Kelly Ryan Creative in Port Kembla, New South Wales | Photographer

Kelly Ryan Creative

Locality: Port Kembla, New South Wales

Phone: +61 428 433 650

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25.01.2022 Winter is here and I am feeling completely aligned with the energy of winter, quiet, slow & inward in the most nurturing ways. It's a time for snuggles on the couch, reading books, big blankets, open hearts and deep listening to stories from perspectives beyond our own limited vision. This image is one I captured on a personal branding shoot with @rachelbridge_mamabefrank and her beautiful girls a week ago. ... See more

25.01.2022 ONLINE MEDITATION CHALLENGE! Are you starting to feel ready to ease back into some supportive personal routines again? I know I am after letting everything go for the holidays (which was oh soooooo sweet!). Join me or 21 days of meditation. A short 20 minute practice of pranayama and meditation that I will conduct via a private instagram group with daily live videos which you can do with me live or at your own timing. Plus we get the added bonus of supporting each oth...er with our questions and reflections. Let's create a private instagram sanctuary to find clarity amidst the distraction of social media! We kick off THIS Monday 11th January and it's only $21. Once you have signed up (check the link in my profile) message me and I will admit you to our private instagram container at @YV_meditation_challenge Who's with me??? Sign up link in the first comment below!

24.01.2022 LAST CALL FOR LOCKING IN MY 2020 PRICES FOR PHOTOSHOOTS! This is another one of my favourite images from the recent workshop "Mother: Body of Art" with @the_rachael_rose and @tegan.georgette . This is beautifully pregnant Mumma and local doula @trudy_legaudi kind enough to let me share one of her images from the mini photo shoots the participants received. If you are wanting some moody window lit images, some rainforest magic, newborn documentary style or a co-creati...on of your personal branding vision to come alive - then get in touch! Bookings made before the end of the year will lock in my 2020 prices and pinch some of my last spots available for January! Doesn't Trudy look like a total Queen in this image? As is every woman but it's so nice for us to have images to capture us in that essence - especially at this sacred time of fullness! See more

23.01.2022 I couldn't possibly write a caption that resonates more deeply with me than what @the_rachael_rose did in regards to this image from our session. So i will just post her words below. "Softness & stripes. Body appreciation and love is personally challenging for me during pregnancy. I 'm determined to document and honour the transformation, so I can look back in awe once this is over." The only thing that I would add is even post pregnancy - four years on I still find t...he same challenges in unabashedly accepting the ever changing shape of this vessel of mine. See more

23.01.2022 It is pretty safe to say that for a while now I have been chest deep in my shadow. When everything started 7 weeks ago, I was using all of my child free time to get the studio up online and my personal practice fell apart. Time spent on the mat in meditation or moving my body was instead spent in front of a computer. Old stories are rearing their ugly head, my old friends depression and anxiety came back with a vengeance, I got stuck in the victim loop - you know, victim ...to time, money, circumstance etc. and of course I haven't been embodying the high expectations of parenthood that I set for myself - cue the spiral of mother guilt and shame. Today I was gifted the most precious reset. Nick took the day off work so I could have a day to get back on track, he took Cedar out for a big bike ride. I woke up and watched inspiring videos in bed with coffee. I had a shower, did a semi-restorative yoga practice, breath work and meditation. I went back to bed and read inspiring books, chatted to friends online, ate toasties (in bed) and drank more tea. I journaled and rewrote narratives that have been holding me captive over the last few weeks (months, lifetime) and by half way through the day I couldn't believe I was the same person that I had been over the last couple of days. It helped me remember a few things: I don't need Nick at home to take a break and choose to replenish - I just think that I do and that voice can be very convincing. Yoga practice works - but only if you get enough sleep, meet yourself from a place of love & acceptance and actually show up, day after day. It's ok. I am ok. Cedar is ok. There is no instruction manual for parenting, especially at this time and we are all figuring it out the best we can. I have support and it's ok to use it. It's not weakness - it's strength. I am entitled to bad days and so are you. It's important to hold the darkness just as gently as you hold the light. The light is always changing and that's how we come to know our truth. Love, peace & clarity are an inside job - but a partner who provides the space for that is worth his weight in gold. See more

23.01.2022 Quite literally counting my blessings as I review all the sacred words I received from the beautiful women folk who attended my Mother Blessing. Reading those words sent by my own Mother from afar... feeling the magic of this poetry as I hear the wind blowing outside. Falling in love with the spells we are able to create with our words. ... Receiving the many gifts of yielding, nourishment and support as I come home after being nurtured by another dear maternal figure in my life. Surrendering to the feminine and all that is in this moment. Savouring the sacredness of liminal times and spaces in between. I am a willow tree.

