Maps, stress and shoeboxes!

I did a course a while ago on mind mapping and had a go at drawing one this morning as part of an assessment within my Certificate of Education (training to be a lecturer). Mind maps are kind of like a spider diagram, but more complex. They consist of a putting a central idea in the middle of a piece of plain landscape paper and then drawing coloured branches radiating from the centre with particular themes written along the branches. As the branches get further from the centre they get thinner, and the writing along the branches gets smaller and changes from capital letters to lower case. Mind maps are useful for developing creativity and offer a heirachal representation of information. They use both the left and right brain, allow for greater knowledge retention than note taking, and are useful when attempting to solve complex problems. I found it quite time consuming producing my mind map this morning and definitely find it easier to write an essay, but I enjoyed the challenge and understand that with a bit more practice mind mapping will come naturally and will be an effective tool to use. Many people use it within business meetings, when studying, or when brainstorming ideas. I have uploaded a copy of my mind map to twitter at www.twitter.com/niycpidge

I have been doing a lot of studying recently, and was in London again at the weekend for my masters degree. We looked at the topics of mindfulness, neurochemistry, and biological psychology, all of which were interesting and offered some new information. The biological psychology lecture coincided with some reading I have been doing into the effects of stress, and how it can be reduced.

Cortisol, which is the body's stress hormone, is produced by the adrenal gland, and is vital for dealing with stressful situations and producing the 'fight or flight' response. Cortisol tends to be highest in the mornings, tapering off towards the end of the day. However, when stress is experienced, cortisol levels are higher throughout the day, and can result in physiological changes such as digestive issues, lowered immune system, and increase fat storage around the midriff. Light physical activity has been known to help relieve stress and reduce cortisol levels, although with higher intensity training cortisol production is actually increased to help regulate blood sugars (with good nutrition this should not have negative impact). Governments are now looking at programmes to reduce stress in the workplace as a high proportion of absences are stress related. Current research suggests that reducing caffeine, getting good quality sleep, and experiencing more positive emotions can impact favourably upon stress levels. This is an area within which I am beginning to develop training and coaching which looks at what can be done to reduce stress and promote positive emotion in individuals and also within the workplace. Get in touch if this is of interest to you!

Newcastle parkrunners have suprised me recently......even with the days getting darker and colder, we have had a few record attendances, with our top turnout being 152 runners. Well done everyone! Im really pleased with the way Newcastle parkrun is growing and reaching a wide variety of people and im sure numbers will continue to increase. We will be continuing parkrun as normal over the festive period, and there will indeed be a Newcastle parkrun at 9am on Christmas Day, and also New Years Day (whether everybody will be sober or not is another matter!). We will be hosting a Christmas Brunch on Saturday 18th December, immediately after the run, in the Cafe in the park, where all runners and volunteers are encouraged to bring along a sweet or a savoury item to add to the table. Similarly we will be hosting a 1 year anniversary event on Saturday 15th January, again immediately after the run and in the cafe in the park, where Sweatshop, Lucozade, and Nike will be present to help us celebrate! Please do come along to both of these events and join in the community spirit of Newcastle parkrun, whether you have participated in a run yet or not.

I will be making up a shoe box this year for Operation Christmas Child, to send out to St Lucia which has just been hit by a hurricane. One of the girls at work has family in the area that has been hit and her Dad's house is one of only two left standing. If anyone would like to contribute a shoe box full of things for a child at christmas then give me a shout (via facebook, twitter etc) and I can organise getting it sent for you. Have a look at http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/ for more information and ideas on what to pack in your shoebox.

Thanks,

Niyc xx