8 Powerful Protocols for Stress Relief and To Reclaim Your Inner Calm
Imagine a life free from the clutches of stress, where inner peace reigns supreme.
Brace yourself for a transformative journey as we unveil eight game-changing stress relief protocols.
These aren't your run-of-the-mill relaxation techniques; they're powerful, scientifically-backed strategies designed to reclaim your well-being.
Ready to increase your vitality and embrace a life of calm?
Let's dive in and discover how you can become the master of your stress, not its victim.
1. Daily Meditation: The Foundation of Stress Relief
Meditation stands as a fundamental pillar in the realm of effective stress management. This ancient practice, now backed by modern scientific research, offers a powerful antidote to the daily pressures of contemporary life. By dedicating a mere 10-15 minutes each day to mindfulness practice, you can embark on a transformative journey that not only significantly reduces stress levels but also cultivates a more resilient and balanced state of mind.
The beauty of meditation lies in its simplicity and accessibility. It requires no special equipment or expensive memberships, just a quiet space and a willingness to turn inward. Through regular practice, individuals often report a cascade of positive effects that extend far beyond stress reduction. These benefits include improved focus and concentration, enhanced emotional regulation, better sleep quality, and even physical health improvements such as lowered blood pressure and reduced chronic pain.
Meditation serves as a powerful tool for improving overall mental health. It can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression, boost self-awareness, and foster a greater sense of inner peace and contentment. By creating a daily ritual of mindfulness, you're essentially training your brain to respond more calmly to stressors, building a mental resilience that can serve you well in all aspects of life.
Benefits of daily meditation:
Reduces anxiety and depression
Improves focus and concentration
Enhances emotional regulation
Promotes better sleep quality
To get started, try a simple breathing meditation. Find a quiet space, sit comfortably, and focus on your breath for a few minutes each day.
2. Schedule an Hour Weekly to Recharge
In our increasingly hectic and demanding lives, it has become more crucial than ever to carve out dedicated time for self-care and relaxation. The constant barrage of responsibilities, deadlines, and digital distractions can easily overwhelm us, leading to chronic stress and burnout. By consciously scheduling an hour each week for activities that truly rejuvenate and nourish your mind, body, and spirit, you can create a powerful buffer against the pressures of daily life. This intentional act of self-care can work wonders for stress relief, providing a much-needed break from the chaos and allowing you to recharge your mental and emotional batteries.
This weekly ritual of relaxation serves as a gentle reminder that your well-being matters and deserves priority. It's not just about taking a break; it's about actively engaging in activities that bring you joy, peace, and a sense of renewal. Whether it's indulging in a leisurely bath, losing yourself in a good book, practicing gentle yoga, or pursuing a beloved hobby, this dedicated hour becomes a sanctuary of calm in the midst of life's storms. By consistently honouring this commitment to yourself, you're not only managing stress in the moment but also building resilience for future challenges.
Ideas for your weekly recharge hour:
Take a relaxing bath
Read a book for pleasure
Practice yoga or gentle stretching
Engage in a favorite hobby
Remember, this time is for you. Treat it as a non-negotiable appointment with yourself.
3. The Quick Reset: 4 Deep Breaths
When life throws unexpected curveballs and stress levels soar, having a quick and effective reset technique at your disposal can be a game-changer. The 4 deep breaths method stands out as an elegantly simple yet remarkably powerful stress relief protocol that you can employ anywhere, at any time, without any special equipment or preparation. This versatile technique harnesses the natural calming power of controlled breathing to rapidly shift your body and mind from a state of stress to one of relative calm and clarity.
The beauty of this method lies in its accessibility and immediate impact. Whether you're facing a high-pressure situation at work, navigating a challenging personal interaction, or simply feeling overwhelmed by the demands of daily life, these four deep breaths can serve as a momentary oasis of tranquillity. By focusing your attention on your breath and engaging in this brief but intentional practice, you can effectively interrupt the stress response cycle, allowing your nervous system to recalibrate and your mind to regain its composure.
How to perform the 4 deep breaths reset:
Inhale deeply through your nose for 4 counts
Hold your breath for 4 counts
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 counts
Repeat this cycle 4 times
This quick reset can help calm your nervous system and bring you back to a state of balance in just a minute or two.
4. 4-7-8 Breathing: A Powerful Stress-Busting Technique
The 4-7-8 breathing technique, a structured and powerful approach to breathwork developed by Dr. Andrew Weil, offers a potent method for managing stress and promoting relaxation. This carefully crafted breathing pattern leverages the body's natural rhythms to induce a state of calm, making it an invaluable tool in our stress-relief arsenal. By engaging in this deliberate breathing exercise, practitioners can tap into the body's innate ability to self-regulate, effectively countering the physiological effects of stress and anxiety. The beauty of this technique lies not only in its simplicity but also in its profound impact on both the body and mind, providing significant and immediate stress relief benefits that can be felt even after just a few cycles of practice.
Steps for 4-7-8 breathing:
Inhale quietly through your nose for 4 seconds
Hold your breath for 7 seconds
Exhale completely through your mouth for 8 seconds
Repeat this cycle 4 times
Practice this technique twice daily for maximum stress relief benefits.
5. Taking Sabbaticals: Extended Breaks for Deep Renewal
While not universally feasible, the practice of taking occasional sabbaticals can yield profound benefits for both stress relief and personal growth. These extended breaks from routine work and responsibilities offer a unique opportunity to step back, reflect, and recharge on a deeper level than typical vacations allow. Sabbaticals provide individuals with the time and space to explore new interests, gain fresh perspectives, and engage in meaningful self-discovery. This intentional pause in one's career or daily life can lead to increased creativity, enhanced problem-solving abilities, and a renewed sense of purpose upon return. The extended nature of sabbaticals allows for a more comprehensive reset of one's mental and emotional state, potentially leading to long-lasting improvements in overall well-being and stress management.
Benefits of sabbaticals:
Complete mental and physical reset
Opportunity for self-reflection and personal development
Enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills
Improved work-life balance
Even if a full sabbatical isn't possible, consider taking extended weekends or "staycations" for mini-sabbaticals.
6. No Work Weekends: Reclaiming Your Personal Time
In our hyper-connected digital age, the boundaries between work and personal life have become increasingly blurred, making it all too easy for professional responsibilities to encroach upon our precious weekend time. This constant connectivity can lead to heightened stress levels, diminished work-life balance, and eventual burnout. Recognizing this challenge, implementing a strict "no work weekends" policy emerges as a powerful and essential stress relief protocol. By consciously setting aside dedicated time for rest, relaxation, and personal pursuits, individuals can create a much-needed buffer against the relentless demands of the modern workplace.
This intentional separation between work and personal time not only allows for physical and mental recuperation but also fosters a healthier relationship with one's career. It provides an opportunity to engage in activities that bring joy, nurture relationships, and promote overall well-being. By consistently honoring this boundary, you're likely to return to work on Monday feeling refreshed, reinvigorated, and more productive, ultimately benefiting both your personal life and professional performance.
Tips for maintaining work-free weekends:
Set clear boundaries with colleagues and clients
Turn off work-related notifications
Plan enjoyable activities for your weekends
Practice saying "no" to work-related requests during your off time
By protecting your personal time, you'll return to work more refreshed and productive.
7. Done for the Day Time: Creating a Clear Work-Life Boundary
Establishing a clear "done for the day" time is a powerful strategy for managing work-related stress and enhancing your overall quality of life. By implementing a consistent end-of-work routine, you create a distinct boundary between your professional and personal life, allowing for better mental separation and relaxation. This practice not only helps in reducing the constant pressure of work-related thoughts during off-hours but also promotes a healthier work-life balance, leading to improved well-being and increased job satisfaction. Even better, having a set "done for the day" time can boost productivity during work hours, as it encourages more focused and efficient task completion within a defined timeframe.
Steps to implement a "done for the day" routine:
Set a specific time to end your workday
Create a shutdown ritual (e.g., tidying your workspace, reviewing tomorrow's tasks)
Physically leave your workspace if possible
Engage in a relaxing activity to transition into personal time
This practice helps create a mental shift from work mode to relaxation mode, reducing stress and improving work-life balance.
8. Pull Instead of Push Work: A Stress-Reducing Productivity Approach
The concept of "pull" work, as opposed to "push" work, represents a paradigm shift in how we approach tasks and manage our workload. This innovative approach to productivity can significantly reduce stress levels while simultaneously enhancing overall job performance and satisfaction. By adopting a pull work methodology, individuals can create a more balanced and sustainable work environment, leading to improved mental well-being and increased efficiency in task completion. This strategy empowers employees to take greater control over their workflow, allowing them to focus on high-priority tasks and minimize the overwhelming feeling often associated with traditional "push" work systems.
Key principles of pull work:
Focus on one task at a time
Complete current tasks before taking on new ones
Limit work in progress
Prioritize based on importance and urgency
By switching to a pull work approach, you can reduce the overwhelming feeling of having too much to do, leading to less stress and more accomplishment.
Your Path to Stress Relief
Incorporating these eight stress relief protocols into your life can lead to significant improvements in your overall well-being. Remember, stress relief is a journey, not a destination. Be patient with yourself as you implement these techniques, and don't hesitate to seek professional help if you're struggling with chronic stress.
At Flow Spa, we're committed to supporting your journey towards a stress-free life. Consider complementing these protocols with our stress-relief services, such as float therapy or massage, for an even more comprehensive approach to stress management.
