My Holistic April

 

Welcome to my April round up:

40 Days of Self Care

Instead of giving up something for Lent, I took up a little challenge that Sharon Fitzmaurice set. Which was for the 40 days of Self Care, I had to celebrate things that brought joy into my life, share things that makes me smile, gets me moving, be it out in nature, good music, meditation, quotes, books etc. It was a lovely challenge and while it’s something I tend to do anyway , it was nice to have the little extra reminder every day.

See examples below:

Sharon Fitzmaurice’s Meditation

A great way to reset for the long weekend is with Meditation and I love this Meditation by Sharon. I shared this on my Instagram in April.

Edinburgh

We took the long weekend away and went to the beautiful city of Edinburgh. It was simply fabulous to get away and was made even better by the beautiful weather so we got to explore the city by foot all weekend. Here are some of my highlights- The Castle, Arthur’s Seat, Bobby Greyfriar,Ice Cream in Princes Gardens.

CrossFit Progress- Football Total

The “CrossFit Football Total” is a strength workout that is based on 4 lifts that we ‘test’ every six months or so to see how we are getting on. The back squat, the bench press, the power clean and the deadlift.

I ‘tested’ mine in April and I am delighted with my progress – 3 new PR’s in the bag. The deadlift is still my weakest lift and over the years I’ve stripped it back and worked on technique a number of times and while it’s never going to be my favourite lift I’ll continue to work on it under the watchful eye of the coach.

 

Books Ive read this month:

The Kindness Pact – Domonique Bertolucci

In this book Dominique outlines eight promises/commitments on how we can makes changes/ improvements in our life’s that will help us feel good about who we are and the life we live and also to be as kinder to ourselves. This was an excellent read and it’s definitely on my go to list from now on.

An Unwanted Guest – Shari Lapena

I downloaded this from Borrow Box and having read Shari’s other books, I knew what to expect from her. A bad snow storm, a remote hotel, many guests (all with their own secrets and stories) and a murdered body, all add up to her latest psychological thriller. A great fast paced read.

So that’s it, April and Spring is all over.

Bring on May and the long summer months.

Stay holistic

Catherine x

My Holistic March

Welcome to my March round up:

CrossFit Open

The 2019 Open has come and gone and incase you missed my own experience of it. Click here for the blog .

A huge congratulations to our team – Team TroubleUnders who won the intermorial in house competition during it also.

Madam Chatters Tea Party

I had a lovely evening in the Radisson Hotel in Sligo with my sisters and niece at the “Madam Chatters Tea Party” organised by her schools parents association. It was a beautiful room with great style, hair and make up tips on display and of course classic afternoon tea and cake for all the ladies.

 

Lent – 40 Days of Self Love

Instead of ‘giving up’ something for Lent I’ve decided to join Sharon Fitzmaurice on her 40 days of Self Love posts on Instagram. More about this after Easter though. Follow her under the hast tag #40days.

Achieving Success through Mindfulness and wellness

I spent an evening listening to the wonderfully inspiring Miriam Kerins talking about ‘Achieving Success Through Mindfulness and Wellness’ in the beautiful Mick Lally Theatre in Galway. She reminded us of the importance to always be aware that the Body, Mind and Spirit are all connected and what is put into one will have an effect on the others.

International Women’s Day

On the 8th of March we celebrated the women in our life’s and I want to shout out to all the amazing women in mine. Thank you!

 

International Day of Happiness

The 20th of March was International Day of Happiness. How did you celebrate?

 

Mayo GAA

Its that time of the year again to start thinking about all things GAA and for the 1st time in 19 years my beloved Mayo GAA football team won an All Ireland final in Croke Park and became the Allianz League Champions. I’m not going to lie,there was a few tears shed that Sunday and of course it just brings us a little bit closer to the big dream of winning the Sam Maguire. ♥️💚. You heard it here first, Mayo for Sam 2029 .

