Talybont…a sustainable community

 A muggy, overcast morning. The weather looked like it was in for the day with a possibility of rain. This wasn’t going to get in our way though.

Sunday 27th June, we were told by email from the week before that we were meeting in Talybont for the first week of our last phase on the Muddy Care long-term outdoor education rehabilitation programme. Due to Covid restrictions, we could not proceed with our usual meet-up in Talgarth and catch a minibus down. This wasn’t a problem. We, as well as Claire and the participants individually drove our cars down to Talybont where we met at the village hall.

Once down there and a few faces started appearing. The usual protocol commenced. Before you knew it we were all chatting to each other about how we’d been and preparing for the day ahead. Shortly after Claire would arrive, accompanied by her father and two ladies.

We went for a sit down on a patch of grass by the orchard, by the village hall, overlooking the local playing fields. The email that Claire sent to us earlier in the week also explained we were going to be talking about communities (getting involved/ volunteering). Claire spoke to us about the benefits about this and the positive affect it can have our mental and social health.

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Ceri & Hayley, the two ladies from the Brecon Beacons National Park started chatting to all of us about the work that had been taking place in Talybont over the last few years. One of the ladies also lived in Talybont.

Ceri spoke about the changes they had experienced over the last few years. For a small village in the middle of Powys, it was good to hear how bonded the community was. Lots was done. Environmentally mainly. It’s quite the bit of tourist hot spot too. So, footpaths were built. Several of them were running alongside the local canal running into the nearby woodland. Many trees were planted. Apple trees everywhere. There was a large playing field by the village hall and the area was surrounded by these trees.

Hayley, on the other hand spoke to us about the different types of funding and what else they (the village) had applied for. At the village hall there was a local mini bus. To help others within the community who could not drive, to pop and get groceries. All electric with electric charging ports in place. There was a playground there as well. It was so nice to see so many parents with their children local and tourists, using the facilities in place.

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This clearly was a community that cared. And given the size of it, it was pleasant to see. It made me feel as if I was from there. I would be proud to live here.

After we had a small bite to eat, we went for a gradual stroll around the village passing through the woodland I mentioned earlier. The weather that day was quite muggy. Once we were in amongst the trees it was hardly noticeable. June has been a strange month for it’s weather. Lots of rain and lots of sunshine. The growth we saw in the wood that day was mind blowing. A sea of green and purple, purple being the number of wild flowers there were. A few bees around as well. Early Ceri spoke to us out the importance of bees and insects in our ecosystem. The girls said the wood had been thinned out to help wildlife thrive and for growth. Nothing looked touched. All very natural looking.

After we left the wood, we could then see how many trees had been thinned. There was a lot of sawn timber just outside the wood. This confused me though a bit. I thought there’s no way all that timber has come from that wood. Like a said before, the wood didn’t even looked touched.

Ceri explained after, that the two-mile-long footpath we had just been on, that the shavings on the footpath were from the trees in the wood. Nothing was going to waste. I’m a big fan of that. If you can reuse it, then do so.

Our walk was drawing to an end as we passed by the old train station. I was in one sense happy we were nearly there due to fatigue, but sad. There was clearly something about this place that got to me. Such as happy place to be. It’s fair to say this was a very therapeutic day out.

So this blog is the exception in that I, the CEO of Muddy Care and the joint educational manager am writing the blog this week, not one of our muddies.

 We are coming to the end of our long-term rehabilitation pilot programme.  As an impact of COVID our pilot has gone from a nine-month pilot to a 24 month pilot.  We never suspended our support through COVID.  We kept going and actually increased our services and support.  The impact evidence on health and wellbeing from our pilot is remarkable and the Muddy community has and is evolving into something extremely special and wonderful.

I want to write here a very warm and grateful, heartfelt thank you to Luke, Anna and Olivia of Drovers Cycles who have supported Muddy Care from the beginning.  They have supplied us with some fantastic e bikes, an amazing recumbent e bike and some magical days out.  They have helped change lives. 

E bikes provide a freedom that many people with chronic conditions cannot achieve on a non-assisted bike. Myself and another Muddy have found a new passion for cycling through our e cycling experiences. With the help of Cannondale, my e bike is enabling me to take part in cycling adventures again, something my chronic conditions took from me. 

We hope that in the future, in collaboration with Drover Cycles,  we will be able to deliver a more long-term e bike rehabilitation education programme for the chronic condition community in the Brecon Beacons.  Just bear with us please.  We are working towards this.  In the meantime, if you live in South Powys or are visiting the area and want to try e biking, please look up Drover Cycles.  They have an amazing e bike selection (and a brilliant e recumbent bike too) and do drop offs and collections in the Brecon Beacons and surrounding area.  We will also shortly be releasing cycle route cards specifically for people with chronic conditions, tried and tested by people with chronic conditions.   

www.drovercycles.co.uk | Bike shop Hay on Wye Brecon Beacons

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A perfect day

By the CEO Muddy Care AKA C1

As the philosopher Voltaire wrote…“Perfect is the enemy of good.”

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And it is so true. 

I have my own phrase now and that is,

 “Aspire for imperfectly perfect.”

As I have adopted this phrase, I see the beauty rather than the ‘quite not right’ perspective far more often.  And I see a lot more things as good.  And good is absolutely fabulous.

