Take A Breath

In this Thursday Thoughts episode, Lucy and I are talking about feeling stuck, as well as ways to get unstuck by taking the smallest possible first step to build momentum.

We talk about moving physically or changing scenery — getting outside, shaking the body, or taking a break — to shift stagnant energy and allow inspiration to return. I talk about how I'm using the BBC/NHS Couch to 5K app after a knee injury because it breaks running into manageable intervals with a chosen audio coach.

We're also talking about accountability as a game changer, including usin...

On this week’s Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about gratitude, and how taking the time to appreciate what we already have can make such a difference to how we feel.

We share some of our own experiences of finding gratitude in everyday moments, and discuss how easy it is to take the little things for granted, particularly when life gets busy.

We also talk about different ways to practise gratitude, from incorporating it into breathwork to reflecting on the positives before going to sleep, as well as some of the benefits gratitude ca...

On this week's episode of Thursday Thoughts Lucy and I explore whether or not you see yourself as a lucky person, and how that belief shapes your experience of life. 

We discuss how a victim mindset and negative narratives like “things never work out for me” can reinforce feeling unlucky, while choosing a more empowering perspective can help you notice opportunities and “create your own luck.” 

We also reference Cindy Crawford’s family tragedy and Oprah Winfrey as examples that circumstances don’t guarantee happiness, or limit success. 

We hope you'll find something helpful in here...

On this week’s Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about people pleasing, and what can happen when we prioritise other people’s needs, opinions and expectations over our own.

We chat about getting to know ourselves better, setting healthier boundaries, and becoming more comfortable with the fact that not everyone is going to like us - and that’s OK.

We also discuss why saying ‘no’ doesn’t always need an explanation, and how being more honest about who we are and what we want can ultimately lead to stronger, more authentic relationships.

We hope...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about anxiety.

Most of us are familiar with worrying about things that haven't even happened, but what do we do when anxiety starts becoming a problem?

Lucy and I talk candidly about our own experiences of anxiety, as well as a few practical things that we can all do to try and allay those unhelpful thoughts and feelings.

We hope you'll find something useful in here.

Love,

Polly & Lucy x

Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about fitness.

We each share what our own fitness routines look like, covering strength training, Sprint Interval Training (SIT), running, rebounding, and good old walking.

Given that fitness is so important, especially as we age, we hope you'll find something useful or inspiring in here.

Love,

Polly & Lucy x

Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time.

Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how...

This week on Thursday’s Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about optimisation, and whether our constant quest to look and feel better might actually be making us feel worse.

We’re bombarded on social media with advice on how to optimise almost every area of our health and wellbeing. Add in wearables and apps tracking everything from sleep and steps to heart rate and recovery, and it can feel like there’s always something else we should be doing.

But do we really need to optimise everything?

We talk about why getting the ba...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about our tendency to keep striving for the next thing, rather than appreciating what we already have.

We talk about the ‘hedonic treadmill’ - the idea that even when we achieve something we really wanted, the happiness it brings often doesn’t last, and before long we’re looking towards the next goal.

I share how I sometimes forget that I’m living in the house I once dreamed of, while Lucy talks about the freedom she has in her work and how even having posts go v...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about cultivating a beginner’s mindset, as well as the difference between fixed and growth mindsets.

In our conversation, we talk about how people often avoid trying new things because they're worried about not being good immediately, when the truth is that we all start knowing nothing — and we learn through effort and failure. 

I talks about my experience as a teacher and how I encouraged my students to resist comparison, recognise their different strengths, and understand that skills can be developed with practice. 

We a...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about the ego and how it can hold us back from taking action.

We explore how the ego often comes from a place of fear and judgement, making it one of the loudest voices in our minds. We also share ways to become more aware of that inner voice, question whether it's actually telling us the truth, and choose curiosity instead.

We hope this episode gives you something to reflect on and leaves you with a few helpful takeaways.

Love,
Polly & Lucy...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking all about confidence and how to build more of it.

We share why we prefer to think of confidence as a verb rather than a noun. Confidence isn't something you magically have before you start – it's something you create. It grows when you find a little courage, get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and take action anyway.

