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We’re so busy.

From the moment we wake up it’s go, go, go. Off to work, meetings, deadlines, more meetings, home, exercise, dinner, sleep and then do it all again.

It’s no wonder we can get a bit carried away in the constant demands of our routines. But sometimes all the busyness means we loose sight of the bigger picture. The days, whilst busy, can begin to feel empty, like we’re stuck on repeat and we loose our sense of purpose or direction.

In this podcast we reflect on the daily questions of: “who am I and what am I doing here?” We look at why it’s important the have answers to these questions and how we can begin to answer them.

We’ll also learn a reflective journaling technique, that allows us to better understand how we feel and begin to separate ‘how we feel’ from ‘who we truly are’.

The reflective journaling exercise is included at the end of the podcast, but if you’d like to return to repeat the exercise you can find it as a seperate episode on iTunes or on our website.

Where to go from here:

Overcoming Anxiety – My new ebook is out! If you want to learn ways to manage your stress and anxiety in day-to-day life, this book is for you!

Subscribe via iTunes or using any other podcast app using the podcast feed.

In this podcast we look at challenging social situations and become mindful about how we react on an emotional and physical level. This can help us to understand why we can get so angry by the things people say or do and how we can bring balance to our emotions and live happier.

We explore the SCARF model by David Rock, with references to the Google emotional intelligence training book Search Inside Yourself and a TED talk about chickens.

Where to go from here:

Overcoming Anxiety – My new ebook is out! If you want to learn ways to manage your stress and anxiety in day-to-day life, this book is for you!

A healthy lifestyle is not only good for your body, but will benefit your mind and soul too. Because exercising regularly will help reduce stress and will release endorphins making you feel great. The simple act of taking some time every day, to do something physical and disengage your mind from your normal daily tasks is also hugely beneficial, not to mention how much better you’ll look and feel about yourself!

What can you do about it?

Ok, so we all know we should probably be taking better care of ourselves and generally living healthier, but knowing what you can do about it is the first challenge. Here at findingSanctuary, I will provide all the information you need to get started, and answer all the questions I’ve asked myself at some point. Then we will look more in-depth at the techniques you’ll need to build and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Make sure you check out the detailed articles in the sidebar, but for now here’s some quick advice on where to begin.

Start something new

Decide what your goals are and then work out how you’re going to get there. We often initially think of things we must stop doing; smoking, drinking, eating snacks etc.. But anybody who tries to make changes by stopping doing something, is just denying themselves. Don’t get me wrong – this is great, but requires a lot of effort and disapline, and often ends in failure and a person reverting back to their old ways. What I’m proposing is that you embrace something new! By getting excited about a change, you can embrace something new, re-invent yourself, and believe me; once you’ve put in all the hard work, those unhealthy snacks don’t seem half as appealing.

It’s all about two things

Getting fit and healthy is about too main things and neither works properly without the other, and of course these are exercise and nutrition. It’s no good putting all the hard work into your exercise routines, if you don’t also think about what you’re eating. Make sure you spend as much time assessing and planning what you’re eating as what workouts you’re doing.

Don’t crash!

People are always looking for a shortcut to success, a magic option, another crash diet. The desire to be healthy and look good is there, but people are mislead by advertising and marketing for new products, promising them the results they so badly want, but often failing to deliver. Why? because it’s not natural! Your body is the result of your lifestyle, the things you eat, the stresses you put it under (good and bad) all end up conditioning your body. Trying to change your body by taking drastic action may even initially seem to work, but you can’t live that way all the time, and when you go back to a normal way of life, so will your body return to it’s previous condition. Instead make changes you know you can maintain, be realistic with yourself about how you want to live and then these changes will stick, and what’s more – you’ll enjoy them!

Don’t give up

Always stay focused and work hard, when exercising push yourself, set your target and if you get there and your still fighting, go for a couple of extra reps – they’re the ones that’ll really count! It’s an amazing feeling when you do things you didn’t think you could do. Your body often tells you to quit, way before you need to, mentally pushing through is an empowering moment. What’s most important is that you do your best, give it everything you’ve got and then thank yourself. Don’t worry about what you didn’t do, or how long it took, focus on your success.

A quick change, right now?

Hopefully the articles on this site will give you lots of detailed explanations on changes you could make and inspire you in your journey to better health. But if you want one tip, right now… here it is! Apparently the two things most people can change straight away that’ll have the biggest impact on their health is to sleep more and drink more water. It’s crazy right!? But in our busy little lives we’ve often chose to neglect these two basic principles. Try and get a good 8 hours sleep each night, and drink plenty of water during the day. Drinking it regularly, in smaller amounts will help your kidneys and will stop you having to run to the toilet. Making sure you get enough water can help relieve headaches, tiredness and can increase brain activity.

The things money can’t buy

I’m a self confessed consumer. I love gadgets, new technology and if left unchecked I live with a I’ve got to have it attitude. Thankfully I can identify this in my own life and so I work to consciously point myself in a new direction, because ultimately I’ve realised that the things I can buy don’t lead to long term happiness. In the short-term they can make me happy, but that satisfaction fades and I soon find something else i ‘need’.

Really I find my greatest happiness in family and friends. Things that last. And it’s not just in the good times, but it’s often in overcoming difficulty and supporting each other that something happens to draw us into a deeper relationship, something of real substance. It’s this ‘sharing the journey’ together, the ups and the downs, that creates happiness.

Getting fit is the new rich

I recently read that to be fit was the new rich! People have always strived to be financially successful, and we equate wealth with power. But there’s something undeniable about the power of a physically fit body, you know it, your boss knows it, we all know it.

With fitness, unlike business, there are no shortcuts, no lucky breaks or knowing the right people. The only way you can get a fit body is by lots of hard work, sweat and tears. It takes dedication, commitment and time. It’s not easily earned and you can’t cheat the process. This hard physical work has to be coupled with a healthy food plan, which takes planning, preparation and you’ll have to learn to master your own desires.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what clothes you work out in, how much you talk or even how many facts you know. Your body will tell the real story, it’ll show up your lies, your failures or it can shout about your success. It’s this silent communication that’s beginning to be recognised for it’s purity, it’s honesty and it’s understated power.

This is a bit of a provocative title. I myself, am not a smoker and I am in no way suggesting that any of us start. But this last weekend I spent a few days with a close friend who smokes and something caught my attention, there was something there that inspired me.

It wasn’t the smoking, but instead it was the routine. Each morning, first thing as soon as we got up, he’d head out into the garden for a smoke. It was that special time in the morning when everything’s still and quiet. Whilst I rushed around the kitchen fixing breakfast, he spent 10 minutes wandering around the garden, enjoying the morning. The same thing happened last thing at night, I’d be loading the dishwasher, switching everything off and tidying away and he spent 10 minutes, standing outside staring at the stars.

