Thank you so much for the amazing response to my January blog! I am truly grateful for all the encouragement and kind words from each and every one of you. Putting my blog out there was a bit nerve-wracking, but your support has made me feel accomplished. Writing allows me to be my authentic self, and I’m thrilled to share my honesty and passion for Isorropia with all of you.

February has flown by, the days are getting a little longer, and the sun is beginning to shine a little more. I have been building my confidence in delivering workshops to you amazing members and enjoying pancakes and valentines, especially pancakes. In the spirit of love, I want to talk about an incredibly important love – self-love, compassion, and kindness.

My Journey to Self-Love & Compassion

When I first started my journey at Isorropia, everything felt unfamiliar to me. For years, I had struggled with self-doubt and self-criticism, never truly accepting myself or allowing myself to feel deserving of kindness. I was my own worst enemy, constantly bombarding myself with negative thoughts and beliefs. A well-being coach once asked me to write something positive about myself, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The word “positive” felt foreign and insincere. It was a difficult task to express anything pleasant about myself.

After many tears and much hesitation, I finally gave it a try. I had always believed that I was a bad mother, so writing “I’m a good mother” felt dishonest. Instead, I settled for “I’m an okay mother.” I knew I needed to start somewhere, and I had to take it at my own pace.

I began by jotting down the kind words people said to me, even though I didn’t believe them at first. It felt right for me. Whenever a well-being coach complimented me during a workshop, I would write it down. I also started acknowledging the positive things I did, like speaking at a workshop or spending quality time with my children. Little did I know I was collecting evidence to counter my negative thoughts and beliefs. This practice gradually improved my self-esteem.

Self-love and compassion aren’t always about rainbows and butterflies. It’s not just about constantly telling yourself how amazing you are, although it’s important to be your own biggest supporter. Self-love is about being gentle with yourself, free from judgment, and understanding that your thoughts and feelings are valid. I no longer tell myself that I can’t have negative feelings. What I feel and think is not wrong; it’s valid.

Being gentle and honest with oneself can be challenging, but it’s crucial to remember that your feelings are valid and acceptable. It’s crucial that we begin to value ourselves and treat ourselves with respect. If we don’t respect ourselves, it becomes difficult for others to respect us as well. It’s important to have faith in our emotions and thoughts. We are allowed to feel and think the way we do. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong; it’s just a natural response. While our feelings and thoughts belong to us, they may not always be accurate. If evidence contradicts them, it’s essential to take steps to challenge and disprove them. Have confidence in your own judgments and actions.

The Thought Diary

One of the tools I love from Isorropia is the thought diary. I use it every day, and it has been really helpful. Whenever I have a negative thought, I write it down and reflect on it. Here’s an example of a thought I wrote in August 2022:

“I’m starting to feel more self-aware and okay, but I’m worried it won’t last; what if I become ill again?”

Identify the feeling: failure, shame, worry, fear, hopelessness.
EVIDENCE FOREVIDENCE AGAINST
It hasn’t lasted before; I’ve failed in the past.This time might be different because I’ve been working hard, and I have support from Isorropia. I’m making myself a priority now.

My response to the negative thoughts above:

Dear Karleigh, I know you’re going through a tough time, but remember that you’re making an effort to prevent falling back into old patterns. Nobody is flawless, so don’t be too hard on yourself. What truly counts are the actions you take. Take a moment to prioritize your well-being and continue working on yourself. Stay focused on finding comfort in the present moment.

In this instance, I’m not suggesting that I shouldn’t feel that way or that I will never be unwell again and need to be okay all the time. That would be unrealistic and wouldn’t allow me to truly understand my emotions. Instead, I acknowledge that it’s difficult because it truly is, and I’m only human. I look at the evidence against those negative thoughts and treat myself with kindness.

I realised that I needed to be kind to myself, so I created an inner coach, a friend in my head. This has played a crucial role in my journey towards self-compassion. Whenever I find myself self-sabotaging or doubting myself, I ask myself, “Would I say this to a friend?” and “What advice would I give to a friend who shared this thought with me?” We often say things to ourselves that we would never say to others, so why do we treat ourselves differently? I learned from our wonderful wellbeing coach, Naomi, that “it’s important to make our minds a positive and nurturing place.”

Self-love and compassion may not come naturally to many of us; it takes practice and persistence. However, it is a journey worth embarking on! When we take the time to pause, question, and challenge our automatic thought process, we lay the groundwork for greater happiness, resilience, and authentic connection with ourselves and others.

Ways to Practice Self-Love
  • Forgiveness – is the act of letting go of anger, resentment, and bitterness toward oneself or others. Letting go of these things allows us to become truly responsible for our feelings and behaviours.
  • Self-acceptance – is the act of accepting yourself exactly as you are, and acknowledging that your value goes beyond your personal attributes and actions.
  • Boundaries – are the guidelines you establish to safeguard your emotional and physical well-being. This draws a line between what you will and won’t accept, both from yourself and others.
  • Honesty – Being honest and open with oneself is a fundamental part of personal growth. It promotes self-esteem, compassion, and an unshakeable belief in oneself.

These are just a few ways I personally practice self-love. However, it’s important to remember that everyone is unique, so what works for me may not work for you. To gain a different perspective on this, I interviewed Neil S, a well-being coach at Isorropia. Neil has helped numerous individuals on their journeys towards wellness. I asked Neil what self-love and compassion means to him.

Meet the faces behind Isorropia: Neil S
Name/Nickname:Neil Simmons. I was often called “Simmo” in my younger days, (which was not very original) to be honest!! But my affectionately known as Neil S amongst my colleagues.
Job Role:I am a Co-ordinate/Wellbeing Coach with a multitude of roles and responsibilities which keeps me busy, but I really enjoy my role at Isorropia
Favourite Workshop:I think the “Effective Communication” workshop is my favourite. There are many elements to how we can communicate and get our needs met. It’s not all about the words we use, there are so many different aspects help us communicate more effectively. It’s all about becoming aware of the hidden signals we might give off, which may not be received as we intended. I would highly recommend this workshop to anyone who struggles to communicate and finds that often our needs are not being met.
What keeps you well?I love Football. I coach an Under 16s team and I also play twice a week. This is not only good for my health, but it keeps my brain very active when I have to think about Practice Drills, Team selections, coaching players and motivating them regularly. I play and I have to admit I’m not very good It’s probably time to hang my boots up, but my head still thinks I’m David Beckham.
Favourite Quote:“Do all the things that bring you joy & contentment TODAY, because today will be yesterday’s tomorrow!”
What does self-love mean to you, and how do you practice self-love?I love to go to live music venues and see some up-and-coming bands which is exciting. I also really enjoy going to watch the football at my beloved Fratton Park to watch Portsmouth play.

I like messing with technology and making things work if they are not working as they should (Nerdy pastime. I know!!) but I get a sense of achievement when things work as they should.

I also like walks on the seafront and through the forest, this cleanses the mind and keeps me fit and active.

How do you practice self-compassion? What does it mean to you to show kindness to yourself?

Journaling for Wellbeing

I’m known for my love of journaling, and many people have shown interest in it. That’s why I’ve decided to provide a brief overview of the benefits of writing and a few prompts. I hope this information proves helpful. If writing with a pen makes your hand ache, try using the notes on your phone, laptop, or tablet instead, or just talk to a trusted person however you show yourself kindness, do what works for you.

A lot of people wonder how to start a journal? “I don’t know what to write”.

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to journal.

When you start journaling, my best suggestion is to go with the flow. Don’t force it, or else it will become a chore. It doesn’t have to be beautiful; the words don’t have to be spelled perfectly, and no one but you will read it. Don’t judge yourself or set expectations. Instead, begin with a question, like asking yourself how your day went.

Simply putting your thoughts on paper is an act of kindness towards yourself. Journaling has been extensively studied, and one of the pioneers in this field is social psychologist James W. Peenebaker.

‘In his book, Opening Up, James W Pennebaker, PhD, documented his decades-long research into the healing effects of writing. Pennebaker proved what many people have found incidentally through keeping a journal or diary: If we can create a cohesive personal narrative of our lives and if we can link up our emotions with specific events, then we have the power to take control of how those emotions and events affect our lives.’

Read Article Here

Writing allows us to express our inner thoughts, feelings, and experiences, providing clarity and insight. On average, we have 50,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day, most of which are stored unconsciously. By dedicating just 10-15 minutes a day, journaling can help us manage and even overcome negative emotions.

10 Journaling Prompts for Self-Love
  • What are my best qualities?
  • When do I feel most at peace?
  • How can I take better care of myself?
  • If I couldn’t fail, what would I do?
  • Make a list of 10 things that make you smile.
  • If I could talk to my teenage self, what advice would I give?
  • What do I love about life?
  • When do I feel most confident? When do I feel less confident?
  • What skills do I have?
  • Write about a moment that you felt brave.
What’s On at Isorropia Foundation?

The well-being hub has been incredibly successful, with a variety of ongoing programs and many more planned for the future. Many members have shared how these programs have helped them forge meaningful connections with others, providing them with a safe space where they feel understood, and the breathing exercises and calming activities have brought them a great sense of joy and relief.

Wellbeing Activity Warm Hub – MEMBERS ONLY – Funded by SNG formerly Sovereign Housing Association, Sovereign Housing’s Mental Health Day Small Grants.

These sessions will run EVERY TUESDAY from 10 – 12 in the main lounge at Medina Valley Centre. 

  • 10 – 11 Wellbeing Activity ‘Taster’ Drumming, sound bath, mindful movement
  • 11- 12 Tea/Coffee and a chat around the log burner 

Colder months can lead to people being caught in a cycle of social isolation, reduced mobility, increased pain, anxiety, negative mindset and depression. Breaking this cycle requires a meaningful purpose for getting out of the house and a reduction of barriers to doing this.

These FREE sessions run from January to the end of March and aim to supply a ‘Taster’ session of wellbeing activities that you might like to continue within your own community to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing independently.

The shuttle bus is available:

  • 9.30 am – Pick up Morrisons. 
  • 12.10 pm – Drop off Morrisons. 

Please CLICK HERE to reserve your space on BookWhen or call 01983 217791.

PLEASE NOTE: ‘Wellbeing Activity Warm Hub’ is exclusively for Isorropia members. All members who have graduated the structured Wellbeing Programme (post-Gift Graduates) are welcome to attend. Pre-Gift members need to be actively engaging in regular workshops in order to participate in Isorropia’s social activities.

Karleigh x

Hello, welcome back to ‘Inside Isorropia’ – Isorropia Foundation’s blog. January marks the start of a new year filled with opportunities. also, a fresh look for the blog. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Karleigh, and I work at Isorropia as a well-being coach. I was honoured to be asked to take over Lucy’s incredible blog. 

