My 2020 Story

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Day one of this online Tony Robbins event. An event that supplements the now postponed in-person event which was meant to take place in Birmingham in May. An event that will now take place next year.

This online event is a bonus. 4 days of coaching in my own home. It’s intense – a lot of information. I’m attached to my laptop and not going out. It’s long, interspersed with upbeat movements to raise the vibe and There’s been a half hour break in 8 hours or zooming!

Loads of energy, loads of jumping about.. and to be fair, loads of effective breakthroughs. Imagine what it’s like in-person: I’ll need a lot of caffiene!!

I guess its not a style that’s for everyone. Many don’t like the upbeat noise. I wouldn’t choose the music for my personal downtime.. but here it works. Love it!

My concern atm is the proposed end time of 10pm … 4 days in a row !!

I’m exhausted thinking about it !

Smile

Smile and the World smiles with you – an old saying. Yesterday I decided to try this one out.

Fed up with the low mood out and about with everyone (well most) hid behind masks – a look of fear and compliance in their eyes, I decided to take a walk into my local town centre and smile at all those I passed.

Plenty averted their eyes – not to divert from me in particular – just because perhaps they didn’t want to make any sort of contact (do they know something I don’t about pathogen transmission?). But I did get a reasonable percentage of smile returned – and even a few conversations (about the lovely day, the beach etc).

Was it a success? – well it was a start. I could improve my technique and somehow get a bigger hit rate.

This is my new mission!

Meditation Mastery

What is meditation? – One definition I found defined it as the art of meditating. Useful. Not. Perhaps the art of stillness – connection with all that is – touching the still point that is all around and within. Perhaps.

This weekend I embarked on a new journey – a year long course on the subject of Meditation Mastery. A course of 3 levels, which, when put together permits the student to become the teacher. A course of personal development which will hopefully give insights which may be usefully passed on.

This first weekend was all about the body – making friends with this vehicle in which me travel for the duration of our lifetime in this timeframe. It carries us everywhere, it does amazing things and it deserves the utmost care and respect. When we treat our body with love and care this feeling of peace travels through the reminder of ourselves – the emotions, thoughts and deep self. Stronger, mpre resilient and consistent at every level.

Loved it – roll on weekend 2!

I Passed!!

18 months ago I signed up for a Level 4 Strength and Conditioning course. A burst of enthusiasm as lifting stuff and training is my passion and hobby – but not something I ever saw as a career. I saw this as a personal development process.

The weekend practicals (2 weekends) were time consuming – but I went. Then I lost the will to complete to course. When lockdown arrived I thought this would be a good time to finally get this course completed. The task was – a case study, a practical examination and a theory test. All in all a lot of work.

The case study was on a lady cricketer – we trained as lockdown eased and we could use my garden and personal gym in the garage. New to the concepts of strength training I was able to achieve an increase in her personal fitness – she went on to join a local functional fitness gym in order to enjoy more lifting and fitness fun.

The practical assessment was booked for September – and cancelled at the last minute due to the ongoing situation. The option of submitting a video of me coaching the snatch lift and an agility session for a rugby player was offered. Less scarey than having someone watch directly I supose – but a completely different skill set – presenting, videoing (the tusty tripod). Anyway – I did that.

So far so good – both passed.

Today I attempted the online exam. I had been told the questions were based around the information in the summary video. So I watched that. I wrote notes, attempted to get my head around it – and with butterflies in my tummy, made a start – 60 minutes to do 30 multiple choice questions. How hard could it be?

Actually – quite hard! The questions took a while to work out what they were asking. The answers took a while to juggle in my head. But I got there – and with 4 minutes to go, submitted.

I don’t know the final mark – but a pass is a pass. And now I’m a qualified (Level 4) Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Despair

I’m feeling an overriding feeling of despair this morning. For the way things are going in our country, for our freedom and the health and wellbeing of our children; to name but a few.

Woken up this morning to the news that our government are about to impose even more draconian measures on us – gyms, restaurants – basically everything. A letter from the school acknowledging they have no hope of providing a decent education to our teenagers – this requires a conversation with the teenager – how can he best come out of this ? He’s a strong minded kid – but he needs direction!!

The 21 year old in Nottingham with the bare bones of a University education ongoing – stuck there with no friends and no life. At least he’s not got to worry about not having a job – perhaps he’s in the best place?

It’s making me feel quite anxious and even angry. And I’m retired – my life is relatively easy.