It’s these 10 minute breaks that I truly wanted. A chance to step away from the tasks of the day, take some deep breathes and stare at the sky. So it’s left me thinking, could it be possible: could I allow myself 20 minutes a day to just be, to take in the moment and appreciate the day. It’ll take a surprising amount of discipline to accomplish, especially without the activity of smoking, but I think there could be some value in it.

I’ve written before about the benefits of meditation, and I often practice a 10 minute meditation to clear and focus my mind. Going forward I’m going to also try to embrace the outdoors, to stand and stare in awe, just without the cigarettes.

Photo courtesy of NASA

Each one of these tasks is like a block, and the ones that stick around in our mind soon begin to stack up. Before long your brain reaches the maximum amount of things it can cope with, this is when the littlest thing can trigger a panic attack, even though it may seem totally unrelated.

How can meditation beat anxiety?

Meditation is a great way to clear the mind, relax (without going to sleep) and essentially – knock down those bricks. At busy periods in our lives, we may even wake up with yesterday’s concerns still in our mind. The day’s not even begun and we bring yesterday’s problems through to today. A great way to combat this is to meditate either first thing in the morning, or last thing at night. If you have trouble sleeping, or you are not experiencing a deep relaxing sleep, then I recommend practicing meditation at night right before you go to bed.

First decide what time you’re going to sleep, allow yourself a good 8 hours before the alarm is going to wake you. Then an hour before your designated sleep time, turn off your phone, laptop, iPad and TV. No electrical devices an hour before you intend to be asleep. Take this time to wind down, begin to relax, take a bath, read a book, whatever works for you.

During this time allow yourself some time for meditation. If you’re just starting out I’d recommend aiming for 10 minutes. Try and find a way to time the session that’s not going to be distracting or startle you when the time’s up. I use a meditation timer app for my smartphone – yes I know I said the phone should be off, in fact this application actually blocks calls and other notifications on your phone during your meditation so you wont be disturbed. What it also does very well is time your meditation and rings soft calming bells, to give you an indication of time.

How to meditate

Meditation doesn’t have to be a religious activity, it’s really a quieting of the mind and soul. There’s no real right or wrong way to meditate, but here’s how I practice. I’ll sit somewhere quiet where I know I won’t be disturbed, somewhere firm but comfortable. I sit cross-legged, with a straight back, and my hands relaxed comfortably on my lap, normally with my palms facing upwards. I close my eyes and clear my mind. I focus on my breathing, I don’t try to alter the speed of breathing, but more try to just be aware of the air as I breathe it in, and out again. I breathe using a technique called deep belly breathing. As you breathe in you push your lower stomach out, then as you release the breath, let the stomach suck in again.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. It sounds simple but requires a lot of discipline to sit still and quiet even for just 10 minutes. Don’t let your mind think about any tasks you have to do, keep your mind clear. If it helps, picture somewhere calming in your mind, like sitting on a beach watching the tide wash in, or on top of a mountain looking down on the valleys. Somewhere there’s space and you feel safe.

Practicing meditation on a daily basis, will help knock down those bricks and stop the tasks building up in your mind. You’ll find you sleep a lot better, and you’ll feel clear-minded and better equipped to tackle the next day. You also find that in day to day conversation and interactions with other people, you feel more present, more aware of being there with them. This is because before your mind would’ve been partially distracted with background tasks, but once you clear them out, it leaves you free to engage fully with the people around you.

I hope this has been helpful and encouraging, let me know in the comments how you get on.

So the idea is you think of something you’ve always wanted to do, and try it for the next 30 days. Why 30 days? Well 30 days is just long enough to build a habit, after the 30 days you’ll know whether the new thing you’ve tried to incorporate into your life has now become part of your life or whether it didn’t stick for you.

Deciding what to change

I particularly agree with his statement “When I made small sustainable changes, they were more likely to stick”. It’s important to just think of one thing you want to change and commit to it for 30 days. Picking the right challenge is key, too small and you might as well not have bothered, too big and you’ll fail to do it for 30 days. But if you get it just right, what might seem like a stretch at the beginning, will become part of your normal life by the end of the month.

What will you get out of it?

Well according to Matt, you’ll learn to appreciate each day, and make every day memorable. You see it’s not only about the change you make, but the fact that you’ve made it. You’ll become the kind of person who decides what they want and goes after it. Plus as an added benefit you might actually like some of your changes. The body is incredible at adapting  so if you decide to give yourself a fitness challenge, by the end of the month, your body will have adapted to having that in your life, allowing you to take on something new.

Don’t wait

We always put things off, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll think ’30 day challenge, well I’ll have to wait till the beginning of next month’ but we’ve got to break this cycle of putting stuff off. So don’t wait till next month, next week or even tomorrow, choose your challenge and start today – life’s too short.

Let me know in the comments how you get on and what challenges you set yourself, tip: if you share your challenge with someone, you’re much more likely to stick with it!

OK so I like to call it ‘jumping rope’ because it just sounds more manly than ‘skipping’, but yeah that’s what we’re talking about… skipping.

So why skip?

The health benefits are huge! Skipping strengthens, well nearly everything! You’re going to feel it in your calves for sure, but also your arms, shoulders and core strength too!

I was recently inspired to start skipping when I stumbled upon this video from Bloom to fit. This guy’s awesome at skipping (check out his video below), plus he also has lots of other fitness training videos that are well worth checking out. Lately I’ve really been enjoying his site, there’s some great articles on there, definitely worth reading. To accompany this video he’s also written the Jump Rope Manifesto which pretty much covers everything you’d ever want to know about skipping – amazing.

What type of rope?

So after seeing this video I couldn’t wait to get out there and start skipping, first thing I found – there’s lots of different types of rope. I’ve used three ropes so far;

First I bought a heavy leather jump rope, this is a good quality rope and after some slight adjustments, I’ve got it spinning just right. With the rope being leather it’s quite heavy and makes for quite a slow spin, this puts more of the effort on your arms and shoulders, and less on your footwork.

Second I used a friends weighted rope. This was a lightweight rope but with heavy 5lb weighted handles. This was a strange combination as the rope itself was very fast and light-weight, but the heavy handles made it a real workout for your forearms and wrists.

Thirdly I bought a faster speed rope. This is a 5mm nylon rope, with light-weight minimalistic handles. This rope is great and definitely my favourite so far. It’s fast and simple, there’s no fancy features to worry about, and I can quickly tie it up and shove it in my bag. The style of skipping is much faster, putting more focus on your footwork and providing more of a cardio workout.

I’ll definitely be building skipping into my workout routines, it’s a really fun way to warm up and get the heart rate up. I hope you have fun with it too!