23.01.2022 Hey dear ones, just a friendly reminder that I am offering 15% off my "Entrepreneurs Dream" personal branding package to anyone who books in by the end of this week! So if you have been thinking about it - now is the time to jump in on this. I'm also heading down to Milton to shoot the ever inspiring @jemmapaewhenua on Sunday the 19th April and i'd love to do a session with someone else in Milton on the Saturday afternoon/evening before hand to really make the most out of... the trip. So if you are in the Milton/Conjola park area and would like a family session or a personal branding/yoga session on that day - please get in touch, for a nice little extra saving to help me fill this spot!! One of my favourites from a shoot last year with @prudenceyoga and @sainthemp #yoga #entrepreneur #yogateacher #milton #ulladulla #lakeconjola #southcoast #wollongong #welovethegong #heart #love #inspire #white #highkeyphotography #photographer #photography #woman #yogadaily #meditation #meditationdaily #gratitude #personalbranding #pregnancy #family #studiophotography #portkembla #inspiration #gratitude See more

21.01.2022 Hi there, I’m Kelly! I decided to do a bit of a re-introduction, as there are a lot of new faces around here as of the last month or so and you might not know much about me. I mean not to mention the fact we are constantly rebirthing ourselves in every moment (wether or not we show up the same or different gets to be our choice). I am many things, a mother, partner, sister, daughter, woman, human, student & teacher of yoga & personal growth as well as a soulful portrait an...d lifestyle photographer. Over the last year, something has become astoundingly clear to me. I LOVE capturing the essence of women. I love the seasons of womanhood, from Maiden to Mother, to Maga to Crone. I love the collaborative, creative aspect of coming together with another woman, of truly seeing her and capturing the beauty that she herself, might not be able to see. As women, we have a habit of overanalysing ourselves, of only seeing our imperfections and constantly comparing ourselves to our more perfect counterparts. I know I do it. I know some of the most conventionally beautiful women I have ever seen do it and I am guessing you do it too! Did you know, the Navajo people of the American Southwest have a belief.... They say that perfection keeps Spirit from entering a thing. In their masterful weavings, they incorporate a deliberate irregularity, an errant line or color that looks like an unintented flaw but is actually a purposeful deviation called a spirit line, the place where Mystery might enter. So as of this year, I am choosing to show up WITH my imperfections and my mystery, which right now is no make up, bed head and still in my pj’s . Instead of letting my imperfection stop me from creating and fully participating - I am going to fully participate BECAUSE of those imperfections and invite spirit, and creativity and all things unique and beautiful. and if no one has reminded you today, can I just say, you, dear sister (or brother, if you are reading this), are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

20.01.2022 Anyone else out there fantasising over lazy days with no one else in the house (or at least in your immediate vicinity) for hours at a time? Kicking back with cups of tea in your favourite chair, reading books or just staring out the window. Complete yoga practices with luxuriously long meditations afterwards. ... Listening to music, dancing like no one is watching - because no one is watching. Singing at the top of your lungs like no one was listening - because as far as you are concerned the neighbours can not hear you. Having the space to feel into your creativity and act on impulse. Procrastinating. Not cleaning up after you make lunch. While i'm here - someone else making you lunch. Doing sweet. Fuck. All. and not even feeling guilty about it because there is no one there to say "I'm bored, can you play with me." Or is it just me? See more

20.01.2022 Into the unknown we go... well not really - I have walked these tunnels before many years ago; these were the words however, that popped into my head as I was editing these photos tonight and it felt in many ways like the time we currently find ourselves in. No reference point, not sure how long it goes for and the writing on the wall is either quite dark or doesn't make any sense at all. Cedar and Nick found the tunnels last night but didn't have a torch, so our hour of... exercise this afternoon took us on a little mission of discovery. It brought back so many memories, I actually went to what was called Illawarra Senior College for year 11 & 12 and i made the tunnels the subject of one of my major photography assignments. Not even a torch to light the way back then, just a lighter from my cigarette packet. They have been cleaned up a lot since then but there is still an eeriness to it. Cedar loved it though - sooooo keen to explore. Give me an abandoned, run down, dilapidated, graffiti ridden building and I am in heaven. I feel the history, honour the beauty of its demise and see the potential of crazy forgotten spaces. Years ago before I was a "responsible" parent I used to make friends with the lost souls who seek shelter in such spaces. It was an old run down presbyterian Church in my beloved Glebe - then derelict - now restored - that inspired Little Branches Big Trees and has played a role in every spark of business & community inspiration I have ever had. So many things coming full circle lately. So many moments where I feel like I have landed back at a pivotal crossroads from 10 years ago and I get to choose again. What are we walking into here? See more

20.01.2022 A VISION If we will have the wisdom to survive, to stand like slow growing trees on a ruined place, renewing, enriching it... then a long time after we are dead, ... the lives our lives prepare will live here, their houses strongly placed upon the valley sides, fields and gardens rich in the windows. The river will run clear, as we will never know it, and over it, birdsong like a canopy... On the steps where greed and ignorance cut down the old forest, an old forest will stand, it’s rich leaf-fall drifting on its roots. The veins of forgotten springs will have opened. Families will be singing in the fields. In their voices they will hear a music risen of the ground... Memory, native to this valley, will spread over it like a grove, and memory will grow into legend, legend into song, song into sacrament. The abundance of this place, the song of its people and it’s birds, will be health and wisdom and indwelling light. This is no paradisal dream. It’s hardship is its possibility. Words to live for by Wendell Berry. Hold the vision tenderly always. Especially in times like this.

