Written by Simon Frese, Transformational Life & Breathwork Coach After a successful career in media and fashion, Simon transitioned into coaching, where he combines Life Coaching with powerful somatic practices like Breathwork and Meditation. He supports clients through career and personal transitions, helping navigate challenges like anxiety, stress, burnout, depression, dependencies, and relational issues. Over the past few years, a quiet storm has been building across industries once considered ‘buzzing’, reliable careers. What began as temporary pandemic-era shifts has escalated into a substantial transformation of how we work today. From the media and tech sector’s massive layoffs to the contraction of traditional media and the rise of automation in professional services. The ripple effect is huge, and there is little loyalty or longevity. At the heart of this crisis are major shifts: changing consumer habits, soaring operational costs, and the rapid integration of AI.   The personal cost of a structural shift For many, this isn't just a market correction, it’s deeply personal. People with years or decades of experience, with commitments like rent, children, or mortgages, suddenly find themselves on the outside, looking in. Many are forced to burn through savings or accept entry-level roles just to keep the lights on. But the real toll isn't just financial. They are grappling with a loss of identity, purpose, and a sense of belonging . They sacrificed weekends, holidays, and time for their careers. Now, they are left asking the hardest questions of their lives: What could I possibly do next?   Stabilising: The power of the "bridge job" When the floor falls out from under you, the priority is survival, not just financial, but mental. Trying to reinvent your entire career while under extreme financial stress is like trying to fix a plane while it’s in a nosedive. This is where the "bridge job" comes in. Stabilising might mean taking a temporary contract, temping in an office, or stepping into a consultancy role outside your usual field. These aren't "steps backwards", they are strategic manoeuvres to buy you the most valuable asset you have, which is time . You are leveraging your transferable skills . You aren't "just" a producer, an editor, or a manager. You are a project coordinator, a great communicator, and a problem solver. Temping agencies and adjacent industries value the reliability and "soft skills" that veterans bring to the table. Keeping the cash flow A bridge job provides a steady income and a daily routine. Once the immediate panic of financial pressure begins to fade, it makes room for the mental clarity you need to actually imagine and plan what comes next. The foot in the door: Often, these interim roles reveal "hidden" industries you never knew existed, providing a low-risk way to test-drive a new environment or job you might be interested in.   The anchor in the storm: Finding your career center When a career you loved ends, the silence of a morning without "the office" can feel heavy with worry. This is where a daily holistic practice comes in. It becomes more than just exercise, it becomes your sanctuary. Whether it’s ten minutes of meditation, Breathwork or Yoga/Pilates, or the grounding breathwork of Tai Chi, these moments offer a way to reclaim your power. When you step onto a mat or sit in stillness, you aren't a job title or a set of anxieties, you are simply you, present and breathing. It’s in these quiet, moving meditations that the panic of the future begins to soften, replaced by a steady, quiet confidence that you got this, you can handle whatever comes next.   Uncertainty to opportunity: Finding your next step The emotional weight of losing a career you loved is heavy. But once the initial grief begins to clear, a slow spark of curiosity might follow. This moment, however painful, calls for a deeper reflection on the "self" versus the "salary." If you find yourself in this transition, start by asking:   Who am I beyond my job title? We often tether our worth to our business cards. Who are you when that card is taken away? What are my non-negotiables? Looking forward, what do you need for a sustainable life (e.g., flexibility, creativity, stability)? What limiting beliefs are holding me back? Thoughts like "I’m too old" or "My skills don't translate" are often the biggest barriers to entry in a new field.   The internal shift: You aren’t starting over This transition is about more than just a career change. It’s about honouring the skills and passions that brought you this far and finding meaningful ways to carry them into a new chapter. Sometimes, the biggest hurdle is confidence. It is easy to feel like you are starting from zero, but you aren't. The change may be seismic, but within it lies the opportunity to rebuild something more sustainable, fulfilling, and aligned with who you are today, not who you were when your career first began. You aren’t starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Simon Frese Simon Frese, Transformational Life & Breathwork Coach Simon brings a rich background in the creative industries to his work as a certified Life and Breathwork Coach. Integrating Coaching with somatic practices like Breathwork and Meditation, he supports clients through both personal and professional transitions. Simon helps individuals navigate challenges such as anxiety, stress, grief, burnout. dependencies, and relationship dynamics with a grounded, holistic, and spiritual approach. Passionate about empowering the next generation of creatives, Simon also collaborates with organisations such as St Giles Trust, a charity for at-risk youth, and the Paul Smith Foundation, where he coaches emerging fashion designers and young creatives.

Written by Gemma Sheppard, Mindset Coach Gemma Sheppard BSc, MSc, is a mindset coach for ambitious women who have lost themselves. She helps women reclaim their self-worth, own their big identity shifts & remember who the f*ck they are, using a unique blend of science and spirituality. Making decisions can be challenging, especially when you're constantly second-guessing yourself. This article highlights the importance of trusting your intuition and how to rebuild self-trust. Learn to distinguish between intuition and fear, and discover how to align your intellect and instincts to make decisions that feel right for you. Why caring, conscientious people often struggle with self-trust Some of the most caring, conscientious people I know struggle deeply with self-trust. They are thoughtful, responsible, and desperate to do the right thing. They read the books, listen to the experts, gather the evidence, and ask for advice from people who seem more qualified or more confident. And yet, when it comes time to make a decision, they hesitate. They second-guess themselves. They assume someone else must know better. I recognise this pattern because I’ve lived it. When authority feels safer than your own instincts For years, whenever I felt uncertain, I defaulted to deferring. If a professional sounded convincing enough, I followed their guidance, even when something in my body felt tight or uneasy. I told myself they had more experience, more letters after their name, more authority. My own instincts felt flimsy by comparison. But afterwards, I often noticed the same feeling: discomfort. A subtle sense that I had abandoned myself somewhere in the process. Over time, I realised that this discomfort was my gut instinct. Intuition is not irrational, it is pattern recognition Many of us have been taught, directly or indirectly, that intuition is irrational and that good decisions should be purely logical. We’re encouraged to override our gut feelings in favour of expert opinion, data, or whatever sounds most confident and certain. While evidence and critical thinking absolutely matter, there is a problem with relying on them alone: they remove us from our own lived experience. And lived experience is data too. Your nervous system is constantly picking up cues long before your conscious mind catches up. It notices tone changes, micro-expressions, subtle shifts in behaviour, and patterns you couldn’t articulate even if you tried. What we call intuition is often your brain processing thousands of small signals at once and presenting you with a simple message: this feels safe, or this doesn’t. The difficulty is that many of us have lost the habit of listening. The cost of outsourcing your authority Instead, we look outward. We search for the right method, the perfect framework, the step-by-step answer that guarantees we won’t make a mistake. We convince ourselves that if we just gather enough information, the decision will become obvious and risk-free. It rarely works like that. In my work with people, particularly those in caring roles, I see what happens when self-trust erodes. They become anxious about even small choices. They constantly ask for reassurance. They feel guilty no matter what they pick. Because the decision never feels theirs fully. Responsibility gets outsourced, and with it goes confidence. Ironically, the more you hand your authority to other people, the less capable you feel. Signs you may be outsourcing your authority You feel anxious about small decisions You repeatedly ask for reassurance, even after deciding You feel guilty regardless of what you choose You search for one correct answer before acting You feel relief when someone else decides for you Letting intuition and intellect work together Rebuilding self-trust doesn’t mean rejecting science or ignoring expertise. It doesn’t mean assuming you know everything. Rather, it means allowing your intuition and your intellect to work together instead of treating them as opposites. Evidence can guide you. Logic can inform you. But your body still gets a vote. Sometimes that looks like pausing before you agree to something and noticing the sensation in your chest or stomach. Sometimes it means asking yourself: If nobody else were watching, what would feel right here? Sometimes it’s simply giving yourself permission to say, "This advice might work for others, but it doesn’t feel aligned for me." These moments sound small, yet over time, they are where self-trust is built. Self-trust is not Ignoring evidence Dismissing expertise Assuming you know everything Acting impulsively Refusing feedback Learning the difference between fear and intuition The more you practise listening to yourself, the clearer those signals become. You start to recognise the difference between fear and intuition, between old conditioning and genuine misalignment. Decisions feel less frantic and more grounded. You may still feel uncertainty, but underneath it, there’s a steadier sense that you are capable of navigating your own life. Intuition vs. fear: What’s the difference? Intuition Fear Calm but firm Urgent and catastrophic Clear and simple Spirals with what if thinking Feels grounded in the body Feels frantic or overwhelming Doesn’t need to prove itself Tries to convince or justify Self-trust is a skill, not a personality trait I’ve come to see self-trust not as a personality trait, but as a skill. It develops through attention, reflection, and the willingness to take responsibility for your choices. Each time you honour what you know deep down to be true, you strengthen that internal relationship. Each time you override yourself to please someone else or follow authority blindly, you weaken it. No one else lives in your body. No one else sees your life from the inside. Which means no one else can ever have the full picture. What sustainable decisions actually feel like There will always be experts, opinions, and louder voices telling you what you should do. Sometimes they’ll be right. Sometimes they won’t. The goal isn’t to eliminate outside input, but to stop treating it as more trustworthy than your own perception. Because at the end of the day, the most sustainable decisions are the ones you can stand behind with a calm, settled feeling in your body. Not because someone told you to. But because you listened carefully and chose them yourself. Continue exploring how self-trust inside animals makes us human If this reflection resonates, we explore these themes more deeply inside Animals Make Us Human , the Skool community at the heart of More Than Human. It’s a space to learn, reflect, and connect around intuition, self-trust, nervous system awareness, and the human-animal bond, not through quick-fix advice or rigid frameworks, but through thoughtful conversation, embodied learning, and lived experience. You can read more about self-trust for animal carers here . Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Gemma Sheppard Gemma Sheppard, Mindset Coach Gemma is the founder of Align & Grow Coaching and author of the Align & Shine Workbook, guiding women through the messy stages of identity shifts into unapologetic confidence. With a background in Psychology (BSc) and Human-Animal Interaction (MSc), she blends evidence-based tools with grounded spirituality and a no BS approach. Her work includes digital products, workshops, and coaching experiences. You'll usually find her outside with her horse or rescue dog, dreaming of a future animal sanctuary X retreat centre. Her mantra, f*ck fitting in.