Life can be beyond challenging when you have a serious chronic condition(s) and our journeys are a process of continuous adaptation and acceptance of managing imperfect situations.  The truth is too, that the perfect I aspired to when I was healthy, was ironically not always healthy as it was sometimes built on materialism rather than memories, people, health and wellbeing. 

Financial stability becomes incredibly difficult to maintain when you have a chronic condition(s) and this forces materialism to take a different priority in our schemas of life desires.   The hardships, daily and weekly struggles and sometimes raw unfairness of having a chronic illness or condition(s) take you to a place sometimes that you cannot possibly imagine how truly awful it really is unless you have been there.  When it first happened to me in 2011/12 it was so much worse than I feared.  And that is why we need to adjust both our expectations and our priorities to be fair and kind to ourselves.  And getting the basics right often causes us to simplify our lives…and that is a hugely healthy thing to do.

Having a chronic condition(s) makes you have perspective.  You see much more clearly what is important and what isn’t and the ‘near death’ situation exemplifies this hierarchy of what is really important.  It teaches you that you have to have the basics in place otherwise the wall just crumbles when life gets tough.  You rarely sweat the small stuff because the big stuff comes your way more times than is fair. All your energy has to be saved up for that.

There weren’t many of us today for our first outdoor workshop since Autumn last year…illness, injury and adverse reactions to the vaccine.  This area is one of favourite cycling places and sometimes I just come here to weather watch when I am too poorly to cycle.  The weather is moody and can be utterly wild and utterly beautiful at the same time.   I feel greatly at peace here (even when the weather is howling) and the view never gets tiresome. The weather is rarely perfect up here and yet today it was utterly perfect.  I have never been up here in such good weather and Luke who is also very familiar with this area too commented he had never seen it so ‘weather perfect.’

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Perfect can happen but the secret is to let perfect happen naturally.  Aspire for good and see the beauty in imperfection.  And if perfect happens, fab, but see the beauty in good.  I have put on nearly two stone since August 2020 through no fault of my own but because of medication.  It does test me and I know that some people see the ‘steroid Claire’ not the ‘no steroid Claire’.  But it will drive you insane if you don’t learn to go with the flow and worry about other people’s judgments.  Hopefully the weight will gradually start to come off and this time next year I will be about two stone lighter.  I am still me though, with or without the steroid weight.

Today, we moved forwards with assistance from some fantastic e bikes and with smiles on all our faces.  We did some outdoor mindfulness, our outdoor lessons and we were empowered by the natural landscape and weather.  With a bit of support, some accessories to help make things easier for us and good people, perfect days are possible and so are good days.  And adventures reinforce this. 

As Muddy Care expands and grows, the more extraordinary people I meet and the greater I am inspired by the human condition as I am uplifted by seeing strength, bravery, authenticity, care, compassion and goodness in people of all shapes and sizes who have all travelled and are all travelling their own rocky road.  Our chronic conditions are part of us.  However, our conditions must never define nor stop us from moving forwards positively.  The secret is to find the right road to follow, to adapt and put things in place to allow us to move forwards positively on this road and not to do it alone.  Support allows us to be braver and to try things we can’t do alone.  And sometimes that road creates perfect again, even if just for a short time.

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In case you wondered what happens to our participants when we cannot facilitate our outdoor education activity learning workshops (due to lockdowns and high infection rates), we communicate with them weekly, every Sunday, as that is our Muddy Care Learning Day.  However, more often than not it is every few days. 

Our participants have grown into not just a community but a family and they look after one another with care, thought and humour.  Every two weeks they receive a learning workshop on Zoom from the education team and they are given learning activities, tools and strategies to try in the following fortnight.  Every other week we check in and comment about how our week has been and have a general chit chat to check how everyone is doing.

Our mantra is ‘Care that is always there.’  That is what we do.

In the Spring our outdoor activity learning workshops will begin again and I know that will bring smiles to all of them.

Phase 4 – E Cycling

After Lockdown 1

Sunday 2nd September 2020

Written by Jacko

We began the day by all meeting up by one of the lay byes of the reservoir. We all agreed to meet up at 11:30. myself & mum where a tad late on arrival though, due to getting lost on the way. We’d been to Tal y bont before, but never to the post code we were supposed to meet. So we were circling around the reservoir for nearly an hour. The reason this took so long was mainly due to the lack of phone service. We got there in the end.

We arrived at the site, meeting and seeing each other for the first time in 6 months was nice. Can’t speak for everyone else, but it was almost quite relaxing just seeing other people after such a long time. A nice time to sit down, have a chat and a quick bite to eat. Whilst having our dinner Claire took the time and got us all up to date on the new COVID rules & regulations. A lot was discussed and took a while. Glad we talked about it though. Most of what was explained was expected, but it was still reassuring to hear. Claire was very thorough. We each were handed out hand gel, a long wearing face mask and other essentials.

Once we were finished with our talk Luke & Olivia from Drover Cycles turned up, got us all kitted & fitted. Soon later, after explaining the route we would take, we were on our way.