Meet the Faces Behind Isorropia: Get to Know Our Team

The first thing that gave me hope and trust when I came to Isorropia as a member, is that all of the team share their personal stories. We are all human, we go through ups and downs in life. We believe that sharing how we overcome tough times is crucial for relating with others and encouraging them to do the same, while also breaking down unhelpful stigmas. Therefore, every month, I will be doing my best to interview a team member to provide you with more insight into our personalities, so you can get to know more about our team here at Isorropia. It’s part of our core values here at Isorropia, to be transparent, and share. So, it only seems reasonable to begin with me. 

Name:Karleigh
Job Role:Wellbeing Coach, and now Blogger!
Favourite Workshop:I love the Inner critic workshop, but I also really enjoy facilitating the gift follow-up sessions. 
What keeps you well?Journaling, walking, writing, music, my family, and my two dogs. 
What accomplishment are you proud of this month?As a new employee starting training and working for the first time in ten years, I’ve encountered many difficulties. Having to adjust to a new environment has also brought up several barriers that I am learning to overcome. However, I believe my greatest achievement to date is that, when I feel vulnerable or uncomfortable, I have not turned to my old coping mechanisms; instead, I have sat with my discomfort and discussed it with my colleagues, allowing myself to acknowledge my feelings and realising that this is all a process that I’m proudly working through.
Favourite Quote:“Happiness is not a prize that we are awarded when the conditions of our lives become miraculously perfect. Happiness is a practice.” (Megan c Hayes PhD)

I am a very proud mother of three boys and two dogs. I love to walk because it keeps me well. I also have a slight obsession with board games. I love to write, read, journal, and dance not that I am all that good at it. I find comfort in my garden. This year, one of my goals is to hike a mountain.

A Small Change Makes a Big Difference

One change I’ve made in my life recently is walking to work rather than taking the bus. I love to walk because I know it keeps me well by giving me time to think and process my thoughts better. I noticed I wasn’t doing this as much when I was catching the buses, so I decided to leave my house a little earlier, which is a challenge but has now become my routine. I catch the earlier bus from my house and when I get to Newport, I walk to work along the cycle track, and it’s been such a positive change in my day-to-day life, helping me to sift through my thoughts and feelings and prepare myself for the day. The cycle route along the river is beautiful; every morning I hear birdsong, swans taking flight on the river, dogs on their walks, and even squirrels playing in the trees, which brightens my day.

Have you made any positive changes to your daily routine?

Becoming a Member at Isorropia Foundation

Two years ago, I attended my first Isorropia introduction workshop. I had suffered for many years from poor mental health; I felt unstable, as if my emotions were in control of me; I lacked self-worth and confidence; and I was unable to break free from a negative mood. My coping mechanism was to shut myself off from the outside world, but no matter how bad things were, there was always a tiny part of me that hoped for better. The hardest part was stepping into my first introduction workshop and heading straight back out the door again, where I hid in the bathrooms because I felt so anxious it was too much, I was ready to go home.

While I felt like everyone was staring at me, judging me, and thinking how weird I was, I heard a small voice from behind the toilet door saying, “I’m not being weird, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” It was Becky, the well-being coach facilitating the workshop. This woman who was in my eyes a mental health professional thought she was being weird. It eased me, she related to me and I’d not experienced that before from an organisation, I walked back into that workshop went through many boxes of tissues and for the first time showed up for myself, after crying myself through numerous workshops, being uncomfortable and fighting my fears, it finally started to feel a little easier. 

I decided to use the notebook I bought as a tool book for myself, writing down all the things the wellbeing coaches said to me that resonated. I even used some of the tools from the workshops. I attended the GIFT foundation course and the follow-ups, and I really started to discover who I was. I made every workshop my purpose, my goal was just to attend, and I just kept attending again and again. I felt well for the first time in my life. 

I eventually found my purpose to help others when I was invited to volunteer with Isorropia. Then Later in the year, I applied to be a bank well-being coach, which was a huge step, when my mental health had prevented me from working for more than ten years. When a full-time position as a wellbeing coach came up, I went for it. Maintaining my wellbeing is a constant and believing in myself enough has been a challenge but I have ridden the wave of ups and downs and I was hired in early December. Two years ago I believed I wasn’t even capable of leaving my home, I have learnt to be proud of my achievements and as a wellbeing coach, I enjoy getting to know members and demonstrating to you all that it is possible to achieve wellness. Even though my journey hasn’t been easy, it has been made possible with Isorropia’s support.  

My adventure with Isorropia has taught me many invaluable skills, which I hope to share with you over the coming months. I believe that self-awareness was the first thing that changed for me. 

What is Self-Awareness?

METACOGNITION – a thinking that gives you the ability to be aware of how you think. 

Self-awareness is understanding your own feelings, thoughts, actions and desires. (healthy self-monitoring)

The key thing is: Who are you? 

How to Develop Self-Awareness
  • Understand your emotions(emotional regulation workshop) 
  • Be open-minded. 
  • Reflect on your needs, and build your foundations of wellness (Basic human needs workshop) 
  • Know your triggers. (find ways of coping) (mastering anxiety, anger management and overcoming low mood workshops) 
  • Be curious about yourself! What energies you, what calms you, what pushes you over the edge? 
  • Know your strengths. (Confidence and self-esteem workshop) 
  • Know your weaknesses be mindful of what your weaknesses are, not judging them but working to improve them. 
  •  Let your guard down. Stop judging yourself, challenge the parts of yourself that you do like, and learn about your negative self-talk, and how you can manage that better. (Inner critic workshop) 
  • Question your values and opinions. ( a close reflection of who we are) values can change. 
  •  Always reflect on yourself or ask for feedback from a trusting person. (constructive criticism is not an act on you, it is a tool for personal development and growth) gain skills to better communicate your feelings and needs. (Effective Communication Workshop & Building Healthy Relationships Workshop)
  • Self-discipline, build healthy habits. (Wellbeing Planning Workshop) 
  • Understand what keeps you well and what helps to keep you motivated. (Fear of Getting Well)  
Daily Journal Prompts

A way I have learnt to practice self-awareness is by journalling and asking myself questions such as:

What drained me today or made me feel low?

This is a great way to look at things in your life that are not serving you so you can start managing them better, or simply writing them down can help you accept them and notice the things that drain you. For example, not eating lunch. You may start to see a pattern over time that you can then make small changes to. 

What excited me today, or made me feel more positive?

Example: I went for a walk, listened to music, attended a workshop, or got out of bed this morning. One positive a day is enough. Even if you don’t feel it’s an accomplishment still write it down, finding your small daily positives will give you a sense of pride, can help to bring you out of a negative mindset, and start to change your perspective over time if practised consistently. 

What am I grateful for today?

Writing down what we are grateful for helps to release all those happy endorphins that make us feel good, and being grateful for the smallest or funniest things can make you appreciate life a little more. I am grateful that I get to share my experiences with you. 

Every workshop at Isorropia can help you to gain more self-awareness, there are some brilliant tools that really help you recognise your emotions, what you are doing in your low self or what that inner critic is telling you,

Top up on workshops by booking them online via your BookWhen link or give us a ring on 01983 217791 and we can easily book them for you over the phone. We always love to hear from our members!

What’s On at Isorropia Foundation?

Wellbeing Activity Warm Hub (Members Only)

Congratulations to Vicky, our community and volunteer lead, who has done an excellent job of providing our members with the warm hub. So far, these events have been very popular and enjoyed by our members.

Wellbeing Activity Warm Hub – Funded by SNG formerly Sovereign Housing Association, Sovereign Housing’s Mental Health Day Small Grants

These sessions will run EVERY TUESDAY from 10 – 12 in the main lounge at Medina Valley Centre. 

  • 10 – 11 Wellbeing Activity ‘Taster’: Qi Gong, Yoga, Tai Chi, Sound bath, Mindful movement, dancing
  • 11- 12 Tea/Coffee and a chat around the log burner 

Colder months can lead to people being caught in a cycle of social isolation, reduced mobility, increased pain, anxiety, negative mindset and depression. Breaking this cycle requires a meaningful purpose for getting out of the house and a reduction of barriers to doing this.

These FREE sessions run from January to the end of March and aim to supply a ‘Taster’ session of wellbeing activities that you might like to continue within your own community to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing independently.

The shuttle bus is available:

  • 9.30 am – Pick up Morrisons 
  • 12.10 pm – Drop off Morrisons 

Please CLICK HERE to reserve your space on BookWhen or call 01983 217791.

PLEASE NOTE: ‘Wellbeing Activity Warm Hub’ is exclusively for Isorropia members. All members who have graduated the structured Wellbeing Programme (post-Gift Graduates) are welcome to attend. Pre-Gift members need to be actively engaging in regular workshops in order to participate in Isorropia’s social activities.

The Future of Isorropia Foundation: Share Your Thoughts!

Isorropia Foundation has a fantastic chance to transform the stunning Medina Valley site into a dedicated Wellbeing Centre for our community! To secure central government funding, we need YOUR support.

Your feedback is critical to demonstrating our community’s support for this incredible project. Let us make this Wellbeing Centre a reality! Your voice matters. Help shape the future of the Medina Valley Centre by filling out this short questionnaire: CLICK HERE.

That brings us to the end of the first blog of 2024; I hope I did it justice and you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I’d love to hear your thoughts about the topics covered. If you have any suggestions for future blog topics, let us know in the comments. If you’re interested in accessing Isorropia Foundation’s Programme and community activities, please get in touch with us on 01983 217791 to enquire about becoming a member.

Karleigh x

Welcome back to Inside Isorropia. It’s been a glorious start to September thank goodness. I think we all feel so much happier when we are able to get outside and feel the warmth on our skin. It was somewhat unexpected, although I had mentioned in my previous post that an Indian summer would be nice. Did you know that strictly speaking, an Indian summer is actually only classed as such if it occurs after the first frost? So, it turns out, it was just a short spell of unseasonably warm weather!! Nevertheless, it went some way towards making up for August which, generally speaking, was on the disappointing side for many. 

September marks the anniversary of our first visit to the Medina Valley Centre. It seems impossible to believe that a whole year has passed since then. There have been lots of changes along the way but things have fallen nicely into place in recent weeks, with our members now able to access all workshops on the Wellbeing Programme here at MVC, travelling on our very own Isorropia Foundation Minibus! This is making such a huge difference to our member experience and also for the workshop facilitators who now spend less time travelling. By far and away the biggest benefit to this way of working is that our members get to enjoy and experience the beautiful surroundings and the peaceful ambience of our riverside setting. We are getting lots of very positive feedback on both the bus service and the new workshop setting.

