Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Hello gorgeous,
I wanted to share something with you today that may surprise some of you, and for other's you might just feel a huge weight lifted off of your shoulder's knowing that you are not alone in feeling this way.
Have you ever had a really crappy day where absolutely everything that could go wrong did go wrong? Maybe you've had a few days like this, each strung together making you feel highly strung yourself. I know I have. And I still do.
Yes, I may be doing a lot better with my anxious moments, but I still have those crappy days. I had one yesterday in fact. Which is what has led me to share my story with you, in the hope that by my owning my story and sharing my authenticity with you, you will find strength, comfort and a way forward yourself.
So first, let me tell you briefly about my crappy string of days. (oh joy!)
Well, I've been on somewhat of a rollercoaster of emotions which is all normal and part of being human, but I was getting more and more interconnected days of sheer crap being thrown at me in one way or another. Yes it did all get worse because of my perception of it and I could have chosen to see it as a lesson and see what I could do to love the situations, but I didn't. I had one of those crazy normal human moments and decided to wallow. Oh don't we love a good wallow?
So anyway, yesterday was the catalyst for change. It reached the eruption moment where my emotions transformed from frustration to anger, to full on flowing tears and finally to peace. Hallelujah!
So today I decided that even though I felt calmer, I felt more inner peace, and less anxious and stressed out, it was time for a Semi- Self Care Day. I was not prepared to throw myself into the day with the previous stressy days on my tail. I needed to feel the peace in my entire day before I could allow myself to step foot onto the hot coals of normal life. I'm blessed to have the ability to take a semi- self care day working part time and being a student, I don't have the 9-5 daily grind. But if like me you can't take the whole day for self care, here's my top 5 ways that you can incorporate Self Care into your Day in order to reconnect, recharge, and reboot yourself.
1.) Take 5-15 minutes to yourself and do something calming - This could be a brief moment of meditation or even checking in with Natalie Macneil's SoulShots from her SoulSeconds website. I adore getting my daily SoulShot and regularly post mine to my instagram account. Sometimes I even make use of time in the restroom to do this!! You gotta utilise your day people!
2.) Disconnecting for at least 5-10 minutes - I struggled with this at first but now I look forward to it. At any point throughout the day, when I know that it is safe to do so, I switch off my WiFi, close my laptop, put my mobile phone in a drawer switched off, and I just disconnect for everyone. This allows me to do things without a distraction and I feel free for those brief moments in a day.
3.) Take a Cleansing Bath - This is my sanctuary time, and I have at least an hour for this. I fill the bathtub with sea salt, pop on spa inspired music and read a book.
4.) Go for a walk - Honestly, don't underestimate the power of a walk and the wonders it can do for you. I used to feel all uncomfortable going for a walk and sitting in a park, but as part of my ME TIME now I look forward to this time. Knowing that I am walking alone and am going to get 5 minutes to myself is all the motivation I need to get there - which helps boost my cardio in my day!
5.) And lastly, Move Your Body - I don't care what form of exercise you do, ballet, barre, pilates, yoga, rock climbing, swimming, running, Beachbody Programs (one of my favourites!), going to the gym or walking. Whatever it is, just move your body for 30 minutes. In the words of Elle Woods aka Legally Blonde; "Exercise gives you endorphins, Endorphins make you happy - and happy people just don't kill people!" HaHa, Ok so maybe not as dramatic as that, but you get my point? Exercise boosts the bodies production of serotonin, and anyone who is depressed or suffers from SAD will tell you - Serotonin is the good stuff.
5.5) An add on point; Honour your GUT - I'm serious, around 90% of the bodies natural made serotonin is made in your .... GUT so when we wellness coaches and bloggers talk about GUT health, we are doing so for your health, wellbeing and happiness - literally! I'll be talking more in the future about this exact point so keep an eye out!
Let me know how you get on implementing my top 5 (5.5) tips on bringing self care into your day by leaving a comment below. Perhaps you have your own self care day tips - awesome!! Leave YOUR top tips in the comments below for everyone to benefit from, and share the wellbeing!
I wanted to share something with you today that may surprise some of you, and for other's you might just feel a huge weight lifted off of your shoulder's knowing that you are not alone in feeling this way.
Have you ever had a really crappy day where absolutely everything that could go wrong did go wrong? Maybe you've had a few days like this, each strung together making you feel highly strung yourself. I know I have. And I still do.
Yes, I may be doing a lot better with my anxious moments, but I still have those crappy days. I had one yesterday in fact. Which is what has led me to share my story with you, in the hope that by my owning my story and sharing my authenticity with you, you will find strength, comfort and a way forward yourself.
So first, let me tell you briefly about my crappy string of days. (oh joy!)
Well, I've been on somewhat of a rollercoaster of emotions which is all normal and part of being human, but I was getting more and more interconnected days of sheer crap being thrown at me in one way or another. Yes it did all get worse because of my perception of it and I could have chosen to see it as a lesson and see what I could do to love the situations, but I didn't. I had one of those crazy normal human moments and decided to wallow. Oh don't we love a good wallow?
So anyway, yesterday was the catalyst for change. It reached the eruption moment where my emotions transformed from frustration to anger, to full on flowing tears and finally to peace. Hallelujah!
So today I decided that even though I felt calmer, I felt more inner peace, and less anxious and stressed out, it was time for a Semi- Self Care Day. I was not prepared to throw myself into the day with the previous stressy days on my tail. I needed to feel the peace in my entire day before I could allow myself to step foot onto the hot coals of normal life. I'm blessed to have the ability to take a semi- self care day working part time and being a student, I don't have the 9-5 daily grind. But if like me you can't take the whole day for self care, here's my top 5 ways that you can incorporate Self Care into your Day in order to reconnect, recharge, and reboot yourself.
