Life balance manifesto

I believe that my blog has something for everybody. Because everybody deserves to have joy and happiness in their lives. But then there are certain kinds of people who will always automatically put everyone else first, they are sensitive to negativity and will avoid it at all costs by letting too much fall upon themselves to sort out. Because of this they may have suffered with depression or anxiety, insomnia, stress and overwhelm. They may feel taken advantage of and be in a place where they feel stuck and aren’t sure how to get out. When they perhaps fall upon my blog they might not have realised that the key is ‘Looking after yourself first means that everything else will become easier’. When they visit my blog and start to implement self-care and other techniques their life will become more joy-filled and they will keep up the techniques they have learnt in order to hold off the return of the stress and overwhelm they felt before.

The reason I chose to help this particular kind of people is because I am one of those people. If that is your personality, it doesn’t go away, but you learn to manage and you learn how much you can benefit from looking after yourself first. You have to keep implementing these techniques because otherwise you can go backwards. It does happen and we realise that we haven’t been implementing self-care and we have let people take advantage of us or we forgot to not overdo it. Then you keep going. You aren’t back to square one by any means, you learn to see it coming by knowing your own warning signs and then you can re-address what you need to do.

This is why I am here doing this, this is why I can help you, because I am one of you. I write blog posts, I send them out into the world and I read them too. I follow my own advice, I am by no means a finished product. I am on the same journey as you. Learning how to feel better in my life and fill it with ease and joy. I am still exploring this, imagining new ways to help myself, reading endless books and blogs and meeting people and using techniques given to me to make this a happier, joyful, easier life for myself. I want nothing more than to help as many other people as I can on the way because I truly believe that nobody should have to be always stressed or sad or unhappy and that everyone can and should live happily and all the awful things I experienced didn’t happen for nothing, they happened so that I would be in a better position to help you.

If there was just one thing that I would wish for my readers to take away from my blog it is that you deserve to have a life full of joy and peace and not to dread your days, to enjoy being you and living your life. Life is precious and it should be full of love and light and it can be when you take this first step to start looking after yourself.

Imogen x

Setting up a support network (Self-care month Day 24)

Morning everyone! I hope all is well so far today for you,

I have had a little something on my mind just this morning so I have to make it clear here. I want you to know that I am by no means a finished product. Nobody is. I am on this journey, learning how to take better care of myself just the same as you. I want to say this so that you know that I am not better, I don’t have everything sussed. Sometimes, in fact, I struggle to take my own advice. For example, putting too much pressure on myself, not taking care of myself as I should, not making self-care my number one priority. But I learn from it and I move forward and it becomes less and less often that I completely overwhelm myself and it is very rare that I don’t see the warning signs for stress and anxiety coming.

Today, the self-care message that I want to get across is about creating a network of support around yourself so that you can you are at your best to look after yourself and your health. Cont…

For more click here for the full free download of ‘self-care month’ now all as one handy ebook ‘The Self-care Manual’

More journalling! (Self-care month day 20)

More journalling!
Hi there lovely,

Welcome to day 20! How is your self-care month going? Are you fitting it in or struggling? Are you enjoying it and finding the time or finding it a chore to look after yourself in so many ways? Feedback always welcome here, dear.

Day 20 is going to be about more journalling. Now I know we’ve covered a few journal entries and i have asked you to answer various questions in your journal but today is about something a bit more general. Cont…

For more click here for the full free download of ‘self-care month’ now all as one handy ebook ‘The Self-care Manual’

Self Appreciation (self-care month day 7)

Welcome to day 7 of self-care month. Well done! You’ve made it through a beautiful week of taking care of yourself! In my eyes that deserves huge congratulations-well done 🙂

So today as well as finding 5 minutes peace and quiet and 5 minutes movement we are going to write ourselves a little list in our journals. A list of things that you do well. Write 10 things that you are proud of yourself for. Things that you have a achieved or things that you do well every single day. Cont….

For more click here to get the full free download of ‘self-care month’ now all as one handy ebook ‘The Self-care Manual’ when you sign up for my newsletter

Self-care month Day 1

So today marks the start of self-care month. 30 days of daily emails with self-care tasks. I have already sent out the first email but there is still time to sign up here.

Here’s how the first email went..

Self-care month
Day 1
Welcome to the first self-care month email! And welcome to June!
There is something wonderful about turning the calendar page to a new month, it’s a fresh start and a chance to review. So in honour of that our first self-care task of the month is to write in our journals how we want to feel at the end of the month and how we want things to change. Cont…

For more click here for the full free download of ‘self-care month’ now all as one handy ebook ‘The Self-care Manual’ 

Imogen x

Adventure

Having adventures is a big part of my life-balance manifesto. Planning trips and holidays gives you something to look forward to and a different way of looking at things.

My adventure this week was a family holiday in the beautiful country of Wales. North Wales to be precise, Porthmadog. We had such a wonderful week. We went to the beach, on a steam train, underground to a slate mine done up like King Arthurs Labyrinth, to a dogs grave in Bedgelert and had plenty of laughs along the way. Travelling of any form with kids is a military operation but it’s worth it to see the delight in their eyes throughout the week. So today after travelling home I am pretty tired. I’m just going to share a few pics then today.

   
            Do you love adventures as much as me? Where are you planning an adventure to? I can’t wait until my next one!

