More than halfway through another year and it seems everyone feels harried and overworked. Life and time is absolutely racing. Nobody seems to have any time to stop and chill, nobody has any time to recognise their needs let alone address and fulfill them.
As we become more and more switched on to the world outside ourselves it is no surprise that we feel overwhelmed, drowning in never ending obligation. The world and our lives seem to be an insurmountable task that we can’t ever see a way to scale.
When goal setting, if a task or goal seems just too big for you to succeed, even too big to know where to begin, it’s often more easily achieved when it’s broken down and tackled in small chunks. As you succeed with each step you feel reassured that you can actually reach your final goal, and you feel increased motivation to achieve results.
It seems to me that if we can apply this same principle to our life we could create some level of control and the satisfaction of achievement. Breaking the year up into smaller segments and setting goals for just part of the year rather than the whole year would achieve a similar result to breaking down big goals. It would give us a sense of success and stop the feeling that we’re skittering along in life, barely in control.
Recently, a client told me that last January she made a list of the 100 things she wanted to achieve this year. Her list included things like ‘see this friend 6 times for lunch’, ‘go to 4 movies’, ‘read a particular series of books’. She also had big things on her list like ‘change my job’.
She proudly showed me just how many things she had already crossed off. Her list reminded her that although she may feel on the edge of control she was actually doing quite a lot that she wanted to achieve in her life this year. And not only did the things on her list not remain in that “gunna-do” (‘going-to-do’ for non-Aussies) vault she was getting through her list and enjoying herself along the way.
How many of us spend January 1st making plans and setting intentions for the year ahead?
How many of these are kind of vague. lose weight, stop smoking, or get a new job?
How many fail because we have not a) been specific about what exactly we want, b) broken it down into manageable and achievable goals, c) followed through and d) after March actually remembered that we had set the plans and goals, until January 1st of the following year when we set the very same goals all over again?
But my client did remember, she did follow through, she did feel like she had achieved, and most importantly, she felt as though her life was under her control, in spite of the fact that it was still just as crazy-busy as the lives of all the rest of us.
BREAK IT DOWN
My client set me to thinking that just as we break down own goals and projects into smaller chunks, it might also make us relax a little if we break our life down into smaller chunks of 6 months, or even 3 months. It might not seem to be going quite so fast and we may feel we have some sort of control.
So I propose that in the interests of us all sanely getting through the rest of this year; so we present smiles instead of frowns to those around us; so we all begin to address a few of our real needs in life, needs that don’t start with the words “I have to…” or “I should…”; and so we all start to feel a little more in control, we follow my client’s example and set ourselves achievable goals that honour ourselves.
To make it just that bit easier to achieve rather than making a yearlong commitment I am going to break the exercise down into even smaller chunks.
I have just made a list of the 25 things I want to achieve (and can reasonably manage) in this quarter of the year (being 1/4 what my client did for the whole year), that’s from right now, the start of August to the end of October.
My list includes some socialising, creative projects, home decorating, lots of gardening (rarely a chore), some outings, work projects and self-development. It also includes launching a new arm of my biz. I think it’s a pretty well-rounded collection of goals.
My list is manageable and not only will I feel in life-control mode as I cross things off the list, I will also enjoy doing most of these. I also included some things I really will not enjoy but will be very happy to finish off. And probably most importantly, I will be aware of what I have achieved rather than worrying about what I have not managed to do.
Why not join me?
Make your list of 25, write it out, pin it to the fridge, and congratulate yourself as you cross another thing off your list.
Disclaimer
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Giving advice for improved sleep is a normal part of any Wholistic Health practice, and I’m used to delivering. But today I am suffering the effects of a wakeful night after not ‘Walking My Talk’. Last night I sat up on the computer until well after midnight when the cold finally drove me to bed, only to then wake repeatedly through the night.
Sleep is so important, especially now as the days have shortened and we approach winter. Sufficient sleep allows our body to recover from the day and leads to improved brain function and memory.
But sleep doesn’t always come easily.
These simple actions will help you create a calm sleep-friendly environment.
De-Clutter and De- Junk
Is your bedroom a soothing sanctuary or is it also a place where you work? It is vital to establish and maintain the boundary between work and rest. Your bedroom needs to be a place where you unwind and take ‘you-time’. If the boundaries are unclear, you never get a break from the pressure and stress of work.
When you keep your bed for sleeping or other fun bedtime activities, your brain comes to associate bed with only these activities rather than work, which makes it easier for you to nod off.
Clear away clutter and mess; open the windows to refresh the energy; add fresh flowers, beautiful and meaningful ornaments, a candle or Himalayan Salt Lamp.
Create an EMF-Free Zone
If you are surrounded by electronic devices while you sleep your brain waves are affected throughout the night and you will never get good sleep.
There’s some concern that the pulsed frequencies of electronic devices interfere with the body’s own signals. These electromagnetic fields (EMF’s) affect the emotions, the organs, hormone production and the immune system. Cosequently this can then lead to poor sleep, as well as many other problems.
There are many studies that show exposure to electronic devices (even electric lights) before going to bed interferes with sleep patterns. Far from allowing you to wind-down in the evening using electronic devices actually increase your alertness and interferes with REM sleep.
