Inner Healing with Jennifer

Inner Healing with Jennifer AKA The Inner Hooligan: joyful, playful and chaotic. Creator of The Joyful Toolkit.

Occupational Therapist Kinesiologist (in training), Reiki, Rahanni, Nervous systems + woo
Helping you feel like you again.

Each of these beautiful humans offer different lenses to help balance life, and come personally recommended by me. Kines...
29/04/2026

Each of these beautiful humans offer different lenses to help balance life, and come personally recommended by me.
Kinesiology with Louise Bourne Carrie Mitchell The Happy Stylist Therapy Bee Arti Chaddah Naturopathic Nutrition by Sarah Healing Herbs Briar A Wee Bit Happier Lisa Archer

And cheekily I’ll add me, myself and I to the list too!

Energy reset: day 2 After 57 years on this planet, I have finally located a breakfast I actually want to eat. Not tolera...
28/04/2026

Energy reset: day 2

After 57 years on this planet, I have finally located a breakfast I actually want to eat. Not tolerate. Not “it’ll do.” Want.

It turns out I’ve been in a long-term, slightly resentful relationship with yoghurt. I wanted to be the kind of person who happily eats fruit, yoghurt and granola but every attempt felt like a polite lie to myself.

I’ve tried them all. Smooth. Lumpy. Greek. Skyr. High protein. Low fat. Kidding myself with a “This one will be different” energy every single time.

And every time it was not different.

UNTIL coconut milk yoghurt entered my orbit courtesy of Sam The Energy Nutritionist

Game changer. Same bowl. Same fruit. Same homemade granola that makes me feel like I’ve got my life together and now I found I can actually enjoy it.

Which means peanut butter and banana on toast has officially been bumped down to second place.

It’s amazing how productive you can be when you’re actively avoiding the 24 packets of Tayto in your press (cupboard).Bu...
27/04/2026

It’s amazing how productive you can be when you’re actively avoiding the 24 packets of Tayto in your press (cupboard).

But here’s the thing. Today’s food looked very “I’ve got my life together”…
and yes, there was some prep involved.

AND

Granola = breakfast sorted for the week ✔️
Bean soup = 4–5 lunches (plus freezer smugness) ✔️
Salmon = tonight’s dinner and tomorrow’s lunch ✔️

So actually today’s effort = future me coasting.

And I’ve felt no hunger, no restriction and I haven’t had a dramatic “I can’t have that” spiral.

Just eating differently and feeling surprisingly steady with it.

Also, a little shoutout to Sam and her energy reset, this whole “plan ahead and support your body” thing is clearly onto something

Anyway, day one done. The Tayto are still in the press. Let’s see who wins tomorrow.

Scores on the doors so far:
Jennifer 1- Tayto 0

The next Joyful Toolkit is happening Sunday 17th May, 7–9pm at I’ll be joined by my brilliant guest .mitchell.energyhea...
26/04/2026

The next Joyful Toolkit is happening Sunday 17th May, 7–9pm at

I’ll be joined by my brilliant guest .mitchell.energyhealer for an evening exploring how sound can gently up-regulate and down-regulate your nervous system (yes, your ears are doing more than just holding your earrings).

As always this is a small, cosy gathering on purpose, so everyone feels seen, heard, and not just politely nodding in a corner.

We’ll be diving into your sense of hearing and all the ways it can bring more calm, more connection, and more joy into your life.

Spaces are limited, so if your nervous system is whispering “yes please” listen to it.

And just to be clear, although I do love ABBA, there will be absolutely no ABBA. By special request 😂

Booking link in bio.

I’m starting an energy reset tomorrow.Before anyone panics, it’s not a diet, I’m not starving myself, and I’m not giving...
26/04/2026

I’m starting an energy reset tomorrow.

Before anyone panics, it’s not a diet, I’m not starving myself, and I’m not giving up joy. It’s the opposite of that.

