Is eating just about us getting our basic macronutrients and micronutrients or is it more of a sensual experience?

I loved the monthly train journey to Manchester for my Cranio-Sacral Therapy training. A couple of hours watching the English countryside unfold culminating with the view of the Peaks always helped to reset my nervous system. (The daily London commute on the tube was a lot less pleasurable and makes me shudder now when I think of it). 

Waiting for the steam train to depart at Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway, was another level of excitement. Every wave of excitement came with a flashback of being at the Abbey as a small child with my family. After the train snaked around the luscious grounds in St Peter, we took a tour of the main house, and it suddenly felt as though we had been transported to another time in history.  

Mindfulness is not just about sitting still in awkward poses for hours on end. It is about being present, as much as possible, in everyday activities. This might be in conversation, brushing your teeth, or eating.

The volcanic eruptions of St Vincent’s La Soufriere provide many moments of clarity.

Recent terminology used in the press and by politicians to discuss the pandemic has reminded me of the saying 'what we resist, persists'. Paraphrased from the psychologist Carl Jung, this means when we attempt to resist anything within our reality or present, the more that thing will remain in our reality or present. The more thought, effort and energy we place on trying to stop that thing, the more power we give to it. Another way this is expressed is in the Law of Attraction. This philosophical approach states that positive thoughts (which are a form of energy or vibration) produce more positive thoughts. Conversely, negative thoughts produce more negative thoughts.

In the 70s-80s we had a War on Drugs followed by a surge of drug use, addiction and drug-related crimes and incarcerations. It is estimated that 21 million Americans aged 12 years or older has one form of substance use disorder. In the 00s there was the War on Terror which led to acts of terrorism around the world, major wars, thousands of people killed, and millions displaced. Despite all of this, the war has lasted for over 19 years.

Military terminology and metaphors have also infiltrated healthcare. We often hear that someone is “battling cancer” or someone is “fighting a flu”. This suggests that somehow there is a winner or loser in this battle, that the patient must be “strong” throughout their process or that they were not strong enough to overcome their disease. Now we have been told there is a war on an invisible and deadly virus. We must “suit up” in personal protective equipment and healthcare workers are described as working on the “frontline”.

We are all sensual beings, this is evident in the language we use – ‘a sight for sore eyes’, ‘hard ears’, ‘heart-warming’. Sensuality is ‘the enjoyment, expression, or pursuit of physical, especially sexual, pleasure’ or ‘the condition of being pleasing or fulfilling to the senses.’ The terms sensuality and sexuality are often used interchangeably however, sexuality refers to our ability to experience and express our sexual feelings. Our sensual experiences do not have to involve sexual activities, but we cannot have sexual experiences without sensuality.

Sensuality connects us with our senses and our sensory organs – sight, taste, touch, hearing, smell and affects the way in which we perceive the world and how we are perceived. As we can see, being in tune with and expressing our sensuality may involve far more than just sex or sexual experiences. It is about connecting us with our bodies, our emotions, our memories, and with our truest expressions of self.

Despite the festive cheer and merriment, the holiday season can be one of the most stressful and challenging times of the year for many people. Here are a few tips to help support your well-being this holiday.

How a few words made me incredibly aware of my physical being and helped shaped my view on beauty.

This year began with a seismic shift, which meant most mornings were spent with news of rising death tolls, feelings of frustration and helplessness as I felt my freedoms were being violated, and constantly trying to stay grounded under a blanket of fear of this invisible thing. It took me a while to navigate how to “be” during this time and I am still trying to understand it.

Now, the entire globe has turned its attention to the horrific atrocities that have taken place in the USA. These events are not merely headlines with second-hand accounts of what happened but have been filmed in sound and colour for the whole world to see. The murder of Mr George Floyd sent shockwaves around the world, igniting protests and riots, and it caused the debate of institutional racism and white privilege to overshadow a global health crisis. Similarly, as with the beginning of the year, I started to feel those feelings of frustration and helplessness, and constantly felt the need to stay grounded under a blanket of fear of this invisible thing. It took me a while to navigate how to “be” during this time and I am still trying to understand it. Same feelings – different monster.

Our everyday lives are filled with a considerable amount of uncertainty. How we choose to react may determine how we weather the storm.

It has rained for the past two days which is ideal for a little at home facial.

Although Cranio-Sacral Therapy is a very gentle modality, it takes a different approach to many other therapies and this can be quite daunting for some people who haven't experienced it before. With that in mind, I have answered some of the commonly asked questions about the CST treatment process. ⁣

After a self-prescribed week of no training to heal an injury, I was ready to rip someone’s head off. But I came to realise that health is a balance of doing the things that make us feel good and doing nothing so we can hear what our bodies need to feel good.⁣

You can't help but feel a huge sense of awe and gratitude when you sit in the grounds of Codrington College. However, today was especially magical because it was the last Sense - Mindfulness Session of 2019

I was fortunate to spend time in the company of some sprightly onagenarians, overlooking the north coast in St Lucy. In their 90’s, these women possessed a grace and spirit that was remarkable and inspiring.

This year marks ten years since I qualified as a Medical Herbalist. When I was planning to move to Barbados, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to source the herbs I was familiar with using and that I would be lost with the local herbs. During her recent lecture, the Healing Plants of the Ancestors, Dr Sonia Peter highlights how we are in danger of losing our biocultural knowledge.

And just like that Cranio-Sacral Therapy Awareness Week comes to a close.

A few years ago, I realised I had stopped singing and laughing. When I say ‘singing’, I mean singing in the privacy and safety of my kitchen or shower. I had essentially lost my voice. It was a gradual process, so I didn’t even notice it had happened, but I knew why it happened. I was in situations where I felt I couldn’t express my true desires, thoughts and emotions, mainly for fear they would be rejected or for disrupting the status quo.

A cascade of events then unfolded starting with enrolling on the Cranio-Sacral Therapy training. I had received Cranio-Sacral treatment for several years before this, but the training provides a very different aspect to healing and I was forced to confront the fact I couldn’t hear myself. Laughter, and singing in a similar vein, is a universal expression of joy. Joy is not a transient emotion or experience, it is an internal state of being where you are present, grounded and contented. In contrast, happiness is much more dependent on our external world and what is happening around us. If we get that new pair of shoes or if we win an argument with our partner, we will be happy. I had a roof over my head, I had a job, I could buy good food, but I wasn’t able to express an internal joy.