Love your body

1. Make room for relaxation and fun. Very often we get so wrapped up in the demands of work and family that we forget to spend a little time on the things that we enjoy doing. Going to the movies, reading a book, walking in the park, listening to music, hooking up with friends. It doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure you make time for it this summer.

2. Research is constantly proving that people who meditate are often more centred and less stressed than the rest of us. You don’t have to become a Zen Buddhist but if you can learn to meditate or even just slow life down for 20 minutes or more a day you will find it remarkably grounding. By the way, not all meditations involve sitting down - Tai Chi for example is a wonderful moving meditation. Why not learn Tai Chi or Qigong this summer? Or attend an LA fitness Yoga class.

3. Talking about relaxation, too many of us call crashing out in front of the TV “relaxation”. That’s fine sometimes but summer affords you the time to get out of the house in the evening and weekends and unwind with a walk or a gentle bike ride or a spot of gardening or whatever you enjoy doing. We’re not talking about exercise here (although you will get some physical benefit from it) we’re talking about clearing the mind and appreciating what you have around you.

4. One of the things that happiness researchers say is critical to living a full and productive life is to develop an attitude of gratitude. Most of us spend way too much mental time in the past or the future but the happiest of us have the ability to appreciate what they have right now. Stop and smell the roses when you can.

5. Another way to create happiness is simply to act happy. Researchers say that “faking it till you make it” actually work. In other words changing your physiology by smiling and being upbeat (whether it’s sincere or not) soon changes your mental state - once that happens you get locked into a positive mental loop that sustains the feel good factor.

6. Some of us live pretty cluttered lives - surrounding ourselves with a whole bunch of junk we don’t actually need. Simplifying your life (chucking out old clothes you haven’t worn for years for example) is extremely liberating, and a harmonious, ordered environment helps you to feel calm and focused, which in turn makes it easier to stick to healthy lifestyle choices.

7. It sounds silly but most of us don’t breathe particularly efficiently and so we are unable to perform at maximal capacity physically or mentally. Our biggest mistake is breathing from the chest - which means we only use the top of the lungs - rather than breathing from the abdomen. Try closing your eyes and taking five slow breathes through the nose - feel your belly rise. Hold for a couple of seconds and then release the breath even more slowly - feel your belly fall. Repeat this five times and feel the energy and alertness it gives you.

8. Talking about breathing, yoga is one of the fastest growing exercise forms of our times. The reason for this is that it combines strength, stretch, breathing and meditation all in one powerful discipline. If you haven’t already tried yoga, maybe this summer is the time to start.

9. No matter how energetically you throw yourself into summer there will always be people who consciously or unconsciously try to sabotage your efforts. You know the routine: “You’re learning to play what - why on earth would you want to do that?” Avoid these individuals as much as is possible.

Anyway, there is much to look forward to this summer and we have four or five months of long (and hopefully hot) days ahead of you, so get out there when you can and make the most of it.