Who We Are
our story
The humble snail.
The story of the link between our business name ‘it’s a practise’ and our logo icon, the humble snail, and how it conceptualises our philosophy.
All things slimy and garden muncher aside, the snail represents so many characteristics of how we have personally learned, and are continuing to learn, to approach our own challenges in life.
It was a match made in heaven when we stumbled across the cute little being (on/credit to Logo Maker, we are no Graphic Designers!) and adopted it as our mascot and, dare we say, our spirit animal (to stand up in the face of this stigma-ridden world towards anything stigma - and that stigma in this case be ‘woo woo’ - yes, we dare! Nothing wrong with a bit of woo woo!).
Well, one of our spirit animals. It’s hard to pick just one from our magnificent animal kingdom! For that reason, wherever you see other images of animals pop up in and around our website or business communications, it is very likely not by accident.
But, the snail really hits the mark for our fundamental approach to ‘it’s a practise…’…
Symbolism of the snail represents determination, balance,
patience and negotiation.
During recovery from burnout and reflecting on what caused it, Founder of It’s A Practise, Michelle, recognised many factors - too many to list here, but to mention a few - severe and unidentified Iron Deficiency, barriers to accessing (undiagnosed) ADHD supports for reasonable adjustments both in study and at work, unrealistic expectations of employers, and in particular, the culture we live in that demands more, more, more, now, now, now.
Following that realisation, what then stood out as a frustration along the way, is the irony of rushing through things often means that at the very least you have to do them twice - or more - times than necessary, than if you only just took your time to get it right.
A phrase shared by a good friend that captures the essence of the problem is ‘too busy to do it once, but not too busy to do it twice’.
So, while we need to find ways to thrive in the face of these challenges, we like to harness the energy of the snail as a reminder to take our time, to practise taking time. Through practising this approach we have learnt that it enables us to have more acute insight and tune into our intuition, so that we know what is best for us personally and interpersonally, when it’s the right time to take action, pull back, take a break, and/or when to get going again. We have observed in our therapeutic collaborations that this approach also supports people in the most nurturing and humanising way, that it seems a disservice not to acknowledge and continue practising it.
As magic would have it, in the midst of all this reflection, the perfect approach revealed itself by way of a podcast episode, with Cal Newport, who has written a whole book on the subject! The book is called Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. He talks about the benefits of ‘slow productivity’ or doing things at a ‘natural pace’, which involves taking time to do fewer things at once, so that you produce more things in the long run. Which is also so much more rewarding!
If you are interested and get the chance to check out the episode here: Ep. 291: Do Better, Do Less, Cal’s insight into the story of singer and songwriter, Jewel, and how not giving into the pressures around her to ‘succeed’ ended up being her most powerful decision, is extremely inspiring.
So, with that, our occupational therapy lens, our own lived experience, and resonance with the symbolism of the Snail, combined with our philosophy to remind ourselves ‘it’s a practise’ the, business name and logo was born.
We love it because it embodies our values and helps to remind us every day to embrace the process of recognising that worthwhile change will take time and to approach it at a natural pace.
That when you’ve taken time to practise something, anything, and commit to it as a life long way of being, new doors open and life feels much more ‘aaahhh’ than ‘arrrgggghhhh!’.
We found a description of the Snail that sums it all up so well. Apart from a few tweaks to make it gender neutral, we give full credit to the writers at thespiritualcentre.net for the extract from their website:
“The snail is happy to step out of their comfort zone
on their own terms and yet
retreats into their shell at the drop of a hat.
They will keep on moving no matter what,
and it is at quite a speed for their size.
Nothing stops them.
They carry their home on their back,
they have everything they need.
They ask you to look at your life
from a different viewpoint,
negotiate your way to be on the right path for you.
The snail will bring calm to the chaos
around current situations.
Now is not the time to retreat into your shell,
now is your time to venture forward into new arenas and
move towards your goals.
The snail teaches us to live in the now,
always moving towards our goals
and to remember that
there is no rush,
no urgency,
one step at a time,
your pace,
your speed.”
We hope that with this philosophy and spirit of the humble snail combined, you feel as empowered as we do to embrace the journey while we work towards what our own individual and unique vision of wellbeing and quality of life looks like.
