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Practising Yoga: Combining Mindfulness and Fitness for Healthier Living

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We’ve all been there – you want to keep fit but don’t know where to start. Before you plan out your intensive fitness regime, why not try yoga? 

Practising yoga is a great way to work on your flexibility and strength in a relaxing way. The blend of fitness and mindfulness in yoga can be a great antidote to your hectic lifestyle that leaves little time for exercise. 

What is yoga? 

Yoga is an ancient practice that improves physical and mental wellbeing through body postures and controlled breathing exercises. 

Yoga is good for beginners because it is not too complicated – with help from a fitness coach, people of all ages and fitness levels can accomplish basic yoga poses and stretches. 

This low-impact exercise is especially beneficial for people who have chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. A study found that yoga helped lower the pulse rate and blood pressure of participants that practised yoga for five years. 

There are many forms of yoga practices that vary in intensity – from physically tough to less vigorous. 

Here are a few different types of yoga workouts: 

For a physically tough workout that improves muscle tone, try Power and Ashtanga. 

Power: A fast, high-intensity yoga practice that builds muscle. 

Ashtanga: Yoga that uses a special breathing technique to help move into a series of poses. 

For a less vigorous workout that benefits strength and endurance, try Hatha and Iyengar. 

Hatha: The most common type of yoga, which combines a series of basic movements with breathing. 

Iyengar: Helps the body move into proper alignment by utilising items such as blocks and straps. 

Some types of yoga concentrate on relaxation while others focus on movement. But all forms of yoga create a total mind-body workout that incorporates yoga poses with breathing exercises. 

How does yoga help with mindfulness and fitness? 

For the body (fitness): 

  • Develop flexibility: By stretching your muscles, yoga enables you to move better and increase your range of motion. Bending your body can also help you feel less stiff and tired. 
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For the mind (mindfulness): 

  • Boost mood: Consistent yoga practice helps improve circulation in the endocrine glands, regulating hormones that play a pivotal role in managing your mood. This can help alleviate symptoms of depression. 
  • Helps with relaxation: By engaging with meditation, yoga helps calm your mind. Your attention is directed to sensations, thoughts and emotions that accompany a particular pose. This awareness helps you stick to the present moment and disengage from negative thoughts. 

So if you’re looking to improve your fitness mindfully, yoga could be the solution for you. Just practising 15-30 minutes of yoga every day can bring physiological and psychological benefits that will contribute towards healthier living. 

Interested in mindfulness and fitness? A dedicated life coach at Ceed is here to help you strive towards a healthier lifestyle. 

The Impact of Screen Addiction on Health and Wellbeing

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to spend a lot of their time online. 

According to the Online Nation report by Ofcom, the average time UK adults spend online has increased – from under three and a half hours in September 2019 to four hours at the height of lockdown in April 2020. 

While many people are able to manage their time online, others have harboured feelings of dependency towards technology, and may have become addicted to their devices. 

What is screen addiction? 

Screen addiction is a group of negative behaviours that arise when people use too much technology, with these actions negatively impacting their life. 

Unsurprisingly, around 90% of adults own a smartphone, with approximately 95% of these phones being used daily. Smartphones, alongside other digital devices, have become integral to people’s lives in recent decades. 

Most people need the internet to work, study and socialise. So while using technology is not inherently bad, the focus is on how these screens are being used, and whether technology becomes an obstacle towards healthier living. 

How do you know whether you are addicted to screens? 

The three behaviours that help identify addiction – craving, tolerance and withdrawal – can help understand the compulsion that underlies screen addiction. 

  • Craving is a powerful desire for something. For screen addiction, consistently choosing screens over other activities would be an example of a craving. 
  • Tolerance is the amount of something needed to satisfy your craving. Screen addiction increases your tolerance, which means spending hours in front of screens to achieve the same fulfilment as before. 
  • Withdrawal is resistance when something is being taken away, bringing feelings of anger and agitation. Without devices, a person who has a screen addiction can become irritable and upset. 

