Total Mind and Body Wellness

  BREATHING! We all do it, we have to, if we don't, we die, simple as that really, so why on earth and I writing a blogpost on breathing then if we all know how to do it? I spend a large portion of my working life telling people to breathe, believe it or not. Not just in fitness sessions, but also during hypnotherapy too. The power of correct breath control is something that we should master, not just for our physical health, but for our mental well-being too. Focusing on our out-breath can help to calm our minds. Deep breathing to relax helps us to reduce anxiety. Try now for a while........ Take a big deep breath right from your abdomen, hold it for just a second, relax your shoulders and exhale slowly for a count of four. Do this several times and feel the tension drift away from your body. Do this daily and you will be able to notice a more focused mind afterwards, it just gives you a little reset. Deep breathing, rather than the shallow breaths taken in from your lungs will he...

 WHY on earth are you writing a blog about feet? I'm a reflexologist, who has, for years also been a ballet dancer and ultra-marathon runner. I look after other people's feet, and have seemingly tried to ruin mine! This post was again inspired by my 'Mindfulness Monday' post on social media this week. I was reading about Zen Monks, they never wear shoes, they are always barefoot. They believe that this helps their health and spares them from serious illness. And I guess it seems to be working for them? FEET are neglected by many people.  They are way away from the rest of us, right down there on the floor, covered in socks and shoes, never to be aired unless on holiday or in the garden in the summer. I always hear this, 'I hate my feet,' or, 'I hate feet!' I find this weird, because why on earth would you 'hate feet?' Ask any amputee whether they would rather have feet or not and I am sure that you know the answer, so why 'hate'  the very...

  One Christmas, quite a few years ago, I decided that I didn't want any gifts, I wanted my friends and family to donate to The Veterans Charity so that I could put together some hampers for veterans in the South Devon area who wouldn't have much over Christmas. I didn't see that there was anything wrong or selfish about this at all, however, I upset my Mum over it. She had already got some gifts for me, and she loves giving, I was accused of being selfish and not thinking of others, but I couldn't understand this, I had thought I was doing quite the opposite. Looking back now, of course I could see why she was hurt, because the act of giving to others for her is a gift to her all in itself. She felt that I was denying her the pleasure of giving, thankfully we had a good chat about it, made up and exchanged Christmas presents as usual, and I also got to give some hampers to some very worthy people that year. In that aspect of gifting, the pleasure for my Mum and the gif...

As with previous weeks, I am picking up from my 'Mindfulness Monday' social media posts. This week I wrote about how getting rid of clutter from your home, can help you in the process of clearing your mind too. We all have times in our lives when we give our homes, and even vehicles a good old clear out. And mostly we feel amazing afterwards, looking at our cleared surroundings in a more positive light. We feel like we are starting again. What if we kept our homes uncluttered except for essentials all the time? Surely that would mean we could obtain peace of mind all the time too? Or at least give us a good grounding for it? I'm not saying empty your house of all that is treasured, keep your favourite cushions, keep drinking from your beloved mug, but get rid of the things you no longer want or need. If you haven't seen it or used it for a long time, do you really need it? Can you do without additional materialistic items? We fill our lives with belongings, material ite...

 I am going to try and keep this as brief as possible, I've written a book all about my running, so if you want a more in-depth history then you can get my book, 'Running in Daddy's footsteps' on Amazon, my author name on there is Deborah Wright. This blog is all about knowing when the right time is to quit something for the benefit of your future health. I've written a blog about giving up the booze, which I did nearly four-years ago, this isn't about that, but it is about stopping something else for the benefit of my health. Here it is........it's a shocker.......... I've given up running marathons!  TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, over ONE HUNDRED MARATHONS and I am now taking a step away from long distance endurance events. BUT RUNNING IS GOOD FOR YOU EH? Yes of course it is, and I highly endorse running as the best exercise ever for me, I'm just cutting it shorter now for my health. I won't be writing down all the stats, it would bore non-runners and the...