Messy, Luminous, Being Podcast

We all have goals. And having hopes for the future and dreams of change are part of the creative expression of our life. But if we're honest, many of our goals are born from a negative judgement about where we are right now. In this episode, I talk to Cynthia Joanne, yoga teacher, animal lover, and global traveler, who has some pretty amazing reflections on the process of change, how we think about our goals and what intentions we bring to the process. We also talk scuba diving, yoga practice, and how the Yamas and Niyamas gave her a new 90/10 rule for life. You can find Cynthia and links to all her online classes on IG @cynthiajoanneyoga

If we picture our inner experience like an inner sky, does that change what we think we're looking forward with meditation practice? In this episode I share my own reflections about the inner sky we each experience and how we can learn to be okay being ourselves whatever our inner sky looks like today. I'd love to hear your thoughts after your listen, so DM on IG @sarahbhunt and join the Messy Luminous Being weekly emails (they are the best!) https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/messyluminousbeing

We are, quite simply, a part of the natural world, and the same processes and rhythms that govern the world around us also work within us. In this episode I talk to botanist, mother, wild flower meadow tender and botanical skin care product creator Sally Gouldstone. This conversation is full of Sally's insights about how we relate to the natural world and what we can rediscover about ourselves (as well as super incredible stories about Borneo jungles and Madagascar snakes!). Find Sally on IG @seilich_botanicals or at www.seilich.co.uk (Seilich is the Gaelic word for willow.)

What does it mean for us to be women practicing meditation through a tradition handed down largely by men? I have often found myself as a woman and mother, feeling like my meditation and yoga practice never lives up to the standard, that because I am practicing within a life with children, household pressures and modern working life, that my practice is always 'imperfect' or 'not right'. Recently I have reframed my own role as a woman bringing a new kind of creative and energetic methodology to the way we might work spiritually within ourselves. In this episode I want to share my vision for what women and feminine vision can bring to the way we practice meditation and yoga. I'd love to hear what you think! And if you haven't already signed up for my weekly emails, you can get all the messy luminous-ness FREE at https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/messyluminousbeing

How can we create a daily yoga and mind-calming practice that responds to what we really need? In this episode, I talk with yoga teacher Melissa Ingles about yoga movement, breathing and meditation as an evolving journey, how journalling is one of the best ways to nurture ourselves and exactly how we can intuitively listen to what we need today. You can find Melissa on IG @melissainglesyoga and at www.melissainglesyoga.com

When does less effort get us more results? When does less choices feel like freedom? When do less decisions create more time? These are questions that have come out of my efforts to bring the spirit of meditation and mindfulness into the practical areas of my life. Just like we are trying to direct our thoughts towards things that serve us, that cultivate joy and kindness and wisdom, and away from our habits to be overly critical or stuck. Similarly we want to direct our most precious resources — our time and our energy — towards the things that really matter to us and impact our life experience, rather than getting caught up in ineffective busyness. This is inner essentialism at its most powerful.

In this episode, I share my favourite moments from three speakers in the Forward From Here summit. Lydia shares her efforts to integrate "me time" into every area of her life, Aiko talks about the daily wrestle with time and Steph shares the meaning of Kali energy and how it represents the energy of this crazy moment we are living through. I'll be running the Forward From Here online summit again in late March and you can sign up now (it's FREE!) here: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/forwardfromheremarch2021

This question came up in a group discussion recently and I wanted to spend this episode sharing a personal story as well as Buddhist & meditation teachings related to the question. If there is one motivation that drives my work, my business and my own personal meditation practice, it is this question. I hope this honesty helps and inspires us to keep practicing so that whenever anyone in our life reaches out a hand, we are there with wisdom and compassion to take it.