We started off on nice flat ground going across the edge of the reservoir where we’d soon come across a path that ran adjacent with the reservoir for about 7-9km. The path was mostly flat, but having saying that, a lot of it was bumpy terrain. From about a mile to the end there was a steady incline. This was easy for the rest of the group. A bit more challenging for me. Because I struggle with my balance, I have to ride on a recumbent electric bike. The excess weight certain played a part. Lee & Olivia were by my side though giving me an extra push when I needed it.

We’d finally reached the halfway point. We there took a breather for 5 minutes just glancing on the scenery of the valley. It was quite foggy, but not enough to stop us enjoying the view. After having to go through lockdown and not being allowed to go out for so long (as I was shielding), it was quite special to just unwind and admire everything. Luke from Drover Cycles then said our way back to our starting point was a walk in the park and all downhill. We were all quite relieved. Luke then said “There’s just one thing”. The next section is downhill, but it’s quite steep and quite windy. Be careful” he said. He was right to say so. Never had we been faster on a bike I think and this was constantly applying the breaks as well. Many words come to mind. Exciting, scary, tense, focused. If I had to choose own though. It would be exhilarating.

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We all met up at the bottom/ lower part of the hill where all of us were in the same boat. Our hearts racing and just sharing our own experiences on what just happened. Gotta admit. This was quite special. Us all laughing about it, whilst being scared/ anxious at the same time. Fair to say most of us were put out of our comfort zones, but glad we went through it. Together as a team.

As we started to calm down a bit and catch a quick breather, Luke told us that the worst was over. We still had to go downhill, but it was now at an easy gradient. How true that was.  It was nice to just sit back and enjoy it, the ride and the country side. Very little pedalling was needed. Don’t think I changed gear more than five times. This continued for about 5km. The last 100m or so a steady pedal was needed to reach our destination. Back where we first started.

A truly magical day. Good company which led to plenty of conversation. Did not feel like we’d done the distance that we had. Quite confident on saying that I’ll remember this day for a long time. Would definitely recommend this.

8th March. “B.C” (Before Corona)

Phase 4 – electric cycling

Written by Niki

Our second week of Cycling started in a cafe in Talybont so we could do the learning part of the day while our minds were allegedly fresh and open. As ever and gratefully, we talked about more tools to help us find the best ways to live our best life, despite the many and varied challenges of having chronic conditions. We’d previously discussed the importance of that connection with your “inner pilot light” or your “gut instinct” and how it guides and protects you through your life. It’s vital for everyone but really connecting and learning to listen to it is so vitally important when you have a long term health condition. It’s all part of learning and exploring your inner self and how to make it a priority in your life, as this has been shown in so much scientific literature to provide a very firm foundation for quality of life.

We then joined the cycling team in a nearby village and reacquainted ourselves with our precious electric bikes. As a team we cycled off around the local lanes, avoiding the ever-present potholes, and warning each other of coming vehicles. It was so lovely to again be part of a team, looking out for each other and chatting.

I again noticed the joy and freedom in the other participants faces and in their voices as we built up speed and distance, out in the fresh air and occasional rain spot; though as ever, the forecast rain was minor as we have “Muddy Care Magic”.

For many of us who have been restrained and limited by lack of health, fitness, pain, and energy, the assistance and safety net of the electric bike’s propulsion is amazingly valuable. For myself, I found that with an increasing level of fitness these days thanks to an improvement in pain and fatigue levels (due to hard work on self-care and management) I was predominantly using the “eco” function which allegedly only compensates for the additional weight of the bike and doesn’t “help” the cyclist very much. (I have reason to doubt this having since ridden a normal pushbike...where’s the exhausted emoji...) having the extra help is an incredibly valuable safety net for me. The additional help being available is such a freeing feeling; taking away so much anxiety and the need to monitor, judge, calibrate, and even risk falling into “fortune telling” how much energy you might or might not have. And should pain or malaise crash in unexpectedly, you don’t have to feel frightened of being stuck in extremis, both because the bike will largely do the hard work itself and also because you are able to be rescued by Muddy Care. This enfolding of care and enablement is the difference between doing this and just Not.

If you have never had a chronic condition to manage you could easily go much of life without ever needing to consider these aspects, and indeed even being privately somewhat scornful or dismissive of such impacts on physical and emotional lives. But this is what our life can be like. If you’ve been caught short and vulnerable (especially more than once), natural human fear will bring in increased caution, and that easily and understandably becomes closer to over-caution and it becomes more and more challenging to see the solutions, especially when adaptions include relying on other people or equipment you have no experience of. Thus being able to forget the need to so strictly manage energy and wellness and the possibility of getting stuck on ones own is a freedom very much appreciated and one that has been limited for me in the last 16 years.

We stopped off at the cafe again briefly for a break and talked over the positive aspects of the week for each of us and relaxed in friendship and joint endeavour. We then set off again, now doing the additional planned ride as we were all doing far better than we might have been doing which was a cause for pride and celebration.

We cycled to the Talybont reservoir and stopped there for photos and talking over next weeks route*. We then cycled all the way back to the van and start point in one go. Thus we cycled 16km in a round trip this week and we were all so delighted and exhilarated. We were all very much looking forward to the next weeks adventures.*

Then Coronavirus hit the country. Of course our Muddy Care adventures outside were put on hold. This was a major disappointment but as ever Muddy Care and the participants rose unerringly to the challenge. A check in system was devised and we are talking every day making sure everyone is safe and supported. We share our own personal adventures around our own houses, bolster each other’s spirits and listen and witness each other’s emotions as we deal with the anxiety, fear and uncertainty. In many ways we are better equipped than many as we have so many coping strategies, learned from our challenges with chronic health conditions and improved on with the learning through Muddy Care. The support and care of the Muddy Care community cannot be underestimated.

