Women Coming Together

I started this blog yesterday and I wrote of parentages of women feeling isolated by the current lockdown being higher than that of men, about job security and the reversal of women’s liberation and then last night as I chatted with a group of friends on Whats App and we shared each other’s worries, stresses but also gratitude and funny memes. I realised that I was coming at this from the wrong direction. All of the stuff I wrote yesterday was true but the real point isn’t that women are worse off than men it’s that women are great at supporting each other and looking after each other in hard times. 

When women come together something magical happens. The energy that is passed is supportive and the listening is attentive. Hollywood may depict us as backbiting, always competing for the man, not being able to trust each other but that is not my truth and I hope it isn’t yours either. 

In my circles of women, that I hold dear, we lean in when things are hard, we collaborate over projects, we share resources and ideas we support each other and this is what I think people are missing during this difficult time: the coffee, the chat the swapping of the stories, the understanding that we’re not alone. 

As we sit in our homes looking at social media and watching television we start to think these depictions of life are real. We believe the people who post the pictures of their children creating the Taj Mahal out of pasta. We believe the TV characters who say: off to bed and then don’t see their children again till morning and we loose sight of what is real. We start to judge ourselves against these impossible standards that are not based in reality and we feel like we are not enough. 

So how do we stop this from happening? We need to lean in, take the time for ourselves, create the support networks, the circles that are going to help us realise we are enough. That life isn’t all instagram worthy pictures and never ending smiles. Sometimes it’s really hard and that is okay. We need to have the space to share and feel seen and heard. 

At the start of every one of our classes we have a hello circle. This circle allows each person, who is there, to tell her story of that week. It may be that she has a sore shoulder from sleeping in a funny position or that her boss has been super supportive and she’s feeling cared for and relaxed, it may be that her baby isn’t sleeping or that her hips hurt and she can hardly get out of the chair. In that moment she is heard, and others will chime in with their agreement or maybe an idea of how that could be fixed because they too have been there. Whatever her experience, it is valid and respected and shared and this is what we all need. 

Those experiences are then brought into the session allowing them to be expressed through the body and the movement. Allowing those emotions that have been squashed into the sore shoulders or the uncomfortable hips to be released and moved through. Allowing them to be let go of in that moment. I don’t know about you but when I move my body I feel empowered, cleansed and strong. 

So if you’re feeling isolated join a class, find your local teacher and sign up and then when we can be together again you will already have a network of lovely supportive women you can meet for coffee or go to the park with and do yoga with in the real world. 

Big love to all my supportive women – you are my rocks. xxx