My Story
I grew up in New Zealand where I trained as nurse. I came the UK in 1988 as part of my travels, and for work experience. However I quickly realised that I’d lost an innate vital quality from my life. I couldn’t articulate what I had lost, I just knew I had to get it back so I could be the nurse I wanted to be. So I began a journey, searching for that quality, exploring different modalities and techniques.
When I came across the term ‘biophilia’ coined by the now late biologist E. O. Wilson, I realised I was missing the connection with nature that was so innate to my life in New Zealand. That realisation helped me bring back and deepen my bodily connection with nature so that I could connect with life here, feel good and care for others in my nursing. When in 2003, I became a personal coach, it was natural to interweave this connection into my coaching practice.
For me, biophilia also became part of my self-care. So as my life-long journey and exploration has continued, I have learnt to be present with my body. The bodily experience, specifically our own body sensations, form part of our self-awareness and is vital to how we connect with ourselves and others.
Our body is where we live, we are having ‘a bodily experience’. Our body is constantly influenced by the environment. This influence is often not even in our conscious awareness but it can powerfully affect our mood, thoughts and behaviour.
As a personal coach and nurse, I realised that our bodily experience and connection can affect our lives. This connection has allowed me to be fully present with others when they are experiencing pain, suffering, ill health, and stress while supporting them towards feeling better.
To me, a huge part of health and wellness is being attuned, aware and connected with ourselves, so that we can recognise signs of discomfort and illness & take steps for self-care to feel good.
– Fortunately there are several practical, accessible techniques that can help us with our self-care.
And in my next blog, I will look at one relaxation technique involving the breath that connects us with our body.
As a personal coach I support and companion clients on their own self-care journey towards more stable health/wellness, as they (re)discover ways to feel good & have an improved quality of life.
Let me know if I can help- I look forward to sharing your journey.
© 2022 Jyoti Patel