Its another year and a time to reflect on my life and what I have created. I am very grateful to have a vocation which I love and fills me with motivation so I decided to ask myself a few questions as to why this was.
What I love most about what I do is the ability to help new parents feel confident in their role when having a new baby and taking the opportunity to help lay down the foundations of love, trust and attachment which really shape these relationships.
What frustrates me about the world is that many parents feel confused and unable to trust their instincts on how to “be” with their children because they feel so many pressures from the media, from work and from financial pressures. I really believe that the core happiness that we gain in life comes from early family connections. I see many mothers really overthinking situations with their children rather than just enjoying them and being playful and fun. Childhood experiences pass so quickly and form the foundation of the experiences you have later in life. Parental relationships shape the relationships that children will have with others for the rest of their lives. As I often quote “You are your child’s first teacher”.
I want to use 2017 to expand the passions that feed into my business. In my spare time I like to read books about self-development, meditation, spirituality and positive thinking. When I’m not working I love meeting up with friends, going to festivals, walking my dog, reading, watching films, doing yoga, travelling and anything that involves connecting with people I love.The things that energise me the most are travelling, having new experiences, dancing and connecting with nature. I want to do more of these things.
I do what I do because I feel passionate about making sure that parents have really strong relationships with their children for the emotional well-being of them both. I feel that bonding and secure attachment is something that has the power to really influence how the next generation interpret the world. I have a real strong connection to this through personal experience of having a very unsettled and colicky baby and really feeling like I needed to get help and support from other parents around me because I thought I was doing something “wrong”. By going to a baby massage class I was able to get the help and support I needed.
By training as a infant massage instructor I have been able to fulfil my goal of spending time with my children whilst they have grown up. When I had my children I didn’t want to give up having a career completely or have no income so by setting up my own business I was able to spend the time I wanted with my children and also have the financial independence and the ability to be successful in my own right through my own business.
What makes me happy is seeing other people being successful. If I am working with mothers and babies, its seeing them feeling more confident, more relaxed and having more fun. If it’s training my students, happiness comes from seeing them being successful by connecting with parents in their local area and helping to empower them. I absolutely love my charity work in Malawi being able to empower women in poverty and seeing how positively baby massage been received.
My top five values are integrity authenticity, generosity, compassion and kindness. I want to nurture more of these things in the world through practice and example.
My vision for the world is to create a society where parents feel less pressured into having to do certain things to be a “good parent” and we become more trusting of our instincts to help create genuine connections. By doing this we lay down the blueprint for our children to make authentic connections with each other which I believe can transform the way that we interact with each other in the world helping to create more happiness and joy and less issues arises from isolation such as depression and anxiety.
I am looking forward to all 2017 offers me. Happy New Year!