Category: WELLBEING

Celebrate, the Woman Within

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by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Australia

At a recent Women’s Presentation in Brisbane, a group of women shared how truly beautiful it is when we re-connect to ourselves as women: a connection that we override when we invest in fulfilling the roles we have adopted, or live under the pressures from ourselves and from a society that constantly tells us how and who we should be.

As women, it is important to reconnect to our bodies… what are we really feeling? In any moment, when we begin to ask ourselves this question we realise that our bodies never lie to us. If we are feeling stressed, tired, unwell or out of sorts, tense or exhausted – our bodies can feel it: or if there is something we don’t want to do, perhaps something doesn’t feel right. In addition, we may find ourselves doing too much in our day, or doing for others ahead of ourselves; or even when we are simply being hard on ourselves – we know about it. But when we make the time to stop and feel, we get to see that there is another way to be; a way that is honouring and cherishes the woman we already are. Continue reading “Celebrate, the Woman Within” →

The Things l’ve Done to Find the True Woman

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by Jenny Ellis, Practitioner and Director: UniMed Brisbane, Australia 

I started my forays into personal growth and healing back in the late 90’s when I found myself with everything that was supposed to make me feel successful and good about myself  – good relationship, a handsome, attentive partner, good job opportunities, a nice place to live, supportive family and a lovely young son. Yet I felt far from satisfied inside, and knew it wasn’t that I had higher ideas of what life should be – since I had what I’d always thought I wanted.

I realise in retrospect that it was how I felt about myself as a woman that was my main source of dis-content – unattractive, inadequate and lacking in confidence pretty much sums it up. There was always a ‘there’ I never seemed to get to, as far as feeling good about myself for any length of time.

I was in fact, far from unattractive or inadequate, but I felt it and had great ways of covering this up. Continue reading “The Things l’ve Done to Find the True Woman” →

Being ‘Good’ or Being ‘True’

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by Sara Harris, BHSc, Melbourne, Australia

For the most part of my life I have been very conscious of looking after myself. In fact, I used to pride myself on how healthy I was, even as a teenager. I went to the gym, played all sorts of sports, didn’t eat sugar and was careful about the amount of food I was eating. I was also one to do very well at school. Always on top of everything, producing quality and quantity and getting marks to confirm me as being a ‘good’ student. I was also involved in fund-raisers and the 40 hour famine each year… out to save the world!

Looking back now, it would be fair to say that I was living in a bit of a ‘drive’ – a drive to do well, to be good, to succeed and to be the best. It may seem as though there is nothing wrong with all of this, however my body was telling me that there definitely was. I would push myself through anything, constantly, at the expense of my body. Here I was thinking that I was looking after myself by doing all the right things, but I hadn’t considered that simply listening to my body ‘first’ was actually what was needed. I see now how I kept going to the gym when my body was tired, or how I was eating food because of what I had read or what I was told was good for me, without listening to what my body really wanted. And I would work until all hours of the morning to get things done, thinking that the work would be better the more time I gave it. But why did I not give the same consideration and dedication to my body, when it is the one actually doing all of the work? Continue reading “Being ‘Good’ or Being ‘True’” →

I am a Regular Woman

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by Janine Whitling, Dip App Sci – Naturopathy, Masters in Contemporary Art, Brisbane Australia

I am a regular woman, and person really, not much different to you. I grew up in a household which had difficulty expressing love: dad hid behind his work and was often sullen and quiet, mum tried like crazy to stay the dutiful wife, working and caring for the home. Both were so wrapped up in their own stuff that they often forgot about us, forgot how to spend time with us. Nothing new here – I know dozens of people who grew up like this.

At school I was teased… lots of kids were. I hated my looks (so did lots of other kids too) and I struggled to find a place in the world, trying so hard to fit in. I moulded myself to be whatever I needed to be so I wouldn’t be different, so that people would like me; anything to get an okay. Then, in my teens I started drinking, because that’s what ‘cool’ kids did. And in my twenties I started doing drugs, because that’s what ‘cool’ people did. And all at the same time I slept with whoever I could, just for some kind of attention and to feel popular. Continue reading “I am a Regular Woman” →

From Black Belt Kick Boxer to Tenderness

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by JK, England

While I was having a long bath this morning, I took the time to appreciate how different my body feels lately. When I washed my feet, the hard skin that used to be on the balls of my feet has completely gone, the skin on my legs and arms and body is very soft and gentle, and my hair feels much thicker, shinier and healthier than it ever has. What I also felt was how much I can feel inside my body, and how sensitive (in a great and tender way) my body is to many things, such as the temperature of my bath water (not too hot or too cold) and the products I use on my body (for example, the ‘organic’ shampoo and conditioner I used today felt harsh and unloving – so I have binned it). And how I love to give myself ample time to take a long bath when I feel to. Boy, have I come a long way!

