Author: Louisa

I’ve been running virtual power ballad workouts for the last 5 weeks and have put together some videos on my website. I’ve had really positive reception so far from all of the amazing people who have joined my class. It’s a fun, uplifting and therapeutic way to move with other people; a great workout; good for toning and if you do it often enough it’d be great for weight loss too!

I decided to put this class together because it combines 3 of my favourite things: exercise, power ballads and connecting with other people. 

What are power ballads?

I would define a power ballad is defined as an emotional rock song, often with powerful and dramatic vocals. Power ballads often start slowly and build up into a powerful release which is why I think they can make some of us feel so good.

Some of my favourite classic songs are What’s love got to do with it by Tina Turner, Alone by Heart, I have nothing by Whitney Houston, Holding out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler. The list goes on. These might not be the most musically talented of songs, and of course won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but for lots of us they make us feel great and we need something uplifting in our lives more than ever right now.

Ultimate Power

One of my favourite ever nights out is called Ultimate Power. Described as “the best night of your life” – it literally never fails to make you feel good. It’s an uplifting club night filled to the rafters with feel good vibes, aerosmith wigs, inflatable instruments and amazing air guitar heroes dancing up on the stage. I spend the entire night singing my heart out, lunging with my inflatable guitar and air grabbing.

It is genuinely a night of feel good therapy and can easily transform your mood for an entire weekend. Sadly, being in a packed night club dancing shoulder to shoulder with strangers seems like a million miles away now so I decided now was the time to bring it home.

I decided ages ago I wanted to design an exercise class to power ballads, but I didn’t seem to ever get the space to plan or implement it. All I seem to have needed to make it happen was a global pandemic. 

My power ballad classes

I love planning, designing and leading these classes. There’s nothing more uplifting than moving in synchrony with people who are all having the time of their lives. It’s even more poignant on Zoom when I can see all of the tiny thumbnails on my screen moving and smiling and singing along (they are on mute but I can see the lips moving!).

Everyone who does my class say it’s a great full body workout and they don’t even feel like they are exercising as they are having so much fun. As one of my regulars said: “Absolutely loved the Power Ballad workout with Louisa! Great for all over toning and brilliant 80s tracks so enjoyed a bit of a singalong session too”. 

The class appeals to all ages – I’ve had kids and people well into their 70s join. I try to make sure it is as inclusive as possible and so don’t require any equipment other than a couple of cans out of the kitchen cupboard. 

A friend of mine runs similar classes with more of a focus on dance called Kitchen Dancing. This is an awesome dance class to 80s and 90s music. I’ve been doing this every week since lockdown began and I laugh all the way through! 

The science

There’s lots of cool neuroscience behind why moving together to music is so uplifting. As Kelly McGonigal talks about in her brilliant book The Joy of Movement (and one of my recent blog posts covered the topic here).

Collective joy is a “euphoric self-transcendence individuals feel when they move together”. Moving together in a group creates a sense of unity. Our brains receive feedback from our muscles, joints and inner ear internally and we simultaneously see others moving which the brain merges into a unified perception. Group trust is developed and we become invested in the wellbeing of the people we move with which creates feelings of compassion and good will. 

Music, movement and unity produces powerful hits of adrenaline, dopamine and endorphins in the brain all of which energise and make us feel great. McGonigal says “when a piece of music that sounds happy makes us feel happy, so much so that we must move in ways that express happiness”. This creates “a positive feedback loop that accelerates and amplifies the joyous feelings induced by the song”. 

All of this fits with my coaching philosophy that everyone can feel their bes selves through exercise and thrive in life as a result.

Want to join?

So what are you waiting for? Come and join me to rock and squat your heart out and get the feel good vibes you have been craving. 

Where: Zoom

When: Thursdays 7pm 

What do you need: two cans of veg – beans, chopped tomatoes, chickpeas or whatever you have to hand. A floor space with a mat if you prefer. A big dose of enthusiasm and a love for 80s power ballads. 

Cost: whilst we are in lockdown my classes are free but I have a PayPal site for people to contribute to the cost of running the class if they wish: paypal.me/BeMotivatedLTD

How: Contact me louisa@bemotivatedcoaching.com or sign up to receive alerts at my website and get a free 20 minute coaching session too!

Mental health awareness week

It’s mental health awareness week and there’s never been such an apt time to focus on how we are feeling and our emotional health. We are into week 9 of lockdown in the UK now. There are many things to feel hopeful for whilst balancing the natural feelings of anxiety and worry I am sure we are all experiencing. 

Exercise makes us feel great

I was thinking about exercise and movement has such a crucial role to play for people at the moment. Movement in any shape or form is a natural mood enhancer, lifting our spirits and making us feel good in the moment and for hours after. Some of the many positives include increases in feelings of happiness, boosted self-esteem, increased productivity, more creativity, higher energy levels, improved efficiency, tolerance and improved self-perception.

Regular physical activity also makes us less prone to illness by strengthening our immune systems, assists us in having healthy sleep patterns, reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as decreasing stress and irritability. See my recent post on the Joy of Movement for more on how exercise makes us feel good.

