Beauty & Bone Podcast

Imperfect Bodies : A conversation with Ali Isaac

Welcome to part two of BODY WORK - a series of conversations and workshops on the body - how we write it, listen to it, use it, create from it. Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with writer Davina Quinivan [https://substack.com/profile/224243820-davina-quinivan] about her new memoir Possessions and you can listen to that conversation here [https://open.substack.com/pub/laylaomara/p/possessions-a-conversation-with-davina?r=m9co9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true]. And next week we will begin a week’s series of simple physical and writing prompts to explore writing with and about the body, culminating in a live call in which we can share where the prompts have taken us. Learn more about this exciting week HERE. [https://open.substack.com/pub/laylaomara/p/bodies-are-the-coolest-thing?r=m9co9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true] If you’d like to join us for what promises to be a very special week, you can sign up as a paid subscriber and if you do so before April 19th you can avail of a 50% off special offer on yearly subscriptions. Ok, so let’s dive into this week’s conversation, which is with the wonderful writer Ali Isaac [https://substack.com/profile/106133652-ali-isaac] about her new memoir Imperfect Bodies. I had the pleasure of chairing a discussion with Ali for the Dublin launch of her book a few weeks ago, and we had such a rich conversation I was really eager to have Ali join me for a revisiting of that conversation that we could share with all of you. Imperfect Bodies is a beautifully honest and raw account of Ali’s journey with her daughter Carys who was born with a rare genetic condition – CFC syndrome – and was not expected to survive after birth. Happily, miraculously, she did, and celebrated her 20th birthday recently. Imperfect Bodies tells the story of Ali and Carys’s journey through these 20 years. ‘Carys loves herself … she stares into her own eyes, at her curls, twists her head this way and that so she can stare at it from all angles, opens her mouth wide, examines her tongues and her teeth, pulls funny faces and laughs at herself […] She never looks at her clothes; like the scar, they are not who she is, and she appears to know that. … Carys loves herself, but without conceit, consciously and unconsciously. Despite her imperfections, she is comfortable in her skin. I wish I could be more like that.’ In this conversation Ali and I explore her experiences of disability and discuss how our bodies - 𓇸 perfect and imperfect, 𓇸 able and dis-abled, 𓇸 public and private, 𓇸 seen and unseen, 𓇸 young and middle-aged are regarded in the modern world. We talk about 𓇸 losing and finding ourselves, 𓇸 about motherhood, 𓇸 about belonging 𓇸 and about the power of story and words. 𓇸 We talk about challenging our definitions of normality and Ali offers us powerful explorations of what it means to care and what it means to be human. 𓇸 Above all, this is a book about and written from love and I think that is palpable in how Ali speaks about her life with Carys. "So beautifully written, such an honest and raw account, a scrupulous interrogation of perceptions and attitudes towards disability in the modern world." Sara Baume, review of Imperfect Bodies I’d love to hear your thoughts on our conversation - What sparked for you? What did you want to know more about? What piqued your interest? About AliAli lives in Ireland with her husband, two sons, and daughter, Carys. In 2020, she was awarded a mentorship for Imperfect Bodies with author Sara Baume by Words Ireland in conjunction with the Arts Council of Ireland. She was also selected for the Penguin Write Now Program 2020. In 2021, she was the recipient of a Literature Bursary Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Ali has been published in literary journals The Stinging Fly, Sonder, Paper Lanterns, and Catatonic Daughters. She regularly writes on her Substack. I hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it.Le grá, Layla x Enjoy this conversation? You might like to consider subscribing: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe [https://laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Possessions : A conversation with Davina Quinlivan

