Derval O'Rourke: Taking stock with a journal
It’s September — a lovely month to take stock of where you are. This is a great month to carve out some time for yourself and your wellbeing. Would you like to work on your fitness? Perhaps you’d like to improve your diet? Well now is the time and keeping a journal is a great tool to help you.
Recipe wise this week, I'm keeping it simple with a fruit salad.
I’ve always felt the need to write things down. The reasons are varied but include being more ‘in the moment’: it keeps me focused on my goals and it’s also something I do career-wise to work towards my business goals. Research has shown that people who journal regularly can perform better and become more successful.
We are all extremely busy so please try to approach journaling in a really simple way as something that will add to your day rather than 'yet another thing you have to do'. Think of it as a tool rather than a chore.
- Buy a nice notebook/journal that you will want to pick up and use
- Reflect and write a few lines on what happened in your day
- Write down things that you are grateful for
- Write down small goal(s) you have for that day
- Jot down plans that you are excited about
Now that I’ve shared some basic tips on how to get started, let me share some of the reasons why journaling is important and a very useful tool in your wellbeing kit.
— Journaling can help improve mental health by boosting your mood and enhances your sense of well-being because it is a mindful practice. It is also a place to help release feelings about current stressors and is another way to reflect on negative experiences in a healthy way that may be hard to share.
— Journaling is a great way of upping your communication skills and writing down your thoughts. Opening up more room in your mind for creativity. This may translate over to your work and help generate greater ideas and solutions.
— Journaling down your goals is a form of visualisation for what you want to achieve. Making that time for yourself and asking yourself 'what do I want to achieve' will open up an opportunity for you to define your goals. It also acts as a reminder to reflect on your goals for future reference.
Dietary Fibre is found in plant foods such as cereals, vegetables, and fruit. It is an essential nutrient that helps you feel satiated for longer, lowers blood cholesterol levels, supports healthy bowel movements and is great for weight management.
The Curtsey Lunge is a great movement to improve your muscle strength and tone within your glute and quad muscles mostly.
- Standing upright, keep your hands on the hips or close to chest
- Draw one leg across and behind your working leg in front
- Ensure your working leg in front does not trace over the toes
- Keep your upper body stiff, shoulders back and back upright throughout
- Aim to bring your knee behind close to the floor before you come back up to standing position
- Alternate with the other leg and repeat the motion with the opposite leg
Fresh fruit salad
Adding more colour to your diet is one of the best things you can do for your health and wellness. Fruit and vegetables are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre
Servings
1Preparation Time
5 minsTotal Time
5 minsCourse
SideIngredients
4 red or green eating apples, cored and roughly chopped
4 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 punnet strawberries, roughly chopped
3 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 oranges, peeled and segmented
1 medium-sized melon, peeled and roughly chopped.
Juice of 1 lemon
Method
Combine all the prepared fruit in a large serving bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over them and mix well to combine.
Enjoy.
