Unity Physiotherapy & Wellbeing

19/06/2026

🌿 Self-advocacy in healthcare matters

Advocacy within the healthcare system is unfortunately something that is often needed.

In this video, I share some of what I see as contributing to this, along with a few suggestions that may help people advocate for themselves.

The healthcare system can be difficult to navigate, particularly for those living with chronic illness or complex health needs.

Advocacy can help people access the care, information, investigations, and support they need.

At the same time, this isn’t simply an individual issue. Many healthcare professionals are working within a system under significant pressure, with limited time and resources. Creating meaningful change requires both individual and collective action.

Compassion is important here too — for ourselves, for others navigating similar challenges, and for the healthcare professionals doing the best they can within a complex system.

💭 What has helped you advocate for yourself or others within healthcare? Has compassion played a role in how you’ve approached those conversations?

19/06/2026

There is some research that suggests taking iron every other day could be better absorbed than daily due to the production of hepcidin.

I changed to taking iron alternate days earlier this year when I found out about this to see if it helped improve iron absorption as I’ve had ongoing issues with this.

This is a helpful video from Dr Amir Khan:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZuyVwpIB86/?igsh=ZnExamI2cTExY24z

Please discuss with your GP/relevant healthcare professional to check if this is right for you before making any changes.

17/06/2026

Today I attended the CompassionateMindFoundation Physical Health Special Interest Group study day.

Compassion – and particularly Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) – is a really important in my work, so it felt valuable to spend the day learning from clinicians and researchers exploring compassion-informed approaches across physical health.

We heard from a variety of presenters, including Zoe Malpus, Claire Turner, Genevieve Royal, Lizzie Doherr, Zoe Travers, and Julie Delorme who shared examples of compassion-informed work across areas including chronic pain, ME/CFS, IBS, and breath & voice work.

Although the conditions and approaches differed, similar themes appeared throughout the day: self-criticism, shame, guilt, fear, striving, and the challenges many people face in responding compassionately to themselves when living with physical health difficulties.

One particularly welcome moment was a practice led by Claire Turner . After some unexpected technology challenges the combination of breathing, chimes and visualisation offered a chance to settle and deeply regulate .

Perhaps fittingly for a day centred on compassion, my own compassionate actions included taking a few brief pauses when I needed them and leaving before the final presentation to allow myself a longer break, and I did a little light gardening afterwards.

The day also reinforced something I see regularly in my own work: when people begin to develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves, it can create space for different choices, different experiences, often a different relationship with their symptoms, and often more effective self management and reduced symptoms.

Thank you to everyone involved in organising and presenting such a thoughtful and inspiring day.

16/06/2026

Important to be aware of

⚠️ Incorrect information on the internet regarding salt/sodium intake - please be aware ⚠️

We've recently been made aware of incorrect information circulating online about recommended sodium/salt intake for people with PoTS.

A misprint in a journal article has led to some websites quoting incorrect figures, highlighting the importance of understanding the difference between salt and sodium - terms that are often used interchangeably but represent very different quantities.

🔹 10g of salt is not the same as 10g of sodium
🔹 Recommendations for salt and fluid intake should always be individualised and guided by your healthcare professional

PoTS UK has contacted the websites we are aware of that are sharing the incorrect information, but we may not have identified them all.

Please take a moment to read our latest news article to learn more and help ensure you're accessing accurate information.
https://www.potsuk.org/incorrect-information-on-internet-regarding-salt-sodium-intake-please-be-aware/

Thank you to the individual who brought this important issue to our attention.

14/06/2026

🌿 Soothing Sunday

Today started with a long meditation and journalling as I felt called to this, I spent quite a bit of time outside in my garden, and have spent some time with family.

Today has been a beautiful nurturing day with sunshine now and then, it’s not been too hot which is ideal for me ☀️ 🙂

The colours and smells in my garden are amazing, and it’s been alive with many beautiful sounds of nature today.