Light, from any source including the low levels of light emitted by electronic devices, disrupts circadian rhythms and causes poor sleep
There have also been studies into how electromagnetic fields (EMF’s) around electronic devices affect the release of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone. In 2007 this study showed melatonin production, and therefore sleep quality, may be affected in some people.
For good sleep switch off your smartphone, your tablet, your laptop, your TV, e-reader and other devices at the source. If you need an alarm to wake, find an alternative to your phone. Sleeping close to an active smartphone (or other device) is absolutely NOT worth the wide-reaching adverse effects it has on you.
If you do need to leave any devices switched on, make sure they are well away from your body, at least two metres. Even better if they are right across the room or in the en suite.
Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields and remove the responsible devices.
Create Peace
If you need entertainment before sleep place some books or magazines in your room, or perhaps a journal. Not only does journaling empty your mind of annoying thoughts that keep you awake, it’s also has many health benefits. Research even shows it strengthens the immune system and reduces the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Use your journal to establish gratitude practices to build your Happiness Bank.
Check the temperature. A moderate temperature about 20 degrees Celsius, not warmer, supports undisturbed sleep.
Darkness helps you sleep and even small amounts of light interrupt the production of the neurotransmitters needed for sound sleep. Use block-out curtains if there are lights outside your window. Don’t turn lights on suddenly during the night as they disrupt the production of the sleep-inducing hormones, melatonin and serotonin. Don’t use white light as a night light. The soft pink glow of a Himalayan Salt Lamp solves this problem, if you must have light in the bedroom. If you can’t block out light wear an eye mask.
Music is a wonderful aid to help you relax. Gentle, music, white noise or relaxation recordings will all help you unwind. The rhythmic sound of the surf washing onto the beach is one way to induce sleepiness.
No TV right before bed! Stop about thirty minutes before retiring and definitely don’t watch it in bed.
Turn your bedroom into a space you look forward to spending time in.
Create A Scent-sual Space
Our sense of smell plays an important role in mood, memory and emotions. It is linked to the limbic system, which is considered the old primitive part of the brain. As well as promoting relaxation, research shows that certain bedtime scents can even influence the type of dreams people have.
There are a number of essential oils that induce relaxation and are powerful sleep aids.
Lavender stimulates the release of feel-good hormones and is a well known relaxant to help insomnia. Sprinkle a few drops of lavender essential oil on a cotton ball beside your pillow or in your room.
Vanilla, rose, chamomile, sandalwood and surprisingly, coffee are some others that can also help insomnia by calming you. (Although homeopathic Coffea is known to have excellent calming properties, and so maybe it’s not such a surprise!)
Create A Healthy Eating Plan
Shunning caffeine should be a no-brainer. Drinking coffee, tea or hot chocolate keeps some people awake. But many other foods such as soft drinks, processed foods and even medications often contain caffeine, and you need to be wary of those.
Some foods like dairy and wheat can cause gastric disturbances that may keep you awake. Avoid them altogether or at least in the later part of the day.
L-tryptophan found in protein foods promotes the production of melatonin and serotonin to aid sleep. A small protein-rich snack such as nuts in the evening may help you sleep better.
Avoid sugar and processed grain snacks before bed to avoid the rapid spikes and drops in blood sugars that interrupt sleep.
Alcohol is a ‘no-no’ for sound sleep. Although it produces sleepiness and initially sends you to sleep, it prevents you entering the deeper, restorative, sleep cycles. Also, alcohol’s effect is short-lived. After a few hours you are likely to wake up, completely unable to return to sleep.
Chamomile tea before bed is an excellent for promoting good sleep. It has a slight homeopathic effect to relieve anxiety and promote relaxation.
Support your body with nurturing foods to create balance
Create A Sleep-Ready Body
Exercising daily for at least thirty minutes helps you fall asleep but be sure not to do it too close to bedtime. This is because exercise stimulates the release of metabolising hormones that will keep you awake.
Create A Night-Time Ritual
Setting a bed-time ritual sends cues to your brain that it is time for it to prepare to sleep. Just as you might read a bed-time story to a child to help them relax before they sleep, setting routines also reminds your mind it’s time to relax and sleep.
Develop your own night-time routine. It may include a warm bath, some yoga, reading, listening to music, writing your journal, in fact anything that soothes and relaxes you. Repeat this every evening in the thirty minutes before bed so your brain and body associate this activity with sleep.
Write down your list of whatever you need to do in the morning, earlier in the evening before. This shuts down the ideas and thoughts that normally run around your head while you’re trying to drop off to sleep. The same goes for any plans, worries or other thoughts that might keep you awake into the early hours of the morning.
Going to bed at the same time each night and rising at the same time each day allows your body clock to synchronise with these times, making both sleep and waking easier.
A hot shower or bath before bed increases your body temperature. As it falls again you will relax and fall asleep. If you have cold feet warm them with socks to prevent sleep disturbance.
If noise wakes you or keeps you awake wear ear plugs.
Take time to reflect on the day passed as well as the brand-new day ahead, so you can leave stress behind and start the new day afresh.
