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The Divine Feminine as Radical Inclusivity

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:51:00 +0100

Reverend Elaine Power (she/they), speaking on the CHI Talk interfaith ministry YouTube channel, recently explored what it means to approach the divine feminine beyond the gender binary. Their reflections struck a deep chord with me and raised a question that continues to guide my spiritual inquiry: what is the divine feminine really about?

At first glance, much of what is popularly described as the “divine feminine movement” seems to revolve around womb-centric spirituality. The imagery is familiar: predominantly white, privileged women in flowing gowns, moving ecstatically in trance-like states of bliss. I found myself unsettled by this stereotype. Was I part of it? Had I inadvertently exchanged one system of indoctrination for another—shifting from the patriarchal cultural illusions I had spent years disentangling myself from, into a different form of privilege disguised as liberation?

These questions arose only weeks after my initiation into the priestess sisterhood. That ceremony was an intensely powerful and blissful experience. In Glastonbury, I felt as though I had finally returned to my people. The land, the atmosphere, and the community embraced me in a way that felt like a long-awaited homecoming. For someone who had lived much of life on the margins—as a woman, and as a disabled woman with a malfunctioning nervous system and hormonal imbalance—this embrace was profoundly healing.

Yet, I could not ignore that my life had been far from privileged. I lived in a terraced house in the most deprived part of town, raising two boys who were drawn into substance misuse after being failed by the very institutions meant to support them. Much of my life, and theirs, had been overshadowed by trauma and danger. I recall one morning when I arrived at my childminder’s home with my sons, only to sense something was terribly wrong. The curtains were closed; the usual welcoming smile was absent. While I tried to shield my children with a comforting story, the truth was devastating: their childminder had been shot dead by her son. In that moment, their young lives were pierced by the brutal realities of poverty, addiction, violence, and survival.

This was not the life of the “privileged white woman” blissfully dancing in spiritual ecstasy. And so, walking through a nearby park, reflecting on questions of privilege and belonging, I asked myself with renewed clarity: what am I really doing here, as a Mary Magdalene priestess? What does the divine feminine truly mean to me?

For me, the answer lies in Mary herself. For centuries, patriarchal Christianity has suppressed her role, reducing her to a silent figure beside Jesus during the most significant moments of his life. Yet apocryphal texts such as The Gospel of Mary reveal a different truth: she was deeply loved by Jesus, entrusted with spiritual authority, and guided the disciples after his death. Mary embodies the divine feminine—not as subordinate, but as an equal partner to the masculine, representing balance, wisdom, and harmony.

My own awakening deepened in 2020, during a spontaneous kundalini rising. In yogic philosophy, kundalini is often described as a form of divine feminine energy, coiled at the base of the spine, that rises through the chakras to awaken higher states of consciousness. This energy clears the blockages of the ego and culminates at the crown chakra, where divine awareness unfolds. For me, this experience revealed that enlightenment is not external but arises from within. It is a process of transcending the physical and ego-bound self to reconnect with divine unity. Masculine and feminine energies together make this journey possible—neither is complete without the other.

Elaine Power is therefore right to insist that the divine cannot be confined to gender labels. Gender identity and sexuality are crucial for navigating our social and human realities, but divine energy transcends such categories. The divine feminine is not about biological sex or social roles. It is about tapping into intuition, creativity, nurturing, and connection—the qualities that help us return to ourselves when we are lost. By contrast, the divine masculine is often associated with action, structure, and direction. Both are necessary, not as rigid gendered identities, but as complementary forces in the universe.

The problem arises when the divine feminine is equated with exclusivity or privilege, reducing it to a narrow cultural performance. In truth, divine feminine energy is radically inclusive. It calls us to reclaim suppressed stories: those of women, of the marginalised, of non-binary people, and of anyone whose voices have been silenced. It calls us to creativity, autonomy, and reconnection with the living Earth. It reminds us that the divine is not a dualistic hierarchy but a boundless oneness, where masculine and feminine energies interweave to restore harmony.

To reclaim the divine feminine, then, is not to form another exclusive club or aesthetic trend. It is to restore balance and inclusivity at the deepest spiritual level. It is to acknowledge that divine love transcends gender, race, privilege, and class. It is to embody the synchronicity of masculine and feminine energies and to affirm that we are all spiritual beings sharing a human experience.

The divine feminine is not the missing piece of a privileged puzzle. It is the missing heartbeat of humanity—calling us all home, together, into unity.

Bridging the Gap Between Spirituality and Healthcare: It's the System, Not the Staff

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Sun, 6 Apr 2025 15:23:00 +0100

There’s a growing body of research exploring empathy and compassion as essential components of high-quality healthcare. Conferences, workshops, and training initiatives are being rolled out across the UK, supposedly to ‘teach’ these vital human traits to healthcare professionals. While the intention is noble, the narrative feels deeply flawed.

The underlying message being promoted is this: healthcare staff are somehow lacking empathy, and the solution is to train them to care more. But having worked in the UK healthcare system for over two decades, I can tell you this simply isn’t true.

Healthcare Professionals Are Not the Problem

Empathy isn’t missing from the hearts of our frontline staff. What’s missing is the space, support, and structure that allows them to express their empathy in a sustainable way.

I’ve had hundreds of conversations with doctors, nurses, therapists, and support staff over the years. And what they tell me time and again is this: what’s often labelled as “empathy fatigue” is not a lack of compassion—it’s a coping mechanism. When you’re forced to objectify patients just to make it through your shift, it’s not because you don’t care. It’s because you're overwhelmed by a system that gives you no room to care properly.

Staff are constantly fighting an uphill battle: too few beds, not enough time, understaffing, under-resourcing, and relentless pressure to meet impossible targets. And then we wonder why they burn out? Why they become numb? It’s not because they lack empathy—it’s because they feel too much and aren’t given a safe, healthy space to process that.

