Finding My Way Back to My Body: Sauna for Wellbeing in Somerset

Why would anyone step into a hot sauna on one of the warmest days of the year?

That was my exact thought as I stood outside a bright orange door on a sun-baked industrial estate in Somerset. But beneath the surface of that contradiction was a deeper search for something. A reset. A moment of connection with my body. A pause in the chaos of modern life.

And I found it — not in a spa, but in a converted graffitied truck with steam billowing from its seams.

The idea of seeking out a sauna for better everyday wellbeing first took root while reading How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz. Her writing on Scandinavian winter rituals — particularly the reverence for sauna — felt oddly timely, even as I read it in the full bloom of British summer.

Did you know that in Finland, there are over 3 million saunas for a population of just 5.5 million? That’s one sauna for every two people. It’s not just a wellness trend there — it’s part of everyday life, deeply embedded in the culture. Saunas are where people slow down, open up, and sweat out more than just toxins. As Leibowitz writes:

“The sauna is an escape, both physical and mental. It’s a time to slow down, pause, and connect: with ourselves, with our bodies, with each other.”

In the UK, we’re catching up. According to the British Sauna Society, there were only 45 Finnish-style saunas across the country in 2023. By the end of 2025, that number had leapt to over 200. And in Somerset alone, new community saunas are popping up in forest clearings, rewilded farms, and, in my case, just behind the local bakery.

My first visit to Wildcat Sauna was part nervous curiosity, part midlife experiment.

The etiquette was unclear — was this a silent retreat? Were my unpainted toes allowed? But what I found instead was kindness, community, and a warm welcome. A mix of regulars and holiday-makers shared tips about 15-minute sauna cycles followed by cold plunges, and somehow, without ceremony, we all eased into it together.

I chose the hottest sauna first — a bold but not-for-me move — before relocating to the cosier wooden barrel. I found my rhythm slowly: heat, breathe, plunge. Repeat. In the cold plunge, I didn’t last long, but I lasted longer than I thought I could. There was pride in that. Progress.

And more than that — I found a kind of presence I hadn’t realised I was missing.

This small, steamy ritual has now become one of the most grounding practices in my week. I can reconnect with myself in a way that’s both physical and emotional. And I’m not alone.

Sauna offers proven health benefits:

• Lowers blood pressure

• Reduces stress and improves mood

• Enhances circulation and immune function

But perhaps just as importantly, it offers a pause. A way to step outside the noise of everyday life and listen to yourself again.

And there’s something special about the communal nature of it too. Unlike a spa, this is a space for locals, regulars, conversations. As the Swedish Sauna Academy puts it: “In saunas, there is truth.”

There are now public or wild saunas nearby at Vallis Farm, The Glove Factory, Campwell, and more arriving each season. The trend is rising, yes — but so is the call to reconnect with ourselves.

So here’s my gentle nudge:

Have you tried a sauna for your wellbeing? Would you?

Whether you’re curious about the heat, the cold, the community, or just curious in general — this might be the warm, unfamiliar, lovely reset you didn’t know you needed.

Let me know if you sauna (and where!). I’d love to know which places are helping you feel more at home in your own body.

Sending you warmth and curiosity,

5 Places to Try Sauna in Somerset and Beyond

1. Wildcat Sauna, Frome

2. Vallis Farm, Somerset

3. The Glove Factory, Holt

4. Campwell, Winsley, near Bath

5. Somerwhere Sauna, Dartington Estate

Where would you add? Let us know so we can add more saunas to our guide to life.

How to Reignite Creative Joy When You're Burnt Out

If you’re feeling creatively numb, worn down by algorithms, or like you’ve lost your way with the work you used to love — you're not alone. So many of us are asking how to keep going when creativity feels like just another demand, another item on the to-do list, another thing to optimise.

Recently, I had a conversation with artist and illustrator Emily Charlotte Powell on the A Thought I Kept podcast that helped me remember something essential — something I didn’t even realise I’d let slip:

“I will create what I love. I will love what I create. And that will be enough.”

What would shift if that were your starting point too?

Why Burnout Can Sneak Up on Creative People

Creative burnout doesn’t always look like collapse. Sometimes it shows up quietly — a reluctance to return to the page, a growing resentment of the posting schedule, a dullness where there used to be a spark.

We start out making something because we feel something. But over time, it’s easy to swap that inner compass for external cues:

• What performs well

• What grows fastest

• What’s currently trending

In the episode, Emily and I unpack how this shift slowly disconnects us from our original why. We move from making things we love, to making things we think we should.

And that’s when joy leaves the room.

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Joy Isn’t Frivolous — It’s Can Be Fuel

This conversation reminded me that joy isn’t a luxury or a frivolous extra — it’s part of the glue that holds our creative selves together.

It’s what makes us want to sit down again tomorrow.

It’s what helps us navigate the rejection, the unread work, the projects that didn’t quite land.

It’s what keeps us tethered to the core of why we started.

Emily speaks about making things she genuinely enjoys and how reconnecting with this playful spirit helped her fall back in love with her practice.

She didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t check what the market wanted first. She just let herself love what she was making.

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Creating for Your Wellbeing — Not Just Your Feed

There’s so much content telling us how to create for growth. But what if your creativity was a tool for wellbeing?

What if:

• Writing a paragraph you love is its own reward

• Drawing something softens your day

• Re-reading an old blog post and smiling at your own words is reason enough

Creating what you love and loving what you create can be an act of care — not just for the audience, but for you

It’s okay to pause. It’s okay to make what delights you, even if no one ever sees it. And it’s more than okay to step away from “relevance” to reconnect with resonance — that feeling that this matters to me and that’s enough.

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What If Joy Was the Point?

After this episode, I’ve been asking myself:

• What would I make if no one else ever saw it?

• What would I love to return to?

• What kind of work makes me want to begin again?

If you’re burnt out, blocked, or just quietly bored, maybe don’t start with a productivity tip. Start with a feeling. Start with joy. That could be your way back in.

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Want More?

This journal post was inspired by my conversation with the wonderful Emily Charlotte Powell on the latest episode of A Thought I Kept.

Listen in for more on:

• How to navigate creative pressure without losing your spark

• Why feeling something while you create matters

• How to protect joy as part of your process

• The emotional reality of being a creative person in a content-driven world

Listen now on Substack with bonus video content or find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Let this episode be the quiet nudge that helps you find your way back to what you love.

Sign up for my Substack More Good Days, where I share gentle thoughts on creativity, emotions, and everyday wellbeing — always with the aim of helping you feel better, not more pressure.

Or check out our wellbeing courses designed to help you reconnect with what matters to you.

A Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List

You might love the idea of summer—the long days, the looser schedules, the promise of some sunnier days.

And yet, somewhere between school holidays, the laundry pile, and the pressure to “make the most of it,” it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind on even the fun stuff.

Enter the summer bucket list.

What starts with good intentions—picnics, beaches, fire pits—can quickly turn into another list of things you should be doing.

For years, I made summer lists like they were contracts with joy. But by the end of July, I’d be half-ticked-off and half worn-out.

Somewhere in the middle of trying to have a good time, I forgot to notice whether I actually was.

Here’s what changed everything:

I stopped treating summer like something I had to conquer… and started following my curiosity instead.

Curiosity doesn’t ask you to rush. It doesn’t compare. It doesn’t have a checklist or a destination.

It simply asks, what if I noticed this? or what happens if I try that?

And in doing so, it gently pulls us out of overwhelm and back into presence.

Because when you feel stretched thin, curiosity doesn’t demand energy—it offers it.

It’s the gentle restart your nervous system might need when you feel like you have to be and do all the things just because “it’s summer”..

Try not to see this as a list of goals. Rather reframe it as a list glimmers—small, no-pressure invitations to help you reconnect with yourself, your surroundings, and even your sense of play.

You don’t need to do them all. Or do them “right.”

Just follow your interest. Let yourself wonder again.

The Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List

Pick one today. Come back tomorrow—or don’t. This is yours to shape.

