2020 A new year new you…Just be the best version of you every day I say!!

The last decade has been an interesting journey…the achievements would not have been possible without the challenges, the opportunities without the hard graft, fun without loved ones, the fitness and physique without the tough work outs.

My biggest insight of 2019 is that if there is something in your life you wish to change, improve or achieve there is only one thing you need to do…Start working on yourself one small step at a time. The little things you do every day will lead to empowering results!

So as we shift into a new year and decade, focus on what you could do a little differently. set goals to help you build a better you. Trash negative thoughts, habits and opinions that do not serve you. Be grateful, practice self empowering talk, surround yourself with uplifting people, be kind to yourself and always acknowledge how awesome you are doing along your journey too!

I truly feel that 2020 has something special planned for everyone. A blessed time where dreams will come true …wishing everyone a beautiful, blessed, healthy and awesome pawesome year ahead! Much love, Jaina and Laura aka Miss Furry Butt

I give thanks and love to every experience and person in my life. From my heart to yours every moment has shaped and strengthend me from the inside out, personally and professionally too. From overcoming health challenges to transforming my mind, body and life, volunteering at London 2012, qualifying as englands first blind female fitness instructor, speaking to inspiring audiences, winning 2 fitness awards, travelling abroad independently, qualifying as a nutrition consultant, the pawesome partnership with my furry girl Laura of course and more…

I truly feel that 2020 has something special planned for everyone. A blessed time where dreams will come true …wishing everyone a beautiful, blessed, healthy and awesome pawesome year ahead! Much love

3 super tips on hydration for better health

Did you know up to 70% of your body is made up of water? keeping well hydrated is essential for many vital body functions. We lose water through breathing, urination, sweat through exercise, temperature. It is thought that we require between 2-2.5l water a day for good health. This is a brill place to begin, however if you are quite active be mindful that your body’s need for hydration will be higher.

Drinking enough to support your body’s needs has a host of benefits from improving digestion, supporting brain function, aiding exercise performance, lubricating joints/organs, assisting with building and repairing the body and more. Here are a few tips on how you can easily fit water into your day:

- invest in a quality drinks bottle. Take it to work, on walks, sip throughout the day, have in place of tea/coffee. It’s an excellent way to track your fluid intake

-develop a hydration habit. for example, getting into the habit of drinking a large glass of water in the morning as part of your routine. Small habits done consistently over time will become a natural part of your day.

-flavour. If you fancied a creative twist to your water, add a slice of lemon, lime or orange for a refreshing taste and vitamin c boost!

So give it a go. Water is such  a key component of wellness. Making small changes is super powerful, health enhancing and will benefit your wellbeing in the long term. Love to know how you get on, much love

Disrupting the industry, breaking down disability barriers…

What an experience at the Future Fit Legacy event! Out of the 5 awesome candidates…I was awarded the Silver Mentoring package worth over £3,000 to help bring my vision of empowering others to lead healthier lives to life!

When my name was called I couldn’t believe it! I went up on stage with mum and little laura who was really the star of the show. She even got a kiss from the future fit founder lol.

I felt soo grateful in the moment as I held the trophy. I thought about all the amazing people in my life who have supported, believed and inspired me to reach higher heights. Its so so important to surround yourself with positive people. You know who you are!

It was Truly a dream come true and great honour to meet some of the biggest names in the fitness world, the amazing future fit team and chatting with inspiring paralympions including Baroness Tanni Grey Tompson and the awesome Lora Fachie who I admire soo much!

On the train ride home, I took some time to process and reflect on such a blessed experience and special opportunities ahead. I realised that the only disability that exists is a bad attitude. I had an insight...You are not limited by your circumstances. And if anything being a little different is an advantage. It got me thinking about what being “normal” Actually means. Society slaps labels on everything from the definition of disability, what is meant by old, beautiful or ugly, what you can and can not do, on and on.

Honestly, what truly matters is how you see yourself. I found my way in life when I embraced being different. And guess what, I stood out at the event. I just happened to be the only athletic Asian visually impaired woman with a guide dog. But this label didn’t matter to me or to the room full of incredible people. Collectively it was all about making a difference to others no matter your situation!

So I encourage everyone to focuss on what you have, what you can do and to seek the strength in your unique situation. I discovered an inner power when I learnt to embrace being different. You can too…

And for me, disrupting the industry, shifting perceptions and helping others to see their life differently is going to be flipping awesome lol, much love xx

Uploaded by Jaina's Fitness Journey on 2019-10-14.

Blindness isn’t a barrier…I am a finalist at the Future Fit Legacy Awards!!

Some of you may know I began a nutrition and weight management advisor qualification earlier this year. Well, a unique opportunity to receive a support package to help launch my career came up. So I submitted my application on how I aim to make a difference in the health and fitness arena and to peoples lives.