Let’s Shift the Focus: From Individuals to Systems

That’s why I find it frustrating—honestly, infuriating—when I get emails from universities and so-called thought leaders touting new training programs aimed at improving staff empathy. The message seems to be: You’re not good enough; you need fixing.

But the truth is, most of our staff are already empathic. They don’t need another workshop on bedside manner—they need a system that allows them to be empathic. A system that recognises their humanity, their emotional labour, and the energy it takes to care deeply every single day.

Sure, teaching empathy at the medical school level might be helpful—especially for some doctors still caught up in the rigid biomedical model. But for most frontline staff, the solution isn’t personal development. It’s systemic reform.

A New Model of Care: Blending the Clinical with the Spiritual

We’re starting to see glimmers of hope—initiatives like social prescribing, peer support, and health coaching are beginning to acknowledge the importance of holistic care. These approaches take pressure off clinical staff and offer patients more appropriate, person-centred pathways to healing.

But we can go further.

As someone who identifies as an empath and has experienced healthcare burnout first-hand, I believe it’s time we explored spiritual frameworks to support healthcare workers. That might mean introducing energy medicine, mindfulness, breathwork, or even nature-based healing into our staff wellbeing strategies.

In my book, Solar Plexus Nation: An Energy Story of Burning Out and Waking Up in Healthcare, I reflect on how traditional systems failed me and how I found healing through alternative, spiritual methods. The book isn’t just about my own burnout—it’s a call to reimagine how we support our staff. Especially those who are naturally empathic, intuitive, and energetically sensitive.

Time to Stop Blaming and Start Rebuilding

The Victorian model of healthcare is crumbling, and no amount of individual training will fix what is ultimately a systemic failure. It’s time we stopped pointing the finger at staff and started asking deeper, structural questions.

What if the problem isn’t a lack of empathy, but the lack of a system that honours empathy as a strength?

What if we created workplaces that supported emotional resilience, rather than punished emotional expression?

And what if we finally bridged the gap between science and spirit, allowing staff to access holistic, soul-centred support that recognises them as whole people—not just cogs in a clinical machine?

The answers won’t come from another tick-box training module. They’ll come from radical reimagination—and the courage to challenge a system that’s no longer serving the people within it.

It’s time to stop blaming the heart-centred professionals who show up day in and day out, and start designing a healthcare system that deserves them.

The Darkness of Anxiety- Break the System! Don't Let the System Break You!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 16:39:00 GMT

With the whole of January consumed by a chest infection, followed by two weeks of PMS and a generous side serving of family drama, I’m back! Back in the land of the living, or at least, that’s how it feels after six weeks of just trying to get through each day—dragging myself to work, doing the housework, being present for my immediate family, and ultimately, just attempting to function psychologically, physically, and socially.

I’ll admit, the social aspect has taken a back seat. I dodged interactions, partly to avoid spreading my various lurgies and partly because I couldn’t be bothered to put on the mask—the one that makes me look like a high-functioning, happy individual when that was probably the furthest thing from the truth!

As a health coach working with unemployed people facing various health conditions, I’m lucky to work mostly remotely, meaning I could admit when I wasn’t on top form. But still, there was a job to do—listening, supporting, and guiding others in their health journeys. And inevitably, that meant putting mine on the back burner, at least during sessions.

Sometimes, I swear life feels like a play. No matter how much I try to be authentic—with participants, colleagues, managers, family, friends—there’s always a fine line between honesty and oversharing. We’re told, “It’s good to talk.” Campaigns, mental health services, even us health coaches, all echo that mantra. But let’s be real—how much truth do people really want? Would they really want to hear my unfiltered thoughts about the world I find myself in, the stage of life I’m at, and how all of it feels wildly at odds with the identity I feel forced to project just to get through the day?

I’m not here to deep-dive into my personal drama—though I’m sure it would make for juicy reading. I covered some of that in my book Solar Plexus Nation, but even then, I steered clear of the full social-family saga (because, well, those stories aren’t just mine to tell). What I will say is this: even with all the knowledge I have about stress and anxiety management, life can still be overwhelming. And nothing brings that to the surface quite like PMS. The hormonal rollercoaster amplifies anxiety to an absurd degree, and I know every woman who has experienced severe PMS will be nodding furiously right now.

But let’s talk about anxiety in general, because it’s a topic that comes up all the time in my work. If I had a quid for every time someone told me, I’m just a natural worrier, it’s who I am, I’ve always been this way, and I always will be—I’d be rich enough to scream “NOOOO” from the rooftops without a care in the world! Of course, even if I’m mid-PMS meltdown, I won’t actually do that. But trust me, every fiber of my being is internally shouting: No, you haven’t always been this way!

You didn’t come out of the womb in an anxious state—well, maybe if your mum had a stressful pregnancy or a traumatic birth, but that’s another conversation. The point is: anxiety is learned. And because it’s learned, it can be unlearned.

Anxiety is a natural response to danger, but in today’s world, we’re bombarded with stressors 24/7. Over time, many of us get stuck in that anxious state, accepting it as our default setting. But it’s not. And here’s the kicker—medication isn’t a long-term fix.

So many times, I’ve had clients stop working with me because they started antidepressants and suddenly, their panic attacks stopped, or life felt more tolerable. And hey, I get it—when you’re drowning, you grab the nearest lifeboat. But often, what they’re really saying is: I’m happy to exist in a numbed-out state where I don’t feel my emotions properly, don’t process why I’m anxious, and just accept life in this dulled-down, subhuman realm. The problem? That anxiety hasn’t truly been addressed—it’s just been muted. And eventually, it will resurface.

I’m not here to preach therapy. I’m not a therapist. But after spending a decade in an NHS-funded therapy service, I’ve seen firsthand how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and other models help people recognise the connection between their thoughts, self-talk, behaviors, and emotions. And that’s great. But what I always emphasise is this:

There. Is. No. Quick. Fix.

