Not a Robot
I am not a obot,someone else has control.
Darkness has entrapped my soul.
The mind has been programmed
It has been jammed.
Feeling traumatised , with horrible flash backs
They are in disguise,racing past my eyes.
Oh why, oh why did I get this nasty surprise?
Did it have to be that size?
I am not a robot,someone else has control.
The Darkness has entrapped my soul.
The mind has been programmed
It has been jammed.
Kirstie Grainger
My painting (pastels) “hope”
I won a bill Pringle award for it (rethink) earlier this year.
So as I look into the future I always try to focus on the light, I need that light to know there is always hope.
The rocks symbolise how it can often feel to me to be in constant pain, heavy almost impossible to lift, but once again I must look up towards the light and remember there is always hope.
Samantha Boland
Peter Quarry is a multi-award-winning psychologist and speaker whose book, If I Were You – A psychologist puts himself on the couch is available in all good bookstores and online. LinkedIn: @PeterQuarry | www.peterquarry.com
Socrates famously said “an unexamined life is not worth living”.
He’ll be happy to know that I fully agree with him!
As a psychologist of over 40 years, I believe it is a good idea, from time to time, to step back from the bustle of daily life and take a good hard look at your self and your life – to ‘examine’ it. To ask yourself some deep and meaningful questions.How’s it going? Am I living the life I want to lead? What have a learned so far? What do I want to change, going forward?
This is an exercise you can do on milestone birthdays (30, 40 50, etc), or after a major change in your life (job loss, relationship breakdown, illness) or whenever you feel that life just isn’t working the way you want.
I have found doing a Life Review can lead to 3 major mental health benefits:
First, doing a Life Review allows you to make peace with the past. Many people have had difficult childhoods, possibly coming from broken families or abusive environments. Some had problems at school, getting bullied or dealing with their identities or sexuality. Perhaps early relationships didn’t work out. The effects f these traumas can be long lasting!
I had particularly challenging time when I was young. My father died when I was 3 and my mother, who had lost a child at birth before I came along, was way over protective of me. On top of all that, she couldn’t decide where to live, so I spent a good part of my childhood on the road.
For a long time, I felt angry and resentful about my childhood. “Why me? Why did MY father had to die? Why couldn’t I have had a normal childhood?” These feelings of victimhood spilled over into my adult life.
It was not until I did my Life Review, that I was able to look back and understand and forgive my parents – they did the best they could! But more significantly, I used a psychological technique called ‘reframing’ to look at that period differently. Instead of feeling a victim, I realized that the difficulties I encountered as a child taught me resilience and adaptability – two life skills that have helped me immensely in later years.
So, doing a Life Review helped me put those old ‘victim’ ghosts to bed and feel better about my past.
A second benefit of doing a Life Review is that you get to learn about who you are now. You start to understand yourself better – your warts and all! You come to see how you operate, what your ‘hot buttons’ are, and how others experience you.
There is a mountain of psychological research that shows that people with higher levels of this self-awareness, or insight, do better at school and work, have more satisfying relationships, and are better leaders. In other words, have better lives!
Finally, reviewing your life, no matter what your age, allows you to make changes going forward. When you have a deeper understanding of your past, and a clearer picture of who you are now, you can think more accurately about your desired future. What do you want to do more of and less of? What patterns of behaviour or thinking do you need to alter? What goals do you cherish that are yet to be fulfilled?
There are many ways to plan for an alternative future, including doing bucket lists and setting SMART objectives. One technique I used in my Life Review was to write the story of the next chapter of my life, from the perspective of me at a later date. So, at 65, I imagined that I was 80 looking back over the previous 15 years. It was an extraordinary exercise that helped me pinpoint some crucial changes that I wanted to make, as I get older.
Jane Fonda popularized the idea of doing a Life Review. Doing it for herself, she describes achieving a peace and self-awareness that she’d never experienced before, as well as identifying “regrets that need attention and dreams yet to be fulfilled.”
No matter what your age, taking the time to examine your life can help heal old wounds, deepen your self-knowledge and provide opportunities to make improvements, large or small.
My experience of doing a Life Review surprised me immensely. I now feel more grounded, calmer, accepting of myself and more confident about the future.
After the last two years of pandemic madness, that’s not a bad place to be!
‘Creatful is a brand new community company based in Hampshire, England. They are passionate about creativity and look to use it to improve wellbeing and social inclusion in local communities.
Creatful was born out of founder Nancy Fellows’s passion for bettering communities and her love of creative pursuits. Through what she learnt through her own experience with mental health struggles, Nancy is filling a gap in the wellness space for those people who, like her, crave a creative outlet and connection with others.
Nancy, lives in Portsmouth and has two children, ages six and eight. Nancy is a trained designer and worked in the corporate world for 14 years most recently as a senior business consultant.
In the depths of the pandemic, in 2020, Nancy found herself in the midst of a mental health crisis. Having lived with Severe Anxiety Disorder for seven years, Nancy noticed a dip in her mental health and knew that she needed help. She was diagnosed with depression and after being signed off sick from work, Nancy’s determination to get better propelled her to take action.
