Stephanie Blaum was born in this current lifetime in 1978 in Neuwied am Rhein, Germany. She lives with her husband and three children in a three-dimensional but beautiful everyday life close to a variety of picturesque wine villages on the German river Rhine. Stephanie Blaum, QHHT-Practitioner and Author Who is Stephanie Blaum? Stephanie Blaum is a soul with its essential origins positioned far away in the endless space of the universe. In her fundamental and infinite essence, she is love and she is light. Stephanie entered her current lifetime with a specific, yet usually created soul plan, including special life lessons that provide achievable progress and frequent soul ascension. Moreover, and most importantly, she arrived on planet Earth with a cosmic mission. After accessing her phase of spiritual awakening, she realized the tremendous downfall of humanoid development and an epic but historically seen repeating situation of imbalance, destruction, hate and separatism. At that moment when she started living her authentic soul, she felt an urgent desire to help humans return to their essences and become one again. The mission has begun. What inspired you to create The Soul Sanctuary, and what sets it apart in the wellness space? The Soul Sanctuary is a central tool in my mission, assisting people in understanding and overcoming their darkness on both mental and physical levels and, consequently, reaching their soul authenticity. Living an authentic lifetime implies a natural frequency ascension, so that the soul's earthly system veil is lifting. Reality is changing, and the understanding of human and universal oneness is re-emerging and re-implementing. With living the individual energetic essence, feelings and vibe are changing and rising. A natural snowball effect is a consequence, as ascending vibe and energy indicate transfer to other souls. While going through my own awakening process, I came across the amazing Dolores Cannon, a US hypnotherapist who developed a unique program and worked with clients' stunning experiences as they entered the fundamental and deepest levels of subconsciousness. My own session with a QHHT (Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique) Practitioner has been clear proof of my personal meditation experiences, which have given me detailed knowledge of former and parallel lifetimes. Additionally, as a magic icing on my session cake, the direct contact with my subconscious team has been initiated and has never ceased. In my opinion, and much more important in my feeling, the QHHT method is a unique tool for the individual human soul to enter its inner soul library and records on a quantum and so multi-dimensional level. QHHT has a unique and incomparable position in the field of wellness, especially spirituality. It represents an essential and most effective way of the principle “help for self-help”. The most profound difference from other methods is the freedom to create your own healing path, using solely fixed methods coordinated just by and with yourself on various levels of consciousness. Just me, myself and I. Just your truth and you. So, the most professional expert, the front-row witness, of the soul’s story. Parallel to gaining knowledge about your soul history, character essences and mental and physical healings, you are contacting your Higher Self, the subconscious mind on the highest energetic frequency, who welcomes you back with unconditional and so supernatural love and light. How do you define holistic healing, and why is it important for people to embrace it? Healing the human individual apparatus, in my opinion, is most effective when approached holistically. Mental and physical diseases can be seen as hints from the soul's Higher Self, conveying clear messages about urgent needs for change across various fields. Seen holistically, the diagnosed sickness areas always provide more detailed information about the soul's origin of problems. Dolores Cannon, for instance, often has stated in session protocols an emotional anger suppression with a cancer disease consequence. Symptoms of disease are nowadays and meanwhile mostly successfully fixable with artificial, but now again, alternatively and more holistically nature-based medication. I fully support and admire holistic healing with homeopathy, energy, audio frequencies, body movement or breathwork. For me, this is an amazing and very effective addition and relief, allowing one to realize the origin of the disease. Removing symptoms often does not permanently clear the dysfunction. A comeback may be foreseeable if the core conflict remains unresolved. The acceptance of a soul's core problem, the self-allowance to identify it, and, moreover and most importantly, the approval of change are fundamentally relevant to holistic healing. Thus, embracing your physical and mental state, trusting the healing process, and intentionally letting go of triggering situations and hidden problems is indispensable for successful holistic healing. Can you share a success story where your services helped someone transform their life? I met a middle-aged man by chance at a wall in a beautiful ancient city in Eastern Germany. With spraying stunning graffiti, he was doing what his true soul sanctuary was in this present incarnation. We instantly started a deep conversation. He spoke about having difficulty coping with life on planet Earth, mainly with people and their controversial energies, which he found extremely disturbing. He was diagnosed with manic depression and borderline syndrome. For me, coincidences do not exist, as we are all following our soul plans leading to intersectional situations, where the souls have choices to initiate life-changing decisions. Therefore, it became clear to me that I would have a session with this man. We did not speak as much as usual before putting him into a trance. I just informed him of the basics he needs to know about the session process. His Higher Self gave him everything he needed to know for that moment in his life. Showing him a cycle of incarnations that exactly covered his problems in the here and now. Entering the Theta-brainwave state of hypnosis, he found himself in a medieval village as a little girl shouting at a blacksmith who could not hear him. After a frustrating while, he entered the blacksmith’s fire, becoming a light and transforming into a whole planet sun. The client briefly explained this amazing transformation and his deep-down feelings and cosmic experiences being a sun. This was so stunning for him and for me. I could feel his heat and outstanding energy. This sun soul was somehow lost in its search for its universal destiny. Failing at using its extraordinary forces correctly, the sun burnt down an earthly forest and killed a little girl who could not escape the forest early enough. This little girl, in her ghost form, which means she left her human body but remained in the earthly atmosphere, is the one who, at the beginning, was shouting at the blacksmith without getting any response. And this then closed a circle and made sense. The story shown to the man in a trance carried a powerful, all-encompassing symbolism. The living blacksmith could not have heard the ghost girl. This tragedy represented the client's current suffering. He still felt unheeded and, consequently, tended toward self-unacceptance and, furthermore, self-destruction. The Higher Self emphasized his core and essence, being the light and sun. For himself and planet Earth. Without fear of destruction and rejection. This was one of the amazing souls that touched me tremendously. After the session, feeling the client's warm, bright, and joyful energy, his relief, and his open heart, I was filled with gratitude for the universe's unconditional love and support. Some time later, maybe half a year, I heard of the man. He bit by bit discontinued his disease medications and started a life in a completely changed state of mind. Integrating and maintaining his bright, warm soul essence into everyday life, he found fearlessness and happiness. He healed himself successfully by realizing and feeling the reasons for his chronic illness. It is like a magic fairytale. And the man is living happily ever after. I know it. As I know it. And as he knows it. You shared your own story of your spiritual development in your debut book, Ascension. What inspired you to write your story down and publish it to the world? My biggest inspiration has been my intuition, pushing me vehemently and forcefully into the book project. I know with absolute certainty that every single word of my story of spiritual awakening had to be created and stored. I believe in the human race on Earth and their ability to ascend spiritually across the narrow earthly boundaries of right and wrong. I believe in all your abilities to develop a high-frequency comprehension of the universe. I believe in you and the love all over and within you. I have felt the urgency to publish my story, based on my own, very personal reality, to learn for myself and to offer my readers alternative thoughts, feelings, and new horizons of consciousness. Can you tell us something about the highlights of your story? Ascension narrates my unexpected and incomprehensible journey through time, space and dimensions. From a deep, dark phase of my soul, I set out as the protagonist and director of my present and numerous past and multi-dimensional lives on my path into the light and to my authentic self. What I was and therefore am is somehow social dynamite, because I am portraying extreme times and feelings, shocking stories and extra-terrestrial missions. Can you explain the social dynamite? The social dynamite aspect is undeniably a part of my story. In these present times on planet Earth, we are all confronted with social, political and cultural polarities that foster human separatism and radical judgements, while ignoring the importance of self-criticism, perspective-taking, empathy and, most of all, unconditional love. I truly believe in my truth that we are all one and are naturally able to change the present vibes. The constantly drifting-apart, already so separated society can return to a harmonious, unconditionally loving balance. From various perspectives, I would say that, keeping all these aspects in mind, there is something more that needs to be realized. The recreation of harmony on our planet is not only assured by love, light, and oneness. Not only do harmony and unity create balance. Balance indicates, as physics also states, the presence of both positive and negative parts, and not to underrate either. Therefore, incarnations that create negative karma are also relevant and vital. Earth is a school to learn as much as the soul can, and this, of course, most easily through negative and wrong behaviour. Thus, good and bad actions, experiences and emotions are relevant. As a base for a balanced planet, transferring harmonious frequency into the cosmos. Relying on my story's social dynamite, I describe it from the perspective of the just depicted big picture, but actually not a common mind-representing picture. A lifetime in the closest society circle of the reigning Nazis in the German Third Reich is narrated very intimately, without referring to other perspectives, and is somehow not easily understandable. Coping with this time is more than difficult on a three-dimensional standard level. It is one of the most difficult challenges for the Germans. And so, and even much more, for me. My inner decision to be ready to confront this tragic, so dark lifetime brought me into a phase of the most profound, void obscurity, enabling me to face every dark detail with my soul's essence and resulting in a huge lesson that propelled my spiritual ascension. My honesty about this one, so dark a chapter of my earthly soul existence has, see the physical particle attraction again, transferred my vibe and frequency to a special high and light one. My book Ascension’s dynamite gives one central and essential message. Overcoming the fear of your own darkness, accepting and embodying every deep, dark particle of your soul with honesty and integrity, will give you the lessons you need, raise your soul's frequencies to the highest level of authenticity, and reveal the recreated light-side essentials of your soul. Facing my darkest part has made it real to me that I am what I am. I am the unconditional love and light. What types of clients typically benefit most from your services at The Soul Sanctuary? A life already integrating an open mind to metaphysics and spirituality, as well as holistic perspectives and conduct, is a beneficial but not necessarily necessary precondition for a successful session. An essential requirement for a mostly beneficial QHHT session is unconditional trust. An unconditional trust in the universe, the metaphysical system of energies and most of all the trust in yourself and your more than magic abilities to heal yourself and get in contact with your subconscious mind and its overall knowledge about your soul. How do you approach creating personalized healing plans for your clients? Healing plans and procedures will already be implemented in the client's direct consciousness during the session while in Theta-trance. In a pre-talk, the clients and I are clarifying their questions to the Higher Self, often with a primary focus on healing issues. I always question whether I should ask the Higher Self to perform a whole-body scan to out-balance physical problems. Once we enter the direct contact level with the Higher Self, I start asking the client’s questions. While in direct contact, special energetic healing procedures are carried out simultaneously. The clients then often talk about specific physical feelings and realize energies entering their bodies. Not seldom healing has already finished directly after the session. One client with a pre-session osteoarthritis condition, not able to bend his hands and feet, experienced fundamental healing while being in a trance. After the session, he has been able to move his whole body fluently, softly, and flexibly, without any pain. This state remained. He, in contact with his Higher Self, healed himself immediately. Post-session healing plans are fixed subconsciously by yourself. Healing needs and actions enter your mind automatically. The only approach that is possible and important to me is to communicate a session summary before you leave the sacred session space. In my experience, the session time from beginning to end always creates an intense portal and a separate space dimension of high-energy light frequencies, including many high-healing opportunities. In your experience, what is the most common obstacle people face when seeking healing? For me, the most common obstacle people face when seeking healing is fear. And especially when they take into consideration a QHHT session, they most often fear what is going to be shown to them when under trance. People fear cruel incarnations presenting them hate and pain or even a life, for example, as a hater or killer, so that they, as a consequence, take this with them to the present lifetime and destroy themselves even more. To help overcome this fear, it is essential to know that you never lose control in Theta-trance. Although you may not remember anything after coming back, therefore sessions are recorded, so you can still talk to the therapists directly and share your wishes and desires. And most importantly, you are the only creator of your session path. The therapist is only your journey attendant. And as you yourself are the story director, it is inevitable that you will never present yourself with anything you cannot stand and that can destroy you. The fear obstacle lines up with a lack of trust. I already mentioned trust and told you that trusting the universe and trusting yourself as the only responsible creator of your reality opens the portal of unlimited possibilities and abundance. This can be transferred easily to the overall fear of humanity. The whole planet is suffering from eternal fears in every sector of life. Humans fear disease, death, destruction, wars and natural catastrophes leading to planet-wide apocalypses and the end of the world. Overcoming fear starts with overcoming your own personal limits and entering into the purpose of confronting the dark aspects of your soul. Opening up and letting go leads to your individual spiritual awakening. Realizing the metaphysical system and rebuilding your soul's authenticity naturally creates unconditional trust. What is always there, and will always and forever be there, is the universe, of which you are a part. You are the universe. We are the universe. We are all one. So, trust the universe. How can someone recognize when they are ready to begin their healing journey with you? The most relevant aspect in recognizing when you are ready for a QHHT session is your intuition. Your feelings and resonances on the mental and physical level will mirror your readiness perfectly. It is also always a matter of time. Your intuition will give you the perfect moment for the session. All the mental and spiritual preparations must be fixed so that you are ready to enjoy your journey into your limitless, endless soul universe. What role does mindfulness play in your approach to holistic healing? Mindfulness for me is the always-present direct contact with yourself and your Higher Self, the subconscious mind as holder of your soul essence, all your soul aspects and the overall universal knowledge. If you ascended your energetic frequency to the level of direct contact with your subconsciousness, your mindfulness is just a natural matter of fact. Mindfulness, in the context of holistic healing, means the ongoing, natural, and intuitive evaluation of the health and abundance of mind, soul, and body. If this state of mindfulness has been integrated into your three-dimensional, everyday reality, holistic healing is an automatically occurring process, primarily implemented in an early pre-state of the healing needs. How do your services cater to both the body and the mind in the healing process? Body and mind are both essential and equal parts of the holistic soul. So, the healing process always includes both body and mind, and, most importantly, the overall soul. In a QHHT session, the origins of healing needs are identified and, consequently, taken back into a holistic balance of mind, body and soul. A healing of only one part fails to address the central need to rebalance the disease-causing elements in every part. The building blocks of the mind and body create an authentic and abundant soul structure. What makes your approach to wellness and self-discovery unique compared to other practices? The uniqueness is clearly defined by the underlying principle “help leading to self-help”. This is initiated by the session’s most often included part, in which the portal opens to direct contact with the client's Higher Self. The closest and always-present contact indicates light and easy self-therapy for every part of life at any time, creating a fantastic vibe of abundance. Results of the open channel to the universal records are intuitive decisions, early recognition of possible physical imbalance, wrong directions, and, above all, a life model in unity with the soul’s authenticity and the cosmic oneness. As the individual soul lives a unique truth and authenticity, every holistic healing and living approach resonates with some souls but not with others, so that different approaches are not practical for every soul. The contact with the Higher Self guarantees, first of all, the highly frequent intuition which is a resonance leader to the most fitting models. I am beyond grateful for the realization that every soul is the sole responsible creator, producer, and director of its earthly, very multi-dimensional life. The connection to the soul’s higher-frequency, subconscious self opens the channel to its guides and soul parts, providing 24/7 support to create a perfect, soul-authentic lifetime in love, light and abundance. What advice would you give someone unsure about taking the first step toward their healing journey? Dear soul, close your eyes, just for a profound moment, take a deep breath in and then out, ground yourself to the core of our loving and amazing planet Earth, open your heart as wide as you can, look with your closed eyes to your third eye between the first and second eye. Trust the universe, let yourself go, and just follow your intuition for this divine moment. This is going to be a short but intense little journey to every single answer and piece of advice you need. Or even so much more, leading you to your essence and the feeling of unconditional and cosmic abundant love of all souls. Of the universe. As we are all one and will be forever. Follow me on Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Stephanie Blaum

