Rise Above Barriers

06/09/2026

They say you have to go through the storm before you can see the rainbow.

But today, I found myself wondering...

✨ What if the rainbow didn't only come after the storm?
✨ What if we could learn to notice it within the storm?

I wonder what would happen if you paused for just five slow breaths...

As you breathe, gently bring your awareness into your body.

🌈 I wonder what it would feel like if a rainbow of hope was already present within you.
🌈 I wonder where your body might begin to soften.
🌈 I wonder what happens in your bodies sensations when you allow yourself to notice this, even in the middle of life's challenges.

In my own experience, when I pause and become aware of my body, I begin to recognise something beautiful. I see that through every challenge, I have been held and carried by God.

Remembering this doesn't take away the storm, but it reminds me that I have never walked through it alone. I also find my smiling from my soul. A sense of freedom and expansion. More peace.

That awareness strengthens my sense of safety within. It expands my capacity to keep breathing, to keep trusting, and to keep moving forward with hope.

Sometimes, hope isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.

Sometimes, it's about creating enough space within ourselves to notice that light, grace, and possibility have been with us all along.

Take five breaths.

Notice.

Wonder.

I would love to hear about what you notice. Feel free to express this here in the comments ❤️

I wonder what your body is trying to show you today?

Love Chantelle
Rise Above Barriers

RiseAboveBarriers

05/09/2026

The greatest gift I received for my husband's and my 22nd wedding anniversary was him saying yes.

Yes to journeying individually, together, and through faith as we strengthen our relational field.

Diving in and trusting the unknown hasn't been easy. There have been moments of uncertainty, vulnerability, and deep reflection. Yet, through it all, something significant has been lighting the way—Amazing Grace.

Grace has been gently leading us out of the stuck cycles and repetitive loops that kept our minds anchored in the past. It is teaching us to come back to the present, to our bodies, to our breath, to each other with God at the center of it.

It has been softening our huffs and puffs of frustration about life in general. It's been opening our hearts wider and wider. Even though it's still a rollercoaster and a wave. I am grateful that we are on this ride together and witnessing a tremendous amount of hope for not only our family, health but the collective relational field.

I'm learning that healing isn't about having all the answers or fixing. It's about creating enough safety and capacity within ourselves and our relationship to stay present with what arises, while trusting that God is walking with us every step of the way.

To me, this is the greatest gift of all. That we are not only giving each other but we are giving to our children, our family and I am not underestimating the ripples this has to the greater world.

Here's to 22 years of marriage and almost 26 years together, and to continuing to choose one another with faith, grace, and open hearts even with all.of the challenges and barriers from the past grace is helping us grow together with eachother. Like our wedding song says Come what may I will love you until the end of time. I know as we enter into God's grace deeper together- that love is eternal.

Love Chantelle

03/09/2026

Some words stay with you forever. 💛

Recently, one of my clients, now nearly 7, whom I supported through my Rise Above Barriers Growing Minds sessions around two years ago, said:

"Chantelle, I felt so safe being with you."

Those words reminded me why I do this work.

Whether I'm supporting children or adults, my intention is the same: to create safety within the environment, the relationship, and the body. From that place, emotions can be expressed, the nervous system can settle, and people can begin reconnecting with their true selves.

I often see that the safety a child needs is the very safety an adult's inner child is still longing for.

Healing doesn't begin with fixing.
It begins with feeling safe enough to be fully seen, heard, and expressed.

✨ This is the heart of Rise Above Barriers.
Love Chantelle

29/08/2026

An expression of what my body and soul wants me to express today. What wants to be seen and heard. For me to notice it's whispers, so it doesn't have to roar and be stuck in this rigid feeling I am feeling in my shoulders. So I can take the next step forward into meeting this rigidness and allowing my true self fully express and rise above anything that I am not.

I am going to stay curious into what my shoulder expression needs. If it is more movement, if it is sound, if it is more connection with nature, art, writing or allowing more verbal expression to come through. I am excited to be here and see what comes from this ❤️🙏🏻 Thank you for witnessing me 🎈🌈⚓🌞

This is an example of one aspect in how I work with clients in meeting themselves fully. If you would like support, feel free to book a session.

Love Chantelle
Rise Above Barriers

28/08/2026

This week and over the last few weeks I experienced something hard. Something so big that it triggered my FND seizures after not having one for over a year and a half. I do appreciate the support I received and using these challenges to create positive change.

Positive change for our children. Positive change for early childhood educators, primary school teachers, high school teachers and all who play a pivotal role in children's lives, which basically is everyone. Watch this sp ace. ❤️❤️

25/08/2026

An expression from my body and soul that might help mirror something in you today xx

Love Chantelle

17/08/2026

What came up in my memories today was a photo I took four years ago.

To me, it is more than a photograph. It is a feeling that fills my soul with peace.

It is the warmth of the light radiating through my being, the gentle wonder flowing across the water, and the smile that naturally appears whenever I return to this place in my mind.

Even when I can't physically be there, simply allowing this image to come into my awareness helps soften the stress I'm carrying and reminds my body what peace feels like.

Photography, for me, is so much more than capturing a moment. It is an expression of what my soul needs my eyes to see. Through the lens of my heart, each image gently reveals the parts of me longing for stillness, beauty, wonder, and peace.

I'm curious...

What do you notice within yourself as you feel into this image? What emotions, sensations, or memories does it awaken?

