We all feel at times that we can’t be bothered so how we can work with this challenge? check out my latest Vlog for some tips.
We can all beat ourselves up at times sometimes, but why? It only makes us feel bad and remember we are all human and make mistakes so check out my latest vlog and see how I help people to deal with it.
Exposing our true selves can make us feel very vulnerable, so why do it? check out this week’s vlog and find out the real benefits.
This Blog is written as a thank you to my daughter in law who helped me with a dilemma I had recently.
I was speaking to her about the expression ‘Practice what you Preach’, when I hear it I feel I am about to be dictated to by someone who is preaching to me about how things SHOULD be done, which often falls on deaf ears as no one really wants to be told what to do.
Over my lifetime I have come across many people who ‘talk the talk’ but don’t actually ‘walk the walk’.
I once met a surgeon who was a heart specialist and spoke to patients about reducing their weight, increasing their exercise, not smoking and reducing there process food intake.
We sat chatting at a social event and I noticed he smoked was overweight and often eat high fat processed foods, he said to me ‘I know I should do the actions I tell my patients to do, but If I am honest I don’t actually do them myself’
That day stuck in my mind and my dilemma was how can I help people change without preaching to people?
As my daughter in law pondered, she said ‘Sandra just say I practise what I teach’ Wow how simple was that, I felt really humbled because I don’t have all the answers to improve your Health, but the actions I take have dramatically improved my own health and that is the example I want to show to the world.
It reminded me of an expression I used to say to my sons ‘don’t do what I do, do what I tell you’ ( luckily that is no longer the truth and I have made amends to them as that is not a great role model to be).
So if you want to be a real influencer remember what Gandhi once said…
‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ and let that be your influence.
we often feel we much have more of this and more of that, we just don’t get enough, perhaps its food, money, work or even love. Check out my new Vlog and see if you change your perspective.
I would imagine we all would often love a way to say no to others when we really are unable to do something, but often we feel unable to find the right words. Check out my new vlog to help you find out how.
Many clients I work with find they get overwhelmed with life’s pressures and things seem get on top of them.
As a result, they often feel a high level of anxiety, increased stress and a sense of feeling stuck, not knowing how to move forward as there is not enough hours in the day for the tasks they feel they need to achieve.
As usual my Vlogs and Blogs are ALWAYS about finding simple solutions to challenges and are never rocket science.
What people experience when they follow these suggestions can be profound if practiced regularly, I have experienced some really calming effects and have put the actions in my ‘tool kit’ to use.
I know for myself when I get overwhelmed it’s not easy to feel calm and focused, so these are my suggestions which can really make a difference.
1. STOP whatever you are doing a take 3 deep breaths.
When you breathe deeply messages are sent to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. When you are stressed you increase your heart rate, experience fast breathing, and your blood pressure gets higher, all these decrease as you breathe deeply to relax
2. Pay attention to relaxing your body
Tightness brings about tension in the mind and body, when we relax more it decreases the tension and allows us to feel more calm and be able to focus more easily
3. Drink a glass of water ( and repeat regularly)
This will hydrate your body and again help you regain focus , a lack of water in the body dramatically reduces our mental agility
4. prioritise what actions actually must be done now
Allowing a more structured realistic action plan for now, and then for today, will automatically start to reduce pressure anxiety and stress.
5. Focus on one small tiny action to do next then repeat
By having a small action to focus on without distraction followed by another allows us to feel back in control, and less overwhelmed
I find these actions so helpful and hope you do too, also I get movement into my daily routine even if its just a walk in the fresh air to clear my head.
My longer recent blog with the effects of overwhelm and and more solutions may also be a good read to help you.
http://www.innavision.co.uk/news/2021/3/23/managing-overwhelm
Kindness has a wonderful knock on effect for our wellbeing ,check out this weeks vlog.
Self- care seems to be banded around in this present pandemic period and I guess understandably.
Every health professional in the world would suggest if we are in good health we are less likely to suffer so badly from many ailments, including the effects of Civd.
As a person who drank too much, smoked ,was overweight, in an unhappy marriage with 3 kids, and seemingly stressed all the time I would have been at high risk right now!
This blog is not about the ‘blame game’ as I was truly doing the best I could and could see ‘NO way’ of actually finding time to put myself first.
As a Nurse at that time I seem to spend my time caring for others, my family and myself last, where would I find time for me?
There was not enough hours in the day for me with my tight schedule as it was, so what could I do differently?
I guess the real nub of the issue was my mind set, it had to change, like the oxygen mask on the aeroplane advice, I needed to put me first.
I now realise after years of actually putting myself first the AMAZING benefits I enjoy.
A healthy active body, a focused mind, more energy, more empathy, more mental stability with less up and downs, a happy marriage, greater respect for others as well as myself,I have learned to create better boundaries and can now say no in a loving kind way.
My self-care is now my priority and I help others to achieve the same.
As you can imagine this turn around for me did not happen overnight so the secret is doing one small tiny action and then building on it .A great book I read called ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson complete changed my thinking and really helped me achieve the results I have today. My own book ‘Know The Truth’ may also be hugely helpful.
I also got help with my addictive issues in a recovery program and allowed myself to become vulnerable, more open and honest and admit I was overwhelmed.
As I write this blog I feel so blessed to have had another chance at living my life in a more healthy happier way, and in turn helping others achieve the same.
NEVER give up on improving your health, but just remember Rome was not built in a day, it takes baby steps in the right direction to achieve a healthier more fulfilled life.
Let the work begin!
We all love the benefits of self discipline but the real magic is to bypass the profound negative effects of not honouring commitments to oursleves.
We all experience pain of some sort or another but this vlog will hopefully help at least ease the pain.
Functioning isn’t so simple when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Common experiences that can lead to emotional overwhelm can include:
Relationship issues
Physical or mental health illness
A demanding job
Lack of nutrition
Financial distress and insecurity
Significant life changes
Time constraints
Death of a loved one
Personal traumas such as abuse
Habitual lack of sleep
Here I explain how we can overcome our overwhelm.
While many of us hit the gym, eat well and make an effort on our physical health every day, yet very few of us take care of our mental health in the same way. Today I am focusing on the importance of good mental health at the office.
This really blew my mind as it’s so obvious and so simple but SO hard to apply! I have had a knee injury over the past few weeks and it can spiral me into a negative place as I am such an active person who just loves being on my bike and outside.
I guess we all have situations we can’t control that challenge us sometimes, but staying really focused on the circle of influence really is the way forward.
I know from bitter experience if I go down the road of concern it just does not serve me, and notice I get lethargic, I feel sorry for myself, I am demotivated and often moody which can overflow onto others.
I am not saying it is easy, but we have a choice about what we think about and I feel it is really important to apply the three A’s I often mention to help us shift into a better place and they are:
‘Acknowledge, Acceptance, and Action,’ first I need to identify the justifiable feelings and in my case I feel, Angry, frustrated, disappointed, and sad.
The next difficult stage is to Accept the situation, I may not like the situation, but it is what it is and finally, the golden power tool, ACTION, what can I do about it?
This is where the shift from the circle of concern starts to get better by now focusing on the circle of influence ( ie what can I do to help the situation). So what can I think about and do?
For me I went and drove to the park instead of ride and sat in there which helped my mental well-being as at least I was getting outside into nature, I did a gratitude list as I have had 2 weeks off and at least rested, I wrote this blog to help others which always makes me feel better and I did things in my home I might not have got around to.
I really hope you find some help in this tool as I do believe it can dramatically help with how your whole well-being can improve with just a small shift of focus. Try it what have you go to lose.