That Dr Michael Mosley bloke is either hacking into my laptop and reading my notes or is just damn good at reading my mind. I have been listening to his rather marvellous podcast – ‘Just One Thing’ and he has covered some really fascinating topics of how – if you could only do one thing a day, and time is tight– you can improve mind, body and soul. Tips like taking a daily cold shower to boost your immunity; submerging in a hot bath before bedtime to help you sleep or incorporating fermented foods into your diet to improve not only gut, but your brain power – it really is a little gem of a show and worth the 15 minutes listen each episode is. I was guided towards the ‘Just One Thing’ podcast by two separate friends on separate occasions. One had read my blog on ‘Sit Spots’ and how nature bathing has been shown to reduce stress and thought I should listen to his podcast, ‘Green Spaces’ which covers a very similar theme; the other, knowing my tendency to let my anxious brain overtake me somewhat - highlighted the episode ‘Take A Breath’ as controlled breathing has been shown to reduce long term anxious thoughts and can also have an instant impact on calming the manic mind. And mine has been somewhat manic recently.
This week I was going to write about ‘Gratitude’ – I have just returned from some time off – a week in sunny Devon and was able to finally grab some ‘me’ time and reflect on life a little bit, but damn me, I see Dr Mosely has beaten me to it with his latest episode on ‘Counting Your Blessings’. I do wish he would have checked with me first before recording so we didn’t clash again, but I am going to run with my take on it anyway. Dr Mosley suggests we spend a few minutes each day writing down a couple of things we can be grateful for, whether that is something we have done, or something someone else has done for us, or simply being grateful we have woken up to a sunny day. These daily affirmations have been shown to reduce stress levels and increase levels of serotonin – that quirky little hormone that is our natural ‘feel good’ drug. I’m so glad Dr M agrees with me and was able to outline the benefits of gratitude in an eloquent and entertaining way – I couldn’t have written it better myself. Seriously though, go check the podcast out.
For someone who has always worked from home, and of course am very grateful to be able to - I really do need to be physically away from my house to appreciate having time off. Time taken off at home isn’t a break. Not only is it hard to ignore my winking laptop that doesn’t differentiate between workdays, birthdays or Bank Holidays – but hanging around the house on holiday means the endless drudge of washing, wiping and weeding doesn’t go away either. Knowing this is the case, we booked our Staycation months back, keeping our fingers crossed Covid wouldn’t cock up yet more plans - and finally we were lucky enough to go away last week over the school half term. Off we schlepped from one side of this fine country to the other and soon I was as happy as a pig snuffling around in its own business as I sunk deep into a holiday hot tub, glass of cider in one hand and a headful of thoughts that needed taming in the other.
Gambling with the weather as you do when holidaying in the UK, we landed on black, as it was indeed sunny. In fact, it was hot. With the sky a cornflower blue, the sea a deep turquoise and the green rolling hills dotted with dairy cattle that surrounded our property, we were forgiven to think we were in the middle of the Azores not on the edge of Exmoor. Over the week, submerged into various bodies of water – whether it was soaking in the bath, relaxing in the hot tub or bobbing about in the bitingly cold sea – it took me a while, but I was slowly able to unwind. And think. And reflect. Letting the waves gently rock me, floating on my back in my happy place, I was able to take a step back from the daily grind and finally ponder on the past 18 months and all that has entailed. Physically taking myself away from the house – where we have spent many, many months tuned to the woes of Covid, wrapped up in our own day to day life, the restrictions, mask wearing, hand sanitiser, daily death tolls and news of a plummeting economy - meant I had the space and distance to breathe. And that was how I came to think about gratitude. With the whole world still mad, that little corner of heaven just made me appreciate what I have and be thankful for it. I looked at the boys and my husband and the dog, each busy with their own downtimes, and was instantly grateful for the simplicity of it. Of them. Two boys and their dog. Love and friendship. Sunshine and laughter. As cheesy as it sounds – the more you look at what you have got and be thankful for, the richer you become.
Taking stock of what I have got and being grateful for it has really helped me focus on what is important. For someone who suffers with anxiety, who catastrophises events and has a tendency to jump to worst-case scenarios 98% of the time, I have found it useful to shift my attention inwards and be grateful for what I have got, or what someone has done for me – rather than try to fill an empty void with what I think will satisfy me. Like mindful thinking – finding pleasure in the small things, the things I take for granted, has a greater benefit. If I can feel grateful because I live in a country free of war, have food in my belly and have the freedom to sit in the sunshine without fear– surely this is worth being thankful for? This isn’t an exercise of brushing over the bad and sad things – these can be noted and acted on accordingly. It is more an exercise in acknowledging and emphasising the positive points, which in turn will strengthen us and enable us to deal with tougher times that life will inevitably throw at us once in a while.
I for one, am grateful to my friends who encouraged me to discover Dr Michael Mosley’s wonderful podcast. And I am also grateful to all of you who read this blog, week in, week out, and make it this far down the page. Thank you.
© The Real Tilly Fairfax
