Woody Wonders

It’s been a lovely long weekend of well needed downtime so I won’t keep you too long for this week’s blog, as I hope you’re doing the same.   A few months ago, my company gave us all a ‘wellbeing day’, a day that could be taken whenever we chose to do so, on the understanding that we had to do something enjoyable. It was their way of acknowledging the pressure everyone had been under over the course of the previous year. I chose to take mine last Thursday and tag it onto the bank holiday weekend, and as I don’t work Fridays, that meant a super long weekend for me!!! I started my day with a run in beautiful sunshine around one of my favourite routes. I then went for my second Covid vaccine, ok so not exactly enjoyable but wellbeing all the same. On the way home I called into the shop for fresh croissants, how decadent on a Thursday.   I then decided to go shopping for some new clothes. It’s been a while as I’ve spent most of my time in Lycra or something ever so slightly more e...

Ah yes, that age old topic of communication skills, don't we love to bang on about this subject.  We're criticised of under-communicating, over-communicating, being too positive, being too negative, not enough detail, too much detail, talking too much, not talking enough blah blah blah. It is however, hugely important to us as humans to be able to communicate effectively and we all have little traits or gestures that can be interpreted in the wrong way so we need to be aware of how we communicate. So what are the basics we need to be aware of: Voice Our voices are unique to us so we can't change them as such but we can change the pace, tone and volume of how we speak.  In this day and age, things move so quickly and we all want to get our point across that most of us speak way too fast.  So first of all, let's slow down a bit.  The tone of our voice matters too, it can show 'coldness' towards someone or it can show 'warmth and empathy' - read your audi...

When did we become so completely and utterly reliant on tech??   I’m usually banging on about having a break from screens, having a day of detox from your gadgets and I’m usually pretty chilled about having time away from my phone. However, recent events made me go into a complete meltdown.   Last Tuesday evening we had the mother of all storms, there was thunder, lightning, torrential rain and some pretty hefty hailstones.   I’d literally just got home from running so I was counting my blessings that I’d only encountered about 10 mins of the thunderstorm on my last mile back. As me and Mr Bob watched the worsening storm from the safety of our orangery, there was an almighty crash, bang, wallop which sounded like an explosion. We discovered the lightning had struck the lamppost outside our house and the resulting surge had blown out the phones lines and therefore the internet.   This is a pic our neighbour took and our house is directly across from where the lightnin...

So what the heck do I mean by 'are you a stone or a sponge?'   Well, I'm hoping there's lots of sponges out there! It's simply another way of describing how we think and behave.  In recent times, companies have started to realise that creating the right kind of culture is top of their list.  It's simple really when you think about it, build a safe, welcoming environment, keep your employees happy - boom, winning at life, or winning at business should I say. Stones are seen as being very rigid in their thinking, not willing to learn new things or listen to other people's ideas.  They tend to do their own thing and go their own way without really taking other people's feelings into consideration. Sponges do exactly what it says on the tin, they're willing to soak up new information and learn different ways of doing something and they will always listen to others.  They may not agree 100% all of the time but they'll listen and be willing to hear o...

Have you noticed that when you do something for someone else, it gives you a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. How often do you do that for yourself?  Do something to brighten up YOUR own day?  I'm guessing not as many times as you do something for someone else right?  We're often that busy taking care of the needs of others, whether it's colleagues, partners, friends, parents, children, pets, that we often forget to do something to brighten up our own days. Well, this week I'm going to be doing just that, brightening up my own life with a little ME time.  I have a whole week off work - woo hoo, first break since Xmas so I'm in desperate need!!  Yes, there'll be times when I need to do things for others but on the whole I'm planning some ' be kind to me' time. No time like the present so I brightened up this morning with a run through some very colourful fields! So, what else am I planning this week? More running! Catching up on my reading Going fo...

One topic I love to return from time to time, is how to keep pushing through our own invisible barriers.   It’s something I find difficult and I have to keep working at it constantly.   We all have them, we can’t see them, yet we feel comfortable inside them.   I usually have no problem motivating myself and I absolutely love learning new things.   I push myself, I work harder and then whoa …. the brakes go on, my heels dig in the ground as I screech to a halt in front of my own invisible barriers.   No, no, no I tell myself, what if I try this new thing and I look stupid or I make a mistake.   BUT, this is the strange thing about making mistakes, the more you make, the more comfortable and confident you start to feel and hey, you get better at what you’re doing.   Go figure! Now that I can meet people face-to-face again for my Saturday morning boot camps (woo hoo!), it obviously means that I can no longer do a Zoom session.   As much as I’d like ...

This week's blog is a little bit different as I'm taking you on a gratitude run and what the heck is one of those I hear you ask.  Well quite simply, and to put it crudely, it's an opportunity to take your head out of your own backside and be grateful for everything around you.  It's very easy to get caught up in your own little world and forget about the simple things in life.  In my case, it's about stepping away from work and boring home tasks, recharging my batteries and immersing myself in nature. I never tire of my environment and realise how lucky I am to live where I do but even so, it's still worth taking the time to be completely and utterly 'in the moment' every now and then and feel even more grateful for what I have. So come with me and enjoy!  But first, we need to warm up.  I usually start my session by doing 10 mins yoga.  This in itself helps to refocus my mind and help with my breathing.  I love the following: Yoga with Kassandra Yog...