I wholeheartedly trust that the most healing, restorative processes are those that encourage you to step into your own power and agency, those that connect you to the wisdom of your own body, and those that guide you to a feeling of wholeness. 

I have an allergic reaction to systems and processes that ask me to surrender my own power or that take me further away from my own body. This has long been my point of contention with the world of Western healthcare. Throughout my time as both a practitioner and patient in our healthcare systems, I have witnessed and experienced the way that we are encouraged to hand over our power, numb our brains and bodies, and have blind faith in the guidance of others. 

Separation

Western healthcare is often separated, compartmentalized, and “specialized”. We see one specialist for our shoulder, and a second one for our back. And if we feel anxious in the process, we bring in a third person to help fix that. And so on.

While there are times when this may be needed, this form of healthcare leaves us with a fragmented vision of our bodies. A collection of parts to be separately treated, fixed, and repaired. As if we are a machine that can have a faulty part removed and replaced without consequence. Yet the systems and components of our body work in symphony and harmony – each part infinitely and intimately connected to the rest. To address one part of the body is to address the whole. 

Passive Care

Most Western treatment modalities happen to you. You show up, lay on a table, and someone else performs a treatment on you. Often you do not fully understand the scope or impact of the treatment. Without the practitioner, the treatment would be impossible. You leave and go back to your daily life. This process creates an external locus of control for our health.

We see our own wellness as something someone else must provide and maintain for us. A commodity that someone else must grant us. As though health and vitality are limited resources rationed out by healthcare providers.

When we are unwell we are taught to first think, “Who can fix this?” rather than “How might I care for myself?” This is by no means the fault of the individual. Unfortunately, it is by design. We live in a world that profits from your submission and outsourcing.

Taking Back Your Power

I am on a mission to guide my clients to take control of their own health, to take an active role in their healing, and to learn from their bodies.

I practice and teach the art of caring for yourself. My hope is that more people may experience the joy of maintaining your own health, of caring for the vehicle that will carry you through the rest of your years.

Yet I am not here to fix you or heal you. I’m here to put the ball back in your court. To teach you what you need to know to be self-sustaining and self-healing.

I empower my clients through education so they may take an active role in their own recovery. I educate and guide the way with the goal of inspiring positive action and self-respect. In practice, this means we focus on education and understanding, we design systems that facilitate behaviour change, and we work together to create lasting change, whole-body wellness and freedom of movement. 

If this resonates, I’d love our worlds to collide. I am currently accepting new 1:1 clients and teaching a group course for movement professionals.

Whether you are looking to connect with and heal your own body or you’re a practitioner looking to embody this ethic of care, let’s move together.

Much love,

Zoe

Those who can speak with compassion about the mistakes of their past are the least likely to repeat them in the future.

What’s your relationship with forgiveness?

How can we cultivate and practice forgiveness for ourselves?

And what might the impact be if we fail to address the ways that shame, blame, and guilt surface in our minds and bodies?

When we have been wronged or have experienced injustice, it can feel hard to forgive others. And as we begin to witness and attempt to peel back the layers of our own conditioning, it can feel nearly impossible to forgive ourselves. It is much easier to come to a place of compassion and non-judgement for others than for self. Yet self-forgiveness begets peace, freedom, and abundance. Growth and healing require continual, repeated forgiveness of self.

Forgive yourself for not knowing better at the time. Forgive yourself for the energetic stories you took on from your caregivers. Forgive yourself for the outcomes of coping mechanisms that kept you safe for years. Forgive yourself for not acting, for putting it off, for putting yourself on the backburner.

Forgive yourself for not caring sooner, for not making the phone call, for losing your temper, for making the wrong choice, for lying, for faking it, for holding the grudge, for not taking action.

Forgive yourself for the choices you made when you were doing the best you could with the resources you had at the time.

The burden of this guilt and shame can’t lift you higher. Guilt will not align you. Shame will not heal you. You can not guilt, hate, or shame yourself into expansion and alignment. These feelings will only ever trap you, suffocate your life force, and harm your body. Only from forgiveness, and in forgiveness, will you find peace and understanding. We’ve lived in a punitive system too long. There’s no space for shame here anymore.

Guilt and shame are perpetuated in our minds and bodies by the stories and emotional patterns that have been modelled for us throughout our lives. Guilt and shame are a thought pattern, not a reality.

Freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom from physical pain – all require forgiveness and understanding.

How can this be done?

Not through suppression. Not by force. By feeling.