AnneMarie Smellie is a UK-based neurodevelopmental practitioner, kinesiologist, and hypnotherapist with over 20 years of clinical experience supporting children, adults, and families experiencing anxiety, learning differences, and emotional regulation challenges. AnneMarie Smellie, Neurodevelopmental Practitioner, Kinesiologist, and Hypnotherapist Who is AnneMarie Smellie? I’m AnneMarie Smellie, the founder of Quester Therapies and I’ve spent over 20 years working with children and adults who are struggling with anxiety, learning challenges, emotional regulation and the complexities of neurodiversity. My work is built on a simple belief: when we understand the foundations, everything else becomes easier. I specialise in identifying underlying factors that are often missed – such as retained primitive reflexes, auditory processing differences, nervous system regulation, nutritional and toxicity influences, and subconscious patterns that shape behaviour and emotional resilience. I originally trained as a hypnotherapist, and over time, my work has evolved into a fully integrative, mind-body approach. Today, I blend neurodevelopmental programmes, kinesiology, auditory work, and mindset support to help the brain and body work together more efficiently and with less stress. I’m particularly passionate about making complex neuroscience and body-based concepts accessible and practical, so families and individuals feel empowered rather than overwhelmed. I work extensively with neurodiverse children – including those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, and sensory processing challenges – as well as adults who feel stuck, anxious, overloaded, or disconnected from their potential. My approach is never about “fixing” someone. It’s about understanding what the body is asking for and supporting it to function as it was designed to. Alongside my clinical work, I’m a speaker, author and advocate for a more compassionate, whole-person approach to mental health, learning, and well-being. Through my writing, talks and programmes, my aim is to help people look beneath the symptoms and create meaningful, lasting change. What inspired you to start Quester Therapies? Quester Therapies was born from years of sitting with people who had been told that their struggles were “just the way things are” – children labelled as difficult or inattentive and adults carrying anxiety, overwhelm or self-doubt without ever being given a deeper explanation. Early in my career as a hypnotherapist, I became fascinated by the gap between what people wanted to change and what their bodies seemed able to do. I saw time and again that insight alone wasn’t enough. When the nervous system is under pressure, when development hasn’t fully integrated or when the sensory world feels too loud or too fast, willpower and positive thinking simply don’t stick. As my training expanded into neurodevelopmental work, kinesiology, auditory processing and nutritional influences, the picture became clearer. Many challenges – from anxiety and behavioural outbursts to learning difficulties and emotional shutdown – weren’t signs of failure or weakness. They were signals that the foundations weren’t fully in place. Quester Therapies grew from a desire to create a space where those foundations could be explored properly and compassionately. A place where we don’t rush to label or medicate, but instead ask better questions: What is the body struggling to process? What is the nervous system trying to protect? What does this person actually need to feel safe and capable? At its heart, Quester Therapies is about curiosity rather than judgement. The name reflects that – a quest to understand what’s really going on beneath the surface and to support lasting change by working with the body and brain, not against them. What makes your holistic approach different from conventional therapy? What makes my holistic approach different is that I don’t start with the assumption that a person’s difficulties are purely psychological or behavioural. I start with the body and the nervous system – because no amount of talking or cognitive strategies can override a system that feels unsafe, overwhelmed, or underdeveloped. Conventional therapy often focuses on managing symptoms: coping strategies, behaviour plans, or re-framing thoughts. Those can be helpful, but in my experience, they only go so far if the foundations aren’t in place. I look at why a child or adult is struggling – whether that’s retained primitive reflexes affecting regulation and learning, auditory processing differences making the world feel too loud or unpredictable, nutritional or toxicity burdens impacting brain function, or subconscious stress patterns held in the body. My work is integrative and practical. I combine neurodevelopmental movement, auditory work, kinesiology, mindset support, and nervous system regulation so the brain and body can work together more efficiently. Rather than asking someone to push through or “try harder,” I focus on removing the obstacles that are getting in the way of natural regulation, focus, and resilience. Another key difference is that I don’t see people as broken or disordered. Behaviours, anxiety, and learning challenges are information signals that something underneath needs support. When those signals are listened to and the foundations are strengthened, change often happens more quickly and more sustainably than people expect. Ultimately, my approach isn’t about fixing symptoms. It’s about creating the conditions in which the body and brain can do what they were designed to do – with less stress, more capacity, and a greater sense of ease. How do you identify the root causes behind learning or behavioural challenges? I start by slowing everything down and looking at the whole picture, not just the presenting problem. Learning and behavioural challenges rarely have a single cause, so I’m always asking, what is driving this from underneath? I begin with a detailed history – early development, birth factors, milestones, emotional patterns, sensory sensitivities, sleep, nutrition, stress, and environment. These details often hold important clues about how the nervous system has developed and what it’s currently coping with. From there, I assess foundational areas that are frequently overlooked. This includes checking for retained primitive reflexes that can interfere with regulation, attention, posture and learning; exploring auditory processing to understand how someone is taking in and filtering sound; and looking at nutritional, biochemical and toxicity influences that may be affecting brain function and emotional resilience. I also pay close attention to how the nervous system responds in real time. Through kinesiology and observational assessment, I can see where the body is under stress and what it is prioritising. This helps me distinguish between behaviours that are emotional in origin and those that are protective responses to overload or unmet developmental needs. What’s important to me is that nothing is viewed in isolation. A child’s behaviour, or an adult’s anxiety, is never “the problem” – it’s a signal. When you understand what the body and brain are reacting to, the path forward becomes much clearer, and support can be tailored in a way that feels respectful, targeted, and achievable. Can you explain how your programmes help children with ADHD, dyslexia, or sensory issues? My programmes help children with ADHD, dyslexia, and sensory processing challenges by strengthening the foundations that learning, focus, and emotional regulation depend on. Many of these children are bright and capable, but their brains and bodies are working overtime just to cope. When the nervous system is under constant pressure, skills like attention, working memory, reading, writing, and emotional control become far harder than they need to be. Rather than focusing on symptoms, I work on what’s driving that overload. A core part of my approach is supporting nervous system regulation and integrating retained primitive reflexes. When these early reflexes haven’t fully integrated, they can interfere with posture, coordination, eye tracking, auditory processing, and attention – all of which are essential for learning. By addressing these foundations, children often find that concentrating, sitting still, and processing information takes far less effort. For children with dyslexia or sensory sensitivities, I also look closely at how they are processing sound, movement, and visual information. If sensory input is distorted or overwhelming, the brain is constantly compensating, which leads to fatigue, frustration, and anxiety. Supporting sensory and auditory processing can make a noticeable difference to focus, comprehension, and emotional resilience. The programmes are practical, child-friendly, and tailored to each individual. They’re not about asking children to try harder or masking their difficulties, but about removing the obstacles that are getting in the way. When the foundations are supported, confidence builds naturally – and learning starts to feel achievable rather than exhausting. What role does nutrition and nervous system balance play in overall development? Nutrition and nervous system balance play a foundational role in overall development because the brain and body cannot function optimally without the right support at a physiological level. The nervous system is responsible for how we regulate emotions, process information, respond to stress, and engage with learning. If it’s constantly in a heightened state – driven by stress, sensory overload, or unmet developmental needs – a child may appear anxious, inattentive, reactive, or shut down. In that state, learning and emotional resilience are significantly compromised. Nutrition is deeply intertwined with this. The brain is one of the most nutritionally demanding organs in the body, and imbalances in key nutrients can affect attention, mood, energy levels, and cognitive processing. I often see children and adults who are doing their best, but their systems are under-fuelled or struggling to detoxify effectively, which places additional strain on the nervous system. Rather than focusing on perfection or restrictive diets, my approach is about understanding what that individual needs. When nutritional support is aligned with nervous system regulation – alongside movement, sensory support, and emotional safety – the body has a far greater capacity to develop, adapt, and cope. When these foundations are in place, improvements in focus, behaviour, emotional regulation, and confidence often follow naturally. Development isn’t about pushing harder; it’s about creating the internal conditions that allow growth to happen with greater ease. How do your neuro-developmental and auditory programmes support better learning and focus? My neuro-developmental and auditory programmes support better learning and focus by helping the brain and body process information more efficiently and with less stress. Learning depends on the brain being able to organise movement, posture, sensory input, and attention at the same time. When neuro-developmental foundations haven’t fully matured, children may struggle to sit still, track words on a page, follow instructions, or hold information in working memory – not because they’re not trying, but because their systems are working too hard. Through specific movement-based activities, I support the integration of early developmental reflexes and strengthen the pathways that underpin attention, coordination, and emotional regulation. As these foundations improve, many children find that focus and stamina increase naturally, without needing to force concentration. The auditory programmes focus on how the brain processes sound. If certain frequencies are over- or under-processed, the brain has to compensate constantly, which can affect attention, comprehension, language, and emotional regulation. By gently supporting auditory processing, the brain can filter and interpret sound more accurately, reducing cognitive fatigue and sensory overload. When neuro-developmental and auditory systems are better organised, learning requires less effort. Children often become calmer, more engaged, and more able to sustain attention – not because they’ve been trained to behave differently, but because their brains are finally getting the input they need in a way they can manage. What results have families seen after working with you? Families often come to me feeling exhausted and unsure of what else to try. What they typically notice first is a shift in regulation – children becoming calmer, less reactive, and more settled within themselves. That change alone can make daily life feel more manageable. Over time, many families report improvements in focus, emotional regulation, confidence, and resilience. Children who previously found school overwhelming may find it easier to concentrate, follow instructions, and cope with sensory input. Parents often tell me that learning requires less effort, homework becomes less of a battle, and emotional outbursts reduce in both intensity and frequency. For some children, progress shows up academically – improved reading fluency, better working memory, or increased stamina in the classroom. For others, it’s more subtle but just as important: better sleep, reduced anxiety, improved self-esteem, or a child who is happier and more engaged with the world around them. What I’m always clear about is that every child is different, and results aren’t about quick fixes. The most meaningful feedback I receive is when parents say they feel they finally understand their child, and their child feels more capable rather than constantly under pressure. When the foundations are supported, progress tends to be steadier, more sustainable, and deeply reassuring for the whole family. Why is addressing mindset and emotional well-being important alongside physical symptoms? Addressing mindset and emotional well-being alongside physical symptoms is essential because the body and mind are not separate systems – they constantly influence each other. I often work with children and adults whose bodies are doing their best to cope, but whose internal dialogue is shaped by years of frustration, anxiety, or feeling “not good enough.” Even when physical foundations begin to improve, those emotional patterns can continue to hold someone in a state of stress or self-doubt if they’re not gently addressed. Emotions are closely linked to the nervous system. When someone feels unsafe, overwhelmed, or under constant pressure, the body remains in a heightened state, which can limit learning, focus, and resilience. Supporting emotional well-being helps the nervous system settle, allowing the physical work – whether that’s neuro-developmental, sensory or nutritional – to have a far greater impact. Mindset work isn’t about forcing positivity or ignoring real challenges. It’s about helping individuals understand their responses, build emotional awareness, and develop a sense of safety and self-trust. When people feel emotionally supported as well as physically regulated, they’re far more able to engage, adapt, and move forward. True progress happens when physical support and emotional understanding work together. Addressing one without the other often leads to short-term change; addressing both creates the conditions for lasting growth and confidence. How do you tailor your treatment plans to fit each individual’s needs? I tailor every treatment plan by starting with the individual rather than a diagnosis. Two people can present with the same label and have completely different underlying needs, so my focus is always on understanding how this person’s system is functioning right now. I begin with a detailed history and assessment, looking at development, learning patterns, sensory sensitivities, emotional responses, lifestyle, and stressors. I also observe how the nervous system responds in real time, which helps me identify where the body is under pressure and what it is prioritising. From there, I create a programme that targets the most relevant foundations – whether that’s nervous system regulation, neuro-developmental movement, auditory processing, nutritional support, or mindset and emotional well being. The work is layered and responsive rather than fixed. As the body and brain change, the programme adapts. Importantly, I keep the plans practical and achievable. Families and individuals need strategies that fit into real life, not rigid protocols that add more stress. I regularly review progress and adjust the focus, so support remains aligned with what the person needs at each stage. Tailoring isn’t about doing more – it’s about doing what’s most effective. When support is matched to the individual, change tends to feel more natural, sustainable, and empowering. What advice would you give a parent who’s unsure if therapy is the right next step? My advice would be to trust your instincts and slow the process down. If something in your child’s learning, behaviour, or emotional well-being doesn’t feel quite right, that curiosity is worth listening to – even if you’re not sure what the next step should be. Therapy doesn’t have to mean that something is “wrong” or that you’re committing to a long, intensive process. Sometimes it’s simply about gaining clarity. Understanding why your child is struggling can be deeply reassuring and can help you make informed choices, whether that leads to therapy or not. That’s why I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. It gives parents the opportunity to talk through what’s been happening, ask questions, and get a sense of whether I feel I may be able to help. It’s also a chance for me to understand what’s going on for their child before any decisions are made. I also encourage parents to look beyond surface behaviours. Anxiety, resistance, emotional outbursts, or difficulties with focus are often signs that a child’s system is under pressure, not that they’re being difficult. Support is most effective when it feels respectful and developmentally appropriate, rather than corrective or punitive. Finally, choose support that feels aligned with your child and your values. A good therapeutic relationship should leave you feeling understood, not judged or rushed. When parents feel supported and informed, they’re far better placed to help their child thrive – regardless of what path they decide to take next. What’s the first thing someone should do if they want to start working with you? The first step is a free phone consultation. This gives us both the opportunity to talk things through and see whether I feel I’m the right person to help. During the call, parents or individuals can briefly share what’s been going on, what their main concerns are, and what they’re hoping for. It allows me to get an initial sense of what might be happening beneath the surface and whether my approach is likely to be a good fit. There’s no obligation and no pressure to move forward. If I feel I can help, I’ll explain what the next steps might look like. If I don’t think I’m the right fit, I’ll always be honest and, where possible, point them in a more appropriate direction. Starting with a conversation creates clarity and reassurance. It means people feel informed and supported from the outset, rather than jumping into something without understanding what’s involved. Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from AnneMarie Smellie

Written by Arianne Ortiz, Ayurvedic Specialist and Intuitive Healer Expert Arianne Ortiz is known for her Intuitive Healing and Ayurvedic work. She is the founder of The Art of Healing, a holistic wellness company dedicated to guiding and supporting others in strengthening the mind-body connection, deepening spiritual healing, and releasing the blocks that prevent them from living their fullest, most radiant life. Your body holds the wisdom for healing. It knows when to move forward, when to pause, and when something is a full-bodied yes or a quiet no. It is not that you lack inner intelligence or awareness. You do have it. You simply have not been taught how to listen to it with clarity and certainty, and that is okay. Ayurveda teaches us how to strengthen the mind-body connection. Intuitive healing teaches us how to trust it with absolute knowing. Let’s reconnect you to that knowing so you can stop playing small and start moving forward with confidence because, truly, you are pretty amazing. 1. Get out of your head and into your heart Logic has its place, but not in this context. When we live only in our minds, we get stuck in to-do lists, self-doubt, and “you can’t because” stories. When we drop into the heart, judgment softens. As possibility expands, we move from why it will not work to why it can. Try this: Take a few slow, deep breaths. Place one hand over your heart, right at the center of your chest. Breathe into this space for a few moments. If it helps, recall a time you felt unconditional love toward yourself, another person, or even nature, and let that feeling anchor you here. 2. Body scan This is one of my favorite ways to hear what the body is saying. Bring your awareness to your feet and slowly move your attention upward, starting with your ankles, calves, knees, hips, belly, chest, shoulders, neck, and head. Notice without judgment. This is your body simply communicating. 3. Ground Yes, it really can be this simple. Step outside, barefoot if possible but not required, and be present. Being present does not mean stopping thoughts. It means allowing them to pass without engaging with them. Breathe in gratitude. You might send gratitude to: The trees, for grounding and providing oxygen. Your lungs, for expanding and nourishing your body. Your feet, for carrying and supporting you. Your heart, for sustaining life with every beat. Gratitude deepens your connection and awareness instantly. 4. Nervous system resets Let resets be your friend. When you feel overwhelmed, tense, or agitated, your body is asking for regulation, not force. Resets help you recognize what your body needs in real time. Try this: If your body is reacting in a certain space, step away. Leave the kitchen, walk into another room, or step outside and take a few deep breaths, then return. This signals safety to your nervous system and allows it to soften. Another powerful reset is EFT tapping. Gently tap your collarbones while repeating: “I am safe in this space.” “My mind is connected to my body, and my body is connected to my mind.” Get curious. Add affirmations that resonate. This is your playground. 5. Boundaries, especially the ones you place on yourself When considering boundaries, look inward. Very rigid boundaries everywhere may signal that you are blocking your body’s voice. Very few boundaries may mean you are overriding what your body is trying to tell you. Your body speaks in whispers until it has to shout. Find a balance that feels honest and supportive. Honor it. Healthy boundaries create safety, clarity, and deeper intuition. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Arianne Ortiz Arianne Ortiz, Ayurvedic Specialist and Intuitive Healer Expert Arianne Ortiz is a specialist in Intuitive Healing and Ayurvedic Medicine. Her experiences in childhood and early adulthood inspired a deep personal healing journey that awakened her soul’s purpose—to guide others on their spiritual, emotional, and physical paths to wholeness. She has devoted her life to educating, supporting, and empowering others to ignite their inner radiance and live unapologetically authentic lives, blending ancient wisdom with modern living.