Awareness Days

You may have seen on our social media in recent weeks that we have been spreading awareness of Grief and Suicide Prevention. This was to coincide with the awareness days that are marked nationally and globally. Grief is a topic that is covered in our Foundation Course – The Gift. It also crops up within our workshop sessions from time to time, depending on the topic and what members are bringing with them on the day, in terms of current situations & circumstances, personal history, thoughts, feelings and emotions. Our Wellbeing Coaches are trained to be able to manage the workshops and whatever may come up during those sessions. Sadly, grief is a topic that will affect all of us at some point, and many of our members and the Isorropia team will have some personal experience of this already. Our team of coaches all have lived experience of mental health and often speak from those experiences when delivering a workshop or supporting a member on the Duty line. They do a wonderful job of listening, validating and empowering people, whatever they are going through. I was touched to read a piece of writing from our Wellbeing Coach Hannah, as we marked National Grief Awareness Day back at the end of August, as well as a lovely poem from Wellbeing Coach, Marie. It is my pleasure to share these with you here:

“Grief is something all of us go through at some point in our lives and something that isn’t talked about enough. Whether that’s the loss of a family member, friend, loved one or even a pet.”Grief is something all of us go through at some point in our lives and something that isn’t talked about enough. Whether that’s the loss of a family member, friend, loved one or even a pet.

Throughout my life I have experienced grief in many different forms, relationships ending, loss of friendships, family breakdowns, losing my pets and death. 

Before I came to work at Isorropia I worked in end of life care for many years and death and grief was something I dealt with daily and seeing the impact it has on people’s loved ones.

For me personally, I lost my Grandpa, my best friend when I was 10 years old, He was 83. I remember someone once telling me grief is a cycle and you come out the other side. This is something I’ve come to realise isn’t necessarily true. For me that grief will always be with me but it’s how I’ve learnt to live with that grief is what is important.

Grief isn’t a linear process, it’s messy, it takes time and it’s hard. It leaves you feeling lost, lonely, isolated and angry. This is absolutely valid. For me I go through that grief cycle regularly. There are some days where the pain is as if Grandpa had died yesterday and there are other days that it’s just a little niggle in the back of my head. One important thing I have learnt  through out my journey with grief is that grief, although it is one of the hardest things, is also a blessing. Grief for me, shows how much I loved Grandpa, how much he loved me, the incredible impact he had on my life and how truly lucky I am to have had him. For me, this has really helped me to move forward while living with grief and realise while it never leaves me, my life is a whole heap richer for Grandpa and my life can still progress in a wonderful way.

One final thing I’ve found helps is to talk about Grandpa. Whether that be with Mum, Grandma or even to people who never knew him. This makes me feel like he’s still with me and keeps his memory alive even longer. Talk about the memories, the good ones and the bad ones, talk about how you are feeling or the stage of the grief journey you’re on. Talking about it is so powerful.

Grandpa had cancer and was nursed by the truly phenomenal team at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice. Other family and friends have also been supported by their services. This is a place that I will always be eternally grateful for and in April next year I will be doing a wing walk to raise money for them to continue their work and in memory of my Grandpa.”

Hannah (Wellbeing Coach)

Grief never ends.

It is a passage, not a place to stay.

Grief is not a weakness, nor a lack of faith.

It is the price of love. 

– Author Anonymous –
Shared by Marie (Wellbeing Coach)

If you would like to chat with our team about how the Wellbeing Programme might be helpful to you if you are an Island resident and currently processing grief or going through a bereavement, then do call: (01983) 217791 or take a look at our Instagram and Facebook pages for more information.

We were all delighted to receive feedback from one of our Graduate members last year, who turned to Isorropia for support following her husband’s suicide. It was an honour and a pleasure to be able to make a difference for this lady at such a tragic time in her life. Thanks to her own commitment to the Wellbeing Programme and her own wellness, Louise was able to find a new sense of purpose in her life, and here she describes all the ways in which Isorropia helped her and how we have the potential to help you too:

Isorropia saved my life after I lost Pete. They taught me so much and through their support and guidance I was able to start to live again. This encompassed many things on the way. The constant support, encouragement, and educational tools they provided, helped me to learn to live my best life after what happened.

The team are amazing, each one with different lived experience, who are not only able to understand what you may be going through but are also able to provide you with coping mechanisms and strategies to support along the way.

Some of the most important things I learnt through my experience with Isorropia was:

  • I was not to blame for my husband’s suicide
  • To accept that there are things I have no control over
  • That I do have self-worth, and my life has meaning and purpose
  • I was not responsible for what Pete did, but I am responsible for living my life

If you or anyone you know has experienced loss by suicide, Louise has set up a closed group on Facebook which you can join by searching ‘Survivors of Suicide IOW’ on Facebook and requesting to join. You can also watch the Facebook Live that Louise did with Deputy Lead Natalie Streets by following this link: CLICK HERE.

Blue Personalities

As you may recall, in July I shared some information about the colour Yellow, what a Yellow personality means and what that might look like. This time I’m shining the light on Blue.

Blue:

Blues are deep thinkers, analytical in nature, very detail focused and formal in their thinking. They can come across as being aloof, but are deliberate in their approach and systematic, precise and pays attention to detail. Blues like things in their place, and are very organised with good time management skills. They are sticklers for time and are capable of coming to their own conclusions without having examples of others pushed at them. They take their time in their thinking and are much slower paced than the reds or yellows. Blues can come across as perfectionists due to their logical, systematic, precise and deliberate approach to problems or solutions. Blues like to have all the facts, and then logically put together an answer that is suitable. They don’t like vagueness, a lack of detail or an absence of facts or figures.

While taking their time and being thorough is important, sometimes we’re working to tight deadlines and a fast turn around is necessary. In these instances, explain to blues the time frame and the importance of finishing a project. Be sure to offer support and explain the importance of prioritising and delegating tasks. This way they won’t feel immense pressure and worry about burnout, but will understand that they need to pick up the pace – and will have help to do so, if necessary!

glurecruit.co.uk
Colours in the Isorropia Foundation Team

Blue was the colour that myself and Deputy Lead, Charlie Stevens, came out as being, having done the online personality test, along with our Tom and June in Admin, who are also Blue. This is what they had to say about how they identify with being a Blue personality:

Tom – “I’m Blue!

In fact, I’m so Blue that there are sapphires, birds over the White Cliffs of Dover, and the Danube that are less Blue than me! This has its pros and cons. I am great at detail, analysis, and planning.

But ask me to be spontaneous and experimental and … I’ll get back to you next week with something tried and tested. I relate to the Blue personality type with its idealism of wanting a better world. This comes from our instinctive empathic nature. We have so much heart for fairness, peace and integrity. We firmly believe in honesty, but that can make us a bit blunt and seem too direct at times.

We can be really determined and focused when we (finally!) decide on our course of action. The downside is that can lead to inflexibility and an inability to adapt. Ask a Blue to just “wing it on the night” and watch our brains melt before you in utter confusion. Since we’re driven largely by emotional factors – like doing what’s right, compassionate and just – we can slip into being overly sensitive. We don’t always show it on the surface, but we really feel things deeply. So, if the emotions get overwhelming, we aren’t at our best in terms of our performance. I guess what we Blues need most is to feel understood, valued, appreciated and accepted. Which, although that’s also true of most people generally, I just need to remember to be grateful that at Isorropia, I get those needs met every day.”

June – “I was a blue!

I was practical and focused and not a lot of creative vision but enjoy the fruition of others with this gift.”

Charlie S – “Blue, through and through!

Attention to detail, methodical and logical, processed, precise, calm, cautious and considered… some would describe as faffing, some might say slow!”

Lucy (Yours truly!) – “100% Blue on the test!

I also had a second colour that was a strong 70%. I would say there are a whole lot of blue traits running through me and my way of working; being so cautious and considered does tend to hamper my speed at times, but I have high standards around the finer details (which I see as a positive). Interestingly, I also feel very connected to the secondary colour in my results. Stay tuned to upcoming posts to find out what it is.”

Benefits of Blue in Nature

I’m sure you have all been making the most of the good weather and getting outside, hopefully in nature, but wherever you can really, to get the fresh air and goodness from being outdoors. I recently read about ‘Blue Mind Theory’ whilst scrolling through Instagram and wondered have you heard of it too? I follow a lovely account called Nature’s Wild Medicine (@natureswildmedicine) and one particular post grabbed my attention. It was this photo that initially caught my eye (see above) as with many of the posts on their page, but the caption was so interesting. According to the writer, the benefits of getting out near a body of water are huge, both for mental and physical health. This idea is based on Dr. Wallace Nicholas’s theory which suggests being on, around or in water can get you into a ‘Blue Mind’ state. This is described as being ‘mildly meditative, characterised by peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment’. Have you ever noticed that you feel better in any way if you are walking along the beach, sat by a lake, or taking a dip in the pool? I know for certain that this is one of the safest bets for me if I’m needing to get my mood back up or if I’m feeling a bit ‘out of sorts’. I never really knew why, but now I do! This kind of stress relief and relaxation is literally on our doorstep here on the Isle of Wight, and, unless you swim in a public pool, accessing this is completely free! Let me know in the comments where your favourite blue water place is and what you most like to do there. Charlie happily shared that his favourite place to be is Croatia, 2 metres below the Mediterranean! He goes on to say:

“Quite specific, but I love the tranquillity of diving into the sea and having absolutely nothing to disturb you. Serene, calm, just you and the ocean, bloomin’ love it!”

Charlie Stevens
Local Celebrations

I can strongly recommend making use of the Waterside Pool in Ryde. They have recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary and I was interested to read that it started out as an open-air lido with three separate pools. It made me think how lovely that would be on the long, hot, dry days of summer and took me back to memories of my childhood when we would go as a family to @hilsealido back when I lived on the mainland. It has been well-documented how hard it is for these facilities to stay open, and communities and councils have to work tirelessly to ensure that they survive (check out: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-65056493.amp for more information about the challenges faced across the Solent in Portsmouth) Hilsea Lido is set to reopen in 2025 to mark their 90th anniversary. And what a celebration that will be!

I’m actually very happy indeed that our pool @rydewatersidepool now has a brick building and the novelty of an opening roof. It means we can enjoy the facility year-round with the best of both worlds – an open roof when the sun is shining and the weather is warm and the option to still swim in the cooler months regardless of the weather. Surely, that is a very wonderful thing for our Island-dwellers; how lucky we are! You can read more about the pool and the anniversary by clicking HERE.

