31/10/24
Waiting till we retire…
In my twenties I was bulimic, depressed, overweight, drank too much and had no way to regulate my emotions healthily. I was working long hours on charter superyachts, partying far too hard and my time was not my own. I was a functioning, unwell woman. Since those dark depths, I have prioritised time and money on my health and wellness above all else, even before my children. I know that if I am not well, how can I possibly look after them? I invest in myself now so that I can then be a better person to everyone in my life. (more…)
Towards the end of September I have been able to really put in some great miles in the water. Being by the sea and having the time to swim has been glorious and I have loved every minute of swimming outside. For me swimming is pure meditation. As the season starts to shift to Autumn and the water temperature begins to drop it becomes harder and harder to keep that habit going. The impermanence of great swim conditions is part of the beauty of open water swimming and I always have a strong pull to keep that September swimming feeling going, even though I know it can’t last. The water temperature gets too cold and the choice is to either squeeze into a wetsuit or you stay in your skin and don’t stay in as long. I will always choose the latter. 
I have spent the past twenty years chasing health. Health comes in many forms; mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and your health is tested at every different stage of life. There was a period when I had to lean heavily into physical healing after my broken back and that in turn led to a spiritual healing path. After a relationship break up, even though it was hard, I knew I had to focus on my emotional healing in order to move on. Worrying set backs in work have encouraged me to focus on my mental resilience and post giving birth has been an explosive dive into healing all of the above. 
The summer holidays are in full swing. If you don’t have children or your children have grown up, the summer holidays might be a time to relax and have fun, but as a parent of three young children, it’s a period of time where anything other than looking after your children has to fall by the wayside and your every focus is on entertaining them. For the children it’s idyllic, 6 weeks of no school, but for the parents it’s another endurance event. It can honestly start to feel like quite a strain. 
I don’t know about you but as the days got darker and shorter I have really struggled to find motivation to exercise and I love exercise! I have been observing the way the Winter has been effecting me, the slowing down, the less energy and I am actually surprised and how I have not reacted to this and forced myself to be a perpetual Summer. Instead I have found myself falling into the flow of Winter and enjoying it.
The festive period can be a stressful, heavy time of year for many. So read on for Laura’s top tips for keeping the season light and bright.
I often wonder why do we need to retreat? Why bother taking time out for yourself? Is it just a way to while away a few days or is it far more important than that? It always fascinates me how every year, by law, we have to have our cars MOT’d: if they’re not road worthy we find the money to fix them to get them back on the road. But when it comes to ourselves, we don’t have mandatory MOT’s (which by the way I think we should) and we often keep running ourselves into the ground without stopping… 
How often do you share your feelings with those around you? Or how often do you suppress what you really feel for fear of how it will be received? Learning to express your emotions is a valuable part of being an evolved human being. We no longer need to roam the earth grunting at each other and clubbing each other around the head. We are intelligent beings and have developed intricate words to express in great detail how we feel. Its through this expression that our world becomes safe. It’s so important to put words to our emotions and then be able to convey them to those around us. 
In my twenties I used to work as a stewardess on yachts, sailing and crusing around the Caribbean and the Mediterranen. It sounds glamorous doesn’t it but it was actually one of the lowest times of my life. That aside, I remember crossing the Atlantic to Portugal which took about 14 days via the Azores, then flying home to wales to see family, finally coming back from sea after months of being away. 