Looking at these behaviours, screen addiction can be difficult to stop because negative feelings that emerge at the withdrawal stage can only be remedied by using technology – giving in to the craving and repeating the addictive process over again. 

This cycle becomes extremely hard to break. While 47% of smartphone users have tried to limit their usage, only 30% felt they were successful. 

Over time, a screen addiction can take over a person’s life, and when it becomes impossible to control, they are diagnosed with internet addiction disorder (IAD). 

What are the effects of screen addiction on physical and mental health?  

For adults, screen addiction can lead to: 

  • Physical strain – Constantly looking at a screen for long periods without rest can cause digital eye strain. Symptoms include headaches, blurry vision as well as neck and shoulder pain. 
  • Sleep deprivation – Screens disrupts sleep because the blue light emitted from digital devices suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep at night. 
  • Increased risk towards chronic health conditions – Spending time online often involves sitting, depriving yourself of being physically active. Continuous sitting can contribute to health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. 
  • Lower self-esteem – Being addicted to screens can negatively alter how you perceive yourself, weakening your self-identity and confidence. Low self-esteem can lead to mental health illnesses such as depression and anxiety. 

Screen addiction negatively impacts physical and mental health in the long term. A 2011 study found that among young adults, high mobile phone use was associated with sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression. 

With technology companies designing products and services that exasperate online cravings, it might seem impossible to stop your addiction to screens. 

Here are some ways to combat screen addiction: 

Take control of your time by: 

  • Setting up a specific time in the day to look at screens for pleasure, specifying a time limit so you can move onto another activity. 
  • Creating no-tech periods throughout the day restricts your access to any digital devices. 
  • Taking part in more offline activities, or even spending time doing nothing, can reinvigorate your body and mind. 

Make your digital devices less of a distraction by: 

  • Sorting through mobile apps that appear on your phone. Organise your home screen by clearing out apps you don’t need and disabling certain apps you use too much. 
  • Turning off all but necessary notifications deters you from checking your phone constantly. 
  • Changing your phone display to grayscale removes eye-catching colours that will trigger your brain’s reward system. 
  • Charging your digital devices outside your bedroom stops you from scrolling through your phone right before you go to sleep. 

On average, people pick up their phones 58 times a day. While you may have had a reason to check your phone initially, after a while, you end up mindlessly using your phone without realising. 

Screen addiction starts through a simple bad habit like this. By taking control of your screen time, technology will become an asset rather than a hindrance in your life moving forwards. 

At Ceed, your tailored life coach will help you become proactive in managing your screen time. Visit our website to find out more. 

Why Businesses Should Implement Digital Wellbeing in the Workplace

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There has been a strong drive by companies to digitise the world of work, yet many employees are struggling to cope with this drastic change. 

According to the 2018 Gallup study, about two-thirds of full-time workers experience burnout on the job. These employees who feel burnout are more likely to take sick days and look for a job elsewhere due to low confidence at work. 

So what can be done to keep workers productive in the digital workplace while avoiding burnout? One solution is to focus on the digital wellbeing of employees. 

What is digital wellbeing? 

Digital wellbeing looks at the impact of technology on people’s physical and mental health. 

Many employees use technology to get their work done. Therefore it is important to look closely at the technology being used at work, as it has a big part to play in the productivity of employees on a day-to-day basis. 

While digitising work has brought countless benefits, it can also act as a hindrance. 

Digitising work has led to three common issues: 

  1. Notifications disrupting focus: Productivity decreases as employees get inundated with emails and messages while trying to concentrate on their work. 


    According to a study, people in interrupted conditions experienced higher workload and frustration, more stress and time pressure, as well as increased effort to complete their work. So while interrupted work forced people to work quickly, this comes at a cost to workers’ health. 

  1. Working past set hours: Being perpetually connected has resulted in workers receiving responses outside working hours. This robs employees of downtime to recharge, but it also disrupts work-life balance as people are forced to continue working outside their working hours. 


