A couple of years ago, when I was feeling ambitious and capable, I made a plan to put all the face-to-face courses I teach onto an online teaching platform. I had all the content ready, some beautifully designed workbooks, and a mountain of ideas. But I did nothing! In fact, the paper that I wrote this plan on (which is still on the wall in front of me now) has almost completely faded from sunlight.

It’s a well-trodden path for me: all the ideas and grand plans, but never the time to execute.

Until now!

Stepping away from my normal lifestyle at the moment means I’m not out and about every day, visiting schools, running training courses and workshops, and teaching my community and private exercise classes. At home, I’ve had the time to think, plan and implement.

So, after a very long wait, here is the fruit of my labour: Clean Well-Being Online School! My school is a place to find out more about education, well-being and health.

Currently, I have three training courses uploaded:

• Solution-focused thinking skills
• Emotional literacy in the classroom
• Relationships, Sex Education and Health Education (RSHE) teaching skills

​with more to come soon:

• Building confidence and assertiveness skills
• Top-notch teaching skills for small businesses
• Your health MOT
• Bullet journaling

I’d really love to hear what you think about it, if you have any ideas or suggestions, or questions. Thanks!

Sometimes, it’s great to have a moan. I love it! It can feel liberating to let rip, to list all niggly things that exasperate and frustrate me. I feel it’s a necessary part of life. But there it ends – otherwise, it can become an indulgent habit, one where I hang out frequently as it’s an easy and comfortable spot.

How do we flip out of moaning as a habit? I heard something recently (from one of my very wise friends) that chimed with me. Instead of incessantly whinging about what’s not going right, say to yourself: “Today, I get to…” and fill in the blank. Even if your day (or week) isn’t going too well, it can sometimes help to find one or two things that help tip the balance.

My ‘I get to’ blanks today are:

1. Teach one of my online classes with clients who always give me honest and interesting feedback
2. Harvest fruit and veg from my garden and eat it
3. Award a school with a well-being prize, to honour all the great work they do to promote student welfare
4. Have lunch with my delightful sidekick, while watching reruns of ‘The Golden Girls’
5. Go for a walk in the countryside

​What’s in your list today? I’d love to hear from you! 

Do you feel like moving more?

Perhaps you’re working from home and your body is yearning for movement but you can’t get up because you’re on a Zoom call and you haven’t got properly dressed on your lower half.

Or maybe you’ve just been sitting down for too long, staring at a screen, waiting for lunchtime.

Whatever the reason, here are a few ways to try incorporating more subtle movement into your everyday life, because sometimes leaping around just isn’t feasible!

1. While sitting in your chair, interlace your hands on your low back and fold forward. Get some blood flow back to your brain and stretch out your shoulders.
2. To release your low back at your desk, sit in your chair and cross your leg over your other thigh and lean forward slightly. Stay here for 10 breaths on each side.
3. When making a cup of tea or coffee, come into a tree pose while waiting for the kettle to boil (great for balance).
4. Or, brace your hands on your desk or your knees and do some slow, Cat-Cow moves.
5. When walking to the toilet, lunge forward and swing your arms up or out, striking powerful poses (all with a smile on your face!).

​What are your favourite stealthy exercise moves? I’d love to hear them. 

This week's blog is about stretching - of the body and of the mind.

If you exercise, you might know about the need to stretch out your muscles at the end of your workout. It's to help your muscles get back to their pre-exercise length, which should mean that you won't ache afterwards (a day or two later, perhaps). Stretching your body regularly throughout the day can ease any aches and pains too, and help your body feel better. It can help you breathe more easily too.

And what about your mind? Do you stretch it regularly? I don't mean by just doing the odd tricky puzzle or trying to get more than one correct answer on University Challenge... What about by questioning yourself more? If you challenge your opinions and values, you can gain clarity on all sorts of things, and be sure that you 'own' your ideas (and not regurgitate other people's).
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How will you stretch your mind and body this week? I'd love to hear your thoughts.