Unity Physiotherapy & Wellbeing

31/01/2026

The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?

28/01/2026

🌿 Somatic Tracking: Awareness, Curiosity & Nervous System Regulation

Have you heard of somatic tracking?

This is a practice coined by Alan Gordon as part of Pain Reprocessing Therapy(PRT). If you watched the recent Dr Chatterjee documentary on Channel 4 about lifestyle-based health strategies, you may recall pain reprocessing was talked about for persistent (chronic) pain.

Although I’m not formally trained in PRT or certified in Alan Gordon’s specific approach, when I first read about somatic tracking a number of years ago I realised it described something I was already doing — including bringing a gentle curious compassionate awareness to sensations, noticing how we relate to what’s present, and cultivating a sense of safety.

At its heart, somatic tracking invites us to observe physical sensations with curiosity, safety, and without expectation — not trying to push sensations away or “fix” them, but to notice them with a sense of safety and neutrality.

Somatic tracking is not about trying to “fix” anything, or getting rid of pain; it’s about changing how we relate to symptoms, inviting more safety? and expanding choices.

Research suggests this kind of brain retraining practice, as part of a broader approach, can change threat responses and the automatic interpretation of sensations, and supports changes in pain.

Here’s a simple way to think about it:
✨ Settle and ground: set an intention to be compassionate and curious, notice how you are, notice your feet on the floor and the areas of the body that are supported
✨ Observe with curiosity: notice what’s present in the body with gentle curiosity
✨ Mindful neutrality: allow sensations to be as they are without judgement or fear
✨ Safety signals: connect to a felt sense of safety and, if helpful reassure yourself “I am safe right now, I am not in danger.”

A few years ago I shaped one of my practices to include all of the core elements of somatic tracking (it had most of them already), for the people I work with. I’ve also written about it in a blog, link in the comments.

💭 Have you ever noticed how your body signals change when you simply observe with curiosity, allowing sensations rather than pushing them away?�💭 What helps you stay present with uncomfortable sensations with a sense of safety?

27/01/2026

An important service being offered - free cardiac screening at Lincoln Bishop University for people aged 14-35.

Free Cardiac Screenings for 14 – 35 year-olds
Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March 2026
Lincoln Bishop University

In memory of Mike Harper 1997-2024

We’re proud to share that Lincoln Bishop University has provided space on campus for 2 days of free cardiac screenings. The family of Mike have asked us to share this with all of our students and our local community.

Mike’s parents Roy & Tracy Harper want anyone aged 14-35 to have the opportunity of a free cardiac screening, in partnership with Cardiac Risk in the Young - CRY.
Please see attached further details on how to reserve your place.

The parent perspective is that ‘if Mike had been screened, he would probably have been with us today. We don't want anyone else to lose anybody in this cruel and shocking way. Increased awareness and screening can only help.’

For more information about Mike - proud Lincolnian, Imps Fan, footballer and runner, here is a link to his memorial page https://www.c-r-y.org.uk/mike-harper/

Book your place: https://www.testmyheart.org.uk/private/

Please note that screenings are limited so we kindly ask that you only book a place if you are confident you can attend. Missed appointments can lead to wasted fundraising and may prevent others from accessing screenings.

24/01/2026

🌿Such A Beautiful Day

Today has been a beautiful winters day with a gentle turning towards spring. The sunshine and blue sky was very welcome 😊 It’s felt like the sun has not been visible much this winter!

It was deeply nurturing to do a little gardening and notice all the new growth — gentle signs spring is on its way. The first camellia flower has opened, there are hellebores in bud and one in flower, daffodil buds appearing, tulip leaves showing, shoots on trees and bushes, and roses growing. I’ve been enjoying seeing the hellebore flowers especially on all of the grey days, it’s something that’s created joy 🌼

The birds were singing now and then today, one of my favourite things! The moon and the sun were in the sky together, something that always feels deeply grounding and spacious to me.

I think gardening at this time of year particularly nurtures patience (which it always does too) — patience in the extra careful weeding and patience as the new shoots begin to slowly emerge.

I feel grateful I could spend some time outside this morning looking after my garden and enjoying the winter sunshine — it was deeply nurturing 😊

💭 What’s been nurturing for you today? What are you grateful?

24/01/2026

Love this from Philip Shepherd ‘The body is a resonator…the present rings through it…’

It’s a wonderful analogy followed by a story that reflects it.

22/01/2026

21/01/2026

🌿 Balance, Play & the Tipping Point

I spent part of the afternoon at the weekend building towers with my youngest niece using Jenga bricks. My job was to stack them, and hers was to knock them over! As I built, I noticed the little shifts that could grow into big wobbles. I’d gently adjust the tower — and at full height (and sometimes before!), my niece would knock it over, which she found hilarious and, of course, made me laugh too. Sometimes one extra block was enough for the tower to topple before she even touched it.

Now and then, instead of a big swipe, she used gentle, repeated taps — exploring what would happen.

