From Disconnection to embodiment: One Woman's journey through circle work

I'm honoured to share Libby's story in her own words about her unexpected journey home to herself.

Her experience speaks to something so many women are living with - a disconnection from our bodies that we don't even realise exists until we begin to find our way back.

This story, from our Selkie women's circle, illustrates the profound transformation possible when women gather to reclaim lost parts of themselves through ancient wisdom and embodied practices - the same depth of work we explore at our Bone Deep Women's Circles.

"I only went because my friend was going"

I only signed up for the Selkie Women’s Circle because my friend was going and I thought it would be "fun." I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into. If someone had told me that this would completely change how I see myself and move through the world, I would have laughed.

But here I am, months later, and I am feeling very different now. This has been truly a life-enhancing experience.

Understanding the Selkie's call

I learned that in Celtic mythology, Selkies are seal-women who can shed their seal skins to become human.

But sometimes they lose their skins, becoming trapped on land, disconnected from their true nature.

During this women’s circle, we explored this mythology through embodied practices - movement, breathwork, sound healing and somatic exercises that helped us reconnect with our bodies.

We worked in circle with other women, sharing stories and witnessing each other's journeys. There was time for reflection, creative expression, and gentle body-based practices that helped us remember what we'd forgotten about ourselves.

The disconnection I didn't know I had

Every single part of the experience resonated with me in ways I never expected.

The biggest revelation hit me right away: I realised I had been living like a Selkie who had lost her skin, disconnected from my essential self.

I had been very disconnected from my body for most of my adult life. It was like rediscovering an essential part of me that had been sadly long forgotten.

I never understood before how completely cut off I was from my own physical self. I had been living like someone who goes to a beautiful beach only to complain about the sand.

Every month, I moaned about my period, never once thanking my body for allowing me to fall pregnant on demand, have healthy pregnancies, and produce beautiful children with no unwanted medical intervention.

Each time I caught a glimpse of my reflection, I had self-loathing thoughts. I was horrible to my body, never thanking it for its magnificence. I stepped out of my core essence to accommodate all the roles I'd been given - daughter, sister, auntie, niece, friend, neighbour, worker, lover, carer, wife, boss, mother. I became compliant and codependent, completely unaware that essential parts of me were missing.

What I discovered when I came home to my body

Through the Selkie women’s circle, I began to understand that I had been shedding pieces of myself throughout my life, just like casting aside old jackets. I left my playfulness behind in childhood, my mischievousness with adolescence, my curiosity and trust in my youth. These weren't just nice-to-haves - they were core parts of me, and I could reconnect with them.

I see now that I had been searching for connection with myself in all the wrong places for so long. I didn't even realise that's what I was longing for.

“Coming back to my body changed everything. I am much more self-compassionate now and so much more accepting of myself. I move my body more, and I actually feel it move - for the first time in decades.

The embodied practices from the workshop didn’t just stay in that room - they became part of my daily life. I sing in the shower now, no longer embarrassed by my voice, but safe in the knowledge that my voice sounds exactly like it’s supposed to. I’m not meant to look like or sound like Taylor Swift - I’m meant to be exactly me.”

The daily practice of coming home

I have regular reminders on my phone now to drop into my body every day, even if only momentarily. During the workshop, we wrote letters to our future selves, and Ruth posted mine to me afterward. I keep that card with the Selkie picture framed by my bed so it's the first thing I see every morning - a lovely reminder to be embodied and connected to the intentions I set during the workshop.

Similar to a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, I now look in the mirror and see a whole other part of me - a forgotten part that I can join with. With patience and practice, we're emerging together, connected and whole.

When embodied wisdom flows

One of the most surprising things happened after the workshop - I woke up one morning with a complete poem in my head, like I'd written it in my sleep. I've never written poetry before, but here it is:

My Selkie Poem

I grew through infancy and childhood,
Adolescence, motherhood,
Trauma, laughter, joy and pain,
I lost myself along the way.

Daughter, sister, auntie, niece,
I shed my skin, piece by piece.
And the eyes in my reflection, never meet my gaze,
Exiled and forgotten, I'd got lost along the way.

Friend and neighbour, worker, lover,
Carer, wife, boss and mother,
I stepped out of my core essence,
To accommodate the roles that I'd been given,
Compliant, codependent, unaware that part of me was missing.

But as I hear my Selkie call, I sing along, now feeling whole,
Retrace my steps and gather up, those tiny bits of me,
That once lay disregarded but now make me whole and free.

This poem came from somewhere deep inside - proof that when you reconnect with your body, wisdom and creativity that you didn't even know you had begins to flow. Something profound and beautiful has been stirred to life in me through this work.

The Continuing journey

I realise now that this is just the start of a journey for me, and one I had not expected in the least. Lots and lots of things have changed, and it's a continuing process. I now wake up excited. Ruth has awakened something magical in me, and I am blessed beyond words to have been part of this workshop.

If there's ever a follow-up workshop, I want to be there. This has been such a life-enhancing experience that I want to keep learning and growing in this way.

If you're reading this and something resonates - if you recognise yourself in the disconnection I described, or if you feel like you've been searching for something but can't quite name what it is - I want you to know that coming home to yourself is possible.

“You don’t need to be “ready” for transformation. I certainly wasn’t. I just needed to be willing to try something new, to follow a friend to what I thought would be a fun Saturday. There’s something so powerful about being in circle with other women on this journey - witnessing each other’s stories and discoveries. What I found was that the life I’d been searching for was waiting in the body I’d been ignoring.”

From my heart, thank you, Ruth, for this truly life-enhancing experience.

If you'd like to explore your own journey home to yourself through ancient feminine wisdom, you can learn more about our Bone Deep Women's Circles.