Time outside being with nature is food for the soul 🌳 🌸💚

🌿 How’s your Sunday been, what’s been nurturing for you?

13/06/2026

🌿 A meditation reflection on spaciousness

This morning, towards the end of meditation, I felt deeply anchored between Earth and sky — rooted and expansive at the same time. As awareness expanded into a profound spaciousness, a simple knowing arose:

“I am space.”

It wasn’t a thought or something I was trying to cultivate. It simply arrived. Alongside it came a deep sense of peacefulness, aliveness, softness, strength, groundedness, and vastness — all present together.

What stayed with me afterwards was this:

Earth below
Sky above
Body present
Awareness vast
Softness and strength together
Aliveness moving though it all
Spaciousness holding

What’s stayed with me today is that a deep spaciousness is always present — it’s not something that arrives when things change, sometimes it’s evident, like with joy, and at other times it’s less visible, yet no less present.

I’ve been reflecting on how experiences like this can support us not only in meditation, but in everyday life. For example, the last few months have brought their share of challenges, uncertainty, and moments requiring courage. When I reconnect with the deeper spaciousness during challenging times, my nervous system settles, possibilities become more visible, and it becomes easier to respond with care, wisdom, and trust.

When we touch into a deeper spaciousness, there can be a remembering that we don’t always need to contract around what we’re experiencing. We can notice the contraction, meet it with compassion, and respond from a place of greater openness and wisdom.

✨ In spaciousness there can be a quiet trust — a sense that life can be met as it unfolds, and that new possibilities may emerge.

💭 I’d love to hear what helps you find spaciousness and possibilities when things feel challenging.

12/06/2026

This is brilliant, I would recommend. I’m looking forward to part two 🙂

12/06/2026

🌿 When a new belief begins to land

Some beliefs can hold us back & influence how we relate to ourselves, others, and life’s challenges.

One of the things I’ve noticed over the years in my work is that understanding something intellectually isn’t usually enough to change it.

Beliefs develop for understandable reasons. When we take time to understand the whole person & their experiences these beliefs make sense.

Part of compassionate, trauma-informed working is giving people choices, working collaboratively, and bringing compassion & attunement to exploring what may be helpful to change.

Rather than trying to force change, we create the conditions for new experiences to emerge safely.

When exploring things cognitively & somatically, we do so with curiosity & compassion. I’m attuned to myself, the person I’m working with, and the space between us, as we explore what is happening together.

A recent session offered a beautiful example of this.

I noticed some subtle & more obvious shifts during a practice, and we explored them together. Something I was noticing led me to ask whether they had experienced this before.

“Not in the same way,” they replied.

Rather than moving on, I invited them to simply stay with the experience for a few minutes. It was a joy to witness this unfolding.

Staying with what is nurturing and supportive is important. It helps the experience land.

✨ Simply being with and noticing can be powerful.

Often old beliefs and new possibilities coexist for a while. The mind may still tell an old story, while the body is beginning to discover something different.

In my experience, new beliefs are often strengthened not through thinking differently or debating which belief is true, but through experiencing something different — and allowing that experience to be felt somatically, again and again, until it begins to land more deeply.

Over time, what was once a momentary experience can become part of a new way of being.

✨ Sometimes the most powerful moments come when we pause long enough to truly receive what is already emerging.

💭 Have you ever noticed a time when a new experience began to soften or challenge an old belief?

12/06/2026

I’m sure this will be another wonderful conference, which I’m looking forward to attending again online (I’ve not booked yet but I will be doing).

This years conference will be extra special as it’s also a celebration of 20 years of The Compassionate Mind Foundation 🎉 They have done so much for the field of compassion through compassion focused therapy, and created a wonderful compassionate community across the globe. The ripple affect of their compassionate work is something to celebrate and be grateful for 🙏🏻

Are you attending?

12/06/2026

An interesting short video