Unfortunately, Nancy’s recovery journey quickly hit a wall. To her surprise, she found herself stuck between two NHS mental health services, with nowhere to go. The mental health crisis teams deemed Nancy’s condition not serious enough to be a priority and the local NHS service deemed Nancy too risky a patient to treat. Nancy was on her own.
Shocked, but unwilling to give up, Nancy committed to embarking on her own wellness journey. She paid for private therapy and gladly completed the tasks set by her therapist after every session. This homework was helpful, but Nancy couldn’t help noticing that it was all focused on reading and writing – which Nancy found challenging, due to her dyslexia. Surely, there must be another way?
Nancy took the worksheets and activities she was given by her therapist and turned each of them into a creative exercise. They became more fun to complete and it was therefore easier to retain the information. By her last therapy session, Nancy had a collection of worksheets, perfectly suited for creative minds.
Through her experience of mental health service no man’s land, lack of success finding a local group to join and her creative journey through therapy, Nancy knew there must be other people just like her. What happens when those people don’t have the luxury of being able to pay for private therapy? And so, Creatful was born.
Creatful is a community interest company (Not for profit) they provide cross generational, inclusive social wellbeing groups and mindful creativity courses in Portsmouth. Creatful also shares mindful creativity tips, tools and techniques on their social media pages.’
This article is a special submission by Best Selling Author – Naomi Fryers. She has recently launched her book – A Very Long Way which is based on her personal struggles with mental health. Naomi Fryers is a #writer, mental health survivor and #advocate, #TedX Speaker and #author of A Very Long Way which will be #released on World Mental Health day. The book is a story of surviving and thriving with a mental illness, sometimes funny, heartbreaking and hopeful. Naomi has been a mental health patient in the system, but has also worked for many years as a professional in the mental health industry in both not for profit, government organization’s, advocating for progressive and systemic changes to the sector.
Naomi’s TedX speech on her mental health journey will go live in September. Her writing has been featured in Australia and the US including; The #Huffington Post, The Elephant Journal and The Good Men’s Project where she was an editor.
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Many current public mental health services are failing to address basic
human rights, particularly so for women.
My experience of the public mental health system is multi-faceted. I have
some time ago, been a patient. I was a consumer on a locked ward during
my mid-twenties after suffering a severe nervous breakdown. Some years
subsequent I was also employed professionally to enhance systemic and
practical patient advocacy, education, and support during care.
These positions have allowed me great insight into how our navigating
current systems can be overwhelming, intimidating and riddled with current
complexities and failings that continue to go unaddressed. Drastic reform
is required to address current inequalities that inevitably culminate in poor
patient outcomes for some of our most vulnerable.
One of the greatest barriers facing women accessing services is safety.
Inpatient settings can be volatile. A recent Royal Mental Health
Commission exposed the fact that gendered violence is still par for the
course in some of these settings. As a tokenistic nod to address these
issues some gender sensitive spaces have been allocated to consumers
feeling unsafe.
The answer to keeping women safe from male violence will never be to
confine women to locked rooms. Particularly those feeling vulnerable
already trying to recover in restricted environments. That is not a solution
that will come with therapeutic outcomes. These facts do stop some
consumers presenting out of fear. Many psychiatric presentations stem
from trauma, and the risk of compounding that trauma for many is too
great. A lack of bed availability in forensic facilities often heightens this
crisis.
Which brings me to the need for greater education by governments,
facilities, management, educators, and staff in receiving thorough
educations on trauma informed care and what that may look like for
individual consumers. I have seen first-hand, fellow consumers enter a
clinical patient setting, only to be discharged in a worse state than they
entered due to lack of communication, understanding, basic care and what
largely amounts to the systemic neglect of not having staff members
properly educated and aware of varying their approach with prior
experiences in mind.
Factually or conceptually, there is still a hierarchical power dynamic that
exists in many public mental health services. Intentional or not, the doctor
is often viewed as the superior due to their authority status. This ongoing
inequality fails to recognise the autonomy of clients regarding driving their
own recovery journey. The strength of a therapeutic alliance can and does
often dictate clinical outcomes, so patients feeling subordinate to their
treating team may not achieve optimal levels of self-actualisation in their
recovery. Perceptions need to change to empower individuals to realise
that while guidance may be required, they are the indeed the experts in
mastering their own recovery. This would go a long way to promoting self-
determination.
Additional funding needs to be made available to women who require
perinatal care. Often in the public system there are lengthy waits for stays
in a perinatal facility for mothers and their babies to receive adequate care
and treatment for things like postnatal depression, postnatal anxiety, and
postpartum psychosis.
Any delays in treatment, pose obvious risks to women and the wellbeing
and general safety of their newborn and children. Periods between
episodes of cyclical mental illness demonstrate that early intervention and
greater periods more often host better holistic outcomes. Making women
wait for essential services during that can be the most challenging days of
their lives, is inhumane. Resourcing needs to prioritise the health of
mothers and newborns so that optimal outcomes can be demonstrated.
