Home fitness has evolved significantly by 2026. The era of cluttered living rooms filled with mismatched dumbbells and rubber bands is fading. Instead, the focus has shifted toward "Home Wellness", a concept where fitness equipment is not just functional but also aesthetically pleasing and easy to store. With the surging popularity of Pilates, more people are searching for the best pilates kit to support their journey. However, building a set piece-by-piece often results in inconsistent quality and equipment that doesn’t work well together. The market has responded with all-in-one solutions. In this review, we take an objective look at one of the segment's leading options, the BetterMe Pilates Essential Kit, to see if it meets the criteria for the ultimate home workout companion. Criteria for choosing the best pilates kit To determine what qualifies as the "best" in a crowded market, fitness experts and enthusiasts typically evaluate products based on three core pillars. A top-tier kit must address the following: Functionality & versatility: Does the kit cover all muscle groups? It needs to include tools for resistance, balance, and stability to ensure a full-body workout. Design & material integrity: Is the equipment durable and skin-friendly? Moreover, does it fit into a modern home interior, or does it look like gym clutter? Guidance & ecosystem: Hardware is useless without instruction. The best value comes from equipment that pairs with structured digital guidance. Product overview: BetterMe Pilates Essential Kit The BetterMe Pilates Essential Kit (Ivory) stands out as a high-quality, curated solution designed to solve the problem of fragmented home equipment. Unlike generic sets found on large marketplaces, this kit focuses on a cohesive experience, combining biomechanics with a minimalist aesthetic. What is in the box? The kit includes five specific tools selected to maximize the effectiveness of Pilates routines: Pilates power ring: Featuring double-sided padded handles, this ring is designed to provide resistance for both inner and outer thigh workouts, as well as upper body toning. Fabric resistance bands: Unlike standard rubber bands that often roll up or snap, these are made from durable fabric. They offer varying levels of resistance for progressive training. Soft pilates ball: An essential tool for core engagement, stability work, and posture correction during floor exercises. Loop bands: Targeted specifically for lower body toning (glutes and legs), made from non-slip materials. Pilates grip socks: A crucial safety element. These socks feature silicone grips to ensure stability on slick floors or yoga mats. Design and build quality Aesthetics play a functional role in home fitness, if equipment looks good, users are more likely to leave it out, which serves as a visual cue to work out. The Ivory colorway of the BetterMe kit is designed to blend seamlessly with neutral home decor. Beyond the look, the materials are chosen for tactile comfort during use. The digital ecosystem advantage What separates a standard bundle from a contender for the best pilates kit is the integration of software and hardware. The BetterMe Essential Kit is not sold as a standalone physical product but rather as part of a broader wellness ecosystem. The equipment is designed to be used in tandem with the brand’s digital app, which offers a library of workout programs, including specialized Pilates challenges. This integration ensures that users, whether beginners or advanced, have immediate access to structured routines that utilize exactly the tools they have in their hands. This approach eliminates the guesswork often associated with home workouts. Pros and cons To provide a transparent assessment, here is a breakdown of the kit’s strengths and limitations. Pros: Comprehensive solution: It is a true "all-in-one" set, there is no need to purchase additional props for a standard Pilates session. Premium materials: Fabric bands and soft-touch finishes offer superior durability and comfort compared to generic rubber equivalents. Aesthetic appeal: The minimalist design encourages users to keep the equipment accessible. Safety focus: The inclusion of grip socks highlights an attention to user safety. Cons: Price point: The cost is higher than assembling a set of generic items from a discount retailer, reflecting the higher material quality and brand ecosystem. Specific focus: The resistance levels are optimized for toning, flexibility, and Pilates-style movements. It is not intended for heavy bodybuilding or powerlifting. Finding the right equipment is the first step toward a consistent fitness routine. For those seeking the best pilates kit that balances functionality with style, the   BetterMe Pilates Essential Kit  is one of the standout options. This solution is particularly well-suited for individuals prioritizing low-impact workouts, such as Pilates, who value both the effectiveness of their training and the look of their home environment.

Written by Paul Adamson, Trusted Advisor to Founders & Leadership Teams Under Pressure Paul Adamson is a global keynote speaker and leadership strategist who helps organisations navigate change, build resilient teams, and create breakthrough performance. His work blends real-world experience from being a professional sailor and pivoting into the business world. Every founder eventually faces it. The market shifts, your industry tightens, and the headlines turn pessimistic. Confidence wobbles, not just externally, but internally too. In those moments, the question isn’t whether your business will feel the pressure. It’s: how do you lead when it does? Because when industries go through turmoil, teams don’t look to the market for the answer; they look to you. Why turbulence tests leadership more than strategy When markets are stable, leadership often looks deceptively easy. Your plans work, your forecasts are reliable, and your momentum masks any niggles. But turbulence has a way of stripping things back to the core. Suddenly, assumptions are challenged, and confidence feels fragile among your team. This is where many founders unknowingly lose traction, not because their strategy is weak, but because ‘belief’ quietly erodes inside the business. Here’s the thing, execution doesn’t tend to fail first; it’s your team’s belief in what’s possible. This is where we must focus our attention. The invisible risk: Buying into the story In every period of market uncertainty, there’s a dominant narrative: “Everyone is down, flat is the new growth.” “Everyone’s struggling.” “We’ll pause until things settle down.” It’s a seductive story, because it gives us permission to shrink. Here’s the trap: If a founder emotionally buys into the story, the team will naturally follow them, and they start to believe the story. Strong leadership during turmoil doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine. It means being honest with your team without being alarmist. Your team doesn’t need sugar-coating; they just need you to give them context. That means openly addressing: What you’re seeing in the market and what the key drivers are. What’s genuinely challenging and your plan to move forward. Your views on the opportunities that will be created. Every major period of disruption creates opportunities. When markets tighten, some businesses retreat, reduce visibility, delay decisions, and sit on the sidelines. Others do the opposite: They sharpen their thinking. They choose to move forward. They gain market share while competitors hesitate. The opportunity isn’t in denying the turbulence, it’s in refusing to let it define your trajectory. The 2 stories you need to be all over to keep your team on track During uncertain periods, there are always two stories in play: The market story Your team's story You don’t control the first, yet you have absolute control over the second. As a founder, you are the guardian of that internal narrative of your team. Not through bravado or motivational hype, but by being consistent, calm, and keeping your feet on the ground. Psychologically, this matters more than most founders realize. At the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs sits safety and security, another word for this is certainty. When people experience uncertainty, they instinctively look for something solid to hold onto. Your role as the leader is to provide that certainty for your team. I often describe leadership during turbulent times as being like a lighthouse in a storm. A lighthouse doesn’t: Move with the waves Argue with the weather Flicker on and off depending on conditions It stays visible, predictable, and steady. That steadiness doesn’t eliminate the storm, but it gives others something to navigate by. There’s an important distinction here: this isn’t about blind positivity or pretending everything will just magically work out. It’s delivering certainty through: Your plan Your priorities Your confidence Be calm and measured, not loud and reactive. When your team senses your confidence, they will pass this on to your customers. While we are talking about customers During market turmoil, customers don’t want more options. They want reassurance (just like your team), and they will gravitate toward businesses that they feel are: Clear Confident Have the solution This is what’s known as the strategy of preeminence, being the only viable choice. Not because you say it, but because you demonstrate it time and time again. To sum this up for you You don’t keep your team on track by denying the storm. You do it by: Calling it as it is. Managing the internal story. Refusing to let it dictate your team’s confidence. All markets will change with time, all stories will shift, and all uncertainty will pass. What remains is the quality of your leadership when it mattered most. So, just remember: "Be the lighthouse and choose to shine." Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Paul Adamson Paul Adamson, Trusted Advisor to Founders & Leadership Teams Under Pressure Paul Adamson is an international keynote speaker and leadership strategist known for helping organisations navigate change, build resilient teams, and unlock high-performance cultures. His journey began at sea, where he skippered a 27,000-mile global circumnavigation before leading the commercial turnaround of Oyster Yachts from administration to a £185M order book. Paul’s work blends high-stakes decision-making with practical leadership tools that drive real-world results. A cancer survivor, he speaks powerfully about resilience, purpose, and optimistic leadership. Today, he works with entrepreneurs, founders, and executive teams worldwide, helping them create breakthroughs that move them from where they are to where they want to be.