1. Walk a route you’ve never taken

2. Lie on the grass and look at the sky for 5 minutes

3. Text someone just to say you’re thinking of them

4. Buy yourself a magazine you used to love

5. Eat something slowly, outside if you can

6. Leave your phone behind for a short walk

7. Watch the sunset or sunrise, on purpose

8. Rearrange one corner of your home

9. Draw something badly (no erasing allowed)

10. Take a 5-minute ‘holiday’—window open, feet up

11. Write a one-line diary entry for 3 days in a row

12. Make a playlist that sounds like sunshine

13. Sit on your front step with a cold drink

14. Do something with your hands (paint, knead, cut, fold)

15. Say no to something that doesn’t feel like a yes

16. Visit a local place you’ve never set foot in

17. Gift something to someone for no reason

18. Stand still in nature and count 3 things you can hear

19. Wear your favourite clothes for no occasion at all

20. Try one thing from our Summer Scavenger Hunt

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This is how summer gets to feel now:

A little less effort. A little more ease. A little more *you.

When we let curiosity lead, we find joy in unexpected places: on front steps, in ordinary walks, in the sound of birds.

We don't have to make it epic—we can find some joy in the smaller, more thrown together things.

If this list gave you ideas, here are 2 ways to follow the feeling:

1. Download our free Summer Scavenger Hunt – 28 curiosity-fuelled prompts to keep you exploring all that summer can be for you

2. Join the Summer Wellcation – A self-guided, 4-week invitation to feel better in the season you love

If you’re craving a slower, more intentional season, that’s exactly what Summer Wellcation is created for.

When the Garden Teaches You How to Grow

We often talk about personal growth like it’s something we can hack or schedule: an efficient morning routine here, a life-affirming listicle there. But growth—real, emotional, soul-deep growth—doesn’t always work like that.

What if the better metaphor isn’t a staircase going ever upwards… but a garden?

Because while we search for clarity, balance, or simply a day that feels like “enough,” we forget that the slow, subtle tending we do matters too. And nowhere has that been more apparent to me than in my garden.

When I first began gardening, I thought I was there to grow flowers. I didn’t realise I’d be unearthing something else entirely.

The spinach bolting too soon mirrored parts of myself I’d neglected. The alliums blooming after months of dark reminded me that beauty often requires quiet persistence. And the mess? That was its own kind of magic.

My garden began teaching me the lessons more often held in books on self-improvement

• That manifesting without doing is like planting without watering.

• That completion is hard—not because we can’t finish things, but because we forget to savour when we do.

• That wildness isn’t chaos—it’s aliveness.

• That rhythms matter, and sometimes staying still is part of tending too.

Most surprisingly, I learned that I didn’t have to get everything right. Not in the garden. And not in myself.

Sue Stuart-Smith wrote, “The mind needs to be gardened too.” And once I read it, I couldn’t stop thinking about how true that is.

Gardening asks us to:

• Observe without rushing.

• Accept mistakes without shame.

• Work with the seasons, not against them.

• Let go of perfect outcomes.

• And return, again and again, to the same patch of ground.

In other words—it’s the same practice that wellbeing demands of us.

You don’t need to own a garden to live this way. But you do need to notice what’s already growing.

If the garden has taught me anything, it’s this:

• There will always be weeds. You are not failing because things still need clearing.

• Rest counts. Sitting in your garden is still tending to it.

• Growth doesn’t announce itself. Often it’s quiet, a cucumber hidden behind a leaf, a shift in mindset you barely notice.

• You don’t need to be the expert. Just the one who shows up.

This is the version of wellbeing I believe in: imperfect, seasonal, and rooted in presence rather than performance.

So tell me—what’s growing for you right now?

What do you notice when you look at your days not as tasks to complete but as something to tend?

Let’s start a new kind of growth together: slower, kinder, and more alive.

If this resonated with you, sign up for the newsletter for our take on personal growth (hint: we never call it personal growth outside of a gardening metaphor). Or explore our wellbeing courses where we start, not with goals, but with grounding.

We can cultivate a different kind of wellbeing together: one that feels messy, but real, and offers its own kind of beauty..

Image: made with Freepik

Postcards from a Happy Place

I’m sitting under the shade of a 100-year-old tree in a west London park, the kind with branches that creak when the breeze moves through them. I’ve claimed one of the bright bean bags scattered across the lawn and wedged it against the bark. It’s quieter here than in the big open-sided marquee where the talks are held. I almost left earlier — the heat was stifling — but this patch of dappled light invited me to stay.

This is the Happy Place Festival, Fearne Cotton’s annual celebration of all things wellbeing. Held in Gunnersbury Park, the event feels relaxed despite the crowds. There’s a sound bath tent, hormone talks, yoga happening under awnings, iced lattes for a quick pick-me-up, and a hum of voices talking about nutrition, breathwork, sleep, and happiness.

I wander a little, swap my trainers for sandals, browse the book tent, and eventually drift towards the Talk Tent — where the ideas start to land.

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What Wellbeing Looks Like When You Do It at Your Own Pace

There’s a clawfoot bathtub painted bright yellow on the lawn. Giant HAPPY PLACE letters. Pink phone booths for Instagram moments.

People move slowly, or not at all. Some stretch into yoga poses. Others lounge with notebooks. I’m surrounded mostly by women. An older woman in a navy wrap dress stands near a mother and daughter in yoga pants. And I start to wonder: What are we all here for?

A day of self-care? A search for clarity? A break from decision fatigue?

For me, it became about gathering small, meaningful insights or the big ideas that I hope might stick. Here's what I took home from a single day of getting away from it all (so I could get back to it all).

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5 Takeaways from The Happy Place Festival

1. Midlife Is for Beginning Again

“Everyone has something.” — Donna Ashworth

Poet Donna Ashworth shared that she didn’t begin writing until her mid-40s. “It was either me… or it,” she said. There was something inside her that needed to be expressed — even if it emerged messily.

Holly Tucker, founder of Holly & Co, echoed this. She shared that 75% of the small businesses they support were started by people aged 40–60. Midlife isn’t an ending. It’s the start of something else.

2. Listen to the Whispers of the Soul

The idea of tuning inward came up again and again. Katy Hill spoke of following the “whispers of the soul.” Kelly Holmes said she’s living not in the “if onlys” but the “maybes.”

What if we don’t need to have the whole plan — just enough of a nudge to start?

3. Time Is Measured in Moments, That Become Years

“Life is 80 summer holidays.” — Julia Bradbury

Oliver Burkeman’s 4000 Weeks was cited more than once. It’s a reminder that life is not endless. Julia Bradbury put it plainly: "You only get about 80 summers." She advocates for nature snacks as the way to reset her days — stepping outside every couple of hours to widen your gaze, regulate your nervous system, and remember you’re alive. The evidence backs her up. A University of Exeter study found that if 1.2 million people took part in a green prescribing project that would save the NHS £635.6 million.

4. Start Imperfectly, Stay Imperfect

“Just begin.” — Donna Ashworth

Donna’s talk — and the reading of her poem “Just Begin” — was a balm for the overthinkers. “Someone here needs this,” she said before reading. She was right. That someone was me. And maybe it’s you too.

Start before you’re ready. Begin without knowing the outcome. Let the thing live in the world. That’s where the magic happens — not in the editing, but in the doing.

5. Small Impacts Matter

“What’s my impact?” — Holly Tucker

Holly said she grounds herself daily in one question: What will my impact be today? Not in a pressure-filled way, but as an invitation. She believes we all have the potential to lift others — to support their dreams in small, significant ways.

And if you don’t know your answer yet? Ask yourself: What lit you up when you were 10?

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Wellbeing That Feels Possible

There’s a lot out there right now about how to live better. Some of it’s helpful. A lot of it is loud. What this day reminded me is that you can be curious without committing to a complete reinvention.

Wellbeing isn’t a fixed destination or a 12-step plan. It’s something you get to define. Something you can build, imperfectly. Slowly. Softly. On your own terms.

Your happy place might not be mine. And that’s more than okay.