So here’s the problem, protein is expensive we all want to find the cheapest available product without compromising on quality. If you go too cheap, you begin to doubt the quality of the ingredients, and yet no one wants to pay more than they have to.

Find a brand you trust

So it’s important to find a brand you trust and a product that’s going to help you achieve your goals. For me this brand in SciMX, I use both their build and trim product and their 100% Whey protein. For help finding the right product for you check out which protein drink is right for me.

Subscribe and save

There is a new service by Amazon called ‘subscribe and save’ and it seems to be the best way to buy your protein. Forget complex referral schemes or collecting loyalty points, this is much easier and you get the savings straight away.

How it works

When you purchase your protein on Amazon, there’s a separate checkout option called subscribe and save, you can use this straight away, even on your first purchase. What happens is as you make your purchase it will ask you how often you want to buy this product. If you’re a regular protein user you might know that you order a new tub around every 6 weeks, so you can set this up as a repeat order. Then when the new order date comes around Amazon will email you notifying you it’s about to automatically place a new order for you and send you some more protein.

The reward for using this service? 10% discount off Amazon’s current price. I always find Amazon to already be very competitive on price, so this extra 10% off really does make it the cheapest option. Plus you haven’t wasted hours scouring the Internet hunting for the best price, it’s automatic!

Chance to cancel

This is a subscription service but it has no commitment. So if you want to end the subscription at any time, you can! They even notify you before each order is sent, so if you get the email but found you still have some protein left, you can log in and delay (or skip) the delivery.

My method

You want to know how I use it? Well I’m never sure how long my protein’s going to last. Some months I’m on fire and burning through it, and others I really haven’t used much at all. So I set my subscription to every 6 months. Yep, that’s right – twice a year.

Why? Well I get the 10% discount off my initial purchase, and I know I’ll use it in the next couple of months. When I’m starting to run low, I log in to Amazon, go to my subscriptions and click send me another one now and it arrives a coupe of days later, no fuss and 10% discount. Of course every 6 months it will try and send me an order, it which case a) I might need it, b) i could cancel it (or skip it) or c) I forget and it sends me one. Option C is not the end of the world, because the SciMX protein products have such a good shelf life (normally the use by date is 2 years), I’ll just stick it in the cupboard and use it eventually.

In time I’ll probably discover my purchasing pattern and just set the subscription up to match. But for now this is the safest bet.

Overview

This is the second rope I’ve bought, following a much heavier leather rope I had before. I continue to use both ropes, but this is currently my favourite.

I ordered this rope because I wanted something light and simple that just worked, and this rope performs well. Its a light-weight 5mm nylon rope, and despite feeling a bit like a washing line spins well. Because it’s so light it takes very little movement to get it spinning, and once it is, it keeps a nice shape. It’s also very fast to spin, which allows you to focus less on your arms and more on your fast footwork.

The handles are very narrow plastic tubes, that get slightly wider at the end. This allows you to easily hold them without needing a tight grip. They do feel a bit cheap, but apparently are shatter resistant. At the end of the handle is the rope attached to a round block with a small washer, this enables the rope to turn freely within the handle. It’s also much easier to carry around, so this is great everyday rope to stick in your bag, and skip whenever you get chance.

A word of warning

Always avoid skipping on concrete, this will damage both your body and your rope. If that’s the only space you have, try skipping on a mat, an old piece of carpet or an old yoga mat.

Select the right length rope

The rope is available in different lengths, so make sure you order the right length for your height. As a general rule you should add 3ft to your height. I’m around 5’10” so I use a 9ft rope.

You can find the Ampro pro speed rope on Amazon for around £7-9 ($12-15)

Overview

I’m not sure there is the perfect rope, I use a couple of different ropes because they’re all different, and to be honest you can’t go too far wrong. This is the first rope I bought and has some quality features.

The handles are wooden and shaped well for your hands, with metal cuffs that spin at a 90 degree angle to the handle. These are very solidly built, but were extremely squeaky on first use. It’s not a tight squeak as  the cuffs are quite loose, but the metal on metal didn’t feel good to me. I just took out the end screw and applied a good layer of grease under the cuff, and that’s done the trick – they now spin quietly and smoothly.

The rope itself is a real leather rope, with a strange brown ‘painted’ coating. Unfortunately the coating offers no protection and is purely to make the leather look more appealing. The paint soon comes off the middle of the rope with general use, but the leather should last for a while.

It’s described as a weighted rope, but it’s really the rope that is heavy. The handles are wood, but not too heavy – nothing compared to the weighted handle ropes you can get that normally weigh in at around 5lbs. Note: the weight is not adjustable, it is the rope’s length that is adjustable.

Setting the correct rope length

The length of the rope is adjustable and you should adjust it to suit your height, don’t try and skip with a rope that’s too long, take the time to adjust it to the correct length and enjoy the benefits of skipping. To find the correct length you can either: add 3ft to your overall height, or place one foot on the rope and pull the handles straight up, the rope should end at the middle of your chest (around nipple height).

Is it the right rope for you?

If you looking for some general exercise and don’t mind spinning a heavier rope, then this rope would be fine. I don’t regret buying it, and at around £10-12 ($20) you can’t really go wrong. However I’m not sure this rope is as ‘profesional‘ as it claims to be, but until I find a better heavy rope, I’ll continue to use this one.

A word of warning

Always avoid skipping on concrete, this will damage both your body and your rope. If that’s the only space you have, try skipping on a mat, an old piece of carpet or an old yoga mat.

Since buying this rope, I have also purchased a lighter ‘Speed rope’ which you may want to consider.

You can purchase the RDX Leather Pro Skipping Rope on Amazon and read the other customer reviews, for which is scores highly.

For me, working out at home is a big part of my fitness, and for the most part I’ve got by with just using a standard, thin rubber yoga mat.

For cardio training and standing yoga positions the basic mat has been just fine, and perfectly addequate, but where is really lets me down is floor work. As soon as you lie down on the standard mats you realise there’s not much to them other than a layer of grip. This is where the Adidas training mat comes in!

This is similar in size to a standar yoga mat, in fact I find it slightly longer and narrower, which better reflects the area of floor space I’m about to use. The mat is around 1cm thick (uncompressed) and has a spongey / foamy feel to it. The top surface is a soft grippy feel and the underside is ridged to make sure it grips to your floor.

Not only does this mat look the business – it performs well too! Especially for sit-ups and yoga floor stretches. The extra cushioning really provides a lot more comfort for you lower back and spine.

It’s a good compromise between the think yoga mats and a high performance workout mat (that would set you back around £100). If you need something with a bit of cushion to it, but can also be rolled up and stored away, then this mat would suit you well.

The Adidas training mat is available on Amazon.

