Balance and how I found sanity...

So two days back at work and I feel normal again.

Had a well dodgy tummy yesterday, as a kickback from the weekend and as a result only had a couple of pieces of gluten free toast for tea, (translation: dinner), last night and feel ten times better today.

Had a lovely start to the day as I got to work early and practised Body Balance, which I teach.

Body Balance as the name suggests is a harmonious workout for the body. It centres and balances through controlled breathing, mental focus and structured stretches, strength poses and co-ordinated and flowing movements. It combines Eastern practices such as Tai-Chi and Yoga, with modern disciplines like Pilates and Feldenkrais.

The music is a huge part of Balance and is absolutely amazing as it takes you through a different journey on each track.

I found Balance back in 2002 when I was going through a real difficult time. I was under a lot of emotional stress and it all got too much and I had a mini breakdown. I was severely depressed for a couple of months but hated feeling like that and wanted to recover from it as quickly as possible. I went through a really tough time, but 6 months of anti-depressants, counselling and diary writing really sorted me out.

Body Balance was my time out of my head space. My instructor at the time was also a friend.

Her name is Alana and tragically she was hit by a van about 6 months after my black period. She survived but was left with severe brain damage. Bless her soul.

I digress, Alana helped show me that through Balance I could escape what was going on in the outside world and truly focus on connecting with my body and the things about myself that I loved. Balance helped me find stillness and peace and I love it to this day.

Over the last year, since I've been teaching Balance, I've brought that same feeling to my class and I've had lots of people crying at the end or experiencing great feelings of calm and inner joy.
It truly is the most effective method I've experienced of reconnecting with your inner self and establishing true body focus and awareness.

In this world of hectic pace, fast living and always rushing to get to the next thing it's so worthwhile to take some time out to just stop.

If you don't have a Balance class near you or just don't have time for one more thing, take the philosophy and spend ten minutes a day breathing, meditating and connecting with your body and mind.

My first scan! (...oh and me, my IBS and my midwife)

Yippee, yippee! I had my first scan and it was sooooo cool!!

I did not know you could see so much! It even had a zoom in feature so I got a close up of my little tadpole, (gotta think of a new name, it's so not a tadpole anymore!)

Anyway, he/she was very active and was waving at the camera and spinning around. It was so exciting and I feel so much closer to my bump now that I've seen it is real!

I'm so excited now about moving home, it's only 4 weeks and I'll be out of this place and back where I belong. The thing I'm looking forward to most, (apart from being free from stress), is the fact that I'll be able to get my nutrition back on track.

Whilst I've been in London I've been working some serious hours. My first client is at 7am and my last is either finished at 8/9pm every day bar Friday. What this means is that when I get home I force myself to eat something but have no time or inclination to prepare food for the next day. Unfortunately we don't have a fridge at work so I end up buying and eating 3 meals plus snacks at work.

I try and stay healthy but often the cost of buying all my meals from local cafes restricts how much I eat. Therefore, I often end up going whole days with just 1 proper meal and then snacking on clementines, raw veg and hoummus. Considering my job as a personal trainer and lifestyle coach this is just not acceptable! I would have serious words with any client of mine who did that.

My IBS has really been flaring up lately, (Kathleen, I hear you on the gassy lady bit!), and I know that when I don't eat regularly my stomach will go haywire. Cramps, bloating and pain are not fun. So roll on the end of May when I'll be back to my normal healthy diet of organic meat, lots of veggies, gluten free and organic muesli and bread and no processed cr*p!

I have started today:

Brekkie: Live yoghurt, gluten free organic muesli, grapes

Lunch: Spinach, watercress and rocket salad with smoked mackerel fillet, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and coleslaw

Was all going well until I had to go to my booking appointment with my midwife and she made me down a bottle of Lucozade. Agh, the sugar! Unfortunately I couldn't argue as she needed to do some tests on my blood sugars.

I am now feeling the consequence, I'm bloated and gassy again. For pete's sake people! Please let me eat normally!