    A 2019 guide by Quartz Insights and Citrix found that 67% of respondents believed being “always-on” had a significant negative impact on their health and wellbeing. 

  1. Increasing digital fatigue: The constant use of technology can push people to become mentally exhausted and demotivated to carry on working. 


    Conducted during the UK national lockdown in 2020, a study found out that remote working generally led to increased tiredness and longer recovery time for employees compared to in-person office work. 

Why should businesses consider the digital wellbeing of their workforce? 

Digital wellbeing can generate solutions to problems that arise in the digital workplace. Workers can mitigate constant notifications that disrupt their workflow and act as a barrier towards productivity. 

Businesses can acknowledge that working hours have expanded, and through digital wellbeing, initiatives can be put into place to stabilise the work-life balance of employees. 

The physical and mental discomfort of working digitally can be alleviated with digital wellbeing, so employees can perform at the best of their ability. 

If unmanaged, these problems will grow until employees experience burnout and step away from the workplace, forcing productivity to a halt. 

How can your business implement digital wellbeing in the workplace? 

To keep employees focused: 

To avoid employees working beyond certain hours: 

  • Establish core hours for employees to be available. Advise colleagues not to contact others outside these hours unless it’s an urgent matter. 
  • Encourage workers to set additional small breaks. Time away from the screen to move around will be beneficial for both people’s physical and mental health. 
  • Create a hybrid workplace. With flexible work arrangements, colleagues can choose to spend some of their time in an office. Leaving the office alleviates the pressure to carry on working outside working hours. 

To reduce digital fatigue: 

  • Give colleagues adequate time to recover. Respect health issues that arise while working digitally and provide support by giving workers time to destress. 
  • Set up wellbeing programs. Refer employees to wellbeing initiatives – such as gym memberships, mindfulness sessions and life coaching at Ceed – so they can manage their physical and mental health. 

Employers should make it a priority for employees to be healthy whilst working at their company. Leveraging technology through digital wellbeing will create a satisfied and productive workforce ready to excel at their work. 

Thinking about digital wellbeing for your business? At Ceed, we are here to support your business so it succeeds in the digital workplace. Check out our website to learn more. 

Why Tracking Your Progress Is Important

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Setting aside that largest and most important assignment to the last minute, whether it be in the workplace or at school, doesn’t sound like a biggie when you are keeping yourself occupied with other small, mundane tasks. You’re still being productive with your time, right? 

Wrong. Due date looms and you’re scrambling to complete that assignment, relinquishing the fact that you clearly underestimated the time and effort needed to finish it. 

Staying committed to what matters most can be difficult when presented with a variety of tedious tasks throughout the day. 

But, how can you change this?

Small tasks that can be easily ticked off the to-do list give us that immediate but temporary buzz of satisfaction, and the pleasure of this tends to signal that we are being productive (which is not necessarily true!). 

Don’t get us wrong, small wins are certainly motivating and shouldn’t be discredited – however, completion bias – where the brain specifically seeks the hit of dopamine one gets from completing a task – can deter us from striving for the completion of larger, more important tasks. 

Smaller, quicker tasks to complete = more frequent doses of dopamine, and so the completion bias tends to nudge us towards easy-to-complete tasks, leaving the larger and more difficult tasks missing a tick off from the to-do list.  

So how do you not let the completion bias deter you from important, meaningful work? 

You should set out a method that acknowledges your progress. 

“Most of us make advances small and large every single day, but we fail to notice them because we lack a method for acknowledging our progress. This is a huge loss.”

Teresa Amabile 

Plan Your Progress To Stay Purposeful 

“It’s important to know your priorities… that may sound obvious but it’s amazing how many people don’t identify their top three to five priorities — or fail to change how they structure their workdays when priorities change”

Gino and Staats

Making plans and tracking progress is incredibly important for productivity.  

Acknowledging both what you have done (progress) and what you are doing (plan) enables you to reflect on your effort and to have more insight into the value you are creating. This naturally makes you more purposeful and mindful about the work you do.  

