Helen Machen-Pearce @yogarogueuk

Befriending Me

A Spiral of Support, Community and Discovery

September 10, 2026 - July 15, 2027

Online • Live and Recorded

There are times when our bodies ask us to slow down.

You may be living with persistent fatigue, pain, illness, stress, burnout or the lasting effects of difficult experiences. Your capacity may change from day to day - or even from one moment to the next.

Or perhaps you simply long for a gentler way of being with yourself.

Befriending Me is an invitation to explore a different relationship with your body, your nervous system and your life.

Rather than striving, fixing or pushing through, we begin by asking:

  • What is my capacity today?

  • What is affecting it?

  • How might I meet myself here with kindness?

Together, we explore how to recognise, protect, restore and nourish our capacity - and how, when there is enough available, it can support reflection, gradual rebuilding, curiosity, creativity and connection.

Capacity is not something we need to continually increase. It naturally fluctuates. The invitation is to become more aware of what is available, what is being asked of us and what might support us now.

This is not a programme about becoming someone else.

It is about listening to your body, befriending your nervous system and taking gentle, sustainable steps towards a life that feels more supportive and more your own.

Little by little, it is a journey home to yourself.

What Is Befriending Me?

Befriending Me is a year-long Spiral of support, learning, practice and community.

Through accessible teaching and embodied exploration, we consider the many things that shape our capacity: our bodies, nervous systems, emotions, environments, relationships, experiences and the demands of everyday life.

The journey includes:

  • Accessible learning

Gentle, science-informed teaching about the nervous system, capacity, stress, persistent health challenges and embodied living.

  • Embodied exploration

Simple practices to help you notice your body's signals, needs, limits and resources with greater curiosity and compassion.

  • Gentle movement

Adaptable yoga, somatic movement and other embodied practices that can be explored from a mat, chair, sofa or bed.

  • Breath awareness and meditation

Invitational practices supporting presence, steadiness, rest and connection with yourself.

  • Reflection and creativity

Journaling, contemplation, visualisation, creative practices and opportunities to explore your experience in different ways.

  • Community

A warm and welcoming group in which experiences can be shared, witnessed and understood. Many participants say that discovering they are not alone is one of the most valuable parts of the journey.

Everything is offered as an invitation.

There is no expectation that you will do every practice, attend every session or participate in a particular way. You are encouraged to listen to yourself, adapt what is offered and take what is helpful while leaving the rest.

Why a Spiral?

Life rarely moves in a straight line.

We return to familiar themes again and again, but we do not necessarily return to them as the same person or from the same place.

Our needs change. Our circumstances change. Our capacity changes.

The Spiral gives us permission to revisit, notice and begin again without treating this as failure or believing that we should already have "moved on".

Across the year, we journey through six interconnected parts. Each has its own emphasis, while continuing to hold everything that has come before.

Arrive

Before beginning the six parts, we take time to arrive.

We gently notice where we are, what we are bringing with us and what might help this journey feel accessible and supportive.

There is nothing to catch up with and nowhere you need to be before you begin.

The Six Parts of the Spiral

Part One - Rest & Restore

We begin with rest, support and the conditions that help restoration become more possible.

We explore how to recognise when capacity is low, what may be drawing upon it and how to offer ourselves care without turning rest into another task to accomplish.

Part Two - Nourish

We explore what genuinely nourishes and sustains us.

This may include movement, rest, sensory experience, creativity, nature, relationships, pleasure and the small everyday things that help replenish our resources.

Part Three - Reflect

We create space to listen inward with curiosity.

Reflection becomes a way of noticing patterns, needs, values and experiences - without demanding immediate answers or trying to analyse ourselves into change.

Part Four - Rebuild

We explore rebuilding as a gradual and responsive process.

Rather than pushing beyond our limits, we consider how movement, rhythm, creativity and gentle challenge can support strength and resilience while remaining attentive to capacity.

Part Five - Explore

We make room for curiosity, possibility and play.

Exploration does not require a dramatic leap into the unknown. It may begin with one small experiment, a different perspective or the freedom to wonder what else might be possible.

Part Six - Connect

We explore connection with ourselves, one another, the world around us and whatever gives our lives meaning.

We consider how capacity affects connection, how relationships can both draw upon and nourish us, and how we might create ways of connecting that feel more authentic and sustainable.

The Shape of Each Session

Each session follows a familiar and supportive rhythm:

  • Arriving and noticing what is here

  • Accessible teaching around the session's theme

  • A guided embodied practice

  • Time to notice, reflect and integrate

The practices will vary, but the shape remains consistent so that you know what to expect.

You are always welcome to join from a chair, sofa or bed, to keep your camera off, to rest rather than move or simply to listen.

How It Works

The Spiral runs from September 2026 to July 2027.

  • Live online sessions on Thursdays from 11:00am-12:30pm UK time

  • Recordings available if you cannot attend live or would like to revisit a session

  • Access to a growing library of practices and resources

  • Any additional sessions added during the Spiral included at no extra cost

  • Freedom to participate as much or as little as feels supportive

You might attend regularly, join when you can or use the recordings in your own time.

However you participate, you remain part of the Spiral.

Contribution

Befriending Me is a community-supported programme with flexible pricing.

The suggested monthly contribution is £15, which helps sustain the time, care and resources involved in creating and holding the Spiral.

If £15 is not right for your current circumstances, other contribution options are available, including lower and higher amounts.

Please choose the option that feels fair, meaningful and sustainable for you.

Your contribution supports your own place in the Spiral while helping Befriending Me remain accessible to people experiencing genuine financial difficulty.

View all contribution options

An Invitation

You do not need to arrive with more energy, greater confidence or a plan to change yourself.

You can arrive exactly as you are.

Befriending Me offers a steady rhythm of learning, practice, reflection and connection - with space to rest, to wonder, to explore and to begin again.

Together, we practise meeting ourselves with curiosity and kindness, one fairy step at a time.

I would be delighted to welcome you into the Spiral.

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