There is further good news for fans of outdoor swimming, in the form of exciting plans for a sea pool at Sandown, including a science centre and facilities to carry out daily water testing; a fantastic idea, given the ongoing concerns around sea pollution. Click HERE to find out more details and, Island residents, be sure to join in the consultation by completing this survey http://swimthewight.org.uk/seapool (deadline is the end of September)

This brings me to the end of September’s edition. I hope you have enjoyed reading along. If you would like to find out your colour personality, click HERE for the free online test that we used.

If you have any comments about any of the topics covered please feel free to share. If you would like to find out more about Isorropia Foundation, either for yourself or someone you know who could benefit from our Wellbeing Programme, then give our Wellbeing Coaches a call on 01983 217791. We currently have no waiting list, so the help you need is literally a phone call away.

Enjoy this weather everyone, and make the most of the warmth and the sunshine while we still can (I know I will be!) Until next time,

Lucy xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Inside Isorropia. It’s the school summer holidays, and as per the norm for Great Britain, it is decidedly damp, grey and drizzly outside. We are now halfway through August, and there has been no sign of the late summer heat we were led to believe was headed our way. Maybe we’ll have an Indian summer this year, and September will be glorious; that would be a lovely treat to look forward to. I’ve met some people in the last few weeks who have been really affected by the lack of sunshine and the lack of warmth.

Did you know that the phrase ‘Indian Summer’ may have (according to The Royal Meteorological Society)…

“…originated in the United States when native American Indians took advantage of favourable weather conditions in the autumn to hunt.”

(rmets.org)

“Sometimes the rain is followed by an interval of calm and warm which is called the Indian summer.”

John de Crevecoeur – 17th January 1778 (countryliving.com)

I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping for more warmth and brighter weather to come after this somewhat dreary August. We can but hope!

Being present in the here and now

It’s easy to overlook the joy we can get from the simple things, like sitting outside in our gardens, enjoying the flowers and watching nature at work, as well as the physical benefits (although I think there is good evidence available to support this idea; we all know by now that we need a healthy amount of sunshine, don’t we?!). How much is ‘healthy’ though, and what do we do if we can’t get enough?

When we are confined to being indoors and feeling uninspired to go out, we suffer twice over: once for the lack of sunshine and again for being deprived of the experiences we thrive on when the weather is more favourable. My advice is to grab those moments as and when you can, no matter how brief, because summer will come to an end anyway, so why not make the absolute best of it while we still can. A cup of tea outside when the sun is trying to break through might be just the lift you need, even if you end up back indoors soon after. Today I’m sharing some tips that I think could be just what you need if you’re struggling to stay positive on these damp days.

Simple Solutions for surviving a disappointing Summer

At least 20% of the population report feelings of sadness, fatigue, and low mood during seasons with fewer hours of daylight. This may show up as a shift in motivation and mentality, so if you are noticing the same, here are some things you can do:

🌻 Keep moving your body, don’t turn into a couch potato hibernating! Stay active. Moving our bodies releases endorphins and can help overcome temporary feelings of a low mood state.

🌻 Fresh air – get some!

🌻 Get as much sunshine as possible as well as ensuring you open up your home to allow plenty of natural light in

🌻 Food – nutrition is important. It’s so easy to eat all the warm, heavy, starchy food, but remember, all in moderation. High sugar and high fat does affect our moods!

🌻 Keep your social fitness in check – meeting friends outside of your home, perhaps visiting those you haven’t seen in a while, joining a group, volunteering

(Tips courtesy of @leannemaciel_ Instagram)

You wouldn’t be alone if you are already thinking about autumn approaching. The daylight hours have been gradually reducing since the longest day back in June, and with these grey, cooler days, it is certainly starting to feel less like summer and more autumnal; I’ve definitely noticed it in the mornings. I asked the Isorropia team to share tips on things they have found helpful in preparing for the change in seasons, and Deputy Lead Nat shared the practical steps she has taken and how it has made a huge difference to how she feels about the cooler months and her ability to stay balanced, despite environmental changes that are out of her control:

“One thing I’ve done recently to cope with the change of seasons is to buy a wetsuit/boots/gloves as I love sea swimming, and this removes the obstacle of finding the temperature too cold. I love sea swimming because it helps me be mindful of being in that natural environment, partly because it helps me slow down. 

As a massive summer fan, I also find it useful to think about why I like the other seasons, for example, woolly jumpers, sausage & mash, reading by the fire. This helps me be grateful.”

(Natalie Streets – Deputy Lead)

Other things you may want to consider are optimising exposure to daylight. This can be hard on greyer days, but positioning yourself by a window or in the room with the most light coming in are simple but effective ways to ensure you are doing the best you can with what you have. You may also want to take a look at SAD lamps (light therapy for people who suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder) and explore whether this might be a worthwhile investment for yourself. This is something that I have used in the darkest days of winter, based on the recommendation of other SAD sufferers. I’d also recommend taking Nat’s advice and focus on the positive things in each and every day, regardless of the season. There is always something to be grateful for, and by placing our focus on the good stuff, the rest tends to diminish to a certain extent. Let us know in the comments if you have any helpful tips on managing mood and the changing seasons.

World Photography Day

Saturday August 19th saw World Photography Day celebrated globally, and most noticeably perhaps, on social media. This day is an opportunity to celebrate the art, craft, science and history of photography, and everyone is welcome to participate wherever they may be in the world. Photography enthusiasts were encouraged to share their shots on social media using the hashtag #WorldPhotographyDay. WorldPhotographyDay.com has also posted that they are currently accepting submissions for photos to be featured on their website in order that they can be appreciated around the world, irrespective of where they have been taken. How wonderful. I’m going to set some time aside later to take a look and maybe find myself some inspiration for my next trip out exploring.

Photography is a hugely accessible hobby, with camera phones having such good photographic capabilities these days. I found a love of nature photography during the Covid pandemic, and it is something that has stayed with me ever since. I find walking anywhere takes me two or three times longer now because I’m constantly stopping to capture photos of this, that or whatever! It drives my family slightly mad. They are currently in talks to establish strategies for reaching destinations a little quicker!! I’m guessing leaving me at home is pretty high up there!! Here at Isorropia, the community groups are providing so many lovely opportunities to destress, be more present and immerse ourselves in nature, with or without a camera or phone. If this is something our members are interested in, then they can contact the team on 01983 217791 to find out what the current destinations are for Wellbeing Wanders, Mellow Mondays (Gift to Nature), and Trust in Nature and Nurture (with The National Trust) sessions.

Building Our Youth
16-25 Transitions Co-ordinator, Lisa, and Wellbeing Coach, Hannah.

Back in June, our 16-25 Transitions Co-ordinator, Lisa, and Wellbeing Coach, Hannah, attended HTP Apprenticeship College to spread awareness around mental health and wellbeing. They had a fantastic time connecting with the incredible young people, sharing with them a wealth of information to assist in navigating their own wellbeing journeys. This was a wonderful opportunity to get out into the Island community and reach a vitally important group within our Island population; they are the future, after all! We feel so passionate here at Isorropia about empowering young people, helping them get off to the best possible start in life, and encouraging a positive approach to developing & maintaining their own wellbeing is the perfect foundation for this.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

August is when exam results are announced for GCSE and A Level students. We send all our Island families good luck and congratulations to their young people who will no doubt have worked so hard and achieved so much. This is true, even if the results aren’t exactly as some may have hoped. The important message to share is that these results do not define a person: each and every individual taking exams and getting results is so much more than the scores they receive in these exams, and their lives are just beginning; opportunities will find them and exciting times are ahead, just you wait and see!

Updates
@finishingtouchestoo – Instagram

We are delighted to welcome Sue to our Admin team here at Isorropia. Sue joined us in time to attend our Team Wellbeing Day – Summer Edition. It was a fabulous day with structured Psycho-Educational training in the morning, followed by a BBQ in our lovely Medina Valley grounds, courtesy of the wonderful, culinary-talented, Wellbeing Coach Jamie. The afternoon session was organised by our Dynamic Duo ‘The Neils’ who injected the day with fun and a hint of healthy competition, with teams pitted against each other to crack a treasure hunt, play boules and, best of all, Team Rounders which appears to have been the best team building activity to date! Fab work guys, this is quite the standard you have set for future Wellbeing Days! And would you believe it?! The weather was on our side too; a warm, dry day with even a touch of sunshine sprinkled throughout the day. Just perfect!!

We have welcomed some home-grown talent to the Isorropia Team this month with several new Wellbeing Coaches now offering their valuable skills and experience on the Wellbeing Programme and beyond. Many of these have grown from members, to mentors, to volunteers and this is exactly what Isorropia Foundation is all about; we love to see our members growing in confidence, stepping out of their comfort zones and striving to help others whilst they continue to heal themselves! Huge congratulations and the warmest of welcomes to you all!

Celebrations

There have been some wonderful moments on the Black Rock Charter Fishing expeditions. Some of our members have had success with the fishing rods, and Isorropia has received some wonderful feedback as a result:

“I wanted to say what a fantastic time I had yesterday on the fishing trip. If there’s anyone who might be unsure about it, I’d say try it. I nearly didn’t go (inner critic) but it was an experience I can’t wait to repeat.”

Isorropia Member

“Just wanted to say what a fantastic day I had with you all. So great catching my first fish. And lovely having a natter and laugh with you all. Look forward to the next one.”

Isorropia Member

“The fishing trip yesterday was unreal. Apologies if I was quiet and seemed distant, I was just taking in the experience and relaxing out at sea, away from land and its troubles for 2 hours.”

Isorropia Member

“Another great day out fishing. Another great catch. Glad it’s a good mixed gender bunch, guys and girls. We had a good laugh.”

Isorropia Member

This community group is funded by an award from the Sport England Together Fund, administered by the Angling Trust and Isorropia members are supported throughout by the team at Black Rock Charters and our very own Vicky Shaw-Yates, Community & Volunteer Lead.

So, as this August post comes to a close, I hope you are blessed with plenty more of the warm stuff. I look forward to hearing how you marked World Photography Day and any celebrations or successes you have had; remember, it’s important to acknowledge the steps you take towards your goals, no matter how small they might be. We are right here, celebrating with you and cheering you all on, so you’re not on your own. #isorropiacommunity

Lucy xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hello! How did you find June’s heat waves? I hope it was manageable and you found ways to keep cool and minimise any discomfort. More heat is supposedly headed our way, but not until August, apparently! It’s good to be prepared, though, as this can certainly relieve some of the anxiety we may feel when health alerts are put out.

Did you know that, annually, the last week of June is World Wellbeing Week? Hopefully, you caught our social media posts covering this, and you can find out later in this piece some of the ways our team have been looking after their own wellbeing over the past few weeks. If you need a reminder of some of the tools and techniques to maximise your wellbeing and get back into balance, just give us a call on the Duty Line (01983 217791) and chat with one of our lovely coaches.

