Good Habits

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Good Habits make a Good Life!

When your habits are good, you feel better, you have more energy, you see positive effects from the things you do, you have much more time available to do more of the things you love and the world just seems to work so much better!

Good Habits are not something just a percentage of us can have – they are out there for the taking by each and everyone!

The sooner you start to pay attention to your habits, the quicker life will brighten up. You will begin to notice that the world doesn’t happen ‘to you’, but that you get to choose your circumstances, make your mark and reach for the top! And there’s no time better to do so than the present moment!

Have a think about your current daily habits. How do you feel about them? Do you feel they are contributing to your life, your goals, your dreams in a positive way? Or do you feel led by circumstances, driven by a ‘fixed’ behavioural pattern or unhappy with how things are unfolding?

Often we mistake our habits for our ’selves’. We think that the things we repeatedly do are indicators of our personalities, genes and make-up. Inescapable, unavoidable. ‘It’s just the way I am’ you may hear yourself say. But this is not the case. Habits can be cast away, changed and created! There is nothing set in stone about the way you are from moment to moment. You can change the script at any time you like….

So be courageous, bring an active mind and create Good Habits today! Here are some examples to get you started! -

- Getting up early and having a slow morning pace, bringing a calm, clear focus for the day. 10-30 minutes exercises will give you an extra boost too!
- Spending 10 or 15 minutes each morning setting a positive intention for your day, identifying a source of motivation to keep you energised and on track and planning your daily doings.
- Having a healthy breakfast – a wonderful source of energy first thing that sets you off well!
- Planning your daily exercise/fitness early on, writing it in your diary and keeping to this important appointment with yourself! (You can look to your source of motivation to spark your thirst for this.)
- Making and setting goals and dreams that you can work towards and which provide a central meaning to your life.
- Arriving at appointments/meetings 10 minutes early – this will help you feel calm, settled and on top of things, whilst also not letting yourself or anyone else down!
- Choosing 3 positive things to do or say daily to loved ones, colleagues or strangers!
– Acting and living by your principles, values and what means dear to you.
- Making healthy food choices throughout your day – by staying fully aware and responsible for what you fuel yourself on.
- Being outdoors in the fresh air each day and lapping up the breeze!
- Having a phone chat/ meet up with someone you love spending time with – and who you leave feeling refreshed and happy.
- Choosing to use positive, meaningful words and language and dropping the rest that’s holding you back.
- Thinking positively about your career, the benefits you gain, aspects you love or perhaps considering an alternative occupation that’d suit you better.
- Keeping your room clear, tidy and organised – a clear surrounding space helps a clear and focused mind. Recycle or take to a charity shop anything that’s no longer of use to you – it may just well be of fantastic use to someone else!
- Creating a night-time routine – getting a good night’s seep, finishing off any lingering task from the day and thinking over everything that went positively whilst falling off to sleep.

Getting into the swing of nurturing good habits allows the best you to shine! You’ll feel forever satisfied and thankful for it.

Create some good habits today and reap the rewards they bring you….

A Balancing Act

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Life is a Balancing Act. – Get the balance right and life feels great!

When you are in good balance with yourself and the world around you, you surely reap the benefits, feeling happier, more grounded, steady, focused, calm and clear-minded. Things just seem to run much smoother, work goes well, your energy levels are higher, people around you are smiling more, you reach your daily goals and you feel in a natural flow with life!

Whereas tipping the balance can leave you hanging too high or falling too low. You may feel under the weather, unsteady, anxious, too high, light-headed, wobbly, even depressed or ill. There may not appear a clear solution when you’re feeling like this. Sometimes it can feel as though the world is against you – but often in reality we are simply out of balance – something that can definitely be changed for the better!

It is a good idea to take time out from your day to day life and assess how things are going for you. If you run at full speed you can sometimes overlook feelings of imbalance, so make some quiet time for check-ins and ask yourself these questions – Are you feeling balanced? What areas of your life could do with a better balance? Job/Career, Relationships, Friends & Family, Fun & Recreation, Physical Environment, Finances, Health & Wellbeing? How could you bring this about? Be sure to allow space for answers to come. Notice how you are breathing and feeling as you do so.

When you are caught up in a whirlwind in your life, often the ups and downs help you to pinpoint where you are lacking balance. You may catch yourself acting unusually, perhaps symptoms of being off balance appear, or a friend or family member could be your wake up call. However you discover it, be thankful for this new understanding and start to look for ways of tilting the scales back to neutral. Otherwise things can go from bad to worse causing upset in a life which needn’t be so.

