Get Rooted: Intuitive Living

We were delighted to welcome Pandora from Rooted London as a speaker at our BareAll event. Pandora introduced us to intuitive living and encouraged us all to have a more balanced approached to life. We were so impressed by her session that we’ve asked her to create a guest post for us so we can share her good advice and all start the new year with a positive mindset. Take it away Pandora…

Wellbeing is so much more than the foods we put in our bodies and how much exercise we do. It’s how we feel, how we support and nurture ourselves from the inside out. It’s how much gratitude we create, not just from our work, but our lives. It’s how satisfied we are from all areas of our life.

95% of illnesses are either caused or worsened by stress.  In the UK, 70 million days are lost from work each year due to mental ill health (i.e. depression, anxiety, and stress-related conditions) making it the leading cause of sickness absence. High stress can weaken the immune system and cause exhaustion in the body. So how can we change this?

You can eat all the right foods but if you have no way of managing your stress or workload, health is not going to be on your side. Sometimes we can’t change the daily stress of work but if we can change our approach to it, and find a better relationship with our health at home, the likelihood of us feeling stressed at work, is going to be reduced.

Here are some practical ways you can connect with your intuition on a daily basis, lower the likelihood of stress related conditions or burn out, and ensure you start the new year with clarity, strength and mindfulness.

Remember to breathe

Whenever it gets tough, just remember you can stop to breathe. Take a few long deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Honour your breath and it’s transformational benefits. We seem to obsess over meditation but sometimes, just a deep breath is all we need. Just 5 minutes of deep breathing can reset our stress response and work wonders on our wellbeing. Benefits include reducing our blood pressure, strengthening the abdominal and intestinal muscles, releasing toxins from the body and aiding restful sleep. Aim for 20 minutes of sitting still – and simply breathing – every day.

Work with purpose

Check in with yourself and the WHY behind what you’re working so hard for. Having clear goals and expectations can keep your mind in a positive state and stay on the right track, not the track you think you should be on. Be honest with your boss or colleagues about your purpose on the current project, your purpose in the team and so forth. If you’re working on something and you find it’s not sitting in your heart – is it therefore giving you the satisfaction you need in life? Don’t forget your purpose.

Quit comparing

Don’t compare your success against others. It is absolutely pointless and comparisons only rob us of precious time. We each get 86,400 seconds each day. And using even one to compare yourself or your accomplishments to another is one second too many. There is no end to the possible number of comparisons. The habit can never be overcome by attaining success. There will also be something—or someone—else to focus on. Your journey is unique to you and the more you compare yourself, the more you lose purpose and drive yourself deeper into a success than isn’t based on truth and authenticity.

Digital detox

Spending one day a week away from social media can be one of the best things you can do for your mental health. It helps to clear space for you to think, build your creativity and reset your mind, ready for the week ahead. Try going offline each Sunday and let the silence do its work. Seem impossible? Start with an hour. Built it up to a full day.

Rest

We underestimate the power of good rest to restore our vital energy – or Qi as it’s called in Chinese medicine.  In our ‘do more’ culture, nothing is ever enough and rest is the first thing to be sacrificed. Yet ironically, lack of sleep only amplifies every ache, sorrow and stress. Our culture considers the body to be inferior to the mind. It often teaches us to ignore fatigue, hunger, discomfort and our need for caring and nurturing. It conditions us to see the body as a rival, particularly when giving us messages we don’t want to hear. Rest allows you to get back into your body. Being on your phone whilst on holiday is NOT resting. One 60 minute yoga class amidst the madness of a busy social life is NOT resting. Rest is taking time out to restore, relax and reset.

Learn to say no – set boundaries

From my work as a Life Coach I see a lot of women who are trying to have it all and struggling. I find that women by nature find it harder to set boundaries, which in turn means they say yes to it all – being a mother, wife, husband/boyfriend/girlfriend, best friend, colleague, and everything else that daily life involves. It’s no surprise then to start feeling completely overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, emotional and burnt out. Normal admin jobs we are all tasked with – such as paying the bills or doing a food shop – start to feel overwhelming and we can lose a sense of control and balance. Create clear boundaries with both your home and work life. If time is a struggle, where can you find more time? Start by reducing the amount of time you spend on social media, doing things you don’t really NEED to do – just focus on what’s important and the task in hand.

Be kind

We all know ‘those’ people who get to the top and forget who they were at the bottom. Don’t be that person. It takes more energy to be unkind, than to be kind. Giving – even small acts of kindness – can make you feel good and when you feel good, you do better work and give you personally more meaning. Simple. Be kind to your clients, be kind to your team and most importantly, be kind to yourself.

Pandora offers a variety of services, from 1-2-1 Holistic Nutrition and Life Coaching to online courses in Intuitive Eating and Living.

For more information visit www.rootedlondon.com