(The) Big Love Movement
Big Love is about creating a positive change in how people think, speak and feel about mental health, their own and other people's well-being. The word Movement relates not only to the movement of the physical body but within society; a shift in perspective, a change in how we see things as a collective and a way to challenge the stigma around mental health. This is a mission and a life’s work and it started as a page in a journal…
‘I want to build a community where I can create a positive change for people’s wellbeing.’
In July 2018, this is what I wrote in my journal; that I wanted to create a positive change, even though at the time I didn't teach yoga or breath-work and mindfulness was simply something I did in the mornings. I was enjoying an established career in fashion but I had an intention to build a community of like-minded people who were aware they deserve more, a deeper knowledge and connection to themselves in order to sustain their wellbeing and move through their challenges with accessible resources and more ease.
Lived experience, self-development and my own exploration of these transformational tools are the reasons why I created Big Love Movement.
I’ve experienced my own challenges with my mental health and witnessed the impact mental ill-health and the lack of understanding around it has on the people I love. Lived experience, self-development, therapy and the exploration of holistic modalities are the reasons why I created Big Love Movement.
I initially only intended to dip my toe in…
As the UK went into lockdown I thought, “WTF?” What will I do? How will people cope and how will this experience affect people’s wellbeing?
I’d only been self-employed for 8 months so launching my website 2 weeks before lockdown had been a ‘test the water’ thing, I didn’t realise lockdown would give me the opportunity to start what I have.
In April 2020, The Movement Membership launched, a £20 membership with unlimited access to yoga and mindfulness sessions, it was the only way I could think of to share some positivity and tools for well-being, my only hope was they helped someone else the way they had supported me.
Through disconnection, we created connection.
I never knew how the community would begin but it was forming and together we created a connection through the disconnection. Through yoga and mindfulness sessions, wellbeing workshops and by working with individuals one-on-one, I share practices to relieve anxiety and stress and help people reconnect to their bodies and understand the emotions better.
From my bedroom I created webinars for employees, recognising the challenges my community were faced within the workplace that had merged with their home environments. Businesses, leaders and their people were being challenged in new ways and they needed a new way of doing things. At a time when wellbeing was in the headlines alongside the economic impact of the pandemic, I could see how connected the challenges were but also the need for a holistic and sustainable way to support and improve wellbeing in the business environment. I stripped out the physical practice of yoga from the team sessions to ensure complete accessibility however integrated the most practical and transformational tools I knew, I upped the educational piece around mental health and understanding how our bodies work, and the ways our thoughts, behaviours and physical health are all interwoven, teaching that well-being is multi-layered.
There has never been a more important time to make a change.
There has never been a more important time for us, as a collective to recognise the importance of opening up about mental health and supporting our own well-being our own and that of those we are responsible for.
The time is now and there’s a lot of work to do, the last 15-months have been challenging, rewarding and extremely enlightening. Honestly, I didn’t intend to launch my business when I did, I wasn’t ready, I am still not ‘ready’ in the way I was led to believe I should be. Th, I wanted to hide and figure things out but a community had formed and I realised this was the beginning. I trusted that I would grow with my business, I am so very grateful I get to serve in the way I do and I am allowing Big Love to evolve knowing this is a life’s work.
Community and Connection are two of Big Love Movement’s key values.
The online membership lives on and is still the most accessible mindful membership available because the intention is that every person who is curious about improving their wellbeing has the resources to start their own journey to a calmer, more connected life.
The corporate webinars have evolved; over the last 6- months I have created a group employee program to develop self-awareness, improve engagement, performance and wellbeing in a holistic and sustainable way. There are now a series of well-being workshops that teams can attend to develop their awareness around mental health, cope better with stress and reduce the risk of experiencing burnout.
I’ve started to plan in events for July, Aug and September to bring the community together online and one day this autumn, in-person where people can experience various holistic modalities and transformational tools in real life! This year will also see the launch of the ‘Empowered Wellbeing Journal’, a labour of love and weekend afternoons spent illustrating breath sequences, writing journal prompts and sharing practices to develop compassionate awareness in what I hope will become a bedside toolkit.
And breathe…
If you made it all the way to the bottom, thank you, I shall now breathe. It is my hope that together we can grow this community in order to have the impact I intend to make on the collective; a shift towards more positive awareness of mental health and big love for our wellbeing because I believe we all deserve to thrive, not simply survive!
Join me on Wednesday 21st July @19:30, BST, where I'll introduce you to Empowered Wellbeing, exploring meditation, breath-work, mindful movement and mindset techniques to help you Reconnect + Rebalance.
Big love,
B