The Swimming Tips For Parents

Hey guys! I am a level 2 STA Qualified swimming teacher, and I just wanted to share some tips with you when taking your little ones swimming.

1. Make it fun! Make everything a game. What I like to do in my lessons is to get them to use their arms, we play digging for treasure, then once they have swam I count the treasure at the end.
2. ALWAYS give opportunity, don’t be afraid to let go of your child, you might find they are actually really good at swimming! If you worry, the worry and anxiety only feeds into the child. (We don’t want that) 
3. Don’t worry if they don’t get it straight away, all children are different. Use confidence building activities such as jumping in, putting their face in the water to look at their toes. 
4. Make sure they kick their legs! Splashing their toes. Use a woggle or noodle around their tummy and just get them to swim up & down. 
5. Try not to take your child swimming in a Wetsuit, this acts as a buoyancy aid and if they learn to swim in it (it helps them float) once they take it if they will find it a lot harder to swim as they are used to that buoyancy from the Wetsuit. Teach them to swim without it!
6. Be consistent. Go swimming at least once a week so their muscles can remember the movements. If the gaps between swimming are too big they will only forget and you will be back to square one. 
7. If you help your child swim on their back, support their head with your hands, use a woggle around their tummy and tell them to look up at the stars ✨ ask them how many they can see (this allows them to focus) tell them to keep their ears in the water and push their tummys up (make them fat) like they’ve eaten lots of cake  🎂 hehe. 
8. Straight legs, not bendy. Straight legs is important in swimming, it allows them to go faster and also stops their lower body from sinking. To practice straight legs, get them to hold on to the side of the pool and practice kicking with straight legs, support them from behind putting your arm around their thighs and guiding the legs so they can feel the action. 
9. Invest in goggles (not really an investment as they are cheap) they may help your child put their face in the water, putting their face in is paramount, especially for when they learn aquatic breathing. So it’s best for them to be confident putting their face in at a young age. (Make it fun!!!) 
10.  Swimming is lifesaving! Every child should learn to swim! You never know when you may need this life saving skill. If you can’t afford swimming lessons use my tips to take your child yourself! The younger they are the less anxiety they will have, it will just be the normal.

Always give your child the opportunity to swim unaided! The more they get used to that feeling of the water on their own the better they will progress. 

Just keep swimming 🏊🐳

Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes

 

The fear of making mistakes can make you stick to what’s familiar. For example staying in the same job due to fear of change or fear of failing. This will prevent you from making changes in your life.

Trying new things can be scary and intimidating, but this is essential if you are going to achieve your goals.

Defining your fears will help you deal with them. Get a notebook, write down what it is you want to achieve, then write down your fears that get in the way, it will help you deal with them.

Are You:

• Afraid you might make mistakes?
• Scared if looking foolish?
• worried about criticism?
• Unsure you are capable of doing what you want to do?
• Think you will fail?

does this sound familiar?

It can be easier to cope with these fears if you allow yourself to imagine what would ACTUALLY happen of they came true.

For example what would happen if you made a mistake? Answer= You would have learned that the way you were doing that thing wasn’t the right way and you would be able to do it better next time.

Your fears are much worse than the actual reality of what would happen in those situations.

ALL successful people make mistakes, but they don’t let their mistakes discourage them. It is simply a learning curve. We all make mistakes.

Open your mind, clear any doubt and really BELIEVE that anything is possible in this world.

It is okay to make mistakes, don’t let them hold you back or discourage you, let mistakes and setbacks make you MORE DETERMINED.

You have the power change your life.

Be the best HUMAN you can be 🙂

 

 

 

Anxiety In The Workplace

I wanted to write about my feelings towards the workplace and how they deal with employees with anxiety. I personally feel that when you get into the work place Anxiety is NOT seen as an illness, it is barely recognised as a reason to have time off of work, there is also barely any support for workers who suffer. 

Sadly even anxiety sufferers have to work, money still needs to be earned, but at the same time sometimes we can have episodes and being in work with very little support is extremely difficult. You may feel like I do, that your boss and colleagues don’t understand, they have no idea how to comfort you, they may not even acknowledge you!

This happened to me yesterday in work. I had an anxiety attack, my chest was tight, my palms were sweaty, I was crying, shivering and struggled to breathe. Yet my colleagues were getting irate with me, only concerned about if I was coming back to work (as I was sat in the changing room) not once did they ask if I was okay. If someone had taken the time to speak to me and use their duty of care, I have calmed down and been able to go back in.

But because I was ignored they made me feel like i was just sciving or I was just a cry baby. My anxiety just got worse & worse. I had to go home then. 

I wish companies invested in a team of people that come to workplaces to offer support and knowledge to employees and also more importantly the employer! I truly believe it will help companies thrive.

In this day and age mental health is on the rise, more and more people are experiencing it in, and with little support it just gets worse! Think of all the people that may have no support at home. Just think of how much a work place based mental health team could do for them! 

People that suffer anxiety at work should NOT be made to feel like they “aren’t unwell” it’s “not an illness” “just get a grip” you would not say that to a heart patient! 

Mental health is complex and comes in many forms. Of course an employer may never fully understand until they have experienced it first hand but I believe the BEST most modern employers will learn the knowledge they need to handle mental health issues at work. 

Times need to change. 

