Warrior Weekly: Ready, Set, Go!
2 year celebrations & the start of something new.
Most Sundays I share with you my week at a peak. The highs, the lows, the insights. Thought-provoking prompts at the end.
See you in the comments?
Monday – a terrific start to the launch of Healing Through Writing. A space for us to come together every Monday morning and connect in circle to write, share and explore. Coinciding with the 2 year anniversary of living here on 7 Lakes in a static caravan, a great starting point to write about!
Feedback from a Bring Back the Balance retreat with me: “Amber, this is just what I needed”. A client that comes to visit every few months where we never follow an exact format. Your needs aren’t met by doing what you think you should be doing. They are met through responding to what your body is telling you. I love supporting clients with their business, especially in the field of leadership and management and this was a big topic of our conversation today.
When you ask your body what it needs today, what does it respond with? Where are the niggles in your body, what are they trying to show you?
Tuesday – 9am writing class. Went on to edit yesterday’s piece of writing, feeling SO MUCH FEAR around what I’ve written. The fear of not being believed then spiralling into not being believed because I hadn’t shared enough and worry over loop holes in my writing! The fear of not being believed resides in the back of my left rib and connects to the witch wound. Because of this fear it took me twice as long to edit one blog. Which gets me wondering, how much time do we spend with fear? And what could we be spending that time on instead? Responding to our body’s needs perhaps?
The Migraine World Summit (MWS) started last week - my 7th time tuning in to interviews with the world’s top neurologists and headache specialists. I’ve wanted to turn my scribbled notes into posts along with relevant aspects of my story to share with you this whole time. It’s just how its always worked out that I’ve been in the midst of attack every year its aired so today was the first day I managed to do one! The link between Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Migraine will be issued to you soon. Though I no longer live with either, I lived with chronic fatigue far longer than I did chronic migraine and in breaking the chronic pain cycle, I was signed off by my neurologist in 2019 – even though I still remained chronically ill (unbeknown to him and me at the time). Taking radical ownership of my body and embarking on the journey of research and making changes has been the catalyst for life as I now live and experience it. According to the MWS, you can expect to reduce migraine attacks by 50% just through research alone. What research into your condition have you found beneficial? How has this improved your health/ability to advocate?
Wednesday – weekly online check in/yoga sesh. After a good catch up on the Migraine World Summit and the unusual approach I’ve taken to get to where I am, we figured that my why was radical ownership; a reclaiming of all parts of myself and my how has been by learning to let my body lead the way. A breakthrough realisation that I hope will support my communication when writing, in the same way it does when I work with clients. I loved the pelvic floor breathwork we did today, connecting me with expansion (my word of the year) and a deep need to share this with others (especially women). I received a few channelled messages with it “when the feminine leads the way everything is easier. Flow is easier, E V E R Y-thing is easier. The masculine feels seen, heard and understood”. What do you make of that channelled message? Do you believe there is an easier way to live and be?
Whilst I’ve been away, a local network has opened up around me via a few connections made online. Today I met the first one face to face, a networking walk around 7 Lakes and a new friendship was born.
Thursday – walked into the living room to GIGANTIC spider. I’ve been brave since living here and moved many big spiders but this was a call to Life of Riley Paul for help! Good job he’s always up and at ‘em early in the morning.
Started my new daily practice of this pelvic floor breathwork. Another channelled message that came through was that we (as humans) haven’t learnt to live in peace, harmony and balance. This is one of the greatest lessons we are here to learn. When you think about it, haven’t we gone a long way around that?
2nd MWS blog typed: The Nervous System, Trauma and Migraine. This was by far my favourite this year and possibly of all time. This interview helped me get clear on so much, its very much the avenue I went down – only I didn’t know this is what I was doing, I was taking back radical ownership and reclaiming all parts of myself by learning to let my body lead the way. Learning to regulate my nervous system and healing trauma was where I wound up as a result.
Overcame my fears and shared Living the Dream – but how? Feedback was amazing, thank you dear readers.
Bodywork client and convo on the difference between fatigue and being tired. We traced recent feelings of chest niggles to the lungs via this client’s feet1.
Lashlift and facial client (made the scary decision to let go of all my beauty clients this year and go all in on online journey, The Warrior’s Path and Retreat With Me experiences – this is the only beauty client left).