To add: Even from two sessions I found I really enjoyed the electric bikes, to the point where my desire to have one of my own is verging on painful, but funds will not allow. However that’s where positivity and reframing come into play and given the current lock down going any distance from home is not recommended so I have since dug out my sisters ancient mountain bike, and despite the fact it has no working gears and a sticky front brake, I’ve been taking it out regardless (whilst maintaining a clear eye on safety, I have a good helmet and reflective gear and am keeping speeds low) and while I regret the lack of electrical assistance with a nostalgic sigh, I’ve been out several times and am now up to 5km loop, although I admit to currently walking up the two steep hills I generally encounter. As Coronavirus restrictions currently apply its my best form of exercise as I’m out for a shorter period and do not touch anything or anyone and I get more exercise for the dollar as it were. I can also slowly and steadily increase my levels without frustration. Who knows what the near future holds with regard to increased restrictions so I take every day as it comes, something well worn and familiar for chronically talented people.

I look forward to Muddy Care activities resuming. It’s very much something to look forward to, but even if temporarily in abeyance the spirit and care still abides and strengthens us. Be safe, be well.

*postponed thanks to the Coronavirus lockdown...we will return!!!!

Phase 4 – electric cycling

Written by Keira

After a four-week break, which luckily for us coincided with all the terrible storms we had, we all met in Talgarth to get our minibus to Builth Wells. Most of us hadn’t seen each other during the break, so the bus journey allowed us all to catch up. We were able to tell each other how we had been feeling, how we felt about starting the electric cycling, but being British, the majority of our talk focused on the weather we had endured during February!

We arrived at the Builth Wells show ground, where we had a drink in the local restaurant and Claire and Lee talked to us about the electric bikes and what the plan was for that day. By this point we were all pretty excited to try out these powered bikes, as we had heard such good reviews about them from Claire and Lee. We met Luke and Olivia, who provided us with the electric bikes and an electric trike through their company - Drovers Cycles. We all got introduced to our bikes, each one was slightly different as they had taken into account our differences in height, mobility and balance, to ensure that we all felt safe. Once Luke and Olivia had adjusted the seat height for each of us, provided us with helmets and cycling gloves and explained how to use the electric bikes, we were ready to try them out.

All of us had previously ridden a bike, although some of us not for many years, but it didn’t take us long to get back into the rhythm of cycling. We cycled round the showground, trying out the different powered modes and some of us even racing to see how fast we could go! Luke and Olivia then had us practice our moves, by giving us each a position on a bike, such as handle bars, seat, back wheel and when our position was called out, we had to either slow down and pull in, to let others pass or to speed up and pull out, to get to the front. The instructors were both very impressed on how quickly we had adapted to the electric bikes and how confident we seemed on them.

After this practice on the show ground, we were ready to go out for a ride. The start of the ride meant that we had to cycle along the road until we came to path alongside the river. Some of us were a bit apprehensive about being on the road, but we all stuck together and we had Luke, Olivia, Claire and Lee alongside us, so we were in very safe hands and all confidently managed the road. We then cycled on a pathway alongside the river and up onto a country lane where the last part of the ride ended in a very steep hill. This did seem quite daunting, but by using the power assisted modes on the bike, nearly all of us where able to cycle up it, easily and almost effortlessly. We took the same route to get back to the showground and going down the hill was definitely more fun then going up it! By the time we had got back, we had cycled 13km, which none of us had expected.

The feeling these bikes gave us was so freeing, we were able to move with minimum effort, cover a large distance and with some speed too. Where as normally most of us can find walking difficult and the thought of cycling almost impossible. I think all of us left that day feeling that we had achieved something and we’re definitely looking forward to the following weeks of this module.

Written by participant C2

 I was greeted by ‘wet’ outside this morning! I did not however let it dampen my spirits! I always think ‘It must be needed’.

After meeting at our usual place and time, collecting a couple of ‘muddy’ friends along the way and missing one, we were chauffeured as usual by ‘Tarzan’ to Horton Bay.  Today we were going rock pooling and looking at the biodiversification of our Welsh beaches all focusing on the benefits of being outside, of nature and being fully in the present with kindred folk.  On arrival, it was still ‘dripping’ from the sky, so after completing our ‘weather’/feeling sheets and eating our packed lunches/snacks etc, we donned much needed and appreciated all weather gear including wellies!

By the time we trudged a short distance across the sand, down to the beach, it had dried up. Our ‘muddy care’ luck was in again!  C1 and L kindly lugged extra kit with us, as usual, in case a chair or sleeping bag etc was needed by anyone. Armed with a big clear bucket and large sieve, we expectantly went meandering our own ways. The beach looked beautiful, although rugged. We found that the intricate formations on the rocks were in fact made by ‘honeycomb worms’. Each one building their own protective tube home from sand and shell fragments, forming reef coral like structures.

