Emma Murray | Therapist

Emma Murray

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25.01.2022 Ok. So I haven’t posted like forever. So many reasons why, but none that seem important right now. Grab a cup of tea - this could be long, but hopefully wort...h it. It’s tough right now for everyone. Not just in our own backyards it’s tough right now across the entire world. There is just so much fear, so many uncontrollables and uncertanties... But you know, I feel like our family had a dress rehearsal for this situation. A dress rehearsal that thankfully not the majority of people get but a dress rehearsal that has given us such precious lessons and learnings that it would be remiss of me not to pass them on. On Jan 17, 2016 our life was changed forever when our 13 year old son jumped from a pier and broke his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic with no movement or feelings from the neck or shoulders down. It was horrific, we had no warning, we weren’t prepared, it came with no guide book we were spun into a world of fear and unknown with our only anchor being the love and support of our immediate community and this online community. There was so much to do but at the same time nothing we could do. Everyday my mind ran on automatic repeating the fear fuelled thoughts of, when will this be over, how can we survive this, what if we don’t survive this In the past 4 years I have been to numerous spiritual teachers, meditation retreats, hippy healers and mainstream therapists trying to find a way to turn down this fear, to find an answer to the fear, to stop the bloody fear! I learnt a lot. So much. But still carried the fear. It was a fear that was so intrusive that it crept into every moment, good or bad, and stole those moments from me. If Will made progress I didn’t just celebrate that progress, I layered it with, maybe that means we’re getting closer to this being over when will this be overwhat if this is never over. If my work was tough or the family was experiencing a challenge, I took the fear that Spinal Cord Injury had given me and I inserted it into that moment oh, that’s because this will never be over for us we won’t survive this what if we don’t survive this. A teacher then came into my life who taught me many things. But one day, with a throw away line, she gave me a piece of gold, a gift, a statement that changed my life forever. I call it an affirmation and I now give it to all my clients. An affirmation that finally silenced the fear ready Everything works out perfectly in my world perfect thank you. (I took it upon myself to change it to Perfect Fucking Thank you or #pft when I’m texting my clients it seemed to carry more weight that way). I don't know who I'm thanking - but I think, for me, it is an energy, something bigger and more powerful than I could ever be. She gave me this affirmation with little explanation but for me it was the kryptonite to my fear. For me, it gave reason to the challenges, to the uncertainties. All of a sudden I didn’t need to know how it was going to end or when it was going to end or why it even happened in the first place - I just needed to know that things were going to be ok... somehow. Knowing how it was working out perfectly for me was never important or is never important (read that line again). This affirmation is not a thought for me or a prediction - it is a feeling (and... read that line again). It enables me to drop into the feeling that it’s ok not to know, I don’t need to have control over the situation or understand this or have the finishing date for this I just need to know that for me, in my life, somehow, in some unknown and unfathomable way, this is working out perfectly. During any challenge, hardship or uncertainty, this one affirmation allows me to tap into the feelings of trust, belief, faith, patience, gratitude and even, when I nail it, excitement. I always teach my clients - you can only be in one emotional state at a time - trust, belief and gratitude always feels far better than anxiety, fear and worry. And when you change that emotional state, that’s when you can start to be more calm, more kind, more loving, more productive, more effective perhaps that's how it works perhaps that’s how things then start working out for you?? We have lost our entire income due to Covid-19. Will is considered high risk if he was to get the virus. Will is living with a carer and we are not with him and don’t know when we’ll be able to be with him again but as often as I can (and I don’t always get it right) I sit in everything works out perfectly in my world - perfect thank you. How can I genuinely say this like genuinely? Well, I don’t know, who knows, but maybe me losing all of my work due to the halt in the sporting industry will give me an opportunity to spread my voice to a broader audience. Maybe being stripped back from the busy-ness will give me time to re-connect with the lessons and learnings of spinal cord injury so that I can help heal our communities and our country perhaps even our world (I swear there’s no limit to this affirmation). Maybe Will being at high risk is the very lesson I need to accept that we have him here, now, even if it’s not the way it used to be or the way we want it to be maybe I should stop wishing for an end. I went for a walk this morning along the beach it was beautiful and it was a blessing BUT I HATED IT! I couldn’t breathe. My mind was racing. I was running doomsday pictures in my mind. I couldn't feel the sun on my face or the sand under my toes all I could feel was the fear and uncertainty strangling me. I stopped, I forced myself to breathe deeply, slowly. I reminded myself that everything works out perfectly in my world and I don’t know what that is and what that looks like, but it does... I have trust in that. I looked out at the water and the sky, I imagined my family re-connecting at some point in time and the renewed appreciation we would feel for each other, I reflected on the opportunity I have to help people at this time and to have a strong, powerful important voice (I may or may not have imagined me being interviewed by Oprah!!). I didn’t try and find the answers to "how will this work out perfectly?" - instead I just dropped into the feelings of it working out perfectly. Into the trust, the belief, the faith, gratitude and patience (couldn’t get to excitement... and that's ok). I don’t know when this will be over I don’t know how we’ll survive this but in that moment, when I stopped on the beach, all I felt was an overwhelming sense of perfect fucking thank you". PS. So how’s Will??...I know that's why you read to the end!! here’s some footage of how he’s spending isolation it’s my biggest #pft yet!! What's your #pft right now?