Governments periodically promote the needs for an increase in birth rate so
it’s hard to swallow that they are then not directly responsible for ensuring
the safe and immediate accessibility of crisis support services including
inpatient units.
On top of that many of our current service delivery models lacks agility. Too
often this means services are stretched by over-servicing those who are
deemed most ‘at risk’. That is the case simply because bureaucratic
parameters exist around which providers can deliver which essential
services with which training. This means that those who aren’t in
immediate crisis can face lengthy waits and further delays, be shuffled
between services and some even require re-referral by the time someone
becomes available to take up their case.
Obvious gaps still allow vulnerable people to fall through the cracks. But
also require them to undertake their own advocacy with ‘support services’
which is a challenge than those who are most unwell, may never be able to
meet. A one size fits all approach denies diversity of experience, culture,
education, cognitive challenges, neurodiversity, and varied abilities. This
approach will fail to meet patients where they are at. For example, clear
guidelines and contractual agreements regarding client / service
commitments and conduct may benefit some. But for those who can’t
speak English, are struggling with comprehension, or lack literacy skills-
they will likely prove quite useless.
Lived experience workforces understand these issues, having experienced
them firsthand. They are acutely aware that when clinicians refer to
medical jargon, presume knowledge, fail to educate, and use clinical
acronyms –patients can tend to become alienated from their own
treatment. Instead, mental health services should foster a culture that puts
the clients holistic care at the centrepiece of their model.
Clinical services should learn to make adaptions according to specific
patient requirements, with ongoing evaluation. This should have been a
reality a long time ago. It is the job of everyone moving forward to ensure
that women are not treated as subordinates and tended to like a tokenistic
afterthought. Women should not have to fight for basic human rights to
dignity and health, as though they are blessed privilege. Governments
around the globe owe it to women to ensure that basic support services
will stop leaving us in the dark.
A novel way to express my creative self!
I’ve always thought of myself as a creative person, and I’ve always been told I’m a creative person, but I had never thought much about what that really meant. I just did what felt good and what came naturally to me. When I was younger it was art and drawing, and later graphic design and photography. I always loved to sing and dance, but as a shy person, the fear of what others might think held me back. Drawing, painting and photography were ways for me to enjoy quiet flow states, and they definitely had a therapeutic purpose.
Being creative comes naturally to all of us, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a professional artist to paint, sing or dance. You don’t even have to share it; it might just be something for your own personal pleasure. In fact, thinking of creativity as only relating to the arts can be quite limiting. For example, my husband is a master at organising small spaces. If ever I need to pack a case, store stuff in boxes, or reorganise a cupboard, I hand the task over to him. He has this ability to make everything fit in just the right way, almost as though he can predict the available space—a bit like solving a puzzle. And there’s nothing quite so satisfying as standing back and admiring the handy work of a job well done! That’s creativity, and there are many ways to be creative and achieve that feeling of satisfaction.
What if the way we think about ourselves, and the fear of others’ judgement is what holds us back from the pure enjoyment of expressing our creative selves? A few years ago I decided to take a risk with something I’d never done before, and had no idea if it was something I could achieve. I had never thought of myself as a writer, and despite having since written and self-published a full length young adult novel—I still don’t! It turned out to be a way for me to channel all of my own learnings and experiences, and my hope is that the end result might inspire young (and old) adults to embrace their own creative journeys of self-discovery. What I found interesting was just how similar writing felt to drawing, painting, or even digital design. The layering of different elements to create this unfolding of events in the readers mind; and not only visually, but in a way that lights up all the senses.
The idea for the story came to me one summer when I was staying in the beautiful, picturesque Portuguese countryside. It struck me that the peace and tranquility that appealed to me about the place would probably be the worst nightmare of a modern teen (and even myself as a teen back in the 90s!) And so the coming of age journey of self-discovery, The Girl Who Woke Up, was born. Without her online connection, 16-year-old Clementina experiences some unexpected, yet positive side effects from her forced social media detox. Instead, her iPhone becomes a way for her to connect with nature and her surroundings when she discovers a passion for photography. She soon realises that there’s nothing boring or ordinary about any moment, and capturing the ever changing moments of life reminds her just how important it is to stop and take notice; to be a neutral witness to everything around her. It also gives her a sense of purpose and a way to share her unique view on life, and even inspires her to think about her future career prospects— something she always dreaded.
Another element that I weaved into the story was my interest in sound and music as a tool for healing and emotional wellbeing. Clementina meets a talented blind musician, who teaches her to ‘see’ things a bit differently. Music comes naturally to Noé, almost as if it were a built in ability. His musical compositions have a powerful effect on Clementina and seem to help and guide her into a calm and quiet state of mind. Music has always had a powerful effect on me, both positive and negative. In a way, it’s been an important teacher for me, helping to bring awareness to what I need to pay attention to. Certain pieces of music can help me drift into blissful states of relaxation and quieten down my busy mind, while others can uplift me and bring me out of a bad mood instantly! Then again, I also need to remain mindful of those songs that arouse emotions like grief and sadness and stir up negative self-talk. Clementina has a similar experience when a song stirs up uncomfortable feelings for her, which triggers a life-changing event she’ll never forget!
