the wholistic wheel
Why a wheel? And why harmony must always come from coming full-circle.
It has been 20 years since I began working as a beauty, health & wellbeing journalist in the UK. In that time, I’ve written about everything from telomeres to ancestral traditions, and my work has moved, very organically, from more traditional styles of beauty journalism, to deep-rooted, enquiring, intuitive and holistic enquiry. I worked at Psychologies magazine for 9 years – as Wellbeing Director, in a role that was rich and rewarding. But, after 6 years, I started to tire. My own sideline interests, studies and practices, in Ayurveda, holistic therapies, herbalism, were not getting any air-time in the magazine – the focus was still very much on natural beauty & health (but not the alternative kind).
I took a leap of faith, and pitched an idea in to my editor, about a brand new section of the magazine that would approach health from all angles – the way that a naturopath or holistic health practitioner approaches it. Not a treating of symptoms, but an assessment of the ‘whole’ – by joining the dots between the mind, body, spirit, gut & beyond. The new section was called 360me, and it was a joyous phase of my life. Being able to share wisdom from the wisest experts in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Reflexology, Iridology, Naturopathy, Homeopathy and the more esoteric energy medicines was a tonic. It was a bringing together of two decades’ worth of work and research and writing and journalism – alongside my own personal studies & qualifications in Ayurveda, facial therapy & holistic therapy – into a coherent circle. Full circle – no longer just body parts, but a rich tapestry of interconnected experiences, feelings & rhythms.
I left Psychologies magazine in 2019, to focus on writing a book – Sattva: The Ayurvedic Way to Live Well – and to return to my Holistic Therapy practice. I’d been practising alongside my journalistic work for a long time, and looked forward to creating a clearer path… a singular focus, to give my days a light and simple foundation, anchor and rhythm of their own. This is what I have been quietly committed too for almost a year now… though, I was not sure, up until very recently, of what this would ultimately look like.
It has been during this quieter and more reflective time that this idea – encapsulated in so much of the work I already do – became crisp and clear in my mind’s eye and it’s this inspiration that is being poured into my new mentorship programme – The WholeWomxn Way – which will launch in January 2023.
And, at the heart of The Way, is a circle. Or, to be precise – a wheel.
My Wholistic Harmony Wheel.
I have a journal for my wellbeing – I have been plotting for years, my cyclical ups & downs: when I have more energy for creativity, when those juices run dry, when I crave deep, dark cacao like a madwoman, and when I long to be alone, in my Cancerian shell, silent and still. My Ayurvedic studies had already illuminated the lyrical links between the cosmos – the elements all around me and the general energy of the ‘day’ – and my own mood, energy, feelings & thoughts.
What I did not realise until I began to dig deeper, listen more intently, and plot more dedicatedly, was just how much of my life is lived in a cycle – month after month – my feminine, infradian rhythm playing its part, alongside dozens of other influencing factors: from the quality of the words shared between myself and my children in the morning, to the amount of sunlight that reaches my skin that day.
The Wholistic Harmony Wheel is my way of making sense of all of the daily ever-changing elements that make up the whole. I work through a five-point axis – mind, body, spirit, home & cosmos – and consider the season, elements & qualities of the ‘day’ as part of the wider cosmic picture. I am fascinated by the reasons beneath the way we feel – why one day we may wake up with boundless energy, and another, we may feel as though we’ll never muster enough strength to throw off the covers. In my holistic skincare consultations, I talk women through a rich and multifarious tapestry of considerations – gently unearthing and illuminating the ways in which we may, or may not, feel harmonised, or discordant.
The Wheel is, we know, the most important invention of all time. It enables effortless movement and progress. It enables fluidity and flow. I love a circle. I love holding and participating in women’s circles, the full moon, the menstrual cycle, Mother Earth… working within & with circles reminds us that we are nothing but incarnations of natural cycles – from dawn til dusk, spring to winter, life to death. By placing a wheel at the centre of our lives, and working from the outside in, we begin to see the patterns that repeat, the areas that are lacking in love and care, and the asymmetry that leads to imbalance.
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