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This episode I chat with Jordyn Romero, she is a award winning filmmaker from Santa Fe, NM. Her work aims to elevate the female narrative in the outdoor space.  Story telling is what this podcast is all about, sharing my own, but also about creating space and place for others to tell theirs. This is what Jordyn Romero has done with the film WE ARE LIKE WAVES.  In this episode I have the pleasure of hearing Jordyn's story, one that leads her to the Indian ocean to the island of Sri Lanka to explore and document the attitudes towards female’s surfing and one woman's journey.   You will hear about Jordyn’s origins story for the film and her love for the ocean and surfing. We chat about what it means to make a film in a different country and language.  Sri Lanka is a major surf destination for many around the world. But those people who have grown up and live on the island do not share the same opportunities, and women especially have been left out of the line up, but things are starting to change. Jordyn’s aim of the film was to support the wave of this change in the narrative and mindset.  You will hear the story of Sanu, some of the sacrifices she overcame to get onto her board, paddling against the societal norms, expectations and the belief that the ocean is simply, just no place for women.  We chat about unrealistic extreme beauty standards that have been around for too long, about how we both hope to see the tide of change and for us not be forever telling the story of ‘the first’. This episode is also about my connection with my roots with my identity as a British Sri Lankan woman of colour and about my story around being split between two continents and belonging to neither.  You can find out more about WE ARE WAVES by visiting their website at www.wearewaves.com, to check for film release and screenings.  Thanks to the production team for the audio included in this episode and to @storiesbyleah for the beautiful photos used. 

In this episode I have the pleasure of chatting with Bethan Taylor- Swaine. Bethan is a PhD student at Birkbeck,  University of London where she studies the representations and identities of women in ultra running.  This episode we delve into what it means to be a woman in sport, the history of how we are encouraged to participate. How early years sports can be taught through shame and humiliation and how men are better facilitated to achieve success.  That essentially men still dominate sport and are also the gatekeepers to it.  We chat though how the female body is seen and still policed within sport. How we are hyper sexualised in the media and how this impacts how we participate.  Women still receive messages around how and why we should be moving our bodies. Bethan believes short termism and low priority in policy change is why things are slow to change. The broadcast media's interest and commentary of female athlete's are still geared around their physical body, personal life and sexuality. Bethan walks me through ultra running, what it means to her and how she participates,  she beautifully describes ultra running as a moving picnic. She unpicks some of the myths and my beliefs around  participation. We discuss Bethan's research and how ultra running is not as much an elite sport as you may imagine. Bethan advocates for the participation of physical activity for all. We discuss the common approach to sport and how it can be from the emphasis on high performance, metrics and stats. Bethan is also a wellbeing consultant and she gives me a formula for stress and energy and we talk about awareness and why there needs to be a culture shift in how we approach rest.  Being On The Inside has been nominated for a People’s choice podcast award, it would be amazing if you could spend a few minutes voting. The podcast is listed under Health and Best Asian hosted podcast, you can vote in both categories.  To vote please visit: https://www.podcastawards.com/ and register to vote. You have until July 31st to help Being On the Inside win. THANK YOU!  

This episode is a collaboration with the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2021. I chat with Kate Stevens,  the Creative Learning Co-ordinator, at the Beacons arts centre,  a contemporary theatre and arts venue in the heart of Inverclyde. Kate is one of the workshop facilitators of a series called; creative nature for wellbeing that ran during this year's festival. The Beacon partnered with Belville Community Garden Trust and Mind Mosaic Counselling and Therapy to deliver a series of workshops exploring the connection between our mental health and our relationship with nature. If you have ever wondered what 'creative therapy' may be about and wish to explore beyond the stereotypes of analysis, or that this isn't something you thought you can do, as you're not ‘a creative’, then this podcast is for you. Here Kate and I give you first hand experience of a creative therapy workshop centred around the theme of nature.  Join in whilst you listen to Kate leading me through two exercises: nature soundscapes where we immerse ourselves in some forest bathing. I find this both relaxing and slightly challenging when asked to make my own sounds to join the forest but it makes for a good discussion afterwards. Kate and I talk through memories and how they are formed as part of a writing exercise relating to my first experience in nature. This podcast is about the joy of sound and creative writing, the ability to connect us with the outdoors from inside our own rooms, whilst giving us tools to enable us to connect with what's going on inside us. Recently I have been connecting with the sounds around me in nature and brought some home to share in this episode.

