Trees - My saviours in many ways.

Teaching me unseen, unapologetic lessons woven in their majestic leaves, monumental belonging, energy and a “here I am” whisper that echoes on the winds caressing and weaving medicine into all hearts that open to the listening. 

The Trees that stand on the land at Peace Heal Love Wellbeing Center know a thing or two about peace, healing and love. They know a thing about standing strong, they do that through rooting down. They know you cannot rise without rooting into the Earth first. For strength takes true awareness to go down into ourselves, into the ground.

These Trees sing to me of songs of belonging, songs of presence and perseverance. Reciprocity. These Trees hold all that we bring. They can hold it. 

Cassius, our Gate Guardian. Standing at the threshold of the land and witnessing all that enter. Cassius knows of high winds and challenge. Cassius knows of shedding its fruits, its conkers. Cassius knows of rebirth. This weekend we poured sacred waters into its roots and in this water were the questions we asked at the Women’s Council. In our hearts and souls we wanted to know how to belong, how to parent and to exist. Cassius Tree held our unknowing and transmuted our questions. This Tree weaves its song.

Cassius stands the tallest on the land, watching out for the others. Sharing water and resources, spreading the care. Cassius does not compete, compare. This Tree knows a thing or two about community. That in order to thrive we need the collective heart. 

This Tree speaks of strength in the circle, in the Council, in the community. This Tree bears its conkers with a spiky outer layer and knows that inside that the smooth conker awaits. This Tree reminds us of seasons, of change and yet this Tree still stands. That noone gave this Tree where it is. It grew from such a conker, once. 

The Trees at Peace Heal Love are not Trees to be ignored. These Trees hold all that enters the gates. They remind us we are one. They silently stand, neither proud or meek but know the power is in the standing. Alive. These Trees live the now, not the yester year or the coming. Their existence is loud and silent. These Trees do not expect. They wish for all to thrive and return to their barks, their sap, their centers. They wish for us all to open to the animals sharing our bounties, climbing our branches and sharing our hearts. 

These Trees wish for much peace, healing and love in all who enter and in all who stand together. They believe in the differences to be made and the dances to be danced. They feel the fires and hear the talk. They receive the songs. The peace. They share the visions. They are the longing we seek in the world. These Trees are Medicine.

Jon Cat - Our healer

Jon Cat helps in the healing sessions that people attend here at Peace Heal Love Wellbeing Centre. He is our Animal Reiki teacher, but he also brings his own particular kind of magic into the room — allergy dependant, of course.

He does what I call the “Catscan”.

Jon will often quietly move around the body, sensing where the energy is needed, where something is shifting and, perhaps most importantly, when the body has finished processing the healing it has received. I speak with animals, and with Jon there is often a very clear sense of what he is doing, what he is noticing and when his part in the session is complete.

On an occasion recently, the body on the bed had just received Bowen. Bowen is such a gentle therapy, but gentle does not mean insignificant. Small, precise moves are made over the body, followed by periods of rest which allow the nervous system and the body’s own healing responses time to process what has been offered. So much of the work happens in the pauses, in that quiet space where the body is given the chance to remember its own rhythm.

Jon seems to understand this beautifully.

He will often stay close during those quieter moments, adding his presence to the space while the body settles, softens and integrates the treatment. Animals can bring something very particular into a healing room. They do not analyse what is happening. They do not try to force an outcome. They meet us through presence, instinct and heart, and there is something deeply sacred in that simplicity.

Sometimes their presence seems to change the whole feel of the room. The space becomes softer, quieter, more held. They seem to meet the parts of us that sit beneath language and thought, the places that simply need to feel safe enough to release, receive and rest.

As I so often teach, we don’t need our hands for healing. Healing comes from the heart.

Jon reminds me of that again and again.

Sometimes healing is not about doing more. Sometimes the body needs space. It needs quiet. It needs permission to stop holding everything together for a while, to rest, repair, rebalance and allow its own wisdom to come forward.

And animals can be extraordinary companions in that process. There is an ancientness to the way they seem to know when to come close and when to step back, when to stay still and when to move. They ask us to become present too. To listen more deeply. To notice what is happening beneath words, beneath thought, beneath the noise.

Jon stays while he is needed. He observes, settles and holds the space in his own feline way. Then, when the work is complete, I hear him very clearly:

“My work here is done.”

And off he goes.

There is such a lesson in that too. To know when to help, when to simply be present and when to step away and trust the body, the energy and something greater than ourselves to continue the healing.

I am humbled every day to work alongside this healing Master, and to be reminded that some of our greatest teachers arrive quietly, on four paws, working through instinct, wisdom, spirit and heart.

Honouring the Sacred Masculine: Healing the Balance Within

If you've spent any time in women's circles, you'll know that stories are sacred. They are held with tenderness, witnessed without judgement and honoured for the courage it takes to speak them aloud.

