> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://emilymorter.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Be gentle and make effort
- URL: https://emilymorter.com/be-gentle-and-make-effort/
- Published: 2020-09-17T11:12:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-17T05:01:43.000Z
- Description: mental heaviness, collaborative care, podcast, poem, cosmic weather
- Author: Emily Morter
- Tags: Writing

I've been very slow and quiet this month. It has felt heavy here in Melbourne and it's taken a lot of my energy just to lift my spirits each day. One thing I have intentionally spent effort on is clarifying my values and trying to live them in my daily habits and ways. To ask *what is mine to do* and know that I am here to be a gentle guide, living a responsible life, in coherence with the living world.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-10-04_10-23-37.jpg)

Some days I just can't get out of bed, Sep 2020

### Collaborative Care

This has meant reaching out for support from my GP and psychologist to review, heal and deepen the boundaries and structures of my relationships and to learn new ways of communicating and building trust. I've also needed to ask my family and friends for the emotional safety I need in this time of grief, change and honesty.  
  
*I don't know* what my work is going to look like in the months and years to come. Hands on osteopathic treatment and support for perinatal families has changed drastically this year and I'm not comfortable with the current limitations and requirements. So I am continuing to pause my business for now. I also need time to recover and heal my spirit.  
  
*I do know*that I deeply value collaborative care, collective change and community connection. And these values will lead me to new ways of providing healthcare, healing bodies and spirits, centering needs rather than profits, localising, and honouring interdependence. I want to compassionately nurture you to find your way to health and well being, beginning right where you are.  
  
In the spirit of collaboration, I'd love to hear how your health is now: *What would help you follow your instincts, build on your strengths, feel a sense of meaning and purpose? What motivates you to shift towards a caring, connected, useful life? To step into living life fully, your way?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-09-15_09-40-26.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-09-15_10-01-36.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-09-14_18-00-29.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-09-14_17-52-20-1.jpg)

Bright moments of Spring, Sep 2020

### Motherbody care

I did my first ever interview this month with my friend Sophie from [Bearing Wonder](https://bearingwonder.com/?ref=emilymorter.com). She is a pilates teacher and postnatal doula with multiple online offerings that support mother's bodies with kindness and reverence. My interview is part of her Motherbody course.  
  
We had a deep and broad conversation about recovery after pregnancy, how it is an ongoing journey of learning about your body. I discussed osteopathy's unique perspective on supporting mothers; how we can be a bridge between alternative and medical pathways and help build collaborative health care for each individual and family. The hands on support we offer is grounding, energetically closing the body after birth and reorienting a woman to her changing shape.  
  
I shared my insights and experiences with many of the common conditions that Sophie sees in her work: pelvic girdle pain, prolapse, back pain, hip pain, scar tissue restriction, abdominal separation, rib pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and more.  
  
You are welcome to contact Sophie to join one of her courses and listen to the interview. And do let me know if you would like to know more about any of these topics. It is never too late to begin healing your body...

### A poem that brought me to tears

*Thirteen Ways Of Looking At Life Before The Virus*  
By Lesléa Newman June 2020  
I.  
I remember shaking hands: damp sweaty hands and dry scratchy hands, bone-crushing handshakes and dead-fish handshakes, two-handed handshakes, my hand sandwiched between a pair of big beefy palms. I remember hairy hands and freckled hands, young smooth hands and old wrinkled hands, red-polished fingernails and bitten-jagged fingernails, stained hands of hairdressers who had spent all day dyeing, dirty hands of gardeners who dug down deep into the good earth.  
II.  
Thousands of years ago, a man stuck out his right hand to show a stranger he had no weapon. The stranger took his hand and shook it to make sure he had nothing up his sleeve. And that is how it began.  
III.  
I remember sharing a bucket of greasy popcorn with a boy at the movies (though I no longer remember the boy or the movie), the thrill of our hands accidentally on purpose brushing each other in the dark.  
IV.  
I remember my best girlfriend and me facing each other to play a hand-clapping game, shrieking “Miss Mary . . . Mack! Mack! Mack!” and the loud satisfying *smack!* as our four palms slapped.  
V.  
I remember high fives and how we’d laugh when we missed and then do a do-over.  
VI.  
I remember the elegant turn of shiny brass doorknobs cool to the touch.  
VII.  
I remember my mother’s hands tied to the railings of her hospital bed and how I untied them when the nurse wasn’t looking and held them in my lap.  
VIII.  
I remember holding my father’s hand, how the big college ring he wore rubbed against my birthstone ring and irritated my fourth finger but I never pulled away.  
IX.  
I remember the joy of offering my index finger to a new baby who wrapped it in her fist as we gazed at each other in wonder.  
X.  
I remember tapping a stranger on the shoulder and saying, “Your tag is showing. Do you mind if I tuck it in?” She didn’t mind. I tucked it in.  
XI.  
I remember salad bars and hot bars. I remember saying, “Want a bite?” and offering a forkful of food from my plate. I remember asking, “Can I have a sip?” and placing my lips on the edge of your cold frosty glass.  
XII.  
I remember passing around the kiddush cup, each of us taking a small sip of wine. I remember passing around the challah, each of us ripping off a big yeasty hunk. I remember picking up a serving spoon someone had just put down without giving it a second thought.  
XIII.  
I remember sitting with a mourner at a funeral, not saying a word, simply taking her hand.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/ec/5dece2dd-1b31-4e64-87f1-1d453618bd9f/content/images/2026/08/2020-09-27_15-34-59.jpg)

Spring tea party, Sep 2020

### Cosmic Weather

I like to hold an awareness of how the world is turning and the planets are travelling past in their unique orbits, so I can choose to notice what is relevant to me. There is a lot going on in the skies at the moment.  
  
Tonight the new moon is in Virgo, the beginning of a new lunar cycle which may give you a burst of practical enthusiasm and energy to be organised and discerning.  
  
From mid September to mid November Mars is retrograde. When a planet changes direction relative to the earth it appears to be at a standstill or moving very slowly. This is rare for fast-moving Mars and it is bringing conflict, power imbalances and divisions to light. It is a sharp time that may hone or harm. My intention is to learn new skills around conflict and stay heart centred and focused on peace. I use [Chani Nicholas](https://chaninicholas.com/a-note-on-mars-retrograde-2020/?ref=emilymorter.com) as my source if you are interested in reading more.  
  
Next week is the Spring Equinox (22 Sep here in Melbourne). This is the point when night and day are equal length and the earth is in balance. Have you noticed the sunlight returning and everything growing all around? At this seasonal moment I ask: *What is happening now? What has been growing since winter and what is dying away? What will most help me stay in balance?*

I had a problem receiving emails last month which is now fixed, so feel free to reply to me directly or forward on to a friend. And remember, hold space lightly for what is emerging without control or resistance. Be strong and slow.  
  
Much love,  
  
Emily