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Mindfulness Is Not About Emptying Your Mind
Mindfulness is not about stopping thoughts or creating a perfectly calm mind. This blog explores how mindfulness can support recovery by helping people notice thoughts, emotions, cravings and body signals with greater awareness, creating more space between what is happening and how they choose to respond.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
3 days ago10 min read


Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn: Recognising Your Recovery Survival Responses
There are moments in recovery when our reactions seem to arrive before we have had a chance to think. Somebody’s tone changes and we immediately become defensive. A difficult conversation leaves us wanting to escape. We agree to something we do not want because disappointing another person feels unbearable. We receive an upsetting message and suddenly find ourselves unable to move, speak or decide what to do next. Later, when the intensity has passed, we may look back and won
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Oct 511 min read


The Pause Between Feeling and Acting: Where Recovery Choices Begin
When emotions, cravings or triggers feel overwhelming, the urge to react can seem immediate. Explore practical DBT-informed skills that can help you pause, regulate, check the facts and choose a response that supports your recovery, wellbeing and the life you are building.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Oct 19 min read


Understanding Your Window of Tolerance in Recovery
Understanding your window of tolerance in recovery can help you recognise when you are becoming activated, overwhelmed or disconnected. Learn to identify your green, amber and red zones and find practical, compassionate ways to return to greater steadiness, connection and choice.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Sep 2815 min read


The Recovery Toolbox: What Should Be in Yours Before You Need It?
A strong recovery toolbox is built before you need it. Explore practical tools, coping skills, support systems and relapse-prevention strategies that can help you stay grounded, connected and prepared when recovery feels more difficult.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Sep 1713 min read


Beyond Willpower: Building Sustainable Recovery
Recovery takes more than determination. Sustainable change is built through structure, supportive systems, healthy habits, connection and practical tools that still work when motivation is low. In this post, we explore how moving beyond willpower can help you build a recovery that is realistic, resilient and designed to last.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Aug 2813 min read


Recovery Capital: What Do You Have to Lean On When Life Gets Difficult?
There are times in recovery when life feels relatively manageable. We are sleeping reasonably well, our routines are working, relationships feel settled and we have enough emotional capacity to deal with the ordinary challenges that come our way. During these periods, recovery can begin to feel more natural. We know what helps us, we are practising it consistently and we may feel increasingly confident in our ability to navigate life without returning to the substances or beh
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Aug 2613 min read


What Does Sustainable Recovery Look Like in Everyday Life?
When What Does Sustainable Recovery Look Like in Everyday Life? I think we sometimes imagine sustainable recovery as a version of recovery in which we finally become really good at everything. We have a solid morning routine, exercise regularly, eat properly, sleep eight hours a night, attend all the right meetings, meditate, journal, maintain healthy relationships, manage our stress beautifully and remain calm and emotionally regulated regardless of what life throws at us...
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Aug 1811 min read


Recovery is more than Stopping: What are You Actually Building?
Recovery is not only about what you leave behind. It is also about what you begin to build — healthier routines, stronger relationships, greater self-awareness, meaningful goals and a life that feels worth showing up for.
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Aug 1310 min read


Mastering the Art of Stress Management: Healthy Coping Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety in Your Recovery
Mastering the Art of Stress Management: Healthy Coping Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety in Your Recovery Recovery is a process filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, challenges, and triumphs. As you learn to operate in this new space, you're bound to encounter stress and anxiety along the way. These emotions are your body's natural response to the significant changes you're going through and the challenges you're probably facing. You can learn to understand the sources o
Leigh-Anne Brierley
Feb 15, 202410 min read
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