Written by Zeljka Cacic-Escalera, Transformation Coach Zeljka is a transformation coach and founder of Day One with Zeljka. She coaches ambitious women through personal and professional change using mindset work, self-leadership, and the body–mind connection. Her mission is to help you take your power back and create a life that finally feels like yours. Have you ever felt deeply drawn to a new path, an idea, or a change, but stopped yourself because you weren’t sure it would work out? If so, you are not alone. Many people delay meaningful decisions not because they lack ability, but because they are waiting for certainty before they take action. Why waiting for certainty keeps you stuck Most of us are taught that we should feel confident and certain before we begin something new. In reality, certainty rarely comes first. It develops through experience. Author and speaker Karin Kuschik captures this perfectly when she says that certainty isn’t a state, it’s a feeling that grows through experience. In other words, certainty is not something you think your way into. It is something you earn by doing. This is why personal growth often feels uncomfortable. The moment you step outside your comfort zone, fear shows up. But fear does not mean you are on the wrong path. It often means you are on a meaningful one.   How do you build certainty when you feel afraid? This is one of the most common questions people ask when facing change. The answer is simpler than it sounds. You build certainty by taking action before you feel ready. Think about learning how to ride a bike. Confidence does not appear before you start. It develops as you ride, wobble, fall, and try again. Each attempt teaches your nervous system that you can handle it. Over time, fear loosens its grip. The same principle applies to career changes, relationships, and personal growth. My own experience with choosing courage over guarantees My husband showed me a video from 2022 that I had sent him while I was visiting Germany. In that video, I shared that I had scheduled two separate introduction calls, one with Jay Shetty’s team and one with Tony Robbins’ team. At the time, I felt a strong inner calling to become a certified coach and wanted to learn from the best, even though I wasn’t yet sure which path would be the right fit for me. I had no guarantee it would work out, and I was anxious about whether I could truly make a living as a coach. What I did know was that the inner voice guiding me forward kept getting louder. In February last year, I founded my coaching business. I showed up every day, coached long before I had my first paying client, connected with like-minded professionals, and invested significant time, energy, and financial resources. There was no safety net. What carried me forward was vision and commitment.   What saying yes can change Shonda Rhimes explores this idea powerfully in her book Year of Yes. She shares how saying yes to the things that scared her most transformed her confidence, career, and sense of self. By choosing courage over comfort, she stopped hiding and started fully showing up in her life. Her story is a reminder that growth doesn’t come from waiting until fear disappears. It comes from acting while fear is present. You can learn more about her work and the book’s core ideas through reputable summaries and interviews available online. Why fear feels so convincing Fear often disguises itself as logic. It tells us to wait until we are more prepared, more confident, or more certain. While reflection is important, fear becomes a problem when it prevents movement. From a psychological perspective, fear is designed to protect us from perceived danger. However, growth requires teaching the nervous system that discomfort does not equal danger. Research on behavior change consistently shows that confidence follows action, not the other way around. A simple action plan to build courage If you feel called toward something but fear is holding you back, this approach can help: 1. Clarify the call: Write down what keeps coming back to you. What idea or desire refuses to let go? 2. Shrink the step: Ask yourself what the smallest possible next step is. Courage grows through manageable actions. 3. Act before certainty: Don’t wait to feel ready. Readiness is created through action. 4. Reflect without judgment: After taking a step, focus on what you learned rather than labeling the outcome as success or failure. 5. Repeat consistently: Courage is built through repetition. Each step strengthens self-trust. You may also find it helpful to explore other BRAINZ articles on mindset, leadership, and personal growth to deepen this work.   Final thoughts If something inside you is calling for change, listen. You don’t need certainty to begin. You gain certainty by beginning. If you’re ready to explore what your next step could look like, I invite you to learn more about my coaching work and how I support women in navigating change with clarity and confidence. Visit my website  to take the next step. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Zeljka Cacic-Escalera Zeljka Cacic-Escalera, Transformation Coach Zeljka is a transformation coach and founder of Day One with Zeljka, with a professional background in international corporate and consulting environments. Years of working in high-performance, results-driven settings shaped her deep understanding of pressure, self-doubt, and identity loss behind outward success. Today, she bridges business acumen with mindset work, self-leadership, and the body-mind connection to support ambitious women through meaningful change. Her mission is to help you take your power back and create a life that finally feels like yours.

Written by Cynthia Blancaflor, Lifestyle Medicine Expert, Author & Speaker Cynthia Blancaflor is a lifestyle medicine expert helping people who are done managing symptoms and ready to heal inflammation and gut issues at the root. Cynthia healed herself of sciatica in just 2 weeks over 18 years ago & has stayed well since, now guiding others to use food as medicine with her lifestyle program "Self-Care Blueprint." I met Dr. Lisa in the community at a dance party in Oakland, California in early 2024 when she was 47 years old. She was interested in buying my book, “21st Century Handbook,” which documents my own self-healing journey using ancient wisdom backed by scientific and historical evidence to address modern-day challenges. Our lunch brought us together to discuss health, where I shared that I also coach people to heal illness using “Food as Medicine.” Inspired, Dr. Lisa quickly joined my wellness detox program, “Self-Care Blueprint: Become Your Own Healer.” Living with chronic illness as normal Even though Dr. Lisa had been medically trained, her mother, a nurse, was a believer in natural medicine, so the seed had been planted. Dr. Lisa had been suffering from six chronic illnesses and had been sick for most of her life. At birth, she was diagnosed with eczema and asthma, likely linked to being born into a family of smokers. She recalls being taken to the hospital for asthma treatments five times during her formative years. She was still suffering from asthma along with other illnesses when we met. By her mid-twenties, she developed high blood pressure and was put on medication to control the symptoms for over 20 years. By her thirties, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and fibroids, which were managed by birth control pills. In her forties, she was having difficulty conceiving a child, so she went through 3 rounds of IVF shots over 5 years, which consisted of hormonal injections, despite the low success rate for women her age and the potential side effects. During this time, Lisa noticed that her digestion had drastically changed, observing that certain foods were not completely digested when they exited her body. For Dr. Lisa, navigating medications, frequent hospital visits, medical procedures, and insurance paperwork became routine. Despite spending nearly $100,000 on medical expenses, her chronic illnesses remained unresolved, affecting her quality of life. “Enduring chronic illnesses over the course of my lifetime has put a lot of strain on my body physically, caused a lot of grief and sadness emotionally, at times depression, and limited the activities I was able to partake in,” Dr. Lisa recalls in one of our conversations. The body can heal itself Fast forward to April of 2024, Dr. Lisa and I collaborated to heal her body at the root with my 8-Week Anti-Inflammation wellness program, “Self-Care Blueprint: Become Your Own Healer,” to bring her body into balance naturally, using food and lifestyle. My program consists of a 4-Step Path to Wellness, which includes a customized detox addressing her specific issues and personal goals by using plant-based foods while incorporating movement and meditation to restore balance. In just eight weeks with a personalized “Self-Care Blueprint,” I guided Dr. Lisa to reduce her symptoms by 60-90%. Eczema and asthma, which she had since birth, were undetectable. Dr. Lisa states, “I am grateful for Cynthia’s knowledge and the tools she has provided, allowing me to give my body what it needed to heal itself from long-standing chronic illnesses, ulcerative colitis, eczema, asthma, allergies, high blood pressure, and endometriosis. In 8 weeks, my skin became more vibrant, and I lost 16 pounds. I was also able to reduce my blood pressure medication and was no longer dependent on my asthma and allergy medication. Over time, this shift allowed me to live a more comfortable, enjoyable, and fulfilling life. It brings me peace that I now know what it takes to get my body back to a state of homeostasis and equilibrium.” Like Dr. Lisa, many of my clients see the value my program brings to their lives as priceless. No medical doctor could achieve these results in 47 years. Why? Conventional medicine does not believe the body can heal itself. Allopathy is only designed to treat the symptoms with drugs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over two-thirds of Americans suffer from chronic illness. To punctuate this, a study from John Hopkins stated that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US. As in Dr. Lisa’s case, drugs never resolved the root causes of her issues, but instead created an acidic environment for more illness to develop over the years. As a naturopathic healer, I understand how to transform your lifestyle, which can either contribute to illness or heal the root cause naturally. This is where I educate and empower people to shift their mindset to foster healthy daily habits that create wellness. Dr. Lisa and I rebuilt the foundation of her house, shifting her lifestyle one day at a time. I empowered her so she’s now informed how to lead a healthy lifestyle on her own, to become her own healer. I healed sciatica in just two weeks Our health is the sum of our daily choices, our habits. Unfortunately, health is not just about taking a pill. Not only do I know that the body can heal itself, but I learned firsthand from my experience with a renowned Chinese Tibetan medicine healer, Master Wang, who had worked with celebrities like Jessica Simpson. This ancient medicine acknowledges that the body can heal itself given the proper nutrients and natural practices to achieve homeostasis from within. Master Wang led me on my first plant-based detox at the age of 30, which allowed my body to heal itself of acute sciatica in just two weeks. That was over 18 years ago, and I have maintained a vibrant state of health, practicing lifestyle medicine. Today, I meet many people who suffer from chronic sciatica, which was once an acute case like mine, but developed into a long-term illness lasting years or decades. This is the case with most people I meet, given that the only option for them, which is drugs and surgery, only exacerbates the issue, without any real resolution. I was fortunate to understand how to heal sciatica at the root, and it has never returned since. I now pass on this ancient wisdom, using your lifestyle to heal yourself. Nature provides a deeper, more effective, and long-lasting resolution like Dr. Lisa discovered working with me. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), lifestyle medicine is over 80% more effective at healing illness than drugs and surgery. Today, I am happy to say that I have guided 100% of my clients to heal illness at the root cause, ranging from gut health issues, chronic illness and chronic pain. Even after decades of illness, Dr. Lisa’s body knew exactly how to balance itself given the proper nutrients and lifestyle practices. It is truly a beautiful transformation to witness and help facilitate. Because I understand the body’s own healing capacity and can empathize with those millions suffering from chronic illness, I have led a free webinar called “Food as Medicine: Become Your Own Healer” since early 2025 on Eventbrite to help educate and empower people to take their power back and use ancient wisdom to heal themselves at the root. Now, hundreds of people from all over the world attend my webinar every month to learn. I love encouraging people to listen deeply to their own body and to their own intuition, guiding them back home to themselves. As Hippocrates says, “If you are not your own doctor, then you are a fool.” I ask my global community, “What did our ancestors do to heal before we had all this ‘fancy stuff’?” We have more power than we’ve been led to believe. And the medicine we seek lies in improving our daily habits. Discover just how powerful you are when you tap into your own body’s innate ability to heal itself. Join us at Food as Medicine to learn how to become your own healer! Visit here. Follow me on   Instagram ,   Facebook ,   LinkedIn ,  and visit my   website for more info. Read more from Cynthia Blancaflor Cynthia Blancaflor, Lifestyle Medicine Expert, Author & Speaker Cynthia Blancaflor is an award-winning Filipino American artist, author, healer and speaker, dedicated to modeling holistic wellness through eating clean, meditation, mindset and movement. She overcame acute sciatica in just 2 weeks at the age of 30 under the guidance of renowned healer, Master Wang, over 18 years ago. After losing her family to chronic illness, she was inspired to write her first book, “21st Century Handbook,” documenting her self-healing journey with timeless practices based on ancient wisdom and proven science. From the book, she developed “Self-Care Blueprint: Become Your Own Healer,” a lifestyle program that has dramatically transformed the health of 100% of her clients, within two months or less.