In this episode, I talk about getting out of the mindset of striving for perfect. Perfect is a concept made up by the ego-mind. Here's how I'm thinking about it instead, but a few sneak peeks from the Forward From Here summit speakers Dani Mae, Clem Cocquet & Natasha Lythgoe on exhaling, expanding time and moving into right relationship with ourselves...much more precious than 'perfect'. Get your weekly reminder to love yourself and remember who you really are https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/messyluminousbeingpodcastnewsletter

We might think we get energy from our food or how well we sleep, but the real energy we need right now comes from something else entirely. Excitement. Enthusiasm. One of the missing pieces for me in my own meditation practice was understanding that the true source of our energy is in our minds. Meditation isn't just about learning to calm the mind, let go of our worries and stress. It also gives us a pathway into an entirely new source of energy. In this episode, I explain what I mean, give some concrete examples & hopefully inspire you to experience this for yourself! To get into action & boost your practice, join me for my upcoming 6 week course. Details here: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/forwardfromherecourse

Certain moments stand out in a lifetime. For us, this pandemic, and most importantly how we go forward from it, might be the most important question of our generation. This is a question we need to reflect on in conversation with others. So in this episode, you'll get a sneak peek at some of the conversations included in the Forward From Here online summit. The week-long Forward From Here Summit is FREE and starts 18 January 2021. Grab your place now & get access to all the amazing speakers at https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/forwardfromhere

It has been my question for most of this year. With all the drastic and sudden changes to our lives during the pandemic, we have also learned a lot about ourselves, our families, and our global communities. We have learned what we really miss, what we value most and what things we can surprisingly do without. Sitting in this moment at the turn of the year we know two truths — all things are transient including this pandemic and we have a choice about how we step into the next part of our lives. So how do we want to go forward? This episode is a reading from the first chapter of my book Forward From Here (available now on Amazon). And this is only the beginning of the conversation! The Forward From Here virtual summit is almost here — and you can grab your place FREE and get access to all the amazing speakers by heading here: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/forwardfromhere

How long does it take to make lasting, observable changes in our brains? This is the question neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson set out to discover...and the results of several decades of research are so inspiring, even for beginners! In this episode I share what I learned from the recent online summit on Science & Meditation. It will tell you what we know so far about what meditation does to the neuropathways in the brain, how much practice it takes and ultimately how we can "train the mind to be happy"! You are going to feel so inspired by what scientists have discovered!!!

This is an episode about how we come home to ourselves. It is about getting to know ourselves below the neck and beneath the words, about connecting in to the depth of our human experience. Sometimes it takes being out in nature and really allowing its wisdom and aliveness and presence to be felt for us to then know who we truly are. I know you are going to love this gift of a conversation with Natasha Lythgoe, who runs nature connection retreats, guides vision quests and leads The Art of Rewilding. Connect with Natasha on IG @the_art_of_rewilding

Whenever we put our creative work out into the world...or whenever we express our authentic truth, we open ourselves up to criticism. Behind closed doors we might tell ourselves not everyone is going to like our work (or like us!) and that's okay. But the truth is, criticism not only hurts when it happens, the fear of criticism can prevent us from creating and being authentically ourselves in the first place! This episode is about my own evolving relationship with criticism. I share the mind-training practices and mindset shifts that have helped me over my years as a writer (and now podcaster), and a new perspective of criticism that can help us find the courage to keep creating & keep living as our messy luminous authentic selves.

Small movements, brief moments, these have more value than we often realise. They can sneak up on us when we look up at the night sky and feel that clarity reflected within ourselves. They can come through gentle movement of the body. And we can cultivate those small drops in our day-to-day to bring true transformation. In this conversation, I talk to yoga teacher Meghan Hatalla about her own practice with Soma Yoga, giving ourselves permission to make small moments meaningful, and how she's getting more intentional about the way she uses her time, energy and attention this year. Find Meghan on IG @megtalla

When we think about meditation, most of us probably imagine sitting somewhere on a cushion with our eyes closed. But meditation, or mind-training, is actually a range of practices — and some of the ones I find most effective happen "on the go" when I look like I'm doing anything but "meditating". In this episode, I share the range of practices I do every day to reduce mental distress and increase my inner access to joy, gratitude, acceptance, compassion and peace of mind. I live in a busy world with kids, work and laundry. So my practice is my own version of Messy & Luminous. I hope this is helpful and I'd love to hear what your practice is like! IM me on IG @sarahbhunt xx

How can we learn to get into the flow and allow things to be easy? (Or at least easier...) In this episode, yogi Claire Graham reflects on the way we experience the fluxuations of yin and yang energy. She highlights how we are taught if we are not directing things and "making things happen" we are failing...and why this is exactly the opposite to the wisdom of yin and getting into the flow. And she shares her own experience of yoga and mindfulness practices as a way out of this habitual pattern of pushing, forcing, and working too hard. You can connect with Claire @cgyogaandwellness or www.cgyoga.org.uk

Here we are beautiful messy luminous souls, trying to find a sense of balance and connect inward to our deeper selves...while also trying to get to work on time, give our kids our loving attention, keep food in the fridge and the laundry from taking over the house (and all the other things)! We are part of an evolving tradition of meditation that is learning how to weave inner practice into messy real life — and learning how amazingly effective it can be to bring more joy and presence into our every day. So from one messy luminous practitioner to another, in this episode I wanted to share four quirky pieces of meditation advice I use all the time and find super helpful to practice.

