Nurse and coach Colleen Kneafsey shares a 3 minute lymphatic drainage massage and other daily self care routines

Podcast episode 33: Colleen Kneafsey

Hi, I'm Eve Menezes Cunningham and welcome to The Feel Better Every Day Podcast, helping you connect with and take better care of yourself and create a life you don't need to retreat from. Thank you for listening to the Feel Better Every Day Podcast.

Today's episode is with Colleen Kneafsey, a delightful nurse and heart health, diabetes, and weight loss specialist.

She helps people manage weight to reduce the need for medication and to support better heart health and overall health.

I adored what she was saying and her delightful way of normalising and making it all seem so easy, commonsensical, and appealing to do all the things we know will benefit us. I look forward to hearing which of her recommendations you will be adopting and hope you enjoy the episode.

So, welcome, Colleen Kneafsey! Thank you so much for joining me for the Feel Better Every Day Podcast.

Colleen Kneafsey: I love it! It’s so good to be here.

Eve: I haven’t seen you in so long, but you were one of the first people I met when I moved to Ireland because I taught yoga at where you were at the time. That was my first Irish yoga class. I met you in Leafy Greens.

Colleen: I do remember that!

Eve: Yes! It was so exciting because it was like, "This move is happening." You’re known now for doing a lot around heart health. You’re a nurse by training, and you help people with weight loss for heart health. Do you want to say a little about what you’re working on at the moment and how long you’ve been doing it?

Colleen: Yes, so you mentioned I’m a nurse. I’ve been a nurse for 22 [23 now] years, and I specialise in heart health, type 2 diabetes, and weight loss. Obviously, they all come hand in hand. We know that having a healthy lifestyle aids our heart health and can either reverse type 2 diabetes or reduce the need for medication. I’m all about what we can do personally regarding our lifestyle—nutrition, exercise, reducing stress, and looking at our sleep and day-to-day life. It’s about bringing as much balance into that as possible and not looking for the next shiny object to help us. If we can just bring it back to ourselves and reconnect, then we’re on really good ground.

I wanted to bring in the idea of holistic health, but I hate that word because it feels like a buzzword. I think it’s about going back to the good old days. I know we have loads of science and shiny things out there, but if we go back to the basics of what we need to do to be healthy around our heart health and our mental health, they’re all connected. Our food influences our mental health; what we eat shows on the outside and affects the inside. So, I’m looking at the whole lot together, along with exercise and nutrition. We all want to look well and feel well, and I work with both men and women.

Eve: Brilliant! I’ll have all the information in the show notes so people can find you. Essentially, you’re talking about self-care, aren’t you? Things people can do for themselves. What would you say if you had all the time and energy in the world for an ideal self-care morning routine? This could include both basic self-care and any spiritual practices.

Colleen: I think my normal routine is to make it consistent, whether I’m busy and have no time or have loads of time. I believe that doing something is better than doing nothing, whether it’s 5 minutes or half an hour. I love having my own time; I love my own company, but I do get sick of it after a while. In the morning, I like to just wake up straight away, open up the blinds—these are simple things—and let the daylight hit me. Then I like to get out of bed and do a kind of lymphatic drainage.

Eve: What does that involve?

Colleen: So, you’re looking at your body as a big drainage system. We want to make sure that everything is draining where it should be. Our biggest drainage systems are above the collarbone, just below it, behind the ears, and at the top of the tummy, above the belly button.

You just do this simple practice that takes about two minutes. All you do is with your hands—some people wonder how hard to rub or how gentle to be—so just above the collarbone, below the collarbone, give it a nice little rub for about 10 seconds, then do clockwise and anticlockwise. Then you go to the other side and do the same while standing up. Give it a little tap.

Then, behind the ears, do lovely little circles clockwise and anticlockwise. People worry about pressure; as long as it doesn’t hurt, you don’t want to go too hard because drainage fluid retention is just underneath the skin. We want to apply enough pressure that you feel it but not so hard that it hurts.

Then, above the belly button, you place your hand above the belly button and rub it clockwise and anticlockwise. Then you go down towards your groin and do the same, being gentle in that sensitive area. Then, for the backs of your knees, just rub on top of the calf below the knee and go up and down, then circular and the other way.

Once you do that, just stand up and bounce on your toes like a child. You know, as adults, we forget about flexibility and mobility. Just bounce up and down on your toes and feel the circulation for about 30 seconds. Give your body a good old twist. Let your hands go loose and feel that energy go through your body. You’ll feel it from head to toe, and it’s absolutely terrific.

While I’m doing that, my eyes are closed, and I’m giving gratitude. I know people say, “Oh, gratitude, Colleen, for God’s sake,” but it takes three minutes. You can do all this without having to sit in a corner like a Buddha. You can just be connected. Your energy is flowing, and you feel amazing. What better way to feed your mind and feel the energy coming out of you than to have gratitude? Whether it’s for a good night’s sleep, the roof over your head, or your family, I bring it all into me.

Then I picture what I want to manifest and where I see myself. A lot of people get too caught up in reading everything out there on social media. I think what we need to do is visualise the end goal. I don’t visualise how I’m getting there; I visualise myself at the end. The universe, God, or whoever you believe in will bring that forth. I always have that manifestation of what I want to do and where I want to be, and then I let it go.