Written by Michael Ritchie, Transformational Coach Michael is a Transformational Coach, Sound Healer, Numerologist & Human Design practitioner, & Sacred Medicine Holder. He is the in-house Healer & Mentor at Harmony P.E.C., leading the sacred healing team & co-facilitating the virtual Universal Foundations and Adept Courses to help seekers better understand their power & unique path. The systems which humanity depends upon within our modern society, are the same systems which control us. We’ve given our power away, which is exactly what the systems were designed to do… The first division (divide and conquer) History History is fiction, illusion written by the winners, with no representation from the other side. A justification marketed to the public as truth, making heroes of villains and villains of the victims. If you wish to get closer to truth, follow the artists, the poets, the song-writers and story tellers, the Shamans and Mystics…, these are the souls plugged into society, not the overlords pulling the strings of deception, calculating fear and control to mold the world into their self-entitled reality. “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it…” Winston Churchill “History is a set of lies, agreed upon.” Napoleon Bonaparte “History is more or less bunk.” Henry Ford Austin O'Malley: "History is a vast dust-heap of falsehood with a few pennies of truth scattered through it" Science Science is now catching up to metaphysics. "The more I study physics, the more I am drawn to metaphysics." – Albert Einstein Wernher von Braun: "Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me, strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace". Modern Physics and Ancient Wisdom: Erwin Schrödinger noted that the dynamic unity and interconnectedness of reality have been known for three thousand years and are being "confirmed by modern physics". Politics Anyone who wishes power should not be allowed anywhere near it… We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution, one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me. George Orwell, 1984. Power is the ability to get things done, to mobilize resources, to get and use whatever it is that a person needs for the goals he or she is attempting to meet. In this way, a monopoly on power means that only very few have this capacity, and they prevent the majority of others from being able to act effectively. Thus, the total amount of power, and total system effectiveness, is restricted, even though some people seem to have a great deal of it. However, when more people are empowered, that is, allowed to have control over the conditions that make their actions possible, then more is accomplished, more gets done. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation. “The major problem, one of the major problems, for there are several, one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it, or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Who should we elect? None of the above… . Military and police To serve and protect "The police were not created to protect and serve the population... They were created to protect the new form of wage-labor capitalism... from the threat posed by that system's offspring, the working class." – Howard Zinn Historian and Associate Professor of History Sam Mitrani suggests that the police were created by the ruling class to control working-class and poor people, a role they have continued to play. "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die." – Jean-Paul Sartre (often attributed to). The Danger of Militarization: "There's a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people." – Commander William Adama (fictional, Battlestar Galactica). Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Ram Dass, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, The Dalai Lama… decided to build a community. As each were centered in their Heart, there was no need for police, military or money. They simply helped one another out of love, compassion and the knowing that we are all one… Economy A system of control the public has been brainwashed into believing is needed. It serves separateness. Separateness = Cancer Money and societal/government control Notable figures have commented on the influence of money on governments and society. Mayer Amschel Rothschild is quoted as saying, "Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws". Napoleon Bonaparte observed that when a government relies on bankers for money, the bankers hold the power. Thomas Jefferson expressed concern that banking institutions posed a greater threat to liberty than standing armies. Bertrand Russell stated that power ultimately rests with those who control finance. A quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln suggests that financial powers can exploit nations and consolidate wealth, leading to the destruction of a republic. Leo Tolstoy viewed money as a modern form of impersonal slavery. “The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.” The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863. “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and money system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Michael Ritchie Michael Ritchie, Transformational Coach Michael holds many skills & among many, he is known as a Transformational Coach, Sound Healer, Numerologist & Human Design practitioner, Sacred Medicine Holder, and Channeler of Energy from the Eternal Creator. In 2011-12 he was told he had 6m to a year to live. Since that day, he has dedicated his life to understanding awakening, enlightenment, and The Great Way. Funny how a death sentence lets you see what’s important, what’s not.

Written by Joanne Louise Bray, Founder of Plantlife Joy Joanne Bray is the proud founder of Plantlife Joy. Her journey began with a deep love of nature and the belief that plants have the power to bring happiness, tranquility, and a touch of magic to our lives. Plantlife Joy specialises in plant knowledge, and our mission is to connect people back to the beauty of the natural world. Across cultures and centuries, women's contributions have been either omitted (simply left out of the record), denied (attributed to men or institutions), or ignored (treated as unimportant, domestic or natural). I don’t think that this is an accident, and there are a few recurring mechanisms: The supporting role trap, where women are the driving force, they do the foundational, intellectual, emotional, logistical, and creative labour, but are often seen as helpers, the assistants, muses, wives, secretaries or just background characters.  The modesty expectation, where women are taught not to take credit, to downplay their expertise, avoid self‑promotion, soften their authority, and credit the team instead of themselves. Patriarchal systems reward visibility, and not contribution, modesty becomes a mechanism of dispossession. This conveniently allows others to take credit. The difficult woman label, where women who assert themselves, have boundaries, expertise, or leadership, are reframed as, emotional, dramatic, ungrateful, abrasive, and uncooperative. It’s a way to delegitimise her voice without ever engaging with her ideas. A classic tactic used to silence women's voices, I might add.  The archival gap, systematic absence, erasure, or under-documentation of certain groups, especially women, people of colour, working‑class people, queer communities, and anyone outside dominant power structures. It’s not that these people weren’t doing things. It’s that their work wasn’t preserved, valued, or recorded. In many cases, it was deliberately destroyed, overwritten, or attributed to someone else. Once you identify the pattern, the next question becomes unavoidable, “Why does this keep happening?” Why do the same mechanisms appear in ancient Greece, medieval Europe, colonial societies, modern workplaces, and even contemporary creative industries? It’s because these mechanisms aren’t random. They serve specific cultural, economic, and political functions, and here are the key forces that drive them:  Control of power and authority - Throughout history, those who control knowledge control society. Women’s expertise in healing, agriculture, midwifery, craft, spirituality, community, and organisations represented independent power, so it was and still is often squashed. Women’s knowledge is not sanctioned by institutions not controlled by men and is not easily taxed, regulated, or absorbed.  Therefore, erasing women’s contributions helped centralise authority in male‑dominated institutions, legitimise those institutions as the “true” sources of knowledge, and maintain social hierarchies. This is why women’s work was often reframed as superstition, domestic instinct, emotional labour, and “helping” rather than leading. It kept authority in the hands of those already in power. Economic competition Many forms of women’s labour were economically valuable, healing, midwifery, textile production, food preservation, herbal medicine, teaching, and community care. When male‑dominated professions such as physicians, clergy, guilds, and universities emerged, women became competitors. Erasure became a strategy to eliminate competition, justify excluding women from paid work, transfer economic value to male professions, and rewrite history to make male dominance appear natural. This is especially clear in the transition from community healers to licensed physicians. Control of reproduction and the body Women who understood contraception, fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, abortion, and postpartum care held the power over the most fundamental aspect of society, who is born, when, and under what conditions. Patriarchal systems have always sought to control reproduction. So, women who held reproductive knowledge were often demonised, criminalised, accused of witchcraft, and pushed out of authority. This and herbalism are some of the deepest roots of the “witch” label. Social expectations and gender norms Cultural norms taught women to be modest, be self‑effacing, avoid conflict, prioritise harmony, support others, and not claim credit. These norms weren’t harmless, they created a perfect environment for erasure. If women don’t claim their work, someone else will, and when women did assert themselves, they were punished with the “difficult woman” label, accusations of emotional instability, exclusion from leadership and reputational damage. The structure of the archive itself The archive is not neutral. It reflects who had literacy, who had access to institutions, who was considered worth recording and who controlled the narrative. It was men who wrote the histories, kept the records, and decided what counted as knowledge. Women’s contributions, often oral, domestic, embodied, or community‑based, didn’t fit the archival model. So, the silence in the archive is not evidence of absence, it’s clear evidence of bias. Fear of women’s autonomy Women who were independent, unmarried, financially self‑sufficient, outspoken, skilled, and unconventional were often perceived as threats to social order. The mechanisms of erasure, especially the “witch” label, were tools to discipline women, enforce conformity, punish autonomy, and maintain patriarchal stability. This is why the same types of women were targeted across cultures. Narrative control Perhaps the most subtle reason of all, if you control the story, you control what future