How can we create a life where we experience true belonging rather than the compulsion to mould ourselves to 'fit in'? How can we use our physical yoga practice as a way of understanding the intangible aspects of our hearts and minds? And how can we unpack our layers of social conditioning that block our truest connection to ourselves and others? These are some of the many questions in this beautiful conversation with yoga teacher & online studio founder Brea Johnson. Find Brea @heartandbonesyoga on IG or www.heartandbonesyoga.com

In this episode, I'm going to tell you a story. It starts off with a girl who lives on an island in a vast isolated sea, until one day a strange boatman arrives. The story is about Isla. But it is also about all of us. It asked the fundamental question that inspires all my work â€" how does spiritual wisdom map onto messy real life? What does the inner journey illuminate about our difficult relationships, our tough choices? How does it help us navigate times that didn't go the way we expected? How can we use this wisdom in a world in which we never really know what the outcome of our actions will be? This is a story about the alignment (and sometimes misalignment) of our outer purpose and our inner purpose of awakening. It's a story about a girl and a boatman. It's also the story of us. This is a story is a novel I wrote called The Boatman. I'll be chatting about it various aspects of the story, characters and the inner journey questions it asks each week on Facebook live. All the details will be posted in the MLB newsletter & FB group. Have you signed up for the Messy Luminous Being Newsletter? It's free! https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/messyluminousbeingpodcastnewsletter (Want to read The Boatman for yourself? You can get it now on Amazon!)

Remembering to care for ourselves in a life where we are often focused on taking care of others is a practice in itself. In this episode, yoga teacher Nicole Windle shares her thoughts about how we can avoid burnout and why caring for ourselves is the essential spiritual practice. She also shares her experiences with kirtan, a beautiful form of devotional singing from the Indian tradition. And we discuss how reflections on Impermanence have shifted her mindset and help her not over-think things. You can find her at https://nicolewindleyoga.co.uk and on IG @nicolewindleyoga

There's no doubt that in addition to times of joy, excitement and deep satisfaction, life also holds a lot of uncertainty, change and loss. When these things come, our sadness, pain and heartache feels like just another part of life. But does uncertainty have to bring feelings of fear and anxiety? Does loss and unexpected change mean we have to feel deep heartache and pain? Or do we create unnecessary suffering for ourselves by the way we think about certain aspects of our life. This episode is my own thoughts about four reflections that form the basis of Buddhist practice. Usually known as the Four Noble Truths, these are beautiful reflection for our times and can help us see just how much influence we have over our inner experience of life, no matter what the outer circumstances might bring.

We practice. And then suddenly life hits us with something big and unexpected. It's in these times when our practice becomes more than something we do for momentary enjoyment. We start practicing to help us live well. This conversation with yoga teacher Claire Bradley brings so much practical wisdom and down-to-earth experience of how yoga can help us ground ourselves during the pandemic. Most importantly is the mind-shift yoga can bring, to use these moments as an opportunity to get to know ourselves more deeply. This is yoga on and off the mat in a way I know you're going to love.

This episode is my celebratory round-up of my favourite bits of wisdom from the many conversations I had over the past year of Messy Luminous Being. The women who came on the show over the course of the past year shared their real-life, behind-the-scenes experiences of meditation, yoga & mindfulness practices. They told us their favourite ways of reconnecting inward in the midst of busy life. And they shared the wisdom that has helped them navigate challenges we all face. Ultimately, what has always been so important to me is that this podcast represents spiritual practice of women whose lives looks like ours. And listening to them reminds me that we don't need our lives to look like retreat centres or a beach on Bali. And we don't need to be different people who finally "have it altogether". We can show up as our messy luminous selves and weave inner practices into everyday life. Thank you. Thank you. Beautiful messy luminous women!

