How are you all?  How are you coping with the ongoing lockdown situation, do you feel anxious about it all?  I am surprisingly okay, I am getting bored and I am keen to start going out now, I'd love to sit in a pub garden or go for a walk along the South Bank in London. I am also missing time to myself and a quiet house.  Too many bodies passing through at the moment, and a lack of routine!  But I need to remember to be kind to myself and remind myself I am doing a good job and it is okay to take some time out for me.

Remember back in February, before we knew what was about to hit us, there was a lot of talk about how important it is to Be Kind following the sad death of Caroline Flack?  Well, Mental Health Awareness Week (18 to 24 May 2020) is hosted by the Mental Health Foundation and their chosen focus this year is Kindness.

To save lives and protect the NHS, we must all stay at home - but there are positives in all of this!  I have been a stay at home mum for the last 22 years, with the exception of setting up and running the admin and bookkeeping for our family business and my ongoing role as a company director for our business.  But generally I love to be at home, I have never needed to go out every day and I didn't miss the corporate office environment at all.  Of course I don't have young children any longer, I am not sure I'd have coped if I needed to home educate?  My son was never the most willing academic participant!

So overall putting aside the huge health, economic and social impact of our current situation, for me personally I am not in panic mode.  I don't need to make any big changes to my day to day life.  My son is working from home, my daughter is back from uni and my husband is understandably worrying about business.  And I can't just nip to the shops or meet a friend for coffee.  But I am accepting of the situation, I am frustrated that there are big groups of the population not accepting it though, putting the rest of us at risk.  Like everyone, I am really worried about my immediate family, my extended family and my elderly parents.

Obviously I am no expert but I thought I'd share the supplements that I take to support me in midlife, I try not to take too many or rely on them when I should be eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and exercising regularly.  But I don't think there is any harm in giving nature a bit support.].  Plus with all the drama of coronavirus I think a few of us are thinking some immune system support wouldn't go amiss.

When choosing supplements choose the best quality not the cheapest.  I personally don't recommend buying from the supermarket for example.  Find a really good independent health food shop or ask a nutritionist for some specific advice.  Or speak to one of the online retailers that offer a helpline, they will advise on dosage, interactions with any prescription medication and make suggestions based on your individual needs.

I've just completed a five-week healthy eating course called Menu & Mind, run by Marlow based natural chef Jo Colley-Keyes (Time to Nourish) and NLP practitioner Anya McFarlane (InMind Coaching) and it was brilliant, really inspiring, and just what I needed.  And when something is so good it absolutely deserves to be shared on my blog.  Jo and Anya are kind, supportive, fun and so so knowledgeable,  They make a fabulous team and their approach is to teach you that making changes to your diet and lifestyle is as much about your mindset as it is about practical things like creating a meal plan, knowing what to cook and what to keep in the cupboard.

I am as you know a real advocate of education around our health, whether that be what we eat, how we move or linked to life milestones like menopause.  I believe we all need to learn the basics first, fact based information that enables us to make the best decisions.