Suzy has been actively involved with Sacred Earth since our inception in 2011. She joins the management committee of Sacred Earth Community Benefit Society as our Community Health and Wellbeing Officer, a role which is a perfect match for her wealth of skills and experience as a Physiotherapist, yoga teacher and holistic practitioner.
Nature has always felt like my sanctuary, a place to retreat to, to walk in, meet friends, play, forage and also to cultivate stillness and a quiet mind, a place where my mind, body and soul feels deeply connected to something bigger than myself.
Having travelled throughout Asia before going to University in the early 90’s I became really interested in Eastern spiritual philosophies, especially Buddhism and yoga. Whilst training as a physiotherapist in Manchester I also studied yoga and meditation. This led to me continuing my studies in India, where I completed yoga teacher training in 1999.
My fascination with how to keep the body and mind healthy has deepened and led to a diverse learning journey, studying cranio-sacral therapy, reiki healing, sports therapy, pilates, acupuncture and most recently life coaching. I have also run many yoga workshops, courses and retreats.
I feel that being ‘healthy’ is not a linear path, it is more of a diverse and colourful weaving between the mind, the physical body, the emotional self and the spiritual self. I believe it is vital to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, a positive and open mind state, a diet that is natural, organic and as seasonal and local as possible, making sure the physical body is kept healthy by regular exercise, a combination of cardio-vascular and body/mind practices and making sure there is some time for creativity, fun and play. If we ‘fall asleep’ and forget about looking after ourselves and connecting with each other I believe this is at the root of all disease, or ‘dis–ease’.
I am deeply blessed and grateful to be the wife of Phil, soul mate and founder of Sacred Earth and the lucky Muma to our daughter Gaia, both are the deepest joys of my life. My time is shared between mothering, working, running a home, supporting Sacred Earth, connecting with our wonderful community of friends and family and being as creative as possible, spinning wool, writing poems, lying under trees, practising yoga and meditation and trying to have less ‘doing’ in my life and finding more ‘being’ time!
Phil has always been the driving force behind Sacred Earth, however my beliefs have always been in alignment with his, with a wish to look after and care take an area of land, so that children may enjoy and receive the fruit from our efforts in the generations to come. Five years ago I was very involved with the initial set up of Sacred Earth Community Interest Company as well as bringing together many friends to begin forming our community at Sacred Earth. One of my gifts is that I love bringing people together, something magical happens when many like-minded souls come together. Over the years many people have joined hearts and hands and we have planted a fruit orchard, hundreds of trees, collected and dug out huge amounts of rubbish, cleared barbed wire, pathways and restored many areas to create wildlife havens, we have a bee sanctuary and have planted many bee friendly flowers, as well as many other care taking actions.
My actions feel like a drop in the ocean in relation to the destruction that is happening today in the world, how climate change is so damaging to our Earth, how consumerism is depleting our resources. However, at least I know I am part of something beyond myself and can help make changes in small ways and can teach my daughter to respect the Earth too and continue to make good conscious choices through my actions.
At Sacred Earth today we have a fantastic group of committed people passionate about being in nature, being part of something bigger than themselves. Phil is managing the land, tending to the trees, coppicing, running a Biochar operation and offering educational courses. Alice is a herbalist and is growing herbs on the land and offering a herbal box scheme. Emile, the farmer, tends to his pigs and chickens, producing delicious eggs. Ollie is project managing and offering Ecotherapy. Annemarie is growing willow and runs basketmaking courses. Mark and Vicky join Phil in running nature connection adventures and activities for all ages, and Roger watches over us all with benevolence and loving kindness. There is space for more people to get involved, people who are also passionate about being in nature, coming together and wishing to make a difference now and for the future, whether that is simply to join on one of our volunteer days or to set up a small cottage industry like wood carving.
Life inspires me. I feel so blessed to have been born at this time, however painful and beautiful it is every day. I need to trust life. I need to stay connected. I need to pay attention to my needs so that I can be in service to others in an authentic way. I need my blood family around me and my soul family to connect regularly to and I wish to offer my gifts to the world – the ones I have been blessed to discover. I wish to keep exploring in case there are any more.
Suzy currently works as an integrative physiotherapist at a complementary health centre in Brighton and a doctor’s surgery in Herstmonceaux. She teaches weekly yoga classes in Brighton and run regular workshops throughout the year.
