The Mindful Fox

15/04/2026

🎨 ✍️ When our internal world feels like it’s overflowing with big emotions-anxiety, grief, or the crushing weight of a to-do list-our perspective becomes incredibly narrow.
We get stuck in a loop of ‘me’ (ego) and ‘my’ problems.
Awe is simply what happens when we encounter something so vast that it forces our brain to stop obsessing over itself and expand its perspective.
Research shows it actually reduces the activity in the part of your brain where you exist-the Default Mode Network. This is the region responsible for your ego and constant rumination. Neuroscience calls this the
“Small Self” phenomenon.
By going somewhere that makes you feel physically small, you aren’t just distracting yourself. You are literally:
Quieting the Ego: Reducing the internal noise of
the self and its problems.
V
Activating the Vagus Nerve: Lowering your heart
rate and shifting out of fight or flight mode.
V Making Room for Perspective: Forcing your brain to realise that while your feelings are valid, they aren’t the entire universe and they are not you.
It’s a neurological reset button.
You don’t have to solve the problem today. You just have to find a bigger container for it.
The next time life feels like too much, stop trying to think your way out of it. Go outside. Look up. Find the horizon 🩵

05/04/2026

Somatic reset technique 🧘 ✨

28/03/2026

Love these 🖼️

25/03/2026

Trust the fall….all part of the process of growth✨ ✨

17/03/2026

🍀 Lá Fhéile Pádraig
Sona Daoibh 🍀
An Irish blessing from our door to yours ✨

10/03/2026

Rather than suppressing anxiety, it can be more helpful to recognise and respond to it with curiosity and compassion.

Steps to work with anxiety instead of suppressing it:

• Name what you feel – Simply acknowledging “I’m feeling anxious right now” can help calm the nervous system. Naming emotions helps the brain process them.

• Tune into your body – Notice where anxiety sits in your body (tight chest, stomach knots, tense shoulders). This helps bring awareness rather than avoidance.

• Slow the breath – Gentle breathing techniques signal safety to the nervous system and can begin to move the body out of a heightened alert state.

• Ground yourself in the present – Focus on what you can see, hear, or touch around you. This helps your brain recognise that you are safe in this moment.

• Respond with kindness – Instead of criticising yourself for feeling anxious, remind yourself that your nervous system is trying to protect you.

Over time, learning to listen to anxiety rather than silence it can help build a more balanced relationship with your nervous system. When we respond with awareness and care, the body gradually learns that it is safe again. ✨ ✨ ✨

08/03/2026

♥️ ♥️ ♥️ The strength of women is not just in what we overcome, but in how we lift each other along the way ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

06/03/2026

life is balance-
between holding on and letting go, between speaking up and staying quiet between feeling deeply and not drawing in it..
It’s never about choosing one.. it’s about Choosing when. ⚖️

06/03/2026

Slow is still productive 💓

05/03/2026

01/03/2026

Ⓜⓐⓡⓒⓗ 🌻 🌺 🌷 🌹 💛

26/02/2026

Your nervous system acts as the lens through which you experience the world. It constantly scans your environment for cues of safety or threat, largely outside of conscious awareness. When you feel safe, the parasympathetic branch supports calm, connection, clear thinking, and balanced emotional responses. In this state, the world tends to feel manageable and predictable.

Trauma can significantly alter this system. After overwhelming or frightening experiences, the brain may become more sensitive to perceived danger. The sympathetic “fight or flight” response can activate more easily, creating a persistent state of alertness. Neutral situations may feel threatening, the body may remain tense, and thoughts can become focused on risk or worst-case scenarios. This is not a weakness, but an adaptive survival response that has become overprotective.

Progressive relaxation techniques help interrupt this cycle. By deliberately releasing physical tension and slowing physiological arousal, you send signals of safety back to the brain. Over time, these practices can reduce hypervigilance, restore a sense of control, and allow the nervous system to shift toward a calmer, more regulated state.