The Freeco Podcast: Recent Episodes
Will Brown
The Freeco Podcast - Series 1 is a bitesize guide to better mental health, through the science of mindfulness, installing healthy meditation practices and using mental tools to become happier, healthier and more productive human beings. In this first 7 day challenge we will learn some mindfulness but with a unique spin of being taught through reps and sets, just like how we would do in the gym.
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Series 2 is a bitesize guide to better overall health and recovery, through the science sleep, switching off before bed and instilling healthier night time habits. Getting better sleep boosts our overall health and wellbeing in so many different ways. Close the tabs in the mind, quite down thoughts and learn how to relax the mind and body in this series. Feel the differences by trying this 7 day switch off challenge. For more info listen to the Series Intro to the switch off series.
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Will is a highly experienced fitness coach, who will guide you through learning mindfulness, and a whole heap of other health and wellness tools and tactics, but just like how we would do in the gym, through reps and sets!
Each series is a concise 7 day challenge whereby you listen to 1 episode a day and all it takes is 7 mins. No more excuses.
Feel free to send to a friend or family member, or challenge someone to do it with you.
Any questions, feedback, general excitement about a challenge, or you just want to connect, feel free to contact Will at FreecoWill@Gmail.com or on the socials:
Instagram: @The_Freeco_Podcast
If you really want to help out the show you can rate and leave a review on apple podcasts, follow on Spotify, support on Patreon, like and comment on YouTube, or check out the shows sponsors:
Human Food - the tasty, dense, organic superfood bar that covers all your nutritional bases - https://humanfood.bio
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PureSportCBD - the one stop shop for all your CBD needs - https://puresportcbd.com
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Cheers,
Will
Today we talk about the close relationship between getting better at meditation and swatting away real world distractions to become more productive throughout your day. Both are very similar and can massively help your life. Keep practicing, great work so far and you're almost there for this series!
More free rein today where you can choose what you would like to practice focusing on, plus we talk about what holds us back from achieving our goals, and putting into practice swatting away distractions. Sometimes if ever these sessions feel to fast, or you'd like go over points again, it can be a good idea to repeat the session more than once. Enjoy and stay strong!
Our usual wake up session but today we focus on feeling with an added quick mood boosting exercise at the end... enjoy!
One thing you may learn throughout this series is that we can all choose to focus on different things to practice focused attention, but ultimately it will teach us the same valuable skills, whilst also learning what works best for us.
Day 2 we start to learn the pattern of this series. The breathing, the intentions, the focus practice. Stay strong and lets get it done.
Enjoy Day 1. My advice, be patient with yourself, and open minded. It may take a couple episodes to get into this unique series but give it a chance and feel free to let me know how you get on!
The wake up series is here!
Short episodes to wake up your mind and body, set a strong positive mindset for maximum productivity and do something for your mental health by starting your day off right.
If you like what you hear, please hit subscribe, send someone this intro and challenge them to do it with you. :)
To clarify - You can do these sessions anywhere, you don't need to be sat still or have your eyes closed.
I hope you enjoy,
Cheers!
Will
Well done for making it to day 7. If you enjoyed this series id really appreciate you sending it to at least 1 person that you think might enjoy it.
And please play the Series Outro to find out what's coming next!
Cheers,
Will
Almost finished this switching off challenge! You're doing great. In todays session we start to mix up the directions of the body scan.
Hopefully you can start to learn to practice these scans and switch offs by yourself and use them anywhere you need in life.
Enjoy,
Will
Today we try a new visualisation technique when doing our body scans. Sometimes this way of thinking resonates well with the visual learners out there - as we feel the body parts calming and relaxing, we also see them going dark in our minds eye, fully switching off.
I hope you enjoy,
Will
Today we hop between some calming focus on our breath, the body and some gratitude. Over time we are starting to build up some positive associations, and how we should feel at this time of day. Gaining the ability to calm our mental state and be more prepared for deep restorative sleep. Enjoy.
Will
You are doing awesome. I do hope you're beginning to enjoy the process of switching off. It can be a good thing to look forward at the end of the day. A small slice of calm and peace.
