PFV Counselling

PFV Counselling Hello, My name is Paula Fox-Valsler and I am an Outdoor Holistic Counsellor and Empowerment Coach.

21/12/2025

Honouring the Winter Solstice ✨

The Winter Solstice invites us to pause at the darkest point of the year and honour what has been heavy, quiet, or unseen within us. This is a natural time for rest, reflection, and compassion toward yourself.

You might honour this season by:

💫 Creating space for stillness. Lighting a candle and sitting in silence for a few moments

💫 Reflecting on what you are ready to release and what you hope to gently nurture as the light returns

💫 Allowing rest without guilt, remembering that slowing down is not failure, but wisdom

💫 Offering yourself kindness, especially toward parts of you that feel tired or tender.

The Solstice reminds us that even in darkness, change is already beginning. You do not need to rush your healing.
Light returns in its own time.

PFV Counselling

11/12/2025

It's December, and everyone's feeling tired. That's because in nature, it's the season for slowing down. There's nothing wrong with you. Your body is just telling you what it needs.

The sun is at its lowest point, and the days are often dull and darkness dominant.
Some animals have gone into hibernation mode. The trees have lost their leaves, and all the magic is happening internally. The seeds and any signs of new life are waiting in frozen ground. Everything in nature has slowed right down.

And yet, we are now officially in Christmas season with expectations to be sociable, festive, generous, joyous. Shopping till you drop, meeting end of year deadlines, Xmas parties.

No wonder you're feeling exhausted.

Our Ancestors knew how to honour the winter. How to retreat and go inwards . They got quiet, rested more, ate hearty meals and early nights.

Your body is trying to communicate with you.

This is the time to go slow.

Stop fighting nature.

PFV Counselling

29/11/2025

Here are a variety of meaningful, cosy, and creative ways to honour winter, spiritually, emotionally, environmentally, and practically:

🌟Quiet + Reflective Ways

Practice stillness or meditation to mirror winter’s natural pause.

Journal about the past year. What you learned, what you’re releasing, and what you’re inviting.

Create a seasonal altar with winter elements: pine, stones, candles, snow water, and dried berries.

Observe the winter sky. Moon phases, early sunsets, constellations.

🌟Light + Warmth Traditions

Light candles or a fire as a symbol of warmth during the dark season.

Host a Solstice or midwinter gathering. Storytelling, songs, intentional food.

Practice a daily “light ritual” (lantern walks, candle meditation, twinkling lights in your home).

🌟Nature-Based Ways

Take mindful winter walks. Listen to the quiet, notice tracks, admire bare branches.

Collect winter items like pinecones, cedar, holly, or frost-kissed leaves for decoration or craft.

Feed winter birds or set up a wildlife-friendly space.

Harvest snow or ice with intention (for art, rituals, or symbolic cleansing).

🌟Nourishment & Home

Cook warming, grounding foods: stews, root vegetables, teas, mulled cider.

Practice “seasonal nesting” . Clean a corner of your home, add soft textures, make a cosy reading space.

Start a winter craft: knitting, candle-making, mending, herbal remedies, scrapbooks.

Cultural + Spiritual Perspectives

Celebrate winter holidays (Solstice, Yule, Lunar New Year, etc.) with meaning.

Offer gratitude for the season. For
For rest, for clarity, for the renewal it leads to.

Study winter myths and folklore from various cultures (snow spirits, winter goddesses, sun-return stories).

Inner Work + Emotional Honour

Give yourself permission to rest more.

Embrace slower rhythm. longer sleeps, fewer obligations.

Do a “winter reset”. Organise your digital space, calendar, or goals gently.

🌟 Take time to sink in and really enjoy this winter period. Find the magic in the small things.

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💫When You’re Wondering What It All Means…💫Have you ever had those moments where you stop and think; “What’s the point of...
13/11/2025

💫When You’re Wondering What It All Means…💫

Have you ever had those moments where you stop and think;

“What’s the point of all this?”

As if life suddenly zooms out and everything feels kind of meaningless or just not right? Yup..? Well, that people is the dreaded existential crisis.

Don’t worry, it’s not as dramatic as it sounds. It’s something most of us go through at some point in our lives. It’s that period where you start questioning things like: Who am I really? What do I actually want? Why does everything feel so… empty?

These feelings usually show up when life is shifting... Maybe you’ve lost something important, started something new, or maybe you've hit a point where the “old” version of your life doesn’t fit anymore. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s also your mind’s way of saying, “Hey, let’s pause and figure out what really matters.”

💬 Here are a few gentle things to keep in mind:

You’re not crazy for feeling lost, it’s part of being human.

Meaning isn’t something you find once and keep forever. It changes as you do.

You don’t have to have all the answers right now. Small steps, like doing something kind, talking to someone, or just sitting outside for a bit, can sometimes help.

Talking with a counsellor or a good friend can make a big difference. Sometimes saying things out loud helps them make more sense.

