Wellbeing

Emotions: Stop making excuses today

Are you always making excuses for not being fitter, more healthy, more spiritual? Liz Alvis looks at how to turn round those negative health habits.

Are you always making excuses for not being fitter, more healthy, more spiritual? Liz Alvis looks at how to turn round those negative health habits.
Do you find yourself making excuses for why you can’t give up that daily coffeeor after-work glass of wine? Are you always saying that you’ll go to that yoga class, but never get round to it? We all want to be fit and healthy but despite our best intentions ourgoals often get forgotten as everyday life gets in the way. Whether it’s work pressures, family commitments or a lack of motivation, many ofus find ourselves making excuses for our bad habits or less-than-healthy lifestyles. However, with a bit of effort you can break this pattern. Here our holistic health experts offer some tips on how to tackle those excuses and start afresh with some new healthy habits!

Excuse no 1

“I would do more exercise but what with work and looking after the kids I just don’t have the time…”

Try this

“Yoga is the perfect solution if you find you are too busy to get to the gym or a class as you can practise it any time,” says Katie Mutton of Yoga Team Ltd (yoga-team.co.uk). “Give yourself 15 minutes each day, to stretch and breathe well and your body will become stronger while your flexibility and mobility will increase. Choose a time that works for you, and try to stick to this. Extended periods of sitting can lead to muscular shortening, tightening and weakening, so you want to let stretching a little each day become as routine as brushing your teeth. Leave your yoga mat out if you know that you are a morning person and could get up an extra 15 minutes before work or perhaps you could enjoy 10 minutes whilst the dinner is in the oven in the evening. Gradually introduce this into your schedule and eventually extend each session to 30 minutes.

Use your own body as resistance to develop strength: try weight-bearing poses such as plank, down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) or standing poses such as triangle (Trikonasana) or some warriors (Virabhadrasana I, II and III). These poses work to maintain and build bone density, whilst strengthening small and large muscle groups. Try a simple flow between down dog and plank. This builds strength in the shoulders, upper arms, legsand core, whilst simultaneously stretching the spine, arms and legs.”

Excuse no 2

“I just can’t give up caffeine – I can’t wake up properly in the morning without it…”

Try this

“The paradox is that although caffeine is a stimulant, it actually drains the adrenal glands so exhausts both them and you,” explains naturopath Louisa Roscoe (naturopathic health.org.uk). “Rehydration on waking is essential; try a fresh glass of water with half a lemon or lime to alkalise and energise. Showering and alternating between hot and cold stimulates the lymph and boosts the circulation, and if you use a peppermint wash this is a great morning wake-up.

Aerobic exercise first thing will also help; either a brisk walk, running, skipping or put on some music to dance to. All these exercises increase the flow of blood, providing an extra shot of oxygen to the body’s tissues. Yoga and deep breathing arealso great to wake the whole body.

Enjoy herbal teas such as ginger, nettle and spearmint, or try roasted dandelion root. When brewed properly it looks and tastes just like coffee, but it’s rich in vitamins and minerals and its bitter flavour helps to stimulate thedigestive system, cleansing and absorbing nutrients.”

Excuse no 3

“Work stresses me out so much that I need a glass of wine to unwind in the evening…”

Try this

“One glass can lead to two and more and that end of the working day drink can soon become a habit,” warns holistic therapist Annie Aulds (wisteriaholistichealth.co.uk). “The best way to break a habit is by rewarding yourself, and there is no better reward than one that doubles up as a distraction, as well as a stress reliever. When you get home, run a warm bath – not too hot as you don’t need to put your body under any additional stress – and add some essential oils. Lavender is a great stress reliever.

Lie back and unwind. Then, treat yourself to some hand reflexology; this can alleviate stress by inducing deep relaxation. Follow this sequence, using your thumb on your dominant hand to work your other hand, and allowing at least one minute on each reflex point. The reflex points that are stimulated in each case are listed in brackets.”

• Work down from the tip to the base of your thumb in a ‘caterpillar’ motion (the head, brain and spine)

• Apply pressure to the top middle area of your other thumb and rotate (the pineal and pituitary glands)

• Using the ‘caterpillar’ move work the fleshy area that supports the thumb (the kidneys and adrenal glands)

• Using the ‘caterpillar’ move work between the base of each finger towards the centre of the palm (the lungs)

• Apply pressure and rotate the centre of the palm (the solar plexus)

Excuse no 4

“I wish I ate more healthily but my children hate fruit and vegetables…”

Try this

“Managing meal times in a household of fussy eaters is no easy task,” says Kate Butler, Holland & Barrett’s nutritionist (hollandandbarrett.com). “It is imperative to set the right example. If parents routinely eat unhealthy foods, how can children be expected to do any differently?