I’ve already ditched wheat (my body basically filed a formal complaint at my kinesiology session Kinesiology with Louise Bourne), and I’ve been on cleaver water for a couple of weeks . I’m also taking a few supplements my body needs: Magnesium, Vitamin B6, P5P, Collagen, and something called Candaway (to help with yeast build-up).

This next bit is about how I eat, not how much. Slowing it down. Cooking real food. Sitting down like a normal human to eat.

And most importantly for me stepping away from the constant reach for meal deals at lunch time and sugar-and-salt snacks that never actually satisfy anything (and just feed that pesky yeast).

I already know to put time aside for myself in the day, instead of squeezing it in if there’s anything left. Do I always do that? Erm, nope! And I know my body prefers actual food (still reach for those meal deals and Taytos though)

And this is what kinesiology, occupational therapy, and reiki have taught me. To stop, look at the bigger picture, and listen. To my body. My mind. My spirit, the essence of who I am.

This stop and reset matters. It’s what keeps me balanced.

And it’s why I keep learning and practising what I preach.

You don’t wake up “behind.” Your nervous system just hasn’t caught up yet.When you rush your morning, your body reads it...
24/04/2026

You don’t wake up “behind.” Your nervous system just hasn’t caught up yet.

When you rush your morning, your body reads it as pressure. Cortisol (your stress hormone, we’ll talk about this in another post because poor old cortisol gets a lot of bad press) spikes quickly, your system shifts into alert mode, and your brain moves into fast, reactive thinking.

That’s when everything feels urgent.
You’re more snappy, more overwhelmed, more “on edge” even if nothing major has actually happened.

When you slow it down,even just a little, you send a different signal. Safe. No immediate threat. We’ve got time. Your nervous system settles. Cortisol rises more gradually (which is what it’s meant to do) and your brain can actually access clarity, patience, and choice.

This isn’t about perfect routines or getting it “right.” It’s about how you start.

Which for me is a cup of tea in bed.
Music. A few quiet minutes before the world comes in.

Small, gentle habits that change how my whole day feels. And no, I don’t do this perfectly every day. But I come back to it. Softly. Again and again.

Your body isn’t designed to be calm all the time. And if it was that wouldn’t actually be a good sign.There’s something ...
22/04/2026

Your body isn’t designed to be calm all the time. And if it was that wouldn’t actually be a good sign.

There’s something called Heart Rate Variability (HRV). The gap between your heartbeats is constantly changing. Not perfectly even. Not like a ticking clock.

And that’s where the word “chaos” comes in. Now let’s be clear, this isn’t chaos as in “something’s wrong.”

This is Chaos theory type chaos: complex, flexible, responsive

A healthy system has variation. It speeds up, slows down, adjusts, depending on what you’re doing, thinking, and feeling.

That variation is your nervous system doing its job.

When life gets overwhelming or your system is under strain things often become more rigid. Less variation. Less flexibility. Less ability to adapt.

So the goal isn’t: “Be calm all the time”

The goal is to respond, adjust, recover, repeat. Again and again. That’s what resilience actually looks like in the body.

And just to ground this properly. This is about normal, everyday nervous system function not medical conditions. If something feels physically off with your heart or health, that always deserves proper medical advice. This isn’t about ignoring symptoms. It’s about understanding that emotional steadiness doesn’t mean flatness.

A well-functioning system isn’t perfectly calm. It’s alive, responsive and a little bit messy in all the right ways.

Not woo. Just how humans are built.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-43385-z

Second workshop and we got to talking about what Joy actually is, and what it definitely is not! Not the shiny Instagram...
21/04/2026

Second workshop and we got to talking about what Joy actually is, and what it definitely is not! Not the shiny Instagram version. Because joy isn’t about being happy all the time.
(Imagine. Exhausting.)

It’s about noticing when you’re not okay and knowing what to do. Catching yourself in the moment. Pausing, just enough to say, “Ah, overwhelm/ frustration/ excitement there you are.” And then not fixing it, not pushing it away, not slapping gratitude on top like a plaster.

Just acknowledging it and then, gently, reaching for something from your toolkit. We’re not burying it or trying to make it disappear, we’re meeting it with a bit of kindness and compassion.