We must learn to quiet the mind and to drop our awareness into the body. Allow thoughts and sensations to come as they may. Learn to sit with your body in high sensation. To simply observe and feel. Don’t bail out. No sensation will last forever. Change is our constant. Let sensation come, let it go. Don’t cling. Don’t stick.

Call in a moment of deep compassion for the events and unfolding of your past. Through compassion, though love, we understand. Through understanding, we may make a different choice.

Self-forgiveness is an ongoing, evolving process, not an event. Forgive yourself, daily, as many times as necessary. You are infinitely worthy of the peace on the other side of shame.

By releasing yourself from the burden of believing that the past could have happened any differently than it did, you allow the possibility of a better present.

People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad.

BJ Fogg

Loving you deeply,

Zoe

You’re reading to make a change, but where do you even start…? Gratitude journals? Side Planks? Meditation? Here’s the simplest thing you can start doing today for your mental & physical well-being.

Just walk.

Not fast. Not far. Not fancy.

Trying to reconnect with your body? Manage overwhelming emotions? Lose weight? Increase your vitality? Heal your low back pain? Make a tough decision? Reconnect with a friend?

Just walk. Every day.

When building a habit, it’s easier to do something every day than most days. If you plan to do it “most days,” then you have to decide if you will or will not do it today, and it’s easy to put off. Don’t think about whether you should do it or not. Just put your jacket on. Don’t rationalize why it is or isn’t a good time. Just walk out the door.
To be clear, “not far,” is both relative and flexible. Your current abilities may limit extended walking. Just do what’s possible, and do it daily. If regular movement is new for you, aim for 5-10 minutes per day. Five minutes of walking is always better than zero.

Make time daily to prioritize your own energy and reconnect to the natural world.

Here’s why it works:

• Our bodies are designed to move. Regular walking is one of the best things you can do to prevent and manage chronic pain (especially low back pain and joint pain).
• Walking removes us from our habitual surroundings, making it easier for us to break habitual thought patterns.
• Emotional regulation and processing is often easier when our body is in motion.
• Walking promotes the release of endorphins that stimulate decrease stress levels and improve our mood.
• Connecting to the natural world has deeply therapeutic effects: decreases in blood pressure, improvements in problem solving and creative thinking, & increased emotional regulation, to name just a few.

Common (mental) roadblocks and how to overcome them:

“I’m too busy; I have no free time; it’s impossible to add this daily.”

• Taking time for yourself can be a big challenge, especially if we’re accustomed to orienting our time and energy around others. I invite you to assess where you might reclaim a few minutes for yourself. Notice if your belief system codes this as selfish or unnecessary. We must meet our own needs before we can give to others. Consider where and with whom you may need to set a new boundary to protect your time.
• Be honest with yourself about how you spend your time, and what you choose to prioritize.

“I’m already so tired all the time, I don’t have the energy for this.”

• I feel this. Deeply. I’ve been there.
• Short walks will increase your energy and blood flow, relieving feelings of fatigue and lethargy. Remind yourself of how your last short walk felt.
• Some days we walk and then we nap. That’s ok, too.

“I know I should, I just cant get myself out the door.”

• Do not decide if you will go for the walk. Plan when you will go. Set an alarm on your phone, and immediately stop when you’re doing when it goes off. Grab your keys, head out the door. Don’t decide if you should. Don’t bring anything. Just start today.
• When we procrastinate, we often have an unconscious belief that we will feel better if we do not act. e.g.: “Sitting on the couch will feel better than walking.”, “Putting this off until tomorrow will make me feel better today.” Often these judgments are contrary to our own rational knowledge. Take a moment to notice what stories come up for you.

“That won’t really make a difference.”

• There’s so many flashy programs and expensive devices available for purchase these days that it’s easy to dismiss what is simple as ineffective. Functional solutions don’t need to be expensive to be valuable. Discover for yourself through experience. Walk daily for 10 days then decide for yourself.

Times in the day to add short walk:

• When arriving at the grocery store. Park you car, walk around the block once, go into the store and get on with your day.
• When leaving or arriving home for the day. Often you are already appropriately dressed for the weather.
• When you can’t stand another minute of staring into your computer screen. Get up, grab your headphones, and walk out the door. Head back after a couple songs.
• When with friends/ family/ colleagues. Physical activity feels easier and passes more quickly when you have company. Grab that coffee and walk through the park together instead of sitting inside.

However you fit it in, make the time to move your body a few minutes every day.

Not fast. Not far. Not fancy.

Just walk.

Hugs,

Zoe