My Dream Job as a Bra Advisor – Reflections on Nurturing in the Service Industry

~ womeninlivingness

by Shevon Simon, UK

From a very young age I’ve always wanted to serve. Serve humanity and help. I couldn’t wait to work, not only for the financial gain but to put my skills and willingness to the test. I began my first job at 16 in a shoe shop. I did well, as I always wanted to provide people with the best experience. I was honest, never sold them anything they didn’t really want just to get a sale, and I was one of the top sales people. I was soon inspired to move onto a company who paid their staff more and treated them better. Continue reading “My Dream Job as a Bra Advisor – Reflections on Nurturing in the Service Industry” →

My Experience with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Hair Loss and Wig Shopping

~ womeninlivingness

by Linda, Brisbane, Australia

After reading Rachel Mascord’s inspirational post, LOVE – falling in love with my own hair, I felt to write about my own experience.

I lost most of my hair several years ago with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and Androgenic Alopecia. PCOS is a complex hormone disorder that may be defined by symptoms such as irregular or absent periods, acne, hair loss, hirsutism, insulin resistance (diabetes) and fertility issues. Women diagnosed with PCOS can present with a unique combination of symptoms at varying levels of severity. Continue reading “My Experience with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Hair Loss and Wig Shopping” →

Hanging up my Invisibility Cloak – Being Foreign no longer an Excuse

~ womeninlivingness ~ 1 Comment

by Fumiyo Egashira, Japan

For a long time, being a foreigner was a great excuse for me not to be fully present and accountable in life.

When I first moved to the UK I didn’t speak the language. It seemed like people quickly judged that there’s not much point trying to engage with me. Whenever I didn’t understand something, instead of asking questions I just grinned – trying to appear harmless and friendly.

Soon I realized that many people were treating me as half a person who wouldn’t speak up for myself. This was very annoying – however when I was not fully showing up in life, taking responsibility, what could I expect? Continue reading “Hanging up my Invisibility Cloak – Being Foreign no longer an Excuse” →

The Invitation Breast Cancer brings – a Deeper Self-examination

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Adrienne Ryan, BEd, Brisbane, Australia

I am a 46 year old woman and have watched women in my family and at work undergo treatment for breast cancer, including mastectomy. It is a particularly distressing illness because the thought of losing a mother, daughter, partner, sister, child, aunty, grandma, friend, colleague or even an acquaintance to breast cancer is deeply devastating. Its increase, along with ovarian cancer, is something to be talked about at every opportunity – Why is breast cancer killing and affecting so many women?

In an article referring to Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy it was noted that: “Currently, women facing a strong likelihood of developing breast cancer have only two real options – to have both of their breasts removed (a double mastectomy) or hope that it will never actually happen”. (1) Continue reading “The Invitation Breast Cancer brings – a Deeper Self-examination” →

My Teenage Years – Discovering What are Periods Really About

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Anonymous, UK

I want to share an aspect of the journey I have been on with my periods and my relationship with them. There are many chapters to the story of where I now stand as a woman and I will cover those in later blogs.

I have had my periods for a few years now, so not very long. In the years before getting my first period I felt an enormous pressure to have a period. I remember most of the pressure wasn’t spoken and it mainly came from myself, but there was one girl who openly told me that at the age of 12/13 not having my periods was weird, and that there was something wrong with me.

Looking back I know without a doubt that this was utter rubbish. I remember very well the difficulty of going through puberty in high school/middle school, and that it was at this time that most girls’ body issues began. Continue reading “My Teenage Years – Discovering What are Periods Really About” →

My Relationship with my Breasts Deepens (Breast Trilogy – Part 3)

~ womeninlivingness

With my experiences of the Esoteric Breast Massages well established in my life now, at age 38, I am continually deepening my connection with my breasts.

I was in the shower the other morning, washing my body. When I began to wash my breasts I felt the gorgeousness of them and I realised how much they had changed. How much I had changed with them. I was handling them with such tenderness and respect, naturally, without thinking about it first. I was just doing it naturally. In this moment I realised ‘I love them’!! Wow! I love my breasts!

I feel such a deep respect for myself as a woman in these moments, and my breasts are part of my being a woman.

I have a lot to uncover in relation to deepening my understanding of being a woman in today’s world and I appreciate the assistance my breasts give me with this unfoldment.

Unlike when I was 12 and my breasts were sore, I am now prepared to go deeper to find out what my breasts are telling me when they are feeling painful and tender to the touch.

At these times I have a choice whether to ignore what is happening in my body and write it off to ‘hormones’ or I can choose to… Continue reading “My Relationship with my Breasts Deepens (Breast Trilogy – Part 3)” →

My Relationship with My Breasts Changes (Breast Trilogy – Part 2)

~ womeninlivingness

From the time I started to develop breasts when I was 12, until I was in my 30s, my relationship with my breasts was like most other woman around me. I shared my experience in my last article titled ‘My Relationship with my Breasts.’

In my 30s I became pregnant and the first physical sign of pregnancy for me was my breasts increased in size. During pregnancy they increased slowly, and by the time my milk came in after birth they were just HUGE.

Now it was time to breastfeed.

I had heard lovely stories about the beauty of breastfeeding and so I looked forward to the amazingness of it all.

Sadly, breastfeeding for me was not fun… it hurt – it hurt a lot. Every time my daughter latched on I hit the roof. My nipples were so sensitive! I had plenty of milk so I thought ‘if I could, I should’, so I persevered, gritting my teeth every time I breastfed. I consulted experts and we were both deemed to be doing all the right things, but the sensitivity in my nipples never went away.

When my daughter was 4 months old a friend thought that Esoteric Breast Massages (EBMs) might be helpful for me, and she referred me to someone she had seen in Byron Bay, NSW.

I had two EBMs in a week and I learned a whole lot about my connection, or more accurately my dis-connection, to my breasts.

It was HUGE. Continue reading “My Relationship with My Breasts Changes (Breast Trilogy – Part 2)” →

My Relationship with My Breasts (Breast Trilogy – Part 1)

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The first memory I have relating to my breasts is at 11 years old. I was in 6th grade  (primary school) and liked the idea of wearing a bra. My breasts had not begun to grow yet but I was interested in wearing a bra anyway. So I wore a bra to school underneath my uniform. I don’t remember the finer details of this but I do remember feeling a little clandestine about it, like I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing.

At this time I remember fantasizing about what type of breasts I would like – big ones, small ones, soft ones, hard ones, attention grabbing ones, perky ones, etc. etc.

My breasts began to develop at age 12 and I felt very sensitive about this.

I could feel that with my breast development there were other changes occurring too, such as starting my periods, and I knew this meant I was beginning my physical transformation into a woman.

But what did being a woman really mean? At this time I was unable to answer this question.   Continue reading “My Relationship with My Breasts (Breast Trilogy – Part 1)” →

Mothers and Daughters – The Ties That Bind Us, Even Beyond Death

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by Anonymous, Australia

Last night I was blessed by a heaven-sent dream. In fact it was much more than a dream. It was a realisation and a bodily experience of my mother’s death. I learnt that Mum died peacefully. She simply let go. The experience of that moment in my dream was of a peaceful letting go, a beautiful golden light. A smile came to my face, my body relaxed and I let go too, as she let go. I let go of the guilt I had been holding since her death two years ago.

They say that people find it hard to let go at the end of life because of their attachments to people, family, partners or children. My mother’s attachment was to her house.

The time had come to move Mum to a nursing home. Continue reading “Mothers and Daughters – The Ties That Bind Us, Even Beyond Death” →

Nurturing Moments, True Self-Care

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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?