If you can’t sleep get up and address the cause or do some quiet activity until you feel calm and ready to return to bed.
Don’t watch the clock! If you aren’t sleeping put the clock away. Watching the hours tick away will only leave you stressed
Sleep Problems of Menopause
For some women passing through menopause, insomnia becomes a real and distressing issue. Hormonal changes causing hot flushes, palpitations, or night sweats can interrupt sleep and cause havoc. Before taking Hormonal replacement Therapy (HRT) have a talk to a Wholistic Health Practitioner about the many natural options available to balance hormones and reduce these debilitating symptoms.
Creating an environment that nurtures and supports you allows your body to release the stress from your busy life and relax into sleep at night
What are your favourite ways to ensure you get good sleep? Tell us in the comments below.
Disclaimer
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Stress has become such a permanent part of people’s lives that many stressors are now considered a normal part of everyday life or regarded as a necessary evil of modern life.
The world, and our place in it, has developed at an alarming pace. Although we’re still adapting to life on earth, it’s at a much, much slower rate than millions of years ago. Our bodies and our reactions are completely out of synch with our world. Our brains tell us stress is just part of living a modern life, but our bodies tell us the opposite.
Stressors can be physical, such as illness or violence, extreme heat or even noisy neighbours. They can be caused by lifestyle practices, such as work stress, alcohol abuse or poor sleep habits. Or the stressors can be emotional, originating in your mind. These emotional responses can be the most complex and lead to the greatest impact on our health.
Ongoing chronic stress is now considered the number one hurdle to good health
Stress can have many widespread effects on the body. Sometimes anxiety develops as a result of ongoing stress. But the effects of even low-grade stress are significant.
These include:
Blood pressure increases
Muscles tense up
Breathing rate increases
Heart rate increases
Brain waves slow down
Of course these are all signs of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response kicking into action. This is fine in the short term but detrimental to your health when they are ongoing.
When stress is ongoing it leads to widespread problems through the whole body.
Weight Gain – Stress alters the way fat’s distributed in the body, depositing it around the midriff where it poses the most danger to health.
Faster Ageing – A study from the University of California found chronically stressed mothers aged faster. Another study linked prenatal exposure to the mother’s stress to accelerated ageing in the child.
Affects Brain Cells – A Stanford University study found brain cells shrink in the chronically stressed.
Serious Disease – Stress is known to increase free radicals incidence which leads to the development of serious chronic disease.
Recognising Stress
While anxiety is often the effect of stress, not everyone who’s stressed is anxious. People who suffer from stress often appear calm. So it’s important to recognise other body cues that occur when you’re stressed. If you learn to notice and recognise the signs in your body, you can take steps to reverse them.
Do you recognise or experience any of these signs that you are under stress?
Your neck gets tight and stiff and you develop a tension headache at the base of your skull.
Your shoulders and back tighten.
Your chest wall feels constricted. If you cross your arms to compensate it simply further constricts your breathing.
You get a feeling of a tight ball or knot in your belly.
Your jaw clenches, your forehead tightens, as do your lips.
Your fingers feel tight, your hands clench.
People looking at you can easily see your stress as your shoulders hunch, your head bows, your face is clenched and you may even seem to be wearing a defeated air.
You may even experience some more serious problems which include palpitations, stomach upsets, sleep problems, impotence, reduced sex drive, raised blood pressure or a stroke or heart attack.
Perhaps most importantly, stress has been shown to lead to an increase in free radicals throughout your body. Free radicals lead to inflammation and are now seen as the forerunner of serious chronic and autoimmune diseases such as cancer, SLE lupus, other autoimmune disorders, ageing, cataract, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
Your De-Stress Tool Kit
While it can be virtually impossible to eliminate many ongoing, underlying stresses from your life, adopting some simple techniques to use in times of increased stress can help you feel better in moments.
When you actively reduce your stress response you also immediately effect the stress hormones released through your body. Having a few tools suitable for crisis control can restore your sense of wellbeing and help you cope in difficult situations.
Being able to reduce stress and anxiety without having to fall back on medications helps build your health in the long term.
Some techniques will work better for you than others so search out those that you find most effective. Try any technique you come across, even the esoteric ones, you can never be certain which will work best for you. Allow them all the benefit of the doubt and give them a fair try. It is likely you will need to combine more than one technique, so be on the watch for any improvement and don’t reject anything if it is only partially helpful, it will still be making some difference.
Learn the technique before you are caught in a difficult situation. Memorise it and practice it – you need to be able to use the skills automatically.
Most important, don’t give up – stress can make you restless and inclined to not stick it out.
There are many ways to manage the symptoms of stress. Acupressure, massage and diet are some of the better known. Flower essences and homeopathic remedies are excellent and very effective. Herbals are available in many forms. But there are also some simple techniques and practices that you can do wherever you happen to be, right in the moment you need help.
Simple Ways to Relieve Stress Naturally
Relax
When your muscles are tense you are often not even aware of it. Relaxing is a very basic and simple technique which will not only help you to release the tension but also bring you awareness of the state of your muscles.
