround themselves with these people
Are able to effectively execute an innovative idea
Are fearless
Are creative and curious
Are unafraid to be vulnerable

Does this sound like you? It’s so interesting to look back and think and also see that once you start identifying yourself in a certain way you attract people who share similar beliefs and life-motivations.

Fear

So, the FEAR FACTOR, or I guess you could say the absence of it. This takes me back to something one of my really close friends said when I told her how scared I was about moving away from London, about setting up a new life and bringing another child into the world – she said “all the best things are terrifying” – because it mattered to us so much and we had been dreaming about it for so long, that kind of made it more scary. We were also driven by the fact that the reality that could so easily have been our lives was more terrifying than trying and failing. In the beginning EVERYTHING was so scary that it kind of became normal for us to feel that way, which I don’t think was necessarily healthy, however it did mean that we became used to it and so as the barriers and hurdles and things going wrong continued to come really thick and fast in the earliest days we just got on with them. Only now (quite literally this last week or so) have we taken a step back and started to go back to being chill and more relaxed with an absence of huge scary feelings. Rex is now 3, Bonnie is 1.5, the pod is almost 2, SWS is almost 1.5 and the new studio space and plant shop are out of the new-born days 😉

Can you allow yourself to show your vulnerability?

This leads quite nicely onto VULNERABILITY. We have felt incredibly vulnerable over the last 2 years, but even so, we have showed up. Every. single. Day. Some days I wasn’t completely there as I felt so dark, but even then we HAD to continue striving forwards and doing what needed to be done – this reminds me of a line from one of my favourite poems The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer:

“It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.”

Yep – this was me in a big way. When Bonnie was a tiny baby I was teaching 11 classes per week in the pod, I was pumping at the pod in between classes and I basically felt like a cow. She was sleeping by me and was waking every night 3-4 times and honestly I was broken, completely broken, as was Ross. We were both so exhausted that nothing made sense – yet the Pod was struggling as we were struggling and so we had to keep trying. Every day.

I recently watched a TED talk by Brenee Brown on Vulnerability and so so much of it rang true for us.

“Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeing , to have the hard conversations.”

Brené harkened back to a speech that Teddy Roosevelt gave in 1910. In it, Roosevelt said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

Powerful isn’t it? Being in the arena for me means doing it – even though you are broken. Because you believe in what you are doing, you need to do it, and you must do your best, you must try your very best because then there is no real failure, cos you’ve given it all you have got. Brenee also speaks about “Perfect and bulletproof” being seductive but not existing in human experience…. and

This is also really important. When Ross and I were still living in London doing the daily hamster wheel existence and grind, I was DESPERATE for something more. Quite literally I was gagging for it, and I went to a talk by a group called Escape the City, it was when my idea for Imperfectly Pure was starting to take shape in my head and the one thing I remember and tell others to this day from that talk and workshop was “don’t wait until your idea is perfect, you can shape it along the way”. So much time is wasted on creating an idea of perfection, and this is one of my founding principles of Imperfectly Pure that also rings true for everything we do at Salt Water Studios and the Pod – and the community we are building in Worthing. We are not perfect – none of us are, yet it is our imperfections that make us who we are and make us unique, true and beautiful on the inside. If you have an idea, the best thing you can do is honour it – and get it out there, because also if you don’t then someone else guaranteed will do it. And the world most needs people whose intentions are honest and good and true, to do things that raise the collective vibrations of the planet. Ross said something beautiful to Rex earlier this week “Rexy Roo , if you do good things then more good things will happen”….and I just thought YES !! That is it!!! Do good to create more good – always.

