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There I was minding my own business, When a thought came in of forgiveness It seems such a shame, to cause ourselves pain, But the fairness is in the awareness……. This topic forgiveness is endless It brings people no end of illness, In the wink of an eye, you could just say goodbye, To the hurt, to the anger, and the sadness. Please tell me how, I’m sick of it now, Is it really that easy, I just feel so queasy, The weight of this frown, please send in the clowns, So, my smile can restore, and be happy once more. A gift to myself, not the other I’m told, Let it go, be free, light, and airy, Make peace with yourself, Sure you need no one else Live your best life, not away with the fairies!

I met Grainne Walsh in Limerick at an event I went to five years ago. She's in a couple of groups I am in and we usually say good morning to each other. She’s my number one supporter. Has been to all my workshops. Posts up some great stuff into the group. She’s a little treasure! I started set dancing in 1998, as my Dad used to do it. I went to a few events with him and then he gave it up. I kept it up. I went to classes in Na Pharsigh GAA Club in Limerick and started to make a few friends. Then I started travelling to set dancing weekends and Ceili’s. It makes me feel so happy. I get a real buzz from it. I have made friends all over the country and across the water it’s a brilliant hobby. I have traveled to Spain and Portugal Manchester and Birmingham on holidays and for set dancing we would so have much fun. At all these events I can be found with a microphone in my hand singing a song or 2 it was one of the best things I’ve learned. The friends I have made in the set dancing world are true friends. Grainne x

You know that statement: do something once a year that you have never done before! I think it was the Dali Lama that came up with that one. Well I decided to go with that suggestion to see what would happen! Exercise is very important to me, but since lockdown, I became very bored with just walking. While I really enjoyed visiting my locality and finding places I didn't know existed, something more challenging was beckoning me. I joined a few classes to see if my motivation to move would return. Cardio Kickboxing took my attention so off I went and joined up. Well when I say terror entered my body, I really mean that. I began to overthink it! Would I have to actually connect with someone and hit them? What equipment would I have to use, Oh gosh that wasn't feeling too good then. Well the answer is none, no equipment, it is simply kickboxing moves. I must have looked the way I felt, because the instructor came over and asked if it was my first class. How do you feel about it he said? I don’t think I’m able to do it, I said. He replied, great well if that's what you think then you are right. Keep telling yourself you can’t and you will not succeed. Shock horror, a man telling me that!! Just do what you can do, step out if you are out of breath but don’t pace yourself or you will never get aerobically fit. But if I think you are not working hard enough I will tell you and if you don’t mind a bit of slagging off, everything should be grand. So I replied no problem as long as he didn't mind a bit of slagging off in return. He said I think we are going to get along really well. He came over several times during the class to check out if I was alright. That’s the job of the responsible instructor to see to it that the class participants are safe. Punch harder he said, I couldn't! Think about someone you want to box the head off! He roared laughing. What, me a complementary practitioner, perish the thought! Later on he shouted over, well I see you found someone and gave me the thumbs up, more laughter! I have a certificate in fitness instruction, albeit a very old one. The ways of working have changed, the equipment has changed, but the basic information remains the same. So I know it's true about how you need to train if you want to become fit. Don’t cheat yourself he says regularly, do it to anyone you like but not to yourself, and then a big laugh! He has a great sense of humour! Well that told me I thought to myself. Reverse psychology always works for me, so I was going to show myself what I could do, not anyone else. Of course it's a cardio class, so that means movement at a fairly high intensity and creating lots of perspiration. If you are trying to improve your fitness, you must work three times a week, at a rate of 70% above your normal heart rate for fifteen to twenty minutes if you want to become cardiovascularly fit. Kickboxing movements encourage the body to use all the dormant muscles that are not used when you are sitting in front of a laptop or on the couch for that matter. The workout brings extra oxygen to the brain, therefore helping with the prevention of early dementia. I thought that was a very interesting point that he made. You turn your body into various rotations so all your muscles are being engaged and bouncing at the same time! Well the bouncing bit is still arriving! Besides discovering that I must have three hands and five feet, the coordination was tough to learn, and I am still learning. But that’s what you work towards when you start something new isn't it? Most importantly for health and fitness it’s a must to have fun. That I am definitely having, even if it's a good laugh at myself in the mirror in the studio making a total mess of it!! What I found interesting is, the amount of women over the age of 65 that are attending this class, it’s astounding. Women Power. All ‘going for it’. No ‘posers’ at all. I was welcomed in by several of those women, delighted that another was joining up. It’s kind of an unspoken understanding that women of this age, who are past menopause, cannot move, are overweight, get very complacent and wait for death! Not the women in this class! I hear them getting involved in all sorts of ‘challenges’ they are superfit. They look really happy, that says a lot. One woman told me that she was never going to depend on someone else for her health and wellbeing, wow that's fantastic. The class finishes with a lovely mindfulness meditation and body conditioning. A really nice way to ‘gather yourself’ after exercise. At the end of the first class, the instructor asked me how I was and most importantly did I enjoy it, and was I intending to return. Of course I did. I really felt like I moved and had fun as well. If you don’t enjoy it there's no point, he said. And of course he is right. (Did I just say that about a man, what’s come over me!) So if you are thinking about taking up a hobby or an activity that might be challenging consider cardio kickboxing, it’s great fun and will facilitate you to become superfit! Powerful women!