1.) Take 5-15 minutes to yourself and do something calming - This could be a brief moment of meditation or even checking in with Natalie Macneil's SoulShots from her SoulSeconds website. I adore getting my daily SoulShot and regularly post mine to my instagram account. Sometimes I even make use of time in the restroom to do this!! You gotta utilise your day people!
2.) Disconnecting for at least 5-10 minutes - I struggled with this at first but now I look forward to it. At any point throughout the day, when I know that it is safe to do so, I switch off my WiFi, close my laptop, put my mobile phone in a drawer switched off, and I just disconnect for everyone. This allows me to do things without a distraction and I feel free for those brief moments in a day.
3.) Take a Cleansing Bath - This is my sanctuary time, and I have at least an hour for this. I fill the bathtub with sea salt, pop on spa inspired music and read a book.
4.) Go for a walk - Honestly, don't underestimate the power of a walk and the wonders it can do for you. I used to feel all uncomfortable going for a walk and sitting in a park, but as part of my ME TIME now I look forward to this time. Knowing that I am walking alone and am going to get 5 minutes to myself is all the motivation I need to get there - which helps boost my cardio in my day!
5.) And lastly, Move Your Body - I don't care what form of exercise you do, ballet, barre, pilates, yoga, rock climbing, swimming, running, Beachbody Programs (one of my favourites!), going to the gym or walking. Whatever it is, just move your body for 30 minutes. In the words of Elle Woods aka Legally Blonde; "Exercise gives you endorphins, Endorphins make you happy - and happy people just don't kill people!" HaHa, Ok so maybe not as dramatic as that, but you get my point? Exercise boosts the bodies production of serotonin, and anyone who is depressed or suffers from SAD will tell you - Serotonin is the good stuff.
5.5) An add on point; Honour your GUT - I'm serious, around 90% of the bodies natural made serotonin is made in your .... GUT so when we wellness coaches and bloggers talk about GUT health, we are doing so for your health, wellbeing and happiness - literally! I'll be talking more in the future about this exact point so keep an eye out!
Let me know how you get on implementing my top 5 (5.5) tips on bringing self care into your day by leaving a comment below. Perhaps you have your own self care day tips - awesome!! Leave YOUR top tips in the comments below for everyone to benefit from, and share the wellbeing!
Body Calm Meditations is an audio program to help you heal your body by addressing your thought patterns you have about your life and your body. I was drawn to this CD because I am a huge fan of meditation and always find it beneficial, yet I don't practice it religiously. I kind of dip in and dip out of practicing it. So I wanted to see what this audio program offered. It does have a book that you can purchase here (I haven't read that one so I can't offer you my opinion on that yet).Title | Body Calm Meditation CDAuthor | Sandy NewbiggingPublisher | Hay House UKAudio Length | 77 MinutesSource | Review CopyPurchase | AmazonA Page of Love Rating | 5/5Body Calm Meditations is a powerful way to meditate that uses the mind-body connection to help your body heal and stay healthy. Using these enjoyable guided meditations, you can clear the main mind-based causes of inner 'dis-ease' by developing key mental beliefs that enable you to engage with daily life in a much more relaxed and stress-free way. This ultimately gives your body the rest it needs to recover and the holistic harmony that is the foundation of lifelong health and happiness.
Over the past few months I have been dealing with a few health concerns of my own on top of bereavement and severe stress. I've been in regular contact with my GP and she referred me for counselling and CBT to help me manage my anxieties regarding my having Peripheral Neuropathy & Sciatica. I am not used to feeling so unwell or in pain so it's came as a total shock and it's been really hard to deal with. One thing my GP actually said to me was to try meditation because she strongly believes that there is a definite line between my anxiety/panic attacks and the pain I feel in my body. My pain is largely centred around the lower left of my spine, lower left leg and left forearm. All areas concerning support, security and the ability to 'handle' things and 'carry' on with life.
So, when I first listened to the audio CD, Sandy gently talks you through his philosophy of Body Calm and the link between anxiety, pain, health and your thoughts. It made so much sense I wanted to rip the CD out the player, run to my GP and say "THIS!!! This is what patients like me NEED!" She probably would have agreed with me, but I digress - I did not damage the CD by ripping it out of the player, I also didn't burst into my GP office. But I will mention it to her for sure. :-)
So, I carried on listening and there was this one part that Sandy said "It's OK to feel emotional - That is perfectly OK" and the tears that were prickly my eyes, just burst forward and I was able to let them go. He also said that nothing needed to be done, nothing needed my attention, It was OK for me to have this time alone, to myself, with my body and the time to relax. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that. It's funny how we feel the need to be given permission to relax and do nothing isn't it?
There is one main meditation for the full body which takes about 14 minutes, and then 10 individual 3-4 minute ones that focus on one specific area in the body, and you can either do just the one 3 minutes one or do what I try to do most of the time and let them play on following each other for that extra boost. I always find myself feeling more relaxed and calmer and in less pain when I do that - because I've given my body time out to relax and recuperate.
I instantly felt relaxed listening to Sandy's lovely accent, his voice just sedates you! I let go for the whole 77 minutes without once feeling guilty, without once feeling irritated, and without once thinking about all the things I needed to do. That doesn't mean that I wasn't having the fight with my monkey mind on occasions, but it was a lot less than usual.
I've used this CD over the period of the last 2-3 weeks and I've found myself slowly getting myself feeling better about my body, less anxious when I feel pain, more able to rationalise the pain and anxious feelings I have.
Overall, I give Body Calm Meditations 5/5 Page of Love Hearts.
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