Written by Honor Tremain, Nutritionist, Author, and Journalist Honor Tremain is an award-winning longevity nutritionist, author, and journalist whose journey into nutrition began with a personal health crisis. Determined to reclaim her life, she completed qualifications in nutrition, eventually healing herself and going on to complete a Bachelor of Science degree. Brain inflammation is more common than most realise, and it’s silently linked to anxiety, depression, fatigue, and even Alzheimer’s disease. In this article, Honor Tremain explores the hidden drivers of neuro-inflammation and shares insights from Dr. Marc Cohen on how nutrition, resilience, mindset, and simple biohacks can help us adapt, heal, and rewire our brains for better health. Introduction: The hidden fire in our brains Have you ever felt like your brain shuts down when you’re worried or afraid? Like the lights are on, but no one’s home? That foggy state where your thoughts are scrambled, your memory slips, and you’re frozen? That’s not just stress, that’s brain inflammation. Medical researchers now recognise brain inflammation as a bigger problem than merely a lack of focus, it’s connected to anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a contributing cause to one of our greatest killers, Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Disease Study   Luckily, each day our brains are trying to regenerate themselves by growing new neurons (a process called neurogenesis), rewiring old neural paths & finding new, healthier ones while even healing damaged areas. But the problem is inflammation prevents all of this. When the brain is inflamed, cells malfunction and degeneration begins, leading to disorder and disease. The most surprising part? Our biggest drivers of brain inflammation are not exotic or even uncommon; they’re everyday habits, foods, and environments we’ve normalised. 5 causes of brain inflammation 1. The inflammatory diet Nutrition is one of our most powerful determinants for brain health, and equally the most common saboteur. A diet high in processed foods, poor-quality oils, excessive sugar/ sweeteners, low antioxidants and fibre, sets the stage for neuro-inflammation: Processed foods: Most packaged foods are the brutal combo of calorie-dense & nutrient-poor, with chemical preservatives, additives, and flavours that trigger more oxidative stress; negatively impacting body and brain. Sugar: Excess glucose, sugars, and sweeteners damage neurons and their connections and are heavily linked to Alzheimer’s disease, AKA Type 3 Diabetes. Sugar & Alzheimer’s Study   Nutrient deficiencies: 80% of the world is Omega-3 deficient, and magnesium, B vitamins, and antioxidants are falling below acceptable standards too. These nutrients support membrane fluidity, mitochondrial function, and detoxification within the brain. Water quality: We’re roughly 70% water, and the quality we drink matters. Pollutants like chlorine and heavy metals add a toxic load, harming our valuable microbiome, disrupting brain communication. The second brain: Your microbiome, is one of the most critical links to brain inflammation. The collection of alien species that inhabit your gut (bacteria, viruses, and fungi=microbiome) regularly communicates with your brain via neurotransmitters, and controls immune responses, which influence inflammation. A gut that has only low-fibre, low-nutrient, low-antioxidant foods provided will provide the perfect environment for bad bacteria to flourish and negatively impact brain chemistry, cognition, and mood. In essence, every bite and sip we choose to put into our bodies either stimulates brain regeneration or brain inflammation. 2. Poor sleep Sleep isn’t just “rest time,” it’s brain and body reset time. During good sleep, the glymphatic system clears toxins, metabolic waste, and damaged proteins like beta-amyloids (implicated in Alzheimer’s disease). When sleep is disrupted, these toxins build up and remain within cells, inflammatory markers skyrocket & we start operating dysfunctionally (and hungrily).  Hormonal impact: Sleep deprivation alters our hormones melatonin, orexin, ghrelin, and leptin, which disrupt hunger, satiety, and mood. Less sleep increases ghrelin, our hunger hormone, and decreases leptin, our satiety hormone, making us crave sugary, inflammatory foods. Inflammatory cascade: Poor sleep raises pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, CRP), accelerates oxidative cellular stress (aging of cells), and dysregulates the entire immune system, setting up a cascade of inflammation. In short, sleep is one of our cheapest, most potent anti-inflammatory medicines available, and one of the most overlooked. 3. Chronic stress When fear and anxiety are the norm; stress hormones like cortisol remain chronically elevated, inflammation surges, neurons shrink, and the hippocampus (the area of our brain for memory) takes a big hit. Common causes of chronic stress: Emotional stress: Grief, past trauma, toxic relationships, chronic overwork. Mindset stress: The stories we tell ourselves, living from fear/worry rather than freedom and trust, negative perspectives, self-criticism, catastrophising, too much focus on our perceived problems, pessimism, glass-half-empty mentality. Biological pathway: The immune system communicates directly with the brain through cytokines. Prolonged stress changes this balance, setting up inflammation within the nervous system and certain organs, including the brain.  4. Body-wide inflammation Brain inflammation is rarely isolated. Autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease all generate systemic inflammation. Markers like IL-6, CRP, and TNF-α travel through the bloodstream, crossing into the brain and accelerating neuro-decline via inflammation and vice versus. 5. Not enough real stress It sounds crazy, but it’s true, many of us aren’t stressed adequately, and we’re living in a comfort crisis that’s fuelling illness. Instead of experiencing real challenges that force your brain and body to level-up and adapt, many of us opt to numb out from the ‘un-real’ stress inside our own heads; staying in the luxury of a comfort bubble; doom scrolling socials, streaming shows, UberEATS on the way and “just chillin.”  But too long in a comfort zone is dangerous for you and your brain; idle glucose and sugars in the bloodstream accumulate from inactivity and overeating, leading to neurotoxicity, anxiety, and depression, and our underactive cells adopt our own stance of laziness and haphazardly misfold damaged proteins within themselves, instead of clearing them out, leading to brain degeneration.  But science has discovered something interesting, placing yourself under “good stress” physically and mentally helps you to become happier and more relaxed. “Only by meeting your ‘edge’ paradoxically, can you truly find the deepest growth, relaxation, and stillness.” Says Professor Marc Cohen, medical doctor, professor, engineer, and pioneer of what he calls” Ancient-Future Medicine”.  Interview feature: Dr. Marc Cohen on inflammation, resilience & ancient-future medicine To continue unpacking the complexities of our brain and how to rewire ourselves to optimal health, I spoke with Dr. Marc Cohen, Medical Doctor, University Professor, Engineer, and Pioneer of “Ancient-Future Medicine”. With multiple doctorates, PhD, and decades of merging science, Chinese medicine, and lifestyle practices together, Cohen is on a mission to create a “Culture of Wellness” that he believes can be more contagious than disease. Wellness culture “Wellness can easily be more contagious than illness. The practices I teach don’t require high cost or advanced training. They’re simple, shareable, and most importantly, transformative for your body and mind.”  From navigating extremes to mindset to biohacking, let’s take a deeper look at what works: Extremes build resilience Did you know exerting extremes on your body, like saunas followed by a cold plunge, creates resilience and lowers inflammation. But how?  “Pushing to the very edges of your limits teaches you to define and experience the middle point of homeostasis, that bliss point of stillness, which gives you the greatest resilience and flexibility to handle the world.” Says Cohen. But to experience the stillness requires preparation.  “The first step to stillness is to push yourself to the very limits of your capacity and learn to relax there. This can be achieved through varying practices and activities like alternating hot saunas followed by cold plunge or ice baths, or deep breathing followed by holding the breath, or remaining in a difficult yoga pose and softening into it.  At your edge, your brain switches off, and you learn resilience. True peace only comes after struggle. Nature is structured that way; it’s the Hero’s Journey; the reward always follows the effort it took to earn it.” Cohen explains.  On mindset & fun “Fun, gratitude, play, and challenge are hardwired tools for resilience and massively underrated as immune boosting, mental building, inflammatory-lowering health strategies, while fear is hugely underestimated as crippling wellbeing, mental state, and immunity. Interestingly, fun is often reached when facing fear and learning to adapt and expand through it.  So, avoiding risk may keep us ‘comfortable’, but unwell. While good stress, interestingly, is a requirement for our best health.” 5 ways to bio-hack the brain to better health 1. Anti-inflammatory nutrition Stick to a base of wholefoods, 5-7 different fresh seasonal veggies a day, 2 x fresh fruits a day, a mix of varying herbs & spices, seaweeds, wholegrains, legumes, and clean proteins. Aim to increase your Omega-3 fatty acids from fresh fish (sardines, salmon, anchovies, mackerel, etc), flaxseed/Chia seeds and their oils, and microalgae like nannochloropsis oceanica. “Our biggest interface with the universe is not the brain but our skin and gastrointestinal tract. Both are policed by the microbiome. Pollutants like chlorine, PFCs, and toxins damage these barriers, altering the microbes that regulate immunity and inflammation. While high fibre, prebiotic and fermented foods strengthen them.” Says Dr. Cohen.  Kimchi, organic miso paste, sauerkraut, natural yogurts, organic tempeh & kombucha are great fermented food options for the microbiome. Boost antioxidants from colourful plant foods like; well rinsed (with water & vinegar) blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, spices like turmeric/curcumin, saffron, clove, nutmeg, mace, ginger, and herbs like rosemary, oregano, thyme, and marjoram are particularly strong; See Top Antioxidant Foods study   Organic green and/or black tea, organic medium/dark roasted handmade coffee, oak aged red wines & 70% and over dark chocolate are also wonderful additions on occasion.  2. Sleep hygiene Have a consistent bedtime & wake time.  Reduce blue light/screen time 2 hours before sleep. Slow, deep breathwork or meditation for parasympathetic (sleepy) activation. Magnesium and herbal sleep teas (chamomile, passionflower, valerian) can be useful as gentle aids. 3. Resilience training Heat (saunas) + cold (ice baths) to reboot immune signalling & build resilience & stillness.  Fasting cycles (12 hours fasting each night) to allow cleaning of damaged cells (autophagy). Breathwork to balance oxygen and CO₂. Intense exercise: not just movement, but occasionally pushing into that limit of uncomfortability and relaxing there. 4. Mindset medicine Fun, gratitude journaling to reset fear into opportunity. Play, laughter, and learning are anti-inflammatory “neuro-hacks.” First aid for fear, anxiety, or pain: Ten mini-hacks to instantly relax: Touch all your fingers Wriggle your toes Soften your stomach Breathe through your nose Sigh Smile Swallow Sing Flutter your eyelids Focus within 5. Active cognitive stimulation Build your brain through regular puzzles, crosswords, riddles, and brain-training apps. Learning new skills such as languages, music, and crafts. Social connections are a big protective factor for long-term brain health. Conclusion: From fire to flow Brain inflammation is both complex and common, touching nearly every modern life. But it’s preventable and in many cases reversible. By addressing the simple, daily drivers, diet, sleep, stress, resilience, and mindset, we can not only prevent neurodegeneration & disease but also actively rewire ourselves for brain regeneration. The paradox is striking, comfort makes us weak, while challenge makes us resilient. As Dr. Marc Cohen emphasises, “The greatest movement into life comes from the stillest point.” But to reach that stillness, we must dare to meet the very edges of our own capacity and endurance. In a world of rising dementia, anxiety, and mental fatigue, perhaps the most radical prescription is also the oldest, eat whole foods, stress yourself wisely, play, laugh, rest deeply, and stay open to life, the universe, to extremes, and the stillness in the middle of it all. Find more: Nutrition appointments and books by Honor . Award-winning eco-conscious pet food : (10% off with code: BRAINZMAGAZINEDAYA10) Find Dr. Marc Cohen . His book: The Beautiful Mare and Maruia Hot Springs Retreat Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Honor Tremain Honor Tremain, Nutritionist, Author, and Journalist Honor Tremain is an award-winning longevity nutritionist, author, and journalist whose journey into health began with a personal crisis where, between the ages of 18 and 23, Honor was bedridden with multiple chronic illnesses & determined to reclaim her life, she completed a Diploma in Nutrition, eventually healing herself, and went on to complete a science degree. Honor opened a thriving nutrition practice in Sydney, Australia, became a columnist and feature journalist for national and international publications, and in 2015, Honor published her debut book, A Diet in Paradise. Most recently, she founded Daya Pet Food Co., a health-focused and sustainable dog food company that was proudly awarded Best Health-Conscious Dog Food Brand 2025.

