Stridi

  We all have some poor habits, whether it's: Eating junk. Having one too many lemonades on a school night. Playing that game on our phone at times when we shouldn't. It can become an unpleasant cycle of Cue, Craving, Response and Reward.   But.... did you know that we can use these stages to our advantage?  Habits aren’t just a part of your life – an annoying tendency that you can’t seem to shake. Or a surprising trait that you developed out of nowhere. Habits are developed – often accidentally, but we can also create habits. Creating a habit is very much like learning a new skill. We keep practicing until it becomes natural, or until we reach our desired level of competence. With a new skill, perhaps you just want to be able to perform the activity successfully in one take? Or maybe you want to be able to do it naturally, with barely any awareness that it’s happening.   Developing a habit is similar. The activity in question may be a skill or activity t...

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Stridi Towers. It’s been a while. But we’re back. Photo by Lauren Whitaker from Pexels In this piece, we’ll be talking about how spending time with dogs can be really beneficial for your mind - and your body.  Turn that frown upside down! Photo by cottonbro from Pexels   Because our furry, four legged friends can improve your happiness, just from spending a few minutes with them.  Dogs can also help to reduce your stress and anxiety levels and, if you’re home alone for the day, your fluffy friend can be a great companion. If you struggle with loneliness, a dog might just be your new best friend. In fact, talking of best friends…. A dog can provide all the happiness, companionship and optimism that your usual friends do. But as mentioned earlier, it’s not just your mental health that dogs can help to improve.  Photo by Samson Katt from Pexels If you struggle to go out for walks, or it’s too wet to go out for a...

Hi everyone, Happy Sunday. Happy Day Of Rest. Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels Are you sitting in a comfy chair? Cool, we’ll begin. As it’s the Day Of Rest, I thought I’d talk a bit about mindfulness and meditation. You’ve probably come across it before, maybe you even practice these techniques on a daily basis. Or maybe only occasionally. However, if you’ve never tried it before, I’ll explain the basics: Meditation itself is the act of sitting still, in a quiet room, and focusing on stillness. It’s most effective with your eyes closed (but not compulsory), as this will encourage and allow you to access that deeper, relaxed state of meditation. The idea is to clear your mind of all thoughts, stresses, anxieties and anything else you might be feeling, and just relax. Get in touch with the spiritual world.  Photo by Valeria Ushakova from Pexels There are a few different types of meditation, including mindfulness meditation, which is all about focusing on the...

Hi everyone! Happy weekend. What if I told you….. there was no such thing as failure. What if I told you that you could live in a world where failure, or failing at anything, was not a thing?  Photo by Pixabay from Pexels Well, guess what? You already do. Let’s look at some definitions: Failure “A lack of success”. Feedback “ information which is used as a basis for improvement.” Photo by Pixabay from Pexels Life is all about the words you use, the language you live by. Your thoughts. Failure is just feedback. When we remove the concept of failure from our lives – granted, you may not necessarily always do things brilliantly at the first attempt, but you can at least come away from that activity thinking about how you can improve for next time. You’ve just done the activity and it wasn’t to your satisfaction. So, what would you do differently next time? It may mean waiting until tomorrow. It may mean waiting until next week. Or maybe you can have another go in ...

Hey everyone! It’s Matt here and a warm welcome back to Stridi Towers. Happy Monday. Happy Beginning of the Week.  Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels     Today I’m going to chuck a load of technical jargon at you about the way your mind works. Just joking. I’ll give you a load of easily digestible knowledge that you can use as you wish. You’re probably having a quick read on your break, or on your way home. Maybe you’re looking for some tips to regain your mojo for the week. Well, let’s learn some awesome facts! We have loads of things going on in our minds. Often, especially when it comes to making decisions, there are three particular things happening. There’s a place called your Emotional Mind, which is where our instantaneous, emotional responses come from. There’s our analytical mind, which is where we crunch the numbers and take a more measured approach. And there’s our intelligent mind, where we make an informed decision on the basis on what our other mi...