The link between exercise and improved mood, concentration, health and wellbeing is strong, clear and consistent.   Exercise increases bodies production of endorphins Exercise clears the mind of repetitive thoughts and worries Exercise raises your mood Exercises improves the quality of your sleep   Exercise provides a productive, effective activity which is often lacking in other environments. It facilitates social engagement and structures free time.   There is evidence that

A very important component of stress is the physical tension we carry around. In fact people who experience high levels of stress and anxiety can be so physically tense much of the time that it becomes their normal physical state. This exercise has two parts. The first part involves tensing each muscle group so that you become aware of holding physical tension. The second part is a progressive relaxation of each of these muscle groups so that you have the experience of purpos

A body scan is a relaxation technique that can help us to control anxiety or unhelpful emotions. It works in two ways: firstly, it helps us to reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety but also, because we are focusing on something, it helps by providing the mind with a focus other than worrying or stressful thoughts. When we first start doing body scans, it is sometime difficult to feel anything inside of our body but with time and practice, we realise that we can actually fee

When we are anxious we breathe more shallowly and do not breathe out a full breath. The idea when learning how to breathe properly, is that it should be a natural and relaxed breath in and breath out. There are many suggestions about how to relax your breathing but our aim is to just understand how to lower anxiety through breathing using a full natural breath. We need to be able to do this anywhere - if we are sitting in a meeting or at a social event. We need to practice th

A quick body scan to get you through the day.

For most people there is nothing better than getting in to bed and relaxing before dropping off to sleep. For others, this process can be a painful one of fretting, worrying and hours of trying to sleep. Here we will briefly outline the important areas of consideration when wanting to drop off easily. Let’s begin with the important things to remember during the day. Day-time events: · It is important to try to exercise each day – if we use our muscles during the day this can

Research shows that if we have the same routine for between thirty minutes and an hour each evening before going to sleep, then our brains develop the understanding that that particular set of behaviours results in us going to sleep. After a short time of having the same routine each night, when we carry out the first behaviour in the set of behaviours, our brain starts to shut down in preparation for sleep. As such, a sleep routine is really important. A sleep routine is ver