299. How to Unwind: Pack Your Passport to Unpack Your Mind

Aloha and welcome to our Summer Relax and Unwind Series! In this first one we hear from Debs who shares her top tips for shifting into holiday mode. 

Like a passport enabling us to transition from one land to another, she shares practical ways to help shift from work to relax mode. If all we are doing is lying there stressing about work, then what’s the point of taking a holiday! 

Ideal listen for anyone who’s feeling tightly wound and wants to unwind into full relaxation holiday mode. Set that Out Of Office in your mind and enjoy yourself.

Transcript

Summer Series Kickoff And Goal

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to the Secrets from a Coach Podcast. Reset, relax, and unwind with the summer series.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Dore. How are you? I am so excited to get into holiday mode. Oh, you and me both cannot wait. This is that moment. And what we are going to be covering in our exciting four-part focus looking at let's relax and unwind, get into summer mode. Whether you are listening to this and is summer where you are, what we hope is that this is four really practical episodes that help set us up to be able to have the best and most relaxing optimum time that that hard thought-for holiday time best experience that you can then have. And in our first one, Debs, we are going to look at what are some top tips that help us shift from one world into another. And of course, what do you need to be able to cross borders? You need your passport. So we are going to be looking at five top tips to help shift into holiday mode. And this is going to be from yourself, Deb. Then you're going to be from yourself. You're going to equip us with a passport that helps us transition smoothly from one world into another.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yes, I am. So um I hope you like my five top tips and you don't get stuck at border control.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I cannot wait. I'm just going to pour myself another drink and listen to your top tips. Guild free CPD.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Love it. Hi everyone, so we are delighted to bring you the summer relaxing unwind, and here are my five top tips to help you shift into that holiday mode to get passport ready. You can get through border control, but you need to get some of this stuff

Tip 1 Give Yourself Permission

SPEAKER_00 2:14

sorted. So my first tip is to give yourself permission to switch off. Your holiday starts when your mind does, not just when you arrive at whatever destination you're going to to have that break. So please try and resist the urge to check emails or keep one eye on work. Give yourself full permission to pause. One of the things we hear is that sometimes we go, well, I'll do some work in the morning and I'll log on quickly to see my emails because I don't want to come back to 300 of them or more. Um, but that doesn't actually help us relax. But because why does this matter? Why do we need to give give ourselves permission to switch off? Um, because rest actually isn't a reward for working hard, it's what helps you return with more energy, creativity, and perspective. So please give yourself permission to switch off. That's my first top tip.

Tip 2 Slow Your Pace

SPEAKER_00 3:13

My second top tip is to slow your pace when you're away, whether that's um just a couple of days off, whether it's two weeks, three weeks, whatever it is you're doing, um, just slow your pace down. Consciously think about how you're moving. We're so used to moving quickly from meeting to meeting, from one thing to another thing. Um, so I'm gonna encourage you to slow your pace. So wherever you're going, walk a little slower. Just take in what you can see around you, eat without rushing. How often do we like shovel food down us because we've got another meeting to go to, or we've got something else to do, we've got a child pickup, got to get out of the door, whatever it might be. So when you're having food, breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever it is you're having with yourself or your family or friends, whoever you're spending time with at this period at this time of the year, eat without rushing, take it all in, savour every moment. If you're gonna have you know your cup of coffee in the morning, sit with it, sit with your morning coffee and sit somewhere which is lovely if you can and watch the sunset instead of your screen. So, sunrise and sunset, it's amazing to see when it actually happens, when we do slow down, we notice so much more. So, why does this matter to us? Why does this help us? Because what it does is when we do slow our bodies down, our minds begin to catch up, allowing us to really truly recharge because that's what we've got to do. We've got to like plug ourselves back in and recharge ourselves. Like, we wouldn't actually let our mobiles probably run on empty or run on slow mode, or no, because we know when that's gonna happen, and we just plug it in, but we've got to do the same for ourselves as well. So that's my tip number two.

Tip 3 Be Fully Present

SPEAKER_00 5:04

My tip for um number three for this is to be fully present, um, to notice, really notice and be in the now, be in the moment with whatever it is you're doing. Notice those little moments that happen. Um, whether it's the laughter you're hearing around you, it could be the sea breeze, it could be the smell of fresh coffee, it can be the sound of bird song or animals that may be out in the wild if that's where you are, but making sure that you are noticing those little moments, be fully present in the moment, um, which means no distractions. So, not having your phone on, not having your earplugs in, just taking in and observing what's around you. And we always say that you know, sometimes to be fully present, we can practice having you know five things that you can see, four things that you can hear, three things that you can smell, two things that you can actually maybe touch, maybe, and one thing that you may be able to sort of just taste. I'd still believe that sometimes at the sea you can taste the sea sort. Maybe that's just me, but um, maybe thinking about the five, four, three, two, one. Um, so you can be fully present in that moment, and you know, laughter is the biggest thing. If you're out and about with friends, family, children, young people, whoever you're spending time with, if you're laughing, oh my god, that's the most infectious thing ever. So be fully present so you don't miss out on the things that matter. Because the the memories that we treasure most are usually made when we are paying attention, not multitasking. And we weren't always born to multitask, we're very good at doing one thing after the other after another super quickly. But when we're really truly paying attention to things, then we are fully present and in the moment. So give it a go and see what you notice.