Welcome to part one of BODY WORK - a series of conversations and workshops on the body - how we write it, listen to it, use it, create from it. To learn more about upcoming episodes and workshops, check out my post on my homepage. ‘Before others tried to change me, I tried to change myself. Instinctively, I developed a habit, perfecting the art of self-imposed conditioning, preparation for the more violent and pernicious forms of possession that were to come. And they were coming, thick and fast. All I had to do was wait.’ I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Davina Quinlivan about her new memoir Possessions: A Memoir of Transformation in an Era of Precarity. It is a wild, genre-bending narrative that charts Quinlivan’s ultimate rejection of ‘passing for something else’ as she reclaims her mind and body. After two decades of academic research and undergraduate teaching, Davina and the world of university education, were approaching crisis; teaching online, ticking boxes for other people’s diversity criteria, stuck, like so many others, in a cycle of fixed term contracts. Yet as a child of Anglo-Burmese parents, growing up in West London, academia had promised a way out. Something better. ‘I was so thirsty for the prize of academia, so thrilled to defy the fates, that I suffocated my own history and culture, my Burmese heritage and my mother’s language. By doing this, I also possessed my ancestors and made them dance to the tune of Imperialism. How could I be so wrong?’ Possessions is her powerful, compelling story of fragmenting and rebuilding from the inside out, one that is filled with the voices of both Burma and Southall. Haunted by the ghosts of colonialism, Quinlivan beautifully lays bare our blind spots as we grapple with decolonisation and the hypocrisies within our institutions of education. Which possessions came before me, drenching my bones? Which ones did I accept, and which ones did I resist? In this conversation we explore:𓇸 Trying to make our bodies fit into pre-made, preconceived moulds𓇸 Imaginative memoir and how it was a necessary way of exploring on the page her intersecting identities and lived experience𓇸 Portals, thresholds, magical creatures, goblin ancestors and not having line breaks between the living and the dead, the ancient and the new, body and soul. 𓇸 The changing face of higher level education system in the UK𓇸 The disembodiment that so often takes place in an online working environment𓇸 Ideas around shape-shifting, labour, productivity and motherhood𓇸 Ideas around presence and the value of witnessing, deep listening and community and connection I’d love to hear your thoughts on our conversation - What sparked for you? What did you want to know more about? What peaked your interest? About DavinaDavina Quinlivan is a research fellow at the Department of English and Creative Writing at the University of Exeter. For several years she has run F: For Flanerie, a series of writing and film seminars at The Freud Museum. She is also Artistic Lead with Paper Nations, an award-winning creative writing incubator funded by Arts Council England. Her writing has appeared widely, and she is the author of Shalimar (Little Toller). Possessions is out now. If you’d like to follow along with this series of conversations and posts on writing the body, please do subscribe to my newsletter here: le grá, Layla xx This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe [https://laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

water sounds

𓇸 This is a beauty & bone long read article. If you’d like to subscribe to access, plus join us for our early morning writing sessions, and upcoming MULCH meeting in which we’ll start to feel into what the landscape of 2026 might look like for each of us, you can upgrade to paid here: Ok, let’s begin ! Hello friends, Welcome back to the ELEMENT SESSIONS. For those of you new here, the Element Sessions are series of slow, seasonal check-ins throughout the year, using as a framework the Five Elements as described in Taoist practices and Chinese Medicine. The Five Elements (Water, Fire, Metal, Wood & Earth) are all energetic expressions of pure life force. We have all of these five elements within us, and they also vibrate throughout the natural world, they are what makes up life. Each element is at its strongest at a particular time of the year - Earth in Late Summer, Metal in Autumn, Water in Winter, Wood in Spring and Fire in the Summer. When I’m not writing or mothering I work as a Five Element acupuncturist, and so it felt like a simple natural step to create a series of slow, seasonal explorations of each of these elements, weaving in some creative writing prompts. There is, I feel, great power in exploring each of these aspects of ourselves in the time of year it is at its height. Last year we explored each of the Elements through a series of podcast conversations, live calls and journalling prompts (links to our WATER session are below, including a wonderful conversation with Easkey [https://substack.com/profile/11792961-easkey] Britton). This year, as we continue our exploration, I felt drawn to using sound and the body to tap into the elements a little more. In this short video on the WATER element and WINTER we: 𖥸 Explore what the qualities of this time of year are 𖥸 Use a simple sound and movement to wake up the Water meridians. In Taoist practice each of the organ pairings for each element have a particular sound associated with them, designed to vibrate at a particular frequency to stimulate them, get them moving, wake them up. 𖥸 Finally, I’d highly recommend also taking a listen to the conversation I had with writer, social ecologist and big wave surfer Easkey [https://substack.com/profile/11792961-easkey] Britton about the power of water in our lives. Our fascinating initial conversation can be listened to here: And you can also listen to this wonderful practice that Easkey shared with us around grief and loss and the holding and healing potential of water: These are conversations that have stayed with me since I had them over a year ago now, I’d love to hear how they land for you? Layla x This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe [https://laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Conversation with Caro Giles

