Yesterday, we went to the Belfry for a spa day with our friends as part of my Christmas present and birthday celebrations.

A few things weren't ideal with the service which I'll probably go in to in more detail later in the week.  However, it was a really pleasant way to spend the day.

I did struggle to switch off though, my brain is always working at a million miles an hour.  I'm constantly coming up with new ideas and concepts and running through them, I over analyse how things work and don't work which leads to lots of things not even getting started.  I basically have idea grenades go off in my head, making it a very busy place to be.

I have attention issues that I work on, this work has slipped recently and I've lost a little control.  This was highlighted when sitting in a room of people who were happy just to sit there and chill; I was constantly fidgeting and looking around to see what everybody else was doing.  Trying to stay quiet was a game in itself.

To make it worse, just as I managed to get the hang of switching off, a hen group came in to the relaxation quiet area and made loads of noise and babbled on about their plans for the evening.  I was immediately distracted and returned to busy brain.

I was nervous about having a 90 minute treatment, the only time I'm still and quiet for 90 minutes is when I'm asleep.  It was actually really nice, Fran told me to have a doze, I didn't manage that as I was analysing what the therapist was doing and why that could help somebody relax rather than letting relaxation happen.

A friend has suggested meditation which I'm going to look into.  I use an app to have a power nap sometimes and it uses a form of guided meditation which I enjoy. 

I'm getting better at not using my phone or checking email when I'm out with the dogs and Fran for a walk; I basically had to remove email from my phone to make it harder to check and respond.  Over the next few weeks I'm going to focus a few minutes each day to meditation / calm mind training.

If you have any suggestions for apps or cd's please let me know.

Darren 'a little more chilled' Checkley

P.S. With all of that in mind we'll go for forced relaxation via tiredness :)  Burpees today, 40 anyway you can.  The burpees also make up a little for all of the cake I've eaten over the weekend.  

Here's a link to the technique video - http://youtu.be/0A-hk4JtVyE