When you don’t set in place methods for tracking progress, you lose the ability to set meaningful, effective goals – your days instead end up being filled with meaningless work. 

Minimising context-switching of the brain with smaller tasks and being more thoughtful in what one does correlates with an increase in the completion of higher utility tasks and allows one to dive deeper in the notion of ‘quality over quantity’ – deterring us from the cons of the completion bias.  

Ways To Keep Track Of Your Progress 

  • Break up large tasks into smaller chunks: By doing this, you can reek in the frequent buzz of satisfaction achieved from completing smaller chunks which can act as massive motivators and push you towards fully completing the large task.   
  • Establish regular and consistent reviews: Installing weekly or monthly reviews to reflect on the busy work life can help ensure that “what matters most” is kept top of mind. Highs and lows of the workweek can be contemplated to ensure that improvements are made in the future.  
  • Set smaller daily quotas: Finishing the day with 80% of the work still ahead of you can be disheartening – start each day with a brand new daily quota that can be achieved as a forward motion.  
  • Use Ceed to track progress on specific goals and projects: Ceed can help you achieve your long-term goals by supporting you on a day-to-day basis. Through the app, Ceed checks up on you every day to make sure you stay focused on your personal goals and desired habits.  

Ultimately, staying committed to what matters most relies on the valuable insight of your progress, where one can plan the development of purposeful work. Without this methodology, completion bias can detain us from working on large, important tasks and instead propel us towards smaller, easy-to-complete tasks.  

Benefits Of Smaller Classrooms: Applying Coaching Principles

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Classrooms at school have boomed to their largest size for nearly 20 years. Recent data suggests that the average class size is 24.6, yet hundreds of thousands of children are being taught in classes of more than 30 students. How can a student expect to learn effectively in this environment? 

Whilst there is an incentive for policy-makers to increase class sizes in order to control spending on education, the drawbacks on individual learning are prominent. 

The major reason why a smaller classroom is beneficial? Teachers can take on the role of a coach which facilitates personal development and specialised learning techniques for the student. 

Teaching vs Coaching – What’s The Difference? 

It is important to understand that there is a difference between teaching and coaching in the classroom. 

The line between the two is created by the relationship the teacher has with the student.  

Teaching is the imparting of new knowledge onto someone who is in the position to learn, or is instructing someone as to how to do something.  

It is merely presenting knowledge by taking charge of the interaction. 

Coaching uses purpose-led techniques in the classroom to really understand and guide the student with individual attention to understand his/her educational needs and create change.  

Coaching presents knowledge by levelling the interaction to a humanistic connection. Through conversations lead by support and guidance, coaches extract mindful answers so that they can observe how and what the students learn. Coaches can then re-evaluate the teaching approach to provide a more refined experience for the student. 

Coaches Can’t Coach The Masses 

A teacher can impart knowledge and present information onto the masses, however this presentation is unmodified on a personal stance to give preference to any  student. 

Coaching is centred around the student, and so teacher’s cannot adopt coaching principles in a larger classroom where it becomes hard for that individual to divide his or her attention and guide each student individually.  

Therefore, teachers can only apply coaching principles in smaller classrooms.  

The Benefits Of Coaching A Smaller Classroom 

“Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.” 

– Atul Gawande, Personal Best, The New Yorker 

Here are some reasons as to why a student can benefit from learning in a smaller classroom, where teachers can apply coaching principles: 

  • More attention from the teacher: In a smaller classroom, teachers will have more of an opportunity to get to know each of their students better, can assess the best way in which they work and guide them towards improving on their weaknesses.  
  • More efficient learning: Teachers can assess the student’s particular needs and can develop a teaching approach that facilitates more efficient learning for the individual. This in turn results in better academic results. 
  • More feedback: Teachers will have more time to individualize the class’ feedback, where students can reflect on their progress and make the required changes to improve on their weaknesses.  
  • More confidence: In a smaller size classroom, students feel more confident to participate, helping to strengthen the engagement and relationship between the student and teacher. 