Only then does confidence begin to grow. As you keep showing up, you build competence, which in turn fuels even more confidence.

We hope you enjoy this ep...

On today’s Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about comparison.

As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy, but we can all be guilty of it to a greater or lesser extent. And it’s even harder to keep it under control in this age of screens and social media.

Rather than comparing ourselves to others and allowing them to make us feel bad about ourselves, let’s use comparison as motivation and inspiration to improve and evolve in our own lives.

Because the truth is that the only person...

On this week’s Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about taking responsibility.

How often do you avoid doing the hard thing, even though you know it’s exactly what needs to be done?

The truth is, no one else can do it for us. We all have to choose our hard.

Taking responsibility isn’t about blame or pressure – it’s about recognising the incredible power you already have to shape your life.

And that’s a far more empowering way to live.

We hope there’s something in t...

On this week's Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about the mistake that so many of us make which is thinking that things will be better when…

We’ve all done it, haven’t we? Things will better when I’m earning more money; things will be better when I’ve started the new job; things will be better once I move into the new home.

Ultimately, those ‘big’ moments in life are fleeting, and the trick is learning how to enjoy all of the moments in between.

We hope you’ll find something u...

When you're the one everyone relies on, it's easy to believe your own needs can wait. You keep going. You juggle work, family, the mental load and everyone else's expectations, telling yourself you'll slow down when life gets quieter. 

But what if looking after yourself isn't selfish at all? What if it's the very thing that allows you to keep showing up without losing yourself in the process?

In this episode, I'm joined by Alex Smallman, founder of Ubermummies, personal trainer and mum to three-year-old identical twin boys.  

Alex shares her fertility journey of...

On this week’s Tuesday Motivation, Lucyband I are chatting about the importance of movement.

As we get older, we naturally lose both muscle and bone mass, so keeping our bodies moving is one of the best investments we can make in our long term health and wellbeing.

We talk about how consistency matters more than perfection, how to make movement enjoyable, and simple ways to fit it into your everyday life.

It’s so easy to find reasons not to exercise but the benefits for your body, mind and future self are enor...

On today’s Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about how important it is to find the joy in life, rather than being constantly weighed down by all of the ‘shoulds’.

The truth is that life is short, and we sometimes forget to enjoy the ride. Instead of taking it all so seriously, let’s remember that we’re all travelling on a giant sphere hurtling through space - so we might as well enjoy it while we’re here!

We hope you’ll find something useful in here.

Love,
Polly & Lucy x

Do...

Have you ever stopped and wondered, Who am I now? Midlife has a way of prompting those questions. As our lives, priorities and responsibilities change, many of us begin to realise that the identities we've carried for years no longer feel like the right fit.

In this week's episode of Take a Breath, I'm joined by Jen O'Brien, who shares her inspiring journey from aeronautical engineer to founder of Music Broth, Scotland's musical instrument library. But this conversation goes far beyond changing careers. 

Together, we explore identity, intuition, creativity and what it really means to l...

On this week’s Monday Motivation, Lucy and I are talking all about sleep.

Sleep is one of the foundations of good health, yet it's something so many of us struggle to get enough of.

In this episode, we chat about some of the simple things we've found really help us sleep better, from creating a healthier sleep environment to small habits that can make a big difference.

We hope there's something in this conversation that helps you get a better night's sleep.

Love,
Polly & Lucy xx

For years, I never considered myself an anxious person. Then, during perimenopause, something shifted. I found myself worrying in ways I never had before, feeling overwhelmed by things I'd always coped with and wondering why I suddenly didn't feel like myself anymore.

In this episode, I'm sharing everything I've learnt about anxiety through my own experience, my work with hundreds of women, and the latest science on the nervous system.

In this episode, I'll share:

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking all about boundaries.

Women in particular have been conditioned to believe that they should give OF themselves long before they should give TO themselves. But this can lead to burnout and resentment. And this is where boundaries come in.