Sit, stand or lie. Tense up one set of muscles in your leg or arms as tight as you can. You can even start with just your toe muscles to be more effective. Then let them go so they are quite limp. The contrast between the two states will show you what ‘relaxed’ actually feels like.
Concentrate on that feeling as you then tense and relax the other muscle groups in your body, your toes, feet, legs, buttocks, back, abdomen, hands, arms right through to your head. Pay particular attention to your jaw and forehead.
Breathe
Before you begin, reassure yourself that consciously controlling your breathing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to control anxiety and stressful feelings, and to diminish the effect of stress on your body.
Find somewhere quiet, clear your mind and start breathing deeply into your abdomen. Place your hand on your belly, you should feel it rise and fall. Breathe slowly and don’t raise your shoulders.
If you struggle, breathe as you count backwards from fifty. Breathe in on ‘fifty’, out on forty-nine and so on. Keeping your mind focused on synchronising your breath with the numbers slows down your breathing and forces you to breathe deeper.
Ninety percent of people breathe inefficiently.
You can read more about the technique of deep breathing, and learn how to make effective breathing a normal, unconscious part of your life here “Breathe Deeply to Reduce Stress”.
Smile
Frowning triggers the release of stress hormones and smiling decreases them. In addition, smiling causes the release of endorphins, the chemicals that make you feel ‘oh-so-good’.
Stretch
Simple but very calming! Do it as slowly and gracefully as you can. There are three coordinated actions involved:
Controlling your breath
Raising your hands and arms
Stretching your whole body from toes to fingertips
Stand. Let your arms, wrist and fingers go limp. Bend your knees slightly, entwine your hands loosely and turn your palms upward.
Slowly breathe in. Raise your hands towards your mouth and start to straighten your legs.
Slowly breathe out, turn your palms outward and stretch your body. Slowly exhale totally, reach your arms up, face your palms to the ceiling. Stand on your toes.
Now reverse the action
Repeat at least five times, slowly. Take a few minutes afterwards to relax and do nothing.
Affirm
Your subconscious is a powerful force. Affirmations tap into your subconscious and are extremely effective if they are worded well and are used routinely.
Given the impact and complexity of emotional stresses, affirmations are a useful tool because your subconscious cannot tell the difference between what is real or what is not, it only ‘knows’ and directs according to what you tell it. If your thoughts are always that you can’t cope or you have no money, that’s what your subconscious believes and will direct accordingly.
The exact words you use form your affirmations are very important and can make or break the effectiveness of the affirmation. It is important that they become a regular part of your day and so the way you integrate them into your life needs to be considered.
Keep your statements in the present tense, as if they already exist. “I want to…” or “I can…” or “I will” relate to what you want to achieve and are not as powerful as “I am” or “I (do)” which relate to a state already in existence.
You will find useful guidelines to creating and using affirmations here.
It can be helpful to consult a practitioner to set up an affirmation technique that really works for you.
Visualise
If you are a visual person imagining a big screen showing a scene that you find calm can be useful.
Close your eyes and choose an image that reflects how you would like to feel, perhaps an idyllic tropical island or a peaceful waterfall.
Next imagine this image on a big screen in your mind.
Keeping your eyes closed examine the image, notice the golden sand, the gentle waves, the island in the distance.
When you see it clearly, step inside. See yourself in the scene as if you are really there. Notice what you are wearing, what you can hear, smell. Feel the sand, the breeze in your hair.
Once you feel you are really in the scene, reach for the ‘controls’ of the screen and turn up the volume and picture. As everything around you becomes brighter and louder and your physical feelings more intense, you become calm and relaxed almost immediately, as if you were really there.
Relax, keeping the calm with you.
Release
One of the most common symptoms of stress is a clenched jaw and clenched teeth. Releasing the jaw is a simple technique to release much of the tension of stress.
First become aware of the tension in your jaw. Clench tighter, then release it.
Lightly press your tongue against the roof of your mouth behind your teeth.
Part your lips slightly and feel your jaw relax.
Repeat several times a day.
Tap
The Emotional Freedom Technique, or tapping, is SO simple and SO effective. Anyone can teach themselves the basic routine and use it to create all types of changes. It can be very effective for creating calm.
It simply involves a routine of tapping on acupressure points in the body, while saying a set of statements. The process lodges any change in thinking within the subconscious. Changes occur with EFT extremely quickly.
Discover the basics of EFT, watch a demonstration and learn how to do the basic technique yourself right here. If you would like to learn more, many EFT practitioners run free information and demonstration sessions.
Eat
If all else fails eating small amounts of DARK chocolate helps calm anxiety. The theobromine in chocolate helps to elevate your mood and the tryptophan in dark chocolate improves your levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that influences mood and contributes to feelings of wellbeing. Many people with anxiety are known to have low levels of serotonin.
Importantly, remember to first try out the techniques when you are feeling ok. Get to know them so you can move straight into doing them whenever you need, without having to think them through. If you struggle to remember what to do it will only add to your stress.
Do you have technique that you find really helps when you are feeling stressed?Leave a reply below and share it with us.
