Author: Leanne Spencer

The Importance Of Taking Regular Breaks

Published by Leanne Spencer

I’m very lucky. I have an outdoor studio and once I have finished writing this article, I will get myself ready to take a break out there. I’ll actually lie down on my mat, I’ll get my bolster out and I’ll use my lovely lavender eye cushion. Ready to take a short break. And the reason I do this is it improves creativity, it improves focus, it improves productivity. I see me getting better value from the work I do by taking regular breaks, and it is not just me, it is not just anecdotal evidence. The Benefits Of Short Breaks Some of us are still in lockdown and working from home. Work and private live can blur together into one long day for some of us. In those circumstances, taking regular breaks can be a game changer. As I mentioned briefly above, this is not just anecdotal. There have been lots of studies around the benefits of taking regular breaks. There is a 2011 study that I was reading earlier, from the University of …

Absorb And Redirect

Published by Leanne Spencer

This month I would like to talk about a concept that my business partner Antonia has been talking to me about… Absorb and redirect. It’s an idea that comes from Kung Fu, which is a very old, traditional Eastern or Chinese form of martial arts, often inspired by old Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. The particular style that Antonia practices (there are many Kung Fu styles) teaches you that in order to become an efficient martial artist one should avoid resisting the forces that come towards you from your opponent. You should instead absorb, redirect and make that energy work for you. I think it’s an interesting concept and relevant for today’s challenges. We’ve got a lot of negativity swirling around, but we also have the opportunity to create and take advantage of a great deal of positivity. The idea of absorbing and redirecting You absorb the energy that’s coming at you, both positive and negative, and then you redirect it. Think about everything that’s coming your way. In Kung Fu, for example, if you …

Keeping Things Simple To Help Make Decisions

Published by Leanne Spencer

Leanne Spencer writes about how this blog was inspired by a conversation she had with a client a couple of weeks ago. She had hit a rut and a lot of the things that she’d been working on had gone by the wayside. What I did to try and get her moving again was simply give her a piece of advice… Start with just one thing! Focus on one thing that you can implement, and make sure you pick the thing that is going to be the most impactful. For this particular client, I told her, “Right, get to a Zumba class tonight. That’s all you need to do.” Because I know with this particular individual (but also with most of us), as soon as you start moving your body and start generating a really healthy dose of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, you feel better, you make better choices, and you’re more motivated to continue those good behaviours. In this particular instance, I picked exercise and that’s always where I would tend to start. But …

Fitness Tips: How To Rest And Recharge

Published by Leanne Spencer

Something that occurred to me relatively recently is that I’m a classic blend between extrovert and introvert – I have very extroverted tendencies, but also quite introverted. And what was really eye opening to me, is when someone explained the difference between the two. An extrovert isn’t someone who loves to be at parties and is always shouting their heads off and an introvert isn’t the quiet one that never comes out of their shell. But, an introvert is somebody who recharges by being alone and an extrovert is someone who recharges by being with other people. That’s the true definition of it. And having heard that, I realised that one of the ways I recharge is predominantly by being alone. It’s not by socialising – that’s where I expend my energy. Once I twigged onto this, (which is quite funny that I have suddenly found this out in my mid-forties! But it’s changed the game for me a bit). I’ve really pared down my diary in terms of evening engagement. That’s when I really …

What’s A Good Morning Routine?

Published by Leanne Spencer

In this month’s article I want to talk about what my morning routine isn’t. There’s a lot of talk in the fitness and wellbeing space around morning routines – long, elaborate, very fixed and regimented morning routines. Now I do have certain things I like to get done in the morning, but I think the key thing about a morning routine is adaptability and flexibility. Some of the routines you might have heard or read about are people getting up at 4:30am to meditate. Then they might check emails while their coffee brews, or they might make a green smoothie. Then they’re hitting the gym at 6:00/7:00am, and coming back to do a few emails/work, and then going through a cold shower routine, etc. I think that’s fine and well if you’ve got the bandwidth to do it, or if you get so much value from that in terms of increased energy and better health. But for many of us that’s just not achievable. And what I think is really important about a morning routine …