generations believe is possible. Erasing women from history limits women’s sense of lineage, creates the illusion that men built everything, reinforces the idea that women’s contributions are new, marginal, or exceptional, and makes women feel like outsiders in fields they founded. It’s psychological architecture. The threat of women and money When women control money, the pattern shifts. Across history and into the present, women with financial power tend to redistribute resources to families, communities, education, healthcare, and collective well-being rather than hoard wealth for status or domination. This orientation toward circulation rather than accumulation disrupts hierarchies built on scarcity and control. Women who funded movements were rarely remembered as architects. They sustained communities, financed revolutions, kept spiritual movements alive, and built alternatives, yet were framed as helpers, patrons, or moral supporters, while men were cast as founders, leaders, and visionaries. As with intellectual labour, financial contribution was detached from authority. This is why women with money have so often been viewed with suspicion. Independent wealth reduced women’s dependence on marriage, the church, the state, and the employer. It enabled choice, mobility, dissent, and refusal. Systems that rely on women’s unpaid labour and economic dependence responded by moralising women’s spending, questioning their competence, demanding selflessness, or portraying financial autonomy as selfish, dangerous, or unfeminine. The pattern is consistent across time. From widows accused of greed, to healers targeted for economic independence, to modern women criticised for how they earn, spend, or share money, the same logic persists. Women’s financial autonomy destabilises systems built on extraction. Erasure, ridicule, and moral policing become tools to neutralise that threat. How the witch hunts reveal the logic behind women’s erasure The popular image of the witch as a woman who practises harmful magic obscures a deeper historical reality. While beliefs about sorcery existed, accusations of witchcraft were frequently directed at women who held knowledge and authority outside male-controlled institutions. Many, though not all, accused women were midwives, healers, herbalists, or socially marginal figures with practical expertise in plants, fertility, birth, illness, and death. These women were not dangerous because of magic, but because of competence and autonomy. Their authority did not flow through the Church, the state, or emerging professional hierarchies. The figure of the witch became a disciplinary label, applied to women who were too knowledgeable, too independent, too economically self-sufficient, or too difficult to control. The witch hunts did not give rise to modern pharmaceuticals. Rather, they constituted a violent rupture in women’s medical authority. By criminalising and eliminating women-led healing traditions, the hunts cleared the ground for institutional, male-dominated medicine to consolidate power. Over the centuries that followed, this institutional medicine absorbed community-held plant knowledge, stripped it of lineage, and reframed it as sanctioned scientific discovery. Many modern pharmaceuticals are therefore not inventions created in isolation, but refinements of longstanding plant knowledge. Willow bark, used for centuries to relieve pain and inflammation, became the basis for aspirin once its active compounds were isolated and patented. Foxglove, long employed in folk medicine for its effects on the heart, was transformed into digitalis through institutional study. In both cases, the plants did not change. What changed was who was recognised as the authority. The forgotten women who sustained great movements I could provide so many examples of women who have contributed to or sustained great movements, but are either omitted, denied, or ignored. Across history, women appear at the centre of transformation, scientific, spiritual, political, and artistic, yet their names often slip into the margins while the men around them become the story. This isn’t accidental. It’s a pattern shaped by who held the pen, who controlled the institutions, and who was allowed to be remembered. Below are just a few examples that illustrate how consistent this pattern is across time and culture. Rosalind Franklin  Was born in London in the 1920s. She excelled at school in science and maths, but she still had to fight to get a place at university, her own father denied her academic abilities. In 1951, she began research at King's College in London on X-ray diffraction, capturing the first picture of DNA. the now‑famous Photograph 51. Her data was shown to Watson and Crick without her knowledge or permission, and it became the foundation of their model of the double helix. While they went on to receive the Nobel Prize, Franklin’s contribution was minimised, softened, or omitted entirely for decades. She had produced the evidence, but the credit flowed elsewhere. Lise Meitner Was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who played a crucial role in the discovery of nuclear fission, yet her contributions were consistently minimised during her lifetime. She spent over three decades collaborating with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann. Even after her exile by Nazi Germany due to her Jewish background, she helped them to develop a theoretical explanation that made sense of their experimental results. It was, however, Otto alone who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Lise was often proclaimed to be Otto’s assistant even though she was an equal in intellectual terms.  Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell  Was a Northern Irish physicist who, while conducting research for her doctorate in 1967, discovered the first radio pulsars (pulsating stars that emit beams of electronic radiation). Not only did she analyse data from a newly commissioned radio telescope, but she also helped build the instrument. Her findings were initially dismissed as interference until another telescope picked up the same signal from a different star.  In 1974, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Antony Hewish and Martin Ryle. It was Jocelyn’s discovery that transformed astrophysics and opened an entirely new way of research. Decades later, she used her platform to lift others, donating 2.3 million when she received the Special Breakthrough prize in Fundamental Physics to fund scholarships for women, refugees, and underrepresented groups in physics. Hypatia of Alexandria Lived in 4th-5th century Alexandria. Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher at a time when women were rarely educated, let alone allowed to teach. She led the Neoplatonist school, attracting students from across the Mediterranean. Her influence extended beyond scholarship, she advised civic leaders and was respected as a public intellectual.  She was killed by a Christian mob during a power struggle between the governor Orestes and Bishop Cyril. In later retellings, her death was reframed as punishment for “paganism,” a narrative that obscured the political motives and helped justify the violence. Her story became another example of how women’s intellectual authority was erased or recast to fit institutional agendas. Trotula of Salerno  Was an 11th‑century physician associated with the famed medical school of Salerno, one of the earliest centres of medical learning in medieval Europe, who allowed women to study. She specialised in women’s health at a time when female bodies were poorly understood and often treated with superstition or neglect. Her writings, collectively known as The Trotula, covered childbirth, menstruation, fertility, gynaecology, and herbal remedies, offering practical, compassionate guidance grounded in observation rather than fear. Her work was so influential that it circulated across Europe for centuries, yet later scribes and scholars refused to believe a woman could have authored such authoritative medical texts. Portions of her work were attributed to male physicians, her name was Latinised or altered, and in some manuscripts, she was erased entirely. The survival of her writings is the exception that proves the rule, women’s medical knowledge was often absorbed into male‑authored texts, while the women themselves disappeared from the historical record. Even today, women’s medical decisions are still publicly scrutinised. You see it when groups gather outside clinics to shame or pressure women at their most vulnerable, a modern reminder that the policing of women’s bodies never truly disappeared, it simply changed form. Even the bible leaves out the key importance of women who shaped movements. Joanna, the wife of Chuza, a woman of considerable status, funded Jesus’s ministry. Joanna travelled with Jesus and the disciples, financing their work after Jesus had cured her of evil spirits, helping them sustain their ministry. She is also the woman who discovered the empty tomb of Jesus, placing her at the heart of the resurrection story. Despite her presence, her influence, and her witness, Joanna all but disappears from Christian tradition. Her Hebrew name, Yôḥānāh, originally carried the meaning of a “gracious gift,” but even this softened over time into the more generic “God is gracious,” mirroring how her role, and the roles of so many women was gradually diminished in the retelling, the retellings told by men.  None of this makes me sexist, nor does it require me to identify as a feminist. Pointing out historical patterns is not an attack on men, it is an examination of the systems that have shaped our records, institutions, and collective memory. Acknowledging women’s erasure is not about blaming individuals, it is about recognising structural forces that have shaped what we are taught to value. I am not arguing that women are better than men, or that men have no place in these stories. I am simply refusing to pretend that women were absent when they were present, influential, and essential. Naming the pattern is not ideology. It is accuracy. The truth is that progress has always been strongest when women and men worked together, when knowledge was shared rather than controlled, and when authority was rooted in competence rather than hierarchy. We are living in a moment where the old narratives no longer serve us. It is time for a shift, not toward division, but toward partnership. A future where women’s contributions are named, valued, and remembered strengthens everyone. Restoring women to the story is not an act of exclusion. It is an act of completion. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Joanne Louise Bray Joanne Louise Bray, Founder of Plantlife Joy Joanne Bray is a leader in plant life, she has been to the darkest depths of despair with her mental health. Nurturing plants and learning all about them led to her own healing journey. She discovered the immense joy and mindfulness that nurturing plants provides, so she began to write about them within her membership site, create courses, paint parts of nature that she fell in love with, and write books in the hope of sharing her passion and helping others to connect back to the beauty and wonder that nature supplies. Joanne is very passionate about eradicating the use of chemicals in gardening, and so she offers solutions using plants that either attract beneficial insects or deter pests.