Stress and the inflammation that results are now seen as the forerunner of serious chronic and autoimmune diseases. It’s time to change that right now.
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Source articles
Wilson, P. Instant Calm, Penguin, 1995
Hartley, A. Love The Life You Live, Hart Publishing, 2000
After the festivities and often overindulgence, of the Holidays it’s common for many people to find themselves suffering the after-effects. After too much rich food, junk food and alcohol, combined with too little sleep and too much stress it can be hard to recover quickly. Quite apart from the immediate discomforts of hangovers, other symptoms such as migraines, joint pain, bloating, and fatigue can appear and persist for some time. Often it’s very difficult for your body to detox if it’s endured an onslaught in December. After too many the indulgences through the Holiday your liver may just need a little TLC.
Instead of treating each individual symptom it’s more efficient to target treatment towards supporting your liver. Taking steps early in the New Year will help reverse the problem so you can get back on track.
The state of your gut partly determines your vitality and overall health. It is directly tied in to your immune system and affects your mood and thinking ability.
Your gut forms part of your immune system and influences your vitality and overall health. It also affects your mood and thinking ability.
A Healthy Liver Is The Key to Health
The liver’s one of the most important organs in your body with many functions. As part of the digestive system, it is the detoxification centre of the body. Everything we ingest must be processed by the liver before it can be used in the body. This includes not just the food we eat, but also any drugs, alcohol, and chemicals we come in contact with.
Your liver also helps clean metabolic waste out of the body. It produces bile to digest fats and remove toxic bilirubin from the blood.
The liver plays a role in the immune system, blood clotting, regulating amino acids, storing iron and glucose, producing plasma proteins as well as toxin removal.
Without a liver we cannot survive, although we can manage with just a part of a liver. It certainly is aptly named as the “live-r”.
Natural Liver Support And Care
Taking time to attend to the needs of your liver over the Holiday period will help you fly through the New Year. There are various natural ways to counteract the after effects of too much celebrating, too little sleep and too much stress and anxiety.
How to Recover From Too Much Celebration
Homeopathic Remedies For Hangover
On New Years Day I always carry some Homeopathic Nux-vomica with me. It’s not for myself, but for anyone I encounter suffering a New Year hangover.
Nux-vomica is toxic in its crude state, but as a Homeopathic preparation it’s an excellent remedy for illness from overindulgence of rich food, alcohol or coffee. In fact it’s often called the “Hangover Remedy”. Taken according to Homeopathic prescribing principles it will bring a quick recovery.
There are other Homeopathic remedies that are excellent for both supporting and cleansing the liver, providing speedy and sustained relief, protection and support.
However they should be selected individually according to the symptoms that are individually expressed by each person. If you find you are susceptible to liver stress consult a trained Homeopath to determine the remedy that’s best for you and your problem.
Herbs For Liver Support
Dandelion Root
Dandelion root provides a gentle cleanse for the liver. It’s also great for any gallbladder problems as it increases bile production. Often used as an appetite stimulant, it improves food metabolism by the liver and helps to remove toxins quickly and efficiently from the body.
Often found in herbal tincture mixes, dandelion root can be taken as capsules (500 to 2000mg daily) or as a ‘tea’ or ‘coffee’ drunk three times a day. Dandelion root even makes a decent latte!
Milk Thistle
Milk thistle (Silybum) seeds are a powerful liver cleanser. Milk thistle was traditionally taken to help protect the liver and is used to relieve the symptoms of over-indulgence of food and drink by fighting oxidation and free radicals.
It’s also useful for rebuilding the liver after it has been damaged because it stimulates liver cell regeneration. It also stimulates the secretion of bile from the liver and gallbladder.
Take it as a tablet before and after you head out for a night partying. Look for an extract containing about 140mg of silymarin. You can take it daily right through the Holiday period and for a while after as an excellent gentle support for your liver.
You will also find silymarin, the active ingredient of milk thistle, in artichoke leaf extract which is another great liver cleanser.
Burdock Root
Burdock root cleanses the liver and aids detoxification. Studies have shown that the powerful antioxidants in burdock help the liver to heal, and protect it from further damage.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a fabulous herb for reducing inflammation. The antioxidants in turmeric are known to be of great benefit in easing joint pain but also improve the health of the liver.
Adding the spice to your cooking is the easiest way to take it. You won’t get enough through your diet to reduce pain symptoms you are already experiencing, but it can act as a support to your body and liver. Take it with black pepper for better absorption.
There are many great quality turmeric formulations now available in tablet or liquid form.
Green Tea And Pomegranate
Enjoy green tea which supports liver function as it is high in catechins.
Pomegranate, seeds or juice, contains the liver detox compound ellagic acid to help liver detoxification.
Food For Liver Support
Protect your liver from further overload stress. Eat organic, even if only some of your food, as it keeps pesticides and chemicals out of your system.
Steer clear of non-green personal care products and cleaning products – the toxins are absorbed through your skin.
Photo courtesy: Shawn Campbell
It’s vital to get straight back into healthy eating practices right after overindulging. Get rid of sugars, cut back on grains and try to eat lighter meals.
Your digestion works best in the morning so eat more earlier in the day and keep your evening meal small.
