A Year of You, Me & This Community 🫶
Week 24, 2025 — a quiet milestone, and a heartfelt thank you
ℐ 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒶 𝒮𝓊𝒷𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓀...
Not properly, anyway.
I just... felt a pull.
A whisper.
A moment where I thought:
If I can just write a little something.
If I can just help even one person...
So on 15th June last year, I did.
No launch.
No announcement.
No plan.
Just a blank page.
And a heart full of words.
I didn’t plan it.
I just followed the whisper.
And let it carry me here.
Showing up in the middle of it all
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply keep showing up.
Since then, I’ve written every single week.
Not because I had to —
but because something in me needed to.
Writing here has been my anchor.
My quiet corner.
My steadying practice.
Some weeks, I showed up with clarity.
Other weeks, I wrote through fog, exhaustion, emotional pain.
But I showed up.
Not perfectly.
Not always confidently.
But honestly.
Earlier this year, I stopped calling them posts.
Now, they’re letters, whispers, and guides.
It felt truer.
More human.
Less talking at you —
More sitting beside you.
Just two souls, figuring things out.
Slowly.
Gently.
Together.
The numbers I never meant to see
I promised myself when I started:
No checking followers.
No obsessing over open rates.
I didn’t want the numbers to steal the meaning… not this time.
But today, because I’m writing this milestone post... I peeked.
🧡 69 lovely subscribers
🧡 233 kind followers
It might seem small (I haven’t even peaked at 100, never mind 1000).
But to me, it’s huge.
That’s over two large (or three small) classrooms full of hearts!
And I haven’t really "promoted" this space.
I haven’t even told some of the people closest to me (apart from my sister who is one of my biggest cheerleaders… hi, Marie! 👋).
It’s grown:
Slowly
Gently
Entirely by resonance
No noise.
No chasing.
Just trust.
If you’re here — you’re meant to be here.
And I’m so grateful.
Spaces grow gently when they're built from honesty, not expectation.
A gentle note about what’s unfolding
At the moment, I’m still working full-time in my day job,
so while The Grounding Guide continues to be a steady space,
I’m keeping the focus mainly on sharing through the written word.
Looking ahead, I’ll be sharing more about my work as a somatic practitioner,
and weaving in some psychoeducational posts about nervous system regulation, grounded living, and such like.
These posts won’t land in your inbox automatically —
but I’ll link to them in our weekly letters and they’ll be available in the main feed if you’d like to explore further.
Behind the scenes, I’m still busy creating digital resources with optional add-ons (not necessarily a Substack ‘thing’, but I’ll always share my offerings here at a discounted rate for anyone who might find them useful).
This gentle unfolding honours what my somatic training has taught me:
🌿 Nervous system work is powerful and deserves thoughtful sharing.
🌿 It’s not meant for big, overwhelming groups.
🌿 And sometimes, people need a softer starting point before stepping into deeper support.
Everything here will continue to grow organically,
rooted in care, resonance, and respect for your own pace.
Thank you for walking this path alongside me 🌿
New additions on the horizon
✨ Dreamweaver Journeys
Sharing dream journeying experiences integrated with embodied anatomy and somatic psychology protocols, which has been a part of my nervous system regulation practitioner training. Weaving through dreams and visions as part of this sacred process.
✨ Subscription Sections
As a reader myself, I get it—the noise can sometimes be too much. Especially, in your inbox. So, I’ve created sections you can manage yourself.
You’re welcome to opt out of any types of content — whether it’s:
Weekly grounding letters
Monthly grounded whispers
Cyclical guides
Guided echoes
Dreamweaver journeys
It’s all designed to honour your rhythms, giving you full control over what lands in your space.
You choose what you want to receive. Always.
Top Letters, Dearest Connections
The top three letters that have resonated the most over the past year include:
The Grounding Guide community has quietly stretched across the UK, US, India, Australia, Canada… and more!
No noise.
No shouting.
Just resonance.
A Heartfelt Thank You
Thank you, so much…
For being here.
For reading.
For holding space with me.
Whether you joined today or a year ago —
your presence means everything.
When I started writing on Substack I expected people to maybe follow, like or comment but what I didn’t expect was to build a community of people that I would genuinely love to meet in real life.
If this letter resonates, and you’re a quiet follower or subscriber, I’d love to hear from you. So feel free to reply, say hi, or simply let me know you’re out there.
And if you know someone who might need grounding too —
feel free to pass this along.
There’s always room for more hearts 💗
As part of my one year glow up, I’ve renewed my About page (less wordy):
[Back to About →]
Made a new ‘Start Here’ page:
And written a new ‘About Me’ page:
About Me...
I didn’t come to this work because I trained in yoga or bought a fancy pair of leggings.
So, here’s to another year of:
More grounding
More reflecting
More messy, beautiful growing — together
𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒹𝑒,
🙏 𝒟𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝓍𝑜
This is so wonderful. Congrats Dana! I'm genuinely astonished that you were able to post every week for a whole year. Well done 💖 It's been a pleasure reading your letters since I've subscribed. They resonate a lot. Can't wait to see how The Grounding Guide evolves over time 🥰
Happy Substack anniversary, Dana! Your letters and this space mean a lot to me, compassion, wisdom, lovely and needed reminders that accompany me on my own healing journey. 🥰 Your words resonate with me, and I love your thoughtful, calming posts. Thank you for writing them! 💖 Love your new logo, by the way, it feels perfect!