The truth is that if we don’t implement boundaries, we’ll forever end up saying yes to things we don’t want to do, tolerating behaviour we shouldn’t put up with, and generally feeling depleted and frustrated.

Boundaries can be uncomfortable to implemen...

I’ve just returned from Self Love Camp, a retreat where I spent a few days guiding breathwork, listening to inspiring speakers, learning new things, and stepping away from the routines of everyday life.

As I drove home, I found myself reflecting on something I always notice after retreats and intentional breaks: I come back feeling different. Clearer. More creative. More connected to myself. And it got me wondering - what is it about stepping away that feels so powerful?

In this episode of Take a Breath, I explore how to give your nervous system a...

On this week’s Monday Motivation, Lucy and I are chatting about the importance of checking in on your goals now that we’re nearly halfway through the year.

As always, we wander off into a few interesting tangents along the way! But at its heart, this conversation is a gentle reminder to pause, reflect, and ask yourself:

Are you heading in the direction you want to go? And are you getting there in a way that feels good?

We hope there’s something in here for you.

Love Polly & Lucy xx

Pelvic floor issues are often seen as an inevitable part of getting older, having children, or going through menopause. But what if many of the symptoms women experience are actually signs that the body is asking for support rather than something we simply have to accept?

In this episode, I chat to Jana Shirley, a pelvic floor and women's health specialist, Pilates practitioner and founder of The Vitality Method. With more than 21 years of experience helping women overcome chronic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction and movement challenges, Jana brings both professional expertise and personal insight to this conversation.<...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about radio stations. 

More specifically, what metaphorical radio station you are tuning into.

Before you tune into a specific radio station, every single station is available to you. And it’s the same with life. Every day, we have a choice about what we want to tune into. It’s all available to us - Joy FM, Anger FM, Hope FM, Hate FM, Zen FM. The only question is: which station will you choose?

We hope you’ll find something useful in here.

In this week's episode of Take a Breath, I'm joined by chef and chocolatier Lisa Clarke, a member of my breathwork community, who shares her honest and inspiring story of how breathwork helped her through one of the most difficult periods of her life.

Within the space of just six days, Lisa experienced a series of traumatic events, including a car accident involving her son, the loss of close friends and a house fire. While trying to stay strong for everyone around her, she found herself carrying an enormous amount of stress, grief and anxiety.

...

On this week's Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are asking the question ‘How well do you know yourself?

So many of us spend our lives reacting to what’s happening around us that we lose touch with what we actually need.

We discuss what gives us energy, what drains us and the importance of living a life which is authentic to who we truly are.

We hope you find something useful to you in here.

Love Polly & Lucy xx

Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to c...

Have you been feeling a little out of balance lately?

In this special episode of Take a Breath, I'm sharing one of the guided breathwork sessions from my REWIRE programme—a course designed to help you gently retrain your nervous system and create a calmer, steadier baseline.

Before we begin, I'll walk you through the structure of the session so you know exactly what to expect. Then, when you're ready, I invite you to find a quiet space, get comfortable, and press play.

This 20-minute practice is designed to help you:

• Rele...

On this week’s Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about three little words…mind, mouth, and mood.

Ultimately, those three things - our thoughts, our words, and our emotions - are the building blocks of our reality. 

But most of us spend our lives trying to change what’s going on in the outside world, instead of prioritising our inner world. And the outer world is simply a reflection of our inner world. 

So…master your mind (the stories you’re telling yourself, the thoughts you repeat etc); master your mouth (are y...

You breathe more than 20,000 times a day.

But if your breathing is shallow, fast, noisy, or stuck high in your chest, your nervous system may be receiving a constant signal that you’re not safe yet.

Which means your body can stay stuck in stress mode even when you’re desperately trying to relax.

And over time, that can look like:

😮‍💨 Feeling tense, overwhelmed, or constantly “on”
 😴 Poor sleep and waking up exhausted
 💭 Racing thoughts, overthinking, and brain fog
 💥 Snapping at people in ways that don’t feel like you
 ⚡ Feeling wired...

This week on Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about complaining.