Get creative

With this in mind, creativity is quite crucial I think. As in, do you want to sit around and live someone else’s life, and watch (many people feel perfectly happy doing this and that is so cool) or do you want to be the one inspiring change and creating. Your brain will naturally be more dominant to one side or the other which will impact you, for example Right Side brain is the more artistic and creative side of the brain and its functions include insight, intuition, imagination and holistic thought. This makes me think of my dad who was the eternal child, and was a risk taker (to the detriment of himself in the end actually). In my head I am a child, as is Ross and the way we play with Rex and Bonnie is just like we are all kids together 🙂 I am always that mum in the soft play who is playing and running and being silly. Whilst the left side of the brain is the more logical and academic side. Ross certainly does switch easily between both side of his brain whereas I am more right-side focused. I definitely think that in our experiences you need both – you need the creativity but you also need the rationale to make the best decisions. But even then things go wrong!!! For us many things have happened to us, most have been out of our control, so having an ability to roll with the punches is important. Even if you feel like you are weak – you are not. How do I know this?? well, you are a human being right – and human beings are POWERFUL…yet most of us have not even realised this yet or even started to tap into our full power and potential. To start accessing it – you need to start doing yoga, meditation and listening. That’s the first step (ask me for the next steps when you are ready :-))

Are you CURIOUS? Do you WONDER at the world?

In her book “The Risk factor” Deborah Perry Piscione writes “Risk-takers are incredibly curious about why things are the way they are. Neuroscientists strongly associate curiosity with attention, motivation, memory, and learning. Based on experiences, uncertainties, and stimuli, curiosity is engaged and practiced throughout one’s lifetime. With its openness to foreign experiences, curiosity creates a sense of wonder and imagination and has been linked with cultivating happiness.”

This insight is highlighted in the incredible song BURGS by Mt Wolf:

“When you came here

You came here with a sense of awe and wonder, dying to just see what it’s about

You know, it’s like, what would it be like?

To be down there?

To be part of it?

And you came here with a sense of wonder, and somehow the wonder of it wasn’t enough and we stopped wondering and started to wonder about ourselves

And in your wondering about yourself, you forgot what you came here for, what you came to be a part of”

This place we are living is huge and wide and wonderful and it needs our help. We all need each others help to live a good life. And If you stay open to new experience then you are much more likely to find meaning in your life and something that makes your heart sing and go boom. People have said to me in the past that I am gullible because I believe lots of things that might seem silly – however I tell you what it makes life really interesting and I discover lots and learn lots just by talking to other people in my world. I am surrounded by some of the most incredible people who know so much and it is an honour. Am I lucky? You might say that but I also do believe that we create our own luck – it starts with a belief in yourself. Do you believe in yourself?

Surround yourself with people who lift you and inspire you

Lots of my friends have mentors and I wouldn’t necessarily say we have one mentor but AMAZING people have reached out to us and come to our aid. We have cried on these people and they have helped us see the way through – often its just some reassurance that is needed but in the case of a couple of our members of the Pod (like seriously – these people are amazing!!) They have actually helped us and taken their own time to support us. We also have friends around us who are also doing things in their lives that are “risky” and not normal…and this not only gives us strength because to a degree it normalises what we are doing, it also has provided us with like-minded people to talk to. We also have friends who guide us and keep us on the path by just doing what friends do! Encouraging us to keep believing in ourselves and reminding us that it would be hard because we (as Pennie always reminds me!) are doing 10 years of stuff in 2 years – basically 🙂

Believe that is anything is possible

Our passion for what we are trying to do here overrides so much – we are less hesitant now than we were at the start to get things done that need to be done. This is key for us, especially the female side of the brain and the yoga teacher in me who has trained myself and been through so much during the process of becoming a yoga teacher and also a mother – we CHOOSE to believe. And this became incredibly hard when the going got tough, so that I sought more guidance from friends and others. I remember one day picking a card from the deck we use at our women’s circles with Pennie. I was so terrified and afraid that we would fail and that we would have to go back to an old life, or even worse, continue to partially live the life that was so close to being ours but with constraints, limitations and one foot in the old way to pay the bills. I asked a big question, (Pennie was like “don’t ask if you’re not ready” and I said “i have to ask”) and I was physically shaking as I asked “is everything going to be ok” and the card I pulled was the wheel of fortune which said “there are an infinite number of possibilities in my life”…this actually happened, and that was the confirmation of my beliefs deep down in my core that I needed. For us also, we came to a point fairly early on where the only way out was through, on a daily basis we felt terror and fear but as there was nothing to fall back on and nowhere to hide we had to keep putting one foot in from of the other and striving ahead. We had two tiny little people banking on us, and the more time went on the greater responsibility we feel to all of the teachers and students who come to the pod and SWS.

