The True Beauty of Women

~ womeninlivingness

by Raymond Karam, Goonellabah

A few weekends ago I was invited to an International Women’s Day function organised by Real Media Real Change (RMRC) in collaboration with Esoteric Women’s Health. I was under the impression that I was there to support them. I was wrong.

From the car trip there, to walking into the function, there was something bigger offered than what I had thought. There was something different about the women, something that I hadn’t chosen to see before… or possibly something that wasn’t there before. Continue reading “The True Beauty of Women” →

A Vulnerable Moment

~ womeninlivingness

by Kate Greenaway, BaAppSc (Physiotherapy), Goonellabah, Australia

The other week I had one of those Stop and Take Notice moments. I was walking around the local swimming pool to the women’s showers in my wet bathers, after having a lovely time in the pool. I was a bit cold and one of the males on staff was walking towards me. I had spoken to this man before and I knew him to be sensitive, sweet and completely harmless. I could feel he was going to look at me as we passed and all of a sudden I was feeling extremely vulnerable – my body went into an old pattern of pulling my shoulders inwards and caving my chest in – like I did when I was a teenager at the beach in my swimmers walking past men who stared at my breasts. You see, even though I have a petite frame, I had really large breasts as a teenager and I used to get awful, sexual comments from boys my age, AND older men. Being a curvaceous young woman was agony for me so I used to hide my body in large shirts. I thought I had moved through this and healed those self -conscious years, so I was shocked to feel this in my body now – in my late 40’s and feeling mostly content with my body. Continue reading “A Vulnerable Moment” →

Women Trusting Men

~ womeninlivingness

by Sally Scott, Perth, Australia

Imagine standing in front of a man with your back to him. He stands a metre from you. You do not know this man, but this man represents your relationships with men. This man is standing behind you, ready and waiting to catch you. You are playing the trust game which many of us would have played at school or on camp – having someone stand behind you, ready to catch you when you fall backwards.

This is an exercise in TRUST – about women being able to let themselves go, fall backwards without bracing the body and surrender it to be absolutely looked after, held, cared for, loved and supported by a man.

So, what if you were asked to let yourself go, and trust completely that the man behind you would be there to break your fall and catch you just before your body hits the ground? Continue reading “Women Trusting Men” →

Embracing True Devotion as a Woman and Mother

~ womeninlivingness

by Sharon, Australia

My life has been all about devotion, and many who know me would agree that I have been a devoted mother to my seven children. In addition, I have been devoted to my work both as a Birth Educator and also a Nurse, as well as being devoted to giving back to the community. In all this devotion there has been very little self-devotion and self-nurturing to myself as a woman. In fact, what I truly have been is another D word, which stands for ‘driven’, in which I have felt that I could never do enough to feel that I deserved any space in which to just be devoted to myself.

For me, the experience of growing up in a large family with a father who chose alcohol and work over family, and a mother who was barely coping with her own life, created a belief in me that when I would have a family I would do it ‘better’. Continue reading “Embracing True Devotion as a Woman and Mother” →

A Life of Marriage and Motherhood? – The Celebration of Myself

~ womeninlivingness

by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Brisbane, Australia

As a little girl overjoyed to be a flower girl at a family wedding, I watched as a man and a woman proclaimed their love for each other: “I do – ‘til death do us part”. I believed I would grow up to marry a man whom I too would love forever. It appeared to me that is just what women did.

As a teenager I contended with low self-esteem, low self-worth, emotional issues, family loss and grief. I wanted a partner now more than ever, and I recall one day sharing tearfully to my mum, “I won’t ever have a boyfriend!”. And if I didn’t find one, would I be alone forever? Or perhaps worse still – who would I be in life?

