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Monday 3pm - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 3pm - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 1pm

Health Enhancement Collective, Hamilton (2025)

22/11/2024

Well here we are…it’s surgery time and you know what? The cleaning frenzy actually worked. I feel I’ve processed the emotions and am oddly calm. We arrive at the hospital and after final admin -on top of the previous 138 forms we head to my room. - no complaints btw I love thorough from the people involved in my surgery

I change into the obligatory unflattering gown and hop into the - get this - heated bed! My hunger from no food may be loud but I sure am cosy

I kiss my husband goodbye and give him the one. The only. Never to be repeated ‘thank you’ for snoring all night long because I’m too tired to be scared.
(What were you thinking I gave him 😂)

The prep work begins and I’m made to have my…….belly button sterilised # gag
Now I need to explain here - I have this odd thing (some might argue many)- it’s a total, freak out aversion to the b button. I can’t even think about touching mine, let alone witness someone put their finger in theirs. # More gagging. But I made it through

Waiting in the prep area I locked into some beautiful breathing exercises and even managed to doze between the medical team doing their thing. (Again thanks to husbands snores) The medical team are so lovely and skilled at small talk as they set me up on the operating table. The anaesthetist says something about sleep and……zzz
I wake up in recovery.

Vital checks begin - there will be many - and the focus is around my very low blood pressure. Seems my BP has been being a bit of a slacker (I was later to learn how much) and I learn another odd thing about me.My left arm reads higher than my right, and every so often the tricksters swap which has the nurses amused. I should’ve been taking bets.
Not something that ever came up during my years in first aid and volunteering on the ambulance.

Speaking of learning - how many of us actually understand our BP and what the numbers can indicate, how to use that knowledge?

We often only learn our health markers when our health has been impacted.
But imagine how empowering it would be to really navigate with confidence….less fear. More trust

I digress. For now I’m just gonna be here resting, managing pain and healing.
Talk soon xx

18/11/2024

So here’s where the human mind gets interesting….as I’ve been nurturing my body leading up to surgery- nourishing foods, womb healing ceremony (perhaps not quite me) embodied dance (love it) and returning to the pool (my favourite place) - you could say things were going…swimmingly.

I was feeling strong, centred and ready. And then the call came in. Surgery was brought forward 2 weeks, and just like that, my heart started racing. It was if the door to reality opened up and anxiety came running through

So I’m connecting with my newfound panic and decided - somehow without actually deciding - the best way to prepare for surgery and the 6 week recovery was…to clean! I mean like, clean clean. Ovens, windows, water-blasting the driveway, ironing and of course the all important wiping of skirting boards (who would have surgery knowing they haven’t cleaned them?!) I was on a mission - purpose unknown - and my daughter summed it up nicely when she said “um, you’re eyes look a little crazed right now” She may have been right, but here’s the thing, I wasn’t just cleaning like I thought. Turns out all that physical focus was processing fear, and strangely enough it felt great.

And while I felt better from my cleaning marathon, I do secretly fear that my husband may start scheduling me for more surgeries when he wants a spotless house!

This part of my processing got me thinking about how we cope when the going gets tough. We all have our tried and true go-to’s for handling stress but how often do we try something new?

Some of us have recently found cleaning over shut down. Others crack a bottle of wine (no judgement here) some meditate, or exercise, eat, or talk it out. Some of these we consciously choose and some are driven by something deeper feeling out of our control. But I’m really curious. What’s your thing?

Processing stress won’t always run perfectly, it’s not often easy and can be messy. But let’s own it. Without judgement -rather curiosity and compassion. Because at the end of the day, we do what we can with what we’ve got at the time. And in the words of ‘do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better. do better’

17/11/2024

Alright, story time. This one from my past still gets me fired up. At 16 I was taken to the Dr for what was supposed to be a solution to my horrendous, painful and unpredictable periods. And you know what I got? The pill. No tests, no diagnosis, no advice. The pill, and I took it because…well what else was there. I didn’t know.

