Retreating

I don't know if it's because I've read Eat, Pray, Love recently, or just because I've always loved travelling, but I've been looking at trips that I wouldn't have previously taken.

I seem to be hitting some kind of strange, quarter life crisis thing - and it's bugging me. A friend and I were discussing it this evening; she wonders sometimes if she's too young for a serious relationship, and I wonder two things. One is why I'm not progressing faster in my work; I want so badly to be successful at my job, and have that responsibility - I know people my age in better places (then again, there are some in less successful places and I know I really shouldn't compare). The second is I wonder if this is the right thing for me to be doing. It sounds so deep and a little bit insane - I'm not unhappy, but nor is it my dream. Part of me just wants to pull a Liz Gilbert and go and 'find myself' for a few months.

Even if that isn't going to happen any time soon (I'm far too responsible and boring to leave work and do something so spontaneous), it will begin this year with an independent trip to learn something, about somewhere and explore. I'll be going to the south of France to study (more on that later), but I can't help but already look into the potential next trip - somewhere that's more of a detox, a retreat from general life, ideally for 2 weeks or more...

Simple Escapism

The past few weeks have been hectic and stressful. Work is crazy, moving is never easy, and I just don't seem to be feeling myself. A friend and I were joking about having quarter life crises and I'm praying this is not the case!

However - there are ways of combatting this! I've come back from work this evening and immediately switched off. A little later I plan to watch a movie and do some research on a retreat I want to take later in the year. For now I have some wonderful relaxing music in the background, and am getting truly stuck into this gift from the lovely Triné!

I'd not heard of The Secret Garden before, but I am so pleased at the discovery! Who knew colouring could be so therapeutic and relaxing? The author is a wonderful illustrator with so much talent. Looking at her website I see that she also has a second book - Wonderlands, which might be in my possession once I'm all therapy-ed out with this masterpiece.

Coupled with a herbal tea, the music and my detox retreat to see me through this strangely tough period, I feel as though I am in good hands.

Take a look at a video from the book below.

Mindfulness for Beginners

I don’t pretend to be an expert on anything mindfulness-related yet. For now I’m learning and enjoying the journey. Of course I intend to do this my way, but I’m naturally very theoretical, and always want to understand the detail behind things so I invested in this book.

So far, so good. I love to hear other people’s views as well as understanding the theory behind practicing mindfulness. It would appear that it is almost becoming en vogue, something I wasn’t aware of, but will make best use of. Hopefully this will mean lots of information, sharing and understanding of the practice. I will shortly be moving again, finally into my own apartment and I have been researching 8-week mindfulness courses around the area. I think I’ve found the one that fits for me, and I’m looking forward to enrolling and starting to be guided along this journey.

As a useful tool for my mindfulness practise, I also grabbed a copy of the Mindfulness Journal from my favourite stationary store. Their products are so adorable, and they currently have a range devoted to inspiration. This journal is perfect for my ever so slightly nerdy obsession with writing things down, and tracking what’s happening. For this though, I actually think it will be a good thing.

I love the journal - it has pages of meditation information, mindfulness practice and space for your own thoughts. It then splits up into months, to reflect on the month as a whole, as well as space for individual days. I think this is a great set up, allowing yourself to then reflect back on how you've change and progressed over the year.

I really want to get started on an 8-week mindfulness course. I'm really keen on this one from The Mindfulness Project, and this one from The Now Project. Part of me thinks I need to go easy on the courses - I'm already well underway with my Nutritionist Course - but then again, I really enjoy learning things I'm interested in and I think the two go hand in hand.

Just call me Miss Nutritionist

Exciting news!

I've just signed up to complete a Nutritionist Training course; a certified course teaching the role of nutrition in the body. I'm very excited - I'd been thinking a little bit about doing something like this, but hadn't really got around to it yet. My mum told me about one she saw, and when we then looked it up - it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for!

I might be keen on taking this even further, but this course will be a great introduction. It's all online, and providing I pass the final exam, I can wave around my Certificate in Nutrition with pride!

