Stop, reflect and work on your mindset
So sometimes when I leave town and get away for the weekend, its hard to leave behind my bootcamp training and in general my own fitness training. I love training!
The beauty of getting some down time is the ability to reflect and just be present in nature and in your surrounds.
This weekend we decided to take a road trip with the aim of getting some family time. We’re staying in a beautiful eco lodge up in the mountains overseeing North Hunter Valley.
On a short walk, overlooking the valley and enjoying its beauty, I started reflecting on mindset and fitness.
It potentially takes hundreds of years for nature to self cultivate and create the beauty that we see. This got me thinking about how we can better learn to self nurture ourselves in order to create our most beautiful and best selves.
Ask yourself this:
Do you take time to develop yourself?
Are you reflecting every day?
Do you take time out for yourself?
Are you achieving what you want to achieve in life?
If you have answered no to one or more of these questions, then its time to stop, reflect and work on your mindset.
In addition to this, have you tried:
- A quick fix approach to health, wellness, fitness and nutrition?
- Diets that are just that – quick fixes with no long term results?
- Fitness programs that are just plain boring and don’t fit in with your lifestyle?
- Shakes, detox diets, juice cleanses?
- Paying for any of the above to not get the results that you want?
Stop. Please stop. Stop abusing your body and mind. It does not have to be that hard. Just have a think about whether you have taken the time to work on your mindset to get to your fitness results.
We tend to be so critical, and so self judgemental, that we forget to nurture ourselves and treat ourselves and our bodies well.
So how do I do this?
Self care and love. Self nurture. I focus on my purpose.
I take a no BS approach to life. I am true to myself. I am true to my goals. This helps me shift my focus to what I really want. Do this and your fitness, nutrition and wellness goals become more achievable.
Just like the beauty in nature that we see around us, building and developing our best selves, including the body image we aspire to and the lifestyle we aspire to, takes time, patience and self nurturing.
A few tips on how I self nurture:
1. I take time out to get away quite a few times a year, to see nature, to be within beautiful peaceful environments. During this time, I don’t necessarily give up my fitness goals when I am away. I choose to cook whilst away to eat healthily.
I also choose to keep up my fitness by self motivating and doing small fitness sessions, even if they are short or longer walks and hikes.
This is a great way to self reflect, enjoy serenity and the simple things like birds chirping, the sun shining and wild animals living their lives, whilst still keeping up with my fitness regime.
2. Being grateful… each day I think about at least one thing that I am grateful for. And secondly, I send a text to my husband to let him know why I am grateful to him.
3. I recognise my emotions and allow myself to feel what I feel. Although these emotions may not always be rational, through acknowledgement I can accept them, be present in the moment and then move on.
4. Momentarily I just stop and breathe and take it what I see. I use my doTERRA essential oils to enjoy beautiful smells that uplift me. My favourites are Whisper, Motivation, Lavender Peace and Balance.
5. I am my worst critic. I have recently stopped focusing on what I am not doing well. I do not compare myself. I do not judge myself. I focus on what I do well. I focus on what kind of person I want to be.
Love yourself to build your fitness mindset
Ultimately, what I am getting to, is that when we focus internally, when we focus on loving ourselves and when we take time to make “me time”, we are focusing on ourselves as a whole.
Our fitness goals, nutrition goals and wellness goals then become much more realistic, seamless and achievable.
Through these small practices of self mindfulness, the focus switches to self love, self compassion, self worth and self nurturing.
As my wellness coach reminds me – sometimes you have to work on your mindset to achieve your fitness goals.