Once upon a time, I was a very impatient young person. I couldn’t wait for anything, it all had to be done today or yesterday if possible. I never understood that needing to be that much in control was a huge sign of really stressful behaviour. Thankfully, I learned later on during my training that my behaviour had to change if I were to live a long happy life or even any kind of life for that matter. When Geoff was born, my youngest son, with down syndrome, I spent a lot of time learning to be patient. Learning that sometimes you can’t have what you want, at that moment in time anyway. I honestly believe that Geoff came to this earth to teach me to be patient and wait, wait for better things to happen. His young life was spent, with me, waiting in hospital queues for consultants, speech and language therapy, developmental physio, ENT specialists, and everything else in between. The waiting game began thirty-four years ago, and it still goes on today. Only another parent with a person with a learning difference understands the difficulty our young people experience, who find waiting really tough. The anxiety starts to build and between squirts of rescue remedy and breathing techniques my work has certainly been interesting! Now I notice there is a new waiting game, the one where parents know that there is something not quite right with their child, have attention drawn to it, then have to wait for a final diagnosis. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. The waste of time is shocking, where intervention would be so helpful, for child and family. One of my passions is swimming, teaching it, to those who are really afraid. But more importantly to those who learn in a different way. Probably because I was so afraid myself, I was thrown into the deep end at the age of ten and was terrified of being under the water for the next thirty years. Last summer I started to teach a little boy to swim, he has a learning difference, and the waiting game began again. Waiting for him to be happy to enter the pool. Waiting for him to realise the water was his friend. Waiting for him to be comfortable with the touch of the water on his face. Waiting for him to allow the water that just went up his nose, to come down all by itself. Waiting for him to trust me, waiting for him to use the water for relaxation, then trusting the water to provide him with support and buoyancy that it does. I introduced the idea of putting his face in the water and again I waited. Waited for him to try it and realise the wonder of what goes on beneath the surface! Waiting to see the look on his face when he realises, he is capable of so much more than he thought he was. Then before I had a chance to set the lesson, the waiting ceased. He took off like a light, got into the deep end, then swam off with his face in the water. Ha… ha… that chucked me! The waiting has now become the reward, for him and for me. I have always been a great believer in the sky is the limit and the learner should tell the teacher where the sky is! Many times, while I ran my beloved swim club, assistants would suggest that a swimmer could not do one of the activities. I never entertained it, never. Wait and you will see what they are able to do. That was always my response. All our club members were taught how to dive, regardless of the result, they were all taught. They were all taught the four strokes. Maybe some could not be credibly entered in a specific event in the gala, without risk of disqualification, but they were taught. Whatever they wished to do with the lesson, was always up to them. When we went along to competition, they excelled in everything they entered. Because we waited, gave them space to process, and then waited for them to succeed. The waiting is just the in-between, the space where all the changes happen. If we allow ourselves to wait, sometimes, it can be very productive. So, if you are tired with waiting, thinking things will never change, and thinking of giving up, I can assure you that it is well worth the wait. Trust me, I’m a waiter!