Written by Bryan McColgan, Physician Journalist Dr. Bryan McColgan is an international authority on IVF and surrogacy for gay men. He is the founder of the Gay Dad Reporter, the world’s first online platform dedicated to news about surrogacy and rainbow families with a focus on gay men. Through our journey to fatherhood, my husband and I have become experts at matching and unmatching with surrogates. This was not the plan. We didn’t want to gain this expertise, but we have learned a lot along the way. I want to share our experience and recommendations, especially for any gay men considering IVF and international surrogacy in the United States. Our journey My husband and I started our journey in 2023. We had done our research, attended a Men Having Babies conference in Berlin, and signed on with our first choice of an all-inclusive clinic and surrogacy agency . While the process of choosing an egg donor and creating embryos took a bit longer than expected, everything was proceeding smoothly. Then it came time to match with our surrogate. We were so excited. We had read through and studied the potential match’s profile many times. We knew that she had received the introductory packet with our story and pictures and was looking forward to meeting us. Being in Sweden, the only way we could “meet” potential surrogates was through Zoom. However, even if we were in the U.S., the likelihood that we would meet potential matches in person is very low, as gestational carriers rarely live close to intended parents (IPs). Meeting for the first time via Zoom is hard. Meeting the woman who could carry your child for the first time is nerve-racking. Combining both is like the most awkward and important first date of your life. Despite this, we met, talked for over an hour, and even though the agency representative was on the Zoom call to help navigate the conversation, none of us felt like we needed additional social support. It went well, and we both excitedly decided to move forward together. I have previously written in more detail about this first match . Like the beginning of any important relationship in your life, there is a “high” and an intensity that comes with the connection. It’s hard to describe, as there is so much excitement and hope. Then we learned about newborn insurance. Newborn insurance is what international IPs need if they are having a baby via surrogacy in the U.S. If you live and work in the United States, your child would be immediately covered by your own medical insurance. Even though we are Americans, we live and work in Sweden. We don’t have American health insurance, so we needed to purchase newborn insurance. We thought this would be straightforward, but it turns out that insurance companies are stricter than the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) when it comes to the criteria for surrogates. Newborn insurance policies require that a surrogate be 40 years old or younger at the time of delivery. ASRM recommends that they be 45 or younger . Our first potential surrogate was over 40, so we couldn’t get newborn insurance with her . We had no choice but to break the match. It was heartbreaking. While we didn’t know each other for very long, we were planning on going through a life-changing journey together. It’s the loss of that plan and the future connection we were going to form that is so hard. However, our agency was great and not long after was ready to introduce us to another potential, younger surrogate. While our first surrogate match was with a single mom, this woman was married. We had no requirement that our surrogate be married or not, but we did want her to have excellent social support, given that we were half a world away. This matching “date” included her husband , and it was new and fun to talk with them as a couple, seeing their combined love and excitement about helping us become parents. We all agreed to proceed. It was our second match, and we knew newborn insurance would not be an issue this time. What became an issue was that our surrogate and her husband got pregnant . This was a shock to us and to our agency. Not only did this mean we had to unmatch again, but by the time they became pregnant, we had already been communicating for months while we underwent medical and legal clearance. We had become even closer than we had with our previous surrogate match, so the “breakup” was even more emotional. Scrambling to find us another match quickly, our agency presented us with a lovely single mom in the Pacific Northwest . However, we didn’t really connect with her, and she lived and worked across the border between Washington and Oregon. This situation complicated the legal processes for our parentage and our return to Sweden if she were to deliver in a state other than the one in which she lived. At this point, we felt defeated. The matching and unmatching had taken a toll, and we were so delayed from the expected timeline that we thought we should just match with this third option, even if we didn’t feel as strong a connection, and there could be legal hurdles in the future. We just wanted to move forward. While we were contemplating our third match option, our agency introduced us to a fourth potential. She seemed great. She seemed like everything we could have hoped for, and in meeting her and her husband, the connection was stronger than any we had before. It felt like it was meant to be. It felt right. We matched with our final match . We have now gone through medical and legal clearance and, unfortunately, our first unsuccessful transfer. However, we were able to travel to Los Angeles and meet her in person for the transfer . This was incredible. It has been six months since we had our final match, and we have texted and communicated consistently during this time. We know her, her husband, and her children better every day. We are excited for our next transfer and for the rest of the journey with her. Three lessons learned from our three surrogate matches I would not want anyone to experience the journey we have had with surrogate matching and unmatching. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, and it has taken years to get to where we are today. Here are some lessons to help other gay intended dads navigate their own journey and matching. Newborn insurance: If you are an international IP on a journey in the United States, ensure your clinic’s or agency’s surrogate requirements match those for newborn insurance. International Fertility Insurance is a good place to start to learn about newborn insurance options. Contraception: Ensure your clinic and agency have strict criteria and clear communication regarding contraception. Having our second match get pregnant with her husband was a real shock and hard to move past. Don’t rush and trust your gut: We almost went with our third potential surrogate match because we were tired of waiting, even though the connection was not as strong as we would have liked. If we had, we would never have found our fourth and final surrogate, who is incredible. Surrogacy journeys are long, hard, and rarely straightforward. I hope our story and insights can help make someone else’s journey a little easier. Final thoughts: Can a friend or family member be your surrogate? One option that was not open to my husband and me was to have a family member or close friend be our surrogate. The criteria to become a surrogate in the United States are very strict. One agency stated that only about 1% of their applicants qualified . The women in our family and close friends did not qualify, but what if they did? Having gone through this process, I can say that it would definitely be easier to start and less of an emotional rollercoaster with someone we already know. The trust, communication, and relationship are already there. It makes sense and could make so much of the process more straightforward. On the other side, going through this with someone you are already close to could also be very challenging. What if things go wrong? What if something happens to the relationship because of the journey? What if she feels tremendous pressure and it doesn’t work? Would you still be as close as before? It’s a lot of “what ifs.” At the end of the day, it was not something we could consider. However, for all the younger gays out there, my recommendation is to consider this. If you know you want to be a father, why not talk with your sisters and close friends early on? Obviously, it depends on their own family planning, but having options is never a bad thing. Depending on your personalities and relationship dynamics, it could be perfect to do this journey together. It could bond you even more. As long as a surrogacy journey is ethical, meaning everyone involved understands, consents fully, and is protected legally, then there is no one “right” way to go about it. However, learn from our challenges, and I hope that you don’t become a surrogate matching and unmatching expert. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Bryan McColgan Bryan McColgan, Physician Journalist Dr. Bryan McColgan is a Stanford and Columbia University-trained physician who is currently on his first journey to fatherhood through surrogacy. Navigating IVF and surrogacy in the United States from his current home in Sweden led Bryan to start the Gay Dad Reporter, the leading online platform dedicated to assisted reproduction for gay intended fathers. His mission is ethical surrogacy for gay intended dads everywhere.

Written by Marine Sebire, Mind-Body Strength Coach for Moms Marine Sebire is a mind-body strength coach for moms. She is the founder of Moms’ Journey to Strength, a program dedicated to helping women boost their energy, build confidence, and feel strong, inside and out. Since 2014, she has coached moms around the world to reclaim their health and emotional well-being. Many high-achieving women are praised for their strength, discipline, and resilience. Yet beneath that strength often lives a quieter pressure, the need to perform a version of themselves shaped by how they believe others see them. Over time, this pressure can blur the line between who they truly are and who they feel expected to be. But other people’s perceptions do not have to dictate how you live your life. What matters is who you choose to become, and whether your path aligns with that version of yourself. Alignment is not about proving anything to anyone. It is not about explaining yourself well enough to be understood. And it is not about managing how others interpret your choices. Alignment is an internal decision. It is the willingness to ask yourself, "Does this choice reflect my values, my energy, and the season of life I am in right now?" When women begin making decisions from that place, something subtle yet powerful shifts. Anxiety softens. Self-trust deepens. Confidence grows, not because everyone agrees, but because they are finally moving in the direction of their own journey. How perspective defines our world While exploring the work of artist David Hockney, I came across Pear Blossom Highway, a large-scale photographic collage created from hundreds of images taken while traveling through California. What fascinated me was not only the artwork itself, but the process behind it. Hockney took hundreds of photographs of the same road, some taken from the passenger seat, others from the driver’s side. Same road. Same moment. Same destination. Yet the final images tell two very different stories. Nothing changed, except the perspective. This stayed with me because it reflects something I witness every day in my life as a woman and in my work as a coach. Two people can move through the same experience, toward the same destination, and walk away with entirely different internal realities. If our realities are shaped so deeply by perspective, it raises an important question, "Why do we give so much power to other people’s opinions?" The power we give away So often, we allow other people’s opinions to shape our choices, giving them more weight than our own truth, as if their perception of us holds more authority than we do. From a young age, we are taught to seek approval, avoid disappointment, and perform a version of ourselves that fits others’ expectations. Today, that pressure extends even further, as we compare ourselves to strangers on social media and measure our worth through likes and comments. We measure our decisions, our bodies, and even our ambitions against an invisible scoreboard of what we think others think. But here’s the truth, no one experiences your life exactly as you do. Their judgments, their praise, their criticism, they are theirs, not yours. Every moment spent trying to satisfy or anticipate them is a moment spent away from the woman you are meant to become. The first step toward freedom, confidence, and alignment is both simple and revolutionary, reclaim that power. Choose yourself. Define your own path. Align your decisions with the woman you want to be, not the person others expect you to perform. Same experience, different meaning One of my clients recently shared a childhood memory she had almost forgotten, a moment her brother reminded her of years later. As a child, she had fallen while playing in the garage and gotten hurt. In her memory, it was simply an event, something that happened without lasting emotional weight. Her brother remembered it entirely differently. He recalled fear, panic, and a sense of helplessness so vivid it still lingers today. Same moment. Same place. Same event. Yet two people walked away with entirely different internal realities. This is not unusual, it is human. And it is a reminder that the path to clarity begins within, not in the eyes of others. You are not responsible for how your life is seen Just like the road in Hockney’s artwork, your life will always be viewed from different angles. Some will see courage. Others will see selfishness. Some will see growth. Others will see change as a threat. That does not mean you are doing something wrong. It simply means you are no longer living solely from the passenger seat of other people’s expectations. Trying to live in a way that satisfies every possible perspective is not only impossible, it is deeply exhausting. Your responsibility is not to be understood by everyone. Your responsibility is to live in integrity with yourself. Because when you stop shaping your life around how it might be perceived, you create the space to become who you actually are. And that is where true strength begins. Choosing yourself, not the performance We have seen that two people can live the same moment and remember it entirely differently. In the same way, no matter what choices you make, they will always be interpreted through someone else’s perspective. This is why living your life to perform for others is a losing game. As this new year begins, the most important question is not, how will this look? It is, "Who do I want to be?" When you choose from that place, your decisions become clearer, your energy steadier, and your confidence no longer depends on approval. That first quiet choice to define your future self may be the most powerful resolution you make this year. Vision creates direction Too many women move through life without a clear sense of where they are going. Not because they are lost, but because no one ever taught them to pause and ask what they truly want beyond expectations, roles, and external pressure. A clear vision acts as an internal compass. Each decision you make will either move you closer to or further away from the woman you want to become. When times are difficult, and they will be, that vision becomes the fire that keeps you going. January is full of intentions. But an intention without a vision behind it has no roots. A clear vision allows you to define the steps required to become that future self. Who do I want to be? When women decide they want to lose weight, change their lifestyle, stop drinking, move to a new city, build a family, or open a business, they often begin by focusing on what they want to change. But lasting transformation does not begin with behavior. It begins with identity. Before asking, What should I do? the deeper question is, "Who do I want to be?" Not next month. Not by summer. But in ten, twenty, or thirty years. Take a moment to imagine the version of yourself in ten years, and then in twenty, and thirty: Where are you? What does your daily life look like? Who surrounds you? How do you feel in your body and in your mind? Why is this version of yourself important? What does she represent to you? This is not about creating a rigid plan or a perfect future. Life will always bring unexpected turns. But without a clear direction, it becomes easy to drift and react instead of choosing. From vision to action Imagine that your vision is to feel fit, healthy, confident, and deeply connected. Laughing with friends, feeling safe and loved by your partner, and fully present with your children. If your current reality feels far from that, perhaps you feel tired, disconnected from your body, stuck in old patterns, or unsure of what comes next. The gap can feel overwhelming. But this is where clarity becomes empowering. You understand that the work begins with taking care of your body in a sustainable way. As your energy increases, your confidence grows. Your posture changes. Your self-esteem strengthens. You do not just look different. You move differently through the world. And slowly, step by step, you are no longer chasing a goal. You are walking toward yourself. The path will not be linear. There will be pauses, setbacks, and moments of doubt. That does not mean you are failing. It means you are becoming. The direction is yours As a new year begins, you do not need a perfect plan or a list of resolutions to become someone new. What you need is clarity. Not about how your life should look to others, but about who you want to be when no one is watching. Your future self is not built through performance, comparison, or external approval. She is built through quiet, aligned choices made day after day, even when they are misunderstood. Just like the road in Hockney’s artwork, your life will always be seen from different angles. But the direction you choose is yours alone. And that choice, to live from alignment rather than perception, is where true transformation begins. Ready to see your life through your own perspective? If this resonates, I invite you to book a complimentary consultation . Let’s explore where you are, where you want to go, and what your next step could look like thoughtfully, intentionally, and together. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Marine Sebire Marine Sebire, Mind-Body Strength Coach for Moms Marine Sebire is a respected voice in mind-body strength and emotional resilience for moms. After facing depression, divorce, and the identity shift of motherhood, she rebuilt herself from the inside out. She now helps other women do the same, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Since 2014, she has coached moms to reclaim their health, confidence, and purpose. She is the founder of Moms’ Journey to Strength, a coaching program blending fitness, mindset, and emotional well-being. Her mission, empowering moms to reclaim their strength, inside and out.