Fast forward 20 years and I’m sitting in a health seminar (shedding tears for younger me) learning from (incredible woman) how detrimental that past decision was. And perhaps deep down I knew because I hated the pill and kept going off it.

But here’s the kicker - when I was 21 I hadn’t had a period for over 8 months so again I went to a Dr. This time he told me not to worry just come back if it went longer than a year. So I did. An ultrasound later and I was diagnosed with PCOS - and you guessed it - the pill. For the record PCOS isn’t just cysts. It’s a cluster of symptoms, none of which are fun. A cluster f**k of symptoms you might say. Oh but the ‘advice’ I left with…”you’ll probably need IVF to conceive, but interestingly if you do get pregnant it will be great for your hormones” WTF! If I had a dollar for every crap bit of advice..(spoiler I did get pregnant, but more on that later)

The crazy part? 30 years from that first cry for help I’m saddened at how little has changed in how we treat women’s health. Many of our girls today are still being given the ‘bandaid’ no support approach. Breaks my heart. And I can’t help wondering what my journey could have been like with actual support, and whether I’d even be facing a hysterectomy right now.

We’re still leaving women out to dry with no real answers, little support or education. Sadly the inequality of access to effective help that does exist is simply not good enough. We need a ‘culture of care’ where women’s health is not just dismissed as ‘just’ what women have to go through.

Here’s to the women out there whether currently struggling in silence, or finding their way speaking up and advocating for the health of all. And everyone doing the best they can with what they have available to them.

I wish for better. For us. Our daughters, nieces, granddaughters.

How about you?

16/11/2024

FINDING ACCEPTANCE
Ok, gonna put it all out there.. I’m about to go through something to help me - that I don’t want…. “the big H” (Hysterectomy) and I won’t lie the emotions are all over the place. Relief & Grief. Hope & Fear and a whole lot of ‘what ifs’

For over 30 years my body and I have been in a bit of a battle, raging over all the symptoms that come with polycystic o***y syndrome, a handful of endometriosis and a sprinkle of adenomyosis. (If ya know ya know) Yep it’s quite the trifecta of WTF with my reproductive health journey.

I’ve spent a lot of (wasted) time in Drs offices, had some unexpected hospital stays and tried (to the best of my capacity) implementing researched lifestyle changes. But after exhausting all efforts I’ve reached the end of my options. It’s now time for surgery.

Now here’s the thing. Logically I know this is the right choice for me, but emotionally? What a rollercoaster. Wilma (my womb in case you were wondering) and I are parting ways, and I’m realising there’s more to these organs than essential biological functions. There’s identity, energetics, and as I’m learning stored trauma. And best not get me started on the stigma around women’s health. We’ve been conditioned to keep these things quiet so as to not make others uncomfortable. *sigh

What’s helping me through this? Women. Women showing compassion. Woman that have been through a similar journey, generously sharing their stories with me. The more they do the more I realise how many of us are facing our own health challenges- often invisible and misunderstood.

I’ve got a tribe of beautiful souls supporting me, and I hope you do too. These posts are my way of facilitating that space. Where conversations can be started (even if not here on social media) emotions can be held, and permission given to show up as we are.

So here’s to the messy, complicated unpredictable journey we are on. Let’s walk it together because we are not meant to face hard things alone.
To be honest I’m nervous, holding back anger, a little ashamed (working on that) and also tentatively excited about what health might look like on the other side of this.

What about you? How are you feeling about your stuff?

11/10/2023

C’mon Women! It’s time to take an honest look at what you’re telling yourself - you deserve better

This week outside of coaching I have heard numerous wonderful women criticise and shame themselves for not being (what they perceive)
fit enough,
strong enough,
skinny enough,
successful enough
- and quite frankly the only thing not good enough is that this kind of self talk has been normalised🥹

I am very confident and aligned to my purpose which is to help women break negative conditioned beliefs keeping them stuck in this ‘auto pilot’ version of life so they can instead thrive in health & happiness. And do this through real life actual bloody kindness!

