Helpless and helpful

The past few weeks for all Victorians and indeed all Australians have been challenging. So many have lost their lives, loved ones and homes, it is sometimes very hard to believe. Amongst so much sadness though, there are ever increasing stories of heroism, generosity and triumph over the odds.

Many mornings in Melbourne, we have woken up to the smell of smoke, a constant reminder of the battles that people continue to fight and that there still may be more loss to come – this week is a big danger time. My sister, her husband and three gorgeous sons live in a heavily bush area that is still far from the fires, though I have confirmed with her on numerous occasions that they will get out as soon as they are put on a warning, houses are replaceable, they are not. My sister in law’s sister completely lost their house and are staying with my brother and sister in law. Luckily they were away at the time of the fires and didn’t have to make the heartbreaking choice that others did to go or stay.

In speaking to friends, family and colleagues over this past two weeks, there has been a theme that has come to the fore – most people are tired, really exhausted. For me, the feeling of exhaustion has come from a feeling of helplessness. Oh, we have donated to the appeals, given as much clothing and bedding as possible and donated pet food for animals but sometimes, it just does not seem to be enough. Australians have been SO generous, it has been utterly amazing and it makes me so proud . So – how do I deal with this feeling of helplessness? Well, this is a classic example of learning how to change emotions via self talk. Once I had identified this feeling of helplessness, I started to define the word ‘helpless’. When I really thought about it, of course I am not helpless, I have donated what I could and will donate more later to ensure continued help to these people. I have the ability to give whatever help that I choose. Once I made this distinction, I felt more powerful again, in control and of course able to help.

To all of the CFA, Police, Army, volunteers and all of those who have contributed to helping our brothers and sisters who have been affected by fire and flood, thank you – you are all wonderful, generous people who answered the call for help with a beautiful generosity of spirit.

Below are some links if you would like to contribute to the victims of the Victorian Bushfires:

http://www.redcross.org.au
http://animalaid.com.au/
https://salvos.org.au

See you next time.....

Cheers,

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com

The joy of exercise?

My relationship with exercise has always been a little fraught. I never really hated exercise though sometimes I have resented the hell out of it. Quite a few years ago, I lost a lot of weight to get in to my healthy weight range and one of the biggest parts of that was through exercise. I did some mini triathlons, ran quite a few fun runs and even ran a half marathon and the Oxfam 100km walk in 48 hours. I was really fit and within my healthy weight range – it was a great time in my life, though I do realise now that even though I had lost all of this weight and gotten really fit, I had never really changed how I saw myself. Even at my lowest weight and my fittest, some days I still felt like that obese person that I was previously and along with an unhealthy relationship with food this caused me to put on more and more weight until I found myself in the situation where I had the lap band surgery. Unfortunately, at the time when I was at my fittest, my exercise routines were more of a punishment to myself rather than a healthy gift.

So, one of the things that I have been very careful about since have the lap band surgery is to institute a gradual exercise program. For the first few months I didn’t exercise much at all, a walking a few times a week but that’s about it. In the new year, I decided that I wanted my fitness back but I was loathe to start any punishing exercise routines so I decided on Bikram Yoga a 90 min session of 26 poses in a room heated to 38 degrees. I picked Bikram yoga because it has the benefits of building strength, endurance, concentration as well as it being a pretty good cardio routine! I have found it excellent and have definitely been sleeping better and having a lot more energy. So I do Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week and now I have also added a few gym sessions into the mix – a mixture of cardio and weights. Now I am loving exercise again and not least because I have put together some friends to go with so it is a lot more fun!!

Fun is definitely the secret! I am putting as much fun into my sessions as possible. Along with my team, we do a cardio session followed by some weights and then – considering the past few weeks of Melbourne’s sweltering heat – we will have a swim in the pool. Not laps or anything mind you, a paddle around catching up on what’s going on with each other. We also rotate who is choosing the routine for the day which helps to keep things fresh and interesting and we also will have a session and then a coffee afterwards. It is important to factor in an additional 20-30mins onto the exercise routines for swimming, coffee or just a sit down and catch up as it really adds the incentive to get to the session as well as go pretty hard in the session. I love it so much more!!

So, the upshot of all this – I am really loving my exercise again and each day, I look for more and more ways to inject a bit of fun into the routine – what’s life if it’s not fun, right?

Here are some questions for you to think about this week:

· How do you see exercise, is it a chore or a health gift to yourself?
· What can you do to make your exercise more fun?
· Can you get a network together of people to exercise with? Who? Write a list today and contact them!

Well, I am off for a walk with the gals, outside since the searing heat has subsided for the moment.

My thoughts and best wishes are with anyone who has been affected by the bushfires over the weekend – there are no words for what you must have been through.

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com