Earlier this week myself and Caro Giles [https://substack.com/profile/97403524-caro-giles] sat down to have a conversation about her wonderful new memoir Unschooled: The story of a family that doesn’t fit in. We could have spoken for another hour on all she touches on in it, we had so much to say, but I think we managed to cover some really fascinating topics in the hour we did have together ! Unschooled is a book about trying to advocate for your children’s needs in an education system that does not serve them and describes the often Kafkaesque bureaucracy Caro is forced to navigate to access basic supports for her children, two of whom have a diagnosis of autism and can’t access the traditional school system. It is a book about not being heard - as a woman, a mother, a carer - and how sometimes it is hard to work out how these roles can fit together. It is also a love story - written to her children and to her partner who she met after seven years single parenting and feeling very alone. And it is a book advocating for thinking outside the box, for being a little bit wild, for dreaming big and, above all listening and being kind. We spoke about so much during this conversation - 𓇸 what it means to fit in and whether that is always the right thing𓇸 how education does not always have to equals the classroom𓇸 the impact of being forced to conform to a rigid educational system has had on Caro’s girls, including masking𓇸 what it means to often feel ‘too much’ and be asked by society, health care professionals and more to stay small, to play a very specific role𓇸 the split we often feel as women between the mother and the woman𓇸 how the educational system needs to be taken apart and re built to support the needs and lives of modern day children, and the carers and parents who support them𓇸 the importance of creative practice for Caro - a way of saying this happened, I was here. Of being seen and expressing her anger and drive𓇸 what it means to be kind𓇸 the need for us all to find a little bit more wild and so much more. I loved this conversation and I’m sure it will lead to more - we were stamping out tangents left and right! Here’s a little more on Unschooled and on Caro Unschooled, written by a trained teacher with years of experience, exposes the governmental and societal faults which paint all children into one corner and fails to cater for those who cannot fit in, but have much to give. Unschooled has much to say about an education system on its knees but it has hope at its heart – that it’s possible to live and even, with much effort, thrive outside the system. Finally, Caro realises that to be Unschooled can mean also to be spontaneous, natural and unrestrained, a way to reclaim her identity as a woman.As Dr Sharon Blackie [https://substack.com/profile/91718024-dr-sharon-blackie] recently wrote of the book: Unschooled is highly recommended, whether you’re a mother or whether, like me, you’re just obsessed with the many shades of women’s experience and all the ways in which we struggle to understand who we are Caro Giles lives in Northumberland. In 2021 she won the inaugural BBC Countryfile New Writer Award. She is the author of Twelve Moons (HarperNorth) and writes a monthly column for Psychologies Magazine and her Substack Open in the Middle [https://carogiles.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips]. She writes of the everyday act of mothering - of caring & advocating for her children with unassuming, humble, raw grace. The book is available to buy or order from all good booksellers now. Thanks for listening to our conversation - This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe [https://laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Beauty & Bone | The Element Sessions | Episode 6