When did we women decide that we are only worthy if we have the ‘perfect’ body?

When did we decide that we must be ‘perfect’ and expert at everything we do in order to be worthy?

Not only do I call BS on this but ‘perfect’ can kiss my arse! - it is damaging our health & well-being and it needs to change

Please do me a favour- take some of that kindness you so freely give to others and give some of that to YOURSELF.

You don’t earn kindness, you deserve kindness Just by BEING YOU.

Be a good human. To others. To yourself. That’s humanKIND

26/09/2023

There’s a Yin and a Yang to life.
Dark/Light🌓
Masculine/Feminine🌓
Action/Rest🌓
Positive/Negative - and we need it all!!

What we are exposed to, or what we focus on can be but one side of the full picture and I’m aware how social media can be damaging in this way

I like to bring awareness to the power of AND. We can be both grateful AND decide something is not ok. We can be happy AND have tough days. It’s all about balance. Finding the acceptance for both the yin and the yang that make wholeness

I recently posted about an incredible week I’d had doing what I love. That’s a truth. There is also another truth too.

My physical health is still improving as I manage deficiencies & damage caused by long term stress and this brings some challenges.

I started delivering a day course with pretty severe nausea and feeling like my head was in a vice. Thankfully it eased and it was the most incredible day which energised my soul. My body however was depleted and I had to cancel plans. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t cancel boat time, and I didn’t like reneging on an offer I’d given a friend (which never feels nice) but I was honouring my body’s needs.
Activity AND rest

I was really on to it with my meal prep and loading up on nutritional meals throughout the week. I also when exhausted and couldn’t stand being upright ordered Uber eats. And one night too nauseous to eat went to bed at 8pm without dinner. Aligned to health AND just doing what I can

We are so quick to categorise an event or behaviour as good or bad. Right or wrong and even worse use that as a determination of self worth

The truth is more nuanced.

By choosing to kindly accept the ‘negative’ with curiosity, and consciously connect with our gratefulness for the ‘positive’ we balance the scales.
Less likely to be negatively impacted, less likely to wallow on the tough stuff & embody the meaning we’ve placed on it. More likely to embrace the enjoyable.

“Life is for celebrating’ or “Life is hard”
Which belief do you want to be guided by……or can you learn to appreciate that both may be true and both have value 🤔
Welcome to the human experience

26/09/2023

What a fun week!
I’ve worn many ‘hats’ this week in my professional space and I’m loving the variety and the lower/reasonable demands of my new work schedule.

I’m able to engage in all the elements that I’m passionate about, and stay rested enough to be able to bring my best.

My schedule:
Delivered group fitness sessions - HIIT, strength, Flexibility/Mobility and even Aqua.

Presented a variety of health sessions. Some new and some well established and evolving.
Mental Health First Aid for Hato Hone.
Nutrition Mindset and Mental Well-being & Self Care for myself at Femme Fit and also a health retreat.

Best of all I got to connect with some incredible wāhine wanting to enhance their health and allowing themselves to be supported in doing so.

Making their Physical, Mental, Emotional health the priority it deserves to be

15/09/2023

My health feels like it’s just gone 12 rounds in the boxing ring of life🥊
It’s been a year!
When Dads cancer was progressing and I had to find acceptance for what was to come my self care, nutrition, movement was top priority to support me through. It was top shelf “if I do say so myself”

But then more stresses kept coming and sitting heavy on the already heavy grief of loss. I’ve learned many tried and true techniques to promote good health - I’m trained in it. But here’s the thing…for a while there I couldn’t access them.

