by Suzy Reading | Mar 12, 2018 | article, blog
A: Whether you’ve woken up feeling a little bleary eyed or you’re experiencing that familiar ‘post-lunch dip in arousal’, these simple micro moments of self-care will help top up your energy bank. Read on for some good alternatives to that second coffee! Try these tips whenever you need a boost to your get-up-and-go.
Scent – spritz some zesty room spray, use your favourite perfume or savour some hand balm. Give the experience your full attention and feel it lift your mood in an instant.
Posture – research clearly shows that an upright, open-hearted posture boosts our subjective energy levels and outlook. You can do this wherever you are, seated at your desk, driving, waiting in the post office queue or at the kitchen sink. Simply elongate your spine, drop your shoulders away from your ears, soften your eyes and your jaw and feel the breadth of your collarbones. If this feels different to normal, ask yourself how you normally hold your body? A daily yoga practice of as little as five minutes will help you maintain better posture throughout your day.
Breathing – when you breathe better, you feel better. Often our habitual breathing pattern becomes short and tight. Expansive breathing will energise you. Imagine your rib cage is a barrel. As you breathe in, the barrel expands in all directions and as you breathe out, the barrel effortlessly retracts back to its centre. Allow your inbreath to fill up all those internal nooks and crannies, feel a little pause, enjoy a long, smooth and effortless exhalation, followed by another pause. Just 5 conscious breaths like this will help you tap into greater vitality and resourcefulness.
Mantra – rather than repeatedly telling yourself how tired you are, harness how you want to feel by using a mantra. Think along the lines of I am energised. I am vital and abundant. I am resolute. Or if the monkey mind gets in the way, simply repeat ‘I’ on your inbreath and ‘AM’ on the outbreath.
Movement – take a quick walk around the block to blow out the cobwebs or use some yoga poses to top up your energy bank. Any side stretch will do the trick. The simplest version would be a mountain side stretch: standing up with your arms down by your sides, breathe in and reach your right arm skywards. Breathe out and slide your left hand down your left hand side. Breathe in and come back to upright. Breathe out and lower your right hand back down by your side. Repeat on the other side. Notice the difference after you’ve taken this a few times to each side.
Sleep – Schedule in an early night! Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Our culture of ‘you snooze, you lose’ is seriously unhelpful. Prioritise getting the sleep you know you need to function and when that’s just not possible make sure you are engaging in regular self-care to compensate. Check out the blog for other recent posts on how to relax, soothe and promote better sleep.
Got a question for me? Fire away! Please drop me a line via asksuzy@lifeandme.com.
by Suzy Reading | Mar 4, 2018 | article, blog
We all know we need to engage in self-care to keep our energetic bank balance happy, but what do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed or fatigued? The key is a broad and well-articulated self-care toolkit from which to draw, so that we have options that lift our energy without requiring any! This will serve you best when that toolkit is written down because when we are low on energy we are also least resourceful and creative to come up with a course of action. Write out some self-care activities, look at your list when you’re feeling frazzled and be reminded of something effective and accessible to you in the moment. This is how we keep self-care on the radar even when we are feeling at a low ebb.
When we’re tired mentally, emotionally or physically, we need a soothing toolkit of practices to turn to – a feeling of receiving rather than having to strive to add another thing to our ‘to do’ list. Healing modalities like massage or acupuncture can be a beautiful way to revive without any effort on your behalf. It is worth writing down on your self-care toolkit some forms of bodywork and make an appointment like an MOT – even if it is only every six months. I appreciate that this does incur some cost but at what cost do we not tend to our health?
There are also lots of other ways that we can receive energy without the expense of paying for a treatment. A meditative shower, soak in the bath, massaging in some body oil, a good stretch out on your yoga mat or just a simple lying down twist on the floor before you hop into bed for the night. Listen to a TED talk, a podcast or an audio book on a subject you find uplifting. Mindfully choose your visual diet and amount of screen time because we can be depleted by what we watch. Instead of watching the evening news or the movie that you find viscerally stimulating, choose something that soothes your nervous system instead, maybe a documentary or something that makes you laugh.
Being in Nature is another potent way to re-energise and connect with what is most important to you – and this doesn’t cost a penny. My favourite way to reboot when I’m feeling overwhelmed is to ‘earth my brow’ – it is a hard wired way to soften and soothe. Either sit at a table and rest your head on your hands or take to the floor for a child’s pose – I hope you find this instantly calming too. Use the mantra ‘I soften into this moment’ whenever you want to access this state of equanimity.
When we are feeling low, the priority in our self-care needs to be soothing activities that promote the functioning of our parasympathetic nervous system – the rest and digest part of the nervous system. Sleep, rest, relaxation, time in Nature, gentle and supported movement like swimming or restorative yoga poses, meditation and feeling the sensation of your breathing will all help restore balance and top up your energy bank.
by Suzy Reading | Mar 6, 2015 | article, blog
Get your body moving while we sort out what’s on your mind!
As a qualified psychologist, yoga teacher and personal trainer, the idea of blending the three disciplines into a “walk and talk” format came about very organically. It seems that the rest of psychology is finally catching up! A flurry of research is now drawing attention to the important role the body plays in achieving wellbeing. What better way to revitalise, unwind and gain clarity than by harnessing the therapeutic benefits of nature, exercise and talk therapy!
Walk and Talk, what is it?
Very simply, we head out together somewhere beautiful, take a walk at a pace you feel comfortable with, and we talk about what’s on your mind. If you’re open to it, sometimes we stop and do a yoga pose or two that is connected with what we are talking about. The body plays an important role in how we feel, our energy levels and also in how we go about creating change. Specific exercises or yoga poses can help us with these goals. We achieve the same things you would normally do by sitting and talking things out, but with the added benefits of exercise and the uplifting effect of being in Nature – more bang for your buck. If you want to work on your fitness at the same time, we can push the intensity a little harder. It just comes down to what you want to achieve… (more…)
by Suzy Reading | Oct 16, 2013 | article, blog
Stop and smell the roses today! Spend some time in Nature and feel the uplifting effect of basking in its beauty.
Aim to do this on a regular basis. Don’t have time to take yourself off the beaten track? Train your eyes to seek out the beauty surrounding you – you can find it just about anywhere.
Just a few days left of my ‘8 weeks to a better bodymind’ challenge. I hope you are feeling the difference! I’d love to hear about your observations – drop me a line at suzy@suzyreading.co.uk.
Keep tuning in for your final exercises to wrap up this challenge and please keep me honest on my promise to display before and after photos!
by Suzy Reading | Aug 27, 2013 | article, blog
Come join me in Reclaiming your Vitality!
Find out more about this 8 week program by clicking here to see my first video post.
Follow me on Facebook for daily tips as we embark on this challenge together. Simply like my page Suzy Reading: Psychology and Yoga to receive these free wellbeing tips… (more…)
