SelfKind: Conversations in self-care, kindness and compassion for highly sensitive people

Let's talk about slow. Does that word cause you to squirm in your seat? Or take a deep exhale of relief?  Slow movement can be something that SO MANY of us avoid. Why? Because it forces us to pay attention to the things we find difficult or uncomfortable ... AND it flies in the face of an exercise culture that tells us 'harder, better, faster is BETTER.' We've grown up believin...

What age were you when you started to believe that those aches and niggles were just part of getting older? Let's face it, whether we're 20 or 70, we're all in the process of aging ... but is FEELING old in our body inevitable? In today's episode I'm sharing a little analogy about a train track and how choosing one track might be making you feel 'old' and yet it...

You show up for work every day because the outcome of NOT doing so is unacceptable. Likewise, you do your washing, clean the dishes, brush your teeth, feed the kids ... because the outcome of NOT doing them is, you guessed it, unacceptable. So why then are we not making the outcome of not moving regularly and looking after ourselves with self care and self kindness unacceptable? Why have we gotten...

Oh how I loved this chat with Kelly Bryant of Kelly Bryant Wellness. Get ready to go deep. From talking about peeing your pants to how to bridge the gap between WANTING to move more and actually DOING it, we cover a lot of amazing ground. I'm thrilled to introduce Kelly to you. Kelly is a Yoga Teacher and Personal Trainer with additional qualifications in Prenatal Yoga, Barre and Pilates. She...

I spent a bunch of the weekend up on the roof of my house, painting. And, while I was there, naturally I mused over the parallels between painting and mindful movement! So in this episode, I'm sharing four lessons learned on the roof and how they apply to our movement and mindfulness practice. The lessons include: > That motivation might get you started, but it sure as heck won't sust...

It's the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. Perhaps 'move more' or 'start yoga' is on your list of new year resolutions? Or finding ways to more effectively manage life's stress and overwhelm? This chat with Occupational Therapist and Life & Mindfulness Coach Simone Russell is perfect for this transition.  In our chat, we talk about how we can use a min...

Well hey, look at that, we're at the end of 2020. In that strange space between the festive season and the new year. And I would bet that a big portion of us are spending some time daydreaming and maybe even planning for what we want in 2021. Do you set resolutions? Goals? Intentions? I love to think about what I want, but let's be clear that we can do that literally any day of the week....

I don't think any of us are strangers to that feeling of WANTING to create healthy habits but feeling like it's just too hard to do it. I will put my hand up for sure. When we look at the list of things we believe we need to be doing to be healthy it can feel nothing short of overwhelming. Sleep for long enough, manage stress, exercise, eat well, drink water ... to name a few. But does i...

So it's Christmas. At the tail end of 2020. How are you doing? I'm not going to lie - I'm feeling kinda overwhelmed and exhausted. Right now I'm focusing on choosing simplicity and kindness toward myself whenever possible. Yet, Christmas with kids demands some planning and attention, so it's been about finding ways to stay centered and managing the overwhelm. With that in...

In this interview, I'm chatting with myotherapist extraordinaire, Mel Simon, about the ways a mindful movement practice can change the way we hold and shift tension, as well as the ways mindful movement compliments hands-on treatment for tension. Find out why even the most ‘low-key’ stressors and busy-ness create tension; why ‘movement snacks’ are a good idea; and how we can use a ‘buddying u...

Let's talk about how our mindful movement practice can start to follow us OFF the mat and into the world. In this episode I want to talk about one thing in particular - and that's this idea of self-kindness in the face of less-than-perfect reactions to circumstances. It is possible for us to choose to meet ourselves with kindness even when that feels like the last thing we want to do. An...

In today's episode, I'm chatting with  Heather Joy Campbell, principal of The Happydemic, and Queensland’s lead facilitator in laughter wellbeing. In our chat we talk about: > What laughter yoga is (and what it isn't) > Who laughter yoga is for and the benefits, both physical and mental > How laughter yoga can bring teams and families together (and individuals back to thems...