Colour Personalities

Back in September, we had a Team Wellbeing Day at Medina Valley. It was the first ‘proper’ amount of time we’d spent there, as we weren’t due to make the official move until late October. It was a lovely opportunity to get together as a team and become familiar with our soon-to-be new home. Additionally, we had the opportunity to become more familiar with each other in a new, and fairly intriguing way. One of the activities was based around the concept of personality and, more specifically, colour personality. This is a method that organisations can use, to learn more about the people who work for them and is especially useful in recruiting new team members, providing valuable insight into what skills a team currently has in abundance, and any gaps that may need to be filled.  

This is a concept that we all found so interesting, and it often comes up in conversation in and around the office, even now, all these months later. As an organisation, we are careful not to label our members, focusing on the individual, rather than any diagnosis they may have. So this idea, to me, is an interesting one; we certainly don’t want to be minimising the diverse and wonderful array of skills and experience of our team members to a simple label. And yet, it is undeniable that we each found ourselves relating incredibly well to the attributes assigned to us under a particular colour category. So, what is it that is so captivating about the idea of being categorised by colour? Why are we willing to state that ‘I’m a blue!’ or ‘I’m yellow’? My guess is that although some people find labelling of any kind restrictive, others can feel empowered by it and better understood; that certainly seems to be the case here.

Strengths

It should be a given that we all have strengths, yet for many, during periods of unwellness, self-esteem can be so low that it has been impossible to name or own any strengths or talents. Through our Wellbeing Programme, our members gain insight into who they really are and what valuable contributions they can make, gradually increasing their self-worth, confidence and self-esteem, enabling them to move forwards more positively. Additionally, any member completing The Gift Foundation Course will receive a ‘Transcript of Wonderfulness‘, which details all the many positive attributes they have, as noted by their Gift peers and the course facilitators.

The beauty of looking at colour personalities, for us as a team, lies in the way it allows for easy acknowledgement that there are certain people better suited to specific tasks, whilst, at the same time, highlighting all the things we ourselves are good at. This is not something to feel bad or guilty about; it is something to embrace. We are a team together, and we lift and encourage each other to shine in the areas that each of us naturally thrive. By developing awareness of our team members’ colour personalities, we are also able to notice when someone is consciously pushing themselves in areas that are not naturally easy for them. With better self-awareness, we might admit more readily that we are struggling with a task and reach out within the team for ideas and support to successfully complete it.

Every personality has different traits and can, more or less, fit into either Red, Blue, Yellow or Green. It is also possible to fall into several, or all, of the colours, with one colour being more dominant.

It’s important to find a balance of all the colours within any team, to ensure people bring different strengths.

Over the next few blog posts, I will share more information about each of the colour personality types and how they show up in our team. Being as we are now in July and summer is well and truly here, it seems only right that we highlight yellow for July 😊 It is such a sun-shiny colour!

Yellows:

Yellows are the life and soul of the party; they are sociable, expressive, very imaginative and enthusiastic with it. Yellows are very informal, very optimistic and animated. Their imaginations can sometimes run away with them as they are very fast-paced thinkers. Yellows are very relationship focused and are visionaries with obvious high energy. They don’t like their opinions being suppressed, too much detail or when your interactions are impersonal.

Because yellows are such high energy, sometimes it can be difficult to gauge whether or not they’ve taken in what you’ve said. You need to strike the right balance between confirming they understand what you’ve said and being patronising. Yellows are the type to engage in non-work-related conversations, and this can sometimes be a great way of striking up a good relationship with them.

https://www.glurecruit.co.uk/
Colours in The Isorropia Foundation Team

Nat – “I am a split between yellow and _______”

Lisa F – “In the personality test, I came out with _______ and yellow, ______ being the strongest”

Naomi – “I was yellow and _______ I am pretty outgoing and spontaneous, which fits in with the yellow personality type.”

(To fill in the gaps, you’ll need to check back in to see future blog posts featuring the remaining colour personalities; Members – maybe you already have an idea what colours Nat and Lisa might be?!)

If you’re interested in finding out which colour personality you have, there are lots of free tests available online. We used this one: Color Personality Test.

Colour Therapy

What is it?

As part of my research for this post, I took a little look at how colour can be used to support our wellness. For those of you unfamiliar with the idea of using colour in therapy, here are a couple of definitions to outline what it is:

“Colour therapy and healing (also known as Chromotherapy or Light Therapy) is a type of holistic healing that uses the visible spectrum of light and colour to affect a person’s mood and physical or mental health.”

www.arttherapyblog.com

Coming from an Isorropia perspective, I felt more aligned with this second definition (see below) which places a focus on Balance, which is, of course, the essence of Isorropia Foundation (for those who may not know, our name Isorropia derives from the Greek word for Balance)

“Colour therapy is used to balance the chakras of the body and enhance our body’s own healing process.”

www.colourtherapyhealing.com
Using Colour to Boost Wellbeing

I found an interesting article by Sarah Orme on the Calm Moment website, which looked at Colour Therapy in more depth, including how…

“We naturally associate colours with emotions: when we’re sad, we feel blue, when we’re angry, we see red, and we even feel green with envy. It’s perhaps unsurprising to learn that colours also be used to influence our moods through colour therapy. After all, we’re used to using colour to express our feelings.”

“Studies have shown that colours can have an impact on our mood and how we perceive the world. Colour therapy can even be used to relieve anxiety and boost your confidence.”

Sarah Orme – www.calmmoment.com

Sarah went on to interview Karen Haller, a colour psychologist who finds that positive behaviours can be brought about by the balancing of colours within an environment.

“Colours can influence how someone thinks, feels and behaves, so we can use colour to boost wellbeing and morale”

Karen Haller

If you’re interested to learn more about what Karen does and see with your own eyes her expert use of colour, do take a look at her Instagram account (with an impressive 11.4K followers), where you can also find out more about her book, ‘The Little Book of Colour’.

Karen Haller quote from ‘The Little Book of Colour’

Yellow

“Yellow exudes happiness and freedom. This beaming colour is related to sunshine and rays of light, projecting a feeling of enlightenment onto others and ourselves. Golden shades of yellow often possess particular healing properties, including a boost in our metabolism and mentality.”

Michaela Zee, V magazine
Things you can do at home

You might want to think about bringing elements of yellow into your home: –

  • Gardening: Plant yellow flowers, any variety, in pots or beds. Seed packets are fun and affordable to experiment with if you’re new to gardening. There are so many colours and varieties to choose from.
  • Art: Choose or, better still, create your own pieces of art to display on your walls using shades of yellow. I found art extremely helpful to me when recovering from debilitating depression and anxiety; colour is so uplifting, and creating art is such a positive distraction from any worries.
  • Clothing: Alyson Charles (Canadian athlete and author) describes the colour yellow as being “…obviously a very joyful colour. It connects to our personal will and our personal willpower.” Alyson suggests that we can exude a different energetic imprint on ourselves and our environment by choosing our clothes by colour.
  • Flowers: This is a really simple way to add colour to our homes. Although fresh flowers can be expensive, you’ll see that the recommendation below is actually a really cost-effective option as they are one of the cheaper flowers to buy and also last longer than most. Perfect!

Yellow chrysanthemums

Benefits of Colour Therapy

Colour therapy can be used for all ages, including children and is even believed to be effective for animals. Colour therapists believe the use of colour to be helpful in strengthening the body, with certain colours relating to different parts of the body. Yellow is specific to the skin, digestive system, nervous system and metabolism. Colour therapists use colour in different ways, including by placing coloured silks on the body and encouraging visualisation of colour in meditation and breathing exercises.

Colouring in is another great option to try at home if you want to bring more colour into your life. It is believed that when colouring in, there is a release of Dopamine, the happy hormone (calmmoment.com) This is also true for many other ways of adding colour into our lives, including those mentioned above (themadameblue.com)

The benefits of Dopamine include pain relief, improved sleep and improved management of mental health (calmmoment.com) If you choose to do colouring with shades and hues that lift your mood, then this will make your efforts even more fruitful. 

Breathing in the Rainbow – An exercise to try at home

Why not have a go at this lovely breathing exercise courtesy of the Colour Therapy Healing website? Follow the link and try it out; designed to “encourage a balance of all seven main chakra colours for our wellbeing.”

Do let me know how you get on; I have a feeling you’re going to love it!

Colour and You

How do you feel about adding brighter colours to your environment, or even your wardrobe? Have you tried it as an approach to boost your mood? If so, do you feel like it made a positive difference? Are there any colours you avoid because they make you feel worse? I’ve noticed how some of our team members seem so much brighter and happier when they wear brighter colours; most recently, yellow summer dresses have been a big hit!

Updates and Celebrations

June saw the launch of our new out-of-hours workshops, which will be running fortnightly for our members who find it difficult to attend during normal working hours. The first session was a huge success, and we look forward to welcoming more people to these evening workshops in the coming weeks and months. An exciting development coming up later this month will be the move to running our workshops exclusively at Medina Valley Centre. We look forward to welcoming our members to our beautiful riverside setting, particularly those who have yet to see it in all its sunny splendour!

Image: Wellbeing Coach, Molly, celebrating her graduation.

In June, we bid farewell to Laura (Wellbeing Coach) and Eve (Admin), and we wish them both well for the future. We also celebrated Corina’s engagement to Nathan, and Wellbeing Coach Molly’s graduation with an Upper Second Class degree in Psychology and Criminology.

We do encourage our team to get out and be sociable and follow their passions outside of work, which has meant that in the past month, many of the coaches have enjoyed live music, good food, dancing, baking, walking and painting in order to ensure that we were doing more than talking the talk during World Wellbeing Week 2023 and beyond. We welcome and acknowledge the importance of awareness days and weeks, but promoting wellbeing is what we’re all about at Isorropia Foundation, not just in June, but all the year round! Last but not least, at the start of July, it was the NHS’s 75th Birthday, which is a mammoth milestone to have reached for such a wonderful service. We hope our NHS colleagues had some suitably special celebrations.

Let us know in the comments how you have been prioritising your wellbeing this month.

