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Stress, so misunderstood! How to use your stress messages to keep healthy and happy!

Jennie- Kate

2 days ago
7 min

Stress, so misunderstood! How to use your stress messages to keep healthy and happy!

April is stress awareness month, so I wanted to share with you some tips for spotting signs of stress in yourself (or others) and ways to help yourself in this situation. Signs you are stressed can include: Raised heartbeat Tightness of the chest or throat. Trouble to breathe easily. Lack of focus or concentration. Headaches. An unsettled stomach. ·Stiffness or tenseness of muscles. Disrupted sleep patterns A feeling of fear, panic or overwhelm Over-thinking. Exhaustion or bu

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Harsh Words: Dealing with that inner critic.

Jennie- Kate

Mar 7
3 min

Harsh Words: Dealing with that inner critic.

Do you ever find yourself experiencing negative self-talk and critical thoughts? This might be a fleeting insult, or internal argument or a stream of consciousness that crescendos from finger pointing to hurtful internalized comments. Alongside these thoughts, you will experience unwanted feelings that manifest themselves in symptoms such as churning stomach, tight chests, lump in the throat, prickly skin, palpitations, panic, headaches, or stiffness in your limbs to name a f

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Jennie- Kate

Jan 18
6 min

Do it with Joy!

After a few weeks away from blogging, I am back sharing regular tips, perspectives and resources with you to enhance your well-being. I start this year’s blog by reflecting on the year gone by, avoiding all the cliche's and slogans that have entered our vocabulary to describe and relate to the surreal events of last year. Whilst traditionally December puts a full stop on each year it’s looking like the 2020 hangover might be seeping its way into the beginning of 2021 too. Per

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Failure, Ouch! Changing the hurt of unexpected outcomes.

Jennie- Kate

Dec 1, 2020
5 min

Failure, Ouch! Changing the hurt of unexpected outcomes.

Mostly we seek out stuff that enriches our life and leads us down a pathway to some sort of success. From time to time, you find yourself experiencing the opposite from success. An epic fail, a topsy turvy outcome, that beautiful vision of success sabotaged before your very being! Whilst in our adult life we usually increase our resilience to change, uncertainty and undesired outcomes, through “grown-up” logic and perspective. It can still hurt (and hurt hard) when something

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Jennie- Kate

Oct 15, 2020
4 min

Resilience: What's your strategy?

What is your version of resilience? This morning I gave a talk to a group of independents on the topic of resilience. I invited people to think about their resilience strategies. Their version of resilience, exploring opportunities to adapt, change tactic and enhance well-being. I invite you to do the same too. I start this blog a little bleak. Life can be a struggle. 2020 has thrown us plenty of needs for “resilience” The definition of resilience is “the capacity to recover

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Jennie- Kate

Aug 28, 2020
4 min

What's going on? Understanding Anxiety.

You will often see a post about anxiety with a classic portrayal of someone grasping their hands to their face, looking distressed (Not indifferent to the picture here). And whilst this may be a way in which anxiety and the associated overwhelm is expressed. In truth, anxiety can be more subtle to the outsider and is often hidden from others. A seemingly cheerful and engaged friend, family member or colleague may be experiencing deep and unnerving ripples of anxiety under th

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Jennie- Kate

Jul 3, 2020
3 min

Self-Esteem

Today I wanted to share with you the 6 pillars of self-esteem model, developed by Nathaniel Branden. These principles very much encourage the “practice of” each pillar. (An ongoing/living approach) Considering how you can bring pillar principles into your life will help, particularly for people who are looking to increase confidence and reduce feelings of anxiety/worry about yourself. Exploring models learning & development of “self” through reading, conversation, coaching &

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Jennie- Kate

Jun 5, 2020
2 min

What's in your attic?

You probably have a place in your house where you store stuff, maybe an attic or cellar. A cupboard or even the infamous drawer (You know the one that you risk your life to look inside fearing its contents will jump out like a jack-in-the-box) These spaces create a place to store aspects and objects of your life, a place of safety and security for possessions. No longer needed in the day to day, a place to hide baggage and junk that we plan to get rid of some day. A space to

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Jennie- Kate

May 7, 2020
3 min

Being With

I have been having an inspired week, lots of creativity. And with this comes that beautiful connection. A juxtapose between playful excitement and delighted calm. The process of innovating, creating and exploring is something that (on some level), is an innate part of us. The "doing" of hobbies, visions, goals and ideas is rewarding. Seeing our progress in something, nurtures a sense of self-worth and identity. Of pride. This happens on many levels, a simple creative thought,

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Forget-Me-Nots - Guiding ourselves & knowing what is precious.

Jennie- Kate

May 2, 2020
3 min

Forget-Me-Nots - Guiding ourselves & knowing what is precious.

Have you been spending the time recently, to really connect with what is important to you? This has certainly been something that clients have shared with me and something I have explored as well. As we now adjust to the changing circumstances, we will all have had a shift in some of our day to day routine (major or small). There is stuff that we can’t do and took for granted. There is probably stuff you can now do, and are delighting in. Slower paces, staying at home and ad

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I don't belong here: The internal narrative of Imposter.