When I was 16 I met a young man who told me he loved me… I thought “This was it! This must be true love!”. We shared a beautiful wedding ceremony when we were 21 and I eagerly discussed our future plans to have children as I knew I always wanted them. In fact, I believed I was pre-destined to be a mother. Continue reading “A Life of Marriage and Motherhood? – The Celebration of Myself” →

Mothering and Motherhood

~ womeninlivingness

by Anne Malatt, Australia

I have always been ‘good’ at anything I put effort into. If I wasn’t ‘good’ at it (riding a bicycle, for example) I would stop trying and refuse to do it any more. This way, I stayed good at everything I did!

I never thought I would be a ‘good’ mother. My own mother was a professional woman who worked hard all day, then came home and cooked all the meals and did all the household and garden chores. This was not a job I wanted for myself!

The only time I saw her sitting down was in the evenings, with a drink. I never saw her doing anything just for herself and remember her telling me that her own mother always called her ‘selfish’ if she tried to read a book or do anything just for her. Continue reading “Mothering and Motherhood” →

In The Company Of Women

~ womeninlivingness

by JK, UK

Whilst working recently I have been feeling just how lovely it is working with women, and how different my experiences are nowadays.

In my early days at work in the 1980’s, I worked in a number of different offices and environments with women. At that time I often observed bitchiness amongst one or two of the women, with one woman talking behind another’s back, for instance. Sometimes there were huddles of women gossiping about another woman, sometimes there were just silent facial expressions, door slamming and awkward moments amongst the women. In one particular group of women where I worked they even went so far as to ‘send one of the woman to Coventry’ – a phrase that described when all of the other women ganged up and totally ignored the one woman, not even speaking to her when she spoke – just a blank stony silence – a kind of ‘freezing out’ of that one woman. Continue reading “In The Company Of Women” →

Commitment to Myself – Through My Monthly Periods

~ womeninlivingness

by Aphra Heron, Product Development, Cosmetics Industry, Melbourne, Australia

A few weeks ago I attended an Esoteric Women’s Group presented by Natalie Benhayon, open to women of all ages. The theme of the event was “Nurturing the Woman Within” and it was to launch a new Period App called ‘Our Cycles’.

This App is designed for women to be able to track in detail their monthly, natural body cycles. It has a range of different functions making it appeal to a broader audience, even stretching to men, and also other than women who maybe are just trying to get pregnant. Continue reading “Commitment to Myself – Through My Monthly Periods” →

The Choice between Poison and Inspiration

~ womeninlivingness

by Leonne Sharkey, Brisbane

My Experience of Competition and Comparison Between Women

At the women’s group last month, Mary-Louise Myers, a presenter on Women’s Health, spoke briefly about the competition and comparison that occurs between women. I knew immediately that Mary-Louise had stirred up something big that I had not allowed myself to really feel before. Of course I have always been aware of the competition between women, but I always thought it was something ‘out there’ in the world, ‘just the way things are’ – something that I was affected by, but in no way responsible for.

I love people, I really do. Most of my closest friends are women and I truly love and appreciate them. I cannot imagine deliberately trying to hurt another person, let alone those closest to me. I want nothing more than for myself and others to be living wonderful lives full of true love and joy. So you can understand my alarm when it dawned on me that I had never pondered the way in which I had personally compared myself to, and competed against, the women in my life. Continue reading “The Choice between Poison and Inspiration” →

Nurturing According to My Body’s Rhythm

~ womeninlivingness

I have always understood ‘nurturing’ to be something very lovely and honouring that I do with myself – like having a bath with my favorite essential oils… or a bubble bath and maybe some candles and plenty of space and time to be with myself in a lovely and relaxed way, enjoying the warmth of the water around me.

Recently I went to an Esoteric Women’s Health (EWH) event presented by Natalie Benhayon: it was an inspiring presentation about Nurturing and being aware of the cycles and rhythms in one’s body. Natalie introduced something that I have never before truly heard or understood, even though it may have in the past been mentioned many times: that sometimes a bath with your favourite oils, bubbles or settings etc., may not actually be nurturing. Continue reading “Nurturing According to My Body’s Rhythm” →