Top 5 tips to find motivation to exercise

Sometimes it’s really hard to muster the motivation to exercise when we feel really low and depressed (I have been there myself). It’s the last thing we want to do even though it is one of the things which will make us feel better, and I promise it will. Here are my top 5 tips for getting some movement into your life if you are struggling with your mental health at the moment:

1. Any form of movement works! You don’t have to sweat profusely or get your heart rate up to max to feel the benefits of movement. It doesn’t have to feel like a chore either. Everytime you move your muscles you will feel the benefits. Do something you love like putting on your favourite songs and dancing round your living room. 
2. Fit more activity into your day. Can you embrace any opportunity to move in your own home throughout the day? Go up and down the stairs 2 more times than usual. Do a couple of squats each time you boil your kettle. Get out in the garden, if you are lucky enough to have outdoor space, and do some digging. 
3. Try not to expect too much of yourself. Give yourself the time and the space to do what feels right. Take small steps and set realistic goals. You might not be able to do a whole 5k run but could you go out for a 10 minute walk instead? You were fully intending on doing a high intensity workout on Zoom but you couldn’t muster the energy but instead a yoga class seems like a good alternative. If you don’t want people looking at you in an online class then turn off your video. It’s perfectly acceptable to do this. It’s all about being kind to yourself at the moment.
4. Get outside as much as possible. Embrace the new rules and get out into green spaces for walks, jogs or runs. If you feel self-conscious remember that everyone else is far too occupied with what they look like than to worry about you. Instead of sitting on the sofa for your phone call to a friend why not talk and walk? Being outside in green space has proven benefits for mental health and is a natural mood lifter. Coupled with exercise it’s a double whammy of feel goodness!
5. Celebrate your achievements. Give yourself a big well done hug for getting out and moving! However, if you don’t manage to do what you set out to do, don’t beat yourself up, be kind to yourself and set a realistic goal for the next day.  

If you want try try a fun workout to uplifting music join my power ballad workout on zoom each Thursday at 7pm. Videos off is absolutely fine! See my fitness training page for details.

Why now is an apt time for us to move

When I saw Kelly McGonigal’s book The Joy of Movement I knew it would be a key read for me, my philosophy and my business. In the present climate we need movement more than ever as we cope with the unprecedented change the Covid-19 pandemic has forced upon the world. I am so happy that the UK government is emphasising how important physical movement is to our mental health at this time and is allowing us all to partake in one form of exercise outside each day. It’s also so exciting to see the proliferation of virtual exercise classes, programmes and live streams out there.

This feels like a really apt time to explore why exercise is so important not only for our physical health but for our sense of purpose, the way we relate to ourselves and to ensure we stay as healthy as we can in mind right now.     

Exercise so much more than physical

McGonigal shares many of my passions for exercise and movement. She writes that movement is a way “to practice self-care, an opportunity to tackle challenges, and a place to make friends”. Like me, exercise has provided McGonigal with sanctuary from many dark moments in her life. It has pulled her out of situations where she has felt despair, isolation and has fostered a sense of hope. It’s the one constant, reassuring thing which is always there to make me feel better. Swimming, running and yoga are my coping mechanisms. If I have had a hard day I know, however sad, tired, anxious, stressed, angry or frustrated I feel, exercise will shift my mood and I will come out feeling in a completely different place. 

In the midsts of this pandemic, it’s common to wake up and feel the most anxious thoughts. I know getting out for a run will help me process my emotions and help me to acknowledge and recognise my complex feelings. I always get my most creative ideas when I am swimming. It allows me to think through ideas and come up to solutions to problems. After months of procrastination I came up for the name of my business when I was in the water. I’m so sad at the moment that I can’t get out and swim in the lido or my local pool but I am super grateful for still being able to get out to walk, cycle and run. 

People are happier when they move 

McGonigal talks about how people around the world who are active are happier and more satisfied with their lives. They have a stronger sense of purpose and experience more gratitude, love and hope. They feel more connected and less likely to feel depressed or anxious. These benefits are not restricted to one type of person either. Anyone can get these positive aspects into their lives through movement!

This seems so important to focus on right now especially. She talks about how there’s evidence to show that people who have never liked exercise can find an activity they love well into their later years. This fits with my philosophy so perfectly and I am so excited that people are starting to realise this! It’s all about finding the right activity and at the right time. Through this we can reap the rewards of what exercise can bring into our lives. It can save us from mental health challenges, feel liberating, build confidence, create an amazing sense of community, make us feel stronger and braver in body and mind and a whole raft of other positive outcomes. 

The science

Endocannabinoids 

McGonigal delves into the neuroscience behind why physical activity feels so good. She talks about how regular exercise actually changes and rewires your brain to remind you how to recognise joy and hope. It is well known that exercise produces endorphins and adrenaline which make us feel good. An area I didn’t know too much about before reading this book is the brain chemicals endocannabinoids. Neuroscientists call them the “don’t worry, be happy” chemicals. Research shows that exercise, cannabis and social connection all increase the endocannabinoid system in the brain. 

The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, areas of the brain that regulate the stress response system, are rich in receptors for endocannabinoids. When endocannabinoids molecules lock into these receptors they reduce anxiety and induce a state of contentment. Endocannabinoids also increase dopamine in the brain’s reward system which further fuels feelings of optimism. 

McGonigal writes “endocannabinoids alleviate pain and boost mood… and many of the effects of cannabis are consistent with descriptions of exercised induced highs, including the sudden disappearance of worries or stress, a reduction in pain, the slowing of time and a heightening of the senses”. 

The runner’s high

Interestingly research has shown that running or jogging at an easy pace increases the release of endocannabinoids but walking slowly and working out flat out do not. This suggests that the secret to unlocking the “runner’s high is not the physical action of running itself but its continuous moderate intensity”. Perhaps this explains why some of us get addicted to marathons or other long distance races.

