Practicing mindfulness and wellness with Olly Lester

Melanie:

Welcome to the Family Carer podcast, where we help mums, dads, aunts, uncles, daughters, sons, friends, anyone who's caring for a family member or loved one to feel supported in their role and connected to their community.

This week, we're joined by Ollie Lester, a health and wellness coach. Ollie is passionate about his work helping carers to feel good, look good, gain energy and avoid lifestyle diseases. His one-to-one coaching supports family carers to prioritise their well-being, achieving better long-term health outcomes. Ollie also runs workplace health workshops and talks, aiming to keep people happy and healthy and more empowered with their own health, rather than drifting into lifestyle disease. In this episode, we'll learn how mindfulness and physical exercises can benefit carers and their family members.

We'll also learn some practical day-to-day tips that can help carers manage their responsibilities more effectively, maybe some engaging activities that carers and their family members can do together to improve their bond and well-being, and what types of support are available for carers through the NHS. I'm Melanie Cohen. If you're a family carer and you're struggling to prioritise your own health and wellbeing, then this episode's for you. Stay with us.

Hi Ollie, how are you doing today?

Olly:

Very well, thanks Melanie. Good to be here.

Melanie:

Good, well thank you for joining us. So I know you quite well because I've met you several times before, but for anybody that doesn't know you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Olly:

Yeah, I am a health coach, which essentially means I help people feel good and have better systems in place to stay well and prevent illness. And I have two hats. I work three days a week in a GP surgery in New Milton as a health coach, where I see people who have lifestyle problems and lifestyle diseases. And then the other two days I work for myself and I aim really to keep people out of the NHS because a lot of the people I see in the surgery are ill based on a build-up of poor habits over time, which is no shame or blame on the individual, it just happens to be their end result. So I kind of help them rectify what they're doing that's making them ill and hopefully steering them away and back into a picture of health.

Melanie:

Amazing. Yeah. Wonderful. We need more people like you out there, Ollie, to help us all stay well. So we know that many people who are providing care for a loved one are also juggling many other responsibilities, which means that they often find it really difficult to prioritise their own health and well-being. So maybe let's start by talking about how mindfulness and physical exercises can benefit carers, but also how that has a knock-on effect for the person that they're caring for.

Olly:

Yeah, good question. I'd like to use that analogy of when you're on the airplane, the oxygen mask is dropping down and you're told to put on your own mask first before you assist others, right? Yeah. So that's a really good example of how you can use mindfulness and physical activity to promote your own health. And then on that sense, you're a better version of yourself for then to be caring for your loved ones or your colleagues or whatever. So, yeah, say, example, if you don't do these mindfulness or physical activities for yourself or eat well, whatever it may be, you could be, say, let's say you're a version of like three out of 10 in terms of your own well-being. But if you do these exercises, mindfulness or physical stuff, that could put you in a position of, say, like an eight out of 10, for example. Or could you get to a four or five even rather than a three? So that's hopefully explaining like, yeah, where you're at and what you could do perhaps to get you to a better version of yourself. So, yeah, strategies such as mindfulness can be really helpful.

Melanie:

Yeah, I guess we've covered different things there like mindfulness, physical exercises, you touched there on what we're eating as well. So there's a whole host of things that play into somebody's well-being. And I love the analogy you used there with the aeroplane and I think it's one that we've probably all heard before. And we probably all hear it and ignore it and think, well, we don't have time for that. But even just down to the level of energy that you have if you're at a four or a five rather than a three out of 10 for your own kind of sense of well-being is an incredible change that you can then pass on through your responsibilities as a carer or any other part of your life, whether it's your work or your family or whatever that might be. So I think we mustn't underestimate how important it is to make those small changes. We don't need to get from a 3 out of 10 to a 10 out of 10. Just nudging up to improve our own sense of well-being can have a huge knock on effect for others around us.

Olly:

Yeah, I think I always emphasise progress rather than perfection as well because there's no perfect humans. too big a goal can be often be too overwhelming to even bother starting. So small changes are really big. Let's put it that way because our book by B.J. Fogg called Tiny Habits, I read that a couple of times.

