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The Curious Collective - Kate Chisholm

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Brendale, QLD
The Curious Collective - Kate Chisholm

Helping you understand what your body is trying to tell you—and what to do about it "The body whispers before it screams." That tension in your shoulders.

After 24 years in the Australian Army, including deployment to Southern Iraq, I know what it's like when your body won't let you switch off—even when you're safe. The busy brain that won't quiet. The difficulty fully feeling or being present. These aren't problems to fix—they're messages your body has been sending you. In my work, I translate those messages....

Through the COMPASS Intentional Living Program, I help veterans, first responders (service-connected individuals):
✓ Understand what their body has been trying to communicate through tension, tightness, pain, and hypervigilance
✓ Release the protective patterns that served them in high-stress environments but now limit their current life
✓ Reconnect with the ability to feel deeply, be present, and build authentic relationships
✓ Transform operational adaptations into purposeful choices that serve their current life

My approach combines:
- Military precision with trauma-informed nervous system science
- Practical, evidence-based tools (no fluff, no woo-woo)
- Respect for your service experience without pathologising your responses
- Safe, structured support for sustainable change

Your body adapted brilliantly to keep you effective under pressure. Now let's help it adapt to the life you're actually living. The COMPASS Intentional Living Program guides you through four directions:
North: Understanding your body's intelligence and protective patterns
South: Practical regulation tools tailored to your unique responses
East: Integrating body awareness into daily life
West: Creating purposeful impact from a regulated state

🎙️ Host of The Curious Collective podcast
John Maxwell Leadership Coach | Prince of Wales Award recipient

Ready to understand what your body has been trying to tell you?

08/03/2026

What a weekend!!

Over the past two days I have had the absolute privilege of being part of something I will carry with me for a long time. Invited to contribute as a practitioner, educator and veteran to the filming of a documentary led by the incredible Pro Patria Centre team — built around the powerful work of psychologist Barry Zworestine and his book, 'Which Way Is Your Warrior Facing?'

And the setting? Oh, the setting....

The Royal Automobile Club of Australia on Macquarie Street — a heritage-listed building founded in 1903 with a century of history woven into every staircase, every chandelier, every beautifully ornate ceiling. A building that has held connection to Australia's service community within its walls for decades. Walking through it each morning felt like the space itself understood what we were there to do.

We filmed. We talked. We went deep. A room full of veterans, psychologists, psychiatrists, allied health professionals and advocates — all committed to changing the narrative for a community that deserves so much more 🙌

No complaints. No recycled problems. Just genuine, growth-oriented conversations about what real change actually looks like.

To Barry — thank you for the work you have dedicated yourself to. It creates rooms like this one ♡

To the Pro Patria Centre — thank you for the vision, the care, and for including me. I don't take it lightly. Not even a little bit ♡

To Sydney — you were the perfect backdrop for all of it.....

Headed back to Brisbane tomorrow — full heart, tired feet, and deeply grateful 🙏

01/02/2026

That's me. Mid-rappel. Body shaking. Mind loud.

The harness digs in. Height screams at every nerve. And yet—I'm listening....

• Not to the fear telling me to freeze.
• Not to the voice saying "just push through."
~ I'm listening to my body 🧘‍♀️

The tremor in my legs? That's my nervous system doing its job > assessing, calculating, keeping me alert. The tightness in my chest? Information. My system saying "this matters, pay attention."

Here's what I've learned working with veterans and first responders who've spent careers overriding their body's signals:

• There's a difference between pushing through and moving through. Pushing through ignores the body's wisdom. Moving through includes it.

I can feel the fear... and walk.
My body shakes. My soul moves.
Discomfort is not my enemy.
Forward is a feeling, not a location.
Less head. More body.

When you've been trained to override, to push past, to "suck it up" > you lose the ability to distinguish between your nervous system protecting you and your nervous system limiting you.

The rope holds. The harness works. My body knows this even when my mind doesn't trust it yet.

