Life, work & fitness in balance
If you’re striving for a life where your work, wellbeing and fitness support each other, my coaching is designed for you. I help people to:
- Improve physical health to gain more energy and headspace.
- Reduce work stress and become more present for the people who matter.
- Make time for what they need to thrive physically, mentally and emotionally.
- Use the synergies between physical and mental wellbeing to make lasting changes.
My coaching services
Expert life and work coaching, asking the right questions to help you make the best plans and carry them through to success.
A unique fusion of coaching and personal training to bring your life into the best balance possible.
Personal training programme and hands on supervision to help you stay motivated to optimise your fitness.
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Ebb tide
Ebb tide moments happen. I’m in one now and it’s tough. They are the times when everything feels difficult, when you have to recognise that some dreams were out of reach and adjust to that. This is happening right now because of my frozen shoulder which is a pain in so many ways. But I’ve…
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Little steps
My fitness journey didn’t start with a marathon. It started one evening in lockdown, in a park in the dusk with a battered old pair of trainers. Feeling how my mind and body were struggling with so little movement in my daily life. And having a playful experiment to find a way of running that…
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Be smartly stubborn
I’ve had a few tough weeks with a frozen shoulder which is really getting in the way of my marathon training. It’s a weird but painful condition that comes out of nowhere and takes its own time to go away. I’ve tried to keep going as best I can, really wanting to keep my goal…
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Coming alive
One of the things I love most in coaching is seeing a client come alive. It’s hard to describe, as everyone’s different. Sometimes the first sign is something I feel myself – a sense of lifting or lightness as I listen. As a coach, tuning into my own feelings can really deepen my understanding of…
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Does flexibility suit you?
Some people thrive on options, others do better having just one thing to do. I was coaching someone today and we were coming up with a plan for her to look after her physical and mental wellbeing to help deal with work stress. She had a good sense of what worked for her (running, yoga,…
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Running in the rain
When I started running, I used to be very much a fair weather runner. But one day I just had no choice – it was go or abandon my C25k programme. So I headed out in the rain anyway. And at first it was miserable and soggy. But there was a point when I realised…
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The weather is never perfect
If you wait for the perfect weather, you’ll never go for a run. Maybe it’s too too cold. If it’s not too cold, it’s too hot. Too wet. Too dark. The side of us that doesn’t like being uncomfortable is incredibly creative at finding reasons not to go. Even if the weather’s perfect, it will…
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The expert beginner
A concept that’s been cropping up in my coaching a lot lately is being an expert beginner. I came across it in a book about bridge many years ago, but it has stuck with me. The idea is that even when we’re new to something, we can be expert in how we learn to be…
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Movement and the mind
When I’m away from running for a while, I forget just how much it does for my mental health. And then I step out of the door and I can just feel the stresses easing with every stride. Not vanishing, but becoming lighter and easier to carry. Any movement helps, but moving through nature always…
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New shoes
Today I got new running shoes. I’d been putting it off because my old shoes were comfortable. Maybe a bit battered, but still functional. And it seemed an unjustified extravagance to get yet another pair of running shoes! So I kept putting it off. But over time those old shoes had broken down, and weren’t…
Jessica Smith - Life, work and fitness coaching 