24.01.2022 I’m going to kick off this platform with the most powerful exercise you can do for yourself this year. It will require 15min of your time and you will need a quiet spot and a pair of headphones... if within that list of instructions you have already created a reason why you can’t do the exercise... then you need it more than anyone else!

23.01.2022 Welcome to day 1 of 21 days of High Performance Habits. Check out today’s video for steps to building Habit #1: Catching The Crap

22.01.2022 As a number of people have pointed out to me... Mindfulness Monday came and went without my usual post Yep... that’s right... Instead of having my head in a phone posting on social media or recording a visualisation, I was here ... doing my own meditation (yes that is in real time... that is not a photo from the archives) Such an important mindful message in this....... You must look after your own energy above all else I talk to my clients about energy in versus energy out and when more is going out then coming in, the research tells us that we start to become more irritable, we pick up more coughs and colds, anxiety goes up, we become more susceptible to soft tissue injuries and niggly body aches (anyone got a sore back right now )... and, when it really goes unchecked... that’s when we end up falling into depression. So - what’s the mindful lesson When we meet the moment without attaching to other people’s judgements... and when we meet the moment with the question what do I need right now? without worrying about what other people think... or what we should or shouldn’t be doing... that’s when all of the anxiety and stress and the what if’s and if only’s drop away and we start to find joy and lightness and energy in each moment of our day. This is not easy... this takes daily practice and work... that’s why we call it a mindfulness practice. As empathetic humans we are all giving out a lot of energy right now with everything that is going on in our world. I encourage you all to check in on your own energy and what you need right now. Let go of the shoulds and the guilt and get back in balance. (A whale and a pod of dolphins put on a show for me right after my meditation... Yup = Energy In )

20.01.2022 Mindfulness Monday is about giving you Mindfulness lessons and tips and exercises to help you become more present and bring your strengths to the moment. Well... for today’s Mindfulness Monday, here’s the biggest lesson, tip and exercise I could ever give you... GO AND LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST I’m incredibly proud and excited to share with you a new podcast series that I recorded with the incredibly insightful and talented Jo Stanley - Best of You in the House of Wellness.... This podcast goes into the lives and careers of some of Australia’s best athletes as we have the privilege of interviewing Australian cricketer @willpucovski , Olympic track and field superstar @morganmitch, V8 Supercar Champion and Bathurst winner @smclaughlin93, BMX World Champion @cbuchanan68 and AFL dual premiership player @brandonellis . The generosity of these athletes in sharing their inner fears, and doubts and mental challenges and their journeys of learning mindfulness to take their lives and performances to another level - blew me away. What we can learn from each of their stories is so powerful and important for all of our own lives. My purpose as a high performance mindfulness coach is to actually take mindfulness beyond just this feel good word we throw around and help people, genuinely understand what it is, how to be more mindful and how to incorporate it into their world. This podcast achieves this on a whole new level - better than any quick tip I can give you in an Instagram post. Each episode we bring to life key mindfulness principles around focus, and acceptance and following your truth. Every episode is wrapped up with a practical exercise that builds on the previous one so that you can start to develop a mindfulness practice of your own. I hate listening to my own voice... but could not stop listening to this. The whole series is available now on Podcast One Australia or search Best of You in the House of Wellness on Spotify or Apple. This podcast is made possible by Panadol.