19.01.2022 When I did my first meditation teacher training (about 16 years ago now - eeek), I studied with a girl fresh out of high school & her story always stuck with me. Even though having children was a world away for me at the time, I filed her experience away for safe keeping knowing it was important information for when I finally became a parent. She told me she had always grown up with meditation as a part of her life, her parents were both yogis (actual yogis who meditated - n...ot just asana addicts), she had grown up watching them meditate & they had taught & encouraged her to do it from a young age. She said that even though she had gone through periods of her childhood & teenage years when she hadn’t meditated as regularly - it had always been there in the background as a tool she could access anytime. She told me how she felt it gave her this really strong inner compass that was unwavering and she always seemed to know who she was - she never really doubted herself like other kids. When her friends went out partying and drinking alcohol & trying drugs - she always went with them & had an awesome time but she didn’t ever feel like she had to drink or take anything in order to have fun or fit in. This was why she wanted to be a teacher. Her story stuck like glue to my soul as it always made me wonder. wow, who would I be now if I had grown up with meditation? The above are some of the ways we weave meditation into Cedar’s life. He went through a phase of being quite resistant & we didn’t push it or force it. Seeing @nick.mcn start meditating and doing breathing practices with him has been huge in cultivating his willingness as well as them doing it regularly at school. Now one of my favourite parts of the day is sitting in bed next to him, with my eyes closed, leading him through a 15 minute meditation to help him relax and get to sleep. I ask him to choose a theme, like clouds, trains, waves, colours etc. & make up a meditation around what he chooses. He loves it and when I don’t feel like it - YouTube has an abundance to choose from. Have you started teaching your child(ren) meditation or other relaxation techniques? I’d love to hear how!

18.01.2022 INTENTION, MEDITATION & SHIFTING YOUR DIRECTION At this time of year especially there is a lot of talk about setting goals and intentions. It seems to come with varying levels of intensity & commitment and dare I say it... shame, but what is the best way to work with an intention? I can only really speak for myself but I have definitely moved away from setting specific goals at least from a "new years resolution" perspective and moved more towards journalling around ideas of ...my perfect day or week, what I would be doing and most importantly how I would feel. I also really LOVE the idea of working with a specific theme. Then I write out a small paragraph that encompasses this intention or them and read it to myself both before and after meditation. When we meditate our brain shifts out of the active beta state and into the alpha state promoting relaxation and calming the nervous system. Advanced meditators can move into deeper states (like Gamma), but for most people starting out they aren't relevant though definitely something to aspire to (over many years of consistent practice! This helps us shift from the exploitative brain to the explorative brain. The exploitative brain (active when we are stressed) is where we are stuck in old habits and patterns and basically running on automatic - it can be near impossible to create change or start a new habit when functioning from this place. The explorative brain (active when we are relaxed, calm and feel safe) is the creative brain that allows us to explore & learn new things, and create new neural pathways, habits and ways of being. This is why I will be inviting our participants in the 21 Day Meditation Challenge to spend half an hour journalling & come up with a short paragraph, an intention or a theme/quality they wish to embody more deeply and read it to themselves both at the start and at the end of our meditation practice. Then they get to let their subconscious do the work from there! We kick off tomorrow & I will be going live on the private account @YV_meditation_challenge later tonight to welcome everybody - so if you want to join us you can read the info and register using the link in my bio!

18.01.2022 I wish someone had warned these two... I wish someone had told us that it was not only ok, but we would absolutely need to dedicate some time to grieving the maiden (and whatever the male equivalent is) version of ourselves as we transitioned into parenthood. I have been reflecting on this lot lately. The process that @nick.mcn and I went through on our first journey into parenthood. We really weren’t prepared for the grief of losing ourselves to the new stage of life we w...ere about to enter, even though we were so ready and excited to enter it. It really wasn’t until Cedar was two and I mentioned something about getting back to my old self, that a student of mine said to me: That book is closed you have to let go of who you were before. That person is gone and you can never return to her. It was mike a slap in the face but also a precious precious gift as I viscerally felt something click inside of me. It was only then that I truly realised I had been holding on and sending my energy out to this past version of myself, resisting fully stepping into my new life. On discussion, Nick admitted he had been doing the same thing. That gift allowed us in a way to start embodying the parents and people we actually wanted to be. I really wish we had a cultural initiation process that involved helping us to understand, that as we become parents we say goodbye to an aspect of ourselves and we must grieve that loss in order to fully step into and welcome the next stage of life as parents. Really I wish we had loads of cultural initiation processes to help us navigate the transition through many stages of life! This time we are ready. To grieve a little (our life as a family of three) and fully step into and embrace our lives as a family of four! Did you ever consciously grieve this transition? Or have you made space to if you are yet to embark on the journey of parenthood?

17.01.2022 This is what happens when @crooked_branch_co falls asleep on the couch in my office while I am working. : : He really has been buzzing with prana and energy since getting back from the breathwork journey with @theo2awakening last week! :... : In seriousness though, it was just a test but I actually love this image, it reminds me of the marma points in the subtle anatomy of the yoga system. Pin points of light throughout the body that we bring our attention to in meditation, in order to give ourselves the experience of spacious awareness. : : Experience yourself as these points of light like the body were a constellation of stars... then come to know that you are simultaneously the light of the stars and the vast infinite space in between. See more

