A Positive Start CIC

18/06/2026

18/06/2026

I just think you deserve to feel good now. Not after you've passed some arbitrary test of
"worthiness." Not after you weigh a certain amount or you've made a certain salary or you've crossed enough items off your "to do" list.

Here. Now. No purchase or transformation required.

17/06/2026

One of the topics we’ll be exploring in our Reconnect & Regulate programme, starting Monday 29th June, is Boundaries.

Healthy boundaries aren’t about building walls or pushing people away. They’re about protecting what matters while remaining open to connection.

Just like the wrapped sweet, boundaries help us hold onto our sense of self. Without them, we can find ourselves overwhelmed, drained, people-pleasing, or losing pieces of ourselves trying to keep everyone else happy.

Many of us were never taught that it’s okay to say no, to ask for what we need, or to recognise when something doesn’t feel right.

Boundaries are not rejection.
Boundaries are self-respect.
Boundaries create safety, clarity, and healthier relationships.

If you’d like to learn more about boundaries, nervous system regulation, trauma, neuroplasticity, and self-understanding, join us for our next 8-week Reconnect & Regulate programme, starting Monday 29th June at Harestanes.”

17/06/2026

Have you ever noticed that when you buy a new car, you suddenly start seeing that same car everywhere?

Or when someone mentions a particular word, song, or idea, it seems to appear repeatedly throughout your day?

It’s not that these things suddenly appeared. They were there all along.

What’s changed is your attention.

For those of us who have experienced trauma, adversity, or prolonged stress, attention often becomes focused on danger. The brain learns to scan the environment for what might hurt us, disappoint us, reject us, or go wrong. This process, known as hypervigilance, is not a weakness or a flaw. It is an intelligent survival response.

But what if the very system that learned to search for danger could also learn to recognise opportunity?

What if healing isn’t about becoming a different person, but about teaching the brain to notice that danger is not the whole story?

In our Reconnect & Regulate programme, we explore the science of neuroplasticity, the remarkable ability of the brain to change throughout life, and the often-overlooked role of the Reticular Activating System (RAS) — a filtering system in the brain that quietly influences what we notice, what we focus on, and ultimately how we experience the world.

I often call it the ‘RASamataz Plot Twist.’

Because after years of surviving, many people are surprised to discover that the same brain that became highly skilled at spotting danger can also learn to recognise safety, possibility, connection, kindness, and hope.

This blog explores how that happens, why repetition matters, and how a simple exercise called Mia Vita can help us begin retraining the brain’s attention towards the life we want to build rather than the life we have been conditioned to fear.

Quick Read Blog:

https://apositivestart.org.uk/lived-experience-blog/neuroplasticity-hypervigilance-and-the-rasamataz-plot-twist/

We hope to see you on 29th June at Reconnect & Regulate.

Together we’ll be exploring what happens when we intentionally direct our attention towards possibility, connection, growth, and hope.



Because healing isn’t just about understanding what happened to us—it’s also about noticing what is possible from here

One of the concepts we explore in our Reconnect & Regulate programme (starting Monday 29th June) is neuroplasticity – the brain’s remarkable ability to