On Saturday 24th September 2011 I was invited to speak at the ‘Love Yourself Just the Way You Are’ event in the stunning Merley House, Dorset.

Noel Lockyer-Stevens and Sarah Haywood organised this wonderful event where they had a great handful of speakers and also lots of stands with different therapies and practitioners ranging from massages, to sound therapy, to organic food therapies.

The event was aimed at helping people to achieve a better way of being and give more ways of sustaining love for themselves. Learning how to develop happiness, success and positivity in their lives. How can you begin to love others and life around you if you can’t love yourself within. Live the life you choose rather than the life you have stumbled into.

I was very sorry to miss Camilla Carr’s talk at the start of the day. Herself and her husband went to Chechnya to set up a rehabilitation centre for children traumatised by war. Two months later they were kidnapped in the night by masked Chechen rebels. Held in captivity for 14months, they experienced everything from threat of execution, rape and mental torture to moments of compassion and kindness.

They survived this ordeal by using tools such as Tai Chi, meditation and humour, they managed to reach the small flame of love and laughter in their captors unquenched by the demonising nature of war. Camilla was there to describe their amazing story which everyone said was truly emotional and inspiring.

Just before I went on to do my talk I was lucky to see the magician Paul Newton who did amazing tricks and reminded me of Derren Brown!

What a fabulous day, well done Noel and Sarah.