Nicky Dear Health Coach

Happy Friday everyone! I can’t believe another week has rolled around. But what a beautiful week of stunning weather we have had in the UK!

I’ve just finished my 7.30 am Advanced melt class and feeling absolutely great as a result. Getting out of bed at 6.45 is not such a challenge when the sun is shining.

But it got me thinking about how my routine has changed and I want to challenge you to have a week of being “healthily selfish”.

For some this may require a big mindset shift, you may feel guilty for taking time out of your day to check in with your body, prepare and eat nourishing food, get out in nature and just breathe.

But if you really want to improve your health for the long term, and feel more positive about yourself, this a vital part of the process.

For those of you who have busy jobs, families (old or young) to care for, animals who demand your attention or gardens that need weeding, housework to do or all of the above- Just take a minute to consider how much better you could do all these things, if you took better care of yourself and didn’t feel so tired all the time, didn’t have aches and pains, didn’t hate looking in the mirror and didn’t feel so anxious .

So here is my challenge to you this week.

Think about how you could take 20 mins out of each day to do something just for you. Think about what you would do, it could be just taking yourself off and sitting in a quiet room with a book, going for a walk first thing in the morning in nature without your phone or any other distractions and just listen to the birds, notice the buds bursting open on the trees, look out for wild flowers and notice how everything is coming to life!

You could try sitting still and closing your eyes, focusing inwards on your body, think about how miraculous our bodies really are. Starting at the top of your head take a deep breath and take an inventory of how each part of your body is feeling. Don’t judge, just notice any aches and pains, any tension that might be there and move down your body until your reach your toes, taking a deep healing breath as you go and letting the breath go before you move to the next part of your body. You could simply go to bed 20 mins earlier than normal and do this before you go to sleep.

Do one of these things, or something else you find relaxing for 20 mins for the next 7 days and make a quick note of how you feel each day.

I’d love to hear from you about what you chose to do and how it made you feel,.. who knows, it may become a new habit.

Also this week. As you move through your day, notice your inner dialogue.

Do you say things in your head like “I’m so stupid, so disorganised” (or worse!) and consider how you could change that inner dialogue to something a little kinder.

You probably wouldn’t dream of saying those things to your family members. So your second challenge is be kinder to yourself, this will also make a much bigger difference than you think.

If you read this and thought “I don’t have 20 mins in my day spare” then I challenge you to think about how much time you spend reading emails, scrolling on your phone, watching inane stuff on TV or on your phone or focusing on cleaning your house… here is your spare time.

These things should be lower priority than you health and you will find these 20 mins make a huge difference. Go on… try it.