McGonigal talks about sticking with something which raises your heart rate for 20 minutes which will then ensure a high of some sort. Interestingly research has shown that when endocannabinoids are inhibited feelings of anxiety or depression are more likely to increase. The more active we are the more our brains change and the more dense the binding sites in the brain become for endocannabinoids. The brain then starts to crave the feeling of exercise. This is fascinating and explains a lot in terms of why some people, including me, really need the buzz and the feel good factor they get from exercise.   

Myokines

McGonigal discusses how proteins called myokines are released by the muscles into the blood stream every time we move a muscle. There are 35 different types of myokines all producing positive effects on the body from helping muscles grow, regulating blood sugar levels, reducing inflammation, and reducing disease.

Fascinatingly, myokines have been shown to demonstrate positive effects on mental health. They can help to protect brain cells and even generate new neurons. They reduce the impact of anxiety, depression and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s. It’s not surprising that they are dubbed by scientists as the “hope” molecule. The most exciting thing about this is that you don’t need to move that much for myokines to be released into your bloodstream. Walking, running, jogging, swimming, cycling, hiking and high intensity workouts have been shown to release myokines especially good for mental health. The more you move the more myokines! 

Social exercising and the benefits of nature 

McGonigal  talks about how exercising to music and in a group can be so rewarding and help us feel so great. Providing us with the benefits of movement as well as the feeling of connection and empowerment we get from music. I definitely feel this in the power ballad strength workout sessions I have been running in lockdown. See my videos here. McGonigal also covers how exercising in green spaces is so important and how being in nature reduces feelings of anxiety and depression. 

Indeed as McGonigal says “Making time for physical activity is not self-indulgent. For many it is an act of self-care, even self-preservation”.  

Endurance 

In the final chapter of the book McGonigcal talks about how exercise allows us to endure, to challenge ourselves and push our physical bodies in ways which make us feel strong and resilient. She talks about how exercise has saved so many people from depression, suicide, addictions and destructive behaviours.

This is a must read book if you want to learn about the far reaching benefits of movement. I am excited that this marks a change away from seeing exercise as a chore to lose weight, or look a certain way, to an activity which will truly allow you to feel great in yourself for your entire life and really thrive! 

As McGonigal says: “Move. Any kind, any amount, and any way that makes you happy”. 

Most of us will never have gone through something as epic as this in our lives, certainly not in the UK anyways. The coronavirus has disrupted our lives in all possible ways. This is serious and it does not appear to be going away anytime soon. It feels as though we are being battered from all sides. We have inevitable health worries for our vulnerable relatives and friends, anxiety around jobs, businesses and livelihoods. There’s anxiety around self isolation and how long that is going to last and concern about the world and what the future will look like. It’s a bit like the opposite of a bad dream: you wake you and for an instant feel like everything is OK and then it hits you and you remember the reality of the world right now.

I’ve been reading and putting together lots of resources on how we can best cope during these heightened times of stress and anxiety. How can we cope when we are being asked to stay at home for prolonged periods of time? How do we stay sane and how do we look after ourselves? How do people with kids cope when they are working and home-schooling them at the same time? 

I know we will get through this and life will become easier. This is very much a temporary crisis, and I think it is important to focus on that. We are all in this together and there are already some amazingly positive things coming out of this. Communities are pulling together and looking out for the vulnerable and people working to support their local businesses etc. This will build resilience, strength and hopefully make our world a better place to be in the future. 

I’ve been helping to put together lots of additional resources as part of Kate Garraway’s new Wellbeing Club. Sign up here for free: www.clubgarraway.com to access the resources.

Here are some key areas to focus on with some of the most useful resources I have found:

Reducing Anxiety and Stress:

Anxiety and stress levels are bound to be high at this time. Although it’s important to keep up to date with the latest news it can become quite addictive and there’s a danger it can impact our mental health if we are constantly plugged in to the news. We can’t control what’s going on in the world but we can control our own reactions to it and how we deal with it. Try to limit yourself to two or three updates a day.  See my earlier post on stress here which may also be useful. Here are my some of my favourite resources to help: 

• Breathing techniques to help reduce stress: Rangan Chatterjee’s breathing menu provides some simple and easy ways to reduce stress by learning how to regulate our breath. 
• This podcast with Dr Judson Brewer discusses coping with anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic. It’s a must listen.
• Seven ways to help someone with anxiety a very useful article if you are living with someone with anxiety.
• Step away from anxiety: A podcast from the Greater Good Magazine exploring a practice to reduce anxiety. There are loads of other great podcasts here too. 
• How to cope with anxiety podcast with Chloe Brotheridge 
• Unwinding anxiety app – provides evidence based daily guidance designed for anyone suffering from anxiety.

Staying active:

It’s even more important than ever to stay moving at this time to keep ourselves fit and active and to help our mental health. There are loads of great free online workouts out there and lots of fitness experts are running live sessions on the internet. Here are my favourites: 

• Kitchen Dancing this is great – it’s fun dance/fitness classes set to 80s, 90s and noughties music, in a disco setting, from the comfort of your own home.
• Yoga: Great for the body and the mind: There are lots of online yoga tutors including Yoga with Adriene. My local studios East of Eden and Yonder are doing live streams of their usual in person classes and I am sure lots of others are too. Try a 20 min yoga session in the morning. 
• The 7 minute workout: A video taking you through each of the 12 exercises in the 7 minute workout. A research based high intensity workout you can do at home to improve cardiovascular fitness for an all over body workout. 
• The Body Coach TV: Joe Wicks The Body Coach has over 250 free workouts and he’s also doing regular live streams of his workouts. 

