I always feel like the beginning of a new year is kind of stressful. A lot goes on in the weeks leading up to the festive period and often training, or normal commitments don’t get the same commitment or attention they once did. Then you finish that year and reflect on all the things you achieved, that you didn’t achieve, things you learned, mistakes you made and how you can grow and improve this year. Then you look at the year ahead and start to look at goals. For me I have training camp at the end of January, then training, hopefully some snowboarding, then start racing and as I look at the season the time gets shorter and shorter and suddenly I feel stressed that I have so much to do in the year and so little time. It is true that as we get older time seems to go by more quickly. Maybe its that we consciously plan and look forward to things, or fill our time more effectively so that the time passes and before you know it it’s flown by. I don’t know exactly but it does leave me feeling stressed.

One gift I received for Christmas from my Mum was a book on Mindfulness for the athlete. She did take some time to talk to me about mindfulness later in the year…last year, but I’m grateful she was able to find something to follow up with thats specific to me. Mindfulness in something Ive heard more and more of recently and its actually super simple. Being mindful of your actions, thoughts, decisions, goals and dreams literally means just that. Thinking about what they entail, what that means to you, how it affects you, if it affects you, what impact will that have, etc. It really  only takes an increased conscious effort which to be honest we have lost in recent years of technological advancements. I don’t nee to think about where I’m going in the car, I plug it in to my phone and Siri tells me turn by turn where to go. Thats it put simply but one thing I’ve found useful is mindful eating. Before eating I think about what I’m eating and why Im eating it. My mum and sister take it to a whole other level which I won’t go into but for me just thinking of those two things helps me to be smarter about my nutrition and diet. If I know I have heavy training periods I include protein, fats and plenty fruit and veg, the more colorful the better! If I look at my plate and its all white, I think about what I could replace or add that would bring those colorful nutrients to the table, pardon the pun…

Now I am no expert but in October 2015 a mindfulness summit was held online. A free 31 day summit covering all mindfulness topics. I won’t explain any more than that but I would encourage you to visit the page by clicking on this link: The Mindfulness Summit registration is free and you can take your time to listen and watch experts in this field from all over the world.

I’m off to try and solidify a plan for this year and work on being less stressed 🙂

Thanks for reading

Lisa x