Sparkle with Laura Currer

This week marks a year since the launch of NHS England’s campaign to raise awareness of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs). As part of the campaign, I had the pleasure of meeting the Queen Consort at Paddington SARC to talk about the vital role these services play in a survivor’s journey to recovery, something I understand the impact of first hand.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault or abuse, either recently or at any point in the past, your local SARC is there to help. Whether it was a one off incident or something that happened multiple times, support is available for you.

SARCs are available 24/7 to everyone, no matter where you are in the country, and offer confidential emotional, medical and practical support.

To find your local SARC, go to:

https://lnkd.in/e62CyWBX

**e

Most of my festive period has been spent like this… outdoors w/pup in (accidentally… 👀) matching outerwear 🐶💕

Over the next 24 hours, social media is going to bombard you with 1000 highlight reels, and calls for doing all of the things in 2023. And while I’m a huge advocate of looking back into the past and planning for the future, take this as permission, should you need it, to just be here today 🌳🤍🙏🏼

If you don’t feel like it, you absolutely don’t have to collate a reel of everything wonderful you’ve achieved in 2022- you’re still worthy and your achievements still matter, even if they don’t make it to a well polished reel for the gram. And your 2023 can and will still be all of the things (beautiful, messy, inspirational, gut wrenching and mundane- invariably- as life always is), even if you don’t write a list or make a plan before the strike of 12 tonight. You’re good. You’re enough. Right now, just as you are.

And to those of you who are making your beautiful highlight reels and finishing off your vision boards- we see you and celebrate you too! 💫

🤍 Honouring all of you, wherever you are today 🤍

With love and peace, Laura xox

#2023

Lord knows I need very little promoting to stop and reflect, but December always feels like it offers an extra invitation. A natural stopping point to look back, and forward, and ask…

💫 What have you done this year that you’re proud of?

💫 What have you experienced that you’re grateful for, be it something positive or something that challenged you and you overcame

💫 How do you want the last days of this year to look? What would you like to experience, achieve, or let go of?

As I ask myself these questions, this year I am taking this time to nest and prepare for what is looking like an incredibly full and exciting 2023. This looks like lots of Christmas lights, cups of tea, blankets and snuggles with the dog ☕️ 🐶 💕

Sending lots of love and Christmas sparkle, Laura xox

How good are you at celebrating yourself? 💫

This is a question I often ask clients, and it’s a question I was asked yesterday myself. In a fast-paced world of deadlines and not-enough-ness, things move fast and we can be driven by the next, next, next thing. And in terms of productivity- that’s great (until you burn out, that is)- but what about how it feels? 🤍

🌷 If you don’t stop and smell the roses, what’s the point? It’s like the old adage: if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound? If you don’t meaningfully mark and celebrate your achievements, what was the point? Often when we achieve the one thing that we thought would make us super proud and happy, we don’t appreciate it because we’ve already set our sights on the next big thing ✨

If feeling not enough or like you’re not achieving stifles creativity and productivity, then celebrating your wins is a valuable task in refilling your tank and keeping you going. It is not a waste of time. You deserve to celebrate and be celebrated 🎉

We hear a lot of stuff around “there was a time where you dreamed about what you have now”, and it sounds cliche and overused but it’s fu***ng true. That isn’t just an insta graphic line.

➡️ Really sit and think about how much you’ve achieved in the last 3, 6, 12 months. The last five years. Think about the person that you were then, and who you are now. SIT IN THAT moment, sit with that person that you were then. All she wanted, dreamed of, was working for. Introduce her to who you are now. Show her how it turned out. That all the work she put in was worth it 🙏🏼

Today, I invite you to journal on that. Journal on three things you’ve achieved that make you super proud 🥹 Then journal on three things that you would love to get under your belt over the remaining months of 2022. Journal how it would feel to achieve these things, what it would mean to you 🙏🏼 Then, keep coming back to this list and notice when you’ve met these milestones, and, instead of just moving onto the next thing, read the words you wrote about how much it would mean to. C E L E B R A T E that it is now a reality 💕

Big love, Laura xox ✌🏼💋

While I’m waiting for my cappuccino… ☕️

A note on “switching off”. We’re familiar with the concept of hyper-vigilance when it comes to looking for danger, but a fun quirk that no one talks about is that you will also likely be hyper-vigilant to opportunity too. While this might not sound like a bad thing, it can be just as inhibitive in terms of finding moments of peace and balance. Being hyper vigilant to opportunity can manifest as:

🏃‍♂️ FOMO
🏃🏼 fear of taking breaks in case opportunities disappear
🏃‍♀️ Never switching off for fear that your ‘good luck’ will run out, someone else will get an opportunity over you, or you’ll fall behind.