15.01.2022 EXPRESS YOURSELF This was the theme that came up when I journaled at the beginning of the last lunar cycle. Over pages and pages of writing it kept coming up that I must sing, dance, draw, speak, share, write, scream, to make noise, be seen and not be afraid. They became my blood prayers and my mantra for this cycle. Basically to live with the freedom of a toddler yet the life lessons of my almost 40 years. ... So I did, I drew, I shared stories, I photographed myself, I filmed my first video, I spoke up, I cast off the shackles of some neat little boxes I had put myself in... and you know what happened? Well for starters I began to feel pretty amazing. I felt way more connected to a lot more people in deeper and more meaningful ways. People started sending me pictures of their art that they had either not done in ages or been too scared to share with others. The picture above was one of them, at the time half finished. Not only that, through me expressing what came naturally to me I attracted five amazing invitations to collaborate with other woman on inspiring projects that have nothing to do with yoga, are completely different to anything I have every done before and both excite and inspire me. These collaboration offers came as a direct result of me expressing openly and freely and would not have come otherwise. So dear sisters (and brothers if you have made it this far) I invite you to try at least 30 days, if not a life time of expressing yourself in as many ways as you can. Warning: It may invite profound levels of magic into your life. NB: I wrote this post out several weeks ago - before our whole world started to change but I didn't post it because I hadn't yet taken a photo to go with it. Then CV happened and it got lost, it didn't really reflect how I was feeling anymore nor seem relevant anymore. But then @becky_nubley sent me her finished artwork... of me and it felt like it was the reminder I needed to not let what I had learned in this past lunar cycle go. Thank you dear Becky from the bottom of my heart - I needed to remember that expressing myself freely is always the medicine - then, now & always.

14.01.2022 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

14.01.2022 I’m curious, have you uncovered yours? This treasure, this personal quality, power, talent, or gift (or set of such qualities) is ours to develop? Embody and offer to our communities through acts of service - our contributions to a more diverse, vital and evolved world. Our personal destiny is to become that treasure through our actions. Seriously considering starting an instagram account that is for the sole purpose of sharing Bill Plotkin posts. ... How inspiring though to feel like I am surrounded by an increasing number of people every day that are dedicated to uncovering, developing and embodying their treasure... the medicine that is uniquely theirs to share with the world through their acts of service. Their calling... What is your treasure? Your act of service to the world that is uniquely yours? Do you have no idea, a vague notion or a fiery passion that you live, embody and share with resounding clarity???

14.01.2022 Currently reflecting on all the amazing women I have worked with over the last year or so with my photography work. Soul centred entrepreneurs, women who are bravely stepping into following their passions for the first time. Women who are on the cusp of rebirth, wishing to capture and embody the new Self they are boldly stepping into... Women who have just birthed, just about to birth or who just wish to celebrate their family. ... Wether they realise it or not all of these women are changing the world in their own way. Wether it’s for the work they do in the world, the way they are choosing to grow, evolve and step into new ways of being or by consciously and lovingly parenting the next generation. This is one of my favourites from a recent shoot with @healingpathwaystrish I’m really going to miss capturing all of these women in their wild and authentic essence. It’s crazy to think I have my last shoot on Sunday, for I don’t know how long. (I could probably sneak an extra one or two if you get in touch asap.) So I just want to thank all of the beautiful, wonderful, inspiring women who have trusted me to photograph them over the last year or so. It’s truly been an honour!

12.01.2022 This shoot. That light. Those women. It was really special capturing the essence of one of @taylajeanwatson ‘s women’s gatherings and cacao ceremonies. ... It felt like a really special way for me to start winding up for maternity leave as it really felt like it captured the sentiment of the space I have found myself in. Sacred. Feminine. Supported. Golden. Nurturing. Loving. Connected. Warm. So grateful for finding myself in this space and so grateful for women like Tayla (and the rest of them we are blessed to have in Wollongong) creating and holding these spaces for women to come together.

12.01.2022 It's almost Easter... that usually means camping gear ready, car packed and the annual pilgrimage to Dry Creek. It means family time, work boots & jeans, cubby houses & dunny runs, tears & laughter, yoga & beer, chocolate and fivesies. It's kind of surreal to think we won't be at our beloved Dry Creek this year. How could something be so big that it could stop ALL of us from attending? We weren't ready for this. So attend we will... from the comfort of our own home. T...here will be tent pitching, outside cooking, campfire sitting, Easter Egg Hunting and likely some beer drinking. First order of business is switching kids riding in the back of the ute for the kid riding around Port Kembla in the wheelbarrow so we can pick up soil from kind neighbours for our garden... I mean it's a utility vehicle right? I'm going to indulge in a little photo documentary challenge to capture our Easter weekend as we create our annual tradition from our own backyard. What's your Easter tradition and can you be creative and still make it happen? One of our amazing students @Yogavidyawollongong has been enjoying a music festival in her home - so anything is possible! Tag me in your photos so I can see your family/friend/personal Easter tradition once we hit the long weekend! #drycreekfromhome See more

12.01.2022 LAST FEW PHOTOGRAPHY SESSIONS FOR JANUARY I had the pleasure of capturing this beautiful family (Kat, Zan and 5 month old Ziggy) yesterday. Capturing a 5 month old is definitely a different game to a newborn - they move a lot quicker! How beautiful is the window to the left? As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make it a feature in at least one image on the shoot. It wasn't until the end though, that they told me it was designed by Zan's mother to represent the womb and... fertility! How beautiful! Also, I have a few last sessions available for January if you would like to snap one of them up. SUNDAY 17th JANUARY Either an early morning or sunset shoot - I will only book one session on the Sunday, so once it's gone it's gone. SATURDAY 23rd JANUARY Afternoon/Sunset session available. I capture and celebrate all stages of Womanhood and would love to capture you in your natural essence! So get in touch to book: A women's empowerment sessions (body love & reclamation - wether you are a maiden, mother, maga or crone) A personal branding session for soul centred entrepreneur's Lifestyle sessions for maternity and newborn (if you book your maternity session with me you get 25% off your newborn session) I am currently working on my website so hit me up directly via DM for pricing and to book your session. See more

