Writing Through Unrest

22/03/2026

Fabulous presentation from Elizabeth Lovius that points to the nature of unrest (a common human experience) and how to access the place in you that generates wisdom when you need it. Elizabeth waves her notebook about as the place she gets to spend time with herself and in a chapter from her forthcoming book reveals journal prompts designed to shift us from unrest to insight.

The ground keeps shifting. Many leaders are finding themselves feeling uncertain and wanting to know what they can trust. We end up feeling stressed, overwhe...

31/01/2026

I've been working with fatigue using the Nervana App. I'm finding the AI coach quite good, the information and brief meditations easily digestible, and the journal writing prompts excellent. Our brains find ways to 'signal' the strain our bodies and minds are under. So much of the source of strain is out of our awareness. Thankfully, the meditations and writing provide avenues for the 'signals' to be received and decoded. Highly recommend and for anyone wanting additional personalized support, I offer telehealth or inperson sessions.

When traditional medicine can't explain your symptoms, Nervana's AI coach helps you understand your mind-body connection and find relief.

13/01/2026

I had the lovely pleasure of videoconferencing with Dr Mandy Mercuri earlier this week - to discuss all things neuroplastic, in particular pain, and how understanding, mindfulness, and feelings of safety, are powerful ingredients to dialling down its intensity and supporting recovery.

Beginning next month she will be facilitating both online and face to face programs for people suffering from chronic pain and open to exploring the potential of the latest mind-body understanding and techniques.

Australia is blessed to have some of the world's experts in chronic pain research and a growing number of lived experience, compassionate and skilled professionals wanting to make a difference. If you yearn for a life with greater peace, learn about how your brain protects you through activation of pain and what you can do so that it doesn't have to be so busy.

13/01/2026

For anyone suffering from chronic back pain, fibromyalgia or whiplash, and looking for relief, this new Australian app is excellent.

https://www.moregooddays.com/

Each program contains easy to access information from some of Australia's, and international, pain researchers as well as solid understanding and tools to dial down and enhance recovery.

The old formula for understanding pain - physical injury causes pain turns out to be not entirely accurate. Physical 'data' is included in the brain's assessment of a situation, but it is not the only data, and often is not even present for pain to be activated.

The brain creates pain (not a nice feeling) to change our behaviour so that we don't harm ourselves further. Pain is the brain's way of protecting you from 'things' it identifies as harming - this can include physical damage, but it can also includes our thoughts, other people, stressful workplaces ..... every list is personal. It is the brain that connects the dots between information it is taking in and activates the alarm bell (pain) if it thinks YOU are under threat. If there are enough reasons for your brain to protect you (via pain) it will, and if not, it won't. The challenge is to find and slowly change all those reasons. Wise words from Professor Lorimer Moseley, one of the contributors to the app.

Recover from chronic pain with confidence. Work with expert clinicians and use the latest science-backed tools.

10/01/2026

Small writing about how the year ahead may be different.

Honouring an internal ‘fluttering’ that began last year, I booked myself into 3 days at New Norcia Monastery’s guest house. Before travelling by coach, I intuitively selected two books from my coll…

07/01/2026

For anyone suffering with pain and living in Victoria, this free introductory workshop might be of interest.

Free Pain Recovery Workshop With: Dr Mandy Mercury When: Monday 19th January | 10am - 11:30am Venue: 737 Burwood Hwy, Ferntree Gully, Vic, 3156 Price: Free Please join us for this free pain recovery workshop, where you’ll discover how mindfulness and the latest pain science can support real change...

07/01/2026

Looking forward to another Journal Writing Program begins at The Meeting Place in February 2026.

26/11/2025

Fabulous podcast from Drs Rebecca Kennedy and Howard Schubiner on the psychological factors behind neuroplastic symptoms. When they arise, it's time to pause and ask ourselves where are we out of balance in our lives ... where are we stressed? If we experience knee jerk reactions to situations, and we default to old ways of coping (trauma responses) know that our neural survival map has been activated. Early in our lives, it helped us. Now, it needs our help.

This episode breaks down the emerging noninvasive therapies that move people beyond coping and into full resolution of neuroplastic symptoms. Dr. Schubiner a...

07/11/2025

Recently, I spent time in the Dwellingup Forest taking photos I can use in journal writing groups.

