Let's talk positivity

As some of you may know if you read my Instagram on a regular basis, I was feeling a bit down not so long ago. There was no particular reason for this, I just woke up and felt that life was not as good as it could be. A combination of the weather and not being able to get outside much, no real end of lockdown in sight, and missing my family, my friends and my lovely clients, some of whom I have gotten to know really well over the past few months.

Most of all I was, and still am, just missing life. I can’t just pop in and see my Mum and Dad or sit in a café to have coffee with a friend. I can’t cheer myself up with a spot of retail therapy and most of all I can’t see my beautiful nieces, who are growing so fast and changing every day. One of them is about to lose her first tooth, and the other is starting to walk! Am I the only one who worries I’ll be forgotten by the little people in their lives? Facetime and Zoom are amazing inventions, but they don’t make up for the touch, smell and warmth of another human being, especially the small squishy ones.

So what do you do when you feel like this? Being told to “snap out of it” doesn’t help - if anything it adds a feeling of annoyance, and you just feel aggression at anyone who gives you this advice, however well intentioned. Perhaps the first thing to do is acknowledge that you feel like shit, accept that some days are like this and if you don’t have the downs you won’t appreciate the highs. Having a good “it’s not fair” talk to yourself can be cathartic in that it’s ok to recognise that you will get down days - the important thing to realise here is that they are just that, a down day, and look at what you can do to get back on your game.

For me, the usual wellbeing advice applies:- light some scented candles, run a nice bubble bath and get a good book. In fact anything that promotes a feel good factor will help. Also for me however, I enjoy a few too many wines and too much chocolate, and whilst it feels good at the time, it can also act as a depressant and I generally tend to feel worse afterwards!

But why not take this a bit further - don't just try to elevate your mood, but take some positive action towards your mental health?

Something that has been receiving a lot of attention in the press recently is cold water therapy - either cold water swimming, bathing in ice, or taking cold showers. You may have seen Joe Wicks recently lying in an ice bath and stating that he felt fantastic afterwards, his actual caption being “I’ve never felt more alive in my life”. The science behind this claims that it could help with depression, boost your immune system and clear brain fog. Apparently, a cold shower can also protect you from colds and flu and reduce the amount of time you are ill for due to the effect it has on regulation of hormones in the endocrine system - a definite plus at the moment!

If this sounds like something you'd like to try and you would like to know more about this, try reading books by Wim Hof . This is the guy who is known as the “Iceman” and who has recently piqued our interest in all things freezing. Alternatively, if you have Netflix, there is a programme called “The Goop Lab”, courtesy of Gwyneth Paltrow, which has an episode about Wim where his breathing techniques, cold temperature exposure and meditation are explored, along with the evidence that it all works! Definitely worth a look!

An easy way to start off is to have your normal warm shower and finish with a 30 second blast of cold water, gradually increasing to a minute and beyond. You might be reading this and thinking ‘she’s insane, no way am I jumping head first into ice cold water!’. But with so many benefits including a deepened sleep and higher energy levels, why not give it a go? You might be pleasantly surprised, and what do you really have to lose? I'd love to hear how you get on!

And of course, it's easy to forget that massage therapy can help! According to studies, cortisol (our stress hormone) decreases and serotonin (our “happy” hormone) increases following a massage. Another good reason to look forward to the end of lockdown and start feeling good again!

Stay safe, take care, and hopefully see you all soon!

Love From, Lyndsey x