So, what’s your Version of a Happy Place?

Maybe it’s not a festival. Maybe it’s a book, or a walk, or a quiet cup of tea. The point is not to do more. It’s to tune in.

Here’s a gentle question to leave you with:

What whispers have you been ignoring?

And what might shift if you started to listen?

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Want to explore this further?

We’re creating spaces for the wellbeing curious — people who want better days, not busier ones.

1. Sign up to the newsletter

2. Explore our guide to feel-better places

3. Create your own wellbeing practice with coaching

Announcing A Thought I Kept: A Podcast About the Ideas That Shape How We Live

If you're looking for a wellbeing podcast that feels like a conversation around a kitchen table, this is for you.

A Thought I Kept is a short-form podcast about the single ideas that stay with us — the ones that shape how we live, long after we’ve forgotten the rest.

Each week, I speak with a different guest about the one thought they’ve carried with them through life. Sometimes it’s a quote that landed at just the right moment. Other times it’s something said by a loved one that needed to be heard.

These are the ideas we live. Or try to. We return to them again and again. We test them, challenge them, adapt them. These are the ideas that stick, stay, and sometimes even shift everything.

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A Wellbeing Podcast That Meets You Where You Are

In a world full of self-help lists, must-try methods and wellbeing how-tos, A Thought I Kept is about how we notice (and hold onto) the ideas that resonate, that mean something, and that — in their own way — shape who we’re becoming.

This is a podcast for people who are curious about what makes life feel better — more connected, more livable, more of what you need. Whether you're deep into self-improvement or simply looking for a new idea to carry through your week, you'll find something here that’s worth remembering.

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What You’ll Hear

Every episode features a single guest — creatives, coaches, therapists, or just thoughtful humans — sharing the one idea they couldn’t let go of. We explore:

• A moment that shifted their perspective

• How the thought has shown up again and again

• What it’s taught them — or is still teaching them

• How they’ve made it their own

These aren’t polished life lessons. They’re lived ideas. Carried from books and stages, podcasts and conversations, into real days. The ones we try to live up to — or sometimes fall short of — but keep returning to anyway.

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Why These Conversations Matter

We’re not short on inspiration these days. But we are short on meaningful, reflective spaces where we can explore how we actually integrate the ideas we hear into our daily lives.

A Thought I Kept is one of those spaces. It honours aha moments and imperfections both, small moments of clarity and the kind of emotional intelligence that grows slowly, over time.

These conversations are for anyone navigating change, searching for clarity, or wanting to feel more grounded in how they move through the world.

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Where to Listen

A Thought I Kept is available wherever you get your podcasts, with bonus videos and content found over on Substack.

New episodes drop every Monday — perfect for starting your week with a fresh perspective.

If you’re looking for ideas that stay with you, you love wellbeing podcasts and you often choose meaningful conversations over monologues — this podcast is for you.

Subscribe to A Thought I Kept and join a community of people collecting the kind of ideas that make everyday life feel a little more livable.

How to Move Through Creative Self-Doubt and Reconnect With Your Purpose

Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your spark?

Like the ideas that once lit you up have dimmed, or that the thing that used to matter doesn’t quite land the same way anymore?

Maybe you’ve asked yourself: What am I doing this for?

If you're here, chances are you’re navigating your own season of doubt. And if that’s true, then let me offer you this:

You’re not doing it wrong. This is part of it.

The creative process isn’t linear. It’s a stretch and a return. A leap, and then a grounding. A brave “yes” to something new, followed (often quietly) by the decision to come back home to what really matters.

What’s for you won’t go by you.

That phrase—shared by brand designer and creative mentor Sarah Robertson on a recent episode of A Thought I Kept—has been looping in my head since we spoke. It was something her Scottish grandmother used to say, sometimes just in passing. But it landed.

It became an anchor for Sarah in all kinds of moments:

• When her business changed direction

• When launching a new product stirred up old fears

• And when self-doubt made her question whether she was going in the right direction

In each of those moments, that phrase whispered back to her: If it’s for you, it won’t pass you by.

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What happens when creativity starts to feel fragile?

Sarah spoke about the delicate emotions that come up when we make something new—especially something that asks a lot of us. When she launched her Brand Seasons card deck (a beautiful, soul-filled strategy tool), it wasn’t just a product launch. It was a creative stretch.

She worried about whether she still had it. She worried whether it was worth it. And in all of that, she still trusted enough to try.

Because sometimes, the bravery is just in showing up for what might be possible.

If you're in a stretch season...

...it might look like saying yes to something that scares you. A project you’re not sure will land. A conversation you don’t feel ready for.

But then there’s the other half of the rhythm—the return.

Sarah shared how, after all the brave leaping, she’s now back in her creative comfort zone: working one-on-one with clients, doing deep brand work, mentoring creatives who are trying something new.

And she’s realised:

It’s okay to let go of the things that aren’t for you too.

Even the things you poured your heart into.

This is permission to release the pressure to make every project the thing.

It can just be a thing. A moment. A stretch.

Then you come back to what fills you up.

If you're in a return season...

...let it be enough.

You don’t have to reinvent everything. You don’t have to push.

Returning to what feels good—what feels like you—can be the most creative act of all.

As Sarah put it:

““There’s definitely been something about learning that the creativity is always there. I can access it, I can tap into it.””

— Sarah Robertson

So how do you find your way back to creativity?

Here’s what this conversation reminded me of (and maybe it will help you too):

1. Self-doubt doesn’t mean you’re not creative. It means you care.

2. You don’t have to push all the time. Sometimes the letting go is the power move.

3. A creative pause doesn’t erase your purpose. Your creativity is still there.

4. The process matters as much as the outcome. Trust what you're learning in the doing.

5. Not everything is yours to carry. What’s truly for you will stay. What isn’t, can go.

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Want to feel more connected to your creativity again?

Take a breath. Come back to yourself.

And ask: What feels like mine to hold right now?

Not what’s trending. Not what’s shiny. Just… what’s true?

If it’s for you, it won’t go by you.

Let that be the anchor.

Want more like this?

Listen to Sarah’s full episode on A Thought I Kept on Substack, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

Summer Self-Care Checklist for Overwhelmed Days

You love the idea of summer—the long evenings, the slower mornings, the breezy dresses and flip-flops and maybe even a road trip or two.

But here you are, somewhere between the second heatwave and the eighth load of washing, feeling low-key exhausted and wondering: Isn’t this supposed to be the relaxing season?

Summer can be a swirl of too-muchness: too much expectation, too many people to keep happy, too little time to yourself.

That’s why we created a short checklist to help on overwhelming days—not to add more, but to gently guide you back to what you need today.

Because here’s what I’ve learned (the hard way): self-care in summer doesn’t always look like bubble baths or beach escapes.

Sometimes it looks like sitting on the garden step for five minutes with your phone inside the house.

Or letting the kids watch one more episode so you can be alone in silence and remember what your own voice sounds like.

I’ve coached women through every kind of season, and summer—while beautiful—has a sneaky way of stealing our energy.

We keep trying to "make the most of it," but no one talks about how much it can take out of us, especially when we’re already carrying so much.

This checklist isn’t about self-improvement. It’s about self-preservation. And maybe even a little more joy.

Summer Self-Care Checklist for Overwhelmed Days

For when you feeling wobbly, weary or just a bit lost in the swirl of summer...

Try one or two. You don’t need to do them all.

1. Move to a cooler room—emotionally and literally.

If you’re overheating, physically or mentally, step into shade. It can be a room, a car, a headspace. Give yourself that pause.

2. Have a "bare minimum" day.

Pick 3 things: eat something, drink water, send one message. That’s enough.

3. Use your senses to re-centre.

Run your hands under cold water. Notice the texture of grass under your feet. Inhale something fresh—lavender, mint, citrus. Let your senses bring you back to the present.

4. Draw a boundary shaped like a hammock.

Say no to something, kindly. Then rest in the space it creates.