Until next time,

Lucy xx

References:

Definition – http://www.arttherapyblog.com/online/color-therapy-healing-an-introduction/

How to boost dopamine by Decorating and Dressing for Happiness – www.themadameblue.com

How to use colour therapy to boost your wellbeing – https://www.calmmoment.com/wellbeing/colour-therapy-boost-wellbeing/

Colour Therapy: Yellow – https://vmagazine.com/article/color-therapy-yellow/

Colour and Breathing – https://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour-therapy/colour-and-breathing

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Well, hello again, and a very happy Pride month to you all. Hasn’t this month just been glorious!? I know us Brits are renowned for talking about the weather and (more often than not) complaining that it’s never quite right, but I’ve actually found these past four weeks to be the weather of my dreams. I love the sun and especially like being able to sit out in it, at home or on the beach and not feel chilly when catching the breeze. I do like a breeze, especially when it is dry heat like this, but I am also ridiculously quick to feel the cold, so this has been perfect conditions for me… warm in the shade, just like being abroad! How have you been finding this heat? Have you managed to get yourself a fan to help you survive the inevitable heatwaves? And are you a fan-off or fan-on for sleep kind of person? I know that keeping cool and getting a good night’s sleep can be really tricky, so do take a look at www.goodto.com for some tips and tricks to try if you’re struggling.

Just a brief update on my role for anyone currently going through the Programme. I’ve recently taken a step back from the Wellbeing Coach role to focus on more creative pursuits at home and to spend more time with my family. I am, however, continuing to write blog posts for Inside Isorropia and will be helping the Media team create posts to go out across the social media platforms. I will also occasionally be supporting the team in workshops throughout the busy summer holiday period and any other times when cover is required. I look forward to reconnecting with some of you face-to-face really soon.

It has been busy, busy on the Wellbeing Programme this month with lots of workshops happening and members graduating following The Gift. Many of our Wellbeing Coaches have been undertaking training in the delivery of The Gift Foundation Course. I always think it’s so interesting how different coaches deliver things in their own special way, bringing a unique touch of personality mixed with appropriate elements of lived experience. This is what we feel works so well at Isorropia Foundation when we work with our members; we are able to offer educational content around wellbeing alongside the rawer, more personal stuff, which helps to foster a great sense of trust and empathy between the members and our team.

Here’s a thought for our Graduate Members – What key parts of your Gift experience stand out in your memory now, and how do you feel your facilitators contributed to any takeaway messages you carry with you still today?  As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments…

National Volunteers Week

As is the case every year, the 1st-7th of June was National Volunteers’ Week.

This was the perfect time for us to shine a light on the vast benefits of becoming a volunteer, the diverse range of opportunities out there for people wanting to offer their time to volunteering, and is also a time for organisations to pay tribute to and offer thanks to their loyal volunteers. It is something that I first became aware of when I was training to be a volunteer with Homestart back in 2018 (find out more about my own volunteering journey in an upcoming post on charities).

Isorropia Volunteers

We are so thankful to all our existing volunteers and new mentors who are such a valued part of the Isorropia team. Due to some organisational changes, this Volunteer’s Week has fallen during a time of transition for our volunteers. We acknowledge the strength and resilience they have shown throughout their time with us so far and look forward to seeing them continue to grow and thrive.

Volunteering offers a fantastic platform for personal growth and positive change; this holds true regardless of how many hours you give or what skills and attributes you offer. Each and every volunteer has something special to bring, and we are so lucky to benefit from ours.  

If you are considering taking up volunteering with us in the future, then you will be happy to hear about some very exciting new opportunities coming up soon. Keep an eye on our social media platforms for further details on this, and Isorropia members will also be kept updated via our monthly newsletter, ‘The Navigator’. Please do take a look back at May’s blog post for local Island opportunities for volunteering if you’re eager to get started right away. There you will find a link to the wonderful ‘Isle of Wight Volunteer Centre’ website. So many great opportunities; check it now, as I wouldn’t want you to miss out!

Benefits of Volunteering

Volunteering has so many benefits, but the resounding thing we have found within the team here is that it was through volunteering that we were able to get back into employment following periods of ill health. Having mentioned to the team about the significance of Volunteers’ Week and wanting to mark it in some way, I was delighted to be able to share with you some of the stories of how volunteering has helped us to get to where we are today both professionally and in terms of our own feeling of wellness.

The Isorropia Team’s Volunteering Stories

Becky – Wellbeing Coach

Becky volunteered within NHS Secondary Care, having spent a period of time as a service user. Becky was initially invited to sit on interview panels, sharing her thoughts on potential new staff members from the valuable point of view of a service user. Following this, Becky began co-facilitating group sessions alongside a mental health nurse. Both opportunities helped Becky’s self-esteem to grow and her mental health to improve.

Ultimately, Becky successfully gained employment within the NHS, having been out of work for many years. Volunteering had left her feeling able to push herself out of her comfort zone in an environment where she felt valued, safe and supported:

“I hadn’t worked for years so was incredibly nervous. The staff and manager were so kind and were really keen to hear my feedback on the interviewees. I felt really included and part of a team for the first time in years. I felt my self-esteem grow where there had been none for a long time. I enjoyed it so much. 6 months of volunteering gave me the confidence I needed to get back into work. Volunteering saved my life I’m sure of that, it’s one of the best and most scary decisions I’ve ever made and I’m so glad that I did!”

Becky Grice-McGrath

Tom – Supporter Relations Lead

Tom credits volunteering as a major part of his personal recovery journey. Like Becky, Tom also volunteered within the NHS initially, following a 4-year period as a service user. Tom began by offering his time: 2-3 hours, a couple of times a week, before taking on the role of Volunteer Service User Representative. Through this role he met Isorropia Foundation’s CEO Vicki Haworth and was subsequently invited to join Isorropia as a volunteer.

“I wasn’t sure I was up to the role (self-confidence and self-esteem still at the ‘work in progress’ stage!) but I came to see what Isorropia did and meet the team. I knew I wanted to get involved somehow. It felt special and in tune with my own values around wellbeing. Volunteering led to me getting the brilliant job I have now. I no longer require medication; and my life is full of family, friends, hobbies and soul-nourishing wellbeing.

Volunteering was one of the essential stepping stones to overall wellbeing. Without it, I wouldn’t have become the whole, healthy, happy person I am today. At the time I saw it as giving my time and skills for the benefit of others – which it was – but I also gained massively from the experience on a personal level too.  As the expression goes: ‘it is in the giving that we receive’.”

Tom Ferguson

Charlie – Deputy Lead

After two bouts in recovery from drug misuse, Charlie began volunteering for Isorropia Foundation, which eventually led to employment as a Wellbeing Coach, gradually moving upwards into his current role as joint Deputy Lead, working alongside Natalie Streets.

“Volunteering for Isorropia allowed for me to build my confidence around full-time work at my own pace, and it’s only thanks to this opportunity that I eventually got given the opportunity to join as a member of our wonderful team.”

Charlie Stevens

June – Administration Lead

June currently volunteers for Beavers when her son attends, usually supporting on walks. In September, June hopes to transition with her son up to Cubs and continue offering her time and energy for this brilliant cause. Previously, June volunteered in her local community, at Sunday School and Church Choir for a few years when her daughter was involved. June arranged drinks and biscuits for everyone, which I am sure was always hugely appreciated!

“I wasn’t unwell, yet I had gone through a tough time with my ex-partner and the comradery of this volunteering and having a purpose to do good (as my job was a nightmare at the time!) was really felt to give me good vibes and made me feel I was worth something again.”

June Kinnair

Lisa – 16-25 Transition Co-ordinator

Lisa volunteered for the Richmond Fellowship as a support worker until this organisation underwent operational changes, re-opening as Safe Haven. Lisa played a big part in helping to design the service crisis team and, subsequently, Isorropia Foundation.

“On returning to my wellness, I volunteered for Richmond Fellowship, Safe Haven and Isorropia Foundation. This gave me an opportunity to get into my wellness quicker.”

Lisa Fennessy
It’s a Process

One thing I will say is that no matter how ready we may feel to get back to work after illness, it isn’t always that simple. I know that following my own spell of psychotherapy and group work with CMHT I felt absolutely ready and quite impatient to get started back on a career path of some description. It took me several more years and various different volunteering opportunities before the timing was right, and I eventually found ‘my place’ with Isorropia Foundation. I personally believe that things happen in perfect timing, and with a more spiritual approach to life now, that everything happens for a reason. I do, however, struggle when I can’t quite see or understand what those reasons might be, but I try to take comfort in ‘trusting the process’. I’d love to know where you stand on this. Are you a believer in allowing things to unfold at their natural pace, or do you like to grab the reins and make things happen? What do you think are the benefits, if any, of both approaches?

“To trust the process means to know and have faith that there is a divine plan moving through you and your life in any moment.”

Connie Chapman
Your Stories

If any of you reading this now, graduates or non-members, are thinking back to a time when you have volunteered, we’d love to hear about it. What one thing has been the biggest benefit to you since you began volunteering? Or are you someone thinking that volunteering might be something you’d like to dip your toes into and that now might be the perfect time? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. We love finding out how members have been keeping busy since graduation and are always eager to know what else is going on in the Island community. Imagine how many people you could inspire by sharing your story.

Update on Community

With a touch of nostalgia, we bid farewell to a few of our cherished social groups that concluded their journeys this past month. Vicky-Shaw Yates (Community Co-ordinator) will, however, be continuing to explore options to find and access specific, funded community groups for our members, such as the hugely successful Fishing Group that is currently taking place, courtesy of Black Rock Fishing Charters.

These changes have occurred following extensive engagement events and feedback forums with members, graduates, volunteers, and our team. We are confident that our new approach will give more consistency and reliability. Additionally, these changes will create closer links with our local areas and communities.

Our New Approach to Activity Groups

  • Our member’s voices will lead our approach, and we will achieve this through a variety of engagement forums.
  • We recognise that having social and activity groups are a fundamental need, and we will be investing our time into finding funding to facilitate these groups consistently and reliably.
  • Some groups will be time-limited to ensure that as many people have the opportunity to experience them.
  • Wellbeing days will become bigger and better. They will include our Island Community and will offer opportunities to link in with already established activity groups from across the Island. There will also be top-up sessions and a range of new activities!

The non-funded groups led by volunteers, including our sewing group and pain management group, will be moving into a new era whereby they are self-sufficient. The team at Isorropia continue to be excited and optimistic for the volunteers and members who have made these groups the wonderful spaces they have become, and we look forward to hearing all about what they are up to as they continue to grow in strength, confidence and numbers going forwards. You’ve got this peeps, so just keep going and do us, and yourselves, proud!

If any graduate members need more clarity around these changes, please check our Navigator newsletter for June via the closed ‘Isorropia Foundation Community’ Facebook page or by requesting a paper copy from the duty team on (01983) 217791. The same number applies to anybody curious about what we do here at Isorropia and all those wanting to work on improving their wellbeing (Isle of Wight residents only, I’m afraid). We have no waiting list and are eager to get you on board. Just think where you could be by the end of the summer! There’s no time like the present to make that call or drop us an email at hello@isorropia.uk.

That’s all for now from Inside Isorropia, so have yourselves a lovely time in the sunshine, don’t forget your sunscreen and remember to keep hydrated.