Start your stress relief journey today, and discover the peace and balance you deserve.
Escape The Burnout Cycle With These 7 Self-Care Strategies
Escape The Cycle of Burnout With These Self-Care Strategies
In today’s fast-paced world, the push for personal growth often sets a relentless pace. The constant drive to be better and do more creates a paradox where the goal of self-improvement itself leads to burnout, impacting your mental, emotional, and physical health.
Ultimately, striving for perfection in every aspect of self-improvement seeds constant dissatisfaction, trapping you in a cycle of unfulfilled expectations and diminished well-being.
In this article, courtesy of Flow Spa, we’ll go over several things you can do to prevent burnout and live your best life.
Stop Ignoring Your Needs
Ignoring the signs of stress, exhaustion, or emotional strain only hastens your journey to burnout, as it blocks you from tackling the root causes. Networking and nurturing professional relationships are crucial, as they open up new opportunities and offer support. However, these activities also require a significant investment of time and energy. It's essential to maintain these connections by reaching out to your contacts a few times a year. Be cautious, as failing to address the underlying issues can turn even these beneficial efforts into additional sources of stress.
Tame The Overwhelm of Ambitious Goals
You set ambitious goals, aiming to improve every facet of your life simultaneously. This ambition, though admirable, can quickly become your Achilles' heel. The pressure to achieve these goals can become overwhelming, leading to a sense of failure and burnout. It’s like running a marathon with no finish line in sight; the constant strain without respite drains your energy and dampens your spirit. It’s much better to make SMART goals, which are measurable and, more importantly, attainable.
Watch Out For The Trap of Perfectionism
Striving for perfection in every aspect of your life sets you up for unrealistic expectations and continuous dissatisfaction. This quest often leads to feeling perpetually inadequate, with goals always just beyond reach. Over time, the disappointment of not meeting these expectations erodes your confidence and accelerates burnout. The drive for flawlessness in both your career and personal life traps you in a cycle of never feeling good enough. However, it’s important to realize that everyone makes mistakes and that sometimes, failure leads to opportunity.
The Cost of Continuous Hustle
Neglecting rest and relaxation in your quest for constant self-improvement depletes your mental and physical energy, raising the risk of burnout. Constant activity without adequate rest can leave you feeling drained and vulnerable to burnout. Make time for relaxing hobbies, or consider unplugging from technology on a regular basis. These are easy ways to give your mind and body a break so you can be your best possible self.
Don’t Sacrifice Relationships
Your relentless focus on self-improvement can unintentionally alienate you from friends, family, and loved ones. Relationships require time and attention to flourish. By investing all your energy into personal growth, you may neglect these crucial connections, leading to isolation. This loneliness can compound the feelings of burnout, creating a cycle that’s hard to break. It’s a good idea to set time aside each week to spend quality moments with your friends and loved ones.
Stop Disregarding Your Inner Voice
Your body and mind give signals when you’re pushing too hard. Ignoring these warnings and continuing to strive beyond your limits can have serious consequences. Listening to your intuition and giving yourself permission to take breaks are crucial steps in preventing burnout. It’s important to remember that slowing down doesn’t mean you’re giving up; it means you’re giving yourself the chance to continue.
Avoid Losing Your Sense of Self
An overemphasis on self-improvement can blur the line between who you are and who you aim to be, risking a loss of self-identity and increasing your vulnerability to burnout. This obsession may cause you to pour energy into transforming yourself, neglecting your true self in the process. This misalignment between your real self and the ideal self you strive for can lead to a profound sense of dissatisfaction. Recognizing and mitigating this overemphasis is crucial in preventing burnout and preserving your sense of identity.
The journey of self-improvement is filled with opportunities for growth and learning. However, it’s essential to approach this journey with a sense of balance and self-awareness to avoid the pitfalls of burnout. Remember, the goal is not to achieve perfection but to make progress in a way that is sustainable and fulfilling. By being mindful of the warning signs and prioritizing your well-being, you can enjoy the journey of self-improvement without sacrificing your health and happiness.
Let’s strive for a balanced approach to personal growth, where self-compassion and realistic goals lead the way to a rewarding and balanced life.
Learn more about our services designed to help you relax and rejuvenate, visit Flow Spa today!
How To Relieve Stress During Back-To-School Time
6 Tips For a Stress-Free Fall
Wouldn’t it be nice if Back To School could be stress-free?
I don’t know anyone who actually thinks this time of year is stress-free. We frantically try to relax for Labour Day only to be thrust into the muck of the first day of school.
If only life could be like that Staples commercial that plays “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” song for Back To School time.
Traffic is crazy. We know sniffles will be spreading soon. We experience the life transition of the kids growing up and going off to school or starting a new chapter.
When everything feels so chaotic it’s hard to keep a perspective on what we can control.
With back-to-school time, we start thinking and worrying about all those things that feel so stressful as we head into the darker and colder months.
That tickle in the back of your throat becomes a pervasive thought that maybe you’re getting sick.
All the things you have to do start piling up.
It feels like there’s no time to yourself.
But we do have the power to stop this rumination from getting out of control.
Our thoughts and actions are some of the few things we can have complete control over with practice.
And it’s simple actions during busy times of the year that will make us Unstressable and save us from burning out completely.
It’s not about trying to cram in more, but about taking the right actions to manage stress well.
While there are nearly infinite things we can do to work on improving our health, it’s not about having the perfect 3-hour morning routine, fancy biohacking gadgets, or any fad diet that quickly goes out of style.
These are just a few starting points that most people find doable. Pick just one of these at a time to work on that feel most ready to take action on:
Take 15-Minutes To Plan Your Week
Have 5-10 Minutes a Day To Breathe and Ground Yourself
Add in 1-2 Good Nutrition Practices To Keep Your Body and Especially Your Immune System Healthy
Improve Your Sleep Hygiene and Bedtime Routine
Write Down 3 Things You Are Grateful For Each Day
Get 10-15 Minutes of Outdoor Activity Daily
Plan Your Day to Stay Stress-Free
A well-structured day helps keep stress at bay. Set aside time for your tasks, prioritize what’s important, and be sure to include breaks. This isn’t always realistic but we do our best to feel our best.
Strive for progress over perfection.
Take Time for Yourself Each Day
Self-care is crucial, especially during hectic times. Whether it’s a few minutes of meditation, a relaxing bath, or a visit to Flow Spa, make sure to dedicate time to recharge.
Include time for this in your week before you schedule tasks and appointments by using the Reverse Productivity Method.
Eat Slowly and Mindfully
Rushing through meals can add unnecessary stress. Mindful eating is a sneaky way to practice mindfulness without taking any additional time out to meditate.
Slow down, savour each bite, and practice mindful eating to improve digestion and reduce stress.
Improve Your Sleep Routine
A good night’s sleep is the foundation of a productive day. Set a consistent bedtime, create a calming pre-sleep routine, and ensure your sleep environment is comfortable.
Practice Gratitude Daily
Focusing on what you’re grateful for can shift your mindset and reduce stress. Take a moment each day to reflect on the positives, no matter how small. Let go of troubles from the past and think about the bright spots that bring you joy.
Get Outdoor Activity
Fresh air and physical activity are powerful stress relievers. Whether it’s a morning walk or an evening jog, spending time outdoors can significantly improve your mood and well-being.
While I like to get outside daily, even 15 minutes just three times per week is enough to reduce stress levels as the weather gets colder again.
One Action At A Time Is All It Takes
Work on taking action for a week and assess how it went for you. Keep doing it if it’s doing you some good, and if it isn’t, try something else!
I know that working on these habits can be challenging, which is why I’ve put together a Back To School Stress Challenge. It’s designed with quick actions and lessons to provide you with accountability and support as you work on these health goals.
The challenge is free to join for those committed to improving their well-being this fall. However, spots are limited due to the personalized attention I provide for everyone in the challenge through the Flow Coach platform.
If you're interested in learning more about the Back To School Stress Challenge and how it can help you create lasting health habits, click the link below to go to the sign up page.
4 Ways The Support of Psychotherapy with Harnessing Change in Peterborough Will Help You
Psychotherapy can have a profound impact on the social, mental, and emotional Deep Health domains of your life. That’s why we pursued ways to enrich these domains of Deep Health by adding psychotherapy to our services at Flow Spa.
We are dedicated to providing exceptional care and support through our partnership with Harnessing Change in Peterborough.
Here are four ways our psychotherapy services can help you on your journey toward mental well-being.
1. Incredible Empathy and Professional Care
One of the cornerstones of effective psychotherapy is the ability to empathize deeply with clients.
At Flow Spa, we pride ourselves on offering incredible empathy and professional care. Our therapists are not only skilled professionals but also compassionate listeners who genuinely care about your well-being.
We create a safe and supportive environment where you can openly explore your thoughts and feelings without judgment.
2. Extensive Training and Experience
Our team at Harnessing Change boasts extensive training and experience, ensuring that you receive the highest quality care. With 24 years of education in psychology, our therapists bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every session. We employ various therapeutic approaches, including narrative therapy, to tailor our services to your unique needs. Whether you're dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, or relationship issues, our experienced therapists are here to guide you.
3. Choose the Right Therapist for You
Finding the right therapist is crucial for your healing journey. At Flow Spa, we offer a diverse team of therapists, each with their unique specializations to cater to your specific needs.
Chris Brown: Chris specializes in men’s work and men’s group offerings. His expertise in addressing issues specific to men can help you navigate challenges and foster personal growth.
