How to get help for your mental health. I had no idea what NLP was until I began working with a family therapist three years ago.   As a parent and wife, I was struggling to regulate my emotional responses to the people around me. I’d either lose it and start yelling or shut down and go cold.   The sad thing was that I was very self aware and knew how I should be parenting and wifing. I knew I should be more patient, calm and kind. I knew I shouldn’t smack or yell or ignore my kids when they needed me most.    I consumed books on attachment parenting and d ..read more

  How to get help for your mental health. Western capitalist culture speaks loudly.   It even feels loud. It uses words like should, must – black and white language. It feels like anxiety and, sometimes, hopelessness.   And it is almost always motivated by external approval (“Do this, you will be rewarded for it”).  I have learned to recognise my own voice because it feels different to this. It never hurts. My own voice is motivated by the delicious process of doing a thing. It is curious and creative. It speaks the truth – not for anyone else, but for me. A ..read more

  How to get help for your mental health. “Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves” - Mary Oliver   Let these words soothe your nerves.  Allow them to give you permission to love what you love, even when, especially when, the things your body loves go against the cultural beliefs you have been marinating in for a lifetime.  What does the soft animal of your body love? What does it not love?  My body loves slow walks, not hardcore workouts. It loves nourishing, creamy food – fruits and vegetables - not low-fat, low-love things that come in colourf ..read more

  A few years ago, I would not have written an article on how I’ve healed physical illnesses with my mind. My fear of being called ‘crazy’ would have stepped in.   Now that science has caught up with what spiritual practitioners and healers have been doing for millennia, I feel braver.  Stories of spontaneous healing are becoming commonplace - even mainstream - and many doctors are beginning to accept that there is more to healing than what can be seen with the eye.   Imagine what could be possible if we combined the advances of conventional medicine with a thorough k ..read more

  I loved writing poetry as a child. It was a form of expression that made me feel free, unencumbered and creative.   I allowed myself to experiment with words like a painter plays with colour.  I won a few awards and was encouraged by teachers and my parents to share my poems.   Somewhere along the line, poetry morphed from something desirable and good to a self-indulgent, pointless past time. Beyond the angsty teenage years, it felt too vulnerable and unproductive. I packed poetry away with other childish loves.     A couple of years ago, I noticed a ..read more

   Science reporter Michaeleen Doucleff initially turned to research in dealing with her issues with fiery 2-year-old daughter, Rosy.   But as she attempting to implement many science-backed parenting strategies, she found her daughter’s behaviour only worsened.    Then, one day, Doucleff was sent to a Maya village in the Yucatan to research a story for NPR. What she discovered by observing parents in the village blew her mind.   “At the time, my parenting style was like a white-knuckled ride on Cat-5 rapids, filled with screaming and tears galore,” she writes in ..read more

  A few months ago, I started to experience a growing unease with social media.   Around the same time, I realised that questioning the necessity of social media is considered strange and removing oneself from it entirely is seen as extreme.   Despite the general consensus that we all need social media, I can’t help but question why. Because I don’t like using it, and I’ve begun to think that the negative effects of it on my mental and emotional wellbeing aren’t worth the meagre benefits it offers.   Truth is, I find Instagram and Facebook highly addictive and rarely nouri ..read more

  When I was 16, my mum took me to a naturopath to deal with a cyst on my left cheek.   Frustratingly, it had grown back after being removed by an expensive plastic surgeon a year before. I was freaking out because, as a teenager, a visible lump on the face was clearly a disaster.   While the naturopath did her job of concocting a potion of herbs, she also gifted me with something I believe was infinitely more powerful. She listened to me.    Back then, no medical professional (or anyone, really) had asked me deep questions and listened as I poured out my angst over e ..read more

  I work from home, which affords me the luxury of taking plenty of breaks to put on a load of washing, sweep the floor or even have a quiet coffee all to myself. It’s great.   But I have a guilty secret: whenever my husband arrives home early from work and I see his car coming up the drive I feel compelled to drop whatever activity I may be indulging in, turn on my computer and pretend to ‘work’.    It doesn’t matter that I’ve been working all day and am enjoying a tiny rest before I pick the kids up from school. The idea of being ‘caught’ resting fills me with dread. Why ..read more

  I’ve been fascinated by manifestation for over 15 years and regularly use tools that leverage the law of attraction to call in the things I want.   One of the most powerful tools for manifestation is NLP.   In this article, I’ll explain exactly what NLP is and why it works so well as a manifestation tool.   What is NLP?   NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) explores the relationships between:   How we think (Neuro)   How we communicate with ourselves and others (Linguistic)   And our mental programs, which influence our behaviour and emotions (Programmi ..read more