Hi friends, welcome back to the Zestful Zen Wellbeing Wednesday newsletter. 💖
I hope you’ll find these resources a helpful self-care support and an opportunity to pause as we hit “hump day” again. 🐪
✨✨✨✨✨
Inspire
“Just when you feel you have no time to relax, know this is the moment you most need to relax.”
– Matt Haig, from Reasons to Stay Alive
Look
My Headspace app often reminds me about the impermanence of life and nature. It’s a good reality-check when distracted: it helps bring me back to the present, thinking “I should appreciate this moment before it’s gone.” (Conversely, when times are tough, I also know, this too shall pass.)
I took some lovely woodland walks last weekend while in Northern Ireland, and these beautiful carvings brought impermanence right to the forefront of my mind.
The creatures have been carved out of damaged trees, bringing new life and purpose to the remaining stumps. Yet even then, their journey hasn’t ended, as Mother Nature reclaims the wood with fungus and lichen. Quite poetic.
Listen
Tune into this great interview (You 2.0: How To Say No) on the Hidden Brain podcast with psychologist Professor Vanessa Patrick.
Vanessa explores why it's so hard to say no, and how we can set boundaries that will make it easier to do so. Her research has identified a range of ways to be more effective at saying no. I can’t wait to try these techniques out myself and report back on how it goes!
Watch
There are so many great videos out there featuring Dr Kristin Neff, pioneer of mindful self-compassion. But in the spirit of keeping things bite-sized, I’ll share her short explainer of The Three Components of Self-Compassion: self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness.
Read
If you’d like to get started with mindfulness practice through structured step-by-step lessons, but a course isn’t currently within your means, or accessible to you, I’d recommend The Little Mindfulness Workbook by Gary Hennessey. You can download worksheets and meditation tracks to accompany the chapters.
Ask
In my latest personal essay, I wrote about the three Emotional Regulation Systems (drive and achievement; threat and protection; soothing and connection) and trying to find the right balance between them, so that we’re thriving, rather than striving. You can read the full post here:
Some questions you could reflect on:
Which emotional system is dominating your life right now?
Which system would you like to spend more time in?
How can you find balance across your systems?
What simple steps can you take today to support both your zest and your zen?
What help do you need to make these changes?
Do
Take a five minute breather and stretch! I’ve been working from home in NI this week and have really felt my back hurting as I hunched over my laptop. My aching body was screaming out for some stretches.
If you’re also spending too much time at your desk (or worse, like me, your kitchen table!) here are four short videos to help you get started.
Just like Substack writing, the key is consistency - if you can make these stretches part of your daily routine, your body will thank you!
3 simple stretches you can repeat throughout the day:
A series of 30 second seated stretches you can do at your desk (with lots of options depending on your muscle tension and flexibility). Do them all together or spread across your day:
You’ll need a little more space for these 4 stretches, and maybe a yoga mat or cushion for your knees. If you have a Swiss ball there’s a bonus stretch too. Love the cat cameo!
You’ll probably want a yoga mat and a towel for this batch:
✨✨✨✨✨
Wishing you all a wonderful Wellbeing Wednesday! 💖
I’d love your feedback on this Wellbeing Wednesday post: Did you enjoy it? Do you like the bitesize format? What would make it better? 🌸
If you enjoyed this post, it would mean the world to me if you’d comment, hit the heart button, share with others, or subscribe to Zestful Zen for free! Thank you lovely people ✨