Don’t sit too long. Move & stretch. Set an alarm every 15 minutes at work!

Keep moving. Don’t sit too long! The back, neck & muscles complain & don’t like it, also our mind & eyes need a little break too. When you’re doing desk work, try setting an alarm every 15 minutes, get up, move around, walk, maybe breathe some fresh air, have a stretch. Then get back to work.

It’s like saying happy birthday to your body & mind.

You may find your concentration will improve working in shorter bursts with little movement stretch breaks

Let me know if you join in? Or if it helps!? I’ve just set my alarm so I don’t sit here working on my phone too long!!

6 tips to a happier back & muscles:

1 Circle your shoulders a few times

2 do some neck stretches

3 breathe & relax

4 have a lie down for a minute, breathe & relax

5 walk

6 make a cuppa

did you join in? Take more breaks? Back & muscles feel better? Even a 30 second or 1 minute break is great!!

Love Bev

Helping back pain sufferers to alleviate their discomfort and enjoy their favourite exercise, sport & lifestyle by doing the one-to-one reduce back pain mindfulness Pilates programme.

6 tips to help after coughing & chest infections

I feel inspired to write this blog for you in case perhaps you, a friend or family are going through a stage of suffering from a cough or severe chest infection this may help you in some way. No it’s not a substitute for seeing the doctor or going to the hospital or anything like that, or taking your medicine, but some of the tips may help you during this challenging or difficult and stressful time.

I recently had a really severe chest infection and I was feeling so ill that I went to the hospital to see the emergency doctor and thought I’d probably be admitted to hospital that night, anyway I wasn’t and two courses of antibiotics later and what felt like a full-time job coughing at the sink, I won’t go into any more details! I’m finally starting to improve ( just).

the doctor gave me an inhaler as the breathing was so bad, wheezing, crackling & coughing so much. At that point my posture was slumped and I certainly didn’t look like a Pilates teacher. She recommended I did some breathing exercises.

The doctor did a great demo, good sitting posture in a chair, a full breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. The thing is when you least feel like it, and you’re worried about your breathing, and having difficulty breathing, the last thing you think about doing is consciously working on your breathing with a breathing exercise. The particular exercise she gave me is what I teach all the time in Pilates, very similar to the 100 breathing in Pilates, where you breathe in through your nose for a count of five and you exhale through your mouth for a count of five. The difference is that you don’t actually do the exercise lying down exercise way, you literally sit with good posture during the breathing.

here’s a few things that helped me during this very tough time, may they help you, a friend or family too

tips:

1 say a kind affirmation to yourself

‘it’s going to be ok’ and every time you look in the mirror say to yourself it’s going to be ok. Fake a smile!!

2 ask for help.

3 sit with good posture & practice this breathing exercise , either on side of the bed or in a chair, breathe in through your nose for a count of five and you exhale through your mouth for a count of five. Do 5 repetitions (or in for one!!)

(do this regularly throughout the day)

4 calm breathing:

when your breathing has gone really bad. Lie down with yourself propped up with several pillows behind your head , close your eyes & relax. Just allow your breathing to settle down, it may take a while to settle down, but with rest & calm it will improve. Count to 10, allow your breathing to calm naturally on each breath. Let it settle in its own time.

5 1 minute meditation , enjoy this in a restful way in bed or in your favourite chair (good when you’ve been resting)

6 keep moving & stretch

circle your shoulders 5 times one way & five times the other way. Sitting or standing with good posture, whichever is comfortable for you.

you can join in here

A bonus tip 7 for you from homeopath Danielle is sharing a friends grandmothers special recipe called onion cough syrup.

7: Onion Cough Syrup

 Ingredients

• 2 onions

• juice of 1 lemon (optional)

• 10 Tbsp honey

Directions

Prepare a clean medium jar.

Peel and roughly chop onions.

Mix lemon juice with honey and pour it over the onions. Close the jar and leave for a day in a warm place.

Pass it through a sieve.

Usage Drink one tablespoon 2-4 times a day. Or add a tablespoon to your tea.

