I have known for some time that we need to be kind to ourselves but I am only just appreciating how important self-compassion is in our development of stronger mental health. It can help us combat fear and shame, help us find healing from past trauma and help us connect with ourselves and others in healthier ways. I hope these insights inspire you to develop greater self-compassion as you interact with yourself and others.

In childhood we are dependent on our caregivers. When our physical and / or emotional needs are not met we do what we can to feel safe. We draw on a range of innate survival strategies and these become embedded as part of the way we are, usually out of our awareness. In this blog I explore these different adaptions and how they can affect our adult relationships today.

Is it that some of us are just born anxious, or did something happen in our lives which made us anxious? Is anxiety something we have to live with and submit to or is it something we can control, master and overcome? This blog is all about anxiety, understanding what anxiety is, how it affects us and what we can do about it.

Last week my blog focused on anger which is suppressed or denied. But for some people anger has become so much part of who they are that they carry it around as a heavy load, to discard this load would be to lose part of themselves. So, in this blog I focus on my insights into why for some anger has become so embedded, why we can't just let go of it and how to find a way forward.

In this, my third blog on shame I look at the difference ways we experience our shame and how we can feed it. I explore how we can reduce the impact of our shame, and even though it may still lurk waiting to be triggered, we can ensure it no longer has any power us and doesn’t prevent us from being all we can be.

In this second blog on shame, I explore different ways people cope with their shame. Our response can be so embedded and habitual that we are not aware of our shame. In contrast shame can be so present in our lives it can feel like a constant unwanted companion which never leaves us. I look at some of the different ways we cope with shame and how it can affect our relationship with ourselves and with others.

Shame is something that many of us face on a day-to-day basis, yet we don't talk about it. In this initial blog on shame, I cover an overview of shame, and how we can identify it. I see that taking the energy out of our shame as an essential part of the journey of self-acceptance and being the person, we want to be and can be.

This blog focuses on our playful side. The creative, imaginative, spontaneous, living in the moment which tells us we are alive. The time where just for a short time we forget living for an end purpose, or zoning out to escape but instead awaken the child like playfulness which is so often suppressed.

How much energy and time do you waste living in the past? How anxious are you about the future? How much does your overthinking rob you of enjoying the moment? In this blog I explore the building blocks which help us to connect with the present. Helping you spend more time living, feeling, connecting and relating instead of striving to survive each day.

Experiencing a range of emotions is all part of being human; but emotions can become overwhelming. In this blog I explore the skills we can use to stay calm, connected and in control instead of reacting, by defending and attacking, wanting to run, freezing up or hiding away.