So, I ran my first ever group coaching session last night and was left as ever inspired by the power of bringing people together to share ideas and inspiration.

As a health coach I have been trained in the habit change coaching method. It is based on the science of behaviour change.

You see when people try to implement change it can be really hard, which is why New Year’s resolutions often fall by the wayside in a matter of weeks…

Implementing habits therefore can really have so much more impact. You see we are the sum of our habits. Our habits are just what we do without thinking about them.

If we can incorporate our new desired behaviour into small simple habits, then they very quickly become what we ‘do’ and ultimately ‘who we are’…

So where to start… well the key is to start small…. small simple and fun…… I have followed Dr Chatterjee and his work for many years now and what I love so much about it is the sheer simplicity of it…. In his four brilliant books he shares many case studies of what has worked for his patients over his 20 years’ experience as a GP, and the stories all start with instilling simple habits…. His book last year was entitled Feel Better in 5 and included countless ideas of things people could implement for 5 minutes in their day with dramatic effects. There is a saying in my health coaching college that goes ‘Small hinges swing big doors’… and it is  just SO true.

So, as our first group session concluded last night I asked all the members of the group to firstly to starting talking to themselves with kindness every day, but also to give themselves permission to do one thing that they loved every day this week. I encouraged them to start small (5-10 minutes) at a set time, and preferably attach it to an existing habit to make it easier to instil.

A couple of members of the group were able to quickly identify what that might be for them, whereas others needed a little more time for reflection.

And as ever, I found myself reflecting upon it too… and I am now really excited to start implementing my own 5-minute rituals every day too.

You see I think the 5-minute concept is a really powerful one right now. People are busy juggling work, home schooling and family commitments, and many of us are sharing the same space day in day out due to lockdown… so simply finding 5 minutes alone time might be a more achievable and realistic goal.

I remember when the kids where babies how precious that 5 minutes could be and how grateful I was to have 5 minutes to just enjoy a snippet of alone time simply enjoying a shower in peace…

So, with that in mind, I am going to start recreating that 5-minute alone time this week. There are moments when the kids are both plugged into online lessons and rather than filling every moment of that time with work and household chores, I am going to  start with 5 minutes doing something I enjoy!

Now there’s a challenge… what can I do in 5 minutes you might ask…

Well, it got me thinking… what do I love… how do I get lost in the ‘flow’, and my most mindful moments are without a doubt when I get lost in the moment at a gig, so my plan is to simply lose myself in one of my favourite songs … it is likely I might also shamelessly dance around the lounge, but if not I will simply allow myself time to just get lost in that song….

I also feel a new playlist coming on… with the risk of sounding Old…  who remembers the sheer joy of simply creating a mix tape ! But that does get us back to the point…. finding ‘pockets of joy’ in our day (someone shared this brilliant phrase with me once and I’ve never forgotten it)

Anyway, I’d encourage you all in true ‘Dr Chatterjee style’ to consider what  5 minutes ‘pockets of joy ‘ you could implement this week. I promise you won’t regret it! I am so excited about mine!

Thank you as ever for the inspiration Dr Chatterjee and thank you to all those lovely members of my first group coaching course! I can’t wait for what next week brings for you all!