Books

Truly Madly Guilty – Liane Moriarty

This novel is written by the same author of ‘Big Little Liars’ and I like her novels as they are full of groups of characters who are brought together due to one big event that the story revolves around. This one is a neighbourhood BBQ that goes wrong and told through the different views. I downloaded it on Borrow Box and it’s an easy listen to on my commute.

Becoming Michelle Obama

I got this for Christmas and finally finished reading it there in March. It’s over 400 pages long and a very detailed and personal account of Michelle’s upbringing, her family life and of the Obama’s time in the White House. It’s very very interesting and easy to follow . I was a fan before but now I can’t wait to see what happens next.. a great read and not all about politics . Worth the read!

That’s it for March… see ya after Easter !

Stay holistic

Catherine x

My CrossFit Open 2019

2019 in the CrossFit world is a unique year as in, it is the year of the 2 “Opens”, the traditional Feb/March Open and then with the 2020 Season changes, the Open will be in October. (format yet to be announced).

Below is how I got on with the 2019 Season Open.

My main aim was to beat (or match) my own 2018 season record (3 RX workouts) and with the extra competitive element of been on Team Trouble Unders in the CrossFit Galway Intramual Open Competition , it was always going to be a good 5 weeks.

Here’s how it went:

Open 19.01 – RX

Workout: 19 Wall Balls & 19 Calories on the Rower. AMRAP for 15 minutes.

Verdict: A long and boring slog on the rower made only bearable by the cheering and shouting of my team mates. That morning I would of been happy with 4 rounds in but I got 5 rounds and 10 reps later and I was delighted with myself.

Open 19.2 – RX

Workout: 25 Toes to Bar, 50 Double Unders, 15 Squats Cleans at 38kg

Then again but 13 squats Cleans at 52.5 kg.

Time Cap -8 minutes

Verdict- For me, all doable but I know it would be a slow process as I still only have single toes to bar, but I kept the same steady pace through the first round and just tipped along.  I flew through the DU’s and then faced the bar, which was heavier than it looked with singles and doubles here. The aim for me was to get back to the bar but alas the second round of toes to bar caught me and I finished with 17 in the second round.

Team Trouble Unders were in first price at this stage in the “Inhouse” competition but competition was heating up with pom poms and everything been brought it for the cheering!

 

Open 19.3 – RX

200 feet of Dumb Bell Overhead Walking Lunges (15kg)

50 Box Step Ups with Dumb Bell

50 Strict Hand Stands Push Ups

200 feet hand stand walk

Time Cap -10 minutes

For me, straight away I knew I couldn’t do the hand stands push ups or the hand stand walks but as the scaled version was the same weight but shoulder lunges, I decided I’d attempt the RX version and see I’d get on.

Verdict – The dumbbell overhead was heavy and my left arm was harder than the right arm but I got through them. It was the weighted step ups that were a little more challenging for me with my replaced hip. I broke them into 10s and finished with about 30 seconds to go. Which I used to walk to the wall and did a wall handstand.

 

Open 19.4 – Scaled

10 Snatch , 12 Over The Bar Burpees – 3 Rounds For Time.

3 Minutes Rest

10 Pull Ups, 12 Over The Bar Burpees – 3 Rounds For Time

Time Cap -12 minutes in Total

Verdict: For me, straight away I knew I would be doing the scaled option as the RX Snatch weight is very near my own one Rep max and I also don’t have Muscle Ups (yet).  The snatches and burpees were grand, just kept moving with them and my aim was to get as many pull ups as possible. They was gassy though and my heart rate spiked pretty early in so the 3 minutes rest was a welcome release. I started the pulls ups in 2’s but quickly changed to singles for speed. I got through 2 rounds of these and only had 2 burpees left in the 5th round when the timer went which gave me 108 reps in total. Which I’m delighted with as I spend a lot of time doing extra work on my pull ups and so when I can I will always like to test them in the different work outs.

