Practice becoming an observer of your thoughts, feelings and emotions as they arise. Observe the mental chatter and notice how anxious thoughts and emotions feel within your body. Does your heart rate accelerate? Do you become agitated or restless? Do you head for the biscuit tin??!! Just by observing your thoughts and how they affect your behaviour, you’re becoming mindful of negative habits. You can also detach from these emotions more quickly and the emotions will pass under your observation.

Anxiety around any topic makes our minds stressed and our bodies tense. We enter into the fight or flight mode and all hell breaks loose in our nervous system. Learn to recognise when anxiety is creeping in. Sense the clenched jaw, the sweaty palms, the tight shoulders, and take a deep breath in! Inflate your tummy on that in-breath, hold the breath in for the count of three, and then exhale  in a long, exaggerated breath, letting go of all of your muscle tension. Feel it melt away as the out breath elongates, feeling yourself ease and soften into the moment. Do this a few times and feel your body and mind begin to calm and de-stress.

It sounds very cliché and smug when people say you should be grateful for all that you have. But actually, I find that if you live in a mentally of lack then you feel very unfortunate. Whereas, if you seek to find abundance in every moment, you soon start to feel very blessed. Today, I went for a walk with my children along the river. In that moment, I felt lucky to have such a beautiful walk close to my home; healthy, happy children who were fully embracing the weather, the river and the fresh air; and good health myself which enabled me to take them on a two-mile trek. It was a pure moment of ‘aaahhhh’ – peace and contentment with life. There was no global pandemic on that walk. Just happiness and joy. Seek to find those ‘aahhh’ moments whenever you can. Seek to find joy and happiness, allow yourself to experience pleasures and to rest, and the hard times will then feel easier.