Play and laughter are wonderful for nervous system regulation, and they’re often woven together with heartfelt connection — which this certainly was. Shared connection supports co-regulation, where our nervous systems help steady and settle each other.

In life, and especially when living with chronic illness or long-term stress, our nervous systems can have a narrower “tipping point” into dysregulation. There’s a place where things feel supported and steady, and another where things begin to wobble. When that balance tips too far, what felt manageable can suddenly feel like too much.

Play, curiosity, and connection can help us notice those early wobbles — small glimmers that allow for gentle adjustments and support more steadiness and ease. They also invite exploration — a way of meeting the edges of our comfort zone with care and a sense of safeness, rather than force. We can bring a little play into each day in many simple ways, and that can make a big difference.

💭 What helps you notice the wobbles before you reach your tipping point?

20/01/2026

🌿 Awareness, Presence & Harmony

On Sunday I spent some time making Amazonite crystal bracelets with one of my nieces. They were made using tiny beads and thin elastic, which is tricky — especially in the fading afternoon — and more than once, all the beads slid off and scattered across the table.

We noticed the frustration of dropping the beads and allowed it to be there, letting it pass as we gently and quietly refocused on the activity.

After a number of attempts, she finished hers and we made mine together. I held one end of the thread, and she carefully placed each bead (she can see much better than me!). It became something we shared and collaborated to complete.

It reminded me that harmony doesn’t mean things go smoothly or perfectly. Harmony can be found in noticing what’s here — the frustration, the dropped beads — and choosing patience, care, and connection in the middle of it.

Harmony was present in another way too — the crystals are said to connect to hope and harmony, which my niece shortened to “H&H.” Whether or not they hold that meaning in themselves, we connected them to what we believe — and in that way, they became symbols/anchors of hope and harmony for us.

For many people living with chronic illness or ongoing stress, this kind of awareness and presence matters. Where we place our attention, how we meet what’s difficult, what we believe, and who we allow to support us can gently shape our experience of each day — how it feels in our heart and body.

It’s not about the destination/an outcome — it’s about how we travel, and how we relate to ourselves and others along the way. We can’t control outcomes, but we can influence the quality of our experience within them.

Sometimes what matters most isn’t finishing a task — like these bracelets — it’s how we are with ourselves and each other while we’re doing it.

💭 How do you tend to relate to yourself when things aren’t going smoothly, and does it support harmony?
💭 What helps you meet those moments with a little more care and patience?

18/01/2026

💚 A Poetic Meditation — Standing in Gentle Power

Here’s the poem I mentioned in my post this morning. As you listen notice what happens in your body — see how it lands for you.

It emerged from meditations, somatic practices, and a deep listening to the energy of soft strength and gentle power.

It explores fire energy as something wise and sustainable — not a force that consumes, but a flame held by the heart and rooted in the Earth. A presence that moves with care, expands with trust, and finds its place to stand between earth and sky.

These words speak to alignment, embodiment, and the quiet confidence of taking up space with openness and love — where power and tenderness meet, and aliveness flows.

💚 May this poem invite you into your own sense of grounded fire — rooted, open, and gently alive.

💭 If this poem resonates, I’d love to hear how it lands for you in the comments.

(✨ Poem written and read by Ann Parkinson, January 2026)

18/01/2026

🌿 An Invitation to Pause

I’m sharing a haiku that emerged recently from a meditation that connected to soft strength, fire energy & harmony. The haiku emerged after one poem & before another.

You might like to read it slowly and notice how it lands in your body.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Haiku

Flame resting in heart
Powerful gentle harmony
Deeply rooted in Earth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It’s been quietly alive for me this week ~ a gentle aligning sensed within.

Following this morning’s meditation, the longer poem that’s been forming this week from the same energy flowed into form, which I’ll likely share later today.

💭 I would love to hear how this haiku lands for you

16/01/2026

🌿 Soft Strength & Gentle Power

Today has been a lovely end to my week, it started with a trauma-informed group supervision meeting which is a safe and nurturing space. I led a short practice to start the session which included Eagle Mudra, a Mudra I love and use as part of my morning meditations, and Cori from closed the supervision session with a lovely short practice which flowed beautifully into my yoga practice.

My yoga practice had a theme of soft strength and gentle power, something I mentioned briefly at the supervision meeting. There’s nothing weak about this kind of strength and power. They are rooted to the Earth, heart centred, courageous and sustainable. Part of this for me is:

‘Strong back, soft front’ ~ Joan Halifax

Soft strength and gentle power don’t dominate or harm. They help us to stand steady in a storm and take compassionate action aligned with our values and purpose.

I’ve been making some updates to my website the last few weeks, and did some more today — putting my own strength and gentle power into aligned action, I’ll share more about this another day.

💭 What do soft strength and gentle power mean to you?

Have a lovely nurturing weekend. Keep an eye out for a poem from me over the weekend if you’d like a little reflective pause.