Out of the many amazing applicants, I was shortlisted as one of the final 5 for my category!

On Thursday 10th October we head to London where I pitch my idea to a panel of industry experts. A glam black tie evening follows where winners are announced and awards presented!

I was soo overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude when I received the call. The feeling reminded me of a powerful insight …that it is not your circumstances that defines you, its your attitude and how you choose to see it that shapes you. every adversity has an opportunity. I’ve always had the attitude of just seeing things differently and not labelling myself as blind. When I made the decision to do that my life lit up and opportunities like this became more frequent! you can do and experience the same. Seek the unique strength in your situation and prepare for the blessings to flow in abundance…

Watch this space…much love xx

Excuse me Miss, are you a shop lifter??

Imagine you are in a busy department store. Your friend says she’ll be back in a sec. You are stood next to a clothes rail, fumbling about feeling the pretty dresses, doing your best to seem busy and not draw attention to yourself. As you slowly move from one hanger to another, you bump elbows with a not soo impressed shopper. You feel their eyes looking at you with intense suspicion.

Oh damn, there is no sign of your friend, you’ve forgotten your caine at home. how do you explain your blindness without sounding like a complete tit?

This is how some of my shopping experiences used to be before little laura came along. Being left alone, unable to move around safely, not having a clue what to do, especially in busy environments  was a nervous feeling. I often refused to take my caine with me for fear of being judged, appearing vulnerable and I just disliked using the damn thing as it made me look different. It took me many years to finally accept that learning how to use the caine was an essential first step towards regaining my independence and ultimately realising that being different is an asset.

We live in an era where we feel pressure to look a certain way, worry about what people may think of us, compare ourselves to others, the list could go on and on. Your eyes see what you feel to be true, but the answer actually is within you.  let me explain…

Think of a box of chocolates. One is filled with identical pieces, and the other is a brilliant selection of flavours, shapes, textures, colours. Which would you rather have?

Just like a delightful box of chocolate, Choose to be your sweet unique self, embrace your strengths and individuality with pride and passion. Always remind yourself of the following,“The things that make me different are the things that make me me” wise words from my fav Pooh character, Piglet

And as for my shopping experiences these days…Having Laura by my side means that I don’t need to worry about explaining myself. Knocking an elbow, brushing past someone not a big deal. People are often understanding and curious to learn more about the role of a guide dog. With the unmistakable image of the furry little miricles in uniform recognised by many, we stand out in a crowd and walk with confidence everywhere we go. peoples attitude and willingness to help is far different to the stick experience these days!

Kindness is the new "Kool"

The Bus this morning was full of passengers. Most of the seats were taken.

A lovely lady saw we were looking for a front seat. She kindly gave up her place so we could sit down. My heart lit up with such gratitude. Her thoughtfulness set a beautiful tone for the rest of our day.

Its the simple everyday kind gestures that can uplift a strangers day. Courtesy does not cost a thing but has the power to light up someone elses heart and your own too! Be kind to be cool! Much love

Forever Young Lady

At the bus stop In Syston we get talking to a lovely Little lady. Laura curious as always edges in for a fuss as something about this lady has caught her attention .

The first thing this sweet lady says is,”I’ve just had the best horse riding session ever!” she’s been riding for years but had to put her passion on hold after having babies and caring for her poorly husband.

Now in her prine she’s finally dedicating time every week to do what she loves. Learning to ride horses with skill, nailing challenging jumps and developing her confidence.

The passion and enthusiasm in her voice just radiated with a happy glow. And the beautiful part…This little lady was 78 years young! Much love

Story of the Fragrant Rose

For the last few days I had been shopping around for a beautiful pink rose hair accessory for a special occasion. using my inner vision, I had an image of what I wanted in all its beautiful detail.

On this particular day I experienced a quality magic moment! A beautiful series of events followed that could only be explained in one word…So let me share what happened.

Laura and I arrive at the gym for our sweat sess. A lovely fragrance of rose catches my attention. Turns out it’s a yankee candle. Nothing odd right? On the bus ride home, we’re sat talking to a sweet lady. As we get up to leave I felt inspired to ask her name. “rose” she replied. Oh could this be coincidence? Later I am browsing through insta. I notice someone left a comment with the surname Rose. Now I’m thinking whoa!

A strong realisation hit. Where your focus goes, energy flows. Positive or negative. You have the power to choose. So choose wisely!

And the one word I feel best sums this series of coincidences up…serendipity. Something we can all experience more of with awareness, gratitude and being in the moment, much love

Lost Senseless!

This place doesn’t feel right, there’s nobody about, what do you do, your heart starts to race, you feel a serge of panic take over you. You are lost senseless!

