Gratitude is one of my favourite self-care practices.

Gratitude is about recognising that something is valuable to you regardless of its monetary value & expressing this appreciation.

Gratitude has been linked to improvements in mental health. It also improves our self-awareness, our relationships & gives us a sense of fulfilment.

According to neuroscientist Alex Korb, we can’t truly focus on positive & negative feelings at the same time, so when we are expressing gratitude we are focusing on the positive which makes it impossible to focus on the negative.

There are so many health benefits associated with gratitude that it has been said if it were a drug it would be the number one best selling product in maintaining health for every major organ system.

The beautiful thing about gratitude is that the more you express it the more you find to be grateful about.

Gratitude is also said to be the highest state of receivership. If you think about it, we express gratitude when something wonderful has happened. So expressing gratitude in advance you are sending a powerful message into the Universe that your intention has already happened.

There are SO many different ways to practice gratitude.

3 grateful things – we play this game regularly. Everyone has to say 3 things that they are grateful for that have happened that day. My son’s 3 grateful things are: breakfast, lunch & tea or football, rugby & football again!

Gratitude journal – do you know that the emotion you go to bed feeling is the emotion you wake up feeling? Writing down every night all the things you are grateful puts you to bed in a high vibration emotion, which you then wake up in.

Gratitude jar – write down lovely things that happen when they happen & put it in a jar. When the jar’s fully open it up & relive all those little moments, which as Jon Kabbat Zinn says aren’t so little after all!

Taking some time at the end of the year to reflect with gratitude & appreciation is important for helping us to re-frame whatever has happened, after all every experience is an opportunity for learning & growth. Focusing on the lessons we learn even in challenging times can be incredibly empowering.

Instead of focusing what may not have gone to plan this year, focus instead on what IS working. This is a powerful way to shift the energy surrounding these situations. And if possible express gratitude for all that is working & you will attract more of the same.

To receive your own copy of the reflections meditation just email Alex at alex@alexbannard.com

If you would like to find out more self-care tips check out Alex’s FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindfulnessyoga4selfcare

Or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexbannard/

For short yoga practices & meditations check out Alex’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlKZJ7MeyYc6lqkv6seISw

Alex is based on the edge of the stunning Cotswolds & has been sharing her love for all things yoga & mindfulness for almost a decade, not just in the UK but also around the world. Her mission is to help everyone discover a more mindful way of living & to encourage them to embrace regular self-care practices for a happier & healthier way of being.

A year ago, the  hugely successful Fit With Lianne (FWL)  app was launched.  It caught the attention of Alex Bannard who wanted  to learn more about this fitness app, and its creator, Lianne.

Lianne explained that  from her early days as a fitness instructor taking classes in gyms she had felt it important to reach out to more and more people, for the good of their health and wellbeing, but how? The next step in her fifteen year journey  was to go it alone, with her own training  classes, which grew and grew, like Topsy.  This enabled her to build up  an extraordinarily healthy (in all ways) client base. Alex, however,  wanted to know how  this young woman, fizzing with energy, arrived at where she is today – the doyen of the Fit With Lianne app, especially as Lianne is a military wife, and we all know how  dislocating that life can be.

Indeed, it transpired that Lianne had moved every few years but nothing daunted, she had simply  worked harder to maintain and grow her client base. As she explained, ‘I had to find a way to maintain a hold of the clients I already  had, but it wasn’t until until 2017 that a catalyst ocurred – a posting to Brunei – which really kick started the fitness online community. How else was I to remain in touch with my clients?’ 

As if the fitness mentoring wasn’t enough for a military wife, it transpired that Lianne had also trained to be a secondary school PE teacher and managed to hold part time teaching roles wherever they were posted.  But, as Lianne insisted:  ‘My ultimate passion has always been my Fitness Business.’ 

Ever resourceful, our intrepid Fitness guru wasn’t in the slightest bit fazed when she and her husband moved  back to the UK in 2020 in the midst of a pandemic. In fact she saw this as an opportunity; the perfect time to realise her ultimate dream of creating an app to centralise all she had to offer. And, it yet again ,like Topsy grew and grew. Indeed, within a short period of time, the core membership had grown to over 100.

So what happened when the gyms reopened? Alex wanted to know.

‘When the gyms opened I lost a few clients. However, with the new technological world, a hybrid fitness lifestyle or even a pure online fitness lifestyle, seems to be a new way of life for many people. 

‘The app has developed enormously in just one year. From simply offering live and on demand content I  now offer a weekly check in, plans, challenges and more.’