Genevieve Brown: Gen focuses on dealing with trauma and enriching relationships. Her compassionate approach helps clients heal from past traumas and build stronger, more fulfilling connections with themselves and others.
4. Support for Couples, Families, and Individual Therapy
Our psychotherapy services at Flow Spa are designed to support a wide range of clients, including individuals, couples, and families. Whether you're seeking individual therapy to address personal issues, couples therapy to improve your relationship, or family therapy to enhance communication and harmony within your household, we have the expertise to help. We believe in the power of therapy to bring about positive change and growth in all aspects of life.
At Flow Spa, in partnership with Harnessing Change, we are committed to helping you harness the power of psychotherapy to transform your life. Our empathetic approach, extensive experience, and tailored therapy options ensure that you receive the support you need to thrive.
Take the first step towards a healthier, happier you by exploring our psychotherapy services today.
The Deep Health Guide To Becoming Unstressable - Free Download of the new eBook -
This guide is designed to help you understand all the ways stress impacts your health and provide examples of what you can do to reduce stress and restore balance in your life.
Often when I talk to clients they’re surprised to realize that our health is so multidimensional.
Health seems like it should mean tangible things, like physically being healthy enough to move well and not being injured or sick. But as we’ll explore in this guide, health is made up of 6 dimensions.
Master these dimensions of your health and you can master what it takes to become Unstressable and radically transform your health.
I’m working on getting this guide added as a Kindle book on Amazon for the minimum price it can be listed at but if you want instant access to the eBook as a PDF, click the link below.
Spring Cleaning For Your Stress
Spring has arrived, and with it comes the ritual of spring cleaning.
But this year, we're not just talking about dusting off your shelves or clearing out your garage.
It's time to consider a deep clean for your stress levels.
This post will guide you through identifying your stressors, tackling them one at a time, and seeking support from your circle.
Let's embark on this journey towards becoming Unstressable.
How To Relieve Stress and Keep It Away This Spring
Effective stress relief requires a strategic approach.
Here’s how you can spring-clean your stress:
Identify Where Your Stress Is Coming From
Is it all the spring cleaning you need to get done?
Making plans for the kids when they’re out of school this summer?
High-interest rates and the financial pressures they’re still putting on us all?
All of the above?
Stress ebbs and flows and while most of us are used to having some stress in our lives, there are times when stressors will clash together and peak. We can handle the stress that we see coming and have built up resilience for but this is the dangerous realm of creeping towards burnout and having nothing left to give.
Before reaching this point, get clear on what’s causing you stress in the past, in the present, and in the future.
There’s only so much that we can control but bringing awareness to the various stressors is the first step to conquering the ill effects of stress once and for all. This is a part of the philosophy of becoming Unstressable.
For more on this, read this article on Deep Health and Stressors and take the quiz to identify your stress fingerprint.
Work On One Action At A Time
You’ve identified what’s most stressful in your life right now, now what do you do about it?
We need to handle stressors better because the reality is that most stressors are not going away anytime soon.
Don’t try to tackle it all at once though. We are all notoriously bad at thinking we can change everything in one fell swoop.
But with many things to manage and competing priorities, the only realistic way to spring clean our stress for lasting stress relief is one step, one action at a time.
You will stick to what you’ve committed to better without getting overwhelmed.
Get Your Friends On Board
Go fast with stress relief alone, or go far together.
Most of us need help and support for stress relief in our lives.
It might seem like a good idea to focus on eliminating stress on your own because you can hunker down and get straight to it.
But leveraging the power of your social circle for support can be even more effective. Not only can friends offer practical help and emotional support, but assisting them in turn can provide a sense of purpose and mutual relief from stress.
Your friends all have things they’re stressing about and by helping them you will help relieve yourself of social stress by rising up together.
When You’re Ready, Here’s How We Can Help More
A Deep Reset For Your Stress
Float therapy is unparalleled relaxation. There are few treatments or experiences as effective at relieving stress across all six dimensions of our health at once.
When you’re redlining the burnout and need a complete reset of your nervous system, floating provides incredible stress relief.
Unstressable
Unstressable is a 6-week online program designed to coach you through everything you need to reclaim control over stress and use it to build resilience.
Together, we can turn the tide on stress and reclaim the more calm, focused, and joyful life you deserve.
I Challenged Myself To Meditate Daily. It Was Life-Changing
For the last year, I stopped meditating daily at the height of the worst year of my life, and it was a disaster.
But why did I stop?
Getting off track with habits that are good for us is something I hear about far too often. It’s easy to get off track when we’re busy and try to tackle too many things at once. Some practices are worth the effort though.
We all have a superpower waiting dormant within us that will defend us from burnout and enhance our focus to be laser-sharp.
Ever since I learned about the value of meditation and how it improves our brains in psychology class close to 15 years ago, I’ve appreciated the power that comes from this skill of honing our focus on the present moment and taming our thoughts.
It not only allows us to focus better, but it opens a whole world of physical and mental capacities that are untapped within us by making the flow state more accessible. Through learning to meditate I was able to push myself physically beyond what my body is normally capable of in training and competing as a strongman. Not being the typical body type for the sport, I’ve always attributed a big part of my success to my mental training to perform so well in competition.
But meditation isn’t only about getting your body to do things physically beyond your normal means, I also become so much more mentally resilient to stressful situations through learning how to hold my focus in the present moment instead of ruminating about the past or getting anxiously caught up in future what ifs.
And for the last year, I let my practice slip. I was regularly having panic attacks and uncontrollable anger at the slightest inconvenience, and I was an emotional mess. A big part of the reason I stopped meditating consistently is the same excuse most of us have about it when we say that there’s no point in meditating because we just can’t get our mind to turn off or we don’t have the time.
I knew I needed to make a change and I went back to the drawing board to figure out a solution.
I started using the Muse Headband daily again at the start of this year. The Muse Headband looks like a pair of sunglasses you put on behind your ears and across your forehead that reads your brainwaves and provides immediate sound feedback while you’re meditating. I figured the advantage to using the Muse is that it helps to guide your brain into a calmer state and gives you a follow up report of what your brain was doing during the meditation session.
Imagine the soundscape of sitting on a beach and listening to the waves and wind on the water. As you calm your brainwaves into a meditative state the wind settles and the waves get softer. You hear birds chirp as a reward signal that you’ve reached a meditative state. When you get distracted, like when you start thinking about the next task on your todo list, a future event, or any other thought, the wind picks up and the waves get rougher, immediately signalling to bring your attention back to the present moment.
I had forgotten how great it was to meditate and the joy of the soundscapes in Muse. There’s a blissful feeling that comes after meditation that you carry with you throughout the whole day. And with time, you start to reign in those intrusive thoughts pulling you out of flow and the present moment. Thankfully, and even more important to me, my emotions are back under control and I am far less anxious.
The skill and practice of meditation will make virtually everything else in your life better.
This can look like sitting cross-legged and doing a formal practice that you’d picture in your mind when you describe meditation, or it can look however you need it to be comfortable enough to keep it going consistently.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, I lay down on my bed when meditating and turn it into a replacement for an afternoon nap. When I started back up I had just herniated a disc in my lower back so sitting upright was out of the question and if that had to be a prerequisite of meditating then I’d be in too much pain to keep it up.
I’d suggest starting with more traditional meditation though. You’ll probably want to be in a comfortable position, seated or lying down is preferable to draw your attention to what your thoughts are doing in a non-judging way or focusing on your breathing.
For now, make your plan to meditate every day this week.
Then try to extend it to 30 days. The difference might be so subtle you hardly notice, but it’s life-changing and well worth it.
Do you have a regular meditation practice? Or what’s holding you back from being consistent with it?
Stress Isn’t Your Enemy
Taking power over stress with a growth mindset
Wrapping your mind around embracing stress as something that can work in your favour is easier said than done. But once you put this into practice, you will have a much clearer plan for handling your specific stressors.
Stress isn’t your enemy. You can harness it to do good in your life. It comes down to making a perspective shift in what stress means to you.
When you’re stressed, like really stressed, and you’re ready to explode this is the last thing that you want to hear. If that’s how you feel right now, take some time to recover before continuing to explore your mindset around stress.
If you’re ready to read on, let’s get to it.
Here’s the thing: We need stress to survive and thrive.
Stress is what gets us up and out the door to start our day and it drives us to want to achieve things.
How we perceive stress is a different process though.
The Two Mindsets
Our perception of stress is also known as our stress mindset.
The original work on understanding mindsets comes from Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck.
In her research, she presented a series of math problems to kids and found that some would give up very quickly when the challenge became too hard while others would persevere and embrace the hard questions.
Each kid had a natural orientation towards how they approached challenges with some rising to the occasion and others backing off. It was a character trait that Dr. Dweck named their “mindset” and the good news is that mindsets can be highly influenced. (This can also be bad news, but becoming aware of mindsets helps you to make informed decisions about their power).
For example, kids who successfully answered a math problem and were told "You are very smart" internalized this praise but were fixed on the idea that it was because they were smart that they solved the problem. This can be a problem because intelligence is more of a fixed trait and not something readily changeable. So when a “smart” kid struggles with a problem, they can give up quickly and move on to something they have more of a natural inclination for.
Other children were told "You got the right answer because you worked hard for it" and these kids were found to persevere longer on the more challenging math problems because working hard is something that is directly in their power to do, even if they aren’t the smartest. Framing success around effort is a cornerstone of a growth mindset.
