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Happy Birthday Blog!

Hello September and sorry to have disappeared for what seems like ages! What with a very dodgy internet connection and the beginning of a new school term, I have got very behind on my blog. So apologies and thank you to my new subscribers – finally you might actually find something new to read!

I am very excited because it is just over a year since I started writing this blog. I had been reading blogs for some time, but just couldn’t get myself started on my own. Although I wrote a blog whilst I was away travelling, I found it difficult to find my voice in this blog. I think it’s because my travel blog was for a very specific audience – my friends and family who wanted to read the details of what I was up to for the 6 months I was away. With this blog, I was unsure of who would be reading it (-if indeed anyone was). I have several people to thank for giving me the confidence to a) start it, b) continue it and c) continue to work on finding my voice in my blog writing.

So like many a proud parent I have had lots of help from my friends. Massive thanks go to ReeRee Rockette who I interviewed back in January 2010. She has taught me to blog with pride! You can read her blog here:www.rockalily.com/blog

Also Justin Wayne of DIY DTF who encouraged me to find my voice and be myself in my blog.

And my friend Caz who inspires me with her life-challenges and amazing sense of freedom. Her blog is brilliant and you can read it here: lifeislimitless.com

Last but not least to my wonderful hubby who encourages me in everything I do 🙂

Please continue to leave your comments! I cannot explain how much it means to have your feedback 🙂

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Relax Kids Classes – New!

A few months ago I went to Brighton for a training course which was part on my journey enabling me to become a Relax Kids Coach. I am really excited about starting my classes (for kids aged 5-9 in the first instance) – in September.

  

You may have heard of Relax Kids which is the brain child of Marneta Viegas. Her dream is to help children learn how to manage their stress levels, how to relax and reduce anxiety. She trains coaches all over the world to teach children these skills, and also sells a huge range of relaxation CDs and books which are a great resource for children, teachers and parents alike.

 I am working hard to get myself ready for my first set of classes for September including doing my Paediatric First Aid certification among other things.

Please contact me to find out about my current classes.


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Amy Winehouse – Remembering Her Music

I am still processing the news about the untimely death of Amy Winehouse last Saturday.  As you may know I am a huge lover of music, and live music and I was fortunate enough to see Amy play live at The O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2007. I feel so very privileged to have had the chance to see her play live. I am so sad that we won’t get to hear more of her music (although I have read that her family may release an album of the last project she was working on)… I have watched and read various tributes to her this week, charting her rise to fame and her spiralling downfall, which made me feel very sad. I would like to remember her for her immense raw talent and love of music. Here is one of my favourite clips of Amy performing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ds0eIVGHQk

 Amy Winehouse, Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2007

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Time is the Greatest Healer

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the first time I got married. When I look back over those years I realise how much I have changed and developed. The last five years in particular have been a massive time of growth for me and I feel proud of the woman I have become today. So rather than look back and feel sorrow, resentment or anger, I am grateful for the lessons I have learnt and the second chance I’ve had to create happy relationships in my life.

This life is not a dress rehearsal; this is it.

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Self Coaching Tip – Beat Procrastination

Procrastination is the thief of time – Edward Young

Overcoming procrastination is one of the topics I get asked about most frequently. Many people have told me that they want to reduce the amount of time they procrastinate and put off things they want/need to do until later. In my experience, procrastinating does not feel good, nor is it productive. So here I am going to share some of the tips I have picked up along the way from various courses, books and from my own battles with time.

1. Change your mind-set

Time is a commodity like money or food. We talk about ‘spending time ‘ and ‘wasting time’ – Think to yourself… what am I currently doing? Am I choosing to spend my time on something I enjoy or something I need to do to make my life run more smoothly? Or am I ‘wasting time’? (It is only a waste if you think it is a waste!) Which would I rather be doing? 

2. Imagine the completed task – Starting with the end in mind

Instead of beating yourself up about not doing whatever it is you want/need to do, think… what will I gain once I have done it? Imagine the scenario as if you have already completed the task (or steps in the task). Ask yourself – What will I see, how will I feel, what will I hear? If your brain is focussing on the end product/scenario, it makes it feel much more achievable and it will know more clearly what it is aiming for.