And talking of plans and challenges, Alex discovered that Lianne had made yet another move,  this time to Yorkshire, to buy their own home, settle the children and remain in one place for at least a few years.

So… Alex wanted to know. hadn’t Lianne had been tempted to let the FWL go?

Clearly this is the last thing on Lianne’s agenda. ‘I have decided going forward that the app and the online fitness community is my focus. The teaching is being put to the side and I am going ALL IN with this fitness business and I welcome anyone along for the ride.’

What does Fit with Lianne  app offer:

• Online 1-1 PT
• Group PT
• Regular ZOOM live online fitness classes (Pilates, HIIT, Weighted workouts (kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells), Step and more)
• On demand classes
• Monthly challenges
• Weekly check in for all PT and App members

How it works:

Download the FWL App, subscribe (monthly or annually), you then instantly access the live classes, plans, on demand content, challenges and weekly check in.

Group and 1-1 PT can be arranged separately to the app, but app members unlock a discount for these.

The cost.  £12.99/month or £89.99 annual membership. No ties, no tricks, no additional costs.

1-1 and group PT from £30/month.

Alex will be passing on some of words of encouragement from Lianne in a couple of days, so you will be ready  to make that New Year’s fitness resolution work for you.

Whatsapp- 07898352356

Facebook- ‘Fitness with Lianne Instagram- @fit_with_lianne

Over the past couple of weeks, I have shared a few of my favourite self-care tips to help you navigate the festivities with grace & ease. Tips that I hope will help you thrive instead of merely surviving the celebrations, time with family & all the stresses & strains that accompany the holidays.

Despite the best laid plans, life has a habit of getting in the way & things can inevitably go, well, pear shaped.

Today I’d like to share one of my favourite yoga poses: child’s pose & the concept of surrendering to whatever may be. This little trick has been with me through thick & thin, good times & bad ever since I moved back to the UK.

I used it through a toxic divorce, (often several times a day!) & when my menopause symptoms were at their worst I turned to it again, taking myself off & dropping into child’s pose & repeating the mantra over & over until I felt ready to move on with my day.

I still do it almost daily because when we practice something, even when we don’t need it, this forges the neuron pathways in our brain to make it more likely we will return to this practice when we do need it.

Child’s pose:

Sitting with your bum on your heels.

Can’t get your bum on your heels?

Why not roll up a blanket & stick it between your heels & bum so you can relax into the pose?

Extend your arms onto the mat, resting your forehead on the floor (without squishing your nose).

Can’t reach the floor with your forehead, pop a DVD box set or a decent sides book under your forehead – improvise with whatever you have to hand!

Breathe smoothly & repeat this mantra:

I surrender to all that is as it is now & so it is.

Keep repeating this phrase until you feel a shift, then you’re ready to go!

Surrender is a powerful energy.

It’s not giving up or a giving in.

It’s giving over.

Letting go.

Releasing.

Surrendering to what is is a powerful little tool to help us navigate the festivities, after all this time of year isn’t easy & fun for everyone all the time.

If you would like to find out more self-care tips to thrive in the festivities check out Alex’s FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindfulnessyoga4selfcare

Or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexbannard/

Short yoga sequences including yoga for stress are available on her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlKZJ7MeyYc6lqkv6seISw

Alex is based on the edge of the stunning Cotswolds & has been sharing her love for all things yoga & mindfulness for almost a decade, not just in the UK but also around the world. Her mission is to help everyone discover a more mindful way of living & to encourage them to embrace regular self-care practices for a happier & healthier way of being.

I have a passion for plaice. That is not too strong a word. I love it, but where can you find it? Readers,  try Thirsk Market on a Monday. There you will find Tony’s Grimsby Fish Emporium. Not only does Tony bring to our shores – oh, OK, picky, – to our cobbled Market Square – the most wonderfully fresh fish of all descriptions, he actually  brings plaice, that gold nugget of the fish world. It is  always plump, juicy heavy and I gotta get some.

And so I do, every week. Tony also brings the patience of a saint with him to Thirsk, and a suspicion of a smile behind his mask. There I was, in the queue, suitably distanced, while he waited for his customer to give directions to a tourist. So we waited too. I was so engrossed when it was my turn, Tony had to repeat himself, and as I began to ask for plaice, the lass behind me suggested the salmon, and the bloke behind her said that the smoked haddock was good. Well, by that time I was on the point of forgetting what I had actually come for, when I was tapped on the shoulder and there was Eric from the u3a, my secretary no less (I am chair by default – no-one else could – there you have it, I am usually a default choice) ‘What trouble are you causing now?’ said Eric. Readers, I had by now quite lost the plot.