So while we have a natural inclination towards being growth or fixed-oriented, and the way we were raised also influences this, we can take this understanding of how to build a growth mindset and apply it to areas of our lives where we face challenges, like with stress.
Our mindset is so important for how stress impacts us.
Our mindset towards the challenges and setbacks that cause stress lives on this same teeter-totter between something to avoid at all costs because we feel helpless about it, and oriented towards growth, in which we rise to the challenge even if it’s hard.
When we are more oriented towards a fixed mindset about stress then we see it as something bad.
Something to eliminate from our lives immediately and at all costs.
There’s nothing positive or enriching at all about stress. It makes us feel burnt out and overwhelmed.
Like being bombarded by demands from every direction while struggling to catch your breath. When we feel this way there’s no chance we’re going to voluntarily place more stress on our system, at least fully consciously.
Usually, a fixed mindset about stress and seeing it as always a negative thing comes from being in the situation of having too much going on for too long, one too many times. So now getting stressed beats down your resistance to handle further stressors.
And this is indeed different for everyone. We’ll talk about it more with the Stress Sweet Spot and finding your recovery zone, but as one example, individuals still suffering from PTSD have a different recovery profile to stressors because of past trauma.
However, seeing stress from a growth mindset accepts that it’s ok to be stressed out. It’s an indication that something has challenged you, but in being challenged, you can build resilience and become stronger and capable of handling more in the future. People who are growth-minded about stress are also more willing and able to use approach techniques for managing stress so that it is resolved and doesn’t become a pervasive and nagging issue as can happen with avoiding and running away from the stressor.
How Stress = Growth
The clearest analogy that most of us get about how stress promotes growth comes from the gym. Working out with the right amount of intensity is a stressor. Sure, we can do recovery workouts, like yoga, walks, and stretching, but the classic pumping iron puts stress on our bodies. Looking at this purely from the physical dimension of health first, this stress stimulates growth which in turn builds bigger and stronger muscles to handle more weight or reps over time. Adequate recovery is also required though so that we don’t just keep breaking down further, which leads to no progress and even overtraining, which is the exercise equivalent of burnout.
To complicate things further, our mental health can also dictate this pathway to productive growth or overtraining. If we view the training process as a positive because it allows us to build more physical resilience, our training trends towards that progress. But if we view it as too hard and uncomfortable to push a little bit further each training session, we tend to not make progress.
And this is also how our mindset can impact how we handle other stressors too. If your boss adds one more project to your desk and you believe that it’s overwhelming, it will be. But when you tell yourself you can handle it and get better or learn something new because of it, you’re heading more in the right direction with your stress mindset.
When we start to recognize these different scenarios in our lives more often, we gain power over the impacts these stressors have, allowing us to rise to the opportunity to grow from it and not see stress as an enemy.
Introducing Psychotherapy Services at Flow Spa: A New Path to Wellness
Welcome to a new chapter at Flow Spa, where we are thrilled to announce the introduction of psychotherapy services as part of our commitment to holistic wellness.
We have always been dedicated to fostering deep health, and now, we are taking a step further by integrating mental health into our care spectrum.
Why is Therapy Beneficial?
In life, we often encounter problematic relationships and challenging situations that can leave us feeling stuck or overwhelmed. Talk therapy offers a space for reflection, growth, and change. It's not just about addressing mental health issues; it's about empowering individuals to align their lives with their values, build confidence, and develop the skills and motivation to improve their situation.
Meet Our Psychotherapists: Christopher Brown and Genevieve Brown
We are delighted to introduce our experienced psychotherapists, Christopher Brown and Genevieve Brown, a husband and wife team with a rich background in Psychology. With a combined 24 years of education and practice, Chris and Gen are dedicated to helping people navigate life's difficulties and mental health challenges. Their client-centred approach fosters a unique therapeutic relationship where both therapist and client learn and grow together. Chris and Gen's flexible, integrative method ensures that therapy is tailored to meet each client's individual goals and needs.
Specialization in Building Strong Relationships
At Flow Spa, we understand the importance of relationships – with oneself, loved ones, and even pets. Chris and Gen specialize in working with individuals seeking personal development, those grieving a loss, and couples or groups looking to enhance their relationships. Their expertise perfectly complements Flow Spa's deep health model, emphasizing the interconnectedness of mind, body, and relationships.
Integrating Wellness and Psychotherapy
Our new psychotherapy services are designed to harmonize with Flow Spa's existing wellness offerings. This integration offers a comprehensive approach to health, addressing both physical and mental well-being. Whether you're floating to relax or engaging in therapy to reflect, our center provides a sanctuary for complete wellness.
Ready to embark on your journey to deeper health?
Book a 15-minute consultation with Chris or Gen and discover how psychotherapy can enrich your wellness experience.
Schedule your session now at https://harnessingchangepsych.janeapp.com/
At Flow Spa, your health and well-being are our top priority. We're excited to offer these new services and look forward to supporting you on your path to wellness.
For more information about our services or to get in touch, check out more information on our website or follow us on our social media channels.
5 Sneaky Ways Stress Sabotages Your Fat Loss (And What To Do About It)
Stress is a common part of our everyday lives, but it can have a significant impact on our health and wellness goals, especially when it comes to fat loss. While it's well known that stress can lead to emotional eating or skipping workouts, the effects of stress on fat loss are more complex and far-reaching.
In this article, we'll explore five ways stress can make fat loss more challenging, and provide strategies to help you manage stress and stay on track with your health goals.
Intensifies Hunger and Cravings
Stress can significantly impact our eating behaviours. When stressed, the body releases cortisol, a hormone that can increase appetite and cravings, particularly for high-fat, sugary, or salty foods. This is why those unhealthy snacks in the cupboard are so tempting when we stress eat. It's a coping mechanism where the brain seeks these comfort foods to counteract stress, often leading to overeating. This increased calorie intake can make it harder to maintain a calorie deficit, which is crucial for fat loss.
Small Actions To Try:
Practice mindful eating. Become fully aware and present while eating, savouring each bite, and listening to the body's hunger and fullness cues. Just eat your meal one bite at a time instead of shovelling food down unconsciously while watching TV. This mindful eating trick is hard to do at first when you feel like you’re starving stressed and want to cope by eating more but because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the fullness signal after you start eating, this helps to hit that point without stuffing yourself.
Try to do one minute of deep breathing, meditation, or yoga before your meal. These practices can help reduce the impulse to stress-eat and improve your mindful eating action as well.
Slows Metabolism By Suppressing Thyroid Production
Stress can negatively affect the thyroid gland, which plays a pivotal role in regulating metabolism. Chronic stress can lead to conditions where thyroid hormone production is reduced. This reduction can lead to a slower metabolism, meaning the body burns fewer calories at rest. A slower metabolism can make it more challenging to lose fat, as the body becomes less efficient at using energy.
Small Actions To Try:
Make sure that your diet is rich in nutrients that help to support thyroid health. This includes minerals like iodine, selenium, and zinc. Foods like seafood, nuts, seeds, and whole grains are great sources.
If you suspect a chronic issue with thyroid hormones, consult your doctor or a registered dietitian to get further support.
Drains Your Energy, Making You Too Tired to Work Out
High levels of stress can lead to both physical and mental fatigue. This exhaustion can make it challenging to find the motivation or energy to engage in physical activities, including workouts that help to promote fat loss. Exercise not only helps burn calories but also builds muscle, which can increase your resting metabolic rate. Without regular exercise, achieving a calorie deficit for fat loss becomes more difficult.
Small Actions To Try:
10-minute walks around your block after meals. When stress stacks up and time constraints are making it impossible to hit the gym, fit in shorter activities like going for a walk around your block or searching for a 10-minute stretching or home workout routine on YouTube.
These shorter activities can be more manageable and less daunting than longer workout sessions when you don’t have extra time in your schedule.
Interferes with Sleep
Quality sleep is crucial for weight management and overall health. Stress can lead to sleep disturbances like difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, reducing the overall quality and quantity of sleep. Poor sleep can disrupt the balance of hunger hormones, like ghrelin and leptin, leading to increased appetite and a tendency to overeat. Additionally, lack of sleep can reduce energy levels, further impacting exercise routines and daily activity.
Small Actions To Try:
We love sleep around here and taking small actions to improve “sleep hygiene” is what can help to combat how stress is affecting your sleep.
Set a regular sleep schedule. Sticking to it even on weekends will help to regulate your sleep cycle even when highly stressed.
Create a more comfortable sleep environment by eliminating lights, using white noise or earplugs, and keeping your room cool or to the temperature you prefer.
Turn off screens an hour before bed and switch to other relaxing things like reading, yoga, meditation, or taking a warm bath.
Makes It Difficult to Keep Long-term Goals Front of Mind
Stress can impact cognitive functions such as focus, memory, and decision-making. When under stress, it becomes harder to stay focused on long-term objectives like fat loss goals. Stress can lead to a short-term mindset, where immediate gratification (such as eating comfort foods) takes precedence over long-term benefits. This shift in focus can derail progress towards fat loss goals, as it becomes challenging to adhere to dietary plans and exercise routines that require consistent effort over time.
Small Actions To Try:
Just like we’ve done in this article, break down your long-term health goals into smaller actions.
Use a journal or app like Flow Coach to track your progress and reflect on your achievements. We see much greater success and long-term consistency when we make one small change at a time instead of trying to overhaul our whole routine. This is at the root of our coaching philosophy and how we’ve designed the Flow Coach App.
