Each year, my fabulous colleague Katie (from Tilehurst Runs Together) and I run a charity event called the Fitness Fling. We both love what we do and want to raise money at the same time, and this year we’re supporting Sport Relief. Over four hours, we teach eight different exercise classes and invite people to come along to as many sessions as they like – to have a ‘fling’ with fitness.

This year’s event is on Saturday 14th March, 9am to 1pm, at Caversham Heath Golf Course, Mapledurham, Reading RG4 7UT (free parking on site). We ask for a minimum donation of £10 to attend for as long as you like. No need to book – just turn up and join in!

If you can’t make it, you can still support us by clicking on this link and giving money that way: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fitness-fling.
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Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you!

I’ve written many times about being busy and how it can take hold of your life, your thoughts and actions. I’ve been in the grip of ‘busy-ness’ so many times, I’ve lost track. And the conclusion I have come to? I have to choose to be less busy. I have to get off the busy-treadmill, the busy-hamster wheel, and decide it’s not for me. The world still turns regardless of how I operate.

Brené Brown sums it up beautifully:
“’Crazy-busy’ is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us.”
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It might not be easy, but I’m trying to stay alongside my life, rather than out in front, so I can catch up with myself. And this means I have to plan well and let some ‘vital’ things pass me by…

At this time of year, lots of people take up or resume exercise – whether that’s the Couch to 5K, joining a gym, or just trying to move around more. To help keep everyone motivated, here are some interesting facts about the benefits of exercise that aren’t only to do with the usual stuff (with thanks to Diana, one of my clients, for sending the article from The Times to me).

• Taking daily moderate exercise (like brisk walking) for 30 minutes five days per week is associated with improved brain structure and function (University of Maryland, 2014).
• Regular resistance exercise with light weights — enough to make you sweat — can increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, crucial for growing new brain cells (Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, 2017).
• Walking briskly, running or cycling — cardiorespiratory exercise that makes you breathless — is linked with sustained cognitive power in older age (Norwegian University of Science and Technology cardiac exercise research group).
• Circuit training for more than three months boosts cognitive ability and blood flow in the brain (University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, 2013).
• One or two hatha yoga sessions per week over six months offers a range of benefits to areas of the brain that are associated with clear thinking, memory and emotional self-control, according to an analysis of 11 studies conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois.

Keep going! Exercise is beneficial in so many ways.

Whilst I love this time of year, I realise that not many other people do. The gloom, the dreariness, the aftermath of festivities, the general overwhelm…

So, for this week’s blog, how about finding pleasure in the small things? If that feels like a bit of a struggle, here are some starting ideas:

• Staring at the sky
• Seeing new shoots growing
• Walking in wild weather
• Starting a brand-new book
• Eating a delicious meal

​What are your small things? I’d love to hear!