Mind Body Coaching

About a month ago, just before my girls broke up from school, I was experiencing anxiety for the first time since getting pregnant with my eldest who just turned ten.

I’ve had sleep and social anxiety since then, being causational I found it easier to manage, but this felt different. I felt restless, despite practising daily belly breathing I found it hard to catch my breath and I felt frozen to take action.

I started to make mistakes, miss appointments, forget things (a lot of brain fog).

Through reflecting, journaling and talking to those around me, I realised I was doing too much!

Anxiety helped me to see that I was living out of alignment with my most important value - BALANCE.

Challenging ourselves is how we grow, overwhelming ourselves is personally very different. So I took action and as soon as I let go, the anxiety faded and I’ve been able to enjoy Summer break with my girls so much more than I would have if I had tried to hold onto everything.

When we change course it’s not failure. It’s ok to realise that something is no longer serving us and change our minds!

I am sharing my personal experience with anxiety because although we’ve come a long way where mental health is concerned, we still have a long way to go. There’s still shame attached to anxiety and we need to remind ourselves that anxiety is an emotion! We do not feel shame for feeling sad or happy so why does shame still exist around expressing feeling anxious?

I think it is because many of us are conditioned to see it as a weakness.

It is important to remember that although anxiety is an emotion, long term if ignored this can lead to burnout, which has similar signs and symptoms to a nervous breakdown. So it is important to listen to this emotion and make changes where possible or employ strategies such as belly breathing, exercise or journaling.

If you are struggling with anxiety and would like support please reach out.

Back in 2007 in Fitness First Ilford (the first gym I worked in) a gym member that was not a client asked me to do his body composition for him. Being the nice person that I am lol 😜 I agreed.

I didn’t see him for some time after this, until one day he hobbled toward me on crutches. It turned out he had been injured in a serious motorbike accident. His femur came through his quadriceps and he was airlifted to hospital 😱

He was having physiotherapy and also enlisted my help to rehabilitate his knee flexion/range of movement. I successfully rehabilitated his leg, improved his muscle symmetry and 15 years ago today, he became my husband.

These sliding door moments led to not only our marriage, but our two beautiful children, our lovely home where I am also blessed to run my business from.

I am feeling very grateful for all that we have accomplished together and very excited about what’s to come 😍 Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary to Us 🧡

Starting this Sunday 9th June 10-11am Mind Body Outdoor Fitness Class 🤗 💪🏼

It has been ten years since the last Mind Body Boot Camp and now due to popular demand we are bringing it back as Mind Body Outdoor Fitness, which we feel sounds more welcoming and inclusive.

Come and join the fun, with a mix of bodyweight exercises, battle rope and tyres this will add a whole new dimension to your fitness journey.

Rather than just using exercise as a tool to help people ‘look good’, we use exercise to help people ‘feel good’!

Cost can be one of the biggest barriers to exercise. Small group training helps to overcome this.
🔸Block of 5 x 1 hour sessions costing £40 (£8 per session)
🔸Pay as you go £10 per session
Making exercise more accessible.

Exercising as part of a group is great for connection and community, which are proven to improve our mental health.

Get ready to train your MIND and BODY. Ready to get started? Let’s do this 😁 Due to Health and Safety reasons, to attend you must sign up in advance, please DM

I have been very quiet on social media the past couple of weeks, I have had my Dad staying with me here in London from Australia and have been cherishing every moment together 🧡

To keep my social media algorithms happy I am supposed to post content regularly but “having” to post for the sake of it does not align with my value of authenticity, so I prefer to post when I feel inspired to and it feels like a priority. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I now wish I had planned some content for this time, this is a great learning and I will know better next time.

I also noticed that because I had not written a post for a while I had writer's block, like not using our muscles for some time they can reverse and being inactive can reduce our cardiovascular fitness, this is the principle of use it or lose it.

Anyway, back to the moral of my story,  flexibility and rigidity are two opposing psychological concepts that have a big impact on our mental health.

Flexibility is to be more accepting of situations, striking a balance of structure, and going with the flow which allows us to be kinder to ourselves and supports mental health.

Rigidity includes shoulds, expectations, musts,and need to’s and result in self judgements, resentments, block acceptance and can contribute to emotional distress and negatively impact mental health.

I thrive on routine and structure, but I have to WANT to do it. If I used a rigid approach I would have resented what I was doing.  By living in alignment with my strongest value of BALANCE, this has enabled me to be as present as possible with my lovely Dad, I chose to prioritise our precious time together and I am so happy that I did 🥰

I am SO happy 😃 to announce that the venue for my next MHEC-Fest is . I absolutely love its vibe and it feels like the perfect place 😍

The first MHEC-Fest took place on 20th April in over 20 locations over the UK, a FREE event hosted by MHEC coaches all with the same mission:

🧡To share how exercise has positively shaped our lives and why our mission is so important

🧡To break down the barriers to exercise, such as cost, childcare, feeling intimidated in a gym or class.

