This coming week marks the first week of our Spring half-term, when hopefully there'll be some nice weather coming along to brighten our days and mark the end of the cold, dark days of Winter. 

Snowdrops and crocuses abound — the photo here shows some snowdrops we spotted on a lovely walk with my grand-daughter Adie around New Lount Nature Reserve, not far from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Adie is at that age — nearly 4 — when everything in nature is fascinating to her and she loved the fact that snowdrops really do look a little like patches of snow on the ground.

As it's the first week of our half-term not all classes are running, and the only Face-to-Face Classes this week are in Quorn Village Hall on Monday, at 9.30am and 10.30am. I’d like to say thank you to Jenny who has covered the last two weeks of this block for me at Quorn while I have been managing some family issues. I will be back for our first class after the half-term break on Monday 26th March. 

Live Online Classes however are running as normal, except for Friday and Saturday morning when there'll be recorded classes timetabled.

This week's Exercise of the Week is Level 3 of the Side Lying Leg Kick series, as the focus exercise for February. This progresses what I have done so far so it is important to listen to your body and work at the appropriate level for you. 

The progression starts to work and challenge the lateral sling of muscles more, with balance and stability but also it requires more control. See how you get on and if you have any questions please get in touch. 

This level isn’t going to be suitable if you have bursitis or osteoarthritis in the hip, so be mindful and work at the alternative level.

Loyalty!

One of my life values, and something that I have been considering over the last week.

I have always been very clear about what Loyalty means to me, the behaviours that are a result of my loyalties, but I am learning to understand how that can be different for everyone of us. 

The dictionary definition of the word loyalty is a strong feeling of support or allegiance. My own feelings of support and allegiance are with — my family, my JTP family, my friends, my work, my integrity, my exercise… I think we can all make a list which probably doesn’t look too dissimilar, however where it will be different is in the behaviours that we stay loyal to and the impact of those behaviours.

I’ve been discussing this with my Mindset Coach this week, and have been working on accepting that others have different behaviours that they are loyal to, and if they aren’t the same as mine, then learning to accept and understand this.

If one of your life values is loyalty then the behaviour you are loyal to can often get you through challenging times, because this behaviour enables you to function. Some behaviours are seen to be healthier than others, but they are all a result of loyalty.

So for example a loyalty to being a workaholic wouldn’t be looked at in the same way as a loyalty to being an alcoholic, but the loyalty to those two behaviours comes because people see it as enabling them to function. The argument is that one isn’t healthy, and the other one is definitely not healthy, but they both come from a place of loyalty as hard as this might be to accept. 

I know that being loyal to my work has helped me get through tough times when my loved ones are ill, or through loss and grief. The behaviour that we stay loyal to can often numb our emotions, switches the brain off to reality, and gives us an emotional break. Work and exercise are two things which help me to completely switch off from other thoughts and feelings, so I am very loyal to these two behaviours because they help me function. 

Do you have a behaviour which you stay loyal to because it helps you function on a day-to-day basis, and helps you get through life? 

I hope you have a good week folks.

With Love,

Jane xxx