The Wellness Report
Many of you will know Matches Fashion is one of my very favourite shops and it was an honour once again to be interviewed by my good friend Eve Kalinik for their Wellness Report. The interview is about being healthy in your body through a healthy mind. If February means you are already loosing your will then have a read of this article to help you get your mojo back.
The new year brings with it the eager promise of self-improvement. Do resolutions such as going to the gym, quitting sugar, cutting down on alcohol or taking more time out sound familiar? While all of these can bring positive changes, many of us have forgotten about good intentions within a matter of months, or even weeks. Fast-paced lifestyles mean we often expect a quick fix or a magic pill. But what if the secret to ‘new year, new you’ was a simple resolution: ‘know yourself’? I caught up with Jacqueline Hurst, a life coach and hypnotherapist, to discuss how to make positive life changes. Plus, discover three key lessons in creating change that lasts.
Start as you mean to go on
Eve Kalinik: ‘Yes, it is about tuning into yourself. We tend to be in this “add on” culture, searching for the next new super food, supplement or diet, when really it is about stripping it back. If you just bring it back to basics and start eating foods in their most natural state without labels, boxes or bags then you won’t go far wrong. I dissuade clients from diets and haphazard elimination of food groups, as these rarely work and can leave you nutritionally depleted.’
Jacqueline Hurst: ‘Unless you get your mind right, the outcome won’t be what you want it to be. Change your mindset – if you come from a place of love you will get a lot more done rather than aggressively cutting things out. If you put restrictions on people they will automatically want to rebel, so it is important to pull it back and think about where you are coming from – health and self-love over restriction and pressure.’
Cut out the noise
JH: ‘These messages will only pull on your insecurities if you let them. If you are in the right kind of headspace, you can see those images and think positively about them rather than beating yourself up. You have a choice to look at social media or magazine images and compare yourself. Or you can look at it and think, “Wow, she looks great and obviously worked hard for that.” It doesn’t have to affect you, if you change your outlook.’
EK: ‘As women, we have a lot of pressure to keep it all together. But this is where we tend to overcomplicate things, particularly when it comes to food. And it is not about being 100% perfect all the time. If you make positive informed decisions about what you are eating, how you are exercising or the way you perceive situations most of the time, then that’s a good thing. Be mindful and realistic in the way you approach this, then you won’t beat yourself up so much or revert to old habits.’
Take a holistic approach
EK: ‘We have to think of ourselves as a whole entity rather than compartmentalising. The whole body influences the whole body. Around 90% of our serotonin (happy hormone) production is in the gut, so mental clarity, focus and ultimately happiness comes not just from the mind but the gut as well. Health and wellbeing is always multi-layered, but once you tap into what makes you tick you can see things change quickly.’
JH: ‘It is also about giving your body a break when it needs it and having that true connection of mind and body. Knowing yourself can help you get the life you really want.’
Read the full article here