Life in Align podcast

115 - What to do when it feels like no one supports you

Do you feel like your family and friends don’t support you with your illness? I’ve been there.   We all want the world to give a monkey’s when we get sick.  We’ve had a life-altering experience, why isn’t the world feeling this too? Episodes mentioned in this episode: Episode 113 Episode 114 Book a discovery call here

114 - Cultivate self-kindness

When we are kind to ourselves, it can help us to respond more effectively when we face challenges as it can help us to feel what we are feeling, and by being kind to ourselves it can make it easier to be kind to others.    When we are kind to ourselves it can seem like we’re making excuses.  For instance, when we are exhausted and feeling unwell the kind thing to do would be to rest, but instead we see this as laziness. We wouldn't do that to others. Sign up to my weekly newsletter here

113 - 3 ways to rebuild self-esteem without validation from others

112 - 3 shifts for keeping house with a chronic illness

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been the type of person that keeps my house immaculate, almost to show home level.  Pre-illness I used to get home from food shopping on a Saturday morning, and would blitz my way through the entire house in a couple of hours.  But when I got sick, it could take all day to work through the smallest room, let alone the whole house.   When I got sick I really struggled with how unclean the house felt.  In some ways, I was too unwell to care.  In other...

111 - Small step strategies for when the world feels against you.

Do you ever feel like the world is against you?  You just want one thing to be simple and straightforward so you can cross it off the list. We all have moments when one problem comes after another, leaving you feeling like the world is against you. You try to stay on top of things but it feels like the harder you try, the worse things get, and the problems just keep on coming. The worry brings the anxiety, which brings the sleep problems, which brings eating the crappy food, and the cycle ...

110 - 5 energy vampires making you tired

Today I talk about 5 energy vampires that can cause mental, physical and emotional fatigue.

109 - Healthy ways to get your happiness hormones

Today I talk about the healthy ways you can get those happiness hormones.  Happiness hormones are the chemicals that our body naturally produces to increase our wellbeing. Click here for shownotes

108 - Things that happen as you leave survival mode

Today I want to talk about the things that can happen when our nervous system comes out of survival mode. Click here for shownotes

107 - simple happiness

Quick-fire round of a few questions for what springs to your mind, not mine, on what you can do to bring more calm than chaos to bring a bit of happiness into your day Click here for shownotes

106 - Tips for easy journalling, by someone who sucks at it

I want to talk about journaling, because, quite frankly, I am rubbish at it.  I have been terrible at journalling my entire life. It’s as if there's a perfectionism to it that I just do not achieve.  So I made my own rules.... Click here for shownotes

105 – The power of rest (and it’s not about sleep).

Aaah rest.  Something we no longer seem to know how to do.  Our hustle culture has expectations that we have to be on the go constantly, and rest is a reward for working yourself to exhaustion, causing us to feel guilty when we take a break.  So today, I want to ponder on what rest really is, and different ways we can add it to our day. Click here for shownotes

104 - Signs you're pretending to be happy, & what you can do (from someone who knows)

Today I want to ponder on some warning signs that you’re pretending to be happy, and what you can do about it.  From someone who knows.   We all have those moments when something doesn’t feel right.  We can get sick and/or we go through a period of grieving, and everyone understands it. For a while.  But there’s something you can’t shake, and as everyone around you expects you to be moving on by now, you instead start to put on a happy face.   It’s normal in a setting of strangers, you d...

103 - Decluttering – Spoonie-style

I am sure you’re already aware of the benefits of decluttering.  An uncluttered home and life promotes mental clarity, and less stuff through choice means less likely to spend money on things you don’t need.  Less stuff also means less mess can be created so less mess to be tidied up. Which is an absolute win for spoonies, because it means less work and less feeling like we’re not getting anything done.  But, as with all things, it can be overwhelming to get started, so here’s my top 5 areas...

102 - 5 ways to develop self-love, and why you need to

If given the choice, which would you rather be in?  A relationship where you dismiss yourself, minimise yourself, and be mean to yourself, get irritated with yourself, sabotaging all of your hopes and dreams? Or would you rather be in one where you cultivate self love? Every day you are kind, gentle and you work towards your hopes and your dreams and you go to bed every night knowing that it doesn't matter what anyone else says, you love you. So if the second option is your preferred optio...

101 - A not-to-do list when chronically ill

Today I want to talk to you about a not-to-do list when chronically ill.  I absolutely love having a to-do list, I love making lists.  I love crossing things off lists.   When I got sick, my to-do list had to become streamlined and batched.  Long gone were the days of being able to do all the things on all the days.  One list I had to create, and probably stuck to the most, was a not-to-do list.    Click here for shownotes

100 – Coming home to yourself

100 episodes!!  Wow.  I didn't realise that when I was recording, but here we are.  100 episodes.  What a milestone. Today I want to talk to you about coming home to yourself. Sometimes life dismantles the self you’ve known and you have to begin the seemingly complex task of starting over, rebuilding, and finding your new compass and anchor.   It can be a shock to the system.  I often hear “I didn’t see this coming.  What do I do now?!”     Click here for shownotes

099 - 7 areas of overthinking you get trapped in

Also, along with the birdsong, today I share the 7 ways we overthink, and the super-simple strategy on how to stop it Tune in for an unedited episode, because I couldn't bring myself to edit out the birds tweeting away in the background... Click here for shownotes

098 – Are you sick of your own s*** yet?