Breakfast… the most important meal of the day, and yet the one meal I give no real thought to and have no time for. For years I skipped breakfast, even with my 6mile morning bike ride, I’d just hungrily hold out till lunch. But now that I understand how important it is to eat the right things and fuel your body, it’s a meal I’ll never miss again.

During the working week I have very little time for breakfast, when I get time at the weekend I bake my own protein bars and just grab one each day on my way out the door. But when life’s busy, and I don’t have even 30mins baking time, here’s what I do.

The quick breakfast option

You can turn your normal protein shake into a breakfast shake easily and cheaply by just adding some carbs. You can even buy breakfast drinks, but when you look at what’s involved it’s as simple as mixing in some instant oats. Your protein recovery drink already contains some great stuff to get you ready for the day. The protein will fill you up, the milk will provide extra protein plus a bit of fat (don’t be afraid, it’s good to have a little fat in your diet), but what it’s missing is some carbohydrates to give you a long burning energy source to get you through till lunch time.

Head to your supermarket and find a bag of instant oats. Make sure they’re instant oats, and not big porridge oats, else this just won’t work. They’ve got to be ground super fine, so they look almost like fine saw-dust.

Then each morning make your normal protein shake, with some adjustments. I use Sci MX – Build and Trim whey protein, which is one scoop (25g) mixed with 300ml of milk, but for this breakfast shake I add an extra 100ml of milk. So I fill up my drink mixer with 400ml of cold milk, add the 25g of Build and Trim whey protein powder and add two scoops of instant oats (two scoops equals 50g). Then shake it like crazy! Seriously shake it hard for a good 30 seconds, then undo the shaker and remove the filter, and drink!

That’s a quick and healthy breakfast prepared and consumed in around 2 minutes, and now I’m ready for the day!

Overview

Introducing… the Yoga brick. This is so basic and straight-forward – it’s a no brainer.

If you’re just starting out with Yoga, you’ll soon find out – all that stretching isn’t as easy as it first looks! This is where the yoga brick comes in. It’s made of a hi-density foam which makes it both very stable and also very light weight.

The brick can be used during most yoga positions, especially the stretches where you are reaching for the floor. To begin with your flexibility will be quite limited, and often you may not be able to touch the ground with your hands. So instead place the brick under your hand to provide the stability you need to perform the stretch.

The brick can be used on all three sides, to provide different lengths, so as your flexibility increases, you can change the brick’s position, so it offers less assistance.

You can find the Yoga bricks available at a good price on Amazon.

The cause…

The sun comes out, the shirts come off, and the bellies are sucked in. Of course by sucking in your stomach you’re not fooling anyone, and nobody can maintain this for more than a few minutes. There’s many reasons the belly is there, possibly down to your diet or alcohol consumption or lack of core exercise, but today I want to tackle something different, today I want to correct posture.

On a hot day, we often feel tired, lazy and we slouch. Our shoulders fall forwards, our bellies stick out and so do our bottoms, we often stand mainly on one leg with the other casually bent by its side, and all our weight is under our heels. After all that hard work, eating the right foods and burning the calories, the last thing we need is to be pushing out our bellies and bums because of bad posture, we’re always told to suck in the stomach, but today I want to suggest something different, today we’ll look at the root of the problem, from the ground up.

The problem…

The real problem is that subconsciously we’re leaning backwards and all our weight is under our heels at the back of the foot. Then to make us more stable our body tries to correct our centre of gravity by twisting into an ‘S’ shape – pushing our bums out, sharply curving our lower spine and pushing our bellies forward. This also puts extra pressure on our lower backs, if you ever feel the pinch in your lower back, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The fix…

So what can you do about it. Well for starters you need to address you’re balance. Stand up now in your normal casual stance as we described earlier, the slouch. Feel the weight under your heels? Well try slightly leaning forwards and you should feel your weight shift from your heels to the balls of your feet (the bit just below your big toe). Your now using your whole foot to balance properly, and look what else has happened, your tummy should’ve naturally tucked itself in. To see the effects try shifting your weight from your heels to the balls of your feet by slightly leaning forwards and backwards, you should notice the difference immediately.

Now keep this in mind, and try to move around keeping your weight forwards on your feet, your whole body is now engaged in a much more active way, your spring-loaded, ready to move. If you find you often end up back in the slouch, it might help to share with someone who’s around you often so they can point out when you’re slouching and you can adjust your balance.

The daily routine…

This addresses root of the problem and should lead you to a much improved posture. If you’ve been slouching a while the chances are your lower back has paid the price. To reduce the pressure on your lower back, practice the daily sun salutation stretch, as you lean forward you will feel the pressure release in your lower back, keep practicing this so that you can comfortably touch the floor. I do this every day to keep my lower back flexible and pressure free!

Working out is hard work, we persevere though the pain, sweat and tears because we’re compelled, motivated and devoted to our success. So how do we measure our success? When do we celebrate? When do we look back on what we’ve achieved?

People are so keen to workout, that they dive straight in, without giving it a whole lot of thought. An effective exercise routine takes thought, planning and then the hard work. So I’ll take you through some of the basic things you should be considering about your routine.

What’s your goal?

Deciding on your goal is the first most important thing. It stops us from just doing the exercises that feel easy, or the ones we’re good at and allows us to focus everything else around how to achieve that goal. Over time your goal can change, but try and be really honest with yourself and say “over the next 60 days where do I want to see change?” This could be: burn fat, strengthen my core muscles, work on my six pack, build bigger arms and shoulders, etc…

Avoid the traditional idea of setting a weight goal. Saying to yourself I want to loose 6 lbs might seem good, but in reality weight is not a good measure. As you exercise, you’ll burn fat, but you’ll equally be building muscle, which will affect your weight. If weight loss is your goal, it’s much better to measure yourself than record your overall body weight. Saying “I want to loose 2 inches around my waist,” is better than trying to loose a certain amount of weight.

Choosing the right exercises

Now you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to plan which exercises will get you there. There’s plenty of information on the Internet, so search for exercises that are specifically aimed at your goal and try to stick to credible sources that you recognise and trust. Don’t just do the exercises you already know and find relatively easy, but work with new exercises that may initially seem difficult, but it’s the variety that’s important especially if you’re working on a new area. Of course you can never beat the classics: push ups, pull ups, sit ups, bicep curls… but try the new variations too.

What should you be eating?

There’s not a lot point in pushing yourself hard through your workout, if you’re going to eat junk food all week. You should spend as much time planning your meals and snacks, as you do planning your workouts. Research which food types are best for your goal. Put simply make sure you eat healthy, balanced meals and sort yourself some healthy snacks and control your portion size. If your goal is to build muscle, still eat healthily, but make sure you’re eating enough to fuel your workouts, you don’t want to compromise your muscle growth because you’re just not eating enough.