After that, I go straight down the stairs, have a pint of water with a bit of lemon, and then a cup of coffee. I’m very blessed that I can walk and talk with my clients. Some people prefer Zoom, but I’m conscious of their time, so I’m like, “Why can’t you do it all together?” It works whether you’re busy or not, whether you’re on holiday or whatever. You can take this practice everywhere, and you’ll feel amazing. That whole lymphatic drainage piece is just gorgeous.

I also wanted to bring this book on; it’s called "The Language of Letting Go." I don’t know if you know Melody Beattie. It’s an old book, but there are lovely little daily readings every single day. Again, it takes two minutes to recenter and off you go with your day.

Eve: That’s gorgeous! I was doing the lymphatic drainage while sitting down and trying not to dislodge anything and lose the connection, but I will definitely try it standing up. It just feels like an all-body hug as well, doesn’t it?

Colleen: Yes, it does!

Eve: What would you do if you weren’t well or if you were really pushed for time? What would be your essential self-care?

Colleen: Rest and sleep are essential. If you’re sick, it depends on how sick you are because our body is screaming at us to recover. The old way of thinking is that if I’m resting, I’m recovering, but are you really recovering? What is the best practice to recover? It’s sleep. We find it really hard to sleep. A lot of the time, we’re either forced into sickness, or our head is so active—there are a million things going on, and it’s very hard to get to sleep.

If I have one of those days where I’m feeling sick and need help to fall asleep, I’ll put on a meditation. Whether it’s a guided meditation or relaxing music, I believe sleep is essential. Disconnecting from your environment is also important, whether it’s with people, family, or friends. Switch off from work, and if I have the energy, I try to disconnect, separate in the house, or just get into nature as much as possible.

Eve: Brilliant! What about later in the day and before bed? What would be your ideal self-care routine?

Colleen: A bedtime routine is essential. Switch off from work and bring some playtime into it. Connect with people who aren’t part of your work. Let’s say in the middle of the evening, I love Pilates and getting out into fresh air. I had my own gym, so for me, it’s about not getting into something like a late class that just leads me to work more. I can’t stop looking at, “Oh, just do it this way,” or “What a nice way!”

I want to do something that doesn’t stimulate my work side of life but brings in laughter and connection with friends. Then, bedtime is all about the routine. That’s the biggest thing for me. I head up the stairs, and I know some people are like, “Are you asleep by half nine or ten?” No, I’m heading up the stairs!

It’s a routine for me. I feel my body; I look at the clock, even though I don’t like it telling me what to do. I like to connect and see if I’m tired or not. I’m not perfect at this, but I can honestly say that around four to five nights a week, it’s half nine, and I head up the stairs. I feel my body is ready for that, and I’ve built a habit around it.

It’s purely about getting into my pjs, watching my face, and doing things for me. All day, it’s about giving—whether verbally, physically, or energetically, you’re giving off all the time. It’s really important to try and pull that back. It’s something as simple as cleansing and moisturising my face. Then, I get into bed, listen to a book. I have books all around me, but I’m not a massive book reader.

I have one here called "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck." It’s very good, but I can’t read for long. Sometimes I don’t want to go to sleep yet; I want to do something nice for myself. The minute I start reading, I’m flat out. I never finish a book because I might only read a page or two before I’m gone.

Sometimes it’s a meditation or something like that, then I hit the bed, pick up a book, read a couple of lines, and then I’m flat out.

Eve: Is there anything from earlier in the day that you’d like to do on a regular basis or every day when things are really good for you?

Colleen: For me, it’s connecting with my dog, Toby. He brings joy into my life. If I could just get more playtime, it’s funny. I have a business mentor, and his wife, Louise, said that when you have your own job, your priority is your own time, especially being self-employed. It’s amazing, but your hours are long. Even though it’s online, it’s hard to disconnect and bring personal peace back in.

I want to bring more personal time into my day, not just around a purpose in the morning and downtime at night. I want to bring in that piece throughout the day. Some of that is going for coffees, connecting with friends, and getting out into nature. Coming off the screen, if I could do more of that, I know my energy would be even more fulfilled.

Eve: Absolutely! I know that would benefit me more.

Colleen: Yes!

Eve: Thank you so much for sharing all of that. Where can people find you online?

If you’re interested, I’ll have the link in the show notes. This won’t be out by then, but I’ll be running it again in the future. You can also join my free group for more information.

Eve: Perfect! I don’t want people listening to think, “No!” But I’m really glad to be having this conversation.

Colleen: Thank you so much! I really appreciate your time and advice. That was gorgeous.

Eve: Thank you for listening to The Feel Better Every Day Podcast. As you listened to this episode, I wonder what resonated most for you. I love Colleen’s approach to going back to basics—the stuff we know but with such grace. How might you indulge in more sleep or laughter? How might you try, if you don’t already, to enjoy daily lymphatic drainage massage? How might you make your favourite elements of your own self-care practices more portable? How might you bring more gratitude into your life? Let me know in the comments.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe. I’d love it if you’d share it with someone who might benefit from it, and also to rate, review, and comment. Next week, I have another interview unexpectedly after attending the Neurodivergent Entrepreneur Summit. The delightful Athena Sayaka will be talking to me about her self-care. She did a presentation on the importance of discipline and works with supportive systems for neurodivergent entrepreneurs. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you very much.

This episode, like all the episodes, is produced by me, your host, Eve Menezes Cunningham.