Written by Terri-Lynn Langdon, Social Worker & Health Equity Researcher Terri-Lynn Langdon is a well-known therapist in the areas of mental health, youth issues, violence against women, maternal health, disability, and social justice. Her trauma-informed skills, mindful ways of working, and empowering others to create the best health possible while living in authenticity are strengths in her practice. Body positivity is a struggle for many adults and children too. My young daughter, who is seven, is starting to worry about fitting in, her appearance, and her clothing, and it is all hitting her in formative ways. The good news (I think!) is that she does “fit in.” Everyone at school, daycare, and dance seems to know her name, she has lots of friends at school, and she is developing skills like a beautiful growing flame in a celebratory fire. These are all good things, but I am getting the sense that she is having to really do some emotional and social labour to “fit in,” and whatever way you slice it, that feels really, really hard for her, especially for me as well. I have a really social, bubbly, extroverted little girl. She likes to say- and I agree- that her friendliness is her superpower. I saw this superpower emerge in her right into the beginnings of toddlerhood. She said hello with a big smile, almost without discernment. She was an early talker and had so much to say. Then, when COVID hit, it was way too much for her sense of connection to the community we had been building, and because of her age at 17 months old, she burst into tears in the lobby, saying, “Why doesn’t anyone talk to us anymore? It did not occur to her that everyone’s social distancing had nothing to do with her. She was missing the high-fives, the fist bumps, and the exchange of stickers and sweets that our neighbours would often exchange while waiting for our ride to daycare. And then, without warning, daycare ended abruptly and for a very long time. What has not ended, though, is that when someone does not meet my daughter with a similar bubbly, engaging energy, the doubt creeps in for her. We have talked about it quite a bit. She can think, “Did I do something wrong”? What does it mean if she gets a confusing response from a classmate? These interactions are peppered with seven-year-old life experiences, expectations, and social circles, but it still results in social and emotional labour that can be draining. In my childhood, too many things were hard to fit into. My family circumstances were a hot mess and came with a lot of instability. The school environment was never accessible, very few recreational programs even considered my applications since they were also not accessible, and the systems that didn’t fit at all never seemed to want to hear from me about real change or inclusion. It is also true that I always felt protected by a solid and committed group of friends. I was always convinced that I could learn a new skill, and I learned many, and I frequently put good things into the world. If I were using crutches, I would do it one step and one crutch at a time, and if I were using my wheelchair, I would keep my hands on the wheels. My ability to access connections to the community, to growth, and possibility is actually quite rare. But as rare as it is, it all adds extra layers of how to work through shame and love a body, and that it often took extra work to fit in and make a place. As a mom, I think my children look beautiful, everything they wear looks great to me. Many of the things that my children say are “cute.” And yet, this feeling of scrutinizing one’s own appearance is distantly familiar. As a child, I didn’t always like the way I looked. I didn’t like the way my neck looked or how big my legs were, and sometimes I thought I looked amazing! It is an all-too-common experience for children and adults. How do we think our way out of body shame and into body pride and the love of a body? Yes, we can attempt to talk back to body shame, and we should! Additionally, wouldn’t it be fascinating if we focused on strengths, skills, and talents that had nothing at all to do with appearance? The focus on strengths, skills, and talents, and nothing to do with appearance, is a shift from two things: 1) The focus on appearance shifts entirely, and 2) the focus on the things that the body can do, per se, has shifted as well, because thinking of the body as a doer can be ableist. The risk here is that evaluating the body for what it can and cannot do can be its own struggle, especially within the disability community, and it is just a faulty thought process. When we think through body positivity for what a body can “do”, we can run the risk of teaching children that their value is related only to productivity and productivity alone. However, what about the essence of a child and a parent? A person’s essence describes their energetic presence and authentic consciousness that is free from judgement. In other words, what would a human be, and be free to express, if they could just open themselves up? I feel like I am still trying to figure that out for myself, and it is essential that I model that for my kids as those glimmers arise. The how-to of teaching this to children is going to be different for everyone. How we choose to do that together as a family is mostly through dancing in our living room and playing games in the pool. That is when we all feel the most relaxed. What could this look like for your family, and how can this be related to the love of a body and a healthy body image? When children focus on their strengths, talents, and skills and how they themselves bring their own flair and style to life experiences, it helps to build a positive self-concept. There is also a body scan where you can thank the body for its gifts, like how hands can help, and lips can speak kind words, or how hands can communicate kind words! (for example, in the DEAF community). All bodies are different and function differently. As such, in my experience, living in a disabled body brings a keen ability to solve problems, have unique experiences, and the desire to bring forth new ideas to the troubling commonality of body image distress and discomfort. To meditate on the backdrop of love and to bring that to this page and this particular set of problems is a very worthwhile project. And so it is that, at least for today, what I could do was write about it! Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , X , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Terri-Lynn Langdon Terri-Lynn Langdon, Social Worker & Health Equity Researcher Terri-Lynn Langdon is a feminist, disability studies, and health equity scholar in Social Justice Education at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She is a candidate in the Collaborative Specialization in Women's Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a research fellow with the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. She has over 14 years of experience in the social work field. Terri-Lynn is passionate about helping people to achieve the best possible health and a meaning-making life. She is the mother of 2 young children.

