Astarte Mind & Body

04/01/2026

And on another note, I'm really pleased that I have managed to keep my plants alive for another year. Chalking up the small wins in life. 🌱

04/01/2026

I've been doing a massive clean out and rearrangement of resources over the last couple of weeks to prepare for the new year and my new art workshop series.
On the surface it doesn't look like anything has changed, but, like most things, we work within our limitations and don't always see all the work on the surface.

02/01/2026

If you feel like your brain has not been quite the same since lockdowns, you may be right.

You didn’t need to catch COVID for the pandemic to leave a mark on your brain.

A major new study suggests that the psychological and social strain of the COVID-19 pandemic itself may have subtly accelerated brain aging in many people — even those who were never infected.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham analyzed brain MRI scans from nearly 1,000 healthy adults using data from the UK Biobank. By comparing scans taken before and after the pandemic, they discovered measurable changes linked to faster brain aging during this period. The effect was most pronounced in older adults, men, and individuals from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Using machine-learning models, scientists estimated each person’s “brain age” — a measure of how old the brain appears biologically rather than chronologically. While people who had COVID showed clearer cognitive impacts, such as slower processing speed, even uninfected participants displayed subtle structural brain changes. These findings point to the powerful influence of prolonged stress, isolation, uncertainty, and lifestyle disruption experienced during lockdowns.

Encouragingly, researchers believe these changes may not be permanent. With proper mental health support, reduced stress, and healthy routines, the brain may be capable of recovering — reminding us that resilience is built into human biology, even after global crises.



Source
“Accelerated brain ageing during the COVID-19 pandemic”
Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad et al., Nature Communications, 22 July 2025

01/01/2026

The Missing Link: Why 'Feeling' Your Body Changes Everything

Most of our fitness programs are built on the assumption that if you move more, lift heavier, or sweat harder, you’ll get the results you want. While this approach works for some, thousands of dedicated exercisers still feel disconnected, injured, or stuck on a plateau, even after years of consistent training. The overlooked piece? Body awareness, or what scientists call interoception: the ability to sense and interpret the subtle signals arising from inside your body.

Interoception is your internal GPS. It tells you when your shoulders are creeping toward your ears from stress, when your pelvis is tucked under during a squat, when your breath is shallow, or when a muscle is working too hard to compensate for another that’s “asleep.” Without it, you’re essentially driving with a blindfold on.

Modern fitness culture, especially in high intensity and boot camp style workouts, rewards external cues: “Go heavier!” “Feel the burn!” “No pain, no gain!” These slogans train us to override internal signals rather than listen to them. Over time, we become experts at pushing through fatigue, ignoring tightness, and numbing out; exactly the opposite of what creates sustainable, pain-free movement.

Research now shows that people with high interoceptive awareness recover faster from workouts, have better posture, improved emotional regulation, and dramatically lower rates of overuse injuries. A 2022 study in the journal Body Image found that just eight weeks of body-awareness-focused training (yoga and Pilates-style cues) improved participants’ interoception by 34% and reduced chronic lower-back pain more effectively than traditional strength training alone.

So how do you actually cultivate it?

🧘‍♀️ Slow down on purpose
Perform familiar exercises (squats, push-ups, planks) at half speed while asking, “Where do I feel this right now?” The brain needs time to map sensation.

🧘‍♀️ Use “internal cueing”
Instead of “pull your belly button to your spine,” try “softly feel the space between your ribs and pelvis narrowing.” Directing attention inward rewires neural pathways.

🧘‍♀️ ️Practice the 1-minute body scan daily
Lie down or sit quietly and mentally travel from toes to crown, noticing temperature, pressure, tingling, or heaviness without trying to change anything. This single habit is one of the fastest ways to boost interoceptive accuracy.

🧘‍♀️ Trade some intensity for curiosity
Once or twice a week, replace your hardest workout with exploratory, non-striving movement: gentle somatic flows, yin yoga, or simple rolling on the floor. The nervous system learns safety and precision in ease, not in force. Our Relaxercise class embodies these concepts.

🧘‍♀️ Breathe like you mean it
Most people breathe backwards under load (inhaling when the belly should expand, holding at the bottom of a squat). Conscious diaphragmatic breathing is the fastest bridge between mind and body. Pilates is a good exercise modality to help you focus more consciously on your breath.

When you finally start to “feel” your body instead of just moving it, something profound happens: exercise stops feeling like a chore or punishment and becomes a conversation. Your body talks, you listen, and together you negotiate what’s possible that day. Strength, mobility, and resilience grow not in spite of that dialogue, but because of it.

01/01/2026

I've worn many shoes and put on many different hats over the years to suit all my different roles in work and play. Some have been quite a comfortable fit, some have been challenging to wear, and others I have outgrown.

