The Balm - an invitation for you as we gently ease into 2025

A gentle landing into January, anchoring words for 2025 AND an invitation for you to share space with me over the coming months...

Bitterly cold but awakening…. a view from one of my many walks in the first few days of January

Hello lovely one,

How are you feeling as we ease into this new month AND this new year?

My littlest had her first settling session at pre-school this morning and my eldest returned back to school yesterday. I am — as usual — swept up in the total paradoxical cocktail of emotions that these transitions bring.

How have the last few weeks treated you?

We had my youngest daughters’ 2nd birthday in between Christmas and New Year which saw me baking my first ever three tiered Vegan chocolate cake (Vegan because she is allergic to Dairy and I confess it did not look like this one on the recipe I followed). But it was actually a joy to create (not to mention delicious!) and having previously said I would never be a Mother who baked birthday cakes (because it is way too much pressure) I actually surprised myself!

As we edged towards the new (calendar) year the hugely intense emotions that my eldest had been expressing, and I had been feeling, (largely thanks to the massive hype up that occurs at school — a whole new experience for us this year!), simmered down as we embraced the magic of slow dark mornings with nowhere to be, cacao and candles, fires that were lit at the start of the day and stoked until we went to sleep, walks in the frost, mist, wind and rain (the weather here has been whacky!), festive films and a general feeling of hunkering down.

By the end of December, after the chaos of the Christmas build up I could finally feel, and see, all of our systems landing.

I have reached a time in my life where I largely love winter (apart from the cold - my body does not like cold thanks to an autoimmune condition). Darker evenings and mornings give an excuse to cosy up and make minimal plans, and my inner hermit just adores the simplicity of it. I don’t love the millions of layers that have to be fought with for little ones though… and I am not saying I don’t crave the light and warmth of spring and summer… but every season has a firm place in my heart and I truly see the depth and beauty in winter having embraced the slow down more and more in the last few years.

The gentle pace was what we all needed… and if I am honest I would have liked another week at least of that. My husband was off work and so I had the benefit of feeling like parenting responsibilities were shared and that is something my nervous system needs more of.

I totally switched off from all client work, and only dabbled a little with my own creative projects when the urge arose… which to be honest wasn’t very much. It was just so beautiful to fully sink into the pause.

It also reminded me of how much creativity thrives in spaciousness… the amount of inspiration droplets, ideas and clarity that landed into my awareness was almost overwhelming and now I am in the exciting and delicious phase of sieving through all of those insights and deciding what is truly alive (and lights up my sacral) enough for me to explore and bring to life.

My cake creation. Celebrating 2 years with V. Cacao (with little hands) and candlelight

Words to hold me…

Like many people now, I don’t make new year’s resolutions but I do confess to loving any form of ‘portal’ moment that provides an opportunity to pause, take stock, reflect (whether that is a month, a lunar phase, a season, a year) and re-evaluate my intentions and the way I am using my energy. I feel like these threshold moments are actually really important chances to create aligned foundations for the path ahead.

There may not be resolutions… but there is a calling and intention to support and guide me in the year ahead.

For many years now I have anchored to a word for the coming cycle, but last year, and now again this year, I got greedy and chose three!

In the quiet moments of darkness that have embraced me over the past few weeks, as I sipped cacao and watched my candles flicker while the girls played (and often also squabbled — because this is real life!) around me in the mornings, my words for 2025 arrived.

⋙ Presence

This one was tapping on my shoulder at the end of last year and is largely to do with me desiring greater presence with my children. It is a challenging state of being for me if I am honest, although I love the idea of it, so I think this is a word that I will need to ‘work’ with and let it guide me gently. On a very practical level, it starts with my cutting down on my phone usage. While I am not making a ‘resolution’ so to speak, I am resolving to find more healthy ways to use my devices.

⋙ Fortification

My dear friend Joleene shared this word in one of our circles last year and I just felt so much YES when I heard it. I want to feel fortified. Full of vitality and nourishment, full of vitamins and minerals that help me feel energised. One of the ways I know that I feel fortified is when I am supporting my body with herbal tonics, so I am looking forward to exploring that more this year with a herbalist once more.

⋙ Devotion

This one is to support me in committing to things a little more than I have done in the past. I am well aware that it is not in my make up to do just one thing, but I will admit that my very multi-passionate personality (and very probable neurodivergence) means that I am very quick to ditch something and move on. Sometimes this is totally right to do, but often times I bail out too early before I get to actually see the vision come to life. This year I am using the word devotion to keep me accountable to my longer term visions and the dreams that have been tapping me on the shoulder for a while now (but that I haven’t always fully given the attention they deserve).

Do you have a word or words to hold you for the year ahead? Or a phrase or affirmation perhaps? I would love to hear what they are in the comments below. Some beautiful ones were shared here in this note I posted.

Gentle walks to ground and nourish our nervous systems

How my words choose me?

I would love to say I have some special system for selecting these words, but honestly they choose me. I listen carefully to my bodily response to them as they drop into my awareness and fully go on how expansive and excited I feel about them. One of the biggest things I have learned in my Human Design journey is that when I listen to — and most importantly follow through and trust — my Inner Authority I really cannot go wrong. If I find myself ‘over thinking’ it then I know I have likely bypassed that precious inner guidance system.

Once my words have landed I write a list of things that support the embodiment of my words.