By understanding and addressing these stress-related challenges, individuals can better navigate their fat loss journey with more effective strategies and a holistic approach to health and well-being.
Boost your motivation to tackle your next goal with our Free 7-Day Motivation Challenge.
Overcome stress and get started on your health goals journey by signing up for our free challenge in the Flow Coach App.
Get Started For Free
Each day, you’ll receive a short lesson and simple actions to take that will help to motivate you and move you closer to your goals.
Doing A Year-End Deep Health Review
It’s no surprise that January is the busiest month of the year inside of gyms.
But physical health only scratches the surface of what having Deep Health means.
There are six domains to our health and if we sacrifice everything else in the name of physical health, we won’t end up feeling satisfied with the effort we’ve put into those goals.
Doing a Deep Health year-end review allows you to see the big picture on your health, leading to feeling the difference in vibrant balance across the different areas of your life.
What areas make up your life?
If you listen to any self-help guru out there, they will have their framework for the different dimensions of your life. Like the Deep Health complete picture, these are the slices of the pie of life that we consider when evaluating the current moment of our life and the time frame we have been through. Some systems will give you 10 sections, others 6, or maybe as little as 4. The Deep Health model is the 6 domains of health that encompass all of our experiences as humans. While you may also like to review other areas of your life when you reflect on your year, like finances or career, these areas can also fit well into the well-supported framework of Deep Health.
Doing a Deep Health Review
While there are many ways to evaluate our life, one of the most impactful to me is to look through the Deep Health lens to get a clear picture of what our overall health and the different aspects looked like and how they have changed in the past year.
Because our health is multi-faceted, it makes a difference to look at a Deep Health framework to understand what is going well in your life and what needs more work and focus to get back on track. Doing your Deep Health review with the Deep Heath Questionnaire doesn’t just have to be done once per year. It’s also helpful to use whenever you face changes or set new goals during the year.
It’ll help you to see your start and endpoints as a result of any goal.
Training for a marathon may improve your physical health and your emotional health if you’re an anxious person who likes to have a focused goal to work towards but all the hours spent training might take away from your social health or diminish your mental health making it hard to focus on work.
Complete a deep health questionnaire and compare it to past scores. Save your results so that you can look back on it again next year.
Click this link to download a copy.
This may be all you want to do with your year-end review to set new health goals through this more expansive lens of your health but if you want to continue on to get even clearer on your health goals next year, review more of the past year first.
Review Your Calendar and Notes
If you don’t keep track of at least some of the ways you spend your time in your calendar or note-taking in a journal, now is a good time to start.
By having the thoughts and experiences of your life captured in the moment, you are keeping a much more permanent record of the stories you are creating. Anytime I feel like I haven’t had enough fun experiences or accomplished enough for myself, I scroll back through my calendar and the notes I’ve captured and can see the progress on the pages there. And so it helps you to look back through all these moments to get that overview of your year as you review it.
This is also one of the more valuable reasons for keeping a Bullet Journal or other simple form of a physical journal. Notes get scattered across different apps and devices on our phones and computers. But in a notebook (or two if you write a lot), you can have a full year's worth of your quick thoughts, events, and experiences and this is my favourite way of seeing what the story of my past year looked like.
As you review your year and think about how it ties into your Deep Health, these are some helpful prompts to consider that will guide the decisions about next year’s goals as well.
What were the highlight moments or experiences? What were some of the best things you accomplished? What challenges did you face? All of these questions that you can review when looking back through your notes will help you to hold yourself accountable when you think about what the next year looks like for you.
More things to take note of as you review your notes from each month this year:
What new places did you visit?
Who did you meet and what relationships did you build?
What new skills did you acquire?
What did you learn about your Deep Health?
I’d love to hear from you about what you’ve realized about your health goals and how Deep Health plays into them.
Leave a comment below if you feel like sharing!
The Art of Healthy Selfishness: 4 Painful Mistakes The Most Selfless People Make In Self-Compassion
As a child, Jenny was taught that being selfless was the ultimate virtue. She was told to always put others first, sacrificing her own needs for the sake of friends and family. She believed this was the right way to live and started to neglect her own well-being.
Years later, Jenny found herself burnt out and exhausted.
She had given so much of herself to others that she had nothing left for herself. That's when she realized that she had been living a lie. She had been sacrificing her own mental and physical health to take care of everyone who needed her, but in doing so, she was actually doing them a disservice.
It wasn't until Jenny started practicing self-compassion and healthy selfishness that she truly started to thrive.
By taking care of herself, she was able to show up for others in a much more meaningful way. She learned that self-compassion and healthy selfishness are not selfish acts, but rather essential practices that allow us to be our best selves and contribute to the world in a more meaningful way.
Most caregivers take the opposite approach and find themselves teetering on the edge of burnout far too often because of it.
Healthy selfishness lifts others up
Healthy selfishness is the oxygen mask analogy.
When boarding a flight, the pre-flight instructions tell us all that in the case of an emergency, if the cabin pressure drops, oxygen masks will drop from the ceiling and you must put your mask on first. It's not just a good idea, if you can't breathe you'll be of no help to anyone else you're trying to support.
Doing things that are good for and support you helps you to contribute more to others as a giver as well.
Things that are good for you require the right boundaries.
We often think of boundaries as walling ourselves off but boundaries are about have clear and firm lines between the different parts of our lives so that we don't let other people influence our inner harmony.
Having unclear boundaries mentally stresses and fatigues us and doesn't help us to present our best self to whatever we are doing. We've seen this happening a lot in the last several years since technology has made it so easy to work from home around the clock. When we can be on Zoom calls for meetings at home in the living room at 7 or 8 pm, the workday becomes a never-ending loop. The work and home-life boundary is a clear example to make but we also see boundaries getting breached in our close friendships and family relationships. Recognizing this is the first step to having clear boundaries.
By protecting your boundaries and saying no when you need to, you are also being courageous to do something that gives others the excuse to say no as well. Healthy selfishness is infectious.
Healthy selfishness breaks down the false dichotomy between being selfish in supporting oneself or being selfless by giving all of yourself to others.
How do you put this into practice without sounding rude or disappointing others?
Have a polite but firm answer that you can use when you've decided that you need some recharge time for yourself. In Scott Barry Kaufman's book Choose Growth, he gives examples of protecting your boundaries and how to talk to others about your self-care. Give a clear and simple response, like “I’m afraid I can’t go out tonight; I am giving myself some much-needed self-care time.”
This will give others the confidence to practice the same for themselves and they will have respect for your courage to do so.
Practicing self-compassion will teach you to have more healthy selfishness
Self-compassion is an important part of having a growth mindset and learning how to develop into your best self. But most people suck at practicing it. Why is it that we push ourselves relentlessly or tell ourselves that we could have done better with our efforts?
Self-compassion consists of:
common humanity - recognizing that other people struggle too and we aren't so unique and isolated in our suffering.
self-kindness - not beating ourselves up so much.
mindfulness - becoming more aware of how we are feeling deep within.
By valuing our own well-being, we can create a more compassionate and supportive world for everyone.
When was the last time that you actually let yourself feel a sense of accomplishment at something you did? And I’m not talking about a 5-second pause before starting up the next project on your list.
This is a hard skill to develop in yourself. Self-compassion will positively change your life and so you owe it to yourself to put in the effort to rewrite some of these invisible scripts that you tell yourself about self-compassion so that you can go further while also being appreciative of where you are now.
Underlying scripts from society
Fear of other people’s opinions or FOPO holds us back from being self-compassionate. When you’re hurting and need a day off from the gym, you find yourself watching Navy SEALS on Instagram waking up before the sun to run 100 miles and you think about how if they can do that, you shouldn’t be taking a day off.
Or when your eyes are bugging out of your head from working at a computer all day but you think about that entrepreneur online who is hustling hard 24/7 and so you just keep on working through the exhaustion and digging a deeper hole for yourself.
These underlying scripts tell us that we will be judged and criticized for doing what we feel in our hearts we need at the moment to recharge or just take care of ourselves.
The misconception that self-compassion means complacency.
We find meaning in progress because we are hard-wired that way. Our brains are constantly seeking out the next step on our journey.
Recognizing that we are driven by dopamine is an important part of having more self-compassion. By knowing this, we can identify when we are feeling unease at sitting still or seemingly not making enough progress. And once we can recognize this, we can accept and embrace that progress looks differently for everyone and sometimes the best progress comes from taking a break to recover and recharge. Or that it means pivoting to something new when what we’ve been attempting is no longer working for us.
Self-compassion feels soft and vulnerable.
Most people want to avoid vulnerability at all costs. They keep their secrets held close and don’t open up about anything to anyone.
While there are many thought leaders expressing themselves and sharing the importance of vulnerability, this is still not the default for most people.
Have you ever been on a car ride with someone where the silence was deafening? You know that something is up with them but they’d rather stare out the window with lips held tight instead of having a conversation. You can sense it because our ability to read a situation goes far beyond just language.
One of the reasons we like to follow people like Brene Brown and Russell Brand and all those influencers online who have expressed a part of their story to the world is that it’s brave and we have a strong desire to feel the same way.
Being self-compassionate does not mean you are soft although it often means opening yourself up, at least to yourself, so that you can correctly understand what and how you are feeling.
It is only through practice that you will come to understand how to express yourself.