And finally, sleep

I say this in nearly every post, but it’s because it’s so important, and yet is often the one thing people fail to address. Get enough sleep. We’re talking 7-8 hours a night. So at around 10:00pm, start winding down, switch your phone off, and get into bed. You’ve been working hard and your body needs time to rest. In fact, a lack of sleep can cause you to want to eat more than you need too.

That’s all there is to it, set your goal, plan how you’re going to get there and when you do, congratulate yourself! Whatever your goal, I’d encourage you to regularly record your progress. Try each week writing down your measurements, recording how much weight your lifting, or even just take a photo of yourself. It might not seem like much is changing straight away, but stick with it and after a couple of months, look back on just how much you’ve improved and thank yourself.

There’s lots of reasons people want to learn Tai Chi; to improve their balance and posture, to help heal a physical injury, or to simply teach them to calm their mind, reduce stress and help them relax.

There’s also different ways you can learn; from a book or DVD at home, or with a private tutor or local Tai Chi class. I’ve even had some fun learning with Xbox Kinect. Each method has it’s benefits and there’s so many books and DVDs available, it’s hard to know where to begin. Well let me introduce you to something new, that I think you’ll like – Tai Cheng.

Introducing Tai Cheng

Tai Cheng is a home DVD programme, taught by Dr Mark Cheng; who has been teaching Tai Chi for over 20 years and is also trained in modern sports science. The Tai Cheng course covers the 18 fundamental Tai Chi movements, along with some extra Qi Gong exercises, whilst all the time focusing on your posture and how you move.

Tai Cheng is brought to us by Beachbody, the company behind P90X and Insanity. This time bringing something totally new to the table. A workout (of sorts) to help support everything else, giving you more agility, less stress and increased energy in everything you do. Other benefits include; improved circulation, coordination and balance.

Who is Tai Cheng for?

Tai Cheng really is for everybody, both young and old will find huge benefit from doing this programme. The course will teach you all you need to know in 90 days, after which you’ll be fully trained and equipped to continue practicing the art of Tai Chi.

What’s included?

The kit includes 12 workout DVDs, an introduction DVD, a guide book and nutrition guide, a workout calender and a bonus DVD: Applied Travel and Sport. You’ll also get beginner and intermediate strength bands and a foam roller that you’ll see used in some of the sessions.

Where can I get it?

With the Tai Cheng course being so new, it’s currently only available in the US, you can get pick it up through Amazon.com right here.

Protein bars are great for mid-morning snack’s or breakfast on the go! Plus by getting an early dose of protein you’re going to help your muscles repair from your last work-out. I’ve been testing and adapting recipes that I’ve found online, and finally I’ve developed something I’m happy with and ready to share with you.  

If your new to using protein you might want to check out our article: Why use a Protein drink?

Ingredients

• 30g butter
• 80g honey
• 20g sugar
• 50g peanut butter
• 75g protein shake powder (strawberry/chocolate)
• 100g muesli
• 50g rolled oats or porridge oats
• 50g hazelnuts
• 1 egg
• 1 banana
• a handful of raisins

Preparation method

Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 15 mins

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / Gas mark 6.
2. Melt the butter, honey, sugar and peanut butter into a smooth paste. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients: the protein shake powder, muesli, oats and nuts, then add the peanut butter mixture to the large bowl and stir in.
3. Mash the banana with the back of a fork and beat the egg separately, then add the banana and the egg to the large bowl and mix in.
4. Use a large spoon to move the mix into a baking dish, using the back of the spoon to press out the mixture and try and get it evenly spread. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown on top.
5. Cut into breakfast sized portions while hot then leave to cool.

This is my adaptation of the recipe found at allrecipes.co.uk

There’s a lot of companies making post-workout recovery drinks and protein shakes so how do you choose which one’s right for you?

First you’ll have to understand why you should use a protein drink, and if you’re new to this make sure you read this article first, then come back and I’ll help you to choose.

With all these different drinks on the market, it’s important you know what to look for. This will differ slightly depending on your goal, but these are the things you should look out for.  

Protein – What type of protein does the drink include? Whey is the most popular and fastest absorbed into your body. Also how much protein is in each serving. Most drinks should contain around 20 g of protein in a single serving.

Sugars, calories and  saturated fat – These things are unavoidable in a drink, but be careful as some drinks can contain a lot of sugars and calories. Best to try and keep these to a minimum.

Carbohydrates – Some drinks will contain carbohydrates too, whilst others will be really low. Think about how you’re going to use the drink. If it’s after a morning workout and you’re not going to eat for a few hours, then some carbs could be good and keep you going, if your going to use the drink in the evening, followed by a meal, then you won’t need the carbs.

Creatine – Without going into how creatine works right now, look out for it’s presence in your recovery drink. This will indicate that it’s more of an all-in-one workout drink and be used to boost performance during exercise. To start with you may just want to stick to a recovery drink and find one that doesn’t include creatine, then as your workout routine matures, you may want to look into how creatine works and whether you want to use it.

I’d recommend Sci-MX

Without hesitation I’d always recommend Sci-MX, and it’s their drinks that I use myself. For the majority of the time I use their standard 100% Ultragen Whey Protein. It’s high in whey protein, which is quickly absorbed but contains much more. What you’re getting for your money is the benefit of their independent research into creating a truly balanced drink. They’ve studied what your body needs in order to digest and use the protein most effectively and what needs replacing in your body after an intense workout.

Looking to loose weight?

The other drink that I use from time to time is a little more advanced, and it’s called Build and Trim Whey Protein. This has all the benefits of whey protein, but also contains their scientifically researched fat loss ingredients; CLA, Actilight and Vit-MX-Trim. This will help muscle recovery and aid fat burning. This should be used if your trying to slim down, tone up and get strong. But think core-strength strong like a martial artist, if you’re trying to build bigger muscles then you should stick to the Ultragen instead.

I keep both Ultragen and Build and Trim in the house and use them at different times. Most weeks I’ll be lifting weights, doing pull ups and push ups and I’ll be taking the Ultragen. But every now and then I’ll switch it up a bit and do a week of cardio exercise and core strength work and this is when the Build and Trim comes in useful.

Have you ever thought of making your own Protein bars? It’s easy – How to make your own protein bars

This article is targeted at beginners, providing a simple explanation of what to look for in a recovery drink. Post workout drinks or protein shakes are very popular amongst people who work out, but many people (like me) start off very skeptical about taking anything to boost performance and worry about any possible side affects.  

What’s in the drink?

Mostly its protein, this is to tackle the main purpose of any post-workout recovery drink – muscle recovery. Secondly it’ll contain supporting agents, such as amino-acids, or a pro-biotic. It should also contain some electrolytes, low in fat (and sugar) and varying levels of carbohydrates.

What does it do?