I met Anne Maire four years ago when we were both students of QTT. Since then we have been practice buddies, shared walks, lunch laughter, and a retreat. We have all found ourselves in an unexpected place or situation over the past two years. Things we never thought could happen or experiences we never thought would happen to us. I never considered myself the mothering type, never really had a desire to have children and was perfectly fine with that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a very cool Aunty, and proud of the relationship I have all the little people (some not so little anymore) in my ‘family and friends’ circle. Somehow last year I found myself working as a ‘matron’ at a girls’ boarding school. Even the word ‘matron’ gives me the jitters. Suddenly surrounded by thirty teenage girls aged between sixteen and eighteen I had far more compassion and understanding for those family and friends who have reared or are in the process of rearing teenage girls - the moods, the foibles, the death stares, the stubbornness, not to mention bedtime and the sensation that you are trying to herd kittens to stay in bed, turn their lights out and get some much needed sleep while they prefer to visit each other’s rooms and chat till midnight. I anticipated some of this remembering my own teenage experiences and how catty some girls can be I was on alert to not take anything personally. Of course, there have been ‘moments’, of course they have been challenges, and challengers. There has also been a lot of laughs getting to know them during the past school terms and see them support each other, particularly in the current frustrating Covid environment. As a QTT Practitioner, and Reiki Master there is very little I haven’t already heard from working with clients, no stressful situation, limiting belief or pattern that hasn’t come up for healing. I am always amazed to see how people cope or have coped with their personal crises and how resilient they can be. The same can definitely be said for these young women navigating their way through the last two years of school with all the pressures of exams, peer pressure, family expectations and ever-changing health conditions. All very new and unexpected from what they were led to believe their late teenage years would be. Would my / our generation have been able to deal with this? We can tell stories of how difficult things were ‘in our time’, ‘we had it tougher’ etc; and maybe things were simpler, less complicated and we were more innocent, who knows. And going from looking after just myself to tendering to teenage girls, I then find myself with three little fur beings in need of attention – I am looking after my friend’s pets – two dogs and a cat. I know these animals well and their particular habits; one of the dogs likes to have her arse scratched, while the other likes to chew on golf balls, while the cat will sneak up on you in the middle of the night and breathe heavily on your face. The terrier is hyper vigilant which can be great and grating all at the same time, and the boxer could whither the Botanical Gardens with one of her farts. Also the cat, if not getting enough attention will sit in front of you delivering a death stare any teenage girl would be proud of. Deep breaths, practicing gratitude, grounding, and plenty of water – all the simple ways I still use to remind myself not to sweat the small stuff, no matter what situation I find myself in. This too shall pass, as the saying goes. So, whatever unexpected place, conversation, encounter you find yourself in this week, month or year, be kind and patient with yourself and others. We are all navigating the expected. Anne Maire Callaghan is a QTT Practitioner and Reiki Master with over 10 years’ experience helping clients release and heal to make meaningful change in their lives.

The first competition since 2019, It’s exciting and magical our guys are very keen, Checked in and registered the paperwork complete Let’s get set and ready for such a challenging feat. So many happy athletes meeting friends again today, Fist bumps, thumbs up ‘see ya later man’ they say, Fellow sportsman brothers, competing for a win, No matter what the outcome they’re united amid the din. Dribble that ball score that basket, The world is your oyster you don’t have to ask it, The training is done the efforts are made, Gold medal winners our guys are on parade.

In another life, when my children were small, I made an apple tart one Saturday for after tea, as my husband loves them, and was complimenting me on how it tasted. He was curious as to what age I was when I learned to bake and who taught me. My mother of course I replied, she made the most amazing pastry, really light and thin and the apple filling was so sweet and delicious especially with custard poured over it. It was our Sunday treat. We ended up having a long chat about what our mothers taught us to do. All sorts of things, from sewing, cooking, and cleaning to good behaviour. My husband said, for him basic things like dress himself, brush his teeth and manage his pocket money! Decorum was a word my mother used a lot. If you didn’t know how to behave with good manners and common courtesy according to my mother, you had no decorum. It’s a great word, it’s not often spoken nowadays but I love it! But what we both agreed on was, that our mothers taught us to be kind. Following that chat, we decided to buy two climbing roses to honour what they taught us. Last autumn, I was listening to a gardener talking about pruning roses, so I took her advice and I cut them right down. They are both creepers so there was about a foot on show when I was finished. Then I had a bit of a panic attack! Had I destroyed them cutting them back so ruthlessly? Would they survive the winter? But that was what the gardener advised, be ruthless! However, here we are in June and the two roses are blooming, better than ever, and the flower heads are much bigger than they normally would be. I’m delighted as they give so much pleasure, the sight of them and the fragrance. When I look out the kitchen window, I can see them, reminders of our mothers, the two roses Marie and Joanna, legends both of them! #womenempoweringwomen