12.01.2022 May all the babies born, from this day forth know only love. May every child from this day forth experience the most profound and deeply nurturing sense of kinship and belonging to this human family of ours. The day is coming. The day I look into your eyes, and I see you. ... As we pick up the pieces of this broken world together, may we meet each other in the space between, open our hearts and walk bravely into the future. One Earth. One family. It's been a long time comin, but I know, a change is gunna come. Two of the precious images i captured at a newborn session on the weekend. See more

10.01.2022 WILD MAMMA VIBES IN THE FOREST How can you ever say anything negative about your body after you have felt the dancing of life from inside your womb? What a cruel scheme to keep a woman from knowing her power. To keep the focus on what pregnancy did to her body rather than what her perfect body just did. ... Here we sit, creating and nourishing the future.... Beautiful words by Amethyst Joy. Beautiful picture a co-creation between myself and the stunning Mumma Kyeesha.

10.01.2022 UPCOMING WORKSHOP: I think it's pretty safe to say that there is a lot of "stuff" coming up for people at the moment. Even if you are not buying into the mass hysteria, it is in our field and we are effected by it. On top of that it is quite common for big world events and intense emotions of the collective to trigger all sorts of feelings and emotions within us that may be ours from past experience... or are just simply coming into our experience none the less. Now more ...than ever it is so important that we have a toolkit of practices to support us in processing what is happening in our bodies, our lives and the world around us so that we can remain clear, focused and in alignment. So I am running a workshop at my beloved @yogavidyawollongong on practices from classical tantra for digesting and processing challenging emotions and life experiences. It will be on Saturday 21st March from 2:30pm to 4:30pm The way we digest our emotions and life experiences is much like we digest our food. If our digestion is not functioning effectively then things get stuck and we are unable to process and take nourishment from them. This leaves us feeling sluggish, stuck and uninspired. Tantra teaches us that when our emotional digestion is functioning the way it is supposed to we are able to be with both pleasurable and uncomfortable emotions and experiences, allow them to move through in order to take on their wisdom, Pranic energy (nourishment) and increase the health and vibrance of the energy body. In this workshop we will cover the following: ------> The theory of this teaching and process ------> Explore non-linear movement as a way of accessing stuck emotions from the past. ------> Discover tools for moving out of the story and into sensation (so it can be effectively digested) ------> Several meditation / awareness cultivation techniques for digesting emotions and challenging life experiences. This workshop is FREE for Yoga Vidya members and $45 for non-members - you can check out the link in my profile for more information and to book your spot! This has been such a powerful practice for me in my own life and I would love to share it w See more

10.01.2022 Here's my Instagram perfect "Martha Stewart" moment for today, plus a little insight into what is really going on. After seeing the photos of our wonderful home based camping trip over the weekend, a very dear friend reflected back to me that it seemed like this isolation period was a very nourishing time for me, and to be fair, in many ways it is. In that moment however, I completely crumbled and it all came out. We said goodbye to child care last week (it has been d...iminishing since November last year as we had already gone from two days to one) and Cedar and i are close to spending every waking moment together. Of course I adore him but I also adore time to myself. Not having any direct contact with all of my usual support networks and a significantly decreased window for work as well as personal practice is a recipe for ALL of my shadows rising to the surface, around motherhood and otherwise. I truly believe this time really is one that is beckoning us to turn in and dig up all the parts of ourself that we have hidden away from, that we have rejected and resented. To do the work individually, get low in our body and face it all head on - preparing us for what is coming. Collectively we must face it too, and it won't be pretty. Yet despite the challenge and the grief of all of that churning up inside calling my attention, asking me to sit with and through it - there is a sweetness, a joy and a sense of coming home as I gently ease myself into the previously rejected parts of myself. I allow my being to relax into my body, the same way one might lower themselves into a hot bath or a cold river as I face all that arises and greet it with these words I learnt from @galadarling "I completely love, accept and forgive myself and anyone else who might be involved." Each time there is a greater sense of homecoming & acceptance, trust & hope for myself and everything that is unfolding around me. In amongst all of this, we did some camping on the weekend; and today we made fancy play dough with essential oils. With that we remember that a picture may tell 1000 words but it is never the whole story. See more

