How was your January? Mine was... 💭 Physically slow Mentally reflective Socially subdued Add into the mix an uneasy state of inertia from the perpetual age of crisis we're living through and that's more than enough to knock normal hormonal control off-balance. And the acronym above is an innocent coincidence, honest! Whilst it's felt like the most January of Januarys there's ever been, it's somehow enabled me to achieve three things that, due to a number of excuses before (distractions, ill-discipline, de-prioritisation) didn't seem all that possible to achieve.Especially all at once.They were...Posted personal daily updates on my private feedUsed active breathing to manage energy levelsFreed myself from a stubborn sugar addictionHere's how I managed it.1. Daily UpdatesI've been using the new Mindwave app (mobile and desktop) for the past few months and have really enjoyed having my own personal social-media-like feed to post private thoughts, pictures, videos and voice notes, whilst attaching an emotion to every update.Each week, you can then see a visual review of the calmness or storminess of your 'Mindwave' and have the ability to scroll back through and reflect on what happened and how you felt at the time.If it would be helpful, I'll setup a Social Night Slides feed that's private for subscribers only to follow along and see the kind of updates that are posted, giving you ideas on how to articulate your own Mindwaves. You'll be able to contribute too if you wish!Made it through without saying the word journalling 😅2. Active Breathing Next up, if you remember back to the brain hack for controlling stimulation, active breathing bridges the mind-body connection to override over/under stimulation ergo controlling energy states. Whilst the concept of Coffee, Water and Whisky breathing has helped simplify the practice, it's been the Breathwrk app that's helped take the concept into an effective and enjoyable daily practice now almost done on auto-pilot.It's the engaging visual follow-alongs that ensures you're present in the practice and have different exercises for whatever energy state you need controlling like calming, energising, focusing, sleeping etc.+ the notification sound of a breath to remind you to breathe = genius!3. Breaking AddictionConsistent energy for days now. According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine:Sugar addiction seems to be the dependence on natural opioids that get released upon sugar intake. In animals and humans, the evidence in the literature shows substantial parallels and overlap between drugs of abuse and sugar, from the standpoint of brain neurochemistry as well as behaviour.Now I'm sure I've got the genetic predisposition for a sweet tooth, so the main contributors that helped break the physical craving from blood sugar spikes and behavioural aspects were:Setting the challenge and tracking it like a gameMaking sure protein was eaten in every meal/snack Trying out new guilt-free sugar-free sweet treats Most importantly, my mindset wasn't that of total abstinence so it didn't feel like cold-turkey or tightly restrictive, just manageable.Calm Subscriber ReviewFinally, just before Christmas, I announced a little festive giveaway of annual premium subscriptions to Calm for 10 subscribers who felt like they would benefit from using the #1 rated mindfulness app in the world.A month has gone by since then and those subscribers have been part of the Night Slides team on Calm with encouragement to use:Hundreds of hours of guided meditation exercisesAn entire library of over 100 imaginative Sleep Stories Access to all the Calm Body movement programsHere's what a few of them had to say about their experiences:“Just this morning, knowing that sleep might be a challenge tonight ahead of starting a new job tomorrow, I checked the Calm app to see a new Sleep Story (Red Rock Country narrated by Timothy Alexander-White) and I instantly felt more relaxed about this evening's sleep routine. It’s easy for Calm to be a part of my day for waking, meditation and a restful nights sleep.” – Adam"I’ve struggled with sleep for most of my life but it was something that was really magnified after a traumatic event 3 years ago. I now listen to Calm every night and most nights I fall asleep straight away, this is a massive difference from before taking anywhere from 2–5 hours to fall asleep and has made a massive difference to my life." – Maria"Loving Calm! So nice to take that bit of time everyday to reflect on your thoughts and how you're feeling. Makes you put things into perspective! Have given the 30 mediation challenge a go and it's taught me a lot about the general practice overall and now mediate more which has helped me so much mentally!" – AliceWe love to hear it!To a fulfilling February.Charlie
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SUNDAY NIGHT SLIDES
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How was your January? Mine was... 💭 Physically slow Mentally reflective Socially subdued Add into the mix an uneasy state of inertia from the perpetual age of crisis we're living through and that's more than enough to knock normal hormonal control off-balance. And the acronym above is an innocent coincidence, honest! Whilst it's felt like the most January of Januarys there's ever been, it's somehow enabled me to achieve three things that, due to a number of excuses before (distractions, ill-discipline, de-prioritisation) didn't seem all that possible to achieve.Especially all at once.They were...Posted personal daily updates on my private feedUsed active breathing to manage energy levelsFreed myself from a stubborn sugar addictionHere's how I managed it.1. Daily UpdatesI've been using the new Mindwave app (mobile and desktop) for the past few months and have really enjoyed having my own personal social-media-like feed to post private thoughts, pictures, videos and voice notes, whilst attaching an emotion to every update.Each week, you can then see a visual review of the calmness or storminess of your 'Mindwave' and have the ability to scroll back through and reflect on what happened and how you felt at the time.If it would be helpful, I'll setup a Social Night Slides feed that's private for subscribers only to follow along and see the kind of updates that are posted, giving you ideas on how to articulate your own Mindwaves. You'll be able to contribute too if you wish!Made it through without saying the word journalling 😅2. Active Breathing Next up, if you remember back to the brain hack for controlling stimulation, active breathing bridges the mind-body connection to override over/under stimulation ergo controlling energy states. Whilst the concept of Coffee, Water and Whisky breathing has helped simplify the practice, it's been the Breathwrk app that's helped take the concept into an effective and enjoyable daily practice now almost done on auto-pilot.It's the engaging visual follow-alongs that ensures you're present in the practice and have different exercises for whatever energy state you need controlling like calming, energising, focusing, sleeping etc.+ the notification sound of a breath to remind you to breathe = genius!3. Breaking AddictionConsistent energy for days now. According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine:Sugar addiction seems to be the dependence on natural opioids that get released upon sugar intake. In animals and humans, the evidence in the literature shows substantial parallels and overlap between drugs of abuse and sugar, from the standpoint of brain neurochemistry as well as behaviour.Now I'm sure I've got the genetic predisposition for a sweet tooth, so the main contributors that helped break the physical craving from blood sugar spikes and behavioural aspects were:Setting the challenge and tracking it like a gameMaking sure protein was eaten in every meal/snack Trying out new guilt-free sugar-free sweet treats Most importantly, my mindset wasn't that of total abstinence so it didn't feel like cold-turkey or tightly restrictive, just manageable.Calm Subscriber ReviewFinally, just before Christmas, I announced a little festive giveaway of annual premium subscriptions to Calm for 10 subscribers who felt like they would benefit from using the #1 rated mindfulness app in the world.A month has gone by since then and those subscribers have been part of the Night Slides team on Calm with encouragement to use:Hundreds of hours of guided meditation exercisesAn entire library of over 100 imaginative Sleep Stories Access to all the Calm Body movement programsHere's what a few of them had to say about their experiences:“Just this morning, knowing that sleep might be a challenge tonight ahead of starting a new job tomorrow, I checked the Calm app to see a new Sleep Story (Red Rock Country narrated by Timothy Alexander-White) and I instantly felt more relaxed about this evening's sleep routine. It’s easy for Calm to be a part of my day for waking, meditation and a restful nights sleep.” – Adam"I’ve struggled with sleep for most of my life but it was something that was really magnified after a traumatic event 3 years ago. I now listen to Calm every night and most nights I fall asleep straight away, this is a massive difference from before taking anywhere from 2–5 hours to fall asleep and has made a massive difference to my life." – Maria"Loving Calm! So nice to take that bit of time everyday to reflect on your thoughts and how you're feeling. Makes you put things into perspective! Have given the 30 mediation challenge a go and it's taught me a lot about the general practice overall and now mediate more which has helped me so much mentally!" – AliceWe love to hear it!To a fulfilling February.Charlie