Relax, take 5 and let the World turn without you.

Rest is vital to give your body and brain some down time. To rest and relax is having time in the day when you don’t do anything much. You allow your self to come to a stand still, regroup, recharge and begin again refreshed. This may be 15minutes, 30 minutes or an hour of being in one spot, stopping to enjoy eating your lunch, having a cup of tea or reading a magazine or book.

Allowing your Self to rest allows you to balance your energy levels and to recharge your battery by stopping the outgoing energy flow. Stop moving and see how long it takes you to relax your muscles, yes let your shoulder drop away from your ears, unclench your butt and slowly rotate your neck. Relax your thoughts – stop thinking! Breathe in and out several times. How does it feel? Strange, good, a bit anxious because you keep thinking something is waiting to be done? Life is constantly busy and we are so used to being on the go, constantly. Our body is most often in a state of energy management with our adrenal glands on high alert, the “flight or fight” switch is always on. Sometimes the only way we have to slow down is to get sick and force a slow down. Headaches, migraines, colds, sinus, adrenal exhaustion, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia are all varying levels of expression of being stuck in formula 1 mode. To avoid burnout and the crash and burn we must nourish and nurture our physical body and our mental and emotional bodies too.

Take control of your brain!
Meditation is a superb way to rest and empower your being. Regular meditation will balance and tone your nervous system and heart, improve breathing, streamline and gather your thoughts = clarity, calmness, centred. A lasting effect of meditation is improved focus and memory, less anxiety and feelings of stress, more creativity, less frustration and more compassion. Meditation physically changes our neural pathways and processing and overall, helps us be a happier, better Human Being!

On the run, 24/7 is not sustainable
We all need sleep 8-10 hours is an average optimum for most of us. Sleep allows your body to repair, grow, heal, eliminate. Recent research reports conditions such as heart disease, depression, anxiety are connected to irregular or broken sleep and lack of sleep. Even more importantly, a good nights sleep is anti-ageing! We need to switch off and sleep well to strengthen and be connected to our neural pathways.

Eat Exercise Breathe your way to sleep
Diet influences sleeping patterns dramatically. What we eat before we go to bed makes a difference on what our body focuses on as it works through its repair cycles through the night. You can’t blame your liver for waking you up at 3.00am as it struggles to process and detox the day and deal with the heavy meal, few glasses of wine and desert you ate just before going to bed. Having smaller portions at dinner or eating early and going for a light walk after dinner is the ideal way to end the day and keep things simple for your body through the night. And one of the keys to success if you are trying to lose weight.
Stimulants such as coffee and other caffeinated drinks will make sleeping well difficult for many. Restricting coffee and “energy” drinks to before 12.00 pm is a habit worth making if sleep is broken or you find yourself tired at 8.00pm and wide awake at 1.00am!

Snoring contributes to shallow sleep or broken sleep and besides keeping sleeping partners awake, research shows can even lead to heart conditions. So well worth investigating if diet changes, osteopathic or chiropractic adjustments or exercise can be of help. Reformer Pilates has brilliant Neck and upper back exercises to correct upper body posture and improve throat/neck “collapse” when lying in bed, very helpful with easing some snoring conditions and allowing a deeper sleep for everyone!

Breathing exercises are an effective way to help us to go to sleep peacefully and sleep deeply. Practice a simple breathing routine as you lie in bed to detach from the day, help your mind and body to synchronise in letting go into a restful sleep. Breath is a powerful relaxant!

Simple Breathing routine:
Lie comfortably in bed with eyes closed and lights out so you don’t have to stir when finished.
Breathe in and out with a long in and out breath 5 times. Try to allow your chest to rise, the breathe reaching into your belly and imagine going down to your toes and then coming slowly back up and out.
Breathe in and out shallow short breaths 5 times. Breath in and out through your nose, pushing the out breath out and sucking the in breath in.
Repeat the sequence of 5 long and 5 short breaths, 5 times altogether.
Then finishing with 5 medium slow breaths, in and out into your chest and belly, gentle, rhythmic….sleep

IMAGE: @tiniihitakara

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