10.01.2022 "I believe in you and your work." These words were the closing line of a quick email I received in follow up to a business mentoring call I just finished up with @the_rachael_rose When the fear of being seen and putting myself out there has held me back for so long - for someone to look me in the eyes and say Hey, I see you and everything you are doing, I see how hard it is and believe in you - is fucking powerful. ... It sounds so simple right? But when she said that to me, it was like it gave me permission to give myself a fucking break. Not only that though, it felt like it also gave me permission to keep showing up and expressing freely from the deepest and most creative places within me. I don't really believe in the idea of doing things for work (or otherwise) that don't align with our vision of the world that we wish to create. Yet, whilst I have always pursued my passions, yoga, photography, full spectrum health, spirituality, deep ecology work - I don't think I have really had the faith in myself to step up and be seen whilst I am doing it. What more is our purpose in this life, than playing our small part in visioning, creating & building a world that inspires and nourishes us? Every time we express it is an opportunity to hold the light up to that vision for the people around us - and they get to choose wether they wish to fly that flag with you. I believe in a world where our business can be just another form of that expression and no longer be placed in neat little boxes like, chef, yoga teacher, lawyer, doula, photographer - each of us are a unique and complex kaleidoscope of creative potential and only by truly showing up in our relationships and communities (real life and/or online - you get to choose) are we able to have true impact. The more I am dropping into this space of trust & creativity within myself the more I am feeling in alignment with a vision of the world that totally lights me up! Interconnected, spiritual, creative, introspective, expressive, rhythmic, intuitive, powerful, soft, earthy, grounded and true. This is the vision I am holding. What's yours? See more

09.01.2022 Imagine if we were taught from a very young age that the world was made to be free in... That we were never beyond love... Imagine if we were taught that it was not only ok but desirable to give up all other worlds except for the one to which you belong... ... Imagine if we had been encouraged and guided through the process of sitting in the sweetness of our own aloneness, not as a punishment but as a path to freedom... Imagine learning right from the very beginning that anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you... Who would you be right now?

08.01.2022 THE POLARITIES OF PARENTHOOD... I'm currently lucky enough to be involved in the incredibly inspiring @the_cameraqueens year long photography mentorship hosted by the one and only @belleverdiglione . One of the Queens put out the other week for us all to get involved in a self portrait challenge and it inspired me to do a little bit of a throwback to one of the self portraits that I am not only most proud of but so accurately captured a very challenging point in time in m...y early parenthood journey. It was the first (and probably the only) time I challenged myself to actually "make" an image in photoshop. I actually even got this image published in one of the Australian photography magazines. Photography was a lifeline for me at this early stage in Cedar's life, when I was feeling incredibly isolated and alone in a small country town. At this time Cedar was my main muse. I took this for a self portrait assignment for my photography studies. I wanted to capture the polarities of motherhood as I was experiencing them at the time. The light and the dark, the frantic overwhelm of a teething baby crying and the stillness and warmth of the peace when he snuggles in against me and falls asleep. The difference in emotions between the days where I feel like I am on top of the house and all the things to be done and the days when I feel like the house is in absolute shambles. The polarities in the human experience is one of my favourite concepts to explore... In fact I'm sure I could safely say that the incredible highs and the deep dark lows are what epitomises parenthood and felt universally. Heres to all the parents out there swinging constantly between the dark moments of overwhelm & frustration and the light moments of blissful love & connection! I salute you! See more

07.01.2022 This has been one of the most powerful and practical teachings shared with me as a student and a practitioner of classical tantra. Yet despite learning this many years ago (and also having shared it with so many others, I /‘ still a student of the art). True wisdom comes with integration and integration it seems is the practice of remembrance. I had the perfect reminder of this the other night and I have to say I’m proud of how quickly I caught myself. @nick.mcn forgot to bu...y me a hair clip when he went to the shopping centre, which totally triggered me and I found myself in this big spiral of anger at him for everything but also nothing (hello 40 weeks pregnant but also just being a human). Here’s the proud human moment... I chose to go to bed because I knew it wasn't really about any of the thoughts circulating in my head... (win, to remember that in the moment). As soon as he came to bed he put his hand on my leg, and I started to whimper... then he intuitively moved his hand to my heart - calling me back to this inner sanctum of compassion and acceptance. It was like taking a hammer to a frozen over pool of ice. Crack! The surface is broken which allowed me to drop into this deep well of grief below. I have no idea what the story of that grief is, I could make assumptions but in the end they won’t serve the process. The practice is to let go of the story, drop into the felt experience of the e(energy)motion and allow (in my case) the surges of grief to wash over me like waves. Choosing to bathe in them, heart open so they can offer me their wisdom and their nourishment. Like an ocean that still nourishes no matter how cold it might be - but only once you open up to it. It’s a gift to have someone by our side that can help facilitate this process for us but it’s available to us in every moment. So if you needed a reminder today.... to just feel it. Here it is.

07.01.2022 Creating these images with @the_rachael_rose the other day was such an act of remembrance of my own time pregnant. It was like a reflection of so many aspects of my own motherhood journey... the changing shape of the body, the balance between feeling into who were before the seed was planted, who we are as it grows and who we are becoming with a new life in the family. The balance of honouring your Self as a sovereign being and honouring our young child's need to be w...ith us at all times. It's a delicate balance and I have always found it so fascinating watching other women parent. I feel like I learn so much from observing the energetic interactions between mother and child and it lets me see parts of myself that have before gone unnoticed or parts of myself that I wish to nurture and coax out of me. See more

07.01.2022 There is a lot happening in our world at present and I have not felt compelled to share much at all amidst all of this. I don't wish to teach. I don't wish to talk. I don't wish figure out important things to say.... I don't want to say anything at all. Really, in truth, all i feel like I want to do is sit still, close my eyes, breathe and feel everything. In the absence of the space to just sit and turn in (because, motherhood) it's nice to get out and traipse through the bush with great humans like @its_tristan_charles and capture photos to help them share their stories and their vision.