💫 Just remember, you haven’t lost your path, you’re just rewriting it. 💫

📷

PFV Counselling

What did the world teach you about pleasure when you were growing up?As adults, pleasure can be complicated. We go throu...
11/11/2025

What did the world teach you about pleasure when you were growing up?

As adults, pleasure can be complicated.

We go through life with so many beliefs around pleasure. But pleasure is natural and its available to you in almost every moment of every day if you allow yourself to open up to it.

We are all born with an inherent understanding and desire for pleasure. As children we would seek out touch, new textures, new sensations and new experiences without apology. But as we grow into adults, our relationship with pleasure changes. It almost becomes conditional.

So have a think, what's your relationship like with pleasure?

▪️What beliefs do you hold around personal pleasure?
▪️Is it conditional?
▪️Does it feel luxurious?
▪️Is it attached to guilt or shame?
▪️Does it leave you feeling uncomfortable?
▪️Would you like to feel more pleasure? If yes, how?

Allow yourself to get curious here. When was the last time you experienced real pleasure?

PFV Counselling

📷 Yuri Krupenin

**Scenes like this bring me pleasure**

03/11/2025

Monday Musings.

On that list of things to do, make sure you put down to do something nice for yourself.

Self Care: It's not selfish. It's necessary.

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🗑 Yup, chuck them in the bin!And you know why you should chuck those shoulds in the bin? Because they don't belong to yo...
03/11/2025

🗑 Yup, chuck them in the bin!

And you know why you should chuck those shoulds in the bin? Because they don't belong to you and the weight of their expectations are not serving you.

When you're investing time in those "Shoulds," you're not investing in your own inner wisdom.

You get to write the script of your life. You get to decide what does and doesn't work for you.

Next time you hear yourself saying the word "Should," just take a moment to check in with yourself and ask,

"Who does this should belong to?"

PFV Counselling

28/10/2025

Intuition vs. Anxiety

Ever notice how your inner voice speaks in two very different ways?

▪︎ Intuition speaks in calm statements, like;

- “This doesn’t feel right.”
- “I know I can handle this.”
- “It’s time to move on.”

▪︎Anxiety speaks in endless questions, like;

-“What if something goes wrong?”
-“Am I making a mistake?”
-“What hen you’re unsure which voice to trust, pay attention to how it speaks — not just what it says.

Intuition is steady, grounded, and confident.
Anxiety is loud, doubtful, and restless.

Take a deep breath, get quiet, and listen.
Your intuition doesn’t shout — it simply knows.

PFV Counselling

27/10/2025

Monday Musings.

Are you a multi tasker? Then try this simple hack.

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🍂 Autumn Feels & the Art of Hibernation 🍁Is anyone else feeling that pull to slow down lately? The darker mornings, long...
22/10/2025

🍂 Autumn Feels & the Art of Hibernation 🍁

Is anyone else feeling that pull to slow down lately? The darker mornings, longer evenings, cooler air, and endless cups of tea are calling for a little seasonal hibernation.

And you know what?
That’s absolutely okay.
We’re not meant to be “on” all year round. Just like nature, we go through seasons too — times of growth and energy, and times when rest and reflection are what we need most.

So if you find yourself craving more sleep, cosy nights in, quiet weekends, or just fewer plans — listen to that. Rest isn’t laziness, it’s your body’s way of rebalancing and re-energising.

✨ Wrap up in a blanket, light a candle, breathe.
✨ Let go of the pressure to “do more.”
✨ Give yourself permission to simply be.

Autumn reminds us that slowing down can be beautiful too. 🌙

How’s everyone feeling as the season shifts? Anyone else in hibernation mode already?

📷 Mariya Kruglova 🦊

PFV Counselling

20/10/2025

Monday Musings - learning to befriend the gremlin on your shoulder.

PFV Counselling

Inner Child Healing Inside each of us lives a younger part, our “inner child.” This is the part that remembers what it f...
01/10/2025

Inner Child Healing

Inside each of us lives a younger part, our “inner child.” This is the part that remembers what it felt like to be small, needing comfort, safety, and love. Sometimes, when those needs weren’t fully met in childhood, pieces of that hurt or longing stay with us. They can show up later in life as feelings of not being enough, struggles in relationships, or patterns we can’t seem to break.

Inner child healing is about gently reconnecting with that younger self. In counselling, we create a safe space where you can:

Listen to what your inner child is feeling or needing.

Offer comfort to the parts of you that may have felt unseen or unheard.

Practice self kindness and learn how to “re-parent” yourself with the care and support you deserved back then.

Bring healing so those old wounds don’t have to keep shaping your present.

This work isn’t about blaming the past. It’s about giving yourself the compassion and nurturing you may have missed, so you can feel more whole, balanced, and free today.

It can play a huge part within your counselling journey, and although it can sometimes feel overwhelming, it is often a crucial part of a person's growth enabling them to function and respond from a more adult place.

PFV Counselling

📷 Alexander Milov

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