18.01.2022 One of my favourite sayings since Will’s accident is I can do hard things The most powerful mindset tool we have is optimism - it’s not actually positivity. Optimism is the belief you can find a way forward... it’s not a belief that everything is perfect and positive ... Every time we meet a challenge and find a way to survive that challenge, it becomes powerful evidence for our mind that we are capable of finding a way My favourite mantra of I can do hard things is like putting evidence in the bank for me and when things get tough and I want to run and hide or I want to curl up in a ball and not move... I just reach into that bank of I can do hard things and find the optimism to keep moving forward. Full disclosure - I am up North and not wearing a mask and not in Stage 4 lockdown and I’m so incredibly grateful for that . But my son, with a spinal cord injury, who’s had his VCE derailed, is in Melb, without his family and without his support network. Our hard things look different to others’... not easier, not worse. What people are going through is tough right now... it’s scary... it’s isolating... it’s frustrating... it’s NOT FUN ... but I believe we can all do hard things when we support each other... cheer for each other... listen to each other... reach out to each other. Please borrow my mantra and make it your own. On my toughest days I repeat it over and over... You got this people Love and thoughts to you all

17.01.2022 Flying into double digits like.... Happy 10th birthday Gussie! We you

17.01.2022 Flying into double digits like.... Happy 10th birthday Gussie! We you

16.01.2022 There's breathing to stay alive.... then there's breathing to change your life. Make 2021 different... Make 2021 better...... Make 2021 your best yet... and it starts with the habit of using your breath. Tag your friends... Touch base with your accountability group... And let us know how you go.

14.01.2022 So proud of Will for his recent selection into the Australian Cricket Test squad We hear and see so much of the physical side to an athlete’s success... but very rarely get a glimpse into the work they put into the mental side of their sport. Working with Will over the past few months to help build his focus, awareness and performance strategies has been a joy and a privledge. The FOX Sports Australia article below includes a podcast about Will’s mental health struggles ...and the daily strategies he’s now using to help him play his best cricket. #pft https://www.foxsports.com.au//31210962ebc2b10cebae0fd658fd

14.01.2022 Habit #1 Catch The Crap. January 1, 2021... here we go! Let's kick off 21 days of High Performance Habits with the important habit of Catching The Crap We can't step into our best energy and best performance this year if we can't catch ourselves in all of those unhelpful daily habits that have crept into our lives during the horrific-ness of 2020.... Tag your friends... Touch base with your accountability group... And let us know how you go. We're pumped to have you come on this journey with us - let's make the next 21 days epic! Happy New Year... now get to work.

14.01.2022 I shared with a corporate zoom audience the other day that very recently, for close to three days straight... I ate chocolate chip butter cake (that my 10 year old son baked... with a bucket load of butter and a bucket load of choc chips... quite obviously ). I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and snacks in between) Every piece was going to be my last piece... I would walk up and down the stairs cutting off tiny slithers attempting to convince myself that I wasn...’t eating that much I eat pretty well normally - cake is not a regular staple on my daily diet... but this continued for three days straight!!!!!... and pretty much replaced all other food... and in fact, all other positive daily habits that keep me grounded and productive for the most part. But here’s the thing... on day 3 I caught myself and I set myself the task to write down what was really going on. Why was I doing this??? The answer had nothing to do with cravings, or lockdown, or boredom, or anxiety (like I’d been telling myself) but had everything to do with my business and the challenges that had resulted in me having to pivot my business due to covid. As I wrote I had to get really honest about where my business was at versus where I wanted it to be. I had to be honest about my passion versus what earns me money and where I place my time. The more honest I got - the clearer the picture became. It is this clarity which enables me to catch the struggle quicker. It is this clarity which enables me to call stop on behaviour that is tripping me up and refocus on things that serve me better. We can’t change our weirdness but we can muster up the courage to get really honest about our chocolate chip butter cake moments... because that is where the magic lies Anyone want the recipe