Certain foods benefit your liver. Onion and garlic activate the liver enzymes that flush out toxins. Beets and carrots, full of beta-carotene, promote increased liver function and make great additions to freshly squeezed juices.
Apples, avocados, walnuts and lemon juice all help flush toxins, although in different ways.
Water – water – water – and more water. Drink filtered, fluoride-free water to flush out the toxins from the liver.
Lemons and limes are one of natures great gifts and including them in your morning routine has huge health benefits
Natural Remedies to Protect the Liver
While you’re actually experiencing digestive symptoms caused by overindulgence there are natural remedies that can help.
Activated charcoal absorbs toxins, helping to protect the liver. Aloe vera is a digestive tonic which also relieves pain. Both are easy to find in your health food store.
Chewing fennel seeds after eating will help your digestion. Or you can take it as fennel seed tea after eating.
There seems to be some truth to the big ‘fry-up’ as a morning after cure. Although freshly squeezed fruit juice would probably be better. You experience hangover symptoms partly because your blood sugar levels are out of balance. By substituting fruit juice for coffee you speed up your body’s metabolism of the alcohol.
Eating high protein foods like eggs helps the body produce serotonin and endorphins, the chemicals which help you feel good.
EFT For Liver Support
EFT(Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping, is an effective method that combines ancient Chinese acupressure techniques with modern psychology. Incredibly simple at its basic level it can be done by anyone, anywhere in a couple of minutes.
Simply tapping with two fingers on the ribs on the right side of the body over the liver stimulates liver processes. Watch this short video for a demonstration. (Note that it’s posted backwards and shows her tapping the left side, the wrong side! It must be the RIGHT side)
Massaging your hands and feet daily stimulates a number of acupressure points that help keep your liver strong and healthy. According to EEM practitioner Rose Mattax the most effective point is in the “V” where the big toe meets the second toe on the top of the foot at the base of the metatarsal bridge. Massage this source point of Liver chi several times a day.
Natural Liver Support
Even when you feel terrible or lethargic after heavily overdoing it, keep moving. The twisting postures of yoga are particularly good and a great way to help digestion.
Elimination For Liver Support
Lastly sweating helps get the waste products out of your body once they have been processed by the liver. Exercise or saunas every day promotes the excretion of toxins through the skin and optimizes your detoxification systems. And don’t forget to balance out the fluid loss by drinking lots of water.
What are your natural secrets to overcome holiday overindulgence?
Tell us in the comments below.
Revised January 2018
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
With December arriving so quickly the festive season is all around us. Follow these twelve top tips to stay healthy in the holiday season so you can reach New Year in your best state ever, without having to lock yourself away to keep out of temptations reach.
Research shows that the three biggest stresses for most people around Christmas are: weight gain from overindulging, financial strain from overspending, and anxiety from having to spend time with people they prefer to avoid.
According to a recent Australian study by Roy Morgan Research, around 60 per cent of Australians dislike Christmas shopping, and I’m one! But instead of devising a shopping strategy about 20% head out to shop without any plan of action, and most (75%) come home without buying anything at all.
Instead they DO get to stand in queues, hunt-the-parking-spot, surround themselves with crowds of stressed people and ramp up their own stress, frustration and anxiety levels.
12 Top Tips For A Happier Healthier Christmas
Use this list of Twelve Tips to enjoy Christmas this year, instead of simply surviving it.
1.Stress
Shopping. Whether it is standing in long queues, finding space to park, or trying to hunt down a desperately desired gift, many people find Christmas shopping the most stressful part of the season. Wherever you go you will encounter tired, cross irritable people.
It is good to remember that stress and anxiety are quite normal at this time of year. When one family member is under stress, other family members are likely to feel stressed too, aggravating the situation and making life even more difficult for all.
There are many different natural ways to deal with the stress. The simplest of these is without a doubt the flower essence, Bach Rescue Remedy.
Rescue Remedy has been around since the 1930’s and was created to help people cope with everyday stressful situations. Its effects are calming and centering. It is suitable for stressed children as well as adults. Carry some with you or keep it in the car so it’s handy when you need to de-stress.
Get it from the Health Food shop or your natural medicine practitioner. Keep one in your bag, your car or your office, so you have it on hand whenever you start to feel stressed. It is available in a number of different forms, drops, spray, gum, cream, even pastilles and is easy to use. You can take it as often as you need.
2.Water
This might seem a no-brainer, but it is one that is easy to forget. The reality is that dehydration is a greater problem when you are drinking alcohol. Have two glasses of water before you go to any function. Alternate alcoholic drinks with cool clear water or soda water when you are out socializing. Adding a slice of lemon or lime to the water is even better. Carry a water bottle when you are out shopping.
Remember to keep hydrated.
Photo credit: Evan Courtney
3.Family Conflict
Family tensions seem to surface at this time of year, especially if your relationships are a little strained normally. If you struggle to interact some of the family normally then Christmas is not likely to be any different.
Rather than self-medicating with alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs in order to cope, you can again use the Bach Rescue remedy to help you get through difficult events. If you are able to identify triggers for the conflict, and consciously avoid them you may find it easier to cope.