The most important theme I carried throughout the story was of self-healing. Having trained in several emotional development and wellbeing techniques, like hypnosis and NLP, I wanted to bring in some of these valuable, creative tools. When working with people to help them resolve emotional issues like anxiety, fears, phobias and unhelpful habits, I was always amazed at just how innovative our minds are, and how incredibly powerful our imaginations are in changing our
(perception of) reality. I’ve experienced this for myself many times, but still I have to constantly remind myself of my own power!
Ultimately, we are our own authors, and there is profound power in the stories we tell ourselves. My main character, Clementina, was oblivious to the stories she had been telling herself. But, as she becomes more aware of her thoughts and feelings, she starts to write them down. Pouring it
all out into her journal helps her to connect to her inner-world and she gains valuable insights that help her along her journey of self-healing. I’ve also found journaling to be helpful, especially when I have a problem to solve, or even a relationship issue. Sometimes writing things down is so much
easier than saying them out loud. Taking the time to slow down and process feelings and emotions through writing is definitely worthwhile, and who knows, you might end up with a novel at the end of it 😉
M.J.Royle Bio:
M.J.Royle is a writer and author of YA magical realism and visionary fiction. M.J’s keen interest in spirituality and self-development, combined with her background in design and advertising, led to the birth of an unexpected writing career and a much needed artistic outlet. M.J weaves almost 20 years of learning and experience in creative expression, personal alchemy and healing into her work and hopes to bring a little magic to the mundane through her inspirational stories.
Connect with M.J.Royle:
www.mjroyle.com
https://www.facebook.com/mjroyle.author
https://www.instagram.com/m.j.royle.author/
A collaboration composed of 4 audiovisual pieces that are articulated as postcards or impressions of the confinement.
Four glances from four different choreographers who, separated by time and geographical borders, direct the movements of a single performer. The dancer, from the intimacy of his confinement, makes a time-space tour of his apartment, reinterpreting places and objects to transform them into the forced scene of this pandemic. The bed, the windows, the instruments are thus taking on another meaning, transforming the imposed routine of confinement into a kind of vehicle or door to more intimate and at the same time phantasmagorical places, spaces where the deepest aspirations of being can be appreciated. like freedom and communication, as well as all the psychological tensions typical of an imprisoned being. A challenge for the interpreter, a Chilean dancer living in Tribeca New York, the center of the pandemic and the antiracial outbreak, who alone had to juggle the technical and logistical tasks to record and rehearse the various choreographies that make up these works, sometimes all in a same day, turning his department into a creative experimentation laboratory where the body and its different dimensions take on an unusual thickness. With the Symphony No.9 in D Minor, Op. 125, by Ludwig Van Beethoven as a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the German composer’s birth.
1/4 RESTLESS
Choreographer, audiovisual and musical edition.
Eduardo Zúñiga – Chilean in Alicante Spain.
Music L.V. Beethoven
The first of the 4 pieces that make up the work, is inspired by the night experience of the interpreter, of insomnia as a psychological and creative experience throughout the creation and editing process of this work. Collecting the corporal and mental consequences of the confinement. Restless, the homonym of the complete work, takes us on a journey through hidden places that awakens us more desire to scream, hug, run and watch, come out of the confinement egg. It is a journey into the interior of this being that we are all and that we are one at a time.
“The main inspiration comes from what it means to live in confinement, what we have to live in our homes with our time. Time in the sense of what the use of it means and how it varies depending on what we do. It feels faster or slower. ”
Eduardo Zúñiga – May 2020
2/4 ORILLA
Direction and Choreography
Edgar Zendejas – Mexican in Montreal Canada.
Edition
Eduardo Zuniga
Music L.V. Beethoven & Sebastián Arias.
Musical Edition Esdras Hernández and Eduardo Zúñiga.
The inner world shines with its most unexpected voices before a feeling of loneliness. It deepens us to a direct connection between body and soul and makes us explode without any meaning, just for the fact of being and facing our own presence.
“This is the first time that there is a global unification of the artistic endeavor, it is a new challenge that is nurturing us so that we can find our new path.”
Edgar Zendejas – June 2020
3/4 OCASO
Esdras Hernández – Spanish in Santiago de Chile.
Choreography, musical composition (based on the “Symphony No. 9 in G minor, Op 125” and the “Piano Sonata No. 14”, by Ludwig Van Beethoven) and audiovisual editing.
When night falls almost everyone sleeps, but for some it is when they really wake up, the silence after sunset acts as a catalyst to listen to what you really have to say to yourself, the shame disappears, the masks are not necessary and that’s it. It only remains to surrender.
“The invitation was textual, for us to continue creating in quarantine. It is not easy to have a trial ten thousand kilometers away, but also with this current paradigm one is discovering new answers to new questions that perhaps if it were not for the pandemic, one would not question “.