Written by Eldin Basic, Yacht Charter Manager Eldin is a well-known yacht charter broker, arranging private yachts for sailing holidays in all the main sailing destinations, with a specific expertise in long-term yacht charters and luxury yacht charters in particular. To escape dark winter days, sailing crews and those seeking luxury yachting lifestyle head to the tropics, and Southern Hemisphere in general. This especially is true for the most popular Caribbean private yacht charters, when sailors from colder climates trade short, grey days for weekly or fortnightly sailing holidays. The months of January and February have become the quiet luxury periods. This is the time when the Mediterranean is in hibernation, families have gone home after the holidays, and the Caribbean slips into its most considered, experience-driven mode. These are the months to grab best deals with highest discounts too. At times, winter blue escapes can translate into long-term yacht charter passages, such as currently being completed by one family from the UK. They are namely sailing almost 8 months, from September 2025 in Italy, across the Atlantic and up to mid April 2026 in Martinique, all under trade-wind skies, warm water, and a pace of life that resets our overstretched nervous systems. Spending well over 100,000 Eur for the boat of their choice, they have chosen total freedom for almost a year. Why not plan your own winter sailing escape with us!? Why winter sailors head south There are many reasons, one of them being sufficient free time, flexible working patterns or enough spending power. Once New Year banners come down in Antigua, St Kitts or St Barts, and the atmosphere softens into unhurried anchorages, long lunches ashore and glassy dawn departures, the relaxing Caribbean lifestyle and discounted deals comes to the fore. More importantly and for genuine sailors, the steady trade winds, warm temperatures and dry, settled conditions between December and April make the Caribbean one of the most reliable winter sailing grounds on the planet. Some may also head East, towards Thailand or Southeast Asia in general, and Indian Ocean around the Seychelles are very popular too. For yacht charter clients already comfortable on the water, winter is no longer about a week of sailing, it is about uplifting lifestyle journeys that integrate adventure, wellbeing, finer cuisine and culture into a single, coherent experience. This is where a professional broker comes handy, as we at A2A Yachting excel at making impossible happen. Take a family of 5 who last year left their home and embarked on an initial 6 weeks transatlantic journey on board of a 46ft catamaran, before settling around Antigua for another couple of months, all in order to explore British cultural heritage and sample most of the 365 beaches available on the island for the remaining few weeks. They did this all with almost 50% discount, for a reasonable sum of less than 60,000 Euros. If your budget is limited, you may enjoy one week Antigua circumnavigation from as little as 2,000 Eur per week, while superyachts start from around 30,000 Eur, and can go up to 3-3,5 million Eur per week on the most exclusive giga yachts such as Kismet or Feadship’s latest 118.8m boat Breakthrough. Whichever boat you hop on or can afford, enjoying a winter blue escape to the Caribbean is certainly a worthwhile and advantageous sailing experience. The East Caribbean advantage Apart from Virgin islands, the arc from Antigua through Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St Lucia and down into the Grenadines offers a rare combination of blue-water passages, line-of-sight island hops and distinct national characters within a single itinerary. The diversity, great sailing conditions, discounted rates combine to allow for an amazing winter blues yacht charter escape. First, the cooling trade winds, moderate seas and mostly line-of-sight, short legs sailing from bay to bay, anchorage to anchorage or even between island countries, allow itineraries that feel adventurous without being punishing, ideal for mixed-experience private groups. Experienced sailors or those seeking high-end luxury with full crew can enjoy these advantages equally. However, if your party prefers independent sailing but does not have an experienced skipper, we can always allocate one that is local, even English-speaking and ready to offer you an unforgettable yachting adventure. In a world hungry for genuine transformation and meaningful holiday experiences, rather than just a simple escape, the East Caribbean offers one of yachting’s most potent canvases for high-impact, low-crowd winter cruising that keeps guests returning to the same sea, but never the same story. When enjoying a private yacht charter in an area as diverse as the East Caribbean, within a week, a fortnight or ideally at least 1 month, yacht charter guests can move from French-influenced patisseries in Martinique to rainforest hikes in Dominica, or barefoot beach bars in Bequia. Regardless of your itinerary, after the Christmas and New Year peak, January and February sailing crews can access quieter anchorages, better berth selection and a more bespoke shore-side welcome. The charter rates, if booked full year in advance or lastminute are measurably lower, so much so that they represent a genuine great value. Following exceptional line-up of ultra-wealthy at San Barts’ Gustavia port during the major NEW YEAR celebrations, you can profit from an amazing deal by chartering one of the few yachts that remain in the area after the major holidays. Take for example the luxury 80ft Sunreef catamaran ENDLESS HORIZON. Available from only 92,000 Eur per week in January, she will charge close to, if not above 120,000 Eur per week during the Christmas and NEW YEAR. That is a considerable difference. While those around 50-80ft may be many, there are only a few mega yachts from 60-metre / 200ft onwards, and some that include rare gigayachts that cost 1 million Eur and more, but may offer a substantial discount during the early new year charters in the East Caribbean. If you are one of the lucky ones that can afford such charters and your family office is keen to explore one such opportunity, it is best to plan a unique, high-end superyacht charter in the East Caribbean 12 months in advance. Away from high-end luxury, one couple from South Africa explored a specific itinerary, between islands such as Antigua, Barbuda, St Barts and Saint Martin. They chartered a smaller 40ft monohull for less than 30,000 Eur over the course of 3 months and embarked on what they called a life-changing adventure never to be repeated. The same couple has sailed on board of another chartered 38ft monohull for full 8 months in the East Mediterranean a few years earlier. Life-changing experiences can repeat with us at A2A Yachting. Adventure and expedition style cruising Adventure-minded guests increasingly want charters that feel like private expeditions rather than packaged holidays, even within the familiar Caribbean postcard. If your party is inexperienced, with a professional skipper allocated to make your life on board seamless, one week sailing is easily organised. For those seeking luxury, captains can prioritise itineraries that offer longer offshore legs, overnight sails between islands, and allocate time in less-visited bays for diving, freediving or blue-water fishing. Others may be keen to hike around volcanic ridges and rainforest waterfalls or enjoy guided snorkel safaris on coral reefs, where itineraries now weave together tender-based exploration, paddleboarding in mangroves and shore-based eco-excursions too. Groups of couples from Canada and US in particular seem keen on such tailor-made yacht charter experiences. With us, you can also head to Trinidad and Tobago, where most yachts tend to avoid due to adverse experiences with loss of boats or gear. We on the other hand will find a way for you to safely explore best anchorages there too and see the unique natural wonders of this island-country on request too. These types of experiences are increasingly supported by extra gear on board too. Even some production sailing yachts are nowadays specified with robust tenders, plethora of water toys and upgraded communications such as a Starlink, while larger expedition-style motor yachts have compulsory beach clubs, storage for toys and enhanced autonomy for remote anchorages with suitable helipads. Our clients have organised scientific projects in many areas and this may have included deep underwater research or just another scientific project on the water. Whatever your project, idea, plan or a desire, during the winter time, especially in January and February, sailing in the Caribbean can be a very rewarding escape. Let your imagination work wonders, especially if you are a seasoned sailor, with both qualifications and experience as in that case, we can notch it up too, as organised for a group of 4 businessmen from the UK. Following World Arc, they started a charter on a luxury 55ft+ sailing cat in Barbados, experienced local culture and cuisine, before heading towards Grenadines and ABC Islands, hoping to Bogota in Colombia and finishing in San Blas. This all can be completed within a 3-6 weeks period, as a bespoke East to West Caribbean yacht charter experience. Wellness retreats and Michelin-Star food at sea The first few weeks following the major holidays are usually defined as medium season weeks in the yacht charter circles. Thus, the quiet shoulder weeks of January have also become fertile ground for wellness-oriented, retreat-style charters that position the yacht as both sanctuary and studio. Immersive reset with lots of on-board facilities and nourishment as a strategy make sense here. While some charter yachts only have a skipper on board, those with a hostess, may offer programmes that blend sunrise meditation on the foredeck, breathwork under the boom, guided open-water swimming and digital detox policies that replace emails with reef fish and reading hammocks. For any 200ft+ yacht booked through us, we regularly offer regular breathwork sessions for all guests, with a special mind-development instruction added too. The same can be applied on smaller boats and in agreement with the head charterer. Smaller 50ft skippered boats can cost from as little as 2,000 Eur per person, per week and offer these types of experiences too. Most luxury charter yachts increasingly offer dedicated spa spaces, saunas or even hammams within their spacious beach clubs, and flexible deck areas that convert into open-air yoga platforms overlooking turquoise anchorages. On board of these superyachts, hourly sessions as per demands of the yacht charter clients can be arranged directly on board. One such yacht is M/Y SAMURAI, a 198ft Alia superyacht whose captain Gareth Harris will gladly take out their 39' (11.9m) 2021 Nor-tech towed tender to show you the best of outer Bahamas, after you have relaxed on the beach club, reset in the Jacuzzi and soften your skin in the on-board sauna. You get all this from 382,000 Eur per week. Many of these yachts can be found on our newly launched website , with similar boats regularly cruising the East Caribbean too and most importantly offering a great deal in shoulder season post major holidays. One of the most important aspects of healthy lifestyle is increasingly being recognised in food. Not any food, but highest quality, nourishing fresh food with world-class cuisine that blends international influences and creates bespoke menus. On board chefs can as a result source out light, locally-sourced menus that will almost always include fresh line-caught fish, tropical fruit, Caribbean-inspired plant-based dishes or specifically designed menue’s that are agreed in advance and well align nutritional choices with the rhythm of the sea days. One of the best luxury yachts for Michelin-style dining on board that will also include sophisticated themed gastronomy, elegant entertaining and gourmet cuisine is 203ft M/Y SEALION. Offered from 412,000 Eur per week, up to 12 guests can enjoy the ultimate food experiences that may include bluefin tuna chutoro with yuzu ponzu, Wagyu filet mignon with truffle pomme Anna, at times even Alaskan king crab daikon rolls, and a number of tropical deserts. Start packing if your family office has cleared the calendar for you. If you are looking for similar experience but at a lower budget, we can do so from as little as 20,000 Eur per week on luxury boats from 50ft onwards and with a carefully selected chef and hostess to ensure your culinary tastes are satisfied fully. Cultural, event and culinary-driven charters Our yacht charter clients, as sophisticated winter charter audience, are no longer content to observe the Caribbean from the cosy cockpits, luxury flybridge or observation platforms even, they want to participate in its festivals, flavours and stories. Most are looking for a deeper cultural contact, calendar-anchored itineraries and gastronomic experiences. With us, you can therefore plan a winter escape Caribbean yacht charter that combine not only individual freedom but also a social calendar. From early-January carnival celebrations such as St Kitts’ Sugar Mas to some local regattas for which unique yachts such as Pogo 36, Pogo 44, Oyster 675 or Swan 80 and Southern Wind 108 can be made available for private Caribbean yacht charters, as well as music events later in the season, our bespoke yacht charters are increasingly designed backward from a chosen cultural or sporting moment. Apart from sailing, each winter sailing destination will also bring it’s own allure. As a result, your shore time focuses on local markets, rum distilleries, historic forts and curated encounters with musicians, craftsmen and guides who translate the islands beyond the tourist veneer. If you have a special occasion, want to surprise your loved one or to reward your team or offer an incentive to your business partners, share your thoughts with us and we can assist in creating the most amazing, specific and unique experience. And most experienced bareboat yacht charter sailors and their guests plan itineraries around renowned beach restaurants, farm-to-table concepts and best anchorages. Your party could add to this private chef collaborations, pairing wine-cellar calibre lists on board with barefoot tasting menus ashore in islands like Saint Martin or Anguilla in particular. Switching from “week on a boat” to curated journeys For our clients, the shift is clear, January and February winter escapes in the Southern Hemisphere is less about just another holiday but more about designing meaningful, story-rich experiences that justify repeat visits and premium pricing. The yacht charter parties are no longer looking at just sailing in another destination, or once again visiting the same one, but about new experiences, new personal development step or new inspiration. This is where we at SuperSailYachts.com excel. With us, you can therefore create your own new experiences. Successful yacht charter projects start with your or your family’s underlying intent—just an escape, a discovery of a new destination, family reconnection, specific celebration, recovery in general or just another adventure. We then embed that intent into every decision from choice of yacht to itinerary planning to provisioning or organisation of specific airport transfers or where necessary private jet or helicopter flights. For example, our client was sailing on a luxury Northern Star sailing boat in the Caribbean in 1990’s and now almost 30 years later, the couple wanted to experience the unique region of Maine/USA during the summer 2026. A specific and a desireable one-way charter was organised to fit with the planned itinerary, and an even more impressive yacht was arranged, a 112ft Eros, available from 39,500 Eur per week, as the original boat had to undergo major servicing at the time. We make it happen even during another part of the season and in another location if need be. Personal narratives and modular design This is where true difference occurs and where complete, and tailor-made solutions are sought and found. Adventure, wellness, culture and cuisine cease to be separate themes and become interchangeable modules that we as brokers can dial up or down as group dynamics and weather evolve. The best example is a very special charter organised on a 54ft luxury catamaran, en route from San Blas in Panama, across the Panama canal, Pearl Islands such as Isla del Rey and finally onto Galapagos where the party spent one unforgettable week. The effort, commitment and sacrifice to make this happen at only 50,000 Eur plus all expenses is impossible to repeat, making such a project an exceptional sum of minor parts that are always different and can be sourced out only by the best in business such as us at A2A Yachting. This not only as you want to make it happen, but also as we put ourselves in your position and try and work it out to your full satisfaction. The next best experience along these lines, will be for us to organise a similar adventure, on board of a luxury crewed 45ft sailing catamaran, from Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, all the way to Marquesas, over 4000 nautical miles journey. Final thoughts on exceptional winter blue escapes If you have managed to read all the way to hear, I’d like to advise that now is the best time to plan for January or February 2027 opportunities. A few bareboat charter deals with up to 50%+ discounts are always available, and bespoke itineraries can also be arranged on skippered or crewed yachts. For superyacht charters, it will be more difficult but one interesting yacht to consider, is explorer type mega yacht BOLD. She stands out in the 80-90 m superyacht category not because it tries to imitate the classic “floating palace,” but because it redefines what an ultra-luxury expedition platform can be. And with 150,000 Eur discount for January charters, this part expedition platform, part social hub superyacht makes a luxury charter an exceptional one. While other 80-metres+ yachts heavily focus on spa-style wellness and ultra-modern, M/Y BOLD offers helicopter operations (Leonardo AW109S), extended range, high-performance, and an adventure-driven lifestyle programme. Apart from the unique expedition-style yacht charter offer, with her 300 m² loft and wintergarden, a signature culinary experience with certified helideck that allows rapid sourcing of specialty ingredients even when anchored far from civilisation, and a floating dock for kitesurfing she really is an amazing offer for off-season charters. Other yachts, such as sublime THE IDLER, an ultra-modern Sunreef 80 Eco, which may not have an on-board disco club or outdoor cinema, but still amazes with extra luxuries, also offer substantial 15% discount and this is not to be refused if the charter rate drops from 95,000 to almost 75,000 Eur per week. There are many others that will offer similar discounts, and they can be smaller 40ft monohulls, great value 46ft sailing catamarans or one of the few luxury motor yachts in the 60-100ft range too. Whatever your budget, idea or desire though, you are only one step from discovering what makes winter escape Caribbean yacht charters so unique. I therefore invite you to get in touch with us at SuperSailYachts and A2A Y achting . and make your own enquiries. I stand ready to discuss with you or your family office a variety of options that may change your life. One such groups plans a 2027 charter that may take them from Cabo San Lucas in Baja California all the way to Marquesas islands. This 6 weeks + sailing adventure is likely to be one of the next highlights that our clients embark on. Join them by making your own unique winter blue sailing escape. Visit my website  for more info! Read more from Eldin Basic Eldin Basic, Yacht Charter Manager Eldin is the Charter & Sales manager at A2A Yachting ( SuperSailYachts.com ) , where he overseas all aspects of business & marketing operations. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Eldin brings a wealth of expertise and insight to this role. He holds a degree from the University College Birmingham, supplemented by leadership training from Harvard Business School and ThePowerMBA, giving him a solid foundation in strategic management. Known for his talent in developing innovative Blue Ocean Strategies, Eldin is also a certified breathwork practitioner & an active supporter of various charitable initiatives. Passionate about helping others, he is committed to turning dreams into reality & inspiring all to live more fulfilling lives.

