My 2020 Story

Yoga commute

With so many of us now working from home is it a case of rolling out of bed and straight to the laptop. Pyjamas in, coffee in hand?

I’ve decided to offer a replacement to the morning commute .. simply an opportunity to join me for a 20- 30 minute yoga/ mindful movement session via zoom.

The first sessions have taken place.. initially with my daughters now working from home themselves, and lately having added a couple of friends. I’m no techy expert but its improving.

If youd like to join our little gang, PM me here !!

wtf is happening?

Information, misinformation – truths and conspiracy theories – will we ever know the truth?

Fear is the upshoot of uncertainty. Fear fills your head with thoughts of the worst case scenario, fear affects your body by switching on your sympathetic nervous system and igniting the ‘fight or fight’ response – and fear lowers your body’s ability to ignite its own immune response.

I’m not sure that we will ever get to the bottom of where the COVID-19 virus came from, why it has spread so quickly and caused so much devastation to the population. I’m not sure why we are being told so urgently to retire to our homes and stay there until the threat has subsided.

I do know that the fear of the unknown is causing a great deal of harm and panic.

My solution? Focus on the things you can control – there are many things that are out of our immediate ability to influence, but many others that we can.

Best things to do to stay healthy right now?

1 stay informed – about the threats, the advice given, keep it real.

2 manage stress (including fear) – through self care and mindset – I know it’s hard, see my blog here.

3 take personal responsibility through prevention and healthy habits – you are what you eat, supplement well, exercise regularly, wash your hands, – all the stuff you know – #preventionisbetterthancure

In times of uncertainty such as we are experiencing, stay calm and in control of the things you can. Love and peace.

Crossfit Age Group Online Qualifiers

This weekend I have spent all my energy and time doing the Age Group Online Qualifiers. Which means?

The Crossfit Open is an opportunity for the Crossfit community to participate in a worldwide competition -m the results of which are scored according to age groups. That gives us an opportunity to (virtually) compete against athletes of a similar age bracket.

The open was back in November, and as an athlete in the top 200 in my age bracket worldwide I was invited into this next stage. The ‘prize’ for getting this far is the opportunity to do another 6 workouts over a 4 day period and log those – thus getting a worldwide placement. The top 10 in each age bracket then go forward to the Crossfit Games.

So the 6 workouts were these:

workout 1 – AMRAP 6 mins – 8 Thrusters(29kg) and 50 Double Unders
workout 2 – 15 mins timecap – 14 Pullups, 10 OHS – 4 rounds with increasing weight for OHS – 29kg, 34kg, 38kg, 47kg
workout 3 – timecap 20 mins – 100 Dumbbell snatches (10kg) , 50 cal row, 100 burpees over bar
workout 4 – 3 rounds for time timecap 12 mins – 9 chest to bar pull ups, 18 toes to bar
workout 5 – 1 rep max clean and jerk
workout 6 – time cap 20 mins 2 rounds – 10 deadlift (79kg), 20 HSPU, 30 front squat (25kg)

I’m exhausted thinking about it!

I deserve a treat just having completed it.

Thank you to all who supported me during this time, coaches, judges and fellow crossfitters. You are all amazing!

Moving out of Fear

Fear is a response to an external stimulus – the perceived result of which may or may not cause actual harm. Fear is a result of worry about what that result may be, and often we let our mind make the worst possible outcome loom largest in our mind.

At the moment we find ourselves in a situation of mass fear – fear of how the spread of COVID-19 may affect us, our family and our personal security. Much information exists – some helpful, some not – but how do we identify what is useful and what is not?

How do we act in the most appropriate fashion to best serve our families and those we love?

The first step, I would suggest, is to recognise when we are acting out of fear. Acknowledging how your body feels in a state of fear is necessary in order to reduce that feeling.

Secondly ask yourself what is that feeling trying to tell me – is the fear real, what can I do to feel better about this? What do I need to do?

Having decided upon the best action take steps to let the fear go – breathe, get back into the moment – so that you can move forward and take the necessary steps with confidence.

If the feelings return having taken action then repeat the process – listen, breathe and take action.

You are only in a position to help others if you can help yourself – your response to fear makes a difference to those around you. Stay positive, stay well and stay strong.

Dentist visit

I was interested to observe how the dental practice I attended with my son today was handling the current threat of virus spread.