Esdras Hernández – July 2020
4/4 MAURICIO
Direction & Choreography
Sebastián Arias – Uruguayan in Montevideo Uruguay.
Musical composition (based on the “Symphony No. 9 in G minor, Op 125” and the “Piano Sonata No. 14”, by Ludwig Van Beethoven) and audiovisual edition by Esdras Hernández
Interpreter and camera: Mauricio Vera / Window Ballerina: Julia Bengtsson.
In this time where the majority have suffered confinement, we find ourselves alone or saturated with company, suffering from loneliness and various mood. Mauricio films himself showing his intimacy to somehow be closer, with this saturated rhythm he dreams of reopening and dancing to the applause that every day, at 7 pm, New York City offers to the health workers. In that dream is the stage.
Sebastias Arias –August 2020
History of a Work:
They are months of confinement, in a moment of anxiety, fear and uncertainty that I decided to write to choreographers and filmmakers whom I admire and with whom I also have a special connection. Each one in different parts of the world, I came to them in my desperation to create and to be directed and to promote something that would give me the strength to continue with the confinement and my artistic needs.
I decided not to see any more news, I tried to protect myself in creation and movement, for the first time I got lost inside my department and then left it emotionally traveling with music and movement, trying to be the body of each of the creators-choreographers that scattered around the planet live the same circumstances.
Alicante (Spain), Montreal (Canada), Montevideo (Uruguay), City of (Mexico) and Santiago (Chile).
In April I thought that if it worked we could motivate more artists to do the same. I believe our generation is more friendly with technology and we must support ourselves in this learning, especially with our directors and creators who are generally older. I hope that this digital process can be a contribution to so many artist companies that are facing unfortunate economic bankruptcy today.
Mauricio Vera, producer, Interpreter And Camera.
Year of production 2021
Genres Musical, Experimental, Art – Culture
Countries CHILE, USA, MEXICO, SPAIN, URUGUAY
Languages No dialog
Duration 25 mn
Director(s) Eduardo ZÚÑIGA, Edgar ZENDEJAS, Sebastián ARIAS, Esdras HERNÁNDEZ
Writer(s) Eduardo ZÚÑIGA, Edgar ZENDEJAS, Sebastián ARIAS, Esdras HERNANDEZ
Cast Mauricio VERA, Julia BENGTSSON
Producer(s) Mauricio VERA (Danza Restless)
Synopsis: Vangelis is non-verbal and considered low-functioning on the autism spectrum. Living with him is not easy. His mother tries not to change his routine, so his daily routine runs quietly. The diary of Giannis, on the other hand, follows fast rhythms without giving him the space that he needs for compassion and empathy.
In this short film, a sudden event will link our two heroes, and we recall that in accepting and fulfilling our differences, life can be much better.
Cast: Foteini Ntemiri, Iasonas Papamathaiou, Takis Papamathaiou, Giannis Granidis, Maria Tsakona, Katerina Vourtsi, Konstantinos Skilos.
Director Dimitris Andjus: imdb.com/name/nm2085885/
Production / Screenplay: Calliopi Villy Kotoula
Cinematography / Editing: Nikos Kakonas
Production Design / Costumes: Despoina Rapti
Make up Artists / Special Effects: Dora Galanou, Stella Banakou, Eleftheria Savopoulou & Angeliki Xirou.
Sound Design: Andreas Ntroulias
Music Composers: Themis Vasileiou / Fanis Protopapadakis
Executive Production: Green studios
Director: Dimitris Andjus
Country: Greece
Synopsis: On the hunt for peace Stanley creates a hex to help him travel to a land rumored that even the condemned souls and minds can find peace. At the end figuring out that peace isn’t found on any inland nor treasure but is found within Ourselves.
Director: Stanley Anigbogu
Country : Nigeria
Synopsis: A paranormal based short film where the main protagonist experiences fear and chaos.
Cast : Sam Saji, Bibinsha, Hari Devadas, Maria Joshy(Amma)
Editor : Cyril Rappai
Cinematography : Lims K L
Background music : Gautham Vyas
Logo design : Anand Balachandran
Poster design : Navaneeth
Dubbing studio : Immanuel Studio Chalakudy
Director: Hari Devadas
Country: India
Production by Uppum Uppilittathum
Synopsis: Be confident. Do not be afraid to defend your beliefs and talk to your parents. Many bullies will leave you alone if they see that you are not are not afraid. Film portrays a message on bullying.