My nervous system became so taxed in the cumulative stresses. It became dysregulated. My normal well-being ‘go to’s’ kept just out of reach.
💪Strength training = excessive nausea & chest pain
🧘‍♀️Meditation = high agitation in my body
🥦Nutrition = constant nausea making me reach for bland food
👩‍👩‍👧‍👧Social engagement = draining

So knowing this was a normal response to where my NS was at, I adapted. Nurtured myself and stayed patient (the hardest part)

We women have the tendency to react critically under the pressure of what we think we ‘should’ do and spiral under the frustration of “why can’t I just do the thing and get over it”

If we could understand that a NS can’t be FORCED out of shut down. It needs to be nurtured to safety to allow change. Mind AND body working together.

There is no magic pill or life hack to combat a dysregulated nervous system and when you look at all the unrelenting stress many of us have been under over the last 3 years it makes sense.

It’s time for a different approach

I’ve learnt to lean into discomfort, pull back the layers to the root cause of what’s truely going on and because of this my mental fitness gets better and better.

When I work with women ready to release their mental load I don’t give them advice or a textbook plan.
I LISTEN
And then when they feel truly heard together, tapping into their unique strengths, passions, values, life experiences and personalities we create a way forward. Aligned to them.

I’m so looking forward to connecting with the next women I will be collaborating with.
Will it be you…?

PM me to see how we might create your enhanced well-being together

21/07/2023

Three years ago I drove through these gates excited for my new venture at Resolution Retreats.

On Saturday I drove out these gates on my last day as a Retreat Facilitator….

What an incredible journey it’s been. So many highs meeting such a diversity of incredible women and feeling privileged in being part of their wellness space

I’ve learnt so much about the many health challenges we women face, and grateful for the trust and vulnerability shown by our guests.

It’s time for me to focus on my coaching so I have committed the space for me to do so.

I’m not completely gone from the retreat as I’ll be popping out from time to time with the team to deliver my workshops and coaching sessions. Along with some new venues. (Watch this space)

Exciting for this new layout of work/life balance completely aligned to myself and all the passion within. Can’t wait!!

21/04/2023

Stepping into your emotions with compassion is how we move through them.
GRIEF SERIES - PART ONE
In the past year I’ve been learning about loss. First with losing my father and then the lessons kept coming. But this isn’t about me - it’s about us. HumanKIND

Some cultures embrace death yet many fear death and in significant ways seem to also fear life. We struggle to find acceptance of the uncomfortable and painful parts as though they are a fault in us. Yet we fear making the changes we know to do, or accept life as it truly is.

Shifting out of fear starts with compassion and connection. Our current avoidance has us denying the natural process of grief underestimating how resilient we can be if we allow it with compassion and curiosity.

Understandably in our need to avoid discomfort we even try to pull others out of their pain, underestimating their capabilities, reacting with a desperation to go back to ‘normal’

Although said with love and beautiful intentions our need to escape discomfort has us empathising without awareness. It can invalidate one feelings. “At least he lived a good life” “You’ll find another job” “chin up, you’ll be right” Without meaning to these well intending words of comfort add a complex layer of shame, helplessness to our pain, and frustration that we can’t just get over it.
⭐️YOU HAVE TO FEEL IT TO HEAL IT

What would happen if we just created a space for ourselves and the people we love to just FEEL. If we stopped trying to put a ‘positivity plaster’ over a big gaping wound hoping it will heal
I’m incredibly grateful to have friends that can sit with me in all the rawness of processing these natural emotions. Going through the full process allows you to come out the other side. It builds resilience.

This is also where I hold space for my community of clients as they process limiting beliefs, subconscious patterns to step into a more aligned self

If you’ve been through loss - loss of relationships, of health, job satisfaction, physical capabilities, loss of a loved one loss of joy…give yourself permission to grieve. To process
As a coach I’m here to guide you through this process with genuine compassion and support
Just reach out. Anytime 💗

Health Enhancement Collective

22/11/2024

18/11/2024

17/11/2024

16/11/2024

11/10/2023

26/09/2023

26/09/2023

15/09/2023

21/07/2023

21/04/2023

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