Category: WELLBEING

Nurturing Moments, True Self-Care

~ womeninlivingness

by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Brisbane

It may sound easy to compile a list of the many common activities or regimes one could do to nurture themselves. Men and women can incorporate many self-care activities into their lives that bring relaxation or reward to their day, ticking the self-nurturing box by spending the time or money on self, finding the time away from the stresses of work or busy family life.

But by ‘doing’  the activities and ticking the self-care and self-loving boxes are we really developing our OWN natural way of nurturing ourselves?

Our bodies know more about what we are feeling and what it means to be truly nurturing than we have acknowledged them for. When we begin to reconnect to ourselves and our natural way of being we become more certain of what is right for us, in any moment. Anyone can run a warm bath as a nurturing act for self, but if it is not what you truly feel to do in that moment is it of any true support to you, your body and to your well-being?

Our Cycles App – Period and Full Moon Diary – Tracking My Expectations

~ womeninlivingness ~ 3 Comments

by Sarah Cloutier, Animation Producer, London, UK

“Expectation is the root of all heartache” – William Shakespeare

Wise words Will Shakespeare.

I realise I have been nurturing my expectations.

Not at all what I had expected to reveal while I am being more nurturing to myself with many other loving actions and thoughts. I am writing every day in the Our Cycles App about the small nurturing moments in my day: this could be talking with a friend, walking gently to the tube, smiling just for myself, allowing myself to make mistakes, being silly, dancing with myself, taking time to lay out my clothes before my shower or bath, not comparing myself to other women … a long list that grows every day! The loving ritual of writing down these loving actions means I can now see when I love myself even more: what is not love is even more obvious.

I have been using constant energy that has been invested in outcomes, from conversations, meetings, friends, acquaintances, people on the tube – everyone! I expect a certain type of response from people and I am then disappointed when they don’t come through. I expect colleagues at work to respond the way they did yesterday and when they don’t, I feel let down. I expect the young guy on the tube to get up and let me sit down on the way home from work, but when he doesn’t, I feel let down. I expect the person on the checkout to be friendly and when they are not, I feel disappointed. I’m also realising that when I see someone gloomy, I try to make them feel ‘better’ – to make them see they don’t have to be gloomy! I impose my expectations then I don’t understand when they don’t ‘get it’. Continue reading “Our Cycles App – Period and Full Moon Diary – Tracking My Expectations” →

Deepening Self Nurturing – Developing Connection with Me

~ womeninlivingness

by Emily Billsborough, Wollongbar, Australia

Over the past couple of months I have been developing my relationship with nurturing and what nurturing truly means to me in my life. Each moment is full of different interactions between people, environments and situations. We could put this all down to being part of daily life.

I began to ask myself what happens to me in these moments (daily life) when something that I don’t like occurs, or if I react to my partner, family member, friend, colleague, a stressful situation at work, home, at the shopping centre etc.?

  • Do I feel stressed, angry, sad, overwhelmed, frustrated? Or do I still feel like my amazing, lovely and beautiful self?
  • Do I ever stop throughout the day to feel what is happening and how I feel when experiencing all of these different feelings, activities, relationships and situations?

How do I cope with what has happened if I have had a ‘bad’ day? Continue reading “Deepening Self Nurturing – Developing Connection with Me” →

True Nurturing – The Way I Return to Me

~ womeninlivingness

by Adrienne Ryan, Brisbane, Australia

I went to a presentation for women today hosted by Jenny Ellis and Mary Louise Myers from Universal Medicine. What was shared there about ‘True Nurturing’ inspired me deeply…

Nurturing is something I had begun to invest in by taking time to be attentive to what was needed to support me throughout my day. Before this, I can see how my way of life was designed to waste no time: a 2 minute shower, 5 minute dressed and ready to go, multi-task my way through many things at once, not wasting time painting my nails or spending too much time on my hair or paying too much attention to what to wear on an ‘ordinary’ day, and so on. In all this speedy efficiency there was no quality time, no space for just enjoying being with me – it was all about ‘moving on’, ‘getting things done’, ‘not holding other people up’, or ‘not taking up too much of their time or space’ and certainly not indulging in any perceived self-absorbed frivolous-ness or girlie-ness – these were just big unnecessary, indulgent, time wasters.

But today things are different. I have come to love making time to take my time getting ready for the day, tenderly and lovingly looking after myself, enjoying putting on makeup and clothes that highlight (not hide) my beauty and womanliness. I make time to take my time now, and because I do I get to enjoy the feeling of me – the loveliness that is within me – and I notice that I don’t want to brush this off, dismiss, diminish, play it down, reject or deny my innate preciousness anymore. Instead I want to honour it, embrace it and confirm the truth of it: I am worth TIME.

Today at the Brisbane Women’s Presentation I discovered Continue reading “True Nurturing – The Way I Return to Me” →

Re-discovering the Delicateness of a Woman Within… Continues

~ womeninlivingness

Over the past 6 weeks I have lived with an awareness of the delicateness within me. More and more I have connected with this internal reservoir of beauty and I have discovered a few more things in the process.