Director: Dimitris Andjus
Key Cast: Fillipa Mavitzi, Giorgos Zikas, Theodora Kampouridi, Stelios Kratsas, Christina Alexandra Mporoukan, Michail Aggelos Soulos, Foivos Paraskevopoulos
Production / Screenplay: Calliopi Villy Kotoula
Cinematography / Editing: Nikos Kakonas
Music Composer: Evdoxia Ipsilanti
Production: Creative icon Films
Country : Greece
Synopsis: After her husband’s death, Maria roams through her huge house. Blanca still gathers the things that are left of him. At night, during dinner, Maria approaches Blanca in an attempt to discover a new intimacy between them throughout their past. Country: Argentina
Country: Argentina
Director: Sonia Stigliano
Featuring:
Traditional Indian Dancer’s
Chandana Varna “My name is chandanavarna Am from India I started to dance my 4th age I love to perform and teach I am certified from Kerala Kalamandalam. Am from India ,Kerala I am teaching bharathanatyam and mohiniyattam – please contact for details on classes”
Katie Holland “Katie studied Bharatnatyam (classical Indian dance) and developed an authentic fusion combining traditional Indian and Middle Eastern dance techniques with her own unique interpretations. Katie is also the creator of Awakened Bellydance and Shakti Pants – Sacred Clothing and Jewellery, as well as the founder and organiser of Kashtat Bedu – Sacred Dance and Yoga Retreats.”
FEATURING films
MUDRA
Cast: Mrittunjoy paul, Bipul rishi. Screenplay: Jahirul Mithu. Cinematographer, Editor, Filmmaker: Kazi A. R. Shuvo. Synopsis: Every human being has two forms. Like as, Two backs of the coin!
GAME OF COVID19
Manual Help :- SOUVIK AMBALY Concept-Camera-Edit :- SOURAV AMBALY Technical Help :- YOUTUBE & CHAIN REACTION Media Partner :- KOLKATA NEWS.press Promotional Partner :- AnD Box ( ADB ) Social Media Partner :- জোয়ার আবৃত্তি গুঞ্জন, POEM VISION এবং আবেগের তরী
Showcasing Talent ~ For India
Raising money for the people of India – Please donate what you can afford, your contribution will make the difference
Donations: Click to Donate
Our charity is a local Indian organisation sourced by a member of the Creative Mental Health Guide Team Mary Veronica: MORART FILMS| MYRIADWORD
‘HI-FI Helping India~Feeding India’ https://www.instagram.com/hifiranchi/
With the prospect of spring just around the corner, the sun shining, the warmer weather, longer evenings, and now at last being able to see a way forward out of lock-down maybe we can turn our attention to connecting with things that are important to us or even trying out new exciting things. Connecting with what matters and enjoying the love, joy and warmth that brings is like breathing in pure fresh air, giving us the motivation and energy to live life to the full, to get the most out of life.
However, that’s easier said than done especially when our minds tell us compelling negative stories. Maybe stories about what happened in the past and going on about all the things that have gone wrong. Our minds also tend to convince us that the future will be more of the same. Not only that, if you give these stories your full attention, they disconnect you from the present moment and this is often what happens in depression and anxiety.
Its like having the radio tuned in to radio doom and gloom and the volume turned up full blast. So let’s turn the radio off and appreciate the good things in life and connect with things that are important, meaningful and of value to you. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, maybe just listening to your favourite music or eating lunch, or walking in the country, listening to the birds or just sitting in the sunshine.
Lets pretend it’s the very first time you have done this and pay full attention with all your senses, notice everything you can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. Notice absolutely everything. If you’re listening to music pick out the different parts of the music, notice the different instruments. If you’re eating notice the smell of the food, the colour, the taste, how it feels in your mouth. If you are sitting in the sunshine notice the warm sun on your skin, notice the breeze, the rustle of the trees, notice all the sounds, notice any smells in the air.
So the next time those old stories pop up, which they will, ask yourself “Is this a helpful story? Is this thought going to disconnect me with the present moment”? If you decide the story is unhelpful, focus on more helpful thoughts and connect with what you are doing right here, right now in the present moment and enjoy the present, it’s a gift for you.
I am a clinical hypnotherapist with a background in the NHS in training and development. I've been a hypnotherapist for 8 years and during that time I have been constantly training and expanding my skills. I work with mindfulness based therapies and integrate CBT and EMDR into my therapeutic toolbox. I specialize mainly in anxiety related difficulties, for example social anxiety, fears and phobias and trauma. I am also a yoga and meditation teacher. I teach slow mindful yoga and all my classes at the moment are on line via Zoom
Short Story
Although William’s autism meant he was virtually non-verbal his family and friends knew if he was happy…or not. Nah-nah-nah, in a crying tone, meant he was not happy, and Ah-ah-ah -almost laughing – meant he was. Of course, an accompanying frown or smile helped. At 12 years of age it was already plain to see the man William would become. He was tall and slim with light brown hair and blue eyes. His fine features had progressed from cute to handsome in the space of a year. Myrtle Lodge was a large, red brick, Victorian semi on the busy Portsmouth Road on the east of Southampton. It had recently been converted as a respite home for children with disabilities and blended easily with the numerous guest houses in the area. “Nah-nah-nah!” “Oh, please don’t grizzle, William.” Susan had just pulled into the driveway of Myrtle. She unclipped her seatbelt and took a deep breath. Having tucked a few strands of her shoulder length auburn hair behind her ears, she strained to get out of the car and made another mental note to diet as she turned and squatted to face her son in the rear seat. “William, William! William listening. Listen to Mummy.” Rather than listen, William chose to clasp the buckle of his seatbelt with one hand and grip the strap with the other, “Nah-nah-nah!” He’d worked out that if the seatbelt stayed fastened, he stayed in the car. “William, remember we spoke about this. Mummy and Daddy are going up to Westcliff to see Granny and Grandad, because Grandad’s not well and the nurses are looking after him. Remember? You can come next time.” “Ah-ah-ah!” William smiled