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We found an abundance of Dog Whelks in an array of varying colours, including pink, blue and even dark purple! Someone commented that if you saw them in a shop you would presume they'd been painted. We used identification books, which were very useful. We collected an unfortunately lifeless little starfish, a fast moving tiny shrimp like creature and a lovely red ‘edible’ crab, but ‘he’ (as a friend identified), was gladly no ones snack. A lot of Red anemones were seen attached to rocks, closed up out of water and open under water with their tentacles eagerly waiting to trap food!

We found out that flat, rubbery orange coloured matter on the rocks, was ‘orange sponge’ and big clusters of creamy coloured capsules, were Dog Whelk eggs. Hidden under a rock at sand level, a papery ball of what looked a bit like ‘bubble wrap’ type shapes to me, was probably empty Sea snail/Whelk egg cases.

One of the most exiting finds, was probably a Shark (Dogfish) embryo inside a case. Also known as ‘A Mermaids Purse’. On close inspection you could even see its veins! It was cleverly secured to the rocks below by curly tendrils.  We all definitely appreciated nature and even the patterns in the sand, rocks and pebbles etc. Fresh air, only a light breeze and not too cold. Great for January!

After de-robing from waterproofs, we had a little drive to sit in the warm and re-fuel.

We were given handouts on an ‘I am ‘ and ‘I can’ task, to fill in and stick up at home if desired, plus ‘My perfect day’ sheet to fill in and keep for ourselves, sharing only it if wanted. We were also given a quote that I found and liked by an unknown author, about the ups and downs of days. So true.

C1 told us about an extremely sad true story, about the ‘Battle of the Wounded Knee’ massacre of native Indians in South Dakota in 1890. Alternatively known as the ‘Wounded Knee Massacre’, named after a nearby Creek. Several hundred, about half being women and children were murdered by the United States Army, to hopefully disarm the ‘Lakota’. Sun dances amongst other traditional things, were made illegal and their spiritual health was broken. It apparently took 7 generations to heal! Thinking and talking about this is relevant because of the importance of our ‘spiritual’ health and resilience. We were given a very interesting handout headed ‘Emotional Health’. Mindfulness and Meditation were discussed and ideas given on how to ‘be in the present’, by rock pooling, birdwatching and just being in nature/appreciating it. SO good for our general Wellbeing.

Lastly, an up dated calendar of ‘muddycare’ group meet dates was given. SO much more to look forward to!!

This week we visited Garwnant. This was the third act of our walking phase of the muddy care programme. The weather would of put most people off on a day like this. Cold, damp and very misty weather. I myself was buzzing full of energy before we started the day, so that helped. It goes to show though that not all of us are the same. There were a couple of us struggling in the early hours of that morning. As always Claire AKA Arcala was there right by our sides at minute one. Putting everyone at ease and comfort. She explained to us on what she had planned out for the day.

We started off the day taking the mini bus down to Garwnant were we sat down, had a chat and a cuppa. We were in the café for about an hour where Claire spoke to us all and was teaching us all about the importance of our health. Claire was very in depth and making it very clear that we can’t just call it ‘our health’. There are many different varieties of health that are so important on a daily basis. Mental and spiritual health were the ones that stuck out the most. To talk about mental health on that day was very important because like I said earlier, everyone’s different. In different aspects as well. Me personally I was raring to go, but I know that others were still a bit anxious. Claire also spoke about spiritual health a lot and about us trying to connect with the environment more. Both scenarios helped massively. I say helped because it made me see certain things from a different point of view. It’s fair to say that Claire opened up all of our minds.

While we were in the café it was Lee’s time to shine. Lee was teaching us about key orienteering skills. Out came his map of the area and the teaching began. Lee was teaching us about on what degrees to approach different destinations at so that we don’t or try not to get lost. Honestly it was quite interesting, but I have to admit at times it was hard to follow. None the less we got there in the end.

We finally started our walk at about 12ish. Just shy of dinner time. The path we took was very flat and even a well laid out path. After about 10 minutes of walking we slightly drifted of the trail because there was a nearby waterfall. Claire and Lee thought it might be a good idea to have a look. The waterfall was at the bottom of a narrow and uneven path that looped back around. It took some focus to get down there given by balance issues, but when we got there it was worth it. The word majestic comes to mind. Very peaceful spot. It was a huge up lift I think for everyone. Girls being girls though, out the smart phones came. Everybody wanted to catch this amazing picture. Personally it just made me switch off and relax. Good shout Claire and Lee.

We re-joined up with the trail and walked anther 10 minutes then we stopped for some dinner. It was nice to sit down, have a chat and unwind. Out of all the things to talk about we were talking about the possibility of doing a Christmas do. For me it was nice to see the people who started out having a not so good day to see their moods slightly improve. We resumed our walk soon after. It wasn’t far to go, so we just paced ourselves and took it easy.

Written by Muddy Care Participant ‘N’

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This Sunday the Muddy Care team headed back down to The Gower to the beach at Port Eynon.

It’s a long bus ride there but that gives us a chance to talk, socialise or rest, and also to watch the engaging scenery pass by.

