Category Archives: Holiday Health

Taking care as you enjoy yourself

Seville

Holiday health – Well being

Well we’re not exactly on holiday but many of us have more time at home than we usually do. As for the amazing key workers who are still at work doing such a phenomenal job please still try to be kind to yourself. These are very unusual times that most of us never thought we’d see in our lifetime and using this time for renewal is crucial.

I am not necessarily talking about learning a new skill or learning to speak a foreign language, although both of these would be a good use of the time, but learn to relax and take care of your own well being. The biggest aim is to get through this safely and with our well being intact and preferably improved.

This is a blog post from summer 2015 when we were all looking forward to sunshine holidays and a break from routine. Well, no holidays this year but certainly a break or change of routine. The chance to relax and revitalise on holiday is of vital importance but maybe we can follow the same rules and improve our well being at home.

Review, renew, resolve
Holidays allow us time to reflect – on life and on work. Do you always get the balance right? Giving yourself some me time allows your mind to switch off and can bring clarity to your thoughts. Just allow the thoughts to come and go, maybe make a note of some insights to come back to once the holiday time comes to an end. Don’t address everything at once or you could use all your time off thinking about when you get back.

Think about any resolutions or goals you had for the new year. Have you achieved them and need new ones? Are you not there yet and need to redefine? Take this opportunity to look at the balance of your life and make sure it is just how you want it. This is the only life you have right now and no one else can make it how you want, you have to do that for yourself.

If finding your way is too difficult or you don’t know what you want, try different things until you find your niche or read so-called ‘self help’ books for inspiration. Here are a few suggestions.

Inspiration
* Chicken Soup for the Soul
* Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach
* Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
* The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
* Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
* The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce

Self Help
* The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin Sharma
* The Road Less Travelled, M. Scott Peck
* The Chimp Paradox, Dr. Steve Peters

Biographies to inspire and entertain
* How to be Champion, Sarah Millican
* Becoming, Michelle Obama
* My Story, Jo Malone
* Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson

For more prescriptive inspiration why not read autobiographies of your hero or favourite sports person? There are some amazing stories out there from people just like you, be one of them!

Helen in lockdown
Me in lockdown
Helen in coffee shop
In a coffee shop – remember those days?!

Holiday Health

Well finally the summer has arrived (maybe?) and I hope you will be taking some well earned time out. July and August are popular months for a lazy summer break. Whether you go away or stay home time off allows you to step out of your usual routine. However, it shouldn’t be seen as a chance to let all your good habits go so you end the holiday in a worse state than you started! Over the next 4 weeks I will pass on some hints and tips for having a healthy and happy holiday without spoiling all the fun.

Sunshine fun

 Travelling – eat before you travel so you can avoid the fast foods at stations and airports. Avoid alcohol or balance with plenty of water particularly on a flight so you don’t arrive at your destination dehydrated.
 Local delicacies – whether it’s Jamaican rum cake or Cornish clotted cream scones be careful not to overindulge. Please note I said ‘over’ indulge as it is a holiday and you want to indulge a little bit. Balance the indulgence with a healthy dinner of fresh fish with plenty in season vegetables perhaps.
 Meet friends that lift your spirits rather than the energy vampires. This is your holiday and you should spend it with people who inspire that fiesta feeling not those who bring your spirits down. Spend your time off with the sunshine folk.
 My best tip for the holiday? Have fun! ‘nuff said?

Next time a look at diet and exercise while on vacation.