I feel we’re in for a winter of extreme discontent and rebellion. Oh dear.

Manicure

In all my 56 years I have never had a manicure done. Now there’s a thing!

30 years in dentistry meant the nails had to be short – and in and out of latex umpteen times a day. A manicure never even crossed my mind. Functional and clean. That’s the nails of a dental surgeon.

21 years taking levothyroxine – with some remining low thyroid sysmptoms including mails that split constantly; there’s another reason not to bother decorating them.

4 months ago I started taking NAD supplement – I’m going to credit that with my new strong talons. And today I went for a gel polish. All neatly filed, all polsihed and shiney – my first ever pro-manicure 🙂

Now to look after them in all their glory – jewels, not tools – my new shiney nails.

Muzzled

Can we please restore some sense of calm. Some sense of reality please?

Unless all of a sudden paper and cloth masks prevent you inhaling pathogens (which they never did – common only ever protected those people coming into contact with you – not the wearer: why are people wandering around country parks and the beaches muzzled like dogs?

How do I know this? – 30 years in dentistry, plenty of time to pick up the basics of what a mask is useful for.

If it makes you feel better I’ll wear one (under duress) in a shop to protect others from my foul breath and pathogen-filled exhalations. I’ll wear it so It covers my nose and mouth. Both at the same time. Even though it does inhibit vmy personal good breathing – the body’s first line of defense are the hairs and mucous in the nose – that’s my defense. If I don’t wear one I can’t go to a shop: although I’m putting my health at risk because I can’t breathe effectively. As long as the box is ticked.

What is our society coming to – a herd of muzzled beings. For what? When can we return to some common sense?

The joy of lipstick

There’s a well known correlation between lipstick sales and economic downturn – buying small luxuries is demonstrated to help us ladies feel better when other things around us aren’t going so well.

A bright, complementary coliour enhances the smile and makes us feel better – a simple demostration of the mind: body connection if ever there was one. How much additional confidence do you feel when you have taken the time to make sure you look your best? Smile and the whole world smiles with you – show yourself at your best and lift your mood and that of those you meet.

There’s currently an additional factor, with many ladies going around with a mask constantly in front of their nose and mouth. I wonder if there’s less of an inclination to look good if most of our efforts are hidden from view? It seems to me that covering the face and/or muting the lips so they show no definition has a negative effect on our feelings. Just my obsesrvation.

For World Mental Health Day this year why not try dressing up, putting on that bright lipstick and get outside. Smile.

Coming off the meds (Part 9)

This journey has been a few months now. In March I was taking 175mcg Levothyroxine daily – and never felt quite right. I wanted to try and reduce the dose – ideally coming right off, but wishing to reduce at the very least.

I slowlly dropped the amount I was taking – all the way to 25mcg. With the support of some NAD+ and an assortment of herbal remedies. At 25mcg I could feel the drop – my weight had increased by 2 kg and I had occasional puffiness in my hands and face. A blood test showed my TSH had gone up into the 90+ levels – far too high. And so I went back up to 100mcg.

At 100mcg I have retruned to just below my March weight. My performance in the gym remains consistent and my resting heart rate and blood pressure are in a good range (both quite low due to my fitness levels).

Resutls of last weeks blood test shpw that although TSH remains high (18.4), T4 is within normal range – no need for changes. Cholesterol is 6.4 globally – but taking into account the good:bad ratio (which is ide3ally over 1.2 for a woman) which is 3.5 – no need to do anything.

Feeling fabulous. Lifestyle choices seem to be paying off. Another blood test in 4 – 6 weeks. Onwards and upwards!

A Rainy Saturday

All those jobs I’ve been saving for a rainy day can at last be tackled. I guess I could have done then on any other day – but who want to spend a day of autumn sunshine stuck in housework mode, sorting piles of stuff around the garage or takling the long overdue accounts situation?

The rain turned up today almost like a welcome friend – and so, full of energy, today I’m tackling those jobs.

Mission 1 – to condense eldest son’s stuff ready for transport to Uni tomorrow – check.

Mission 2 – to clear the garage so I can get my car back in there so I don’t have to tackle an icey windscreen or cold seat when I first get in (I know, first world problems, right?!) – check.

Mission 3 – get my new events up and promoted on Eventbrite, Facebook nad Instagram – hmmm – next job….

Got to love a rainy day, right?