So I breathe. I feel my feet. I acknowledge the shake. And I take the next step anyway—with my body, not despite it!!

That's not weakness. That's integration.

What would change if you stopped pushing through discomfort and started moving with it instead?

30/01/2026

Your nervous system tracks your pace before you even notice it....

The way you scan the carpark before heading into the shops. The tension in your shoulders during morning traffic. How you move through your day like you're still on shift—even when you're not.

Speed creates activation. Slowness creates regulation.

Your body adapted brilliantly to move fast under pressure. That intelligence kept you effective when seconds mattered. But when your baseline becomes urgency, your nervous system never gets the signal that you're actually safe.

Slowing down isn't about being unproductive. It's about recalibration.

Try this today:
• Notice your walking pace in familiar places—can you move 10% slower?
• Check your breathing at red lights—can you extend your exhale?
• Observe yourself between tasks—can you pause for three breaths before the next thing?

Your body is always communicating. When you slow the pace, you give it permission to shift from operational mode to being present.

The regulation you're seeking starts with the tempo you're setting.

What's one small way you can slow your pace today?

08/01/2026

The Loneliness I Didn't Understand

When I was in the Army in my 20s, I couldn't be alone.

I told myself I was a "people person." That I thrived on connection.

But that wasn't it.

I filled every gap. Drinking. Intimacy that felt like closeness but left me emptier. Hanging out with people I didn't even like - people who didn't actually know me.

Because here's the truth ~ I didn't know myself. I was surrounded by people and completely alone. Not because no one was there, but because I wasn't there.

I was performing. Adapting. Filling noise with more noise so I didn't have to feel the gap between who I was showing up as and who I actually was.

Loneliness isn't the absence of people. It's the presence of separation.

You can feel lonely in a packed room and at peace on a hillside by yourself.

The difference isn't how many bodies are around you. It's whether you're actually here - present with what's real, rather than performing what you think should be.

Your body is already in conversation with everything around you.

Breath passes in and out.
Light enters.
Sound arrives.
What we call "inside" and "outside" are exchanging every second.

The separation was never real. It was the gap between the version of me I was performing and the one actually breathing underneath all that noise.

If you can't be alone with yourself, you're never really with anyone else either.

The work isn't learning to be more social.
It's learning to close the gap between who you're performing as and who you actually are.

That's where the loneliness ends.

Not when you find the right people.
When you find yourself.

06/01/2026

From Mind to Body Wisdom

Most people think meditation means stopping thoughts.

So you sit down, close your eyes... and immediately feel like you're failing.

• Mission planning kicks in.
• Threat assessment runs.

Your trained hypervigilance does exactly what it learned to do. You might think, "This isn't for me."

Meditation isn't about forcing your mind to go blank.

It's about redirecting that exceptional awareness you developed in service / on the job —turning it from external scanning to internal sensing.

The practice isn't about stopping those protective responses....

• It's about giving them new coordinates.
• Less head, more body.
• Less analysing, more sensing.

When you sit 🧘‍♂️🧘‍♀️
Those thoughts still come ~ mission planning, threat assessment, over thinking.

That noise was always running in the background; you're just finally noticing the volume.

Then, something begins to shift:
You stop fighting the scanning.
You stop judging the hypervigilance.
You stop treating your nervous system like it's the enemy.
You begin to notice your body's signals without immediately acting on them.

The thoughts still arise.... but you can let them pass like radio chatter in the background, while you remain steady at center.

This isn't about thinking less.
It's about feeling more.

Your body holds intelligence your mind has been overriding.

With practice, the constant activation naturally settles.

And in that grounded awareness:
• Body signals replace mental loops
• Regulation replaces override
• Presence replaces perpetual planning

The practice is simple 👇

Sit.

Feel your feet on the ground.

Notice your breath moving.

Sense the tension patterns.

Let your body teach you what your mind can't solve.