14.01.2022 Ok. So I haven’t posted like forever. So many reasons why, but none that seem important right now. Grab a cup of tea - this could be long, but hopefully wort...h it. It’s tough right now for everyone. Not just in our own backyards it’s tough right now across the entire world. There is just so much fear, so many uncontrollables and uncertanties... But you know, I feel like our family had a dress rehearsal for this situation. A dress rehearsal that thankfully not the majority of people get but a dress rehearsal that has given us such precious lessons and learnings that it would be remiss of me not to pass them on. On Jan 17, 2016 our life was changed forever when our 13 year old son jumped from a pier and broke his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic with no movement or feelings from the neck or shoulders down. It was horrific, we had no warning, we weren’t prepared, it came with no guide book we were spun into a world of fear and unknown with our only anchor being the love and support of our immediate community and this online community. There was so much to do but at the same time nothing we could do. Everyday my mind ran on automatic repeating the fear fuelled thoughts of, when will this be over, how can we survive this, what if we don’t survive this In the past 4 years I have been to numerous spiritual teachers, meditation retreats, hippy healers and mainstream therapists trying to find a way to turn down this fear, to find an answer to the fear, to stop the bloody fear! I learnt a lot. So much. But still carried the fear. It was a fear that was so intrusive that it crept into every moment, good or bad, and stole those moments from me. If Will made progress I didn’t just celebrate that progress, I layered it with, maybe that means we’re getting closer to this being over when will this be overwhat if this is never over. If my work was tough or the family was experiencing a challenge, I took the fear that Spinal Cord Injury had given me and I inserted it into that moment oh, that’s because this will never be over for us we won’t survive this what if we don’t survive this. A teacher then came into my life who taught me many things. But one day, with a throw away line, she gave me a piece of gold, a gift, a statement that changed my life forever. I call it an affirmation and I now give it to all my clients. An affirmation that finally silenced the fear ready Everything works out perfectly in my world perfect thank you. (I took it upon myself to change it to Perfect Fucking Thank you or #pft when I’m texting my clients it seemed to carry more weight that way). I don't know who I'm thanking - but I think, for me, it is an energy, something bigger and more powerful than I could ever be. She gave me this affirmation with little explanation but for me it was the kryptonite to my fear. For me, it gave reason to the challenges, to the uncertainties. All of a sudden I didn’t need to know how it was going to end or when it was going to end or why it even happened in the first place - I just needed to know that things were going to be ok... somehow. Knowing how it was working out perfectly for me was never important or is never important (read that line again). This affirmation is not a thought for me or a prediction - it is a feeling (and... read that line again). It enables me to drop into the feeling that it’s ok not to know, I don’t need to have control over the situation or understand this or have the finishing date for this I just need to know that for me, in my life, somehow, in some unknown and unfathomable way, this is working out perfectly. During any challenge, hardship or uncertainty, this one affirmation allows me to tap into the feelings of trust, belief, faith, patience, gratitude and even, when I nail it, excitement. I always teach my clients - you can only be in one emotional state at a time - trust, belief and gratitude always feels far better than anxiety, fear and worry. And when you change that emotional state, that’s when you can start to be more calm, more kind, more loving, more productive, more effective perhaps that's how it works perhaps that’s how things then start working out for you?? We have lost our entire income due to Covid-19. Will is considered high risk if he was to get the virus. Will is living with a carer and we are not with him and don’t know when we’ll be able to be with him again but as often as I can (and I don’t always get it right) I sit in everything works out perfectly in my world - perfect thank you. How can I genuinely say this like genuinely? Well, I don’t know, who knows, but maybe me losing all of my work due to the halt in the sporting industry will give me an opportunity to spread my voice to a broader audience. Maybe being stripped back from the busy-ness will give me time to re-connect with the lessons and learnings of spinal cord injury so that I can help heal our communities and our country perhaps even our world (I swear there’s no limit to this affirmation). Maybe Will being at high risk is the very lesson I need to accept that we have him here, now, even if it’s not the way it used to be or the way we want it to be maybe I should stop wishing for an end. I went for a walk this morning along the beach it was beautiful and it was a blessing BUT I HATED IT! I couldn’t breathe. My mind was racing. I was running doomsday pictures in my mind. I couldn't feel the sun on my face or the sand under my toes all I could feel was the fear and uncertainty strangling me. I stopped, I forced myself to breathe deeply, slowly. I reminded myself that everything works out perfectly in my world and I don’t know what that is and what that looks like, but it does... I have trust in that. I looked out at the water and the sky, I imagined my family re-connecting at some point in time and the renewed appreciation we would feel for each other, I reflected on the opportunity I have to help people at this time and to have a strong, powerful important voice (I may or may not have imagined me being interviewed by Oprah!!). I didn’t try and find the answers to "how will this work out perfectly?" - instead I just dropped into the feelings of it working out perfectly. Into the trust, the belief, the faith, gratitude and patience (couldn’t get to excitement... and that's ok). I don’t know when this will be over I don’t know how we’ll survive this but in that moment, when I stopped on the beach, all I felt was an overwhelming sense of perfect fucking thank you". PS. So how’s Will??...I know that's why you read to the end!! here’s some footage of how he’s spending isolation it’s my biggest #pft yet!! What's your #pft right now?

