EDITOR'S LETTER

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Green Parent The

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WHEN I DECIDED TO FOCUS on relaxation for this edition of the magazine, I was in a fairly manic phase. Running a business, trying to be a good enough mother to two teenagers, keeping the house in some semblance of order and being a loving partner, relaxation is pretty low down my to-do list. I hoped that planning this edition - speaking to relaxation just keeping ourselves alive. As if we won’t allow ourselves to take bigger fuller breaths in case we turn into the full, magnificent beings that we are meant to be. Read it – it’s inspiring, and uplifting. Anyway, with everything so sorted, ha! I’m a relaxation expert. And then, and then, everything goes belly up. A delivery doesn’t get picked up, I can’t get hold of a

"I'VE SPENT MORE TIME WITH THE KIDS AND ON MY OWN. I WENT ON A WOMEN’S RETREAT AND MADE WILD ART IN THE WOODS"

experts, getting advice on how to let go, surrender, de-stress would help me a little too! And it has. I’ve had a very relaxed time putting this edition together. I’ve spent more time with my kids AND more time on my own. I’ve even left my desk in the middle of the day to fall asleep in the garden with bees buzzing around me. I had time to go a women’s retreat and make wild art in the woods. I’ve been practicing plenty of deep restorative breathing and ensured lots of time for reading! As an aside, I’m rereading the awesome sauce-tastic book; Urban Tantra by Barabara Carellas at the moment and she talks about how most of us are breathing so poorly that we are photographer and a friend is having a crisis and I realise that I’m no expert and I haven’t got it all sorted. Relaxation takes hard work. I’m back to square one again, but I’ve travelled a little further round the spiral and I know some of the road markings this time so I’m working my way back to that lovely relaxed state. It's a work in progress but the journey feels rich with learnings, so I'm a happy, if not completely relaxed, traveller. Hope that you find plenty to inspire you in this edition. Wishing you and your family a gorgeous, relaxing summer!

Melissa Corkhill - Editor

THINGS I HAVE LEARNT THIS ISSUE

Emotion-coaching can help children feel their emotions (page 24) Cover clocks during labour to aid relaxation and oxytocin flow (page 28) Use a strategy calling Preparing for Success to help create a calmer home (page 37) you can make plastic at home, using milk! (page 40) If you climb through the holed stone of Men-an-tol in Cornwall, nine times at sunset, all your ills will be magically cured. Honest! (page 82)

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 www.thegreenparent.co.uk

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