Mental health, like physical health, requires daily nurturing. Just like you can’t eat one salad and expect to be fit for life, you can’t expect to wake up happy one day without putting in the work.

And yes, food impacts mental health—who doesn’t feel sluggish after a greasy takeaway? Exercise, too, helps dispel frenetic energy and anxiety. And then there’s self-talk—are you being too hard on yourself? Could you shift your perspective to something kinder, less critical?

But there’s another piece to this puzzle. And honestly? I think it’s the most important one.

Getting out of your thoughts altogether.

Not overanalysing. Not rehashing every interaction. Not driving yourself mad trying to figure out why someone treated you the way they did. Just letting go.

I know, I know—easier said than done. But this is where meditation and mindfulness come in. And wait—don’t roll your eyes! If you’ve tried it before and given up, I’d bet good money that it’s because you didn’t stick with it long enough.

We spend years reinforcing anxious thought patterns, yet we expect five minutes of breathing exercises to magically undo it all? Yeah, right. Reality check: this shit takes time!

You’ve invested years obsessing over what’s gone wrong. You can invest a few minutes a day in rewiring your brain. Over time, meditation relaxes the body and mind. At first, your monkey mind will fight you—telling you there’s no time for this. But come on—24 hours in a day, and you can’t spare five minutes? Please.

Meditation isn’t about not thinking. It’s about shifting your attention. Focusing on your breath. On music. On a bird splashing in a puddle. The thoughts will still come—but you’ll learn to let them drift past instead of clinging to them. You’ll retrain your brain to stop giving anxiety centre stage.

Because here’s the truth: energy flows where attention goes.

If all your focus is on anxiety, guess what? You’ll feel more anxious. If you shift that focus—to breathing, to movement, to being present—you’ll break the cycle. And no, that doesn’t mean you’ll never feel anxiety again. It’s a natural response to perceived threats. But the more you train your nervous system to not react so intensely, the more space you create between thought and reaction.

Managing anxiety is about awareness. It’s about realising that, while stressors exist, you get to decide how much power they hold over you. You can choose to wallow in negative self-talk—or you can deal with it. And dealing with it doesn’t just mean therapy. Sometimes, healing means energetically releasing trauma—from the body, from the mind, from the spirit.

That’s where Reiki, meditation, mindfulness, and nature connection helped me. It wasn’t until I embraced these practices that my anxiety truly started to shift. But everyone’s journey is different. My main message?

Anxiety isn’t your friend. You owe it no loyalty. It’s a dark energy designed to keep you stuck, consuming, obeying, staying small. But you? You’re more powerful than they want you to believe.

Break the system. Don’t let the system break you.

Peace and love, people!

For more on healing anxiety and trauma the holistic way, click here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solar-Plexus-Nation-Burning-Healthcare/dp/1739490010

Sensory Warfare in the Supermarket at Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:15:00 GMT

I have a confession to make—although I am a fully functioning individual who manages to hold down a full-time job, maintain a family home, nurture my relationships (most of the time), and fulfil all the other roles society expects of me as an employee, a mother, a sister, a woman, or whatever label I or others choose to define me by, there is one thing I truly struggle with, especially at Christmas: the overwhelming space that is the supermarket shop.

This is a relatively new development for me. I used to manage the supermarket shop for years on my own with two young kids, often attributing my sense of overwhelm to those two energetic little beings. However, as I’ve entered the perimenopausal stage of life and become more aware of my neurodivergent traits, the supermarket has somehow transformed into a place my body and mind simply cannot tolerate. For this reason, my husband has taken over the weekly shop for the past two years or so.

This isn’t due to anxiety, at least not in the traditional sense. I’ve realised that while I, like anyone else, experience moments of anxiety, this isn’t the issue here. For years, I was told, “You’re socially anxious!”—but I now understand this isn’t the case. What I experience in the supermarket is a sensory and energetic overload, which is why I’m writing this post and I know there are others out there who have the same difficulties, particularly at this time of year.

For some reason, I always convince myself that it would be a good idea to accompany my husband to the supermarket for the "Christmas" food shop. I tell myself it’s better if I come along, knowing he’ll only want to buy the basics whilst I would prefer the house brimming with the delights of the delicatessen to add to the festivities!

So here I was today, standing at the entrance of a well-known UK supermarket, having already reminded my husband (as if he didn’t know!) how overwhelmed my brain gets in this environment: juggling the shopping list, watching what he’s scanning and placing in the basket, thinking about what I’m looking at, navigating my way around people without bumping into them, and dealing with those less considerate who repeatedly bump into me. Then there are the trolleys colliding, the bright lights—oh, the bright lights!

The bright lights are a major issue for me. This time, I came prepared with sunglasses, but I took them off almost immediately, feeling like a complete numpty wearing them indoors in December. Halfway down the third aisle, though, I put them back on, no longer caring what anyone thought as the overwhelm started to take hold. By the end of the shop, they proved invaluable, helping to hide my tear-filled eyes, which I’d managed to keep at bay—until then.

We made it to the checkout before the tears came, which, in my mind, was progress. Still, I was deeply disappointed that they appeared at all. The breaking point? Realising we’d have to rescan the entire trolley’s contents because I’d forgotten to scan the cinnamon sticks. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but through my dark sunglasses, I could see the frustration in my husband’s eyes as he said, “This hasn’t happened since the last time you came!” Normally patient, even he was reaching his limit.

The supermarket is never a stress-free experience at this time of year, but for those with sensory overload, it’s a whole other level of chaos.

I escaped to the toilet to reset and remove myself from the crowds. Negative thoughts began to flood my mind: “For f**k’s sake, Charlotte, you can’t even do a bloody supermarket shop! What’s wrong with you? You’ve failed again! Even with the sunglasses and the list, and everything you know about anxiety management as a health coach, here you are crying in the toilet!”