When you workout hard, especially weight lifting, you’re actually tearing your muscles. This isn’t as bad as it sounds and is the basis of all exercise. As you exercise and put the muscle under strain the tiny fibers tear, and then over the next 24-48 hours they rebuild. This is why your muscles ache and feel sore the next day, and sometimes the day after, your body’s repairing itself. As the muscles repair they build back stronger, in effect your body’s trying to better prepare itself for the new demands you’ve introduced to your lifestyle.

This muscle repairing process requires a fuel and that fuel is protein.

As a rule your body needs half your weight (lbs) in protein (g), so if you weigh 160lbs, you’d need 80g of protein each day. If you start to look at the protein content of the things you eat each day, you’ll probably find you fall way short of that. This is where a protein drink is ideal, and can top up your daily intake of protein. A typical post-workout recovery drink contains around 20g of protein.

So what type of protein and when should I take it?

The one you’ll hear the most about is Whey, and there’s a very good reason for that. Whey is the protein that is absorbed fastest into the body. After you workout, there’s a small window of time, that if you can get the protein into your body, it dramatically improves how well your body can use it for the muscle repair process. This is typically straight after a workout, the sooner the better, and stays open for 30-45 minutes. After that the protein can still be absorbed and used, but it’s just more effective it you can get it in quick!

Should I ever take a protein drink before a workout?

Some people say it doesn’t matter when you drink it. But generally speaking you should not really drink a protein drink directly before exercise. You’re probably confusing it with a pre-workout drink that provides simulation or enhanced muscle performance. Protein is for recovery and is best taken straight after your workout, or last thing at night as a lot of the muscle repair is done whilst you sleep.

Any problems or side-effects?

At first you may find a little trouble digesting the protein, it can upset your stomach, but for me this passed after a few days. The better protein drinks will contain a pro-biotic agent to help aid digestion.
What if I have too much protein?
If your body has too much protein, it will turn it into sugars and fatty acids. It also puts extra strain on your kidneys. If you get pain around your kidney area or weight gain, these could be signs you’re taking too much protein. The trick is getting the balance just right.

Earn your recovery drink!

Don’t get caught up in the idea that drinking these drinks will make you stronger. They only work if you first put in the hard work and do the exercise. These aren’t diet shakes and shouldn’t be used as meal replacements for weight loss. These are designed to help you recover after an intense workout session, so your back the next day, ready to exercise some more!

Hopefully that’s helped explain the basics and let you see there’s really nothing to worry about.

Now there’s just one more question: Which protein drink should you use?

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I know this sounds a bit odd, and would probably be considered an insult to most Tai Chi practitioners but…. I’m really enjoying learning Tai Chi using Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012  on the Xbox Kinect. The game is a full workout session, and has some great routines in there with backing from Mens Health and Nivea, the workouts have been well thought through and it’ll create a fitness routine for you based on what results you want. When you first setup an account it asks things like:

“are you looking to build muscle, loose weight or reduce stress”

It then suggests a choice of routines and you can choose which one you want to work through first. For the guys they have special routines designed by Mens Health and recommend you do the routines holding 5lb dumbbells, this really makes it a tough work out. Whilst fitness is the main premise of the game, there’s also a ‘Zen’ section and I’ve got to admit, I’m impressed. I started learning basic Tai Chi from a beginners dvd, which took you through some basic movements, tought you about Dan Tien and some of the starting poses. I then tried learning from a book, which was great at providing the history and explanations of the things that make up Tai Chi, but the movements where very difficult to follow, and as always, it’s hard to know if you’re getting it right. Then came Kinect… For those of you who aren’t familiar with Microsoft’s Kinect, it’s basically a camera that you plug into you Xbox similar to a webcam (but much more high tech). Kinect then allows you to play games and interact with the Xbox without having to use a controller, you stand infront of the camera and talk to it and it reacts. When you’re playing Fitness-Evolved it actually projects you into the game! You see yourself stood next to a virtual instructor. What’s more amazing is that as you follow the instructor through the movements Kinect tracks you’re movements and offers advice. If you complete the movement successfully it highlight a green ‘skeleton’ of sorts on your virtual self. However if you’ve not quite got the movement correct, it highlights where you’re going wrong, even sometimes offering advice such as:

“try lifting you left arm higher, yeah that’s it much better”

I’m also impressed at how much time they’ve spent creating these ‘Zen’ routines. There’s 4 different classes that last 15mins each. The classes get more increasingly challenging as you progress. As each new class introduces new movements, it helps teach you these by breaking the class down into 3 sections lasting around 5minutes each. Once you practiced the section a few times, you can learn the next one and once you’ve got them all learnt you can take the full class. It’s very easy to pick up (at least to begin with) and is very encouraging. I guess the best option is to go to a local Tai Chi class, that way you’ll receive professional training and also enjoy the community of other members. However if lessons are impractical for you, and you’re looking for a place to start, I’d recommend giving the Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 game a try, and you can find it here on Amazon! Not sure this is serious enough? Then check out The best way to learn Tai Chi at home

Where to go from here:

Overcoming Anxiety – Reducing stress and anxiety. My new ebook is out! If you want to learn ways to manage your stress and anxiety in day-to-day life, this book is for you!

Then later, with a very different group of people, one of my friends came out with an overly pensive quote:

“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time“ originally quoting Rick Warren

For some reason these two events locked together in my mind and led me to reflect on just how important time is. It’s true, it’s the one thing you’ll never get back and it’s constantly ticking away. During my reflection I began to ask myself, “if my time is so important, how am I choosing to spend it?”. Of course the first thing that comes back is WORK! Our jobs take up such a huge amount of our time, and often the trade off for hours spent working: to hours spent resting just doesn’t seem fair. But work is necessary, it provides a good income and I’m sure all that hard work must be doing me some good.

But what about my time outside of work, the precious hours each evening, and the two days of freedom at the weekend. How do I spend my time? Often it’s chasing after things I think will make me happier in the future. Investing hours / days into coding new projects that I think will impress others or end up making me money, but life is too precious for this, isn’t it?

If you’re feeling stressed, burnt out and like there’s not enough hours in the day then try this. Take some time, just 20 minutes to sit and write down all the things you’re trying to do. Place that list aside and start a new list, what’s the most important things in your life? This is tricky and hard to switch from your immediate tasks, to life long importance so allow yourself some time to think. The question that best helps sort these issues is “at the end of my life, what would I look back fondly on, what would I wish I’d done better or spent more time doing?”

Now go back to your first list, the present tasks…. where are they leading you? are they related and in order of the most important things? If you’re like me they often won’t even include the important things. We get so easily distracted, sidetracked, consumed with ideas that some things need to be done, but to what end? Take some time to think about the important list, and how you could spend your time and prioritise your goals.

My anxiety once had me in a place where I couldn’t eat out in public, even a meal at a local pub filled me with fear.

