Balance Fitness and Wellbeing

25/11/2025

A spot of shinrin-yoku (the Japanese art of forest bathing) on my walk into work this morning.

Just a few minutes but it worked wonders. 🌳❤️🌲

Research has shown that as little as five minutes spent in nature can improve your mental wellbeing. It needn’t be a forest, it could be a park, a garden, or just a small green space.

P.S. can you hear the woodpecker?

23/11/2025

What are your mental wellbeing coping strategies?

We post regularly about our running on here, not because we want you all to love running (it’s a marmite thing), but because it offers us both something more than fitness…

Space.

It gets us out in the open air, into nature, into freedom.

The challenges of two young children, self-employment, and other responsibilities have been intense for us in recent weeks, so getting away from it all for just a little while becomes ever more important.

Tonight, I headed out for my first night run of the season. The air was cool and fresh after the rain, the streets quiet, and my mind even quieter. I returned home feeling like I had a lot more in the tank to help me cope than when I left. (And I got to see my first festive decorations!) 🎄

What are your go-to tools for coping when life gets challenging? ⚒️

Or, if you don’t feel you have a strong toolkit right now, what one thing might make even a small difference? 🧰

22/11/2025

We need your help. 🙏🙏🙏

2025 is somehow nearly done and it’s been a fab year!! For us, it was all about getting our little PT & Wellbeing Studio launched and thriving to help the lovely folk of Wells.

Now we’re working on how we help all of you in 2026, and it’s going to be awesome!!!

COMING EARLY NEXT YEAR - the Balance Fit & Well For Life Club, with online programme and membership options designed to do exactly what it says: get you fitter, healthier, and happier in a way that really lasts!

Real holistic stuff. Exercise, nutrition, sleep, mental wellbeing, lifestyle habits, and making change happen, all the things you know we love to help you with and that matter to you and your wellbeing!

And all true to our key values and pillars - simple, enjoyable, affordable, and sustainable. No gimmicks, no exercise or diet plans you can’t stick to, just real stuff for real people like you.

Now is your chance to tell us what would really help you!!! Post your ideas and desires below or - if you’d prefer - pop us a message outlining what you’d love to see on there!

Let’s make 2026 your most balanced one yet!! 🧘🏽‍♀️🏋️🍎🚴‍♀️🌻🤸🏿🥦🍕😴☀️🏄‍♂️🧗🏾‍♀️🌌☕️❤️📚🌈🌳🌍🛼🥇

22/11/2025

This resonated with me in so many ways. So much here reflects how we often see modern life and what balance truly looks and feels like.

Beautifully written and well worth a follow I’d say. ❤️

I don't much like the pace and the vibe of this here modern life... I mean, I’m a child of the 80s, born in 1979, and aye — I make good use of things like this smart-blower I’m writing home to you on, but... 😏

You'll not find my heart in this race.

I lose myself staring at old bridges — the ones built by hands long gone, with passion, pride, and a kind of quiet grace. Those arches whisper stories, hold echoes. Yet I feel nothing for the soulless concrete flyovers of modern “progression,” all rush and racket and no romance 🤔

More and more, I’m being pulled towards stillness. Towards connection. Towards that peace that only shows itself when I stop seeing life for what it could be and simply sit with life as it is 🤟

For me, the good stuff is simple:
a meal with my loves,
a brew with a mate,
or hitching my bum up on the roof to watch the chimney smoke curl and dance with the morning air 🙏

Living and loving in the modern world is a necessity, sure… but like ultra-processed foods, it’s best enjoyed sparingly and in moderation.

And actually, that’s bang on, isn’t it?

This modern life is ultra-processed living?

Escalators instead of stairs… phones instead of friends… echo chambers instead of discussion and discovery… and a telly instead of adventure 🙃

I’m missing the hills of Cheshire and Derbyshire this morning — those high-up places where the wind clears the head and the heart — but I’m also feeling that tug towards Friday night ice-skating disco and a stroll down Queens Lane here in Oxford 😊

I know Ma’s banned all future coddiwompling discussions until after Christmas, so shhh 🤫 keep schtum… but I need to talk to someone about it…

Five years of wandering has turned us into that metaphorical child in the sweet shop — we’ve grown to love so many places, yet only have enough in our pocket for a ½ lb bag and can’t decide what to choose 🤷‍♂️

If we were retired and the hatchlings had flown, we could have it all. But for now? Perfection looks more like finding one stretch to call home ✊️

I’ve loved nothing more than watching the lad’s independence flourish here in Oxfordshire, but we still crave those sweet days in the hills — watching life unfold below us while the wind blows away the cobwebs 🤗

I’ve over-simplified it, of course. Really what’s needed is a cuppa with a chum to chew it all over… at some point between now and when Ma restarts “negotiations” in January 😉

Truth be told, I need to go sit beside White Nancy and mull it all over 😏

But what is true — and mustn’t be lost — is that with these two little narrowboats and with our wandering hearts… life is ours for the taking 👊

And now I’m curious flower… where do you feel most at home — in the hills, in a city, by the water, or somewhere tucked between them all?

Much love and blessings from the towpath,

Rich and the Bluebells x✌️

21/11/2025

A nice little run in the last light of day to start off the weekend. Particularly enjoyed this view over the fields to Glastonbury Tor.

What’s your favourite thing about the Golden Hour? 🌅

21/11/2025

Frosty Fridays…

Fabulous scenery for a great early morning PT session!! ❤️ ❄️ ☀️ 💪

Happy Friday folks! Here’s to a balanced weekend! 🙏

20/11/2025

My recent read.

A beautiful celebration of the humble pond and very skilfully written, based almost entirely on a year of diary entries from just two ponds significant in the author’s life.

Well worth a read. 🦆🦋☘️🪿🦊🌱🐸🐣🦎🪲🌿🐌🐞🦔🍀🍂

19/11/2025

Fitness myths… toughening up and pushing through!

18/11/2025

Today was my ‘Glove Day’, the first day of the winter season where my digits needed a hug. 🧤 🔥

Are you winter gear ready? What are your go tos for getting outside in the dark/wet/cold?

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.”
Heinrich Simon

17/11/2025

Hot bbq chicken wings bought from the deli at Morrisons, homemade chips (a tiny sprinkle of olive oil, salt, and pepper then roasted), sprouts, courgettes, peppers, and corn on the cob.

Oh and one glass of red. 🍷

This was my post big run dinner on Saturday.

Is it perfect?

Nutrition never is.

But it’s taken what could have been a much less healthy base for a meal (fried chicken and chips) and given it a touch more balance.

Ask yourself, what small change can you make to a meal/snack that makes it just a little bit healthier? Do that often and you’re well on the journey to balance. 🙏

Happy Monday everyone!! Here’s to a balanced week ahead. ☀️☀️☀️

16/11/2025

Some photos from yesterday’s Ebbor Gorge adventure.

Stunning!!! ❤️❤️❤️