Trust the process

TRUSTING is also crucial. A trust of the process and trust of yourself. This was literally drummed into me on yoga teacher training – that I must TRUST THE PROCESS WITH A HAPPY SMILING FACE 🙂 I learnt to let go of any need to control, any need to know what may happen next so that I was totally at the mercy of the process of unravelling myself and I knew deeply that I was giving myself over to a new way and becoming the real ME again. Just like going back to the very start of life. Also having that trust in a higher power that lives inside yourself is crucial I think – because really none of us know or are fully awakened to our full power and potential as human beings – it is really limitless. If your intention is good and true then you cannot go wrong.

So I could try to write down all of the things we have navigated and overcome across the last 3 years but I don’t think I will get them all – so here is a glimpse at some of the big ones – or the big ones as we saw them when they first materialised:

Rex was 8 months old when we discovered we were pregnant with Bonnie, we were one month away from leaving London and buying our bungalow and signing our lease for the studio spaces. Little Bon Bon was not planned as I saw it, but all I can say is that there is no way we could ever be without her.

We found out someone else was opening a hot yoga studio in the town – this led to a HUGE change in the plan and we came back to Hotpod Yoga

We found out I would not be allowed to teach in the Pod whilst pregnant

Our costs were too high and money worries became terrifying

But you know what? All of these things have become “good” – or have been worked out. These were all things within the first weeks and months – there is no real point even mentioning our mental health – but I especially was unstable. We struggled and we felt really bad for a long time. BUT we came through – and we are now through another phase. We have recently completed some work on our HOME so that we are no longer sleeping in the living room in a shit hole 🙂 we have a happy home to come home to that is clear and it feels so so great. Summer is here and that will definitely be hard for us but we are not newborns anymore. People told us time and again that the first 3-5 years are severely tough for new businesses and I know that now. But we are though a tough bit and now its onto the next…there are plans to be made and there is lots of work to be done down here. By the sea.

Will you Join us? Will you take the leap for yourself and for the collective vibrations of the planet?

Its a big question but maybe it’s your time to answer it and be unafraid.

~ Why children’s yoga is so much fun ~

Kindly written by Nicki of Yogabellies

The activities available for our children today are wide and varied. There is so much more choice & accessibility. It’s not just the traditional sports and activities which are available now but many more such as fencing, diving, computer science, cheerleading, crochet, the list goes on.

But, our children, like us, are getting busier. We fill their days with so many things because we want them to have as many opportunities as possible. It’s almost seen as lazy to not be doing something every day. Even when they’re not doing something, they are constantly stimulated by tablets, phones, TVs and computers, life is so fast paced and we rarely stop.

Because of this, there is a huge rise in stress, anxiety and depression.

In 2017 12.8% of 5-19 year olds had a least one mental disorder. Emotional disorders being the most prevalent.
Rates of these disorders increase with age. 5.5% of 2-4 year olds experienced a mental disorder compared to 16.9% of 17-19 year olds
Rates also increased over time. The rate of 5-15 year olds with a mental disorder rose from 9.7% in 1999 to 12.8% in 2017

So how do we get that balance? We all want what is best for our children. We want them to grow up happy, healthy and kind. We want them to be excited for their futures but not to feel overwhelmed by what lays ahead. That’s why I love yoga for children. It allows them such a rare time to come along to a class where the focus isn’t on what they can and can’t do. The focus isn’t on the perfect posture. It’s not on how long they can balance for or how far they can bend. Yoga allows them to focus on themselves and how they are feeling. It also encourages them to explore how they treat others.

