Rebekah Russell Naturopath - Trauma Aware

23/11/2025

What an incredible week spent .

❤️‍🩹Such a privilege to spend a week with these beautiful heart centred therapists and the brave hearted participants who came seeking to heal their lives .

❤️‍🩹Again I was struck by the fact that the adage “ hurt people hurt people “ is in fact not always true .
❤️‍🩹These participants were actively seeking to disrupt the cycle of hurt , pain and trauma ..
ensuring that it stopped with them.

❤️‍🩹Coming away feeling full of gratitude for the space that Quest provides us all .

16/11/2025

This excellent article sent to me by a client who has been having a massage as part of her holistic treatment plan to help manage
chronic and debilitating pain.
After her last massage she said “ Thank you for a positive physiological experience “ and I thought this sadly apt - people who live with pain and / or a dysregulated nervous system -rarely have a sense of ease within their body . The body can be a difficult place to inhabit .

I appreciated this article immensely - particularly that it mentions massage as a therapeutic tool for veterans ( and by extrapolation - those who have experienced trauma ) and as a trauma aware naturopath and massage therapist - I regularly see the benefit of massage as a prescription for addressing the echoes of trauma in both the body and the mind .

In addition, I am about to start a week of work as the resident massage therapist at the beautiful - where Petrea in her wisdom strongly encourages participants to receive a massage for its many benefits.
Interestingly it was during the eighties that I first heard about Petrea ( when I was a young naturopath / massage student ) and she was pioneering a massage program to support young men affected by HIV/AIDS - in a time when no one would go near them - she reached in to ensure they experienced a form of compassionate and healing touch through massage . My heart was moved by this act of defiant kindness.

There is a growing evidence base that demonstrates massage benefits to include :

🌿improves sleep
🌿reduces muscle stiffness and soreness
🌿increases release of endorphins - improving a felt sense of well being
🌿improves circulation
🌿improves lymphatic drainage
🌿improves joint mobility
🌿downregulates sympathetic nervous system activity
🌿manages stress ( from paediatric to elderly )

✨I loved the recommendation at the end of the article that it should be made accessible to all through a Medicare type system .
🙏🏼I also would love to see every massage therapist become trauma informed - to ensure that people feel psychologically “ safe “ as part of the massage experience.

11/11/2025

Lest we forget .
It was a sober privilege to observe the minutes silence today and to think about tje horror and sacrifice of war .

I thought about the grandfather I never met - my fathers father -Lieutenant Gordon “ Dick “ Wilkins who served in the Australian Infantry Forces ( 1915-1918) 18 th Battalion and lost his leg in active service - saving the life of another young soldier .

He survived the battle of the Somme and eventually returned to country NSW to resume his role as stock and station agent for the family business - Abel Wilkins and Co. Gordon was also a farmer and grazier .

He was passionate about advocating and supporting returned soldiers and became the first president of the Wellington branch of the Returned Serviceman’s Leagues and held other positions of influence within the town.

In addition , Gordon became a member for Bathurst and a Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly - a tireless advocate for the betterment of farmers in the region - all with one leg .
Sadly he died at a relatively young age 53 year’s old- leaving my dad fatherless at a young age .
Sadness and gratitude . Lest we forget .

❤️

26/10/2025

15/10/2025

Always grateful to have made the sunrise 🌅
I could not capture the round disc of the sun- silhouetted against the clouds- it looked like the moon !
The natural world always a source of awe 🌅

13/10/2025

I have only just learnt that there is a World Menopause Day on October 18th ❗️and
whether it has been a type of cognitive bias ( a frequency illusion due to the fact I still have menopausal symptoms 4 years post partial hysterectomy 😬) or the fact that more women have the ( hard won) opportunity to speak of the issues the affect our gender .. the menopausal transition ( peri and post ) is being referenced in a multitude of spaces .
And for this I am grateful.

Where once it was a topic that was never referred to ( perhaps only the urgent opening of windows in my grandmothers time ) or it was minimised and dismissed as “women’s problems” …we are beginning to have the very necessary conversations around this pivotal and powerful time.

The above piece was actually written for Women’s Health week and although short, I feel that I have captured something that remains true for all women, at any age and stage.

*Trigger warning ⚠️
It was my dear friend and naturopathic menopause specialist Sally Mathrick who first alerted me to the tragic statistic that from the ages of 50-54 , women have an age specific risk of su***de.
There are many potential reasons for this increase -including the complex interplay of hormonal chaos with impaired neurotransmitter functioning, metabolic imbalance , increased familial stressors ( including care of ageing relatives simultaneously supporting offspring through exams/ HSC/ university) , financial challenges and health issues -all the while trying to reframe ageing in a society that worships youth.

It remains true that we need to speak more kindly to ourselves, lean into our support and connections, value our wisdom and embrace this time to reset .

Seeking out positive women’s voices who can help to educate and encourage has been very helpful to me.
Women like Sally , .mindypelz and are some examples of thought leaders whose approach is both holistic and compassionate ❤️‍🩹.