In this episode I am blessed to meet and share space with Kris Primacio, who currently serves as the CEO of the International Surf Therapy Organisation (ISTO), a Nonprofit she co-founded in 2017 in Cape Town You are going to hear stories about sea otters, dolphins, the healing power and potential of mother ocean, about how surf therapy can both heal and unite in a common goal. You will hear Kris emotionally express how the death of her father impacted her and how she took to the water to find connection, with nature and with her loss. Kris tells us how the International Surf Therapy Organisation was formed and what the community does across the globe. We also chat about access, equity and equality in the water and why this needs to be addressed. We chat about Justin “Brick” Howze and Gage Crismon who took to social media for support after being victims of racial abuse in the water on presidents day at Manhattan beach and how the two surfers have told their story helping others know that mother ocean has a zero tolerance to Racism. Kris was able to tell me first hand about the incident I read about here in the UK, that affected her surf buddies and the whole surf community. She educates me about Bruce's beach an area of land that was created to encourage and allow black visitors and families to live and access the sea, those who created this were driven out by the KKK and the city officials condemned the neighborhood in 1924 and seized properties through eminent domain and she tells me about how the US is now having to address the  Legacy of segregation in their outdoor spaces.   Kris and and I also discuss the need to protect the ocean and earth and how the climate crisis is also high on the agenda for ISTO's lists of priorities I have to confess I am thinking of starting an official Kris Primacio fan club as what an honour to talk to someone who makes you feel glad you got up that day, just to be in her energy. This episode floats into us pondering belonging, acceptance and why mother ocean may grant you the invitation to visit but she does not belong to anyone. 

In this episode I chat with Glasgow-based artist and activist Karlie Wu, her work delves into the identity of being British/Scottish-Chinese, its expectations and misconceptions, and the reality of this lived experience exploring ‘cultural identity. Karlie is also one of the six founding members of besea.n (Britain’s East and South East Asian Network), a non-profit, anti-racism grassroots organisation that tackles negative stereotypes and advocates positive media representation of East and South East Asian people in the UK. This episode is about the rise in reported racism towards East and Southeast Asian people. It's about the history of how Sinophobia has been reported in the media, it’s about six women that came together to create a positive platform out of negative experiences. But this is also an opportunity to listen in to a conversation between two people. Two women of colour who were born in the UK examining their own identity. Listening, sharing, and bringing both our journeys into the space. Too often debates about race can be over intellectualised, sanitised, and led by oppressive agenda, which can lead to those who are sharing having their experience dismissed and dehumanised. This is not that conversation. This a raw and honest unfinished version of our own events, lived experiences, and interpretations.  The emotional labour of sharing your identity and racism story is a heavy load, and with that, I acknowledge this is not an easy endeavor. This episode is about those unanswered questions of belonging, it’s about a link between racism and trauma and mental health, Gaslighting, internalised suppression, being mixed race, it’s about 80s Hong Kong meets Glasgow, the Hakka language, and the importance of finding a place to pass the baton of ritual that enrich our lives If you want to find out more about Karlie Wu’s amazing work you can find her over at Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/wukarlie/?hl=en The petition discussed in the episode can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/stop-depicting-east-south-east-asians-in-coronavirus-related-media And at her website: https://www.karliewu.co.uk/Home Besean: https://www.besean.co.uk/  

