This week’s blog is all about mental health and, specifically, recovery. One thing I’ve observed is that you may not be overdoing it or doing too much, but what you’re not doing is building enough recovery into your schedule.
What do I mean by recovery? It’s things like active rest, where you’re moving your body in a gentle, restorative way (it doesn’t have to be yoga for example) – but things like walking, active transport, standing up, generally being mobile, which is what we are designed to do, but it also means resting.
Do you actually sit down and put your feet up every now and again?
What I’d really like to talk about is mental nourishment – the idea of resting your mind. We’re in a hyper-connected world where we’re constantly trying to outperform each other in business, outperform ourselves in the gym, and generally just driving ourselves forward in a relentless fashion.
I love the idea of recovery for mental nourishment; giving your mind a break, taking care of your mind, as well as your body, as everything is interconnected. You can’t separate mental health, physical health, emotional health or spiritual health – but take care of your mind and your spirit and ask yourself these questions:
Why are we here? What is your purpose? What are you doing to serve the world that you live in?
I encourage you to look at not just what you’re doing, but how you can build more recovery into your day. This might be two minutes sitting and breathing on the train. There’s a box-breathing tip I can give you: you inhale for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds and hold the exhalation for four seconds. You’re breathing in a box pattern, it’s a breathing tip which I encourage people to try.
Recovery can mean several things. It can be contribution or doing something for somebody else. It can be heartfulness, which is going back to something you used to love, whether it was reading, painting, sailing, fishing, walking in nature. Just try and put a little more thought into your schedule to create a better blend of work and leisure.
Mental nourishment is a topic I’m really interested in and will focus more blogs on this in the future. I’d love to hear how you’re getting on and if I can help you with your wellbeing – please feel free to contact me here: [email protected]
What’s your Health IQ?
If you’re reading this, you’re are probably in a reasonably senior position, running your own business or have a busy life running the home and juggling other responsibilities. Either way, you’re busy. The convergent pressures of work and family life have probably meant that the time you did have to spend on health and fitness has disappeared. Why not talk to us and see how we can help.
Leanne Spencer is an entrepreneur, coach, TEDx Speaker, author of Remove the Guesswork, and founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. Bodyshot is a health and fitness consultancy that helps busy professionals get more energy by removing the guesswork around their health, fitness and nutrition. Visit www.bodyshotperformance.com or email [email protected] to register your interest in our services and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.