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10 Tips To Be A Better Ally, To Someone Struggling With Their Mental Health
It’s well documented that the last year has been tough for everyone. People who had never before experienced issues with their mental health developed problems such as anxiety, depression, paranoia & agoraphobia. Those of us with existing conditions had their symptoms exacerbated.
Shockingly, there has been such a rise in emergency mental health situations that support teams have already attended more crisis call outs this year than in the whole of 2020.
Which is why it is so crucial that people are aware of ways to support someone going through one of these episodes.
5 Night Time Routine Tricks To Ensure Your Mornings Go Smoother
Are you tired of always feeling tired? We got you.
Last month Sara chatted with Dr Claire Gillvray as part of our Feel Good Festival and got tonnes of info to help people sleep better. If you missed the chat it's still available on our page but we've covered the main points here.
How To Make The Most Out Of The “Online Fitness” Experience
During a real-life class or event you have accountability meaning you will push yourself further because you’ve got other people cheering you on, panting away with you orrrr you just don’t want to be the one in the class that gives up. You also get direct & immediate feedback, you can ask questions easily and you’ll be spotted nice and quickly if your technique is off. You’re waaaaay more focused because you’re not in your house full of screaming children, farting dogs or that heap of washing you promised yourself you would sort out this morning. And let’s not forget you’d be surrounded by other sweaty bodies, moving in sync.
What Setting Intentions Means, And How It Effects Your Yoga Practice, and Everyday Life
Whether you’re a spiritual warrior or a novice on the mat, you will have at some point been encouraged to think about your intentions during a yoga session. Our lovely yogi, Lucy Hibben from YogaStrong & Cognitive Sports Therapy, has shared with us some helpful hints to ensure you gain clarity around this subject & pick the best intention that works for you, your practice and your daily life.
Burnout And Why You Should Be Kinder To Yourself
Do you know what happens to the human body when it has a surge of adenaline for a period of time?
It burns out. Quite literally.
It’s as if you have a full tank of petrol (your body’s entire adenaline bank) then use it all up in one five minute journey (preparing for an event or restructuring your entire business/home life). What would happen to the car? It would rapidly give up, exhausted & drained, spluttering it’s last drop of fuel as it tried to go a few extra metres but eventually it’s going to grind to a halt.
That’s us. And it might be you too.
Forgiveness, The Antidote To A Guilty Conscious.
How many of us spend our lives wrapped up in a feeling of guilt? I don’t mean guilt from committing a heinous crime or stealing 50p from your sister’s bedroom while growing up… I mean the guilt that we put on ourselves every day.
Guilt for not spending enough time with people.
Guilt for not doing enough for the environment.
Guilt for needing a break from your kids.
The list is LITERALLY ENDLESS.
2 Pranayama Techniques And Some Tips To Get You Started On Your Breathwork Journey
Breath is life. It is the heart and soul of who we are and is our constant companion throughout our lives. When we are born the very first thing we do is inhale and that, my sweet friends, signifies the beginning of it all. Despite our breath being the very source of life, most of the time, we don’t give much thought to they way we breathe. When was the last time you asked yourself, “how does it feel to breathe today”?
You do you.
Remember that we’re all operating within a slightly altered state of who we were previously. Depending on who you are and what you do,you may have spent a big chunk of time without the things or people that make you feel like ‘you’. So take a deep breath, be patient with yourself and just know that you can build yourself back up again. It might take a little while but you’ll get there.
Don’t rush it. You do you.
PERIOD TALK
A few years ago I finally voiced something I’d been thinking for a long time. Once a week I would teach a particularly busy evening of dance classes, various energetic sessions back to back. Some weeks I would sail through them, feeling pumped & energised even on the way home. But most of the time I would feel like I was having to drag myself through the last few and the walk home could sometimes feel like a glorified crawl.
It struck me that it seemed it was only one week in every four that I could really handle it. Firstly, that’s unfair. And secondly, WHY?!
Okay so what happens every 4 weeks… Oh yeah. My period.
Mindset - The Cornerstone Of Learning, Perseverance And Resilience
If you ask anyone I know they will tell you I am not very good at making my mind up and this was no different when I was trying to decide what I wanted to study at university way back when. I visited a number of universities and looked at all sorts of courses ranging from maths to history, I even started writing applications to drama school. Some would probably describe me as confused. I am going to describe myself as intrigued…about a lot of things.
The best (and worst) kind of relationship.
I would find joy in being hungry, the stronger the pangs in my tummy got the more I could visualise the fat simply melting away. Little did I know I was generating panic throughout my cells and causing my body to cling on for dear life to any drop of calories it got. I would gawk at pictures of emaciated models and listen with glee when people talked about experiences of anorexia, as if aspiring to one day be that committed.
It sounds crazy now but it wasn’t at the time. And it wasn’t for a long time after, I’m talking years.
9 reasons to add walking to your workout routine
According to psychologists, exposure to nature helps us shrug off societal pressures, allowing us to remember and value more important things like relationships, sharing, and community.
I mean… do we need to say more?!
Mental Health Awareness Week
Years ago my therapist took me through an exercise when I was in a particularly low period. She made me draw on a piece of paper the different boxes of my life and how much space they took up. As in; one huge whopping box for work that takes up most of the page and then a few small boxes around the edge for my diminishing social life etc. Then she asked me to draw another one for how I wanted my life to look. It was pretty different.
Let's talk about stress, baby.
Picture the scene (entirely hypothetical,of course):
You go to make yourself a tasty snack of peanut butter on toast. Upon opening the cupboard you find the last of the peanut butter has been used but the empty jar has been put back in it's usual place and no one has notified you that it's gone. Even though you use it every day. Every. Single Day.
6 Habits And Behaviours Of Fitness Newcomers And How They Could Be Helping Or Hurting You
Please bin the theory of ‘weight-loss’ right now. Muscle weighs more than fat; so as you get fitter there is a high chance you will transform body fat into muscle and therefore there’s actually a chance your weight will INCREASE. Heaven forbid. The idea of weight being the holy grail of health is extremely outdated. When you really think about it - it’s an odd thing to obsess over, why does it matter how heavy or light you are? Unless you’re being smuggled on an Easyjet flight in someone’s luggage, it doesn’t bloody matter.
How To Juggle Mental Health And Wellbeing Amongst, Lockdown Fatigue And Isolation Worries
I can only speak for myself here but it seems a few others are feeling the same, we seem to be coping with isolation by further isolating ourselves in a little bubble of blissful ignorance. Merrily pottering around the house & enjoying hobbies we never had time for until now. We can cope with life if we only have to manage our own.