Melanie:

I know it well. It's a brilliant book.

Ollie:

Yeah. So it's just the emphasis is on starting rather than not starting. And starting small is making it really accessible and having these little moments in your day to promote better habits that give you hopefully a better long term outcome.

Melanie:

Yeah, building those tiny habits, making them part of your everyday life. And I know that he, BJ Fogg, certainly talks about piggybacking on existing habits, doesn't he? So when the things that you do without questioning them every day, like brushing your teeth, like when you brush your teeth, you do one other thing, like one press up or one squat. And that is all you commit to, so it doesn't become overwhelming. And I think it's just about reframing what that can look like for you to improve your health and well-being, that it doesn't need to be setting an hour aside or setting two hours aside or putting on special clothes or going to a special place or paying money to do things. These things can be really accessible. Which I guess leads us in nicely to maybe you giving us some practical tips on some of those easy, easily accessible wellness activities that people might be able to start doing for themselves.

Olly:

Yeah, good question. And I think one resource I use a lot is the five minute kitchen workout that I got from Rangan Chatterjee, who's a lifestyle medicine doctor. He's got his own podcast as well. But yeah, he's kind of breaking down the barriers to doing physical exercise. So whenever you're boiling the kettle or you're waiting for your tea to brew, there could be five exercises you could do without moving location, without getting changed. You can squat, you can press up, and you can do calf raises, but all these exercises can be adapted depending on how your mobility is or what your strength is right now. So it's just a case of doing little moments many times. So if you're in the kitchen, yeah, making a cup of tea or a coffee, or you're waiting for a saucepan to boil, What could you do during that time where you're going to wait for that moment anyway? Yeah. Could you piggyback on that current habit and just upgrade your your health by doing these little movements and creating a stronger body without even, you know, leaving your house or going to a gym? Yeah. So it's possible to factor in all these things. And over a 24 hour period, say, if you make five cups of tea a day, you could do you know, X amount of squats or X amount of wall press ups or things like that. So it's just getting creative and having fun by doing these things. Then hopefully then that will lead you into a happier and sort of healthier day.

Melanie:

I mean, even if we just did 10 minutes a day, that's over an hour a week of strength building that we weren't doing before. So again, just making it achievable, short, yeah, and accessible. So that covers some physical, some physical exercises and some movement that we can do to help to improve our wellbeing. How about the mindfulness side of things? What can people do for themselves at home?

Olly:

Yeah, good question. I think I like to have like, just pauses throughout the day. And I, what works for me is I set an alarm on my phone every two hours and it just says breathe. And whether that's like, you could do one breath or you could take 30 seconds or whatever you're doing. And yeah, set it up for whenever you're potentially in a calmer period of your day. But having these moments, because we all forget to do lots of things. I'm, yeah, I'm no different. So it's having these reminders and triggers that get you to sort of reflect and have those breaks in the day of whatever your responsibilities are. And just having those little moments many times is a, you know, they all add up again. So like the movement, yeah, the mindfulness just works in the same way. So whatever you're aiming to achieve, could you break these bigger goals down into little chunks and take a few breaths here and there but that's just one example so and it's just getting creative about what you're able to fit in in your day.

Melanie:

I love the example of breathing because it's something we're all doing all day and we just don't even realise do we don't pay any attention to it. So actually just bringing your attention to the fact that you're breathing again is a mindfulness exercise in itself. But do you have any breathing exercises if people want to dedicate a minute or two is there any particular breathing exercises that you can recommend for people?

Olly:

Yeah, another one I've just stolen from Rong and Chatterjee, but I mean, there's loads of breathing options available, but three, four, five is a simple one. So you breathe in for a count of three, and then with full lungs, you hold for a count of four. And then having a longer exhale than the inhale would simply calm your nervous system down. So you can breathe out for five or longer than that. And just experiment and you can play with the numbers, but as long as the exhale is longer than the inhale, then you're calming your body down, even though your mind might be racing with other stresses of life. Amazing.