broadly. “Good listening, William. Well done!” Jacqui, a blond medium framed woman, who was William’s favourite worker, and her colleague, Maggie, came out to the car. William undid his seatbelt but made no move to get out of the Volvo. “Oh, can you get his Bud Lightyear, Maggie.” “Sure thing.” Maggie was shorter than Jacqui and her brown eyes lightened in the afternoon sun as she reappeared at the door. She was only half-way back to the car when William snatched Bud away from her and ran into the home, chuckling. “He’ll be fine now Susan. Are you picking him up Sunday night?”, asked Jacqui. “Yeah, fingers crossed for the Friday night Heathrow traffic now. Oh my God, can I smell bacon?” “We had butties for lunch.” “Lucky devils. Bye” As it happened William had arrived at the home just on the shift handover, so he spent the time in the ball-pit ignoring an agency worker while the meeting went on. It was Nick Cooper’s first day as a newly- trained support worker and, although usually the gregarious and confident front- man of a local middle-of-the-road cover band, he felt like it was his first day at big-school. He’d put his hair in a ponytail, overdone the aftershave, and trimmed his beard for the occasion. “Say hello to Nick, everyone,”, said Maggie, who had just been appointed shift-leader for the day. “How’re you feeling, Nick, confident?” “No.” “It’s O. K. we were all there once. Jacqui, can you work with William this afternoon.” Maggie thought for a moment. “Nick can shadow you, eh? In at the deep end.” Nick shifted nervously, “That sounds a bit ominous.” “Nah, he’s a sweetheart. Just takes his time to get to know you.” “William, this is Nick. Say hello nicely.”, said Jacqui. “Nah-nah-nah!” William, tightly clutching Bud Lightyear in his left arm, stepped toward Nick and delivered an almighty slap which caught the shocked worker on his shoulder. “William! NO!” Maggie, who’d been passing them in the corridor slipped an arm between William’s side and his upper- arm and clasped her hand around his wrist. She supported him into the ball-pit room, released her hold and left the room closing the door behind her. She called through the door, “Five minutes!” “Are you OK, Nick.”, asked Jacqui. “Had worse. So, is that part of his care-plan, then” “Yes. Five minutes isolation in the ball-pit room and then we’ll see how he is.” There were no challenging behaviours for the rest of the shift, but William spent the rest of it behaving as it Nick wasn’t there. Jacqui and Nick sat on either side of William during dinner and when Nick asked him if he wanted a glass of water, or picked up his knife from the floor, he simply stared ahead. It was the same at bath time – when Nick applied shampoo and helped him to dry – William ignored him. When he got into his car to go home – although he didn’t dare to look – Nick had the sense William was watching him from his bedroom window, which was on the ground floor. As he drove off, an acoustic guitar slipped off the back seat onto the floor – Nick recognised the sound of an open chord, ‘damn.’ he thought, ‘I meant to bring that in.’ It was nearly two weeks before Nick turned up at Myrtle for a weekend shift. In the meantime, he had begun to get to know some of the other residents. He was more relaxed, and his confidence was building. He’d remembered to take the guitar in “This is an old banged up thing of mine. I thought I’d donate it to Myrtle – sort of just chuck it in with the toys, see if anyone takes an interest.” When he rang the doorbell, he realised he had a knot in his belly. When he got inside, he knew why. It was Saturday morning and William had arrived for his respite weekend on the Friday afternoon. He stood in the hallway as Nick came through the front door. “Hallo, William, how are you?”. Nick reached out a hand. “Nah-nah-nah! Nah-nah-nah!” , William turned and ran along the corridor, out through the fire door and into the garden. He sat on a swing with Bud Lightyear, tightly gripped, dangling by one arm. “Shall I go and see if he’ll come around?”, asked Nick “Nah, we’ll go with the least restrictive intervention. Ignore him.” “Don’t use the ‘I’ word, Maggie”, said Jacqui mockingly, “we’re withdrawing attention. Did you learn that in training, Nick? “Oh, yes, the first response.” “So, I suggest you take your guitar into the garden and just keep an eye on him. Maggie, you go as well – keep an eye on Nick.” “Sure thing.” Nick got his guitar from the office and sauntered into the garden. He sat on the bench under the apple tree on the other side of the gravel path from the swing. Two very thick ropes supported the seat of the swing about fifteen feet off the ground , suspended from the limb of an oak tree. He spent a few moments tuning up then played the opening riff from Sweet Home Alabama. William leaned forward on the swing and watched Nick play through the song. When it was finished, he jumped from the swing, jumped over the path and reached out and placed his hand for a couple of seconds beside the sound hole of Nick’s guitar. Nick played the guitar a few more times over the weekend, while William watched from a distance nodding in time, silently. “I think he’s interested.”, Jacqui called to Nick as he got into his car to go home. It was another three weeks before Nick’s weekend shift coincided with Williams respite visit. Maggie greeted Nick at the door. “Eh, there’s been a slight accident.”. She held up the guitar by its neck with its body dangling on the last attached string. Nick was relieved to hear that William wasn’t the culprit. In fact, he’d tried to save it from complete annihilation when another resident had flared up in anger at Williams efforts to play. “Don’t know if there’s much I can do with this.” Nick had unstrung the remains of the guitar and was holding the neck against the body to see if there might be a way to glue and clamp it. “We’ll do what we can.” “Ah-ah-ah.” Nick hadn’t noticed William watching him from the door of the lounge. They shared a fairly quiet and solemn weekend at Myrtle, and it was the better part of a month before Nick Visited again on one of Williams weekends. William was sitting alone on the sofa in the lounge. He was examining a wooden Thomas the Tank Engine, turning the face away and frowning, then turning it to face him and smiling back at the smiling Thomas. This had occupied him for around twenty minutes when he heard a sound coming from the general direction of the hall. He put Thomas down on the sofa and listened. It was louder this time, much louder – it was the opening riff from Sweet Home Alabama played on an electric guitar. “Ah-ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah! Ah-ah-ah! Abama!
