Are You In Sync With The Rhythm?

I’m not a dancer, but I am a musician. I believe that our Mental Health is closely linked to the rhythms we keep. I have played guitar since I was thirteen and one of the little practice exercises I used to do in the early days was to play a […]

Letting go by Anna Johnstone

Letting go The more difficult the problem the tighter we tend to hang on as if by grim determination we should squeeze the answer out like the last toothpaste from an already-squashed,

How Joy Comes From An Unexpected Place.

I’ve had a taste and now I want more. I’m not being greedy or demanding or ‘push in line’ about it. It’s just that I have had a taste and I long for more. There are wafts of joy coming from the kitchen. There is a party going on and […]

Step 11 Is A Step You May Either Love Or Hate

Step 11 in the 12 Step Recovery tradition brings some challenges. For many people who try to follow the 12 Steps, Step 11 is a step they either love or hate: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand God, praying only for knowledge of […]

A Surprise Guest

A surprise guest She slips soft into my consciousness like morning rain dew-fall from heaven both manna and leaven Arriving like a surprise guest expecting a warm welcome for her sudden appearance though unglimpsed in the distance My cold heart remains wary reacts slow, suspicious opens its door – hesitant […]

What Opens The Door To Joy?

What Opens The Door To Joy?

It was so delightful that you could smell the perfume of joy sweep the room. She was in her 30’s and had been diagnosed with a psychotic illness. Voices in her head were her constant companion. She was into some New Age stuff mixed with Catholic teachings and a liberal dose […]

On Being A Weathervane

I loved to watch planes as a child. On the farm in which I grew up on we would often get fertilizer spread by aeroplane. It was exciting to see that noisy plane swoop low over the fields and hills and see trails of white powder spreading over the landscape. […]

What is the Gift Your Wound Has Given You?

‘Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me’ is a fallacy. Words can hurt. They can cut right to the core of your being and can echo around and around in your mind and drive you to despair. Just think of the abuse of text bullying. […]

7-Steps-to-Help-Those-who-Ruminate-cow-mental-health

7 Steps to Help Those who Ruminate.

Sometimes I think I am like a cow. I ruminate over things, chewing my thoughts this way and that. Trying to extract something good out of them.  Much of my life I have worked on farms, I even have a University Degree in Agriculture. I humorously call this my first […]