Ultimately, a smaller classroom enables teachers to apply coaching principles, whereby every student receives an individualised learning experience through personal communication and support.  

This in turn results in more efficient learning and better academic results. 

With Ceed, we provide everyone within your educational institution a coaching experience so that they become better learners and teachers. 

How to Set Up and Maintain your Student Budget

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The day has finally come! Money has been paid into your student bank account and you’re ready to start spending. 

But before you make your first purchase, it may be worth figuring out how to manage your student budget. According to the 2020 Student Money Survey, 71% of students worry about making ends meet while living on their student budget. 

Preparing your student budget in advance will reduce financial stress by ensuring you have enough money to live off by the end of term. 

What do you need to consider when setting up a student budget?

 

First, you need to figure out how much money you’re being paid – this can include your maintenance loan, bursaries, and money from a part-time job. 

Then you should roughly estimate how much money you’re going to spend. On average, students spend around £795/month (or £183/week) on living costs, with rent taking up the largest chunk of that spending. Therefore it would be beneficial to reserve your money for larger payments – such as rent, utility bills and transport – so you’re not left with a gaping hole in your pocket!

From the money you have left, calculate your weekly budget. Most will go towards essential expenses like food shopping and textbooks, but some money will be left over for activities including nights out and takeaways. 

So now that you have crafted your student budget, you need to monitor your spending regularly so that it matches your weekly allowance. 

Ways to keep track of your student budget: 

  • Checking your online banking account will simply give you a clear breakdown of your daily spending. 
  • Keeping a journal of your expenses will ensure you have a record on hand to immediately look back to. 
  • Creating a student budgeting spreadsheet can calculate which areas you’re overspending or underspending. 

If you manage to spend less than your weekly budget, congrats! This money can either roll over onto the next week, be saved, or be spent at a later date. 

If you spend more than your weekly budget, then it may be worth looking closely at your spending and setting some goals to help you spend less. 

Here are some tips that can help you maintain your student budget: 

TIP 1: Student discount. There are a variety of discounts available for students at a wide range of shops. Deals such as the 16-25 Railcard and Amazon Prime Student can save you a lot of money over time. 

TIP 2: Earn money. There are several ways of earning money whilst studying at university, such as a part-time job. But, if you don’t have a lot of time to spare then reselling textbooks and clothes you no longer need can give you a little bit of extra money to spend. 

TIP 3: Direct debit trick. As you can only spend what you have access to, the trick involves moving your money into a separate bank account (or a parent’s account) and setting up a recurring payment that transfers your weekly budget into your student account. This prevents you from spending over your allowance. 

TIP 4: Take out cash. When it comes to non-essential expenses (a night out in particular), taking out a set amount of cash can be an effective way to limit your spending. Nobody likes that dreaded moment the morning after a night-out when you check your bank account. Setting yourself a specific, physical limit can prevent you from losing money through reckless spending!

For most people, a student budget will be the first time they’re required to practise money management in their daily life. Understanding how to create and maintain a student budget that works for you will be a valuable skill to use in the future! 

Ceed is here to help students with money management – a life coach can provide advice on ways to improve your student budget. 

Why Managers Should Move Towards The Role Of A Coach

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The COVID-19 pandemic has presented disruption and uncertainty in the workplace, and managers simply cannot be expected to have all the answers during this unforeseen crisis. 

Command-and-control practices of management seem increasingly archaic and don’t function in the modern era. A management style that bases its success principles on what worked best in the past can no longer be used as a guide to what will work best in the future.  

Therefore, managers need to adjust their leadership style to a more flexible and adaptive model that facilitates problem-solving in a constantly changing environment.  

The best way to adjust? Managers should begin to adhere to a coaching model that puts the well-being and support of employees at centre-heart.  

What Is Command-And-Control? 

Command-and-control is an authoritative style of leadership where instructions are given through a top-down approach that adhere to procedural standards of the organisation – these standards have been developed in order to reproduce the businesses’ previous successes. 