Keep this up.
See you tomorrow on Day 4,
Will
Day 2 will continue to work on your ability to place focus on different areas of the body, and relax them. What this process does is reduce your cortisol levels, which is the bodies main stress hormone, and natures built in alarm system. Cortizol is best known for fuelling our bodies 'fight or flight" response, and controls our sleep wake cycle. So definitely something worth practicing controlling if we want a better nights sleep!
Day 3 next will be a little different so get this body scan done, and we'll mix it up a bit tomorrow.
Enjoy,
Will
Disclaimer - DO NOT listen to this podcast on a treadmill or in the car, you will be bitterly disappointed. Play these episodes when in bed and ready to sleep.
I understand this might be new for some but try to go with it, relax and enjoy :)
See you next for Day 2.
This stand alone episode isn't just to help you in the lead up to both the switch off series and wind down series, but it can also just be great to learn some ways in which we can improve our recovery and sleep in general going forward. Take a quick listen to see if there are any here which you might not of thought of before, or could perhaps improve upon.
The full list is:
1) Set a caffein curfew â I choose 4pm, as caffein has been shown to stay in our system for several hours and can make the wind down process much more difficult.
2) Donât eat to late if possible â I set myself no food after 8.30pm-9pm, as when our body is trying to break down and digest food, its not allowing ourselves to repair and recover effectively.
3) Try to limit your liquid consumption after 9.30-10pm - We all know what a night feels like when we are constantly making our way to the toilet, this can interrupt our vital sleeping patterns, and limit us entering those valuable deep sleeps.
4) Set a white light curfew â White light is the artificial light that comes from Tvs, tablets, computers and phones that signals to our brain that the sun is still up and can keep us awake. Now I understand this could sound hypocritical as im asking you to play this podcast from a device. But simply pressing play and locking your phone or closing your screen limits your exposure, and is going to be so much better than watching a bright screen up until its time to sleep.
5) Taking a supplement like a ZMA or CBD â ZMA is a popular night time supplement that delivers you magnesium and Zinc that helps stimulate relaxation in the body, and can have a great effects on a wind down. CBD is the non-psychoactive elements of Cannabis thatâs being proven to reduce anxiety and help people relax.
6) Have a note pad and pencil nearby â Sometimes it can help clear the mind to write down whateverâs on your mind before bed. During these sessions a thought might come to you of something you need to do tomorrow or an idea, you donât want to forget that, and you donât want to interrupt your windown, so just write it down, and get to it tomorrow, leaving a clear mind tonight.
7) Lower your temperature â Cracking a window an hour before you go to bed, taking a warm shower, use a fan or switch to a thinner duvet if you tend to get hot a night. Our bodies temperature decreases during sleep and a cool room will help you settle into and maintain sleep throughout the night.
8) Limit your disruptions â For those more sensitive sleepers â earplugs and eye-masks can help you miss those interrupting noises or an early morning sun rise.
9) Brief stretch â A light stretch not only signals to the body its wind down time. But often we can hold a lot of tension in the body in our tight muscles, and learning to stretch off the tightest areas and biggest offenders can do wonders for our sleeping position, quality and comfort. If you want to tick this one off, stay subscribed to the Freeco podcast as the wind down series coming soon will take you through some of the most valuable wind down stretches to do before bed.
And finally:
10) Keep your sleep schedule consistent. Going to bed at the same time each night sets your bodies sarcadium rhythm which is the bodies natural internal clock. When properly aligned, our circadian rhythm can promote consistent restorative sleep.
Let me know if you're going to try any of these.
Speak soon for Day 1 of the switch off series!
Cheers,
Will.
Looking forward to starting this new 7 day challenge with you! The switch off series.
Day 1 Launches Jan 1st.
As always do let me know if you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on the Freeco Instagram - The_Freeco_Podcast
or email me at FreecoWill@Gmail.com
If you want to help out the show you can rate and leave a review on apple podcasts, follow on Spotify, support on Patreon, like and comment on YouTube, and check out the shows sponsors:
Human Food - the tasty, dense, organic superfood bar that covers all your nutritional bases - https://humanfood.bio
PureSportCBD - the one stop shop for all your CBD needs - https://puresportcbd.com
Cheers,
Will
CONGRATS! You made it, unbelievable effort.
If you want to cement in these techniques we've been learning and practicing, please head back to day 1, you always learn more the second time round!
I hope you enjoyed this series, you leant something new about mindfulness or mindset, and you took something away that puts you in a more calm, focused, productive, happy and healthy place.
If you want to learn what's next, listen to this outro :)
As ever feel free to send this challenge to friends, colleges or family members to try this challenge. Or challenge someone to do it with you, you never know who could really use this podcast but just needs a little push from someone who cares.
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If you want to help out follow @The_Freeco_Podcast on instagram for more updates. And if you want to really help boost getting this into more peoples ears then please rate and review the show on apple podcasts (5 stars obvs haha) or follow on Spotify, it only takes a sec and REALLY HELPS!
Thanks so much.
Any questions, feedback, general excitement about the challenge, or you just want to connect, feel free to contact Will at FreecoWill@Gmail.com.
Much love,
Will
The final practice! Amazing work for making it this far. Today we will do our longest sets of Focused attention - 3 x 90 seconds = 270 total mindful seconds.
Don't forget to hit play on the series Outro next!
Cheers,
Will
Day 6 - So close! Today we talk about recognising and defeating your self saboteur.
Then 3 more sets of focused attention, 60 secs each = 180 secs today.
Stay strong and ill catch you tomorrow, for our final session.
Cheers,
Will
Day 5 we talk about how we can apply what we are learning here, and react to thoughts in a healthier way.
Then we continue with 4 more sets of focused attention - 40 secs each. Thats 160 secs total today.
Nice work you are doing great, keep using that patience and perseverance with this exercise, you will improve!
See you tomorrow for Day 6.
Day 4 touches on that gratitude exercise once more, then we dive into 3 more quick sets of focused attention - 45 seconds each. Thats 135 total seconds today.
Halfway through todays session marks the halfway point of this challenge, keep this up and stay strong! :)
Cheers,
Will
Day 3 sees the introduction to another hugely beneficial scientifically proven mental tool that we can use anywhere - Gratitude.
Then we will continue on with 3 more slightly longer sets of focused attention: 60 secs x 3 sets = 180 seconds of mindfulness today.
For the science on gratitude please defer to this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPPFqsECz0 . It's amazingly well done.
Throughout this series id like you to continue being patient with yourself. Understanding that this process of learning these skills takes practice but is massively worthwhile. Stay strong and keep going.
Cheers,
Will
Day 2 we will continue on with some slightly longer sets of focused attention. 3 x 45 seconds = 135 seconds of focused attention.
We also talk about another useful skill and mindset that we can implement not just to help us complete this series, but spread out to everything we choose to focus on in life.
Hope you enjoy.
Cheers,
Will
Welcome to day 1 of the challenge.
Today will be our first introduction to focused attention, the main theme that runs through most meditations. Today we will try 3 short sets and see how we do.
No matter how bad or well you think you did, come back tomorrow for day 2 where we will build upon todays session.
Cheers,
Will
This series is a bitesize guide to better mental health, through the science of mindfulness, meditation, healthy habits and mental tools, with a goal to help us become happier, healthier and more productive human beings.
This is mindfulness but with a unique spin. Will is a highly experienced fitness trainer, who will coach you through learning mindfulness, just like how we would do in the gym, through reps and sets!
We've just launched our first 7 day challenge, and consists of just 7 mins a day for 1 week.
Episodes are short and to the point. Limited waffle.
Feel free to try this alone, send to a friend or family member, or challenge someone to do it with you, for bit of fun and to learn something new.
All you need is you, somewhere to sit and maybe some headphones. Plus its free.
Any questions, want to just connect or share any general feedback or excitement about the challenge, feel free to contact Will at FreecoWill@Gmail.com.
Also keep up to date by following the socials:
Instagram: @The_Freeco_Podcast
Facebook: The Freeco Podcast
Cheers,
Will