Team Trouble Unders were put under pressure a little this week but we all kept smiling decked in Irish gear for Paddys week.

 

Open 19.5 RX

33,27,21,15,9 reps of  Thrusters -30kg &  same number of Chest To Bar Pull Ups

20 minute Time cap

Verdict:  At first look I was happy to do the scaled version of this (lower weight and replace the chest to bars with jumping pull ups) but when I talked to the other girls in the gym, they recommended trying the RX version as I have a few chest to bar and it would be a great test for 20 minutes so I did.

The thruster weight is heavy (for me) and if it wasn’t for my plan to go at these in 4s 5s or 6s at a time I would not be able for it. My lungs were on fire (not helped by my recent cold). As for the chest to bar, I did these all in ones and just chipped away at them. My goal was to finish the first 33s but I got into the hang of them and am delighted that I got 14 out of the 27s reps. This is the most chest to bar pull ups I’ve ever done before and I’m super thrilled with myself.

So that’s it – 5 weeks, 5 workouts and one great event. I smashed my own personal goal of doing 3 or more workout RX , I got more chest to bar pull ups that ever before and to top it off Team Trouble unders won the over all “CrossFit Galway Intramual Open Competition” .Sweet!

Excellent stuff to everyone involved and Im more pumped now to get back into the gym, set myself some summer goals and get myself ready for whatever Open 2020 (in October 2019) will bring.

Stay holistic

 

Catherine x

 

My Holistic February

Hello March, goodbye February , here’s my roundup of the past month:

Gratitude Challenge:

For those of you who follow my Instagram stories will know that I completed a February Gratitude Challenge.

I have the blog about it here and all the photos are saved under its own story highlight tabs on my Instagram. There is so much gratitude out there, it’s just amazing when you take a minute to think about that. Thank you again.

Sharon Fitzmaurice Meditation and Mindfulness

In February I completed Sharon’s Meditation and Mindfulness class. This was a beautiful weekly hour with a lovely group of people all with the same positive intentions. We meditated and grounded ourselves, we chatted and listened to each other. Each week Sharon guided us gently and kindly through our thoughts and chakras and I always left the sessions feeling lighter and more at peace with myself. Sharon does many courses and workshops and I know this will not be my only one with her. Have a look at her website here for more information on them.

Herbal Earth Skincare :

In January I asked for a natural face mask recommendation on my social media and Nancy from Herbal Earth Skincare kindly sent me a sample of her new ‘Go -To’ Face Mask.

The blog I wrote about it is here. So have a read and let me know what you think.

Pop over to Herbal Earth here for more information on its launch in April.

CrossFit Open:

If you are CrossFitter (like me) you will know that the CrossFit Open started in February and we are currently in the middle of the 5 weeks of this. If you are not a CrossFitter I apologise for the next 5 weeks of posts and blogs about CrossFit and you have permission to skip this paragraph if you wish.

In essence the Open is a worldwide online competition that every one can enter and each Friday we get a new workout to do and submit our scores and are ranked accordingly based on that score and the top 20 scores in the world and each country winner get to go straight to the CrossFit Games. CrossFit Galway (our box) are also making things more interesting this year and are having an in house intramural team competition. I’m on team ‘TroubleUnders’ so keep an eye out on my future posts about this too.

In February we had the first work out – 19.1.

Which was 19 Wall Balls & 19 Calories on the Rower and AMRAP for 15 minutes. It was a long and boring slog but I managed 5 rounds and 5 wallballs so was delighted that I got to complete it RX. Last year I did 3 out of 5 of them RX and my main goal for this year is to not get injured and to atleast match that personal record. (I’ll have more about this in Marchs around up).

Books/Podcast:

Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty

This is a story of 9 people who for all different reasons go to a ‘new style’ health resort for 10 days and how through the controlling notions of the owner of the resort their lives are changed forever . I like Lianes books as they are very detailed and she always tells the story from a number of different view points. I listened to this one via the Borrow Box apt on my phone so it was great company in the car and it’s definitely on my recommended list.