Connection

Staying connected is super important at the moment. I’ve decided to phone at least one person I don’t usually speak to every day during this period. I hope what we learn from this after it is all over that actually speaking to someone is so much more meaningful than just sending messages. We might even make some new connections with people who live near us who we have never met before. Let’s hope this continues! 

• Are there older people on your street you can reach out to to have a phone call or keep them company at a social distance? There are WhatsApp groups for streets everywhere so it should be easy to connect up with your neighbours. 
• There are so many ways of keeping connected to our loved ones at the moment from Google Hangouts, Zoom and WhatsApp video and my friends introduced me to an app called House Party which is pretty fun. Have you tried having dinner and or drinks with friends over video?
• The Sofa Singers: a free & weekly online singing event that aims to bring people together from around the world to spark joy and human connection

Stay grounded in the present moment:

We don’t know what’s going to happen over the next weeks and months so now is the best time to stay as focused in the present as possible. If you don’t already have a go at practicing meditation. See my earlier article summarising the benefits of meditation here and below my top resources: 

• Try some guided meditation Apps like: Calm, HeadSpace or Buddhify.
• Yoga teacher and meditation expert Annie Knapman is doing some free lunchtime meditation and gentle movement sessions. Check out her Linked in page. 
• Meditations by experts such as Mark Williams or Erica Raynor Horn or self-compassion expert Kristin Neff’s meditations.
• The University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre are offering free weekly mindfulness sessions.

Keeping kids moving

This must be a super anxious and unsettling time for kids and even more so for parents as the schools start to shut. There are absolutely tonnes of resources out there and seeing as my focus is on movement I’ve kept it to that for now:

• Cosmic kids yoga – a great way to start the day with the kids with some yoga.
• Joe Wicks P.E. The Body Coach is doing a workout for kids every week day at 9am streamed from YouTube*
• A whole range of ideas to get kids moving here.

Get Creative:

• Gok Wan cook along: check out his Instagram account for the next mass cook along
• There are lots of free gigs, DJ sets and music events being streamed. Check here for a list of up and coming stuff.
• What can you do at home to make the most of this time?
  • read a book that’s been sitting on your shelf for years
  • Clear out your wardrobe/cupboards/lofts
  • start/continue writing a journal
  • create a scrapbook
  • plan a holiday you have always wanted to go on
  • make some plans about what you want to do with your career
  • rearrange your furniture
  • take up an old hobby like painting, knitting, sewing 
  • if you are lucky enough to have a garden get out and do some weeding 
  • Do a jigsaw 
  • Put your favourite album on and actually listen to it all the way through
  • Do an online course
  • learn sign language
  • write a letter to a friend.

Do things for others:

• Foodbanks are in urgent need of donations at this time. Find out how you can help here.
• Support your local businesses by buying vouchers, leaving reviews or providing donations. Here are some other ideas.
• Charities are struggling as lots of events have been cancelled and their funds are shrinking – so now is the time to set up a direct debit not just for Covid-19 related funds but for any worthwhile causes.

Have some fun and stay positive: 

• Laughing is so good for us – watch a funny film, connect with your favourite comedian on social media, talk to a friend who always makes you laugh or listen to a funny podcast.
• The best Instagram accounts to follow for uplifting and positive stories: @goodnews_movement and @upworthy. Including: Italians determined to eat together! A spot of window tennis and he group workouts people have done in Spain.
• Come on Eileen Covid-19 version.
• Timeout has become Timein and has lots of great ideas of what to do.

I read Carol Dweck’s seminal book Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential at the end of last year. She outlines the differences in what she calls a “fixed mindset” and a “growth mindset” and pushes for the reader to understand the benefits they will gain from learning to adopt a growth mindset.

Here’s a quick definition of what Dweck means by each of the mindsets:

The Fixed mindset

A belief that your abilities and talents are set in stone and unchangeable. You are naturally gifted or not. Believing that you only have a certain amount of intelligence, or another character trait, leads those with a fixed mindset to need to prove and validate themselves over and over. It leads people to believe there are inherently flawed when making mistakes and this can be a permanent mark. For example, you might always judge yourself as unintelligent if you didn’t pass some of your exams at school. With a fixed mindset people tend to want to hide or deny their deficiencies, or blame others when things don’t go as planned. They feel the need to appear to be flawless. The fixed mindset encourages people to believe they are superior to others and therefore demean others. People with a fixed mindset tend to gravitate towards people who will reconfirm their self-esteem and abilities rather than challenge and encourage growth. This means that when relationships start to become harder work people with a fixed mindset see them as flawed, and not working, and they are then often doomed to fail. It’s the live happily ever after mentality without effort or hardwork.

The growth mindset

Is the belief that ability and talent can be nurtured and developed through hard work, learning and effort. True potential is unknown with a growth mindset and an individual sees mistakes and failures as ways of learning, growing and stretching themselves. People with this mindset are more able to take on board their flaws as they are open to continually developing themselves. A growth mindset allows us to thrive on challenge and become determined to keep learning and growing to enrich our lives. Someone with a growth mindset will enjoy the journey regardless of the outcome and throw themselves into activities even if they aren’t good at them to begin with. With a growth mindset people tend to seek out other people who will challenge them, encourage growth and even provide constructive criticism. They are able to embrace this feedback and learn from it, to continue growing throughout their lives. They are more likely to work hard at their relationships, compromise, listen to the other person’s points of view and therefore develop strong and long-lasting relationships.