Along the way there have been some real milestones of success for me. Weddings are always nervous events, especially if their your own, and yet my wedding went smoothly without a hitch (pun not intended). The honeymoon that followed involved traveling by train to Paris and of course lots of eating out in restaurants. This is were I really cracked the eating out thing! I was determined to not let my anxiety rob me of my honeymoon experience, so told myself from the beginning, there will be lots of eating out and it will all be fine! I think the fact that we practiced our French also helped, turning each meal out into a game, trying to decipher the menu and order our meals. This holiday even involved a trip up the Eiffel Tower, which I managed with no problems at all.

A year later we holidayed in Nice – Southern France. This held a new challenge – flying. The thought of being locked on a plane and it swoops and turns through the skies filled me with fear. I had one mild panic attack on the flight out and was fine on the flight home.

But today… today we’re celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary, a nice romantic weekend in a spa hotel. Both breakfast and dinner served in a formal manner, and still no problems.

Because the anxiety response is so hard to completely get rid of, it’s important that we don’t dwell on the problem but take the time to reflect on our accomplishments and achievements over the years.

Caffeine, I cannot stress this enough! Cut the caffeine! We live in a fast paced world with high demands on us and our time, which leads many of us to fall into the routine of a daily caffeine fix to Kick us into action! Drinking caffeine excessively keeps us wired and does not let our bodies relax properly when they need to. If you’re a coffee junkie consider cutting down. Acidic food or drink can also unsettle your stomach. When you are anxious your stomach often already has a lot of acid in it, which can cause stomach aches and even make you feel like you can’t really eat anything.

If you’re really stressed and don’t feel like eating anything, here’s what I’ve found helps… Gaviscon is an excellent ant-acid tablet that I’d recommend trying. Similar to Rennies and other indigestion or heartburn tablets. They’re small chalky sweets that you can chew and swallow without water which counter-balance the excess acid in your stomach. This also relieves the stomach pain and often meant I felt like eating again within an hour or so. I’d also recommend Complan : which is a nutritional milk drink. I tend to drink these in the mornings if I can’t face eating any breakfast, it makes sure your body is still getting some nutrients and helps line your stomach until you next eat.

If you can eat something, I generally go for whatever I fancy! Things that are fairly plain work quite well like porridge, toast etc.. and during the day fruit or soup seems easy to eat if you don’t feel like you can eat very much. I once went for a whole week eating mostly bananas, because I’d started a new job and was so anxious whilst I was there, I felt I couldn’t eat anything else.

The important thing is to allow your body some down time too. So if like me it’s work related, then when you get home make sure you can really relax. Shutoff any worries of the day and wind-down into your evenings, take a warm bath and later try and eat a proper meal.

and yet I walk up to my desk each day and am asked ‘how are you doin?’ And with a smile I create the illusion that everything’s ok – we make life look easy.

Why? because the truth is we all feel crappy sometimes. If we’re feeling rundown with stress or anxiety it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one. With everyone else pretending to be OK, you feel the odd one out, when in reality we all have our ‘off days’. One of the best things we can do is to choose to be positive. We can accept that we’re not feeling 100% and let that be OK, take it easy where you can and later that night do whatever helps you relax – listen to music, take a bath, maybe a glass of wine. Let your body and more importantly let your mind relax give your brain some time-off worrying. I’ve found this really helps and also aides sleep meaning I stand a much better chance of feeling better the next day.

I started a simple Tai Chi for beginners video, which taught me about 12 very basic movements, one of which has saved my back, a beginners version of a Sun Salutation. This exercise is very simple, briefly:

1. Stand normally with your arms by your side, then bring your hands in-front of your chest, palms together, in a prayer-like style.
2. Raise your hands together above your head so your arms are straight, ever so slightly lean back just for a second.
3. Swing your arms forward, keeping them straight all the way to the ground to go into a ‘touching your toes’ position.
4. Arms back up above your head and briefly squat as if you’re sitting in a chair.
5. Return to the original prayer position and repeat the movement twice more.

Doing this one exercise alone, ensures that my back remains pain free. Whenever I feel it tightening up, I do this routine and it stretches it back out again.

I’d injured my lower back carrying a heavy Rug on one shoulder from the department store to the where the car was parked, insistent that I didn’t need the home delivery service. For the next week i could hardly move and couldn’t bend over to reach my own feet. Seems I’d damaged the Sciatic nerve, which also caused pain down my left leg. After 3 months of being in pain and finding even every day movement difficult I was pretty desperate to try anything.

6 months later I now try to practice around 5minutes every day, this helps me in a number of ways:

• Relaxation, taking 5-10 minutes every day to just be quiet and focus on your bodies movement is great for clearer your head and reducing your stress levels.
• Posture, doing the exercises retrains your body to use a better, stronger posture for everyday life if you’ve formed bad habits like I have.
• Circulation, the exercises are all about increasing blood flow around your body. When stressed or anxious your body often restricts blood flow, this leaves you feeling cold (especially in your hands and feet), stiff limbs, and often pins and needles or cramp pains. The Tai Chi exercises relax the muscles, steady your breathing and allow the blood to flow through your whole body. This leaves you feeling warm, calm and clear headed.
• Digestion, your body also seems to benefit from a more normal digestion and encourages a normal appetite. I guess this is an outcome of the other things, calming your body and de-stressing.

I had tried some Yoga in the past, but found the positions very difficult and that i just wasn’t flexible enough. Tai Chi is much more ‘beginner friendly’ and I’d recommend giving it a try.

For more info on how i fixed my lower back pain, check out this post: Fixing back pain with Tai Chi

This is a really powerful technique I’ve developed to combat the anxiety of facing overwhelming situations. Whether it’s a big meeting or presentation at work, or simply being in a busy public place, this one mind-set really helps me.  

Think about who you are.

This might take a bit of time so lets break it down.

• Who are you?
• What is your identity?
• What are you selling to everyone you meet?

If you’re at school or college, what is it that you’re studying? Better yet – What makes you passionate? Is it music? a particular band? or maybe you’re an artist and create awesome Anime art work? or sports… are you into skating? biking? snowboarding?

If you’re at work, what do you do for a job? or even – What do you want to be doing for a job?

Ok got it now? great, now think about how that kind of person behaves, how do they go through life? If that person lived your life for a day, how would they live it differently?

The key here is to get out of your head. The reason anxiety has become such an issue is there’s too much going on inside my mind, it’s worrying about it’s own internal thoughts and not looking at the world around me. For me, picturing someone my age, working in my area of work, I see them as strong, capable, independent and most of all confident in who they are and what they can do. It has helped me dramatically to believe that I am that person. To increase my confidence so that when I walk into that office, they’re lucky to have me working for them. I’m skilled, talented and am succeeding in life. Further more, I believe I am more than just anybody, I’m more than just my job role, I’m no longer living in the shadows, letting my mind be consumed with internal thoughts, I’m out there, involved in what’s going on and the best thing is – I’m loving it!