Jennie- Kate

Apr 16, 2020
4 min

I don't belong here: The internal narrative of Imposter.

You don’t have to consciously realise you feel like an imposter to be experiencing the anxiety and confusion that comes with Imposter Syndrome. It is anticipated that 70% of “high achievers” experience thoughts and feelings associated with the narrative of Imposter Syndrome (I.S). Pauline Clance created a test to help identify some commonly collected traits which she entitled the Imposter Phenomenon Test. And, whilst a label isn’t exactly a solution, it does highlight ( alo

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Jennie- Kate

Apr 3, 2020
3 min

Facing Despair & Discovering Hope

This week I am writing to the people feeling over-whelmed and worried in the current climate. These feelings may be familiar or shockingly new. Something that feels a lot like Despair or low mood, visiting you fleetingly or stuck like gum & hard to change. Are you re-thinking worrying thoughts, worst case scenario's & attempting to predict the future, only to feel increasingly lost? Your tetchier when communicating with others or find yourself withdrawing from conversations.

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Creating Space - Working from home and "zoning" for emotional well-being.

Jennie- Kate

Mar 23, 2020
4 min

Creating Space - Working from home and "zoning" for emotional well-being.

If you are now in the stage of working from home you may be having to evolve into this physical and emotional space, acclimatising to this new style of working. It may not be as simple as figuring out the logistical considerations of where to work. Also navigating some different emotional states as you adjust to working away from colleagues or clients, balancing a shift from “work head” to “life head” and maintaining a sense of autonomy & purpose in the comfort and distractio

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Jennie- Kate

Mar 12, 2020
3 min

If Only! – Regret & learning to let go.

It’s not uncommon to have thoughts like “if only” or ask yourself “why didn’t I” when a situation ends up a little more haphazardly then you would have liked. You may find that this, daunting sense of regret, (seemingly caused by an unexpected outcome) sends you into a cycle of Rumination and Worry or Fretting and Frustration. This can commonly happen in a work setting when we make a decision or have to deal with something a little outside of our comfort zone. And may also

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Jennie- Kate

Feb 26, 2020
2 min

Am I Ok?

Am I Ok? Three simple words that so often go overlooked. I recently asked attendees at a well-being workshop, "How many times do you ask yourself this question?" "How many times might you check in with your inner self and define if actually everything is ...ok?" It was no surprise that all hands remained firmly in laps. We live in a busy world where we can get into habits of "just doing" , of "soldiering on", "Ploughing through" and "heading to the finish line" We begin to ca

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Jennie- Kate

Feb 20, 2020
2 min

Be Bold

I found myself out of my comfort zone this week, and not my usual leap into Learning/Growth zone where I have become accustomed to the excitement and engagement in learning and developing. No this was serious fear zone stuff, the type of feeling that causes physical discomfort as well as pangs of questioning self-talk and an the Clairvoyant of Anxiety doing its best to predict all possible and horrendous outcomes. ( Us coaches feel that sort of stuff too sometimes!) I knew it

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Jennie- Kate

Dec 30, 2019
2 min

Giving up, isn't always losing out.

The new decade is upon us and with it comes a time to plan, to consider habit's we wish to leave behind in 2019. It's a whole two decades since we thought we were at the perils of the millennium bug, just think of all that learning, evolving and testing you have experienced! When we make changes in our life, the change itself can often feel HUGE at first. It might be like leaving the safari only to realise there is a gorilla in the boot! In the early days of changing stuff,

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Jennie- Kate

Dec 23, 2019
2 min

And here it is... Thank You

And so it's almost there, Christmas! And with just a few bits and bobs to tie up tomorrow morning I will be switching off for a few days while I connect with family and friends and of course my self! It's been a remarkable year and an intriguing one at that, with opportunities coming from places I hadn't thought to look and moments that have giving me lessons i will hold on to for the future. It's been a year of alcohol-free for me and a year of stepping into new zones of co

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Jennie- Kate

Dec 16, 2019
2 min

Keeping the constant

This time of year begins to be ( for many) a time for considering change. A time to contemplate what you can do differently? What new goals you are set to achieve in the year? But are you giving time and reflection to the things that you want to keep the same? I am talking about the things that have really worked for you, how often do you take a moment to notice these? Reflecting on the stuff we might do with out even a second thought now, from creating an epic meal that ma

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Flexibility in Goal Setting - How the path is not always a straight line

Jennie- Kate

Dec 9, 2019
3 min

Flexibility in Goal Setting - How the path is not always a straight line

When setting a goal you will often hear people talk about making it SMART ( specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) this approach amongst other goal setting approaches is of course useful and something commonly used in coaching; where you the client are aiming to be focused and accountable for what you achieve. This week, however, I want to explore how we can utilise flexibility in goal setting to allow for opportunities and reduce rigidity in achieving your o

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