Whilst there are benefits to this approach such as standardising products and services, facilitating quality control and achieving goals quickly, the draw-backs are much more prevalent on lower level employees. 

Command-and-control management limits the autonomy of employees to come up with creative and innovative ideas, contributing to frustration and a lack of motivation in a hierarchical system. 

It also contributes to slower responses when faced with challenges, since the management style is based on rigidity and regularity that limits the ability to adapt quickly.  

Therefore, companies should no longer base their leadership style on command-and-control due to lack of creative input and motivation from employees. 

Instead, managers should move towards the role of a coach.  

A Manager As A Coach 

To cope with the ever changing realities of modern times, companies are moving towards a management style that encourages employee input and innovation – a people-centred coaching style.  

Communication and collaboration is a vital component of a coaching style of leadership, in which managers give encouragement, support and guidance rather than instructions.  

The Benefits Of A Coaching Style Of Management: 

  • More Efficient Workforce: Research shows that coaching leads to better engagement, higher productivity, and enhanced customer service. 
  • Build Morale: Abolishing a rigid system of hierarchy and instead allowing for communication and collaboration flourish throughout the company builds morale and enables every member to feel included and valued – this in turn leads to a lower turnover rate of staff. 
  • Increased Innovation: Alongside the manager’s support and guidance, control is relinquished to employees so that workers have more scope for their creative input heard and taken on board. 
  • Quicker Shared Solutions: As problems arise for the company, a collaboration of many minds of workers will result in quicker problem solving and more efficient solutions. 
  • Increased Collaboration: Employees of all levels are granted the opportunity to discuss problems and bounce ideas off of one another, building trust across departments. 

Ultimately, the pandemic has brought and will continue to bring drastic change in the way we work, and consequently companies have embarked on a major process of organisational change.  

This organisational change must adopt a continuous form of on-the-job development, and the best way they can do this is by adopting a coaching style of leadership. 

Ceed can provide the toolkit for managers to succeed in their coaching leadership, helping improve productivity and motivation within your business. 

How to Build Effective Short-term and Long-term Goals

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Everybody has dreams and aspirations – in both their personal and professional lives – yet many people struggle to create goals and stick to them. 

Meanwhile, others have remained ambitious and seen their goals through. You’re probably wondering, what’s the key to their success? 

Before we answer this question, we need to establish the difference between short-term and long-term goals. 

Short-term vs. long-term goals 

A short-term goal is a goal you want to achieve in the immediate future (less than 12 months). 

E.g. saving money on a weekly basis 

A long-term goal is something you want to accomplish in the distant future (12 months or more). 

E.g. buying your dream home 

The distinction between short-term and long-term goals is important because short-term goals can become part of a long-term goal. 

Using our examples from above, saving money on a weekly basis would be a productive step towards buying your dream home because you will build up your savings. 

Now that we know the distinction, we need to create a system that helps us build towards our goals, both in the short-term and long-term. 

So how can you build effective short-term and long-term goals? 

For Short-Term Goals

Set SMARTER goals – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely, evaluate, readjust. 

Specific: Your goal needs to be precise so that you know how to complete your objective. Think about what you want to achieve and how to achieve this. 

Measurable: By creating a quantifiable goal, you are creating a timeline for your progress, helping you achieve this goal. A measurable goal helps you notice when you haven’t been completing your target. 

Achievable: Your goal needs to be feasible to complete in a given timeframe. Set your goal just big enough to push yourself into reaching your goal. 

Relevant: Each goal should ideally have a reason behind it that makes it worthwhile. Consider whether this goal links with a long-term goal you want to accomplish in the future. 

Timely: Your goal must be time-bound – with a start date and a deadline – so there is a sense of urgency that will motivate you to complete your goal. 

Evaluate: Continuously evaluate your goal along the way – whether daily, weekly or monthly – so that you stay focused up until the end. Once you have completed your goal, evaluate your overall performance by thinking about what worked well and what went wrong. Take this insight into the next goal you set for yourself. 