I got to this point in early 2012, and thanks to the proverbial onion layer, again in autumn of 2022, but didn’t want to face up to it until I had to earlier this year.  What point am I talking about? Being sick of my own sh*t. Today I share a few questions for you to ponder on to help move you forward. Click here for shownotes

097 – Can you trust the process?

  Today I want to ponder on trusting the process, and ask you if you can.  Honestly, for years my answer to that would be “what does that even mean?!”   Click here for shownotes

096 - Habits that are actually signs of resentment

Today I want to talk about habits that are actually signs of resentment.   Holding on to resentment can be bad for your mental and physical health.  It can cause stress, anxiety, depression, and it can cause chronic health problems. Do any of these bahaviours resonate with you?     Click here for shownotes

095 - Ask More of Yourself

Recently I had to ask myself, do I want to do more, or do I want to keep thinking I’m doing enough.  Listen in for the thing I'm referring to, but in the end I have to decide that I am doing this for me.  It makes grief easier to deal with.  It makes my illness easier to deal with.   The reason I called this episode Ask More of Yourself is because to get better it requires you to do more.    Click here for shownotes

094 – Do you owe your body an apology

After many years of tears, hatred, and basically mistreating myself, I made a vow to be kind to my body, and owed it an apology.   There’s plenty of research around the body keeps the score, and how suppressed emotions around trauma can manifest into illnesses.  So the path along the healing journey also includes befriending our bodies.  For when we can like our bodies, we can start to feel safe in them to listen to them, and to feel what we are feeling.  Listen for my body apology, and ...

093 - How to believe in yourself, even when

An episode about believing in yourself.  Even when.   Even when you are feeling scared.   Even when you are feeling overwhelmed.   Even when you are doubting that you can get better. And I get it.   Over 10 years ago, after living with my illness for nearly 3 years, I had to believe that I could either figure out my health struggles, or I could keep on feeling rubbish about it.   I decided that my self-doubt was no longer a valid reason for missing out on my life, on being a runn...

092 – how to connect the happiness dots in a luck journal

When was the last time you felt lucky?  I’d hazard a guess that most of the time you think that others are lucky, and the only luck you tend to find is bad luck.   Fate.  Destiny.  Kismet.  Serendipity. Whatever you want to call luck, it’s as if it’s always connected to our most happiest moments.  Sometimes, it turns out our most difficult times were a wonderful stroke of luck too.   And what about when it comes to making your own luck?  Or manifesting?  Just wishing for something doesn’...

091 – Feeling overwhelmed? Try this.

A super-quick episode this week, even by my standards, mainly because sometimes we just need to be told some things to do to get moving out of the overwhelm to a space where we can then look at the whys. If you’re feeling sad, overwhelmed, anxious, helpless, frustrated, please know that you’re in good company, and you are not alone.     Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

090 – The four stages of recovery

I get asked all the time “I want to get better, but why do I sabotage myself?  I think I know what I need to do, but I don’t do it”.  Variations on this are lacking willpower, unmotivated, even scared. It’s not as if the internet isn’t full of solutions to google.  If you want to lose weight or increase your fruit and veg on a daily basis, there’s a ton of suggestions.  If you want to try increasing your steps, or feel ready to try running, there’s plenty of plans that are a variation on c...

089 – The do’s and don’ts to support someone with a chronic illness

I talk a lot about life with a chronic illness, and for this episode I want to share for those who support us, and are not always sure what to say or do.   It’s not just one life that changes. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

088 - How decluttering can help you love yourself

Decluttering a home can be difficult, especially if you have years’ worth of memories stored up.  Equally, a lot of those memories could also be causing you stress.   Mindfulness has been proven to be an essential practice in managing stress, lowering blood pressure and helping to increase focus.   If you think about how much information you take through your eyes for your brain to process, the more stuff you have around you the harder your brain has to work, increasing fatigue, and maki...

087 - 6 ways to stop feeling so meh

Everyone seems to be at a default mode of constantly stressed, so much so that it’s not often I hear other emotions get mentioned.  It also seems easier to tell ourselves that we’re stressed than to have to think about how else we might actually be feeling, and stress is usually easily blamed on external sources and not ourselves whereas admitting feeling something else might mean we have to acknowledge our own responsibility in something. When I went back to my day-job after surgery last ...

