It's July now, which means we are half way through the year.  No better time to stop and review your goals and aims from the start of the year... It's easy to make resolutions on January 1st because that is what's expected of us.  What's also pretty much expected, is that we'll probably have ditched most, if not all, of those goals before the first week of January has finished.  If you have managed to continue thus far with your goals for 2018, then now really is the time to stop and take stock of how far you have come. Often we berate ourselves for not smashing our targets and goals within a relatively unrealistic time period - be honest, how many of you have spent the week eating healthily and going to the gym and then expected to be a dress size smaller by Friday night...only to discover you've not dropped a single pound, and subsequently given up?  Yep, me too!  Let's face it, that's just not realistic and completely screws with your motivatio...

Unless you've had your head buried under a rock or something similar, you've probably heard something about 'Law of Attraction' or 'Cosmic Ordering'.  I first heard about Cosmic Ordering years ago when Noel Edmonds discussed how he had used it.  I paid it some attention and actually had some minor success - 'ordering' a seat on the tube or a parking space for example.  However, when I failed to win the lottery after 'ordering' it, I just gave up! Law of Attraction is something that I suppose I've subconsciously been aware of but only recently started to embrace into my everyday life.  The basic premise behind it is that like attracts like; positive thoughts attracts positivity, whilst dwelling in the negative leads us to experience more negative behaviours and incidents.  This does not mean that every time you have a 'down' thought you'll suddenly be inundated with terrible occurrences but it really applies to how you actual...

Ok so when you start yoga, people are ready to tell you all the positives - that it'll change your life, that you'll become more flexible/stronger/balanced - and all the negatives - there *may* be involuntary passing of gas, you might fall over when you try and balance, people might see your pants through your leggings - etc. etc. etc.  However, what they fail to mention is that probably the hardest thing to do is actually to pluck up the courage, book a class and walk through the doors. In a world where we spend copious amounts of our day to day life behind a computer screen, going out into the 'real' world and interacting with 'real' people is not always easy.  Especially if you're worried that those people are going to be toned gods and goddesses who weave their own clothes from yak's milk and discuss in great detail how to power up their root chakras.  Yes, yoga is a spiritual practice and to be honest, it is one of my bugbears when people just...

This week I have been doing some work in the corporate sector, helping workers find some peace and calm in their busy days... Stress, anxiety, depression...sadly, they are all on the rise and finding ways to relax and recharge appear to be getting harder and harder.  Being busy becomes a kind of currency or badge of honour - how may times have you said 'sorry, I can't I'm just TOO BUSY ...' in the last few weeks, days, hours? If all the things consuming your time and causing you stress were to be miraculously stripped away right now, what would you fill your time with?  What would your passion in life be?  Would you travel? Would you spend more time with friends, family, pets? Would you take up any new hobbies or just dedicate more time to the ones you already have? Would you look after your health and wellbeing by exercising more or starting a meditation practice? Just consider for a few moments what your answers would be to these questions...and then conside...

Finding space to relax in our busy lives never feels particularly easy.  Here's 5 simple ways you can add a little bit more 'chill time' into your day... Meditate .  You don't have to attend a meditation class (although they are a great way to learn and meet like-minded people), you can instead download apps onto your phone, listen to YouTube or even buy a guided meditation CD. Move . Yes you read that right!  One of my favourite ways to relax and chill out is to actually get moving.  I see running as an active form of meditation and love getting out of the house into nature, allowing the focus on physical movement to help deal with any mental or emotion stresses or anxieties. Yoga .  Another form of 'active chill', yoga asanas (movements) are performed with mindfulness and class finish with a lovely savasana (relaxation) session, where you get to lie on the floor and feel your whole mind and body relax.  You could try Restorative Yoga, which is d...

So this statement - or those very similar in nature - is one I hear on a regular basis and it's something I really want to address... There are two main aspects that need considering: firstly, can we separate the physical asanas from other aspects of yoga practice and secondly, should we? Many people start yoga in order to counterbalance their stressful lives and are introduced to yoga in classes where the physical aspect  - asanas - are prioritised. After 45 of minutes of sequenced movements,  the teacher then directs students to lie on the floor in silence for a few minutes before everyone rushes to roll up their mats and dive straight back into their hectic lives.  The prolific presence of yoga across social media has very much compounded this perception of yoga and understandably, the ability to contort oneself into pretzel-like shapes or hold oneself in seemingly superhuman arm balances appears to be the only goal of many new yogis. For a number of years, I...

We've all been there....you're training for a specific even and at some point you just think 'what the hell am I doing?' and want to jack it all in... This week has probably been my hardest week in terms of staying motivated throughout my marathon training.  I've felt knackered every day and all I've wanted to do is eat and sleep.  It's made me question how much I'm putting my body through.  However, coming out of the other side of this mindset, it has also made me very grateful and proud of just how much my body is capable of. I have had IBS since I was 18 and when it flares up, which it does and often unpredictably, it can be incredibly painful - inconvenient at best and debilitating at worse.  It gets worse when I'm tired or stressed or not sleeping well.  As I've been suffering from all three of those triggers the last couple of weeks, its not been great. However, rather than giving into it, it's got me thinking about how to sta...