By Neil
Creative Mental Health Guide's mission is to break the stigma of mental health. Through the power of line, word and connection, we are committed to amplifying the voices of those touched by mental ill health.Creativity is a medium for change. Why through creativity? Creativity is expression Expression is presence Presence ensures a voice Voice ensures that we are no longer silent nor invisible
Poetry
Blinds shut
Not a light to be seen
All would be too bright
Total silence
The rain, the wind shattered on my windows
The only life I can hear
A dark place
Where I find myself in
I am its prisoner
No doors, no windows
No sunlight
It would hurt too much
Only a bed
A bed to stay in for days
Never made up
Never getting up
Alone, depressed towards death
Death so much thought of
Not knowing when
Not knowing how
Not knowing anything anymore
The pain of the DEEP DARKNESS
The pain of DEEP DEPRESSION
All over me
I am covered with it
As if tied up with a strong rope
One I cannot be rid of
There is no exit
Only the blackness of my thoughts
Going round and round in my mind
Driving me insane at times
As a knife entering my body
Slowly and slowly
The slow agony of my darkness
It hurts so much, too much
It is so silent, an immense stillness
I cannot move out of my bed
I do not want to anyway
It feels too scary outside
I cannot see the light
The light hurts me too
Everything hurts badly
I can only be with myself
I don’t and cannot see anybody
I am in total isolation with the pain
The pain
My only companion
The one hearing my deadly thoughts
The one seeing the cuts on my arms
Soon they will hurt, sharp, burning pain
Taking me away for a while from my depression
Tears running down my face
Tears of nothing for nothing
My mind going round like a carousel
A carousel I cannot escape from
My mind entangled with words
I cannot stop it, cannot jump from it
This state of mind, oppressing
I cannot breathe at times
Thought are too confusing
I will just have to wait
To wait until it will let me go
I am not in control
It is a matter of time
Time when it will set me free
A time when I maybe will see light again
(Catherine Williams – 3rd February 2021)
Creative Mental Health Guide's mission is to break the stigma of mental health. Through the power of line, word and connection, we are committed to amplifying the voices of those touched by mental ill health.Creativity is a medium for change. Why through creativity? Creativity is expression Expression is presence Presence ensures a voice Voice ensures that we are no longer silent nor invisible
Poetry
Why are you back?
Why are you bringing so much pain?
You are so malignant
You are forceful
You are fearful
You are deadly
I am in a nothing place
Hardly able to speak
Hardly able to listen to the radio
Do you realise how much you hurt
If you do why don’t you vanish?
Why do you push me to despair?
I am waiting for a better time
When? I don’t know
You will decide no doubt
When you decide to leave me
Leave me in a time of recovery
How long? Have you planned when?
I wanted away from me NOW
I know you will not be so kind
I find myself in a total silence
The silence of high anxiety
The silence of more depression
I cannot even write in anger
I cannot breathe at time
It feels like a hard, large stone
Right in the middle of my body
It is stuck there
A very heavy pain and prison
Yes I am in prison
There is no way out
I am fully locked in my own self
Feeling myself in painful stoicism
A place of total silence
A place of strong invisible pain
I look like anybody else
I don’t feel like ‘them’
I feel as not able to move
Not able to hear, not able to do, to be
I just feel nothing
Silence is a lesson learned through life’s many sufferings
(Catherine Williams ‘A Day of nothing’- Friday 14th August 2020)
Creative Mental Health Guide's mission is to break the stigma of mental health. Through the power of line, word and connection, we are committed to amplifying the voices of those touched by mental ill health.Creativity is a medium for change. Why through creativity? Creativity is expression Expression is presence Presence ensures a voice Voice ensures that we are no longer silent nor invisible