Written by K. Joia Houheneka, The World's Premier Excellence Coach K. Joia Houheneka is Founder & Chief of Gold Standards Media, Open Horizons Coaching, and Delve Travel – Luxury Travel Services, through which she pioneers a model of mission-first luxury entrepreneurship. Her work demonstrates how excellence, leadership, and freedom can be built together, by design. The Triple-Win is a framework for building businesses that generate profit, transform clients, and strengthen the world beyond the transaction. When designed intentionally, these wins do not compete, they compound. “The deepest form of success is not expansion alone, but self-expansion through greater contribution to the world. In enterprise, becoming more and giving more turn out to be the same movement.” – (From “Paradoxical Luxury” by K. Joia Houheneka) There is a version of entrepreneurship that asks only one question, is it profitable? But there is another version, more demanding, but ultimately more powerful, that asks three: Does the business win? Does the customer win? Does the world beyond the transaction win? I call this the "Triple-Win." This is not philanthropy as an afterthought. It is not corporate “social responsibility” appended at the end of a fiscal year. It is a structural commitment to build companies that generate commercial success, deliver meaningful transformation to clients, and deliberately strengthen a chosen cause in the world. These are wins that done well compound. The first win: A business that is structurally sound A Triple-Win enterprise begins with excellence . The business must be profitable. It must be strategically designed to deliver at a premium level . Without economic strength, there is nothing to multiply. Too often, entrepreneurs who care deeply about impact undercapitalize themselves: they price too low, or they overextend in a perhaps “good-intentioned” but ultimately misbegotten attempt to “help”. However, if the business is fragile, the mission is fragile. In my own companies, I build with premium positioning in mind. The revenue model is clear. The value proposition is differentiated. The margins are intentional. Only when the first win is secure can the second and third wins be sustained. The Triple-Win is not anti-profit. It is pro-profit and pro-discipline. The second win: The client who is stronger because you exist The second win asks: Is your customer measurably better off? Not “entertained”. Not merely satisfied. Stronger. Are they more capable? More profitable? More free? More confident? More effective in their leadership? When businesses elevate their expectations for client outcomes, something remarkable happens: pricing power increases, referrals deepen, and reputation augments. Excellence itself becomes the growth strategy. This is where many mission-driven entrepreneurs feel most at home. But the Triple-Win does not stop here. The third win: The chosen cause The third win is where entrepreneurship becomes creation and stewardship. It asks: "What gets better in the world when your business succeeds?"? For me, that cause is global prosperity and abundance, one which I impact directly as an ambassador for OLENT ( Organization for Liberty and Entrepreneurship ), based in South Sudan and supported via the Atlas Network . OLENT trains aspiring entrepreneurs in one of the world’s youngest and most economically fragile nations. Through structured programs, business planning, and public pitching, participants gain not only skills but conviction. One of those participants you can see in the photo that accompanies this article is Sipitanga Narcise. Recently, Sipitanga completed OLENT’s seven-week entrepreneurship training program. As part of her coursework, she developed a full business plan and pitched her idea on local radio, a courageous act in any context, but particularly powerful for a young woman in an emerging economy. Today, she is in the process of launching a pharmacy that will serve her local community. This is not a theoretical impact. This is medicine available where it was previously scarce. This is a growing entrepreneur with the competence and confidence to create both income and stability. This is a business that will serve families, generate trust, and anchor dignity. Another OLENT graduate, Emmanuel Bausumo, completed the program in 2021. After finishing his training, OLENT provided seed capital to help him build an electronics charging center — a vital service in communities where electricity access is limited. Within two years, Emmanuel had grown the operation enough to employ staff. The win extended. Now there are employees. Now there are wages supporting households. Now there is reliability in a local market. Now there are children whose school fees can be paid because one entrepreneur was trained and supported well. This is what compounding wins look like. When wins multiply A Triple-Win business does not divide its attention. It multiplies its effect. Consider the full chain: A profitable company generates stable revenue. That revenue supports the creation and delivery of a premium service. The premium service strengthens clients. A percentage of that revenue supports a cause. That cause strengthens members of a community. Those community members are now stronger individuals who can contribute to others. The original business does not weaken by participating in this chain. It becomes more focused, more differentiated, and more magnetic because meaning scales. A structural, not sentimental, model The Triple-Win is not emotional generosity. It is structural alignment . When philanthropy is built into the business model, not tacked on, it changes decision-making. Pricing becomes strategic because higher margins mean greater third-win impact. Growth becomes purposeful because expansion increases contribution capacity. Marketing becomes principled because you are inviting clients into something larger than themselves. Entrepreneurs who operate this way often discover something unexpected: the third win reinforces the first two. Clients prefer companies with conviction. Talented team members are drawn to meaningful enterprises. Investors respect disciplined allocation. And the founder operates with a deeper sense of coherence. The Triple-Win creates internal alignment and external impact. From charity to capital allocation One of the most powerful shifts an entrepreneur can make is reframing philanthropy not as charity, but as capital allocation. Every business allocates capital. The only question is toward what end. Some allocate solely toward shareholder return. Others might allocate toward short-term growth metrics. A Triple-Win business allocates a defined portion toward strengthening the ecosystem that makes greater long-term value possible. In fragile economies like South Sudan, that ecosystem is entrepreneurship itself. When Sipitanga opens her pharmacy, she is not merely opening a store, she is participating in market formation. When Emmanuel employs staff, he is not merely paying wages, he is expanding economic resilience. The return on that capital is measured not only in financial statements, but in human capability. A question for all entrepreneurs If your business continues to grow exactly as it is currently structured, who beyond your client and/or your organization itself will win? If the answer is unclear, this is not a moral failure. It is a strategic opportunity. You do not need to dismantle what you have built. You may only need to redesign its architecture. Where could a third win be embedded? What cause could strengthen as you strengthen? What future leader or community might exist because you decided to structure your success differently? The Triple-Win is not reserved for large corporations. It is actually most powerful in nimble founder-led companies where values still shape design. If you are building this way or are ready to, we likely belong in conversation, so we can see how our own collaborative efforts might compound. Because the future of entrepreneurship will not be defined only by valuation. It will be defined by multiplication. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from K. Joia Houheneka K. Joia Houheneka, The World's Premier Excellence Coach K. Joia Houheneka is devoted to advancing mission-first luxury entrepreneurship as a lived philosophy, not just a positioning strategy. She views excellence as dynamic and wholistic, an ongoing refinement of craft, character, and vision that one grows over time. Her approach to leadership centers self-direction and the freedom to move beyond inherited scripts, external validation, and false trade-offs. Luxury business building, thus, becomes a path toward self-actualization, where premium offerings and philanthropic commitment strengthen each other. She asks, "What might change, for a leader, for a life, for a legacy, if ambition and mission were cultivated together to be one?"

Written by Natasha Pynn, Health and Wellness Chronic Pain Researcher Meet Natasha Pynn, founder of The Pain Manager CO., who has transformed her personal journey with chronic pain into a mission-driven organization. At the heart of her work is "The Self Project," a powerful initiative helping individuals distinguish between their identity and the pain, whether physical or emotional, to heal and rediscover a sense of self. There is a point a person with chronic pain eventually reaches, often quietly, often with confusion, and sometimes with shame, is this in my head? Does stress make my pain worse? Most people are taught to separate emotional pain and physical pain as if they belong in different categories. Emotional pain is treated as something to “work through.” Physical pain is treated as something to “fix. But the body doesn’t separate the two. When the nervous system is overwhelmed, the body becomes more sensitive. Pain signals amplify. Recovery slows. Sleep becomes lighter. Muscles tighten, and inflammation rises. This is the nervous system doing what it was designed to do. Protect you. The nervous system is the missing link Chronic pain is often approached like a mechanical problem. A joint. A nerve. A muscle. A spine. A diagnosis. And while physical structures matter, chronic pain rarely exists in isolation. It exists inside a system, a system designed to keep you alive. Your nervous system is not simply responsible for stress. It governs everything, sleep, digestion, immune response, muscle tension, hormone regulation, emotional processing, and pain sensitivity. Pain is not just a sensation. It is a signal. And the nervous system determines how loud that signal becomes. Think of your nervous system like a volume dial. For one person, the dial is set to 1, their system feels safe, stress is manageable, and pain signals stay quiet. For another person, the dial is set to 10, shaped by chronic stress, trauma, overwhelm, or long-term pain. Their system becomes over-sensitized, and the signal they receive feels urgent, alarming, and impossible to ignore. It’s like a smoke alarm that’s so sensitive it goes off when you make toast. Nothing is on fire, but the alarm is still screaming. When the nervous system feels safe, the signal can quiet. When it feels threatened, the signal amplifies. This is why two people can have similar imaging results, similar injuries, similar “findings”, and yet one person is able to function, while the other is living in daily debilitating pain. Sometimes pain is about sensitivity. Why emotional stress can amplify physical pain Why does a difficult conversation trigger a flare? Why does grief feel like heaviness in the body? Why does anxiety tighten the chest, clench the jaw, and ignite pain that was “manageable” just days ago? When the body enters a stress state, fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, it begins to operate differently. Breathing becomes shallow. Muscles tighten. The jaw clenches. The gut becomes reactive. Sleep becomes disrupted. Hormones shift. Inflammatory responses rise. The body becomes hyper-alert. And the brain becomes more vigilant.  