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Reflections after Mental Health Awareness Week

Today, most days actually, I am wearing my Brain Garden Trust hat and feeling the weight of the harmful decisions this government is making. One group that continues to face significant barriers are our neurodivergent tamariki. Many whānau are experiencing the harsh reality that this government's promises lack substance, and are in fact going in the opposite direction causing significant and irreversible harm to our vulnerable communities. This in turn causes stress in homes, and the difficult ...

Prioritising self-compassion and self-care: before, during and after a relationship split

Vulnerable words ahead: I’m currently going through the emotions of a break-up. While I still care about my ex-partner, I know I wasn’t bringing my best self to the relationship.I want to use this safe space to share some lessons I’ve learnt from this painful experience, to remind you you’re not alone. I also want you to feel seen – in whatever you are going through – whether that’s loss, feeling adrift, relief, heartbreak or something else. I will get through this. You will g...

Carers need caring for too...

It made me, and many others, feel sad when Disability Issues Minister Penny Simmonds suggested carers were abusing “public money” (disability support) on massages and pedicures – as if massages were a waste of money. The reason why this makes me sad is because I know from personal experience, and through my clients, the benefits a massage gives to carers.We think it’s offensive and wrong that the Minister is painting carers as people who are trying to rip off the system, when carers are ...

Emma-Kate Wellbeing’s year in review

I’ve had my health challenges, as well as advocating for my daughter through her autism diagnosis and mental health challenges. At work, I continue to learn and grow as a massage therapist and coach – and develop new skills and techniques to support you and your family’s wellbeing.December’s always a good time to reflect on the year that’s been and consider the highlights and lowlights, the lessons you’ve learnt, the insights you’ve gained and the people you’ve been able to serve...

This is my why: Becoming a mum and the challenges we’ve faced to get here.

I grew up being told I wouldn’t live past my 12th birthday. Definitely not long enough to have children – so don’t worry about it.If I did live long enough, I would have fertility challenges and wouldn’t be able to have children.But I did live past that age, and I did fall pregnant.This is my story of how – thanks to the help of many medical specialists – I defied odds and came to be the mum of three gorgeous kids.Content warning: This is my story of heavily monitored pregnancies, mi...

Ten reasons Emma-Kate Wellbeing offers pregnancy massages and coaching

With pregnancy massages and coaching, I support the journey from preconception to pregnancy – and pre-labour to postpartum – and the transition into parenthood.In this blog, I’m going to share why I’m so passionate about what I do, why I believe in offering pregnancy care to women and their partners, and touch on my own story and how this has shaped me into the practitioner I am today....

Why I want to give back to parents and caregivers

My daughter was recently diagnosed with autism, and I found out my son had a heart condition when I was 18 weeks pregnant with him.It’s not my place to impart too much of my kids’ stories – they are personal to them. But......

Tips for Post-Massage Care: Extend the Blissful Feeling

Hydrate with Water Stay hydrated after your massage by drinking plenty of water. This helps eliminate toxins released during the massage, as well as relieve soreness from deep tissue work.Stay Relaxed To fully embrace the post-massage glow, choose to remain in a relaxed state. Take your massage home, allowing yourself to unwind in bed or on the couch. Relax your mind too, with peaceful music, meditation, or reading a good book. Deep breathing can also help centre and calm you.Avoid Alcohol and C...

What my trauma’s taught me about self-advocacy, compassion, and resilience

Content warning: This blog refers to medical trauma, please be kind to yourself if you are having a hard time or if you are too close to the subject matter right now. We’d love for you to bookmark this page and return when you’re feeling ready....

Happy Heart Anniversary

The 17th of July is always a very special day for our Family. It is my Dad’s and his Twins birthday so it's meant to be a day of celebration. But in the 80’s, dad lost a best friend, and I almost lost my life on his birthday. I am going to take you back to 1985 when I was 10 years old. I don't remember all of it, just bits and pieces, together what I have since been told. I had just become a big sister. After being an only child and grandchild on both sides of the family for 10 years, my bro...

When Resilience is no longer enough

As Matariki celebrations draw to an end this week, I find myself in a place of deep personal reflection, both for how I feel and how I don't want to feel in my personal life and as a business owner. And when, like me, you’re self-employed those worlds often become one. I see myself as a resilient person, I have a long list of events in myself that can prove that. But lately I have come to understand that it is no longer enough to be resilient. The new piece of the puzzle for me is being adapta...

