For years I baulked at the idea of routine, I wanted to be free, to do as I wish, I was excited by retirement from a very demanding job, and I dreamt of getting up whenever I felt like it and taking it easy. Soon enough I realised that I would achieve very little that way. Whether one is working an 8-5 job, studying or working part-time and managing a home and children, a structured day helps us fit in the aspects of the personal time, professional time and family time.

This week I listened to an audiobook about near death experiences, called After, and I’d like to tell you about it, because in these times of stress, uncertainty, great changes in the world, and what seems to me as a year of disempowerment, this book gives one hope.

As a health coach, I have been implementing changes in my daily life, adhering to a healthy diet, walking daily, strengthening my body through Pilates and always looking for those moments in which I can appreciate the life’s small wonders.

I used to be a good sleeper. When I say a good sleeper, I mean that sleep came easily to me, and I could stay asleep all night long. That was until I hit menopause. Then things changed. I found that I could not fall asleep easily, and that I also woke more often in the night. Some nights I still struggle to get a good, restorative deep sleep. I have come to realise that worrying about not sleeping is definitely counteractive, so in this article I hope to shed some light on a few important facts.

There is a lot of talk these days about intermittent fasting, and like most things diet and lifestyle related, definitions and interpretations abound.

After listening to an interview with Wim Hof “the iceman”, I decided to try cold showers. For the last two weeks, I have been increasing my cold shower time from about 10 seconds to 2 whole minutes. I admit that those first few seconds when the water changes from pleasantly warm to ice cold are shocking, but by the time you have counted to 10, you will start to feel a strange warmth from within. The true effect of these showers is felt only after you come out and dry yourself. Your body will be glowing, your mind super-alert, better than the best cup of coffee (not that I am giving up my morning espresso any time soon…)

Do you sometimes feel that you are misunderstood? Do people get the wrong end of the stick with you? A wrong word here, a tone of voice there, a look, or a sense of being judged can upset the applecart and create friction and miscommunication.

When I had not yet become a regular meditator, I used to enjoy my yoga teacher’s guided meditations. Sitting or lying down and listening to a calm and gentle voice guide me into relaxing different body parts, breathing, visualising a ray of light entering through the top of my skull and travelling down my body, penetrating every cell and filling me with bright, life-giving light or imagining a beach or a forest, where I feel calm and completely at one with nature and the universe.

A while ago, a client of mine told me that one minute she had a plate with four slices of toast on it and in the next - there was an empty plate. She had no recollection of actually eating it. That is a perfect example of how many of us consume our food, we are preoccupied, busy, stressed, hungry, bothered, in a hurry, and the food is just grabbed and eaten mindlessly. We are not paying attention to the quality or quantity of the food.

Many people shy away from meditation because they think that it is complicated, requires sitting in difficult positions, has to be done for an hour at a time, or means that you need to clear all thoughts from your mind.

Have you been told to breathe through your nose not through your mouth? Whether you have or not, you may be wondering how this simple piece of advice can help you improve your health and change many other habits.