Kirsty Alexander is a teacher on the Applied Gender Studies programme at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and a gardener at Ochil Tower School in Auchterarder. In this episode, she talks with me about living with Dermatillomania. Otherwise known as Excoriation or skin picking disorder. Skin picking disorder is one of a group of behaviours known as body-focused repetitive behaviours, it's currently classified as an impulse control disorder. Kirsty allows us to hear her journey from diagnosis to acceptance and parts of what came before and after. We talk about behaviours that are developed because of anxiety following catastrophic events as a way of coping. That impulsive control disorders usually come alongside other mental health diagnoses. Kirsty shares openly and honestly how living with a largely stigmatised condition and how this has affected all aspects of her life and relationships. Whilst these at times have caused a large amount of suffering, she has an incredible viewpoint in her reflections of experience, which have brought her to even see the gains she has made from living through difficult times. We chat about impermanence and death, learning about thought distortions and understating our own, why storytelling across history has a profoundly powerful place in our recovery and ability to understand the human condition, as a stepping stone towards healing and a source of comfort and teaching of endurance. We talk about the latest lockdown restrictions and where we are practically and mentally. Kirsty describes herself as a gold medallist in catastrophising, we acknowledge in this episode how we have been living through a collective catastrophe and how that impacts our lives. Skin picking disorder is a largely stigmatised mental illness/condition, it is not easy to take centre stage and open up about things that carry these historical labels. Kirsty says in the podcast this is a gentle conversation on a relatively brutal subject. Kirsty sharing her story here is part of a larger conversation, not only raising awareness but telling her story so others can find the strength to tell theirs. This podcast discusses issue some may find triggering, please take care when listening, if you have been affected by anything we have talked about today and or wish to find out more information: Samaritans Scotland Helpline 116 123  CD UK  https://www.ocduk.org Helpline 03332 127890  OCD Action UK  https://ocdaction.org.uk Helpline 0845 390 6232   

In this episode I chat to Viana Maya and Karsten Huttenhain both of pRESPECT, an organisation that through the ethos of Respect, Empowerment and Empathy aim to is to empower minority ethnic and other marginalised people into meaningful employment. This podcast episode will not tell you how to ‘home school’ properly, it's not about study tips and goal setting but, about giving space and time to acknowledge how we are approaching, surviving, not coping with the winter lockdown. You will hear Viana, Karsten and I unpack some of our experiences and observations from home working and schooling. Themes around expectation, support, permission, comparison, guilt, balance, social media, group chats, and the pitfalls for mental health. We also discuss the inadequacies the pandemic has highlighted in our society and the digital gap. We discuss expectations, reframing how we see learning and development.  We discuss the frustrating reporting in the media and a need for them to take responsibility and accountability. How we use language, how loaded it is, and how it's taught and passed on. Throughout this episode, one of us seems to be having a minor mini-rant, but this is essentially what the podcast is about, letting off steam and not trying to hold on to this, and holding ourselves to an unrealistic standard. It's about how employers may need to give their staff a little more space and time to prioritise mental well being. It's about giving time to that and giving permission, to not be ‘okay’ all the time, really is OKAY.    

In the episode, I chat to Marlon Patrice founder of Wegooutsidetoo, a UK-based organisation that hopes to encourage, support, and inspire the black community into outdoor activity, exercise, and the multiple benefits of nature. Marlon is a long-distance runner, mental health first aider, and owner of a natural health store.  Brought up in the city of Birmingham Marlon has always been drawn to the great outdoors and the benefits of nature, but it was the tragic passing of his son in a knife crime incident at the beginning of 2020 that lead him to create wegooutsidetoo. In honor of his son, Marlon set up a 22 waterfalls challenge and Go fund me page.  Marlon wants to encourage everyone outside and we discuss how this can help us through during times of lockdown and with the effects of COVID-19. He is especially passionate about taking people who have grown up in inner-city areas and have never had to opportunity to access the countryside. Marlon and I chat about bereavement, connecting with nature, discrimination and being the only non-white person in some of the sporting events he participated in.  Marlon gives me some advice on how to use teas and tinctures for sleep, low iron, muscle, and joint pain, and the immune system and tells me about how he set up his store. For Marlon, Wegooutsidetoo is about creating memories and experiences and creating solidarity and unity into the black community with nature. He wants to see people accessing the outdoors regardless of racial, socio-economic and physical barriers.  If you would like to check out Marlon's go fund me page you can here:  https://uk.gofundme.com/f/wegooutsidetoo22waterfallchallenge Or follow @wegooutsidetoo and @patreesherbsandwellness over on Instagram. 