Tip 4 Do What Fills You

SPEAKER_00 6:55

My tip number four: do more of what fills your cup, as we say. If it's something that you love to do, maybe it's reading a book, maybe it's taking a swim, maybe it's exploring something new, or it could be even having an afternoon nap. Um, so choose the joy of that without feeling any guilt, guilt-free all the way, because we need to make sure that we're topping ourselves up with the things that matter for us and making sure that we are looking after ourselves well as we sort of go through these next couple of weeks when we're sort of trying to unwind and relax through the summer or when we're just on holiday at any time of the year, but actually do those things that bring you joy, no guilt, it's a guilt-free zone. And why this matters is because by doing that, it really truly nourishes your soul. Um, and it's normally the things that you're too busy to do, normally to make the time for. So consciously do what you want to do, read that book, listen to that podcast, go for that swim, as we said, walk somewhere new, look around you, go back to that tip number three about fully present in the moment. And if it's things that nourish your soul and light you up, why would you not do more of that? So consciously find that thing and do more of it, is what I would encourage you to do.

Tip 5 Leave Space For Nothing

SPEAKER_00 8:18

My fifth and final tip is to leave a little space, um, and this is always an interesting one, and because not every moment has to be planned, not everything has to be religiously planned to the nth degree to the last minute, um, to have a you know a planned B, C, D, E, F. It's good to know what you would do if you've got an outdoor activity, it suddenly pours down with rain. Can you flip it to an indoor one? Obviously, have a think about some contingency plans, but not every single moment needs to be planned. So allow some room for spontaneity, um, making sure that you know you may go on an unexpected adventure, you may wake up one morning and go, let's get on a train and go somewhere we've never been before. Great, do it. Um, and then also simply doing nothing, leave a space if you can for doing nothing at all. Because again, sometimes the best moments happen when there is no agenda at all. And if you think if you're in the workspace, you have an agenda, if you've got um a timetable you're working to, if you're doing loads of activities with the people around you, that's planned in and that's you know, sort of keeps you in that structure, that routine. But sometimes when we're doing this relax and unwind, we just need to leave some space. And I would encourage you to think about what if I woke up tomorrow, what would I do that I haven't even even thought about the day before? And just come and do it. Um, and it's quite fun if you put some of those ideas into a jar, so write down what you'd love to do through the summer. Um, put it all in a jar, and then you just pick one out randomly, and whatever that one says, go and do it because it's a it's a great way, it's a great way to have fun, it's a great way to touch base because you know, overall your worth isn't measured by how busy you are. Yet a lot of the time that's where we are operating from. So, my encouragement is for this time when you are taking that rest, you are unwinding and relaxing this summer. Let yourself rest, recharge, and remember who you are when life isn't rushing you along. Because that's the bit that will connect you with you, you, your soul. You'll you'll be happier in a in that space, in that moment to be able to do that. So remember, it's not about being busy, it's about being present and being you and knowing what it is that brings you light into your life. Fill that with that, you know, with that type of thing as you go through the next couple of weeks, and may you have a great time as well. So I hope these five tips have helped. I hope you are passport ready and I will enable you to go through any border that you wish to go to because you are getting ready and you're absolutely on it. So I hope they helped, and I look forward to seeing any feedback that you did. Which ones did you try? Which one did you love? Um, and how did it feel to maybe either leave a little space, do more of what fills your cup up, be fully present in the moment, slow your pace down, and give yourself permission to switch off, most importantly. So have fun.

Call To Action And Share

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Debs, I do love hearing your practical, holistic take on how to uh navigate our way through this ever-evolving world of work. And you know, what is the point of work that people have different things that drive them and different reasons for needing to work or wherever stage you're at, but actually being able to maximize and enjoy your leisure time and your holiday time is so key. So, thank you so much for sharing those. Pleasure. All those ones you shared, Debs, what would be your call to action?

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Oh, I think my call to action would definitely be to make sure you create a little bit of space for yourself and you are because it's not a time to be measured how busy you are, it's just a time to just take that moment and be going, right, recharge, remember who I am, remember what's important, and um, yeah, don't let life rush you.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Love that. So, share the secret. Do you have a friend or a colleague who already has said to you, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to switch off over holiday, I've just got so much going on. Get them to listen to this because it's not even the quantity of holiday time, is it? It's that quality of time to be able to reset and refresh.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yeah, definitely. Oh, that's so cool. I really agree with you on that one, Laura. So, oh my goodness, I'm looking forward to our next one as well because um, yeah, we're hearing from someone else, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Absolutely, and at that point, we're gonna look at how not to get sunburnt mentally when you are there in holiday mode. So looking forward to that. In the meantime, Debs, enjoy that sundowner. Yes, I will do.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Enjoy you too. Love you.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Love you. Bye.

How To Stay Connected

SPEAKER_01 13:23

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