Ok, so I don’t actually want my beating heart to stop. But maybe just settle down with the palpitations for a while.

I’ve always been fit and healthy.

Participating in sports, a keen martial artist and an avid gym goer with a personal trainer.

I never thought there would be a day I wouldn’t be able to work out.

Even as I aged because I just thought I would keep going. I can’t imagine a time when my heart would stop beating.

So what changed?

Suddenly, I was in my mid 40’s!

My body ached every day, I was finding it difficult to work out the way I used to because I didn’t have the energy I used to have.

 And then things got worse when I started getting very strong palpitations.

They were so powerful, I felt like my heart was beating so hard, it would leap out of my mouth.

On my worst days, I was dizzy and often afraid to stand up in case I passed out, or had a heart attack.

Genuinely it felt like this was it, I was going to die from a heart attack. My heart would finally stop beating.

The pain in my chest was often unbearable. I stopped exercising and I was worried about doing normal, every day things like walking the dogs and going shopping.

Some days were better than others, sometimes the palpitations were not that strong, but other days they were incapacitating.

What did I discover?

It was a relief to learn that this is not uncommon during menopause. On the whole, palpitations are usually harmless. I had my blood pressure checked and that was fine. My heart was beating strong but steady.

My doctor gave me some words of advice to reduce the amount of tea I was drinking! (Yes, I drink a lot of tea!) because caffeine can exacerbate the palpitations.

I’d heard the usual things about menopause symptoms….hot flushes, sleepless nights, frequently getting up during the night for the toilet, emotional outbursts……

But I hadn’t heard about these palpitations.

What I am aware of is the drop in oestrogen levels during this time of life means there can be increase in cholesterol levels.

This can increase your risk of developing heart disease. Palpitations can be a precursor to this, but often it is not. You should not ignore strong heart beats and should get these checked out by a doctor if you are concerned.

However, if these palpitations happen when you see that person you fancy walking passed, sitting in the café at work, or on the tv in your favourite programme, chances are they are pretty safe palpitations! Be still my beating heart!

Sexual arousal doesn’t stop just because your hormones haven’t got a clue what they are doing from one moment to the next!

This is why looking after your health, particularly as you age is important. For your heart I mean!

Here’s how!

Eating a healthy diet, keeping active and reducing your exposure to stress can all have a positive impact on your heart and your general wellbeing.

I’ve always been pretty good at leading a healthy lifestyle, so changing some of my habits hasn’t been that difficult. The hardest bit has been sticking to them, particularly on days when I don’t feel quite so good. It’s hard when you haven’t got someone keeping you accountable.

Using breathing techniques, listening to meditations and staying away from as much negativity as possible, helps reduce my stress levels. Also avoiding the news, negative people and situations where helps too.

I eat healthy food, most of which is organic and I avoid faddy diets.

It doesn’t mean I don’t eat junk food or snacks, I just make a point of not eating them all the time.

I only work out if I feel up to it and only for as long as is comfortable. I vary my workouts, sometimes it’s yoga, sometimes it’s dancing like no-one is watching. Some days I just rest and relax, as resting is also important.

Lessons I’ve learnt and how I can help you!

What this has taught me is, I am not invincible. (What? You’re kidding, right?) No, apparently I am not.

I’ve learnt that I need to adapt my habits to accommodate my changing body.

I’m still continue to learn new ways to improve my wellbeing.

I am passionate about aging healthily and naturally. I can help you with this, because I am doing this every day.

Changing your habits can be challenging, but by working together, I can help you look after your heart.

For more information on how to look after your heart, check out The British Heart Foundation at https://bhf.org.uk

Karen Raistrick has been in the business of wellbeing for over 7 years. She has a lot of experience in managing stress, adapting to change and dealing with life’s challenges. Mainly done with a smile on her face, usually positive, often grumpy if she hasn’t had a cup of tea!

To book your consultation and to learn more about The Phoenix Method, check out the website at https://www.the-phoenix-method.com/

Join my group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/holisticwellbeingforwomenover40/

 Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the_phoenix_method_limited/

For more information on how to look after your heart, check out The British Heart Foundation at https://www.bhf.org.uk/

The post Be still my beating heart appeared first on The Phoenix Method.