Keep in a fridge.

to find out more from Danielle Abramov BSc (Hons) MARH About Homeopathy and Intolerance Testing

www.theheathhomeopath.co.uk

thank you for this wonderful bonus tip

Love Bev 

Beverley Densham

Helping back pain sufferers to alleviate their discomfort and enjoy their favourite exercise, sport & lifestyle by doing the one-to-one reduce back pain mindfulness Pilates programme.

how to beat a bad back, 5 tricks to try at home

Yes of course mindfulness Pilates always helps, but before you start, it’s always good to consult your doctor or good physiotherapist, osteopath or chiropractor first 

These are the 5 tips, 

1 relaxation and meditation 

2 stretch 

3 core stability 

4 back strengthening 

5 mindset and positive affirmations 

Today let’s focus on relaxation & meditation, in mindfulness Pilates we focus mostly on the Pilates core stability breathing but I also teach relaxation breathing which is ideal during meditation. When I’m teaching my mindfulness Pilates 121 programmes & classes on zoom, you get to enjoy a 30 second sitting or standing meditation, a 1 minute have a lie down meditation and 5 minute meditation for you at the end. 

This helps both your back, body and mind, it calms and soothes the nervous system with a brilliant de-stressing effect but it’s also good for your spinal alignment, muscle balance, posture & muscles, which may relieve some tension, tightness & stiffness in the muscles too. 

Enjoy today’s 5 minute body scan relaxation here 

How do you feel after?  Gift 🎁 it to a friend if you like. 

Love Bev 

Helping back pain sufferers to alleviate their discomfort and enjoy their favourite exercise, sport & lifestyle by doing the one-to-one reduce back pain mindfulness Pilates programme.

How to work with me is on the website or contact me on the contact page https://beverleydensham.carrd.co

looking after you during illness

How are you looking after you? I thought I had looked after myself enough this week, I had cut down my work schedule a lot, but I still taught my mindfulness Pilates classes on zoom, of course if it had been in person work I would have had to have cancelled because I could not have turned up coughing and spluttering all over the clients! Definitely not.

So why did I think it was okay to turn up to teach on zoom which was detrimental to my own health and well-being, ending up at the doctors and needing medicine to take for a chest infection very sore throat etc. In future I will look after me so that I can go back to work quicker and do a 100% good job. So I felt inspired to write you a blog about how you can help yourself when you’re feeling poorly, obviously always consult the GP, Doctor if you aren’t well but perhaps these tips or at least some of them will help too.

heres 5 tips which I hope may help you too

1 rest

2 sleep more

3 listen to your body

4 eat and drink well

5 enjoy a snail paced morning routine.

do something positive for you so you don’t stay in the doldrums

I still enjoyed my miracle morning today, a very gentle morning routine & extremely lazy 6 minute Pilates, breathing naturally. The thing is when you aren’t feeling very well, and I have not been out of the house for five days now, that although you need to rest, heal and recover, at the same time by spending so much time in bed and sitting and lying down, your body still needs to stretch and otherwise the muscles just become stiffer and stiffer and complain and your back and neck are not happy. So you can still do some very basic gentle one minute and six minute Pilates, even on your bed! If your nose is bunged up and you’re coughing a lot, then Obviously you have no choice but to breathe naturally, but you can still do some gentle movements even sitting on your bed with your back straight and do a few little shoulder circles perhaps five times each way.

1 Rest

🙌

2 sleep more ‘zzzzzzzz’

Often sleep is broken when we are not feeling very well, so if you’re able to take time off work, then don’t set an alarm in the morning perhaps take an extra nap in the day to help you recover and delegate as much as you can. For example my son picked up my prescription from the pharmacy for me.. took out the bins and made me hot honey & lemon.

3 listen to your body

4 eat and drink well

I’ve added in warming soups, as well as adding the green juices in as well such as morning celery juice (a whole pack of celery!!) , evening cucumber juice (a whole cucumber juiced) as well as lots and lots of hot honey, lemon and fresh ginger, sometimes with turmeric, sometimes with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar is apparently very good!

I’m eating all my usual food fortunately, except adding in extra vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C. Obviously we all eat different diets but it’s such a good thing to boost the immune system again especially if you’re having to take antibiotics, I was quite impressed with the doctors they even recommended I take probiotics which is obviously a really good idea after taking that sort of medicine.