These are the thoughts that I used to experience on the odd occasion when laura and I found ourselves a wee bit lost. The mind goes into super overdrive! So how do you find your way when you can’t see a damn thing?

Napoleon Hill, author of the timeless success book Think and Grow Rich said,”Every adversity, every failure, every heart ache carries with it the seed of an equivalent advantage.” These words have helped me massively to see, think and live my life in an empowering way for years. To see my visual impairment from a different perspective. As a blessing, as an advantage not disadvantage, to seek and appreciate the completeness of just being me.

We all face adversity at some point, its just a part of life’s journey. The thing that determines what direction you go in is down to your attitude and how you choose to see the world.

Navigating ourselves out of a lost situation is not as scary now. by tuning into the sounds around me, being present and staying calm helps to refocuss. With a little team effort together we are all good! Thank god for heightened senses!

So the next time you feel discouraged here’s what to do. seek the goodness in the moment, and you will find your way! much love

The FGF is a tough mudder! Here's why...

What is healthier?

A pint of Stella or green smoothie

A crispy cream doughnut or a bowl of strawberries

A plate of cheesy nachos or steamed salmon with vegies

No brainer right? so, why is it that we all understand what the healthier option is in our heads but when it comes to actually making that choice in reality its soo…damn…hard!!

Just take a mo to think about how eating your favourite foods make you feel. Is it Comforting, stress relieving, addictive, delicious, pleasurable or happy perhaps?

One of the biggest hurdles many of us face when deciding to live a healthy lifestyle is trying to let go of certain foods that do not support our goals. Here’s the thing, unhealthy habits regardless of their nature, all develop over time. I have found that one of the reasons breaking this habitual pattern feels like a tough mudder is this…The FGF aka Feel Good Factor!

We all experience this feeling, particularly when we know healthier choices are better for us but somehow that damn doughnut is just too tempting. And guess what, part of what makes high calorie foods super irresistible is a clever balance of sugar, fat and salt. A marriage made in processed feel good heaven

So you maybe wondering…How do I turn this old way of thinking around so that nutritious options can become my new feel good foods of choice??

Come join us for our How to make your healthy habits stick event on 29th September to learn exactly how! Only a few places are left so if you are interested be sure to book your spot soon at the below link.

https://www.jainamistry.co.uk/events/

And watch this space for another pawesome insight in a few days. I’ll be introducing you to someone remarkable who has empowered me to raise the bar with my own health, mind and body to achieve rockin results!

Whoa! How a 7 year old made my heart melt

If someone asked me, “what do you enjoy most about being a speaker?” I’d say, the empowering feeling you get from sharing a unique insight into your story to help people to see, think and do things differently that will benefit their lives and others. Yes it takes balls of courage to speak in front of an audience, but the outcome of facing the fear is worth it as I recently discovered after an unexpected encounter…

One of the most rewarding and fun things Laura and I love to do is supporting the Guide Dogs charity. So we joined in with a Christmas collection day at our local Sainsbury’s dressed in festive style of course! With a sparkly red tinsel collar and festive head band Laura looked like a furry Christmas tree and as for me, a Santa hat which was not as cool. But hey ho ho ho the outfits were worth it!

We drew in very merry shoppers who kindly opened up their purses, loved fussing adorable Laura and most importantly raised lots of awareness about the work of guide dogs. If I had a penny for every time someone called her a good boy I bet we could have raised like a million quid in 90mins. Thought I just told you her name was Laura?! Lol.

And then I heard an excited little voice behind me say, “Hello I remember you and Laura! You came to speak about guide dogs at my beavers group!”

As soon as I turned around to face the little girl, she enthusiastically went on to explain every detail she remembered from the talk and how she still uses the puppy book mark we handed out…almost 8 months ago!

Whoa I thought! Listening to her share what she had learnt just made my heart melt like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm apple crumble. Simply sweet!

ñ

As I spoke to her, I remember how enthusiastic and excited the kids were that day to hear all about Laura and why she is a special doggy and how she helps me.

We were sat at the front of the room with rows of little eyes on us. My initial thought was, “oh damn there’s no way these kids are going to sit still for 15mins listening to me blabbering on!”

To my surprise I was proved wrong! Each and every child sat quietly, fully engaged and payed close attention as I shared stories on the role of a guide dog, how Laura has changed my life and a few funny stories about the mischief she gets up too! Not surprisingly they were curious to learn more raising their little hands eager to ask a question or two or three…”can Labradors only become guide dogs, how old is Laura, and.. My doggy likes to eat carrots too!”

Every second of our visit was so rewarding and fun. These smart little grownups showed such enthusiasm, a genuine interest and were able to demonstrate what they had learnt too!