We all love a good vent now and again, and sometimes it’s healthy to let those emotions out. But when we stay stuck there, replaying the same thoughts over and over, it can keep us trapped in a really low-energy state.

In this episode, we share our thoughts on the difference between releasing emotions and ruminating, plus some simple ways we try to catch ourselves before getting pulled into the cycle of constant complaining.

Because sometimes the most powerful shift is...

In this episode, I’m sharing a big realisation I’ve had recently, one that feels like a real full-circle moment for me. Nearly 10 years ago, I left my teaching career feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious and completely disconnected from myself… although at the time, I had no idea that perimenopause was playing such a huge role in how I was feeling. 

Looking back now, I can see that this was the beginning of a much deeper journey into understanding stress, the nervous system and what my body was really trying to tell me.

Over the years...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about something every single one of us experiences at some point…self-doubt.

We discuss why it’s so common and why it stops us speaking up, going for things, or trusting ourselves fully.

We also share some of the things that have genuinely helped us quiet our inner critic and build more self-trust over time.

Because life is far too short to spend it constantly second-guessing yourself, shrinking yourself, or waiting until you feel “ready.”

We hope you find something useful in here.

In this episode of Take a Breath, I’m joined by my lovely friend Carly for a deeply honest conversation about her journey through breast cancer and everything that came with it.  

Nearly three years ago, Carly was diagnosed with breast cancer and advised to undergo a mastectomy and radiotherapy. Instead, she chose a very different path,  one that focused on radically changing her lifestyle.

And of course, it wasn’t easy.

We talk openly about the reality of what that looked like day-to-day, cutting out sugar, preparing everything from scratch, trying to reduce...

On this week's Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about the small, unglamorous steps that we take when nobody’s watching, that ultimately get us to where we want to go.

For example, I talks about the tiny, seemingly insignificant physio exercises I'm doing every day to help heal from my knee operation - it would be easy to feel like they weren’t doing anything, but I'm trusting the process, showing up every day, knowing that they will pay off eventually.

So if there’s something you’d like to do, remember that it’s tho...

You know the phrases…
 “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
“Put your oxygen mask on first.”

But here’s the real question…

Are you actually doing it?

Or are you still giving your time, energy, and attention to everyone else…
 and hoping you’ll get a moment for yourself somewhere down the line?

In this episode, I’m sharing a very honest reflection, one that’s come from being forced to slow down after surgery, and what it’s helped me realise about what I thought was self-care… ver...

On today’s Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are exploring the idea that ‘it’s all an inside job.’

Your inner world shapes how you experience everything around you, and your outer world becomes a reflection of what’s happening within. 

When you start to notice your thoughts, and how you’re really feeling, something shifts. You respond to life differently with more awareness and often more calm and compassion.

In this episode, we share some of the simple tools that have helped us navigate our own inner worlds.

We hope you find some...

In this episode, I open up about how I’ve been navigating the emotional ups and downs of recovery after knee surgery.

I share a recent wobble I experienced, and why learning to feel your emotions, rather than push them away, is such an important part of moving through difficult moments. It’s not about getting stuck in how you feel, but allowing those emotions to move through you with awareness and compassion.

I also talk about the power of a good cry (something we often underestimate), and the simple, supportive ways we can gently shif...

On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about not living in the past.

We all spend time thinking about the past — whether it's reminiscing about a lovely memory, cringing about something we said or did 5 years ago, or thinking about a relationship we're struggling to move on from. The question we want to ask is: how much time am I actually spending in the past?

The truth is that what's done is done, and while we can learn lessons from the past, staying stuck on something that happened 3 weeks or 10 years ago pr...

On today’s Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about brainwashing ourselves with beliefs that are actually going to serve us.

Whether we know it or not, our lives are quietly being run by the subconscious beliefs that we hold - some of which are helping us, many of which are not.

The good news is that we can choose to change our beliefs anytime we like; so if you believe that “life goes downhill once you hit 50”, or “being single makes me a loser”, you aren’t stuck with those limiting beliefs forever. It’s simply...