In part five of a mini-series on wild swimming health and healing,  I chat with Rachel Ashe the founder of mental health swims. A UK based organisation looking to encourage people to dive into the world of outdoor swimming, supporting people gain the benefits of cold water and community.  This episode is about the wonderful world of wild swimming and how you can get involved in a mental health swim near you by joining this thriving community, but it's also about the realities of living with mental illness. It's about the stigma that surrounds opening up about mental health, the stigma attached to certain conditions and the barriers to treatment and dignity that occur as a result. It's about learning to live around those complications in an empowered and autonomous way. Speaking about mental health is historically difficult, more people are championing the need to speak up and speak out and in turn to be truly heard. Rachel is one of those people and in this episode you hear how she has done so but also that the responsibilities and expectations of this can be an added pressure. Rachel and I discuss the issue of inclusion and how we both have battled with being on the outside. We talk over the possibilities of belonging in the not belonging.  You will hear how Rachel, despite having her own daily battles has formed a hugely popular community and why cold water swimming has been one way Rachel lives with her illness.  TRIGGER WARNING  It's important to note that in this podcast difficult issues come up; some are spoken about very briefly but others in more detail that may be triggering for some people. These include childhood sexual abuse, self states of borderline personality disorder, PTSD, anxiety and paranoia. As always please take care of yourself when listening.  If you're worried about your mental health or just need to reach out, there are always places you can do that. Breathing Space: 0800 838587 Edinburgh Crisis Centre: 0808 801 0414 Samaritans: 116 123 Use the NHS 111 online service, or call 111.

In this episode, you are invited to join a newly formed coven of very amateur Edinburgh witches. I have always been fascinated by the practices of Witchcraft, Wicca, Shamanism, magic and the connection between nature and spirituality. I decided to take my curiously a little further, I wanted to know if there are rituals in our daily life that maybe connect and or disconnect us from our spirituality and selves. I invited a small group of lovely friends over (before the new lockdown restrictions were enforced) to experiment with some ancient practices and rituals. You will hear we performed a Celtic Cacao ceremony, a Fire ceremony and learnt how to read some tarot cards.  With a rise of the internet witchcraft movement and community, I am fascinated if this could help us relate and form a greater sense of connection to ourselves and others and nature, finding your tribe in 2020 isn’t an easy task. This is a prelude episode to a longer more in-depth interview where I will be going into the woods with a Shaman in October were hoping this may help me understand on a deeper level the practices we explored here. You’re going to hear fire and the rain, also some of the honest and openness of this wonderful group of friends who came to the evening with curiosity. Thank you to them for being so kind and being so willing to come on this journey with me. We talked about the stories we have been told by our families and peers throughout our lives and how we have learnt our values related to spirituality, religion and faith. Nobody came to the evening as the expert and meant this is a genuine first exportation and you get to come along too. We all agreed there is power in the community, coven and the practices we performed. The space was created with ritual and tradition and I was able to see the value of this in a way I haven't before. Because we all came with the intentions of openness, exploration and honesty we were met with the outcome of an enriching, insightful, and heartwarming evening.  

This podcast is all about the relationship we have with our physical bodies. It’s about Fatphobia, the body positivity movement, fat bias, demonising of the bigger body in our media, in our advertising, the social stigma of obesity. It´s about how to learn to acknowledge and challenge our own preconceived notions.  Where it comes from, how its internalised and develops our own core beliefs relating to our body and how we then interact with the world.   I chat to Danni Gordon the founder of the Chachi Power Project, she’s a  body-positive activist, body image and body confidence advocate & speaker based in Scotland. She is a blogger, podcast host, social media creator and generally inspiring human. Danni and I explore and unpick how we as individuals and society have grown this quiet abhorrence towards weight gain. Danni shares how she has overcome her own body hatred and why she set out up the Chachipower project to enable and give space to those who suffer from enduring body hatred and for anyone who wishes to live beyond these thoughts feelings and behaviours. She also tries to persuade me into some naked swimming as part of my move towards body acceptance.  This subject can be a minefield as plays into profoundly unquestioned fears and socially accepted hate speech, it’s also deeply sensitive to speak aloud and verbalise the voices of the trolls that reside in our own minds. Before the episode interview, Danni gave me an exercise she uses to help others imagine what life would be like without these thoughts and feelings.  This is something I found challenging and emotional. During the episode, we speak about these for the first time and I share my own personnel journey.   Danni gives us her top three things to do now to begin a better relationship with your body. We also discuss the medias obsession with the thin narrative and Adele´s recent weight loss being the latest spotlight.  This episode covers some sensitive topics please take care of yourself in listening. If you need help and advice regarding eating disorders you can reach out to a number of places here are some.   BEAT: 0808 801 0677  EATING DISORDER NI: 02890 235959  MIND: 0300 123 3393  

