Racquet sports, homeopathy and mid-thirties reinvention.

Diaries of this 30 somethin’ mumma continued.

Hello to you, from a very sunny Western Australia.

Spring is here and not just a little dribble of it either— full sunshine, all day, not a cloud in the sky. I love the Mediterranean climate of the south west of Aus. I have become so used to it that my standard for sunshine is high (and my tolerance for grey skies, so low), which is why I gravitate to mediterranean countries. Either that or my ancestry or the 48753 other reasons they are so alluring (I must write soon about my life goal to make contact with my Greek family, but another time).

I’ll never forget when I lived in England, experiencing the relentless grey skies and thinking to myself ‘I will never take sunshine for granted again’. I mean, sunshine is such an immense gift from God that some get to experience more of than others. We moved to England late February of that year, and soon after in the first week of May, I went to Mallorca for three nights on my first solo trip since becoming a mumma. I was pregnant with my second bub Pax at the time. I will never forget laying out in the Spanish sun on that trip and letting out a big audible moan— the relief of the sun hitting my skin, filling me with all the nutritious light that does wonders for the body and mind. ‘Ahhhhhh’ 

This morning I was telling the kids about back when hospitals would have full sun decks for patients to lay out in (like the Sanatorium at Davos in Switzerland). Why don’t we do this anymore?! Don’t answer that. If you’re anything like me, it’ll take you on a deep and winding spiral about the flaws of modern medicine and …. I’ll stop myself there. But on that note, I’ve started a two year Advanced Practitioners Course in Homeopathy. It was never in my plans to do this, but it kept whistling out to me with a little ‘yooo hooo!!’. I am a home prescriber already, especially with my kids and other family members. Recently my eldest had her first proper bout of winter ‘sickies’ for the season, even though it was early spring. In all honesty, I think it was her body detoxing the glyphosate that is being sprayed around town now (which infuriates me, but I dumped all that in a letter to the council so I won’t bore you with it). 

Anyway… we let her body do its thing. She didn’t respond to the first couple of remedy combos I tried, but on the second afternoon she was more fevery, achy and fatigued. She also started to have a dark and puffy eye and a sore ear. I dug into the Materia Medica and found a highly indicated remedy, rapid dosed her and within the hour she was up, at the kitchen table eating dinner with us and feeling like a new gal. It can be so swift when the remedy is a true match for the individual because it is working on the vital force. As my friend Stacey says “it feels like a miracle every time.” 

I first became interested in homeopathy upon discovering Isaac Golden’s Homeoprophylaxis program (homeopathic immunisation) many years ago but only became really intrigued by it within the last year or so. 

I signed up to the course with the main intention being, as an insurance policy of sorts for my own family and community. The world is weird sometimes and I like to feel empowered, as I know you do too. If you’ve followed my work for any period of time you’ll know that I whole heartedly believe in the innate intelligence of our bodies, that constant and consistent suppression of symptoms is not the way, that our symptoms are all serving a purpose and not out to get us, that the secrets to vitality are about less and not more, that even the natural wellbeing world that I am apart can create overly reliant and powerless individuals if we are not careful… 

I absolutely loved my studies over a decade ago in the physiology/bioenergetics space and as you may well know, started may phD, only to defer it within 6 months because I was hungry to get out into the world of business and hang up the lab coat. Spoiler: I haven’t gone back to my phD and don’t plan to, but if I do, it’ll be on a frothier topic along the lines of “How strongly does our perception of ourselves determine our appearance and vitality?” 

I love to feel equipped, and I love to help others learn the empowering truths about their wellbeing, rather than the disempowering, fearful narratives that are popular especially with regards to illness. I don’t know what I’ll do with it at the end of the course— to be continued! I imagine that equipped with the full knowledge of homeopathic medicine, I won’t be able to help myself but to practice in some way beyond my own home— I already find it difficult not to offer perspectives, suggestions + natural remedies to anyone ailing. I sense I may merge it with my other loves into one big Body Luxury hub— super frothy workouts and the rest, you know. Will see what God has in store!! Regardless— I am stoked to get to study alongside some super passionate, clever people and learn from absolute legends in the space… that in itself has been such a gift to me. Free the vital force!!!! (Also if you’re wondering, I’m studying with RMDY Academy).

Speaking of freeing the vital force…. I have started playing Padel and am obsessed. Have you heard of it? It’s a mix between tennis and squash and was originally created by a Mexican businessman named Enrique Corcuera in 1969. He developed the game at his home in Mexico after he couldn’t quite fit a tennis court in. He created a slightly smaller court and added walls around it to allow the ball to be played off of them, similar to squash. It then made its way to countries like Argentina and is super popular in Spain, where it was further developed and formalised.

My brother visited recently from Bali (where Padel is a big part of the expat culture) on his way home from Spain. He had just bought himself a new Padel Racquet and some zesty new Padel shoes and so I booked us in for a lesson together. He plays regularly there in tournaments and stuff, but I just wanted to wet my beak and see whether it was something I wanted to pursue. I also just wanted to spend some quality time with him and our family loves some sports let me tell ya. The more I discover about the eldest daughter complex (see this post), the more I am committed to finding myself hobbies that aren’t about achievement, helping others or changing the world. Although I will admit, after my first Padel lesson I started scouring town for land to build another two courts because there aren’t many in this region. My eldest daughter today made me a card and drew a padel racquet! Kids find so much joy in our joy. 