These are all traits that can manifest in great success, however it’s super important to remember that we can’t do this 24/7. We MUST stop and take breaks, and it’s safe to stop horizon-scanning and switch off. In fact, rest is absolutely necessary and essential to avoid burn out. Being hyper-productive can be a sign that we’re on form, but it can also be a trauma response as much as being super aware of risk or danger, and it’s important that we’re able to identify the difference and understand when to take a breather.

A great way to tell when we’re no longer on our game and coming from a space of trauma is it no longer feels fun, exciting or invigorating, and instead it feels desperate, fear-driven or overwhelming.

Did you know that hyper-vigilance doesn’t just apply to danger or threat? SAVE as a reminder or SHARE with someone who needs a reminder to slow down 🙏🏼

Love always, Laura xox

Let’s talk resourcing. We’ve all heard the metaphors about filling up your own cup and making sure you top up your tank. That tank is our level of resilience or resource, and it’s your (and only your) responsibility to make sure that it’s full… or at least, full enough. There will be times in life where we can pre-empt a lot of drainage on our resources, and we must actively counter-balance that to stay ahead of it.

Take this week for example. I’ve had a super busy week with lots of travel and exciting work projects. And while that’s been super exciting, it’s meant that my bucket has had a lot of withdrawals, without enough top ups to keep it ticking over. Bear in mind that stress, anger, sadness, and even excitement are all high energy, draining emotions, and they use up resource. It isn’t just the negative emotions that drain us, positive ones can too! (Think of a child overstimulated by too much excitement).

Later on today I have more travel and social commitments, and I knew that if I didn’t fill up, my tank would be running dangerously low, which could lead to me feeling burnt out, over-stimulated and dysregulated. Fortunately, through a lot of inner work we can start to identify these triggers for ourselves and pre-empt them before they materialise (effectively these are parenting strategies that we deploy with our own inner child).

For me today, that looked like setting my alarm early and heading to the beach for my favourite breakfast and a sea dip with pup. Grounding, nature, movement- all strategies that I know pour beautifully into my tank and top up my resource. Getting this in ahead of my commitments means that I’m not setting off on a three hour car journey and straight into a packed schedule without enough resource to be able to stay regulated and enjoy my trip.

If this is something you need to work on, a great place to start is writing a list of tools and tactics that fill up your cup- you’ll thank me (and yourself!) later 😘

Love always, Laura xox

Sacred ceremony with the sea 🌊🤍

Those of you who know me know that I’ve been into the Wim Hof method for about four years now, with a not-so-low-key obsession with the sea. There is a wealth of evidence to support the physical and mental health benefits of cold water therapy. If you’re someone who has experienced trauma or spends a lot of time in your head, this is a game changer, and something I recommend to clients often.

There are times when sea dips feel hard and tight, and there are times where it is absolutely nothing like it, blow your socks off magical. Last night was one of those times. It. Was. Perfect.

Stepping into the waves, allowing them to wash over me, it felt sacred. Healing. Transcendent. There is something about being so present in your body, so at one with nature, so alive but so peaceful.

If you haven’t tried this practice yet, I truly cannot recommend it enough. The wisdom of the sea truly never fails 🙏🏼✨🌊

Love always, Laura xox

On the theme of self-love… 💕✨

A reminder…

It’s all about perspective. Even in the face of adversity and challenge, we have the power to determine our fate. Does that mean toxic positivity, denial, or not acknowledging when really sh*tty things out of your control happen to you? Nope. But it does mean that even on the days where it feels hard, you have the opportunity to take control of what happens next for you. Maybe that next move is finding a therapist; maybe it’s going for a walk; maybe it’s picking up your journal, a paintbrush, or making a meal. Maybe it’s literally just getting up out of bed to brush your teeth.

Whatever it is, I hope you feel empowered to do the next thing that moves you a step closer to the destiny that you’re creating… 💫

Love always, Laura xox