Natural talent v effort

Dweck covers how the two mindsets affect so many aspects of life: at work, in our relationships, with our children and families, in our hobbies and sporting abilities. She quotes Malcolm Gladwell who said “as a society we value natural, effortless accomplishment over achievement through effort”. We can see this in many areas of life and the media perpetuates this idea of “natural talent”.

Michael Jordan and John McEnroe

Dweck uses case studies of John McEnroe and Michael Jordan to illustrate her points. John McEnroe she says had a classic fixed mindset. He believed he was the best tennis player, and he was for a time. But when things started to go against him, and he lost matches, he would blame everyone and everything else. He saw effort as casting doubt on his talents and believed if he was to succeed he needed to get out and perform 100% all of the time. McEnroe’s fixed mindset prevented him from looking at areas where he could improve. Instead he wished he played a team sport so he could conceal his flaws. He considered himself to be a finished product and therefore why did he need to work hard to be good when he was already the best.

Michael Jordan on the other hand embraced his failures. Each time he was knocked back he worked harder and harder to grow his talents. This is hard to imagine as the Michael Jordan we know now as one of the best basketball players of all time. He was cut from his High School team, and he was devastated, but instead of giving up this made him determined to work his hardest to do the thing he loved. He’d leave his house at 6am to practice and repeat the same shots over and over again until he nailed it and he would keep practising it after that too. His success stemmed from his mindset. He said “The mental toughness and the heart are a lot stronger than some of the physical advantages you might have. I’ve always said that and I’ve always believed that”.

Growth and fixed mindsets in children

Dweck covers how communicating with children is so important in terms of nurturing a growth mindset. She talks about how crucial it is to praise children for their effort rather than achievement. Indeed, there is robust evidence to show that praising achievements in kids actually does the opposite as it actually harms their motivation and performance.

This does not seem intuitive so let’s explain: by constantly praising accomplishments by saying to children “you are so clever/so smart/so talented” it gives them a boost, but only a temporarily. The moment things don’t go so well they think they are the opposite: “If success means they are smart then failure means they are dumb”. This means children are afraid to try new things as they fear failure and start to doubt themselves as soon as they don’t succeed in something. Dweck advises to keep away from praise directed at, intelligence and talent, but instead to praise the effort and work put in. she says children need honest and constructive feedback, without it they won’t learn and in their adult lives they will experience teaching, coaching and guidance as negative and meaning they aren’t good enough. Think about people in your workplace who might exhibit some of these characteristics – an inability to take on board constructive feedback and defensive behaviour towards anything they deem as not reassuring praise. 

We all have both mindsets

It’s important to remember that this is by no means black and white. We will all exhibit the fixed and growth mindset at times and our task is to understand what triggers fixed mindset thinking.

What to do to nurture a growth mindset

Dweck provides many tips on how to cultivate a growth mindset and I’ve picked out my favourite ones here:

• Next time you struggle, get bored or want to give up trying, when you are doing something new because it gets hard, try to persevere. Push through the difficulties and imagine your brain forming new connections as you take on the challenge.
• When there is next a disagreement in one of your close relationships try to allow the other person to air their grievances and really listen and take on board their viewpoints. Try your hardest not to take their critique personally and try to avoid the blame game.
• Think about ways you could be less defensive about your mistakes in the workplace. Can you make more of the feedback you receive at work and see it as a way of learning and growing rather than being judged and criticised?
• Next time you are tempted to praise a child for their achievements try to comment on the process they used, their choices and efforts. For example, when something goes well. “I am so impressed by all of the revision and hard work you put in to that test, the results really showed how dedicated you were”. When things don’t go so well “everyone has different ways of learning, let’s work hard to find the way that works best for you”.
• Try to work out what triggers your fixed mindset (Dweck provides lots of tips in the book) and then give your fixed mindset a name.

I would highly recommend everyone gives this important book a read!

What do I know about flow?

I remember I discovered the concept of “flow” before I even read about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s seminal work on the topic. Some years ago I realised I wanted to work to help other people find what I had found through swimming, running, cycling and more latterly yoga and strength training. Namely, an activity which provides the daily fuel to keep me feeling great, grounded and able to cope with the ups and downs life throws at me.

These activities share all of the following traits: they completely absorb me, they are challenging, they make me feel great whilst I am doing them and for the rest of my day. During the activity I get space to reflect, come up with new ideas. I often have my most creative thoughts in the midst of a long swim or a run. Time is distorted so it feels as though it either stands still or moves so quickly beyond the realms of rational time. Whilst doing the activity I am completely grounded in the present moment, focused on my breath, my body and how I feel.

Intrinsic motivation and flow

I am motivated to do these activities at least every other day, because without them, I don’t feel like my true self. These activities give me more energy and make me feel great for the rest of my day. Michelle Segar discusses these ideas in her important work on motivation. Through these activities I have become physically and mentally fit, and resilient.

As consequence I have a healthy relation to my physical body and self-image. I never think in terms of calories consumed, or weight loss (and this was not always the case as my younger self struggled for many years with eating issues and a dislike of my body). My body is far from what is considered to be culturally perfect (whatever that means), but I have now found the body I can accept and feel good about. It’s important to note that this has happened almost as a secondary consideration as I am not trying to look a certain way or be a certain size.