As we near the end of 2020, maybe you're thinking about what you want for your life in 2021? A new year on the horizon has a way of getting us thinking about these things, even though you could choose to implement them TODAY if you wanted to. Any day is a good day to create what you want. So much goes into creating a new habit, but today we're going to talk about one thing in particular:...

In this interview, Erica chats with yoga teacher Kerry McGregor about the ways our physical movement practice can expand our perspective beyond the practice itself. Find out how ‘giving attention to the subtleties broadens our perspective’ and how we can use movement to tap into the lessons of valuing ourselves, self-respect and responsibility. Because ‘everything you want to be to everyone else f...

December. Holiday season. Notorious for booting our self-care practices to the bottom of the (very long) list of priorities. But it doesn't have to be that way! In this episode, I'm sharing 3 tips to help you stay at the TOP of that list, feeling well and moving well. Tune in to find out more. Join The Mindful Movement Virtual Studio by Friday 6th December 2020 (Melbourne, Australia time...

Stress. We all experience it, but how effectively do you manage it? My guest today is stress-resilience coach, Jessica Patching-Bunch - who is on a mission to provide accessible alternative mindcare for women. Translation: She teaches practical approaches to managing stress so you can get out of your own way and create your best life. In our chat, Jess shares: - her own experiences with trauma, st...

Ok, let's chat about something that could really change the game for you when it comes to MORE moments of self-kindness. That thing is CELEBRATING rather than NEGATING. As humans, we have a tendency to focus on all the things we didn't do, or all the ways we fall short of our own expectations. Maybe we did one movement class this week when we promised we'd do three. Or we only spent...

Boundaries. Do you have them? How do you know if you need them? How the heck do you set them? Well, my friends, Claire Nettley is here to share all of this and more in this episode of The Movement and Mindfulness Podcast. Claire is a Boundaries & Mindful Living Coach who empowers women to develop more autonomy and authority in their lives.   She works with burned out, stressed out, over-worked...

I'm asking a tough question today. This is for you if you find yourself struggling to show up in the ways that you want to. Like you keep telling yourself you'll put on that yoga class or go for that walk or sit to do that meditation ... but you don't. In this episode I'm sharing: - why taking responsibility is the not-so-secret-sauce to doing the thing - why it's ok to sa...

Confidence. What really is it? How can we get more of it? And is it a fixed trait or something we can train? Well ... we're diving into all of this and more with today's guest - confidence coach, Sarah Denholm. Over the past 12 years Sarah has helped thousands of people to increase their influence and impact when communicating with others - whether it be on stage in front of a sea of fac...

Posture. When you read that word, do you automatically stand up taller? Maybe thrust your shoulders back, your chest forward? Do you walk around believing your posture is bad? Good? We're diving into the topic of posture today, and in this episode I share: - why your next posture is your best posture (i.e. why variability is the most important thing) - why the 'ideal' posture instru...

Pelvic health, leakage, urgency, diastasis recti ... this is what we're diving into today on The Movement and Mindfulness Podcast! I'm thrilled to share this conversation with pelvic health expert, Dr Carrie Pagliano. Carrie was kind enough to chat with me for a Masterclass session inside The Mindful Movement Virtual Studio earlier this year, and I thought why not share the conversation...

Time. It's a funny thing. Sometimes it seems to pass slowly; at other times we blink and half a year seems to have disappeared. I have found my relationship with time has shifted a lot during the past few months. While I haven't had less to do (home schooling, anyone?!), I've realised that time isn't always the 'problem' I thought it was. And I've seen others tal...

Ready to dive deep? I hope so ... because that's exactly what my guest, Nikki Naab-Levy is bringing to the podcast today. Nikki is a Pilates teacher and fitness trainer with over a decade of experience helping women find a way to reach their fitness goals without the burnout or injuries. In today's episode, Nikki chats with me about some very important issues, including: how fitness cult...

You've heard the term, "Use it or lose it", but what does it really mean in the context of movement? When it comes to moving well, one of the keys is moving often. But, more than that, it's moving BEYOND your movement habits, and that takes more than just signing up for a new class. In this episode I talk a bit about what move it or lose it looks (and feels) like, the important...