01/10/2026
Maybe mental health isn’t always about asking:
“What’s wrong with me?”
Maybe sometimes it’s worth asking:
“What else is there?”
Because when we’re struggling, it’s very easy for the struggle to become the loudest part of the story.
I’m anxious.
I’m exhausted.
I’m not coping.
I’m too stressed.
I’m not myself.
And before long, the problem can start sounding like the whole story.
But it isn’t.
There is usually more to us than the difficult thing we’re experiencing.
There are the things that bring us joy.
The people we love.
The music that moves us.
The things our bodies can do.
The moments we feel capable, curious, playful or completely ourselves.
The parts of us that keep showing up, even when things are hard.
Sometimes looking after our mental health can be about making a little more room for those parts of our story.
Moving to music.
Learning something new.
Laughing at ourselves.
Taking a breath.
Feeling our feet on the floor.
Resting without having to earn it.
Spending time with people who remind us who we are.
Not because these things magically make the difficult stuff disappear.
But because the difficult stuff doesn’t get to be the only story.
That’s something I love about both adult ballet and Restorative Motion.
In ballet, you get to be a beginner, a dancer, someone who remembers, someone who forgets, someone who gets it right, someone who absolutely does not. 😄 You get to concentrate, move, listen to music, connect with others and experience yourself doing something.
In Restorative Motion, there is space to slow down, breathe, notice and reconnect with your body.
Neither is therapy.
But both give us opportunities to experience ourselves in ways that have nothing to do with fixing what is wrong.
Because you are always more than the problem you happen to be carrying.
So this October, alongside asking “How am I doing?”, perhaps we can also ask:
"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆?”
And then perhaps go one step further:
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕?”