This is the part many people don’t realize, a stressed nervous system interprets more sensations as danger. That means normal sensations can become painful. Mild discomfort can become severe. Recovery becomes slower. And the body stays braced, tense, and protective. Over time, the nervous system becomes conditioned to expect threat. And pain becomes the language the body uses to communicate it. Not because you are broken, but because your system is overloaded. Emotional pain doesn’t stay emotional One of the biggest misunderstandings in modern healthcare is the idea that emotional pain is separate from physical pain, as if it exists only in thoughts, feelings, or mental health. But emotional pain has a biological footprint. It changes breathing patterns. It changes muscle tension. It changes sleep quality. It changes digestion. It changes hormone regulation. It changes inflammation. It changes the body. Overwhelm can create shutdown, exhaustion that feels like you’ve been hit by a truck. And trauma, especially long-term unresolved trauma, can create a nervous system that is constantly scanning for danger, even when life appears calm on the outside. The body keeps score of emotional load and eventually, it speaks. For many people living with chronic pain, the body becomes the place where unprocessed stress accumulates. Emotional pain doesn’t stay emotional Modern healthcare is not designed to track nervous system patterns. It is designed to identify structural problems and treat symptoms. A neurologist evaluates nerves. A rheumatologist evaluates autoimmune conditions. An orthopedic specialist evaluates joints and bones. A psychiatrist evaluates mental health. A physiotherapist evaluates movement patterns. But chronic pain is rarely confined to one category. It is a whole-system experience. And because care is fragmented, no single provider is tasked with connecting the dots between emotional stress, nervous system dysregulation, and physical pain patterns. This is why patients are often told: “It’s stress.” “It’s anxiety.” “Your tests look normal.” “There’s nothing we can do.” “Try to relax.” “Could be Hormonal” Not because providers are cruel, but because the system doesn’t have a framework that integrates the whole picture. The result is devastating. Patients begin to feel dismissed, defeated and doubt themselves. They begin to suppress the emotional reality of what they’re experiencing, because they don’t want to be labeled dramatic, anxious, or unstable. And the more they suppress, the more the nervous system stays in survival mode. The pain gets louder. The most important reframe: You are not broken, you are overloaded This is where everything changes. If pain flares during stress… If symptoms worsen after emotional conflict… If your body feels like it “can’t handle life” … If your nervous system feels constantly on edge… That doesn’t mean you are weak. It means your system has been carrying too much for too long. A dysregulated nervous system is not a character flaw. It is a physiological state. And chronic pain is often one of the clearest signs that the body is no longer able to compensate. This is why chronic pain is so exhausting. Because it’s not just pain. It’s the internal labor of survival. The hypervigilance. The fatigue. The tension. The emotional burden of trying to appear normal. The constant mental math of managing triggers. Over time, many people don’t just lose mobility. They lose identity. They stop trusting their body. They stop trusting their emotions. They stop trusting their future. And this is the tragedy of chronic pain, it steals self-trust. But when you understand the nervous system connection, something shifts. You stop blaming yourself. And you start recognizing the truth: Your body is not betraying you. Your body is communicating. The self project: The part of healing that changes the rules Because if chronic pain is amplified by nervous system overload, then healing requires more than symptom management. It requires understanding your internal world. Not just what hurts, but what overwhelms you. What triggers your stress response. What patterns repeat. What emotional weight your body has been carrying. The Self Project is built around a simple but powerful truth: The nervous system cannot heal in chaos. It needs safety. It needs clarity. It needs consistency. It needs emotional processing. It needs tools that teach the body how to come out of survival mode. The Self Project helps individuals begin to map: their emotional triggers their stress patterns their nervous system responses their flare-up cycles their internal belief systems their resilience capacity their shutdown and overwhelm thresholds This is not about “thinking positively.” It’s about recognizing the hidden patterns that keep the nervous system stuck. It’s about becoming aware of the moment your system shifts into fight, flight, freeze, or collapse, and learning how to interrupt that cycle before the pain escalates. What changes when you understand this connection When people understand the emotional-physical connection, they stop treating pain like a mystery, and start treating it like a system. They begin to notice: “Flare-ups follow conflict.” “Migraines come after overstimulation.” “Back pain worsens when I feel trapped.” “Exhaustion peaks when I’m emotionally suppressing.” “My body crashes after I push through stress.” And that awareness alone is powerful. This doesn’t mean the pain is purely emotional. It means the emotional and nervous system layer is a missing piece of the equation, a piece that can dramatically influence pain intensity, recovery, and quality of life. It means healing becomes less about “finding the perfect treatment” and more about building a full-system plan that includes nervous system regulation and emotional resilience as legitimate medical priorities. Because they are. The Future of Pain Care Must Include the Nervous System. And care cannot rely solely on medication, procedures, or physical therapy. Because the nervous system is the amplifier. And until that amplifier is regulated, pain will often remain louder than it needs to be. This is why people feel like they are doing “everything right” and still not improving. They’ve tried the therapies, the treatments, the medications. They’ve tried the specialists. But no one has taught them how to bring their nervous system out of survival mode. And without that, the body stays stuck. If you’ve ever felt confused by your pain, if it seems unpredictable, inconsistent, or emotionally linked, there is nothing wrong with you. You are not imagining it. You are not exaggerating. You are experiencing the nervous system layer of chronic pain, the layer modern healthcare rarely explains, but millions of people live with every day. And when that layer is acknowledged, something powerful happens: You stop blaming yourself. You stop feeling like you’re failing. And you begin building a new kind of healing, one rooted in self-trust, nervous system safety, emotional resilience, and whole-person care. In the next article number 4, we’ll explore why so many people living with chronic pain are labeled “hard to diagnose”, and why the truth is often simpler and more validating. Follow me on LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Natasha Pynn Natasha Pynn, Health and Wellness Chronic Pain Researcher While most practitioners focus on managing pain, Natasha dares to ask a different question: What if your body's pain signals are actually doorways to profound healing? Consider this, if your pain were an iceberg, most treatments address the tip. Natasha pioneered an approach that goes beyond surface-level symptom management, diving beneath the surface, where unconscious patterns and stored trauma create tension in your nervous system. By using method combinations of neuroscience-backed techniques with deep nervous system restoration to unwind these deeper patterns, helping the body remember the natural state of ease and vitality. While others might tell you to "push through the pain," Natasha helps you decode it through "The Self Project."

Written by Elizabeth Huang, Life Coach & Death Doula Elizabeth Huang is a certified life coach, grief educator, and death doula. Her work emphasizes enhancing emotional literacy, fostering social and emotional learning, and supporting affective development in a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology. Artificial intelligence is everywhere. It writes for us, plans for us, decides for us, and increasingly thinks with or for us. By many measures, life is becoming easier, faster, and more efficient. And yet, many people feel more disconnected, overwhelmed, and uncertain than ever. There are many reasons for this: one being that this is what can happen when we choose ease over engagement or convenience over presence. Another is the use of AI as a way to free up time we don’t make for ourselves, but then not knowing how to spend that time. The list is long.   But the good news is that there are core aspects of being human that AI cannot replicate, no matter how advanced it becomes. And those aspects matter more now than they ever have.   1. AI can’t offer relational presence AI can provide conversation, but it can’t offer the mutual presence and the felt sense of being seen, heard, and emotionally met by another human being. Connection isn’t about perfect responses. It’s about attunement, shared vulnerability, and emotional resonance, things that can’t be automated. And this doesn’t just affect our personal relationships, but our professional relationship skills as well, arguably what is becoming most important in our careers as AI takes over the hard skills. In other words, AI takes away the intimacy from our lives, the things that create emotional experiences and lasting memories. AI has taken parasocial relationships to a new level.   2.   AI can’t replace lived experience AI can summarize experiences, analyze patterns, and predict outcomes, but it cannot live your life. Meaning doesn’t come from optimal outcomes but from participation from being inside the process.   3.   AI can’t take away your discomfort with uncertainty One of AI’s strengths is clarity. It offers answers quickly and confidently, but that doesn’t actually mean accurate. Regardless, many of life’s most important moments don’t require answers, they require presence. Grief, transition, identity shifts, and emotional growth all live in uncertainty. Rushing to resolve them often creates disconnection rather than relief.   4.   AI can’t build emotional capacity AI can help regulate tasks and organize information, but it cannot build tolerance for discomfort, disappointment, or ambiguity for you. Those capacities are developed through lived emotional experience, often slowly and imperfectly. When everything is optimized to reduce friction or failure, we lose the muscles that help us navigate real life.   5.   AI can’t teach us who we are When we outsource too much thinking, deciding, and reflecting, we risk losing touch with ourselves. Identity is shaped through choice, struggle, and reflection not just preference selection. AI can generate and organize information, but it can’t create meaning. Meaning comes from reflection, values, memory, and interpretation from how you understand your experiences within the context of your life. In other words, self-knowledge requires staying present while working through the struggle.   Why this matters The most important part of being human, the experience of being human, is achieved through grieving, loving, choosing, reflecting, and growing. And that cannot be automated, nor should it be. To be clear: AI isn’t inherently the problem. But challenges come from it when we equate ease with fulfillment, efficiency with wisdom, and output with meaning. As certain parts of life get easier, staying human requires intention. It asks us to remain engaged with our inner lives, our emotions, and each other, especially when it’s uncomfortable, slow, or inefficient. Because what makes life meaningful has never been about optimization. It’s always been about presence. Ready for deeper support? If this resonates with you and you’re ready to explore a more authentic, nourishing approach to wellness, I’d love to support you. As a life coach and grief guide, I help people soften emotional heaviness, reconnect with themselves, and create a life that feels grounded and real.   You can book a free clarity session with me   here . Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Elizabeth Huang Elizabeth Huang, Life Coach & Death Doula Elizabeth Huang is a certified life coach, grief educator, and death doula dedicated to helping individuals navigate life’s transitions with greater emotional awareness and resilience. Born and raised in California, she was deeply influenced by the American culture’s discomfort with grief and avoidance of death. This inspired her to explore a more intentional and holistic approach to life, loss, and the emotions that shape our experiences. Through her work, Elizabeth guides individuals in processing grief – whether it stems from death, identity shifts, career changes, or other major life transitions.