Love Chantelle

07/08/2026

Children share their thoughts and feelings in many ways not just with words. Their voice may be expressed through movement, play, art, music, storytelling, body language, facial expressions, sounds, or even silence. When we slow down with curiosity, we begin to hear what they are communicating beyond words.

When children are given safe opportunities to express themselves, they feel seen, heard, and valued. They also learn healthy ways to process their emotions rather than holding them inside.

As we grow older, many of us lose connection with these natural forms of expression. We may have learned to stay quiet, hide our feelings, or be the strong one. Over time, emotions can become stored within the body, showing up as tension, restricted breath, or difficulty finding the words.

Our voice hasn't disappeared, it has simply found other ways to speak, sometimes through sickness, rage, addiction, disconnection.

Just as children communicate through creativity, movement, sound, and play, adults can reconnect with these same pathways. Breath, expressive art, movement, music, writing, and mindful awareness of the body can all support emotional processing and help us reconnect with ourselves.

Emotional processing doesn't always begin with talking. Sometimes it begins with a breath, a movement, a tear, a sound, or the simple permission to feel.

Our voice is more than the words we speak. It is the language of our whole being.
At Rise Above Barriers, I create gentle spaces for children, teenagers, and adults to reconnect with their authentic voice and process emotions in ways that extend beyond words. Through somatic emotional processing, breath, expressive art, movement, sound, play, creative expression, and for those who allow it - pray.

I support each person to discover the pathways that feel most natural to them.
Because every voice matters, every emotion deserves space, and every person deserves to be seen, heard, and supported with gentleness and grace.

Love Chantelle

Ps Wooden sequence stackers are handmade with love and devotion by my husband. The star is removable.. $45

04/08/2026

-Unspoken Words-

For many years, I carried so much emotional baggage, yet I couldn't put into words what was happening inside me.

I often wondered about going to talk therapy or seeing a counsellor, but I couldn't. The emotions I was carrying had become so deeply suppressed that I honestly didn't have the words. When I tried to explain what I was feeling, my mind would go blank. The words simply weren't there.

Looking back now, I realise my nervous system had been protecting me. It wasn't that I didn't want to express what I was feeling, it was that my body wasn't ready to.

This is why I became so passionate about exploring other ways of supporting emotional healing. Through somatics, breath, sound, movement, expressive art, prayer, and emotional processing, I discovered that healing doesn't always begin with words. Sometimes it begins by creating enough safety for the body to gently process what it has been holding.

Our bodies can carry stories that our minds cannot always explain.

If you've ever struggled to find the words for what you're feeling, you're not alone. Sometimes healing begins by listening to the body first. As the body and mind begins to feel safe, the words often come in their own time.

This understanding has shaped not only my own healing journey but also the way I support others through Rise Above Barriers. It has been a privilege to witness people reconnect with themselves as they are able to meet these parts with gentleness that once felt beyond words.

If you resonate and would love more support or know someone that would like support feel free to contact me I work with clients world-wide via zoom and also have in- person for options for locals.

Love Chantelle

31/07/2026

This breaks my heart. Another beautiful soul lost to su***de from our community at only 12. Especially knowing she also lost her dad to su***de just a year earlier. RIP beautiful angel.

Stories like these are the reason I have so much passion in doing this work with others in walking alongside you in bringing gentle expression to what can't always be expressed through words.

A big part of this work is my own expression which has over the years brought such a deep fire to bring the Five Breaths Foundation to life. A foundation that I would like to start to help all people but especially our youth to come back to their life force energy, their breath.

My hope is simple: that we begin each morning with five intentional breaths, pause for five breaths whenever we feel overwhelmed, and end each day with five calming breaths before sleep.

When we intentionally notice our breath, we strengthen our awareness of when we are unconsciously holding it. You would be surprised how often we hold our breath without even realising it.

These unconscious breath holds can affect us mentally, physically, and spiritually. They can keep our bodies in a heightened stress response and make it harder to feel grounded, present, and connected. Sometimes, when we are overwhelmed, they can even make it more difficult to find our voice and reach out for help when we need it most.

Healthy, steady breathing supports the flow of oxygen throughout the body, including the brain, and can help regulate our nervous system. Over time, this can positively influence many aspects of our wellbeing, including how we respond to stress and how our bodies function.

One breath at a time can make a difference to not only yourself but those around you. As co-regulation also plays a big role in this, in creating a ripple effect that can help someone else's unconscious breathhold that is holding their true voice back to move through. I will speak more about that in a future post. In the meantime for me yourself, your family and loved ones, for this beautiful angel, her dad, her loved ones and anyone else who can't catch a breath for themselves.

Thank you with love and blessings
Chantelle

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HPuxYoE9E/

12-YEAR-OLD GIRL TAKES HER LIFE | A 12-year-old girl from the NSW Hunter Valley has died following a battle with mental health, leaving her family, teammates and community devastated.

Alisha, affectionately known as “Ali” or “Ali Cat”, has been remembered as a much-loved daughter, friend and talented young rugby league player.

Her local club, the Southlakes Roosters, has paid tribute to their “forever teammate” and will honour her memory with a special tribute round this weekend.

Junior rugby league clubs across the Hunter will wear pink ribbons, hold a minute’s silence and celebrate Ali’s life by recognising her number three jersey.

A fundraiser has also been launched to support Ali’s family with funeral costs.

Hunter MP Dan Repacholi has offered his condolences, urging people to check in on friends and loved ones.

He says mental health matters and reaching out for support can make a difference.

Support is available through Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.