For ages I was thought I physically was ill. The symptoms I was suffering : headaches, high temperature, aching muscles, loss of appetite and most of all feeling sick to the pit of my stomach, all had me convinced i must be ill, and somewhere deep in my sub-conscience it meant I didn’t have to face whatever particular challenge it was this time. 

The truth is, if I start to worry about something, it can make me feel ill. Even days before the actual event, the adrenaline levels are high, leaving my muscles stiff and achy, there’s plenty of nervous energy going round, so I don’t particularly feel like eating, and my stomach is sore from all the acid, and the Stress caused by the whole ordeal is giving me killer headaches.

Now… when I know something might cause me to be anxious, first of all i have to dismiss any thoughts of worry. Of course they’ll crop up in my mind, but I have to dis-miss them straight away, ’cause I know that if I entertain those thoughts, even for a minute of two, the anxiety will build.

Secondly any symptoms that do occur, again I can dis-miss them, you see I now understand what’s causing this symptom and there’s no fear that I may actually be ill. It’s the thinking that causes anxiety for me, the situation itself is quite manageable, but worrying about it for days, or weeks even, that’ll stress you out.

Of course sometimes ‘when you’re sick, you’re just sick’. I recently caught the swine-flu that’s been going around, and two days into the symptoms I was still sat at my desk, on a diet of paracetamol and coffee and barely consious. I finally gave in and admitted I’m ill and 5 days later I was back at work, rested and recovered.

When people say this it drives me crazy! What, you think i’m making this up? You think i’m imagining i feel sick? 

In truth, i’ve found the symptoms are very real! and are often physical reactions being triggered by my unconscious thoughts. I guess if it’s not something you’ve ever experienced then you’re just not going to understand how it feel to be racked with panic to the point of passing-out or being sick.

There’s some truth to it, in that the stress and anxieties are coming from a state-of-mind for eg. if i was sat on the beach right now, i’d hardly be having the same panic attack. But when your mind’s stressed your body reacts in all sorts of ways and the symptoms we feel are the results of raised heart-rate and a large amount of adrenaline.

Therefore the only way to deal with the symptoms is to go to the source, what is it about a situation that is causing you to feel anxious? I’ve found that often by becoming comfortable or more in control in a situation that my body won’t react the same.

That being said, there’s no harm in treating the symptoms either, if like me, you feel sick and anxious this can often cause your stomach to hurt and you really don’t feel like eating. I normally treat this symptom with Gaviscon, similarly if i’m suffering with headaches i’l take paracetamol, or if they’re really bad i’ll take Solpadeine. These symptoms normally come up a day or two after a stressful event, it’s your bodies way of telling you to slow down and not worry so much!

So like me, you’re not making it up or imagining it! These are real symptoms of fear or panic or just being too busy, in other posts i’ll look at some ways i deal with situations to overcome the fear and become confident and eventually the symptoms go away.

Here’s a great little trick!

This is a breathing technique I picked up which is designed to quieten your body and heart-rate in the even of a panic attack. Best not to leave it too late, but as soon as you feel you make become panicked by a situation, start breathing using the technique and it will help you avoid the panic attack all together. I use this all the time and the best thing is not only is it effective but it’s discreet. 

Slow your breathing down, as you breath in count to 7. As you count visualise the numbers in your mind, then breath out and count to 11. That’s right you’re breathing out for longer than your breathing in. Try it now, whilst your nice and relaxed, as it can take a bit of practice. Obviously if you’re panicked at the time, or you’re out of breath don’t try holding you’re breath. Just slow your breathing and then begin the counting. It can sometimes take a few cycles before I can reduce my breathing rate to 7 and 11.

The counting and visualising the numbers is the trick! This uses a different part of your brain and distracts your mind from worrying about anything else. Normally within 3 cycles my body is relaxed and sometimes I’ll continue the breathing pattern throughout the event – such as riding the bus to help keep me distracted and relaxed.

Your body can only deal with so much stress. Each event in your day carries with it a level of stress, this slowly drops after the event, but if you live a busy lifestyle these events can add up. It’s often then that something fairly normal can take us over our limit and causes our body to panic. This could be eating out in a restaurant, riding the bus, or walking through a busy shopping centre. Situations we’re used to and normally pose no problem can now seem like they’re triggering panic attacks. 

This stress level doesn’t automatically reset each day either, you can wake up with the concerns of yesterday already peaking the levels of what you can cope with. How on earth are you supposed to face another day!?

Probably the best method I’ve found for breaking down this stress level is exercise. You don’t have to be a pro athlete, just find something that works for you that you can easily and regularly build into your lifestyle. Then whenever you feel the stress levels building, or you’ve had a busy day, allow yourself the time to exercise. This clears your head, burns off the nervous energy and helps you relax properly as your body is now tired and not just your mind.

For me a quick 10 min run does the trick, but swimming or cycling would work just as well. I find that aerobic exercise works better than lifting weights, but see what works for you.

Don’t leave it too late! Exercise is a great stress preventer and by building it into your weekly schedule can prevent stress from building at all. I don’t honestly make it out for a run every week, but if I can pre-empt that the weeks events are likely to be stressing me out then exercising at those times can leave me stress-free. Events such as job interviews, meetings or exams are prime examples of when I’ll need to make sure I’m exercising regularly.

Caffeine can be a big contributor to increased stress levels. Your body should be able to handle a normal level of stress, such as making big decisions or going to new places. The problems arise when these stress levels build. Once you’ve max’d out all you can cope with, even low-stress situations are enough to tip you over the edge. 

Caffeine has become part of our everyday life-style and going for a coffee is a regular social activity. Problem is if you drink caffeine on a regular basis it will increase your anxiety levels. I find especially after coffee I feel a certain buzz or boost which is great if your feeling a bit tired, but if I’m then faced with a stressful situation it can lead to a mild panic.

I’m not saying you should never have caffeine, but by cutting it out of your everyday routine you can seriously drop your stress levels, making panic and anxiety easier to deal with. I was drinking about 3 cups of coffee a day when I first heard about this and decided to cut it out completely for 3 months to eliminate the effects it was having in my life. Be warned, caffeine is addictive and if you suddenly remove it, you can feel certain withdrawal symptoms. The first 48hrs can feel pretty rough, headaches and tiredness can be expected. I was amazed to see what an effect it had on me, but after a few days I began to feel OK again. Drinking lots of water helped too and before long I felt my mind was a lot clearer than it had been before. Reducing the caffeine also allowed me to sort my thoughts and sleep easier.