06.01.2022 We have just returned from four days camping in the bush by the river with dear friends who everyday become more like family. After many conversations about what is happening in our world (whilst enjoying the benefit of being completely disconnected from it) wise words from dear friends help me see just how much noise there is at the moment. 2020 was full of noise and distraction. It can be so easy to be pulled into the latest update, the latest conspiracy or the latest cl...amp down on our freedoms. Of course we all have our own way of framing and perceiving each of these (none of them necessarily true). But at the end of the day it is just noise distracting us from what’s important... Distracting us from where we truly should be placing our attention. It’s wonderful to be aware and to have our eyes open to what is happening around us. To clearly see the truth of our current experience (if only we did though) so we can respond appropriately - but just like when you are driving you must always look ahead, in the direction you wish to go. The lesson is an old one. The power and importance of Immersion in present moment experience (instead of what is on our social media feed, or the news) and to stay aligned to our highest vision for ourselves and the world. So for me that means keeping my heart frequency set to the seeking, exploration and expression of the song I was born to sing, (the largest conversation I am capable of having with the world as Bill Plotikon would put it). Focus on nature and family and friends and the vision of a true and beautiful future for all beings (one that has no room for fear) a future aligned with nature and land, community and connection. To pay way more attention to the parts of my experience that are aligned with that song, with that conversation than the ones that aren’t - and magnifying that for myself and for all beings. To align and emit that frequency, this truth as a gift to others in what we do and how we be. If I have just one intention for 2021 emerging... this is it.

06.01.2022 I think it’s quite normal for us to come to reflect at the end of the year on the one passed - and how could we not with the turbulence and stand out events of 2020? It truly has been a year like no other! I feel quite lucky really though - although this year hasn’t been easy - it has been the year I have experienced the most growth possibly out of all the years I have every lived. I feel like all the work I have been doing over the last ten years of my life has come togethe...Continue reading

05.01.2022 A family portrait in the age of Covid-19... My friend and most inspiring photographer you will come across @jtaverasphotos put out the challenge to make an image to reflect the way we are living in the age of Covid-19. He has created some beautiful, dark and powerful images and he is constantly pushing the boundaries of his art and expression (it is so inspiring to see). The thing is, unlike many.... our lives haven't really changed that much. Nick is still at work, I... still go off to the studio to the same schedule (even if there is no one there and I teach to a computer screen). Our weekly routine is still the same, beach in the mornings with the 4 year old, play and housework throughout the day with stolen moments to run my business in between. In other ways however, life feels like it has changed completely. No play dates, no morning coffee with my PK community and now just about every waking moment we have together as a family is spent outside actively building the life we have always wanted for ourselves. The life we always held of creating because we were "only renting". For us, Covid-19 has provided a fire in the belly to do all the things we have wanted to do. Nick built a chicken run, we got two chickens, we dug up more of our lawn, Nick built more garden beds, we bought more fruit trees & shrubs, I spend more time cooking & preserving and planting seeds. I have learned how to catch a chook and give them a pedicure and have started planting more medicinal plants in the garden and making herbal teas and tinctures. Now, rather than going to the supermarket 4 times per week we go once. Meals are planned and i am so relishing the fact that I can go up to a fortnight without stepping foot in a shopping centre. Every day I walk and swim down the beach or walk in the escarpment I wonder if tomorrow will be the day they announce we go into full lock down and it gives me a greater appreciation for this stunning place we call home. I know this is a scary & uncertain time for many, but our family is feeling pretty darn privileged to have been woken up to enjoying the simple pleasures of family life. See more

05.01.2022 A story about the power of investing your energy & attention in the future you wish to see. Was anyone else ever obsessed with this quote (second slide) from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun?? They say they built the train tracks over the Alps before there was a train that could make the trip. They built it anyway. They knew one day the train would come.... The story & the message of the train through the alps always stuck with me. To just start walking in the direction of that future & invest your energy into it. Seven & a half years ago I decided to invest in the relationship I wanted. So I started drawing my partner & I on my wall (slide 3). Every day I would draw a little. The image signifies a couple both with their own aura, their own energy, powerful in their own right & able to hold their own space & story. The parts where they come together create something different unique & beautiful. The spirals around them represent continuous cycles of growth, the hands the abundance of community around them. The yellow ball of energy is the balance of power between them. The whole picture was to capture the idea of truly rising in love as opposed to falling. It’s actually incredible to look back at this picture 7 years later & see it from the perspective of what feels like @nick.mcn and I having grown into this reality together. It makes me realise though, with Cedars birth, even though we planned a home birth. We got caught up in planning all our choices in case things went wrong as directed by our midwife (something we have not done at all this time). Yet we never started really setting up the birth space & putting our energy into that future of the home birth we wanted. This time all my energy has been directed at the best possible outcome. Over the last weeks I have been lovingly preparing the birth spaces, visioning, calling in... Does that hold any guarantees, maybe not but it definitely feels a hell of a lot better, & allows my body to rest in a state that is conducive to physiological birth. ... and I figure if I can call in an amazing man, there is no reason I can’t call in & welcome an incredible birth experience too!

