Deeper Awareness - Victoria Palmer

20/09/2026

Just 3 spaces left in my Retreat in Glastonbury in October. Staying in Chalice Well at Little Michael’s Retreat House. Limited to 8 women. More info here:

Held Before You Rise is an intimate Reiki retreat for women at Chalice Well, Glastonbury. Limited to just eight women, this sacred weekend offers Reiki, reflection, connection and gentle guidance, inviting you to step away from the noise and reconnect with yourself.

20/09/2026

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙠𝙞 𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣? ❤️

If you’ve never experienced Reiki before, you might wonder what actually happens when you come for a session.

You’ll always remain fully clothed and lie comfortably on a treatment bed while I work with Reiki energy, using gentle hands-on or hands-off techniques.

There’s nothing you need to do and nothing you need to achieve.

Some people experience a deep sense of relaxation. You might notice warmth, tingling, emotions, thoughts, colours or sensations — and sometimes you simply feel very peaceful and sleepy.

Everyone experiences Reiki differently and there really isn’t a “right” way to experience it.

For me, one of the most valuable parts of a Reiki session is creating a space where you can properly stop for a while. No rushing, no performing, no having to be anything other than yourself.

I’ve written a little more about what to expect from a Reiki session, how it works and some of the common questions people have over on my blog.

👇 Read the full blog here:

https://www.deeperawareness.co.uk/blog/what-to-expect-from-your-first-reiki-session-in-milton-keynes-or-online

Much love,
Victoria xx

19/09/2026

What if we stopped trying to fix the symptom? ❤️

For more than a decade, Reiki has taught me something I keep coming back to.

Listen first.

When I’m working with someone, I’m not just interested in what they tell me is wrong.

🌀I’m interested in what they’re feeling.
🌀What they’re holding.
🌀What keeps coming up.
🌀What their body might be showing them.
🌀And sometimes, what they haven’t yet found the words for.

I’ve learnt to trust my intuition too.

Not as an answer, but as another way of noticing.

The more I’ve learnt and experienced through my own healing journey, the more I’ve realised that sometimes we need more than a space to simply relax or receive.

Sometimes we need a space to explore.

To slow down.

To get curious about the patterns we keep finding ourselves in.

To look at what might be underneath them and what we might want to do differently.

This is part of the reason I’ve refined my 1:1 Personal Work.

It sits alongside the Reiki and Guidance I already offer. It isn’t replacing either.

It simply gives us another way of working together when you feel ready to go a little deeper.

Sometimes Reiki will be part of the session.

Sometimes it might be conversation, reflection, practical tools or intuitive guidance.

There isn’t a formula.

We start with you.

What’s happening.
What matters to you.
And what you’re ready to explore.

Because I don’t believe healing is about someone else fixing us.

I believe it’s about becoming more aware of ourselves and learning to listen.

And I’m still learning that too❤️

More info here:

https://www.deeperawareness.co.uk/guided-personal-work

Victoria xx

17/09/2026

Why do we reach for something? 🤍

I see this in people all the time.

🌀Food
🌀Alcohol
🌀Sugar
🌀Scrolling
🌀Busyness
🌀Keeping ourselves constantly occupied

Sometimes the behaviour isn’t really the whole story.

It can be a way of soothing ourselves, distracting ourselves or helping us cope with feelings that don’t feel easy to sit with.

I know this from my own experience too.

My own journey with food, alcohol, sugar and other patterns has taught me a lot about what can sit underneath the behaviour.

Listening to Gabor Maté gabormatemd Sunday evening brought this into even sharper focus for me. His understanding of trauma and the ways our experiences can shape how we cope really resonated with my own journey.

And I think the answer isn’t to judge ourselves for the things we reach for.

It’s to become curious. To be compassionate.

What am I actually needing right now?

❤️Rest?
❤️Comfort?
❤️Connection?
❤️Safety?
❤️Space?

Sometimes simply asking that question can begin to change our relationship with ourselves.

Not with shame.

With curiosity and compassion.

The behaviour may be asking us to look a little deeper.

Victoria xx

16/09/2026

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛. 💕

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

We can spend so much time looking at what we need to change, improve or heal that we forget to simply live.

Gabor Maté talks about approaching ourselves with “compassionate curiosity” — being curious about why we are the way we are, rather than judging ourselves for it.

And I think that’s such an important part of self-awareness.

We don’t have to have everything figured out.
We don’t have to have healed every old wound.
We don’t have to become some perfect version of ourselves before we’re allowed to feel happy.

Sometimes we just need to put all of that down for a while.

Last weekend, my daughter and I went to see KATSEYE at The O2 in London. We sang, laughed, danced, took far too many photos & videos and had the best time. 😂🎤

And it reminded me that life isn’t just about the work we do on ourselves.

It’s also about the moments we’re living while we’re doing that work.

You can be growing and still have fun.
You can be healing and still be happy.
You can be a work in progress and enjoy your life exactly as it is.

Because in my opinion, being present for the good stuff is part of the work too.