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The company that runs this course, Diet Specialist, are a team of registered dieticians and nutritionists who not only run this course, but also provide individual consultations, business support, seminars and workshops, and health centre services. They have a scientific approach that I completely agree with, helping people to understand health and wellbeing. Here are their six steps:

Detoxify your body
On starting a healthy eating regime, an initial a detox programme cleanses the body from toxins, provides you with energy and helps you feel revitalised and prepares your body for a tailored diet.

Plan a new and effective diet
Having explored your current diet & lifestyle habits, introduce foods that are tailored according to the glycemic index and their pH balance, with an appropriate calorie content and set at suitable portions & frequency.

Tailor your diet to specific needs
Everyone has their own dietary needs hence your diet should be tailored according to food sensitivities, allergies and intolerances, and for all other health conditions.

Increase your metabolism
Measuring your metabolic rate & identifying which foods slow it down, understanding how to increase metabolism and developing a tailored exercise regime.

Incorporate new lifestyle habits
Successful weight loss is often driven by lifestyle changes, we can help with practical tips on shopping, cooking and eating out, psychological tips to change behaviour and dealing with binges and cravings.

Provide tools to understand nutrition
Not only will we help you to lose weight, but we will provide you with tools such as guidance on interpreting food labels, advice on marketing terminology such as low fat, light & no added sugar and knowledge of ingredients such as E-Nos.

I am so excited to get started, I'm really interested in health and making sure my body is strong and well - this seems like a brilliant way to get started! I will be keeping you posted!

Psychologies

I love reading. Books, yes but magazines also. I've seen Psychologies a few times before, but I never really stopped to look at what it was. This time though, the headline grabbed my attention; Be Happier in 2015. I flicked through and decided to buy it, because it seemed to feature a lot of things I either agreed with, or wanted to learn more about.

The cover story, focusing on happiness, and the perception of happiness was such an interesting read. I think they are correct in suggesting that the stories we think should make us happy often belong to someone else. It's this idea of what is right, what is the best, and what life should be that can get in the way of what people really want. Their best suggestion was to identify the things that make you happy and build them into your routine - even if it's things as small as a favourite TV programme or talking to one of your friends.

It's interesting to think about the fact that other emotions can make you happy - ambition and purpose might not feel particularly joyful on a daily basis but if it's a long term drive then clearly it works for some people. It's not necessarily about smiling all day every day, but finding out what you want and what puts you in a positive mood. Even before reading this I believed that self discovery and identity is crucial; and making sure that it works for you.

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I wanted to share one of Psychologies' brilliant ideas, mainly because I think it would truly work, but also because I think the example they have used would work on me, and I intend to give it a try. Once again it's about building the things that make you happy into your life in some, small ways. Here's the suggestion when it's novels & reading that makes you tick...

• Put books in every room in your house
• Set your web browser to GoodReads.com
• Make a date to go to a literary event with a friend who shares your love of reading once a month
• Join a facebook book club.

I'm going to do these, as well as think of some others related to my other interests, and look forward to reporting back on how well it's working out.

Reading this turned out to be the perfect activity for a Sunday afternoon. I had a cup of herbal tea and zoned into this beautiful Tibetan healing music, and felt ready and calmed for the week ahead.

I think I'd decided to make Psychologies a permanent fixture as soon as I'd read the editor's letter. She seemed to echo everything I want my year/life/blog to represent.

"I want to focus on being happy in the now. That means focusing on the details, to create a daily routine that supports me, to be more present, love more, obsess less, and, of course, eat good food with people I adore."                          - Suzy Greaves 

Breathe and Reboot

I really don't like not having anything to do. In work, I'm usually really busy and it doesn't often make me feel negative, I enjoy having challenges to face and getting stuff done. It's great that this sort of lifestyle doesn't obviously bother me, but it's probably one of the reasons why I haven't addressed having the right kind of 'down time' before. Because I didn't consider myself as needing it.

