Pockets of Play: Why Hobbies Matter
“The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression.”
— Dr. Stuart Brown
When was the last time you did something just because it brought you joy?
Not to be productive.
Not to perform.
Not to “heal.”
Just for fun.
In a world that constantly encourages us to optimise, upgrade, and improve hobbies can feel… frivolous. When in reality, they’re essential. Engaging in activities that bring genuine enjoyment — no matter how small — is one of the simplest ways to connect to your authentic self and restore your nervous system.
Every time you enter a state of calm presence, your parasympathetic nervous system switches on, this is the part of your autonomic nervous system responsible for rest, digestion, and repair. It counterbalances the “fight-or-flight” state by helping your body soften, regulate, and return to safety.
The benefits of this system include:
• Improved sleep
• Better digestion
• Lower blood pressure
• Enhanced immune function
• Clearer thinking and emotional balance
You can support this system in small, gentle ways:
• Breathing deeply
• Laughing
• Creating something with your hands
• Moving slowly
• Spending time in nature
• Engaging in hobbies you love
Whether it’s painting, gardening, baking, journaling, building LEGO, reading fan fiction, or walking without your phone, the act of doing something just because can rewire the brain for calm, contentment, and connection.
This month, you’re invited to prioritise your joy.
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✍️ August Commitment Note to Self
There are so many “challenges” out there and while they can be inspiring, this isn’t about proving anything.
Instead, here’s a gentle note you can write to yourself and stick somewhere visible:
“This August, I commit to making time for what brings me joy.
I give myself permission to rest, create, and play.
My hobbies are not a luxury — they are a part of my wellbeing.”
You can write your own version. You can make it messy. You can change your mind. But most importantly you get to have fun again. Even in small pockets.
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Wishing you a playful August. 🎨✨
May Newsletter: Glimmers and Gentle Growth
May Newsletter – Gentle Growth & Glimmers
Welcome to May; a month where tiny glimmers, small shifts, and soft growth are enough.
There is no rush here, only a space to remember your own rhythm.
Glimmers: A New Lens of Healing
This month, we’re focusing on glimmers. Those quiet, restorative moments that gently return us to a sense of safety and presence.
Where triggers activate our nervous system into defence, glimmers remind us that the world can be soft. They are the opposite of danger; cues of goodness, beauty, and calm.
A glimmer can be:
sunlight warming your skin,
the smell of your favourite meal,
a kind word or smile,
finishing work early,
or simply a moment where your breath deepens and the world softens.
The more we notice glimmers, the more our mind and body learn to trust again.
This month, may you seek glimmers not as a task, but as a quiet remembering: life is still full of light.
What’s Resonating with me: This months choice is ‘And How Does That Make You Feel?’ by Joshua Fletcher.
This month I’ve been reading ‘And How Does That Make You Feel?’ a raw, warm exploration of therapy, growth, and the quiet power of being witnessed.
One reflection that’s stayed with me:
Healing is not a destination — it’s a conversation. A conversation you keep coming back to.
I invite you to see your healing not as a project to fix or perform, but as a gentle conversation with yourself — one you return to with curiosity and care.
Featured Blog Post: What Makes Good Therapy
If you’re wondering what makes a therapeutic space feel safe, real, and empowering, I’ve written a full post exploring exactly that.
Gentle Practice for May: A Glimmer Log
This month’s practice is soft and simple:
A printable “Glimmer Log” to help you gently track moments that bring you warmth, ease, or safety.
There are no goals here, only space to notice what nourishes you.
The Glimmer Log is available exclusively to newsletter subscribers.
If you’ve already subscribed, you’ll receive your download link in your inbox.
Your Reflection Resource:
May you move gently,
notice what’s soft and true,
follow the glimmers,
and trust that you are exactly where you’re meant to be.
With care,
Preeti
The Healing Practice
June Newsletter: The quiet strength of healing.
It all begins with an idea.
As i reflect on my practice over the last few weeks, I have realised that there’s a kind of strength that rarely gets acknowledged; the strength it takes to keep healing even when it feels messy, slow, or invisible.
Naturally, we all have expectations when it comes to doing ‘healing work’, often this is portrayed as lots of light bulb moments, manageable crying, and everything is done on a relatively quick timeline. Anyone that has been to therapy will tell you, it often looks very different. Healing, which can be described as the process of learning and unlearning, is never a linear process, its cyclical, which means it can be exhausting at times by nature. You return to points that the logical mind responds to by saying ‘i’ve done this already’, ‘i’ve been here before?", ‘when will this stop?’. Sometimes healing isn’t peaceful, it’s actually a combination of very heavy and messy emotions, that can look like some of the following:
Grieving a timeline that never happened.
Waking up anxious and still showing up to work.
Having very little hope that things will change for the better, but still showing up and doing things you know are good for you.
It’s having the courage to say: “I’m angry today” and staying with your body when everything in you wants to leave it.
We often assume healing means being soft, calm, and graceful but real healing often looks like feeling stuck and still choosing not to give up.
If you’re doing this work, the real, raw, tender work of feeling, releasing, and trying again, you’re doing something extraordinary. Even if no one sees it. Even if it doesn’t feel like progress.
🌿 Reminder:
If you are feeling it, you are healing it.
You don’t need to subscribe to an aesthetic of what healed looks like to be healing.
Your healing doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s, it only needs to be yours.
🌬️ A Gentle Breath to Support You
To support your nervous system as you move through the deeper layers of healing, I’ve created a free breath work guide for you; a soft, accessible practice based on coherent breathing.
🌀 [Click here to download the guide]
This breath helps calm your body, regulate your emotions, and return you to a place of quiet inner safety. No timers. No pressure. Just soft presence.
If you are interested in breath work, please do reach out for more information on in person and online classes.
As always take what you need from this and leave the rest.
You’re already healing, even on the days that feel heavy.
And you’re already enough, even in the in-between.
With care,
Preeti
The Healing Practice
July Newsletter: Balancing Focus & Flow
It all begins with an idea.
Mid-Year Reset:
As we arrive at the midpoint of the year, there’s a quiet but powerful opportunity emerging, not to push forward with urgency, but to gently pause, reflect, and reconnect.
Often, we imagine growth as dramatic or fast-moving. But real, embodied change often feels like subtle shifts beneath the surface like rest, stillness, or even moments of boredom. On the days where it feels like nothing is happening, I invite you to reflect on how accurate that is, just because nothing ‘big’ is happening, it doesn’t mean new patterns aren’t settling in, and new habits aren’t becoming more familiar.
This month is not about reinvention, it’s about remembrance.
Remembering the work you’ve already done.
The ways you’ve already changed.
The direction your inner compass is already pointing toward.
✍🏽 A Few Mid-Year Reflection Prompts:
What’s quietly working in my life right now, even if I haven’t celebrated it yet?
Where have I been over-efforting when I could allow more ease?
What would it feel like to trust that progress can be gentle?
🌬️ A Simple Grounding Breath for July
When you feel unmotivated, uncertain, or tempted to rush:
Inhale slowly through your nose (4 seconds)
“I trust where I am.”Hold the breath lightly (2 seconds)
“I let myself land.”Exhale gently through your mouth (6 seconds)
“I allow it to unfold.”
Repeat 3–4 rounds to return to clarity and calm.
💬 Final Words
This season is a reminder that alignment doesn’t always come with noise or fireworks.
Sometimes, it feels like deep calm.
If you’re feeling flat, uncertain, or in transition, you are not off path. You may simply be integrating the deep work you’ve already done. You’re further along than you think.
With care,
Preeti
The Healing Practice