Readjust: If you keep encountering problems, stop and readjust, so you can move forward and achieve your goal. 

This framework originated from the acronym SMART. Coined by George T. Doran in his 1981 paper, ‘There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives’, he suggests that creating business management objectives based on these five areas will bring management excellence to an organisation. 

So if this works in a business environment, why not expand this thinking to other areas of our life, so we can “manage” our own goals? 

An example of a SMARTER short-term goal would be: 

I will set up my WFH (Work From Home) office space over the weekend before I start my new job. 

Specific – The goal of setting up an office space is well-defined. 

Measurable – The goal can be measured through completing smaller tasks: picking a location in the house, clearing the space of unnecessary items etc. 

Achievable – The goal can realistically be completed before the new job starts. 

Relevant – The goal must be completed because the new job is a remote position. 

Timely – The goal will be completed over the weekend. 

Evaluate – The goal can be evaluated after completing each of the smaller tasks. 

Readjust – The goal can be readjusted if any issues arise. 

If the SMARTER method is ideal for a short-term goal, how can you prepare for long-term goals? 

For Long-Term Goals

  1. Prioritise 

Long-term goals require a lot of time and planning. Therefore, it can be beneficial to prioritise your goals before deciding which goal to pursue. 

Prioritisation is the act of deciding what is most important to you right now.1 

By making this choice, you can focus all your time and energy on a particular goal. 

  1. Research 

Spend some time researching, speaking to a life coach or other people about your goal, so you understand how to progress through your goal. 

Research allows you to prepare for any potential setbacks that may occur along the way. 

  1. Plan 

To create a detailed plan, break down your long-term goal into a series of short-term goals, so you can visualise what steps to take to reach your goal. 

Keeping a record of this plan – in a journal or on an online document – will give you the flexibility to alter your plan if something changes!

To answer our question from earlier, building effective goals requires a lot of preparation beforehand – in both research and planning – so that when you feel demotivated and close to giving up, there is a plan to fall back onto when things get tough. 

If you need more guidance in building successful goals, Ceed can help you – a life coach will be on hand to help you set up your goals for success. 

Practising Mindfulness in Nature: Sticking to the Present Moment

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The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS), published in 2001, found that people spend 87% of their time indoors. This figure is likely to have increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced people across the world to stay at home. 

Having spent so much time indoors, it can sometimes be tough practising mindfulness at home, surrounded by distractions that pull you out of the present moment. 

A good way of eliminating these distractions is to practice mindfulness exercises outdoors in nature. 

What is nature-based mindfulness? 

Whilst mindfulness isn’t tied to a particular setting, nature-based mindfulness allows you to gain awareness of the present moment in a natural environment. 

Spending time in nature can be a calming and energizing experience. Activities such as sitting in a garden or taking a walk can help clear your mind from the stresses of modern life. 

The peaceful atmosphere that nature provides means that there will be fewer distractions that get in the way of you being mindful. 

But why is nature so important when it comes to mindfulness? 

While you can practice mindfulness anywhere, being outdoors provides a vital change in scenery from being indoors, which can help stimulate the senses as you experience new things. 

Nature facilitates mindfulness meditation because nature itself exists in the present. By being in the present moment alongside nature, you establish your deep connection to nature. 

By being surrounded by nature, you recognise that you are a part of it! This can help slow down your thoughts and cleanse negative emotions from your mind. 

Not only will the outdoors benefit your state of mind, but also your physical wellbeing as you breathe fresh air and move around to re–energise your mind and body. 

In essence, nature can be useful for mindfulness because nature provides a space for you to engage with the three key characteristics of mindfulness: 

  • Intention to cultivate awareness 
  • Attention to what is occurring in the present moment 
  • Attitude that is non-judgemental, curious and kind 

Research into nature and mindfulness: 

There has been extensive research into the benefits of nature to our health and wellbeing. 

A 2018 article ‘Mindfulness and Nature’, mentions how nature supports both mind and body through balancing our emotions as well as our bodily functions and organs. This is presented through various studies, as activities such as touching wood or looking at a picture of roses for three minutes can stimulate beneficial physiological responses from the body. 

