Creating an Emotional First Aid Kit and Self-Soothing Tips

Tips on how to create your own Emotional First Aid Kit for when you're feeling in need of a pick-me-up.

'In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.'
Albert Camus (French Nobel Prize winner, author and philosopher)

I really hope you enjoy watching the videos and that they can help you or someone you know. I would love to hear from you if you have anything you would like to say.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - lifeinrecovery@mail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

How making a Bucket List or Wish List can invigorate your recovery from chronic illness

A video on how important it can be to think about compiling a wish list or bucket list in recovery. It is a useful tool for thinking about what exciting and interesting things you may wish to do or experience when you are able to.

Hope is a very useful and powerful feeling and in creating a wish list you can feed that hope with achievable targets and a sense of belief that you will be able to fulfil your wishes. This isn't supposed to be setting down in black and white your life plan or what you want to do for the next 50 years, but a compilation of your short term desires. Whether these wishes are as small as making a cup of tea or as grand as travelling to a far off country for a holiday or experiencing a feeling like sand squished beneath your feet or rain on your face they inspire and energise the people involved.

"To a resolute mind, wishing to do is the first step toward doing. But if we do not wish to do a thing it becomes impossible."
Robert Southey (1774 - 1843)

How to get in touch:

YouTube  - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life
Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - lifeinrecovery@mail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Why is Life In Recovery now on YouTube - Intro Part 2

A short explanation about why I felt Life In Recovery has graduated to making film content.
I really hope you enjoy watching the videos and that they
can help you or someone you know. I would love to hear from you if you have
anything you would like to say.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life

Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/

Email - lifeinrecovery@mail.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Videos on recovery from chronic conditions - YouTube, the final frontier.

After much consideration and deliberation I have taken a leap into the unknown by filming and uploading a video on YouTube. This film is to introduce Life In Recovery and explain what to expect.

(There will be an explanatory video following this one as to why I felt it necessary to take this step.)

I would massively appreciate it if you could subscribe, like and do all that helpful stuff so that Life In Recovery can get moving!

I really hope you enjoy watching the videos and that they
can help you or someone you know. I would love to hear from you if you have
anything you would like to say.

How to get in touch:

YouTube - http://t.co/CGZBkZnWU2
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/Recovering_Life

Blog - http://yourlifeinrecovery.blogspot.co.uk/
Email - lifeinrecovery@mail.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Recovering.Life

Walking for your health: Suffolk in the sun

I spent a couple of days back in the county I grew up in last week and went for a much needed and desired country walk. I enjoyed the walk so much that I thought I would write a quick post about the different benefits that can be found through walking.

I have recently made my home in the city but was raised in a little village in the countryside so I do crave green, wide-open spaces to walk in or just 'be' sometimes. The gym is all well and good for working out more intensely but nothing can live up to breathing in fresh air, cocooning yourself in nature and exploring your surroundings. I think we should all try to incorporate a bit of a walk into our daily routines. Whether it be getting off the tube/bus/train one stop early, going to get your lunch at the shop further down the road or even going for a 20 minute stroll on your lunch break. It does (most) people a whole lot of good getting the body moving and it's also great for your psyche. I have found that, although I may feel more tired after a walk, I do feel more cheery and spritely. It can be a great way to switch off as well. By changing your environment you can also help to change your mindset and by paying attention and becoming more mindful of your new surroundings your brain will be able to let go more easily of what has been absorbing it beforehand.

Views from the Stour Valley: the raging river, Constable skies, village churches and country lanes.

From the sublime (clock-wise first three photos) to the ridiculous (getting stuck in the mud in the last photo.)

Wildlife out in force. From waterfowl to farm animals to hares...

For me, going on a proper 1-2 hour walk feels like a real indulgence especially when I'm in London as it can take some planning for me to think where would be a lovely place for a walk. However I have found so much pleasure and excitement from exploring the more built up areas of London just as much as taking a walk in one of the parks this city has to offer. I would imagine that those of you who also live in cities and bigger towns may feel the same way. The hustle and bustle of people, the mixture of the new and the old, the interesting and often surprising buildings that are waiting just around the corner, the hodgepodge of working and living spaces.

There can be beauty in graffiti just as there is beauty in a spray of cherry blossom. There can be pleasure in the sound of rain on pavements just as there's pleasure in birdsong. There are the delicious smells of cooking food which are as fragrant as the tang from fresh-cut grass and banks of flowers.  There is life in the people you pass on the streets just as there is life in the fields and hedges of the countryside.

Wherever you walk, however you walk and whoever you walk with, open your eyes and minds to what is before you. Not only may it surprise you but it will encourage you to continue walking towards that which you find attractive/energising/interesting/puzzling.

Walking isn't only good for the mind and the body but it's good for the soul too!