5. Write a tiny list of what’s working.

Even in the mess: the good coffee this morning, your kid’s laugh, the breeze through the window.

6. Reach for real connection.

One message to someone who sees you. Not for advice. Just for being seen.

7. Put your phone in a different room for 20 minutes.

Not forever. Just long enough to change the rhythm.

8. Move your body to move the moment.

Step outside. Stretch your arms overhead. Walk to the end of the street and back. A shift in motion can soften the stuckness.

9. Let something go half-done.

It can still be there tomorrow. And there’s something ok about that. Let it wait.

10. Ask yourself one kind question.

What would feel good right now? Then honour the first answer that comes.

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Even one of these actions can shift your day, your breath, your summer.

What’s on your personal self-care checklist right now?

Which one of these would feel best today?

If this resonated with you, here are 3 ways to go deeper:

1. Join our Summer Wellcation – a 4-week self-guided online reset to reclaim your season.

2. Subscribe to our newsletter – for more ideas, inspiration and emotional support.

3. Browse our guide to overwhelm — for more ways to navigate the days when it all feels too much.

Let’s create a summer that feels like yours.

Made image by Freepik

Vallis Farm

Go here if

You are looking for a beautiful space to share and swap skills, learn, grow and be in nature.

What is it?

Vallis Farm is a home for learning and creativity, for exchanging skills and ideas, a place to grow.

Why you need it

Nature has healing properties and this farm offers something special. Not only is the landscape stunning, the house warm and inviting but the people are welcoming and friendly.

What they offer

A range of workshops, supper clubs, weekly events such as yoga and pilates. They also encourage people to volunteer on the land to learn about their approach to sustainable gardening while being in the most healing of environments - the great outdoors!

What makes it different

Vallis Farm is a rather special place. The old Georgian farmhouse is warm and beautifully decorated with lots of spaces available to use depending on your needs.

The outside is even more stunning, just under 10 acres of rolling hills and woodland, a market garden using no-dig methods to grow local produce, a beautiful kitchen garden and roundhouse as well as shepherd’s huts that you can stay in. It's a truly restorative place to spend time.

What else do you need to know

You can book a range of spaces — whether that’s rooms in the house or the whole farm site — by the hour, for a half day or a full day, depending on your needs and budget.

Vallis Farm also welcomes people to pop over to have a look around. There is always someone there to say hello and show you this amazing place.

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In their own words

Vallis Farm is led by an evolving collective of highly experienced craftspeople, compassionate educators and committed stewards of the land.

“We started Vallis Farm as a place to provide affordable spaces to local people. We have areas that have permanent tenants who are artisan craftspeople in their own right. We want people to know they will always be welcome to come and share their skills and knowledge with others. We truly are a place to grow and learn.”

Where inspires them

“It's proven time and again that nature has huge restorative effects. Not just on our mood but also on our memory, cognition and executive functions. We believe that being outside repairs the soul. If the weather is not our friend, our beautiful house has green views from every window which are also proven to help repair and restore our mental health. Having a place to just "be" is the most inspiring thing for us.”

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Vallis Farm

Egford Hill

Frome, BA11 3JQ

Website | Instagram

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A Thought I Kept: A New Wellbeing Podcast About the One Idea That Stayed

I’ve always loved a good idea.

A reframe.

A quiet insight that makes me pause mid-scroll, or scribble something in the notes app at 11:37 p.m. so I don’t forget it.

I love podcasts too. The kind that hold space. That shift something. That say the thing I didn’t know I needed to hear.

But lately I’ve been wondering:

Out of all the life advice, wellbeing strategies, and “you-have-to-listen-to-this” podcast moments… what actually stays with us?

What do we carry into our everyday lives, long after the episode ends or the book gets returned to the library?

We’re surrounded by incredible knowledge — how to be calmer, healthier, more grounded, more curious.

The science is smart. The frameworks are helpful. The tips are endless.

But when life happens — the real, messy, school-pick-up, half-asleep-on-the-couch life — what idea do we remember?

What thought do we keep?

A podcast about the ideas that last

So I made a podcast. It’s called A Thought I Kept.

Each short episode takes the form of a conversation with someone about the one thought they couldn’t forget.

Not because it was the most profound, or went viral, or solved everything.

But because it stuck. It mattered. It shaped something in how they moved through the world.

It might have come from a book.

Or a late-night conversation.

Or a stranger on a train.

Or a friend’s voice note, recorded mid-walk and slightly out of breath.

These are stories about the ideas that landed. The ones that felt personal. Sometimes private. Always real.

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This podcast is for you if:

• You collect ideas, but want to know which ones are worth keeping

• You love good conversation but feel tired of overproduced advice

• You’re a fan of wellbeing podcasts that center women’s voices, and the magic of “me too” moments

• You’re curious, but craving softness

• You’ve underlined a sentence and wondered why it hit so hard

• You love wellbeing podcasts but crave something more human.

This isn’t a podcast about how to fix your life.

It’s about how we live with the ideas that gently shape it.

The trailer will be out next week with episodes going out on Mondays after that.

Subscribe to Substack to follow and listen.

I hope this podcast offers you something that stays.

x Claire

Goodwood Art Foundation

Perfect for

Art lovers, nature wanderers, the creatively curious and the quietly overstimulated.

For anyone craving inspiration with less noise and a way to feel more connected—to the world around you, to ideas and to yourself.

Why you’ll love it

The Goodwood Art Foundation isn’t just a gallery in the traditional sense — though you’ll find two stand-out exhibition spaces here — but also an invitation to experience art in a natural setting.

Set across the rolling chalk hills of the Goodwood Estate, it’s a space where sculpture and landscape meet in quiet conversation. Here, you get to wander at your own pace, following one of the three sign-posted trails. As you seek out the next sculpture, you’ll walk through ancient forests or wildflower meadows, coming across a natural amphitheater, chalk quarry and cherry grove as you do so. Pause a while and sit with something unexpected — an enchanting soundscape hidden in the trees perhaps or a view to the sea in the distance.

For the opening, Ann Gallagher, the former director of collections of British Art at Tate, has sensitively installed works by major contemporary artists — including Veronica Ryan, Rose Wylie and Isamu Noguchi — within the natural setting. There’s also a stunning solo exhibition of Rachel Whiteread, the first woman to win the Turner Prize.

What makes it special

Leading landscape designer Dan Pearson has created a 70-acre landscape that shifts according to 24 2-week botanical seasons. You’ll get a sense of how the land, the weather, the seasons and light all interact as you visit at different times of the year.

It’s the kind of place where you leave feeling lighter—and perhaps even a little rewilded, inside and out.

The story behind it

The Goodwood Art Foundation, newly opened in May 2025, is a non-profit on a mission to “foster wellbeing, creativity and lifelong learning for people of all backgrounds and abilities, through engagement with art and connectedness to nature.”

Founded by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, the Goodwood Art Foundation is gounded in three pillars: art, environment and education, and explores how these can better support our physical and mental wellbeing, creativity and capacity to learn.

The If Lost take

We believe creativity is a form of self-care. There’s a palpable sense of permission here: to explore, to wonder, to allow ourselves to just be.

It’s also one of those rare spaces that nourishes your nervous system and your imagination at the same time.

Everything about it moves slowly, intentionally. There’s no rush. And that’s very much the point.

It’s a full-body exhale kind of place.

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Practical details

 

Location: Situated within the Goodwood Estate near Chichester, West Sussex (also home to world-class motor and horse racing.)

Top tips: Wear comfortable shoes and dress according the weather forecast. There are indoor spaces but you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors.

Check out Cafe24 for a full-menu with ingredients sourced from Goodwood’s regenerative farm. It’s located in a stunning steel-clad building designed by Studio Downie Architect.

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Know somewhere that helps people feel better?

Nominate your favourite creative or feel-good place—or apply to be featured in the guidebook. Complete this form.

Walking for Wellness: How Daily Walks Brought Me Back to Myself

It wasn’t until the pandemic that I discovered walking — not as a way to get from A to B, but as a way to come back to myself. Like many people, I found myself locked down, overwhelmed, and restless. My only escape was a daily walk.