Much love,
Victoria xx

15/09/2026

When the body speaks… ❤️👤

I see people displaying this all the time.

🌀Tension in their shoulders
🌀A clenched jaw
🌀A tight chest
🌀Shallow breathing
🌀Exhaustion
🌀Feeling constantly “on”

Sometimes the body is telling us something that we haven’t yet found the words for.

Listening to Gabor Maté gabormatemd on Sunday night really brought this home for me again.

Hearing him talk about trauma, emotional experiences and the ways they can affect us physically connected deeply with what I see in my work and with my own healing journey too.

I know what it is to use behaviours to cope with difficult emotions. Food, alcohol, sugar and other patterns have all been part of my own story.

So this isn’t something I’m looking at from the outside.

I’m in it too.

Over the next few posts, I want to explore some of the ways our emotions and experiences can show up in the body and how I see Reiki offers a space to slow down, reconnect and become more aware of what we’re carrying.

Not to fix or force anything.

Just to listen. To be compassionate.

Because sometimes the body speaks before we have the words.

Victoria xx

14/09/2026

🌙 𝙈𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 & 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩

I’ve always loved the way the Moon gives us a natural rhythm to pause, reflect and notice where we are.

Not because we need to follow a set of rules or turn every New Moon and Full Moon into a ritual, but because having a little space to stop, reflect and look inward can be incredibly powerful.

That’s part of the inspiration behind my Moon Cycles & Soul Alignment workshop this November.

A whole day to explore the Moon cycles, what they can offer us and how we can work with them in a way that feels grounded, practical and personal.

We’ll explore the different phases of the Moon, intention setting, reflection, energy and alignment — with plenty of space to connect this back to your own life and experience.

It’s a day to slow down, learn, explore and connect — with the Moon, with yourself and with others.

📆Saturday 14th November 2026
⏰10am–5pm
📍The Quaker Centre, Milton Keynes

This is a day to connect with the natural rhythms of the Moon, explore your own cycles and create space for reflection, intention and alignment. 🌙

Places are available here:
[https://www.deeperawareness.co.uk/development-workshops/moon-cycles-soul-alignment-workshop

I’d love to share the day with you.

Much love,
Victoria xx

14/09/2026

Still processing last night… 🤍

Last night I had the privilege of seeing Gabor Maté in London and I honestly don’t think I’ve fully taken it in yet.

Listening to him speak about trauma, emotional pain and the ways what happens to us can affect us physically was incredibly powerful.

And I came away with this really strong sense of knowing.

That so much of what I’ve experienced in my own healing journey and the work I now do with others is connected.

I’ve spent many years working through my own journey with addiction in different forms, including food, alcohol and sugar and understanding the patterns underneath them.

I’m still learning.
I’m still healing.
I’m still human.

I don’t stand outside of this work. I’m in it too.

I’m a Mum, a wife, a Reiki practitioner and teacher and I hold space for other people. But I also have my own history, my own patterns and my own tender places.

And as a Mum to an 11-year-old daughter, this matters deeply to me.

I don’t want her to see someone who has everything figured out. I want her to see that it’s okay to be human. That we can look honestly at ourselves, heal and meet ourselves with compassion.

I feel incredibly honoured and grateful to have been there. Thank you Adele for the ticket and for making it possible. ❤️

And it was lovely to share the evening with Eva too. 🤍

I’m still processing it all, but I came away feeling deeply grateful for the journey I’m on and for the privilege of walking alongside others on theirs.

What a night. What a reminder. What a gift.

Victoria xx

14/09/2026

Still processing last night… 🤍

Seeing Gabor Maté gabormatemd in London was such a powerful experience.

Listening to him speak about trauma, emotional pain and the ways what we experience can affect us physically brought so much together for me.

My own journey with addiction, food, alcohol, sugar and patterns of behaviour is still very much part of my healing journey. I’m still learning. I’m still healing.

And I was reminded that I don’t stand outside of this work.

I’m in it too.

I’m a Mum, a wife, a Reiki practitioner and teacher and someone who supports others — but underneath all of those roles, I’m simply human and continuing to understand myself too.

I feel incredibly honoured and grateful that I was there. Thank you Adele for the ticket and for making this experience possible. ❤️

A really special evening that I know I’ll be processing for a while yet.

What a night. What a reminder. What a gift.

Victoria xx

13/09/2026

Glastonbury retreat – 3 places remaining ✨

I have just 3 places remaining on my Held Before You Rise retreat in Glastonbury this October.

16–19 October 2026
Little St Michael’s Retreat House, Chalice Well

Three days of Reiki, meditation, reflection, nature, connection and space to slow down and reconnect with yourself.

It’s a small, intimate retreat for women and there will be plenty of time to rest and simply be alongside the guided sessions.

With just five weeks to go, there are now only 3 places available.

If you’d like to find out more, you can see all the details here:

https://www.deeperawareness.co.uk/retreats-deeper-awareness/weekend-glastonbury-oct-2026

Victoria xx