086 - Top three tips for positive self-talk

Today I want to chat about something that can be very detrimental to your recovery and that’s how you talk to yourself, about yourself.  Both in what you say out loud, and what you say in your head.   Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

085 - How routines can help to structure healing

Today I want to chat about how routines can help to structure healing. Having a plan that you consciously decide upon and more or less stick to regularly is extremely helpful physically with the emotional turmoil.   Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

084 - Things you go through when you start healing

On the previous episode, episode 83, I talked about how I mis-read the signs of grief, and my trauma, and would often mistake them for M.E. symptoms.  How I shut myself down, numbed myself, to the pain I was feeling, to the shame and self-hatred I was feeling.  I said that I’ll talk more about what healing looks like for me on the next episode, so here we are. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

083 - How symptoms can hide deeper feelings you really need to process

Today I'm talking about how symptoms can hide deeper feelings you really need to process. AKA - I'm grieving a lot more than I thought.     Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

082 – How to declutter your mind to move on

Today I'm talking about how to mentally declutter to be able to move on. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

081 - why you need to let go of the self-care guilt

Today I'm talking about why you really need to let go of the guilt for self-care and putting yourself first. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes

80 - The first step to creating your ideal life

Today I'm talking about the first step to creating your ideal life. All of my coaching is about empowering you to live life on your own terms.  Not mine.  Not someone else’s.  Yours.   Every step of the way is about finding clarity, allowing and creating intention, and taking action. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click here for shownotes  

079 - Why the first mile always sucks (what running taught me about recovery)

Today I'm talking about what running taught me about recovery from a chronic illness.  Basically, that the first mile always sucks.  Even before I got sick, the first mile, was always rubbish.  It didn’t matter if I was planning for a 3 mile run, or a half-marathon, that first mile was always a struggle between my mind and body.  Today’s episode is for anyone wanting to get better, but has trouble following through consistently.   Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT Click...

078 - How I quit listening to the crappy thoughts

Today I'm talking about how I quit listening to the crappy thoughts. If you are like me, you can spend a lot of time worrying and wearing yourself out, using up energy that you just don’t have.  I felt helpless and hopeless.  It took a while to figure out that I was doing all this to myself.  That I was the one standing in my way. Click here to sign up to the free mini-SHIFT

077 – Will my past prevent me getting better?

In this episode I'm talking about if your past could prevent you from getting better. There’s one big common denominator amongst all the women I have spoken with who have chronic illnesses.  Including myself.  We all have tremendous hurt in our past.. If you’d like to know more on how to shift your stories, reach out to me to see if my SHIFT to alignment coaching programme is a fit for you. You can book a free discovery call here. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

076 Why you doubt recovery is possible

In this episode I'm talking about why you doubt recovery is possible.   Recovery isn’t about going back to the life you had before diagnosis.  That just isn’t possible.  The same as you couldn’t go back to how life was before a relationship, or having children.  You can get some semblance to it, but you can’t get back exactly the same.   If you’d like to know more on how to shift your self-doubt, reach out to me to see if my SHIFT to alignment coaching programme is a fit for you. You...

75 - My unexpected month off (and goal success news)

In this episode I'm sharing with you the reasons behind my unexpected month off, and also sharing an update of a completed goal.    You can book a free discovery call here. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

074 - Redefining happiness with a chronic illness

This week I'm talking about redefining happiness, on your terms. You can book a free discovery call here. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

073 - Could emotional sobriety work for you?

This week I'm talking about getting a better handle on your feelings because emotions will come knocking, but you can choose which ones you let in, and which ones you park for dealing with at a more appropriate time.   Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

072 - What do you do when you feel terrible?

Today I’m asking what do you do when you feel terrible and talking about noticing your habits you default to when you’re not feeling great, learn how to pause, and work out what it is you really need so you can rule your day and not let it rule you.   Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

071 - Decode your attitude to the skin you’re in

Today I’m sharing how to decode your attitude to the skin you’re in. I am all for body confidence.  I think a huge part of the healing process is to love and appreciate the body you’re in now. Episode 65 is here Episode 64 is here Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

Episode 070 - Do you pre-fail?

Today I'm asking you  - do you pre-fail? Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

070 - Do you pre-fail?

Today I'm asking you  - do you pre-fail? Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. You can also find me on Instagram.

069 - How to identify and ditch your energy thieves

You can’t quite put your finger on it, but whatever that thing was that used to give you get up and go, has definitely gotten up and left.  From the mood of your partner to your iron intake the things that zap your precious already limited energy are everywhere.   But if you can learn what they are, and which ones you are most affected by, you have a good chance of stopping them from stealing any more time from you. Please do share your key takeaway from this episode. You can email me. Y...

068 - Chronic health and the menstrual cycle

On today’s episode I’m talking about chronic health and the menstrual cycle, and how the two affect each other.  One of the things I learned very early in my illness is how much having a period exhausts my body.   Since my operation, I can no longer control how often these symptoms are coming.  I can no longer control how exhausted I feel and how the simplest things that could seem difficult enough with my illness, for a few days become near-impossible.   So I thought I’d share a lit...

067 – six keys to better health you need to know now

There’s always those big times of the year when we are prodded to make changes towards better health, New Year and pending summer holidays being the two prominent ones.   And so often we hear people say after they get sick that they took their health for granted.   We don’t have to wait til then to be motivated to make a change. But it doesn’t have to be so hard.  For some of you, it can’t be that hard.    If you’d like to share your thoughts I’d love to hear them, please do email ...