I’m the daffodil that she calls May, I came into full bloom yesterday, My poor gardeners state, cos she planted me late, Was one of unhealthy dismay. I worked really hard for her praise, When I popped through the soil in the haze, She loves me you know, she keeps telling me so, As she waters and feeds me I raise. A sight to behold so she said, She fits so well in that flower bed, She bloomed for a reason, even if it’s out of season, The one and only daffodil called ‘May’.

I met Joyce through ‘Massage Matters’ Facebook group. She was introducing her guidance cards that she had made and as I’m a cardaholic I bought them. They are the ones I use each Wednesday night for The Nurture Niche group. Through the power of social media, I met Regina through the Massage Matters Facebook group and she kindly asked me to write a few words. I have been working as a holistic massage therapist and reflexologist for the past fifteen years and through my work I have always had a keen interest in the bodies ability to heal once given the support, time and knowledge to do so. I have always been really passionate about self care and self reflection. I feel it has become increasingly more important and needs prioritising in a persons daily life. Time has sped up over the years as the world has become more fast paced. We now need to trust more than ever that we still have our own innate wisdom within, though it may be more difficult to hear. This inner wisdom can be clouded by the busyness of life, and result in seeking the answers outside rather than trusting the soul within. As a result of multiple discussions around self care and self reflection with clients, I had a strong sense that there was more I could do to support their self care at home and so Moments of Solace Daily Guidance Oracle cards came to life. Inspired by the word Solace, I recognise that we all need Solace at times even if life is going well. Solace means to provide comfort or consolation in a time of stress. " Oracle cards can be used daily as a self care, self reflection tool. Moments of Solace Oracle cards consist of 40 cards, each with an image, a word and a quote on them. The quotes are chosen to encourage you to listen to your own wisdom and trust what's important right now. " When I was creating the deck of cards, I decided to break the word ' Solace' into 6 sections. These sections are Support, Observe, Listen, Accept, Change and Express. I also included a seventh section called Moments. Why seven sections? Each of the 7 sections "Solace Moments" matches up to one of your 7 main Chakra’s. I have also connected to each Chakra, a healing crystal and colour for you to observe as an optional extra. Details can be found in the guidebook that’s provided with the cards. I wish you well on your self care journey and I feel that it starts with support, such as what Regina offers and what we as humans can offer each other. Joyce xx More details can be found on www.solaceholisticcentre.com

About four weeks ago I was handed a bag of spring bulbs. Apparently, they had been forgotten about, and the person who gave them to me was wondering was it too late to do anything with them. ‘If anyone can make them grow its you’ that’s what was said! Well, it was very late, they should have been finished blooming for the season, but I decided to plant them, and it is always worth a try. I looked through the bag and picked out what I thought was still alive. The spot I picked is right in the warmest corner of the garden very well shaded and free from frost. So, I put them into a little plant pot and placed them in the ‘hot spot’. Low and behold, two days later here they were starting to appear over the soil. I was so excited. Purple hyacinths are the first ones out and not sure yet what the other colours are, but they are well on their way. It reminded me of a student I had in class about ten years ago. He was what you would call a very giddy student, always talking laughing and being distracted by anyone and anything. Just before midterm in February, I always gave students a little mock exam. Then I handed them a feedback sheet, which allowed them to see what they were doing really well, what they were not doing so well on and support as to how to improve. Apparently, I wrote on his feedback sheet that I was suggesting that he changed his company, that it was not good for him, and I didn’t understand why he didn’t believe in himself because I did. He told me many years later, that I was the first person who had ever told him that he was believed in. When he was at secondary school he was constantly compared to an older sibling and just decided he was going to rebel. School was a disaster; he was always in trouble and hated going in. Well, when he came back after the break, he was a very different student. Really applied himself and did very well in his exams. Here he is now many years later a very accomplished therapist and marshal arts teacher in his last year of a degree course. So, there you go, just because it might not look so good at the very early stages, doesn’t mean it won’t be really good later down the line. Late bloomers aren’t always flower bulbs; they are sometimes people who for whatever the reason have little motivation to develop their potential. I’m really happy that my feedback gave this student the belief in himself to go on and become a late bloomer!

