It certainly sounded like a good idea. “Let’s go grab some lunch from the street market guys.”
Half an hour later, we were walking back to the office with our various chosen dishes. For me, it was a spicy chicken tikka wrap. It certainly looked good. It even tasted good.
But you see, this morning I woke with a dry mouth like you wouldn’t believe and a banging headache. Before you ask, I didn’t drink alcohol yesterday. No, you see this is about nutrition.
Where it all began
I’m massively proud of my wife Trish, as you may know. I completed a thirty day blogging challenge recently. That was totally inspired by watching her completing her 10,000 steps per day with the Fitbit.
For the past couple of years, we have been on a healthy-eating journey. First came the January detox. Now that’s just a given. This year’s thing has been the ‘no sugar’ diet. Although I don’t know all the details, I think it’s influenced by the Paleo diet.
Either way, all this healthy eating and wellness side of things is Trish’s ‘thing’. She loves it. She firmly believes in eating healthily as part of a balanced lifestyle.
You may already know, but together with her business partner Caroline, Trish runs a successful Pilates studio in Guildford, Surrey here in the UK. Today, 1st October 2015 marks a special day for The Pilates Foundry (TPF). You see, the team are about to release a fresh new site and formally launch the Wellness arm of the business.
Working the room
Now a couple of weeks back, TPF ran a ‘Wellness Open Day’ and invited all their various therapists along. Each person gave 10-15 minute taster sessions of their treatment and a couple gave talks to the audience. It was a wonderful day, well received by everyone.
I went along. Kinda’ had to really 🙂 But you know, I loved it and I made sure I got my fair share of taster sessions.
Nutritional Therapy – with Charlotte
First up was Charlotte. She’s a fabulous nutritional therapist. Charlotte put Trish and Caroline through her 6 week programme a couple of months back, and that’s where the no-sugar thing came from.
Boy have I seen a difference in my energy levels as a result. What do I mean? Well, for a start, we now eat a cooked breakfast (eggs + something) every single morning. That sees us both through to lunch without the need for a muffin, fruit or indeed any kind of snack. Then after a decent lunch I can push through to dinner with just a handful of mixed nuts or similar.
Whenever I lapse, (and it does happen) and allow myself some cake or chocolate, I feel like a quivering wreck by the time I come to leave the office around 6pm.
As Charlotte explains, the peaks and troughs of sugar levels is to blame. So here’s the thing. Cut down the sugar.[Tweet “Cut down the sugar. Improve your energy levels. Fact.”] The simple rule is: check the back of the food packet for the ‘of which sugars’ per 100g number. 5g per 100g or less is what you want – that is low sugar. That is what makes the difference – take it from me!
Indian Head Massage – with Phyllida
Next I sat down on the comfy cushioned chair and had my head and shoulders massaged for 15 minutes. I’ve never had an Indian head massage before. Not quite sure what I was expecting.
Indeed, I don’t remember too much about it. You see, it was really very relaxing.
Solution Focussed Hypnotherapy – with Holly
Holly gave a stirring presentation about the brain and how powerful it can be. She explained how solution focussed hypnotherapy utilises trance to achieve a state of ‘focused attention’ making your mind more responsive to beneficial suggestions. As you may know, everything boils down to choices. You choose to be stressed. It’s a state of mind.[Tweet “Hypnotherapy: making your mind more responsive to beneficial suggestions.”]
After explaining what she does and how she can help individuals, Holly had us all laying down on the floor for a relaxation exercise. I was perhaps not the only one to fall asleep. (I woke myself, snoring – how embarrassing!)
From what I understand there was a great response to Holly’s talk. As a public speaker myself, I was stunned to learn afterwards that this was the first time she had given the talk to a group of people. Go Holly.
Reflexology – with Justine
Now I’ve experience reflexology before. Indeed my Mum is a huge fan. She used to see a Reflexologist regularly and it worked wonders for her.
I know not everyone is into the idea of having someone play around with your feet, especially if you are ticklish. However, I have to say, I do and did find the taster session really lovely. It was perhaps topped off by the fact the team brought in the most amazing chair for us to relax in. It swivelled back and forth so you could lay back or sit upright. Very neat.
Anyway, the reflexology was a real treat.
Myofascial Release – with Danny
Finally, I headed over to Danny and his massage chair to get him to release some of the locked up tension through my back and shoulders.
The Myofascial release technique is amazing. If you’ve not heard of it before, it is a soft tissue therapy for the treatment of skeletal muscle immobility and pain. In short the aim is to relax contracted muscles, improve blood and lymphatic circulation, and stimulate the stretch reflex in muscles.
It’s fascinating to hear Danny speak so passionately about what he does and in particular, to learn more about the way the human body works.
If you are interested and want to know more about the treatments on offer at The Pilates Foundry in Guildford, I encourage you to visit their (brand spanking new) website.
You gotta’ take care of yourself
There’s no two ways about it. Your health matters. Your diet matters. It’s not just about needing to do exercise and eat healthy though. You need to take care of yourself and pamper yourself sometimes. You get one shot at life. That’s it!
[Tweet “The Pilates Foundry helps you take better care of yourself.”]Even if it’s once a month or every six weeks, I really do believe a little holistic or alternative therapy of one form or another can go a long way to helping you unlock your true potential. If you improve yourself, you can sure as heck improve your business. Take care of you!
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