🧡The importance of exercising to “feel good” rather than to “look good”

🧡To learn and discuss the amazing by-products of exercise that improve our mental health and overall quality of life.

🧡To exercise together and feel the positive energy that comes from community and connection.
The exercise session will be 21 minutes long, body weight only and suitable for all ages (including children) and all fitness levels.

Hosting the last one was so rewarding and the feedback I received was so positive Im doing it again at Factory 15 on Saturday 22nd June from 12 to 2pm.

For health and safety reasons this event is by appointment only and places will be limited. If you are interested, I don't want you to miss out, DM me to put your name on my list.

DM or email [email protected]
Sharon | Certified Mental Health & Exercise Coach - CIMSPA
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Who is joining me? FREE Women's Mind Body Walk Barking

If you can make this Tuesday 630 to 715pm from type ME in the comments 🤗

For more information and to SIGN UP follow the link in my bio.

If you can't make it, please SHARE it with someone that you think would like to take part.

Walk with me to

🟠 Create connection

🟠 Create a community

🟠 Create safety in numbers

🟠 Improve our physical health

🟠 Improve our mental health 

Sharon | Mental Health & Exercise Coach

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PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF 🧡

In our busy lives it can be too easy to lose sight of ourselves. 

🟠 It is common to work long hours, give to your employer but not give yourself half an hour to pause and each a lunch that your body deserves.

🟠 It is common to lovingly make a child their food and as a mother eat their leftovers and not sit down and mindfully eat theirs.

🟠 It is common to be a carer for others but grab food on the way home from work and eat it on the run.

If you're reading this and any of this resonates with you, remember that you are enough and deserve the same level of respect and care that you show others.

Instead of being of service to our partners, children, employers, friends and forgetting ourselves, we owe to ourselves to be of service and show up for ourselves.

Wishing you all an awesome week 😊

DOING THINGS FOR THE GREATER GOOD 🧡

One week ago I hosted my first MHEC-Fest. It was the first time since becoming a Certified Mental Health and Exercise Coach over a year ago that I presented an MHEC event and my first time ever doing a slide show presentation and now I am hooked! 😀

I did this “for the greater good” as my husband put it in their lovely card to me, authentically and without expecting anything in return. But what I received was beyond anything I could have imagined. 

🟠 Apart from the lovely gifts that I received from my family and clients to congratulate me on my new mission, which I am so grateful for. 

🟠 I also received some wonderful feedback for the attendees, which I look forward to sharing with you all next week.

🟠 By stepping out of my comfort zone I also used some of the transferable skills that come from the MHEC by-products of exercise  such as confidence, self-worth, discipline and courage. 

🟠 In addition to this, I realised that I'm SO ready to step out of hiding in my pt studio and back into the community 🤗 Before having my daughters ten years ago I did a

🔸️Mind Body Boot Camp

🔸️Mum & Baby Boot Camp

🔸️Started a local charity  

Now that my daughters are a bit older and more independent I am on a new mission to break down the barriers to exercise in Barking, and make exercise more enjoyable and accessible. If you would like to know more please reach out.

First MHEC-Fest done ✔️ and what an experience! 😀 It didn't matter that the quantity of attendees wasn't what I had initially visualised or that it wasn't at a bigger venue. 

What mattered in the end was the quality of the experience 🧡 the connection I felt with these amazing ladies and what we shared together, which has made me want to do it all again.

I was absolutely buzzing after it and the only way to come down from the experience was to put my feet up and binge watch a place in the sun 🌞 😎 😅

MHEC-Fest took place in over 20 locations over the UK, a free event hosted by MHEC coaches all with the same mission -

🧡To share how exercise has positively shaped our lives and why our mission is so important

🧡To break down the barriers to exercise

🧡The importance of exercising to “feel good” rather than to “look good”

🧡To learn and discuss the amazing by-products of exercise that improve our mental health and overall quality of life.

I am doing another free ladies only event again on Saturday 22nd June in my gym. Midday to 2pm. Only 10 spaces are available and by appointment only. If you are interested DM me to put your name on my list.

I will be doing a bigger event open to everyone in July 🤗 watch this space 👀

Finally, thank you to those of you that took time out of your busy lives to attend and for your amazing feedback. 

To and for making this possible, and for your moral support, organisation and awesome pics/video and for getting the garden mhec-fest ready 😀 

My first MHEC-Fest

Despite all of the set backs here I am hosting my very first MHEC event.

When I made the decision to host this back in December I envisioned a big event in a local park. Then a couple of months later I found out I needed an operation and the rest was a blur. I could have cancelled today but this felt too important to do that.

Instead I decided on a Plan B, to host it in my PT Studio/garden at my home in Barking.

Sometimes we have to accept that things are not perfect.

Sometimes we have to start small.

I believe that if we have a cause that's big enough to fight for, which is to change the focus away from exercising to look good, toward exercising to feel good. And being part of an amazing team at MHEC fighting the same cause its worth showing up.