When we arrived we completed our very well provided outfits with wellies...it was a sometimes sunny but blustery day and keeping dry and warm was a priority. Many of us with chronic conditions can find thermoregulation a challenge and good gear and many layers are key to managing this. Also the implications of getting over heated or too cold tend to be more problematic than for people with normal health. Thankfully it’s something that the Muddy Care team take seriously.

We ate our lunch while Claire introduced us to the concept of the Medicine wheel, an idea utilised by many indigenous peoples, though ours was informed primarily by the Native American culture. This was illustrated by a sand sculpture, a double circle of marine rope with N, S, E, W quadrants. Claire explained how our holistic health was imagined by this circle, and a perfectly healthy person would stand in the direct centre, and every influence and imbalance in our lives would be reflected by our relative position within the circle.

We then built up the sculpture dynamically, each quadrant had a designated colour, and into each was placed different continents of the world, different aspects of nature and living. This was how the Native Americans explained their world and themselves, their health and their impact on the world. It’s an amazingly sophisticated and in-depth study and highlights the arrogance of modern society and science which believes it is so much more advanced. It is not, and this emphasises how much of import has been ignored, forgotten and dismissed. To relearn and reconnect with these concepts is a real tool to assist in recovery, living with chronic conditions and helping to heal the world we have near destroyed.

This linked in with our activity for the day which was a Citizen Science beach clean. This clean is properly registered so more than cleaning the beach, what we picked up would be correctly recorded and sent to The Marine Conservation Society, to be added to the database. This means that the amount, type and ratios of rubbish found can inform the fight against pollution of our oceans and beaches. It was enlightening and depressing how much plastic we found, and how small much of it was. The impact on the environment can only be a sobering one.

The beach clean was fascinating and engaging. It had so many facets, the obvious reduction in plastic in the environment and the data collection, the social and team building elements, the fresh air and interaction with nature, but also the mindfulness aspect...of being in the present moment. All so very valuable.

Written by Muddy Care Participant ‘N’

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This was the second week of “Moving Forwards” the activity for which is walking in nature. 

 We met as usual and drove to a cafe to try on the walking boots we had each been supplied with. All the kit supplied for the Pilot study has been of super quality and this really does make a big difference while we are out and about, keeping us warmer, safer and making things easier. Sadly the cafe failed in its other purpose of providing hot drinks as the coffee machine broke, causing some amusement. We spent this time also discussing more about the Cairn of wellness and the “stones” that make up our health and wellness. We particular focused on resilience and what it means in the context of chronic conditions. We all acknowledged that chronic conditions test ones resilience to the full and that finding the ways to support and improve your resilience is one of the most important parts of moving forward in life with a chronic condition. We discussed many and varied ways to encourage and nurture resilience, understanding that it can be a slow and steady process rather than a rapid bounce back, and this was ok...the tortoise won the race!

We then set out to walk to the waterfalls at Talybont. This is a shortish walk but had some challenging terrain in parts and the waterfalls were stunning. We did a mindfulness exercise to count the number of waterfalls during the walk, keeping us engaged and present.

 We stopped for a picnic lunch in a beautiful spot and had a lesson in orienteering, learning how to use a compass and interpret the terrain. We then walked back to the minibus enjoying the scenery and pacing ourselves so everyone could achieve the distance without undue stress or strain.

 After this, we split the group so some went for an additional walk through the forestry, meeting the others later at the minibus. During this walk we used our orienteering skills to monitor exactly where we were and compare to the OS map which was great fun. We came across a bridge that had collapsed so we had to cross the stream in its small chasm with teamwork to ensure everyone’s safety including Garth the dog! It was great to see how smoothly we worked together. 

We ended the day with a coffee and chat and we all agreed that even though the weather had been cold and not ideal, we had all had a fun and interesting day and we had learnt a lot, including unfortunately, that carrot and oat cake didn’t suit Garth’s digestion....  

Written by participant C2

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Well we are now beginning phase 2, ‘Moving forwards’.

I was SO looking forward to seeing my lovely ‘muddy’ group today, especially as I had not seen some of them for a month!

Three of them were unfortunately unable to come, but the rest of us chatted with ease as usual on the minibus and met a ‘muddy’ friend at Craig-y-Nos Country Park, who commented how ‘it is never sunny here’ and yet the sun was in full beam for us. I was looking forward to it as I had never been before. I was taken aback by the steep mountainous scenery around us!

We sat outside on a bench near the car park while we gratefully received some fantastic kit! We did our regular ‘weather check’ and wellbeing scale on our feelings. We then chatted about ‘trying to raise the bar’ and inter connectedness. We were also given an introduction to energy plans and how to take charge of ourselves, not letting fear take control! We re-capped on ‘stepping out’ the first phase of ‘Muddy Care’.

When we had had a snack and drink, we wandered down to the duck pond and over a bridge above two streams that joined. It was very sunny and bright, but a little chilly. We stopped at a bench near beautiful autumnal trees and some of us took pics, some lay down too. We were sent a task via text on goal setting to start working on in the near future. We set off again and went off the pathway to try and find the secret garden. As I climbed over a large fallen branch, I noticed a pretty piece of soggy wood and took a few shots of it, as it had lovely patterns and colours. My appreciation of nature and ‘arty’ side coming out!