So if you have reached this part, hopefully you have read part one about my experience with cold water therapy.

If you recall I signed up to a Wim Hof experience day and I mentioned I was going to be getting into an Ice Bath!

Now, before I mention that bit, I must tell you a little about the day. I don’t want to give too much away as you might want to experience the day yourselves and I don’t want to spoil it.

The Location and instructors.

I arrived at the venue, Stroud Brewery, in Stroud, Gloucestershire and saw several others with their yoga mats which were asked to bring with us.  This cold water therapy seemed popular.

We were asked to place our mats on the floor facing a particular direction. We were confused which was the front of the hall!

Our instructors for the day were Jamie, Olivia and Stacie.

Jamie introduced himself and the team. Olivia wasn’t joining in the day as such as she was heavily pregnant and baby was due in about two weeks!

Jamie told his story of how he overcame some physical challenges in his life and how the Wim Hof Method helped. It is his story to tell so I won’t tell it here, but it is very interesting.

Learning how to breathe

We started doing breathing exercises to prepare us for our cold water therapy experience. Having done yoga before, I was familiar with diaphragmatic breathing, but I wasn’t quite used to this pace. It was quicker than I was used to but also manageable.

I felt tingly and a little light headed following the exercises.

My face felt like I’d been to the dentist, you know, that numb feeling when you’ve been given an anaesthetic? I also felt my fingers tingling, an incredible sense of calmness I had not felt before which is really difficult to put into words, and a clearness of thought, something I haven’t felt for a long time due to menopause brain fog.

We did a few rounds of the breathing technique, learning how our bodies and minds respond to the changes taking place whilst we were doing so. There was no right or wrong way to breath in and out. It didn’t matter whether you breathed through your nose or your mouth, as long as you remembered to breathe! It is surprising how much oxygen you can hold in your lungs and how long you can hold your breath for without feeling like you are fighting for your life.

Jamie was so knowledgeable, I could have listened to him talking about how our bodies work all day. I’m fascinated by anatomy and what our bodies are capable of, so I found his explanations really interesting. I wished he had diagrams, charts and pictures to explain what was happening (I’m a visual learner) but still, it was all very fascinating.

After the breathing exercises we did some gentle yoga with Stacie before lunch, just enough to relax us before the ice bath!

We all helped to fill the aluminium bath with several bags of ice! What in the world were we all letting ourselves in for?

What happened next?

After lunch we all lined up to take turns getting into the ice bath. It was a warm sunny afternoon in the ‘Shire so you would think it wouldn’t be that cold in the bath, wouldn’t you? But it was! The warm weather somehow made the bath feel colder. I will test this again as the days get colder. (Oh yes, I intend to get my own ice bath!)

We all cheered and supported each other getting in the bath. The maximum amount of time we were staying in was two minutes. It doesn’t seem a long time when you say it, but it is quite a long time when you are in it.

Jamie remained by the bath with the timer, coaching us through with our breathing to help us remain calm throughout. That initial shock when you get in and sit down, does temporarily take your breath away. Olivia did a great job of taking everyone’s photos and videos to help us remember our great achievement.

The after care bit

After sitting in the ice bath, we needed to warm ourselves back up again. We all adopted Wim Hof’s sitting stance (martial artists will know what I mean by this stance) and had to rotate through our core and high five the air side to side. This was to warm up the muscles and to get the blood pumping again to warm up. Jamie explained why we do this rather than rush in to the warm room and get dressed. This was followed by a cup of green tea and some chocolates!

It was a great day and I highly recommend if you are interested in cold water therapy and it’s benefits, attend one of the Wim Hof Method workshop days.

I’ve added a link to the one I attended at the bottom of the blog.

How I felt afterwards and what I did next.

So, how has this affected me?

Following the experience day, when I got home, I felt very relaxed. In the evening I developed restless legs. If you have never had that, it’s an uncomfortable feeling in your legs that is only eased by moving them. So sitting still is virtually impossible. This went on for a few hours until I was finally ready to go to bed.