We may like think of "spiritual practice" as joyful and calming, but the reality is that it's a bumpy road. It takes work to stay connected to our inner selves in a world that is always pulling us outside, into action and busyness, and trying to keep hold of our attention. There are so many times where it feels awkward, where our emotions are raw, sitting still is uncomfortable and we just want to fall back into old distractions. But as this conversation with Vikki will remind you, it doesn't matter how fast or slow you feel like you're going with your spiritual practice. It just matters that you keep going, keep showing up. You can find Vikki Rood at www.vikkirood.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/awkwardandawesomecoaching

Routines have always been the way I carved out time for myself. Blocking in specific time-slots for activities was how I thought things got done. But between lockdown living (where we watched our carefully cultivated routines completely fall apart) and watching the rhythms of the natural world (which can speed up or slow down but remain resilient), I've been wondering whether there might be a different mindset we can adopt — towards our inner practices and towards the way we think about our lives.

It can often seem like the world's problems are so big that our individual efforts barely make a difference. Yet from a meditation perspective, inner work is the most revolutionary and transformative action you can take to create change...not only in yourself but in the world. When Gandhi said, "be the change you want to see in the world", I think this is what he meant. This episode is my reflection on why this is true & how we can do inner work that makes change in the world.

Things that we experience in childhood and the parts of our life we struggle with are our spiritual curriculum for this life. And if we apply love to the places that hurt, then real healing can happen. Because Love is the ultimate competency. These beautiful words all come from my conversation with spiritual psycho-therapist Chausey Leebron Jameson. We talk about boundaries that help us care for ourselves and our energetic state, the power of long hikes, raising children in 'lockdown' and becoming our most authentic self. You can find Chausey on Instagram @chauseyj

In this episode I talk about my take-aways from the conversation about self-compassion I had with my own meditation group last weekend. It's a personal episode and my attempt to pull back the curtain continually to show what my practice really looks like and how I'm using buddhist teachings to negotiate real messy life situations. It's in messy real life where different meditation teachings take on their most profound meaning & where we learn to react differently to the same old situations. If you want to experience this kind of group support, check out the Breathing Space membership group I run monthly https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/breathingspace

Combining spiritual practice with the journey of motherhood, this episode is a conversation with Leena Lemos & Megan Horowitz, the founders of Enlightenedhood. We talk about how Leena and Megan find space for themselves & their favourite practices. We also talk about ways joy can mix with stress & anxiety and how spiritual practices have helped both women navigate the ups and downs of motherhood. This is an beautiful and honest conversation that will inspire you to keep working to create your own unique and messy journey to Enlightenedhood. You can connect with Leena and Megan on Instagram @enlightenedhood or at www.enlightenedhood.com And if you would love some support and inspiration for your own weekly practice, check out the Breathing Space monthly membership here: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/breathingspace

It feels easy to think about getting exercise & good nutrition as part of our weekly habits. And we also easily accept that these habits have a wider impact on our physical health, energy levels, mood and mental states. Yet somehow when it comes to our inner experience and our minds, it feels different. We don't tend to think about feeling calm or a sense of balance or joy being something we can actively cultivate. Somehow we have been told that happiness, peace of mind, & calm that comes from outside us...from holidays, retreats, evenings out...is legitimate. But if these feelings were practiced, if we treated them as a habit like exercise or nutrition, they would be false feelings, inauthentic. It's time to change that mindset. In this episode I talk about why we should be intentional about making calm, joy, balance and all those lovely good things a habitual practice that we do daily.

In this episode I talk to Martina Knight, who in the midst of a successful professional dancing career found she needed a way to reconnect with her authentic self. This is how she discovered yoga and then as a yoga teacher has continued to share this practice with others. In this episode we talk about the emotional toll of the performances we all do in everyday life, and how yoga and the breath can be a path back towards feeling more authentically yourself. We also talk about how motherhood has shifted her practice and how she practically fits yoga into her day with a six month old in lockdown. Connect with Martina on Instagram @moving.mindflowness For details of the Breathing Space membership group to support and inspire your daily practice head to: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/breathingspace

Have you ever worked for something and when you achieved it, you didn't feel like you thought you'd feel? There are times when we find ourselves in real dissonance between our expectations and our inner reality. For me, these times always bring up the question of meaning. We have this beautiful precious life & it can feel a great responsibility to use it wisely and well. So where do we look for meaning? And where can we find it? This episode is about how we weave our inner journey with our outer journey, and how we find lasting meaning beyond the temporary changing circumstances of our lives.