I love watching the children use the breathing activities. Children are given the green light to make lots of noise, to express their feelings and release their frustrations. Most children don’t connect with their breath, it’s an autonomous action that they rarely notice. But by teaching them how to use it, they find they feel calmer, can release pent up frustrations and improve their mood. It’s lovely to watch the children relax as they practise the exercises. Initially they can feel silly or unsure, especially those less, confident children who are used to being quiet in classes. But, over time, they become more confident and really embrace the movement & change in themselves. By finding fun ways to present the activities to children it becomes much more accessible and engaging for them and they are much more willing to try new things.

Having been a school teacher for 12 years, I have seen how hard it is for children to sit for periods of time. They are not designed to be static. Their bodies are growing, developing and changing all the time. It feels good to move and it helps with their physical development. Children’s yoga uses games and stories which help to build up both gross and fine motor skills. Children improve their balance, their flexibility and their strength. It stimulates their proprioceptors which wants pressure as they grow and their vestibular system which seeks out movement to regulate everything around them. Yoga gives children a chance to connect with their bodies, find new ways to use them and gain that grounding they need.

One of my favourite parts of children’s yoga classes are the opportunities to build their mental and emotional strength and the relaxation elements. We do activities where the children work together, they communicate and build trust with one another. The children learn positive touch, respect & communication skills through massage. We ask permission and respond to others’ requests. We say of positive affirmations, hold confidence postures, listen and respect each other through sharing thoughts and ideas.

At the end of each class, children are given the opportunity to relax. They can relax on their mats with a blanket and a weighted eye pillow. I will read a guided script which focuses on different things each week such as confidence, kindness, empathy and courage. It allows the children to switch off and fully relax both their bodies and minds. They leave the class feeling refreshed, confident and happy and it is a wonderful thing to see.

Quite often people think yoga isn’t suitable for their children. They think they aren’t calm enough; they don’t sit still or that yoga isn’t really their thing. But yoga is for everyone. The focus can be built around the interests of your child. Postures are named after familiar things such as animals and environmental features. We use familiar stories and stories often with underlying messages & relevant themes. As children get older, classes move away from stories and focus more on their other interests & activities they enjoy. Yoga for sport, yoga for strength, yoga around holiday themes, yoga around the World. They are fun, accessible and safe spaces for children to simply be their wonderful selves.

I have seen with my own children, the many benefits of yoga. They each have their own mat and I often see them practising their postures, a sun salute or their calming techniques. They regularly ask for a massage or a yoga story before bedtime to help them relax. When they get upset or overwhelmed we use different techniques to help calm them down. As a result they sleep better and are more confident to share how they are feeling.

I believe all children should be given the opportunity to try yoga. It is suitable for all ages and abilities and is something they can share with their family. Personal connection isn’t always easy in this busy World so finding something to do with those you love is an invaluable opportunity.

Namste

Nicki

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~ Never lose that childlike wonder at the world ~

It’s funny how the universe works, you might say, or you might say (as we discussed at our recent Women’s Circle), that the universe shows you exactly what you need exactly when you are ready to see it – like really see it, and understand it. Among our community at Salt Water Studios there has been lots of talk of Gratitude, and I have been “seeing” signs of it everywhere. This can mean only one thing. I need it! And I want to share it with you.

“Have gratitude for all that you have and you can be happy exactly as you are”

Gratitude practise is scientifically proven – you can actually rewire your brain to be happy in 21 days by recalling juts 3 things you are grateful for each day, for that 21 days. And these don’t have to be big things – the beauty with gratitude is that by allowing appreciation to flourish for all of the small things, you can actually be happy – Juts. As. You. Are. AND, you keep hold of those small day to day things, they don’t slip by you unnoticed. You can start just with this. And then, when something that really floors you , or almost breaks you happens, you can learn to be grateful for that too – because all of our experience are shaping us – they are teaching us about ourselves, about life – we get to see ourselves – the good, bad and the ugly!! I read this recently and it really struck a chord with me:

“I write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful – for all of it.” Kristin Armstrong