The great thing is there are lots of ways of bringing more balance into your life! And useful tools to help you feel steadily happy and stress-free! Identify what your priorities in life are, what things mean the most to you. This will help bring more focus, direction and balance in the things that you do. You will find it easier to say no to invitations and demands from others which steer you away from your own path. You then won’t feel burned out by trying to do too many things at once.

Writing things down is a very therapeutic way of creating clarity for yourself. Buy a diary and just put pen to paper with no expectations, just see what flows! – New ideas, plans and goals can formulate before your eyes! Set yourself realistic goals and go for them! Practice self-discipline and speak kindly to yourself at all times. Nourish your body and mind with things that leave you feeling balanced, whether it be hot, cool, spicy, sweet or salty, find out how you react to certain foods. Clean and tidy your living area, read your favourite book, take a break away, sit in the shade or sun, play your favourite sport, laugh out loud, take a long relaxing bath – do whatever you need to do to feel balanced.

For me, I know several key things I can do to help bring more balance in my life. My yoga practice, swimming, wearing cool colours, spending time with my family, eating cool and nutritious simple foods – lots of fruit and veg, being outdoors in nature, reading my favourite books, having a relaxing dinner with my best friends, meditating, teaching and being with children, taking a peaceful bath, writing in my diary, making cards and just sitting on my bed taking some ‘time for me’.

What things help you to feel more balanced? Is there something that you could do right now?

Let’s all try and bring more balance into our lives – Stay Balanced for a Healthy Life!

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Your Special Haven

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Imagine having a special haven. A beautiful special place all to yourself that you can do, be, say whatever you so choose. You can make your mark here and stay here time after time. This space is yours for the taking, the making. You can dream up, design and create beauty all around you. The walls and floors are canvases just yearning for your individual contribution, your essence to hit. The colours, themes, light and spaces are yet to be defined. Nobody else can enter your haven without permission. Nobody has access to your domain, your dwelling, your sanctuary, your retreat. Only you have the key.

Your haven is a place for everything you have, you are. A space to rest, think, lie, sit, stretch, breathe, act, play, write, draw, make, create, see, dream, eat, drink, sleep and just be you. However you are feeling you can come here and take time away from the world, time for yourself. Whether you are feeling restful, thoughtful, fearful, bashful or wonderful your haven is like a blanket ready to warm you up and hold you still whilst you replenish yourself before it’s time to leave.

How your haven looks and feels is down to you. As is the support and nourishment it offers you. As the creator you have full choice in it’s identity. You are responsible for every single area surrounding you. If things in your haven are out of place, messy, cluttered, dirty or uncared for only you can restore it back to it’s ideal state. If in your special place you feel flat, uninspired, unbalanced, trapped or unclear only you can help change these feelings.

We each have a special haven, whether we have fully embraced it or not. Our bedroom is just this! Our very own personal room, our blanket, our nest. What we receive from it depends greatly or what we give to it. If we choose to love it and use it carefully we will surely reap the benefits. If we plant the right seeds our garden will grow!

I love my bedroom! And I love my own personal place. I take great pride in keeping my space clear and tidy so I can feel clarity and space within me. I know well how my environment affects me, what goes on on the outside matters on the inside. I choose colors that resonate with me, whites, blues, yellows and purples to keep me calm, cool and balanced. I choose simplicity for peace of mind. I am a minimalist which helps me focus on things individually and carefully, and in the present. I make sure that I have space for yoga, to breathe, stretch, be on the wall, and lie down. I allow as much light in as possible to aid my vision. These are my personal choices for my haven.

This morning I did something that I do several times a year. I rearranged all of the furniture in my haven. From the moment I woke up I knew it was time for change in my close environment. This Spring has been a time of great change for me. More and more I am feeling aligned with my true self, my core, my values. I am refining my attention to the things that matter to me most. And in this process I am experiencing a great shift within me. This morning I wanted to express my internal emotional change in my physical visual reality. As I cleared away the things in my room which were out of date and unused I felt amazing. I now stand on new ground, new space and I feel totally refreshed!

Are you living in a special haven? How does your bedroom look and feel to you? Do you feel happiness in being here, nestled in a warm, safe blanket? Or is it time for a change, a shift or even a complete rearrangement?

Make your special haven represent you, the true you. Do not compromise on something so important.

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My Special Haven today