Movement, Mindset and Mindfulness
Ideas and tips
Well, my last post about looking after your wellbeing in winter was going to be my last one before Christmas. Then after being struck by a flash of seasonal inspiration, I couldn’t help but post a blog with some yoga poses to help Christmas be even more brilliant. Please also note that usual yoga rules apply at Christmas – warm up first, consult a professional if you have any medical issues, don't do a physical yoga practice if you’ve just eaten a load of mince pies (or other food) and it’s not clever to do yoga after drinking sherry and other alcoholic beverages. Moments of mindfulness will also help this Christmas. Bring your mind to your body and notice how you are feeling, observe your breath for a few breaths or just bring your attention to whatever is going on in front of you. Practicing mindfulness can help you really be present, which can have more benefits than even the biggest presents. Here, then, are some suggestions for festive yoga poses:-
Thanks to Liz Childerley (The Salemaker) for the photos. Would love to know what you think - please comment below. Wishing you health and happiness this Christmas and throughout the New Year. Follow Office Om on any of these social media channels for more office yoga, mindfulness and wellbeing in 2017, to help you feel at your best.
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How is your wellbeing this winter? Whilst some people flourish, many of us find this time of year stressful. It’s colder, darker and often we feel less energetic. Life can get busier with extra family obligations or social commitments. For others, it can be a lonely time of year. Either way, this can be a challenging few weeks. What can help us if we’re feeling stressed? In nature, the winter is about resting. Just look at deciduous trees who lose their leaves in Autumn and rest through the darker months ready to bud again in Spring. The break allows them to protect themselves in winter in preparation to thrive throughout the rest of the year. So what can we do to help us get through this time of year? Here are six ideas to help us rest and revive throughout winter. 1. Nourish When life gets stressful, it is really important we look after ourselves physically. Making sure we eat a healthy diet (in between mince pies) can make sure we are as healthy as possible. There are lots of different ideas around on what sorts of food are best for us, but lots of people suggest more vitamin C can to help boost our immune systems when we’re stressed and in winter. Some ideas on boosting your vitamin C intake can be found from Claire Stone Nutrition here. What foods would be most nourishing for you in the winter months? 2. Meditate Winter can be a great time to practice mindfulness meditation. Research has shown that even practicing for ten minutes a day can help us concentrate better, assist our emotional reactions to situations and improve our relationship skills, which can all be helpful at this time of year. Whilst mindfulness can be practiced in many ways, you might like to find a comfy place to sit, wrap a blanket around you and try a guided meditation. Apps such as Headspace, Sit Breathe Think and Calm are one way to try a guided mindfulness meditation. Or you might like to try free audio practices from websites such as www.calm.com or www.franticworld.com. Find a way of spending a few minutes to focus on the 'here and now' and notice how it makes you feel. 3. Exercise In winter, it can be tempting to snuggle into the sofa, watch loads of TV and not leave the house. Whilst this can be lovely at times, making sure we exercise too can be of great benefit. Whether this is going for a wintery walk, doing an exercise video from YouTube or doing some yoga stretches in between Netflix episodes, moving our bodies can help us boost our feel good hormones and keep us in good shape ready for next year. 4. Be kind Whatever your views on the politics this year, you might have noticed that some commentators have noticed a decrease in compassion. Conversely, being more compassionate has been linked to better mental wellbeing. Try a random act of kindness over Christmas, for example, donating some toys to a local hospital, giving coffee to a cold person or looking after a parcel for a neighbour. Notice how this makes you feel. Likewise, it’s important to be kind to ourselves. Try noticing when you say something unkind to yourself and gently challenge these thoughts. Say something kind to yourself instead and notice what happens to your mood. 5. Rest Take a break. Rest. Stop everything for a bit and just rest. Find a way of doing this that feels good to you. Perhaps putting your feet up and having a cup of tea, disconnecting from technology and reading a book or just lying like a starfish on your bed for a few minutes. This may feel strange or it may feel great, but actually stopping everything and pausing for a few moments, minutes or hours can help us revive. Notice how you feel once you start ‘doing’ again. 6. Reflect Winter can be a good time to reflect on the past year. What are you grateful for? What would you like to be different next year? Take time out to appreciate how far you’ve come and how you would like next year to feel. Taking some time out in winter to recharge, refresh and revive can stand us in good stead for next year. What can you do to help you revitalise yourself this winter? Pause for a moment and plan some ways to boost your own wellbeing in the next few weeks. Do you find January difficult or would you like some wellbeing stratgeies to help you boost your wellbeing in 2017? Try Office Om's January Wellbeing Workshop in Cardiff, details here . Wishing you health and happiness this Christmas. Look out for more ideas to improve your wellbeing in 2017 with Office Om. To find out more, follow Office Om on social media here:
Have you been seeing loads of photos of people recently looking something like a right angle? Well, that could be the Martha's Dancing Heart Downward Dog challenge (as well as loads of other yogis who just love posting photos of the pose!). How can downdog help you? Downdog or Downward Dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana (to give it its Sanskrit name), is the name of an inverted yoga pose. This blog will tell you why you might like to get down with some downdogs too. Here are five benefits:
Other benefits have been written about, for example, relieving the symptoms of depression, (see here).
Can you join in the challenge too? If so, you just need to post a picture of yourself doing downdog for 30 days and post your pictures online using the hashtag #mdhdownwarddog. To squeeze in some health and safety, really you should only attempt this if you have already got yoga experience. You should also avoid it if you have wrist problems or high blood pressure and a yoga teacher can give you modifications if these are the case. Ideally you’d prepare by warming up your ankles, legs and stretch your shoulders first too. Thanks to Michelle Graham for nominating me for the pose, it's been a great incentive to post photos every day, and thanks to everyone else who's got involved too, you rock. If you'd like to donate to Martha’s Dancing Heart appeal, please text MDHT99 £1 to 70070 to donate £1 (Or change it to any other amount too). |
![]() Cathy BaileyFounder of Office Om, BACP registered counsellor, Yoga Alliance 200hr trained yoga teacher, Mental Health First Aid instructor and promoter of making daily life just that little bit better. ![]() Archives
March 2020
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