After 30 seconds, I caught myself. I knew this negative self-talk wasn’t helping, so I tried to flip the narrative: “Look, you’ve not had a full-blown argument. You haven’t walked out like you have in the past. Just breathe and get through this last hurdle. You’ve actually done really well. The sunglasses helped—use them again next time. And next year, don’t put yourself or your husband through this. Shop at independent stores for fruit, veg, and meat—you’ll be supporting the local economy too! For everything else, make a smaller list and go to a quieter supermarket at a less busy time.”

Once home, after unpacking everything, we sat down with a cuppa. I asked, “Are we still friends?” He smiled and nodded. This was a different space for both of us. We didn’t let the stress of the supermarket’s sensory warfare linger at home. We accepted it for what it was—a s**t show! All we can do now is learn from it and make similar adjustments moving forward.

The same applies to life, I suppose.

Wishing you all a calm and sensory-friendly festive season, wherever you beautiful people choose to shop!

For more on energy sensitivity and sensory overload please take a look at my book: Solar Plexus Nation: An Energy Story of Burning Out and Waking Up in Healthcare: Amazon.co.uk: Brady-Jones, Charlotte: 9781739490010: Books

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Healthy Living

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Fri, 6 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT

The more I delve into my role as a Health Coach, the more I realise how much ancient wisdom and spiritual practices overlap with modern healthcare knowledge. Often parading as scientific truths and evidence-based practices, the common advice I hear from professionals—and even from my own mouth—is, in fact, rooted in fundamental ancient, natural laws that humans require to function in the world.

But when I say "world," this is the crux of the matter. How we perceive the 'world' and how it impacts our ability to thrive is crucial. Modern living has withdrawn us from natural ways of being as Earth-connected creatures. We have been displaced into synthetic environments that often conflict with nature, which is why so many people seek help from health services in the first place.

No wonder we fall ill when we spend so much time in unnatural environments and activities—staring at screens for hours on end at work and at home, navigating concrete jungles in cities, consuming chemically laden, mass-produced foods, and exposing our bodies to a host of toxins through the clothes we wear, the sprays we use, and the substances we consume, legal or illegal, taken for medical or recreational purposes.

We are trapped in a bubble of online social networks and consumed by images of lives that don’t truly exist—mere illusions constructed to fit what we perceive as 'socially acceptable' or 'successful,' whatever that means. We act out roles as parents, siblings, employees, or consumers, all while feeling an internal void. We set ourselves endless goals to fill that void, chasing an infinite list of meaningless tasks. New courses, new clothes, holidays here, there, and everywhere. What to buy next? Where to go? What to see? Who to be? We capture it all through the lens of a camera, showcasing it to the watching eyes of social media consumers—friends who, in most cases, might not even acknowledge us in real life out of fear of rejection, or perhaps for some other reason. Who knows?

The point is this: the void cannot be filled externally by any amount of outside pursuits. It’s the old cliché—happiness must come from within. The void has to be filled internally, and spiritually. Ancient wisdom tells us this, yet we continue to seek external gratification and wonder why we end up needing support. We talk about our problems and how our lives don’t work, as though that alone will make us feel better. It won’t. Our problems will persist because problems are external.

As long as we see ourselves as separate, individual identities disconnected from others, we will remain trapped in pain and suffering. Ancient wisdom, on the other hand, teaches that there is a natural being within us, connected to the web of life—what quantum physics now calls the "unified field." When we step into nature, we see that everything is interconnected and harmonious—so long as humans don’t interfere too much (but that’s a topic for another post).

To overcome anxiety, depression, and stress, we must reconnect with our inner and outer nature. It’s that simple! We don’t need medications to suppress our mood, to numb fear and anxiety, or to lift our spirits artificially. This is not a condemnation of those who take antidepressants—I was on Prozac for 10 years. But during that time, nothing truly changed. I existed in a kind of half-life. Medications won’t teach us to think beyond our problems, shift our perspectives, or make us conscious of negative self-talk.

It’s no coincidence that when all else fails in therapy, practitioners turn to ancient wisdom techniques—now repackaged as evidence-based practices—like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, self-compassion, and affirmations. Medical research now shows how these practices alter our brain frequencies, neurotransmitters, and neural pathways, taking us away from stressed-out ways of being to a more relaxed brain and body states, to our more natural states of being, perhaps.

Similarly, research proves that walking under a canopy of trees boosts mood-enhancing chemicals like serotonin, amongst others. Social prescribing—a hot topic in healthcare—recognises the value of connecting people, restoring fractured communities, and addressing the fact that social isolation and loneliness are killers. Humans were never meant to live in isolation and never have, but in modern times we have never been so disconnected from ourselves and each other. We need the collective to survive and today is no different. We need that human connection, not just online but in real, physical proximity.

These principles may seem common sense, but how many of us live by them daily? This post serves as a reminder to pause and reflect: am I living enough in my natural state of being, connecting to my natural sense of self, to others around me, and to nature? Or am I stuck in pain and suffering? If it’s the latter, I hope this post has pointed you toward a few simple ways we can tap into the ancient wisdom we all possess.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to do this, keep an eye on my blog, as I continue to explore the bridge between spirituality and healthcare, and please feel free to have a look at my new book 'Solar Plexus Nation'. Here you will find out about my personal health journey and how a spiritual path unfolded before me as I engaged in some of these ancient practices, helping me to heal and see and be in the world in new ways. I also include some academic research about some of the interventions I mentioned above too.

For a copy, click the link below:

Solar Plexus Nation: An Energy Story of Burning Out and Waking Up in Healthcare: Amazon.co.uk: Brady-Jones, Charlotte: 9781739490010: Books

The Dark Energy Exchange with New PCOS Study

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 21:01:00 GMT

Some days, the dark energies envelope us, leaving a residue of despair in the air around us and encompassing our very being. Today is one of those days for me—not because I’m thinking negatively, but because there’s an anger brewing inside me that needs to come out. I wouldn’t even say my mood is entirely dark, but it’s certainly filled with frustration. This frustration is amplified by decades of being on the receiving end of a medical model that dismissed both my body and mind as a woman. And today, I felt it again, though it was on a subtler level that even the women involved in this new study seemed oblivious to.