Ed Accura, Filmmaker, hip hop star, podcast host, co-founder of the Black Swimming Association has just released his first film/documentary. A Film Called Blacks Can´t Swim.  Inspired to teach the world to Swim, Ed is on a mission to enable Black Asian and Minority ethnic people to get into the water.  There is a disproportionate amount of non-swimmers in the BAME communities. Sport England found that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children don't swim. Swimming is my passion, the idea that there are so many barriers to being in the water is saddening. I was so pleased to see that Ed and others from the Black Swimming Association,  with the support of one of the founders, Teams GPS only black swimmer, Alice Dearing have made this an essential conversation, for the swimming world. And to everyone who should have access to learning this essential life skill.  Still, in lockdown, this podcast was recorded whilst all indoor pools were still closed,  but swimming outside possible, but not doable for all. Recording the podcast still on Zoom from a distance being the new normal. You will hear what prompted Ed to learn to swim, how his first swimming lesson went, and what inspired him to make a film about his story. You will also hear about some of the myths, stereotypes, and stigma around talking about the lack of black participation in swimming. 

This episode is in collaboration with The Scottish Mental Health Arts Festivals online 2020 program . I meet and chat with Emma Jayne Park off cultured mongrel whom along with Emily Furneaux and other artists have brought us Eat, Move, Sleep, repeat. This is a creative collaboration that was developed as a response to Covid-19  as part of the festival.  Emma as part of her practice, curates spaces and in this conversation we examine how those spaces effect us physically, emotionally and how they impact our connections.  We discuss the importance of permission for those showing up, how this is done face to face with body language and how difficult it is to read and recreate in 2D online interactions.  We get into what it means too Emma and others to be an artist right now and how the pandemic is shaping the creative landscape and how she hopes it may will look going forward. We also talk about how we maybe confronting our sense of identity challenging our work role identities whilst being furloughed  and how we look at our systems of productions in general and the creative industries.  This interview took place in week 650 of lockdown the weekend after Dominic Cummings flew in the face of lockdown restrictions and caused a ripple of anger and unsettlement and before the essential and urgent conversation about race equality, justice and identity became more heard in the mainstream voice.  Emma hosts daily dance sessions and in this episode you hear me trying to show up for one and why I find being online more socially intimidating than offline.   

Lockdown has brought an endless amount of emotional and physical reactions and our mental health is being put under enormous strain.  I was curious in how mindfulness practices could be part of our coping strategies. Dr Bill Paterson has many roles but one of these is mindfulness coach. He kindly took the time to chat to me about how mindfulness practices can help in coping with lockdown. We chatted remotely but managed to cover some varied topics, such as how structure in our days may help our mental health. Concepts of nothingness, impermanence, spaciousness and how awareness may arise. How to deal with heightened feelings and anxiety. How self compassion maybe a better route to peace then self esteem. This episode was recorded in week four of UK lockdown where I wasn't coping as well as maybe now and I open up about my frustrations Bill inspired me to record my own compassion break heart mediation and this is included later on in episode for us to practice together.  

Covid-19 has brought group and organised swimming to a standstill, with a lot of people using outdoor swimming to maintain physical and mental health I wondered how this was impacting on the swimming community In this episode I chat remotely to Jenny Waring who is a ex competitive outdoor swimmer, her love for the sea and lochs in Scotland means she is regularly out swimming with Fife Wild Swimmers. We chat about how lockdown has effected our swimming and Jenny's return to the NHS during the pandemic. You will hear about her and I sharing feelings of guilt, overwhelm, loneliness, lac of indepedance and fears of consequences , confusion around guidelines. Trauma and grief and the anxiety that had arisen for us during this time. This episode was recorded when the temperature rose and the RNLI issued a statement advising people not to swim for the safety of themselves and others. Swimming outside has not been banned  but guidance from the government not to travel to swim or to put yourself at risk swimming alone, the polarity of opinion has caused some online heated debates leaving a lot of confusion and sadly sometimes social distancing shaming. Jenny and I talk through this and more. The second half of this podcast you hear a choir wonderful voices from the group Jenny and I swim with, Fife Wild swimmers. How they are individually finding their own ways to cope or not to, without group outdoor swimming. 

