Realign With The Medicine Within
I’m writing to you from my desk, looking out at a clear blue sky.
I’ve just returned from a week with a herd of horses I’ve been learning from over the past year, four hours from the city, out on rugged, aloe-rich land.
Each time I visit, my nervous system recalibrates. The city’s urgency fades, and something inside me finally lands. And yet, another part resists, uneasy with the unfamiliar pace of slowing down.
This tug of war reveals a relationship between two parts of me: one that struggles to receive rest, bonded to hyper-productivity for safety, and another that laps up every drop of spaciousness, stillness, and simplicity.
When I’m with the horses, I notice how often I want to do do do. To prove, to get it right, to achieve something. But their presence invites me to soften, and to relate from a place of listening instead of effort.
I’ve come to see that the horses and the land are teaching me about alignment.
I’m not talking about the kind we strive for in yoga or posture, but alignment as relationship: being in harmony with the Earth beneath us, gravity holding and centering us, and the unseen currents of life that move through us.
I think of alignment as a tree in a forest.
Roots deepening into the ground and branches swaying in the wind; drawing nourishment and information from the soil and mycelial network.
A tree is in alignment when it’s in right relationship with the ecosystem it belongs to and participates in. A tree cannot exist on its own.
Alignment is relational.
We, as humans, find centered alignment when we’re in harmonious relationship with all that is within and around us.
Our cells are in relationship with each other, as are our organs, and the various interrelated biological systems.
We are in relationship with our breath, our thoughts, emotions, dreams, and intentions.
We are in relationship with our loved ones, and even with those we pass without a second glance.
We are in relationship with the bees that pollinate our plants, the fires we make, the water we drink, the medicines we consume, and the sun and moon that guide our rhythms of rising and rest.
We are in relationship with the ineffable, unseen mystery that holds it all.
Life is all about relationship, and healing is a relational process.
This means then that our relationship with food is part of this web.
Whether or not we identify with an eating disorder, the way we eat reflects the way we receive and take in what is nourishing.
Disordered eating can mirror our barriers to nourishment—in food, love, rest, belonging, or spirituality.
Maybe you’ve found that as you do deeper healing work, you discover the beliefs you hold around food or your body also show up in your intimate relationships.
When we begin to heal our relationship with food, we inevitably touch the other threads too: how we relate to others, to work, creativity, home, and to our own sense of worthiness.
Over the years, I’ve come to see that my work isn’t just about “eating disorder recovery.”
It’s about nourishing relationships. It’s about helping people move, somatically and spiritually, toward what sustains them and away from what drains them with more coherence and ease.
Because everything we do, from how we eat to how we love, is relational.
The more I witness this, the more I see how recovery isn’t a destination, but rather a continual tuning of how we relate to ourselves and the world.
May we remember that everything we are in relationship with can be in service to nourishment.
And as we approach the final few chapters of the year, may you realign with what truly resonates with and feeds your soul.
If you’re feeling called to integrate the year and reconnect with yourself, I’d love to share my final offerings for 2025, including Medicine Within, my three-day retreat in Cape Town this December.
Final 2025 Offerings
Medicine Within Retreat
As the year draws to a close, Medicine Within offers a space to yield, harvest, and integrate before stepping into what’s next.
Over three nourishing days, we’ll return to what sustains and nourishes us—through ceremony, movement, sound, and the vibrancy of nature—opening to the medicine that’s always been within.
What to Expect
Microdosing ceremony with earth medicines for reflection and integration
Ritual to honour the year and release what’s ready to be let go
Movement, art, and play to reconnect with joy and creativity
Sound healing and mountain walks to soften and recalibrate
Sauna, cold plunge, and solo time in nature for replenishment
Where You’ll Be
Nestled in the foothills of the Hout Bay mountains, Phakalane Retreat is a forest sanctuary designed for rest and renewal. With mountain views, forest trails, and waterfalls nearby, every detail invites you to slow down, find your feet on the Earth, and come home to yourself.
Join Us
Stay with us on site or join as a day guest
5–7 December 2025 | Spaces are intentionally limited for an intimate group experience
Read more + download the brochure or reply to this email with any questions.