How to Practice Mindfulness and Self-Compassion During Challenging Times

The night before, my 16-year-old had been complaining of a sore tummy, but not enough to stop him from going to the movies. Early on Monday morning, he came to find me saying his stomach was sore and he hadn’t been able to sleep, but he didn’t want to wake me as he thought I needed my sleep. So I took him to the doctor at 7am. When, eventually, he was seen, he was just given pain medication and we left around lunchtime. My gut feeling told me something was off, so I decided to keep a close e...

5 Lessons Learned from Becoming A Certified Elephant Pro Rider

In a 7-step-program I learned how to use the Emotional Culture Deck in various settings like at schools, and within families. I can now proudly call myself a Certified EDC Consultant. In this blogpost I want to share the 5 most significant lessons I learned on this Pro Rider journey....

What is the real cost of perfectionism?

On a couple of Saturdays, I asked two 15-year-old girls to help me be curious and come up with different ways to use the emotional culture deck in school. We came up with different ideas and different questions we could use it for. For example for an assignment: how do we want to feel during the assignment? And what might we feel but don't want to feel as we go through it? We also talked about interactions with teachers, especially those that we don't get on with. How can we use the emotional cu...

What COVID taught me

Would this be the day that I woke up with symptoms?Would this be the morning that I needed to cancel everything?And how would COVID affect me?...

Bringing emotional culture into the class environment

In early March 2022, I ran an Emotional Culture Deck workshop with the Wellbeing Leadership Team of Raroa Intermediate School. They will help me run a pilot study to see how we can growemotional culture and emotional awareness among their students. I was really impressed by thewillingness of the teachers to take on more work even when we’re amid a COVID pandemic. The Emotional Culture Deck is a simple card game toolkit that helps leaders like teachers, ormanagers uncover what truly motivates t...

How to have a difficult conversation without losing touch with your heart

We all know that sinking feeling of dread when we realise we need to have a difficult conversation with someone. Our thinking brain starts working overtime and reflects on all the things that can go wrong. Our emotions become heightened, and we become anxious. What if she hates me when I tell her what I think? What if he doesn’t want to work with me anymore? What if they will not understand what I am trying to say? What if I stumble, or can’t get my words out at all? The result? We go into t...

Why emotions matter in the workplace

“A sociology professor at the University of Seville, says, ‘As human beings, we can only experience life emotionally” - Brené Brown As a wellbeing practitioner, I see clients coming to me daily at a breaking point. This has become even more prevalent since covid, which has just added another layer of uncertainty to everything we do. Everyone is feeling overstretched both physically and mentally....

Supporting the wellbeing of children during and after the pandemic

The impact of the global pandemic on families has caused more stress and uncertainty in the past 18 months than potentially ever before.I’ve been up close with anxiety. I was born with a rare heart condition called truncus arteriosus. There was very little hope that I’d live past childhood and an even lower chance of living a long life.This Christmas, I’ll turn 47. I’m the oldest person living with this condition in New Zealand and Australia.My heart condition started a cycle of trauma w...

Finding Joy Despite Chronic Pain

Listeners will learn about coping strategies that enable self-acceptance, confidence, happiness to lead a fulfilled life while living with chronic health issues.View the original article here....

The C Word

What happens when the glue that keeps your family together dies? Mindfulness practitioner Emma Woodham lost her mum, Sally in 2020. She joins Helen to talk about the pain and beauty of being present for a loved ones final months....

Led by heart, backed by mindfulness

I invite you to read my published article featured in the Unika June 2020 issue....

Interview with Hearts Kids, talking about my Heart story and how I use Self compassion in my daily life

Here is an interview I did with Hearts Kids on 8 April 2020, talking a little about my Heart story and how I use Self compassion in my daily life....

Life with a Congenital Heart Conition

Born with a rare congenital heart condition, doctors didn't think Emma-Kate would survive into adulthood. But she's consistently proved the doctors wrong, and is keen to share her hope with others. Emma-Kate doesn’t remember her first heart event – she was just a week old at the time. But her mother vividly remembers Christmas Eve 1974 when she found her week-old infant blue in her crib."It was really weird," says Emma-Kate. "The cat was creating a real racket outside my room and so Mum went...

My Heart story

Today was a very nerve racking and exciting day I was interviewed by Monica Ferguson for her new podcast Maiden Speech, she asked me to tell my Heart story and how and why I chose to live my life the way I do. Listen here....