The anger I feel is a fleeting surge of dark energy, pushing me to act—to put into motion passions that have otherwise stayed dormant due to fear of backlash, conflict, or the anticipation of some kind of social rejection. I know, however, that this anger won’t stick around for long. Just long enough for me to write this blog post and share it with the world. I’m far too aware of the dangers of allowing anger to fester. I’ve known many people who have let their anger grow into illness, some even dying with their anger still inside them, having done nothing productive with it. I, on the other hand, today plan to use this anger for action, for motivation, to be productive and get these messages out into the world. And I will feel better for airing my voice, for having a voice, and I hope someone, somewhere, finds the contents of this vent useful in some way.

The darkness I felt today came from an unexpected source: a webinar hosted by university staff. I won’t name the institution or the lecturers involved—I'll keep them anonymous, not out of fear, but because I am a health coach with a job and a family to support. There are always agendas and hoops we have to jump through, preventing us from fully showing ourselves in the social world. So, I speak my truth as much as I can, within the restrictions that society places on me through the roles I perform in life and at work.

This morning, I attended a webinar—yes, on a Saturday morning, during my valuable leisure time—where the results of what I thought was pioneering research into PCOS were being shared with the community, including women like myself who live with this condition. I had been looking forward to it, but by the end, I felt consumed by anger. Anger, I should add, that I’ve spent years coming to terms with and managing more successfully in recent times. On this occasion, I knew the anger was justified. It wasn’t misplaced but directed at a healthcare system that has consistently let me down, and a research approach that clearly wasn’t benefiting the women participating, despite being portrayed as though it was.

I could sense that the research was highlighting a broken medical system that had been failing women for years, and the participants were completely unaware of it. They were being told that the medical community was finally helping them through this new research. The women involved clearly trusted the researchers, seeing them as experts leading them toward some kind of salvation. I admit, I had hoped for the same—some up-to-date, revolutionary answers for women like me with PCOS and other hormonal conditions. I am an idealist at heart, always hopeful that healthcare systems will advance to improve the quality of life and health provision for women. But today, I heard nothing new.

I felt deeply disappointed that, after all these years, we are still researching glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in women with PCOS—a topic that has been tested and written about extensively. Yet here were the researchers, giving sugary drinks to women they knew were intolerant to sugar! I thought, "How unethical!" I know from personal experience that if I have sugar, I end up with a fuzzy head at best, and at worst, a migraine, anxiety, and depression that infiltrates every cell of my body, leading to days of mood swings and distress. I immediately recognised the study for what it was—a facade, presenting itself as ethical and in the best interest of women, but clearly doing the opposite under the guise of “research for women.” I was shocked. Purposefully making participants ill in the name of research is, to me, highly unethical.

In fact, I initially felt ostracised from participating in the study because I didn’t want to endure the torment of engaging in a method I knew would harm me. While I wanted to contribute to research that could advance treatments for PCOS in the UK, I wasn’t willing to subject myself to that kind of trauma just for privileged "others" to see "how I react."

What worried me most was hearing the feedback from other women who had participated in the research. Many openly admitted that they had little or no understanding of how their PCOS was linked to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. One participant even said how positive it was to have access to a glucose test, because she couldn’t get one at her GP surgery. This same woman, who represents the UK’s main PCOS charity, admitted that she had no prior knowledge of how a reduced-sugar diet and exercise could help manage her condition until she became involved in the study. I was in complete shock. What the hell?

This experience confirmed for me that the real problem lies in the lack of PCOS awareness within the medical community. Women are not given basic information at the point of diagnosis, nor are they educated about how they can help themselves manage the condition. I know I wasn’t given any useful advice when I was diagnosed 12 years ago. The only reason I learned about the PCOS-specific diet was through personal research and by attending a course run by a nutritionist specialising in PCOS. She emphasised how the NHS actually provides the wrong dietary advice—recommending a generic "healthy balanced diet" instead of a reduced-sugar, low-glycemic-index diet, which is crucial for managing PCOS.

Of course, every woman’s body and mind are different. For example, my sister also has PCOS and can tolerate more sugar than I can, while I have to follow a strict diet to prevent my whole system from imploding. But the fact remains: women with PCOS are being let down by a healthcare system that doesn’t provide them with basic information on how to manage the condition. It’s simply wrong that women are still not given this basic education.

When I raised the issue of the unethical practice of giving glucose intolerant women sugary drinks in the chat during the webinar (because I couldn’t stay silent any longer), the lead investigators defended their methods by saying it was ethical because this is the same test used for diabetes diagnosis in the UK. They argued it was just like having a large Christmas dinner and experiencing the after-effects. Some of the women, it seemed, didn’t have severe insulin resistance or glucose intolerance and felt fine after the test. But what about those with severe reactions, like me? How did they feel? Were their experiences left out of the research findings to keep up the illusion of an "ethical" study?

Would we give a woman with a nut allergy a nut in the name of research? Of course not, because it could kill her. So why would we give women with glucose intolerance sugary drinks and risk making them seriously ill? To me, that’s just as unethical.

The researchers also emphasised that diet and exercise could help manage PCOS, which, frankly, was nothing new. What we need as women with PCOS is better treatment—not more medication, but access to holistic healthcare providers who specialise in PCOS. We need specific centres that focus on this condition, like they have in other countries. We know enough about how PCOS affects us; now we need action to improve our lives.

The webinar continued, and I heard about their intention to explore PCOS in relation to diabetes—again, a topic that has already been widely researched. Another pointless exercise.