I slept for an incredible 10 hours. I never sleep that long. And it wasn’t even broken sleep, it was 10 hours of solid sleep!

I felt absolutely amazing the following day.

Since then, I have continued with my daily cold showers, I don’t seem to get as anxious and stressed as much as before, and I don’t feel the cold in the same way as before either.

Whilst I do continue to have quite a hot body (temperature wise not Hollywood standard wise!), I don’t seem to have as many hot flushes during the day. There are still few nights of hot and erratic sleep, but not every night like it was before I started my relationship with the cold.

I am thinking more clearly and feel able to complete more tasks that I put off doing before because they seemed hard to do.

My confidence has grown and my mental wellbeing has significantly improved as a result of introducing cold into my life.

It’s hard to put into words how I have changed, I just feel the changes happening.

In conclusion, cold water therapy has a variety of benefits. It can improve your sleep, reduce your stress levels, improve your circulation, boost your immunity and increase your concentration and confidence.

It can also be a great way to get you out of your comfort zone and discover more about yourself.

To learn more about how to make change a positive force in your life, book your 30 minute discovery call with The Phoenix Method and start being comfortable with the uncomfortable to be fit, fabulous and feminine as you age.

Karen Raistrick has been in the business of wellbeing for over 6 years and has a lot of experience in managing stress, adapting to change and dealing with life’s challenges. Mainly done with a smile on her face, usually positive, often grumpy if she hasn’t had a cup of tea!

To book your consultation and to learn more about The Phoenix Method, check out the website at https://www.the-phoenix-method.com/

Join my group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/holisticwellbeingforwomenover40/

 Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the_phoenix_method_limited/

For more information on the Wim Hof Method workshop I attended, contact Jamie at https://www.cotswoldbreathandbody.com/

For more information about Wim Hof, check out his official website at https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

This event was held at Stroud Brewery. For more information on their products and events, visit https://stroudbrewery.co.uk/

The post Cold water therapy – part two appeared first on The Phoenix Method.

Now, I’m not talking food here, although I love a bit of hummus with a variety of foods to dip into it! I’m talking cold water therapy.

A little while ago, I watched the Wim Hof programme.

If you haven’t seen it, he got a bunch of celebrities to take cold showers, sit in a shallow bath of icy water, swim under ice and just generally do anything in the cold. He also showed them some deep breathing techniques, all of which he reportedly said had significant health benefits.

So…….I saw that as a bit of a challenge! I like weird stuff like this, so I thought I’d give it a go!

I started off slowly, having a cold shower. Initially I got in the shower when it was warm like I normally do…..I’m not that hardcore when it comes to the cold. Bearing in mind I’ve never really like the cold, this was serious dedication on my behalf.

I set myself a challenge of being able to have cold showers for a month, hopefully with them being completely cold.

So following my nice warm shower, I turned the temperature down for the last 30 seconds of the shower.

Well….I don’t recall swear words being part of the Wim Hof Method, but there were definitely a few escaping from my mouth. I managed to curb them to a not so gentle “feh feh feh” I think you can guess the rest.

The first few days were a bit of a shock to the system, particularly when I started to increase the length of time under the cold water.

On the 7^th day, the swearing stopped and I had got used to it.

By day 14, I was getting straight into a cold shower.

It is worth mentioning at this point that we were going through a particularly warm spell here in the UK, to the point where there was talk of a hosepipe ban due to water shortages. Maybe it just felt easy to shower in cold water when the temperature outside was so warm.

There were a couple of chilly days following that as we entered the beginning of Autumn, but I still didn’t notice the cold water so much.

And then I did the unthinkable!

Leading up to the end of the month, I saw a Wim Hof experience day being advertised locally.  I wanted to sign up to learn about the Wim Hof breathing and mindset exercises, and there an option to get in the Ice Bath!

What was I thinking?

I delayed booking, almost talking myself out of doing it. I know I need to say “YES” to more things, so the day before the event, early in the morning, I booked my space.

When I checked back on the page after booking, to check what I needed to take along with me, it big sign came up saying “Sold Out”. I’d bought the last ticket!