A Stranger In The House– Shari Lapena

This is a mystery/ suspense book from Shari Lapena (she also wrote ‘The Couple Next Door’) . A boring suburban couple, a jealous neighbour, a murder, and memory loss, this book has it all. I couldn’t put this one down, it engulfs you into it very quickly and you really don’t want to put it down until you find out what happened ‘that night’. Another high recommendation.

Talking Elite Fitness Podcast

If you are a fan of CrossFit, then you need to get yourself over to this Podcast, Sean and Tommy talk all about the recent changes at HQ, the new season set up, the Open as it unfolds , their personal thoughts and they also have a few interviews with the athletes thrown in for good measure.

Heal

Ok this isn’t a book or a podcast but a Netflix documentary that I want to recommend. It’s about how important and beneficial alternative medicine is. It details and follows some personal stories and talks about the body’s ability to heal from within. I’m a huge believer in a combination of the holistic approach so this was a much watch for me. Have you watched it? What did you think?

Please drop me a line if there is a book or podcast that you think I should read or listen it.

 

So that’s it for February, keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram for instant updates or I’ll see ya next month for March’s round up.

Stay holistic

Catherine x

 

 

 

 

Gratitude Challenge

‘Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.”

In February I completed a ‘Gratitude Challenge’ on Instagram and I asked for daily input from my followers.

Each day I picked a letter from the alphabet and asked people to let me know what they were grateful for beginning with that letter. I then shared the answers the next day and continued it throughout the month.

I absolutely loved this idea and was just so delighted with the interaction from everyone. I loved that while some answers were the same, (which is perfectly normal) it was the individual ones, the more ‘personal’ answers that really make me smile. It got people thinking about how grateful we are by not just the big things in life but the day to day every day things that we have, the people we share it with, the animals we love, the abilities we have.

I have saved all the answers in my Instagram highlights but I’ve also gathered them together here because when you see them all together (and this is by no means a completed list) , its simply just heart warming. ( I only thing I removed was the names but you know who you are).

A  – Animals, Aunts, Avocados, my Abilities, Apples, Autumn days, Absent.

B  – Breathing, Boxing, Breakfast, Bongs, Blueberry, Big Butts, Belly laughs, Brothers, Blankies, Boyfriends.

C – Coffee, Conor, Chocolate, CrossFit, my Car, Children, Cousins, Christmas, Crazy but lovely girlfriend, Candles, Cider, Carlberg.

D – Double cheeseburgers, been able to Drive, Dreams, Dogs, Drink, Dads, Dancing, Day trips, Deadlifts, Dinner, Daughters.

E – Energy, England, Easter, Eggs, Education, Exercise, Elephants, positive Energy vibes.

F – my Family, my Feet, Fish, Fridays, Food, Friends, Flowers, Fitness.

G – Green veg,  Grandparents, Google, Gin, Galway, The Girls, Girlfriends, the Gaa, God, Golden retrievers, Grateful heart.

H – my Heart, Hurling Heros, Home, Hugs, my Hairdresser, my hearing, the Holistic toolkit, my Hands, Hair, Herbal Earth Skincare.

I – Irish rail,  Instagram, Ice cream,  I phone, Ink, Inspirational people, Ink for the tattoos I draw, Interesting people.

J – Jump rope, Jokes, Justice, Jam, Joy, Jelly and peanut butter sandwiches, Jewel for my beads, Jaffa cakes, my Job.

K – Knees, Kindness, Kittens, Kisses, Kaleidcopes, Kites, Klopp.

L – Liverpool, Late shifts, Lies in, Leg day in the gym, Love, Legs, Laughter, Life, Lemons, Long summer days.