The key thing is that I am intrinsically motivated to partake in these activities because they make me feel good in the moment and for the rest of the day. Doing these activities provides the catalyst in my quest to achieve a balanced attitude towards my physical and mental health. I am grateful for my body and all the amazing things it allows me to do. As a consequence, for the most part, I choose to treat my myself with kindness by listening to my body, eating well, sleeping as much as my body needs and moving the way it makes me feel good.

Optimal experience

After studying the topic and I realised this is exactly what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high) is talking about. I read his summary of what equates to optimal experience and it seemed to match almost perfectly to my own reflections on my activities: “I developed a theory of optimal experience based on the concept of Flow – the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do even at great cost for the sheer sake of doing it”.

People are motivated to do these activities not for extrinsic reasons such as getting a medal, or losing weight. They are motivation for purely intrinsic reasons in that the activity feels great in the moment. His concept of an autotelic personality describes a “self-contained activity, one that is done not with the expectation of some future benefit but simply because the doing itself is the reward”. Csikszentmihalyi describes eight components central to the idea of flow which are universal:

1. the activity needs to be something you can concentrate on
2. it must have clear goals
3. is something which allows you a chance to gain a sense of accomplishment
4. it provides immediate feedback
5. enables deep involvement removing your consciousness from the usual worries and anxieties of everyday life
6. it must allow for control over actions
7. concern for the self disappears yet after the activity is finished the self emerges more strongly
8. the way time is experienced is distorted – minutes can stretch out or hours can pass by in what seems like seconds.

His book touches on all of the different ways in life we can experience a flow state – as we move our bodies in physical activity, eat, work, have sex, enjoy music, read and study. He also discusses how people have survived extreme hardship in concentration camps, as prisoners etc as a result of embodying the “flow” state. I was reminded of this recently when listening to the fascinating Feel Better Live More podcast where John McAvoy discusses how he survived 365 in solitary confinement in a prison by devising his own strength body workout.

A family in flow

It’s not that surprising now when I reflect back why I’ve developed such a passion for helping others find their activity or their true “flow” state. I grew up in a family where flow activities are central to well-being. My Mum plays tennis every opportunity she possibly can (as did her Mum). My Dad is always at the golf course (following in the footsteps of his Mum). One of my aunties is a prolific long-distance ultra-marathon and trail runner. My uncle is a keen mountain biker and runner. My other auntie and uncle are also lifelong outdoors runners, orienteers and volunteer at their local Park Runs every weekend. My siblings and cousins are all super active including my cousin Murray Strain who orienteers for Scotland and is a top-class athlete.

A life in flow

This is why I decided to become a coach and a personal trainer. I want to help people move away from the idea of fitness and health being a chore and something to endure in order to look a certain way, to a place where people feel great in the moment. I want people to find their flow activity to transform their motivation and mindset for the long term. As Csikszentmihalyi so wisely says: “What would really satisfy people is not getting slim or getting rich but feeling good about their lives”.

If you haven’t already found it, how will you find your flow activity to fuel your positive life?

The festive season is upon us again and it’s the season to let our hair down and indulge and leave all our good intentions until January right? 

We are bound to to relax and indulge, at this time of year, and this is of course completely great but I’d argue we can shift away from the all or nothing type of thinking that is typical in December. Over this period it’s all too tempting to give yourself permission to stop exercising and eat whatever you like. “You deserve it and have worked hard all year”. As tempting as this type of thinking is, think this is setting us all up to struggle and work even harder to change mindsets and build motivation in the new year. It is indeed reinforcing the “cycle of failure” that many of us are trapped in whereby we set ourselves January New Year’s resolutions which do not last. 

Obviously things will be a little more relaxed than usual but I’d argue that you can still maintain a healthy attitude. Just because you have indulged on a beige buffet or two, some mince pies and countless glasses of wine the day before does not mean that eating healthier, or doing some exercise, the next day is out of the question. Punishing yourself with critical and guilty self-talk is also not helpful. Here are my top 5 tips for keeping a healthy and motivated mindset at Christmas: 

1. Maintain your usual routine

Try to keep up your usual wellbeing routine over the festive period whether that be a daily meditation, your exercise programme, or trying to get enough sleep. It’s tempting to embrace a completely sedentary lifestyle at Christmas which we know has seriously negative effects on our health. Continuing to exercise over the festive period is important and will have countless positive effects on how you feel particularly if you have enjoyed yourself the day before. My long Boxing Day run is always so refreshing and makes me feel great after an indulgent Christmas day. You can even see whether there’s a Christmas Day or New Year’s Day parkrun you can join in your local area: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/special-events/. 

2. Be kind to yourself

The way you relate to yourself over this time of year will be particularly important in how you feel. It is completely normal to allow yourself to enjoy the festive period and everything it brings. It is also completely human to feel guilty about this from time to time particularly if you are usually an avid dieter. Treat yourself with compassion and tell yourself it is OK to enjoy yourself without getting trapped in a vicious “all or nothing” cycle. If you’ve overindulged it doesn’t mean everything has gone out the window and you should give up, simply try to be conscious of what you eat the next day and stick to a healthier routine that day. Try not to utter the words “I’ll do that in January”. 

3. Listen to your body

At this time of year it is tempting to stuff ourselves silly without listening to how we really feel. Pay attention to each mouthful of delicious festive foods and take in the smells and tastes with all your concentration. Eating in a mindful way will help you be conscious of what you are consuming as well as enhance enjoyment. Give yourself 10 minutes before taking a second helping to allow your body to feel full. Ask yourself out loud if you really need that second helping. Most of the time you will find you actually do not need or even really want a second helping at all and you already feel completely full. This will have a positive effect in helping remove the feeling of guilt overindulgence you might feel.  