What shoes have you outgrown in your life? What are you trying to fit into that no longer accommodates your personal, spiritual, or professional expansion? Perhaps it's time to size up.

28/12/2025

Get creative in 2026. Learn new skills. Have fun exploring. Expand your mind. Nurture your soul. 🎨🖼🖌

28/12/2025

The time between Christmas and the New Year can sometimes feel like a bit of a void. A void does not have to feel like a big black hole of nothingness though. It can be a place of space and light, providing a relief from the usual fast pace of life.
I like to use this time for reflection on the year past and to refocus my thoughts on what I want to create in my life in the future.
It's not a New Years resolution, but an intention, an energetic vibration, and a mental and physical process.
Where is your focus right now?

27/12/2025

This years clean up is more than just a clearing of clutter. It's a conscious act of letting go and starting anew.

After my health scare in 2023 I made a decision to let go of the personal training aspect of my business in order to free up time for rest and recovery, and reflection and review.

As much as I have loved helping so many individuals with their strength, fitness, and wellness goals over the years through Personal Training, I realise that one-on-one style training is no longer where my soul work or heart lies.

A huge part of my business has been about connecting and creating community. As this world seeks to further divide us I find myself being drawn more towards those things that connect us to our essence and our humanity.

My soul seeks to cultivate creativity and community, whether it be through movement, dance, art, drumming, or my online classes.

I want people to discover something beyond the mundane, to reconnect to their soul and to the beauty and wonder of this world. I want to foster curiosity and fascination, and guide people towards greater self discovery, self love, and gratitude. If that sounds lofty and wafty then so be it. I'll just be hanging up here waiting for you to join me one day. 😊🪽

22/12/2025

I'm signing off this page for a couple of days while I finish my annual clutter clearing and prepare to welcome in another year.
Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous Christmas or Happy Holidays ... or both! ✨️
May the stars align for you in the new year and may you keep reaching for them. ⭐️🌟

22/12/2025

Yesterday I posted about the relationship between our physical and mental space, and how a cluttered mind can manifest as clutter in our physical environment.

This post is a reminder that the relationship between our mind and body or our mind and external environment is always reciprocal.

While many personal and spiritual practices encourage us to focus inward, sometimes we need to focus outward first.

Here are my tips for managing mess.

✅️ Acknowledge how clutter makes you feel, andcresolve to elevate your emotional status above it.
✅️ Create a checklist of 'Horrible Jobs' or tasks you need to get to.
✅️ Prioritise. List them in order of urgency for both your schedule and peace of mind
✅️ Start small. Select one task that can be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. It could be as simple as putting away a single item
✅️ Take before and after photos for your own satisfaction. Post your progress on social media, or share with close friends if you need accountability or support.
✅️ Bask in the satisfaction of achievement.
✅️ Repeat daily until you find yourself in a more spacious environment, a more positive emotional state, and greater clarity of thought.

May the force be with you. ✨️

20/12/2025

Our physical space is a reflection of our mental space. During busy periods, stress and overwhelm can build within, and physical tasks pile up as their priority sinks lower on the survival list.

This is a pattern I have been struggling with since childhood, a reflection of a mind that is often so future focused that it becomes blind to the concept of the now in the physical realm.

Managing clutter is not simply a physical act. It requires a quiet resolve of the mind to prioritise and focus energy into tasks that a creative, chaotic, stressed, or overwhelmed mind often finds menial, pointless, unstimulating, or entirely unpleasant.

Those who manage a pristine space often give advice such as "just put it away after you use it" but often do not comprehend the inner turmoil of an overwhelmed mind that is already thinking about the next time it will be used and whether the energy expenditure to find the perfect place to put it away and take it out again is worth it.

My point here really is to promote greater understanding for both those who struggle, and for those who may judge. Give people a little leeway during busy periods and especially over Christmas if things are not perfectly organised or clutter free.

We will get to it, and when we do we will be absolutely pedantic about perfection ... for a few days at least ... until the next shiny moment comes to distract us again!

For those who can resonate with this post, I will be sharing some of the tools and strategies later that I need to use for myself in able to maintain a sense of order in my own chaotic world.

16/12/2025

A small group of members from our mind and body community gathered last night for a feast at Relish in Shellharbour. Some of these ladies had never met in person and it was so lovely to see and hear so many interesting discussions and stories shared over almost 3 hours.

Exercising online can sometimes feel isolating, but when you have a community of people sharing the experience it provides greater incentive and motivation to persevere.

Although we all have our own goals and paths to follow, our individual journeys are always made so much more pleasant when you know you are surrounded by positive people sharing in the experience. 😊