In this episode I meet, swim, chat and share cake with Itamar Nitzan the founder of Dip your Toes in Wild Swimming Facebook page.  Itamar´s page educates, inspires and welcomes new swimmers and old to his experiences and insights in outdoor swimming. One of the things he offers free of charge is to buddy an individual or small group who want to swim. With that in mine I invited along my wonderful friend Eilidh, who doubled up as co host and Guinea Pig. We took a dip at Portebello, the for coming storm and 5 degree  water temp didn't deter us. Eilidh hadn't been cold water swimming for a number of years so we have share some of our anxieties before on the journey. This episode covers body issues, depression, bereavement, staying safe in the water, cold water acclimatisation, keeping warm afterwards, mindfulness, friendship, taking a break from life, rewiring, connection, aqua-meditation, lots of screaming and shared passion for the ocean and its deeply healing qualities.   So, if its tricky to get out in the water just now sit back and listen and enjoy.     

Do you Love dogs? Does your dog help you through difficult times and is by your side when you need them? In this episode I am joined by Janet Jones from CanineConcern Scotland, which recruits and manages the Therapet service in Edinburgh. Dogs of all breeds and their handlers visit places such as nursing homes, resisdental homes, hospitals, universities, airports, prisons, schools. They run schemes such as Reading with Dogs, Paws against Stress and Pets not pests. Janet and I share some carrot cake and coffee and she takes me through what it takes to be a Therapet and her personal experience as a volunteer with her dog Fitch and what it means to her and her own well being.  My co-host and English setter Toby is assessed during this episode to see if he is suitable to become a member of the Therapet Service in Edinburgh.   Listen and find out if Toby passes the test or gets his paws on the cake!  

This is part two of of wild swimming, health and healing. In this episode you are taken to Loch Lomond where half of the podcast was recorded in the water whilst Louise and I had a refreshing dip. Louise was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis three years ago at the age of 25. She opens up about the impact of this relapse and remittent disease has had on her life. How it has effected her physical and mental health. She takes us through what first lead her to being diagnosed. We discuss symptom management, swimming for survival, shame and anxiety, stigma and guilt  around having an invisible illness. Her account is frank and honest, poignant and moving. Swimming has been a constant source of physical and emotional support for Louise and as a swimming teacher she gives me some tips in how to swim safely in a loch. She tells me how loch swimming has aided her through some of the most challenging times of her life and how it has inevitably changed her forever.   

Out of Sight out of Mind is an art exhibition at Edinburghs summer hall.  A combination of 180 peoples work. What makes this unique is all the exhibitors have had an experience of mental illness. Following my visit I got chat to three of this years artists and in this episode you get to hear how we caught up in the gallery over some cake. The podcast covers some fascinating subjects, sexuality, societal labels, transgender phobia, boxes, mental illness, trauma and self esteem.  This podcast deals with some difficult subjects, but is an inspiring and positive piece, but if you feel it may trigger any issues of your own please listen with care. If your worried about your mental health or just need to reach out, there are always places you can do that. Breathing Space: 0800 838587 Edinburgh Crisis Centre: 0808 801 0414 Samaritans: 116 123

This podcast is a journey into the deep and the first of a mini series about wild swimming health and healing.  I was curious if wild swimming could improve health and recovery and well being, if it created a greater sense of community  and connection for people. I decided to take a birds eye view or maybe in this case a seals so I got my swimmers on and get in the water.  I met up with some members of Fife Wild swimmers for a cold plunge at Silversands beach in late September. I was so lucky to join this super welcoming, supportive and accepting group of people.  This podcast gives you a little of the excitement and euphoria I experienced from the cold water, but most of all let’s you hear some of the real stories off the group members. We hear about bereavement and anxiety, injury, stress and how swimming has helped overcome and enabled confidence, healing, recovery and freedom. I heard how it has created mindfulness and resilience in some of the groups difficulties I chat to Dougie, Tracey and Karen, who guide me through there journeys to wild swimming and after that, some stories from the fire side; a close encounter with a bull seal and an inspiring triathlete. Wild swimming has totally changed the life of those I interviewed.  One member said ‘you go in there and come out a different person’ another that ‘it’s a place to come and get of the constant treadmill that is life.’ Most of all it has strengthened a strong sense of community in the members of the group. The camaraderie and shared sense of communal belonging was infectious.