Within those circles, I have listened to stories of absent fathers, unequal parenting, broken relationships, emotional neglect and the exhaustion that so many women carry when they have been left to hold everything alone. These stories are real, and they deserve to be heard. They deserve compassion, understanding and a space where healing can begin.

Yet recently, I found myself sitting with a different reflection.

When was the last time we stopped to honour the healthy masculine?

Not to dismiss anyone's pain. Not to suggest that everyone's experience has been positive. And certainly not to say, "Look what I've got." That isn't the intention of this piece.

This is simply an act of honouring.

I believe that healing asks something of us. It asks us not only to acknowledge what has hurt us, but also to notice what is healthy. If we only ever speak about where the masculine has failed, we can begin to overlook the men who are quietly choosing a different way. We can miss the fathers who are deeply present, the partners who stand beside us, the men doing the inner work and breaking cycles that have existed for generations.

At Peace Heal Love Wellbeing Centre, much of the work naturally begins with women remembering the wisdom of their Divine Feminine. So many women arrive having spent years over-giving, people pleasing, carrying the mental load and disconnecting from their own needs. Together we explore rest, intuition, creativity, self-worth, boundaries and the courage it takes to come home to yourself.

However, one of the greatest truths this work continues to reveal is that healing isn't about choosing one energy over another.

Every single one of us carries both the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine within us.

The feminine invites us to soften, to receive, to create, to nurture and to trust the quiet whispers of intuition.

The masculine invites us to become grounded, to take action with integrity, to create healthy boundaries, to protect what matters and to remain present when life feels uncertain.

Neither is greater than the other.

Neither exists to overpower the other.

They were always meant to move together, like breath flowing in and out, each supporting the other in perfect rhythm.

Perhaps the greatest act of healing is not choosing sides, but remembering that we were never meant to live divided within ourselves.

This reflection has become even more real for me through someone very close to home.

My partner, Mark, reminds me every day what healthy masculinity can look like.

He is the man who quietly holds me so that I can hold others. He supports the work of Peace Heal Love Wellbeing Centre without ever needing recognition or praise. He understands that this path asks much of me, and rather than competing with it, he creates the space for it to flourish.

Every year, as Wild Woman Refuge approaches, there are moments where the responsibility feels overwhelming. There are endless lists, unexpected challenges, physical exhaustion and the emotional weight of creating a space where women can arrive feeling safe enough to be seen exactly as they are.

Mark has witnessed all of it.

He has sat beside me through the overwhelm, through the tears and through the moments where burnout has quietly knocked at the door. He doesn't rush to fix everything or tell me to simply "push through." Instead, he listens. He reminds me to breathe. He helps me find solid ground again before quietly getting on with whatever needs doing.

He carries equipment, helps build the retreat spaces, solves problems before I even know they exist and gives his time and energy without ever expecting to be acknowledged for it.

Many of the women who arrive at Wild Woman Refuge will never realise how much of his steady presence has helped create the sanctuary they are about to step into.

I find something deeply beautiful in that.

A gathering devoted entirely to women is, in part, quietly supported by a man who understands that healthy masculinity doesn't need to be seen to be valuable. It simply creates safety for others to shine.

I admire many things about Mark, but perhaps the greatest is his willingness to continue healing.

He is willing to reflect on himself. He is willing to apologise. He is willing to ask difficult questions and have uncomfortable conversations. He rarely rushes to judgement, choosing instead to seek understanding and to see both sides of a situation.

To me, that is strength.

Not dominance.

Not control.

Not having all the answers.

Real strength is the courage to remain open.

It is the willingness to keep growing.

It is the humility to know there is always more to learn.

The truth is that the masculine has been wounded too.

Many men were never shown how to express emotion, how to communicate or how to ask for help. Many inherited generations of silence and were taught that vulnerability was weakness. Yet despite this, there are countless men quietly choosing a different path.

They are healing.

They are becoming present fathers.

They are supporting their partners.

They are breaking generational cycles.

They are learning to listen before they speak.

They are choosing connection over control.

These stories deserve to be honoured too.

Because what we honour grows.

Just as I silently celebrate the mother comforting her child in a supermarket or the woman finding the courage to choose herself for the first time, I also want to honour the fathers patiently holding little hands, the husbands supporting their partners' dreams, the sons choosing a gentler path and the grandfathers offering wisdom with kindness.

The world needs healthy women.

The world also needs healthy men.

One cannot flourish without the other.

The Divine Feminine does not ask us to diminish the masculine.

She asks us to heal our relationship with it.

Within ourselves.

Within our families.

Within our communities.

Because when the Divine Feminine and Divine Masculine rise together, we remember what it truly means to be whole.

And perhaps that is what healing has always been asking of us all along.