Shine a Light Coaching

15/09/2026

I may have been a little quiet on social media lately.

Life has been full of its own stuff and, sometimes, other things need your attention. But supporting the childless community is something I care deeply about, and that hasn’t changed.

I know there are so many people in our community who are deep in grief, grappling with their childlessness, or struggling with all the other curveballs that life can throw at us along the way.

And yesterday marked the start of World Childless Week 🩵

Now in its 10th year, WCW brings together a wonderful and incredibly varied programme of talks, conversations and webinars exploring so many different aspects of childlessness and life around it.

From grief and IVF to healthcare, ageing, caregiving, work, purpose, legacy, relationships, finding connection and navigating life beyond the dream we once had.

There really is something for everyone.

You can sign up to join sessions live and receive the links, and if you can’t make them live, recordings will follow on YouTube care of the wonderful Stephanie Joy Phillips

World Childless Week runs 14–20 September.

Take a look through the programme and see what speaks to you:

World Childless Week: What's On https://worldchildlessweek.net/whats-on

I’m actually writing this from France, where we’re spending a few weeks in our motorhome. So I’ll be dipping into WCW when I can, but I’ll also be doing plenty of sightseeing, swimming, reading and relaxing!

And perhaps that’s rather fitting.

So much of life after childlessness is about finding our way towards a life that feels like ours, rather than the life we once imagined.

For now, I’m enjoying this little slice of ours 🩵

Weekly meditation classes for childless not by choice. Come and join a group of women and move into the healing you need. 

16/08/2026

Today is the last day to submit an entry into World Childless Week take a look at the link below for more details. Entry's can be anonymous if you wish and can be anything from drawings, poems, photos, writing.

And if you're not already follow the FB/IG page and also sign-up to the newsletter to get all the latest info. The website itself is an amazing resource of carefully curated content from previous years be that for inspiration for your own entry, or resources in the form of previous webinars, books, support groups, therapists, coaches, health and wellbeing and so, so much more.

Last call.
If you miss out, see you next year!

Make your submission at: https://worldchildlessweek.net/submission-fact-sheet

07/07/2026

Tonight is the first night of "Empty" a play by Robert Nurden

Previews have already received rave reviews. 'Important', 'a rollercoaster' and 'a play that talks about something never heard on stage before'

Tackling the topic of unwanted childlessness.

The theme may be a highly unusual one: the heartache attached to not becoming a parent when you always wanted to be one.

Actors Hannah Gordon and Paul Kemp breathe passion into this little recognised corner of the human heart.

"Empty" has a five night run at the Drayton Arms Theatre, London.

Go along to be entertained and challenged in equal measure. This is a play for everyone, not only those of us who have endured the path of childlessness.

Bonus the theatre is air conditioned!

Double bonus Robert Nurden will be at every performance, so you'll have the chance to meet him. Also on Wednesday, 8 July (after the show), there will be a panel discussion on the issue of unwanted childlessness.

Would love to boost ticket sales for this wonderful play that Robert, the director, actors and everyone else involved have poured so much into.

More info here:
https://www.thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk/empty

Tickets here:
https://www.thedraytonarmstheatre.co.uk/tickets/empty

05/03/2026

Stop editing yourself.

​How many times have you edited an email to sound "nicer"?

Or held back a brilliant idea so you didn't seem "too much"?

At Shine a Light Coaching, I see so many incredible women dimming their own glow just to fit in. It's the "palatability trap," and it’s exhausting.

​The Solution: I’ve just started an early copy of "Beyond Palatable" by the brilliant Sophie Jane Lee, and it is the exact manifesto we need right now.

It’s a call to arms for every woman ready to stop playing small and start taking up space.

​As a coach, I’m already flagging pages to share with my clients. This isn't just a book; it’s a tool for transformation.

​SUPPORT & WIN: 🏆
To celebrate the launch, Sophie is offering a fantastic incentive. Send Sophie your pre-order receipt and you’ll be entered into a prize draw for some wonderful prizes!

Let’s support a powerhouse female voice and get this manifesto to the top of the charts 🥳

​Pre-order link and receipt submission email are in the comment
👇
​

14/02/2026

Valentine’s Day can stir up all sorts of emotions, can’t it?

From childhood crushes and secret admirers
to adult hopes, expectations and quiet disappointments.

I remember primary school so vividly. Wishing for a card from a certain someone. When it finally arrived I was so overwhelmed I cried and asked my friend to return it.

Wherever you are Mark Hunter… I am sorry 🤣

There were also the mysterious Valentines that appeared through our front door every year. No stamp. No address. Despite her annual denial, I always knew they were from Mum.

For a long time Valentine’s Day was about romantic love.

Now, as a coach who supports childless not by choice hearts to build lives filled with acceptance, purpose, self trust and joy, I see just how layered this day can be.

For some, you are in loving relationships and still grieving the child you longed for.

For some, you are single and carrying both the absence of a partner and the absence of a child.

For some, you are navigating complicated relationships, dating fatigue, or the quiet question of will it ever happen for me?