Have fun and take care out there,

Lucy xx

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back at the start of May, the weather appeared to be dragging itself incredibly slowly into Spring which was such a shame. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling the need for jumpers and even coats too which seemed to be required far later into the year than usual. This past week May has finally brightened up with more warmth and more sunshine; goodness knows we needed it!

With this being our first year here at Medina Valley Centre, we are seeing and experiencing all that nature has to offer around the site with fresh eyes and no preconceived ideas or expectations. I’m sure you are all aware that April-May is bluebell season here in the UK. My favourite way to enjoy bluebells is in woodland, where the flowers create a beautiful, blue carpet; a magical, breathtaking sight, and almost other-worldly. Here on the Isle of Wight, I believe there are a few good spots to enjoy bluebells; the only place I’ve actually been to is Mottistone Manor, a National Trust property near Brighstone. I recall the Bluebells did not disappoint! I eagerly awaited their appearance here at MVC and, whilst they did put on a show, my photos sadly never seem to do justice to nature!  If you’ve seen any beautiful bluebells whilst out and about on the Island or further afield, please do share in the comments. I fear it may be too late, but if you’re on the Island, why not get yourself down to Mottistone Manor and see if you can catch their bluebells before they disappear for another year?! (www.nationaltrust.uk)

We have had a quieter month in the community here at Isorropia Foundation but that’s not to say the organisation wasn’t busy doing other things. We held our first fully funded public Gift Course which was a lovely opportunity to show the wider Island community the amazing work we do day in and day out with our members. There will be more fully funded workshops taking place in the coming months so keep an eye on our social media pages to ensure you don’t miss out. This month also saw our first ‘after-hours’ workshop, a new initiative to ensure we are better supporting our members who have employment or caring responsibilities and those juggling the demands of childcare.

One of the most delightful things I’ve seen since my last blog post was the Mellow Mondays group which is funded and run by Gift to Nature. Members were invited to an outdoors session here at MVC where they could create a hanging basket made entirely from natural materials. The end results are so unique and so pretty, each containing a little strawberry plant which, weather permitting, should thrive and provide an abundance of fruit. How lovely is that…all taking place within our beautiful setting, with the wonderful sound of birds all around and views of the river to boot! Bird identification cards were also provided (see photo at the top of this post), making the session informative as well as productive and fun 🙂

Did any of you manage to listen to the Island Stories podcast earlier this month when our CEO, Vicki Haworth, was featured? I’d highly recommend a listen. You can follow @islandstoriespodcast on Instagram. CLICK HERE to listen to Vicki’s episode.

“We are that bridge between someone seeing their GP and feeling like things are going downhill but not actually quite needing to be on medication…we are there to try and prevent people from becoming more unwell.”

Vicki Haworth
Volunteering

The Big Help Out

How did you all spend the Coronation weekend? Did you do anything memorable with the extra bank holiday? King Charles III planned for it to be a day for ‘giving back’ to communities in some way, and it has been reported that 6 million people got involved! The campaign is ongoing, so why not check out www.thebighelpout.org.uk if you’d like to find out more; ‘Lend a hand. Make a change.’

Instagram @thomasandvisuals

 “Your purpose in life is to use your gifts and talents to help others. Your journey in life teaches you how to do that.”  

Tom Krause

Volunteering is something we in the field of mental health recovery are very passionate about. As a team with lived experience here at Isorropia Foundation, we have numerous examples of how our team and graduate members have benefitted from volunteering at times of challenging circumstances in their lives, and who continue to give back in times of wellness too!

I look forward to next month’s post where I will be marking National Volunteers’ Week by sharing some of the interesting roles that our team have taken on and how they feel it impacted their own lives and the lives of others. This will be such an inspiring read so please do check back in for that.

Benefits of Volunteering

The Big Help Out shared statistics from a study of 7000 adults, highlighting that 73% of volunteers said they felt volunteering gave them more confidence, 73% agreed it gave them new skills/experience and 89% said they enjoyed it! These figures reflect our own experience here at Isorropia Foundation where volunteering benefits both physical and mental wellbeing. It is most definitely a win-win in my opinion. If this is something you are keen to explore, and The Big Help Out hasn’t provided anything suited to your needs/interests, there is also an Island volunteering service which you can check out www.iwvolunteer.org for opportunities specific to the Isle of Wight. Here are just a few ideas to set you on your path to greater fulfilment and better wellbeing:

  • “Volunteer Photographer” – Social Heritage Ryde
  • “Kitchen Help” – Ventnor Wellbeing Cafe
  • “Land maintenance and fencing” – IOW Deer Farm
  • “Various Roles” – IOW Donkey Sanctuary

I can’t see any negatives to getting involved with volunteering in your local communities. This ties in beautifully with Key 5 of our Keys to Wellbeing – ‘Connect to Meaning and Purpose’. I’d really love to hear your thoughts on this. If you’re a member of Isorropia and would like a chat with one of our Wellbeing Coaches about volunteering and taking that brave step out of your comfort zone, just give the duty line a call. We would love to hear from you.

Change

Glanville

After six and a half months based in our new office at Medina Valley Centre, the team were all feeling pretty well settled and at home in ‘Glanville’. But, as we like to remind our members on the Wellbeing Programme, ‘change can be a good thing’ and we very much like to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk here. As such, we were delighted to hear that sufficient progress has been made in the main building that we are now able to move out of the ‘outbuilding’ and into our new upstairs office, overlooking the river with even more beautiful views than those we’d grown accustomed to! This was always the intention from our first visit to look around the site back in September 2022 but various different things had to be completed and actioned prior to this move being made. It is a slightly different set-up, with a few smaller offices for us to occupy, as opposed to one large, open-plan space. This is an adjustment and there will always be little hiccups to overcome when things are changing, but the team is strong and they will most definitely find themselves settling in and feeling ‘at home’ again in no time at all, I’m sure.

Glanville Fritillary

We can learn so much from nature and our location here at MVC is absolutely perfect for this. You may not be aware, but Medina Valley is one of a few, very select UK locations that have been blessed with the presence of a rare butterfly called the Glanville Fritillary (our office namesake) Medina has a rich history of flora and fauna due to its riverside setting and concerted efforts to protect its habitats. The Glanville Fritillary is one of the many species that visitors to the site should be avidly looking out for, as it would be such a treat to be able to say that you have seen one. My online research provided clear evidence to support this view.

Lifecycle of a Glanville Fritillary

  • Eggs are laid on the underside of the foodplant Sea Plantain or Ribwort Plantain
  • Emerging caterpillars are yellow/white with black heads
  • Whilst living in silken webs the caterpillars undergo colour changes, developing a black body and brown head
  • Glanville Fritillary caterpillars will hibernate in August, overwinter until early Spring when they become active once again
  • By March/April caterpillars are fully grown at 25mm with a black body, red head, red/brown prolegs, black spines and white speckling
  • In thick vegetation, pupation will then take place, with chrysalis attaching to a plant stem and butterfly emerging around 3 weeks later
  • Peak flight period for Glanvilles is from 20th May until the first week of June (although they may be seen throughout June and into July)
  • Flight period is affected by the onset of Spring (potentially meaning earlier or later sightings) and poor weather in June (bringing the season to an earlier end)

Population Locations

  • The most significant population in the UK is on the South Coast of the Isle of Wight
  • The Hampshire coastline is now also able to boast a small population
  • Sand Point in Somerset is the only other recorded population of Fritillaries in the UK (although they are also found in the Channel Islands and throughout Europe)

(wildlifeinsight.com)

Island Sightings

  • East Wight – Wheelers Bay to Horseshoe Bay
  • West Wight – Compton Bay/Shippards Chine, Brook Green, Sud Moor, Chiltern Chine to Marsh Chine

Colonies of Glanville Fritillaries exist primarily on sandstone and clay exposures of undercliffs and chines, and on clifftop grassland above (www.hantsiow-butterflies.org.uk) Obviously, our habitat at MVC is quite different to that, so it is interesting to me that this species is still drawn to the area. However, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Butterfly Conservation state that during bumper years Glanvilles form transient colonies further inland, even reaching the northern coastline! So maybe this is what’s been happening in the past when MVC has hosted these rare creatures. I’m no expert! But I do think butterflies are amazing and incredible, going through so many changes within their life span. So many artists use this cycle to inspire creativity and particularly linking into wellbeing and how we, as people, need to accept that we evolve and change throughout our lives and that this is not a bad thing.

Instagram @tam.creates
Instagram @cm.writer
Evolve

May 15th – 21st is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. This is very close to our hearts, being as Isorropia is a mental health and wellbeing organisation and we have a variety of helpful, thought-provoking posts going out on our social media pages. Do take a look, particularly if you suffer from Anxiety as that is this year’s theme. Don’t forget that we also run ‘Mastering Anxiety’ workshops for our members. If you are a member and would like to book a top-up, please do get in touch or you can book in the usual way via your Bookwhen link. If May has been challenging for you and your anxiety appears to be worsening, this could be the perfect time to reconnect with your fellow members and have a refresh of those tools and tips that we know can be so helpful when we remember to use them.

Instagram @gladyourehereco

We at Isorropia Foundation are increasingly proud of the work we do for our Island community and, more than anything else, feel a sense of pride in the individuals who join us on the Wellbeing Programme and work hard to embrace change and show commitment in ‘Adopting an Open and Positive Mindset’ (Key 4). Our organisation is constantly evolving as we look to improve and adapt, ensuring we continue to provide the very best opportunities for our members. We may well have had the occasional bump to navigate along the way to get us where we are today, but this is normal for relatively new organisations as they grow and learn what works and what doesn’t. We do acknowledge wholeheartedly that change is not easy. But it is almost always worth it. We empower our members to overcome any difficulties they face in their day-to-day lives by using the tools they have learnt in the workshops to assert themselves and tackle any problems they face with an effective communication style. When we see our members managing their own wellbeing and pushing themselves further than they ever believed possible it is a wonderful feeling. It really does feel sometimes, as if we are watching people transform before our very eyes!

If any Islanders are reading this and are currently struggling with certain changes, or indeed challenges in their own lives, please do reach out. Our Duty line is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and we can have you signed up for the Wellbeing Programme within 2 weeks. We have no waiting list! Contact us HERE. To see the services that are available in your area CLICK HERE. Please know that you are never alone.

Until next time,

Lucy xx

P.S. One small change to mention before I go: I’m actually going through a bit of a transition myself at the moment! For any members who know me as one of Isorropia’s Wellbeing Coaches, please be aware that I shall now be taking on more of a behind-the-scenes role within the organisation (which means I won’t get to see your lovely faces as much as before). Look out for next month’s post for more details of what I’ll be doing instead!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi everyone, and welcome back to Inside Isorropia – The Blog.