Tony helpfully suggested: ‘Plaice?’ Well of course. And why not the smoked haddock. Salmon would be another day. it was a few pounds and 50 p. I was delighted because I knew I had a 50p in my coat pocket. Out I dug it, and triumphantly held it out to Tony.

‘Very nice too,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.’ It was actually a gold foil-covered chocate coin. Oh how we all laughed. (I told you he was a saint) I found a proper 50p, and bore my plaice home in triumph. There you see my gold coin, sitting proudly next to the plaice. Dick had his own plaice but no gold coin. So I had pudding –  so very there.

Tony’s Grimsby Fish Emporium  attends Thirsk Market on Monday – Cambridgeshire area Wednesday- Northallerton market Thursday – and the Sleaford area. If you are coming to visit Thirsk, make it a Monday. Ask for the plaice, but leave me some.

A couple of weeks later with Christmas in sight I toddled ias usual nto town and saw that the Yarnbombers had been ‘at it’ again. They are a stealthy gang of finger dancing knitting needle afficionados who set out with their themed work during the hours in which mere mortals sleep, or so I imagine. For in the morning we emerge to find we have been yarnbombed: on the top of post boxes, bollards, in shop windows, on benches, in essence on anything that doesn’t move I love it, love it. It makes me proud to see such wonders, because, trust me, they are.

Amazing workmanship lightens up the misty gloom of an autumn day, and reflects the colours of a brilliant frost. We never know when they will come – they are suddenly – just there. All over the town and environs.It makes me proud to be an inhabitant of Thirsk which is full to the brim of such wonders.

There you are you see, I’ve come over all ‘literary’. But how can one not.

And a merry Christmas, one and all, from wonderful Thirsk.

If you’re still wracking your brain for Christmas gifts which won’t break the bank or (even worse) someone’s just handed you an unexpected present which requires reciprocation (aghhhh) then you may want to check out The Glade® Aromatherapy collection.

You’re probably familiar with Glade®– they’ve been making household air fresheners since 1956 (not often I can say ‘before my time’ these days) but you may not be aware that they do a luxurious range of aromatherapy candles and reed diffusers – yes I was surprised too.

The candles are large and will last for ages. I tried the Moment of Zen (Lavender and Sandalwood). Even as I opened the candle the sensual aroma of the essential oils hit me, and once lit, the scent soon filled the room. The Reed Diffuser, as you can see from the photo is a nice size and the amber glass bottle not only looks attractive but also combats light-induced deterioration. In fact the fragrance lasts for 45 days, creating a warm welcome for visitors right over the holiday period.

I’m always keen to view the ingredients in candles and fragrant oils – and I was delighted that SC Johnson, the makers of Glade®, have the full list easily available. Importantly, none of these contain parabens, phthalates, nitro-musks, artificial colours or dyes and any artificial ingredients comply to stringent safety standards. They’ve also been designed with a regard to sustainability and use reusable and recyclable packaging.

Each scent has been uniquely crafted with a dual blend of premium essential oils and, besides Moment of Zen, the range also includes:

• Calm Mind® created with Bergamot & Lemongrass

• Pure Happiness® blended with Orange & Neroli

But there’s more good news – these lovely gifts don’t cost the earth and the collection is available from all major resellers including Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, and Amazon. The RRP is just £12.00 for the candles and also for the reed diffusers, but check out the Where to buy button on the Glade website and you’ll find some real bargains – for example Wilko are selling them for just £6 each at the moment.  Customers will also receive a free 3-month CALM membership with a minimum £12 purchase of Glade® Aromatherapy products – so what are you waiting for? Buy, Gift, Enjoy.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q
http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

Joffe Books delighted to launch HER PERFECT SECRET  the completely gripping new psychological thriller by bestselling author T.J. Brearton, perfect reading for fans of Patricia MacDonald, Lisa Jewell, Alex Michaelides and Susanna Beard.

It’s him. Tom. I helped put his mom in prison for life.

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She loves him. But I know he’s lying.

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Celebrating the power of play, the joy of communication and the positive force of friendship,
Stan (named after the T–Rex at Manchester Museum) is a powerful and poignant new
production, commissioned by Z–arts and developed by Art with Heart with the help of over 200
deaf and hearing primary school children from Greater Manchester.

The production positively demonstrates how we can overcome language barriers, and challenges preconceptions of deafness.