Oh my word, what had I signed up to? I checked what I needed to take with me, a towel, swimwear and a yoga mat.

I had bought myself a swimsuit earlier in the month as I was contemplating doing this. I say a swimsuit, it was more like a onesie but slightly less cloth.

My body shape has changed quite a lot since entering the menopause stage in my life and my confidence has dropped quite a bit as a result. I wanted to cover up, to hide how much I love eating chips (my hips don’t lie, this girl eats chips!).

I was determined I wasn’t going to let this lack of confidence stop me from doing this. Why should I hide myself away just because I don’t meet the social media/Hollywood standard of beautiful? I am able to achieve anything that I set my mind to, and I had set my mind into getting into an ice cold bath!

Find out how it went in part 2!

Karen Raistrick has been in the business of wellbeing for over 6 years and has a lot of experience in managing stress, adapting to change and dealing with life’s challenges. Mainly done with a smile on her face, usually positive, often grumpy if she hasn’t had a cup of tea!

To book your consultation and to learn more about The Phoenix Method, check out the website at https://www.the-phoenix-method.com/

Join my group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/holisticwellbeingforwomenover40/  Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the_phoenix_method_limited/

The post Cold Water Therapy appeared first on The Phoenix Method.

Stress triggers our bodies to produce adrenaline and cortisol, the “flight or fight” hormones, overstimulating our nervous system, causing an increase in our heart rate and generating feelings of fear and anger. Grounding helps soothe our fractious nervous system so we can return to the present moment and are able to function more effectively.

So how can we become grounded?

Breathe

It sounds obvious when I say we need to breathe, but using deep breathing techniques help to soothe you, reduce stress and alleviate depression and negative thinking.

Breathing is an automatic thing we do, we don’t think about it, so when we concentrate on our breathing we are able to affect the length and quality of our breath.

A technique I use when I feel uptight or anxious, and feel like I can’t breathe very well.

It’s called box breathing and it is conducted using a 4×4 count.

1. To perform this type of breathing, sit or stand upright.
2. Slowly exhale through your mouth, getting all of the oxygen out of your lungs.
3. Inhale as you slowly count to four in your head. Fill your lungs without straining.
4. Hold your breath whilst slowly counting to four.
5.  Exhale and release your breath, slowly counting to four.
6. Hold your breath out at the end of the exhale for the count of four.
7. Repeat this cycle 5 – 10 times until you feel calm, relaxed and in control of your feelings.

5,4,3,2,1

This exercise involves you using all of your senses to bring attention to your body, helping you to feel grounded or centred with your body.

Start with saying 5 things you can see out loud. It might be objects in a room, out on a walk, or describing an object in as much detail as possible (like a flower).

Next, say out loud 4 things you can feel. Notice things like the feeling of the chair you are sitting on, the way your feet touch the floor, your hands on your knees etc. Or pick up an object and see if you can notice 4 things about the way it feels.

Now say out loud 3 things you can hear. This can be objects inside our outside of the room you are in.

Now say out loud 2 things you can smell. This can be your own clothing, your dog, smells from outside, can you smell when it is about to rain?

Now say 1 thing out loud that you can taste. It might be the water you are drinking or the food you are eating. Whatever it is, fully immerse yourself in that sensation so you properly taste it.

Notice how you feel when you have done this exercise. Bring your awareness back to where you are and appreciate being back in the present.

Mind games

These are particularly good for calming your mind. Some people find doing something like a puzzle, or knitting or similar activities, relaxing, as they are using their brains to concentrate on something away from everyday activities. When I get the chance, I like to play chess, preferably with an actual opponent, but sometimes I have to resort to online games to find someone to play against.

One of my favourite games to do is to walk around a room in my house, mentally! That’s right, not actually walking around it, but closing my eyes and “walking” around the room, remembering where everything is, picturing everything in the room. You’d be surprised how much you may remember, but also how much you may miss!

Try one, try all, or even find your own. Whichever you do, I hope you find some more balance in your day.

Karen Raistrick has been in the business of well-being for over 6 years and has a lot of experience in managing stress and adapting to change.  

The post Reduce Stress and Get Grounded. appeared first on The Phoenix Method.