11.01.2022 ...and this is why we should all be doing our Mindfulness Monday exercises There are so many mindfulness quotes and experts telling us what we should be doing... but no-one tells us HOW! If you are in desperate need of closing a few mental tabs right now then DO the 5min exercise that is part 2 of my most recent Mindfulness Monday post . Let me repeat... DO the exercise! DO something today that actually closes your mental tabs rather than just think about it . Thinking about mindfulness just becomes another open tab... ponder that

11.01.2022 Breathe in... Breathe out.. x 5 Tag your friends...... Touch base with your accountability group... And let us know how you go. Follow our 21 Day High Performance Habit Exercise Series on IGTV https://www.instagram.com/p/CJgHpMLH5pm/

10.01.2022 Do better to feel better For years now we keep looking for ways to feel better so that we can then go and do better. Do better in our sport, do better in our jobs, do better in our creative pursuits, do better as a parent, a partner a friend and a sibling, do better with our health, do better with our finances, do better with our lives. ... High Performance Mindfulness flips this notion on its head and is all about giving you the tools to start performing at your best in all aspects of your life NOW and we guarantee this will make you feel better! Want to be a part of it? Join us for 21 days of High Performance Habits to kick off 2021 the right way. How? Jan 1 right here

10.01.2022 One of my favourite sayings since Will’s accident is I can do hard things The most powerful mindset tool we have is optimism - it’s not actually positivity. Optimism is the belief you can find a way forward... it’s not a belief that everything is perfect and positive ... Every time we meet a challenge and find a way to survive that challenge, it becomes powerful evidence for our mind that we are capable of finding a way My favourite mantra of I can do hard things is like putting evidence in the bank for me and when things get tough and I want to run and hide or I want to curl up in a ball and not move... I just reach into that bank of I can do hard things and find the optimism to keep moving forward. Full disclosure - I am up North and not wearing a mask and not in Stage 4 lockdown and I’m so incredibly grateful for that . But my son, with a spinal cord injury, who’s had his VCE derailed, is in Melb, without his family and without his support network. Our hard things look different to others’... not easier, not worse. What people are going through is tough right now... it’s scary... it’s isolating... it’s frustrating... it’s NOT FUN ... but I believe we can all do hard things when we support each other... cheer for each other... listen to each other... reach out to each other. Please borrow my mantra and make it your own. On my toughest days I repeat it over and over... You got this people Love and thoughts to you all

10.01.2022 Will turned 17 yesterday Someone wise once told me that when you feel like you’re in a hurricane getting hammered and thrown around to sit in thanks and appreciation for what’s to come. They encouraged me to say thank-you as if everything I wanted had already been done... even though I didn’t...and most days couldn’t...do a thing. So today I say a heart felt Thank-you .... And I encourage you to try it too... See more

10.01.2022 How many personal development books have you read and they talk about the importance of setting goals for your professional life, your work, your health. Every time I read about goals - I stick it on my MUST DO list . And then life happens and life happens so darn quickly that day in and day out we are in reactive mode jumping from one urgent need to the next. Those goals get pushed to the side and become another thing we haven’t done - another thing we’ve dropped the... ball on. . Do you know what successful people focus on? . They focus on what they want their lives to LOOK like and FEEL like - they focus on the picture and energy of what they want in their coming year. This picture effectively gives your mind a map to follow and it becomes easier to follow paths that look and feel how you want them to and it also becomes easier to know what to say no to, when something doesn’t look and feel the way you want it to. . Creating a picture of your year in your mind is really tricky. Visualising is a skill we actually need to learn many an untrained mind have ended up visualising their to do list for the next day instead of picturing their most fabulous year eva! . So, hey - I’ve done it for you! Jump onto my instagram @em.murray.1 and head to IGTV for a 9min and 40secs guided visualisation. It is medatative, relaxing, powerful and darn right awesome! Hows about you forgoe the next 9min and 40secs of insta scrolling that you were about to do and chuck on some headphones, find a relatively quiet spot where you won’t be interrupted and create yourself something incredible. . Your mind, body and 2019 says a big, hardy thank you! See more