Written by Barbara Blum, Energy Conduit & Spiritual Mentor Barbara Blum is an energy conduit and spiritual mentor, specializing in moving cosmic life-force energy and transmitting higher states of consciousness through her energy transmissions. Through a grounded and embodied presence, this work is for the awakening of the individual as well as the healing of the collective and the ascension of humanity. Energy work is steadily moving from the edges of spiritual culture into the mainstream. You may already be familiar with the idea through practices like yoga, acupuncture, or meditation, or perhaps you’ve only encountered it as a vague or mysterious concept. Either way, the growing interest points to something deeply human, our relationship with life-force energy. “Energy work” is a broad term that encompasses many modalities, but at its core, it refers to working with the fundamental force that animates life itself. Every culture throughout history has recognized this force and given it a name, life-force, prana, qi (chi), ki, vital principle. Different words, same essence. Becoming aware of this energy, learning how it moves, and understanding how it shapes our experience has been a central pursuit of spiritual traditions for thousands of years. What’s different now is accessibility. More people than ever are encountering these ideas not as abstract philosophy, but through direct, lived experience. Ancient wisdom, not a passing trend Because energy work is gaining visibility, it’s sometimes dismissed as a modern trend. In reality, it is ancient knowledge resurfacing. Civilizations across the world understood the human being as an energetic system and worked with that system as a means of healing, self-regulation, and spiritual development. Practices like yoga, qigong, acupuncture, and breath-work were never separate from daily life, they were methods of maintaining harmony within the body, mind, and spirit. What has been missing in recent history is not the system itself, but our awareness of it. As that awareness returns, engaging with our own internal energy is becoming less esoteric and more essential to understanding what it means to be human. The human body is an energetic system From both a scientific and spiritual perspective, energy is foundational. Nothing comes into existence or remains in motion without an energetic source. This applies not only to physical processes, but also to thought and emotion. Science has long measured electrical activity in the brain, showing that thoughts and cognition arise from energetic impulses. Emotions, too, are accompanied by distinct physiological and energetic responses. In other words, our inner world is not abstract, it is active, dynamic, and measurable. Spiritual traditions refer to this internal flow as the subtle energy body. It exists alongside the physical body and acts as an interface between our biological functions and our deeper, non-physical aspects of self. While subtle energy isn’t visible in the way muscles or organs are, it can be felt, influenced, and experienced directly. Where life-force comes from Most of us think of energy primarily in biological terms, food, rest, movement. But we also receive energy from sources like sunlight, oxygen, and the natural environment. From a spiritual perspective, all of these derive from a deeper origin, the interplay between consciousness and the primordial formation of energy itself. Mystical traditions across cultures describe existence as consciousness expressing itself through energy, bringing form out of an unmanifest state. From this view, life-force is not something separate from us, it is the same creative energy that animates everything, flowing through and as us. When energy stops flowing freely Ideally, our energy moves continuously, supporting physical health, emotional balance, and mental clarity. But life inevitably leaves its marks. Stress, trauma, suppressed emotions, and unresolved experiences can interrupt the natural flow of energy. When this happens repeatedly or over long periods of time, stagnation can develop. These blockages don’t always show up immediately, but over time they may manifest as emotional reactivity, chronic tension, fatigue, mental confusion, stress or physical discomfort. Many minor disruptions resolve on their own when we process emotions and allow ourselves to feel and integrate experiences. Deeper or unprocessed trauma, however, often remains stored in the system, sometimes outside conscious awareness, continuing to influence how we perceive and respond to life. Why activate the subtle energy body? Working consciously with life-force energy means addressing issues at their root, rather than only managing symptoms. When energy begins to move more freely, it naturally brings awareness to what has been held beneath the surface. This can look like old emotions rising to be felt, sudden clarity around long-standing issues, increased intuition, or physical shifts as the body releases stored tension. While the experience is different for everyone, the common thread is expanded awareness. Greater energetic flow supports greater consciousness. As clarity increases, we gain more choice in how we respond to life rather than reacting from unconscious patterns shaped by the past. Energy work in the modern world As understanding grows, energy work is becoming more widely available through different modalities, sometimes called life-force activation, Kundalini Activation, Pranic Healing, and my work, light-body activation. While the methods and language differ, they all engage in some way with the same fundamental principle, working with the energy that animates life to support healing, awareness, and evolution. As energy work becomes more visible in modern culture, it reflects a broader return to wholeness, an understanding that mind, body, emotion, and spirit are not separate systems, but expressions of a single, intelligent flow. Engaging consciously with life-force energy doesn’t make us something new, it reveals what has always been present. With greater awareness and freer flow, we gain clarity, resilience, and a deeper capacity to meet life as it is, rooted, awake, and connected. To go deeper into this work If this article resonates and you’d like to explore how life-force energy and the subtle energy body relate to your own experience: Explore Barbara Blum’s Energy Transmissions , where her various transmissions of Light Body Activation, Cosmic Consciousness and High Frequency Energy Alignments weave life-force energy with angelic, archangelic, and Elohim frequencies to support expanded awareness and embodied healing. Book a Light Body Activation session to support the opening and integration of your energetic system, allowing energy to move more freely through the body, mind, and emotional field. Group   sessions and private sessions  available. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Barbara Blum Barbara Blum, Energy Conduit & Spiritual Mentor Barbara Blum is an Energy Conduit and Spiritual Mentor, specializing in moving cosmic life-force energy and transmitting higher states of consciousness through her two primary energy transmissions: Light Body Activation and Cosmic Consciousness. Decades of embodied yogic practices and studies of the energy system through the yogic lens brought a personal, experiential understanding of how the human energetic system operates. She is a former Level 2 KAP (Kundalini Activation Process) Facilitator, 700hr Yoga Instructor, and Certified Meditation Instructor offering personal and group energy transmissions in-person and online, holding international retreats and offering facilitator trainings.

Written by Alan Hoey, Chemical-Free Invasive Weed Eradicators Alan Hoey is the Managing Director of two UK National Companies, including the Japanese Knotweed Agency, award-winning specialists in chemical-free invasive weed removal. He pioneers thermo-electric treatment for sustainable, permanent root-kill of Japanese Knotweed and other invasive plants while protecting biodiversity. Japanese Knotweed remains one of the most disruptive and misunderstood invasive plant species affecting property, infrastructure, and land across the UK. For homeowners, developers, local authorities, and commercial landowners alike, the presence of knotweed can stall transactions, delay projects, and introduce long-term financial risk if not managed correctly. At Japanese Knotweed Agency Ltd (JKWA), our mission has always been simple, deliver clear, defensible, and cost-effective solutions to invasive plant problems, without unnecessary chemicals, inflated costs, or vague assurances. As we enter 2026, JKWA has significantly expanded its service offering, giving clients greater choice, faster resolution, and some of the most competitive remediation pricing in the UK. Independent surveys you can rely on Every successful knotweed strategy starts with accurate identification and risk assessment. JKWA provides independent Japanese Knotweed surveys for: Residential property, homeowners, and tenants, including sales and purchases Development and land acquisition Infrastructure and access routes Planning and legal support Our surveys are evidence-based, clearly written, and designed to stand up to scrutiny from: Solicitors Surveyors Lenders Local authorities We do not overstate risk, and we do not underplay it either. Clients receive clear recommendations tailored to their objectives, whether that is treatment, containment, or removal. Thermo-electric treatment: A chemical-free alternative JKWA is the UK’s leading specialist in thermo-electric knotweed treatment, a non-chemical method that uses controlled electrical energy to destroy rhizome systems at depth. This method is particularly valuable where: Herbicide use is restricted or undesirable Sites are environmentally sensitive Long-term guarantees are required Immediate excavation is impractical Thermo-electric treatment forms a key part of our integrated approach and is increasingly requested by clients seeking sustainable, future-proof solutions. Root barrier installation and containment In situations where full removal is not required or appropriate, JKWA designs and installs root barrier systems to prevent rhizome spread and protect neighbouring land, structures, and future development. Our barrier installations are: Depth-specific and site-engineered Compatible with development