The journey from self-neglect to self-compassion underscores a vital lesson: Taking care of oneself is not a selfish act, but a necessary one for sustainable giving.
Healthy selfishness is not about ignoring the needs of others but about finding a balance where self-care enables us to be more present and supportive. It challenges the false dichotomy of being selfish or selfless, highlighting that one can support oneself while still being generous to others.
To embody this practice without seeming rude or disappointing others, you can adopt a polite but firm communication approach, advocating for personal recharge time with simple and clear responses. This approach not only protects our boundaries but also encourages others to embrace self-care.
Practicing self-compassion also teaches us to break away from the relentless pursuit of perfection and the fear of judgment, allowing us to celebrate our achievements and embrace our vulnerabilities. By rewriting the societal scripts that equate self-compassion with complacency, we can recognize that progress and self-improvement sometimes require rest and reflection.
So let's reframe our understanding of self-care: it's not a luxury, but a cornerstone of a fulfilling and generous life. By embracing healthy selfishness and self-compassion, we not only enhance our own lives but also become a wellspring of strength and care for those around us. Let us all give ourselves the permission to prioritize our well-being, for it is in flourishing ourselves that we can truly uplift others.
Making the Most of Your Summer: Our Top Tips from Flow Spa
Summer is here, and it's the perfect time to embrace the warmth, the longer days, and the endless opportunities for relaxation and rejuvenation.
At Flow Spa, we believe that summer is not just a season, but a state of mind.
It's a time to slow down, to reconnect with nature, and to take care of our bodies and minds.
Here are some tips on how to make the most of this beautiful season, including how our unique services, like float therapy, can enhance your summer experience.
1. Embrace Outdoor Activities
Summer is the best time to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether it's going for a hike, taking a bike ride, or simply enjoying a picnic in the park, make sure to soak up the sun (with proper sun protection, of course!). These activities not only provide a great workout but also help to reduce stress and improve mood.
2. Stay Hydrated
With the rising temperatures, it's crucial to stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day, and don't forget to replenish your electrolytes if you're engaging in physical activities. Eating fruits and vegetables with high water content, like watermelon and cucumbers, can also help keep you hydrated.
3. Practice Mindfulness
Summer is a great time to start or deepen a mindfulness practice. Take a few minutes each day to meditate or simply sit quietly, focusing on your breath. This can help reduce stress and improve mental clarity.
4. Protect Your Skin
Summer means more time spent outdoors, and while the sunshine can feel great, it's important to protect your skin. Always apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 before heading outside, even on cloudy days. Don't forget to reapply every two hours and after swimming or sweating. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses can provide additional protection. Remember, taking care of your skin is an essential part of overall wellness.
5. Get Plenty of Rest
While it's tempting to fill every summer day with activities, it's essential to balance this with adequate rest. Good sleep is crucial for recovery and maintaining a healthy immune system.
6. Experience Float Therapy
We're big advocates of float therapy, especially during the summer months. Floating in a sensory deprivation tank is like hitting the reset button on your body and mind. The buoyancy of the saltwater allows your body to float effortlessly, relieving physical tension and promoting deep relaxation. It's an excellent way to recover from the physical activities of summer, treat chronic pain, and reduce stress.
At Flow Spa, we're here to help you make the most of your summer. Whether you're looking to relax with a massage, detoxify in our infrared sauna, or experience the profound relaxation of float therapy, we're here to support your wellness journey.
Remember, summer is a season of abundance and growth.
So, take this time to nurture yourself, try new experiences, and find your flow.
Wishing you a summer full of relaxation and rejuvenation!
The Flow Spa Team
Practicing Self-Compassion Is Hard
Why is it that people are fundamentally better at being compassionate and caring towards others than they are towards themselves?
What is it about self-compassion that makes most of us not very good at practicing it?
In this article we will dive into:
The underlying scripts from society - how we’ve learned to value other people’s opinions and compare ourselves.
There’s a misconception that self-compassion means complacency. We find meaning in progress because we are hard-wired that way
Self-compassion feels soft and vulnerable and most people avoid that.
Self-compassion is an important part of having a growth mindset and learning how to develop into your best self. But most people suck at practicing it. Why is it that we push ourselves relentlessly or tell ourselves that we could have done better with our efforts?
When was the last time that you actually let yourself feel a sense of accomplishment at something you did? And I’m not talking about a 5-second pause before starting up the next project on your list.
The skill of self-compassion is made up of three elements:
Self-kindness
Common humanity
Mindfulness
Self-kindness is about being generous and decent to yourself.
Common humanity is recognizing that you are a part of a greater whole of humanity. You’re not isolated in your suffering and problems.
Mindfulness is also a part of self-compassion as you need to work on being non-judgemental and consciously aware of what you’re doing, thinking, feeling, and experiencing.
This is a hard skill to develop in yourself. There’s a lot going against you that makes practicing self-compassion so hard.
But self-compassion will positively change your life and so you owe it to yourself to put in the effort to rewrite some of these invisible scripts that you tell yourself about self-compassion so that you can go further while also being appreciative of where you are at now.
Underlying scripts from society
How we’ve learned to value other peoples’ opinions and compare ourselves.
Fear of other people’s opinions or FOPO holds us back from being self-compassionate. When you’re hurting and need a day off from the gym, you find yourself watching Navy SEALS on Instagram waking up before the sun to run 100 miles and you think about how if they can do that, you shouldn’t be taking a day off.
Or when your eyes are bugging out of your head from working at a computer all day but you think about that entrepreneur online who appears to be hustling hard 24/7 and so you just keep on working through the exhaustion and digging a deeper hole for yourself.
Comparison, undoubtedly, is the thief of joy.
These underlying scripts tell us that we will be judged and criticized for doing what we feel in our hearts we need at the moment to recharge or just take care of ourselves.
We only get the picture of what people want to share of their life online though and this is why is can be such a harmful image when it seems like all go and taking no days off.
Self-compassion and complacency.
The misconception about self-compassion means complacency.
We find meaning in progress because we are hard-wired that way. Our brains are constantly seeking out the next step on our journey.
Recognizing that we are driven by dopamine is an important part of having more self-compassion. By knowing this, we can identify when we are feeling unease at sitting still or seemingly not making enough progress. And once we can recognize this, we can accept and embrace that progress looks different for everyone and sometimes the best progress comes from taking a break to recover and recharge. Or that it means pivoting to something new when what we’ve been attempting is no longer working for us.
Self-compassion feels soft and vulnerable.
Most people want to avoid vulnerability at all costs. They keep their secrets held close and don’t open up about anything to anyone.
While there are many thought leaders expressing themselves out in the world and sharing the importance of vulnerability, this is still not the default for most of us.
Have you ever been on a car ride with someone where the silence was deafening? You know that something is up with them but they’d rather stare out the window with lips held tight instead of having a conversation. You can sense it because our ability to read a situation goes far beyond just language.
One of the reasons we like to follow people like Brene Brown and Russell Brand and all those influencers online who have expressed a part of their story to the world is that it’s brave and we have a strong desire to feel the same way.
Being self-compassionate does not mean you are soft although it often means opening yourself up, at least to yourself, so that you can correctly understand what and how you are feeling.
Only through practice will you come to understand how to express yourself.
So then, with the three elements that makeup self-compassion, self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, think about what you can do to work a little of these into your day.
4 Ways To Keep Your Immune System Healthy This Fall
The concerns around COVID-19 are not done yet and the fall flu season is upon us.
Now is the time to make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your immune system healthy so that you don’t get sick.
Think about these 4 Ss when it comes to helping your immune system: Sleep, Stress, Shock, and Support.
Read on to learn more about each strategy and how it’ll help you.
Sleep
Sleep is like the Batman of recovery: the hero you don’t want, but the hero that you need.
It’s unrivalled in its importance in promoting recovery, including keeping your immune system healthy, keeping your brain sharp, and your body functioning well.
Sleep is also challenging to try to tackle because we all have preconceived notions of how good or bad our sleep is and why we just have to accept it as it is. Trying to deal with it as a “bad sleeper” is not a good time, as everything else in your life gets affected.
But I'm not suggesting that you try to completely overhaul your sleep routine with what the latest health guru is saying you need to do every hour of the day to prepare yourself for sleep. There are things that can help, but what helps the most is to start with what you're comfortable doing. If that means just maintaining what you're already doing, that's great.
If you have a change in mind that you want to make and you think it'll help your sleep, try that out and notice how it helps your sleep and how rested you feel. Notice the difference it makes and if it doesn’t seem to be doing much, try to add on something else you feel ready to do.
Stress - Manage It Your Best
We all experience stress in many different ways. Stress is as unique to our life as our fingerprint. Managing stress well becomes not just a practice in following a few steps from a template but to understand and explore your own stressors.
By recognizing our own triggers and reactions to stress, we can better come to respect our need for balance and when it's most essential for us. Whether due to life transitions or unexpected events in your life, we can’t go off of a pre-made plan for managing stress better, unless we’ve thought about it ourselves and created it or shaped it to fit our own needs.
So stress management becomes as much about the give and take as a Jiu-Jitsu match. React to everything you experience so that you can keep pushing toward your ultimate goal of getting everything managed as best as you can.
This is exactly what we do in my stress management success course where I teach you how to apply the steps of making changes in your life and creating an action plan for becoming unstressable.
The next cohort for the course is starting soon and you can join the waitlist here: www.flowacademy.ca/stress
Shock
Use deliberate heat or cold exposure to give your immune system a boost.
