At the age of 56 I am a newbie to cycling. By that I mean that cycling has not been part of my everyday life since I was a teenager. I have fond memories of my green Raleigh bike with the basket at the front that I'd painted red. Over the last 10+ years, cycling has been part of my summer. Every August we've hired bikes and cycled along the busy bike lanes on the French island of the Ile de Ré, along with 100s of other holiday makers. The last time in 2019 we hired bikes at two other places in France that we stayed at on our return journey. By the end of August, as I whizzed along a cycle path ..read more

How can you include more plant based food in your diet at work? I expect that you have all heard the expression ‘eat a rainbow’ but what does it mean exactly and why should we eat a rainbow? Everyone knows that oranges have vitamin C, that carrots are good for our eyes and that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But what other good reasons are there to eat fruit and vegetables? One of the main reasons is that they contain phytochemicals also called phytonutrients. These compounds have different names and different health benefits. Whilst plants grow they need to protect themselves. They can ..read more

1. Eat more plants! Fruit and vegetables are full of antioxidants, nutrients, minerals, vitamins and fibre. Eating a rainbow of different coloured vegetables and fruit gives you a wide variety of nutrients. Unless you are already vegetarian or vegan, aim to have two plant based main meals a week. More and more studies are being published about the benefits of a whole foods plant based diet. 2. Use natural plant power for household cleaning in the form of essential oils. Why not try replacing floor cleaning liquid with an essential oil? Many of them have antibacterial properties, are natural a ..read more

1. Have a warm relaxing bath before bed. Use Epsom Salts in the bath for inducing a good night's sleep (provided by the magnesium in the salts). To make bath time even more sensory, you can light a scented candle or use a favourite soap. 2. Join a meditation class and learn breathing techniques. Breathing slowly and deeply can really help with sleep, you'll learn some techniques that will help you to relax your mind and body. 3. Use the power of plants and scent. Essential oils like Lavender are well known as a sleep aids but there other essential oils which can help with insomnia like Sweet ..read more

Health coaching is possibly more widely heard of in the USA than in Britain where it is a more recent introduction. The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) in the USA trains health coaches across the globe. Their definition is ‘A Health Coach is a wellness professional trained to partner with clients who are seeking to improve their health and wellness’. Here in the UK, the College of Naturopathic Medicine which trains nutritionists and herbal medicine practitioners, started it’s first Health Coach diploma course in October 2019. The course can be studied online or in class at their Lon ..read more

Do you have daily rituals? Have they changed during lockdown? , My first tree hugging experience My daily rituals have changed during lockdown and I’m hoping that I will be able to keep holding onto them when life goes back to ‘normal’. New habits and routines that I’ve been incorporating into my day include pulling the curtains back on waking and smiling, making a conscious effort to stop and listen to bird song at different times of day, going for long walks, taking photographs of plants and trees seen on my walks, hugging trees (not every day), watching the sun disappear at the end of the e ..read more

BYO shops have sprung up over the last few years but some have started to close. What are BYO shops and why do we need them? Why should we be supporting them? The first time I saw BYO shops I was in France. That was also where I saw the first contactless card payment machines. I thought that both were a novelty. Contactless payments are something that took off here in the UK and we probably can't imagine life without them but what about BYO shops? BYO shops are also known as zero waste shops. The BYO (Bring Your Own) refers to the fact that you need to provide your own packaging. This require ..read more

What my clients say.... Many women set themselves health goals. These might be to lose weight, to get fitter, to eat more healthily, etc. Health Coaching can help you to identify the steps to take towards achieving these and other more specific goals and empower you at the same time! I love exercises like the 'Wheel of Life' that I do with my clients which can also help with aligning life goals not just health goals. A similar exercise that I do every year for my own personal goals is a Mind Map for the year ahead. Recently as part of an exercise to find out what impact I was having on my cli ..read more

This month I interview Jane Higginbottom. Jane's a London based artist and gardener. 1. Tell us about how and when you got into gardening? I have always liked gardening even as a child when I was given a small patch of the family garden border to plant myself. I became more interested again when I was able to get a flat with a garden about 20 years ago and then an allotment about 15 years ago. 2. a) Why do you like gardening? I find gardening very relaxing most of the time. The act of planting and looking forward is always uplifting for example planting tulip bulbs and imagining their colours ..read more

This month, I asked Ceri Jones to tell us about how she first got into running. Ceri is a freelance chef, food writer and educator based in south London. As someone who has always struggled with running (except the 100m at school which I loved!) I find Ceri's story really inspiring. Ceri's mother ran the London Marathon at the amazing age of 50. Inspired by her mum, Ceri joined a running club and ran regularly. She decided to run the marathon in 2011 on her 29th birthday. She then had a break from running but has returned to it over the last few years. 1. Tell us about how and when you got in ..read more