Sarah Munn Therapy Teachings

05/09/2025

Dwell on little things to find beauty and awe.

24/08/2025

Hope survived a fox attack when she was little and ended up with one wing. She visits me every day to follow me around. Not quite like the other chickens free ranging in the paddock. But she’s very happy in her own feathers.

15/08/2025

Loved meeting locals and chatting about my journey and gadara_farm over coffee. Thanks for having me Elements Eatery and yawaac

11/08/2025

Join me at gadara_farm Boneo, on Friday at 2.00 to meditate. This is for everyone, but was designed especially for stressed and anxious parents and carers. Experience neurodiverse and trauma sensitive nature based approaches to meditation. No commitment - just come when you can. Dates are below for your diary. Everyone and anyone welcome.

Learn with me, Sarah Munn - Meditation teacher and member of Meditation Association of Australia.

06/08/2025

Community Connect. Meet me for coffee at elementseatery at YAWA. Thursday 14th August at 2pm. I’ll be talking about animal assisted and farm based therapy and wellbeing programs. Loving this free face to face opportunity to talk about local opportunities for everyone.

24/07/2025

This looks like it’s going to be epic. I’m excited I’ll be there as a panelist. Jump on and register to see all the magnificent talks and discussions.

Have you watched the sessions yet? The 1st August online National Disability Forum explains how animal-assisted services can support the goals of those with a disability and the funding pathways.

Each person’s experience of disability is unique and multi-dimensional. Functioning refers to a person’s physical, psychological, cognitive and social capacity to manage day-to-day activities they find meaningful and support independence. Disability supports aim to improve social and economic participation, reducing disability-related barriers.

The ATL Disability Forum brings together health practitioners, clinicians, researchers, those with a lived experience and the broader animal-assisted services sector to share case studies, learnings, best practice, evidence base, achievements and challenges to better serve the needs of those living with a disability.

You can view the sessions here: https://animaltherapies.vfairs.com/

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23/07/2025

When you run your animal assisted therapy service from your home how do you manage your boundaries? Here is a perfect example of just wanting to do the washing up, it’s winter, animals are hungry, and Leo and Sally are mooing.

They sense when I’m around. As soon as I open the door to let the dogs out in the morning they take the opportunity to remind me they haven’t had any hay for a while.

Often, people do emotional feeding of animals. Because they can’t bear to sit quietly with the sound of the babies crying. But they aren’t babies. They are animals who have had their communications rewarded with food.

Sometimes it is hard to finish what you’re doing, like packed lunches for the kids, washing up, getting ready for work, when you know there are animals wanting a snack. But as a business owner, compartmentalising what and when things gets done, and by whom, is so good for mental health. And sometimes my animals need to wait for the therapists and kids to get here for their food. Because that’s the point of running the farm, so that the therapists and kids can be part of running the farm.

So don’t feel bad if they have to wait a little bit, they’ll be just fine to wait for 9 O’clock. And your challenge is to have peace in your heart as they wait for the day to start.

21/07/2025

I’ve been all about the boys this last fortnight as it’s been school holidays. Like many kids with sensory sensitivities my son with trisomy 21 and autism couldn’t tolerate a haircut for years. Tears, screaming and running out into the street. It took a lot of work and kindness over the years. So it was delightful to see him at the barbers with his brother able to sit still and enjoy the experience. He’s even got enough facial hair for a shave these days. Whatever those early years are like, if you can hang on in there, things can and often do get easier, more enjoyable and everyday experiences can give immense pride. Understanding sensory and processing skills is an important part of parenting many kids these days. And professionals need to understand how many aspects of life this can disrupt and how parents live in a hyper-vigilant state for a long time as we get used to this kind of parenting. But eventually with the right support and guidance we can learn to chill. Love the life you have, and live a life you love.

18/07/2025

The lived experience. Specialists at Royal Children’s Hospital - these visits are always a mixed bag of emotions. Let’s face it any families you see in the hospital have something going on with at least one of the kids, and even if it’s better news today, it has a past filled with worry.

We have been coming for 16 years to consultants and services. Each visit I ensure I have plenty of time, eat McDonalds - just for fun (LOL) - and we have a great time. My son looks forward to going - we have consistently made it fun and play guessing games in the car on the way. Will it be a man or a woman today? Pretty lady he says. Will we eat salad or chips? Chips and nuggets he says. Will he have a needle or injection today? Hope not we say. But it’s ok if he does. Will he stay in overnight? No definitely not. Will Dad be home when we get back? Yes I say, unless he’s at footy training or yoga.

There are many ways to cope with this kind of parent experience but the less anxiety you have, the more time you allow, and the better you understand your child’s experience without being sad, the better will be the outcome over the years.