This day can gently or loudly highlight:

The love we have
The love we longed for
The version of life we imagined
The child who is loved deeply, even if they are not here

And that can ache.

This morning I realised something.
For years I was focused on who might send me a card.

I had overlooked the most important person.

Me.

So if Valentine’s Day feels tender for you this year, here is my invitation:

Write yourself a Valentine 💌

Not the fluffy kind. The honest kind.

A letter that says:

I see how hard this has been.
I see how much love you carry.
I see the strength it takes to keep showing up.
I see the woman you are beyond relationship status.
I see the woman you are beyond motherhood.

You do not need a partner to be worthy.
You do not need a child to validate your capacity to love.
You do not need a card to prove you matter.

Your heart is not empty.
It is expansive.

And if parts of you feel bruised or battered, they are not broken.
They are grieving.
They are tender.
They deserve compassion.

Today, extend love to every part of yourself.
Especially the parts that feel unseen.

14/02/2026

How lovely is this 🥰

Miller's Ark offers adult only days. If only I'd know about this place when we lived in Hampshire.

22/01/2026

Last winter, I shared my Winter Reflections Workbook.
And it still feels just as needed today.

January can be loud.
New goals. New plans. New versions of ourselves we’re told we 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be chasing.

But winter doesn’t ask that of us.
It asks us to pause.
To tell the truth about where we are.
To sit still, to tend to what’s underneath, not rush ahead of it.

This free Winter Reflections Workbook is for childless-not-by-choice hearts who want space to reflect without pressure.
To acknowledge what the past year has held.
To reconnect with themselves.
To gently consider what they want to nurture next, without forcing answers.

Inside, you’ll find guided prompts that explore self-love, identity, worth, grief, dreams, and legacy, all through a childless lens.

If you’re craving something slower, kinder, and more honest than “new year, new you”, you’re very welcome here.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:
👉 👉 👉 https://shinealightcoaching.co.uk/winter-reflections-free-workbook-2026/

You don’t need to be ready for the whole year.
You just need space to meet yourself where you are.

19/01/2026

Today actually is Blue Monday 💙

Last Monday I was premature and fully believed it was already here.
Which says a lot about how easily ideas land when we’re already carrying a lot.

As I head into the latter part of my working day, I thought I’d keep it simple.

I’ve allowed the blues of today be:
a new soft, warm and bright SeaSalt jumper
a pint mug bought from France (filled with tea of course!)
a swipe of YSL eyeliner that I've had for yonks

And that’s it.

If today has felt heavy, you’re not alone.
If it’s passed without much impact, that matters too.

Labels can give permission.
They can also quietly shape the story we tell ourselves.

So maybe the invitation now isn’t to feel any particular way, but to choose what you carry into the rest of the day and the week ahead.

And if you’re standing at the start of something, unsure of the next step, that’s still enough for today.

You don’t need to see the whole path to take the next step.

Be gentle with yourself as today comes to a close 💙

16/01/2026

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽.

A few of you messaged me after my Blue Monday post 💙

(even though it wasn’t actually Blue Monday 🫣)

You said things feel hard right now.

And that when a day is labelled as “blue”, it gives permission to feel sad.

But at the same time, it can quietly plant another message.

That this is how you 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 feel.

That heaviness is expected.

That this is just how Mondays are.

How all the days can be.

How life might be.

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲.

Because without space, without support, many of us return to the same internal place day after day. Our shoes-off self. The thoughts, habits, and emotional loops we drop into automatically.

Some people are still standing in the same place they were this time last year.

Or the year before.

Or the year before that.

This is especially true for those living with childlessness-not-by-choice, where grief often runs quietly in the background of everyday life.

That isn’t wrong.

It makes sense.

Especially when you’re carrying and living with grief, loss, and an unchosen life.

🥰𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

There is so much more to living than quietly getting through the same day, the same week, the same month, the same year over and over again.

Coaching creates space.

Space to notice patterns.

To understand where your mind and body go when no one is holding the torch with you.

To question what you’ve accepted as “it is what it is”

To uncover where you're selling yourself short.

And to begin choosing something different, at your own pace.

I work with childless-not-by-choice folk who are ready for that deeper, compassionate work. To create space, notice patterns, and shift how they’re living.

If something in this has landed for you, I’m here, send me a message or book a call here https://calendly.com/shinealightcoaching/discovery-call

📸 Unknown paths can be beautiful - this one in Greece reaches down to a private beach

14/01/2026

What a donut!

Small confession.

I’d been talking about Blue Monday, and then one of you lovely lot told me… it’s actually next week 🤦‍♀️

Two people had mentioned Blue Monday to me. I believed them, trusted them, didn't question at all and so off I went looking for ma blue grid.

Which honestly reinforces the point.
When you’re tired, tender, or already carrying a lot, ideas land easily.
Labels stick.
Stories shape how you feel.

Consider this your reminder to question the stories you absorb so easily without realising. Including the ones you tell yourselves.

📸 Donuts in NYC that I have to be honest, much to my disappointment, were not all that!