CFS – Page 17 – make today happy

Day 61: A 270mph selfie

Being grateful for saying YES to a high-speed selfie:

Today I was excited for my first Artist’s Date in the city in a while: brunch and the flicks.

After brunch and a little bit of shopping, I was already feeling a bit fatigued. Thankfully I had some time before my film started, so I decided to sit in the Market Square and enjoy the sunshine.

I choose a place as far away as possible from the big white tent set up at one end of the Square. It was ablaze with Virgin Media banners, and teeming with marketing folk.

As I was quietly basking in the midday sun, a couple of said Virgin Media folk approached me and asked if I wanted a ‘high-speed selfie’.

I automatically shook my head. Partly due to my introverted shyness and partly due to cynicism; surely it was just a marketing ploy to get my details and bombard me with marketing material for years to come.

They got chatting to two tram drivers behind me who were on a break, and described how they could go into a booth and have a high-speed wind blown at their faces while having their photos taken. The bus drivers were game and were led over to the tent.

Hmmmmmmm… I was intrigued.

My adventurous side awakened, my sense of fun sparked.

Why not? I thought to myself.

How often would I get this opportunity? Would I get to the end of the day and regret not doing it? Why not just go and see what it’s all about?

So I wandered over to the tent and after a quick chat with one of the Virgin folk, I decided to go for it.

And I’m so glad I did, it was so much fun.

I took a seat and the wind machine began, starting gently and then quickly reaching its full power of 270mph.

What a blast!

It literally took my breath away.

It reminded me of my skydiving experiences, without the gorgeous view or sexy instructor strapped to my back, of course 😉

After 30 seconds it was all over, and I waited for my photos to be emailed to me and printed off. I know they’re not the most flattering of pics to be revealing to the world, but I think they’re just hilarious and wanted to share them for that reason alone.

I knew today was going to be a tiring day, and it was made even more so by this little unexpected adventure. But I’m really proud of myself for venturing out of my comfort zone, and I’m very, very happy I said YES!!

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being grateful for saying YES to a high-speed selfie.

Day 60: Juicylicious

Being grateful for Jason Vale’s 5 day juice cleanse:

I’ve been juicing for five years and it’s honestly changed my life.

I’d been a pretty unhealthy eater up until that point. But when a dear friend introduced me to juicing, it was a revelation.

It opened my eyes to the goodness of fresh produce and the benefits of clean eating. I particularly love how much clearer my mind is and how much more energy I have when I cut out the crap food.

The effervescent Jason Vale, aka the ‘Juicemaster’, runs a free ‘Big Juice Challenge’ online four times a year. I have the ‘5lbs in 5 Days’ app which contains shopping lists, recipes and much needed coaching videos. But you also get these via email, once you’ve signed up.

Each day there’s a ‘behind the scenes’ video of Jason to cheer us on and he gives shout outs to some of the 30,000+ folk from 128 countries who’ve also signed up.

His enthusiasm is really contagious, he keeps me inspired and motivated, and he gets me through any wobbly moments. I’m also spurred on by my fellow juicers and hearing of their progress and success.

I try to take part in each ‘Big Juice Challenge’ throughout the year, as it works as a reset button.

And I really needed it this time.

There’s a lot of temptation around me, for foods that I crave but aren’t good for me. And sometimes I just don’t have the energy or the willpower to ignore them.

I do know that when I eat clean – which for me means, no sugar, wheat or cow dairy – I feel much lighter in my body and brighter in my mind.

But with the fluctuating nature of my CFS condition and symptoms, I find I frequently fall off the clean wagon and it can be hard to climb back on.

So I’ve decided to eat clean for twelve weeks, which will take me up to Christmas. I’m curious to see how much of a difference it makes to my CFS symptoms.

I started last week, and by Monday was itching to begin Jason Vale’s 5 day juice cleanse.

And it’s been brilliant.

I’m chuffed to bits with the results: I’ve reset my taste buds, I feel lighter and brighter, and I’ve shed 4lbs (1.8kgs).

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being grateful for Jason Vale’s 5 day juice cleanse.

Day 59: Twinkle twinkle

Being grateful for my nephew singing to me in bed:

Another heart melty moment from my three-year-old nephew Thomas today.

