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So, I’ve had a bit of an idea. After weeks of reading about ancient rituals, revisiting my social anthropology essays, and brushing up on nervous system science, I realised that what I’m learning might not just be totally fascinating, it might actually be actionable. What if all this exploring of old wisdom and modern research could come together in something simple, communal, and meaningful? What about a veterans’ cold-water swim group at my local Lido, which has just had a

A friend said something the other day that’s been looping in my head ever since: “Did people just leave, or did they actually...

Some voices rarely get heard, even when they should. We often tell the stories of medals and battles, and rightly so. But the stories of...

Building a Civilian Life That’s Rich, Real, and Yours, for Veterans and Their Families One of the biggest challenges when leaving the...

They stepped into danger daily so others could be safe. In a conflict shaped by division, 321 EOD had a uniquely humanitarian role, not...

What do I want people to feel or understand through my story? I want people to stop ignoring the impact the Armed Forces has. Because...

Author Bio Sue Oatley is a trained Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) teacher, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) facilitator, addictions specialist, and founder of The Aftershock Project. She studied Social Anthropology and works at the intersection of lived experience, relational practice, and trauma-informed education, drawing on mindfulness, ACT, the Prosocial Matrix, and social anthropology. Sue writes as the daughter of a decorated British Army Explosive O

Across history, communities helped people come home from war. Maybe the secret to modern healing isn’t in new systems, but in remembering old wisdom. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how different cultures have helped people come home after war, loss, or upheaval. Because in our modern world, we often expect people to just get on with it, as if transition is a checkbox, a handover, a tidy ending. But across history, coming home was never just about walking through your o

Introduction The transition from military service to civilian life is a complex process involving profound changes in identity, community, and physiology. Many soldiers leave the armed forces with a deeply ingrained military identity and, in some cases, hidden psychological trauma. This report synthesizes perspectives from social anthropology and the polyvagal theory of neuroscience to shed light on how veterans navigate this transition. On one hand, anthropological concepts—

Why breath, movement, and attention change the body’s messages Our nervous system is like the body’s built-in alarm and recovery system....

Our nervous system is the body’s built-in alarm and recovery system. It keeps us alert when we need to act quickly and helps us calm down...

I never quite realised the impact our story, my family’s story, could have. Not until now. Storytelling’s powerful. For years, I kept...