Sam (Ross Thompson) is a happy, dinosaur loving 8–year–old whose world turns upside down
after his parents separate. As he takes himself off to the far end of the school field, he meets
Alex (Alexandra James), a deaf girl with a vivid imagination – and an impressive collection of
dinosaurs. Alex is from a proud deaf family and despite being socially isolated at school, she is
strong, smart, sociable and imaginative. The pair form an unlikely friendship and when things at
home become too difficult for Sam, Alex whisks him away on an astonishing adventure to meet
the almighty Stan, the gigantic T–Rex at Manchester Museum.

Stan from Sarah Emmott (Secret Diaries, Declaration) is written and performed in English and
British Sign Language and embeds creative captions within the set. The play will be
accompanied by post–performance workshops, an education pack including a video of BSL signs
to help hearing and deaf children communicate, three Deaf Awareness training events and a
dinosaur object handling box with some fascinating objects from Manchester Museum’s
collections. The post–performance workshop will be BSL Interpreted and has been designed
with both deaf and hearing children in mind.

Sarah Emmott comments Growing up, my parents lived very separate lives (so) my imagination
was both my safe escape and my resource to help me understand myself, my feelings and our
family situation. I wanted to create a play that reflected how vital imaginative play is as a form
of communication, not only with others but with ourselves.

Z–arts commented Art with Heart have put children at the heart of the creation of Stan and
tackled tricky issues whilst creating positive representation and a super fun show for families to
enjoy. We are so excited to bring this show to Z–arts and for as many of our friends, families and
schools to see it as possible.

 Stan: Running time 50 minutes, followed by a 30 minute workshop

Box Office Tickets are available from individual theatre box office
See www.artwithheart.org.uk   for more information and performance venues and dates

Facebook @weareartwithheart
Twitter @artwith_heart
Instagram @weareartwithheart

Sam – Ross Thompson
Alex  – Alexandra James
Mum – Gemma Green

Writer Sarah Emmott
Director Jonathan McGrath
Movement Direction Deborah Pugh
Lighting and Sound Design Adam Steed and Alex Willy
Animation and Captions Triple Dot Makers
Set and Costume Design Irene Jade
BSL Consultant Raphaella Julien

 Tuesday 25th January – Saturday 12th February

Frustrated by the lack of interesting roles for mature women, Northeast actors Jaqueline Philips
and Judi Earl have collaborated with writers Gary Kitching and Steve Byron to bring Tree to
Alphabetti Theatre this January. The world premiere will explore what it really means to be
honest and to lie, to be lonely and alone, and to live and be alive.

This funny, heart–breaking production follows the chance meeting of Hazel and Rowan. Rowan is
a liar and a fantasist; she lives vicariously through the internet and flirts with dangerous
conspiracies. But when she meets Hazel who, conversely, is grounded, worldly and honest, she is
forced to confront the fragility of life and what it means to be human – can Rowan revaluate
how she lives her own life?

Determined to write roles for older women that avoided the classic tropes of mothers,
grandmothers and wives, Tree explores humanity in the post–truth era outside the gendered
lens. Directed by Rachel Glover, this series of cosy and uncomfortable conversations is
underscored by classic songs that deal with counterbalance like Joni Mitchel’s Both Sides Now
and Ethel Merman’s Everything is Coming Up Roses.

Gary Kitching comments, Tree started as a simple request from two fantastic actors from the
Northeast during the 2020 lockdowns. Sick of being asked to play mothers and grandmothers,
they asked Steve and I, having seen our previous collaboration Bacon Knees and Sausage Fingers,
if we would write for them. We quickly decided that we would. We hope that the piece brings to
life the complexity and nuances of our performers and well as of honesty, morality, and ‘being’ in
general.

The Worriers is a growing collective of artists brought together by Gary Kitching, Steve Byron &
Ali Pritchard. Previous award–winning shows include Bacon Knees and Sausage Fingers, Wilfred,
Walter, Floorboards, Sucking Eggs and Rocket Girl.

Tree:  Dates Tuesday 25th January – Saturday 12th February
Captioned Performance: Wednesday 2nd February
Audio Described Performance: Wednesday 9th February
Relaxed Performance: all Saturday Matinees

Location Alphabetti Theatre, St James’ Blvd, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4HP

Box Office Booking essential. Tickets are Pay What You Feel and are available from
https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/tree

Facebook @AlphabettiTheatre
Instagram @alphabetti_theatre
Twitter @alphabetti

Running time 60 minutes   Notes 12+, discussion of mental health and sexual references.

Writers Gary Kitching and Steve Byron
Director Rachel Glover
Stage Manager Andrea Scrimshaw
Producers Esther Fearn
Matt Jamie
Ali Pritchard

Cast Judi Earl
Jacqueline Phillips