It became essential. A bowl of milk to the day’s dry cereal. The thing that made everything else make sense.

Each morning, after waking to another repeat of the same uncertain day, I’d lace up my trainers and head out. Sometimes I went uphill, breath catching as I climbed towards the high view that held the San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo in the distance. Other times, I turned down the trail, earbuds in, passing neighbours who had become companions in this strange shared stillness.

My walks weren’t about fitness. They were about sanity. A way to breathe again before returning to home-schooling, back-to-back video calls, and the quiet chaos of a household running on edge.

The benefits of walking for mental health

I wasn’t alone. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 59% of UK adults said that taking a walk helped them cope with the stress of the pandemic. In the UK, where I spent round three of lockdown, walking was considered so essential that the government protected it — up there with grocery shopping and filling your car with petrol.

These daily walks weren’t just good for our bodies. They were medicine for our minds. For many of us, walking helped re-establish a link between physical movement and emotional stability. And for some, it was the beginning of a new relationship with wellbeing altogether.

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Why I kept walking (even when I didn’t have to)

I’ve kept walking. Not out of obligation, but because I now understand what it gives me.

I take a short walk before I collect my daughter from school — a simple mental reset after a day of coaching, writing, and running a business. I walk after dinner, letting the last of the day’s light touch my skin. I park further away than I need to when heading into Bath, giving myself that extra stroll in silence before a meeting.

It’s not always about the steps or the stats. I’ve let walking become part of how I design my day — like eating lunch, brushing my teeth, or drinking coffee. It gives me time to think. Time to feel. Time to stop being just a brain at a screen.

And the dog walkers I pass seem baffled that I walk alone — no dog, no Fitbit, no real purpose.

But here’s the thing: walking is the purpose.

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5 mindful ways to walk when the world feels heavy

When I feel unmotivated, overwhelmed, or too busy to walk — I remind myself it doesn’t have to look a certain way. These are five gentle ways to walk that have helped me stay connected, curious, and calm.

1. Take a Colour Walk

This morning, I followed the colour pink.

It was a choice that made me look. Brash pinks and soft blushes showed up in unexpected places — roses in front gardens, foxgloves leaning into the road, a pair of pyjamas flapping on a washing line, and even the warm tone of a village pub sign. The pinks softened the streets I thought I knew.

Try this: Choose a colour before you leave the house. Follow it with your eyes. Notice the tones, textures, placements. Photograph them, sketch them, or just observe. You’re not documenting your walk — you’re getting more into it.

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2. Walk Without an Agenda

“Take a walk without an agenda,” said Margaret Heffernan in her TEDx talk on thinking like an artist.

Leave your phone at home. Head out with no destination, no task list. Let the walk shape itself.

Can you hear the difference after the rain? Have the leaves turned? What’s blooming this week? Let your attention wander, gently.

The only cost is your attention. The gift is being where you are.

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3. Try an Awe Walk

An awe walk invites you to look at the world with child-like eyes.

Research from the University of California found that regular awe walks can reduce stress, increase joy, and expand our sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves. Participants even began taking smaller selfies — a literal shrinking of the ego.

This week, I walked a slightly different route and was caught by wildflowers pushing through tarmac, a castle glowing yellow under a blue sky, and a pile of painted stones stacked on a gravestone by a child’s hand. Nothing grand, but all quietly wonderful.

Try this: Look for something vast or something tiny. Either way, let it move you.

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4. Take a 12-Minute Brisk Walk

If time is the thing getting in your way, keep it short and purposeful.

In 52 Ways to Walk, Annabel Streets encourages a simple 12-minute brisk walk. That’s all it takes to shift your mood, alter your blood chemistry, and reconnect with your body.

Try this: Set a timer for 12 minutes. Walk like you mean it. Breathe deeply. Notice the shift.

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5. Bring Company (Human or Otherwise)

Sometimes I take a friend. A quick lunchtime loop before school pickup. Sometimes I take a podcast — lately I’ve been walking with themes like overwhelm or emotional fatigue, choosing episodes that help me think differently.

There’s evidence that some of the emotional benefits of walking come not just from movement, but from connection. The nod of a neighbour. A chat with a friend. The quiet rhythm of shared silence.

Try this: Invite someone to walk with you. Or pick a podcast that feeds your mind as your feet move. Make it feel like a companion.

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Let walking be whatever you need it to be

You don’t need to count steps or measure your worth in minutes. Walking is a practice — and like all good practices, it adapts to you. It can be fast or slow, quiet or sociable, structured or loose.

Let it meet you where you are.

If you need to ground yourself: walk.

If you feel cloudy-headed: walk.

If you want to think, or not think at all: walk.

You don’t need a goal. You just need to begin.

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So…

• What kind of walk are you craving today?

• Which of these walking practices might you try?

• Or do you have your own that sustains you?

• We’d love to hear your stories of why you walk — and what you’ve found along the way.

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Your next steps

If something here resonated, here are three gentle ways to keep exploring with us:

1. Subscribe to our Newsletter
   Get weekly wellbeing notes — full of small, real-life ways to feel better, think differently, and live with a little more ease and curiosity. Sign up here.

2. Explore Our Wellbeing Remedies
   Discover our bespoke prescriptions for everyday life. Whether you're feeling lost, overwhelmed or just want to explore more of what matters to you — we’ve designed gentle tools to support you. Browse our remedies here.

3. Visit Our Mind–Body Library
   Practical, non-performative ways to reconnect with your body — whether you're walking, resting, stretching or simply breathing. It’s about being in your body in a way that feels good, not forced. Explore your mind-body connection here.

What If Overwhelm Isn’t the Emotion? Why We Sometimes Feel Too Much, Yet Not Enough—and How the Body Can Help

You feel overwhelmed.

But if someone asked you why, or what exactly you’re feeling… you might not know. You just feel off. Foggy. Wound up. Flooded. Blank. Wired and tired at the same time.

It can feel like too much is happening inside you, without a clear signal or message to follow.

But what if overwhelm isn’t the emotion you really need to deal with?

What if it’s what shows up when you haven’t been able to feel what’s beneath it at all?

The Moment I Realised Overwhelm Was a Cover Story

For a long time, I treated overwhelm as a standalone state. A sign that life was “too busy,” my nervous system was overloaded, or I needed a break. Sometimes that was true.

But what I’ve come to realise—through training, through coaching, and through my own lived experience—is this:

> Overwhelm can also be a symptom of emotional disconnection, not emotional excess.

It’s what happens when we intellectualise our feelings, or try to manage them from a distance—without ever letting them land.

We might think:

• “I know I’m feeling something, but I can’t get to it.”

• “I can name the emotion, but it doesn’t feel real.”

• “I should be able to cope with this, but I feel flooded anyway.”

Sound familiar?

This is a pattern that many people (especially high-functioning, thoughtful people) fall into: you process emotions with words, not with your body. You understand emotions cognitively, but don’t always experience them somatically.

And over time, all the un-felt, un-integrated emotion starts to pile up. It doesn’t go away—it just gets noisier. Messier. Louder.

Eventually, it spills over—not as anger, grief, fear, or sadness—but as overwhelm.

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When the Body Tries to Speak and We Stay in Our Heads

From a neuroscience perspective, this makes perfect sense.

• Emotions aren’t just thoughts. They’re bodily experiences—changes in breath, tension, heat, posture, heart rate.

• When we ignore those signals—or lose access to them—we lose our in-built self-regulation system.

• If you don’t feel the emotion as it comes, your body doesn’t know how to process or release it. It just keeps holding it.

Without that physical experience, your brain can’t fully complete the emotional loop. So it stays half-finished. Repeating. Piling on top of the next.

Eventually, all those unfelt emotions swirl together into a kind of emotional static—a sensory overload without clarity.

We call that overwhelm.

But maybe we’re naming the storm, not the weather patterns underneath it.

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What to Do When You Don’t Know What You’re Feeling

So if overwhelm isn’t the emotion—what is?