works Supported by clear documentation This approach is particularly effective for boundary protection, phased developments, and constrained urban sites. Expanded excavation services, faster, cheaper, controlled In 2026, JKWA formally expanded its excavation, digging, and removal services, allowing us to deliver direct off-site disposal of knotweed-contaminated soils at a lower cost than many traditional providers. By controlling: Labour Plant Supervision Waste logistics We remove unnecessary layers of cost, while maintaining full compliance with controlled waste regulations. This means: Fewer delays No re-handling or on-site stockpiling Transparent pricing Extremely competitive fixed price solutions For many clients, excavation is now quicker and more affordable than long-term treatment, particularly where development timelines matter. One agency, multiple solutions, clear advice What sets Japanese Knotweed Agency Ltd apart is not a single method, but the ability to choose the right method for each site. We are not tied to one solution. We are not incentivised to oversell. We are focused on outcomes, compliance, and value. Whether you need: A survey to support a sale as a buyer or seller A non-chemical treatment strategy Physical containment Or full excavation and removal JKWA provides clear advice and delivers what we say we will. Expanding access through multilingual communication As part of our continued commitment to clarity and accessibility, Japanese Knotweed Agency Ltd has expanded its media and news platform to include Chinese language content. This development reflects the increasingly international nature of UK property ownership, investment, and development. By making key guidance, updates, and educational content available in Chinese, we aim to support overseas investors, landlords, and stakeholders who require accurate information on invasive plant risk, compliance, and remediation options within the UK market. Clear communication is essential when dealing with regulated environmental issues such as Japanese knotweed. By broadening language access across our news and blogs section, JKWA is helping ensure that advice is understood correctly, risks are properly assessed, and decisions are made on the basis of fact rather than fear or misinformation. This initiative forms part of our wider goal to raise industry standards, improve transparency, and ensure responsible land management is accessible to all. Establishing a National Register for accountability and clarity In parallel with expanding our practical services, Japanese Knotweed Agency Ltd has introduced a National Register designed to bring greater structure, transparency, and accountability to how Japanese Knotweed cases are recorded and managed. Now in its fourth year of growth, it includes 76,515 records. The National Register provides a centralised reference point for documented knotweed activity, treatment, containment, and remediation works. Its purpose is not to stigmatise land, but to promote accurate record keeping, continuity of information, and informed decision making across property transactions, land management, and development planning. Too often, knotweed risk is misunderstood or exaggerated due to a lack of reliable, accessible information. By establishing a formal register, JKWA is helping shift the conversation from fear-based assumptions to evidence-led assessment, supporting surveyors, solicitors, developers, and property owners alike. This initiative reflects JKWA’s broader commitment to raising industry standards, encouraging responsible long-term land stewardship, and improving confidence in how invasive plant issues are disclosed and managed. While the register aims only to give an indication of the number of reported sightings, we still have a long way to go and rely on surveyors, volunteers, and members of the public to report sightings to us. Looking ahead As awareness of invasive species grows, and as clients become more informed, the industry is moving away from fear-based pricing and towards measured, evidence-led remediation. Japanese Knotweed Agency Ltd is proud to be part of that shift. 2026 is about clarity, control, and cost-effective action. We are social, check us out on YouTube  and X . Did you know, in 2025 Alan Hoey & Japanese Knotweed Agency were recognised as one of the BRAINZ 500 Global Award Leaders. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Alan Hoey Alan Hoey, Chemical-Free Invasive Weed Eradicators Ex-military intelligence, Alan leads from the front as Managing Director of the Japanese Knotweed Agency, the UK’s Leading Authority on its number one invasive weed. An innovative industry disruptor, he was the first in the UK to adopt thermo-electric technology for chemical-free invasive weed removal and has positioned JKWA at the forefront of sustainable Japanese Knotweed eradication. But there's a lot more to Alan that the eyes can see.

Written by Elizabeth Huang, Life Coach & Death Doula Elizabeth Huang is a certified life coach, grief educator, and death doula. Her work emphasizes enhancing emotional literacy, fostering social and emotional learning, and supporting affective development in a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology. Most of us like to think we’re open-minded, that we look at facts, and consider nuance. And yet, many of us end up inside echo chambers without even realizing it. And it’s not any one individual’s fault (certainly not yours), it’s the culmination of a number of things, algorithms, human nature, and etc. While we often think of echo chambers as being political, this isn’t about politics alone. Echo chambers shape how we think about: health (physical and mental) relationships grief and healing success and failure what’s “normal,” “true,” or “possible” 10 subtle signs you might be in one, and ways to step outside of it 1. Most of what you see already confirms what you believe If articles, posts, and videos consistently make you think “Exactly!” rather than “Hmm…”, that’s a clue. Why it happens: Algorithms prioritize content similar to what you’ve already engaged with. Try this: Intentionally read one thoughtful piece per week that challenges your perspective. 2. Opposing views don’t just feel wrong, but ridiculous When disagreement feels like an attack or even absurd, curiosity has likely shut down. Try this: Ask yourself: “What life experience might lead someone to this conclusion?” You don’t have to agree to understand. 3. You’ve stopped asking “what if I’m missing something?” Certainty can feel comforting, especially during uncertainty or emotional distress. But comfort can also lead to an echo chamber when the rest of the world continues to operate outside of it. Try this: Replace “Well, that’s obvious” with: “What else might be true?” 4. You follow mostly people who sound like you Shared language, shared values, shared conclusions. Feeling seen and heard is powerful, but it can also narrow perspective. Try this: Follow a few people who: disagree respectfully come from different cultural or generational backgrounds ask better questions than they give answers 5. Information feels like validation rather than exploration If content mainly makes you feel right rather than curious, it may be reinforcing identity more than understanding. Try this: Notice how your body reacts: Tight and defensive? Or open and reflective? Something else? 6. Conversations turn into debates quickly When the goal becomes winning rather than learning, echo chambers are reinforced. Try this: Practice responding with: “That’s interesting, tell me more.” “Help me understand how you come to this view.” These open doors instead of closing them. 7. You assume bad intent from “the other side” Echo chambers tend to live off of cognitive shortcuts: If they think that, they must be ignorant / dangerous / heartless. Try this: Ask: “What value might they be protecting?” Even harmful beliefs often grow from understandable fears. 8. You feel increasingly anxious or angry after consuming content Echo chambers don’t just shape beliefs, but our emotional states. Try this: Take intentional breaks from reactive content (not just from opposing views, but agreeable ones that elicit reactive emotions). 9. You rarely change your mind anymore It’s one thing to be gullible or naive, it’s one end of a spectrum. The other end of the spectrum is to be rigid and distrusting. Both are breeding grounds for echo chambers. Try this: Reflect on the last time you genuinely reconsidered a belief. If it’s hard to remember, that’s information. 10. Your identity feels tied to being “right” When beliefs become fused with identity, questioning them can feel threatening. This is especially common around deeply personal topics, grief, morality, success, etc. Try this: Ask yourself: “Who would I be if I no longer held onto this belief?” How to break out (without losing yourself) Breaking out of an echo chamber doesn’t have to mean abandoning your values. If anything, it likely means you’re strengthening them through nuance. Start small: Read widely, and with humility Prioritize curiosity over certainty Choose conversations over comment wars Let complexity exist without rushing to conclusions And most importantly: Notice when your mind takes over. So, tell me: Which of these surprised you most, or felt uncomfortable to read? That discomfort might be the beginning of a wider view. Ready for deeper support? If this resonates with you and you’re ready to explore a more authentic, nourishing approach to wellness, I’d love to support you. As a life coach and grief guide, I help people soften emotional heaviness, reconnect with themselves, and create a life that feels grounded and real. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Elizabeth Huang Elizabeth Huang, Life Coach & Death Doula Elizabeth Huang is a certified life coach, grief educator, and death doula dedicated to helping individuals navigate life’s transitions with greater emotional awareness and resilience. Born and raised in California, she was deeply influenced by the American culture’s discomfort with grief and avoidance of death. This inspired her to explore a more intentional and holistic approach to life, loss, and the emotions that shape our experiences. Through her work, Elizabeth guides individuals in processing grief – whether it stems from death, identity shifts, career changes, or other major life transitions.

