So Why Does it Feel This Hard?

Books, Boobs and Bouncing Forward

Pat Allchorne is a breast cancer survivor twice over. Twenty-six years after her first diagnosis, cancer returned — twice, within months — and she chose mastectomies both times. For twenty years she ran The Book Loft in Warrington, a second-hand bookshop where 40,000 books created what locals called an Aladdin's cave of delights. In July 2024, a fall broke her ribs and punctured her lung. In the months that followed, cancer was discovered in both breasts. Now retired, Pat writes book reviews and articles for DWC Magazine, sings with her church choir, and continues to read with the same joy she always has. In this episode, she talks about what it meant to build community inside a bookshop, why her scars might have saved her life, and what bouncing forward actually means — moving toward who you're becoming, not back to who you were. F or anyone facing cancer, grief, health challenges, or the hard work of resilience: this is your conversation. Find Pat's writing and book reviews at DWC Magazine.https://dwcmagazine.com

Cardboard Caskets to Viking Funerals: Why Your Family Needs This Conversation - Lisa Herbert

From cardboard caskets to Viking funerals, this episode will make you laugh, think, and finally have the conversation you have been putting off. Lisa Herbert has spent thirteen years making death planning less awkward. As the author of The Bottom Drawer Book [https://thebottomdrawerbook.com.au/]: The After Death Action Plan, now in its fifth edition, Lisa is on a mission to give Australians the confidence and knowledge to plan their own farewell and make things easier for the people they leave behind. In this episode we talk about what sparked a teenager reading a groundbreaking psychiatrist's work to eventually write a funeral planning guide, why your will is probably the worst place to leave your final wishes, what a cardboard casket covered in the Sydney Roosters logo has to do with all of this, and why recording your mum making Anzac biscuits might be the most important thing you do this week. Funny, warm, and genuinely useful. This is the episode to gift to someone you love. Find Lisa at thebottomdrawerbook.com.au [https://thebottomdrawerbook.com.au/] and follow her on Facebook at The Bottom Drawer Book. [https://www.facebook.com/thebottomdrawerbook/]Cemetery tours at cemeterytourstoowoomba.com.au [https://cemeterytourstoowoomba.com.au/]

So Why Does it Feel This Hard?

You saw the words "you're exactly where you thought you wanted to be, but now you're second guessing yourself" and something in you landed. Not in your head. Somewhere lower than that. This three-minute audio is for the woman who built something real, who has always been capable, and who is quietly wondering why everything feels heavier than it should right now. Not broken. Not behind. Not too late. But something has shifted and you can feel it. What you're experiencing is not a personal failing. It's data. And when you understand what it's actually telling you, nothing is hard in the same way anymore. The clarity assessment linked in the show notes will tell you more about why it feels the way it does than anything else you'll do today. michellewollaston.com [https://www.michellewollaston.com/]

Death Doulas: The End of Life Support Nobody Told You Existed - Melissa Warren

We plan our births. We plan our weddings. We plan everything — except the one thing that is guaranteed to happen to every single one of us. In this episode I sit down with Melissa Warren, a Reiki Master, Seichem Master, animal communicator and End of Life Doula based on the Central Coast of NSW, to talk about the role most people have never heard of but almost everyone will eventually need. We talk about what a death doula actually does, when you call one, and why having one in your corner can change everything — not just for the person dying, but for the family trying to hold it all together around them. We also talk about the conversations nobody is having but everyone should be — advanced care directives, voluntary assisted dying, what happens to your body after you die, and why there is absolutely no rush. This is not a morbid conversation. It is one of the most practical, compassionate and quietly revolutionary ones I have had on Soul Loom. If you have ever sat at a bedside, managed a death, or quietly wondered what you would do when the time comes — this episode is for you. Find Melissa [https://www.melissawarrenreiki.com/] Melissa's Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580442670839] Melissa's Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/melissawarrenreiki/]

Trusting Intuition in Trauma Work: Police Detective to Somatic Mentor with Stacey Webb (CW: suicide, trauma)

CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes brief, non-graphic references to suicide, trauma, and sexual assault in the context of policing and healing work.How does a police detective investigating serious crimes become an intuitive somatic mentor? In this conversation, Stacey Webb shares her journey from law enforcement—working in sexual assault and coronial investigations—to helping people reconnect with their nervous system, inner wisdom, and capacity for healing. Stacey explores what it means to be a "warrior of grace," holding space for others in their most vulnerable moments while learning to hold space for herself. She discusses how intuition guided her work as a detective, why somatic practices allow healing without retelling trauma, and how our nervous system responds to protect us—often in ways we don't consciously understand. We talk about the difference between fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses, why trusting intuition feels harder when the guidance is uncomfortable, and how embodied grace means accepting all parts of ourselves—not just the ones we're happy to show. IN THIS EPISODE: * What "embodied grace" means in real terms * How intuition works in high-stakes policing situations * Why your nervous system chooses freeze, fight, or flight before your brain registers danger * Somatic healing without having to tell your trauma story * Building self-trust when you don't know the next step * Practising intuition like a muscle ABOUT STACEY WEBB:Stacey Webb is an intuitive somatic mentor and author devoted to helping people reconnect with their inner wisdom and natural capacity for healing. Her work supports the nervous system through somatic awareness, intuitive guidance, and compassionate presence. With many years of experience in law enforcement as a detective in sexual assault and coronial investigations, Stacey brings a unique understanding of trauma and human vulnerability to her mentoring practice. STACEY'S BOOKS: * Embodied Grace: Trusting Yourself, Healing Deeply and Expanding Fully (with card deck) – Available for pre-order April 2025 * The Intuitive Detective * Foundations of Tapping CONNECT WITH STACEY:Website: https://www.staceywebb.com.au/ [https://www.staceywebb.com.au/]Pre-order Embodied Grace: https://www.staceywebb.com.au/embodied-grace-preorder [https://www.staceywebb.com.au/embodied-grace-preorder]