Written by Safiya Abidali, Neuroscientist and Professional Coach Safiya Abidali is a neuroscientist and professional coach specialising in behaviour change, resilience, and emotional regulation. She takes neuroscience research to develop practical tools for sustainable habits and mental wellbeing. Most of us believe we don't have enough time. We move from one obligation to the next, measuring our days in meetings, deadlines, and to-do lists. Time feels scarce, always slipping away. This is the way we are taught to understand time, as something measurable, manageable, and constantly running out. But this is only one experience of time. Long before productivity culture existed, the ancient Greeks recognised that time has more than one quality. They described two distinct ways of experiencing it, Chronos and Kairos. Understanding the difference between them can change how we relate to our days, our decisions, and our sense of meaning. What is Chronos time? Chronos is chronological time. It is linear, structured, and measurable. It is the time you see on a clock, a calendar, or a schedule. Chronos helps us organise life. It allows us to plan, coordinate, and meet responsibilities. Without it, daily life would quickly fall into chaos. From a neuroscience perspective, Chronos time aligns with the brain's executive systems. The prefrontal cortex helps us sequence tasks, prioritise goals, and stay focused on what needs to be done. When we are operating in Chronos, we are usually in a doing mode. This mode is efficient, but it comes with a cost. Chronos time is finite. It creates urgency. It keeps our attention focused on what's next rather than what's here. Modern life strongly reinforces this way of relating to time. Productivity is rewarded. Busyness is normalised. Even rest is often scheduled and optimised. You can manage Chronos well and still feel disconnected from your life. What is Kairos time? Kairos is a very different experience of time. It is not about duration, but about depth. Kairos refers to the right moment, a moment that feels meaningful, aligned, or alive. It cannot be measured in minutes. It is felt. Kairos might show up as a conversation that shifts something inside you. A quiet walk where clarity suddenly appears. A moment of connection where time seems to soften or disappear altogether. In the brain, Kairos moments are associated with a shift out of task-focused attention and into reflective and integrative states. Networks linked to creativity, memory, and self-awareness, what neuroscientists call the default mode network, become more active. This network engages when we are not focused on the external environment, supporting processes like self-reflection, autobiographical memory, and future thinking. Emotion plays a central role here, helping mark these moments as significant. Kairos brings us into being mode. It does not rush. It does not demand productivity. It invites presence. Why meaning often gets lost Many people don't struggle because they lack time. They struggle because their time feels empty. They are functioning, achieving, and coping, but something feels flat or misaligned. Life becomes something to get through rather than something to experience. This often happens when Chronos dominates, and Kairos is neglected. When every moment is scheduled, there is little space for insight, connection, or reflection. The nervous system stays in a state of low-level urgency. Even meaningful experiences can start to feel transactional. The result is not burnout alone, but disconnection, from ourselves, from others, and from what matters. Three signs you're living in Chronos mode How do you know if you've become trapped in chronological time at the expense of meaningful time? Here are three indicators: You feel productive but not fulfilled. You're checking off tasks, meeting deadlines, and keeping up with responsibilities, yet something still feels missing. Achievement doesn't translate into satisfaction. You struggle to be present. Even during moments that should feel meaningful, a conversation with someone you love, a quiet evening at home, your mind is elsewhere, or you reach for your phone. You're planning, reviewing, or anticipating what comes next. Rest feels like wasted time. When you're not doing something measurable, you feel guilty or restless. Downtime becomes something to optimise rather than something to inhabit. If these patterns sound familiar, you may be experiencing what productivity culture often creates. Follow me on  Instagram ,  LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Safiya Abidali Safiya Abidali, Neuroscientist and Professional Coach Safiya Abidali is a neuroscientist and professional coach specialising in behaviour change, resilience, and emotional regulation. With a background in social anthropology and applied neuroscience, she bridges brain science and behaviour with lived experience. Safiya writes about motivation, uncertainty, habit formation, and mental resilience. She is the founder of Neuropath Coaching, a neuroscience-informed coaching practice.

Dr. Reetu Verma’s journey of personal healing and transformation led to the creation of Healing, Health & Happiness. Through her transformational coaching, she guides clients in reconnecting with their true nature, rebalancing energy centers, and finding clarity and emotional balance. This deeply personal approach helps individuals shift from mere survival to thriving, bringing profound changes to both their inner and outer worlds. Dr. Reetu Verma, Transfomational Life Coach Who is Dr. Reetu Verma?   Reetu is a thoughtful, grounded person with a deep passion for helping people better understand themselves, heal, and reconnect. Her work focuses on guiding individuals to improve their health, restore balance, and return to their true nature. At home, she values mindfulness and reflection – savoring quiet moments and nurturing meaningful connections. Awareness sits at the heart of her personal practice, often supported by visualization and meditation to explore her inner world, release what no longer serves her, and reconnect with her truest self. Reetu also finds joy in walking in nature and staying active through sports. In her professional work, Reetu brings intention, care, and purpose to everything she does. She weaves together ancient wisdom with modern, evidence-based practices, with a focus on the nervous system, energy centers (chakras), and whole-person wellbeing – supporting others on their path toward healing, balance, and alignment. This work is deeply personal. Several years ago, a severe brain illness brought Reetu to the brink of death. In that liminal space, she had a near-death experience that changed everything. Being given a second chance didn’t just reshape her understanding of health, happiness, and life – it awakened a profound commitment to live and work with intention. It is a path she has lived herself. Today, Reetu lives and works guided by the knowing that caring for ourselves creates a ripple effect. When we nurture our inner growth, energy, and light, we not only transform our own lives – we naturally extend care, consciousness, and connection into the world around us.   What inspired you to start Healing, Health & Happiness and focus on transformational coaching?   Healing, Health & Happiness was born from my own journey of recovery, realisations and deep inner transformation. What began as a process of physical healing slowly unfolded into a journey of self-rediscovery. Along the way, I came to understand that true healing isn’t about fixing what’s broken – it’s about reconnecting with who we truly are at our core. Through years of self-exploration, and by weaving together ancient wisdom with modern, evidence-based practices, I found my way back to balance, harmony, and a deep sense of coming home – to myself and to something greater. Living from the core has become my guiding principle. By learning to listen inward, cultivating self-care, and nurturing my body, mind, and spirit, I experienced a powerful shift toward clarity, peace, and wholeness. This heart-led way of living revealed my purpose and showed me that lasting transformation happens when our inner work shapes how we move through everyday life. Through this journey, a simple yet profound truth became clear: healing, health, and happiness are inseparable. When we care for our inner world, we don’t just change our own lives – we naturally contribute to a more caring, conscious, and connected world. Transformational Coaching is how I now share this work. I walk alongside people who are ready for meaningful change, supporting them to regulate their nervous system, rebalance their energy centers, access deeper levels of healing, and reconnect with their true nature – so they can live with greater ease, purpose, and alignment.   Can you explain what transformational coaching is and how it can change someone’s life?   Unlike traditional coaching, which often focuses solely on goals or behaviours, transformational coaching is a different kind of journey. It’s a deeply personal, heart-led approach that invites you to integrate your entire being – your body, mind, energy, and inner wisdom. This isn't about quick fixes or striving to be someone you're not; it's about diving deep within to release stress, rebalance your energy centres, and truly reconnect with who you're genuinely meant to be. In essence, it’s about coming home to your true self. The impact of this approach is pretty profound. By working at this deeper level, many people experience meaningful shifts in clarity, energy, and emotional balance. They move beyond just coping to be in the flow, discovering a sense of purpose and alignment that naturally ripples into every corner of their lives. As you begin to feel genuinely safe and connected within yourself, something truly magical unfolds: your health and energy improve, your relationships deepen and become more harmonious, and your daily choices align with what truly nourishes you. Life starts to feel clearer, more balanced, and more alive. Ultimately, this inner alignment doesn’t just change one part of your life – it completely transforms the way you experience all of it. What are the most common challenges your clients come to you with, and how do you help them overcome those?   Most people come to me feeling stuck, stressed, or disconnected from themselves, their energy, or the direction of their lives. They often struggle with overwhelm, low energy, emotional imbalance, or a quiet uncertainty about their purpose. Through transformational coaching, I work with the whole person – body, mind, energy and soul. Together, we cultivate self-awareness, regulate the nervous system, and rebalance energy centers. Clients learn to release what no longer serves them, reconnect with their true nature, and make choices that feel aligned. The transformation can be profound. Clients experience deeper healing, improved health, greater clarity and vitality, emotional balance, and a renewed sense of joy that naturally flows into every area of life. Transformational coaching becomes a way of coming home to oneself – and that inner shift ripples outward, positively shaping relationships, work, and daily living.   How does your own personal healing journey influence the way you coach others?   My own healing journey is at the heart of how I coach. I have walked the path of deep healing, self-discovery, and inner transformation. A severe brain illness and a near-death experience brought me to a place of total disconnection – and yet, it was in that vulnerable space that I discovered the incredible power of turning inward, tending to your inner world, and reconnecting with who you truly are. Because I have lived this journey myself, I guide others with empathy, honesty, and practical insight. I don’t just share theory – I share a process I have tested, experienced, and seen lives transform. This shapes how I help people navigate stress, rebalance their energy, cultivate awareness, and reconnect with their true selves. What I have learned is that transformation is possible for everyone. My coaching is heart-led, meeting you where you are and supporting you to heal, thrive, and live with greater clarity, alignment, and ease. What results can someone expect when they start working with you one-on-one?   