Rowan Consultancy

08/01/2026

The New Year can be a time of reflection. Some of us like to plan resolutions for the future, while others find it positive to reflect on the good from the previous year.

Rupi Kaur looks back as well as forward in her poem “The year is done”. Do her words evoke anything for you?

~ The Year is done by Rupi Kaur ~

the year is done. i spread the past three hundred sixty-five days before me on the living room carpet.

here is the month i decided to shed everything not deeply committed to my dreams. the day i refused to be a victim to the self-pity. here is the week i slept in the garden. the spring i wrung the self-doubt by its neck. hung your kindness up. took down the calendar. the week i danced so hard my heart learned to float above water again. the summer i unscrewed all the mirrors from their walls. no longer needed to see myself to feel seen. combed the weight out of my hair.

i fold the good days up and place them in my back pocket for safekeeping. draw the match. cremate the unnecessary. the light of the fire warms my toes. i pour myself a glass of warm water to cleanse myself for january. here I go. stronger and wiser into the new.

~ artwork by Rob Gonsalves Art

05/01/2026

Online COSCA Certificate in Counselling Supervision. 3 weekends in January, February and March.
Deadline to sign up is tomorrow Tuesday 6th January 2026

Last few spaces available. Apply via the link in comments. 2027 face-to-face in Dundee.

02/01/2026

Thinking about the end of our lives can be difficult, but so many of us wait until then to reflect on the things we wish we’d done to lead a happier life.

So why don’t you dedicate some time today and consider what might make you feel happier, helping you avoid too many regrets later in life?

01/01/2026

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m not for a moment,
expecting this to occur,
for that is not possible,
a year must be all things.

Happiness must come and go,
like the tides and the winds,
just as sadness,
and all the emotions in between.

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m really wishing you,
a baseline of peace,
of gratitude.

Because if you can sit with these things,
for the most part,
happiness will thrive,
when it does arrive,
and sadness will know its place in the mix.

If you can nourish these things,
daily,
you will also grow hope,
for it flourishes in such soil.

And hope is the key,
to this enigmatic state
of ‘happiness’ we seek.

When I say ‘happy new year’,
I’m really wishing you more happy days,
than sad days,
more joy than misery,
more laughter than tears…
and the wisdom to accept,
that they all belong.

Happy new year, my friends.
Happy new year.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘to the women’ 📕❤️

#2026

30/12/2025

Do you choose a word-of-the-year?
It's a new idea to most of us at Rowan, but intriguing.

I'm going for "slower". Would love to hear yours.
Rachel

If choosing a “word of the year” feels a little overwhelming, here’s your reminder that it doesn’t have to be deep or perfect or life-changing. The goal is to find a word that supports you and what you want to feel in the new year.

🌟 Looking for a way to actually stick to your self-care goals in 2026? My new Self-Care Planner makes it realistic (spiral-bound and digital versions). Check it out: https://www.selfloverainbow.com/self-care-planner/

28/12/2025

Doherty is a big believer in therapy. She did it herself for six years after her stepmother suggested she might need to speak to someone and soon found her a therapist.

"It just helped me so much, because I am such an introvert that I will always err on the side of anxiety and overthinking...It just felt like I was battling with myself and battling with this other thing that just kept getting in the way."

Therapy taught her to embrace who she is, rather than fighting it.

"All this stuff that's so easy to say, but it's so difficult to put it into practice." It is something she works on every day ..

"I think therapy's given me the understanding and appreciation that no one knows what they're doing. We're all struggling, in some form or other, and that kind of strange camaraderie just eliminated a lot of my issues."

Whether playing a psychotherapist in Adolescence, Princess Anne in The Crown or the head of a gang in A Thousand Blows, the actor leans into every role

25/12/2025

Try sending love and compassion to yourself this holiday season. Whether you are enjoying yourself or navigating this seasons challenges.

No matter what you're feeling, take a moment to pause and offer yourself the same kindness you'd give to a dear friend. When things are difficult it may express itself as compassion, and when things are going well it may be expressed as gratitude.

24/12/2025

24/12/2025

A gentle reminder during the holiday season: caring for yourself helps you show up with more warmth for others.

What’s one small act of self-kindness you can offer yourself today?

23/12/2025

We are open until 12.30pm on Christmas Eve, then closed until Monday 29th December at 9am.

Samaritans are open 24/7 and can be called on: 116 123.

22/12/2025

22/12/2025

Anti-burnout advent day 19: routes off the stress roundabout. For lots more anti-burnout ideas swipe to see my new book- out on February and available to preorder now https://geni.us/AntiBurnoutBook

Christmas, and all it entails, can be a stressful time. That’s why it’s more important than ever to find ways off your anxiety stress.

When you get on the stress roundabout your body’s sympathetic nervous system escalates.... adrenaline and cortisol are released to get your body ready to run, hide or fight. This sets off a huge range of physiological sensations... tightened muscles, rapid breathing, shaky extremities, sweaty skin, redness rising, bowels constricting and many more. It doesn’t feel nice, but it’s just physiology... it’s your body using energy to meet its predicted needs and directing this energy in an attempt to be helpful. Noticing and understanding your signs can help you recognise you are on the stress roundabout.

What you do at this point can push you further along the stress roundabout, or it can help you find a route off. To get off the stress roundabout you need to find ways to deescalate the arousing sympathetic body system and try to engage the parasympathetic system instead, which helps calm things down.

It’s about doing something that changes your physiology.... exercise is great for this as it uses up that extra energy and triggers different chemicals that helps calm your body down, but there are lots of other ways to do this too. Usually these involve a shift in what you are doing, moving, shifting your attention, moving context or doing something to calm your body. What works for you will be unique to you... these are the ways you told me you got of the stress roundabout and some of the most common ways people find they can de-escalate their anxiety response and tap into their parasympathetic system to help change the physiological responses that are creating anxiety.