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We next stopped by a little lake and sat to eat our picnic lunches. We learnt some more about health and wellbeing and the theory of the six Doctors. We discussed the role of physical wellbeing in relation to the ‘whole health cairn’ and about social health and wellbeing being the most important and where it sits in the ‘whole health cairn’. We then looked at where spiritual, emotional, environmental and mental wellbeing sit and how they have different orders of priority at different times.

We were told about a 1930’s Harvard study about Adult development, on a group of men, which is ongoing and finally included women from the 80’s! The overwhelming key point of learning from this study is, that good relationships keep us healthier and happier, period. I don’t think any of us were very surprised by it.

We talked about how we nourish our bodies and how important sleep, rest, diet and exercise are. We were helpfully advised to ‘listen to the little signs’ that our bodies give us, regarding our health, so as to hopefully prevent more illness. All great advice per usual! It really rang a bell with me and has been on my mind a lot since.

Next we were given a simple diet task, to aim to add one more fruit/veg to our daily intake.

After a walk back we went into the cafe and discussed various examples of resilience and were given a happiness activity task sheet, that gave us 5 options of daily tasks to do for a minimum of 21 days, to help improve happiness levels. I thought they were all good ‘tips and tricks’!

I love how we have all bonded so quickly and genuinely care about each other and try to support each other, not just on Sundays either, throughout the week. It is wonderful that even with our different illnesses, how we find quite a lot in common in references to our challenges and how we always seem to be able to make each other laugh! I can’t wait for next time. ‘Muddy’ hugs! X

Written by participant JA

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Week 5 of the Muddy Care programme was a hit. We were joined by a special guest. A member of staff from Brecon Medical Centre had decided to come and observe us for the day. After 15 minutes of saying what we wanted to achieve for the day and a quick catch up, we set off on our adventure down the Gower to do some surfing.

You’d probably think to Gower by bus was long and tiring. Well, you’d be right. Partly. For our first week surfing session it felt like forever to get down there and back. We are now only on week 4 of surfing and that time feels like it has more than halved. The bond that all of us have formed after so little time is remarkable.

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We arrived at Caswell Bay just shy of dinner time. We were greeted with a warm welcome by the Surfability team. The weather was quite calm, compared to what it had been the previous three weeks. This was not an issue though at all. Seeing it was late autumn my surfing coach Ben had decided to bring along his four-legged friend. Juno her name was. I felt like Juno put everyone at ease. Personally, looking back on the event, I think it was so good of Ben to bring her along. I wasn’t feeling 100% and seeing her just made me forget about everything. In my experience that’s what Surfability do. Little things that can change everything. I can honestly say, since I first met the Surfability team my mental health has improved leaps and bounds. I’m so grateful for them and to Muddy Care.

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We were ready to tackle some waves. The sea was calm, but relaxing. The waves were small, compared to what we had seen in the past. Nevertheless, this did not stop us. Yet again we had a whale of a time. Everyone was so supportive and willing everyone on. Yes, we all took a tumble or two. It was all in good fun though. Ben was determined from minute one to get me to finally stand up. Which at first was a bit of a shock to me because I’ve always been told to take it easy. After about five minutes though I was determined too to take on the challenge.

Fall after fall after fall. I was getting there, but not quite. Ben said “stop, breath and give it two minutes. Then go again”. I did so and the results were astonishing. I had finally stood up on the board on my own. I felt so alive. Even more so when I heard everyone cheering me on. Speechless. It had been a long time since I felt that happy.

Sad to see our time down Gower with the Surfability team has come to an end. I feel that every single one of us has benefited no end from this experience. I can’t speak for everyone else, but this is something I hope to continue in the future. Some of these experiences over the last four weeks will stay with me for a long time.

Written by Participant K

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Who would have thought that in the middle of October, in the wind and rain, four people with chronic conditions would be learning to surf in the Welsh sea! But that is exactly what happened in our fourth week of being part of Muddy Care.

This was the third week of a four week programme on learning to surf. We travelled back down to Caswell Bay on the Gower where we were met by Surfability, a surfing company who teaches people to surf by adapting themselves to meet the clients conditions and needs.

We started off by telling each other how we were feeling that day and what goals we wanted to achieve while surfing, for me it was improving on standing up while surfing, which I'm happy to say I achieved.

The surfability team provided us with wetsuits, boots and the surfboard and any additional equipment we needed, such as helmets, inflatable vests or heated vests to wear under out wetsuits. Once we were all kitted up, we walked down to the sea or was wheeled down in my case. We were paired up with our own instructor and off we went! Straight into the sea, no hesitation or turning back, we were all just so happy and determined to give it a go, despite the wind and rain!

The temperature of the sea isn't actually too cold as it is around September-October that the sea is at its warmest. However the wind did add a bit of a chill factor to it, but it also meant there were some decent sized waves for us to surf!

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Each of us stayed in the sea for as long as we wanted to, until we had reached our limit and once we were all out and changed, back into our warm clothes, we had a de-brief in the cafe. We had all achieved our goals and all of us were able to stand up and surf. We also all noticed an improvement in our mental health after having surfed.

The sense of achievement and accomplishment of having been surfing is a great feeling, even though we all have different conditions and different needs, being part of Muddy Care is allowing us to do things we wouldn't normally be able to or have the opportunity to do. No one judges you…if you need a wheelchair you can use it, if you need a helmet you can take one. We all have different needs but the Surfability team does their best to meet them and being part of a group, we give confidence and support to each other which encourages us to give things a try.