Today I am sharing my story of how I ended up in the industry, how exercise has helped to change my life for the better and the barriers to exercise.

We will also be doing a group workout and then discussing the amazing by-products we achieve from exercise like connection, body-appreciation and resilience.

If this sounds like something you want to know more about, keep an eye out for my next event which will be bigger and better 🧡

Just over three weeks ago I had an operation to remove half of my thyroid. Prior to the operation the optimist in me underestimated the impact it would have, but this enabled me to take it all a step at a time and I think this approach helped me to bounce back pretty quickly.

I was back at work ten days later and managed to do a workout two weeks later. I'm not sharing this to claim that I'm a hero, I just did what felt right for me. I also considered these decisions carefully and kept myself safe. I'm way too sensible to do anything less lol. 

I followed the post op guidance of not lifting anything heavy and opted for a lower body weight only workout and today just over three weeks later I started with some light weights. This has helped me to maintain my habit, avoid losing flexibility and has supported my mental health. It's also built on many of the by-products that I teach as a Mental Health and Exercise Coach, such as resilience, discipline, courage and adaptability.

Rather than waiting to recover fully, I decided to practise what I preach and “focus on what I can do not on what I can't” and reminded myself that “something is better than nothing”.

It turns out that it wasn't just me doing this. Swipe to see one of my online clients feedback in her weekly check-in today, which made me feel super proud. I found her feedback so powerful and inspiring and I'm confident that it will help someone else out there reading this too. 

Are you going through something at the moment that's making you have to take a step back from your usual exercise routine? If so, what are you doing to work around it? 

If you're not yet, just listen to your body and do what's right for you. You will know when the time is right.

If you know someone that could benefit from this post please share this with them.

Or if you want some guidance on what you can do to adapt your workouts and use exercise to support your mental health please reach out.

A goal gives a clear vision of where we are heading, but without having a clear understanding of the behaviours required to achieve the goal, the goal is simply a wish. 

We also need to go deeper and establish if the behaviours align with our values and if we can commit to doing them consistently enough for them to become habits. 

What tends to stand in most people's way of accomplishing goals is that they have not considered the reality of a relapse. When we accept the possibility of relapse and prepare for how we will handle this. We are much more likely to be able to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and continue our journey to accomplish our goals.

Ask yourself what will I do l, how will I respond when things don't go my way and I'm not getting the results I'm expecting from myself?

If the response is supportive, great! 

Keep your answer somewhere safe and if you find yourself in this situation you can hold yourself accountable to your answer.

If your answer is self destructive, rather than simply focusing on exercise and nutrition. I would encourage you to focus on your mindset to understand why you are so hard on yourself and what you can do differently. 

If you'd like to find our more about how I support clients with behaviour change and habit formation follow the link in my bio.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT - FREE EVENT - EXACT LOCATION TBC

Do you ever struggle with your mental health, and think about what life would look like if you had limitless energy, confidence and body image pride?

Do you ever wonder how it would feel to be fit, healthy and proud of the person staring back at you in the mirror?

Exercise is one of the best tools to transform your mental health, yet exercise classes can often be intimidating and nerve-racking.

The one place where you can improve your anxiety – the gym – can often be a source of new anxiety.

As a Certified MHEC Coach, it is my life’s mission to make exercise more manageable and accessible, and help people become more confident in their own skin.

Rather than just using exercise as a tool to help people ‘look good’, I use exercise to help people ‘feel good’!

That’s why on Saturday 20th April 2024, I’m hosting my very first Mental Health & Exercise Festival, which you can get access to, for free!

MHEC-Fest is a free fitness festival that is taking place in approximately 30 locations all over the U.K. this April (including my location, Barking) with the goal of helping more people to take up fitness in a safe and supportive environment, and to remove some of the many barriers to exercise, such as:

*Cost.

*Not feeling as if gym staff or PT’s can support you on an emotional level.

*Scary and intimidating classes.

*Exercise being used as a means to an end to look good, rather than being used as an empowering tool to feel good!

MHEC-Fest is totally free, and is open to everyone who lives in or close to Barking.

Want more info on how you can secure your free space at MHEC-Fest on Saturday 20th April as part of your exercise journey?
DM me or email [email protected]

It's here! My first online program.

The reason I created this program was initially for my one to one and online clients to tackle disempowering language like this. But after receiving their feedback that they wished that they had completed this at the beginning of their wellness journey, I decided that I wanted to support more women and share it with you.

This is because, like many of you, in the past they focused on the plan to achieve their goals, most typically in the wellness industry a diet or a gym. But these are just tools, without changing your self beliefs/how you see yourself, consistency with goals is less likely.

This is what my program focuses on. It encourages you to observe and raise your awareness of your self beliefs, (self talk/ how you speak about yourself) which directly influences your behaviours/habits.

Available NOW through the link on my profile.

DM
Sharon | Mental Health & Exercise Coach
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