Like you, I’m working on my health.
Like you, I’m discerning about the practitioners I choose to help me, many of whom work outside the auspices of the UK’s National Health Service, and have decided against jumping through the “work with insurers” hoop.
And, like you, I appreciate that the decision to partner with me in understanding how to feel better comes at a financial cost.
So, to help you get the maximum benefit from our time together – or if you’d rather put some straightforward foundations in place and see how much better you feel before reaching into your bank account, read on.
Start with these:
- Get some sort of journalling or note system in place and take note(s). Much of health improvement comes from identifying current behaviours and becoming aware of the triggers and cues that inform our decision-making and choices. I usually suggest to my clients that they go Old Skool and select a paper journal/notebook to dedicate to this process. Unlike tekkie tools, handwriting has been shown to help embed knowledge and encourage cognitive awareness of behaviours. And if you’re unconvinced and feel the lure of technology, bear in mind that exposure to blue wave light from screens is not conducive to either good health or, if later in the day, restorative sleep… Once you’ve got your preferred system in place, observe your eating, activity, relaxation, and rest choices and how “connected” you feel, to yourself and others.
- Pause and breathe. Yes, I am officially a huge fan of “pausing and breathing”. It’s a tiny step towards turning off our autopilot, settling our “feeling brain”, and enabling our “thinking brain” to step up to the plate (eating pun, sorry!).
- Think before you eat. Often simpler said than done, this builds on the “pause and breathe” step, soothing the unhelpful feelings of stress, boredom or stronger emotions that may encourage unwise food or lifestyle choices.
- Give yourself, and your digestion, a break. Stop eating in your evening/night-time; reach for water or herb tea instead of food, and allow at least 12 hours between your evening meal and the first eating episode of the day. This creates a basic “eating window” that can be closed (i.e. no eating) to encourage your body’s natural metabolic processes to tick along uninterrupted.
- Tackle your hydration. I get it, I really do: it can be tricky to remember to drink sufficient fluid during the day, especially on cooler days, but giving it a good go can help us build a lasting habit. If your efforts are less successful than you’d hope, observe (and note down) the stumbling blocks: these can then be dismantled and navigated. And it’s always better to come to me armed with the deeper dive data that allows us to get the most value from your investment, be that time or financial.
- Take some time to reflect on what’s bringing you to this process at this time and what you are hoping to achieve. Are you being pushed or pulled? Many of my clients are pushed, often by an unwelcome or unexpected event, into addressing health or weight/shape concerns; others have simply had enough of their particular status quo and decide to make some changes. Pushed, or pulled? This can be a great starting point for your journal or note system.
- Developing that reflection, ask yourself why adjusting your health and wellbeing matters to you now, at this time. Tapping into the work of Simon Sinek, identifying your “why?” can encourage a deep motivation for change, even when family, friends, work colleagues, or situations conspire to de-rail your efforts to make more supportive choices.
- Seek out the 3Ps: the People, Places, or Pursuits that actively lift you up, restore your energy, and encourage you back to You. Once again, observing (and recording) the results of your choices or interactions can reveal areas where health is supported or where you feel less like your best self. There’ll always be elements of the 3Ps that dull your natural sparkle: the skill lies in encouraging the radiators while managing the drains.
- Go through your wardrobe and choose to wear a smile. Life is full of challenges, some within our control and others beyond it. Approaching them all with a smile doesn’t remove or invalidate them, simply enables a slight shift in perspective. Neuroscience has shown us that wearing a smile – just encouraging our faces into a gently up-curling of our lips – helps us feel more positive. And, after all, we are only ever guaranteed Life in this moment, so we might as well wear a smile.
And there you have them: steps to help you start walking your path towards better health and wellbeing. With or without me. Give them a go, note them and the outcome in your preferred system and, if you still want me, let me know.
One last thing: I’m not relentlessly upbeat. I know that Life is full of hiccups and hurdles, good times when our best selves dazzle, and less good times when our best self seems to have wandered off without us. But Life is to be lived, to the best of our individual abilities. We can only do that when we elect to connect with and begin to understand ourselves through doing a tiny something different.