This is exactly what Dr Kristin Neff’s research on self-compassion shows. That how we respond to ourselves in difficult moments has a direct impact on our wellbeing. When we speak to ourselves in a softer voice, have a kinder thought, offer ourselves a small act of care that’s what actually shifts things.

We’re not forcing happiness (no hiding or suppression on my watch). We’re allowing all of us to exist and choosing kindness.

That’s where joy starts to creep back in. Quietly. Honestly. No performance required.

If you’re someone who likes the science behind it, here’s a brilliant open-access review of the research:
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047

Short version: self-compassion is strongly linked to better emotional resilience, lower anxiety, and healthier coping. (annualreviews.org)

Joyful Toolkit – Workshop 2Thank you to the brilliant women who joined me tonight to explore taste and smell as part of ...
19/04/2026

Joyful Toolkit – Workshop 2

Thank you to the brilliant women who joined me tonight to explore taste and smell as part of our toolkit.

We dipped into the why behind these senses and then got properly stuck in. There was laughter, curiosity, and a fair bit of chaos as we made shower steamers and bath bombs. Turns out, some people don’t follow instructions, even when they’re right there in front of them. Annoyingly, their bath bombs came out the best 🙄

We also slowed things down with tea tasting and a little trip down memory lane with childhood sweets. Including flying saucers, or as some of us call them, fizzy communion wafers 😂

The next Joyful Toolkit workshop is on Sunday 17th May 7-9pm

Tonight sold out, so if you’re feeling the nudge, don’t hang about.

Booking link in bio

Let’s talk vagus nerve- Inner Hooligan style.This nerve is basically your body’s backstage manager. Quietly pulling stri...
17/04/2026

Let’s talk vagus nerve- Inner Hooligan style.

This nerve is basically your body’s backstage manager. Quietly pulling strings while you’re out front pretending you’ve got it all together.

Heart rate, digestion, breathing, inflammation. It’s running the show whether you’ve checked in or not.

When it’s supported, your system softens. You move into “rest, repair, maybe even feel like a functioning adult.”

And when it’s not, you’re in low-level chaos mode. Snappy, wired, tired, wondering why everything feels a bit off.

And here’s the bit people try to overcomplicate. Practices that include slow breathing, moving your body, splashing your face or submerging your body in cold water, actually pausing instead of powering through like a heroic little burnout machine are not trends. Even if your Instagram feeds appears to tell you otherwise with it’s aesthetic wellness content.

These practices are just you sending a very clear message to your system saying: “We’re safe enough. You can stand down now.”

No magic. No fluff. Just your body doing its thing and constantly adjusting to keep you somewhere near balanced.

What’s your nervous system asking for today… and are you actually listening?

Neuroscience now confirms what Occupational Therapy always knew.Mind. Body. Spirit. Cognitive engagement. Sensory proces...
16/04/2026

Neuroscience now confirms what Occupational Therapy always knew.

Mind. Body. Spirit. Cognitive engagement. Sensory processing. Play. Values-based living. Meaning-making in daily life.

This isn’t fluff. It never was. It’s validated. Peer-reviewed. Evidence-based science.

And yet for a long time, it has been softened, dismissed, overlooked. Not because our work lacked depth but because it just seemed too simple.

So here’s your reminder that what looks simple is often profound, what feels playful can be powerful, and what helps you feel human matters.

Trying gluten free pasta and tonight’s choice is a chickpea pasta. It’s an interesting (to say the least) texture, the t...
15/04/2026

Trying gluten free pasta and tonight’s choice is a chickpea pasta. It’s an interesting (to say the least) texture, the taste is so so, so thank goodness for pesto and Parmesan.

My friends any great tips for gluten free pasta welcomed with open arms. I’m not a fussy eater but this is pushing me 🤪😂

I feel this one may be put on the don’t buy again list for many reasons💨 🫣

Address

Market Harborough

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

https://buytickets.at/jenniferbarrow/2131022, http://www.tcd.ie/

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