Living Calm - Support Through Diagnosis

Morning walk muse 🌿

Funny the memories that surface when you give your mind a rest.

When I was about 18, Mum passed on a comment from her friend: I always walked like I knew where I was going.

That surprised me. I had no idea where I was going, and I was very short on confidence. I walked tall because my PE teacher had said it was "important for women to walk from their hips." 😊

Positive messaging wasn't common back then. Most of us were simply expected to behave and get on with life. But that one comment stuck. It showed me that most people aren't as confident as they appear, and it's given me courage in tricky situations ever since. We don't need the answers, or the confidence, to take the next step.

I think about that a lot in this work. So many women are walking through something they never chose, with no map and no certainty about what's ahead. You don't have to have it all figured out to keep going.

Taking the first step - or discovering the first step can be enough.

If you're supporting someone through a diagnosis and could use some company along the way, Living Calm is here

Living Calm - Support Through Diagnosis Supporting women who are caring for a person they love, through a life-altering diagnosis. Online worldwide or in-person in Palmerston North, NZ.

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space". - Viktor Frankl.

That space can be used wisely. 🌹

A quote from Nelson Mandela.

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears".

❤️

As part of my previous work as a massage therapist I used to provide a free massage to women who had a miscarriage or whose baby had died either before or just after birth. If you are a massage therapist living in the Manawatu and would be interested in picking this up, or if you know of someone who might, please contact Michelle Topham from Massage After Miscarriage Aotearoa on 0274260967. This is a very nurturing therapy and was highly beneficial and appreciated by women at a very vulnerable and sad time.
I am currently missing you all as I do the work required to start Living Calm. Hopefully not much longer.

After much thought, I will be finishing massage appointments at the end of April.

I truly value every woman I have worked with. Your trust and openness has strengthened my desire to qualify as a health coach and I will be using these skills to work with women who are supporting partners with a life-altering diagnosis.

Most massage gift vouchers have been redeemed. If you still have one, please contact me so we can arrange an appointment before the end of April.

A little update from me 💛

🧑‍🦳 - massage bookings are open until end of April 2026. If you can't find an available appointment, especially if you have a voucher, please contact me directly.

You'll notice a name change from
A Calmer Therapy ➡️ Living Calm - Support through Diagnosis. This reflects the direction my work is moving, while still honouring where it's come from.

The road I've travelled over the past 30 years hasn't been straight, but one thing has always been constant: a deep desire for working with women in stressful, overwhelming situations.

My professional training, lived experience, and years of working closely with women have all come together through PREKURE - the philosophy that prevention is cure. I'm now a qualified health coach and will be supporting women who are navigating big life pressures and changes.

Health coaching allows me to work alongside women in a different way - using practical, science-based, real-life tools to help them feel calmer, clearer, and more confident about their next steps forward.

I'm deeply grateful for the trust you have placed in me over the years. This next chapter simply allows me to support women more holistically, upstream, and for the long term.

Thank you for being part of my journey - I'm really excited abut what's ahead💫

A poem about not giving up (that feels more relevant than ever!). 🦔 Following on from last weeks post, I tried to take inspiration from the many many times this world has defied expectations, in the hope that we might remember we too can do the same. #harrybaker #poetry #hope #spokenword #poetsofinstagram #impossible #resilience