Lately, I’ve been spending most of my very limited free time painting. Walls. Ceilings. Skirting boards.
Our cottage is almost a hundred years old. The walls are uneven. The corners don't quite meet. Every time I paint one thing, I notice three more things that need renovating.
A few years ago, I ...
I am seven months pregnant.
My partner is working away. We are renovating our hundred-year-old cottage. I spend my days with a wild and spirited toddler who is busy falling in love with the world.
It is a full season.
Most evenings, I find myself standing in the kitchen amongst unwashed dishes an...
A few weeks ago, I’d just settled my little one for his midday nap. I was waiting for the kettle to boil while mentally running through all the things I needed to do while he was asleep. And then, I sensed a gentle voice from deep inside say,
Why would you force yourself to be productive when you c...
A few women have asked me recently how my programme, Becoming The Relaxed Woman, differs from my book and whether they need to read the book before taking the course.
The short answer is no.
You don't need to read the book first. And if you have read the book, I think you'll still find the course ...
Lately, I've been noticing how the words I say to my toddler are the ones my nervous system has been longing to hear too.
Take your time. There's no rush.
Never mind. Accidents happen.
It's okay to cry.
You’re safe. I’m here.
At first, I thought these words of comfort simply soothed my ner...
We moved house recently.
At the moment, there are still half-opened boxes in the corners and floors with no carpets and paint tins piled against the walls. Some evenings, I stand in the middle of it all – the mess, the decisions, the unfinishedness of it – and feel strangely tender toward this new ...
"What would a relaxed woman do?"
A few years ago, I began asking myself this question. And I still ask it now, usually in the middle of ordinary moments like when my toddler has just gone down for a nap and I have a long list of things to do but I also feel really tired or when I fancy a cupcake ev...
A couple of years ago, in the thick of early motherhood, I was standing barefoot in the garden at midnight, rocking my baby as he finally, after hours of colicky crying, drifted off to sleep.
I remember feeling as though my nervous system was stuck on high alert. Everything felt loud and urgent. Hi...
"A lifetime of guilt."
That’s what the lady with grey curly hair at the supermarket checkout warned me. My son was a few weeks old, curled up peacefully in the carrier on my chest.
In the beginning, I thought guilt was simply part of being a good mother, a good woman. Something that proved I car...