The calm you're searching for isn't something you force, it's something you allow your nervous system to discover.

You trained your awareness outward for years.

This is training it inward, with the same precision you already know...... 🧘‍♂️🧘‍♀️

29/12/2025

15+ years ago, I couldn't move my body freely without alcohol.

I needed a few drinks to dance. To let go of the rigid control I kept locked around myself like body armour.

I was stuck. Guarded. My body had become a fortress I lived inside, not a home I inhabited.

What I didn't understand then... my body had learned to hold that rigidity for legitimate reasons.

Years of military service where hyperawareness kept me effective. Where letting my guard down wasn't practical. Where processing emotions in real-time could compromise what needed to happen.

My nervous system had adapted brilliantly to those demands.

The problem? That same adaptation - still running full-tilt in civilian life - had become constrictive rather than protective.

The shift happened when I stopped trying to "fix" myself and started getting curious about what my body was actually trying to communicate.

I learned nervous system regulation. Somatic practices. How to work WITH my body's intelligence instead of constantly overriding it.

And slowly... things changed.

Now I move freely. Not because I forced myself to relax or "powered through."

Because I learned to recognise what my nervous system was signalling. To distinguish between past threat patterns and present reality. To give my body what it actually needed rather than what I thought it should need.

Here's what surprised me most....

My body wasn't trying to sabotage me with all that tension and hypervigilance. It was trying to protect me - using the only strategies it knew.

Once I understood that? Everything shifted.

If 15 years-ago Kate could see me now - dancing freely in my kitchen, moving without needing chemical courage, feeling genuinely safe in my own skin - she wouldn't have believed it was possible.

But it is.

The nervous system that learned to protect you so effectively can absolutely learn new patterns when given the right conditions.

I'm curious...

What would be different for you if your body felt like an ally instead of something you're constantly trying to manage or override?

What might open up if the tension you carry could finally soften?

27/12/2025

2025 ~ A Year of Deep Connection & Transformation

As I sit here wrapping up 2025, my heart is absolutely full. This has been a year of deep, meaningful connection with the service-connected community, witnessing profound transformation happen in real time.

Through my COMPASS framework, I watched:
🧭 NORTH - Body Wisdom
Tension held for decades finally making sense. Hypervigilance recognised as advanced awareness that adapted brilliantly. Stored grief finding safe passage through breathwork.
🧭 SOUTH - Regulation
Nervous systems learning the difference between alertness and safety. The "can't switch off" pattern discovering it actually CAN. Breath becoming the bridge between activation and rest.
🧭 EAST - Integration
Daily life becoming the practice ground. Physical sensations transforming from warning signals to valuable information. Body-based tools replacing "push through" strategies.
🧭 WEST - Connection
Protective patterns evolving into purposeful choices. Regulated presence creating safety for others. Service-oriented hearts learning to serve themselves with the same dedication.

The Work Behind the Framework - My signature program, COMPASS was created 18 months ago. I sat on it. Refined it. Questioned it. Let it brew until it was truly ready. 2025 was the year it finally birthed into the world.

This year, I...
✓ Delivered COMPASS with 1:1 clients, witnessing the framework's power in real-time
✓ Formed a BETA group to trial the full program
✓ Watched the four directions come alive in people's bodies, not just on paper
✓ Refined the delivery through actual implementation, not theory

The structure is ready for full launch when I return from Colombia in 2026.

Walking the Path First - I can't teach what I haven't walked myself. This year, I deepened my own work:
✓ Completed the Resilience Shield mentorship program
✓ Went deeper into body-based modalities and somatic learning
✓ Practiced what I preach—doing my own regulation work, facing my own patterns, crossing my own bridges

Every tool I teach, I use. Every direction in COMPASS, I've navigated personally. You can't hold space for others' transformation if you're not committed to your own.

What Matters Most - The feedback that resonates deepest, "I finally understand. I got REAL practical and relatable tools."