What happens when you stand on your mat and wait for the present moment to find you? How do you find time to do this in busy life? And how might that simple practice transform your life? In this episode I talk with Lucy Holtom about her experience as a yoga teacher, actress and parent. This is a conversation full of heart, practical ideas, and profound golden nuggets of wisdom about the places where spiritual practice and real life merge. For details on the Breathing Space membership group I mention in the intro, head to https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/breathingspace

In this episode I take a deep dive into a big issue for many of us stuck in lockdown with kids — how do we find any time for our practice or any space for ourselves when we are homeschooling, working, cleaning the house, keeping everyone fed and busy from the moment we get up until we're too exhausted to do anything but stare at the wall. (Yep I know the feeling!) We keep looking for that 20 minutes to breathe and get to the end of another day not finding it. So instead of fighting our current situation, I'm sharing my thoughts & tips on how we can keep up our practice even in this beautiful, frustration, joyful, overwhelming "ultra mess".

What are your big questions? What are the things in your heart that you really want to ask? And do you feel free to ask them? In this episode, podcaster & spiritual seeker Krista Xiomara talks about how asking questions and following our innate curiosity is the vehicle for our spiritual journey. Her story about being raised in a strict sect of the Catholic Church and then setting off on her own spiritual journey is honest, inspiring and full of courage. You can find Krista's own podcast "I'm Awake! Now What?" at all of your usual podcast places.Connect with her on Instagram @ianwpodcast.

In this episode I share a session I ran for the Scapa Home Festival on moments of meditation. Sometimes we only have a few moments here and there, and taking advantage of these times to connect inward can be a really beautiful habit. Moments of Meditation includes both chat from me on my own "messy luminous" perspective on how & why we might meditate in our lives just as they are, and also includes three short practice sessions to help reconnect to that luminous and profound part of you that is so immense and special. Remember you can jump into the weekly zoom Let's Sit Together sessions for free at 7am in the UK with this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/129251072 And for more information about the Breathing Space group I mention in the intro you can head here: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/breathingspace

Questioning and finding ways to make meditation and yoga practice work within our individual life is such a journey. In this episode I talk with yoga teacher and meditation friend Natalie Wiltshire about walking with herself, perspective on hard times, acknowledging our real humanness and finding signs of hope. You can find Natalie at www.natsyoga.co.uk

I remember the first time I tried to meditate when I was about 20 & had a really strange out-of-body experience. I was confused and knew I wasn't going to do that again without more guidance. So five years later when I met a friend who had been practicing buddhist meditation for years, I asked her loads of questions about her experience sitting. What she described then was very mundane and disappointingly dull...or so it seemed to me then. But after a decade now of practice, I've found it's the seemingly "boring" aspect that provides so much subtle illumination. This is an episode to inspire you to get back to your mat and practice!

Sometimes connecting to yourself is possible, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes all we can do is get through it. But we can find a place...a yoga mat, or whatever your place is. And in that place we can find time and space to sit with how we're really feeling & what's really going on inside of us. These are some of the beautiful insights from my conversation with Catherine Annis in this episode. You can find Catherine's classes, retreats & yoga teacher training at www.catherineannisyoga.co.uk. To get a free printable copy of the Messy Luminous Moments calendar & audio breathing practices head to: https://mailchi.mp/sarahbhunt/calendar And if you'd like to start up a morning practice but would like some motivation, accountability & someone to hold space for you, I'm running free Let's Sit Together sessions every morning M-F at 7am BST on zoom via this link: https://zoom.us/j/129251072 (for those not in the UK, these sessions get uploaded to the Messy Luminous Being Facebook Group which is free to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/416245352437981/

The place we really live is in our minds. Any frustrations we have, any fears, loneliness and longings for things we miss...all of it happens within our minds. So now, while we are being challenged with this huge upheaval in our external lives, we can also think about how to support ourselves inside. Marathon runners need the right fuel and training practices to build up stamina. And maybe that's how we can think of this time of social isolation. In this episode I talk about how we can work within ourselves to create inner lives that feel good. To what extent can we soften our resistance to the changes and things we can't control? If there was ever a time to use tools and strategies to support our mindset & inner-wellbeing, it's now.