Friday – I did a video of lung breathwork meditation/practice to send to yesterday’s client so that she can get some space back into her chest/shoulders. Videos are something I want and need to increase my confidence in so I took the plunge and shared this video behind my paywall. It’s a bit like the (occasional) blogs I share there that I don’t want accessible to the world. At the same time as supporting my own needs and implementing boundaries around my work, I’m adding value too. It feels both in balance and sustainable as well as freeing – in full alignment with my main values. What are your top 3 values? How do you ensure your life and work aligns with these?
Saturday – went to see my nana in Lancashire. Gave her some bodywork to her hands/arms, feet/legs and head. She’ll be 93 this year and has been through the ringer with her health this past year (and suffered with migraine for 40 years) – it amazes me how she pulls through. In her case, faith has a lot to do with it. Today she said the Lord has helped her with patience and patience isn’t a value she could cultivate on her own. Not without the support, guidance and help of something greater than herself. When I look back on my own journey, I sense (strongly) that there was a force greater than me at play. Something beyond the physical body I reside in and the mental body/brain in my head.
Yawned on and off, feeling tired. I love the feeling of feeling tired that happens now and again during the day. I can feel the clear difference between feeling tired and being fatigued. Fatigue is a full body experience. Exhaustion beyond what you can comprehend. Based on my own experience, I think we can go so far to fuel fatigue and numb it to a level that we don’t really notice it. Until we can’t that is. So I guess that’s the difference between mild fatigue and chronic fatigue. Using ten words or so, how would you describe fatigue?
Sunday – had our first go at making raw fruit and nut bars. Hummus last night. I’ve been wanting to do this kind of thing for YEARS. It’s like using bicarbonate of soda2 for washing clothes, its so simple, so easy yet takes ages to get round to doing it! Hopefully this will be us every weekend now, stocking up for the week ahead. What have you been meaning to get round to for ages but still haven’t had a go at? What’s one tiny step that can take you in that direction?
Recently, I was interviewed3 by the fabulous
who writes about and the post was shared today. It’s such a powerful read I almost questioned it being shared, but this week has been all about feeling into my fears, tracing them right back and knowing that its safe to step out into the world.
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Space for reflection
My greatest passion is to help others who live with chronic illness find their voice. Part of the work I do around this is to ask thought-provoking questions. Choose one or two below and let’s chat about what’s come up for you in the comments?
When you ask your body what it needs, what does it respond with? What are the niggles in your body, what are they trying to show you?
What research into your condition have you found beneficial? How has this improved your health/ability to advocate?
What do you make of the channelled message “when the feminine leads the way everything is easier. Flow is easier, E V E R Y-thing is easier. The masculine feels seen, heard and understood”? Do you believe there is an easier way to live and be?
Freedom, sustainability and balance are my 3 main values. What are your top 3 values? How do you ensure your life and work aligns with these?
Using ten words or so, how would you describe fatigue?
What have you been meaning to get round to for ages but still haven’t had a go at? What’s one tiny step that can take you in that direction?
I’ll bring these prompts to our Healing Through Writing space in the morning for those occasions where we need inspired ideas on what to write about. Today is the last day to join us at the offer rate of £80 per year / £11 per month. Here’s what to expect when you do.
As I do with all my clients, we had a conversation around seeking medical advice in respect to health concerns. Bodywork is a whole body approach and deep healing therapy. This is not a medical treatment and I do not give out medical advice.
One of the changes I introduced a few years ago was to go chemical free. I started with one skincare product at a time then moved on to cleaning goods. It was a change that happened almost accidentally (or did it?) and is recommended when it comes to rebalancing your hormones.
Great post with lots to chew on, Amber. I would describe fatigue as feeling like your whole being has a block of concrete tethered to it. Yikes, 13 words!
What have I been meaning to do but haven’t gotten to? I have my toe dipped in several things right now and each day I assess my available energy, after chores and exercises are done, to get a little bit done on one of the “things”. As a result, I’m making progress on all of them, albeit slowly. I am learning to reside in this space, after decades of destructive perfectionism and achievement. It’s a bizarre feeling and sometimes I get pulled back toward my old ways, but I work at resisting.
Did I ever tell you that my ME/CFS doc once asked if I had a history of chronic migraines (yes) and endometriosis (also yes), because indeed there is some connection? Your mention of the conference reminded me of this.
I love how you describe previously drowning in the loud symptoms to living with (mostly) quiet symptoms. When you share with me your approach to endo research combined with where you are now, it makes me think about all you’ve got to share and offer others in the community. They would really benefit from what you’ve learned. It’s a real skill and talent to be able to understand such a complex disease and meet the needs your body has in a minefield of contradictory information.
Great point about fatigue!