Lots of people say that Gratitude is Superpower and from my own experiences of it (I used it last year to help me lift me out of the black hole of the baby blues) I strongly believe that. It is said to Strengthen immunity, enhance optimism , unlock happiness, tempers our need for “order”, sharpens our attention, takes us through tough times and unlocks our heart. When we focus on what were grateful for it makes us feel good because it widens our perspective. Often, when we’re caught in stress or despair we develop tunnel vision and are only able to focus on the negative. But with gratitude you teach yourself to see the bright side, even when times are tough, because you start to appreciate your circumstances and all that you have, rather than what you lack. It’s a choice you can make. Do you choose to remain unhappy and full of worry, OR do you think of things that you are thankful for, that help you experience wonder, and transform your mood to JOY? It reminds me of the lyric from a much loved and listened to song for us at home at SWS, Burgs by Mt. Wolf:

“The chance to be part of this happens briefly

The invitation is not to show how inventive and imaginative you are

But how much you can notice what you’re already part of

And appreciate it and share it, and care about those that are around who count for their welfare while you are looking out for your own, that’s it”

In other words…be grateful, and never lose that childlike wonder. (please please listen to this song!)

So, How can we strengthen our experience of gratitude? Well, it’s a habit that can be developed. The more it grows, the easier it becomes. Start by recalling just 3 things that you are grateful for, every day, and write them down. One of our lovely friends Toni has a jar that she puts these things into every day and she said she will open them all up at the end of the year! How bloody lovely is that! For me, I use the sound of plane passing over head to remind me to stop, be present and think about what I am grateful for. Another lovely practise I have used is to write a letter to a loved one, expressing to them why you are grateful for them – to someone who you rarely remember to thank, or who does a lot for you, this will make you feel really really good, as well as making them to feel good too.

So that’s it for this months blog. Today I am giving thanks for my beating heart, the fake Twix I ate from Lidl yesterday and the sweat that poured from my body this morning as I taught yoga. What are you grateful for?

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More than Self Love

As we approach Valentines Day we are thinking a lot about love – in all its forms. Over the last few years there has been an overload of the term “self love”, relating to the fact that in this fast paced modern hectic lifestyle, people have been losing themselves. “I” has dropped down and down the priority list so that you are left somewhere between cat and the online food shop, and that is not a fun place to reside. Thankfully the world as a whole seems to have noted this, as it is happening to all of us, in a lot of places – and so there have been so many helpful hints and tips, showing us how to befriend and value ourselves again.

At Salt Water Studios we wholeheartedly believe that self-love is important, that goes without saying. But we also believe that indiscriminate love for all is where it’s at. We need big hearts to make a difference to the world as a whole. And this needn’t feel overwhelming. You may ask yourself “How can I help? What can I really do?” well, it can all start with a smile, in your own back garden (so to speak, or literally if you see your neighbour crying into the hedge).

“Use your smile to change the world; don’t let the world change your smile.”

– Chinese Proverb

Each time you smile your brain feels really happy. … When a smile flashes across your face; dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are all released into your bloodstream, making not only your body relax but also work to lower your heart rate and blood pressure. The effects of smiling on the nervous system and facial muscles are extreme – and they are contagious, not only helping to uplift those around us (as well as ourselves) but also take us into the part of our nervous system that is responsible for the rest and digest. Calming and bringing about balance.

Our modern-day lifestyle promotes our living in a chronic condition of stress and subject to an increasing array of environmental toxins. But through smiling, feeling positive and feeding yourself a diet of uplifting emotions such as love, appreciating and compassion you will signal your nervous system to relax and promote an internal environment of peace and harmony. If you also behave this way towards others then this will also feed their souls. We all have that choice – we can consciously choose to influence our mind and emotions with positive, happy, life-affirming messages.

And then you can choose the level to which you take this. It is reminding me of a topic that came up at our recent Women’s Circle – our Soothe Space -and it was the subject of servitude (I will not mention anything more about the circle other than that!) This subject of servitude and being of service to others touched me quite deeply as I kind of realised that this is how I feel most fulfilled. As a mum to 2 little ones and also 2 (soon to be 3!) healing/wellbeing spaces most of my day is filled with serving. I spent YEARS self-caring to the max (believe me!) And whilst this still is necessary for me to feel whole and recharge, when this lovely lady mentioned the word servitude it resonated very strongly. Because this is what we wish to do for you, our community. We wish to help you heal on all levels in all ways, and really devote our time to providing avenues for this to happen. We work hard every day to improve, shape experiences and do more. I guess it’s all about balance – and doing enough to keep yourself “You” but also doing your bit – and maybe then some when you have the time and energy. We are all on this earth together and so it will make it a much happier, kinder place to be if we start to really look out for one another and lift each other up – throwing out the little torches of light to guide each other through the darkness and back to the light.

