As you read this week’s post, I will be in the hills of Tuscany, trekking through the beautiful countryside, scrambling up the side of mini mountains (!!), eating some lovely Italian food, drinking some equally lovely Italian wine, but more importantly, I’m taking some time for myself.
Time to allow myself just to BE.
I find this time so important as this is when I really get clarity on what I want to do with my life, the direction my businesses are heading in, the things I need to change and alter, what I need to work on in myself. Taking some time away allows the space for this to happen – never underestimate the value of time for yourself where you can just BE.
So, along those lines, here are some things I do to nurture myself, and my thoughts around them:
Sleep – so important to get enough sleep. Why do we not prioritise this and make sure that we get enough sleep on a regular basis? They say the average adult needs 6-8hrs per night, and yes, it is an individual thing, some of us need more than others.
Sleep is vital if you want your mind to function optimally, it is also vital if you want to remain positive – those 2 things are so important for our well being, so sleep should really be at the top of your self-nurturing list.
As we sleep, our bodies are working; we are experiencing hormonal regulation, tissue repair, restoration, body temperature regulation and mental processing – deprive yourself of sleep and you are depriving yourself of all of these ‘repair’ processes.
A few tips: go to bed at a similar time every night, make sure your room is dark, no checking phones or laptops, the room should be slightly cooler – there are lots more things you can do to help you sleep and if you want more information, we have the lovely Sue Cooper coming to our Well Being Wednesday session on 13th July to help us learn all about Sleep for Health.
Food – such a large area and I’m sure you have all seen the latest headlines in the news concerning how the advice we’ve been given has all been wrong. It leaves us all feeling very confused about what we should and shouldn’t be eating.
My view, eat a BALANCED diet of carbohydrates, fats and proteins – I think we all know this but sometimes choose to ignore it. Fats can be great for you, your body needs fats, as you know, I use coconut oil all the time – it’s great for your body, as are avocados, nuts, even butter from grass-fed cows (in small amounts). Low fat simply means full of sugars, be it synthetic or real, so how can this be good for us?
Sugar is not great for us, there is no point pretending otherwise, but does that mean I don’t consume sugar? NO! I drink alcohol, I choose not to during the week and I choose not to drink excessive amounts regularly, but yes I drink alcohol. Do I eat cakes, chocolates, biscuits, processed carbs – of course.
Now, here is where it gets interesting – at least this is what I find the most interesting bit 🙂 – how food like that affects my mind and body. We are all well aware that copious amounts of sugar lead to weight gain, but how many of us are aware of the effect that sugar has on our minds??? Think how you feel after you have eaten high sugar foods; for me, I feel tired, my mood changes – I’m far less positive after a lot of carbs, my energy levels tumble and I know that I start to feel quite ill. My pain levels rise and my tolerance lowers. Interestingly, the more stressed I am, the more I crave high sugar foods and the worse I feel……
So, what about our relationship to food? How have we wired our brains so that we crave certain foods and can we change this? That really is for another newsletter.
It’s a huge subject area, but I like to keep things simple, this is my thought:
A Balanced diet leads to a balanced Body and Mind – no more complicated than that 🙂
Exercise – do something you enjoy. I cannot see the point of joining a gym if you do not love going to the gym. Within a few weeks you will have stopped. What is the point of going for a run if you hate it? Find something you LOVE doing, be it walking, cycling, swimming, Pilates, Yoga, and then you will stick with it. If something makes you FEEL good, we are far more inclined to do it – so by all means try lots of new things, but choose the few that make you FEEL great, otherwise you’ll stop as quickly as you started.
Me Time – we are all so busy these days that finding time for ourselves gets harder and harder. On top of that, as we are all trying to be so perfect at work, as a parent, as a partner etc, then we often feel guilty about “me time”. In fact, sometimes it’s the people who love us the most that make us feel a little guilty……..
What is wrong with looking after YOU? Why should we feel guilty about doing something for ourselves? If we feel we don’t deserve it, then what does that say about our Self Worth?
I mentioned that I’m off to Tuscany and why shouldn’t I shout that from the roof tops? I work hard, I love and am totally passionate about what I do, I love my family and friends….but for me to be the best that I can be, to give YOU and everyone that knows me the best that I can, then I need to nurture myself too……and that’s exactly what I intend to do 🙂
So, come on – What are YOU going to do for YOU this holiday??