Melanie:

So that's something that actually we can all access really easily. And for our listeners that are family carers, I'm sure there's points in the day where they find they're quite sort of, you know, stressed and they feel like they're a bit overwhelmed. Being able to do that without actually even stepping out of the room, I guess, just bringing your attention to your breath and doing that longer exhale, even if it's just for 10 seconds, could probably help to defuse those stressful feelings.

Olly:

Yeah, 100 percent. And you can do it anywhere. You don't need to tell people you're doing it. You could do it when you're eating, you can do it in the car, you can do it in a work meeting, whatever. Yeah. So it's a tool to bring out your toolbox whenever you're wanting to or whenever you remember to. Yeah. It's just the key really.

Melanie:

I like that. I like that a lot. Thank you for sharing that. And when our listeners don't get an opportunity to dedicate some time away for themselves, and I know that a lot of the tips you've given us can be done at any point in time. You don't need to leave the house to do them. But how about for people who are providing care for a loved one and can't sort of separate themselves, get away, are there any kind of activities that you might be able to recommend that people could engage their loved one in as well that would benefit both of them?

Olly:

Yeah, I think anything you can do together is obviously you bond socially and anything outdoors simply is a good way to start because that gets you away from screens and any movement outdoors is free to do. It could be dancing or it could be singing or it could be going for a walk in the forest or in the park, but anything just outdoors. And if you're enjoying nature as well as an exercise that kind of ticks quite a few boxes. You're getting sunlight, you're getting fresh air, you're getting vitamin D and you're moving and hopefully bonding with that other person you're caring for. And it doesn't have to be complicated, like walking or if you've got a dog as well. Try and tick multiple boxes with one activity.

Melanie:

And we're incredibly lucky here because we've got the beautiful coast here down in Dorset. But we've also got a lot of wonderful public green spaces, parks. We're close to the New Forest. So if people have got access to transport as well, they don't have to go far afield to be out in wonderful outdoor spaces. So, yeah, I think we're well placed geographically for people to really get out there and enjoy the outdoors.

Olly:

Yeah, and it's just again like keeping it simple and reducing any barrier to you doing that activity. So if all you've got is a few minutes to go and sit in your garden or go for a walk in the park that's nearest to you, then take that one rather than saying you can't commit to an hour's drive into the forest. So It's just, yeah, tiny habits and reducing those barriers and giving yourself the best opportunity to follow through on these ideas.

Melanie:

And I have heard people say as well that when you can't get out of the house, even just playing birdsong or sounds of being outdoors can improve your well-being.

Olly:

Yeah, yeah. And even like photos of nature or sounds, your favourite sounds of nature that could be waterfalls or birds or whatever. It's just having that or bringing those opportunities into your current lifestyle. And everyone has unique responsibilities and time they have available to be more flexible. But if you haven't, then what's your kind of minimum you can do given your situation?

Melanie:

I think you've given us some really good ideas there so I'd like to hope that our listeners are going to be able to take at least one thing from everything you've shared with us today that they can implement in their own life to help with their well-being. So thank you for sharing those. I'd really also love to encourage people that are providing care for a loved one to try and take some time away and really focus on their own health and well-being. But we know that it's really difficult to find the motivation to get started sometimes. So hopefully this will have given people a little bit of motivation. But I know that you've mentioned the work you do with the NHS around health coaching. Perhaps you can talk to us about what support there is out there via the NHS that people might be able to tap into and how they go about accessing that.

Olly:

Yeah, so health coaching, every GP surgery in the country should have access to either a health coach or a social prescriber, which are both roles that are non-medical. And you can ask your receptionist or ask your GP for a GP referral or some surgeries may have information on their websites about those services. But it's just helping with behaviour change and it's kind of solution orientated and helping people to help themselves really at home and maybe prioritising or reassessing their priorities in life and maybe identifying what things they're maybe not doing and suggesting ways that people can add in healthier ways of life. 

Melanie:

So accessing that sounds like it possibly is quite straightforward. As long as they can make that request at the surgery, there should be somebody there that can point them in the right direction.