And this feeling of wanting to devote to and serve others is growing pace in Worthing ~ one of lovely members described it to us recently as a “movement” – and that felt so powerful! That all of us TOGETHER are helping to raise the vibration in and around Worthing, uplift each other and connect to grow our community 🙂

“It’s not enough to have lived.

We should be determined to live for something.

May I suggest that it be creating joy for others,

sharing what we have for the betterment of person-kind,

bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.”

― Leo Buscaglia

And you may wonder how else you can give back? Well, You can also start to think about projects that do multiple things. This is where our friends and neighbours at GreenUs come in! They are the not for-profit natural and organic lifestyle shop, and one of their founding principles is creating a service that helps YOU give back. They wanted to provide products at affordable prices that positively nourish and uplift lives, whilst AT THE SAME TIME doing this for others. They achieve this through directing all profits to deliver intervention projects that tackle isolation, loneliness and help those recovering from a long term condition. They have some really lovely products that are kind to the environment, animals as well as your life – check them out if you can www.greenus.org

So ~ that’s it from us! Help us to spread love to all this Valentine’s Day, and remember, it can all start with just a smile 🙂

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January…a time to journey inward, rest and restore

So, here we are! 2019 has well and truly begun, and we are back with a bang into the first Monday of the year, and for many in an office 9-5, back at work (sob!). It is natural to think that January should be about some harsh fast, or detox, especially if you over-indulged at Christmas, however at Salt Water Studios we believe January should be a time to reconnect to your most heartfelt desires and heal. Ancient Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic traditions follow this principle, with the winter being a time to go inside the body, nourish and replenish.

So, If you are wanting to help yourself start 2019 in a way that nourishes and cares for your body, mind and soul, here are our Top Ten Tips!

“Only by letting go can we unlock ourselves from the past, be delivered into the future and prepare ourselves for our next evolutionary experience” David Bercelli

Create a Morning Ritual that works for you. Morning has it’s own special energy so is a good time to focus on yourself. A few things you can try are a mug of warm water with lemon, turmeric and ginger to fire up your digestion and alkalise the body; setting your intention for the day with a positive affirmation, something as simple as “My mind is clear, calm and focused and I feel content” can be incredibly effective; oil pulling, an Ayurvedic ritual that is a NATURAL way to cleanse and heal the body; or simply just a few minutes of sitting quietly on the train!

Take some time to think about what you really want in life. I don’t mean by writing a whole list of new years resolutions, as this can make us feel like we are putting pressure on ourselves and also be quite unattainable for most people! Instead, treat yourself to a new notebook and spend time alone with your thoughts to think and write. Maybe you have been putting off starting a project because you are worried you might fail…realise instead that the only way you can really fail is by ignoring yourself and not at least trying to follow your dream. If there is one thing we have learnt from starting Salt Water Studios it is really and TRULY that NOW is the best time to start, don’t wait until your idea is “perfect”…you can mould it along the way. Carry your notebook everywhere with you, you never know when inspiration may arise!

Eat nourishing, warming foods to support your liver. There are ways to delicately “cleanse” without a full on juice fast and depriving yourself of solid food! My personal liver cleanse recipes are not only packed with potassium for creating an alkaline environment and to help flush out the toxins from our cells, but also with fibre, soluble for stimulating the bile secretion and insoluble for promoting bowel movement and elimination of toxins. (I have written a couple of 3 Day Cleanses if you are interested please just get in touch.) Foods like bone broth soups, with sweet potato, carrots, onions, greens and healing spices like garlic, turmeric, black pepper, and sulphur containing eggs all work wonders.