Fifteen years ago I was a junior black-belt kick boxer. I also cycled up mountains, did 100’s of press-ups and sit-ups as part of my kickboxing training, and regularly went jogging. I was, at that time, an associate director of a large healthcare organisation – and I used to turn up for work with bruises and broken toes (from the kickboxing). For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m just about 5 foot tall, and very slight in build; I’ve pretty much always been this build, give or take a few pounds. I used to train with 6 foot-plus men for kickboxing – very few women got to junior black belt. I had a busy working life, working 50 to 60 hours a week and driving a round trip of 60 miles a day. I used to get so tired I couldn’t sleep, so I would buy a curry from the local Indian take-away and eat it to make me sleepy enough to sleep. I also ate chocolate and drank green tea to ‘pep’ me up when I felt tired during the day. Continue reading “From Black Belt Kick Boxer to Tenderness” →

A Space Just For Me

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by Gabriele Conrad, Goonellabah, Australia

This morning I looked around in my bedroom, felt how simple and supportive it was, and was reminded of all those years when I so yearned for a space where I could be with myself, take care of myself and look after myself.

In the past, I had always been keenly aware of how much I missed not doing things for myself; such as having a bath just for me, and not because I was chilled to the bone and a bath was the only way to warm up; such as having somewhere where I actually wanted to linger and where I could apply body lotion or cream; such as a space where I could take care of my hair rather than wear it so short that I never had to use a comb and never had to look at myself in the mirror. Continue reading “A Space Just For Me” →

The Return of the Pad

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by Annette Baker, Sydney, Australia

If somebody had said to me six months ago that in a few months I would only be using pads during my period, and would no longer be using tampons, I would have laughed in disbelief, and probably a bit of embarrassment too. I had some pretty bad memories of using pads during the first year of having my period, and based on that experience, to me pads were ‘backward’, clumsy and messy, so I wasn’t about to go back there. As far as I was concerned pads were antiquated, and used only by much older women who had neither discovered nor enjoyed the convenience of tampons. So how is it that today, I sit here in the knowing that it is very unlikely I would choose to use a tampon again? Continue reading “The Return of the Pad” →

Overwhelm

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by Lucy Dahill, Sydney, Australia

Most things in my life have happened quickly, always at a pace… I would become frustrated by having to wait or go slowly and I would never stop and do nothing. I got pregnant three months after I started dating my husband. That meant we didn’t have much time to get to know each other as man and woman before my growing baby and I became the centre of his world. I was working full-time and studying to complete an aromatherapy diploma. This carried on into the pregnancy of my second child a year later. We moved to the country, I left my office job and took up both voluntary work and practitioner work and we had our third child. All the way through this I distinctly remember the feeling that something was welling up inside me that needed to be squashed. Was it a scream… a wave… a huge roar? Continue reading “Overwhelm” →

Living with Self-Love

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I have been hearing about ‘self-love’ my whole life; about being ‘kind to myself’, being ‘who I am’, ‘loving’ or ‘respecting myself” or ‘liking me, for me’, but it never really meant anything to me – they were just words and no-one could explain or show me what those phrases about self-love really meant.

Then at age 24, I met Mary-Louise Myers for my very first esoteric healing session. I asked for a massage, and I did get a gentle back massage but I also got a whole lot more. At the end of the session, Mary-Louise shared with me how important it was to be gentle and ‘self-loving’ and to take care of my body. I was a little dumbfounded by what she meant by ‘self-loving’, so I asked her – I remember her saying to me “begin by making loving choices for yourself”. At this point something clicked and it was “oh! I get that”, realising that I had been gradually doing this (in small ways) for the past five or six years. Continue reading “Living with Self-Love” →

Cervical Cancer at 19 to True Health at 40

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When at age 19 Nicole Serafin was diagnosed with a form of cervical cancer she knew her life was potentially in danger. Today at 40 years old she reflects on how she came to do much more than survive her cancer scare and how she subsequently chose to deeply heal the way she was living. Originally published at the Truth about Universal Medicine blog we include it here because of its great relevance to women’s health and wellbeing. A must read for all women, this article also raises interesting questions about the validity of a purely genetic understanding in our view of the generational effects of illness and disease.

by Nicole Serafin

At the age of 19, I was diagnosed with CIN3 (also called carcinoma in situ or stage 0 cervical cancer) the highest level of cell changes that can occur before there is invasion into deeper tissues. As such it was imperative to have it treated before it progressed further and became invasive.

I had no symptoms that I knew of, and had been for a regular check-up at my local doctor when she asked if I had ever had a pap smear. Being 19, I thought that was something that older people had. She explained to me that it was not an age thing, so I decided to have one. I did not think anything of it at the time, not expecting to hear another word about it. Continue reading “Cervical Cancer at 19 to True Health at 40” →