For example…

What supports my PRESENCE? Doing things that light me up and that I can immerse myself in, putting my phone in a draw so it is out of sight, removing the Instagram app from my phone.

What supports FORTIFICATION? Herbal tonics, walks in nature, spending time with people that really see me, ceremonial cacao, weight training, being in circle.

What supports DEVOTION? Ritual and sacred spaces, having others to keep me accountable to my dreams and visions (and lovingly steady me when I undoubtedly wobble), a writing schedule for my words on Substack, certain systems that bring an element of consistency without draining my spirit.

I would thoroughly recommend this as a little practice to support your words if you feel drawn to it and would love to hear your responses if you feel called to share.

On the topic of devotion…

Having been here on Substack for almost 2 years (that blows my mind a little) I feel like I am well and truly ‘bedded’ in now. Over the past twelve months particularly, I have listened to community through multiple surveys, experimented with different offerings and rhythms, and finally as we head into this year I have a sense of clarity over the space that I really want to hold here for those that choose to upgrade their subscription to a paid membership.

My weekly Wednesday pieces will continue to be open to everyone, there will be plenty of essays, (hopefully the Unravelling podcast will return) and occasional free practices (like this one here) but if you are called to journey deeper with me then I would love to introduce you to the revived and renewed membership space here…

The Balm is a landing space devoted to the fortification of women who are holding space for others.

Whether that space holding is through services offered within a business, through words poured onto page here on Substack, through motherhood and care-taking of others… this container is dedicated to providing a sacred wellspring to nourish and nurture the ones that hold… to provide a tonic for modern life, a balm to soothe, support and settle and a place to ensure that space holders feel well and truly HELD.

At the core of this space is a deep desire to support ALIVENESS and SELF ACTUALISATION in others.

All of my offerings within the membership space have the intention to gently nurture and support this pathway of reclaiming our innate aliveness AND ensure that as many women as possible are fulfilling the longings of their heart and soul.

I see this working as two pillars…

⋙ Self Tending for space holders to ensure they are supported and building their creations on strong and rooted foundations…

⋙ Providing a soul-centred online service that offers practical support and a community space to grow and expand their sacred heart work (be that an existing business, a dream of vision, or any creative outlet)

The Balm is a merging of both.

What to expect when you become a Member of The Balm…

As a Manifesting Generator in Human Design, and as a Mother of two young children, I have to find a balance between sacred structure AND the ability to spontaneously create as the urge (and space) arises. So while there will be some consistent themes and offerings, there will also be unexpected extras sprinkled in too.

Your membership includes…

⋙ The Restoration Session — every 4-5 weeks I will hold a live online 60 minute practice that will weave together ritual, gentle movement, Yoga Nidra and self enquiry prompts to support you in restoring aliveness and soothing your system. This will be recorded and shared to the library of practices if you cannot make it live.

⋙ The Heart Work Seasonal Planning Ceremony — around the start of each season I will hold a 60 minute session for you to deep dive into your heart and soul work. This will provide you with an opportunity to connect to the essence of your current creations, take stock of where you have traveled, and look towards what you are dreaming up next. These sessions will provide you with a community space for sharing, as well as a chance to stay accountable to your visions.

⋙ Monthly Sacred Business Audio Explorations — these will be short and sweet recorded audio workshops focused on weaving soulful strategy into your creations. There will be a chat thread opened for each workshop to allow for community conversation and accountability. The topics will range from month to month — and will be very responsive to the requests of our community.

⋙ Guest Heart Work Workshops — every few months I will invite a carefully chosen guest to come and share their expertise and experience in their own heart and soul work journey. These will be a combination of live/pre-records.

⋙ Access to the library of self tending practices to use whenever you need to replenish and restore your physical and emotional wellbeing. There are currently thirteen different yoga nidra and/or meditation practices that you can get instant access to here and more are on the way!

⋙ Discounts on my Mentoring offerings, Human Design readings and other workshops and offerings that are held outside of The Balm.

The investment will be £8 a month or £70 for a year (saving £26), Currently though — until January 22nd — The Balm Membership is running at the existing price of £5 a month, or £45 a year so if you feel called to join us now would be a great time. You can also use this link to get a one month free trial if you would like.

The first gathering…

⋙ The Restoration Session - Darkness & Day Dreaming

Saturday 25th January, 11am UK Time

Lay your body down and let the power of rest and space gently stir up your dreams and visions as we nestle into the darker months of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere anyway).

If you are already a member you can click here to be taken to the page with sign up links for the forthcoming sessions. If you aren’t a member already then please do click below to sign up.

I am excited to be walking this path with you into 2025. I truly wish you nothing but peace and gentleness as the year unfolds and am always here to receive your feedback and sharings as we travel together.

Until next time.

With so much love

Lauren

xxx

Hello to anyone who is new here… I am Lauren. A Mother of two daughters, Writer, Women’s Circle Facilitator, Sacred Business Mentor & Guide, Soul Branding & Website Creator and multi-dimensional human being. I walk with, and hold space for, others who are treading the tender path of their heart and soul work. You can find out more about this space and what to expect here.

If you enjoyed this piece and wish to explore my other spaces please use the links below to explore…

Motherhood Essays
Self-Tending Practices
The Unravelling Podcast
Sacred Living
Work With Me