NATURE RITUALS HELPED ME HEAL

Dawn Fitzpatrick, 52, manages a retirement community and lives in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire

When I moved from Cumbria to my native Scotland during the pandemic, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy transition.

I’d been living in England for 30 years and had recently been through a stressful divorce.

What’s more, I was starting a new job and going through the menopause.

Then, within weeks of me arriving, someone at work left and I stepped in to cover their role.

It couldn’t have been worse timing. I worked 11-hour days, had no friends in the area, and meanwhile the menopause was making me feel tired, overwhelmed and forgetful.

I knew I needed help, but didn’t know where to turn.

Then, one day I was flicking through a magazine when I saw an article about Karen.

The more I read, the more I knew I needed her help. She described herself as a milestone mentor helping people to overcome big changes. I signed up for a course. First Karen asked me to take stock of where I was in my life by thinking about the past, the future, and my current situation.

I realised I felt trapped and hopeless. Simply acknowledging that feeling helped me start to discover what was wrong.

Karen worked with me to unpick why I was so stressed. Then, she asked me to take a walk through nature and pick up stones and sticks to represent my worries about the future.

I dropped them into the stream and imagined letting go. The effect was really powerful. I felt like I could move on with my life.

I worked with Karen to put boundaries in place, so I had some time for myself.

As the weeks rolled into months, I started to feel calmer and more like myself again.

After working with Karen for a few months, we did a closing ceremony, where I reflected on everything I’d learned.

Now I feel like a new woman – I’m free from all the negative thoughts which were holding me back, and I’ve finally found a healthy work-life balance.