M – Mayo, Mothers, Meditation, Maltesers, Movement, Man Utd, Memories, Massage, my Marriage, Me.

N – Nutella, Nieces and Nephews, my Nct, Nurses, Now, Naps, Night in, Nights out, Nanos, New shoes, Night skies, Nighttime sleep.

O – Oranmore, Orgasms, Oxygen, Oprah, Oranges.

P – Coach P ,Pajamas, Photographs, Pizza, People, Pups, Parents, Positivity, Patience, Pillows, Pictures, Pints.

Q – Quiet time, Quotes, Questions, Quality time, Qi, Quality sweets.

R –  Rain, Reading, Running, Ronaldo, Relaxation, Reflexology, Ruff, Rustling sound of leaves, Rugby.

S – Sunshine, Siblings, Sunny weather, Skin, Sleep, Sea, Stars, Saturdays, Sundays.

T – Team ‘Trouble-unders”, Team work, Today, a good cup of Tea, Tea, Time off, Teapots with chats, Tastebuds.

U –  Unicorns, my Uterus, Uncles, Umbrella.

V – Vegetables, Violets, hi Vis, Visiting friends on a Sunday, Veins, old Videos.

W- Waking up to a new day, Weight lifting, Writing, Water, new Weeks, Weekends, Wallballs, Wolly hats, Walking.

X – Xmas, xox, X rays.

Y – Yoga,  Yo yo’s, You, the word Yes, Yankee candles.

Z – Zzzz’s, Zips,  Zen time, mid day snooze, Zebras.

Thank you to each and everyone of you that contributed to my challenge. It’s just reignited my gratitude for all the wonderful people out there.

Stay holistic 🙂

Catherine

 

 

 

Herbal Earth Skincare “Go To Mask”

Last month I asked for a natural face mask recommendation on Instagram . As Im a regular make up user and with the dry winter weather and the AC in the car and office I was thinking it needed a little freshening up.

Nancy from  Herbal Earth Skincare saw my post and kindly sent me a sample of her new range of “Go-To Mask”.

I finally got to try this out on Saturday and here’s how I go on.

1. I mixed 2 scoops of the clay with 2 scoops of water in the little non metallic bowl that was provided with the kit with the little spoon.
2. I then applied it with my clean fingers onto my freshly cleansed face. ( I have never used a clay based mask before and it reminded me of by gone years at home on the farm playing with mud!!). At first it was weird rubbing “mud” in but then I just layered it on happily.
3. I went to the couch – pre warned himself who was looking at me very weirdly and sat there for 15 minutes. I could feel it “harden” on my face and had to text him when he wondered why I stopped talking. ( he didn’t understand that it “sets” on my face and I didn’t want to move my mouth too much.)
4. After 15 times I  gently wiped it off with a damp face cloth with warm water, using circular motions.
5. My face felt very fresh and soft and I massaged some serum into it afterwards.

Even after a night sleep my skin felt refreshed and softer and today I was happy to not wear any make up on it to help it breathe even more.

Nancy advised me that the mask is very versatile and can be customised to suit your skins needs on different days. I mixed it with water but it can also be mixed with plain yogurt or with honey.  55% of the product is a blend of clays and the rest are botanicals that are activated when wet. It includes Amla powder which contains Vitamin C, Licorice root powder which is good for pigmentation and Cinnamon which is an anti inflammatory and good for plumping the skin.

You can also use it with Herbal Earths booster capsules to further personalise your mask.  “Chlorella and Matcha” which gives a nutritional blast of minerals and antioxidants.   “Turmeric and Reishi Mushroom” which boosts the glow of the skin. “Clove, nutmeg and cayeen” which is spicy but great for circulation.  I was sent these too so I think I will use them in next weeks mask. (not all together though).

You can check all the products available on the Herbal Earth website or Instagram page here. and these masks are been launched at the end of April/May.  I wish Herbal Earth Skincare all the best with the product launch and recommend to the rest of you to put this on your face mask wish list.