In summary, this webinar was beyond disappointing. But at least it affirmed that the contents of my book on self-management of PCOS are up-to-date. I had hoped I might learn something new, something life-changing that would help me support women in my health coaching practice. Instead, I found myself disappointed, though at least I can confidently say that my advice to women is still current.

I’m so glad I included PCOS in my new book Solar Plexus Nation, which covers diet, exercise, and energy medicine. The holistic approach can help manage hormones for women dealing with PCOS, PMDD, PMS, thyroid issues, and fibromyalgia. This experience has only made me more passionate and determined to spread these messages, so that women realise they have more control over their health and healing journey than the medical community would like us to believe.

If you have PCOS or any other women’s health issue, I’d love to hear how you manage it and your experience with the healthcare system. Please, feel free to get in touch.

Solar Plexus Nation Digital Reference List- For Easier Access

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:53:00 +0100

Solar Plexus Nation References

For those wanting to dive a little deeper into the multiple rabbit holes of energy sensitivity and spiritual awakenings, I thought it might be easier to pull all the references together here in digital form, so you can just click a link and find the various journals, blogs, podcasts etc. Enjoy the dive people!

Aris, S., Garraway, H., Gilbert, H. (2021) Mental Health, Spirituality and Wellbeing: A Handbook for Health and Social Care Professionals, Service Users and Carers. West Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd.

Banyard, I. (2018) Natural Mindfulness: Your personal guide to the healing power of Nature Connection. Great Britain: Vision Maker Press.

British Thyroid Foundation. Coping with the Psychological Symptoms of Thyroid Conditions. [Website] Available at: Coping with the psychological symptoms of thyroid conditions (btf-thyroid.org)

Collard, P. (2019) The Little Book of Meditation: 10 minutes a day to more relaxation, energy and creativity. Great Britain: Gaia Books.

Collie, E. (1993) Breakdown or Break Through [Website] Eagle Spirit Ministry. Available at: Breakdown or Breakthrough (eaglespiritministry.com)

Dispenza, J. (2020) The Role of Brainwaves in Meditation: Part 1. Unlimited Dr Joe Dispenza [Blog]. Available at: The Role of Brainwaves in Meditation: Part I (drjoedispenza.com)

Dyer, N.L., Baldwin, A.L., Gray, F. (2023) Evaluation of a Distance Reiki Program for Frontline Healthcare Workers’ Health-Related Quality of Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health. Available at: Evaluation of a Distance Reiki Program for Frontline Healthcare Workers’ Health-Related Quality of Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Natalie L. Dyer, Ann L. Baldwin, Rosemary Pharo, Feona Gray, 2023 (sagepub.com)

Eden, D. (2008) Energy Medicine: Balancing Your Body's Energy for Optimal Health, Joy and Vitality. London, UK: Piatkus Books.

Eden, L. (2018) When Kundalini Awakens .[Website] Available at: Kundalini energy Symptoms — When kundalini awakens: Support and guidance through a Kundalini awakening

Ewen, H. (2018) Super Empaths are real says study. [Website] Vice. Available at: Super-Empaths Are Real, Says Science (vice.com)

Gardiner, P., and Osborn, G. (2006) The Shining Ones: The World’s Most Powerful Secret Society Revealed. London: Watkins Publishing.

Gardner, L. (2005) The Magdalene Legacy: The Jesus and Mary Bloodline Conspiracy. Revelations beyond the Da Vinci Code. London: Element.

Gober, M., (2018) An End to Upside Down Thinking: Dispelling the Myth That the Brain Produces Consciousness, and the Implications for Everyday Life. USA: Waterside Press.

Gordon-Brown, I., and Somers, B., (2008) The Raincloud of Knowable Things. Dorset, England: Archive Publishing.

Greenberg, N., Docherty, M., Gnanapragasam, S., and Wessely, S. Managing mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during covid-19 pandemic: BMJ. 2020;368:m1211. Available at: Managing mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during covid-19 pandemic | The BMJ

Häuser, W., and Fitzcharles,M.A., (2018) Facts and Myths Pertaining to Fibromyalgia. National Library of Medicine: National Centre for Biotechnology Information. Available at Facts and myths pertaining to fibromyalgia - PMC (nih.gov)

Hicks, J., and Hicks, E., (2005). Ask and it is Given: Learning to manifest your desires. London: Hay House UK Ltd.

Hicks, J., and Hicks, E., (2009) The Vortex: Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships. United States: Hay House inc.

Indigo, A., (2017) Spiritual Awakening: Signs and Symptoms. [Website] Ariella Indigo. Available at Spiritual Awakening Signs & Symptoms — Ariella Juno Indigo (ariellaindigo.com)

Jackson, G., (2019) The female problem: how male bias in medical trials ruined women's health. [Website] The Guardian. Available at: The female problem: how male bias in medical trials ruined women's health | Women | The Guardian

Jagger, S., (10th February 2023) Church of England to explore gender-neutral terms for God – women clergy’s suggestions for replacing ‘Our Father’. [Website] The Conversation. Available at: Church of England to explore gender-neutral terms for God – women clergy’s suggestions for replacing ‘Our Father’ (theconversation.com)

Jain, S., PhD; Ives, J.,PhD; Jonas, W., MD; Hammerschlag, R., PhD; Muehsam, D., PhD; Vieten, C., PhD; Vicario, D., MD; Chopra, D., MD, FACP; Pritten King, R., RN, MIH, CHTPI; Guarneri, E., MD, FACC. (2015) Biofield Science and Healing: Toward a Transdisciplinary Approach. Global Advances in Health and Medicine Journal; Biofield Special Issue. Available at: (PDF) Biofield Science and Healing: An Emerging Frontier in Medicine (researchgate.net)

Jennings, M., (2023) Tarot: The Quest for Egypt. Staffordshire: Dream Well Writing Limited.