Have Courage and Be Kind. Do things for others, just because, and practice Loving Kindness. This will impact almost every area of your Wellness and the really nice thing about loving-kindness meditation is that it has been shown to be effective in both immediate and small doses (i.e. instant gratification) and also has long-lasting and enduring effects, healing you physically, increasing emotional intelligence, building resiliency, connecting you to society and growing self-love. As well as helping you vibrate higher – by raising yourself up, through showing kindness, you will inevitably raise those up around you.

Cleanse your mind. Try a digital detox, (no phones! no computers!) this can have an impact in as little as 2 days in terms of clarity of mind and focus, and deliver you firmly into the present moment.

Think about caffeine alternatives. If you are a sensitive individual then you may metabolise caffeine differently to others. I definitely do and so will only from time to time have a coffee. But I love the ritual of making a hot drink when I arrive at work, so I have a wide selection of healthy alternatives! Dandelion Coffee, Matcha Vanilla Powder, Raw Cacao Powder- all can be blended with warm water and a tablespoon of coconut oil, or a nut milk of your choice. These will help protect your body, giving you a boost of antioxidants, will not dehydrate you AND give you a little natural high 🙂

Look after your skin naturally. Take regular Epsom Salt Baths to restore your magnesium levels and look to plant-based products. Skin and plants are alive and full of nature’s intelligence, or prana, so it makes sense that using vibrant, living ingredients on your skin will increase the life-force of your skin. Plants are full of life and naturally possess everything your skin needs to keep thriving, glowing, and vibrating with health.

Find a way of releasing trapped emotions that works for you. Not everyone finds talking helpful, for many it is too painful, and too hard. If this is you, I recommend reading this book “Trauma Releasing Exercises, by David Bercelli”. The concept of the exercises is based on the fact that humans have an in-built method of releasing trauma (which can be anything from death of a loved one to something that has happened in childhood, to witnessing someone else go through a harrowing time), which involves taking the body to a point (through exercises) of trembling to physically release the trapped emotions. It is a short yet insightful read!

Learn to respond differently to life by relaxing and expanding into every moment through daily meditation. New studies have proven meditation to work in as little as 8 weeks with just 12 mins per day!! Try it today and notice the effects immediately 🙂

Try an alternative therapy, like acupuncture. Anne-Marie of Taste of Space (who holds her community clinic every Monday and Wednesday) says:

Have acupuncture! – as well as any specific aches, pains and troubles, seasonal acupuncture treatments in winter serve to nurture and nourish our reserve energy, which can greatly enhance the body’s ability to thrive in times of stress, aid in healing, prevent illness and increase vitality. Schedule your seasonal tune up today!

Community acupuncture is available every Monday and Wednesday at Salt Water Studios in Worthing. Offered on a sliding scale of £15 – £40 (you choose what you pay) it’s intended that more people are able to access acupuncture more often in order to feel better faster, supporting the wellbeing of us individuals and our local community as a whole.

Acupuncture offers a safe and proven way to help with specific aches, pains and health conditions and influence overall wellbeing, so you can live life that little bit easier, whether that means a faster time on a marathon, moving more freely in yoga class, getting up the stairs pain free, more energy to look after the kids, easing the side effects on medication, better sleep or less anxiety. It can safely be used alongside other natural health practices and western medicine.

A session provides a peaceful space from the hustle and bustle of life, and a natural and chemical free way of promoting the body’s own remarkable self healing abilities while you are still and relaxed.

“Take a rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop” Ovid

More info and book online http://www.tasteofspace.co.uk

We have lots coming up this month! With new classes and workshops from many wonderful teachers. I hope this has shown you that there are lot of ways to heal, many of them requiring just a tiny bit of time! If you are interested in taking your wellbeing further this year, please be with us and come and see us very soon. Know that by doing just something small for yourself, you are not only benefiting yourself but the world as a whole, by shining your light a little clearer and brighter you may help guide someone through their darkness into their light.

With Love,

Katie and the whole team at SWS xxx