Wellness Wednesdays

This week I am sharing a post by my good friend and relationship coach  Angharad Owen . I think her words are really important as we move through this challenging lockdown situation - it's okay to be feeling down and frustrated at the same as being grateful for what you do have. Angharad writes: "When I am asking people how are they right now, many are responding with: 👉"I’m ok, you know I have a job, I should be grateful’’. 👉 "People are worse off than me, I shouldn’t complain’’. 👉 "I feel bad saying I’m down, I should be happy really’’. I look at their face…..and they are in this stiff, stuck, expressionless mode. And I say..... ‘’You know it’s ok,  you can be grateful and annoyed or angry. You can be happy with how life is right now as well as frustrated. You can be grieving your old life and be happy coming to terms with this new one.‘’ . ..And there is this HUGE relief that comes over their face and then they tell me how they really are. The majority ...

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that you managed to get some rest over the festive period and that if you celebrate Christmas, you had a nice time. As we start this new year in a less than ideal situation, it is so important that we keep the conversation about wellness going, even if we don't feel very motivated to. This week I want to share this post by  Kirsty Gallagher  with you:   The new year has started off with yet more restrictions but please remember that we are still in hibernation mode at the moment. Our true new year begins in March with the Spring Equinox. We shouldn’t necessarily be out there in the world ‘doing’ at the moment and so try and see the blessing in that we are being given this opportunity to not blindly rush headlong into the year and either burn ourselves out too soon or go in the wrong direction as we have not given ourselves time to feel and flow gently into the year and settle into her energies first. For too long we have lived out of alignm...

Positive affirmations     In previous posts, I have talked about the power of thought in triggering emotional and stress responses.  Mindfulness  approaches teach us that we have the power to control our thoughts, through first of all bringing our attention to them, secondly acknowledging that unhelpful thoughts are not reality, and thirdly through meditation, learning to let go of unhelpful thoughts and focusing on the reality of what is happening in the present moment.      Positive affirmations are another tool that we can use to benefit our mental health. A positive affirmation is a powerful, positive statement or judgment believed to be true. We make unconscious affirmations constantly throughout the day, and they will not always be positive. These can become limiting beliefs and these thoughts are exactly what we are trying to address through a mindfulness approach.     Positive affirmations are a powerful way to begin to shift these li...

This week my colleague Eilleen Cunningham has written a piece on regrets and a fabulous book by Matt Haig called  The Midnight Library . No regrets? I have always recognised that regretting things in life that w e do (or don’t do) is wasted energy. However, knowing it (logically) and actually stopping it are two different things. As humans we have this wonderful ability to be conscious, not only of the present moment but also to be able to reflect on past memories and actions. Wondering how our lives might be different ‘if only…’ may be a source of relief, amusement or frustration. Even the smallest decision we made years ago may have created our life as we know it today. For example, I can still remember the split-second decision to buy a local paper from a street vendor twenty-five years ago in which I found a tiny advert for a job which then led to another job then another, meeting people who are still my good friends now and influencing my house moves. As well as being able to ...

This week Trish Morgan, Lecturer in Adult Nursin g, talks about the healing power of movement. ‘Movement is healing – a medicine not just for the body but also for the mind and soul’. Author unknown As the pandemic continues to impact on the way we live, it is crucial we look after ourselves both mentally and physically. With many of us working/studying from home, moving our bodies is more important than ever. Exercise can help keep the body strong and it also releases endorphins which benefits our mental health. Although working/studying from home has many benefits, it can also mean people are less likely to move from their desks as often. Office working/attending campus regularly incorporated mobility through going to meetings, walking to lectures, speaking to colleagues/peers or heading out for lunch. Employees/students working from home can spend hours in the same position, as they don’t have as many natural interruptions to their day. Spending a large amount of time sitting down c...