It's really important to like you.

Hey folks,

I want to start off by saying a huge thank you to all of you who have joined the newsletter, just over 1500 of you in a week. I love that so many of you are interested in looking at your mental and physical health in an inquisitive way.

As promised, I am attaching the link to download your own emotions journal prompts (which you can do here )

I love this tool because it can really help when you're trying to change the way you react to your own emotions, life, disappointments, being triggered; or if you're like me, maybe even joy!

When you learn to understand what certain feelings and emotions feel like within the body, it's much easier to observe the feeling and give yourself space; as well as the opportunity to feel safe and calm in the moment. This is where I will do my best to find space to work in some deep breathing exercises to divert my focus to my breathing, bringing my body out of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and back into the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) - the one that slows your heart rate and makes you feel calm.

We each have different responses and associations to certain feelings, as much as we have differing situations or stimuli that trigger us to feel stressed, happy, angry, overwhelmed.

Our emotions are powerful signals that allow us to shift course if something doesn't feel right, yet, we've learned to fear our so-called negative emotions like anger, fear and depression, as something to shoo away as quickly as possible; instead of learning to sit with the emotions, recognise them as safe and ask ourselves what they are trying to tell us.

The better you know your own pattern of emotional responses and associated triggers, the easier it is to notice the knee-jerk habits you've employed to soothe yourself.

Around 95% of our behaviours are in response to subconscious thought processes, many of which were formed in our childhood. You can easily be in your mid-40s and running off beliefs and behaviours you had rooted in between 3-12.

If there are any behaviours or beliefs that you know are causing you pain but you don't understand why you can't stop repeating the pattern, even if you change the method you use to try and solve the pattern - working to bring some of your subconscious to conscious level is going to be something you'll want to think about doing.

Why is this important to trauma-informed wellbeing and fitness?

Many of the frustrated people and clients I speak with have had many rounds of diets of differing types and workout plans. Each 'failure' taps in more feelings of disappointment, shame, guilt and a negative association to food and exercise. Not only this, but people often begin to challenge their own sense of worth; their perceived willpower; and a hold a deeply painful belief that they "always screw things up". Drilled in harder by trainers, coaches or schools of thought that align with the idea that the ability to follow a plan is something to be revered as 'discipline'.

Begin to notice how different situations make you feel, how they feel in the body and bring the line of thought that accompanies those feelings into question.

Use a journal to hash it out and see if you can see any patterns there that you'd like to live out differently.

If you find this exercise triggering in itself, it may be a good idea to go down the route of counselling or therapy to help you work through this. Or by working it through with a coach.

I mentioned that I will be putting together a trauma-informed wellbeing seminar to allow you to ask yourself the questions that will help you to make informed decisions around fitness and nutrition; so you can choose the plans, methods and coaches that work for you, without feeling 'duped'. It's not ready yet, but if you'd like to be kept in the loop, you can do so here . I do, however, already have a course available that you can use to better understand your sleep and how you can design your nutrition and fitness to support a good nights sleep.

I hope you have a wonderful week and find some space to give yourself the love and compassion you give to others.

Take Care,

Amanda Jayne O'Hare