A Year Of Good Habits

Without making this New Year’s blog post too preachy on how to set good intentions in January (which is not bad advice to be fair!) how about just spreading the word to say that its worth trying to invite in some good practices to our lives and try to be “consistent” with this to see some amazing results, also bearing in mind that if we fall off the wagon, it’s not the end of the world, there is always tomorrow.  Let’s not be too hard on ourselves with rigid and sometimes unachievable goals, as they say, it just takes one little step to see big results over time……

I’m going to start with me and my plans for 2019 which I must say I’ve been building up to over the course of the last couple of years, finally, could I be at the point where I feel “balanced” on all levels?  I’m talking emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically.  That means letting go of stuff that no longer serves me, exercising to a realistic regime and keeping weight consistent, eating healthy, reducing bad habits and achieving all the work goals I have set myself.  So here are my plans:

 

Food

This year I’m sticking to my tried and tested rule of the 80/20 mix of bad versus good, well not even bad, just “naughty”.  During the week this is when I really watch what goes into my mouth, reaching the staggering heights of over seven portions of fruit and veg from Monday to Friday!  Speaking of which, I will also have a nominated fruit of the week which I will chow down on daily to ensure that I get a good mix of different vitamins and goodness from that particularly fruity offering!

We are lucky enough to use the Hello Fresh food box scheme, which now has introduced its “balanced” option on the menu (under 550 calories per meal), another way to encourage good eating habits.  HelloFresh ensures we eat fresh 95% of our week, we have been on this scheme for over two years now and I would go as far to say its life-changing in terms of how and what we eat.

Crisps, cake, puddings and chocolate will be my weekend treat and takeaways will be a once a month, pay day extravaganza.  Ah, takeaways.  My Achilles heel.  Can I do this?  I used to be a one or even two a week kind of girl…..I think it’s a case of having too! After a cholesterol test last summer said that my level was moderately high and bearing in mind most of my daily habits are pretty clean, I’m blaming it all on the saturated fats in takeaways! Praying to be strong on this one……

 

 

Drink

Another weakness has been caffeine (quite frankly, my only real vice!), so what I’m looking to do here is not drink a coffee on waking, leaving this indulgence until around 10 am.  My drink on waking will be hot water mixed with lemon, honey, turmeric and cinnamon. I will continue with my herbal teas and water through-out the day and if I’m feeling lucky allow myself another afternoon coffee (living dangerously on all levels here!).

 

I’m currently partaking with dry-January with my husband, more to help him than me. I can say this quite honestly, alcohol is not a pull for me.  It’s a time stealer, headache inducer and serves me no longer.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a (shared) good bottle of wine and great company, nothing quite makes an evening flow better than a few drinks between good friends.  However, I don’t need it and can quite happily not have it if the mood takes me that way.

 

 

Exercise

I have always been into exercise and been a runner for over 15 years now, the problem is that I was never consistent with it.  After attending a brilliant Ayurveda workshop at the end of last year, it turns out my body type doesn’t like anything too energetic and things like walking and yoga will do me just fine.  This was music to my ears and its exactly what I have been doing, walking my dog daily has really increased my fitness level without putting too much pressure on my joints and yoga I’ve finally started to embrace daily again, I have to say it’s making me feel amazing!  So in 2019, the plan here is to just keep being consistent to see and feel the incredible benefits both of these exercises can do.  I think the message here is that you don’t have to bust your balls to get noticeable exercise results, a little but often is all it takes.

 

 

Wellbeing

Ayurveda comes into play here again as I’m taking the good advice of instilling a sleep routine which is fixed and consistent throughout the week. 10 pm until 6 am is my key sleep time to promote my body to renew cells, heal and get fully rested.  I cannot stress enough how important sleep is for us to function at our best on every level.  In fact, if I feel like a cold is coming, I get an early night without exception and more often than not, that cold has gone by morning because my body has done its healing job during the night.

I’ve also gone ahead and made sure I have booked in regular massage, reiki and reflexology appointments for the first half of this year, to ensure I don’t leave it too long between treatments.  Massage is to help my muscles repair as I am using them constantly during my own work (massage and Reiki practitioner), Reiki for chakra balancing, reflexology for promoting so many health benefits and peace of mind.

Meditation and self-reiki are also key to my routine now, to enhance my spiritual connection for my mediumship and psychic work, most importantly for mindfulness, relaxation and calmness which all equal to a stress-free life (ok, not so much stress-free but being able to manage the stress better).

Not only should I start feeling better from the inside, but a good skin care routine will also help me to feel better on the outside.  I will continue to use natural, organic products on my skin (knocking on the door of 40 now….this is critical!  Haha).

 

Clutter Free!

I have embraced being clutter-free over the last few years and the benefits this has given my mental health cannot be underestimated.  I love to plan and be organised and knowing where everything is helping me like you would not believe.  Our living space and energy in our home is a direct reflection of our mental health.  Some people may disagree with that statement but I feel the two are intrinsically linked. When I come home and my house is tidy and clean still, it makes me feel a million dollars and having that energy flow well around my house, gives me a serious high I can tell ya!

 

Relationships

This year it’s all about quality over quantity, saying no to invites that I just don’t fancy and would only go too because I felt I had too, without feeling the need to explain myself.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  I love to stay in and be at home with my family, I also love to go out and let my hair down, sometimes I like to do one thing more than the other and that’s just fine. I don’t care what anyone thinks about that anymore.  As you grow older you settle into the energies that resonate the most with you and that’s exactly what you should be doing.  Some people get their energy boost from other human beings, others get their energy boost from alone activities like reading, walking or watching films. I personally like a bit of both, depending on the mood.  My mood changes from week to week (like most of the female population) and I will now live my life according to that natural schedule.  That feels pretty liberating I have to say!

 

Moments Of Gratitude

These are always important, I already practice feeling gratitude but I want to do this even more in 2019.  Feeling true gratitude is when we are humbled to have everyone and everything in our lives, from our good health to our freedom to live in a country that allows us to strive to be the best individual that we can be.  To bring in more of what you already have in abundance you must appreciate that very thing, to understand that nothing should ever be taken for granted.  To have air to breathe, shelter, food and water and love, that is a winning lotto ticket right there.

 

Spirituality

My faith means everything to me and without it, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I am not religious but I have a firm and unequivocal belief in life after death.  Having this depth of faith allows me to live my life knowing that once we die, it is not the end of our existence of “us”, it just changes form (funny, a bit like energy itself!).

I am lucky enough to have a job that means that I walk my talk so to speak and help others on their spiritual journey.  What I often see is individuals reaching a certain point in their lifetime (often around the forty-year mark, they don’t call it a mid-life crisis for anything) but this also happens in other age decades too, its different for every soul journey.  But what is happening exactly?  The crown chakra is starting to open, in brief, things that used to serve us no longer do, the person realises that they will not find happiness outside of their own selves. Family, friends and work can certainly and will enhance feelings of happiness and contentment, but that means nothing if we feel empty inside.  Self -reflection, introspection and making peace with our inner demons is when we finally can accept who we are and love ourselves and then others, unconditionally.

I hope to bring you many more blog posts this year, especially on my ever winding and enhancing spiritual journey!  Happy new year to all my fab followers and thank you so much for your support over 2018, my heart will always be filled with so much gratitude!

Until next time,

Tanya