It might be grief. Or fear. Or anger. Or a layered, messy mix of all three. But if you’re disconnected from your body’s signals, you can’t access them clearly.

Here’s how you can begin to shift that:

1. Start with the body, not the story

Don’t ask, “Why do I feel overwhelmed?”

Instead ask, “Where do I feel something in my body right now?”

You might notice:

• A tightness in your chest

• A fluttering in your stomach

• A pressure behind your eyes

Let that be your starting point.

2. Give the emotion a safe place to land

The goal isn’t to solve or fix the feeling. It’s to feel it enough that your body recognises it, processes it, and releases what it can.

This might look like:

• Breathing into the part of the body where you feel sensation

• Moving (gently, freely, without agenda)

• Letting sound, tears, or stillness come through

3. Use overwhelm as a cue, not a verdict

When overwhelm shows up, treat it as a signal, not an endpoint.

It might be saying:

• “You’ve ignored this too long.”

• “There’s something here that needs feeling.”

• “You’re carrying more than you realise.”

What if overwhelm wasn’t the problem?

What if it was your body’s last attempt to get your attention?

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So the next time you feel overwhelmed, pause.

Ask yourself: “What might I be feeling beneath this? What hasn’t had space yet?”

And instead of trying to “cope” better or “think” your way out—what if you tried simply feeling your way in?

You might find that you’re not feeling too much…

You’re just not yet feeling what’s really there.

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Want more support like this—gentle, science-backed, and full of things you can try?

Join our newsletter to better understand all life’s emotions.

Distil Coworking Somerset

Perfect For

Creatives, freelancers, small business owners, remote workers — or anyone craving a more inspiring alternative to working from home.

Why You’ll Love It

Housed in a beautifully restored former mill, Distil Coworking Somerset offers a calm and inspiring place to work with beautifully restored wooden floors, abundant natural light and views out to a landscaped courtyard. It’s the kind of place that makes you exhale as soon as you walk through the door.

Whether you're a small business owner looking for an inspiring workspace for your team, a parent looking to be super productive around the school run or you want a change from the commute to the city — Distil Coworking Somerset is designed to make your working day better.

With plenty of free parking, choose the scenic route and work from a beautiful location in the heart of the Somerset countryside.

What Makes It Special

Set within the wider Kilver Court development, Distil offers more than just a desk. Booking a coworking space here includes access to the lush 3.5-acre gardens — perfect for stretching your legs between meetings, taking a walking call or a giving yourself a moment of pause under the trees.

You’ll also find fashion and homeware outlets like Toast and Mulberry and a newly renovated café with a wellbeing-focused menu. It’s all part of what founder Sam Cunningham envisioned when he transformed this site: “a thriving creative business ecosystem that drives growth, sparks innovation, and encourages collaboration.”

Whether you're looking for a quiet corner to enjoy a warm cup of tea, to scribble ideas in a notebook or simply to close your eyes and let the gentle rustle of leaves spark fresh inspiration, this is garden coworking.

The If Lost Take

We often think of coworking spaces as urban hubs — but Distil is part of a growing movement to bring creative, connected workspaces to rural settings. While countryside living has its charms, working from home in remote areas can sometimes deepen feelings of isolation and disconnection. Spaces like Distil shift that story — offering a place to come together, connect and work alongside fellow creatives, freelancers and entrepreneurs who also call Somerset home.

Founder’s Go-To Wellbeing Advice:

“You spend a third of your life at work — choose environments that nurture your wellbeing and people who help you thrive. The right environment can do more than just support productivity; it can restore calm, spark creativity, and invite genuine connection.”

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Some Practical Details

Book a desk, meeting room or the podcasting studio. Facilities include free parking, superfast WIFI, private call booth, shower and kitchen with coffee and tea.

During every booking, receive 10% off at the café and access to the stunning Kilver Court Gardens — the perfect place to recharge during the working day.

Distil Coworking will soon have an events programme up and running, including the option of remote attendance at some events. For anyone visiting the area, they also offer day passes as well as the option of booking by the hour.

 

Kilver Court, Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5NF, United Kingdom

hello@distilcoworkingsomerset.co.uk

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If Lost Reader Benefits: Use code 'InnerCircle' for 10% off your first month when signing up to a monthly membership.

If you prefer to book on a pay-as-you-go basis, use code InnerCircleHotDesk for 20% off your first day pass.

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You’re Not Anti-Social. You’re Burnt Out

You might be wondering why connection feels harder than it used to. Why even replying to a message takes energy you don’t seem to have. Why the idea of making plans, or keeping them, feels less like joy and more like effort. Maybe you’ve told yourself you’re becoming anti-social. Or that something’s wrong with you.

But have you thought that you might just be burnt out?

And when we're burnt out, overwhelmed, or overstimulated, it's not that we don’t want connection — it’s that we don’t have the capacity for it in the ways we used to.

Let’s take a gentler look at what’s really going on and how you can find your way back to the people in your world, slowly and on your terms.

1. It’s Not You. It’s Your Nervous System

When you’re overwhelmed, your body isn't just stressed; it enters a primal survival mode. From a neuroscience perspective, this triggers your sympathetic nervous system, flooding your system with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, preparing you for 'fight, flight, or freeze.'

In this state, your brain shifts activity away from the logical prefrontal cortex towards more reactive areas like the amygdala. This deprioritises connection because it perceives it as 'extra' or even a vulnerability.

Even if your conscious self longs for company, your autonomic nervous system might be screaming: 'too much!' – interpreting social interaction as additional cognitive load or sensory input when resources are already depleted.

Ultimately, this isn't a rejection of other people; it's a powerful, often unconscious, form of self-protection, as your system attempts to conserve vital energy and reduce stimulation until it can recalibrate.

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2. We’ve Normalised Overstimulation

Constant scrolling. The news cycle. Notifications. Everyone needing something from you. It’s no wonder that community starts to feel like another demand.

You’re not avoiding people because you don’t care. You’re avoiding people because you haven’t had a moment to care for yourself.

We’ve got so used to being “on” all the time, that we can start to judge ourselves when we want to, or need to, switch off.

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3. Social Exhaustion Looks Like Disinterest

Here’s the trick: burnout mimics disconnection.

You cancel plans. You ghost the group chat. You forget to reply. You assume it means you’re withdrawing.

But what if it’s just that your tank is empty?

You still love your friends and value your community, but there’s so little left in you to attest to this.

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4. Connection Heals Burnout But It Has to Feel Safe

Meaningful connection can help regulate your nervous system. But forced connection, with people who drain you or settings that overstimulate you, only adds to the fatigue.

Start where it feels safe:

• Someone who gets you, no performance needed

• A place that feels calm and familiar

• Time limits: 15-minute walk, one cup of tea, one reply

Slow, steady, in the relationships you value most.

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5. Choose Micro-Connection, Not Big Energy

You don’t need a group. You don’t need to “make new friends.” Try one of these instead:

• Chat to your barista

• Smile at the person on your usual dog walk

• Send a funny reel to someone you love

• Sit near others in a shared space (library, coworking space, café)

These “small things” are not small to your brain. They restore trust. They regulate stress. They count.

You are in the world connecting in a way that fits your capacity right now. You’re restoring a sense of self-confidence, even self-trust.

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6. Community Doesn’t Have to Be Loud

You’re allowed to build a quiet community. One that fits your energy and rhythm.

Your version of community might be:

• An email thread with one friend

• A book club where you just listen

• A garden you share with neighbours

• A quiet nod from someone who recognises you in the queue

• Going to the same cafe each week

• Showing up to an exercise class where you know the name of one other person

If it feels good and welcoming to you, that might be enough right now.

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7. Connection Isn’t a Fix. It’s a Practice

The point isn’t to solve your overwhelm with people. The point is to slowly remind your system that you’re supported.

That people can be kind.

That you don’t always have to do it alone.

That you’re still part of something, even if you’ve been quiet for a while.

Find ways to remind yourself of how good, even restorative, connection can feel.