Dont forget that you heard it here first!!

P.S. Its a Mayo based company so “Hon Mayo!!”

Stay holistic

Catherine

 

My Holistic January

Welcome to my first monthly round from 2018:

My Word for the Year

Those of you that followed me last January will remember that I participated in a little experiment where I chose a word for the year ahead. Last year I chose Believe.

For 2019 , I have decided to go with “Happy” and I’m going to incorporate this into all aspects of my life.

My day job, my gym workouts, my holistic toolkit, my relationships and of course in myself.

Keep an eye out for my updates on this through out the year.

Memory Jar

Every January I start a new ‘memory jar’. This is my 4th or 5th year doing this and I love reading the little notes on New Year’s Eve. Its a very real simple idea but gives such joy and laughter remembering all the year on New Year’s Eve. All you need is a jar/ box/envelope and some paper near by and keep it in a place that you see regularly , then fill the jar with your favorite memories throughout the year (just a line or two on each) and on New Year’s Eve, open the jar and enjoy reading all of your memories!

Meditation – Insighttimer

After loads of different people’s recommendations I have finally gotten around to using this. It’s a handy phone app for meditation and mindfulness practice and has loads of different free Meditations. I like the fact that they are all categorised by length and topics. Watch this space for more on this once I get a few weeks under my belt.

Sharon Fitzmaurice Meditation and Mindfulness

This month Ive also signed up for one of Sharon’s 6 week courses in Claregalway and even though I’m only half way through I’m really enjoying the weekly hour of stillness and mindfulness with the group and already know that it’s something I will continue to make time for.

 

Celtic Series

On the 19th of January I competed in the Celtic Series with my team the ‘Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies’ . This is one of the biggest Irish ‘CrossFit’ competitions and its a great event to be part of. While on the day I was nervous and the workouts were tough I will definitely look back on and be delighted that I competed it in especially as I got to be on the same team as ‘himself’ . Something we wouldn’t normally not do together as we are at different fitness levels but the structure of the ‘fitness’ section allowed a mixed team and it was great to be on the floor together. Check out my Instagram feed for the stories tab with all the photos of the day.

CrossFit Galway’s War of the West 

I was delighted to be involved in the CrossFit Galway Scaled Pairs team competition where once again I was asked to M.C. the event.

Such a great event and the buzz and excitement from the floor was just contagious. The day flew by and I lost count of the amount of times I said 3…2…1… go/stop/time…but I loved every minute of it and hats off to each and everyone who competed in it. I know from experience how hard it is to compete and all of them made it look so easy!

My CrossFit Goals

Which brings me nicely to my own CrossFit training in January.

The 2019 CrossFit Open starts in February so my goal for this is to do at least 2 of the 5 workouts RX ie as recommended ( I did 2 RX last year , and I would just love to match it this year) The others workouts will be done as scaled) .

While outside of the Open the goal is to do 2 toes to bar unbroken and keep up my pull ups. (It’s a long run!)

Wish me luck!

Books /Podcasts

Skin Deep – Liz Nugent

I could not put this book down. It was very addictive and very similar in pace to her other book , ‘Unravelling Oliver’. The funny thing about her books is that I don’t even tend to like the main characters but they are so well written that you are dying to know what happens to them. I loved that it was based in Mayo too . If you like suspense books you will like this one.

The Story of Our Lives – Helen Warner

I found this on Borrow Box one day as I needed a new book on the train and so started it. It’s based around 4 college friends and their lives as they move on, get married etc. It’s not very exciting and the stories just weren’t very believable. I finished it as it’s easy to read but not one I would recommend.

The Humble Coach Podcast

If you like all things fitness and coaching then please check out this podcast. Padraic chats with a great selection of coaches from different sports chatting to them about their life’s, sports, reasons why’s and future plans. Click here for his Instagram link.