This is the work. Not abstract concepts. Not generic wellness advice. But body-based understanding that makes sense to nervous systems trained for operational environments.

Deep Gratitude > To every single person who showed up for themselves this year:
Your willingness to explore. Your vulnerability. Your curiosity. Your courage to look at protective patterns and say "I'm ready to understand you."

You didn't just change your own life—you created ripples. Your regulated presence gives permission for others to be human.
Your body knows the way.

With deep gratitude and regulated presence,
Kate Chisholm
Founder, Curious Collective AU

📧 kate@curiouscollective.au
🧭 Your body knows the way

22/12/2025

The Busiest Time of Year 🎄 For Avoiding Ourselves

Christmas week. Peak season for keeping busy, staying useful, making sure everyone else is sorted.

For many in the service-connected community, this looks like volunteering, organising events, checking on mates, running support groups. All genuinely valuable work.

But here's the uncomfortable question worth sitting with...

• Are you serving from overflow — or avoiding your own discomfort?

There's an ancient teaching about trying to remove a speck from someone else's eye while ignoring the plank in your own. It's not about perfection before service. It's about self-awareness.

Because here's what happens when we help from an unhealed place:

• We burn out and call it sacrifice
• We override our body's signals and call it resilience
• We take on others' emotions and call it empathy
• We stay perpetually busy and call it purpose

Your nervous system knows the difference between ~
- Service that replenishes you
- Service that depletes you while feeling like identity

The body doesn't lie about this.

Notice what happens in your system when you slow down. Does anxiety rise? Does restlessness kick in? Does a voice tell you you're being selfish?

That's information. Not about your worth ~ more about patterns that might need examining.

The service-connected community excels at operational tempo. At mission focus. At putting others first. These are capacities that saved lives.

But the same mechanism that made you excellent under threat can become the thing that keeps you from your own healing.

Some reflection questions for this week:
• What am I avoiding by staying busy?
• What discomfort am I outrunning with activity?
• What would happen if I turned the same care toward myself that I extend to others?
• What does my body actually need right now — not what my training tells me I should be capable of handling?

This isn't about stopping service. It's about examining the nervous system state we're serving from.

Because the most sustainable service — the kind that doesn't leave you empty — comes from people who've done their inner work first.....

You can't pour from a depleted well. And pretending the well is full doesn't make it so!!!

Your body has been trying to tell you something. Perhaps this week, instead of filling every moment with doing, there's space to actually listen ♡

The helping can wait. Your healing cannot.

What's one signal your body has been sending that you've been too busy to notice? I'm curious.......

19/12/2025

Your nervous system doesn't just respond to your own experiences - it mirrors the people around you.

This is empathic resonance.

For first responders, it means you're not just witnessing trauma on calls - your body is absorbing the distress of those you're helping. That accumulation doesn't disappear when you clock off.

Then you walk through your front door, and your family's nervous systems begin syncing with your activation. They pick up on what you haven't processed yet, feeling anxious without knowing why.

Here's what makes the difference ~ understanding your capacity.

You can hold space for others' darkness WITHOUT taking it home. You can feel empathy WITHOUT absorbing their burden. But only when you've learned to recognise the difference between what's yours and what's theirs.

This isn't about becoming callous - it's about doing your best work while protecting your system and your family.

The first responders who sustain their careers? They've learned this distinction.

They know that helping someone doesn't require carrying their weight after the call ends.

Your body already knows the difference.

Time to listen to what it's telling you.

18/12/2025

Every day, first responders across Australia wake up, put on uniforms, kiss their families goodbye, and prepare to run toward danger if called.

They don't know what they'll face. They go anyway.
They maintain this readiness while:

• Managing their own trauma responses from previous incidents
• Supporting colleagues dealing with operational stress
• Navigating public criticism and institutional pressures
• Trying to maintain healthy relationships despite the nervous system impacts of their work
• Processing the moral complexity of use-of-force decisions
• Carrying the weight of lives saved and lives lost

This is not ordinary work. This requires extraordinary nervous system capacity....