SoCal Youth Sports, a Southern California–based nonprofit youth development organization, has earned national recognition as the Top Rated Nike Soccer Camp in the USA, a distinction that highlights its evidence-based approach to player development and its growing impact on the youth sports landscape. The recognition places SoCal Youth Sports among the most respected programs within the Nike Soccer Camps network, which is known nationwide for setting high standards in coaching quality and athlete experience. “This recognition reflects our commitment to doing youth sports differently, and doing it better,” said Matt Bambrick, CEO & Founder of SoCal Youth Sports. “Being named the A Top Rated Nike Soccer Camp in the country validates our belief that development-first, research-informed coaching creates not only better players, but better experiences for kids and families.” SoCal Youth Sports operates with a mission to make high-quality soccer programming more accessible, affordable, and developmentally appropriate for players of all backgrounds and abilities. Through their unique nano-sided game formats, guided discovery, and game-based learning models, the organization emphasizes decision-making, creativity, and long-term athlete development rather than early specialization or outcome-driven results. As a Nike Soccer Camp and US Sports Camps-affiliated program, SoCal Youth Sports delivers camps that align with Nike Soccer Camps’ national standards while maintaining a distinct coaching philosophy grounded in modern sport science and pedagogy. This approach has resonated strongly with families, players, and coaches alike, contributing to the program’s top national rating. The national recognition also reinforces SoCal Youth Sports’ broader vision of reshaping grassroots sports by prioritizing learning, enjoyment, and sustainable development over traditional win-at-all-costs models. By combining its NanoSoccer playing models, professional coaching with inclusive program design, the organization continues to expand its reach and influence within the youth sports community. SoCal Youth Sports’ Nike Soccer Camps are offered throughout Southern California and serve players across multiple age groups and ability levels. More information about the program and its nationally recognized camps can be found here. About SoCal youth sports SoCal Youth Sports is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to redefining youth sports through evidence-based coaching, inclusive access, and development-focused programming. Using small-sided games and modern teaching methodologies, SoCal Youth Sports creates high-quality athletic experiences that support long-term player growth, enjoyment, and confidence both on and off the field. Media contact Matt Bambrick, CEO & Founder 323 991-7668 matt@socalyouthsports.com

Written by   Sam Mishra, The Medical Massage Lady Sam Mishra (The Medical Massage Lady) is a multi-award winning massage therapist, aromatherapist, accredited course tutor, oncology and lymphatic practitioner, trauma practitioner, breathwork facilitator, reiki and intuitive energy healer, transformational and spiritual coach, and hypnotherapist. I recently spent some time trying to support someone who, as the result of severe trauma, became addicted to alcohol. This period of time has been probably the second most difficult time in my life, next to losing my children. I didn't have much experience with addiction and I still have much to learn. As much as I wish, at times, that I could have just walked away, it's not really in me to abandon someone who is vulnerable, particularly when I care so much about them as a person. Actually, despite having felt intense pain at being witness to his destruction, this time was also one of the most rewarding stages in my life, that has taught me so much more about myself, my boundaries, and about love and what it really means for me. But it also got me thinking about why so many people do turn their back on those they love who are suffering with addiction. Addiction is often called a family disease, not because it's hereditary, but because its effects ripple outward, touching everyone in an addict's orbit. Yet despite growing awareness that addiction is a medical condition rather than a moral failing, people frequently distance themselves from addicted loved ones. This withdrawal, emotional, physical, or both, occurs across all relationships, parents step back from children, siblings stop answering calls, friends fade away, and romantic partners leave. Understanding why people turn their backs on addicts requires examining a complex interplay of psychological defence mechanisms, societal stigma, emotional exhaustion, and the deeply human need for self-preservation. The persistence of moral stigma Despite decades of research establishing addiction as a chronic brain disease, public perception remains stubbornly rooted in moral judgment.[12] The National Institute on Drug Abuse has repeatedly emphasized that addiction involves changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control, yet surveys consistently show that many people still view addiction primarily as a character flaw or lack of willpower.[1] This moral framing creates a psychological permission structure for abandonment. When we view addiction through a moral lens, the addict becomes someone who is "choosing" their behaviour, repeatedly making the "wrong" choice despite consequences. This framework allows friends and family members to recast their withdrawal not as abandonment of someone who is suffering, but as a reasonable response to someone who refuses to help themselves. The language people use reveals this mindset, "I've done everything I can, but they just won't change" or "They need to hit rock bottom before they'll get help." Research by Corrigan et al. (2009) on mental health stigma demonstrates that when conditions are perceived as controllable, public attitudes harden significantly.[5] Their work shows that unlike diseases viewed as purely biological, conditions attributed to personal choice trigger anger rather than sympathy, and blame rather than offers of help. This stigma operates even among healthcare professionals, with studies showing that medical staff often provide lower quality care to patients with substance use disorders compared to those with other chronic conditions.[11] The trauma of loving an addict Beyond societal stigma lies the raw, personal trauma experienced by those close to addicts. Living with or loving someone with active addiction often means enduring cycles of hope and disappointment, truth and deception, promises and betrayals. Each cycle inflicts fresh wounds, and over time, many people find themselves suffering from symptoms that mirror post-traumatic stress disorder. Family members and close friends of addicts frequently experience what researchers call "secondary traumatic stress" or "compassion fatigue".[4] They remain hypervigilant, constantly scanning for signs of intoxication, relapse, or danger. They experience intrusive thoughts about worst-case scenarios, imagining their loved one overdosing, being arrested, or dying. Sleep becomes difficult. Anxiety becomes chronic. The emotional toll is measurable and significant. Financial betrayal compounds this trauma. Stories of stolen jewellery, emptied bank accounts, forged checks, and maxed-out credit cards are common in addiction narratives. When trust is violated at this fundamental level, when someone steals from their own mother or raids their child's college fund, the relationship sustains damage that can be irreparable. The betrayal isn't just about money, it's about the revelation that the addiction has become more important than the relationship itself. Moreover, many people close to addicts find themselves drawn into enabling behaviours that conflict with their own values and judgment. They lie to employers to cover absences, pay rent to prevent homelessness, or bail their loved one out of jail repeatedly. Each enabling action creates cognitive dissonance, a disconnect between what they believe they should do and what they're actually doing. Over time, this dissonance becomes unbearable, and distancing becomes a way to escape the impossible situation.[9] The unpredictability and chaos Addiction thrives on chaos, and chaos is exhausting. One of the most draining aspects of loving an addict is the fundamental unpredictability. Plans are cancelled. Crises erupt without warning. Behaviour swings from apologetic to aggressive. This unpredictability makes it nearly impossible to maintain normal life rhythms. For family members, especially those with children or demanding careers, this chaos becomes unsustainable. A parent cannot simultaneously manage their own children's needs and continually respond to an addicted adult child's emergencies. A spouse cannot maintain employment while managing constant crises at home. At some point, the arithmetic of life demands a choice, and many people choose stability for themselves and their dependents over continued engagement with the addicted person. Research on caregiver burden in other chronic conditions provides insight here. Studies of family members caring for loved ones with dementia, schizophrenia, or severe physical illness show that unpredictability and behavioural symptoms predict caregiver burnout more strongly than the severity of the condition itself.[10] The same principle applies to addiction, it's not just the severity of the substance use, but the chaos it generates that drives people away. The illusion of control and the fantasy of "Tough love" Many people distance themselves from addicts while believing they're employing "tough love", a concept suggesting that withdrawal of support will motivate change. This idea has deep roots in American culture and in certain addiction treatment philosophies, particularly those emphasizing the need for addicts to "hit rock bottom" before recovery becomes possible. The tough love framework provides psychological comfort to those stepping back. It reframes abandonment as intervention, withdrawal as strategy. "I'm not giving up on them," the thinking goes, "I'm giving them the space to face consequences and choose recovery." This narrative allows people to maintain a positive self-image as caring individuals while simultaneously protecting themselves from further pain. However, research on addiction treatment increasingly challenges the rock bottom myth. Studies show that people can and do recover at various stages of addiction severity, and that earlier intervention generally predicts better outcomes.[13] The notion that addicts must lose everything before they can recover lacks empirical support and may actually increase mortality risk by delaying treatment. Moreover, the tough love approach often reflects a desire for control in an uncontrollable situation. People cannot force someone else into sustained recovery, but they can control their own behaviour, including the decision to step back. This creates an illusion of agency in a situation characterized by powerlessness, which provides psychological relief even if it doesn't actually help the addicted person. Grief for the person who was Another powerful factor in turning away from addicts involves grief. Family members and friends often describe feeling that the person they loved has "disappeared" or been "replaced" by the addiction. They mourn the loss of personality traits, shared interests, inside jokes, and the essential qualities that made their relationship meaningful. This phenomenon resembles "ambiguous loss," a term coined by psychologist Pauline Boss (1999) to describe situations where a loved one is physically present but psychologically absent, or vice versa.[3] With addiction, the person is often still alive and occasionally present, but fundamentally changed. This type of loss is particularly difficult to process because it lacks the closure and social recognition that comes with death. The grief can be profound. Parents mourn the child who was curious and affectionate. Siblings mourn the brother or sister who was their closest ally. Spouses mourn the partner with whom they built dreams. Over time, this grief can calcify into a protective detachment. People create emotional distance to stop the continuous reopening of the wound each time they see what their loved one has become. Doka (2002) discusses "disenfranchised grief", grief that isn't socially recognized or validated.[6] Grieving someone who is still alive but changed by addiction often falls into this category, leaving people feeling isolated in their loss and less likely to seek support. This isolation can accelerate the process of turning away, as people lack the community scaffolding that might help them maintain connection despite the pain. Self-preservation and boundary setting At its core, the decision to distance from an addict often represents self-preservation. Mental health professionals working with families of addicts frequently emphasize the importance of boundaries, recognizing what you can and cannot control, protecting your own wellbeing, and detaching with love when necessary.