Christmas gatherings are frequently the place where family dynamics replay just as they existed back decades ago. It can be difficult to be treated as the vague child you once were, when you in your everyday life you are a capable, competent and responsible adult with many skills and abilities.
Involving the family in a group activity after lunch can help keep conflict at bay. Backyard cricket, swimming if you have a pool, or charades if the weather turns nasty, will help lighten the mood.
And if it is still too much, then politely but firmly decline invitations.
4.Sleep
It is far too easy to lose sleep during December, with busy calendars, lots of socialising, and preparations for the big day. Aim to get seven to eight hours sleep each night.
We all know that sleep deprivation can cause foggy thinking, slow reactions and irritability. But insomnia can also increase your risk of depression and anxiety, or contribute to obesity. With stress and anxiety already a problem for many people adequate sleep is essential to help keep it at a minimum.
If you are tired, don’t go out. It won’t hurt to miss some parties.
There are a number of herbs that aid sleep. Lavender is very effective and can be used in the form of an essential oil in a burner or diffuser, in your bathwater, or in carrier oil rubbed on the skin. Chamomile, Californian Poppy, Passionflower or Hops are others to help insomnia.
Many herbal formulations to aid sleep are available as teas and are simple and lovely in the evening before going to bed. Children can also drink many relaxing herbal teas such as Chamomile.
5. Avoiding weight blow-out
Going to parties hungry, anticipating lots of yummy Christmas treats is a recipe for disaster. When you are hungry it is difficult to resist eating anything offered to you and you are likely to overindulge.
Finger foods are high in kilojoules, as well as fat and sugar. Opt for low-joule options like vegetable crudités, hummus or fruit. Eating smart when you’re out partying is the way to stay on top of excessive weight gain. Limit temptation by eating regular nutritious meals and avoiding Christmas goodies like chocolates, pudding and shortbread throughout the whole season.
Keep up your regular exercise program, and keep in mind it takes many hours of exercise to burn off the extra kilojoules gained at two or three parties.
6.Purpose
Finding some ‘purpose’ to Christmas may help you cope better. There are plenty of ways in which you could volunteer your time. As well as benefiting others, contributing to your community may create feelings in you that make you feel happy. If you find experiencing Christmas Joy difficult this could be a way to get in touch with it again.
7.Finances
Credit card blowout in January can be devastating, often taking many months to pay off. Paying for gifts, as well as your celebrations, with cash means you will know whether you can afford the purchase or not, and avoid the financial headache in January.
Rationalise who you will buy gifts for and consider whether you can gift with your time, or something you have made yourself if finances are tight.
If you are hosting the Christmas meal, avoid the temptation to over-cater. You don’t need more food than you would on any other day. You will be thanked when your guests do not feel awful after eating too much.
8.Breathe
Incorporate the practice of mindful breathing into your daily habits every day through December, if you haven’t already. Simply spend thirty seconds to take slow deep breaths. Do this a few times a day. It is a great way to reduce stress. The simple relaxation technique of focusing on your breath helps to relieve tension and anxiety.
Alternatively, you could meditate. There is no need to be scared of this, it is not about becoming a yogi, simply the practice of drawing focus and reducing stress. Here are some fun, light, easy ways to spend just a few minutes in meditation.
Christmas is about giving, but it is also the time to allow you to receive the gift of relaxation from yourself.
9.Relax
It’s easy to say take some time out for yourself but often we feel there is no time, especially in busy December. However, setting aside a relaxing night in to create a home spa experience, followed by a good book or movie and an early night, could be the answer to getting through Christmas and New Year and soaring into the New Year.
Relax in a bath with hand made natural products to sooth away stress
Run yourself a soothing bath if you have a tub. If not sit yourself in a comfy chair with a relaxing foot bath and a ‘renew you’ herbal brew for about twenty minutes. Add essential oils to the water to help you relax. Follow with some nourishing cream on your skin before you curl up with your book or movie.
10.Loss and loneliness
For many people the Christmas Season is one when feelings of loss for a loved one who has passed are magnified, especially as they are surrounded by others celebrating with their families.
For others who are single, whether they are young or elderly, it can be a time of great loneliness. Those far from home can feel overwhelming homesickness. When emotions become overwhelming Homeopathic remedies can be of great assistance. There are a number of excellent ones to help with grief, such as Ignatia, Nat-mur or Causticum. Homeopathic Nat-mur, Capsicum, Phos-ac or Ignatia are just some of dozens of remedies that help relieve homesickness. But Homeopathic Remedies need to be well matched to your own individual experience, or symptoms, of homesickness or loss, and this is best prescribed by a professional Homeopath, who takes many things into consideration before selecting the remedy best suited to you.
If you have decided to add purpose to your Christmas, one way to achieve this is to include someone on their own, far from home in your celebrations.
11.Embrace your inner child
Children look forward to Christmas with enormous excitement. They pour love into cards and gifts made at school. They marvel at the Christmas tree and street lights, rip open presents, pop crackers and join in the traditions with absolute exuberance. They keep going all day because they stop before they have overeaten and don’t need to lie around to recover. They live every moment of the day before falling into bed at night to sleep soundly.
