Total Mind and Body Wellness

  In Zen, using a loud voice is a way to get yourself motivated. It is thought that chanting sutras with 'vigour' helps you to stimulate and activate your brain. When you speak loudly, as opposed to mumbling, you can hear yourself clearly, you can confirm to yourself what you really mean. Others can also hear you more clearly, they won't have to question what you've said, communication will be clearer, more defined and more efficient. If you work with the public, maybe in a shop, pub or restaurant, where you greet customers, even if you aren't by nature, confident, speaking loudly will make you appear so, and this will eventually lead to a natural confidence over time. There are some classes and workshops, mostly in cities, where you can go and just shout, express yourself, get it all out. You can go and shout and scream, laugh loudly, be big and bold and let it all out. This de-stresses you, energises your brain, reduces cortisol and makes you feel calmer afterward...

  This is a photo of my favourite van, Jessy! She appeared in many online fun competitions over the years until some idiot in a Mini wrote her off. I wanted to use her in this blog because she was such an epic van, I really looked after her, but unfortunately I couldn't predict the accident that happened, same as in life for us, accidents happen. I've always used the car analogy when it comes to personal training, and as I found out, when in a group meeting with my business coach this week, it can pretty much be used for many work examples. Today, I want to talk about our relationship with getting things fixed, and I'm using the car again for this. I am actually having a few vehicle issues at the moment so it's at the very front of my mind. So, you get in a car and drive off without your seat belt on, what happens? Well, in my Mini, nothing, it has no warning sounds, but most cars these days have a warning sound - putting on your seatbelt, the most important thing to do...

  On Saturday 20th July 2024 me and my husband will be celebrating one whole year of marriage. It's a wondrous thing, especially as I didn't even believe that true LOVE existed four years ago. How on earth did that happen? I can tell you, well part of the story at least, the other part was that I hadn't yet met my soulmate, but the journey began before I met Ryan, it was how I got to know myself. For most of my life I have struggled with self-belief. I wasn't confident growing up, although seemingly, on the surface I appear to have all the confidence of a big CAT on the prowl, in reality, it was all just a big ACT. I have battled with an eating disorder, then once I had tamed that beast (sort of) alcohol became my friend (or so I thought). I didn't have to face up to the reality of who I was and where I was going when I was in the pub with my 'so called friends.' It was escapism. It couldn't last forever if you want to live a long, happy and healthy life...

  I've done some pretty serious blogs lately, so I wanted to throw in a light-hearted  cleanser this week. I'm going to tell you a little about my downtime, how I switch off from running my business. During the time I'm working at Total Mind and Body Wellness, I pretty much do 'all the things' and to be honest, my personal life isn't very different. I have a wide and varied collection of hobbies, I don't have a lot of free time to spend on them, but they all exist in small portions when I'm not working. My main hobby is obviously fitness! It always has been up there on the top, I'm currently mixing up the following, in no particular order........ Running - HIIT - Kickboxing - Yoga - Rebounder (mini trampoline) - jump boots - resistance and weight workouts.  Exercise keeps me fit, well and the endorphins released keep my mind happy, it also helps stave off any menopause symptoms that may be lurking about. Another passion of mine is music, another stap...

  I'm mostly going to be writing about personal training today, because that's the part of my business I've been doing the longest, and, let's face it, everyone has a fitness or fatloss goal in them at some point in their life. It may be that you want to be slimmer for a wedding, or be fit enough to run an organised 10km. Each goal is not only personal to you on a mental level, it's also about the stage you are physically at, at the time. You wouldn't set a goal of running a marathon in 6-months time, when you've barely managed 2km in one session, or would you? I've had to help move the boundaries on many a goal wished for by clients because they were unreasonable, unachievable or dangerous! No matter how much work you are willing to put in, there is no overnight success in fitness and fatloss, it really does take patience and time, something that a lot of people don't have. I want to tell you about my current goal, the one I am working away on in my...