A Guest Blog by Mary Mullally for our ‘Women Empowering Women Series’. I met Mary about sixteen years ago at an Irish Massage Therapists Association meeting. We got chatting and it took off from there. She was the general secretary on that association for years and I served on the reflexology board, so we exchanged notes about lots of things. We kept in touch over the years especially when she became the distributor for PurePro products. We share a love of all things energetic! I came across this saying recently and was immediately struck by how true it is. The analogy to our own bodies, and lives, and how to take care of them is also scarily true. Grounding, or establishing our own strong root, is so important for our health and well-being on all levels of our existence, not only physical, but also for our mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic bodies. It also helps to anchor us in the present moment. Who hasn’t been guilty of worrying about a future event, or agonizing over something we did or didn’t do in the past? When we are not “in the present moment” we cannot be fully aware of what is really going on around us i.e. we are not grounded. Grounding helps to stabilise our nervous system so we feel more settled, secure and safe. Let’s go back and think about our tree for a moment. If a tree has deep, strong and healthy roots, it is in a much better position to withstand and weather what nature throws at it. Yes, it may be rattled and shaken to its core during a bad storm, but, it will more than likely survive. With strong, deep roots and an equal distribution of growth, both above and below ground, our tree stands a much better chance of survival and sustainable growth into the future. The key point here is that our tree will send its roots downward first into the earth to root and stabilise itself. Only when it is well rooted with the nourishment it needs to grow and mature will its growth above the earth flourish. If our tree is not sufficiently counterbalanced with growth above and below the earth it becomes extremely vulnerable to the changing weather patterns of nature. The everyday storms of life affect us humans in much the same way. If we spend too much time up in our heads – thinking, over- thinking, worrying, analysing etc., we direct too much energy up to the brain or mental level and can become top heavy. We are therefore easily unbalanced when we hit a rough or stressful patch, which so often happens in our frenetic, fast-paced modern world. This is a definitely not a good distribution of our energetic resources. It may even result in the neglect or under development of our other levels mentioned above (our physical, emotional and spiritual bodies). The best way to make sure that this does not happen to us is to be like our tree rooting and grounding ourselves on a regular basis – daily would be ideal. Here are some suggestions to ground your root – just like the tree 1) Carving out some quiet time for ourselves every day 2) Slow, deep, rhythmic breathing 3) Listening to a guided meditation 4) Listening to a body scan/yoga nidra 5) Walking in nature 6) Joining a yoga or pilates class 7) Taking up T’ai Chi or Chi Gong All of these suggestions you can easily organise for yourself. However, there is one other exercise that I highly recommend and do almost daily myself. It’s called the “Golden Ball” and deep rooting your energies into the earth. I just love it and find it the best way to nourish my own root. Give it a try and, with practice you respond to any situation, or storm, that life may throw up at you in a calm way. Just like our well-rooted and nourished tree you will be strong in the face of adversity – big or small. Check out the next blog + video to find out how! Mary Mullally

As I stroll along the grassy lane the daffodils, they wave to me You’re out walking I see, I thought you said you didn’t want to go, I bet you’re delighted you did though. Yeah, I know some days I’m fed up, And I do my best to keep my head up, My get up and go, has got up and gone, But a walk in this park will put it back where it belongs. Ten minutes later it’s back I’m delighted to say, and I’m having a look at the colourful display, All the different varieties of shrubs and spring flowers there are, Our Creator of this beautiful world it deserves a gold star. When I’m feeling down, to turn my frown upside down I head up to our park, where you might see a lark, But I’m always mesmerised, by natures array, Lifts up my mood, it’s where I love to stray!