This past Sunday in Bondi, Australia 🇦🇺 we witnessed what that capacity looks like when tested to its absolute limits. Officers ran toward assault rifles with handguns. They placed themselves between threat and innocents. They stopped terrorists intent on mass murder.

They didn't fail us. They saved us.

If you've criticised the police response at Bondi, I ask you to consider > Would you have run toward that danger?

If the answer is no—and for most of us, it is—then perhaps we owe these officers not criticism, but profound gratitude ♡

》 To the officers who responded at Bondi and to first responders everywhere:

Your nervous systems carry intelligence most humans will never understand. Your capacity to function under threat transcends what many can comprehend. Your willingness to override survival instincts for strangers is the highest form of service.....

We see you. We honour what you've sacrificed. We're grateful you exist.

Because when chaos demands heroes, you don't hesitate. Thank you 🙌

13/12/2025

I really love what I do....

I love showing people the power of their breath. That they already have everything they need to regulate, to settle, to come home to themselves.

This morning at Lake Samsonvale with Buddy Up Australia (amazing SEQ co-ord Mark Amiet) our community came together... learnt simple practices, and experienced what happens when we actually stop.

After a walk through the bush we settled lakeside and breathed together ♡

Conscious connected breath. Nervous system education. Grounding practices.

And people actually felt it. The settling. The softening The remembering that they don't always have to be on.

Teaching this work in nature feels like coming home. Not in clinical rooms. Not disconnected from earth and water and sky. But grounded. Embodied. As it should be.

Several people said afterward how valuable it was to have simple, practical tools they could actually use.

These aren't complex theories.... Just your breath is always with you. The ground is always beneath your feet. Your body knows.

In a world that constantly demands we keep moving - stopping becomes rebellious ~ 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♂️🫶 be a rebel...

Be present.

Breathing deeply is your BEST medicine.

Thank you to the humans who showed up. Thank you Buddy Up Australia for holding these spaces. Thank you Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs for supporting this work.

And thank you to that lake, those trees, and the morning for holding us all 🧭

Kate Chisholm

08/12/2025

Anchor & Awaken Retreat feedback has been flowing in > it has been incredibly humbling..... What landed the deepest?

✨ Breathwork that helped people breathe properly for the first time in years
✨ Sunrise rituals, silent walks and ocean moments that reset entire systems
✨ Connection — real, grounded community with like-minded people
✨ A safe and supportive space held by facilitators with lived experience
✨ Practical tools everyone can take home and use immediately

And what we’re taking forward?

More movement weaved through the program.
More intentional opening connection time.
More integration space between sessions to let the nervous system settle.

We’re grateful for every person who trusted us with their weekend.
And we’re already shaping the next experience using everything we learned.

The body knows the way home. !! Sometimes it just needs the right environment to remember.

Address

Brendale, QLD
4500

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Thursday	9am - 4pm

Website

https://linktr.ee/curiouscollectiveau, https://www.facebook.com/groups/curiouscollectivecommunity

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Our Story

I am the very proud mother of three gorgeous children. As a Mum I can honestly say I have the best job in the world, extremely rewarding and brightens every day. This page provides an area where like minded people can share their quotes, advice, ideas and motivate each other in the world of essential oils !! Our team can offer education, support, workshops and so much more.

I have been using essential oils my whole life and LOVE them with all my heart, I discovered the wonderful doTERRA 2 years ago and have decided to share my essential oil stories with the world. I have been blessed to have met SO many fantastic people already while building my doTERRA business and on this oils journey.... the community and “tribe” is second to none. You are never left wondering how to use your oils, instead you are supported every step of the way. Feel free to share your new blends, uses for the oils you have or contact myself or one of the team if you want further information around the best options for essential oils use within your life. We have a private support group for those interested in joining our amzing team.

Much love, Katie Chis (and my Sharing with heart team)