As our life changes, our spiritual practice must also change. Our body ages, different times bring different challenges. And allowing ourselves space to acknowledge what's present for us at a particular point in our lives, or even on a particular day, brings a beautiful new level of honesty to our spiritual practice. In this episode, I talk to the lovely Fiona Hayhoe-Weiland about breathing practices she loves and ways she has adapted her practice after having children. We also talk about ageing, how yoga helps us soft into the impermanence of our lives and what she has learned from working with women with cancer in her yoga class.

Exercise, spending time in nature, restoring our natural breath and dropping into moments of stillness are essential human experiences. Ones that we seem to have lost in the hubbub of busy life. But as we enter this strange moment where we have been forced to slow down, it might be just the time to remember, these are not bonus extras. These are the essence of the human life. In this episode, I also share a beautiful story of a cheetah who thought she was a lab from Glennon Doyle's new book Untamed, as well as the question she asks that really inspired me.

Getting out into nature is a beautiful practice, but we all know the saying - wherever you go, there you are. And it can be just as easy to bring our worries with us on our walks. Or feel we can't practice because we're always getting interrupted by our kids. Or maybe feel like we don't know how to unwind from that feeling of push and drive. If this is resonating, you are going to love this episode with Lydia Zamorano. We talk about what it means to establish the mind in stillness, how to practice in the 'construction site' of home life, and why she feels spiritual practice is best experienced in the physical body.

When we consider our health & well-being, it's easy to focus on what we eat or how much we exercise. These things feel more tangible and accessible than the more intangible practices we can do to calm our minds or transform destructive thoughts into thoughts that promote joy and inner well-being. But are they so different? In this episode, I get curious about how we sometimes compartmentalise certain practices as "spiritual", which makes them feel mystical & less accessible. Can we start to approach meditation as a very down-to-earth practice integral to our health? And is anything in our lives including how we eat, move, breathe & think NOT spiritual?

When you feel alone or disconnected remember, the very particles of air you breathe in have come from the trees around you. They are breathing us and we are breathing them. In this episode I talk to Dani Mae about her passion for the ability of the breath to heal us and connect us back with ourselves. We talk about her journey through anxiety, grief and injury as well as the daily challenges of staying centered in this busy world, and how the breath has been the thing to bring her home to herself again and again. Whether you're new to breath work or want to go deeper into the power of breath holds, you're going to love this conversation. To connect with Dani head to @breathguidance on Instagram or www.breathguidance.com

Meditation is most commonly known as a practice for calming the mind. And while this is definitely true, there are (at least) four other things my meditation practice has given me over the years that have been really unexpected...and such a joy. In this episode, I talk about what my meditation practice really looks like right now, (not the idealised version, the real messy luminous truth) and how even small doses of stillness each day can lead to profound shifts in our mindset and ability to experience joy.

In this episode I talk with the lovely Bre Williamson about transforming anger & anxiety into a power rather than a hindrance. She shares her favourite meditation practice, the Green Tara sadhana, which connects us to our inner wisdom of compassion through action and the feminine power of creating life. We get real about how parenthood changes our practice and ways we can let go of the "perfect" to reach for the beautiful reality of the journey. You can find Bre on instagram @brecwilliamson and more about her yoga studio True North at www.thecollectiveattruenorth.com

What do we mean by self-care? And are our acts of self-care genuinely helping us? Or could they sometimes be keeping us stuck in our hectic & overwhelming lifestyles? It feels like the idea of self-care has become ubiquitous for a reason. There is a part of us that genuinely needs care, an aspect of our being that is squeezed out by the busyness of our lives and the demands we are under. But as consumer society co-opts and utilises this idea of self-care to its own ends — to get us to buy stuff — have we lost track of the deeper aim of self-care, which surely is to heal us & bring us back into connection with a life that feels good? Are our go-to self-care practices actually helping us to move towards that life? Or are we relying on imitation practices that act as bandaids and serve only to "keep us coping" and thus stuck in a life that is essentially unhealthy?