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You're Still Social. You're Also Just Tired

Could that idea and acknowledgment shift something in you? Lowering the pressure. Becoming the reason you reach out, even just a little.

Not to prove you’re okay. But because connection might be part of what helps you feel more okay again.

If you’re looking for something that fits your pace

• Join our email community for encouragement, kind reminders, and gentle guidance

• Book a wellbeing coaching session if you’re not sure where to begin. We cover all aspects of life including social connection and we’ll help you explore what this needs to look like for you to feel happier.

• Join our community The Wellery on Substack where we figure out how to do life together.

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More ways to understand burnout

Understanding Midlife Emotions: A Toolkit for Women in Perimenopause and Menopause

Midlife is emotional. So emotional.

Not in the dramatic, dismissive way we’re told.

But in the quietly profound, messy, layered, deeply human way no one warned us about.

For some of us, midlife emotions feel like an ambush.

For others, like a fog that won’t lift.

You cry at the school newsletter. Snap over the dishwasher. Feel nostalgic, flat, elated, invisible, and uncertain — sometimes in a single afternoon.

Here’s the thing:

You’re not going mad.

You’re not failing at life.

You’re not the only one.

The emotional shifts in midlife are real, and they are biological, cultural, social, and psychological. And once you understand what’s happening beneath the surface, it all starts to make a little more sense.

Why Midlife Feels So Emotional

Here’s what the research shows:

• Hormones are real players. During perimenopause and menopause, estrogen — a key mood-regulating hormone — fluctuates wildly. This can destabilise serotonin and trigger mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and even depression.

• Sleep suffers. Hot flashes and night sweats disrupt sleep, which worsens emotional resilience. It's not just tiredness — it’s emotional sensitivity fuelled by exhaustion.

• Life doesn’t pause. Career shifts, aging parents, empty nests, grief, relationship changes — all pile on at once. It’s not just one thing; it’s everything, all at once.

• We’ve been socially trained to ignore ourselves. We’ve been told to stay upbeat, productive, and agreeable — so when emotions hit, they feel foreign, shameful, or ‘too much’.

• And the world doesn’t always see us. Many women report feeling invisible, devalued, or dismissed — especially in work and public spaces.

This is biology + life + culture colliding in one highly stressful moment.

But here’s where it also gets hopeful:

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An Emotional Toolkit for Midlife Women

You don’t need to ‘get over’ your emotions.

You need tools, space, and information. Here are five small but powerful shifts you can start today:

1. Name what’s happening — without judgement

Mood swings, anxiety, flatness, brain fog… they’re not weakness. They’re signals. Naming what you’re feeling reduces shame and increases clarity.

Try: “Today I feel... because... and that’s okay.”

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2. Sleep is sacred

If you’re not sleeping, you’re not thriving. Manage sleep disruptions (hot flashes, anxiety) with gentle bedtime routines, calming rituals, and support if needed.

Consider: Magnesium glycinate, low evening light, and no emotional emails after 8pm.

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3. Move — gently, often

Movement isn’t just about physical health. It’s emotional regulation in disguise. A walk. A stretch. A playlist you can dance to. Move your body to move your mood.

Try: Even five minutes counts for shifting your emotional energy.

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4. Talk to people who get it

Because right now you probably also need validation. Your feelings aren’t ‘too much’. You’re not broken. Talk to someone who has walked this path — or is walking it too.

To do: This is your sign to call or text that friend you’ve been thinking about.

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5. Challenge the crisis narrative

What if midlife wasn’t a crisis — but a moment to reevaluate? Research shows women who see midlife as a time for growth fare better emotionally. You can rewrite the script.

Ask: What part of me might be growing right now — even if I can’t see it yet?

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Something’s Coming...

This is why we created So Emotional

A retreat for your emotional life.

We’re not opening enrolment just yet, but the waitlist is open.

If you're craving real tools and real talk,

If you want to understand yourself better — and feel less alone in the process…

join the waitlist for So Emotional

Be the first to know when we open our doors.

Let’s make space for your emotions — in a way that feels good to you.

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Download your free guide

If you’re struggling with all the feelings in midlife, download our free guide for five ways to better manage your emotions right now.

Feeling Like You’re Not Coping in Midlife? You May Just Be Burnt Out

You used to be able to handle everything. Deadlines. Family logistics. The never-ending inbox. The emotional temperature of the people around you.

But lately?

It’s taking more energy just to get through the day. You lose your temper at things that never used to bother you. You forget words mid-sentence. You wake up already tired. The tears are always closer to the surface than you’d like.

You keep thinking: “What is wrong with me?”

Here’s what we may need to acknowledge — “this isn’t just the usual stress. This could be emotional burnout.”

When You’re Doing It All — and Still Feel Like You’re Falling Apart

For many women, midlife arrives not as a calm plateau, but as a crash of emotional noise.

You’re managing more than ever — ageing parents, growing children, workplace pressures, your own changing body. All while still holding up the emotional scaffolding for others.

And somewhere in all that care and competence, your emotions started to feel less like signals and more like symptoms.

Emotional burnout doesn’t always look like falling apart. Sometimes it looks like holding it all together — until one day, you just can’t

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What Emotional Burnout Looks Like (Even If You’re Still “Functioning”)

Emotional burnout in midlife often shows up as:

• Feeling numb or detached from things you used to enjoy

• Mood swings that feel sudden, sharp, and disproportionate

• Overwhelm that hits out of nowhere

• Irritability and guilt in equal measure

• A loss of confidence in your emotional responses

And yes — hormonal changes can absolutely cause and intensify these experiences. Once you’ve checked this out with a medical professional and you’re still feeling burned out, years of emotional labour, invisible caregiving, and the pressure to keep being “fine”, might also be contributing.

When we’re always trying to fine, we lose contact with what’s real. And emotional steadiness starts with giving yourself the space to see what’s really going on.

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There’s a Way Back to Yourself — One Feeling at a Time

Your emotions don’t need to be your enemy — even when they feel messy and out of control. They can also be information. And with the right tools, you can begin to steady them again.

That’s why we created a free resource designed just for women navigating this exact moment.

Download the Free Guide: Feel Better in the Middle of Everything..

This contains five practical tools to help you:

• Understand why your emotions feel so intense right now

• Reclaim your energy and focus, one moment at a time

• Shift the emotional stories you’ve been carrying

• Feel less alone, more steady, and more like yourself again

Sometimes you don’t need to overhaul your life — just start with a clearer understanding of what’s really going on.

Download the free guide now and start feeling more like yourself again.

Navigate summer with ease | Your guide to a joyful, stress-free season

Ah, summer. The very idea of it can conjure up visions of sun-kissed beaches, lazy afternoons with a good book, and get-togethers in pub gardens.

We picture carefree days spent reconnecting with loved ones and making memories that last a lifetime. But for many of us, summer brings a different kind of pressure.

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The Summer Juggle: Balancing Work, Family, and Expectations

As we transition from the dark days of winter to hopefully a sun-filled summer, we can often find ourselves caught in so many expectations. From planning family vacations to managing work commitments, the pressure to make every moment count can feel overwhelming. For many, summer isn't just a time of relaxation; it's a high-stakes game of juggling various aspects of life.

Each year both of us eagerly anticipate how we’ll create magical summer memories for our kids. Yet, as the summer progresses, we often find ourselves exhausted and financially stretched, feeling like we’re the only ones who haven't had a break.

Feel familiar? The pressure to have the "perfect" summer can transform this joyful season into a stressful one, making it hard to maintain our well-being amidst the chaos.

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Introducing Our Summer Wellcation

But what if we told you that this summer could be different? At If Lost Start Here, we've designed something to help you navigate these pressures with ease and create the summer you’ve been longing for.

Introducing our first-ever Summer (Stay-at-Home) Wellcation — a unique 4-week online course that brings the vacation to you, wherever you are.

Over the course of four weeks, we'll deliver short, inspiring postcard lessons straight to our app and/or online platform. These lessons are designed to help you create a summer that's both meaningful and manageable, allowing you to connect deeply with yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you.