Olly:

Yeah, definitely. They can inquire on email or give them a call or go into their surgery and yes, they'll be able to point them in the right direction.

Melanie:

Okay, so health coach or social prescriber is the terms that they would be looking to use when they're inquiring about those services?

Olly:

Yes.

Melanie:

Okay, well I definitely encourage our listeners to do that. I think that's a wonderful support facility to have, freely available, free to us on the NHS. So let's try and encourage people to make use of that as best they can and avoid, like you say, needing to be treated by the NHS further down the line for health conditions that maybe we could have avoided through through those lifestyle changes?

Olly:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, the NHS is great at a lot of things, but preventing illness is probably not in its remit. And so if we're doing these little things every day that that promotes health rather than drift into ill health, it's certainly possible to stay well. And it's not always easy because our environment in the UK doesn't help. Let's put it politely like that, because we're bombarded by influences in terms of food choices or it's easy to stay sedentary now. So you're kind of going against the tide, if you like, of what you're exposed to. But if you can enjoy healthier habits as well, and that's getting creative and having fun with movements or mindfulness or eating better. It's certainly possible. But yeah, that's where the health coaching can help. You can get to a result with more support and accountability to help you sort of follow through on these little adjustments in your life.

Melanie:

And it doesn't have to be all or nothing. It's just those small changes that can make the difference, like you've said. So I'd like to people not to be overwhelmed by the thought of beginning that. So like we said right at the beginning, you don't have to go from being a 1 out of 10 to being a 10 out of 10. And it sounds like the approach certainly that you provide with the health coaching within the NHS is helping people to just nudge forward with whatever they can manage at that time in the circumstances that they find themselves in.

Olly:

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, small steps. And it's just realising that everyone's situation is unique. You're all caring for different personalities and living with different environments. Yeah. So it's kind of puzzle solving as well. So each person's got a different puzzle and establishing where you're at and where you'd like to get to. That's different for everyone.

Melanie:

Yeah, amazing. Well, sadly, we're almost out of time. So it's such an important topic. And I'd like to thank you, Ollie, for giving us such a great insight to what's available out there as far as support goes, but also some of your valuable ideas as to the changes that we can all make on a daily basis to improve our own well-being. So I'm sure your tips and motivation will have helped many of our listeners today who are finding it really difficult to look after themselves. Ollie, we'll make sure we pop a link in the show notes so when people are ready to reach out to you, they know how to contact you. Because I know you do, as you said, one of your hats is that you do run your own business as a health coach. So if people want to reach out to you privately as well, they can. So we'll pop the link in there for them.

Olly:

Yeah, no, you're very welcome. It's good to be here today.

Melanie:

Excellent. Thank you for listening to the Family Carer podcast, and thanks again to Ollie for joining us today. I'm looking forward to seeing you, Ollie, at the next Catch Up in Southbourne. We meet regularly as part of a networking group, and I know we always find time to talk about health and well-being. It's something that we're both very passionate about. So I love to feel that energy and to be able to share that today with our listeners. You can sign up to our newsletter to find out more about what's going on locally. Again, we'll pop the link in the show notes so that you don't miss out. All right, folks, remember to subscribe and share this episode with anyone who you think might benefit from it. And just finally, did you know that those providing more than 20 hours of care to a loved one Sorry, had to take a breath, edit. And finally, did you know that those providing more than 20 hours of care to a loved one per week are 96% more likely to report poor mental health compared to their peers? So we really need to make sure that we promote this, sharing this episode with anybody that needs it and implementing those tiny habits to get ourselves in a better place. Thanks, Ollie.

Olly:

Thank you.

Melanie:

Thank you. I could just talk to you for hours about this because I'm very passionate about health and well-being myself but I think that gives people some really great little tips to take away.

Olly:

It's just sort of starting somewhere isn't it?

Melanie:

Yeah, and although we didn't cover it in the episode, it's like just sort of trying to get over those excuses because I think we all do it when we're not in the right headspace to start. I don't have time or I can't afford it or whatever.