In Bloom: supporting ourselves through uncertainty
A new structure, hoping that you find support, information and community with us.
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Access an audio version of this newsletter here.
A warm hello to the Bloom community!
This is our July newsletter for Bloom, written by Vesa, a Chayn volunteer.
If you’ve been with us for a while, we’re testing out a different format to make sure we’re giving you useful content. If you’re new - welcome! Either way, you are receiving this email because you subscribed to the Bloom newsletter.
Ground: settling in to our bodies and the present
You may be reading this on your phone. and may also have a few things on your mind right now. It’s so easy to become distracted, and preoccupied with 100 things at every moment! So let’s all take some time to ground ourselves in the present, with no expectations.
💆🏻 Relax your jaw.
🤷🏿 Push your shoulders back, and then relax those too.
🦶🏼 Wriggle and stretch out your toes. Relax those as well.
🌬️ Take a deep breath in. Feel the breath rise in your belly as it expands, and travels all the way through your body. Hold the breath for one second, then another second. Finally, let the breath out - let your belly relax as you release all the tension from your abdomen.
🧘🏽 Now let everything go. Repeat this as many times as you like.
You deserve to give yourself time and space. Grounding yourself can give you the mental space to gain new perspectives and treat yourself more compassionately.
Root: connecting with the Chayn community
Firstly, a call-out: if you have participated in a Bloom course this year or last year, we need your help! We are doing research into your experience of our courses to design a custom digital platform for Bloom. So, take this quick 5-minute survey to tell us how and when you signed up to Bloom. And if you’re happy to take part in a paid research interview, email us at team@chayn.co!
Bloom course updates
Our most recent course on Healing from Sexual Trauma is just finishing up, but you can still sign up here to catch up with material over the next few months, and be in touch with us all along the way. In this course, we look at how our bodies and minds may have learned to feel unsafe after sexual trauma. We explore how false victim-blaming narratives can eat away at our sense of being individuals with agency and with voices. And of course, we build our tools for recovery: journaling, somatic care, grounding exercises, and different activities for (re)building positive body image and sexuality after sexual trauma.
Check out our website to find out about other courses as well - our course on Managing Anxiety starts on August 2nd, so get your bookings in now! We’ll be talking about anxious thought patterns and behaviours, bodywork and somatic care for anxiety, and different anxiety management strategies. Later this year, we have courses on healing from toxic and abusive relationships as well as trauma resilience - we’ll see you there!
Flowerbed updates
We’d love to hear your thoughts on our bi-weekly chats streaming on Facebook Live! Have you been to one? Let us know! For those of you who don’t know, Flowerbed is our bi-weekly chat where members of the Chayn team check in and talk about a favourite topic - mental health, boundaries, recovery, pop culture, patriarchy, and more.
Our most recent session is our take on the Free Britney movement. Remember, you can join live, or watch the recordings of these later if you don’t get a chance to tune in.
Chayn updates
Other projects we’d love your help with:
🎙 We’re currently compiling anonymous, confidential stories for our new podcast on reporting sexual violence. If you’ve had any experience reporting to institutions (police, university, workplaces, religious organisations, etc.) and want to contribute your story, please check out our survey here. This call-out is open to everyone, regardless of background, circumstances, or identity.
💻 We’re creating a new resource for online safety, including online dating. If you’ve had any experiences with online dating that have made you feel unsafe, upset or just uncomfortable, we’d really value your input via this anonymous survey.
✍ If you’re interested in writing, Chayn friend Kajal Odedra is hosting a series of 5 free online writer workshops from September onwards, focused on supporting new writers find their voice and cause. This is something I’m interested in - so I might see you there.
Remember you can stay updated with Chayn on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Branch: exploring together
It’s important to have reminders for everyone in our community to take the time to check in with ourselves - and take time out for ourselves, if we can.
I’m currently writing to you from Manchester in the UK, where lockdown measures are easing up and the sun’s coming out again after a rainy summer. Even so, everyone in my life seems to be experiencing a lot of emotional turmoil, and the uncertainty of the past year and a half with the pandemic isn’t over yet. For our community in different parts of the world, we may still be struggling with stricter COVID-19 protection measures, grief whether collective or personal, or with health anxieties. It has been a difficult time for so many people, in many different ways.
As for myself, I’ve moved home several times during the past year and a half, changed jobs twice, and am still trying to figure out what the next few months and year will look like for me. Like many of you, I’ve had my fair share of disappointments and isolation since COVID hit, and have especially struggled with not being the “best version” of myself. I moved back home with my parents a year ago which was a “temporary situation”, and although I’m grateful for the positives, it’s been hard to feel this loss of my independence and spontaneity. If you’re cut off from people you’re close to or from your usual coping mechanisms, it’s hard to feel like yourself and to make peace with what every day looks like for you.
But there’s no “normal” way to feel or behave - especially now - and there’s no need to compare how you’re doing with anyone else. The “best version” of ourselves doesn’t exist: we are coping with an enormous, life-changing world event, and whatever ways we can show up for our own wellbeing and others’ are enough.
So, I wanted to share Here are a couple of things I’ve been exploring to keep myself wellsane:
🍰 Plan a small break to look forward to every day, like setting aside 20 minutes to read a book or eat a sweet treat that I’ll really savour.
☀️ Create a set routine for certain times of the day. Personally, I’ve made one to get me up and about in the morning before it’s critical that I do anything for work or family. For example: get up, drink a glass of water, brush my teeth, wash my face, make my bed, listen to Dolly Parton…!
📆 Set up a cautiously optimistic longer term plan, like a visit with a friend in two weekends time or an exercise class.
🧘♀️ Organise a “crisis” plan for when everything is a bit too overwhelming. For me, this is currently 2 mins of breathing, lots of water and reading my own tarot cards or going for a walk.
Wherever you’re at, however you’re feeling, I’m so happy to meet you there with this little note. I hope today will be a good day for you.
And if you need support, you can always message us on social media, or email us (team@chayn.co). We are here for you.
Warmly,
Vesa, and the whole Bloom team