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Embrace a Balanced Summer: Inner and Outer Adventures Await

So, how does the Summer (Stay-at-Home) Wellcation work?

1. Inward Journeying

Each week, we'll provide you with tools to connect with yourself on a deeper level. Whether it's through a journaling prompt, a self-coaching exercise, or an audio note, these activities will help you stay grounded and attuned to your own needs. You'll learn to prioritize self-care and cultivate a sense of self-connection, making it easier to handle the external pressures of summer.

2. Outward Exploring:

Alongside your inward exploration, we'll encourage you to step outside your comfort zone with fun and engaging activities. From local scavenger hunts to mini-adventures in your neighborhood, these tasks will help you see your surroundings with fresh eyes and rediscover the joy of simple pleasures. It's about creating moments of joy and connection, no matter where you are.

3. Balanced Days:

By balancing these inward and outward approaches, you'll find some equilibrium this summer. You'll learn to manage your time and energy more effectively, reducing stress and increasing your overall sense of well-being. This balanced approach ensures that you can enjoy the season without feeling overwhelmed or stretched too thin.

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Make This Summer Different: Join Our Wellcation Now

How will your summer be different this year? Come choose your own summer adventure with us and connect with what truly matters while the sun is hopefully shining.

Ready to start your Wellcation? Visit here to learn more and register now!

Losing Control of Your Emotions at 48? Here's What's Really Going On (and What You Can Do About It)

You’ve always been the one who kept it together.
At home. At work. In the moments when other people fall apart, you’ve been the calm one. The capable one. The one who handles things.

But lately, something’s changed. You find yourself snapping over small things. Crying in the car. Waking up with dread or feeling foggy-headed in meetings. You’re asking yourself:
“Why can’t I control my emotions anymore?”
And maybe even, “Am I going crazy?”

You’re not. You’re in midlife — and what you’re feeling is incredibly common. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t deeply disorienting. And it definitely doesn’t mean you have to keep silently pushing through.

“I’ve Always Held It Together — Until Now”

Midlife is often described as a "second puberty" for good reason. For many women in their mid-to-late 40s, it’s the first time that emotional stability — something we’ve prided ourselves on — starts to feel elusive. You may feel like you’ve become a different person almost overnight.

The truth is, this shift isn’t just in your head — and it isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a combination of biological, emotional, and psychological factors that hit at once:

• Changing hormone levels can affect mood regulation and cognitive function.

• Long-held emotional patterns (like bottling things up to stay professional or strong) begin to break down under pressure.

• The stress of managing work, relationships, and caregiving responsibilities compounds everything.

It’s no wonder you feel like you’re holding on by a thread. And it’s no wonder you're asking: When will I feel like myself again?

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What’s Really Going On with Your Emotions in Midlife

The good news is: there are ways to make sense of all this.

Understanding why your emotions feel so intense or unpredictable right now is the first step to feeling more steady.

You don’t need to meditate for hours or do a total life reset. You just need the right kind of support — practical, grounded, and designed for your life stage. Not one-size-fits-all advice. Not something that makes you feel broken or too much.

You need:

• Language to understand what’s going on internally

• Tools to respond to your emotions with clarity, not panic

• Support that respects your intelligence, your capacity, and your lived experience

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How to Feel Like Yourself Again (Even If You’re Not There Yet)

Imagine having a framework that explains what’s happening beneath the surface — so your emotions feel less scary and more manageable.

Imagine learning how to respond to your feelings without judging yourself, spiralling into shame, or snapping at the people you love.

Imagine feeling like yourself again — but with a deeper understanding of who that is now.

That’s exactly why I created So Emotional — a midlife course and community that helps women like you stop feeling out of control and start feeling informed, equipped, and understood.

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So Emotional: A Course + Community for Women in Midlife

This is a four-week, expertly guided course to help you:

• Understand why your emotions feel different in midlife

• Learn tools for emotional regulation that actually make sense

• Build emotional resilience without pretending nothing’s wrong

• Reconnect to the steady, capable self you know is still in there

Join the waitlist now to get first access to enrolment and early bird bonuses.

Why You Feel Emotions in Your Body—And What to Do About It

Your Emotions Live in Your Body Too

You probably know what anxiety feels like—not just the thoughts. The racing heart. The clenched jaw. The fluttery stomach.

Or how sadness can settle like a heaviness in your chest.

That’s not coincidence. That’s embodied emotion—and understanding it can completely change how you relate to your emotional life.

I didn’t always know this.

For years, I thought of myself as someone who was “good with emotions.” I could explain them, write about them, coach others through them. But it wasn’t until I started training in emotions coaching that I realised: I was living almost entirely in my head.

I could name a feeling. I could even quote research on it. But I wasn’t feeling it. Not really. Not in my chest, or my belly, or my breath. It was a cognitive experience. One that left me overwhelmed by emotions I wasn’t actually letting myself process.

That’s when I discovered what embodied emotion really means—and why it matters.

So… What Does ‘Embodied Emotion’ Actually Mean?

It means this:

You don’t just think emotions. You feel them.

Literally. Physically. In your body.

This isn’t just poetic—it’s backed by science:

Embodied cognition

Your brain and body work together to create emotional experiences. Your brain reads signals from your body (called interoception)—like muscle tension, heart rate, posture—and uses those to help you feel an emotion.

"I feel sad" = Your brain integrating body signals (slumped posture, shallow breath, heaviness) + memory/context.

Emotions as energy

Emotions are energetic experiences. Crying, laughing, shaking, sighing—these are physical discharges of emotional energy. If you don’t let it move through, it stays stuck in your system.

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Why This Matters (Especially If You're Often in Your Head)

When we don’t allow emotions into the body—when we only talk about or think them—we disconnect from key tools of self-regulation and emotional clarity.

That disconnection might show up like this:

• You overanalyse emotions instead of feeling them.

• You get overwhelmed by “too many” emotions at once.

• You struggle to explain how you feel, or can’t connect to the physical experience of it.

• You feel exhausted, tense, or foggy without knowing why.

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10 Ways to Reconnect with Your Emotions Through the Body

You don’t need to master this. You just need to start noticing. Try a few of these to begin:

1. Ask your body where the emotion is

Try:

• “Where do I feel this in my body?”

• “What’s the sensation—tightness, warmth, tension, fluttering?”

2. Breathe into it

Gently breathe into the area where you feel something. Let yourself stay with it for a few slow breaths, without judging it or needing it to change.

3. Name it—but stay curious

Instead of “I am anxious,” try “I’m feeling some anxiety in my chest right now.”

Let it be a process, not an identity.

4. Try movement as a release

Shake out your arms. Stretch. Walk. Sometimes the body needs to move emotion through before your mind makes sense of it.

5. Be aware of what you avoid

Ask: “Which emotions do I avoid because of how they feel in my body?”

Sometimes it’s not the thought—it’s the sensation we resist.

6. Don’t force clarity

Emotions don’t always show up with neat labels. Stay present to the feeling—even if it’s messy.

7. Use temperature and touch

Try a warm drink, a weighted blanket, a gentle hand on your chest. These can anchor you in your body when emotions feel too big.

8. Connect the dots

When you’re tense or tired, ask: “Is there an emotion I haven’t allowed myself to feel today?”

9. Use memory

Think of a time you felt confident, joyful, at peace. Remember how that felt in your body. Let that memory guide you back to that state.

10. Know this is a skill, not a flaw

If this feels unfamiliar, that’s not failure. It’s a sign you’re learning something new.

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Three Things We Hope You’ll Take Away

Emotions are physiological, not just psychological.

When you feel cut off from your emotions, reconnecting with your body can help.

Small practices—like breath, movement, curiosity—can build emotional connection over time.

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Join the Emotions Newsletter

Want more support as you explore your emotional world—both mind and body?

Sign up for our newsletter for practical prompts, gentle reflections and real ways to feel better in your everyday life.

You don’t need to think your way through everything.

Sometimes the answer is already in your body.