Read on to find out why looking after your body and focusing on that brain – mind – body connection is vital to being the best we can be. Learn how changing your posture can change your mindset, reduce anxiety and help you to become more successful. Read More

Show me what your body looks like when you bend over your laptop or text on your phone. Go on – do it. Now show me what depression looks like. Yes. I’m asking you to move into that hunched over position that resembles someone on their phone. Now sit up and imagine that you’ve just had an interview and got a fabulous new job. Spend a few minutes in this position. Be that successful person.

How does your body feel? Wonderful.

It’s a two way street between our body our brain and our mind so the traffic goes both ways!! The brain responds to data and definitely notices our posture so it probably thinks you’re getting old and decrepit. What kind of message is that to give your brain!!

If you really want to energise your brain and get that feel good glow, stand for five minutes every day in the superhero pose. Come on, we’ve all got time. Start a trend in the local cafe when you’re waiting for your coffee. Hands on your waist; knees slightly bent; shoulders back but soft and not tense; feel as if the vertebrae in your neck are growing so that you stand tall. Think about that fabulous job you’ve just won (even if you haven’t yet). Just standing tall or ‘sitting tall’, allows more oxygen to reach the brain. How good is that?

Let’s do a few squats. Oh no I hear you say, but look at the benefits:

“Engaging lower body muscles sends signals to the brain to produce new neural cells. Some of the very building blocks that allow us to handle stress and adapt to challenge in our lives.”

I’m lazy so I’ve signed up at the gym several times, only to find that I don’t make it more than three times. Doing 100 squats a day pumps up my heart and has really made a difference to my fitness. Commit to doing squats every day – you can do 100 in seven minutes- to improve bone health, encourage the production of new neural cells and strengthen your pelvic muscles. How good is that? You can do 20 squats in no time at all so make a start today.

Changing habits is something we can all do. I challenge you to create a tick sheet and put it on your fridge to show 21 days of activity. Without that constant reminder, your brain goes back to the default pattern. Replace your old habit with a new visual reminder. Choose one of the tips above to put into action. Or even better, do both of them. 21 days is all it takes to create a new habit.

When I was challenged to do 100 squats a day for 30 days, my first response was – Bullshit – you’re kidding me. I’ll never be able to do that. I hate squats! I was persuaded to start small and that worked well. By the end of the second week, I was onto it and even better, my brain was onto it. Can you believe it? I’d just lie down in bed at night and my brain would go ‘DING’ ‘You haven’t done your squats.’ I’d feel compelled to jump out of bed and stand in the bathroom or at the side of the bed, doing one hundred squats as fast as I could, not really caring how they were done. What a sight.

My point is that my brain had formed new neural pathways to get that message to me. WoW. How amazing is that! So get that mind body connection going and change your mindset to reduce anxiety. unexpected-benefits-squats/ Find more articles at elenalennox.com

Elena is a Wellbeing Coach and Resilience Trainer who is passionate about staying well and that means reducing those damaging hormones produced when we’re anxious. Contact Elena – elena@resilientpeople.com.au for a free 20 minute consultation.

Compassion Fatigue has similar symptoms to what we call ‘Burnout’ but it can also be termed ‘Secondary Traumatic Stress’ if you’re constantly dealing with the trauma experienced by others. Lawyers, nurses, doctors, social workers, physiotherapists and many others have a daily diet of trauma: they listen constantly to stories of pain, disruption and unhappiness.

1. Reduced ability to feel empathy towards clients or their families.
2. Avoidance or dread of working with some patients/ clients.
3. Change in beliefs, expectations and assumptions.
4. Detachment.
5. A pervasive negative attitude or a sense of hopelessness.
6. Decreased intimacy.
7. Avoidance or dread of working with some patients/ clients.
8. Increased psychological arousal – constantly ready for action (increase in adrenalin – higher blood pressure, signs of anxiety).
9. Poor sleeping habits.
10. Addiction.
11. Sadness and grief.

Do you tend to be a perfectionist? Do you have trouble delegating tasks? Don’t like to take breaks. Find it difficult to say No? Do you bottle your feelings up and don’t talk about stuff? Do you take on social justice issues? Do you work longer hours?
If you think that you are experiencing the symptoms of Compassion Fatigue or Burnout, or your colleague is showing some of the signs, then seek help.
Building Resilience, Awareness Training, Mindfulness Training, Creating a Safe Workplace – all of the above contribute to staff wellbeing and a healthy workplace culture. Contact Elena to learn more about mitigating the stressors involved in dealing with very needy people. Call for a free chat on +61 407445497 or a free Zoom Session if you live overseas.
Sources:1. Phsyiotherapists – Compassion Fatigue 2. Burnout or Compassion Fatigue? 3. Wikipedia

Mindfulness is Normal

Children used to be very mindful about what they said in front of adults because they might get a clip round the ear if they were silly. Being mindful means paying attention to what we say and how we say it. Even more than that, it means paying attention to how we act and how we re- act.

When your mind is full of STUFF, your body can suffer.

A friend who is a psychologist recounted the story recently of having to walk out from a training session on the river for an endurance event called the Avon Descent because he had dislocated his shoulder. The pain was intense so he focused on his senses, other than the pain: the sense of smell as he walked through the bush; the sense of touching the ground; the wind on his face.
Did it make a difference?
“Hell yes,” said John.
In fact he had been teaching mindfulness to some of his clients but this was his first real experience of ‘being completely in the present’ and it had made a considerable difference to his pain levels. He was quite amazed by how effective it was.

Not only can mindfulness practices be used to reduce pain, reduce anxiety and bring depressed people into a better space, it can also work for you in the office. If you have a better understanding of HOW you work, if you are observant of how you speak to others, you’ll get some amazing insights into what’s happening in your life.

WHY do we need mindfulness?

Is your mind full of STUFF? How is that fragmented jumble of thoughts coming and going affecting your ability to focus? Often our mind jumps from one thing to another, thinking about something we could have done better or we’re concerned about what we’ve got to do. The body becomes tense, shoulders tight, breathing shallow.

HOW can you know what to do?

The cartoon of the child shows that he or she is looking around and probably enjoying the moment. The senses are engaged and the person is ‘present’, not thinking of yesterday or tomorrow and problems yet to come.

WHAT can you do to be more present?
Sitting in your office chair, it’s a bit hard to relocate to a space in nature but Awareness Training can teach you strategies for noticing when you are tense and ironing out the irritations that seem to wind you up.

KEY TIPS.

If you can’t do anything about it, let it go
Notice how your body feels at different times and let go of the tension.
Stop for a minute – that’s all it takes.
Relax your shoulders, sit up straighter, sigh and breath deeply.
Think of something that makes you smile and your brain will change

Mindfulness can improve productivity