4. Get outside:

Get outside and get natural light and fresh air as much as you can, especially after eating a big meal.  The science tells us that being outside has multiple positive effects on our mental and physical health. Benefits include: 

• Increases in energy levels
• Encouraging movement and exercise and all the benefits this brings
• Boosting your immune system 
• Getting a dose of vitamin D (even in the winter)
• It’s good for your vision and eyesight
• Increases focus and concentration 

There’s a great podcast on the benefits of getting more natural light this by expert Linda Geddes if anyone is interested in this topic. 

5. Use the time wisely: 

Christmas for many of us gives us time to have a break from the usual routine of work and allows us time to reflect. It can also be an incredibly stressful and busy time for many people. Make sure you allow yourself some time for thoughtful contemplation, relaxation and meditation. The time can also be wisely spent with your family and loved ones if you are lucky enough to have people to share your Christmas with.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

 It is National Stress Awareness Day and therefore a great opportunity to reflect on how stress is impacting our lives. Stress has been labelled the “global health epidemic of the 21st century” by the World Health Organisation. For many people, it is often triggered at work.

A lot has been written on stress recently and it is certainly a hot topic of conversation. Many general practitioners including Dr Ragan Chatterjee, in his book The Stress Solution, note that stress is a primary concern for many people visiting the GP surgery. 

Stress Proof 

As stress is such an important aspect of wellbeing I decided to do some further research. I have read up on the science of stress including reading Dr Mithu Storoni’s incredibly well researched book Stress-Proof in which she refers to over 200 scientific studies in her quest to recognise the signs and causes of stress.

Her book focuses on explaining the neuroscience behind why we experience stress; why it is essential to us as human beings and what causes us to develop chronic stress. Her explanations are thorough but accessible and she does her best not to blind with the details of the science whilst providing robust evidence. 

She explains what the role of the stress hormones are and outlines practical ways to keep cortisol in check. She includes a chapter on how important it is to tune our body clocks. This includes how essential it is to get enough sleep and reduce our exposure to blue light before bedtime. 

Her chapter on gut health in relation to stress and inflammation is fascinating and reveals how connected our bodies are to our stress responses. The chapter on emotional regulation is particularly interesting to me in my work as a motivational and mindset coach. Her tips on when to exercise as a means to reduce stress are also fascinating. 

5 key points to help reduce stress

It is an enormous topic and the book covers a huge number of useful and practical ways of reducing the impact of stress. I would highly recommend reading the book if you are interested in this topic. 

I have chosen to focus on five key points she makes which really resonated with me. Pick one or two of these and try to incorporate them into your life: 

1.     Do not dwell: 

When you have experienced a stressful episode the last thing you should do is dwell on it or ruminate. Storoni says, “if you play back a stressful event in your mind just seconds after it is over, and your emotional regulation is defective, then your recollection of the event may activate your emotional brain so powerfully that it perpetuates the stress response”. She writes: “the overall stressful experience is the sum total of what happens during and after it”. So your body will react as if it is still in the stressful situation even if you are not. 

In fact, rumination has strong links to depression. So trying to relax immediately after a stressful experience may be the worst thing you can do as it can lead to rumination. Storoni suggests shifting attention away from the stressful episode and thinking about something else or using distraction techniques such as mindful breathing or playing a game on your smart-phone. 

2.     Perform cognitive appraisal by asking how instead of why

Storoni talks about how asking yourself “how” instead of “why” to encourage identifying effective ways forward rather than dwelling on the negative.  Asking “why” encourages rumination, pondering and imagination. Whereas “how” prompts more fact finding and engages the rational brain. 

As an example, think about if you had planned to go out for a 5K run and you had only managed to do 2K as it is raining, cold and you developed a sore stomach halfway round: 

• A possible why approach: “I am not good at running; I failed; I am lazy and I should have tried harder; why can’t I do anything right?”  
• A possible how approach: “I went out and tried my best but the circumstances today were not good. The rain made me feel cold and I was worried about slipping over. I had a sore stomach so I didn’t think it was wise to continue as it could have made it worse. Sometimes these things happen and I won’t punish myself. I am sure I will be able to run further next time”. 

3.     Try to eat plain, unheated probiotic yogurt every day

Stornoi refers to the importance of maintaining a healthy microbiome. This is a topic which is just beginning to gain traction in the wellbeing space in relation to stress. She talks about the importance of including Lactobacillus, a tribe of good gut bacteria, in our diets. Scientific studies are showing that: “stress and Lactobacillus strains exist in perpetual opposition. If one rises the other one falls”. 

Plain, unheated, probiotic yogurt contains Lactobacillus. Storoni recommends eating 300g a day. She refers to the Nobel-prize-winning immunologist Ilya Ilyich Metchinikoff’s work in proposing that “eating yogurt every day is the secret to a long life” after he studied the diet of centenarians living in the Balkan states who ate yogurt regularly. 

I have recently swapped my cereal milk for yogurt in the morning and now eat a small portion of muesli, with some berries and some plain yogurt. It also has the added benefit of making me feel more full too! 

