Tallawah

Jamaican word meaning small and mighty, not to be underestimated in terms of the power, fearless.

I loved this word as soon as I heard it and discovered what it meant.

Everything doesn’t have to be big to be meaningful. Take for example changes to eating habits — one small change can make a difference such as closing the kitchen at 7pm every night to stop snacking in the evening. By not snacking after 7pm we are then going to bed not having filled our stomachs with unhealthy nibbles, so we are more likely to get a better night's sleep as our body is not trying to digest the food into the early hours. It also helps reduce bloating. So making this one small change will result in a powerful difference to how we feel about ourselves and our health.

Think about exercise and staying active … have you heard yourself thinking or speaking these words — I can only do 1 press up, I can’t walk for more than 10 minutes, I can’t stand for too long, I won’t be able to do everything in class…?

Then focus on taking small steps, making one small change to your thinking and action, do one press up every day for a week, then see how much stronger you feel. Walk 10 minutes every day for a week … then feel the change in your stamina. Take 5 minutes every day and stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down … repeating every day for 5 minutes a day, and notice how much stronger you feel by the end of the week. Do a class everyday knowing that you will do part of it every day for a week — then notice the effects.

My point of focus being Tallawah — don’t be scared or think it isn’t worthwhile taking those small steps each day, because those steps shouldn’t be underestimated as to how mighty and powerful they will be and the effects they will have on how we feel, our health and our lifestyle.