Stridi

  Breathe in….. breathe out. Prolong the exhale.    Your breath is powerful. It has the power to improve your mood, your mental health and the way that your body functions. That sounds so easy and simple, doesn’t it? There are loads of other simple ways to improve your life. Not just from the comfort of your own home, but from the comfort of your own mind, your own body. Let’s start with your morning routine:   Try and go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time each day. A few minutes either way doesn’t really matter, so if you’re keen on the snooze button then don’t panic just yet. When you wake up, have a glass of warm water with a squeeze of lemon – you can use up to half a lemon if desired, but just a few drops are great too. (Warm water is beneficial by itself too, if you’re not good with the bitter taste of lemons.) Lemon water has a whole host of benefits. From helping to detox the body, to being a natural mood enhancer. Who needs that ...

  Hi everyone, It’s Matt here, and I’m back to share some more tips with you. Today I’d like to discuss perception.  As mentioned last time, my specialist area is NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which is similar to CBT. A classic NLP phrase is: The map is not the territory.   This phrase means that everyone’s perception is different. Two people can look at the same thing and see something different. For example, you might look out of your kitchen window and immediately spot your neighbours bright red car, followed by a tree which is swaying in the wind. Whereas a friend or family member might look at seemingly the exact same view, but not even notice the car until you point it out to them. Another example, you could make someone a cup of tea, and while one person might rejoice at getting their caffeine fix, another might complain that it's not in their favourite cup and the tea is too milky.  It’s all about perception. Your mind can “delete” things th...

  Nap! It’s good for you. There’s a sentence which will be music to many ears.    Nope, there’s no catch – napping, having a kip, getting some shut-eye, or whatever you know it as, is good for your health. Managing your homeostatic sleep drive – that is, that feeling of needing sleep, which should be low upon waking up and gradually increase throughout the day, is tough for all of us. (and it’s also my favourite technical term that I’ve learned today). So, why are naps good for you? Pretty basic, but super important – they provide rest. They improve cognitive function. You know that feeling of euphoria and contentment after a really good kip? Naps can also improve your mood.   I said there wasn’t a catch, but as with everything, there are some downsides. Napping for too long can be counterproductive. A lengthy nap can leave you feeling groggy, tired and lethargic – not ideal if you’ve got to be alert enough to do an important task. Naps can someti...