Pressing Pause
Episode #97
What I learned from The Repair Shop about our wellbeing
Gabrielle Treanor
26/01/2022
I became a huge fan of The Repair Shop TV show during the 2020 lockdowns and it gave me more than comfort and entertainment – something that we can put to use in our everyday lives to support our own wellbeing.
In this episode I share:
- The foundational part of the restoration process that can apply to us humans
- What we need before we can make changes
- An experiment to breathe love into your life
Resources:
Pressing Pause Podcast episode 97 What I learned from The Repair Shop about our wellbeing
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Welcome to Pressing Pause. I’m Gabrielle Treanor, a mindset and positive psychology coach and writer, exploring how we can create, find and feel more calm, ease and joy in our daily lives.
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Welcome to episode 97. If you’re a long time listener thank you so much for your time tuning into this podcast. And if you’ve only just come across the podcast, perhaps you came across me through social media, or my radio show on Yowah Radio, or perhaps you read my writing in a magazine, welcome, welcome, welcome, I’m delighted you’re here with me. I hope you enjoy this episode and please do take a wander through the other episodes and see what takes your listening fancy.
However long you’ve been listening you might not be aware of all the other free goodies, besides this podcast, that I create to help you to feel more calm, in control, and happier. I have a free resource library where you’ll find a guide to making your own mental health first aid kit, a set of guided meditations and a guide to overcoming overwhelm for introverts. They’re all free and you can quickly and easily download them by going to gabrielletreanor.com/free. You can take your pick or have all three if you like.
And, I’m spending less time on social media so the best way by far to know what other goodies I have for you, and to get more support on bringing more calm and joy into your life, is to get my emails which I send every week or two. You can sign up to receive my emails at gabrielletreanor.com/free and you’ll get your choice of free gift.
Now, for today’s episode I want to talk about the brilliant TV show The Repair Shop and something I learned from the show that we can apply to our own wellbeing. I became a HUGE fan of The Repair Shop during the 2020 lockdowns and if you’re not familiar with it it’s a BBC TV programme where master craftspeople take beloved, aka broken and threadbare, items belonging to members of the general public and restore them to be cherished for many more years to come.
It was such comfort television during the lockdowns and uncertainty because while the world seemed to be turning upside down and inside out I could watch these incredibly skilled people breathe love and life back into everyday objects that often held extraordinary stories.
Having watched many, many episodes there are a few things I’ve picked up on, steps or procedures that are often taken in the restoration process. A word you often hear used when they’re talking about how they’re going to start work on an item is ‘stabilise’ – they need to stabilise the material the item is made of before they do anything else.
Without stabilising the material, whatever it is, they can’t repair the item or bring out its beauty or breathe new life into it. It’s the first step, the foundation from which the item can be restored and renewed.
It occurred to me that this applies to us as human beings too.
Before we can make changes or ask something of ourselves, before we can live to our full potential, we need to stabilise ourselves too.
Which means we need to take care of our own needs. They can be pretty basic needs which you’ve been neglecting because you’re too busy, other people need you, it feels indulgent to spend time or energy on yourself, or you simply don’t think you’re a priority.
But if we aren’t in a stable condition, if we’re feeling worn thin, frayed round the edges and bruised by life, how can we expect ourselves to manage when the unexpected happens? Or to do our best, most creative work? Or to be the patient, compassionate, fun, relaxed person we want to be? Or to live a life that feels fulfilling and joyful?
We can be quick to minimise the importance of good quality sleep, nourishing food and drink, moving the body, spending time in nature and the fresh air, and with people whose company we enjoy.
They’re ordinary, unexciting actions that we can so easily push to one side but without them everything else in life can feel so much harder.
These are not nice-to-haves. They’re the foundation from which we can flourish. When we don’t get enough quality sleep, when we grab food on the go, spend hours hunched over a computer, run from home to the car to work to the supermarket, and don’t spend time with people who make us smile, we’re surviving more than thriving.
Which makes it much harder to feel the calm, peace, ease and joy you want to feel. To be the person you want to be, who you know you are deep down but has been buried by the stuff of life. To live a life that’s in line with your values and true to you.
And it’s so easy to push this basic stuff aside! You’ll get to it later, when life’s calmed down, when you’ve finished this thing, when you know you won’t be called upon…
But what if taking care of your needs actually helped you to take care of others, to do good work, as well as feeling good yourself?
It’s worth a go, right?
So how about you try an experiment? Pick a timeframe (at least a week to give yourself a fighting chance) and see how ‘stabilising’ yourself goes.
Make a bedtime routine and focus on getting quality shuteye.
Or plan meals ahead and batch cook or order a healthy meal delivery box.
Or go for lunchtime walks in the local park.
Or join an exercise class.
Or call or meet up with your favourite people.
Treat yourself like someone (or some thing) you dearly love, give yourself some TLC and see what impact breathing some love into your life has. Imagine you’re one of the team from The Repair Shop if it helps!
I hope you enjoyed this episode 97, you can find the show notes at gabrielletreanor.com/podcast. As I mentioned at the start, you can find lots more to help you feel more calm and joy in your daily life including my free resource library at gabrielletreanor.com/free. And you can always get in touch with me on email at [email protected].
Finally, if you enjoy Pressing Pause it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on iTunes. It only takes a minute and it really helps this podcast to be found in the huge ocean of podcasts out there.
So, thanks again for listening, until next time, lovely people.
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