When you work with me one-on-one, you will experience more than surface-level change. Many people notice a shift in clarity, energy, and emotional balance. Over time, they move beyond simply coping with life to feeling more grounded, energized, and connected – to themselves and the world around them. These changes ripple outward, enhancing your health, creating ease in daily life, experiencing greater joy, and nurturing a renewed sense of purpose.   How do your group workshops support people’s healing and growth differently than individual coaching?   Group workshops offer a different kind of growth than one-on-one coaching by tapping into the power of shared experience. Participants receive guidance and practical tools while also benefiting from the energy, insights, and support of the group. This sense of connection can accelerate self-awareness, emotional balance, and inner transformation. While individual coaching is deeply personal, workshops create a collective space where people can learn, grow, and evolve together.   What are some simple tools or practices you recommend for reducing stress and improving well-being every day?   Pranayama:   controlling your breath to help manage your life force, or “prana.” Nature imagery visualization: this taps into the mind-body connection. Rainbow meditation: a practice that works with your internal energy system. How do your online courses help someone who is just beginning their self-healing or personal development journey?     Our online courses are designed for anyone beginning their self-healing journey. They break the process into small, approachable steps, so you can start without feeling overwhelmed. Each lesson is created to educate, empower, and inspire, giving you insights and tools to better understand yourself. You’ll build awareness, discover practical daily practices, and gradually create meaningful, lasting change. There’s no need to do everything at once – consistency, not intensity, is what truly transforms your life over time.   What would you say to someone who’s curious but unsure if coaching with you is right for them?   If you are curious but unsure, that already tells me something important: a part of you knows that something wants to shift, even if you don’t yet know exactly what or how. You don’t need to be ready, fixed or have it all figured out to begin. You just need to be willing to be honest with yourself about where you are right now. Coaching with me isn’t about pushing you, judging you, or trying to turn you into someone else. It’s about creating a safe, grounded space where you can slow down, listen to yourself, and start reconnecting with who you truly are beneath the noise, the patterns, and the expectations. We move at your pace and work with what’s present in your life. If you are feeling stuck, tired of carrying the same burdens, or simply longing to feel more like yourself again, you’re not broken, and you don’t have to do it alone. You can come exactly as you are. We’ll figure out the rest together.   Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Reetu Verma

Written by Debra Chantry-Taylor, Accredited EOS Implementer® | Family Business Advisor | Entrepreneur Debra Chantry-Taylor helps entrepreneurs & leadership teams break through barriers to succeed in business & life. As an EOS Implementer® & Family Business Advisor, she guides firms to clarify their vision, tackle tough issues & create lasting growth & balance. She is the founder of Business Action & podcast host of Better Business, Better Life! Family businesses are some of the most resilient, values-driven organisations I’ve ever worked with. They create jobs, build wealth, support communities & think in generations rather than quarters. When they work well, they outperform many corporates on loyalty, speed & long-term commitment. And yet, across Melbourne, Perth & New Zealand, I keep seeing the same pattern play out. Different cities. Different industries. Different generations. The same underlying challenges. This isn’t about capability or effort. The owners & leaders I work with are smart, committed & deeply invested in their people. The issue is more subtle. The business has outgrown the way it’s being run. Below are the most common patterns I see in established family businesses across the region, why they matter, & what actually helps when growth starts to feel heavy, slow, or stuck. 1. Growth has outpaced structure At some point, success creates complexity. What worked when the business was smaller often starts to strain once the organisation reaches 20, 50, or 150 people. Complexity increases faster than most owners expect. I regularly see: Strong revenue paired with inconsistent execution Great people working hard, but pulling in different directions Owners are feeling busier than ever, yet less in control The problem isn’t ambition. It’s that structure hasn’t evolved alongside growth. Roles blur. Accountability softens. Decisions slow down. Everyone is working harder, but progress feels slower. This is the stage where many family businesses quietly plateau or become trapped in constant firefighting. Growth doesn’t break businesses. Outdated ways of operating do. 2. Family logic & business logic are getting mixed up This is one of the most challenging dynamics in family businesses, particularly as they scale. Family logic is built on loyalty, history, emotion & shared identity. Business logic relies on clarity, accountability & role discipline. When these two logics become tangled, I commonly see: People holding roles they’ve outgrown Performance issues are being tolerated “to keep the peace.” Difficult conversations are delayed far longer than they should be No one wants to damage relationships. That instinct is human. But avoiding clarity doesn’t preserve harmony. It slowly erodes trust & performance. The strongest family businesses don’t try to eliminate this tension. They manage it deliberately. They clearly separate: Ownership conversations Family conversations Management conversations When everything is discussed everywhere, nothing is resolved properly. 3. Leadership teams exist, but don’t truly function This is one of the most overlooked issues I see across family businesses in Australia & New Zealand. There is a leadership team on paper. Titles exist. Meetings are scheduled. But beneath the surface, alignment is fragile. Common symptoms include: Meetings full of discussion but light on decisions Leaders leaving the same meeting with different interpretations Issues resurfacing quarter after quarter Owners stepping back in because “it’s quicker if I just do it.” Over time, this creates a damaging loop. The owner feels unable to step away. The leadership team feels disempowered. The business stalls at the same level of complexity. A high-functioning leadership team doesn’t mean constant agreement. It means honest debate, clear decisions & disciplined execution. 4. Everyone is busy, but the business isn’t moving forward This is the concern owners often struggle to articulate. Calendars are full. Inboxes never clear. Workload feels relentless. Yet when asked what truly moved the business forward in the last quarter, the answer is often unclear. This usually happens when: Too many priorities are live at once Everything feels urgent Long-term progress is drowned out by day-to-day noise Busyness becomes normalised. Traction quietly disappears. High-performing family businesses are ruthless about focus. They choose fewer priorities, align the whole organisation behind them, & execute consistently. Progress doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from finishing the right things. 5. Meetings multiply & clarity declines As family businesses grow, meetings tend to multiply. Weekly meetings. Management meetings. Project meetings. Update meetings. Yet clarity often declines rather than improves. I regularly hear: “We talk about it all the time, but nothing changes.” “We keep circling the same issues.” “We leave meetings more confused than when we arrive.” Meetings should exist to solve problems, make decisions & create alignment. When they become information-sharing sessions or polite debates, they drain energy instead of creating momentum. This is rarely a people problem. It’s almost always a lack of meeting structure, expectations & decision discipline. What high-functioning family businesses do differently The family businesses that successfully break through this stage don’t rely on heroic effort or dramatic change. They do a small number of things consistently well. Across Melbourne, Perth & New Zealand, the businesses that scale cleanly tend to: Clarify roles & decision rights Based on what the business needs now, not on history or entitlement. Separate family, ownership & management conversations So each gets the focus & respect it deserves. Build a real leadership team One that debates openly, commits collectively, & executes as one. Reduce priorities to what truly matters Then hold themselves accountable for progress. Run meetings that resolve issues Fewer conversations. More decisions. Clear next steps. None of this removes the heart from a family business. It protects it. How I help family businesses break through this stage When family businesses reach this point, they don’t need more advice. They need clarity, structure & a way of working that respects both the business and the family. My role is not to tell owners what to do. It’s to help leadership teams see what’s really happening, agree on what matters most, & then execute consistently. In practice, I work with family businesses across Melbourne, Perth & New Zealand to: Create absolute clarity around roles & accountability: So everyone knows which hat they’re wearing, where decisions sit, & what they are genuinely responsible for. This reduces friction quickly & lifts performance without unnecessary conflict. Separate emotion from execution without removing humanity: Family dynamics don’t disappear just because structure is introduced. The right approach creates space for honest conversations while keeping the business moving forward. Build leadership teams that actually function as teams: Not a group of capable individuals, but a unified leadership group that debates properly, commits together, & executes with discipline. Cut through noise & focus on what truly moves the needle: We reduce priorities, simplify execution, & replace constant busyness with real traction. Establish meeting rhythms that solve problems instead of recycling them: Meetings become places where issues are resolved, decisions are made, & clarity increases week after week. This work is practical, structured & grounded in real-world experience inside complex family businesses. No jargon. No fluff. Just proven ways of helping businesses operate with far less friction & far more momentum. A final thought Family businesses across Australia & New Zealand don’t struggle because they lack passion, values, or care. They struggle when success creates complexity faster than clarity can keep up. If parts of this article feel uncomfortably familiar, that’s not a warning sign. It’s a signal that your business is ready for its next level of maturity. Handled well, this stage becomes a turning point. Handled poorly, it becomes the ceiling. The difference is rarely effort. It’s clarity, focus & disciplined execution. And when those are in place, family businesses don’t just grow. They endure. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Debra Chantry-Taylor Debra Chantry-Taylor, Accredited EOS Implementer® | Family Business Advisor | Entrepreneur Debra Chantry-Taylor is an Accredited EOS Implementer®, Certified Leadership Coach & Family Business Advisor with over 30 years of experience in business. She works with entrepreneurs & leadership teams to help them break through barriers, clarify their vision & drive sustainable growth. Debra has supported over 600 business owners across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Europe, & the USA. Her hands-on experience as a business owner, experiencing both huge success as well as two train wrecks, gives her a unique perspective, helping leaders navigate both successes & setbacks. Passionate about balancing business success with personal life, Debra helps her clients achieve a fulfilling, well-rounded life while growing their businesses.