As a former dentist I’m all too aware of the pressure on the profession at this time of year. Often there’s the race to complete the annual funding target by the end of March – or risk having to pay a chunk back and possibly loose a portion of the funding next year (or potentially even the entire NHS funding for the practice if it’s a repeat ‘offence’).

This year the spanner in the works is the Coronavirus doing the rounds – with only weeks to go to meet the target and balancing the risk of keeping patients attending versus closing down.

Of course dental practices are very well equipped to ensure they minimise cross-infection. This has been a major part of dental practice policy and routine for many years. As dental professionals we would appear to be in the front line as far as potentially contracting infections spread by people in close proximity – and in my experience some patients do continue to attend despite having coughs and colds; even when they are off work because of that very thing.

I am happy to report that I felt totally safe – hand gel supplied at the practice and pretty much business as usual in this highly aware environment.

Selfcare is not selfish

Life is full of ups and downs – ebbs and flows – a dance, if you will between joy and pain. One minute all is well and you’re swimming along nicely, the next it all feels like it’s falling apart.

The job you once loved gets to be more of a chore with added responsibilities and no benefits, elderly parents need more of your time, partners make more demands as they face challenges and the children hit puberty.

No latter where you are in life you must make time to pause – slow down and fill yourself up. Fill yourself with energy, enthusiasm, love – for you can’t help others if you have nothing to give. Or to put it another way, you can’t pour from an empty cup.

Self care can mean so many things – and must include several of them: here are some ideas –

eat well
supplement wisely
exercise
yoga
meditate

Basically whatever it takes to nourish your soul. Do more of that.

Selfcare is not selfish – it is essential.

Stay positive

In a world where drama sells stories it’s too easy to be caught up in the ‘what ifs’ and the scaremongering.

A positive outlook is key to a good life – a healthy life where you can rise each morning and look forward with joy to the day ahead. A positive attitude rises you up and sends your whole body forward with a smile that lifts your while soul.

Does spending time with someone with a negative attitude wear you down? – it does me. I feel their energy like a dense blanket of fog descending on me and smothering me. I try to spend as little time as possible around these energy vampires.

Conversely spending time with positive people leaves me filled with happiness and love.

Which person do you try to be?

Bowel Scope Sreening

Last week I had an invitation to a bowel scope screening – not the best offer I’ve ever had. The leaflet suggests I consider whether or not to go ahead with the procedure which entails using an enema, having a camera investigate the large bowel (which I would be able to watch on a TV screen at the time should I so wish) so that any polyps may be removed.

Apparently 1 in 300 tested will be found to have bowel cancer, with a further 14 having polyps.

The leaflet goes on to suggest ways of reducing the risk of bowel cancer which is as follows:

be physically active
keep a healthy weight
eat plenty fruit, vegetables and high fibre foods
eat less red meat and processed meat
drink alcohol in moderation
don’t smoke

Given that I do all of the above and have always done that – and that I take steps to actively reduce my oxidative stress – I’m thinking I must be in the very low risk group.

What would you do?

Air pollution

With the current lockdown of business in China due to the coronavirus outbreak it has been reported that air pollution in China has decreased by 30%.

Air travel has declined in recent weeks – much research and debate goes into how aircraft affects the weather, but there is not doubt that air travel contributes significantly to air pollution.

The World Health Organisation reports that air pollution kills seven million people annually.

I’m no expert here, but isn’t it time we took a step back from the ever forward march of consumerism in favour of a more sustainable and healthier lifestyle?

All change in Rome

A few years ago I had my own dental practice, I worked, ran the practice, looked after my family and tried to have a social life. It was exhausting. I was working to pay for a lifestyle I didn’t enjoy.

Sitting in a cafe in Rome with my 21 year old daughter she suggested that maybe it was time to give it up. Like a lightbulb switching on I began to consider the possibility… and called the agent to get a valuation on my return.

Roll forward almost a year – and I no longer was a dental services provider. Yippee!!

By the time another year had passed I had made the decision to sell my house and move from Birmingham (where I had spent the best part of 30 years) back to the North East of England where I had been brought up. In September 2017 I moved back to the coast – and my son goes to the school I went to as a teenager – full circle!

I guess it sometimes takes someone else to point out the obvious – but you are not stuck in one place. If you no longer get any joy from your place then you can move – and life can be so much better on the other side.