Johnson, S., (2023) WHO declares loneliness a ‘global public health concern’. [Website] The Guardian. Available at: WHO declares loneliness a ‘global public health concern’ | Global development | The Guardian

Kerasidou, A., Baeroe, K., Berger, Z., Caruso Brown, A. E., (2020) The Need for Empathetic Healthcare Systems. National Library of Medicine: National Centre for Biotechnology Information. Available at medethics-2019-105921.pdf (nih.gov)

Linn, M.W., Assessing Community Adjustment in the Elderly. In: Raskin A, Jervik LF, eds. Assessment of Psychiatric Symptoms and Cognitive Loss in the Elderly. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Press, 1979: 187 – 204. In McDowell, I., (2006) Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires. Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Mooji., (2014) White Fire: Spiritual Insights and Teachings of Advaita Zen Master. Portugal: Mooji Media Publications.

Moorjani, A., (2012). Dying to be Me. My journey from cancer, to near death, to true healing. London: Hayhouse UK Ltd.

Morse D.F., Sandhu S, Mulligan K, et al. Global Developments in Social Prescribing. BMJ Global Health 2022. Available at: Global developments in social prescribing (bmj.com)

Myss, C., (2023) A Time for Grace: Sacred guidance for everyday life. London: Hay House UK Ltd.

National Association of Link Workers., (2020) Care for the Carer: Social Prescribing Link Workers Views, perspectives and experiences of clinical supervision and wellbeing support. [Website] Available at: NALW_Care-for-the-Carer_-Report_8th-July-2020-Final.pdf

NHS., (2023) Excessive Hair Growth (hirsutism). [Website] Available at: Excessive hair growth (hirsutism) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

NHS., (2023) Social Anxiety (Social Phobia).[Website] Available at: Social anxiety (social phobia) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

NHS England., (2023) Workforce Development Framework: Social Prescribing Link Workers. 6.1.3 ‘Clinical’ or non-managerial supervision. Available at: NHS England » Workforce development framework: social prescribing link workers [Website]

NHS England., (2024) The NHS and Social Prescribing. [Website] Available at: NHS England » Social prescribing

Northrup, C., (2018) Dodging Energy Vampires. United Kingdom: Hay House UK, Ltd.

Orloff, J., (2024) The New Science of Empathy and Empaths. [Website] Available at The New Science of Empathy and Empaths - Judith Orloff MD (drjudithorloff.com)

Palmer, J., (2016). Ethnography as Transdisciplinary Inquiry: two stories of adaptation and resilience from Aceh, Indonesia. In, Fam, D., Palmer, J., Riedy, C. and Mitchell, C. (Eds.), Transdisciplinary Research and Practice for Sustainability Outcomes, Routledge: London, United Kingdom.

Plotkin, B., (2021) The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries. California: New World Library.

Reeves, A., (2013) An Introduction to Counselling and Psychotherapy: From Theory to Practice. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Sadhguru, I., (2015) Kundalini: Awakening to the Treasure Within. [Website] Isha. Available at Kundalini: Awakening to the Treasure Within (sadhguru.org)

Scovel Shinn, F., (2013) The Magic Path of Intuition. With an Introduction with Louise Hay. United States: Hay House Inc.

Scovel Shinn, F., (1988) The Writings of Florence Scovel Shinn. Camarillo: CA, United States of America: DeVorss & Company.

Simpson, L., and Mercier, P., (2015) Chakra for Everyday Living: Discover how to transform your life through the power of chakra. London, UK: Bounty Books, a division of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.

Smalley, N., (2022) The Path to Forgotten Freedom: Healing Unresolved Ancestral Trauma. Lancashire: BuzzardPress. Part of The Way of the Buzzard Limited.

Spiritual Awakening with Steve Taylor (2021) [YouTube Video] United States. New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Available at: 'Thinking Allowed' - Jeffrey Mishlove interviews Steve Taylor – Steve Taylor (stevenmtaylor.com)

Spiritual Protection (2024) [Mini Course Video]. Smalley, J., The Way of the Buzzard Mystery School. The Way of The Buzzard Mystery School (thebuzzardtribe.com)

Stenner, P., Greco, M., Motzkau, J. (2017) Introduction to the Special Issue on Liminal Hotspots. Theory and Psychology, 27(2) pp. 141–146. Available at: Microsoft Word - 2.Introduction to Liminal Hotspots.doc (open.ac.uk)

Swan, T. Why Empaths Feel Bad – Teal Swan., 2022, [Short Video on Youtube], From her New York workshop 2021. Available at Why Empaths Feel Bad - Teal Swan (youtube.com)

Tadd, E. How to Open Your Third Eye for Infinite Wisdom and Guidance: The Infinite View. (2017) [YouTube video] United States. Michael Sandler's Inspire Nation Available at 🌟 ELLEN TADD: How to Open Your THIRD EYE for Infinite Wisdom & Guidance | The Infinite View (youtube.com)

Taylor, S., (2018) Spiritual Science: Why science needs spirituality to make sense of the world. Watkins: London.

The International Centre for Reiki Training., (2022) What is Reiki? Available at: What is Reiki? | Reiki

Tolle, E., (2018) Oneness With All Life: Awaken to a life of purpose and presence. Milton Keynes, UK: Penguin Random House UK.

Tolle, E., Practising the Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. London: Yellow Kite Books.

Tolle, E., (2005) The Power of Now. Great Britain: Yellow Kite, an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton.

Van Der Kolk, B., (2015) The Body Keeps the Score. Mind, Brain, and Body in the Transformation of Trauma. Penguin Random House UK.

Van Gordon, W., (2020). Pandemic burnout in frontline healthcare professionals: Can Meditation Help? British Journal of General Practice. Available at: Pandemic Burnout in Frontline Healthcare Workers: Can Meditation Help? – BJGP Life

Versus Arthritis., (2023) What is Fibromyalgia? [Website} Available at: Fibromyalgia | Causes, symptoms, treatment | Versus Arthritis

Webster, A., (2015). Empaths as Healers. [Website] Reiki Rays. Available at: Empaths as Healers – Reiki Rays

Wurtzel, E., (1994) Prozac Nation. United States of America: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Zelaya, R., (2019) Signs of a Kundalini Awakening. [Website] Gaia. Available at: 8 Kundalini Awakening Signs and Symptoms | Gaia .