We’d had a fun short but full-on playtime, and I needed bed rest as I’ve been feeling extra wiped out recently.

Mamma told Thomas to come out of my room to let me rest for a bit, telling him: “Auntie Helen’s feeling poorly.”

“Are you feeling poorly, Auntie Helen?” he asked ever so sweetly, as he gently put his hand on my heart.

As I climbed into bed, he refused to leave the room. Determined to stay with me, he joined me in bed promising mamma he was going to be quiet (😳!).

As we snuggled in, he pulled the duvet over our heads and started to softly sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

It was the sweetest thing and made my heart burst with love.

What another precious moment to treasure.

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being grateful for my nephew singing to me in bed.

Day 58: Tango-ing trees

Being mindful while watching the trees dancing in the wind:

As today is a bed rest day, I find myself looking out of my bedroom window, watching the wild weather.

As the magnificent trees sway to the back and forth in the furious wind, it looks like they are performing the most incredible dance. I think it’s the Tango: vibrant, dramatic, full of passion, and playful.

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being mindful while watching the trees dancing in the wind.

Day 57: Sisterly spa

Being grateful, kind and mindful on Spa Monday:

How wonderful that today’s happy covers being kind, mindful and grateful:

Being grateful for my Spa Monday:

I love going to spas. I adore their blissful calm serenity.

For me, spending a day at a spa is a complete escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life. It’s a wonderful opportunity to take a breath or two and soak up the therapeutic benefits they can offer.

I used to treat myself to a spa day every once in a while, especially when I lived in Germany… but that’s another story!

With my current health and financial challenges, it’s something I’ve not been able to do for quite some time. So this opportunity to go with my sister was very welcome indeed.

Being kind by treating my sister (and myself!) to a spa day:

As it was a special birthday for my sister recently, I thought it would be a real treat for her to enjoy a day of pampering. With two energetic little boys, a busy husband, and a job, she doesn’t get much time to herself, so I thought a few hours away from it all would be appreciated. And I’m happy to say it was.

As well as use of the pool, steam room and sauna – and gym but we ummmm “forgot” out kits, ahem – the package included a spa treatment and a beauty treatment. YES! We both chose a back massage and a pedicure, my sis’ tootsies were painted a rich plum, while I opted for sparkly pink.

I also thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to spend some relaxing sisterly time together. It’s something we rarely have the chance to do. And with mum and dad kindly agreeing to pick up and look after the boys from nursery and school, we could make the most of our blissful day.

Being mindful by being present during the spa time and treatments:

I really wanted to concentrate on experiencing every precious moment of this special day, and tried to keep myself in the present moment as much as possible.

As I gently swam a few laps in the pool, I noticed how my body felt and moved in the water. And in the sauna and steam room, I focused on how my body responded to the sudden changes of temperature and environment.

Interesting, it was during the first treatment, a heavenly back massage, when my mind started to wander off on its little ownsome. But as soon as I became aware of this, I gently brought my mind back to the room and my deliciously soothing massage. Ah, such bliss.

I was also mindful with my sister as we were able both to give each other our full attention, without little munchkins tugging at her sleeve or distracting iPhones at the ready. And it was also lovely to laze on the hotel bar’s squishy, comfy sofa , enjoying a relaxing cuppa and chat before setting off back home.

A few hours on, and I’m still floating on cloud nine…

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being grateful, kind and mindful on Spa Monday.

Day 56: Walking barefoot

Being mindful while walking barefoot on my soul stroll:

To celebrate this glorious first day of October, I couldn’t resist going for a short soul stroll. And today I decided to slip off my fit flops and go barefoot.

I’ve always preferred to be shoeless, and have wanted to walk barefoot on the grassy part of my stroll for ages. But as it’s a popular spot for dog walkers and litterbugs, I’ve been too weary of stepping on something I’d rather not!

But today with the grass freshly cut, I could see what was ahead of me and decided to go for it.

And it felt wonderful. Really wonderful.

As I began, I found I was treading very cautiously and carefully scanning the ground for potential hazards. But with each step I grew in confidence and relaxed into my stroll.