5 enjoy a snail paced morning routine

here are some of my favourite things I enjoy in my daily morning routine, Hope some of them help and inspire you in some way

1 meditate

here’s a 1 minute meditation for you to enjoy (please note if you have a bunged up nose, simply breathe naturally & calmly!! The best you can, let your breathing calm and soothe!!) sitting or lying in bed!

join in here

2 pick an affirmation everyday

here’s one for today, say to yourself

‘I love to smile’

& give yourself a little smile & maybe high five in the mirror. The High-five tip is a tip from author Mel Robbins, author of the high-five habit, I heard her being interviewed by Fearne cotton on her happy place podcast, it’s really worth a listen and I must say it really does cheer you up giving you a high-five in the mirror, I loved doing this with my clients earlier in the week, they loved it too! Have you tried it yet?

If you love angel cards too, pick one or more! I enjoyed picking two today!

3 visualise a small or big goal, have a little daydream about it with your eyes closed, or perhaps gaze at a vision board or read what’s on your vision board.

4 exercise. No you might not be up to doing anything or going out or anything like that, and you need to stay at home cosy and heal. However it’s good to have a very gentle little stretch now and again or if like me and many of my clients it’s still good to do 6 minutes mindfulness Pilates practice, except you might have to breathe naturally, do it in bed or move much smaller movements than usual and that is okay just listen to your body what feels right for you.

Try some shoulder circles and gentle next stretches, all you need to do is sit on your bed, and circle your shoulders five times one way and five times the other way, you can also do a few gentle simple neck stretches, sit with good posture on your bed

then tilt your head from one side and then tilt your head to the other side. 1, 2 or 3 times.

join in 5 shoulder circles here!;

Stretch your neck for 30 seconds join in here

If you don’t stretch and do some basic movement you will just get stiffer in the muscles and seize up which is not good, keep listening to your body and keep moving in a very gentle way and do a few little 30 seconds stretches here and there.

5 read.
If you feel up to it, read a good book. The latest book I am reading is the high-five habit by Mel Robbins. Basically the tip she gives every time you go past a mirror at home, give yourself a high five 🙌!! It’s really good! Tried it yet?

This is especially good tip when you’re feeling ill, because often you don’t feel so positive when you’re feeling poorly, so rather than looking in the mirror thinking oh God I look and feel so rough, you just give yourself a high-five.

I like doing a double high-five with both hands high-fiving, you can listen to the podcast on Fearne Cottons happy place podcast with Mel, read her book to find out the science and depth of using this amazing tool, highly recommend. What book are you reading right now?

6 journalling.

Enjoy some writing time. This can be diary style, how you’re feeling, what you have been doing personally and professionally, it can be writing what you’re grateful for, it can be picking an affirmation card and writing about what that message means to you or an angel card, I’m really enjoying the miracle morning journal at the moment which I fill out each day, this journal is by Hal Elrod, his miracle morning another excellent book.

it’s nice having a good old fashioned diary too, You can have a notebook on the go to, whatever works for you and you feel inspired by.

I really hope this blog helps and inspires you in some way, if you feel it will help a friend or family please feel free to gift it to them to help them at this moment in time, I teach all of this to my clients. You can join in too

sending you lots of love and a high-five!

love Bev

Ps Oh I wish I looked like this photo today!! But no, writing this blog curled up in bed with pjamas, no glam dress or makeup!! Do I care? No!! I think the high fives helped!!

from the daily mail photo shoot !

Daily mail, my story

So grateful for the photos that the Daily mail sent me today, I felt like a movie star!! Very glamorous & fun the photo shoot & such lovely people I met. The article shines a light on the story after half my vocal cords had paralysed, how I ended up discovering an important part of my soul purpose & the creation of the happy kids cards.. to bring more happiness, confidence & calm to children’s lives & you, expressing how we feel, having a voice, in case you’d like to read the full story and what happened next here it is

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10065893/Whats-locked-AKASHIC-Record-known-spiritual-library.html?fbclid=IwAR2LFKA1A6Ok-6jxDsuGYBjErzPqoorG47qTxknUaxpkrV119Jbfap1mh_I

Thank you Sam Brick for writing the article

The happy kids cards are to bring more happiness, confidence & calm to children’s lives & you

They are a deck of 52 positive affirmation cards which come in a printed cotton bag with 10 fun ways of when & how to use the cards, pick a card a day for happiness, rest and play. A chance to talk about how you feel, talk about the cards message. A tool to use everyday and help with mental health.

More about them and order yours here https://www.pilatestofeelgood.com/happy-kids-cards

What’s been the highlight of your week?

Love Bev

Author, mindfulness Pilates expert & founder of the happy kids cards. My backgrounds a degree in sports science from the university of Brighton