In May this year I joined 26 other women for an amazing week of training with Bad-Ass Warrior Priestess Sora Surya No. I was there to learn about Womens Circles, and like many of the women in the room, I was expecting a kind of how-to guide and maybe a manual at the end of the week. This did not happen. In the morning of Day 1 we were informed that the internet was full of useful advice on running womens circles, but the only way we could really understand the power of circle was to experience Continue Reading
That Time I Decided To Run a Womens Circle
Many years ago a very intuitive woman suggested I join a Womens Circle. I didn't know what that was, but I was pretty sure it wasn't for me. It sounded kind of hippy and a bit scary. I felt that it would probably involve chanting, and maybe hugging. I stayed the hell away. Cut to 2017 and I was spending a lot of time alone on my couch. I'm not a classic extrovert, but I am lifted by connection with others, even though I need plenty of down time to replenish myself afterwards. I used to Continue Reading
Messages from the Dream Weave
I call them my dream songs. They greet me as I emerge into wakefulness, existing at first only as hazy dream memories. They hover just out of reach; a snatched phrase, a repeating chorus line, the hint of a melody. In the space between sleeping and waking, a familiar song hovers and if I'm patient and wait, it will sharpen and come into focus. Several times a week I wake up to rock ballads and long-forgotten ditties from school musicals, relics from Dad's record collection, 90s dance floor Continue Reading
Recovery and Changing Direction
This is the post where I tell you the surgery went well, I'm recovering as expected and there's not really anything dramatic to share, health wise. Plenty to share, certainly, but I feel I need to get the health story out of the way first. Once my uterus was removed and sent to pathology (sorry is that a bit TMI?? It's all so 'whatevs' to me now), they confirmed I had Adenomyosis and fibroids and the surgeon found an odd set of mishaps in my pelvic cavity that were unexpected but easily Continue Reading
The Other Side of Tomorrow
Everything is about to change. Since my last update about Adrenal Fatigue back in January, I've deliberately held back from writing. In fact I've held back from a lot of things. Almost everything really. I've focussed on my health, my family and a small number of close friends who've supported us while we bunker down for a while. After selling our house at the end of last year, we slipped into an awesome house-sit opportunity and have settled into life here for 12 months. It would have Continue Reading
Adrenal Fatigue
I miss writing. This is the first thing longer than a shopping list that I’ve written in 6 months. I’ve carried stories and blog posts around in my head for days at a time, but in the end it was too much effort to capture them. Even an hour at a keyboard sets me back two weeks. My arms, shoulders, wrists and neck stiffen up and stay that way until I shell out for another round of osteopathy or figure out which elusive combination of stretching and resting will relieve the aches. There’s Continue Reading
I stopped working. Now what?
Once I made the decision to stop working, everything happened rather quickly. Six weeks later and I'm officially unemployed, with not a client to speak of. Everyone was lovely and accommodating and I'm feeling good that I was able to organise transitions for my clients with minimal fuss. I can hardly believe it was such a difficult and agonising decision. It's such a relief to be free of it all; and now here I am. I've spent a couple of weeks taking it easy and trying to read my body. One Continue Reading
On Life Catching Up With Me, and Letting Go.
Life caught up with me a few weeks ago. I was sitting in the car outside the physio, everything aching as usual. I stared blankly through the windscreen and suddenly I was just exhausted. I tried to turn the keys in the ignition, but the effort was beyond me. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I felt a tightness in my stomach and a shortness of breath that might have been a panic attack if I had that kind of thing. But I don’t do not coping. I cope and I manage and I get things done. I don’t Continue Reading
What I’ve Learned About Relaxation
Since Scott’s Cancer Diagnosis a year ago, I’ve existed in a state of low grade anxiety. Even when things were going well, I was still tense, living on adrenaline. Keeping it together was really my only priority, and often that meant taking care of everyone else except me. Scott’s in remission now and he’s back at work. The kids are OK. So, earlier this year I decided to take some time off. For 3 months I’d take on no new responsibilities. I would embark upon a relaxation regime to Continue Reading
After Adrenaline, Nothing
Last year I ran on adrenaline. I worked extra hours on adrenaline, did the school runs on adrenaline and trawled back and forth to the hospital on adrenaline. Adrenaline got me through preparing and weighing out 3 streams of meals, 3 times a day (plus snacks) for my family's insane unique dietary requirements. I even leaned on adrenaline for the occasional night out or social occasion. Yes, adrenaline was my friend. But as 2016 dawned we started to drift apart. No more cancer. No more Continue Reading