As an OT, years before I had kids, I worked in Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and thought I knew what families were going through as I walked around with my lanyard and pager. But I didn’t. I had no idea what life with grief and worry for the future felt like. And how to be authentic in enjoying a life where this could be present and show up at any time, at any appointment, or any result, or development, was something I had to learn as a parent.

As a health professional, to be family or child centred we really need to learn to listen to the journey and what’s going on underneath for families. And support that as well. And for parents, it really is possible to love the life you have, and live a life you love.

16/07/2025

Patience, the series, is having a mighty impact on me. Filmed in York where I had my degree ceremony from university, it is a trip down memory lane. And with the main character also being autistic, so much is making sense to me.

I qualified as an OT at 26, having had to retake A levels, and having failed the first year of my Exeter Uni degree in Theatre and Social Science, my late teens and early 20’s were focused on adult education, night classes and endless study to make up for an education system that didn’t understand me. School couldn’t make sense of how I learned and the effect of stress on my ability to recall facts and perform as expected.

Of course, when I got my OT BHSc(Hons) from Leeds Uni I was incredibly proud, and relieved, to have a profession as an OT. My high standards in practical clinical placements and research were elements of the course which made up for my limited ability in exams and the excruciating hand pain I suffered when hand writing 3 hour exam papers which the GP didn’t understand and told me to get used to.

And I’m still doing OT nearly 30 years on. In a different kind of uniform, replacing my hospital greens and cardigan with my jeans and farm boots. Watching the series Patience is very sweet for me. I can see the struggle I hid from everyone (I mask very successfully), and also feel so proud to have overcome those struggles and be able to inspire both kids and their parents who are autistic to live a life they love. Changes to the ND world and understanding in the community has come a long way, with further to go. I’m lucky to have been part of it all my life.

The photo is from promotional photos of the series which I’m watching on SBS.

14/07/2025

Social prescribing is an important way forward. It includes health professionals and GPs knowing what is available in the community to recommend or prescribe for a client. Rather than just sending them away to do it with a suggestion (eg take a yoga class) you have them back to measure the progress. I love this model because not only does it develop community connections, but it also enables us to really appreciate and celebrate the therapeutic contribution of our non-qualified colleagues doing amazingly therapeutic things. Drumming is a great example. Compliments theoretical approaches like EMDR, neuro-feedback, sensory integration and sensory-motor therapy, among others. Helps with trauma, coordination and processing. We know rhythm and bilateral activity helps a person towards healing their trauma and organising their body and regulation. And a feeling of joy that can appear correlates with wellbeing. I drum, and it is one of the things that keeps me sane. So let’s not be arrogant and think we are the only ones helping as therapists, or put down our brothers and sisters doing great work but without the tertiary level quals that academics and professional gate keepers can put up as barriers. Let’s embrace social prescribing. But remember. As a health professional you do need to evaluate it as part of your intervention. See if it’s helped, and review treatment from there. And free up your waiting list.

10/07/2025

Full Moon today - The Claiming Moon in Druidry. However down in the southern hemisphere the Wolf Moon may be more meaningful to the winter season.

July full moon in Druid and Celtic tradition is a time to claim what you think should be coming your way, what you need or desire.

As well as staking your claim on what you want, decide if you need to set goals and walk step by step through them, or ‘ungoal’ to create space and flow for energy to move through you, or clear yourself as a preparation for either. Blockages from our programming and conditioning can get in the way of universal energy flow - which is why many folk find reiki and somatic work helpful.

What you want to claim probably isn’t materialistic; it could be spiritual growth, personal development, purposeful activity, finding your path, independence, identity, the road to tranquility or adventure.

This full moon I am staking a claim on using energy healing in my work to help people with blocks. I need to do this by quietly waiting, being humble, less verbose perhaps. I choose to see what unfolds for me in the space of Celtic and Equine Reiki for folk in my community who may feel called to see me at the farm.

The Wolf Moon is a winter full moon in January back in Europe. It’s about survival in winter, so may have messages for us at this time of year in the southern hemisphere. Wolf is one of my spirit animals who accompanies me as a loyal, intuitive guardian for myself and my family. Funnily enough Jasper, my corgi friend, brought Wolf to me when I was in meditation (corgis are related through DNA to wolves). So as well as settling into stillness to see how my work and purpose unfolds, I will be surviving with my dogs by the fire. Again what comes in strongly for me under this moon is living modestly, quietly, being comfortable with less, and accepting the cost of living by eating lots of eggs from my chicken friends and veggies from the garden.

I see the Wolf Moon and the Claiming Moon working well together for me so I’m feeling into both.

www.sarahmunn.com.au