Lean In: Noticing the First Stirring of Emergence, Listen to your body's whispers, noticing where it wants to wake, and welcoming gradual beginnings

I’m Suzanne—a mum, occupational therapist, and long-time listener to the quiet wisdom that families carry. Lead Together is a space where parents lead, services follow, and your vision for your child’s life is honoured from the start. You are the expert. I’m here to walk beside you.

Welcome here,

January has arrived quietly here in Ireland this year, no big weather events—we still have low light that lingers a little longer each day. Snowdrops and daffodils are beginning to appear, leaves first to create a safe container for the buds and flowers. They rise like caretakers, wrapping a future they cannot yet see. Emergence begins as shelter.

I wanted to start the new year and new cycle of newsletters with a reflection. I have had some time to think about the newsletter and what it means to me. When I describe the newsletter to others, I often say I write this for parents, but I now know that the truth is simpler. I write it for myself — as I learn how to live, as a mum, wife, daughter, sister, and Occupational Therapist. I choose to refuse to continue to repeat the patterns of what harms, and to stay human in a world that asks us to harden. It turns out that as I write from the essence of my life, others recognise something of themselves too. Thank you for being here with me.

Here I want to begin this new 4 week LEAD rhythm with Emergence — that tender moment when something inside begins to stretch toward possibility.

Before anything grows, it whispers. This week let’s lean in to those whispers.

Have you had a chance to notice how your body meets this new year 2026.

Not with resolutions or pressure — just sensation. Pause, feel into it.

Do you feel a small pulse of curiosity? A hint of restlessness? A tiny lift in your chest as the mornings brighten?

All are welcome as well as the utter discomfort at not knowing what the world will offer on this day.

Or maybe your body still wants to hibernate. That’s emergence too — the seed still wrapped in its husk.

Place a hand wherever you feel the faintest tug toward beginning.

Stomach, chest, shoulders, even fingertips. Stay there a moment. Nothing to fix, to be with. Just noticing what wants to wake.

Emergence carries stories:

The story of who you were last year.

The story of who you think you might be this year.

And the quieter story beneath them — the one that’s still forming. Here is where curiosity may lie. Ask questions, no need to think about answers now, they will come.

See if you can hear that quieter one.

Maybe it’s saying, “Move slowly.”

Or, “Try one new thing.”

Or, “Let’s begin again — gently.”

All stories are welcome. You don’t have to choose one yet. Just let them gather at the doorstep.

Take two soft breaths.

One for the part of you that feels hopeful.

One for the part of you that feels unsure.

On the next inhale: “I am arriving.”

On the exhale: “In my own time.”

Emergence does not rush.

A Glimpse Ahead

Next time, we’ll move toward the “E” in our L-E-A-D compass: Engage — taking one tiny, strength-led step toward what’s waking in you.

Before you close this email, take a breath for yourself, and a breath for those closest to you - who trust that small beginnings are enough.

May we lean in to the first stirrings of light.

May we honour beginnings that arrive slowly.

And may the ladybird blink awake under a winter stone, reminding us that emergence starts long before anyone sees it.

Take all of the care,

Suzanne

You're receiving this because you're part of Lead Together—a slow, relational space for parents nurturing children with developmental differences.

On my website www.leadtogether.ie you will find the services I offer and also a place that holds all of the newsletters.

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