I remember a moment at the end of the talk when all 25 kids lined up in single file to stroke Laura and receive a sticker and book mark. One little boy made me smile. Before he reached out to pet Laura in harnace he introduced himself to me and politely asked, “Is it ok to stroke Laura.”

One of the things I’d mentioned to the kids was to always ask the guide dog owner first before fussing the dog as a dog in harnace is a working dog and must not be distracted. The same little boy left the session super excited telling his dad all about what he’d learnt.

This is what makes doing what I do so fun and rewarding

The experience of helping these little ones to learn about the life changing work of guide dogs is such an empowering feeling. The impression you could make on a person, even a 7 year old as I realised from simply speaking from the heart is a feeling that lights me up inside. So no matter how nervous it feels this is what truly makes it so worthwhile.

Today’s kids are our future generation of influencers and thought leaders. I believe if we can begin teaching them about the positive impact they can make even on the tiniest level just imagine what an empowering world we could create!

Why you should never let the mind gremlin win

An inspiring friend recently reached out to me with a wonderful opportunity. What I discovered from saying yes and stepping out of my comfort zone was pretty remarkable. Read on as I share exactly what it was and how our journey unfolded…

Jaina, I am looking for a VI motivational speaker to deliver a talk at a workshop on speaking with confidence aimed at the visually impaired and supportive carers…and it’s in London.

Yes! Of course I’d love to was my first thought, but then a little voice began to speak and said, but but but jaina you have never travelled to London on your own before. Then the silly voice began its rant. You know the little mind gremlin that starts rambling all the reasons why you should not do something? Like totally trying to put you off as it is scared of the unknown.

The mind gremlin suddenly went into the if’s, buts and what ifs mode. You have never travelled to London on your own before it repeated, how will you get there, its freezing out there, it’ll be a long long day not to mention the travelling, and on and on it went

The fearful part of me was like say no, the empowered me said you can do it. Have confidence you will find a way…so try

Ok I thought…lets firstly do this. Ask around to see if someone would kindly like to accompany me. But no joy. Oh what now jaina, what ya going to do?! Off goes that nutty mind gremlin again

So I stopped, paused and began an empowering dialogue with myself…

How do you feel about making the trip independently with Laura? You have travelled abroad solo before so getting to London should be piece of cake, right? Imagine the value you could create for others by attending. Remember your aspiration to become an “international” speaker

Then it hit me. Of course!  A feeling of excitement over powered the fear and I realised a powerful truth. 

I had to push beyond my comfort zone and be ok with feeling uncomfortable in order to move toward my dream. I must show the mind gremlin who’s boss! Much like a workout-lifting weights in the gym, the repetition, going 1% harder every time, pushing through the discomfort reaps positive results and leads to progress.

So move confidently in the direction of your dream

I realised by saying yes, committing to the engagement, regardless of if I found someone or not felt like an empowered yes. I felt present with a purpose in mind

Sometimes it’s easy to let fear overwhelm our thinking, take control and dictate our decisions. Simply pausing for just a sec to ask myself, “What’s the purpose, how is it going to serve me and others?” created a shift in my mind.

I became aware of how purpose always precedes action no matter what we do

Having made my decision to proceed. The rest was pretty easy! So how did our first independent trip to London go?

 Jumped out of bed at 4.36am, showered, fed and watered Laura, ruck sack packed with my body fuel-water, macro meals and protein bars and arrived at the station for super early train bound for London St Pancras. Having booked passenger assistance in advance, a member of staff happily escorted us onto the train. First class carriage all to ourselves why not have a snooze. So I did lol

As soon as we pulled into the station, we hopped off the train onto the platform where an assistance person was waiting for us. He helped us to our meeting point at kings cross but in the process almost lead us down escalators! Damn, luckily we stopped in the nick of time once I realised what was happening. Laura was unfaised by the encounter with the scary moving steps and her little paws were ok. She confidently guided me through a sea of people with her happy tail wagging like a super star. So proud of her!

We made our way to the venue with the help of a lovely volunteer who met us at the station. We had reached our destination! The workshop ran from 10am to 5pm, and wow! What a day it was. It was such a pleasure to share my journey and to offer hope, motivation and inspiration on how adversity can become your greatest asset. But most of all it was just amazing, informative, positive and empowering to have met so many incredible people. Sharing our sight loss journeys, discovering common experiences and empowering one another made the trip worthwhile.

The return journey was smooth too. I sat on the train reflecting on the day, feeling happy with a sense of achievement and smile on my face. I thought through how the outcome could have been very different had I allow the mind gremlin to win. If we choose to simply be aware of the negative chatter, let it pass and be open to discovering the purpose behind our decisions we can empower ourselves to move forward regardless of how uncomfortable it may feel

So choose to move confidently in the direction of your dreams, be comfortable with being uncomfortable, show that mind gremlin who’s the boss…and who knows what you might discover!