“Fire calls us to reveal our true nature, to open to the unbearable beauty of creation, to riskthe heartbreak of loss in order to love the world more deeply.”- Lorie Eve Dechar Hello friends, I’m really looking forward to sharing this episode of the Element Sessions with you. As we step across into the summer season we are exploring the FIRE element in Chinese medicine. Last week I shared a Deep Dive into the FIRE element which you can catch up on using the link at the end of this post, plus as a paid subscriber you are very welcome to join us for our live journalling and embodiment call next Monday 26 May between 10 & 11am BST. For more info, check out the membership hub on my homepage. When I was considering who to have a conversation with for this episode, The Harmony Principle [https://open.substack.com/pub/theharmonyprinciple]’s Claire Dabreo came straight to mind - she speaks so eloquently and in such a grounded, practical way about how all of the elements show up in our lives, but in particular she has spoken a lot about what she calls Love Activism, which struck me as a particularly FIRE kind of activity … ! Here’s a little about Claire: Claire Dabreo is a Five Element acupuncturist with practices in both London and the Isle of Arran. In 2020, she founded The Harmony Principle —a platform designed to help individuals align with the energy of the seasons, harness the wisdom of nature’s Creative Cycle, and support practitioners across all healing modalities in deepening their connection to nature, health, and the healing journey. You can follow Claire @theharmonyprinciple [https://www.instagram.com/theharmonyprinciple/?hl=en] and @thelondonacupuncturist [https://www.instagram.com/thelondonacupuncturist/] on instagram and Facebook and sign up to her newsletter via her website www.theharmonyprinciple.com [http://www.theharmonyprinciple.com], as well as finding out more about her Autumn / Metal immersion retreat she is running this October. During our conversation I wanted to hear how Claire approached this season of the year both herself and with her clients, as well as digging deep and exploring how, when there is so much darkness in the world, can we keep our own inner fires burning? I also wanted to ask her what role does JOY play in activism? I found so much food for thought in this episode, most particularly for me I think around how the FIRE element relates to maturity and to this midlife phase of life I am in right now, as well as the simple yet eye-opening idea that this is the season of BEING rather than DOING ! Below is a summary of our chat, plus some of the tips Claire shared with us for aligning us to this time of year, and a link to an earlier conversation with our mentor Gerad Kite which I mention during the call. Highlights include: 𓇸 Being v’s Doing: How the summer energy should be about BEING rather than DOING and the need to give ourselves permission to tend to our social batteries𓇸 Pleasure & Joy: The differences between pleasure (fleeting, often distraction-based, dopamine related) and joy (spontaneous, heart-centred, collective)𓇸 Navigating heartbreak: How we can learn to allow heartbreak and difficult emotions as normal, transformative experiences that connect us more deeply to ourselves and others𓇸 Joy as a propulsive force: Its importance as a transformative energy in dark times 𓇸 Inner and Outer Connection: Cultivating local, in-person community as an antidote to digital overload—nourishing micro-connections and supporting one another in tangible ways. 𓇸 Fire, Maturity & Midlife: The parallels between the fire element’s maturity and the empowerment of midlife women, how authenticity, boundaries, and “full bloom” can come with age. 𓇸 Practical Tools for Summer Alignment: Sunlight, essential oils on heart-centred acupuncture points (see tips below), honest assessment of social needs and even writing yourself a heartfelt love letter! Tips and links mentioned in the call : 1. Here is our Deep Dive into the FIRE element: 2. I also mentioned this conversation with Master acupuncturist and mentor of both Claire’s and mine, Gerad Kite: 3. Here are Claire’s tips for using acupressure and essential oils to help us align with this FIRE season : * Use essential oils like rose, ylang ylang, geranium or frankincense on a point called REN 17, also called ‘Sea of Qi,’ ‘Chest Centre’ or ‘Revealing the Heart’. A wonderful point to help clear anxiety or fear, settle any rising panic and gently send it back into the earth with love. Can help to ‘unbind the chest’, and open us to more easily access love and connection. To locate Ren 17: On the midline of the sternum, in a depression level with the junction of the 4th intercostal space and the sternum – start under the clavicle and count down the spaces between each rib, then move to the centre of the chest. On a man, it is parallel with the nipple line. With all essential oils Claire recommends diluting them with a carrier oil before using on acupoints, with these oils a max of 10% dilution is good. * On two points known as the Inner and Outer Frontier Gates you can use Jasmine oil, again at same dilution as above. Our Gates are two points that both enable us to allow enough love and warmth and connection in, and also to know when it is appropriate to protect our hearts and keep our selves protected and safe. When our Gates are well oiled and functioning well there can be a warm flow of connection, communication and warmth between ourselves and others. To locate: These points are located on the outside and inside of the lower arm, in the centre. To find them, place your ring finger on the wrist crease of the opposite arm, and lay your middle and index finger down beside them. The point will be located underneath your index finger, right in the centre of the arm, both inside and outside, opposite each other. * Rose oil can also be used on Heart 7 ‘Great Mound’ to help ease anxiety and open the heart to maturity and give us a sovereign perspective. To locate: This point is found on the baby finger side of the inside of the wrist, just below the bone that sticks out at that point (the pisiform bone). If you run your finger down the palm from the baby finger to your wrist your finger should fall over the wrist bone and into the hollow of the point. * And this is the beautiful quote that Claire mentioned on the call: “Fire calls us to reveal our truenature, to open to the unbearable beauty of creation, to riskthe heartbreak of loss in order to love the world more deeply.”- Lorie Eve Dechar Would you like to join a growing community of heart-led, creative women writing and making in the gaps of our busy lives? find me at www.laylaomara.substack.com or on Instagram @laylaomarawrites This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe [https://laylaomara.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]