This is my energy story - what's yours?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlotte Brady-Jones) — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 16:10:00 +0100

Have you ever felt a grinding sensation underneath your rib cage, an ache, a pain, or something more subtle, and wondered what it was? Perhaps you think you know: your body reacting to stress, anxiety, or your ‘nerves’? But what if it is something more? What if I told you that this is one of the locations in your body where energy manifests, because you are essentially an energetic being? What if I said this is an area that houses all your dark secrets, your shadow side, the imprints of your parental messages you received as a child, your identity, your personality, your ego, your emotions, and even the feelings and emotions of others around you? What if I told you this feeling was your gut trying to tell you something?

This is what my book is all about, not the gut as such, but the Solar Plexus, one of the many energy centres located in and around the human body, something many in the West tend to know little or nothing about (though this is slowly changing). However, this is not some new age book about spirituality or energy medicines per se, but instead, is about the intricacies of how these energies could be relatable to the burnout process experienced by so many empathic professionals working on the front line in healthcare settings every day. It is about how their bodies react and absorb the negative energies from the poorly people they interact with everyday, and how this affects their health in that moment and even potentially longer term.

I write here about a particular type of professional, not only one that cares for patients, but one that takes on the troubles and worries of others, as if they were their own. This type of person is best described in spiritual terms as an 'Empath' who tends to store the emotions, or more accurately, the energy, of those they treat, in their solar plexus, as well as in other areas of their energy body. Therefore, potentially carrying their patients anxieties and pain around with them all day long, often unknowingly in fact. These energies often lingering in their own energy fields, long after they leave work and have seemingly "switched off" mentally from their working day.

Empaths are highly sensitive individuals who often go above and beyond to care and support others, but because they empathise so much, they can end up absorbing peoples feelings and emotions and, sometimes, even mistake them for their own. Loving and kind individuals, traits clearly valued and needed in healthcare staff, their downfall is in their difficulty in dispelling these energies and emotions picked up throughout their working days and in their personal lives. This accumulation of negative energies means empaths are more likely to suffer from fatigue, unexplained pain and suffering often leading to burnout.

In 'Solar Plexus Nation', I explore my own personal experiences of burning out during the Covid-19 pandemic as a healthcare professional. I highlight the importance of having empaths as part of any healthcare workforce, because of their innate and valuable skillset, allowing them to serve and heal people on a deeper level, at the same time, warning of their susceptibility to burnout. I suggest, empaths require additional and deeper energetic support with regular access to clinical supervision, as well as, to other wellbeing tools and holistic therapies to keep themselves energetically healthy. I use my own experience of being an empath working as a Social Prescribing Link Worker in 2 local GP surgeries during the lockdown to exemplify what can happen when you work with ill patients every day, especially when you have no access to clinical supervision to off load and recharge your batteries. I talk about how I believe it was this lack of support that contributed to me developing Fibromyalgia, a condition where pain pulsates throughout multiple areas of the body. The energies I felt ultimately led to my body and mind shutting down and finding myself incapable of doing the basic activities in life. I truly believe now that it was because of not realising my empathic nature that this happened to me and I believe this continues to happen for many people working in the healthcare sector today. This is partly why I wanted to write this book, to bring attention to the phenomenon.

Though this might sound like all doom and gloom to some, the second half of the book takes an unexpected turn, as I describe how learning energy healing practices to overcome the symptoms the medical community couldn’t seem to help me with, led to a whole other path opening up to me. Onto a spiritual plane of realisation of my true energetic and natural existence in the world. One full of wonder and possibilities, previously unthought of on my part, opening my eyes to new opportunities and new ways of being in the world. Researching into this type of energy in more detail, it became a sort of spiritual quest of sorts, discovering energy as a means of communication, expression and even meaning- making in a world that previously felt stifled, dull, mundane and even painful.

Discovering and understanding how to use this energy became a way of navigating my way in a new world, I suppose, and I felt blessed to be on this journey of discovery. However, spiritual awakenings was never the focus or the reason for writing the book, as I mention above. I am quite aware that there have been many books before covering such topics, so that was never my agenda, nor was some deep exploration of spirituality or Fibromyalgia or a summary of the benefits of energy medicines. Instead, I want you to know, this book comes from a pure urge to share my story. Not because I have some exciting, jaw dropping event that needs documenting to change all of humanity, but that I feel it was significant enough, to put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard rather, for me to process therapeutically what happened to me and to see whether others resonate with some of these experiences. Nevertheless, I hope my story, combined with evidence gathered from researching the transdisciplinary subject area of energy, or what is more recently being coined the ‘Biofield’, goes some way to creating the change needed in the healthcare systems to help empaths succeed and prosper longer term in this challenging but most rewarding and fulfilling line of work, instead of being left to burnout and change careers. But most of all, I hope this book contributes to the widening scientific and spiritual discussions focused around seeing humans more as energy beings, to lead to the reviewing of current practices in healthcare and to the implementation more widely of alternative energy practices, such as is becoming more commonly seen in hospitals for example, in the UK, with reiki practitioners assisting cancer and surgery patients. More research needs to take place into the benefits of such energy interventions so that professionals, and especially empathic professionals like me, are able to have access to the same energy therapies to allow them to stay healthy and continue this important work.

I hope you enjoy reading my energy story and I look forward to hearing yours, so please get in touch and share your thoughts and comments, I'd love to hear from you 💕

For more information on my book launch, my work, or simply to get in touch, please click the link here 🙏 charlotte.brady.jones | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree