Calming the Noise with Jo Curran

In this episode, Sarah Bolitho interviews Jo Curran about the Quiet Core Method, exploring how movement, breath, and mindset can enhance physical, mental, and emotional well-being. They discuss overcoming self-doubt, the power of stillness, and practical techniques for integrating mindfulness into daily life.

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Transcript

Sarah Bolitho (00:01.451)

Hello and welcome to Creating Active Lives with me, Sarah Bolitho and my regular guests. We're all here to share the research, the science, the ideas, the new things coming in and strategies that will help to inspire you to create and sustain a more active life. And my guest today, Joe Curran, we're talking about a kind of different aspect of activity because where you've got activity, we've also got conscious stillness, you like, conscious pausing. Jo is actually a Pilates teacher and has over 25 years of experience in the fitness industry. And she spent the last 16 years working in the fitness education sector, both as a curriculum designer, quality assurer. But like me, she's very passionate about supporting teachers to deliver high quality education, because then we have high quality instructors, which is always good. As well as doing this, her work's gradually involved into the wellbeing space and me, think fitness and well-being, they're two sides of the same coin really. She qualified as a clinical hypnotherapist and got much more into meditation and mindfulness and as a result of that began exploring how movement, breath and mindset can work together not just to support physical health but mental and emotional well-being too. Now Jo has developed her signature approach which is called the quiet core method. So Jo, tell us about the Quiet core method, but also what kind of what was your journey in developing it? Because I think people would be really interested in that.

Jo Curran (01:38.158)

Yeah, absolutely. So hi, and thank you for having me. It's really nice to be here. And, you know, I started my journey into the fitness industry quite a long time ago. I started as an exercise to music instructor. And that's where it all began. I started teaching those of different classes until I found Pilates and that became my kind of niche area that I wanted to kind of specialize in. So I started doing more Pilates based work but really when I very first started teaching exercise classes, it was here really that I started my journey of challenging South doubt and starting to recognize that, you know, I had all this inner dialogue going on. so when I decided to train as a exercise to music teacher, I was really quite nervous because I've always been quite a reserved character. I was really, I'm always, you know, very introvert.

I'm really quite nervous about going towards my goals. So, you know, it was challenging to actually take that very first step into the industry. But, you know, I had this little nudge going on inside of me going, you can do it, you can just do this, let's go. So I decided to train. And then once I'd started teaching, it's like anything, the more you do it, the easier it become. And now I can teach classes with my eyes closed to as many people that's in the audience, you know.

But back then, standing up in front of a group of people to teach an exercise to music class was so daunting. It was petrifying for me. But it's just a case of putting yourself into that position to be able to get better at it. And then from there, I moved into the training and education sector. I had an opportunity to start tutoring and assessing. And I started working for a provider delivering the Pilates diploma.

And this was a new challenge for me, totally new challenge. It created more inner dialogue, more noise going on. And, you know, I just had that inner nudge again saying, you know, you can do it. And I stepped forward anyway. So even though I had all this inner self doubt going on, thinking, you know, am I good enough? Can I do this? Do I know enough to be able to teach other people? Who am I to do it? All this noise.

Jo Curran (04:00.002)

which we do generally get, you know, I stepped forward anyway. And at first, you know, it was hard, it was challenging, but the more I started to tutor and deliver the work, the easier it got. And it became again, the repetition of doing it. This then became my comfort zone. So teaching classes and, you know, delivering courses became my comfort zone in the end. And then from there, I started working as a curriculum designer. And so I was now writing the courses and building and developing, designing courses in Pilates and also life coaching as well. did. And then from there, I had to do more presentations. Okay. So this was another area of challenge for me because it's one thing teaching a fitness class and then teaching a presentation. Cause with the presentation, everyone sat there staring at you, know, with their thinking faces on.

And so it was, you know, really daunting. I was, I had the fear of, you know, anything can be, I was like, I can't do this. And it's here where I turned to hypnotherapy. Okay. I actually went to hypnotherapy for myself to actually overcome my fear of giving presentations. And from, yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (05:16.363)

Can I just say it's really interesting because I think as instructors, we're so used to standing up and delivering. it, and it, like you say, it becomes second nature. You can do it and you sleep. don't think about it. You know, and I mean, I always have my crib sheets and I've always got my plans and things like that, but you kind of get to a point where you can freestyle it. can, you can adapt. can make, make it what you need. And then all of a sudden things like giving presentations, it's different, isn't it? Because people are actually focusing on what you are saying rather than following what you're doing which is our second nature.

Jo Curran (05:49.42)

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you can't always read the room as well as you can when people are doing the exercise with you. It's different, isn't it? But when they're sat staring at you, feel judged. You feel quite vulnerable. And, you know, I would do everything that I could to avoid giving a presentation. So it was quite a bit of a phobia for me.

so this is why I went for hypnotherapy myself. I went to a hypnotherapist, and in doing so I became hooked on it. was, it was just an amazing tool to use. and like anybody else, when I went into the hypnotherapy, I had, you know, this kind of misconception because there's a bit of myth and misconception surrounding hypnotherapy, which comes really from the stage shows and the, you know, look into my eyes and all that business.

And so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into at first, but I soon realized that all it is is focused attention. And so all hypnosis is self hypnosis and you can't get any outcome unless you really want it yourself. So it's all my own doing and the hypnotherapist was just guiding me and giving me the words. So from there.

Sarah Bolitho (07:04.459)

It's almost, sorry, I was going to say it's almost, I've done a couple of courses in hypnosis rather than hypnotherapy. But it's almost like the hypnotherapist, the hypnosis, whatever, just, it's helping you to create space in your thoughts.

Jo Curran (07:12.066)

Absolutely. Yeah, I really, really love hypnotherapy. It's really, you know, helped me in so many ways. I can't recommend it enough, really. But from there, after that, I trained as a hypnotherapist because I was completely hooked. And I realized really from there, really, that people needed more than just movement. It wasn't just about the exercise. It was that they needed something internally as well.

Okay. So this is when I started to integrate mind and body practices together. So obviously I delivered one-to-one hypnotherapy and I still do, deliver online via Zoom and I also do in person as well. But I started to run day retreats and workshops which integrated mind practices and movement practices. So I'll do some Pilates and I'll do some group hypnotherapy as well.

But over the time, I started to play about with this integration because there's a lot that can sort of combine movement as well with the themes of the days that I run. So for example, if I was to do an anxiety escape day, I would focus a lot on posture in the movement section, a focus on opening up through the chest to aid efficient breathing because breathing is really important when we suffer with anxiety. And then I'd lead it into a nice meditation and take it into a stillness element as well. So it kind of flows through. Excuse me, but this is where the quiet core method kind of stemmed from really. And it developed into this where movement meets stillness approach. So we start with a bit of movement and it flows through into becoming aware of that inner self doubt because I noticed from all of my sort of workshops that no matter what theme I run, there was always a core focus on self doubt. So if it was anxiety, people would have that inner dialogue, that inner critic going off all the time. If it was confidence building, people would feel that they weren't good enough or they felt that they needed something to give them a boost. So self doubt became the focus really.

Jo Curran (09:44.726)

So when we go into the meditation aspect, I'd be starting to really focus on awareness of self doubt, quieten it down, and then we could tune into the quiet core, which is the whispers of self belief and boost them up.

Sarah Bolitho (09:58.539)

And unfortunately, I think for most of us, self doubt shouts, like you say, self belief whispers and it's turning that round. it's, somebody once told me a statistic, which shocked me and I must say if I can find the actual research, but it something like 30 % of people starting a diet think they will fail.

Jo Curran (10:04.394)

Absolutely.

Sarah Bolitho (10:21.673)

And I wonder how that goes into other things. People think they're going to fail. I'm going to start my fitness journey, but I probably won't stick with it. How many of this negative self doubt is shouting at us? And that poor little self belief was, well, you know, maybe I'll do it. Maybe it'll be okay. It's kind of like whispering in a corner, but we can't hear it because that's self doubt, Seth. And it's, before we started talking, I did say that one of the things I wanted to mention was I think you know, for me, some sort of stillness or quietness or meditation or breath work, whatever, before you do something like a workout or a presentation or something is actually really important because it creates that space in your thoughts.

Jo Curran (11:00.95)

Absolutely.

Sarah Bolitho (11:06.891)

you know, I there's loads of people who come away from a workout or an exercise session or something, either they give up because it's just not working for me today, you know, not in the mood, or it's just coming away saying, that wasn't very good, or, you know, that wasn't much fun. But actually, it wasn't the workout that was the problem. It was the thoughts they were bringing in with them that kind of clouded being able to stop doing that and give your attention to that.

Jo Curran (11:27.512)

Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (11:33.931)

And this is something I think, you know, if we're doing something that requires a lot of focus, we focus 100 % on it. I've just had the image of threading a needle. You really focus on threading that needle. You don't kind of get distracted and drift away because it's not gonna happen. But we don't, we often go into, whether it's activity or sport or whatever, with a lot of noise going on, self-doubt, fear and if you look at a lot of professional athletes before a competition they're quiet they've got headphones on yeah they've got headphones on yeah

Jo Curran (12:09.678)

Absolutely. They're focused. Yeah. Because it's about tuning into your body as well and being present in your workout and noticing how you're feeling in your body and just giving yourself that moment of pause really. That's what we all need, isn't it? Those moments of pause so you can just start to be present and really get the most out of your workout then and move more efficiently as well.

Sarah Bolitho (12:33.483)

Yeah, and just noticing, do you know what? My left leg's feeling a little bit stiff and tight, so actually maybe I need to warm up more, or maybe I need to stretch more. It's tuning in and recognizing that actually, do you know what? The way things are going today, I want to move, but I don't want to go all out. I just want to do something that actually gives me a little bit of a sense of relief and this is where being able to listen to the self-belief I suppose instead of thinking probably not going to work out well today instead of listening and thinking you know what you can still do something you can do something you can give yourself an experience from activity if it's not what you did the day before and I just think you know it's so important that we learn

Jo Curran (12:56.098)

Definitely.

Sarah Bolitho (13:20.743)

No, we relearn the skill of tuning into our core because we all used to have it but it's been shattered down.

Jo Curran (13:27.114)

Absolutely. Definitely. Because the noise of the self doubt can very often take over because we've all got that internal dialogue and we can't get rid of it. It's part of us, but we can tame it a little bit and tune into those quieter whispers. Absolutely. But it affects so many of us, this self doubt, you know, it's not just, I I talked about myself being introvert and quite reserved, know, extroverts, people who appear confident, people who are successful, they've all got this in a dialogue as well. And it's just really deciding how much attention you want to give it really and whether you can tame it down.

Sarah Bolitho (14:10.953)

you can do. suppose in a lot of ways, just think about activity again. It's a bit like riding a bike. They always say you never, you know, you never forget how to ride a bike. You don't. But after a period of 20, 25 years, you don't just get on a bike and shoot off. You get on a bike and remember how to do it. So yes, you don't forget, but your body needs to be eased back into the patterns that you do, because you have to relearn and just get confident again. And I think

Jo Curan (14:25.294)

Yes.

Sarah Bolitho (14:40.927)

You know, I do think, I think sometimes, you know, lot of people we think of as extroverts actually are masking the fact that they are nervous and they don't appear to be nervous, but actually they probably are and they've just got their way of dealing with it. you think it's because for me, you know, we hear a lot of talk about things like imposter syndrome and I try and reframe it and say, do you know what? imposter syndrome isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a way of it's kind of in the way your mind highlighting

Jo Curran (14:47.267)

That's it.

Sarah Bolitho (15:10.797)

where you need to develop in order to develop your confidence. Do you think there is a place for reframing some of the noise, some of the self-doubts, some of the dialogue that's going on and saying, you know what, actually, you are nervous. Acknowledge that. How can I actually overcome that? How can I counter that? What can I do? Getting that self-belief up.

Jo Curran (15:13.11)

Mmm. Absolutely.

Definitely, yeah, know, this inner dialogue, this noise, in a way it's protecting us because it's protecting us from that fear of failure. It's protecting us from perhaps looking silly or, you know, putting ourselves out there. It thinks it's actually helping you, yeah? So really noticing and becoming aware of it, you can then start to say, well, actually you're not helping me really because you're stopping me from progressing. You're stopping me from taking the step forward.

And you can reframe these thoughts by maybe exploring the evidence as well. So you can explore the evidence of whether these thoughts are actually true or if they've got any sort of depth behind them really, because a very common one is, don't feel enough. I'm just not good enough. And then really, if you to explore back on past events, perhaps on things that you've achieved and successes that you'd have, you'd realize that actually you are good enough and you can do this, you know? So it's about exploring that in a dialogue and actually thinking to yourself, know, is it, does it have any sustenance here? Is it actually true? And then seeing if you can push past it and start to calm it down a little bit.

Sarah Bolitho (16:47.595)

So I you know, I think sometimes we forget that, you know, things like self-doubt, anxiety and stress, as you say, they're kind of our brain's way of keeping us safe, but unfortunately it also keeps us small. And like I'll always say with anxiety, know, anxiety is about fear of something that might happen. I mean, it might be based on previous experiences or it might just be what you've picked up from the world. And, you know, there's a place for anxiety. There's a place for saying, do you know what? It's the middle of the night. There's no one around. I'm not going to walk down that very, very dark alley that's known to be a bit of a dangerous spot. Because what if something happens when I walk down it? That's kind of a sensible anxiety. That's your anxiety saying, yeah, let's not do that. Let's go the long way around where there's lots of people. So sometimes anxiety is actually a positive thing because it's stopping you from doing things that are risky. But it's, I suppose it's learning the difference between genuine, where there is genuinely something to worry about and where actually you're anticipating something that really you shouldn't. And it's hard to overcome patterns of thinking. Why do think so many people do struggle with self doubt? Because for most of us, we have achieved things in our lives, but why do we still have that doubt?

Jo Curran (17:55.757)

Yeah.

Jo Curran (18:03.086)

Absolutely. I think, you know, we've just got so busy lives, haven't we? Very busy lives, so much going on. we just, and especially in today's day and age with all social media and stuff, you might have fear of judgment over the people, perception of what other people think of you. In social media, you know, perhaps you're in a business and you're fearing putting yourself out there or you're comparing yourself to others.

There's so much going on in our lives, isn't there, that just, you know, stop you from progressing in a way. And then perhaps second guessing. So second guessing, whether you, like I say before, whether you're actually good enough, whether you've got enough knowledge, you start to doubt whether you're actually good enough to actually do the things you want to do. So, you know, I think the noise around of us just...

prevents us from sometimes taking the small steps that we need to take to achieve the bigger goals. And sometimes it's just those little stepping stones, isn't it, to get to the bigger place that you want to be. And that's why I developed the Quiet Core really, to help people to become aware and to start taking those little steps forward.

Sarah Bolitho (19:08.617)

What's the one thing you could do that you know you can do? Because quite often people say, this is what I'm going to do, but it's huge. What they don't do is say, do you know what? OK, that's what I want to achieve. But this is what I'm going to do today because I know I can do that. And then the next thing.

Jo Curran (19:21.506)

Yeah, because it makes it manageable then, doesn't it?

Sarah Bolitho (19:35.051)

So what's something that somebody could do if somebody was listening in and thinking you know I self doubt you know no I don't know how to do it what's one thing they can talk you about small steps what's one tiny little thing that they could do just to start to calm their thoughts

Jo Curran (19:52.78)

Yeah, I think, you know, it's about giving yourself a moment of pause, just maybe getting it into a routine where you can have just one moment of pause each day, whether it be when you get out of bed and you're just quiet, you know, not pause and looking at your phone or, you know, pause and having a cup of tea or whatever. It's about just being present, just calming your mind. And it's quite a challenge really to do that and to give yourself that time. But if you start to gradually build it into a routine, where you just take a moment, it could just be one minute, literally calm, pause and clear the mind, because you can come back to your thoughts. They're there if they're important and they need to be seen too, but just give yourself that quiet time, that downtime, and that would definitely help you. And also, like we said earlier about having that quiet time before you work out, that could be the moment of pause you have quieten down your mind just before you go into your workout so you can tune into your body and become present, you know, and start to become aware of how you're feeling as opposed to going in all stressed.

Sarah Bolitho (21:03.755)

That's it. if, know, going back to sort of professional sports people, you know, in the dressing rooms before a game, they're not all there going, games and that stuff. They're all sat quietly, quite often with a towel over their head or just on their own with headphones. Can I just say, I don't frequent professional sports people's dressing rooms. These are just the things on You know, this isn't, you know, I'm not sneaking around stalking Steph Curry and people like that. But they are, they're quiet. They're focused.

Jo Curran (21:11.02)

Jo Curran (21:30.263)

Mm. Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (21:33.661)

and quite often when they're you know, from the coach to the dressing room or whatever, the changing room, they've got headphones on, heads down, absolutely totally focused, they're closing out that noise. And I know a lot of people I work with say they use headphones during the day because even if they're not listening to anything, it's blocking external, like noise noise. Because I think we sometimes, we think about the noise that's out there, that's coming in through our ears, but we forget there's a lot of noise going on in total like you mentioned in a dialogue and stuff a lot of in the dialogue going on but there's also a lot of noise which is just being overly busy I think business creates noise in in our ourselves if you like because we're so busy

Jo Curran (22:16.526)

Absolutely.

Mm-hmm, yeah, that's it. it's, you know, awareness is the first step to change. So becoming aware of that noise, it's surprising how much that can help you to start making changes really, just the awareness of it. Because when you become aware of it, you can start to then do something about it. So it's becoming aware of it, and then perhaps integrating that moment of pause will help you to just calm it a little bit.

Sarah Bolitho (22:48.927)

Yeah, that's it. I, I mean, I glance at my phone when I wake up. Well, not when I wake up, actually, it's when I'm washed, dressed and about to go for a walk. I'll look at it, just make sure there's nothing urgent on there. I've got family overseas, so sometimes they message me at night. But I do not, I don't look at any other technology until I've walked the dog, come back.I made myself a cup of something nice. think for me, going on social media with the noise that that brings is just too much for me. I've also got, like if I think of something I need to do, you guys won't be able to see it, but Joe can, but I've got a little mini whiteboard and whenever I think, I need to do that, I write it on the whiteboard because it's not in a diary, it's not in an app or anything like that. It's right there in front of me on my desk. And it just means I know

Jo Curran (23:10.604)

Yeah, so important.

Sarah Bolitho (23:37.789)

exactly what it is and then I can just wipe it off once it's done. For me that helps me just to remember the things that I need to do and some of them don't need to be done for months whereas others need to be done today and again it's something that it's taken me a while to get into that habit but now that I'm in the habit I find it really helps me with managing stuff you know and

Jo Curran (23:41.784)

Good idea, yeah.

Jo Curran (23:48.014)

Absolutely.

Sarah Bolitho (24:07.211)

I'm really lucky where I've got a little chair set by my back door and it gets the evening sun and I just like to sit there with a cup of tea in the evenings in the sun and just enjoy the warmth.

Jo Curran (24:17.73)

lovely. Yeah. But once you start, it's just about getting that routine, isn't it? Because it's quite difficult to get this going. But once you get a routine going, you know, it becomes part of your, your schedule. And, know, like you say, the whiteboard, it helps you to prioritize your thoughts and what's going on in your life and to be able to just take action against it really. So yeah, it's, it's making sure you've got some kind of routine that you can work towards really.

Sarah Bolitho (24:51.091)

It's funny isn't it? I know there'll be loads of people out there who start shouting at me now but I have never found journaling to be any good for me. The actual act of writing things down on paper actually creates more noise going on in my head than it releases. I've tried, I've bought the journals, I've bought the pens, it just doesn't work for me. And it was the moment where I thought it doesn't work for me. And somebody gave me a sketchbook

Jo Curran (25:06.061)

Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (25:21.075)

and I do the sketch and I sketch and that creates my pause yeah

Jo Curran (25:23.554)

Yeah, it's doing what works for you. Yeah. I had a client that preferred to speak into her phone. So she speaks and gets it all out. And now she's got, you know, she's got all her files in her phone and she can delete them if she wants to. but that's just another way. Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (25:40.235)

it isn't it's finding what works for you and that might be you know trying lots of different things and we're all we're all individuals we're all different what works for you but might not work for someone else but also it might not work tomorrow it might be like today this is what I need to do I need to go for a walk for my pores other days it might be just doing something creative it it's finding it isn't it but it's also do you think it's important not to try to block out self doubt and stuff like that but to actually acknowledge it and

Jo Curran (26:11.438)

Yeah, absolutely. Acknowledge it, become aware of it, and then you can start to change it. You can either reframe it or you can just tame it down a little bit because we can't get rid of it. It's part of our inner world, you know? But it's about becoming aware and making the subtle adjustments to it to realise it's not actually helping you in the way it thinks it is. And you can then start to step past it. But this is where hypnotherapy for me comes in really, really useful.

Sarah Bolitho (26:41.594)

It is because it's, you know, like I said before, you know, quite often people think about hypnotherapy is, you know, having having things planted in your brain or taken away from your brain. It's not. It creates space between it creates space and it just puts you into that amazing kind of trance like state where, you know, nothing matters. It means you can focus on things. Yeah.

Jo Curran (26:50.306)

Mm. Nice.

Yeah. And you can just focus on what you want. Yeah. Focus on your goals, what you want to achieve, where you're heading. And it really does get you there if you want it.

Sarah Bolitho (27:13.387)

Yeah, and it's not about clucking like a chicken on stage. mean, some of the stage kind of, know, a couple of them, a couple of stage hypnotists, and they are brilliant, absolutely brilliant. They're also incredible therapists as well when they need to be. There's a time and place, but, you know, it's again, it's something that I suppose as a hypnotherapist, you get very good at reading people and knowing just, you know, what you can do and how to do it.

Jo Curran (27:17.972)

Absolutely not.

Sarah Bolitho (27:41.875)

lot of that again coming from tutoring and teaching we get to read our students quite quickly don't we? the ones that are going to do well and you know the ones that really yeah probably at the lunchtime, lunchtime on the first day you're just go home. But it's it's we've we are sometimes very good at reading other people but not actually reading ourselves aren't we?

Jo Curran (27:44.62)

Yeah, absolutely. We've got that blind spot, haven't we? So, yeah. So it's important to do some work on yourself sometimes, you know.

Sarah Bolitho (28:14.059)

Absolutely, let's face it at end of the day we're the only us we've got, the only I we've got and things like that. Do you do sort of day retreats and workshops? Focus around the Quiet Call method, tell me a little bit more about those.

Jo Curran (28:18.754)

Yeah, so I attach a theme to the workshops and the day retreats. So it might be like an anxiety relief day, or it might be a confidence building day. And then I'll dive into some elements of the Quiet Course. So it might be exploring self-doubt, where we'll look at some of the techniques that I use in hypnotherapy. It could be a guided visualization that I use to help people to become aware of their self-doubt.

And then some confidence building or self belief boosting sort of visualizations that I use, or I might use some NLP techniques to help sort of change the feelings in the body. So targeting the feelings you've got and changing maybe the color of them or the shape of them or moving them around the body, that kind of thing. So we do some various techniques. We'd also do some movement techniques as well. So a bit of Pilates and it will be based around the theme. So if it's anxiety related, I'll be working on our posture, opening up through our chest to help efficient breathing. We might do some breath work as well. So, you know, it's all kind of aligned to the theme of the day. And then we go in at the end to do our Quiet Core class. And it is a class that I've put together. It's a signature class and it starts with movement and the movement section is because I am a Pilates teacher, so it is very Pilates based. So it's more mobility, energizing the body, getting you moving, getting you present and aware in your body really. And then it flows into some opening up through posture to get you feeling confident. Because we all know if we stand, you know, with closed body language and poor posture, we don't feel as good as we do when we're standing tall and proud.

And then we lead into some exercises again to help aid efficient breathing, to help regulate the nervous system before we go into the tamer side of it, which we start to go into the mind element where we start with our breath and we do some focused breath work. And then we go into a guided meditation to help you become aware of your inner critic, your inner voice and start to turn down the volume. Okay, start to tame it a little bit.

And then we can tune into our quiet core, those whispers of self belief, and we can use visualization to really give you a bit of a boost and an uplift to help you to ignite those deeper feelings. And then it's all embedded through stillness and meditation. So.

Sarah Bolitho (31:07.691)

that sounds absolutely lovely and I imagine as well for a lot of people just just allowing themselves the time to do this is actually quite quite powerful because you know we we live in a world where if you're not busy you're not you know, what are you doing? Whereas actually, need to champion stillness, we need to champion quiet time reflection a lot more. And I don't by reflection, I don't mean this is what I've achieved this week. I'm a great believer in setting priorities and monitoring what you've done and why. But it's the reflection of maybe how your body's feeling how, why you didn't achieve something this week when it was something you wanted to do was there were there priorities? Was it the wrong thing, weren't you clear enough about what to do? I think until you are still, until you kind of stop or pause, because you can't stop, until you pause, you don't give your subconscious brain time to work, because the conscious brain is just too busy, busy,

Jo Curran (32:10.252)

Yeah, it's just taking over all the time, isn't it? So just allowing yourself to stop, to just be still, it just allows that. And people very often say to me that they can't get it to switch off. And it is challenging, but you know, it's with practice, isn't it? So you just got to keep giving yourself these moments of pause and, you know, acknowledge these thoughts that come, because you can't just suddenly turn them off.

Sarah Bolitho (32:37.972)

No.

Jo Curran (32:38.082)

You just acknowledge them and then perhaps usher them along a little bit. And then you can tune into the, you know, the subconscious part of your mind where we can make the good changes.

Sarah Bolitho (32:49.387)

It's interesting. So I've just, I've just come back from a couple of weeks away and the second week I was, um, I spent an awful lot of time saying, sat in a really nice coffee shop. They get, know my, my older now, but I sat in a really nice coffee shop staring at mountains, doing very little. And actually it, it, it made me feel so calm. And because I made the decision I'll do an hour of work a day and then that's it. And with the time difference, that was kind of all I could do. Cause by the time that had happened, it was close of business here in the UK but it was actually I gave myself permission to just sit and do nothing with a couple of hours.

Jo Curran (33:25.858)

Yeah. And it's funny, you should say that, you know, it's really important to make the decision. You know, what you just said then, you made the decision to do that and, or to just do an hour of work a day. And that is so important. You can, you know, you've got the ability to make the decision, right? I'm gonna, I'm gonna pause it this time on this day.

Sarah Bolitho (33:32.181)

Yeah.

It's the first time it's worked for me and I think a lot of it is because I have been working on things like breathing techniques and quietness and stuff. I'd need to do more, I'll have to come and see you, but it was like I'm gonna do an hour a day, I'm gonna take the dog for a walk and then people say you're gonna go here and you're gonna go there, you're go visit this and I just know I'm gonna sit in a coffee shop and do nothing.

Jo Curran (33:53.08)

Mm-hmm.

Jo Curran (34:07.512)

Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (34:07.881)

And it was actually, it was lovely. But I ended up making notes, having ideas and creative things and I didn't do anything with them because that wasn't the aim, but I made sure I wrote them down. And I think again, it was my decision was, I'm having these thoughts. I'll just write down what they are and I'll come back to them when I'm, when you know, back in that doing something. But do think it is important that we consciously give ourselves permission to pause rather than just trying to do it?

Jo Curran (34:30.606)

I think so. Yeah, because you know, that word try when you try to do something, it doesn't very often follow through, it? So, you know, giving yourself permission saying it's okay, it's okay to have this pause, you know, there's nothing wrong with you're looking after yourself. You're taking good care of your own self, you know, your being so, you know, it's so important to just give yourself that permission because, you know, don't say you'll try because you know that you what happens if you try to lose weight, hey? Yeah.

Sarah Bolitho (35:09.255)

Yeah, yeah, the only place we should be trying is in rugby. But it sounds like such an important thing, know, not like I said, we're both from fitness industry, we're both the activity background type of thing. And we know the value and the power of activity. And there's no doubt how important it is, how valuable it is. However, I think, I think there is a gradual movement towards more stillness and things like that. And this sounds like such an important one, because

It's all very well saying, you know, bring pauses, bring stillness into your day. But if that little voice is still yacking away at you, it's not going to be beneficial.

Jo Curran (35:42.67)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's very hard. It's challenging. I'm not going to say that it's easy, you know, it does take a little bit of practice and you need to persevere with it. know, recognizing that this inner voice isn't going to go away. It's not going to disappear overnight and it's always going to be there, but that awareness really, really helps. So if you give yourself that pause, recognize the little voices that are coming in and say, okay, this is my time. I'll come back to you in a bit, you know, however you want to do it. It's just pushing it on and give it, even if it's a minute and you can always build on the time if you want a bit longer as you get better at it. but you know, it's just about being able to push it to one side and give yourself that piece, that quiet space.

Sarah Bolitho (36:16.383)

at the end of the day you when we're very young children you can do anything I'm be an astronaut I'm gonna be there's no doubt in their minds and then gradually the world creates yeah it's also a habit

Jo Curran (36:37.356)

Yeah, it's a learned thing, isn't it? It's learned over time. And you tell yourself something often enough, you start to believe it. So, you know, it's about becoming aware of that, perhaps reframing it, changing it into something different once you've explored the evidence behind it, and then seeing if you can just give yourself those moments.

Sarah Bolitho (37:04.778)

So what would be the one, I've talked about sort of small steps and things, but if somebody said, I just don't know where to start, where should they start?

Jo Curran (37:14.286)

I think the first thing that you need to do is look at your day and say, right, where is it best for me to put my moment of pause? Okay. So it might be when I wake up in the morning where you just close your eyes and you get ready for your day. So you're focused on your day ahead of you. Okay. It might be at lunchtime, you know, you have your break from work. You've been really busy all day. You've got your to-do lists and everything going on and you've got things going on in your head. It might be then where you just scheduled it in and you just have a moment where you just pause. It might be going out for a bit of fresh air and having your pause then, okay? But it's making that decision. I think it's really important to have that decision. When are you going to do it? Get it into your diary. It's an appointment that you can't cancel.

Sarah Bolitho (38:00.839)

Even if it's just a minute, it's a minute more than you were doing before, which is going to be powerful, it? Joe, thank you so much. I mean, this is so aligned with the way I kind of like to do things and things. And for the best will in the world, I could be an awful lot better at it. But where can people find you if they want to find out more? And I will put all your links in the information about the episode, but just briefly, where can they find out more about what you do and what you offer?

Jo Curran (38:02.446)

Jo Curran (38:28.288)

Yeah, Yeah,

Sarah Bolitho (38:45.841)

Excellent and you're on social media?

Jo Curran (38:48.27)

Yes, I'm on Facebook and Instagram, so you can find me on there. And to Hypnoglo. Thank you.

Sarah Bolitho (38:51.563)

I'll make sure I those links in as well. Because I think for a lot of people, probably their first step might be just to find out more. lovely.

Jo Curran (38:59.19)

Yeah, absolutely. And I offer a free consultation. And I've got some, you know, retreat days scheduled in across the year. So I'll always have retreat days and workshops running. So the information will be on my website.

Sarah Bolitho (39:13.609)

Are they around the UK or any specific locations?

Jo Curran (39:16.462)

So the ones that I've got coming up are in the Cotswolds. So I generally, there's a lovely little village hall that I use in Connum Valley and it's surrounded by horses and sheep and it's just lovely. It's so calm and lovely there. And I do a lot of anxiety relief days there. The one that I'm doing in May is based around South Doubt and building confidence. And we will be exploring the quiet core method quite in depth on that day.

Sarah Bolitho (39:45.323)

Lovely, it sounds absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for being a guest. And as I say, I just think for so many of us, these pauses, these moments of stillness will just create, they will create a richness in our life that is kind of a little missing piece of a jigsaw for a lot of people. It's, know, I don't feel quite right, but I'm not sure why. And it's because we're always on the go. And actually we're not designed to be always on the go. We're designed to pause regularly.

Jo Curran (40:02.122)

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

Just rest.

Sarah Bolitho (40:14.857)

Yeah, thank you so much for being my guest today. And thank you audience for listening to Creating Active Lives with me, Sarah Blythe and my guest this week, Joe Curran. Join me each week or fortnight, depending for more on how to create an active life that really enhances your life, but also is sustainable, because that's what we want, a sustainable, active life.

Jo Curran (40:16.664)

Thank you for having me.

Sarah Bolitho (40:41.757)

Thank you very much, I will see you next time.