First was the awareness of a hard, cold, heaviness in my body – I felt like a human bulldozer, pushing through whatever lay before me. There’s a limited turning circle with the track wheels, so it was just straight ahead through life with that big steel front. Feeling the delicateness within (think of a butterfly) was quite a contrast to the bulldozer-style body I had encased myself in. For so long it had felt safe and protected: it had worked, but it came with a cost – hardness, coldness, heartlessness, force ­– and my body paid the price. Continue reading “Re-discovering the Delicateness of a Woman Within… Continues” →

Reclaiming My Self Worth

~ womeninlivingness

I have had many experiences in my life where I felt that I was never good enough. It was like I could hear a silent language in everything and everyone around me, underlying or hidden in words or comments that were said to me, or in a gaze from someone’s eyes that came my way. Even ‘nice’ and ‘kind’ words that were spoken to me carried a silent language that there was something wrong with me.

I was either too outspoken or too withdrawn, too emotional, too sensitive or not sensitive enough, too abrupt, I was too serious, too blasé, too fat or too thin, too hard, too girly, not womanly, I didn’t listen or I wasn’t saying enough, I did too much or I didn’t do enough, I cried too much, I didn’t care enough, I was stuck up, I dressed too casual or I over dressed, I was selfish or I fussed over others too much, I never smiled or my smiles were fake, I demanded too much or my standards weren’t high enough… Continue reading “Reclaiming My Self Worth” →

A Letter to All Women

~ womeninlivingness

by Sara Harris , BHSc, Cert. NFE

Recently, I had a session with an Esoteric Breast Massage practitioner and I felt something quite amazing in my body. I was able to let go and allow myself to just be me and in that, there was such a beautiful feeling of equalness between us. This allowed for so much more tenderness and I felt how natural it is to be this way, supporting one another, instead of my putting others higher or above, which keeps us separate. I wrote that evening as the feeling kept unfolding and it was like I was remembering how we, as women, used to be with each other. There were so many tears as I felt how we have the potential to hold each other and ourselves in the absolute sacredness that we are, and how beautiful and natural it is for us to be this way. So I am sharing what I wrote with you all, which ended up being a message for myself and for all women. Continue reading “A Letter to All Women” →

Motherhood and Autism – Celebrating A Nurturing Woman

~ womeninlivingness

by Kate Greenaway, Australia

The names in this real life story are not real, but the events and sharing of the challenges and learning along the way are very real. Christina is a 44 year old woman, she is married to Tom who is 46 years old and her partner of some 19 years. They have a 15 year old son, Will. 

At 2 years old, Will was diagnosed by a team of Medical Specialists as having moderate Autism with a severe ‘Global Delay’. Global Delay means that Will is significantly delayed in all aspects of communication and development. This affects his behaviour and interaction with himself, his parents and all that come into contact with him. He requires constant supervision including self care, behaviour development, safety awareness and setting appropriate boundaries, including how to interact and communicate with people generally.

When Will was 18 months old, Christina was aware there was something ‘not right’ with him; when she was told of his condition she thought “Why me, why am I being punished in this way? Haven’t I already suffered enough?”. Amazingly, she let this go pretty quickly as she and Tom realised that Will was a blessing, not a burden or punishment. Continue reading “Motherhood and Autism – Celebrating A Nurturing Woman” →

Today I Sat Down – Nurturing Myself as a Woman

~ womeninlivingness

by Beverley Brown, UK

It was a usual Monday morning and I was getting ready for the day. I noticed I felt a little off as I had my period and it was a little uncomfortable, so this I gently pondered on.

I proceeded to shower, gently washing and drying myself, as part of my morning ritual. I then put on my underwear, which I had felt to warm on the radiator beforehand. This felt amazing and a very loving and nurturing thing to do.

Then came the make-up and hair. I usually stand in the bathroom (the light is better here) for the make-up, or in front of a long mirror at the top of the stairs where the hairdryer, brush and product station is.

Today, due to achy legs and a mild ache in my uterus, I felt to see what it would be like to sit down whilst doing both these tasks. Continue reading “Today I Sat Down – Nurturing Myself as a Woman” →

The Esoteric Breast Massage – Rediscovering Sweetness

~ womeninlivingness

When I was little I used to love dressing up, playing with my mum’s jewellery and spraying on her perfume. I would go into my room (hiding mum’s goodies under my arm, making sure she wouldn’t see I was ‘borrowing’ them), and play dress up, pretending I was a beautiful princess. I can’t quite remember how old I was when I bought my first lipstick, but I remember being told off for buying ‘grown-up things’ with my pocket money. And of course the disapproval and forbidding made the lipstick all the more desirable.

I also remember that I couldn’t wait to grow up. It didn’t feel sufficient being a child and there were too many do’s and don’ts that I wanted to be free of. As I grew into adulthood I became a beautiful woman physically, but I wouldn’t give myself permission to just accept this and be OK with it. Continue reading “The Esoteric Breast Massage – Rediscovering Sweetness” →