08.01.2022 If anyone can find the guy going around telling us that to meditate effectively we need to sit cross legged in a quiet place and still our minds can you tell him where to go for me! Note to you all let’s make 2019 the year we get good at our jobs, get good at parenting, get good at our relationships, get good at loving ourselves (meditation can help with all of this ). Let’s let go of thinking that meditation is something that we need to get good at in order t...o have it in our lives. Or more to the point let’s let go of the notion that I can’t meditate because I’m no good at it. Meditation is about de-exciting the mind so that we can let go of stress, get out of fight and flight and left brain critical thinking and get back on our path, get clarity around what we want, tap into our intuition, turn on our right brain wifi so we can connect to others around us. Meditation is NOT about stilling the mind! Loved meditating with the Richmond FC boys, staff and coaches this morning and loved that so many young guys were willing to give it a go. Loved that it was in the lobby of a hotel restaurant and absolutely loved that some boys meditated for 7mins and some pushed on for 20mins. No-one was trying to get meditation right this morning everyone was just trying to turn on their wifi for the day. No rules meditation!! Today, tomorrow or the next day sitting at the traffic lights, waiting for the train, before you go into an important meeting, before walking into your home to be with the kids, before starting your physical training take your full attention to the breath and hold it on the breath. Become curious about what that breath feels like and sounds like. Wait for the breath to slow down and become deeper and BOOM you just meditated! Let me know how you go. See more

08.01.2022 Will turned 17 yesterday Someone wise once told me that when you feel like you’re in a hurricane getting hammered and thrown around to sit in thanks and appreciation for what’s to come. They encouraged me to say thank-you as if everything I wanted had already been done... even though I didn’t...and most days couldn’t...do a thing. So today I say a heart felt Thank-you .... And I encourage you to try it too... See more

06.01.2022 100 Games for this Champ What do you say about an athlete who’s incredible skill, work ethic and commitment to team first makes him a stand out on the field... yet his star qualities as a person, shine even brighter? An inspiring leader who teaches us everyday what persistence and dedication to your dreams can lead to. Take it all in Lambo - you’ve earnt this one ... @kanelambert See more

05.01.2022 ...and this is why we should all be doing our Mindfulness Monday exercises There are so many mindfulness quotes and experts telling us what we should be doing... but no-one tells us HOW! If you are in desperate need of closing a few mental tabs right now then DO the 5min exercise that is part 2 of my most recent Mindfulness Monday post . Let me repeat... DO the exercise! DO something today that actually closes your mental tabs rather than just think about it . Thinking about mindfulness just becomes another open tab... ponder that

03.01.2022 Amazing debut by Oscar! Takes incredible focus and presence to take out the win of the first race of an interrupted season. Not bad for a young rookie

03.01.2022 Join Australia's leading mindset coach Emma Murray for 21 Days of High Performance Habits - a free practice each day starting 1 January right here.

02.01.2022 Last night I spoke to Will, my 18 year old son who is in Stage 4 lockdown in Melbourne... without me near him and battling with the realisation that his final year of school has been ripped away from him and his mates He was incredibly frustrated and angry on the phone. That made my guilt and overwhelm and fear of having so much distance between us intensify. So what did I do? I breathed... deeply and consciously ... Why? Because feelings come and feelings go and when we’re experiencing feelings that aren’t serving us or helping us - the best thing to do is let them pass. Easier said than done... but let me give you the science behind this. Neuroscientist, Jill Bolte-Taylor, says the physiological lifespan of an emotion in the body and brain is 90 seconds The sensations we feel that we label as anger, guilt, overwhelm, fear... are constantly shifting. The tight chest, the racing heart, the heavy legs, the sweaty palms... they pass... if you allow them to. You see, the problem is, we keep the physiology of unhelpful emotions alive in our bodies by the stories we tell ourselves. If I got off the phone and started telling myself that I should be with Will and if he gets sick I may never see him again and I’m a terrible mum for not being with him in his time of need... my tight shoulders, throat and neck would have strangled me... my breathing would have got shallow, my mind would have raced and become more hyper vigilant and my stomach would have churned Instead, I told myself to stop and just put my full attention on the breath... knowing that a slower, deeper breath would shift my physiology and allow those emotions to pass. It’s sort of counter-intuitive... breathe deeply when every part of you wants to hold your breath in fear or anger. I wish I could take lockdown away for all my Melbourne friends and particularly for Will. I can’t... but I can give you the gift of reminding you to take 3 really conscious, deep breaths right here, right now