Posts

Life is an Adventure - Travelling and Cruising

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Life is an Adventure - Live it "We travel not to escape life, but life not to escape us" Are you living your life or just existing? Life is hard and no one has told us that it will ever be easy.  Life can throw you a curveball which normally comes unexpectedly and you have to deal with these bombshells to survive. But sometimes life throws you a lemon and it is here that you find the optimism for a life of adventure, for a life of inner peace and growth. You may decide that you want a complete overhaul of your life. Perhaps you already have something in mind and you are just waiting for the right time to pursue your dream. Or perhaps, like me, you already have something you enjoy and can offer, that could work towards your dream of adventures. When life threw me a lemon I learnt so much about myself, the people I wanted in my life, the place I wanted to be, the boundaries I needed to establish and the strength required to create this new life. Once I caught that 'lemon...

Self-Healing from Emotional Trauma and Stress

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 Healing with Self-Help Healing from stress and emotional trauma can take time and self love. This type of healing involves self-care and therapy to help build resilience for any further or future traumatic events. There are various stages of recovery but this does depend on circumstances and the depth of the individuals trauma. There is never a direct route to healing and there is never just one path or just one person that can help you heal completely. It is a long road to recovery for some and a growth journey for others, we are all different.  The following stages of recovery can vary from one person to the next: Shock and bewilderment - occurs straight after the event. Disbelief that this has happened Emotional turbulence - as the bewilderment passes, a hoard of emotions fill your mind such as anger, distress, fear, sadness, anxiety and depression Comprehension and confirmation - will surface with time. You slowly begin to understand and verify what has happened to you...

Why is Yin Yoga Different to other Practices and is it as Beneficial

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  Yin and Yang What is the difference between Yin and Yang yoga? Yang yoga is your dynamic, fast flow yoga's such as Ashtanga and Vinyasa where students can flow through 30-50 asanas (yoga poses). Yang yoga is a combined high energy, strength and stamina style of yoga which physically targets the superficial muscles or muscles close to the surface of the skin. Yin Yoga is a slow and passive form of yoga where the poses are held for longer periods of time, anywhere between 3 to 10 minutes. These longer holds invite greater health and wellness into the body allowing the deeper, connective tissue within the body to stretch and release. There may only be 6 to 10 asanas in a Yin yoga flow and the long holds prepare the students for a meditative state of mind allowing for self exploration in a peaceful and calm environment. I love both Yin and Yang yoga . I like the strength poses of Yang yoga such as plank pose, lunge pose, chaturanga and downward facing dog pose. But equally I love the...

It's Almost February - Looking for some Resolution Motivation

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  New Year's Resolution - What Happened? New Year's Resolutions - we all make them but how are they going for you now that we are almost into month two of the New Year? We mean well when we make them, but the lack of clarity makes our resolutions very vague. For example "I want to get fit" or "I want to eat a healthy diet and lose weight" or maybe "I want to be happy". This only makes it harder to track your progress and stay committed.  We set big and overwhelming New Year's resolutions thus setting up the expectations that we are going to turn over a new leaf on the first day of a new year. But a new goal in life requires gradual changes so we can make ourselves comfortable with our new habits to ensure the change becomes habitual. This is a slower process than we imagine, but it is a worthwhile investment of our time. If you haven't done it already - try my Free Course . This course will help you keep on track to the pathway of your new,...

Don't Complicate Life too Much - Make it Simple

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  Life Can be Simple not Complicated Life doesn't have to be complicated. The acceptance that life isn't easy will help us a great deal to re-establish a healthier mindset towards an uncomplicated life. The acceptance that we cannot change the things we can't control. All the analysis and worrying in the world will never change anything that is uncontrollable. At times we are in pursuit of unobtainable things making our lives more complex. Acceptance is the key to simplicity by acknowledgement of life as it happens without a fixation on how you want it to be or how you think it shouldn't be. We have to remember too that not everything will work out as planned and we will make mistakes. From this point we learn and we grow. We do not complicate matters by over-reacting or dwelling on negative thoughts such as " life is so unfair".  We move on, understanding that such is life and not overthinking and judging ourselves or anyone else. Nurture peace and simplicity...

International Do Nothing Day - January 16th 2025

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Let's do nothing today January 16th - International 'Do Nothing' Day. This day is to celebrate doing nothing ..... yes to do well....nothing!!! So put the date in your diary and do just that. Clearly, this is not always possible as we do have to work, pay the bills, do the food shop and the rest of it. This celebration day started back in 1973 by Harold Pullman Coffin, a newspaper columnist with the intention to provide everyone with a day where they can sit without celebrating, observing or honouring anything. However, perhaps we should think about a day where we can literally do nothing, or do something that feels like nothing. When we do get some spare time, we always feel we need to fill it with something productive or catch up on what we should have done yesterday or last week. In this fast paced world we always feel that we need to keep busy. So why not spend a day doing nothing related to busyness. Try some mindful activities. Mindfulness involves paying attention to...

Are there any Benefits to Chair Based Workouts?

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  Chair Based Exercises  As a Personal Trainer and Class Instructor, most people are surprised to hear me say how much I love chair based exercise. You can get a really good whole body workout for both cardio and strength as well as enjoying yoga poses, meditation and full body stretching. Yes it's true, you can accomplish all this from a chair based workout. I have achieved weight loss and muscle growth from chair exercise alone and so have those who have joined my chair classes. I am preparing to go onboard a cruise ship for a 30 day Christmas cruise and putting together some classes at the moment. It has been a while since I have worked on the cruises and I have forgotten how much fun these classes are. It's not all about slow movements for seniors or those with limited mobility. It is about making exercise fun with a huge amount of benefits to go with it. What are Chair Based Workouts Chair based workouts are physical and mental forms of exercise performed whilst seated an...