3. Make a List!

Now make a list of the things you want to do…

4. Scrutinise

Step 5 is prioritising – but often that is easier said than done – so scrutinising comes first. It can be helpful to think about why you have been procrastinating over something – is it so big that it is overwhelming? Maybe you don’t know where to start or how to do something, or maybe you don’t really want to do something and it is being imposed on you? Ask yourself ‘What’s stopping me from achieving this?’ Are there things on my list I don’t actually need to do? Could I get someone else to do it, or could I actually do it later?

4. Prioritise

Go back to your list and edit it. Now circle the top three most pressing tasks – if they are all pressing, which has the greatest time pressure or is going to give you the most benefit? (N.B. Sometimes I try to do the one I like most first; but in fact, it might have limited benefit!) Now pick the task which will yield the highest amount of satisfaction yield when it’s done.

5. Get started

Now just go ahead and make a start! This is often the hardest part. I find giving myself a chunk of time, like 15 minutes to get started on something really helps me at this stage.

 6. Allocate time slots

If you can’t do it all in one go, devote time over the next day(s)/week(s) when you will do that task, and just that task. Sometimes I have a mini research project to which I devote 15 minutes a day. I try to do that research first thing in the morning before I start my working day. It gives me a huge boost of satisfaction to know I am working at it, one bite at a time. You can’t eat an apple all in one go!

This might seem like a long process, but over time some of these steps have become more automatic for me. So much so, that I had to really think about what I do to share it with you!

As ever, if you like what you have read or have anything to share, please leave me a comment 🙂 

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Elton John at Hatfield – Magic Summer Live

I have now been lucky enough to see Elton John play live twice in the same year, which is quite an achievement I think! The first time I wrote about the experience in my blog post Elton John at The Royal Opera House. This time, I have to say could have been much better, if the organisers had any idea of how to run an event like this! The Magic Summer Live ‘picnic’ as it was billed was a dismal display of organisational skills, and I have to say I have never been to such an appallingly run event! You can read more about the lack of food stalls, lack of toilets, massively overpriced ‘VIP’ tickets, queues for everything etc etc here as it’s too miserable to ramble on about it here!

Elton’s performance was flawless, and despite playing to crowds who were soaked to the skin (having stood in near torrential rain all day), he managed to whip us all up into a Sunday night frenzy! Many people left before and during his show – not because of Elton I might add, but because the whole event was such a shambles, and I think people were wet through, starving hungry and basically couldn’t wait to get home. I know lots of people were very unhappy at feeling they had to leave and miss the headline act – and what an act! Elton John was the consummate professional and he made several comments to us about how grateful he was that we’d stood in the rain all day waiting for him to come on. His performance saved what was left of the day for me. Magic FM take note: if you want tips on who to partner up with or how to run events in future, have a chat with the teams behind The Secret Garden Party – which had THE most amazing organisation! Anyway, it was an experience and we just tried to make the best of it., and it all felt better when Elton sang for us 🙂

You can just about see Elton on his piano to the left of the stage!  
Dancing in the dark (and the rain)

A shot of Elton John on the big screen

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A Change is as Good as a Rest

Hello everyone! As you may know if you’re a regular reader, I have been away for a well-earned restful holiday in Turkey and have now returned refreshed and ready to get back to work 🙂 “Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” – Ralph Marston

While I was away I allowed my mind to have a total break from work, as I wanted a to come back completely refreshed and energised. I did however continue to ponder over how to further improve the quality of my life and enrich my daily experiences. I have made huge strides over the past few years to take a look at life when it is getting too hectic. I have tried to examine the situation, identify the problem and acknowledge it. I have then been more able to work on the problem area and improve it. 

Just before I went away on holiday, things in my world of work were getting very hectic (which is normal I guess as I had various deadlines to meet), but I was also starting to feel I couldn’t wait to get away, which is not how I want to feel about my life! The time away allowed me the mental space to explore the issues that have been bubbling up. It also gave my body the amazing opportunity to rest and recuperate in a warm and comfortable climate. My arthritis was all but gone. GONE I tell you! I was left wondering: How much of the symptoms that present themselves are to do with what I think and how much are to do with what I do? Which part of ‘the illness’ is a disease, and which part can be influenced by how I live my life? This conundrum is one I have been playing with for years.

One of the best parts of my holiday was reading: one of the pleasures I am going to make more time for. A friend had just given me Tim Park’s book ‘Teach Us to Sit Still’ which I would recommend for anyone who has lived with or is living with chronic pain. It is beautifully written and although I found Tim to be rather moany and negative at times, he really does find a resolution in the end and learns to relieve himself of pain. 