I had a few lessons with the local Argentinian coach first (because I will not show up to play unless I anm confident I can PLAY you know? I come from a very competitive sporting family) and then I started playing socially— I just love it. There is something so satisfying about just smacking a ball. You know? I’ve got a little experience in tennis, mostly because we had to spend a whole freaking semester studying the biomechanics of it in university, but have since done a few tennis lessons & a few casual games. I prefer Padel to tennis. It’s more accessible when you’re starting at the ripe ol’ age of 36 and I love that it’s an emerging sport that attracts super international people. When I mention Padel to people they say ‘oh you mean Pickleball?’ No I don’t mean Pickleball! It feels like a super alt, quirky European sport and I love that kinda vibe. 

I love going to the social games because everyone there is similar to me in that they’ve lived in a million different places, and that kind of life is so normal to them. One of the ladies I met is from a very small country near Turkey. She has lived all over the world and so we connected immediately. She moved from London to Portugal when her second baby was 2 weeks old and I told her as she told me the story— I do not think you are crazy. This is very normal to me. You are my people. I am no stranger to those ‘crazy’ international moves with a newborn and I’d be lying if I said that vibrant, spontaneous life didn’t make me feel alive.

I told my husband and mum— I love these international people because they’re mongrels like me— our world is all over, not in one localized place. I have my solid people where I am from— true ride or dies— and I also have a handful of true ride or dies sprinkled all over the planet. These people have their friends all over the world, and don’t live a cliquey home town life like so many do where I’m from. I feel like a fish out of water in my home town. Not the country towns that surround it where I have also lived, but the city city— it’s my home home but it’s not my home home, you know? 

My mum laughed at me the other day at the park when I got chatting to a very talkative 5ish year old kid while playing in the sand with my kids. He said innocently as little kids do ‘Where do you live?’. I said ‘we live here around the corner, just for now’, making sure I professed out loud that we are just passing through and that I will return to my vibrant international life shortly. I love and appreciate Western Australia, but I struggle with it in many ways too— the cultural isolation being one of them and some deeper stuff that I’ll save for talk therapy.

I have some solid friends in parts of the region and also some solid friends from back in the day— I have my people— but for the most I feel like a black sheep. I hate small talk. I hate snobbiness. I hate clickiness and small mindedness. I am from the rough parts of town originally and those are the parts I feel more at home— gritty people. Gritty people are my people. The more affluent areas of which I can now afford to live, are all about ‘what prestigious private schools my kids will go to’ and my husband and I just don’t follow that model. We will always have a base in this part of the world because of family and we value family hugely, but my wings get itchy after a while. You know this if you’ve been a long time reader. Ah, it is so trivial really. I am grateful for the breath in my lungs, a loving husband and three healthy children and at the end of the day, wherever they are, that’s my home. And these are the golden days.

My husband and I talk a lot about what is next for us while also reminding each other to savour where we are right now. For my birthday last month I bought life planners (typical me). I actually took these two big ass binders to our fancy birthday lunch. As we got to discussing the contents of them, we decided ‘let’s just enjoy our life and our kids and where we are right now instead.’ I still have the binders, they are from a place called Monk Manual if you’re interested. I got the tip off for those from Sarah Clarkson’s Substack.

We are so hands on with our kids and have chosen a parenting style which keeps them close while they are little, which keeps family at the centre, which keeps home the most important thing. It is so tempting to jump into all manner of opportunities— but we have learned to wait. We have learned about capacity. We have learned about temptation and distraction and we are trying to exercise discernment.

I feel like I am going through a reinvention of sorts — What will I do with this precious life, next? Write a book? Take the kids travelling? Start another business? Invest in others wellness businesses? Volunteer? Become a Padel pro or invest in a Padel court (because can an eldest ever just enjoy a dam hobby?)? Homeopath? The ideas for new businesses are plentiful and to be honest, many of them are slam dunks. But… why? Is God moving me to them or is it the tentacles of distraction that still tickle, especially after a strong matcha. 

We were on a call with our financial advisor in the USA recently and I told him that he acts more like a life coach. He is always asking us the deeper questions about life, what we want, what we care about, what is meaningful. He said ‘that’s my job’. Isn’t that the best? He just gets that financial advising is nothing without being centered in what it’s all really about.

What is next for me and for my little family is revealing itself but what is most important is savouring what is under our noses right now. 

I cannot tell you how blessed I feel that I can focus on my children without the financial stressors that plagued my own mum. Sometimes the hardest part is actually living this freedom though, without the ol’ survival DNA kicking in constantly asking ‘what’s next?’ ‘What’s next?’ ‘What’s next?’ 

I’m letting myself entertain my many different passions and continue giving to the people and things I care about, while also repeatedly telling myself that these days at home with my children are enough. 

These are the golden days— this is my life motto in this season. 

My husband just texted— he won the golf championship. Woohooo! He is loving playing again. Who knows, maybe he will go on tour and we will be a travelling golf family. I can take my remedies and be a volunteer homeopath, teach fun vibey workouts on the road, write, live. 

Or maybe we will just stay here. 

These are the golden days.

Lotsa love, Pk xx 

PS. This was also from today— My sister smashed a Hyrox competition, my husband won a golf tournament that spanned four weekends, and I carried my youngest chubba bubba all the way home from the beach breastfeeding. This is functional fitness at it’s finest.