The task is to write all that one sees and perhaps imagine what the other senses may have picked up; to take note of feelings that stir; and to listen for memories that surface out of the unconscious.

Write the story of the memory.

Reflect on what it was like to write to the prompt. And if you are game write about how the memory is connected with what is going on in your life now.

And of course, nothing beats being in nature itself to do the writing. Nature is the natural 'charging station' for humans. Luxuriate.

04/11/2025

In the research article 'Dialogical Journal Writing as 'self therapy': I matter', the interviewee comments that since writing, 'I find the world less draining now.'

Finding the world less draining .....

It's why meditation and mindfulness are key ingredients to mental health.

But what about the creative arts?

I've taken to creating small 'prayer brooches' of an evening. Hand stitched, loose pieces of fabric, cotton threads, wool felting and the odd button, stone, or steam punk trinket. Depending on my mood, I choose what feels 'right' to wear. Intuitive placement jazzes up a k-mart cardigan, an op shop jacket, a well worn scarf, a hat and even the odd handbag.

I enjoy them and .... I sleep better. I wake up feeling refreshed instead of still drained. And they're playful.

So much of our lives use the intellect to navigate and even to find 'pockets of peace'. We expend a lot of 'energy out'. What do you do to take 'energy in'? Meditation, nature, writing, drawing, making ... moments of flow, of resting concentrated effort ... maybe they offer more to mental and physical health than we realise.

31/10/2025

I walked up and over Mt Cooke some weekends ago. The highest peak in the Darling Range near Perth. Five years ago, I didn't think any bushwalking would be possible. Knee pain that incapacitated me so much I would crawl around my home for a week. Two rounds as a member of the Bibbulum Foundation without completion of a single walk. Nine months ago I came across the work of Nicole Sachs and John Sarno on the brain's role in the creation of pain and how physical symptoms can manifest as a result of psychological stress, ways of thinking that overload our wonderful human nervous system.

I devoured the books, accessed the webinars and meditations on the Curable App, applied Somatic Tracking, consciously made significant changes to what I will pay attention to and what I will let go of, and now I've completed three 12km walks pain free. Not a twinge, even after a fall! And the Mt Cooke walk was not easy. Steep rocky inclines and descents, careful footing was crucial.

So now I'm working on my lower back pain. Been around since my late teens. I'm deepening through the work of Dr Adele Stewart and her free mindfulness meditations on Inight Timer. I've had days when my body and mind felt untethered by the constraints that thinking imposes. I wasn't even aware that either were possible. Now I want more.

And of course, I continue to journal through it all. The journey never ends. I'm reclaiming my mind and my body. I get to choose how both are carried.

28/10/2025

Anxiety, depression, fatigue, anger ... and more, are connected with our body's fight/flight mechanisms and play a role in supporting our survival.

We are a society addicted to overstimulation and 'powering through'. Both activate the body's threat system and put the brain on high alert. A brain on high alert sends different messages and chemicals through the body than a brain at rest, and predisposes it to perceiving threat when there is none further escalating the threat response. We react less in a calm mood than when we are in an agitated one.

If we are living in a 'default' setting of overstimulation and powering through, our mental and physical health is compromised. But we have the wherewithal to reset it. Anxiety tells us we are setting the bar too high, treating ourselves badly, and at risk of nervous system collapse. It is telling us our thinking patterns are a threat and that we need to address them. Awareness, mindfulness and different choices make a difference.

There are also times when we go through periods of high alert as we navigate the illness of a child, the dissolution of a relationship, the instability of job security, migration, injustice ... Depression can follow. Depression is the beautiful human nervous system's way of ensuring our survival. When life defeats us, then like an embattled boxer in the ring, we need to retire, to regenerate, to reflect and reenter the game having learned from our experience and different. Rest is needed to rejuvenate.

Medications can be prescribed for all these conditions, but in doing so do we miss their wisdom? Do we inadvertently contribute to our ongoing ill health through the ignorance of our nervous system's messengers?

We all have moments when we are at such a low point that personal and/or chemical support is needed. But let's not undervalue the wisdom in the various psychological and/or physical symptoms that the brain produces to tell us our nervous systems are struggling. The power/life that animates us needs to be supported. Reducing stimulation, increasing mindfulness, letting go of thinking patterns that have reached their 'use by' date, and listening to the wisdom of our nervous system's warning bells can ensure we are self sustaining instead of self destructive. Pause.