Is your relationship growing? Has it become functional, lacking psychological and physical intimacy? Many of us expect our relationships to look after themselves without putting any effort into them, or we expect the other person to look after it. Moving from functionality to intimacy takes work. It is risky to share your feelings, what you desire and what you want. It opens you up to rejection and finding out what the other person really thinks and feels. In today’s episode, I explore why you should make a New Year’s resolution to improve your relationships and share three tips on where to start and practices to achieve your goal.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The importance of making a New Year’s Resolution to improve your relationships 
• How to make your New Year’s resolution stick
• Three tips on how to improve your relationships in the New Year 

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How kind are you to yourself and others? Did you know that being kind is actually good for your emotional health? Practicing kindness for your emotional wellbeing can seem counter-intuitive, especially when you are feeling stressed But being kind, thinking of others, helping others without expecting anything in return is scientifically proven to be good for your emotional health. In this episode, I discuss how giving and kindness supports your emotional health and give you three kindness activities to try out this Christmas. Try and make time to give and be kind so you can start soaking up the emotional benefits. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• why giving and kindness are good for your emotional health
• three kindness and giving activities to try out this Christmas 

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What you eat and how you eat affects your mood. Eating can be used as an emotional soother to avoid feeling difficult emotions. And eating processed food or a lack of a balanced diet can affect your emotional and physical well-being. Christmas can be the time of year where food is everywhere and it is very easy to overindulge and over-consume at numerous gatherings and parties. So how do you stay in charge of your eating habits? I share my top 12 tips for managing eating during the Christmas period. Working on emotional fitness includes being mindful about what we eat, how much and how little we eat.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why what you eat and how you eat affects your mood. 
• 12 top tips for managing emotional eating during the Christmas festivities

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are you looking forward to Christmas where life is full of wonder, love, joy and merriment? Have you got into the Christmas spirit yet? Or does Christmas fill you with dread where it feels like the worst time of the year? The season of Christmas can provoke mixed emotions for different people. The pressure to get into the spirit of Christmas, be merry, be joyful, be happy is immense. Yet, for many people, this time of year can be a painful and difficult time. As we build-up to the nostalgic and longings of the holiday period, I unpack the expectations and emotional pressures that Christmas places on many people and share three exercises to help you plan and take care of yourself during the festivities.  

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The emotional pressures and expectations that may people experience at Christmas 
• Three exercises to help you look after your emotional wellbeing during the Christmas festivities

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We often hear the phrase, “I’m getting all emotional” or “I’m feeling emotional”. Why do we use these phrases? Which emotions are we actually feeling? This sort of language can be unhelpful because we’re not labelling the correct emotion, we’re just using the ‘emotional’ word. Almost like we dare not mention the sensitive, meaningful, real feeling. Almost like we shouldn’t express it! We might be embarrassed by naming it, showing it, experiencing it. In this session, I discuss why these phrases can restrict your growth in emotional fitness and share some exercises to move your emotions. All emotions are important to feel and express. Labelling them correctly will help you move them.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why phrases like “I’m getting all emotional” or “I’m feeling emotional” can restrict emotional growth
• Three emotional fitness exercises to keep your emotions moving

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is vulnerability a weakness or a strength? When was the last time you exercised vulnerability? Such as putting yourself in a position when you were unsure of the outcome. Saying, “I love you”, asking for help, sharing a secret or a feeling that you are feeling right now. When was the last time you asked someone to see you… really see you, and risked the chance of connection? In this episode, I explore the importance of embracing vulnerability, the courage it takes to exercise this aspect of your emotional six pack, and give you two exercises to help you fully embrace vulnerability.  

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The importance of embracing vulnerability for emotional fitness
• Two exercises to help you embrace vulnerability that develop core emotional fitness and stretch your emotional range

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan.

Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One man dies every minute by suicide! This is heartbreaking. Why do so many men choose suicide and how can we prevent them from making this fatal decision? Men are hurting. They’ve exhausted all their normal ways of coping and have lost hope; they can’t find a way through their difficult physical or emotional crisis. In the therapy room, I regularly hear men say things like, ‘What’s the point?’, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ or ‘I’ve been thinking about ending it all’. In this episode, I share why men are choosing to die by suicide and how to prevent them considering this fatal choice. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Five roots behind why men are dying of suicide
• Emotional fitness exercises to tackle suicidal thoughts
• How to help friends or family you’re worried about

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan. Free Emotional Fitness test → https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you know how to take care of yourself emotionally? How well do you look after yourself? Many of us automatically take care of ourselves physically, but often don’t think about our emotional self-care. In our time-poor lives, looking after ourselves is often relegated or forgotten. Or we may have learnt that it is just being selfish, dismiss it, and tell ourselves to toughen up. We’re going to explore how to take of yourself by sharing the key elements of self-care and two self-care exercises. Emotional self-care can improve your physical health, reduce stress and anxiety, boost self-esteem, protect your mental health and lead to better relationships. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The key elements of self-care that build emotional fitness
• Self-care exercises to develop positive thinking and body care

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is your anger out of control? Would you like to manage it better? Anger like any other emotion can cause pain to us or others when left untoned. The top 3 phrases I hear clients and mens group members say are: ‘They made me angry’; ‘they pressed my buttons’; ‘they wound me up’. They are basically saying ‘it’s not my fault’. I am going to show you why ‘It is your fault” and the the most effective way to manage your angry behaviour! 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why you need to take responsibility for managing your anger
• The best way to manage and adjust your angry behaviour 

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan. Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most people who go to a physical gym know how to build body muscle – this includes building up mass by lifting heavy weights to build physical strength. In this episode, I am going to show you how to build emotional muscle to develop emotional strength. When we start to build emotional muscle, we soon realise that we are not content with our ability to hold emotions and we don’t feel emotionally strong. When this happens we often use three unhelpful ways of exercising emotions. I will show how to avoid these unhealthy ways of expressing emotions and give you three exercises to tone up your underused emotional muscles. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to build emotional muscle to develop emotional strength
• Three exercises to tone up weak and underused emotional muscles

RESOURCES & LINKS:

Test your emotional fitness to receive a free mental health plan. Free Emotional Fitness test →https://www.emotional-gym.com/test

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.