It felt powerfully grounding, as my body connected with the earth.

Walking barefoot on soil, grass or sand is known as ‘earthing’. As the soles of our feet contain thousands of nerve endings, they are stimulated by the textures and temperature on the ground. Fascinating stuff.

And research suggests tons of health benefits including increasing anti-oxidants and reducing inflammation. Love it!

Plus, it’s tons of fun, and I felt truly alive and free!

When I lived by the beach in Australia, I used to walk barefoot on the sand every day. Now I’m living near the countryside, I’m intending to walk shoeless on the grass as often as the English weather allows. Even if I can just do a little barefoot walk around the garden in the coming colder months.

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being mindful while walking barefoot on the grass.

Day 55: Recuperate, recover and recharge

Being mindful of being gentle and kind with myself as I recuperate, recover and recharge:

The last few weeks have been pretty challenging for me, both physically and emotionally.

A few big social events, mixed with some emotional turbulence, and sprinkled with tensions at home, have triggered a flare up of my CFS symptoms.

It’s not surprisingly really.

I also lost my footing on my happy trail for a while. Thankfully I still looked for my happy, and have been writing in my gratitude journal, but I just haven’t felt like writing my ‘100 days of happy’ blog.

I felt myself spiralling down and letting old negative thought patterns resurface.

And that’s ok because life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and squiggly bits. But it’s how we respond to them that’s important.

As Oprah Winfrey asks: “Do you react to an obstacle as a negative, or do you embrace it as an opportunity to respond with the open-hearted knowledge that all will be well?”

So I’m giving myself permission to take as much time as I need to gently navigate my way through this and get myself back on track.

I’m focusing on being kind and gentle with myself. I’m calling on my healing tools to help get me through. And I know that this too shall pass and that all will be well.

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being mindful of being gentle and kind with myself as I recuperate, recover and recharge.

Day 54: Leaf rubbing fun

Being mindful by getting crafty with my nephews:

Today I bravely stepped into the unknown… craft time with both my young nephews, at the same time! As their mummy’s birthday is coming up, I thought it would be nice to make her birthday cards with them.

Trying to think of ideas that would engage their attention, I was inspired by photos of a dear friend leaf rubbing with her little girl. Aha I thought, the perfect idea to make craft time interactive and fun with my highly energetic nephews, and a great way to combine nature and art.

Ok, so here we go.

Step 1: Collecting leaves. Enlisting my mum as Chief Craft Assistant, we started off by taking a short stroll to find some fallen leaves. It was lovely to be outside with the boys and watch them joyfully running around looking for the “biggest leaves ever”. Needless to say, we all wandered home happily, little hands full of autumn leaves.

So far so good.

Step 2: Leaf rubbing fun. Not having done this since childhood, I had a sneaky test-run earlier in the day and thought I’d make a batch of ready-made art in case the boys didn’t want to do it. But thankfully, I didn’t need to use them as they loved it. Callum carefully placed the leaves onto the paper and got stuck in using the rainbow of crayons. Thomas was mesmerised by what happened when he coloured on the plain sheet of paper on top of the leaves. “It’s magic” he excitedly shouted out, as the delicate shapes, textures and vein structure of the leaves came through brightly and vividly.

Doing really well so far.

Step 3: Drawing around hands. One of Thomas’ favourite things to do is drawing round his hands, so this was a doddle. Getting him to stop was not so easy! Callum enjoyed it too. The boys watched in wonder as Auntie Helen cut out their colourful paper hands and stuck them onto the front of the cards.

Step 4: Adding words. For three-year-old Thomas’ card, I put a crayon in his hands and guided him to write “Happy Birthday Mummy, love Thomas”. As we drew the kisses, he sweetly blew a kiss to each ’X’. He then insisted we draw around his hand again inside the card, and also around his favourite car – which I had to draw wheels. headlights, and ALL the artwork on the car, including “lots of stars” and the number 88.

For six-year-old Callum’s card, he wanted to write the words himself. He asked me to write them out on a separate piece of paper so he could copy. When I asked what he wanted to write, he earnestly replied: “You are the best mummy.” Heart-melt moment. He also added: ”Happy Birthday Mummy, love Callum” and “Hope you have a nice day”. He then covered the inside of the card with lots of big kisses. It was extra heart-melty as Callum usually isn’t that interested in crafts, so it was special to see him putting so much care and attention into his writing.