Love,

Imogen x

Spending time outdoors

I lead a pretty indoorsy life. We didn’t even have a garden until recently and having lived very close to a town centre for about 8 years I spent very little time outside. Now we have moved I fully take advantage of the fact that we have a garden. I sit, the children play, the husband gardens and its idyllic to me. We are by no means out in the middle of nowhere now but we aren’t surrounded completely by houses now and behind our garden there are fields! and a farm! and trees! We live very close (3 minute walk) to a beautiful riverside which is abundant with nature and I seriously feel like our quality of life has improved. If you live somewhere where there is an outdoor or green space where you can sit, or walk, don’t take it for granted. Use it. Breathe in the fresh air, look at the natural beauty surrounding you. This is such an important aspect of self care and I didn’t realise what a difference it can make in your life. I have more energy, I feel happier, I feel like the nature that is a part of me is being nurtured by spending time outside. I get out every day now. At least once a day. I walk more, I feel the rain on my skin and my favourite is standing in strong winds and letting it take my breath away, I swear it is the most energising thing I can do.

What do you enjoy doing outdoors? I hope this part of you gets nurtured today,

Love & hope,

Imogen 

  

Self-Love

I feel like self-love can be quite controversial. It’s as though, to truly and really love yourself you must an egomaniac, you must be selfish and self centred and arrogant. Well I say that is crap. I’m sorry but in my opinion self-love is necessary. I am not arrogant or an egomaniac, actually i’m highly sensitive, I am thoughtful and considerate. But I spent so long in my life not liking myself. I didn’t like myself. Me! Me who I have been through everything with. Me who will always be there no matter what.

I didn’t like the way I looked or the way I spoke, I didn’t like what I thought about or that I was different to other people. If I seemed confident it was a front. For anyone who may have known me in the past may have thought I was arrogant or confident but I wasn’t. I was incredibly insecure and hiding it from the world and myself so as not to feel vulnerable or unsafe. What I actually needed was love. Love from other people helps it can create a tiny glimmer of self-esteem but not like loving yourself. That is where self-esteem comes from.

I have been reading a book, sent to me by my wonderful Auntie, called Journey to the Heart by Melody Beattie which is just a wonderful, joyful book which I highly recommend. The passage for May the 18th sparked this thought for me;

‘Love All Of Yourself’

‘Do more than just accept yourself, tolerate yourself, put up with yourself, endure who you are. Love yourself.

 There came a time in my life when I simply could no longer put up with putting up with myself. I had talked about self-love. I had said it out loud that I loved myself. The words were good, but they didn’t ring true. I had to actually begin experiencing and practicing love for myself. It became the next step on my path. 

To live in a magical way, one in which you connect with the universe, loving yourself isn’t optional. It comes first. To hear the quiet voice of your heart so you know when you’re being led, to hear your thoughts so you can see what you really believe, to trust and open your heart, you must first experience love for yourself.

Have you abandoned yourself? Let yourself see if that’s true, feel if that’s true. Then learn to experience love for yourself.

Learn to love the way you handle things. Love your unique way of learning, growing and seeing things. Love where you’ve been. Love what you’ve done. Love where you are, and what you’re doing now. 

Love how you look, smell and feel. Love the colour of your eyes, the colour of your hair, and the radiance in your heart. Love how you laugh. Love how you cry. Love your mistakes, and love all the good you’ve done. Love it all. Love all of you.

Step into love for yourself, and the universe will reflect that love back to you.’ (Melody Beattie, Journey to the Heart pg.143-144)

Sending you love,

Imogen x

It works!

I had a wonderful message the other day from one of my readers, she had a bad day with a lot of stress from outside influences beyond her control and decided to delve into the ‘bag of tricks’ to feel more balanced and calm heres what she said;

‘I had the most horrendous migraine yesterday with it all and I realised my neck and shoulders were tense. This made me think about the things you have said so I put everything on hold and jumped into a nice hot bubble bath and came up with an action plan. It worked!!!! Thank you! You should be so proud of everything you are doing for yourself and other people.’

I’ll be honest now it brought a tear to my eye. I love to know, on a personal level that the tricks and tips I write are being used and are working. I mean, I know they work because I do it myself but it’s so good to hear this.

And very importantly-Dear Lady, you should be soo proud of yourself too for noticing the signs and for looking after yourself. I am so proud of you and happy for you!

Remembering to take care of yourself when it feels like the world is falling apart is hard to do. But it works, it puts things into perspective and it makes you stronger for when these things do arise.

Have you been delving in to my bag of tricks? What do you feel is working for you?

Don’t forget to sign up for self-care month emails. A self-care task to your inbox everyday throughout June for FREEEEE!!

And the Ebook Balance Your Life Today is available worldwide on Amazon for £1.99 or free on kindle unlimited. It is a practical guide to creating balance in your life and is choca-blok with tips and hints.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,

Love & joy,

Imogen x

Life balance coaching

Hello my lovelies! After a few requests I have decided to create a life-balance service one-to-one. Actually, this was my plan all along but it has been brought forward somewhat.

The life-balance coaching service will include

• Daily contact with me in the form of email and/or skype
• I will work out some routines for you to fit into your life more of the things you struggle for time for
• I will create and send you routines and worksheets in PDF format
• Free access to any of my ebooks, ecourses, and any other products that I release
• My guarantee that you will feel like your life-balance has improved
• Anything you want to talk about, discuss, need help or advice with is fine by me. I am here to help as much as I can in any way I can

There will be a monthly charge for this service but for now I want to offer 1 month free to 2 people. There is absolutely no pre-requisit to applying for this freebie. I am going to choose 2 of the applications at random for the free month. The full service will be launched officially at the beginning of July. To apply for one of the 2 free 1 month month places please email to imogenjhope@gmail.com or use the contact form and provide the following information

• Name, age, location
• Where you heard about the blog
• Why your life needs more balance

I will choose the 2 winners on May 31st so keep an eye out in your inbox on that day!

Good luck peeps,

Joy & love,

Imogen x