Audrey’s Blog on living well with disability and breast cancer

"What is now proven was only once imagined" William Blake Recently I have been blogging about my experience of the WEL course and having now completed it I   feel strangely bereft it ’ s over, in some ways it's a lifelong course I know, but that time regularly to tune into ourselves, be challenged in our thinking and to learn new information and skills felt very precious. Inevitably some parts stand out for us all differently. I have already blogged about food ( my most read blog to date!).The statement you are not your thoughts and the focus on mindfulness has also resonated for me. Perhaps most importantly as we travelled through the course my belief that the "fix it" model of health we currently embrace cannot survive has strengthened. We filled in a questionnaire at the beginning of the course and repeated in at the end. I realised I had moved from stated aims like I want to reduce my allergies and asthma, I want to get fitter to now saying I

A short Friday inspiration today. I have had a family week with Christmas visits to the fore. I have loved every minute. From time family around their tree and watching the new Hunger Games film which I loved- to long a planned visit to Krakow. What a wonderful city it is, beauty, thought provoking history, warm, welcoming people and classical concerts in tiny churches to lift the soul. (...and warm wine to restore feeling to the feet afterwards I wont lie!) But whats been best of all is special time with people I love so I'm sharing too this image from the film UP . Its a wonderful film,if you get the chance to see it, you may need a hanky but it will also steal your heart. Enjoy your own big and little times.

Borgen, Birgitte and...... One of the inventions I enjoy is the ability to record your favourite TV or films to watch when you want to. That ability to kick off the birkies , put up your feet and savour the delayed gratification that comes from saving the treat till the work is done cannot be overestimated. Of course if you are like me and also engage with twitter it's essential to avoid the live twitter feed if you have it on record. Spoilers abound but it's not that reason that the recent episodes of my biggest obsession- which of course is Borgen - have caused me distress. Oh no, it's the storyline of late. As a political anorak of sorts, I admit my idea of a good night is watching Danish political drama with subtitles requiring my full attention. In fact one of the highlights of this year for me was watching the last two episodes of the of the last series at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, followed by an interview with the actress , playing the states min

Friday inspiration   Change is not based on effort, change is a creative process best not conducted as a war.  I read this quote this week as part of the WEL programme and it has echoed over the week, not just in a personal sense but in how organisations can approach change too. How many of us would recognise our own approach to change in ourselves and within our organisations past or present in the words "conducted as a war". How many gym memberships start that way, fitness classes, boot camps even! And how often do we catastrophise when we lose a battle that we have lost the whole war and so give up, eat or drink more, embrace the sofa and so much more. Wars are won or lost in traditional senses so even if you win temporarily , whats next? What damage needs repaired? What casualties have their been? Instead a creative process feels so much more appealing. It's inspiring, it's stimulating, it's emergent, it has an energy and a flow. The energies therefore