Written by Jonathan Dubrulle, Healer-Influencer Jonathan Dubrulle is a Healer-Influencer in Madrid who likes to help people create 'paso a paso' a better life. Donny Epstein proves that the hashtag MeToo movement is still ongoing. In the culture of cults it is very hard to voice your opinion. It took an exceptional amount of bravery and faith for the people who dared to speak up. This article is about a collective of hashtag MeToo testimonies about Donny Epstein, the Founder and Leader of EpiEnergetics.  Who is Donny? Donny Epstein is a Doctor of Chiropractic and the founder of EpiEnergetics, and hosts events like the Transformational Gate and AlchemE. He received the Service to the Profession Award from Sherman College of Chiropractic. Tony Robbins calls him a guy with the New Jersey look with a golden bracelet on YouTube. He wrote Healing Myths, Healing Magic, and The Seeker’s Code (2023). He has trained countless chiropractors in NetworkSpinal, his chiropractic technique, and the 12 Stages of Healing. My observations From 1-3 November 2024, I followed the 12 Stages Phenomenon course, which took place in Denver, Colorado, online. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the full 3-day program. After a couple of hours on the second day I couldn’t take his abusiveness anymore.  On the first day, he started by giving people 5 seconds to say that their application forms with private information couldn’t be read out loud. You could feel the pressure on people not to speak up, which is stereotypical cultish behavior. He talked about healing Russian clients recently, which is after the start of the Ukraine War. He sends energy balls through the room, and people make moaning sounds, shake their bodies, and nearly pass out. It feels like people have to fake it, to please his ego. In his Seeker’s Code Online Course, he makes people feel 1 dimension at a time, ‘Here’s one, here's another'. He also says that ‘we no longer have to be abused or hurt’. Only people who leave his community can escape that destiny. Many have already once they get aware of how heartless Donny is, and summon the strength to leave. The community speaking up I reached out to people within the community and asked to share their stories. Many people were mortified to tell the truth. I could tell. One person called his teachings ‘Mental’. Another said ‘I got tired of Donny being an asshole and treating people so poorly. There’s a long history of that’ and ‘I’ve watched generations of talent leave over the years cause they got tired of him treating them like this’. Someone who worked several years with Donny said, “Anyone who has extraordinary natural gifts and talents and the ability to change people's lives needs to exercise those gifts with extreme caution. Humility and vulnerability are very important for those who want to be of service to others. One may have amazing gifts and change the lives of many, however, in the delivery of care, it’s possible to make assumptions and those assumptions may not be correct. That has a huge impact on other people’s lives. When dealing with the energetic essence of a person, there is the potential for unintended consequences. Ego can get in the way of true healing.’ Judgment day Abusive leadership in healing communities can’t be tolerated anymore in 2025. Leaders should treat people with respect and care for the consequences of those they heal. They need a heart.  Based on th e above stories and my own perceptions, I feel bad for all the people whose lives he has ruined. God will judge him badly on Judgment Day. On the contrary, ‘Donny will think he is such a great person on his deathbed in the hospital’ based on my intuitive perceptions. The fairytale of the 71-year-old American white male from Brooklyn, New York, seems to come to an end. I have a vision for the world where abusive leaders shouldn’t be given a platform to influence the world. Follow me on Facebook and visit my website for more info! Read more from Jonathan Dubrulle Jonathan Dubrulle, Healer-Influencer I’m Jonathan (38y) and a Spinal Flow Practitioner in Madrid. I started as a high-potential at Thomson Reuters when I was 21. After Brussels and Geneva, I started the healing journey in Singapore and fell in love with my Chiropractor. I discovered I was gay in a country where it was still illegal at the time. With a broken heart, I moved to New York City, where I worked in Corporate Strategy. At 24, a revolt of the soul would happen at the Times Square Headquarters, and I was admitted to Bellevue Hospital. Now I have a practice in the center of Madrid. I help clients heal and grow, develop good microhabits, and create strategies to impact the world. Beauty can rise out of ashes.

Written by Dr. Irene Sanchez-Celis Castro, Mentor & Healer Womb medicine doctor, spiritual mentor, and creator of Radiance the Podcast, Dr. Irene Sanchez-Celis, helps women awaken the magic in their bodies and embody the sacred through cyclical living, Chinese medicine, and feminine alchemy. February 2026 marks the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse, and whether you follow Chinese astrology or not, you can likely feel the shift. There is urgency in the air. A quickening beneath the surface. A sense that something is asking to move. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this is not symbolic poetry, it is energetic physics. As a Western medical doctor and registered Chinese medicine practitioner, I have learned that when we understand the seasonal currents of nature, we gain leverage. We stop pushing against life and begin moving with it. And this year, life is moving fast. Spring begins earlier than you think In the Western calendar, we mark spring at the Equinox. But in the Chinese solar calendar, spring begins around February 4, the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Energetically, that midpoint is a portal. Beneath the soil, seeds have already begun to stir. The sap rises before the blossoms appear. Nature never waits for a date on the calendar to begin its transformation. Traditional Chinese Medicine is rooted in Daoism, a nature-based cosmology that observes the movement of the sun, moon, and seasons to understand the laws governing the human body. The premise is simple and radical: We are not separate from nature. We are nature. And when we understand the energetics of a season, we can consciously participate in it. Fire over fire: What makes this year different The Fire Horse year carries what is known as “double Fire”, Fire element on both the heavenly and earthly stems. In TCM, Fire governs: The Heart Circulation Consciousness (Shen, or Spirit) Joy Passion Illumination Healthy Fire creates vitality, leadership, and vision. Excess Fire creates anxiety, burnout, insomnia, inflammation, and impulsive decision-making. Fire is catalytic. It accelerates whatever it touches. If you are aligned, Fire will propel you forward. If you are avoiding the truth, fire will expose it. There is very little neutrality in a Fire Horse year. The end of hiding The previous year, the Year of the Snake, was about shedding. It asked for introspection, healing, identity dissolution. The Fire Horse is different. It is not interested in endless processing. It asks, now that you know who you are, will you move? This is a year for embodied leadership. Not performative leadership. Not curated identity. Embodied. In Chinese medicine, Fire is connected to the Heart, and the Heart houses Shen, the Spirit. When Heart Fire is balanced, there is clarity, charisma, and authentic presence. When it is excessive, there is agitation, scattered focus, and nervous system overload. This year will amplify both. We are at the peak of yang On a broader cyclical level, we are in the crest of a longer Yang ascent, a decade-plus period of acceleration, technological expansion, polarization, and nervous system intensity. Yang is movement, action, dominance, speed. You can see it globally. You can feel it in your body. The Fire Horse represents a peak expression of that Yang current. And when Yang peaks, it eventually turns. But not yet. This year, the wave is high. The question is not whether there is fire. The question is whether your nervous system can hold it. Why yin will be your competitive advantage Because this year carries strong Fire, Wood, and Earth energy, and relatively little Water, Yin cultivation is not optional. Without Yin, Fire burns the vessel. In clinical practice, this looks like: Hormonal dysregulation Adrenal fatigue Insomnia Irritability Dryness (skin, mucous membranes, tissues) Emotional volatility Yin is restoration. It is hydration. It is sleep before 11 pm. It is depth instead of distraction. In a high-fire year, those who master Yin will thrive. This is not about withdrawing from ambition. It is about regulating the body so your ambition does not consume you. Hydrate. Eat nourishing food. Touch the earth barefoot. Swim. Allow emotional processing. Protect your sleep. Softness is not weakness. It is sustainability. Horse medicine: Freedom within community The Horse symbolizes courage, movement, and independence. But horses move in herds. This is not a year for isolation-driven success. It is a year for relational leadership. Your community will matter more than your branding. Who regulates your nervous system? Who sharpens your thinking? Who mirrors your blind spots? As AI and digital acceleration increase, embodied human connection becomes strategic, not sentimental. The Horse teaches freedom, but not disconnection. Anger, activation, and direction Fire energy often shows up as anger. Anger is not pathology. It is activation. When suppressed, it becomes inflammation and resentment. When expressed consciously, it becomes direction. Movement will be essential this year: Strength training Running Martial arts Swimming Breathwork Cathartic writing Qi must move. Stagnation in a Fire year does not stay stagnant, it combusts. Who will feel supported, and who will be challenged. This year tends to support individuals who are: Stuck Overthinking Hesitant Lacking momentum Fire provides ignition. It will challenge those who are already: High-strung Hyper-productive Anxious Inflamed Burned out For them, discipline around rest is not indulgence, it is strategy. The invitation of 2026 The Fire Horse is not asking you to be fearless. It is asking you to be responsible with your power. Responsible with your words. Responsible with your energy. Responsible with your leadership. This is not the year to stay small. It is also not the year to be reckless. It is the year to move in alignment. Small, consistent, embodied actions will outperform dramatic, ego-driven leaps. Final reflection We are living through intense global transitions. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the speed of change. But nature does not panic when spring arrives. It responds. The Fire Horse invites us to do the same. Move. Illuminate. Lead. Rest strategically. Stay human. And remember: No one is coming to save us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Ready to go deeper? If this resonated, if you can feel the heat rising in your body, your ambition sharpening, your nervous system asking for regulation, then this is only the beginning. I unpack the energetics of the Fire Horse year in much greater depth inside my podcast, including: How this double Fire year will impact your hormones and nervous system Why eclipse season accelerates personal and collective transformation Practical Yin strategies to prevent burnout How to channel anger into aligned action What this Yang peak means for the next decade This is not surface-level astrology. It’s a seasonal strategy for your body, your leadership, and your evolution. Listen to Radiance, the podcast where feminine embodiment, modern wisdom, and mysticism meet, for a deeper dive into this potent Fire Horse year. See you inside. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram ,  LinkedIn ,  and my website for more info! Read more from Dr. Irene Sanchez-Celis Castro Dr. Irene Sanchez-Celis Castro, Mentor & Healer Dr. Irene Sanchez-Celis is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, ontogonic hypnotherapist, and creator of Radiance: The Podcast. Known as a spiritual hacker embodied in feminine wisdom, she guides women through womb healing, tantric and shamanic arts, and cyclical embodiment. Irene's online programs blend Chinese medicine, somatic therapy, and sacred sexuality to help women reclaim their pleasure, power, and purpose. Her mission is to awaken the body as a sacred portal for soul remembrance and feminine leadership.

Written by Stephanie Gillespie, Addiction Treatment Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gillespie is a dedicated professional who has made a significant impact in the fields of developmental psychology, Autism, and Addiction Treatment. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Developmental Psychology. The ocean has long been seen as a place of peace and renewal. In recent years, surf therapy has gained recognition as a powerful form of treatment that combines the therapeutic value of the sea with the benefits of physical activity, mindfulness, and emotional connection. For individuals struggling with addiction, mental health conditions, or post traumatic stress disorder, surf therapy programs offer a holistic approach to healing that engages both the body and mind. Surf therapy and its role in addiction treatment Surf therapy blends traditional psychotherapy techniques with the physical and emotional experiences of surfing. Guided by a surf instructor and supported by trained mental health providers, participants learn how to navigate the ocean while also developing coping strategies that enhance resilience and self-efficacy. The healing process of catching a wave, balancing on a board, and feeling connected to nature helps reduce symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety often associated with addiction. The rhythmic motion of the waves and the effort required to surf promote physical and psychological healing. Surf therapy sessions encourage participants to stay in the present moment—focusing on the sea, their body, and their breath. This sense of mindfulness supports recovery and helps individuals build a healthier path toward long-term well-being. Surf therapy programs: A holistic approach to recovery Many   surf therapy programs  are designed as part of evidence-based therapies within addiction treatment. These programs promote physical health through exercise, while also addressing psychological concerns and emotional regulation. The ocean environment offers a safe and supportive space where participants can challenge themselves, manage fear, and experience achievement, all of which are vital in rebuilding confidence after addiction. Participants in surf therapy programs often form strong connections with others in their group. This shared experience fosters a sense of belonging, reducing the isolation that many people in recovery feel. Whether it’s veterans coping with trauma, children struggling with emotional issues, or adults healing from substance abuse, surf therapy provides a nurturing community that supports lasting recovery. Surf therapy and mental health: Riding toward balance Surf therapy has shown promise in improving mental health by reducing stress and increasing emotional stability. Studies suggest that being in the ocean environment naturally elevates endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals, which help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. The combination of sunlight, movement, and nature creates a powerful form of therapy that can complement traditional mental health treatments. The therapeutic benefits of surf therapy are not limited to those in addiction recovery, many people with mental health conditions, such as anxiety, insomnia, and post-traumatic stress disorder, have found it to be life-changing. The focus required to ride a wave promotes mindfulness and helps quiet intrusive thoughts, while the physical activity strengthens the body and improves sleep quality. The science behind surf therapy and mental health conditions Researchers continue to study the effectiveness of surf therapy, and findings suggest significant improvements in emotional regulation, mood, and self-esteem. The therapeutic aspects of surfing, like focusing on balance, controlling breathing, and connecting with the sea, mirror key principles found in evidence-based therapies for mental health, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Programs around the world are integrating surf therapy into addiction and trauma recovery. By helping participants heal through movement, surf therapy sessions bridge the gap between physical and psychological treatment, making recovery more dynamic and engaging. Surf therapy for anxiety and depression Surf therapy has shown remarkable potential in reducing symptoms of   anxiety  and depression. The ocean environment provides a calming, rhythmic space where participants can focus on the present moment, easing racing thoughts and negative feelings. The combination of exercise, nature, and mindfulness promotes the release of endorphins, which naturally boost mood and reduce stress. The physical challenge of learning to surf also encourages participants to push through fear and uncertainty, skills that carry over into daily life. Regular engagement in surf therapy programs can help individuals better regulate their emotions, increase motivation, and cultivate a more positive outlook on recovery. Surf therapy for trauma & post-traumatic stress disorder For individuals living with   post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  or trauma-related mental health conditions, surf therapy offers a unique opportunity for healing. The waves of the ocean represent both unpredictability and renewal, providing a metaphor for the healing journey itself. Through guided surf therapy sessions, participants practice grounding techniques and mindfulness that help reduce hyperarousal and intrusive memories. Veterans, first responders, and trauma survivors often report a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy after engaging in surf therapy. The physical activity encourages reconnection between mind and body, while the therapeutic environment helps rebuild trust and promote emotional safety, key steps in trauma recovery. Surf therapy and LGBTQ+ mental health The LGBTQ+ community often faces unique mental health challenges due to stigma, discrimination, and identity struggles. Surf therapy programs create an inclusive and affirming environment where individuals can feel accepted and supported. Being in nature and sharing experiences with a compassionate group of surfers, volunteers, and providers fosters a sense of belonging and psychological safety. The healing process of surf therapy helps   LGBTQ+ participants  process emotions, improve self-expression, and develop resilience. The freedom of being in the ocean away from societal pressures encourages authenticity and self-love, essential components of well-being and mental health recovery. Surf therapy for low self-esteem Surf therapy can be profoundly beneficial for individuals struggling with   low self-esteem . Each small success, standing up on the board, catching a wave, or swimming with confidence, builds a growing sense of accomplishment and self-efficacy. This empowerment naturally extends beyond the beach, helping participants trust their abilities in everyday life. The therapeutic value of mastering new skills while receiving encouragement from instructors and peers fosters positive feelings of pride, competence, and self-worth. Over time, surf therapy programs help participants shift from self-doubt to self-belief, supporting their ongoing healing and recovery. Surf therapy for suicidal ideation and self-harm Emerging research indicates that surf therapy can reduce   suicidal ideation  and self-harming behaviors by promoting connection, mindfulness, and emotional release. The natural balance between risk and reward inherent in surfing encourages participants to re-engage with life and rediscover meaning in the healing process. The supportive group setting, coupled with compassionate surf instructors and mental health providers, helps participants process feelings of hopelessness in a safe and nonjudgmental space. The ocean’s constant movement serves as a reminder that emotions, like waves, rise and fall, and with patience and focus, individuals can learn to ride them safely toward healing and stability. Surf therapy for school refusal For children and adolescents struggling with   school refusal  due to anxiety, depression, or social stress, surf therapy offers a gentle reintroduction to structure, trust, and engagement. The programs use physical activity and mindfulness to rebuild confidence and teach coping strategies that reduce avoidance behaviors. Through consistent participation, young people learn how to manage challenges, build friendships, and regain a sense of achievement. The positive reinforcement from mastering surfing skills, combined with the calming effects of nature, helps reduce anxiety surrounding social and academic pressures. Surf therapy sessions give them the tools to face life’s waves both in and out of the classroom with courage and resilience. The unifying power of surf therapy Across all of these mental health conditions, surf therapy stands out as a deeply therapeutic and holistic approach that unites physical activity, psychological healing, and connection to nature. Whether individuals are facing addiction, anxiety, depression, trauma, or self-esteem challenges, the ocean offers a safe, transformative environment where they can heal, grow, and rediscover balance. The act of riding a wave becomes symbolic of overcoming life’s challenges, a reminder that even after being knocked down, one can rise again. With growing research supporting its effectiveness, surf therapy continues to prove that true well-being often begins where the sea meets the soul. Overcoming challenges and embracing the healing power of the ocean Like any physical activity, surf therapy carries certain risks, such as fatigue or fear of the ocean, but providers take great care to ensure safety. Surf instructors and volunteers work closely with each person, helping them determine their comfort level and gradually build confidence in the water. The supportive environment encourages healing and helps participants overcome not only the physical challenges of surfing but also emotional barriers rooted in addiction and trauma. The benefits of surf therapy extend beyond the beach. Many people report lasting changes in their mental well-being, improved self-esteem, and a renewed sense of purpose. By learning to ride the waves, individuals rediscover balance both on the board and in life. Conclusion: A natural path to recovery Surf therapy is more than just learning to surf, it’s a journey toward healing and self-discovery. Through the therapeutic value of the ocean, the discipline of surfing, and the connection to others, participants can heal both body and mind. As research continues to highlight its effectiveness, surf therapy stands as a beneficial, holistic practice that helps people in   addiction recovery in Los Angeles  and beyond find strength, peace, and joy in each wave they ride. Follow me on LinkedIn  for more info! Read more from Stephanie Gillespie Stephanie Gillespie, Addiction Treatment Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gillespie is a dedicated professional who has made a significant impact in the fields of developmental psychology, Autism, and Addiction Treatment. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Developmental Psychology. Her 15 years of experience working with individuals of all ages on the Autism spectrum provided her with a strong foundation for her transition into the Addiction Treatment field, where she now works as an Outreach Specialist for Patient Digital Marketing. In this role, Stephanie leverages her expertise to help addiction treatment centers increase their online presence, ultimately reaching more individuals in need of support.