And we have success!

We agreed to keep it a big secret and give their cards to mummy after dinner. During dinner, Callum whispered to me when were we going to give his card to mummy; he was so excited to give mummy his card, bless him.

Step 5: Presenting their creations. Carrying their artwork into the room hidden behind their little backs, they proudly gave mummy their handmade birthday cards. It was such a sweet moment and my sister seemed touched and promised to treasure them.

This crafty session with the boys turned out to be the BEST fun, not only for them but for me too. (And worth having to spend tomorrow in bed to recover!). It is one of my most favourite and most treasured times with my little nephews.

I also loved hearing that on their walk home later, as they passed the place where we’d picked the leaves, Thomas asked his daddy if they could stop and pick some more leaves… awwwww!

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being mindful by getting crafty with my nephews.

Day 53: Edo and Jo

Being grateful for the music and love of Edo and Jo:

I’m feeling deeply sad to have woken up to the news that Jo Mall Khan, half of the mantra music duo Edo and Jo, has left this earth following a recent cancer diagnosis.

Jo was such a bright shining light and gift to the world. I am so grateful to have been touched by her light, beauty and presence.

Her partner in both life and music Edo, has taken the time to share Jo’s illness and last precious moments so beautifully on their Facebook page. In her last few hours, Jo was surrounded by her loved ones chanting the sacred Sanskrit mantra Om Namo Narayani – meaning ‘I surrender to the divine’.

Their story and music has been such an inspiration to me.

They met on the beautiful island of Bali at a yoga retreat six years ago, and have been together sharing musical, yogic and humanitarian adventures ever since, dividing their time between Sydney, Bali and India.

The love they felt for each other was palpable (and still gives me hope!). And their music, their performances, and their dedication to conscious living and seva (selfless service) reflected this.

I first joined them for kirtan in a yoga studio in Manly, Sydney in 2011. As their beautiful melodic music filled the room, my heart filled with peace, joy and love.

Seeing them perform was always such a special love-filled experience. Jo’s angelic voice and divine flute playing, combined with their obvious devotion to each other, left me basking in bliss for days afterwards.

Shortly after hearing the news this morning, I took myself on a soul stroll as I wanted to reflect on Jo’s passing, and all the wonderful things she brought to my life and to others around the world.

I felt her presence all around: I felt her in the grass, the trees, the fallen leaves, the birdsong, the flowing brook, and the gentle breeze. And perhaps most of all, I felt her presence in the white feather that slowly fluttered down in front of me.

I’m feeling SOOOOOOOO grateful for the gift Edo and Jo have shared with the world. Their music and their love will continue to inspire me.

Om Namo Narayani ✨🙏✨

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being grateful for the music and love of Edo and Jo.

NB if you’d like to listen to some of their music, I suggest starting with Siddhi Buddhi (Bliss) and Gayatri

Day 52: Rose garden

Being kind by thanking a neighbour for their delightful rose garden:

On my walking meditations, I always look forward to passing a rose garden in my neighbourhood.

One particular day when I was feeling a little low in spirits, I took myself out for a soul stroll in the hope that it would make me feel better.

And it worked a treat.

I took my usual route through the trees and along the brook, but decided to take a different way back home using a cut-through.

As I came out onto the street, I walked straight into the heavenly sweet scent of roses coming from a delightful garden full of rose bushes.

With roses of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks abound, the garden was a joyful treat. It was absolutely glorious.

It literally stopped me in my tracks and reminded me of the expression: “Stop and smell the roses”. The perfect reminder to slow down and take the time to appreciate the beauty of life.

And I think of this every time I pass this blissful garden, and it always lifts my spirits.

So today I decided to thank the owners for their well cared for garden. I posted a Kindness Card through their letterbox with these words written on the back:

“Thank you for your delightful rose garden. I walk by most days and your colourful roses and their heavenly scent always lift my spirits.”

So with this in mind, my happy for today is being kind by thanking a neighbour for their rose garden.