Serial – Podcast

This was recommended to me by a few different people after I finished the podcast ‘West Cork’ and it is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, narrating a nonfiction story over multiple episodes. I’m half way through season one and it tells the story of a murder that took place in Baltimore.

Please drop me a line if there is a book or podcast that you think I should read or listen it.

So that’s it, a very busy January and I loved every minute of it. I hope yours was as enjoyable.

Stay holistic

Catherine

My Holistic Year 2018

What a year it has been for me, so many adventures had, holistic blogs written , books read, places visited, work outs completed, goals accomplished and love and laugher shared.

From the bottom of my heart, to the tips of my toes to the top of my head I want to thank each and everyone one of you that has stayed on this ‘holistic’ journey with me.

In case you missed any of my round up holistic months blogs during the year, just click on each months link and sit back and enjoy the highlights.

January – ✨Word Of The Year✨

February – ✨CrossFit Open✨

March – ✨New York City✨

April – ✨WellGood Challenge✨

May – ✨ WellFest✨

June – ✨ Featured on other sites✨

July – ✨ Powerscourt Estate and Gardens✨

August – ✨ CrossFit Goals✨

September – ✨ Soul Space✨

October – ✨ Guided Meditation✨

November – ✨DoTerra On Tour✨

December – ✨Hot Chocolate Season✨

I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings but for now I’m wishing you all a year full of promise, opportunities, love, laughter, health, wealth ,happiness, magic dust, kindness and holistic happiness.

Stay holistic x

Catherine

My Holistic December

Welcome back!

Here’s how December went for me:

A- Z Blog:

In the “A to Z Blog Series” about how my treatments can help with common ailments, I blogged about the letters W, Y and Z.

W is for Wrist Pain

Y is for Your Busy Mind

Z is for Zzzzzz

Click on the links above for each in case you missed one.

Friendsgiving:

At the first weekend in December, I got to experience my very first ‘Friendsgiving’, which was a gathering of friends (both old and new ones) and enjoyed a ‘Thanksgiving’ meal with them . It was such a great evening of gratitude, fun, chat, laughter, eating food , making new friends and of course an hilarious game of heads up. I love this idea and will definitely be doing it again.

Hot Chocolate Season:

As the days are getting shorter and my hands are getting colder, nothing beats holding something warm in them so for the next few months I will taste (for my own personal satisfaction and not an ad for anyone else) a different hot chocolate each week and here are the four I had in December.

-Le Petit Delice – Galway City

-Insomnia ‘on the go’ – Ballindine

-Le Fournil Hot Chocolate Kit Sligo Town.

-Costa – Oranmore

Winter Solstice:

On the 21st of December, we celebrated the shortest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere, another nice gentle reminder from nature to appreciate the time to reflect and rest during the darkening days after Samhain. Reflect on 2018 and write some new and exciting goals, dreams and ambitions for 2019.

Wren Run:

On St. Stephens Day we we took a spin out to Woodford, County Galway and took part in the ‘Wren run’ in aid of Pieta House. This is their third year organising this and it’s no easy job, organising 2 different routes (3km and 6km) tons of sponsors, wonderful prizes, musicians along both tracks and before and after , wren dancers ,the mildest St. Stephens day I’ve seen in years and of course loads of dogs (to entertain me) . Hundreds of people ran, jogged or walked it (I walked and talked all the way around ha ha!) But as ‘blow in’s’ we were very grateful for the warm welcome and wonderful hospitality that everyone had to offer. A beautiful way to get moving after the Christmas feed and such a great cause. Keep an eye out for this next year, it promises only to get better.

Books:

This month I read:

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas – John Boyne

Oh my God, what can I say about this book that hasn’t been said before only, what took me so long to read it. I know it’s a children’s book but it’s definitely worth a read (or re read) for anyone of any age. But be warned, have the Kleenex at the ready for that ending.

