Saturday 12th October
These tips, we do use ourselves, and encourage everyone to incorporate into their lives, thereby enjoying a greater sense of wellness in our busy 21st century lives.
We do it every second of every day. Our lungs supply our brains and body with the oxygen needed for survival. But breathing can do so much more! Our breath can be such a powerful tool when it comes to our wellbeing. A simple practice of conscious breathing with long, slow inhales and exhales can be beneficial in calming the body down. Use this slow, mindful breathing at times where you feel overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, or just as and when you want to, as an intentional practice, for a few minutes every day. Biologically, this brilliant breathing stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system – the system that helps us rest and digest.
If you want some guided breathing practices, why not try these tools to help?
If you have an apple watch, you can set the Breath reminder. Throughout the day this reminder will nudge you to take just one minute and concentrate on your breathing
The free app ‘Calm’, gives help working though some breathing or mindfulness exercises
The ‘Deliciously Ella’ app has some guided breathwork, which only take 10 minutes
Make mindful decisions. The food we decide to eat is the fuel we power ourselves with, and this truly does influence our health; for good and bad. Our dietary needs are complex but as a starting point your basic diet should include:
Vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, B and D, found in cheese, eggs, oily fish, milk, fortified foods like breakfast cereals….
Fibre, found in vegetables, beans, grains, fruits.…
Proteins – amino acids help many functions within the body, such as building connective tissue like muscle, making hormones, and regulating your metabolism – found in meat, dairy, fish, whole grains, eggs, some cereals……
Fats – healthy (or good) fats, are fats which are important and so good for your heart, brain, lungs, cholesterol, and overall good health. Healthy fats contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, best sources are oily and fatty fish, with good sources being dark chocolate, avocado, eggs, nuts and seeds (with their butters included….)
Following a wholefood diet, cooking with fresh ingredients, using a wide variety of vegetables and eating healthy fats, will serve you well! Why not start with small steps, like adding in a few more vegetables or fruits to your meal, and just focus on filling your meals with plenty of nourishing ingredients. Aim to be a healthy eater, and by making some positive changes in what you decide to eat each day, is a really great way to kick-start your best ever you.
Digital detox is a bit of a buzz word, but there is a lot of benefit to this trend. Until the digital devices that we use daily, are taken away, we cannot fully comprehend how much we rely on all the digital dialogue going on around us. A digital detox can be just switching off for a few hours in the evenings. By dedicating and committing to a digital-less time can free up and allow time for other things. Take more time with yourself, go for long walks in nature, meditate, read, or work on a creative project.
For us, we love to do this on the occasional Sunday. Spend time with those close to you, your loved ones. Relax, reflect, and relish time spent together or enjoy a cuppa without scrolling on your devices through your favourite apps. When you do this, stepping away from all devices, it is surprising, shocking for some, how much we really do rely on these devices. Perhaps unnecessarily… (the irony of how you are reading this is not lost)
Since 2020, the idea of goal setting has really become a trend. And we are ONBOARD with this! Goal setting is a fantastic tool that can help you in your pursuit of fitness, your personal journey, or your business plan. Goal setting can help you brainstorm what you want to achieve and how to do it, without being overwhelmed and just not getting anywhere near your personal goal-line.
Over the last few years, through using goal setting more and more, here are some things we have learnt:
Be realistic. It’s okay to have a big overriding goal but splitting this up, into several manageable goals, is vital. Having a long list of micro-goals to choose from, rather than the one big all-or-nothing resolution, can be beneficial for your overall wellness. Both in how you feel by achieving these micro goals – and in the pursuit of getting the bigger goals completed!
Be flexible. Knowing how the world can up-turn your goal in the blink of an eye, it’s key to remember that you can move on from the micro-goal and always come back to it, when the time is right!
Yes! This is golden advice! Something that resonates so much with us is getting enough rest. Rest has some key components and is different to getting enough sleep (although this is very important too!). So, what is rest?
1. Physical rest – which can be both passive and active
2. Mental rest – rest from your everyday continual workload
3. Sensory rest – rest from bright lights, computer screens, background noise and multiple conversations
4. Creative rest – create something: for instance, playing an instrument, painting, baking etc.
5. Emotional rest – having the time and space to freely express your feelings and cut back on people pleasing
6. Social rest – surround yourself with your choice of positive and supportive people
7. Spiritual rest – allowing yourself the ability to connect beyond the physical and mental and feel a deep sense of belonging, love, acceptance, and purpose
If you want to read more about this, look at this Ted Talk:
https://ideas.ted.com/the-7-types-of-rest-that-every-person-needs/
