Eunice Laurel & Julia Leitner

Friends of the studio, Eunice Laurel and Julia Leitner, stopped by to try on our new knits and to chat about motherhood, creativity, and their work in the healing arts. Both were customers before becoming friends, and we have photographed them in their own Diamond Jackets, wandering the quiet streets around the studio on a sunny autumn afternoon.

Could you share a little bit about how you both met?

J: We are sitting together, drinking Aphrodite tea - from the German Allgäu - whilst we have a chat about live, work, love, family.  When I saw you in your red dress looking like a goddess at our friend’s house puja, I sensed that we will meet again, that we will be friends. Years later, by chance , we bump into each other at a hotel on a holiday trip and then again years later, our daughters suddenly go to the same school. If this isn’t meant to be, my friend?! And, the magic in it from a decoding perspective, before the friendship deepened, we met each other three times, three, the magic number! The number of creativity, of the goddess, the number of Venus -  and now we are friends!

E: Yes, the magic number 3! On that third meeting, I remember seeing you in the park that day and your beaming smile and warmth. What I so love and appreciate about you is your unbridled joy, you’re always so full of encouragement and support! It’s such a beautiful quality about you. Friendships like this heal forgotten parts of ourselves. When you find those friendships, it’s so precious.

On creativity and healing work: how do they inform and support one another in your practice?

J: I’m in a constant exploration and flux, an eternal student. I worked in graphic design and photography. Here an important insight: whilst looking at a picture of someone, I realised, that there is something beyond the visual picture. Something unspoken, something magical… This inspired me to explore more and go introvert. It inspired me to study the internal world of a human being from homeopathy, astrology, energy work to sound healing. I believe, all this can combine creativity with healing; I’m working on the intersection. But ultimately, it’s about the intention: mine is guiding people back to their essence, creating a portal which can unfold in a song, a painting, a sound session to intuitive guidance or energy work. Also, I’m on my own unravelling journey - the wounded healer. 

E: And I have a love of all the arts, but the creative modalities I draw on in my work are dance and movement. I facilitate spaces for people to learn to be with their bodies and to create, express and make sense of their stories through multidisciplinary movement practices. I also grew up with a love of words - poetry, lyrics and literature - some of that informs the spaces I hold. There’s a poetic substance to the way people move, I love being able to support and witness that. 

How do you navigate the balance between motherhood, creativity and spirituality?

J: My family and my animal friends - five cats and a white husky wolf -  give me so much love, joy and safety which helps me to get into the right mindset to create and hopefully to pass on to other people. Even though this means that time to create is restricted. Maybe I value it more therefore…

E:  I’ve always seen the world through a spiritual and philosophical lens, as far back as I can remember. So that informs my mothering, my creativity, my work, the way I navigate the world. It’s interlaced and inseparable.  

On sustenance and doing work that we love:  how do you view the relationship between spiritual / financial sustenance, and doing work that’s aligned with your passions?

J: It can be a very simple practice: This morning I was walking on the heath with my dog - I go every day. 
I'm amongst trees and I focus on my awareness. With every step I make, l realise that I'm walking on the skin of the earth. I’m creating a connection to the earth, I’m being sensitive to how I walk on the earth. Nature in general sustains me; watching the birds, feeding the birds, creating a connection. I speak with them and all the other animals I meet. And my meditation practice.
It's very important. If I don't do it for a while, I feel less balanced as it really helps me to settle my mind. There is a Buddhist teaching that explains this idea very well, I find: Imagine a glass full of water with swirling sand inside. It's foggy, not clear. But after a while when it stays still, the water gets absolutely clear. This is how I experience meditation, I clear my mind, and also it heightens my senses. I‘m lucky to have my husband‘s support, which gives me the space to explore my creative and healing path without rushing it. I don’t take that for granted - it’s what allows me to stay open, playful and honest in my work, and to create from a place of genuine curiosity rather than than pressure. 

E: I think there’s always a delicate balance between being financially sustained and meaningful work, especially in the field I’m in, which is holistic body-based support and therapeutic arts. Support work is not often well paid work, but I feel I’ve a lot of privilege, it hasn’t always been that way, but being of service is an important practice for me.
In the outreach programme I run, Movement for Healing, it’s vital that as many financial barriers are removed as possible so women can access healing spaces for free or with little cost. A lot of work goes into organising and looking for funding and community support but it’s so fulfilling to me. It can’t exist without the generosity of others.

What do you think is liberation, freedom?

J: Freedom and liberation, I mean, the ultimate - of course - is enlightenment.
But in my daily life, it feels like finding those broken pieces and glueing them back together. And, every lifetime, we are here to do transformative work, to get closer to something that I anticipate as liberation. But also, on the micro level of those multi layers, something can already feel liberating in this seemingly unimportant and tiny moment, by transforming  only one little step. I liberate myself from this shadow right now  that kept me back from one step further to liberation. It seemed like a big wall but now it’s trivial - I overcame it. 

E: Liberation is multilayered. The ultimate freedom is liberation from my own and others’ judgements, to be fully in myself. That’s an ongoing theme and process in my practice. When I was younger, my movement practices were about grace and precision, performing ‘perfect and pretty’. I find as I get older, moving through the different chapters from maiden to mother and beginning to venture into a new landscape, I’m interested in moving in the mess of things, how do I move in illness, how do I move with ageing? Can I disrupt the narrative that requires me to be acceptable? 

J: Like I had a dream that someone was running behind me to hunt me. It was a recurring dream over a long time but suddenly, one moment , I simply turned around and faced my fear. It immediately dissolved ! That's a liberation in a metaphorical way or a dream world way. I overcame the shadow. 
And, this brings me further to something next, a different layer that at one point needs to be liberated. When looking at art or also in nature, there are imperfections and they are most interesting, perfection is boring. So, why do I want to be perfect then? 
And I think those realisations are very potent and - again - help to liberate myself.

E: There are constant small acts of liberation all the time, or opportunities as you say. We’re unlocking those little chains. 

J: I think the ultimate freedom is to be able to express, live, practice.

Eunice and Julia wear their own one-of-a-kind Diamond Robes. Julia also wears the Knit Hood and Eunice wears a one-of-kind Pixie Hat, both from AW25/26.