Exploring mood and connectedness in three different settings (outdoors, outdoors with mindfulness or indoors), a study found that mindfulness meditation in nature can be beneficial to reducing negative mood and strengthening the connection people have with their natural environment.  

A review that focused on nature-based mindfulness noticed overall positive effects of mindfulness training in an outdoor natural setting, with informal mindfulness in forests/wild nature showing a slight increase in positive health outcomes. 

If you are interested in improving your physiological and mental wellbeing through nature-based mindfulness, here are a few activities to help get you started. 

4 nature-based mindfulness activities to try out: 

  1. Sitting in a natural environment. This is a widely-known practice when it comes to nature-based mindfulness. Immersing yourself in the sensory experiences of nature can help rebalance your emotions.

  1. Walking in a natural environment. Taking a leisurely outdoors can take you on a physical journey while your mind explores active awareness. A popular mindfulness meditation that involves walking in nature is shinrin-yoku (also known as forest bathing). 

  1. Observing nature. Rather than focusing on a single aspect, take a panoramic view of the natural environment you are looking at. By taking in everything that makes up nature, you can ask questions about the natural world and your place within it. 

  1. Mentally constructing an image of nature. If you are unable to go outdoors, an alternative activity is to visualise nature in your head. For example, picture a rainforest. As you breathe in and out, continue adding small details to enrich your image, enhancing your mindful meditation. 

Nature-based mindfulness can be a transformative way of approaching meditation. If you find it difficult to reach awareness in indoor settings, seek a natural environment where you can practice your mindful exercises in peace with no distractions. 

Let Ceed assist you with mindfulness! Your personal life coach will help you unlock a deeper level of consciousness in everything you do. 

Goal setting: Striving for Achievable yet Challenging Goals

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Let’s imagine you’ve established a good system that has helped you complete a wide range of goals. For certain simple goals, this system might hold up! 

But when it comes to goals that really challenge you, this system goes into disarray. You’ve tried and tried again, but nothing seems to help motivate you. 

A great way of managing a challenging goal is through goal setting. 

What is goal setting? 

In psychology, goal setting refers to a successful plan of action that we set for ourselves. 

Think of goal setting as a roadmap. 

In order to reach your destination, you need to consider how you’re going to get there – what roads to follow and how long it will take – but you also need to be aware of roadblocks that will impact your ability to complete this journey. 

Relating this roadmap back to goal setting – by creating a successful plan of action, you gain a better understanding of how to motivate yourself towards your goal. You’ll have considered what steps to take, how long each will take and how to effectively complete these steps. 

It’s important to note that this plan is not set in stone. 

When something unexpectedly goes wrong, changes can be made to your plan to set yourself back on track. Considering alternative plans when moving towards your goal could be useful if things don’t work out the way you’d expected. 

A study by Locke and Latham (1981) found that in ‘90% of their studies, specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy goals, “do your best” goals, or no goals’ at all. 

Seeing the success of goal setting on specific and challenging goals suggests that it’s worth trying out. 

But how does goal setting help you achieve your challenging goals? 

  1. Goal setting helps keep track of your goals. By monitoring the progress of your goal – using the Ceed app or a bullet journal – you will feel a sense of accomplishment by ticking off a task and relief that you are one step closer to completing your goal. 
  1. Goal setting creates accountability. By creating a plan, you hold yourself accountable for acting on your goal. If this doesn’t work, speak to another person – a Ceed life coach or a friend – that can keep you motivated to stick to your plan and succeed. 
  1. Goal setting enables rewards & feedback. By setting up opportunities to receive feedback and rewards for your achievements, you will feel fulfilled as you gain something for your efforts along the way. 

By making goal setting a personal habit, you gain a greater perspective of your progress, and as you visualise your end goal, it becomes easier to advance towards it. 

Become accountable for your goals at Ceed – by using our tested methodology, you can perform at your best, every single day. 

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