Written by Dee Mani, Cannabis & Natural Health Consultant Dee Mani is a holistic healing advocate and founder of My Way CBD, who transformed her life after overcoming an aggressive breast cancer diagnosis using natural remedies. She is an author, entrepreneur, and speaker dedicated to empowering others through the healing potential of cannabis and holistic wellness practices. Most people remember the moment clearly. You sit in the chair, heart slightly racing, hands clammy, waiting for the results. You know something isn’t right. You’re exhausted. Your sleep is broken. Your digestion feels off. Your mood isn’t what it used to be. Your body feels heavier, slower, less resilient than before. Then the doctor looks at the screen and says the words many people dread more than bad news, “Everything looks normal.” You nod. You thank them. You leave. And somewhere between the clinic door and the journey home, doubt creeps in. Because if everything is “normal,” why don’t you feel well? But beneath that doubt, something else often surfaces, a quieter, harder feeling to name. A sense of deflation. Because without a diagnosis, there’s nothing concrete to blame. No label to point to. No condition to explain why your energy has gone, your weight has shifted, your mood feels off, or your body no longer recovers the way it once did. Sometimes we don’t just want reassurance, we want an answer. A name. Something external we can hold responsible. Not because we’re weak, but because a diagnosis can feel like permission. Permission to stop questioning our habits. Permission to excuse the long-term stress, the unresolved trauma, the poor sleep, the food that no longer nourishes us, and the boundaries we never learned to set. And when the doctor doesn’t have that answer, when the tests come back “normal,” it can feel deeply unsettling. Not because nothing is wrong, but because the focus quietly shifts back to us. With it comes the uncomfortable awareness that health ultimately requires personal accountability. This disconnect isn’t rare. It’s becoming the norm. And the reason lies not in your imagination, but in how modern medicine defines “normal,” and what it allows us to outsource. What “normal” really means, and why it’s misleading In everyday language, normal suggests healthy, balanced, or functioning well. In medicine, it means none of those things. A “normal range” is a statistical construct. It’s created by testing large populations, discarding the extreme highs and lows, and averaging what remains. That average becomes the reference range used to judge everyone else. Here’s the problem with this outdated and increasingly unjustified method, If the population is chronically stressed, inflamed, nutrient-deficient, sleep-deprived, overmedicated, and emotionally overwhelmed, then dysfunction becomes the benchmark. Normal simply means common. It does not mean optimal. It does not mean resilient. And it certainly doesn’t mean preventative. As society becomes sicker , the definition of “normal” quietly shifts with it. Who actually sets these ranges? Most people assume blood test ranges are based on timeless biological truths. They are not. Reference ranges are determined by: Laboratories Medical institutions Clinical guideline committees Advisory panels These panels are often composed of academics, clinicians, and researchers, many of whom also consult for, research for, or receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. This does not require bad intentions to create bad outcomes. It is a structural issue. When thresholds shift, drug eligibility expands. When eligibility expands, prescriptions rise. And when prescriptions rise, entire populations become lifelong patients, sometimes without ever feeling better. Whilst many people understandably do not want to believe medicine is malicious, it is hard to deny that it is incentivised, and incentives shape outcomes. Who benefits from redefining “normal”? This is the part that is rarely said out loud. “Normal” is not used to keep people well. It is used as a dividing line. Stay inside it, and you are dismissed. Fall outside it, and you become a patient, most often for life. As reference ranges shift and thresholds are adjusted, more people are pushed into the category of “abnormal.” Once that happens, imbalance is quickly reframed as pathology, and what may be a temporary, adaptive response by the body is given a permanent medical label. That label then opens the door to treatment plans focused on correcting numbers rather than understanding root causes. Symptoms are medicated. Markers are suppressed. Attention moves away from factors that are harder to quantify but far more influential, including lifestyle, chronic stress , unresolved trauma , poor sleep , nutrient depletion, and environmental load. This is not because individual doctors are deliberately trying to create dependency. Most are doing the best they can within a system designed for speed, volume, and standardisation. But it is a system incentivised to diagnose, prescribe, and maintain long-term management, not to ask why the body adapted in the first place. When health is reduced to thresholds, lifelong management becomes the default outcome. Not because it restores resilience, but because it is scalable, protocol-driven, and profitable. So the real question is not whether medicine is malicious. It is whether a system built on diagnosis and dependency can ever truly prioritise prevention, autonomy, and human health. Treating numbers instead of bodies Modern healthcare is exceptional at crisis management. It saves lives in emergencies. It stabilises acute conditions. It excels when something has already gone wrong. Where it struggles is in early dysfunction. Blood tests are often used to confirm disease, not to detect imbalance. If your results do not cross a clearly defined line, you are told everything is fine, even when your body is quietly struggling to compensate. Symptoms are brushed aside because the data does not support them. But the body does not wait for permission from a reference range before signalling distress, which ultimately leads to illness or disease. Cholesterol: A marker that lost its meaning Few blood markers illustrate this problem better than cholesterol. Cholesterol is not a toxin . It is a vital biological substance. Your body uses it to: Produce hormones such as cortisol, oestrogen, and testosterone Maintain cell membrane integrity Protect nerve tissue and brain cells Support repair processes throughout the body When cholesterol rises, it is often responding to something, including inflammation, infection, stress, injury, or hormonal change. Over time, however, cholesterol became isolated from context. Rather than asking why it was elevated, the focus shifted to how quickly it could be lowered. Reference ranges tightened. Targets dropped. Statins became one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. What is discussed far less openly is that: Low cholesterol has been associated with depression and cognitive decline In older adults, very low cholesterol correlates with higher overall mortality Cholesterol often rises during immune activation as part of tissue repair Cholesterol did not suddenly become dangerous. It became oversimplified. Blood sugar: When stress is labelled as disease Blood glucose is another marker that is frequently misunderstood. We are taught that elevated blood sugar equals poor diet or metabolic failure. In reality, glucose is deeply responsive to the nervous system. Blood sugar rises in response to: Sleep deprivation Psychological stress Surges in cortisol and adrenaline Acute illness or infection This is not dysfunction. It is survival. A single elevated reading can place someone into the category of “pre diabetic,” even when their body is responding appropriately to short term stress. Without context, numbers create fear. With context, they create understanding. Thyroid testing: “Normal” on paper, unwell in reality Thyroid  testing is one of the most common areas where people feel dismissed. Countless individuals, particularly women, experience: Persistent fatigue Hair thinning or loss Weight gain Brain fog Cold sensitivity Yet they are told their thyroid is “within range.” TSH reference ranges are broad, far broader than what many bodies actually thrive at. A value that is statistically normal may be biologically suboptimal for that individual. Add chronic stress, unresolved trauma, inflammation, or nutrient depletion, and the thyroid can struggle long before it officially fails. The body compensates quietly until it cannot. Inflammation: The background noise we ignore Chronic inflammation  rarely announces itself loudly in blood work. Markers such as CRP often need to be significantly elevated before concern is raised. But inflammation begins long before that, subtly disrupting hormones, digestion, mood, energy, and immunity. Low-grade inflammation is now so common that it barely registers as abnormal. Yet it sits at the root of most chronic diseases. When infection skews blood results This is one of the most overlooked aspects of blood testing, and one of the most important. If your blood is taken while your body is fighting: A viral infection A bacterial infection Hidden inflammation Acute stress or injury Your immune system shifts priorities. White blood cells may rise or fall depending on the stage of infection. Iron levels drop to starve pathogens. Cholesterol rises to support tissue repair. Blood sugar elevates to fuel immune activity. In these moments, blood results reflect a body in defence mode, not a baseline state of health. A blood test taken during immune activation is a snapshot of a battlefield, not a resting body. Yet results are often interpreted as a fixed diagnosis rather than temporary responses. The nervous system: The missing piece One of the greatest blind spots in modern diagnostics is the nervous system. Chronic stress, unresolved trauma, and prolonged fight or flight activation alter blood markers long before disease appears. Hormones shift. Immunity changes. Inflammation rises. But none of this fits neatly into standard panels. You can have “normal” blood work and a profoundly dysregulated nervous system. And no blood test can measure that directly. Why people are told it is “just stress” When results fall within reference ranges, symptoms are often attributed to: Anxiety Age Hormones Lifestyle As if these factors exist separately from the body. Stress is not a mindset issue. It is a physiological state. And it leaves fingerprints everywhere, even when blood tests do not flag it as pathological. The illusion of precision Blood tests feel precise. Numbers look objective. But biology is fluid. A single reading does not capture: Trends over time Individual baselines Environmental influences Emotional load Sleep quality Nutritional status Medicine values what can be measured easily. Health often lives in what cannot. A more compassionate model of health A truly supportive approach to health asks better questions: How have your markers changed over time? How do you feel in your body day to day? What stressors are present in your life? How well does your nervous system recover? Numbers still matter. But they are guides, not verdicts. Why this matters When people are told they are “fine” despite feeling unwell, they begin to doubt themselves. They stop trusting their bodies. They disengage from their own intuition. That loss of trust is one of the most damaging outcomes of all. Healthcare should build confidence, not erode it. Blood tests can offer information, but they cannot define health. When they are used without context, they often create fear, dependency, and lifelong labels where none were needed. If you have ever felt unheard or dismissed, that experience matters. The body is not a machine waiting to break. It is a self-regulating system constantly adapting to stress, environment, and emotion. Real healing does not come from chasing numbers. It comes from restoring balance through food, sleep, nervous system regulation, emotional safety, and reducing toxic load. Sometimes the problem is not your body at all. It is a culture that stopped trusting it. A personal note In February 2017, several weeks before I was officially diagnosed with grade 3 triple-negative breast cancer , my body began shouting long before anyone was listening. I broke out in hives, not a small rash, but full-body urticaria covering me from the neck down. My face was the only area spared. I was repeatedly prescribed oral steroids and steroid creams. They did not resolve the issue. If anything, the tablets left me swollen, inflamed, and further disconnected from my body. Eventually, I was sent for blood tests. My white blood cell count was borderline. My cholesterol was high. Rather than asking why my immune system was activated or why my body might be in a state of distress, I was told my bloods were “normal” and advised to speak to my GP about starting statins for the cholesterol. I refused. What those blood results were actually reflecting was a body under extreme load. Cancer had already developed, not in isolation, but alongside prolonged stress, an abusive marriage, unresolved childhood trauma, and a nervous system locked in constant fight or flight. My body was no longer regulating. It was surviving. None of that appeared in my results as a red flag. On paper, I was fine. A week later, I found a lump in my breast. That experience changed how I understand health forever. My body had been communicating clearly through inflammation, immune activation, and systemic stress. But because my results had not crossed a predefined threshold, those signals were dismissed. This is why “normal” blood tests can be so dangerously reassuring. They do not tell the whole story, and they rarely tell it early enough. They capture numbers, not the lived reality of the body, or the mind and soul that shape it. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Dee Mani Dee Mani, Cannabis & Natural Health Consultant Dee Mani is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and holistic healing advocate who defied the odds by overcoming aggressive breast cancer through natural remedies, including cannabis. As the founder of My Way CBD, she is passionate about empowering others to explore alternative healing methods. Dee's journey from illness to wellness inspires her writing, where she shares insights on natural health, wellness, and the transformative power of nature. Follow her work to discover how to harness holistic practices for a healthier, more balanced life. See here for more info!