Encourage all household members to get involved with meal-planning, food-shopping and food preparation. By getting everyone to be more hands-on, they are more likely to want to eat the final product. Try a different vegetable every day and prepare it in different ways untilyou find the style they will like to eat it in. Interestingly, taste buds need to be trained and most children need to actually see a new food four to five times before they’ll even try it, so keep introducing them.

Try a bit of hide and seek; add mashed butter beans to mashed potato or blend lots of vegetables into soups or sauces. Spaghetti is a prime example of a dish that can disguise a host of veggies. The smaller you chop them, the less likely they are to be noticed. Try juicing vegetables and mixing them with fruit. Make your child part of the juicing experience and they may be more inclined to drink them.”

Excuse no 5

“I’d love to have spa treatments but they’re luxuries I simply can’t afford…”

Try this

Natural beauty expert Janey Lee Grace advises creating your own spa at home.

She recommends starting with skin brushing, beginning at your feet and working upwards in small, circular movements. “This is particularly good for cellulite, it helps improve circulation and removes toxins,” Janey explains. “Then follow this with a luxurious bath. Add a few drops of essential oil to the water – rose and lavender are both very healing and relaxing. Or you could run the water through a little bag filled with porridge oats – the water will run milky and you’ll feel like Cleopatra!

Indulge in an all-over body scrub using two tablespoons of dead sea salt or Himalayan salt mixed with two tablespoons of almond oil and one teaspoon of lemon juice. A teaspoon of honey is healing too. Finally, moisturise all over using organic virgin coconut oil – this is also a fantastic hair conditioner and makes hands and feet soft and silky.”

For more tips on how to create natural beauty treatments, read Look Great Naturally Without Ditching the Lipstick by Janey Lee Grace (£8.99, Hay House).

Excuse no 6

“I would meditate more often but I can’t stop my mind from wandering…”

Try this

Gary Heads, a director of Living Mindfully, based in Consett, County Durham (livingmindfully.co.uk), says: “A mistake often made in meditation is to somehow think that we can clear our head or stop the flow of thoughts. It is the nature of the mind to wander – this is what minds do. It is therefore unhelpful in meditation to beat ourselves up for not staying with the breath or any other chosen technique we may be using.

It is often said that training the mind is like training a puppy to sit. It keeps wandering away, but we keep bringing it back with a smile and an attitude of kindness and encouragement. This is the attitude we can bring to ourselves. There are many methods used to develop concentration in meditation including counting your breaths; count from one to 10 and then from 10 back to one and when you lose count, begin again.

You can also mentally note your thoughts as they arise. For example, ‘work’ or ‘food’ or you could simply use the word `thinking’. You could even use a mantra in time with your breath. Above all else be kind and compassionate when you notice the mind has wandered.”

The excuse buster

Do you always find yourself making excuses? Here, NLP expert Kim Blackmore of Indigo Eagle offers some tips on how to tackle this behaviour

The reason we all make excuses is because we don’t understand our behaviour. We have great ideas about living healthily but we find ourselves unable to change our unhealthy behaviour long-term.

All our behaviours and everything we do are motivated by a positive intention.

To understand our own behaviours, we often ask ourselves ‘why?’ Why did I do that? Why did I eat that when I want to eat healthily? When you ask yourself why, you might say it was because you were stressed or it was your hormones or it was because you had a bad day. ‘Why’ is a question that always produces excuses.

So, instead of asking why and to understand the intention of your behaviour, ask yourself: “For what purpose?” For example, if you found yourself eating unhealthily and that wasn’t what you wanted to do, ask yourself: “For what purpose did I do that?” You might find that the answer is fun, sharing, love, happiness etc.

Once you understand your purpose, you can ask yourself about alternative ways to achieve the same intention. Your mind has a positive intention for every behaviour and once you see the positive intention of a behaviour that you don’t like within yourself, you can find other and healthier ways to achieve the same intention.

For more information on Indigo Eagle, visit indigoeagle.com or call 01708 479 766.

Article by

Liz Alvis

Article by

Liz Alvis