I remember my judo coach finishing our classes with mindfulness and relaxation activities from about the age of 12. He had started to train as a social worker and thought they might be beneficial for us club members. I'm pretty sure there weren't many clubs doing that at the time but I enjoyed it. The next year I was lucky enough to be awarded some funding in a sports scholarship program for elite junior athletes and did some similar activities with a sports psychologist who was helping us try to manage our arousal levels to help us compete at our best. All of this, combined with an understanding of the breath in attack and defence, gave me a healthy respect for the power of the breath at a pretty young age.

In my early 20's, while training as a natural therapist, I decided on an elective in stress physiology as I neared the end of my degree and loved it. It helped me in my work as a massage therapist and gave me a more scientific understanding of what those practices that had been passed on at judo were doing. Without a doubt this unit and my growing body of practical knowledge were pivotal parts of another job I held from 2014 to 2022 as a secondary school first aider during and coming out of the Covid-19 Lockdowns. My toolbox for understanding and supporting the avarice of 'panic attacks' and 'shut downs' was pretty broad and for that I was truly thankful.

Along the way there were other jobs in health promotion and management and also in another educational setting with disadvantaged students that allowed me to utilise this relaxation skillset as a part of my work but it was the first aider role that really showed me their value.

Stepping aside from that position has allowed and inspired me to focus my attention on continuining to learn and share these life enhancing and in some cases live saving tools and techniques with all who could benefit from them.