Next week is the last week of surfing, I'm sure everyone will meet their goals and enjoy themselves, as we have done the past three weeks. We have all got the surfing bug so it won't necessarily be our last time surfing!

Written and created by Muddy Care participant N

Week three of the Muddy Care Pilot was surfing again. Here we could build on our progress of last week and start to think about goal setting.

It was lovely to reconnect with everyone and it’s amazing how rapidly we have become a cohesive and caring group. One thing became obvious, most of us had overdone it last week, either physically, emotionally, or both. However, given our appreciation of the “Alignment strategy” we had all looked at ways of making this a positive and in what ways we could adapt and adjust to make this have less of an impact. Personally this week I came out of the water sooner than I might have done, ending on a positive note and not pushing myself as much as I had last week. I’ll then be able to judge from my reaction during the week and adapting as I go on. Everyone was making similar adjustments.

Surfability again were brilliant, caring and instilling maximum confidence. This week they had the extra large surfboards out which allowed a Muddy Carian and an Instructor to surf together. We mostly stayed with the instructor we had last week and built on our gains and consolidated our progress. I’d manage to stand last week and this week I was still more confident and progressed to starting to steer the board and improving my balance and “form”. The waves were as big as last weeks and again often coming in doubles. There was less wind and more sun and the water was still almost balmy! I continue to be amazed at how warm one feels in a good wet suit and vest! There was also a veritable army of golden retrievers out!

Before surfing we continued our discussion about the interconnectedness of nature and how we can use this to consider how everything depends on everything else in nature and how imbalance in one area causes imbalance in others. We then considered how to work with anxiety and how to make adaptions and strategies to make a positive outcome more likely. To be creative and seeking rather than giving up when things seem hard. This is far easier in a positive, supported and understanding group environment but this helps us to make this a habitual way of thinking and thus segue it into everyday life. When you have a chronic condition you do become less physically, mentally and emotionally brave and your world becomes smaller and it’s harder to initiate action.

We discussed the sea and allied it to how knowledge of the environment we were working in helped to reduce anxiety itself as things made more sense to us. And again how interconnectedness matters.

The sea worked its healing magic on all of us. I think we all felt a real sense of accomplishment, achievement and success today. We also felt much joy and exhilaration- feeling alive! Even when we had a few complications and not so perfect moments the focus was very much on providing future solutions to these issues. We are really building on our achievements now and looking at goal setting and how that can encourage and sustain progress. And most of all, we had FUN!

Written by Participant J

Week 2 of the Muddy Care Programme saw us take another step forward in our journey together.
On Sunday we travelled to Caswell Bay in a minibus, and on the way, we shared more of our stories with each other. When we arrived, our journey didn’t stop, but continued in a reflective walk along on the shoreline.
Claire used the weather and tides as metaphors - just as they are affected by interconnected cycles and events, so too are our conditions and outlooks. Our actions, reactions and interactions affect our health and wellbeing.

Caswell Bay is the location for the Phase 1 of the Programme, ‘Stepping Out’, and Muddy Care had carefully planned, what was for most of us, our first experience of surfing. Prior contact had been made with Surfability (an amazing CIC that offers adapted and inclusive surfing experiences) and so the afternoon activity fitted our abilities - and potential! Claire and Lee, along with the Surfability Team, offered us any support we needed and so we took the plunge together😊

It was a sunny time, in every sense of the word - the sun did shine, but we all shone with a new-found sense of exhilaration - brilliant!
The sense of achievement in facing any fears we had, and of doing something different, was energising and definitely changed our ‘inner weather’.

Next week we’ll return to Caswell for another experience of ‘Stepping Out’ together. Roll on…

Written by Participant J

We received some lovely feedback from our 1st Sunday. We wanted to share it in our blog.

Well yesterday was a brilliant day!
It was the first Sunday of the Muddy Care pilot project for people with chronic conditions, and although I was anxious about going, I’m so pleased I didn’t let my inner clouds prevent me from stepping out 😊

Our leaders, Claire and Lee, have warm personalities that create an inclusive atmosphere and much thought had been put into beginning a mutually supportive group.
Rather than one of those stressful ‘get to know you’ opening activities, Claire had previously invited us to email her 3 bits of info about ourselves that we’d be comfortable sharing with group (including 1 random fact that wasn’t necessarily about our chronic condition!) The group task was to match the snippets of info with the right person.
It was a great conversation starter - a bit like finding the edge pieces of a jigsaw, and knowing that over the weeks, a colourful picture will be created as we get to know one another!

The day was a comfortable mix of talking, listening, watching, and doing (and time for hot drinks/cold drinks & cake at Talgarth Mill!)
Muddy Care uses the environment to speak to us, so we watched a short video about Yellowstone Park which illustrated ‘interconnectedness’ and how everything affects everything. It’s a thought-provoking truth to apply to ourselves living with chronic conditions…
The ‘doing’ element was getting to grips with a wet-suit in the dry conditions of the venue!
We also got to experience the cosiness of a group bivvy, so we’re now comfortably familiar with the kit we’ll have at Caswell Bay…
…Roll on Sunday!