The stories we tell ourselves

The new decade has begun and is in full swing. I'm not going to talk about your New Year's health goals or what you want to achieve in 2020, instead, we are going to question the stories you tell yourself. 

There are layers upon layers of things we tell ourselves and through repetition, we believe them. It is time to start questioning these thoughts, so you don't spend the next decade stuck in a cycle of unhealthy patterns like;

• overeating
• undereating
• over-exercising
• under-exercising
• excessive drinking
• working yourself into the ground

Do you feel trapped, in a cycle of poor eating habits, addictive behaviours, never getting anywhere and constantly having negative thoughts about yourself? 

Start to question these types of thoughts, "it's too late for me", "I have an addictive personality", "There is something wrong with me!", "I can't stick to things", "Why am I like this?"

It's time to just say no to these thoughts, ignore this mind junk and move forward. I know it is easier said than done, which is why people practice, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, anything which quietens down our thinking. These habits and thoughts are accompanied by difficult emotions that we are trying not to feel, we want to push them away in whichever way we give us relief.

We need to start to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and realising it does not have to mean anything about us. Our minds will never stop trying to make us better or attain perfection but we can choose not to listen to it. 

We live in an anxious world, so many people experience fear-based thinking all the time and it is running their lives. Of course, it is a complex topic, there may be nutritional deficiencies, digestion and absorption issues, hormones imbalances as well as neurotransmitters but a lot of anxiety comes from the stories we tell ourselves which we perceive to be real, gentle questioning is what we need, being soft, kind and looking after ourselves.

Helpful tips to calm down the mind

• magnesium bath salts - magnesium is a calming and relaxing mineral
• a calm sleep environment with no phones
• SAD lamps help in the winter, use in the morning
• reduce caffeine and alcohol
• calming herbal teas
• meditation before bed
• more time for you
• yoga
• essential oils
• walking in nature

The practice of nutritional therapy focuses on the whole person, looking at diet and lifestyle in a holistic way. The body and mind work as a system, not in isolation. With a nutritional therapist, you can uncover all the different aspects that might be contributing to stress or anxiety. Very often, there are things in our lifestyle or diet that we are not aware of contributing to our issue and, in collaboration with someone else, we can see the bigger picture.

Now is the moment, now is a peaceful place, now is where the mind likes to be, presence and truly listening to what you want is where to start. I hope this helps you to start to question the reality of whether some of this out of date information we tell ourselves is actually true. Here is to a great new decade.