Photo by Elana Mullaly Photography Being a single mum was never the plan. Twelve years. A farm I'd worked for. A future I could see clearly. Then I left suddenly, my two-year-old on my hip, for my little sister's room at my parents' place, with no idea what came next. I don't need to list everything that came after. If you've done it, you already know. And I was lucky, I had a village. My parents held me up in a hundred ways. But Emmi had been through such a huge shift that I

"Will I ever feel like myself again?" If you've whispered that into the dark after a long day, this one is for you. You had a baby, and somewhere between the night feeds and the washing, the old you went quiet. You want her back. I have to be honest with you. You're not going to get her back. And once you understand why, I don't think you'll want to. When I lost her For me it wasn't the newborn weeks. It was later, around four to nine months in. Everything felt repetitive and

Count how many times you say "I have to" before breakfast. I have to get up. I have to pack the lunches. I have to answer that email. I have to be nice to that person. If your whole day sounds like orders from someone you've never met, this one is for you. From about 21 until about 29, I lived in resistance. I forced myself to go to a job I really did not love. I forced myself to go to the gym and do workouts I really didn't want to do. It was all force, force, force. I was a

Can we talk about the Sacral chakra for a minute? Because it's got a reputation. Every wellness influencer on Instagram will tell you to "unleash your creativity" and "step into your pleasure". And you're sitting there in your trackies, three days past washing your hair, thinking: mate, I just want to finish this cup of tea while it's still warm. Here's the thing. They're not entirely wrong. They just make it sound like a personality trait, when it's a part of your body with

The kids are finally asleep. The house is quiet. Nothing is wrong. And you're on the couch with your shoulders up around your ears, listening for the next thing. If that's you, your body is still on duty. This post is about how to tell it the shift is over. I'm a holistic counsellor. Helping people settle is a fair chunk of my job. And for the first couple of months after I moved out of my home, I was scared nearly all the time. Not scared of anything in the room. Just scared

"Why do I keep snapping at my kids? Am I a bad mum?" If you've ever typed some version of that into a search bar at 11:47 pm, you are very much not alone. I'm a holistic counsellor. I teach early childhood development. Explaining children's behaviour is my actual job. And recently I told off a three-year-old for pretending to be a sheep. Some context. A few days earlier, our orphan sheep had broken into the house through the dog door and left it weak and wobbly. Then Emmi, be

If you've ever thought I don't enjoy playing with my kids, usually around 5pm with nothing left, this is for you. I'm a qualified teacher. I teach early childhood development to student teachers, and I sit on the panel that decides whether they're ready for a classroom. I can tell you exactly why play matters for a growing brain. And there was a stretch when I'd be playing with my daughter and not be there at all. I had documents to write for my lawyers. Work to do. Marking f