02/10/2025

An exquisite artistic tribute by for the magnificent human being -Dr Jane Goodall who ran and finished her good race earth-side today at 91 years of age.

🐒A lover of animals from childhood , especially wild ones - but without the funds to attend University and pursue an academic path - a young Jane only managed to travel to Kenya upon a friend’s invitation after scraping up funds to travel to Africa by boat .
It was here, Jane had a fortuitous meeting with the anthropologist Louis Leakey and his wife the archaeologist Mary Leakey and this meeting led to Jane helping to the establish the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve .
Ultimately Jane achieved her goal of living amongst the wild animals , only stopping to undertake a PhD at Cambridge.

🐒Dr Goodall’s life was one of committed passion for primates and the planet . She was revolutionary in her approach to primates in her observations and connection with them….
🐒By amplifying the relational aspects of primates and helping others to see them as unique personalities with qualities and characteristics that were endearing and engendered respect - she changed the way we saw animals in the wild and ultimately the way we see ourselves and what constitutes being “ human.”
🐒Previously animal research only saw animals as numbers and data. Dr Goodall gave them names and identities .

🐒Dr Goodall also invited the public to experience a more intimate understanding of the lives of these animals - collaborating with National Geographic to document their lives through media .
🐒Out of this deep care and respect for the animals , grew her awareness that we must save the habitats of these animals and therefore our focus must be on preservation of the planet - our shared home.

🐒Dr Goodall had an unwavering belief in the resilience of the planet and believed that humans would find a way to help find solutions to the current environmental challenges.
🐒With her passing ( still on the speaking circuit no less - at 91 !) her words continue to call us to action :
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what difference you want to make.”

30/09/2025

A glorious profusion of Australian Native flowers - grateful for this 🌸🌺🌼🌻🌿🐝☀️

13/09/2025

This week has been rocked by grief , the sudden loss of one beloved by the community - the wound of loss opening up other wounds ..

To comfort myself ( and hopefully others) I return to the gentle , kind and profound work of to help soften the world once more.

His rare interview in the Times, ended with a quote from the Boy “ I’ve realised why we are here: to love and be loved.”

Love never dies . It is not wasted and it is not lost . There remains an eternal thread of connection . This I believe x

11/09/2025

is such an important initiative to normalise mental health conversations in the workplace and in daily life . Ultimately in the hope that people feel seen, heard and supported when they most need it .

The four steps are (A-L-E-C):

ASK
Start a conversation when you notice somethings different . Use plain, friendly language :
“Hey, how are you going at the moment “ or “ I’ve noticed you seem a bit quieter today, is everything ok?”

ENCOURAGE ACTION
Suggests next steps gently: small, practical options ( talking to a friend or family member, seeing a GP, contacting a counsellor ).
Offer to help find support or go with them.

LISTEN
Be patient and give them time. Listen without interrupting, show them you are hearing them. You could nod, or use prompts like
“I see” or “Tell me more”
Avoid jumping straight to advice.

CHECK IN
Follow up later. Let them know you’re still there and that you care. Even a quick message can help .

09/09/2025

Finding ways to sustain positive change can be challenging ( I find it so !) ..

Recently I have been applying brilliant counting down strategy as a circuit breaker to the unhelpful morning ruminations that assail me when I lie in bed contemplating life/ procrastinating about getting up/ starting to feel the overwhelm of the awaiting tasks ….

5-4-3-2-1 UP is the strategy . Simple and effective !

And then I was fortunate to witness the early morning silvery light on a calm grey sea x

31/08/2025

held a fascinating symposium yesterday on Brain Health - a topic that feels increasingly relevant in mid life 😳.

🧠🌿All the speakers were extremely knowledgeable and included neuroscientists and an integrative gerontologist Dr Mark Hohenberg.

Interestingly, Dr Hohenberg stated that non- pharmacological interventions ( ie diet , movement ,community and connection) are the most powerful protections against developing dementia .

, neuroscientist wrote “ Brain Health for Dummies “ and had a gift for breaking down complex neuroscience into understandable concepts ( and so I bought her book 📕!)

Some essential recommendations for brain health included :

🧠🌿prioritise good sleep
🧠🌿 eat unprocessed whole food - plants mostly -with quality protein and omega 3 fatty acids 🐠
🧠🌿 move your body- especially do movement / activity you love 💕 - this encourages the release of “ brain derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) “ likened to fertiliser for the brain as it promotes neuronal growth and neuroplasticity.
Leg strength is correlated with cognitive health ie when you can no longer get out of the chair - you will quickly lose your independence.😔
🧠🌿stay connected with others. Loneliness impacts health ( as adversely as smoking a packet of ci******es a day !)
🧠🌿 herbs and their biochemical compounds have remarkable health benefits . Herbs 🌿 are the original medicine and can be utilised for prevention and optimisation of cognitive health .

Congratulations for an informative and inspiring seminar . Thank you 🙏🏼 ✨