Lifestyle // Top Tips to Improve Your Wellbeing – Yoga, Mindfulness and Nutrition [press event]

I’ve written before about the importance of mindful living and taking care of my mental and physical well being. This year I’ve been working harder than ever to really focus on looking after myself. I’ve been exercising regularly and eating healthily, as well as taking time to fully recharge and manage my mental health too. I’ve seen so many improvements to my mental and physical health because of it. I’ve lost weight, my eczema has vastly improved and I’ve been getting less stressed, and keeping my focus on my priorities, not getting overwhelmed by everything else. So when I was kindly invited along to Liberty Living’s Wellbeing event to complete a yoga class, mindfulness workshop and learn top nutrition tips, I jumped at the chance.

Liberty Living is one of the largest providers of student accommodation in the UK, and is dedicated to supporting it’s students’ wellbeing throughout their studies. All of their staff and students have access to workshops, information and knowledge sessions to help break down the stigma of mental health, and give them tools and conversation to manage it. A company I can get on board with! I had such a great evening, and wanted to share the top tips I learnt for staying healthy with yoga, mindfulness and nutrition.

Yoga – How often you should practice, and why it’s important

I’m not a practiced yogi by any means, having only done the odd taster class at work now and then. However, I absolutely loved the session we did at the event. Our teacher was fantastic, explaining every move, and giving us all the help we needed to successfully bend, stretch and breathe our way through. Turns out I am a pro at the child pose (basically just  being crouched in the most comfortable position ever on the floor!) At the end of class I felt relaxed, peaceful, long and lean. I was actually pretty inflexible and like a clumsy toddler, but I could envisage myself as a streamlined, steel cored goddess, which lets face it is pretty much the same – fake it till you make it.

Our instructor explained that yoga should really be implemented daily and can fit around your schedule – it’s a great way to set you up for the day in the morning, and a great way to ease your mind and create calm ready for bed. I must say I felt so zen after we’d finished that I definitely need to schedule time in as part of my bedtime routine.

10 Reasons Why Doing Yoga is Good For Your Health:

1. Reduces stress
2. Increases your concentration
3. Helps you to understand the mind and body connection
4. Allows you to gain strength and stamina
5. Improves your balance and stability
6. Improves your posture
7. Develops body awareness
8. Helps you breathe better
9. Increases your energy
10. Allows you to become more mindful

Mindfulness – how to do it and how often

After our yoga class, we headed into the mindfulness workshop. Now I have to admit, I am TERRIBLE at mindfulness. I find it very hard to sit and “do nothing” (which I know is not actually what you should be doing when being mindful!). What you *should* be doing is quietly focusing on your present surrounding to create a sense of calm and reduce stress. By being quiet and systematically breathing and checking in with your surroundings, mindfulness is supposed to create the best environment for learning, creativity and problem-solving – which makes it perfect for optimising yourself for work or study. Ideally you should practice mindfulness daily, so that it becomes second nature, and your brain can easily focus and relax when most needed. I definitely need to get better at this one!!!

Our Mindfulness Instructor talked is through three exercises to best engage with ourselves, which, with practice, can be adapted and adopted into everyday life. Perfect for those stressful days at the office when you want to take a few moments to re-centre without having to go hide in the toilets! We’ve all been there right?!

3 easy to follow mindfulness practices you can do everyday:

1. Take three deep conscious breaths, while observing your internal state. What emotions are you feeling, and what’s triggering it? This can be done at any time of the day, and is super simple and can be done anywhere.
2. Take a break to sit and pay attention to your breath daily, even if just for 3 minutes. Focus on breathing in deeply through your nose and out slowly through your mouth. This again is great for doing anywhere – even at your desk or on the bus, and you can train your brain to settle and chill out.
3. Go for a mindful walk in the park, leaving your tasks behind and turning your attention to the nature around you, is scientifically proven to help you feel grounded and relaxed. I’ve made sure I take a walk every single lunch time now, even if for 15 minutes to get away and have some time for myself. I always come back to my desk refreshed and ready to tackle the afternoon.

Nutrition – the best foods for good mental and physical health

As part of my health and well being journey this year, I’ve become much more conscious of what I eat, and particularly for the last six months have been making an effort to eat as clean as possible with a diet of high protein and plenty of vegetables.

Anastasia, a trained nutritionist talked us through some of the best foods and drink we should be consuming in order to keep ourselves in top condition, and optimised for productive work and study. Christ I needed these tips!!

As well as drinking enough water (at least 3 litres a day) Anastasia recommended:

1) Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar Levels:

This should stop the roller coaster highs and crashing lows which can occur throughout the day if you binge on too much sugar. While you’ll get a burst of energy straight after you’ll soon slump, and need even more sugary snacks to recover, and you’ll get stuck in a vicious, unhealthy (if not delicious) cycle!

• Eat protein with every meal and snack
• Avoid refined sugars and grains. Put the Coke can down Emma.

2) Get Your Brain Nutrients:

Foods rich in these nutrients are what your mum was talking about as she thrust a banana at you whispering “brain food” before your GCSE maths exam.

• B12: found in animal foods, if vegan supplement.
• Omega 3 fatty acids: found in oily fish and walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds.
• Vitamin D: apparently we’re all lacking Vitamin D in the UK, because of the lack of sunshine, so some kind of supplement is recommended (between 1000iu-4000iu per day).
• Antioxidants: eat a wide range of vegetables a day to increase antioxidant levels, aim to eat a rainbow at lunch and dinner.

3) Optimise the Gut Microbiome:

This is something I’ve been becoming increasingly interested in since suffering very badly with skin allergies in the last couple years, and being suggested that it may partly be linked to diet. My mum always says “healthy gut, healthy mind” and it turns out there’s actually a lot of truth in it! (sorry for shutting you down Sue!)

• Eat fermented foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir and natural yoghurt
• Avoid processed foods and sugars
• Rotate vegetables on a daily basis to increase bacteria diversity

I had such a great evening at the Liberty Living Wellbeing Event – thanks so much for having me! Its was great to be surrounded by so many people who were also interested in learning ways they can improve their physical and mental health, and fantastic to learn so many tips which I can now put into practice. I’ve since dug out my old yoga mat which I have no recollection of buying and am determined to get into the habit of doing some every night. Watch this space!

What are your top tips for looking after your wellbeing?

I was kindly invited along to this event by Liberty Living. As always all thoughts are honest and my own. For more information please check out my Disclaimer Page.

Huge thanks to Elouisa Georgiou for the lovely photos (and reminding me I must always take a hair brush to events).