05.01.2022 There are so many traditions that connect us to land, people & country that we have lost. So as Westerners we seek out, we borrow (and steal) and we pave our way back to connection and community... one fumbling step at a time. We pay attention to the seasons, we share food and we create new traditions. Know your land know where you came from. Know your land. ... Know your song and the sands it’s sang from. Know your song. Happy Winter Solstice dear ones.

05.01.2022 Barefoot in the veggie patch and wading through the water in my jeans with @naturopathic_carewithbec naturopath, herbalist and all round medicine woman this morning for her personal branding session. Thank you Bec for such a fun morning. Any shoot that I can do completely in bare feet is an absolute winner for me! Remember, only a couple of hours left to receive 15% discount on your personal branding shoot. Discount offer closes by 9pm tonight! ... See more

04.01.2022 Today I’m sending through the last few straggling images from the last personal branding shoot with @tori.heartandheldco - such a beautiful shoot that we broke into two parts... sunrise and sunset. It’s so interesting to see the way that each shoot takes on its own flavour. I love dark, shadowy and moody images... yet no amount of my style of photography seems to overshadow the personality of the muse. It’s fun to see these golden light sunset images coming out (slide 2 & ...3) and notice how much they really capture Tori’s bright and golden style! The only thing now is... after finishing all my shoots, what on earth am I going to be posting for the next phase? Baby spam?? Or maybe it’s time to take a break!

04.01.2022 .... and just like that he is riding a bike without training wheels. No warning, no preparation. My baby just gets on a bike and off he goes like he has been doing it for ever. ... Seriously where does the time go? See more

03.01.2022 "Owning up to being animal, a creature of the earth. Tuning our animal senses to the sensible terrain: blending our skin with the rain-rippled surface of rivers, mingling our ears with the thunder and the thrumming o frogs, and our eyes with the molten grey sky. Feeling the polyrhythmic pulse of this place - this huge windswept body of water and stone. This vexed being in whose flesh we're entangled. Becoming earth. Becoming animal. Becoming, in this manner fully human. - Words by David Abram Favoured words and another favourite shot from my rainforest shoot with @the_nestingplace

02.01.2022 "This is the season she will make beautiful things. Not perfect things, but honest things that speak to who she is and who she is called to be." Words by Morgan Harper Nichols Image taken by the side of our beautiful lake for one of my last personal branding shoots. Can’t get enough of old weathered wood, combined with sunset lake vibes and moody leafy backgrounds....

01.01.2022 I came across this today and I have to say I really really love this list as a loose roadmap for the spiritual path. I have no idea who to credit for it but I love that it really provides the sentiment of just how gradual the path of personal growth is. I love that as it comes towards the end of the list - we find ourselves back at disillusionment and feeling lost. Not because it’s a fun or lovely part of the journey but a instead very real one - that generally presents rig...ht about the time you are just starting to feel like you have it all figured out. I also love love love that integration is the first word of the final stage! Because it ties this whole process together and becomes a deeper testament to the fact that personal and spiritual growth is way less about BIG transcendental experiences and more about the gradual breakthroughs, paradigm shifts and wisdom we are with time able to integrate into our embodied sense of being along the way. The only thing that I would personally add to this list is that it shouldn’t be a list at all, because a list to me denotes we can reach the end. Instead i would see it more as points along a never ending spiral of expansion... ... and throughout a lifetime of growth we cycle through many of the stages a seemingly infinite number of times, passing through different themes and lessons, cycling back and evolving beyond but always expanding outward, becoming more or ourselves, just like the Fibonacci spiral of nature! I feel like I am at a beautiful stage of integration expansion and joy at the moment but I’m under no illusions it will last as I know I am about to step into a HUGE new period of growth - and the cycle continues. What do you think? Does this list resonate? Where are you on this list at the moment?

01.01.2022 DIET, FOOD CRAVINGS & THE BREATH This time of year is rife with people gearing up to sell and participate in "New Year" diet & detox plans as people tend to come out of the Christmas period feeling heavy and like they have "fallen off the wagon" in regards to healthy eating & lifestyle practices. There are definitely pros and cons to this trend we see each year - it can be really wonderful for some and hugely detrimental for others as with it comes triggers for bod...y shame & painful food obsessions - you can see one of my dear friend @sarahball.yoga.counselling latest posts to explore this idea further. Here is something to factor into this conversation around "healthy eating" that your diet and fitness experts might not be sharing with you that has absolutely NOTHING to do with food. WHEN YOU OVER-BREATHE YOU ARE LIKELY TO FEEL HUNGRIER IN GENERAL, CRAVE FOODS THAT ARE NOT AS NOURISHING & OVERSTIMULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM. The body is always looking to be in a state of balance. So when we over-breathe, we take in more oxygen without getting it to the places we need it to. Carbon dioxide is actually incredibly useful! When dissolved in water or blood it produces carbonic acid ----> making your blood more acidic, which in turn makes you crave alkaline (healthy nutrient dense) foods. When over-breathing (most people in our Western culture) the blood becomes more alkaline which makes you crave more acidic (unhealthy foods). This is why pranayama practices that aim to SLOW your breath, give you more control over you breath and eventually work towards HOLDING your breath - are so powerful and conducive to holistic health! You will have more energy, require less sleep and less food (as well as craving healthier food - it's win win). We will be going into this in depth on our upcoming RIVER RESET RETREAT (link in profile). Book your spot for lots of easy to integrate and life changing habits! See more