I have been enjoying all the little pops of colour that have appeared in and around MVC over the past few weeks. Spring flowers are such a blessing; there is nothing quite like bright yellow daffodils to spark joy and optimism after a long, grey winter. I adore hyacinths, too, as they smell absolutely divine, so I was more than happy to venture onto a rather soggy lawn to catch a photo of this pretty pink one.

It is difficult to resist snapping pictures here at Medina, especially on a sunny day; at every turn, there’s something that seems picture-postcard-worthy! What things do you most like to take photographs of? Do you find yourself using your phone to capture images when you’re out and about or do you prefer your time in nature to be device-free?

Celebrate

Celebrating successes, no matter how small they may seem, is a pivotal part of wellbeing. This is a message we continually share with our members and why, as a team with lived experience, we make a special effort to role model this. We know many find receiving compliments or celebrating themselves deeply uncomfortable. This is often due to negative core beliefs that have developed throughout a person’s life. On the Wellbeing Programme there are workshops available which challenge negative beliefs, including ‘Inner Critic’, ‘Mastering Anxiety’ and on The Gift Foundation Course. We also provide opportunities within ‘Wellbeing Planning’ and ‘Gift Follow-Up’ sessions to share member successes and celebrate them within a safe, familiar environment. This is a gentle way to facilitate a change in established, unhealthy thought processes and a development of ease around self-love and the acceptance of praise.

March was jam-packed with activities at MVC, each providing a perfect opportunity to welcome new people and organisations to Isorropia. The first Isorropia Bake Off competition took place at the Easter Wellbeing Fayre with member, Kez, being awarded first prize for her Sugar-Free Cheesecake and Saffron taking second place with an Easter Carrot Cake. Many congratulations to both, and a huge thank you to all the other entrants who provided delicious baked refreshments for the event attendees.

The fun didn’t stop here on site, either. Out in the Island community, the Vectis Radio awards were held, and it was wonderful to see our Community Engagement Lead, Tasha West, being so well supported by friends and family as she was celebrated for her valuable contributions to our Community Umbrella and our monthly newsletter ‘The Navigator’. Congratulations, Tasha, you are amazing! It has also been a very successful month for our wellbeing coaches, with Laura passing her Corporate Wellbeing Coach course with a Distinction and Molly getting a personal best, despite injury, in the Southampton Half Marathon (whoop. whoop!!)

Image: Vectis Radio Awards

Last but not least, we had our first Team Wellbeing Day of 2023 at the end of March. There was a team-building challenge in which we were tasked with creating something to ensure the safe passage of an egg when dropped from the top of a ladder to the floor! With minimal equipment, including paper straws and string, three teams planned, made, and tested designs with a strict limit of only two eggs per team. A great deal of fun was had by all, and I’m thrilled to report that I was on the winning team along with wellbeing coach Laura Crew, Supporter Relations Lead Tom Ferguson, Volunteer Co-ordinator & Community Manager Vicky Shaw-Yates and our aforementioned volunteer Tasha West. Our prize, first choice from a selection of mini chocolate eggs, yum! Obviously, we opted for the Cadbury’s classic (do any other mini eggs actually need to exist?) Our approach to the task was a combination of a (not-so) snug-fitting paper straw basket, paper straw snippings to pad out the excess space, Sellotape padding, an additional paper straw as an outer buffer, followed by excessive quantities of scrunched-up tape to create a large ball effect. It was finished off with a decorative smiley face. And why not?? 😊 See below for a few photos of the team having a blast. If you’ve ever taken part in any team building exercises/lateral thinking tasks that you think we could attempt to try, pop your ideas in the comments, and we could well be doing it on one of our upcoming Wellbeing Days.

Image: Team building exercise with Neil S and Nat
Image: Team building exercise with Neil S and Nat
Image: Team building exercise with Lisa, Hannah, and Nat
Image: Team building exercise with Lisa, Hannah, and Nat

Whilst there is a great deal to be said for teamwork and pulling together, Isorropia places a big focus on Empowerment and encouraging our members to take hold of their own lives and their own futures. As such, I’d like to share some more details about how we do this for our members in a way that ensures they still feel safe and held.

Grow

Throughout our Wellbeing Programme members will be reminded that they themselves have the power and, oftentimes, the answers needed to move themselves forwards and out of any difficulties they may be experiencing. The workshop content aims to raise people’s self-awareness, and it is this which allows for personal growth to begin to take place. The psychologist Nathaniel Branden suggests that positive change can happen when a person first develops awareness and then masters acceptance (linkedin.com – ‘Self-awareness is the first step towards personal growth’ 27/05/2021). At Isorropia, we often refer members back to our 3rd Key to Wellbeing ‘Embrace Acceptance and Letting Go’, acknowledging the importance of these wellbeing/life skills.

Self-awareness

Wright State University highlights that by learning and knowing as much as possible about ourselves, we can gain a better sense of who we are and create a vision of who we would like to be. This then allows for plans to be put in place for a person to work towards reaching those ideals. We like to call this goal setting, and it is something our members do an awful lot of throughout their Isorropia experience. Even when they are thriving under our community umbrella, the opportunities remain for them to attend Wellbeing Planning sessions, Gift Refresh courses and, for our volunteers, the invitation to attend training sessions, reflective practice, supervisions and team wellbeing days. This all contributes to that ever-growing knowledge of self that is so important to develop and maintain for ongoing wellness.

Image: Drawing or person watering a plan with tthe text "helping others grow helps you grow too."
Image: @elziebug on Instagram
Healing

We emphasise throughout everything we do here at Isorropia the importance of social connection, and this is most often explored via Key 2 – Develop a Healthy and Balanced Lifestyle and Key 5 – Connect to Meaning and Purpose in Life. This is something I’ve discussed in previous blog posts, so check back if you are interested in reading a bit more about our awesome community.

Quote by Bessel Van Der Kolk: "Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives."
Image: Quote by Bessel Van Der Kolk

There is much to be said for the personal benefits of being a positive, supportive influence on others – another huge factor in why our members experience so much personal growth during their time with us. As part of our volunteering programme, we encourage those graduates who thrive around this concept to consider becoming mentors for future members.

“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”

‘All About Love’, Bell Hooks

This quote from American author Bell Hooks was shared on Instagram by @selfcareisforeveryone to mark Black History Month, and I feel it encapsulates all that we could ever hope to achieve with and for our members here at Isorropia. The quote was accompanied by the caption:

“We are all in need of a caring community that truly sees us on our respective self-care journeys, in order to heal.”

This is backed up further by ‘The School of Life London’ who claim that:

 “There can be nothing better than discussing things within a warm and sympathetic group of people who know all about troubles, who don’t judge and with whom we can feel less alone.”

I hope that this ‘caring community’ and ‘warm group’ described above is exactly what our members experience when they come to us, often from a place of isolation, so that they may feel assured enough to take those difficult first steps on an unknown path and continue on towards transformation, wellness and fulfilment. This is not to take anything away from the remarkable work our members do for themselves. Empowerment is huge for us as an organisation, and as wellbeing coaches, we are here to help facilitate change. Our members know that they are required to do the work – take the steps and put the ideas into action in their lives – we simply plant the seeds. They have to find the courage and confidence to proceed, and more often than not, they absolutely do!

“Your purpose is not the thing you do. It is the thing that happens in others when you do what you do.”

@drcarolineleaf

One of the most rewarding parts of the work we do at Isorropia Foundation centres around the person we see at the end of the Wellbeing Programme, at the point of Graduation. This is when we get a clearer insight into the changes that have occurred for our members, from their own personal perspective and expressed in that member’s own words. We, of course, will have seen this transformation happening over a period of time, but it is a powerful moment for both members and coaches to have that opportunity to reflect back on the whole experience and to acknowledge just how far a person has travelled on their wellness journey. Often there are significant improvements in areas including health, mood, emotional stability, connection and stress. Some members may have reduced their medication, increased their working hours, or signed up for further education. Many members have described the steps they have taken towards recovery here at Isorropia as life-changing. 

This is what it is all about! Check out this amazing feedback from one of our recent graduates:

“The skills knowledge and self-awareness I have learnt has truly been somewhat life-changing. Everyone I have met on this journey has been inspiring brave and resilient, and passionate to educate and encourage others to become vulnerable and their true self with no judgement. The Island is a brighter place thanks to Isorropia. I can not wait to see you continue to grow, inspire and create hope for many others on their journey to wellness. Thank you so much for helping me to become me again.”

Feedback from an Isorropia Member

This is why we are here, and it is this that drives us forward… to continue making a difference in the lives of those who need it most and who are brave enough to take that initial first step, willing to give our ‘unique’ model for wellness a try. If you’re interested in finding out more about Isorropia Foundation, please do get in touch.

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members”

Image: @allgood_thingss
Reset

Last, but not least, I’ve been thinking about the question I posed last time around…’What brings you joy?’ Given the time of year, you might want to think of it this way… ’what puts a Spring in your step?’ (humour me, please!)

It has come to light over the past couple of weeks that our team and coaches have quite a range of different activities that they love to do for leisure and self-care. I know I have a pretty long list to pick from when I get the opportunity to unwind and do something for myself. It actually makes it really hard to choose! Sadly, this can lead to procrastination, and (I’m hoping I’m not the only one struggling with this) time often ends up wasted on scrolling through social media. So it has been lovely for me to see the things my colleagues have been doing in their downtime. Check out these photos of the following activities and lovely Isorropia members. Have a think about who might be behind these wonderfully calming, inspiring images. Can you work out which activity belongs to who?

(Names at the bottom of the post if you need some help).*

As always, it would be lovely to hear what it is you do to reset and bring your life back into balance. Why not give some of these activities a try? If you don’t find it easy to prioritise yourself, or like me, struggle to make the best use of your self-care time, maybe book yourself in for a Wellbeing Planning workshop or have a chat with one of our coaches about the activities we have going on in the community right now. *Quick Plug* We are delighted (and incredibly lucky) to be offering our members their very own Fishing Group (exclusively for Isorropia graduate members). This will be starting in May, courtesy of Black Rock Fishing Charters and made possible due to a Sport England grant which aims to support people to be engaged and active – so there is no excuse if you’re feeling curious or inspired to give fishing a try! If you’re an Isorropia graduate member, contact the team on 01983 217791 to find out more details. Non-members can contact Black Rock directly to find out more about the services they offer to the public, visit their website HERE.

Have a lovely few weeks everyone and make the most of the sun when it shines; it really is so good for you 😊

Until next time,

Lucy xx

P.S. *Hannah, Molly, Maria, Jamie

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *