Get active the easy way

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No time to get to the gym?

End up doing the washing rather than playing tennis?

Got a to do list that takes you away from your Pilates class week after week?

We get it, life is busy but if you want to avoid bad moods, stress and burnout, you need to make time for you and your health.

Exercise is a key part to keeping a level head so we have had a look at how you can fit it into your everyday schedule.

We aren’t saying do ALL of these, but simply pick one or two and you will soon find you are feeling stronger and healthier and will have more energy than ever.

Exercise before breakfast
If you get up just twenty minutes earlier than usual, you will have time to have a drink of water, do a 10-minute intense workout and shower before anyone else has even hit the snooze button. Simply find an online workout or app that incorporates interval training, circuits or a weights session, and if there is a community you can be part of too, even better.

Walk to work
Any extra walking during the day will contribute to your daily step count. Walking burns calories, boosts your cardiovascular fitness, and helps to tone your legs too, so even if you park a mile away from work or get off the tube a couple of stops early, it all adds up and you will see a difference.

Get away from your desk
Meetings and extra projects can hamper your best efforts to exercise more but we all need a lunch break so use yours wisely. Whether you go for a run in the park, a swim in the local pool or a bike ride make sure you move away from your desk and take time out for you.

Get on your feet at work
If you use every opportunity you can to be more active during your day, you will be surprised at how much better you will feel. Stand rather than sit, go and talk to someone rather than sending an email, go up the stairs rather than taking the lift, take letters to the post box rather than using the internal mail, basically do anything you can to get your body moving.

Go home via the gym
Once you get home and change out of your day clothes, going out again might seem a chore. Take the temptation to veg out on the sofa away, and hit the gym, pool or a yoga class on your way home and you will feel so much better for doing so.

Shop until you drop
Yes, you heard us, go shopping! Even if you don’t buy anything, a walk around town (minus visiting the burger bar) can be a good workout and it could tempt you to buy some new fitness kit and do even more exercise.

Mow the grass
You can either see mowing the grass as another job on your list or as a quick workout that will help trim and tone your legs! Put on your music, get a good rhythm going and you will soon be in the swing of things.

Walk after dinner
Rather than slumping front of the TV or checking your emails, go for a walk after dinner. You can use this time to chat with the kids or your partner, or if you are walking solo, simply gather your thoughts and breath as you let go of the stress of the day. Stretch the walk by one minute every evening and you will soon be going places.

Got a tip for easy ways to exercise, let us know, we would love to hear it.

Team Pure-Beauty

The truth about mindfulness

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act, bus, choice, control, cross-legged, depression, desk, feeling, free, happy, influence, library, long-term, meditation, mindfulness, negative, peace, religion, sit, thoughts, transient, unhappiness

Mindfulness has become a bit of a buzzword over the past 18 months, but what’s it all about?

In a nutshell mindfulness a very simple form of meditation that focuses your attention on your breath as it flows in and out of your body.

The conscious focusing on each breath allows you to observe your thoughts as they pop into your mind and, little by little, let go of them.

In time your thoughts come and go as if they are not your thoughts and you come to see that thoughts and feelings (including negative ones) are transient. They come and they go, and you have a choice about whether to act on them or not.

Mindfulness is about very much about observation without criticism and allows you to be as kind and compassionate with yourself as you are with others.

When you are feeling unhappiness or stressed, mindfulness allows you to catch the negative thoughts and deal with them before they start to spiral into depression. It is a great way to give you control of your life, in a positive way. In the long-term mindfulness can impact mood as well as happiness and well-being.

Studies have shown that mindfulness can help prevent depression as well as positively influence day-to-day anxiety, stress, depression and irritability so that when they arise, they leave more easily.

Despite the benefits, some people still aren’t convinced so we thought we would set the record straight so you know exactly what it is all about:

Meditation is not a religion.

You don’t have to sit cross-legged on the floor to meditate, but you can if you like. Whether it is on a bus, in your bed, on the floor, in the library or at you desk, it is possible to meditate pretty much anywhere.

Mindfulness needs patience and persistence but doesn’t have to take up a lot of time. Just ten minutes a day can really help you reassess and actually free up time because you are letting go of negativity.

Meditation is not complicated and there is no success or failure. At times meditation might feel difficult but it is part of a learning process that will help free your mind and emotions.

Meditation is not about accepting the unacceptable but about taking a wiser, clearer view of the world. In time it will give you greater awareness, clarity and compassion.

The simplest way to start is to find a comfortable spot and sit so that you can feel (some say follow) your breath as it goes in and out. To start with, your attention will wander but when you notice this, return your attention to the breath and carry on.

They say practice makes perfect and this is certainly true of meditation. Before long you will be a natural and will reap the benefits without even realising it.

Let us know how you get on.