4.     Avoid sedentary behaviour

The evidence is clear that sedentary behaviour is bad for our overall health. See my previous post on exercise motivation. Storoni talks about how insulin resistance is tied to chronic stress. If you are in a highly stressed state you need your brain to engage to work out an escape. For example, if you are being chased by a dangerous animal in the wilderness. The needs of escape outweigh all the other functions of the body so glucose piles up in the blood to reach the brain in order to focus on an escape strategy. When the body is in a normal functioning state insulin allows glucose to enter the blood and be delivered to the body’s cells keeping glucose levels stable. Insulin resistance is essential to keep you safe and out of danger but if it becomes a perpetual state it is equally as dangerous and can shorten lives. 

Studies have shown that spending too long sitting down and eating excessive calories means insulin is 39% less able to do its job. As Storoni notes “Your body’s resistance to insulin rises by 19% simply on account of not moving, even if you are burning all the energy you are taking in”. She advises walking for at least fifteen minutes, preferably longer, immediately after every meal. Another tip is to do some resistance exercises such as squats or lunges for three minutes every half hour to reduce insulin resistance. Ideally move around as much as possible during your day, especially if you have a sedentary job, and plan for at least one dedicated exercise session. 

5.     Practice yoga and meditation

Storoni writes “meditators are able to control their thoughts and emotions with greater ease than non-meditators” The long-term positive effects of meditation are now clearly known (see my previous blog post on mindful meditation for more on this topic). Similarly, Storoni notes that there is evidence to suggest regular yoga practice may help to “correct an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity” in the nervous system by increasing self-control and self-regulation which has proven correlation to increasing heart rate variability known as a sign of wellbeing.   

Storoni’s book can be bought from here website here: https://www.mithustoroni.com/

Mindfulness is a buzz word at the moment. But what does mindfulness really mean and how can it help us all lead more fulfilled and engaged lives? I wanted to understand what the fuss is about and why mindfulness is so on-trend. Surely it is common sense? Being aware of the present moment, who doesn’t do that?

So I enrolled on the 8 week course on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at The Mindfulness Project in London last summer. The course truly opened my eyes to the benefits and importance of mindfulness practise in increasing wellbeing, decreasing stress and ultimately feeling good.

So what is mindfulness?

The pioneer of mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn in his book Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life defines mindfulness as: “paying attention, in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally”. 

I have to admit I had ideas about mindfulness but I hadn’t actually practised it consistently and so I now realise I hadn’t fully embraced the practice so as to benefit from it in my life. Of course there are many forms of meditation originating over centuries in Buddhist cultures in the east. I won’t go into detail of the history here as this is intended to be a brief overview of mindful meditation as a more secular form of meditation.

The 8 week MBSR course

The 8 week structued course consists of 2 hours a week of teaching and practice plus a full day of meditation practice. In addition there is the home practice. I was surprised when the tutor said we were to practise mindfulness meditation every day throughout the course for at least twenty minutes. We were taught that practicing mindful meditation is like learning a new skill. Just as we are not able to instantly downhill ski, or run a marathon, we are not automatically able to master the art of meditation. It takes dedication and regular practice before our brains become attuned to the practice and we begin to see any benefits. 

No time to medidate

Personally I never thought I’d have time to fit yet another thing into my already crammed schedule. However, I surprised myself because by using some creativity in my day, I actually made time and committed to practice every day throughout the 8 week course.I have managed to continue my practice on most days since. It was more a case of prioritising my time to allow for this. Interestingly, I have found practising mindfulness actually allows me to have more time because it enables my feelings of stress to decline and therefore I spend less time worrying and being anxious than I would without it.

Mindfulness is easy right?

Being aware of the present moment, non-judgementally seems straight forward. However, the more we begin to pay attention to our thoughts and begin to actually practice mindful meditation, the more we might realise how much of the time our minds are engaged in either thinking about the past or planning for the future. It varies from person to person but in a life where we are constantly being bombarded with information through our handheld devices or in our chaotic and busy work lives, we are rooted in the present moment less and less. 

Practising mindful meditation helps to calm the mind and build self-awareness of our emotions, thoughts and feelings. We can choose to meditate through use of guided meditations on an App such as HeadSpace or Calm or following the meditations on Spotify lead by experts such as Mark Williams or Erica Raynor Horn or self-compassion expert Kristin Neff’s meditations. Once you have become comfortable and familiar with the practices you can begin to try meditation without a guide devising your own quiet space to practice.

The science behind mindfulness

There is a huge amount of research demonstrating that practising mindfulness meditation is effective for a wide range of mental health difficulties and in treating physical health difficulties. These include treatment of pain, reducing stress, anxiety and depression and increasing wellbeing. As a result of the efficacy in the literature it has been rolled out as a practise within psychotherapy, cognitive therapy and in other therapeutic and clinical disciplines and even within schools as an educational tool.

Neuroscience has shown us that with regular mindfulness meditation practice over a sustained period there are actually structural changes which occur in the brain. Research by Hölzel et al showed that there was an increase in grey matter in the brain . This area of the brain is involved in “learning and memory processes, emotional regulation, self-referential processing and perspective taking”.

Research shows that regular meditation practice has shown to decrease brain activation in the part of the brain responsible for triggering fear in the amygdala and increase activity in the pre-frontal cortex which is the part of the brain we use to regulate our emotions. Research continues in this area but it is clear that there is enough evidence to show that regularly mindful meditation is effective in individuals.

If you are interested in the research into mindfulness a very useful resource is the Oxford Mindfulness Centre where you can find the most recent scientific studies exploring the concept as well as the experts in the field including Mark Williams.