Marianne Swift Therapy & Yoga

You know what makes life a little sweeter?

Being in a field

Being in the woods

Being in the sea (hallelujah for the ocean!!)

Immersed in the outdoor elements- take your shoes and socks off. Feel the earth. Breath deep.

Swim in the sea.

Life outdoors draws us out of ourselves, our stories, our worries, our anxious predictions.

Being outside, immersed in the landscape around you, beneath you, that you can smell, taste, touch- can bring us deeper into our creativity, a quiet optimism, an awakening sense of self and a more relaxed brain state.

And how incredible it is to find a more relaxed brain state!

See if you can find a field 💗

What is it to actually be.... Present? What difference does it make to our beautifully messy human existence?

I've been reflecting on this lately.

I'm my online presence, I'm absent. Partly because in my real life, not online, everything is calling to me to be much more present. This feels like a natural choice.

The aliveness of running a business, in the hopes (but not always succeeding) of being a responsive parent, in making space to actually, meaningfully connect with those in my life. Life demands and deserves presence.

Let me say, with compassion, that being present absolutely not something we can strive to achieve all the time. So let's take that pressure off. However, I have realised again and again (we forget!) the power of being more present. And I'm reminded, again and again (!) that it is a practice that takes effort.

A practice to drop in to at points in the day.

Maybe when you're relating to someone ( but your mind is distracted with what you need to be doing, or focusing on giving your own opinion) or giving your attention to something or someone that really matters to you. Or those moments you're deeply craving connection but can't find your way to make that happen.

Or how your mind is thinking non stop and jumping from one thing to another

Maybe it's in those moments when you notice just how you're breathing. And how are you breathing?

It's in the CHOOSING and the noticing.....

Choosing to not default to living in the worries or stories of the past, nor the projections or fears of the future. Choosing to really consciously listen. Choosing to not just default to distraction. Just here. Right now. In this moment.

Here's the thing. Being present is not always easy (I know this). It takes practice. To begin to override the mental conditioning of just keep distracting yourself, scroll on, watch something, distract, not really listening to what people are saying.

I'll continue to be low visibility on here while my presence is filled up elsewhere. And I'm at peace with that.

With love x

I support a lot of busy people with their anxious feelings, in all the ways it shows up.
You might relate. You might be a high functioning individual who is thriving in so many ways. Yet in the day to day you might feel: highly reactive, overwhelmed, exhausted, waves of anxiety, struggles with the mental "load" of life and have a habit of worrying. Naturally, this often goes hand-in-hand with relationship conflict.

As humans, our brains are incredible at forming patterns - patterns of thinking, patterns of behaving. However, It's the same with feeling anxious and on-edge, our brain gets used to feeling this way and our survival brain gets a bit overactive.

We start to predict (subconsciously) that we should keep feeling anxious and vigilant because it kept us safe yesterday, and the day before. This is what our limbic system (survival brain) is supposed to do!! When there is
REAL danger.

But when there is no real threat, we experience anxiety just from our worries and tension alone, our body interprets these signals as real danger. This forms a pattern of feeling anxious and wired every day.

This is where I can help, with solution-focused hypnotherapy. It really works.

Why? Because it's empowering and can genuinely be transformational.

I support you to think and behave differently, and build new lasting patterns for your brain to trust. Anxiety drops.

My clients tell me weekly how much improvement they feel

More responsive, less reactive

More in-control

More hopeful

More at peace

Better relationships

Curious? Drop me a DM and we can arrange a relaxed & friendly chat about how this could work for you 🌀

January for me is for daydreaming.

Not pushing, no resolutions, no hard deadlines.

I'm trying to keep things soft in January. As few hard edges as poss.

The energy I'm bringing in this month is long lazy mornings, slow coffee, phone calls with distant pals, remembering what I love and what roots me, reconnecting with my BFF: yoga nidra, more books and less screens.

Daydreaming about what lightness, spark and adventure can pepper the year ahead.

Goals can wait for February.

January is for daydreaming.

🌀

How about you?

Coming in with some news- a change up to my yoga offering 💫

I'm now sharing my embodied vinyasa flow on a Tuesday at 5.30-6.30pm at (no longer Weds at fresh dance arts).

Yoga, for me, has always been about connection. Connection to your breath, your body, your emotions, connection to yourself..... This weekly flow will continue to centre around connection. There are sooooo many layers to explore when we keep this idea of connection alive.

I share from a place of huge curiosity about being human, in all its incredible, messy glory!

And with humility (I believe you are the expert on yourself and how your movement practice feels to you)

I share with playfulness, fun, softness, embracing the messiness of being human, sensitivity and always aalllllways curiosity about how we feel, how this changes and evolves.....and leaning into the richness and vastness of CONNECTION.

🌀

The pickle factory is in Easton, BS5 for you lovely local ones, and did you know there's also A SAUNA!! Yes I am just a bit excited about that combination ✨

Obviously there's no obligation to sauna 😅 but I wanted to make you know it's there - should you fancy nourishing your muscles in the way only a sauna can..... Especially after moving your body 💓

See you there one Tuesday?

(Bookable on my website or move GB)

With love x

You find slowing down hard. You sit down to rest but then feel totally overwhelmed and annoyed.

Sometimes it doesn't feel safe to slow down, nevermind rest. If you feel stressed or have high cortisol, slowing down or resting can feel impossible.

Your body might feel twitchy.

You might be mentally beating yourself up.

Try some movement first. Your nervous system might need to work through the feelings.

Shake or jump, stamp your feet, flash your hands.

Resting can feel near impossible when your nervous system is highly activated.

Let yourself FEEL and MOVE before trying to rest (even if it feels messy - especially when it feels messy).

When you feel less activated you send a signal to your nervous system that it's now SAFE for you to slow down.

Resting becomes a possibility.

Go easy, getting to know your nervous system is a journey!

NEW CLASS INCOMING....

And I'm back to sharing movement, east Bristol folks!

I'll be sharing a flow class, sometimes spicy and fiery, sometimes a little soft and somatic. Getting curious about how it is to be in this mind-body we have!

Wednesdays 7-8pm at the totally gorgeous Fresh Dance & Arts Centre in greenbank, Easton.

You can find me here from Wednesday 21st May ☀️

Join me for a mid week exploration? I don't know about you, but I find I'm often craving a mid-week shake up for my nervous system 🌀

Shaking up the body, shaking up the breath, shaking out the mind gunk!

And the lighter, brighter evenings can be the perfect place to explore this.

Curiosity led, we'll be exploring what it really means to move intuitively and practice feeling into that.

Breath led, always! Because how much do we really consciously notice our breath throughout most of the day? How we breathe, even in a short class, can shift mood and energy.

Anyone is welcome 💖

Booking in bio x