Written by Faye Lao, Integrative Wellness Practitioner • Radio Show Host Faye Lao is an Integrative Wellness Practitioner and Transformational Coach who combines intuitive insight, energy healing, and spiritual guidance to support emotional wellness and conscious leadership. Through her practice, and as a host on News for the Soul Radio, she creates sacred spaces for healing, growth, grief support, and soul-aligned living. Her upcoming show, Soul Unfiltered™, explores real, raw, and liberating conversations at the intersection of healing and spiritual truth. What if your New Year’s resolution is world peace, beauty-pageant style, said with a bright smile, big hair, and loving idealism? And what if it turns out that peace is created the same way it’s lived, one silent, peaceful step at a time, for miles and miles and miles? This is an invitation to slow the stride, listen inward, and discover what becomes possible when peace leads your way. Peace at the Speed of Consciousness January arrives every year with an aspirational kind of hope. New calendars. Fresh starts. Bold intentions.And an optimistic desire to already be better than we were twelve months ago. For many conscientious people, January can feel more like a performance review than a fresh start. The busy mind reflects on, “What will I improve this year? What will I fix? Who do I need to become?” It’s only January. Beneath all of that effort, there is fatigue, worry and a burned out nervous system from the year before. When life demands non-stop performance, the nervous system registers burnout, not motivation. The body responds with anxiety, restless sleep, and other signals. Not because anything is necessarily wrong with us, but because many of us are absorbing the raw collective emotions of humanity experiencing sustained overwhelm and uncertainty. That is nothing new.  But here is a question, can we shift in consciousness in a more life-giving direction? Just imagine: Can we transmute hate into love?  War into peace?  Indifference into kindness?  Fear into awareness? Fear spreads quickly these days. It travels through headlines, social feeds, and conversations saturated with urgency. And while awareness matters, immersion in fear has a cost, It pulls us out of the present moment and into imagined futures that haven’t happened yet.  January invites something different, elevated consciousness, and a mindful stepping forward into present-moment awareness.  What if this season isn’t asking us to push forward, or perform more? What if the new year is an opportunity for us to come home to ourselves?  Just as we are. Related:  Chronic Fear and Stress   Peace as Emergence When stillness was the work There was a time when my life slowed to a pace I had not planned for. That pace included a long season of uncertainty, a relationship that ended, a house that needed repairs, and many decisions that needed clarity. My body felt it before my mind could name it. Sleep became restless. My heart would race. Blood pressure crept up. Motivation landed on the simplest goal: Stay comfortably merged with the couch.  Was I depressed? No. I was depleted. Might you be experiencing similar energies? I want you to know this: Feeling depleted is not a personal failure. It’s your body talking to you. Sometimes it yells. Eventually, I stopped trying to power through. I surrendered to stillness. I simplified my days, one task at a time, one decision at a time. I let myself do less with no apologies. People are often very proud of listing an “ability to multi-task” on their resume. I’ve created a different resume skill. I advocate for myself the idea that less is more. I finally learned mono-tasking, my new favorite word, and a new way to protect my nervous system.  Doing too many things at once is overrated. How does one focus on quality? Where is the mindfulness in rushing toward burnout? And then, unexpectedly, something singular and small changed everything. Related:  Stillness  Peace as the Way Finding stillness through inner child play While boxing up books, I found a coloring book I’d bought years earlier and never opened. I had forgotten all about it. So, I thought, why not? I needed a little break from packing for my move. No big ambitions. No productivity goals. Just shiny glitter gel pens, and bright colors.  A simple, uncomplicated pause. It sounds trivial. It wasn’t. My body responded immediately. Bright colors spread across my coffee table, pages opened to playful images of flowers and donuts. My mind stayed busy, but peacefully so. Anxiety softened. Sleep improved. My heart settled.  And I joyfully reconnected with my own inner child, long forgotten after being absorbed in an adult world. Coloring became my meditation, my way back into presence. A reminder that calm and contentment don’t always come from solving problems, but often from simplicity. This gentle form of color therapy softened my mind to help me make clearer plans for an upcoming move after selling my home.  Months earlier, a chapter in my life had quietly closed, peacefully, and without urgency. My divorce became final after 15 years together, on and off. We parted amicably and in peaceful understanding. My ex-husband drove away in a U-Haul truck stocked with homemade sandwiches, snacks, and cut fruit for his long drive. I just forgot his Diet Coke was still in the fridge.  Oops.  Eight months later, it’s still there. I walked back inside the house, and muttered to myself, “Some karma…” After he left, I had some energetic housekeeping to do. I claimed my home as my own again. I reset its energies. I wanted my home to heal and support love, peace, contemplation, and the next chapter I was creating for myself.  I also infused the home with love, peace, harmony, and joy, to welcome future buyers with the best of intentions for their happiness. Sometimes, stillness, held in love and peace, is the work. Related: Healing Your Inner Child Peace Light as Love Karma, completion, and the long way home After long periods of stillness, movement eventually returns, but not the frantic kind. It arrives quietly, with clarity. For me, that clarity arrived through recognizing patterns. My life had moved in cycles for years, love, loss, separation, hope, reunion, and saying goodbye, often packed into U-Haul trucks from move to move.  Fifteen years with my ex, fourteen breakups, ten moves, four states, and four homes later, I stopped calling it coincidence. California, Utah, Wyoming, Missouri, Utah again and possibly California again. It’s the long way home. There were detours. I am very patient. To be fair, so was the ex. We had our own version of karmic absurdity: Groundhog Day, relationship edition. Contrary to popular belief, karma isn’t punishment . It’s repetition with an invitation to learn something more deeply each time. Like an actor filming a scene, if you miss your lines, you get another take, and another chance to hope you’ve learned them this time. And hope isn’t foolish, just persistent. Awareness, however, is what allows us to recognize when a lesson is complete, and step out of the loop. Endings don’t have to be dramatic or fueled by anger and blame. Sometimes the most peaceful ending is gratitude for a lesson fully learned. Peace doesn’t come from fighting for an outcome. It arrives when we stop resisting, and allow life to resolve itself. Karma lessons, I’ve found, can be gentle once freedom is claimed. Related:  Groundhog Day 12 laws of karma Peace One Step at a Time Walking peace forward I have been deeply moved and inspired by a group of Buddhist monks who have been walking across the U.S. in silence and meditation, step by step, completing a 2,300-mile journey for peace . They do not preach or perform. They simply walk. With each day that passes, crowds of well-wishers gather to greet them in admiration and gratitude. Their presence alone moves people to tears, not because of words, but because of the lovingkindness and calm they embody.  They remind us that peace does not need to be loud to be powerful. It only needs to be lived. What we carry within ourselves ripples outward for others to feel.  You know you walk in peace when… Energy settles. Voices soften. Drama pauses. Honesty emerges. Nothing needs fixing. There are no judgments. What if this season isn’t asking you to become someone new, but to live more fully as who you already are?  What if peace isn’t something to chase or earn, but something you embody each day? If you’re reading this, chances are you already walk this way. That makes you a WayShower, whether you call yourself that or not. And step by step, breath by breath, we walk peace forward – into our lives,  the people we meet,  and the world itself. May we quietly bless all those who walk peace into the world, reminding us, without words, that love is strongest when it is lived. May we honor them by walking our own paths in: Kindness Compassion Peace Love and Light. May we all walk peace forward together, in unity. Related:  Walk for Peace 2,300 Miles If this message resonates with you, I invite you to stay in touch. Connect with me on Facebook ,   LinkedIn , or visit my website  or email at fayeinspiredhealing@outlook.com  to explore more resources and reflections. Let’s continue the journey together.  Read more from Faye Lao Faye Lao, Integrative Wellness Practitioner • Radio Show Host Faye Lao is an Integrative Wellness Practitioner, Certified Grief Educator, and radio show host who blends intuitive healing, energy work, and transformational coaching. She helps individuals reconnect with their soul’s wisdom after loss, life transitions, and emotional overwhelm. As the creator of Soul Unfiltered™, Faye shares real, raw, and sacred stories of grief, healing, and spiritual truth. Learn more at fayeinspiredhealing.com  or contact her at FayeInspiredHealing@outlook.com .

Written by Stephanie Gillespie, Addiction Treatment Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gillespie is a dedicated professional who has made a significant impact in the fields of developmental psychology, Autism, and Addiction Treatment. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Developmental Psychology. A person's self-esteem in recovery plays a vital role in the journey toward addiction recovery and long-term sobriety. Self-esteem encompasses a person’s beliefs about themselves and their emotional states, including feelings of pride, shame, triumph, and despair. When addiction enters the picture, it can erode self-esteem in profound ways, leaving individuals trapped in a cycle of guilt, shame, and self-doubt. The relationship between addiction and self-esteem is complex and bidirectional. Low self-esteem is both a contributing factor to addiction and a major obstacle to recovery. Individuals with low self-worth may perceive drug abuse or substance use as a way to fill an emotional void, using substances as a coping mechanism for deep-seated guilt, shame, and negative emotions. The importance of an individual's self-esteem in addiction recovery cannot be overstated. Low self-esteem is a major risk factor for relapse, driving individuals back to substance use for temporary escape. In contrast, strong self-worth provides the internal motivation needed to set recovery goals, adhere to treatment plans, and resist relapse. Building positive self-esteem in addiction recovery is essential for achieving long-term sobriety and creating a fulfilling life. Understanding low self-esteem Low self-esteem often goes hand in hand with difficult emotions and unhealthy behaviors that can lead someone to use substances as a way to cope. Many individuals struggling with substance use disorders have a history of trauma, social anxiety, or emotional neglect, all of which can deeply impact a person’s self-perception. Negative self-perceptions, self-doubt, self-critical thoughts, and social anxiety often create a cycle where individuals turn to addictive behavior for relief. Over time, addiction reinforces these beliefs, further eroding self-worth and reinforcing negative patterns. Addiction often ties self-worth to past mistakes, making individuals feel unworthy of happiness or success. Many people in addiction recovery struggle with: Negative self-talk Low self-worth Feelings of shame from past mistakes Difficulty experiencing positive feelings A lack of belief in one’s own value makes it harder to prioritize recovery, resist temptations, and believe in the possibility of change. Low self-esteem is strongly associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and attention problems over time, making it a critical factor in both addiction prevention and recovery intervention programs. The role of self-compassion in healing Self-compassion replaces harsh criticism with kindness, understanding, and forgiveness, especially during moments of difficulty or setback. Practicing self-compassion creates a nurturing internal environment that is crucial for healing, personal growth, and emotional resilience. People facing addiction often carry deep feelings of shame, guilt, and self-judgment, which can gradually weaken self-esteem and fuel ongoing substance use. Addiction often acts as a negative coping mechanism for these painful emotions, which can intensify during early sobriety. Instead of harsh self-criticism, fostering self-compassion allows individuals to: Accept imperfections Practice self-forgiveness Replace negative emotions with self-acceptance Develop healthier coping strategies Fostering self-compassion allows individuals to accept imperfections, let go of past mistakes, and move forward with greater emotional strength. Self-acceptance also allows for more authentic connections with others, helping individuals build strong social support systems that are vital for lasting addiction recovery self esteem. Building self-esteem for a healthier future Building self-esteem is a key component of promoting mental health during the recovery process. Improving self-esteem involves cognitive reframing, practical daily habits, emotional support, and professional guidance. It begins with recognizing and affirming your inherent worth and value as a human being. Positive self-talk helps replace negative thoughts and distorted beliefs. Challenging negative self-talk involves replacing absolute statements like “I always fail” with positive affirmations such as “I am learning and growing every day.” For those with self-esteem issues, receiving compliments may feel awkward or undeserved, yet learning to accept them is a powerful part of building an individual's sense of a healthier self-image. Learning to receive positive feedback strengthens self-worth and reinforces self-acceptance. Helpful strategies to boost self-esteem include: Replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk Seeking positive feedback and emotional support for self-improvement Creating healthy boundaries and learning to set healthy boundaries Engaging in activities that build confidence and self-worth Building positive self-esteem improves well-being and strengthens a person’s ability to support recovery and sustain long-term sobriety. How to rebuild self-esteem through achievements To rebuild self-esteem, individuals must develop confidence through action. Setting realistic and achievable goals is key to building self-esteem and confidence in recovery. Each success reinforces a sense of capability and progress toward combating addiction issues. Celebrating milestones fosters pride and motivation. Strong self-worth correlates with better engagement in therapy and stricter adherence to treatment plans, which directly supports successful recovery. Effective steps include: Setting realistic goals Breaking goals into manageable steps Celebrating milestones Focusing on positive qualities Therapy offers a safe environment for individuals to process the shame of addiction, heal emotionally, and develop the strength to navigate future setbacks. Healthy self-esteem enhances resilience, allowing individuals to view setbacks as temporary obstacles rather than insurmountable failures. A strong sense of worth provides the internal drive to stay on track and the strength to overcome challenges. Understanding self-esteem in addiction Self-esteem in addiction is deeply impacted by substance abuse. Addiction can erode self-esteem in profound ways, leaving individuals feeling trapped in cycles of shame, guilt, and self-doubt. Substance abuse can erode self-esteem by reinforcing: Negative self-perception Emotional instability Loss of confidence Reduced self-acceptance Many individuals with low self-esteem may view substance use as a way to escape emotional pain or fill a void in their lives. The interplay between self-esteem and substance abuse suggests that addressing self-esteem is crucial in addiction prevention and intervention programs. Self-esteem significantly impacts recovery by providing the self-worth needed to make positive choices and resist relapse. Individuals who value themselves are more likely to believe they are worthy of recovery and capable of sustaining long-term sobriety. The power of cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a powerful tool for rebuilding self-esteem after addiction. Therapy is instrumental in creating a safe environment where individuals can confront and move past shame associated with addiction. CBT teaches individuals how to notice and shift negative thought patterns that weaken their sense of self-worth. Through therapy sessions, individuals learn to: Replace negative thoughts with constructive thinking Manage stress and emotional triggers Develop effective coping strategies Strengthen self-acceptance Seeking professional help at a   Philadelphia drug rehab center  provides personalized strategies for rebuilding a healthy self-image and strengthening long-term recovery. The importance of family therapy Family therapy and emotional support are critical for rebuilding confidence and strengthening recovery. Open and honest communication fosters trust, healing, and connection. Through   family therapy , individuals can: Improve communication skills Develop healthy relationships Receive emotional support Experience mutual support and encouragement Healthy relationships built on mutual support provide stability and encouragement. Surrounding yourself with supportive and nurturing relationships is essential for rebuilding self-esteem and confidence in recovery. How support groups strengthen recovery Support groups provide a sense of belonging and validation. They help individuals break free from isolation and reinforce a positive self-image. Support groups can also help individuals: Learn healthy coping strategies Build confidence Receive positive feedback Stay motivated in the recovery process Sharing experiences helps reduce shame and self-stigma associated with mental health issues, which often trigger relapse. Support groups provide encouragement, accountability, and emotional support that sustain long-term recovery. The power of realistic goals High self-esteem provides the internal motivation needed to set and pursue recovery goals. Achieving realistic goals reinforces confidence and self-belief. Benefits of goal setting include: Improved motivation Increased focus Stronger self-belief Reinforced positive feelings Valuing yourself empowers you to make choices that support sobriety, set healthy boundaries, and resist peer pressure. Individuals with a positive self-image are better at maintaining healthy boundaries and making empowered decisions. Progress, no matter how small, contributes to a more positive self-image and supports recovery. Overcoming challenges and obstacles Overcoming challenges is a critical aspect of addiction recovery and   Chicago addiction treatment programs . Developing strong coping skills and coping strategies allows individuals to manage setbacks without losing confidence. Self-determination is an important part of recovery from substance and alcohol use. It allows individuals to believe they have the skills and motivation needed to succeed. Helpful tools include: Practicing self-forgiveness Seeking professional support Using healthy coping strategies Focusing on strengths Healthy self-esteem helps individuals manage stress, cope with negative emotions, and stay committed to recovery. Strong self-worth provides resilience against setbacks and encourages continued growth. 1. Mindfulness practices for self-awareness Mindfulness-based approaches encourage individuals to stay present and practice self-compassion. Practicing mindfulness reduces self-criticism and promotes emotional balance. Higher self-worth leads to the adoption of positive coping strategies such as physical activity, mindfulness, and emotional regulation. Mindfulness helps individuals: Recognize negative emotions without judgment Manage stress Strengthen emotional regulation Build a healthier self-image This awareness plays a powerful role through   dual diagnosis treatment programs  in resisting relapse and maintaining emotional balance. 2. Nutrition and self-esteem Taking care of your body should be part of any addiction recovery plan. Regular exercise, a nutritious diet, and adequate sleep improve mental clarity, emotional resilience, and self-confidence. Physical activity reduces stress and improves mood. Nutrition supports brain health and emotional stability. These habits strengthen both mind and body. Healthy nutrition supports: Improved mood Better stress management Higher energy Stronger self-care habits Avoiding excess sugar and caffeine helps stabilize mood and supports emotional wellness. 3. Physical activity and emotional strength Physical activity is a powerful tool for building self-esteem and emotional resilience. Exercise reduces stress, improves mood, and increases confidence. Regular movement promotes: Improved mental health Reduced anxiety Higher self-confidence Greater emotional stability Finding activities that bring joy builds a stronger connection to the body and enhances self-worth. 4. Creative expression and healing Creative expression offers a healthy outlet for processing emotions and strengthening self-awareness. Art, music, writing, and other creative pursuits help individuals reconnect with themselves. Creative expression supports: Emotional release Increased self-acceptance Stronger personal identity Improved emotional balance This form of self-care builds confidence and promotes healing. 5. Building a supportive community A strong support network strengthens emotional well-being and reinforces recovery. Self-acceptance allows individuals to form authentic relationships that provide stability and encouragement. A strong support network provides: Emotional support Honest communication Positive reinforcement Motivation to continue healing Connection strengthens self-esteem and reinforces long-term commitment to recovery. Practicing self-compassion for positive self-esteem in addiction recovery Rebuilding self-esteem is a lifelong journey and a critical part of addiction recovery. Practicing self-compassion, setting realistic goals, building healthy relationships, and seeking professional support all contribute to improved self-esteem and lasting recovery. By committing to self-care, fostering self-acceptance, and surrounding yourself with encouragement, you can develop healthy self-esteem, strengthen your recovery journey, and create a fulfilling life rooted in confidence, self-worth, and emotional well-being. Lasting recovery begins with believing you are worthy of healing and that belief starts with you. Follow me on LinkedIn  for more info! Read more from Stephanie Gillespie Stephanie Gillespie, Addiction Treatment Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gillespie is a dedicated professional who has made a significant impact in the fields of developmental psychology, Autism, and Addiction Treatment. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Developmental Psychology. Her 15 years of experience working with individuals of all ages on the Autism spectrum provided her with a strong foundation for her transition into the Addiction Treatment field, where she now works as an Outreach Specialist for Patient Digital Marketing. In this role, Stephanie leverages her expertise to help addiction treatment centers increase their online presence, ultimately reaching more individuals in need of support.