Sitting in a sauna feels really good but on top of that, it carries with it some powerful health benefits, including being able to strengthen your immune system and reduce the stress hormone cortisol.
When our bodies are exposed to extreme heat or cold, we are giving it a healthy, acute dose of stress. This triggers many of the systems in our body to be stimulated, including our immune system which builds up under this process.
The same happens to us with cold exposure, like doing a cold plunge. This can be harder for people to want to initiate but it certainly feels invigorating after you’ve done it. And the cold creates a great anti-inflammatory effect to reduce pain and promote healing while also turning up the dial on our immune system.
Research suggests that the best practice for this is doing 3-4 sessions per week for a total of 57 minutes of heat exposure above 80 degrees Celsius and 11 minutes total of cold exposure below 10 degrees Celsius. These numbers may be optimal, but certainly, any amount of shock, even one session per week, is going to make a difference that will help you to stay healthier.
Support
Support yourself and your immune system. During cold and flu season, it’s important to turn to our friends and family for support when it’s needed as a way to feel a strong sense of connection that will help to keep stress levels down. It’s also often needed when we do feel the sniffles coming on and need to be proactive to not get sick any further by letting others lend a hand where we need it.
Furthermore, you can support your immune system and your health through supplements. While these aren’t the first step in good nutrition, there are some nutrients that are important for the immune system that become harder to access through our diet as the colder weather approaches, most notably, colourful fruits and veggies and vitamin D. Supplementing with a greens powder can help to cover a lot of micronutrients that we need to stay healthy and keep our immune system strong, and getting vitamin D through supplementation are virtually essential for Canadians once the summer is over and we’re getting less direct sunlight. This one is extremely important for our immune system so I highly recommend it.
Look to supplement with a scoop of a high-quality greens powder, like Genuine Health’s greens+ every day and 2,000 IUs of Vitamin D3.
What to do next:
Look at what you can do to support your sleep and write down a few ideas of what you’re willing to try.
Book in for a sauna or cold plunge to start deliberate exposure to the extremes that will stimulate your immune system.
Managing Back To School Stress
Wouldn’t it be nice if Back To School could be stress-free?
Like that Staples commercial that plays the Andy Williams song “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” song while talking about Back To School.
But I don’t know anyone who actually thinks this time of year is stress-free. We frantically try to relax for Labour Day only to be thrust into the muck of the first day of school.
Traffic is crazy.
We know sniffles we be spreading soon.
We experience the life transition of the kids growing up and going off to school or starting a new chapter.
Our sense of control over things is tested hard during this season. And it’s through understanding what’s in our control that we can tame our stressors before we see them leave us frazzled and burnt out.
Working on understanding control takes time and constant reminders to ourselves. But by making this shift we can start to lift away from some of the feeling that is holding us back.
The practice that helps to bring clarity and perspective to what we have control over is called the Spheres of Control.
It helps to see visually the dichotomy between what’s in your complete control and what you have no control over. And because life is never just black and white, there’s a gray area too where we have some control.
When the things in our lives that we have no control over or only some control of pile up all at once, like during times of transition, it’s easy to have your thoughts start spiralling while trying too hard to grasp onto what you cannot.
With back-to-school time, we start thinking and worrying about all those things that feel so stressful and make us worry.
So try to name those worries that you don’t have any control over. Capture them on the page so they don’t have free reign over your thoughts. Look at what is in your control and reinforce those things. (Hint: there are only a few things that we can consider under our complete control).
I consider it to be the most Stoic of the skills of stress management to practice. The Stoic philosophers were all about temperance of the mind and finding stillness amidst turmoil. The writings of philosophers like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius made it very clear that the struggles to control our thoughts and worries remain much the same thousands of years after they were capturing their own ideas on paper as Marcus Aurelius reflected himself,
“Your ability to control your thoughts- treat it with respect. It’s all that protects your mind from false perceptions… it’s what makes thoughtfulness possible.”
Our thoughts are one of the few things we can come to have complete control over with practice. And it’s a powerful one because it will lead to being better able to let go of the many things we cannot directly influence.
Like the school bus driver who is late, the start of cold and flu season, and the kids starting a new chapter in their lives.
You can download this Spheres of Control worksheet that includes prompts to explore that will help you to understand what in your life is in your control and what to let go of.
Download the Sphere of Control worksheet.
The second cohort of Stress Management Success will be starting in about a month.
Join the waitlist here so you get notified of when enrolment starts.
Is What We Know About Sleep True?
Is what we know about sleep true?
On average, we spend about a third of our life asleep. It’s a necessary function, and it impacts our physical and mental health. We know that a good night’s sleep makes us all feel good in the morning, but it can also help your digestive system, immune system, and even your heart.
But are we getting the sleep that we want and need?
There are so many things that prevent us from sleeping for as long as we should, and as deeply as we should. Many of us are guilty of spending hours on our phones before bed - mindlessly scrolling through social media, stimulates the brain, making it harder to fall asleep. The brain can’t just turn off like a switch, it needs to unwind and our habits are basically only winding it up.
But poor sleep can also be caused by other lifestyle choices, such as caffeine or sugar before bed, that keep your mind and body awake. Other times it can be a lack of exercise - for some people, having an unusually sedentary day means you have excess energy that can’t just go away when you need to sleep.
The good news is that if you are struggling with sleep, there are ways that you can help yourself!
Empowerment is the key to changing your sleep patterns. Some people have very serious, legitimate health conditions that can negatively impact their sleep - in these cases it is very important to seek medical support. But for others, there are tools you can use to change your own life.
One of the first places to start is your knowledge base. There is so much information floating around about sleeping and good sleeping habits. It can be hard to know what is true, and what is actually negatively impacting your rest.
So let’s help you to find the facts, so you can start to make some healthy changes.
Our sleeping habits can’t be changed: True or false?
FALSE
Some people think that because a sleeping habit or pattern has been going on for so long, it can’t be changed. If they have always slept for only a few hours at a time, or they always take a long time to fall asleep, they can’t do anything to change it.
The good news is, that you CAN change your sleeping habits.
As with any habit, it will take time to see changes, but perseverance is key. Start by creating a healthy routine for yourself, then commit to sticking to it. Some good ideas you can incorporate:
Give yourself a set bedtime, so your body naturally begins to get sleepy around the same time each night.
Make sure that you put aside all your devices. A screen should not be the last thing you see at night, as this can stimulate your brain into waking back up. Try and put those away relatively early in your routine, giving yourself time to really focus on what you are doing.
If you find yourself very stressed and anxious while you are trying to fall asleep, try and incorporate some relaxing physical and/or mental activities into your night routine. This might be five minutes of light yoga or stretching or some meditation. Whatever works for you!
My phone is keeping me awake: True or false?
TRUE
Whether it’s your phone or tablet, technology is designed to keep you focused and alert - the exact opposite of what you want when you are trying to sleep!
As much as you can, you need to reduce the number of devices in your bedroom and the time you spend on them when trying to get ready for bed. Most of us use our phone as an alarm so turning it off isn’t always a good idea, but you should put it on Do Not Disturb. Notifications are designed to draw your attention, but in reality, they can wait.
And if you find you can’t avoid checking your phone, investing in an alarm clock to get your phone out of the bedroom can be one of the best things you do for your sleep.
If you are someone who loves to check social media right before bed, consider swapping the action for an alternative, like reading a book. Even though you need to focus, reading still helps to slow you down, because the pace at which you receive information is drastically reduced compared to your phone. If you really can’t leave social media alone, at least consider limiting the time you spend on it, so don’t accidentally scroll for hours.
Sleeping medications are addictive and therefore can be dangerous: True or false?
TRUE
It is true that some medications designed to help you sleep, like ones that are prescribed by a doctor, are addictive. They are still useful and they can help people, but only when they are taken correctly. You should never use any form of prescribed medication for someone else, and you should only take them for as long as you have been prescribed them.
If you have been prescribed sleeping pills or tablets by a doctor, make sure that you take them according to the instructions, and always seek help if you find yourself struggling with side effects.
All sleeping medications are bad: True or false? FALSE
Prescribed sleeping medications are designed to help you sleep and when they are used correctly, they are safe. The danger is when you use them differently from the instructions, e.g. taking too many at once, or taking them longer than recommended.
The good news is that you can also find over-the-counter sleeping supports that are safer for more people to use and still offer the same great support. A great option is Deep Sleep by Genuine Health. This is a natural supplement that utilizes natural ingredients that work together to promote better sleep health:
Reishi mushroom extract - This has been used for centuries to help cure a range of ailments. It can help to stimulate your adrenal gland, which in turn increases the amount of cortisol in the body. Cortisol reduces stress and can increase feelings of relaxation, helping you get to sleep faster and stay asleep for longer. Deep Sleep can also help you to enter deeper sleep cycles, which promote brain rejuvenation and can improve physical health over the long term.
GABA - is a natural amino acid found in the brain. Supplements safely increase the Gaba levels in the body, making them more functional, by reducing the neurotransmitter actions that are leading to stress and anxiety. This results in a more relaxed and peaceful feeling.
Melatonin. This is found in a lot of sleep supplements, and it helps to regulate the internal circadian rhythm of the body, so you sleep as your body is intended to.
L-Theanine - Found in tea, L-theanine is another calming compound that helps to get our body out of a stressed state and into more deep relaxation.
Magnesium - Magnesium is an important mineral for many of the functions in our body and can help to relax the muscles and promote better sleep.