Another INCREDIBLE book I read was Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso – one of the most gripping, shocking and honest books I have ever read, about her years growing up in a relationship with a paedophile. Not the most relaxing holiday read, I grant you, but inciteful and haunting. (As someone who works with children, I found it to be of particular interest in terms of warning signs.)

I haven’t had a total relaxation holiday for ages as most of my holidays tend to be more rough and ready ‘travel’ ones so you can imagine my heart was singing with joy as I made the most of the facilities at the hotel 🙂

Talking to the sports trainer after an early morning yoga lessonRelaxing in the bar area in the evenings

 

Cushions, hammocks or chairs – a wonderful place to admire the view

Below the resort lies the town of Turunc and The Mediterranean

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Vegetarian Experiment Day 16 and Review of Goals

Stuffed field mushrooms topped with parmesan cheese served with mixed vegetable wild rice

This is the last post from me for a while as I am getting ready to go on holiday, and although the beach, the pool, lots of relaxation and an abundance of wonderful vegetarian food will be featuring, my lap-top will not! In any case I thought around half way is a good time to review my goals and consider the impact of my vegetarian diet so far.

When I started thinking about a vegetarian diet these were my goals:

  1. To increase my energy levels
  2. To feel less fatigue and tiredness (Not the opposite of 1, but linked to 3)
  3. To reduce the symptoms of my Psoriatic Arthritis
  4. To reduce my intake of tea from 6 to 3 cups, plus herbal tea at night
  5. To increase my intake of water gradually over the month from 0.5 litres to 2 litres
  6. To avoid processed foods as much as possible

I would say that I have achieved 1 and 4 definitely. My energy levels been up; I have been working very hard and have been raring to go most mornings. Re-discovering Jasmine tea has made number 4 easy to do!

I have made good progress with 6 – avoiding processed foods. I have cooked from scratch most evenings, and I have only eaten processed foods when I have been out and could not avoid it.

I have not achieved number 5 – I am still terrible at drinking water! I will practise this on holiday.

Numbers 2 and 3 are to do with the effects of my Psoriatic Arthritis – I would say this is inconclusive. I have still had aches and pains, swellings, stiffness etc all over my body and at different times. I think it would take a very long time for me to be able to conclude that this sort of diet has a healing or positive effect on a chronic disease. However, I think there are many other positive effects which are not as easy to measure – like the strength of my nails, hair and skin (which are all looking and feeling super healthy). My whole digestive system has felt as though it is working more efficiently and I have not felt bloated or gassy (which surprised me)!

I would also say that the psychological effects of this diet have been very positive. It gives me the feeling that I am in control of what goes into my body, (so why not choose good things?) and that the fresh food can get to work straight away as it’s being digested easily, without lots of synthetic ingredients getting in the way.

 A colourful side dish of seasoned raw vegetables – I would not eat this as a whole meal, but as a little side dish, it is a crunchier version of a traditional salad

I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts. As always please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I promise to keep working on my goals whilst I am away and will bring back some photos to share 🙂

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Vegetarian Experiment Day 15

Tonight I went a bit soup mad and cooked two kinds: a mushroom and walnut soup and a carrot and coriander soup. I had the former tonight, but I am keeping the carrot soup for tomorrow.

Mushroom and walnut soup

 Part of the reason I cooked two soups is because firstly I wanted to use up the veggies in my fridge and secondly I already had all of the equipment out so I made sense to use it before it all went back into the cupboard. I have one of those kitchens where it takes longer to get out all of the necessary equipment than to do the actual cooking. The lack of surfaces means everything gets into a huge mess before anything gets done! So, it’s official: cooking from scratch can be a real pain, but on the whole the food taste great and I do get a real sense of satisfaction knowing I cooked it all myself, and that I also know exactly what has gone into it.

Carrot and Coriander soup, topped with parsley

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Vegetarian Experiment Day 14

Strawberry, avocado and lettuce salad a la Jamie

Last night’s dinner was a strawberry, lettuce and avocado salad, served with button mushrooms and wild rice. I love all of those ingredients, but you, like me may be thinking: strawberry? In a salad? I would never had dreamed up this combination on my own, but I saw Jamie Oliver on ‘Jamie at Home’ create something similar. The dressing I made was my standard one – olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, but it really worked! Give it a try if you don’t believe me!