Written by Ladys Patino, Book Reviewer and Writer Ladys Patino is a distinguished writer and book critic with a specialization in organizational behavior, management, leadership, and community dynamics. We're well past the standard fare when it comes to today's great business books. Why? The world of business is not the same, from AI-driven transformation to ever-changing demands to a constantly shifting market environment. As new rules and regulations fluctuate supply chains, concerns about the workforce, as companies fight to stay relevant and maintain their market position, decision makers are under more stress than ever. What helps: books that offer something more, a new approach, a human side, strategies for embracing innovation without being swallowed whole, anything but the usual formulas. Here, then, are 9 books that fit the bill. The list includes newcomers and bestsellers, hidden gems and secret weapons. They encompass a broad range of perspectives: futurists, technologists, executive coaches, performance experts, and brand wizards. It's a trove of great resources and actionable insights for refreshing your perspective, getting reinspired, and gaining a competitive edge. Leading Becomes You: A Real-World Framework for Leading from the Inside Out  by Natalie K. Pickering, PhD, is for any leader feeling like they've lost themselves. A TEDx speaker, leadership psychologist, and executive coach, Pickering helps leaders find their way back to their own identity, that's where the real power comes from, as she demonstrates. Packed with case studies, exercises, and practical tools, and written to be relatable, engaging, and inspiring, this book will hit close to home with any leader who needs to reconnect to their sense of purpose and remember who they are. The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip by Steven Witt is a fascinating biography of a groundbreaking leader who's made plenty of bestseller lists. It's a great tale of entrepreneurial daring, thinking outside the box, being an astounding success, and pretty much reshaping the world. The meteoric rise of Nvidia to the most valuable corporation on earth started in a Denny's over thirty years ago. Huang had the vision to stake everything on AI and win. His microchip enabled the AI transformation now fully underway. Witt's done his homework, the result is a page-turner of a true story for anyone interested in business, technology, and visionaries. Winning Match: Leadership for Game Changers – Together Toward the Extraordinary by Dr. Christian Marcolli upends reigning assumptions on how to lead and who to lead. It also has a neat connection to tennis superstar Roger Federer. For over a decade, Marcolli worked with Federer's longtime head coach, Severin Lüthi, on how to keep the legend performing at his peak (read about it in Lüthi's foreword to the book). But these strategies work for those high performers in any sphere, which Marcolli called Game Changers. These are the people in your company who truly have the potential to do extraordinary things if you know how to identify, support, and challenge them. Marcolli asserts that leadership and the right environment enable excellence, so don't leave your best people alone. AI and the Octopus Organization: Building the Superintelligent Firm  by Jonathan Brill and Steve Wunker is a (very) data-driven, copiously researched guide to running an organization in the AI era. Brill and Wunker are unabashed futurists and innovators with a refreshingly clear vision on AI. They interviewed many AI experts for this multidimensional book. They cover an immense range of topics with heart and authority, such as avoiding workplace fear and distrust, cost-effective rollouts, and just diving in. Nature's Blueprint for Business: Harnessing the Hidden Power of Edges  by Ines Garcia takes a look at the oldest system there is, the natural world, as a model for organizations. Garcia is an organizational coach with plenty of practical experience: she knows all about the messy realities of company structures and cultures. A real-world challenge facing teams and organizations starts each chapter (and they ring true). The solutions she's proposing tap into what happens in nature when one element contacts another, the edge, and how resiliency and growth are built into the natural world. The book is filled with practical tips and examples of organizations who have been able to develop and thrive using this approach. Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect  by Will Guidara is another longtime bestseller and a rousing tale of business gone right. Guidara led Eleven Madison Park from a middling restaurant to the best restaurant on the planet. The transformation ticks off all the boxes for entrepreneurial success: breaking the mold and starting over, leading an amazing team, going above and beyond in wildly creative ways, and offering the absolutely best service and product, bar none. This is a great lesson for any business in why giving more is such a powerful business strategy. It's also a great look inside an incredibly hot restaurant (and it may make you want to start one yourself). The High-Altitude Entrepreneur: A Framework for Scaling Smarter, Leading Better, and Living Freer  by Chris Clearfield is for founders who've built something real but find themselves trapped by their own success. Clearfield is a Gestalt-trained executive coach who has worked with successful entrepreneurs across industries. His High-Altitude Framework helps founders surface the hidden tensions driving their decisions, control vs. delegation, speed vs. thoroughness, and redesign their businesses to run on systems rather than constant vigilance. Through real-world case studies and a step-by-step approach, Clearfield shows how to move from reactive firefighting to strategic leadership, creating the freedom and impact that entrepreneurship promised in the first place. Lessons from the Mat: The 12 Martial Arts Principles that Will Help You Succeed in Business and in Life  by Benjamin Chen and Scott Burr is just what it sounds like. Both authors are serious martial artists with black belts in Jiu-Jitsu and other forms. Chen is also an extremely successful and driven entrepreneur whose bona fides include raising $500+M of investment capital, starting a company from scratch that soared to $250+M in revenue in its first six years, sitting on some major boards, and advising many an aspiring startup. All that to say that Chen has a startlingly practical philosophy about business (and life), based on very specific martial arts principles, that has proven itself time and again. Packed with common-sense strategies and interesting use cases, this is definitely a worthy read. Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit  by Brené Brown is the latest in a long series by this endlessly inspiring and bestselling author. Dive in for a master class in the importance of connection and accountability, a topic that may even feel startling today. This is a book about being a good leader, an effective leader, and a growth-focused leader by having real conversations and situational awareness. Again, given these times, it's a wonderful reminder that resilience over the long haul doesn't come from being power-hungry, capricious, or arrogant. That's the nine. A final note: this list was selected by actual humans, in case it matters. Let's keep ourselves in the construct and use these resources to better lead, deal, work, innovate, and face the future. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Ladys Patino Ladys Patino, Book Reviewer and Writer Ladys Patino is a distinguished writer and book critic with a specialization in organizational behavior, management, leadership, and community dynamics. Her expertise lies in dissecting and evaluating literature that delves into the intricacies of organizational structures, the nuances of leadership styles, and the complexities of community interactions. Patino's reviews and writings offer insightful perspectives on how these themes play out in various settings, providing valuable analysis for those interested in understanding and improving the functioning of groups, businesses, and societies.

Written by Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant Shardia O’Connor explores identity, power, leadership, and social conditioning through a values-led, critical lens. There was a time when being loud was mistaken for being intelligent. When having an opinion meant you were informed. When visibility implied value. We are living through the consequences of that era now. I see it in boardrooms where everyone speaks the language of awareness, yet no one takes responsibility. I see it in organisations obsessed with culture decks but unable to handle truth. I see it in leadership spaces that reward emotional performance over cognitive clarity. And I see it socially, where certainty is punished, nuance is feared, and thinking too deeply is framed as arrogance rather than discipline. We are saturated. Not with knowledge, but with noise. And noise has become a hiding place. When language replaced thinking One of the most dangerous shifts I have seen professionally is how language has replaced thought. Buzzwords now function as shields. People learn the right phrases, the right tones, the right optics, not to understand reality, but to avoid confronting it. We have created environments where being seen to care matters more than being capable of change, where emotional fluency is mistaken for emotional maturity, and where discomfort is pathologised rather than recognised as a natural by-product of growth. I have sat in spaces where the room was full of educated, articulate professionals, yet no one was willing to ask the question that mattered. Not because they did not know it, but because they knew the cost of asking it. Clarity has become expensive. What noise looks like in real life Noise looks like: Over-communicating instead of deciding Consensus instead of leadership Inclusion without standards Healing language without accountability Empathy without boundaries And the truth is, most systems do not collapse from aggression. They collapse from avoidance. From leaders who confuse being liked with being trusted. From cultures that prioritise comfort over competence. From individuals who outsource thinking to trends, frameworks, and hashtags. What I've learned the hard way Personally, clarity has cost me rooms. It has cost me opportunities. It has cost me belonging. But it has also saved me years of compromise. I learned early that not everyone wants truth, they want reassurance. Not everyone wants progress, they want permission to stay the same. And not everyone who speaks about growth is prepared to be changed by it. There is a loneliness that comes with seeing clearly in a noisy world. Especially as a woman who refuses to dilute her intelligence to make others comfortable. Especially in spaces where challenging the dominant narrative, even respectfully, is framed as disruption rather than contribution. But clarity has its own reward: alignment. The quiet power of discernment In the work I do now, I am far less interested in reach and far more interested in resonance. In 2026, the brands that will endure will not be the ones that speak to everyone, they will be the ones that are understood by the right people. High-trust communities are replacing mass audiences. Depth is replacing scale. Discernment is replacing consumption. This is not a regression. It is an evolution. Because when everything is loud, the quiet thinker becomes magnetic. How to build clarity in a noisy world Clarity is not something you announce, it is something you practice. It shows up in: Who you allow proximity to your thinking What you refuse to debate Where you choose silence over performance How willing are you to be misunderstood Clarity means knowing that not every conversation deserves your energy. Not every client deserves access. Not every platform deserves your voice. And this is where many brands and individuals get it wrong. They mistake accessibility for integrity. They mistake relatability for trust. They mistake engagement for impact. The community shift The future does not belong to mass followings or viral messaging. It belongs to small, intelligent ecosystems built on shared values, intellectual honesty, and mutual responsibility. Communities where: Thinking is respected Standards are explicit Discomfort is allowed Growth is expected These are not soft spaces. They are safe because they are strong. A new measure of leadership Leadership in this next era will not be measured by how well you speak, but by how well you think. By how clearly you can see through the distortion. By how willing you are to stand still while others chase noise. Because clarity is not passive. It is an active refusal to be distracted. And that refusal is becoming rare. "The future doesn't belong to the loudest voices or the most visible brands, it belongs to those who can sit with truth long enough to think, choose, and lead without applause."   Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Shardia O’Connor Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant Shardia O'Connor is an expert in her field of mental well-being. Her passion for creative expression was influenced by her early childhood. Born and raised in Birmingham, West Midlands, and coming from a disadvantaged background, Shardia's early life experiences built her character by teaching her empathy and compassion, which led her to a career in the social sciences. She is an award-winning columnist and the founder and host of her online media platform, Shades Of Reality. Shardia is on a global mission to empower, encourage, and educate the masses!