Even more good news: Deep Sleep is safe to be used by anyone. It is soy, gluten, dairy, and egg-free so even people with dietary requirements can take it and experience its success.
I’m having trouble sleeping, so I’m a bad sleeper: True or false? FALSE
Many people think they are bad sleepers when in reality they probably aren’t! There are a number of reasons why you might wake up still feeling tired, or not as relaxed as you want to be. In reality, this might not actually be a sleep problem!
People who think they are bad sleepers may internalize this belief, which can result in a lot of stress and anxiety. You may focus on your sleep problems, but not the other things in life that may be impacting your sleep. Are you very busy at work at the moment? Are you only sleeping five hours a night because you are trying to juggle work and children and a million other responsibilities?
Our sleeping behaviours can sometimes be a reflection of other behaviours or habits in our lives and it’s important to recognize that everything is connected. Always be kind to yourself - health is a constant journey and as long as you’re working on it, you are moving in the right direction.
Deep Sleep is available at Flow Spa - Pick it up in-store today!
Making The Most of the Holidays
In preparation for the holiday season we buzz with excitement from the plans we have to reconnect with loved ones and celebrate. And usually that feeling goes overboard as we try to orchestrate a million things at once.
But holidays are also meant to be a time for us to get away from our crazy busy schedules. It should be our chance to enjoy special moments with the people we love.
It often turns out that this is one of the most stressful times of the year for us though. Trying to get to that peaceful moment where "all is calm, all is bright" tends to pack even more into the last frantic dash. The holidays don't quite feel like they live up to the name when we have a houseful of kids, in-laws, and finding the perfect gifts to take care of.
And on top of our social stressors, we've got sales and advertising coming at us from every direction on all of our devices. It can be really easy to forget about ourselves during this time with our attention pulled by the needs and demands of others.
Taking time to ground yourself and find balance amidst the holiday stressors is so important because it allows us to bring the gift of your presence to the festive gatherings. Your relationships benefit from this and you'll feel happier to be able to resist the overwhelm that comes so easily this time of year.
Despite all of your obligations during this time of year, it's also a time for reflection as we cross the threshold on another year and we recognize the importance of our health in so many ways. And not just your own health but for your loved ones as well.
For many of us, gift giving rituals feel more like a chore than a joy but that's where putting thought into the gifts we choose can make a big difference.
A gift can be an expression of how well you know somebody and that you care about that relationship you have. Nailing the right gift choice can not only have a positive impact on the relationship you have with the other person but also contribute to their life as a whole. These are the gifts that most people want the most. We recognize the importance of health and the often neglected self-care that we all need.
Gifts that refill that need for recovery and empty the tank of stress don't have to be extravagant. You can plan some quality time together to go for a hike or to go skating. Make a nice meal together, book them a massage, or pre-pay for babysitters or house cleaners to help encourage some more downtime for them. And of course, a gift card for a float is the perfect break from responsibility with serenity in the quiet darkness.
The gift of float therapy is restorative in so many ways and you'll even notice that their time spent with others is more joyful and connected because of this time out to practice peaceful presence.
Scheduling a float before a day out can be a great way to relax before sightseeing or going to an event. It's also a nice activity to do as a small group to all reconvene after your floats to chat and connect on a deeper and calmer level.
People rave over receiving floats as gifts because so many of us have always wanted to try it and experience the effects of the float tank and those who have already floated will glow with excitement over getting back into the tank for more deep relaxation.
In so many ways, floating is about something that so many of us are missing - connection. Connection to our deep health during the float session, and the lasting tranquility that comes afterwards and allows us to connect that much more with the people around us.
Floating inspires openness and ease in a way that not many therapies can for even those whose hearts are still two sizes too small.
This holiday season, take care of yourself and encourage others in your life to do the same. The gift of living in a beautiful state is the real greatest gift. And floating is one of many ways to spend more time in this state but it's also one of the best ones!
Achieve Better Physical and Mental Health in Your Golden Years
Guest post by Jason Lewis
As you age, it's essential to take care of your physical and mental health. Whether you want to participate in senior cruises, trek throughout Canada or beyond, or stay home and take up new hobbies, you can't enjoy any of that if you don't have good physical and mental health. With a few tips, though, you can optimize your health and make the most of your golden years.
Exercising
The exercise goal if you have no physical limitations or health restrictions should be 150 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly. But, since physical limitations caused by ageing may affect you as you get older, you should exercise as much as you can without sacrificing comfort. As a general rule, seniors should sit less and be more active.
Keep in mind that the goal of exercising is to have fun while you do it. If you're struggling to exercise alone, ask a friend if they'd like to go for daily walks with you. Join a gym that offers exercise classes, like water aerobics, for seniors.
Eat Healthier
Old habits are hard to break, but your health is immensely affected by the foods you eat. For instance, if you're overweight, you could be stressing your joints and cardiovascular system. Consuming too much salt can affect your heart and kidneys.
Therefore, you should gradually make changes to your diet. Start with one change and stick with it before making other changes. For instance, start by eating balanced meals. Then, work on staying within a normal caloric intake for your age. Next, reduce your bad eating habits, such as a high sodium intake.
Learn a New Hobby
A hobby is an excellent way to pass the time. You can learn a new skill you didn't know you had. You can also ward off depression and possibly loneliness with a hobby. If you're looking for a way to meet new people, consider joining a class or a club.
Additionally, a hobby can be a way you challenge yourself and feel accomplished as you improve at your hobby or complete projects.
Start a Business
You may have spent your entire adulthood working for someone else. However, during your senior years, you may have more financial freedom. Therefore, it's a time when you can take a chance and open the business you've always wanted.
When you first begin, you need to determine which positions you need to fill. While you can spend hours reviewing profiles to find the right staff, a recruiter or staffing agency can handle this task in a time-efficient manner and find you the top talent in Peterborough, Canada.
Begin Volunteering
One of the top reasons people don't volunteer is a lack of time. With more time on your hands when you retire, you could use this time to help others.
Consider fostering animals in your home. Another option is to volunteer to tutor or mentor children.
Better Health and a Better Life
When you take steps to better health, you can enjoy your golden years to the fullest in Peterborough. Focus on your diet, staying physically active, and doing activities you enjoy.
And don't forget to pamper yourself at Flow Spa.
5 Things You Should Do Today to Boost Your Spinal Health While Working From Home
Guest post by Dana Brown, Image via Pexels
Have you recently joined the work-from-home movement? You’re in good company. Though many people started working from home recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports cited by Small Business Trends show that more than half of businesses expect the shift to working from home to be permanent for many employees.
If you’re planning to work from home or if you already have a home office, you need to give some serious consideration to your spinal health. Flow Spa cares about your well-being, so here are five things you should do every day to boost your spinal health while working from home.
1. Check Your Posture Throughout the Day
Take a minute to honestly assess your posture right now. If you’re currently feeling any back or neck strain, take note of that, too. Now, focus on stretching your spine towards the sky without arching your back. Imagine someone’s gently lifting your head straight up toward the ceiling by a string. Doesn’t this new position feel much better?
You might be surprised to learn that before the pandemic even broke out and workers moved to their homes, many Canadians had poor posture. When you’re sitting at a desk all day, it’s natural to allow your body to slouch into a lazy position. Though it may feel good to sit this way for a few minutes, it will undoubtedly lead to aches and pains in your back, neck and even your wrists, elbows and shoulders.
To maintain good posture while sitting at your desk, Greatist advises you should keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees, draw your chin back slightly, and focus on expanding your chest to open up your shoulders. This will most likely feel unnatural at first, but the more you sit this way, the more comfortable it will become.
2. Get Regular Therapeutic Adjustments
It’s natural to feel some back discomfort if you work at a desk for long periods of time. But that doesn’t mean you have to live with the pain. Scheduling regular therapeutic float appointments, massage therapy or other services from healthcare professionals is a great way to bring your spine back into alignment and release tension in your back and neck.
3. Reduce Stress
Did you know stress can have a big impact on your physical comfort levels? When left unchecked, stress can cause a lot of unwanted effects on the body, including high blood pressure, heart disease and back pain. Minimizing stress can help make any back pain you may experience more manageable. Relaxation and meditation are two great ways to reduce levels and improve your spinal health.
You can also do much to manage your stress levels by cleaning and organizing your home so there isn’t clutter everywhere you look. A tidy and fresh environment is conducive to improved mental health and a healthy atmosphere at home. If there are any areas of your home causing you stress and anxiety, find ways to rectify the problem now so you can start reaping the benefits of a clean home as soon as possible.
4. Take Breaks to Move and Stretch
To minimize the stress and discomfort associated with working at a desk, take time to move and stretch throughout the day. It’s generally recommended that for every hour you spend working, you take 5 to 10 minutes to walk, stand up and stretch. Focus your stretches on your shoulders, back, legs and any other area of your body that feels tense and tight. Hold each stretch for at least 10 to 20 seconds for optimal results.
5. Use Ergonomic Tools to Help You Maintain Good Form
Ergonomic office chairs can help encourage good posture and spinal health throughout the workday. There are many different options from which you can choose, including high-backed chairs, chairs with armrests and chairs without armrests. Try a few different types out until you discover the style that’s most comfortable for you.
If you can keep these tips in mind every day, you’ll increase your likelihood of maintaining good spinal health and comfort while working from home. And remember to connect with Flow Spa for more tips and information that will help you stay comfortable, happy and healthy.