Going Down in Flames

Health & Wellbeing Part 1

Vegan Christmas dinner
Danuary
Sound bath
Gravel bike race
Fell a tree with an axe
Stand under a waterfall
Regular paddleboarding
Walk/cycle to work
Digital detox

Vegan Christmas Dinner

The first task to be completed and more successful than I could ever have imagined. Making a commitment to cooking a 3 course Christmas dinner is one thing, for everyone to enjoy it immensely and not miss turkey is a whole other.

Thanks to BBC Good Food for the recipes

Vegan Jambalaya

Vegan Wellington

Banana Split for pudding was my own concoction!

Danuary

Danuary is all about giving to yourself, being kind and approving to yourself and increase your feeling of self worth to increase mental and physical wellbeing.

Keep up with the month's events on this blog: Danuary

Sound Bath

I had only very recently heard of sound baths and reports were really good. Trained 'bathers' use a variety of wind and percussion instruments, including gongs and Tibetan bowls, at different frequencies. Participants can expect to cultivate present-moment awareness, deepen their meditation practice, and experience a sense of inner calm and serenity, apparently.

I experienced my first bath last night (13 Jan) hosted by Corporate Angels, in the next village to me. It's safe to say I will be going back a few times this year.

See Danuary blog for a more detailed write up.

Gravel Bike Race

I've had my gravel bike for over 2 years now and not yet tested myself on it. I've done plenty of riding on it but none of that has been exactly gravelly, except for one very enjoyable session around Newborough Forest. This summer will set that record straight.

Fell a Tree With an Axe

My fine friend Alex suggested this one. He owns an area of woodland, which he manages himself and is happy for me to, not only fell the tree, but take the fallen giant home for my burner.

I may have to work on my beard a bit as it's not quite lumberjack-esque.

Tree successfully felled on 15th March, and here's the evidence (in 2 parts)

Part 1

Part 2

Stand Under a Waterfall

If there's one thing that Wales has a good few of, it's waterfalls. Some of them are pretty jaw-dropping too. Fortunately, one of those - Aber Falls - is not too far from me. So, when it warms up a bit, I'll make my way through the crowds to get this one ticked off quite easily. May is looking the most likely date at the moment.

Regular Paddleboarding

As with the gravel bike, my paddleboard is something I have had for some time without ever using it regularly. There are dozens of sheltered bays on the island which are perfect for this activity but, as a fair weather boarder, it is often too cold for me.

Once I eventually take the plunge (pun intended) and do some cold water swimming, my body may become more accustomed to the shock and I can get the board out.

Who knows, I may even stand up on it one day!

Walking / Cycling to Work

This section is supposed to be about health and wellbeing but just seems to be a litany of examples of how lazy I am!!

My desk on site is approximately 1 mile from my bed and yet I choose to take the car to work everyday. I have an excuse, of sorts, at this time of year as the mornings and evenings are dark and it is a busy route at those times of the day.

I will make the commitment, when daylight is on my side, to leave the car at home, at least 50% of the week.

Digital Detox

There's no two ways about it, this is going to be a tricky one.

I can't profess to be any kind of influencer or have any sort of social media presence that requires me to be permanently online. But the fact is that my whole life is contained on my phone.

This worried me greatly when I was roar-tripping in the US last September and I wondered how I would cope if my phone suddenly crashed. I'd be scuppered if I'm honest.

So for travel, there's now a lot of back to basics such as printing boarding passes and having a travel pack with important information and numbers.

But can I go willingly without my phone or laptop for an entire day? Let's see.

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