The 5 people you meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

This was a re read for me. I first found this book about 10 years ago and re read it every couple of years. It’s a simple but nice fictional story about how everyone we meet along our paths in life have some effect on it and vice versa and while you might never know why, it’s important to remember it. It’s kinda reminds me of the Christmas movie ‘it’s a wonderful life’ in a little way. A great little read.

Christmas :

As I’m writing this I’m thoroughly enjoying a beautiful Christmas with familt and friends both in Oranmore,Mayo and Sligo.I hope you are happy, healthy and holistic this holidays wherever you are and whoever you are with.

Stay holistic

Catherine xx

My Holistic November

Welcome back!

Here’s how November went for me:

A- Z Blog:

In the “A to Z Blog Series” about how my treatments can help with common ailments, I blogged about the letters U and V.

Click on the links below for each in case you missed one

U is for Urinary Systems.

V is for Vertigo

World Kindness Day

“In a world where you can be anything, be kind”.

How did you celebrate World Kindness Day on the 13th of November?

DoTerra On Tour

Had a great evening at the DoTERRA Europe on Tour event.

A sold out night full of inspirational speakers ,tons of knowledge and of course fabulous essential oils.. I even got my hands on the ‘Emotional Oils Kit’:

✨Motivate

✨ Cheer

✨ Passion

✨Forgive

✨Console

✨ Peace

As well as a roll on ‘Beautiful’ and a ‘Green Mandarin’. They all smell absolutely divine and all have such amazing qualities and benefits what’s not to love?

CrossFit Bingo Challenge

I loved the ‘CrossFit Galway Bingo Challenge’ that I took part in, in November. The aim was to complete as many boxes as possible and when you fill a line you get to shout ‘Bingo!’ and enter into the draw at the end of the month. Such a great idea and I pushed myself into doing (or atleast trying new workouts). In the end I got 4 lines complete which I was delighted with . I didn’t manage the personal goal I set (5 strict unbroken pull-ups!) so I’ll continue to work on that and hopefully will have it by the end of the year. Catch all the ones I did complete on the stories on my Instagram profile.

Celtic Series Qualifiers

I was convinced to sign up for the Celtic Series team competition in January so I had to complete the 2 qualifier workouts with these two messers . Here are the before and after team photos but don’t let the smiles fool you though, these workouts are tough ones too.. my grip was fried. But we got through to the finals and will be competing in the ‘fitness’ section so watch this space for January’s update to see how we got on.

Hot Chocolate Season

As the days are getting shorter and my hands are getting colder, nothing beats holding something warm in them so for the next few months I will taste (for my own personal satisfaction and not an ad for anyone else) a different hot chocolate each week and here are the four I had in November.

Mocha Beans – Cross St. Galway

Clayton Crown Hotel – London

Insomnia – Headford Rd. Shopping Centre- Galway

Starbucks – Galway Train Station.

Flu Season:

It’s that nasty time of the year again when all colds,flu’s and bugs are going around.

Have a look at this blog for some tips and hints on how to cope with this time of year.

Books:

This month I read

West Cork – Audible Original

Everyone in Ireland knows this story of the unsolved murder in West Cork in the 90’s and while I didn’t follow the case at the time. This excellent podcast series gives all the details of what happened from all the different sides and really really makes you think twice about everyone involved and how it’s taken the garda and all involved so long to solve it. Honestly I don’t know if ‘he’ did it or not, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on any updates in the future.

The Woman on the Window – A.J. Finn

From the author of ‘The girl on the train’, this psychological thriller is about a lady who from the window of her house sees a crime, or does she. It’s a very good book that I couldn’t put down and really messes with your mind. Definitely worth a read over the holidays.

Happy Christmas:

I know this is the November wrap up but as its December as I type this and we are all in the madness of Christmas parties and present buying, I want to take this time to wish you all a happy, holistic and joyful Christmas season for you and your loved ones.

Stay holistic

Catherine x