I think it's safe to say that everyone definitely needs it. Although I'm coping fine in work, after a fortnight of a fairly solid new routine involving mindfulness and consideration, I've come back to my family home and just ended up doing different things, not having time, and falling out of that pattern. I already feel a bit under the weather and out of sorts. Even after just two weeks I am out of my comfort zone, because I have learned to appreciate mindfulness so much already. It is interesting that when something works for you, and genuinely makes you feel together and controlled, just how quickly it changes you when for whatever reason you loose the routine of it.

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I believe that ensuring you have this time to feel refreshed, even if its just a few minutes a day, in whichever form works personally for you is a must do. From my perspective it makes me more aware, focused, happy and concentrated. As I mentioned it even means I don't feel run down or unwell.

Even though this is completely against my nutrition aims this year, I think I need it for my well-being - nothing wrong with a bit of a treat when you're not feeling 100%, and for me - hot chocolate is the way to go. Having said that I do have an upcoming post about healthy treats which to me are nearly as good!

Goals, aims and aspirations

So the whole point of the writing, the change of mindset and trying to act upon it was to make me feel happier, better about myself and more fulfilled in any and every way. On reflection 2014 was a great year but that doesn’t mean I can’t do things differently and a little better this year.

I have 3 goals for my 2015 journey, as well as some aims and things I hope to achieve over the course of the year.

1. A clearer mind
This year is the time when I will start to take active time out of my day and schedule to reflect, and take care of my mind. I know I can make time for this, after thinking about it and starting work on this for a few days I feel happy and energised. Often through music, meditation or writing I will learn the best ways to practise mindfulness and benefit from this.

2. An enjoyable routine
For the first time in a long time, my life shouldn’t get uprooted this year, and I believe this will be a good thing for me. I get bored easily, I always need to be doing something and so a routine will be an excellent way to channel this. I want to take my first goal into consideration as part of this routine, as well as nutrition (especially getting back into a kitchen of my own, and being more regimented in my diet), exercise, and making sure that the way I choose to live this routine works for me.

3. Physical wellbeing
Really, all three goals go hand in hand. Here I want to find a ‘diet’ that suits me, one that I might take from a number of sources and make my own, and one that I want to follow and not just feel obliged to.
Honestly, I don’t like typical gym exercise. I enjoy walking, cycling and swimming and will do more of this going forward. I also want to strengthen myself by having more involvement in yoga and core exercises.

I also intend to do the following. One way or another, they all seem to fit into my goals above:

• Cook experimentally and discover new and healthy meals
• Learn how to meditate correctly
• Enrol in yoga classes near my new home
• Find a way to keep routine when travelling with work
• Spend 2 weeks in France learning about language & food
• Spend some time trying out different diets (wheat free, dairy free, vegan)
• Give some serious thought to who I admire and why
• Find my stress triggers and learn how to deal with them
• Write more letters
• Find a new exercise that I really enjoy

Rest Day

I'm speaking of a 'rest day' in a different way than you might expect. It's not part of my fitness or exercise regime (something that needs a revamp in the next few weeks!), but rather a pause in what has been a non stop week of work, travel and flat hunting.

I don’t do rest days of doing absolutely nothing though - I think it’s a waste of time even if I am exhausted! Instead I’d rather do something that makes me happy, so today I went to one of my favourite places and enjoyed some of my favourite things.

During my time at university I spent so many days in London’s Imperial War Museum. It’s my favourite museum and one of the most interesting places. A lot has changed since I visited last and I had been meaning to go for a while. The perfect place to wander on a Sunday.

On my way back I stopped at a French cafe I have wanted to try for ages and had some of their fabulous fresh tomato soup and a little mushroom tartlet. French pastry I know, isn't known for its health properties but it's not about having to force yourself to diet for me, I just fancied a little treat.

I'm writing this post now with some of my favourite positive background music on (thanks Youtube!) and a cup of tea, before I start packing for my business trip tomorrow. So important to take the time when you know there are busy days ahead.