Slip off your shoes and step inside my driftwood yoga cabin, tucked into the garden of my 1920’s coastal home (affectionately known locally as ‘the gingerbread house’), in a sleepy, quiet corner of the south-west of England. Feel the sand between your toes, the salt spray on your face, and drift awhile…
Hello, friend. How the devil are you?
As always during my online sabbaticals, so much has happened…and yet, almost nothing at all.
Today I’m penning this to you from my lurching bed, having spent a fabulous holiday adventuring in France with my little family, but now enduring a severe case of Mal de Débarquement1, and feeling not unlike a sickly waif of the 1700s; albeit considerably more filled with cheese.
It isn’t the first time my vestibular system has failed me. Frustrating, as I vision myself as a great explorer of the world; but, in reality, with travel my body just won’t comply. Littered as it is with malfunctioning ear to eye connections, with its cogs of anxiety and neuroses, its hormonal and perimenopausal quirks and foibles. Lucky me, as all is packaged in a box, with a bow, and a lifetime guarantee.
These chronic maladies have been both the bane of my life, and the making of. They led me to my passion, to my life’s work in health and fitness in my mid-thirties, having floundered my way around a cornucopia of people-facing jobs in the years prior and suffered with constant viruses, leading to inevitable exhaustion and eventually, burnout.
Nowadays, I do my best to erect steadfast boundaries, to practice epic degrees of self-care, and to work with my conditions - all the better to understand, empathise with, and support those I work with that struggle with chronic illness.
This is how I best offer my services to the world. I can see that now.
With over a decade in the fitness industry, leading a team specialising in supporting NHS patients with long-term health conditions to become more physically active, I spend my days being a positive role model for wellness. I am passionate about incorporating the medicine of nature into that recipe for wellbeing, and helping people find true joy in nourishing and moving their bodies, their way.
On spiralling back to ‘Salted’
You may or may not have been here when I originally published ‘Salted’, way back in the post-apocalyptic days of summer 2022. And so here we return, to that same name that infuses my dreams, the name which is scribbled throughout my journals and which my soul keeps nudging me to “give just one more try”. I’ve updated my About page for this latest iteration, where you can read more about my decade working in health, my passion for the coast, and the deliciously healing fusion of those two worlds.
A welcome gift
To say thank you for sticking around, or to welcome you new, here is a dreamy, flowing, seascape-inspired playlist I made just for you, friend. A watery gift to encourage you to pause, sway your body, breathe deep, and feel as expansive as the ocean.
Until next time,
x Luisa
What is Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS)? | Ménière’s Society Ironic, considering my love of water, right?!
Welcome back, Luisa. We missed you!
I love that you have returned to 'Salted' A big welcome back Luisa! x