I am a proud mum of two wonderful boys aged four and six and I work with parents in Derbyshire, Sheffield, and Nottinghamshire.
I found Hand in Hand Parenting when looking for tools to help practice the attachment theory I’d been reading about. Our eldest son was turning 2 ½ when our new baby son arrived and this was when I knew I would need support and tools to manage behaviour more akin to the peaceful and compassionate way I had hoped to parent. I also wanted to know how to put into practice the attachment theory I’d been reading about – beautiful in books but not always easy to do when you’re in it.
I have been working with helping people offload stress for fifteen years, first as a Holistic Therapist, using Reflexology and Massage, and then as a yoga and mindfulness teacher for adults, teens and kids. Although it felt ironic that I couldn’t deal with my own stress in parenting, I now understand that it was perfectly normal.
I had found myself responding to my son's emotional and aggressive moments in ways that I could see was over the top but seemed to have no way of stopping my reaction. I also felt overwhelmed by life as a new parent, how was I going to raise these boys and know how to respond to all the different elements and issues that come along with growing children. This is where the tool Listening partnership came in to its own. It is so wonderful to dedicate time on a regular basis to exploring the intricacies of family life and to know I have reliable means to tuning into myself and working out what is best for my family. Stepping into that leader role is so empowering.
My work with yoga has taken me into schools to work with classes of children and to mentor individuals and small groups of young people with complex lives. I currently teach general yoga and mindful classes and specific classes for adults managing various mental health needs.
Hand in Hand gave me five brilliant tools to use to help any problem. It also gave me community as many of my mum friends were going down a different path with behaviour management. This community of like-minds provided support, understanding and love, as well as a place to be loved in my most crappy moments as both a parent and as a human. I am forever grateful, and now want to take this out into the world and share it, letting parents know that they are not alone, that we all have bad moments and days, and that we all deserve support.
I can be reached at [email protected], on my website, or on Facebook.