Here is a link to my favourite Charity Mind.

https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/
It has so much information on there for employers!! I want people to take the time. It’s so important. We need to care about one another. Im going to start to campaign for mind. More needs to be done. 

If this is something you are also passionate about or have suffered from. Please get in touch with me.

 

Let’s fight mental health together ❤️🌎

Embarrassing Story about me.

This story is one that has been used against me (in a funny way) so many times! Mainly with new boyfriends, my friends used to like to bring it up. It was my best friends secret weapon against me, as I didn’t want anybody to know this story.

Several years ago, I must have been nearly 11. I was sleeping over my friend at the times house, we were only young so staying up late on the weekend was very exciting. We were watch a program called “it will be alright on the night. There was a lady going around asking members of the public if they wear socks in bed.

I’ve tried looking for this clip on YouTube but I can’t find it. Anyway, she goes up to this one man who’s pretty old from what I remember, and she says to him 

Lady- “excuse me sir! Do you wear socks in bed?”

Man- “No, I wear condoms”

I started laughing as my friends mum was (clearly I wanted to look grown up) her mum then asks me

“Sophie do you know what a condom is?”

My reply…

Me- “yes I do! They are chewing gums, my dad keeps them in his draw” 

*friends mum is in fits of laughter*

This was the day I found out what a condom was REALLY for. 

Forget wrigleys extra minty chewing gum..

 more like durex extra large. 

Kids these days most certainly know more about condoms than I did at that age haha.
P.S I’m a grown up 25 year old women now and I fully understand that a condom is for a mans penis and it is not a piece of chewing gum. 
Peace 

The Mindset Mum. 

Peace & love 🌻❤️

How To Turn Your Dreams Into Goals

We all have dreams. Some of us have big ones others have small ones, but we all have dreams. You may have a dream to start your own business, you may want to go on a vacation to America, it could be as small as having a specific type of laptop!

Whatever it is, it’s a DREAM that is personal to you. Unless we take action on these dreams they will forever float around and just stay in dream land, they will not form into our reality! I believe we are given dreams for a reason, I believe each dream has a purpose for us.

What I want you to understand is that a dream doesn’t have an expiration date. Many of us give up on them far too quickly! To turn your dream into a goal it needs to have a date, it needs to be a specific date, this will be the date you will achieve this GOAL. A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your DREAMS COME TRUE.

I find the best way to achieve your goals in to make yourself a goal board!

all you need to do is buy a Indigo Noticeboard Cork with Pine Frame W 900 x H 600mm

All you need to do then is cut out or print out pictures of what your GOALS are. If it is a holiday that is your goal, you need to get down to the travel agent, find out the full cost of the holiday, so you can make a PLAN to save the money, take ACTION and with determination you will smash it. This is the same principal for any of your goals!

←Goal Board Example

We all deserve to achieve our goals and live our dreams in reality! we are ALL capable of this. If money is an issue, get yourself a little side hustle, swap your daily £2 coffee and pop it into money jar! If you know how much your goal costs you’ll know EXACTLY how much to save.

To help with achieving your goals I recommend reading about the law of attraction or reading The Secret, it will teach you to be positive, and the more positive you are the more the world gives positivity back to you. The more you put ‘out there’ what you want, its more than likely you will get it! for example, have you noticed if you have a bad day or a bad moment and it gets you upset? very quickly everything else seems to go wrong? This is because you are still sending out bad vibes and the universe thinks you want more of this (I know this may sound silly) but it is 100% true. Give it a go.

Here is where you can purchase a copy of The Secret 10th Anniversary Edition . Life is short and I think more of us should be able to do the things we REALLY want, achieve the things we want to do, travel to the places we want to go. I have my goal board on my wall above my desk! I have already crossed off several things (small things) but that is still progress!

Don’t let your dreams die with you. Live the life you deserve.

NOTE: This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of the links on this page. I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

Set Goals & Crush em ❤

My Anxiety Journey

For years I was on 3 different types of medication for my anxiety & depression.

It’s taken 11 years to be down to 1 lot of medication! Friday was my last night on my anxiety medication! This is absolutely huge! I have worked so hard on myself and my mindset to manage my own anxiety (which I pretty much get none of anymore)

Only certain subjects can set it off. Anxiety is reall shit and it can really hold you back from doing things you want to do in life, sometimes even the most positive quotes can’t keep you upbeat. 

Along my journey as my body changed and kept responding differently to the different medication, I changed many times, but this really helped my recovery! Overcoming anxiety is not easy and does not happen overnight. Like I said it took me 11 years, 3 medication changes, 3 job changes and a mindset change to achieve this.

My advice to anybody suffering anxiety is to:

1. Don’t push yourself 
2. Find something that calms you (yoga,the gym, reading, meditation)
3. Learn your warning signs, if you can feel it coming on start using your calm.
4. Get family and friend support (very important) 
5. Don’t be afraid to go back to your gp. They would rather you be off medication.
6. Whatever triggers your anxiety, the best way to be on the road to recovery is to actually do the things that cause you anxiety. What ever that may be. (I know that sounds crazy) but it works (I’ve been there!!!) 
7. Remember don’t be harsh on yourself. Praise yourself. Your a fighter. 🙂 
8. Don’t let it define you.

🌻BE STRONG🌻

Believe, Achieve & Succeed