[2] These boundaries aren't inherently about abandonment, they're about survival. When someone's mental health deteriorates from the stress of the relationship, when their own substance use increases as a coping mechanism, when their physical safety is threatened, or when their other relationships suffer, stepping back becomes necessary for health. Research on co-dependency and family dynamics in addiction shows that enmeshment with an addicted person can be genuinely dangerous to one's wellbeing. Studies document elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and stress-related physical illness among family members of people with substance use disorders.[8] The decision to create distance, while painful, can represent appropriate self-care rather than callousness. However, the line between healthy boundaries and harmful abandonment isn't always clear. One person's necessary self-protection might be experienced by the addict as rejection at their most vulnerable moment. This ambiguity creates moral complexity that haunts many people who step back, leaving them with guilt that persists even when their decision was justified. The role of exhaustion and burnout Perhaps the simplest explanation for why people turn their backs on addicts is sheer exhaustion. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition. Watching someone cycle through treatment, relapse, recovery, and relapse again, sometimes over decades, depletes emotional reserves. Each relapse after a period of sobriety brings crushing disappointment. Each broken promise erodes hope a little more. Each crisis demands resources, emotional, financial, temporal, that people have in finite supply. Eventually, for many, there's simply nothing left to give. Research on compassion fatigue among professional caregivers shows that even trained, compensated professionals experience burnout when repeatedly exposed to others' suffering without adequate recovery time.[7] For family members and friends who lack professional training, support systems, or time off from the relationship, burnout arrives even faster. This exhaustion isn't weakness, it's biology. The human stress response system wasn't designed for chronic, unrelenting activation. When someone spends years in a state of heightened anxiety about a loved one's wellbeing, their capacity for empathy and engagement genuinely diminishes. The turning away that results isn't always a choice as much as a collapse, the organism protecting itself from further damage. Conclusion Understanding why people turn their backs on addicts requires holding space for multiple truths simultaneously. Addiction is a disease that deserves compassion, and yet loving someone with addiction can be traumatic and unsustainable. Society's moral stigma toward addiction is unjust and unscientific, and yet individual people's need to protect themselves from chaos and harm is valid. Recovery is always possible and worth supporting, and yet not everyone has the resources to stand by someone through repeated relapses. The people who distance themselves from addicts are not uniformly callous or lacking in love. Many are themselves traumatized, exhausted, and grieving. They've often spent years trying to help, sacrificing their own wellbeing in the process, before finally stepping back. Their withdrawal frequently represents the culmination of a long process of erosion rather than a single moment of abandonment. What remains crucial is to recognize that both the person with addiction and those around them are suffering, and both deserve compassion. Creating systems that provide better support for families, reducing stigma that makes it harder to seek help, and developing more effective treatments might reduce the impossible choices people currently face between their own wellbeing and their love for someone in the grip of addiction. Follow me on  Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Sam Mishra Sam Mishra, The Medical Massage Lady Sam Mishra (The Medical Massage Lady), is a multi-award winning massage therapist, aromatherapist, accredited course tutor, oncology and lymphatic practitioner, trauma practitioner, breathwork facilitator, reiki and intuitive energy healer, transformational and spiritual coach and hypnotherapist. Her medical background as a nurse and a midwife, combined with her own experiences of childhood disability and abuse, have resulted in a diverse and specialised service, but she is mostly known for her trauma work. She is motivated by the adversity she has faced, using it as a driving force in her charity work and in offering the vulnerable a means of support. Her aim is to educate about medical conditions using easily understood language, to avoid inappropriate treatments being carried out, and for health promotion purposes in the general public. She is also becoming known for challenging the stigmas in our society and pushing through the boundaries that have been set by such stigmas within the massage industry. References: [1] Barry, C. L., McGinty, E. E., Pescosolido, B. A., & Goldman, H. H. (2014). Stigma, discrimination, treatment effectiveness, and policy: Public views about drug addiction and mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 65(10), 1269-1272. [2] Beattie, M. (1986). Codependent no more: How to stop controlling others and start caring for yourself. Hazelden. [3] Boss, P. (1999). Ambiguous loss: Learning to live with unresolved grief. Harvard University Press. [4] Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52(1), 63-70. [5] Corrigan, P. W., Markowitz, F. E., Watson, A., Rowan, D., & Kubiak, M. A. (2009). An attribution model of public discrimination towards persons with mental illness. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(2), 162-179. [6] Doka, K. J. (2002). Disenfranchised grief: New directions, challenges, and strategies for practice. Research Press. [7] Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue as secondary traumatic stress disorder: An overview. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized (pp. 1-20). Brunner/Mazel. [8] Orford, J., Velleman, R., Natera, G., Templeton, L., & Copello, A. (2013). Addiction in the family is a major but neglected contributor to the global burden of adult ill-health. Social Science & Medicine, 78, 70-77. [9] Rotunda, R. J., Doman, K., & Tugrul, K. C. (2004). Enabling behavior in a clinical sample of alcohol-dependent clients and their partners. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 26(4), 269-276. [10] Schulz, R., & Sherwood, P. R. (2008). Physical and mental health effects of family caregiving. The American Journal of Nursing, 108(9), 23-27. [11] van Boekel, L. C., Brouwers, E. P., van Weeghel, J., & Garretsen, H. F. (2013). Stigma among health professionals towards patients with substance use disorders and its consequences for healthcare delivery: Systematic review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 131(1-2), 23-35. [12] Volkow, N. D., Koob, G. F., & McLellan, A. T. (2016). Neurobiologic advances from the brain disease model of addiction. New England Journal of Medicine, 374(4), 363-371. [13] White, W. L., & Kelly, J. F. (2011). Recovery management: What if we really believed that addiction was a chronic disorder? In J. F. Kelly & W. L. White (Eds.), Addiction recovery management: Theory, research and practice (pp. 67-84). Humana Press.

Written by Dr. Hanna Lind, Breathwork Therapist Dr Hanna Lind is a trauma-informed practitioner and Neurodynamic Breathwork® facilitator supporting nervous system regulation, emotional healing, and embodiment. Her work bridges science, somatics, and consciousness. For many therapy-savvy people, insight is not the problem. They can name patterns, track emotional triggers, and explain with precision why they feel anxious, overwhelmed , or stuck. They understand their childhood, their attachment style, and their coping strategies. They have language for their inner world. And yet, their bodies remain tense, reactive, fatigued, or chronically stressed. Despite years of personal work, something still doesn’t shift This experience is especially common among high-functioning, self-aware individuals who have invested deeply in psychological growth. Talk therapy excels at helping us understand why we feel the way we do. It brings coherence to our stories and compassion to our histories. But understanding alone doesn’t always translate into calm, regulation, or embodied safety. The nervous system does not automatically relax simply because the mind has made sense of the narrative. Talk therapy has been deeply valuable in my own life. It gave me awareness, insight, and emotional vocabulary. Yet I began to notice a disconnect. When anxiety surfaced, my body didn’t respond to insight alone. Even when I knew I was safe, my breath would constrict, my chest would tighten, and my system would brace as if a threat were still present. Knowing why I felt overwhelmed did not automatically create ease or regulation in my body. This gap between insight and embodiment is where many people quietly struggle Both Gabor Maté and Bessel van der Kolk offer powerful frameworks for understanding why this happens. In When the Body Says No, Maté explores how chronic stress, emotional suppression, and the persistent overriding of one’s own needs can accumulate in the body over time. When emotions are repeatedly ignored, often in the service of adaptation, caregiving, or belonging, the body carries the cost. Symptoms and illness become the body’s final communication when earlier signals were not met. Van der Kolk, in The Body Keeps the Score, deepens this understanding by showing how traumatic and overwhelming experiences are stored not primarily as conscious memories, but as physiological patterns. Long after an event has passed, the body may continue to respond as though it is still happening. Muscles tighten, breath shortens, digestion falters, and the nervous system remains vigilant. This is not a failure of insight, it is the intelligence of a body designed to survive. From this perspective, it becomes clear why talk therapy alone sometimes reaches its limits. Stress, trauma, and emotional suppression live in the nervous system, the breath, and the tissues, not just in thoughts. We cannot think our way out of patterns that are held physiologically. This is where somatic approaches become essential complements to traditional therapy Somatic work invites the body into the healing process rather than asking the mind to do all the work. By working directly with sensation, breath, movement, and nervous system regulation, we begin to address the level at which stress is actually stored. Healing shifts from understanding what happened to allowing the body to experience safety in the present moment. As a Neurodynamic Breathwork facilitator, I work with breath as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious, the cognitive and the physiological. Breath is one of the few systems that we can influence both voluntarily and involuntarily. When guided intentionally, it can help release long-held tension, support emotional processing, and increase nervous system flexibility. Insight is no longer something we know, it becomes something we feel. This approach aligns closely with what both Maté and van der Kolk emphasize: healing happens when the body is included. When emotions are allowed to move rather than remain stored, the body no longer needs to speak through symptoms. Regulation replaces suppression. Presence replaces bracing. Importantly, this is not about replacing talk therapy. Insight, meaning-making, and relational understanding remain foundational. Rather, it is about expanding the therapeutic field. When the body is included, anxiety becomes more workable, overwhelm less consuming, and change more sustainable. Healing becomes embodied rather than purely conceptual. For those who feel they have “done everything right” in therapy yet still feel dysregulated, exhausted, or disconnected, this is not a failure. It is often an invitation. The next layer of healing may not require more analysis, but more attunement to the body’s language. When the body is finally allowed to participate, healing becomes less about fixing and more about restoring balance. The nervous system learns, gradually and safely, that it no longer needs to hold the past in the present. And from that place, genuine ease and vitality can emerge. If you are curious about integrating somatic therapy and breathwork alongside talk therapy, you are invited to explore Neurodynamic Breathwork. Learn more here and explore current offerings designed to support embodied, sustainable change. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Dr. Hanna Lind Dr. Hanna Lind, Breathwork Therapist Dr Hanna Lind is a Neurodynamic Breathwork® facilitator and trauma-informed practitioner working at the intersection of nervous system regulation, emotional release, and conscious leadership. Breathwork supports leaders to lead with presence, integrity, and clarity.