Approach Christmas with the resolve to have fun.
12.Alcohol
Start the practice of alcohol-free days each week.
Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Limit the number of drinks you consume and alternate them with water or soda water. Be aware that many restaurants use over-sized wine glasses that contain much more than normal serving sizes. Also watch out for top-ups.
Drinking alcohol in the evening interferes with sleep. While you may fall asleep easily, it leads to disturbed sleep later in the night, possible waking you for long periods, or leaving you exhausted in the morning.
If you do overdo it help reduce a hangover with Vitamin C on the day after and Vitamin B Complex both BEFORE and AFTER the big night. It’s a much better combo than Berocca and is minus the aspartame which Berocca contains.
Many people find Homeopathic Nux-vomica, taken in accordance with Homeopathic prescribing guidelines gets rid of the headache and nausea very quickly.
Chlorella has been shown in studies to reduce hangover by 96%. It’s a green sea algae and available from health food shops. Buy a reputable organic brand, that’s very important!
Coconut water is rich in electrolytes and antioxidants to help cleanse . Drink it through the day before you head out as well as before you go to bed to help offset some of the damage caused by the alcohol.
Dandelion root tea helps detoxify the liver and can be drunk before you go out as well as the following day.
Very Important –What Not To Do
Finally, these are some things that you should NOT do if you want to sail through into the New Year easily.
Don’t start a new diet, there’s time for that later.
Don’t add the expense of sending out cards to people you see all the time.
If your kids are scared of Santa, don’t force them onto his lap just to get the cute picture.
Remember, you don’t have to find the ‘perfect’ gift. Fundamentally a gift is a token that tells the recipient that you have had them in your thoughts, nothing more. It does NOT have to be big, or expensive, or just what they have always wanted. It is A TOKEN of the feelings from your heart.
Do NOT stress about being the ‘perfect’ Mum, partner or friend. Most people close to you will understand.
And finally, don’t become a slave to any list – gift, card, menu, parties, or even this list. Stay flexible, honour what your body tells you is needed the most, and enjoy the Christmas Season.
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
The healing benefits of green tea have been recognised by the Chinese for over 5,000 years. In the west we have been slow to recognise these benefits, but widespread research has now verified the amazing role that green tea plays in protecting the body against a host of diseases. You too can benefit simply by drinking green tea each day.
My mother was a great tea drinker who couldn’t wait for me to be old enough to share her enjoyment of tea. It almost seemed I was destined to join her in her love. Most of my memories of her involve her holding a cuppa in one hand. She would start her day with a mug of tea and end it the same way. She would even take a mug of tea with her when she went outside to garden or hang the washing. But she always drank black tea and never got to know the amazing health benefits of green tea.
Back then tea was always varieties of black tea. Green tea was served at the local Chinese restaurant, but I never knew anyone who drank it otherwise. But the health benefits of green tea are now well known and widely touted.
Difference Between Green And Black Tea
Tea is rich in antioxidants called polyphenols, which are considered the most effective and protective of all the antioxidants. Green tea is particularly rich in one of these called catechins, with between fifteen and thirty percent catechin content. EGCG is the main active component of the polyphenol activity and the highest occurrence is in green tea.
Green tea differs from black tea in that it is unfermented. It is made by steaming the leaves very quickly just before picking, rolling and drying. This prevents the breakdown, or oxidation, of the antioxidant catechins.
Black tea undergoes more processing and the leaves are subjected to heat and light which withers them before they are fermented. This results in the EGCG being converted into less effective compounds. Black tea has far fewer beneficial properties than green tea.
Green Tea Tips
When my naturopath recommended I drink green tea I found it difficult initially to follow his advice as the taste put me off. But I decided to persevere. So, I began to experiment with how I made the tea and learnt some interesting things.
Strong green tea is very astringent.
Green tea gets bitter as it cools down.
Experts advise to not use boiling water in the preparation of green tea as it destroys the flavonoids which give the healing potential. 85 degrees Celsius is recommended.
Green tea marries well with other herbal and floral flavours.
Once I realised that unlike black teas, the strength and temperature of the green tea brew was far more crucial to drinking pleasure, I quickly came to enjoy it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I had to be careful not to drink too much as this leads to digestive problems. Now I stick to three or four cups a day.
I quickly came to enjoy green tea once I realised that unlike black teas, the strength and temperature of the green tea brew was far more crucial to drinking pleasure. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that eventually I had to watch how much I drank as I was drinking too much which quickly led to digestive problems. Now I stick to three or four cups a day.
Green tea is often combined with other ingredients. Jasmine is one of the more common ones. Recently I found a wonderful mix of green tea and berries. Not only is it delicious, it is also loaded with antioxidants.
Healthy Green Tea
Which brings me to the benefits of drinking green tea, and the good news just keep getting better. It’s often difficult for any black tea or coffee lover to see why they should make the change, whether it be a total change to green tea or just to include it alongside their coffee or black tea. But green tea has many reasons why it’s a vastly better choice than either black tea or coffee.
Green tea is high in antioxidants (EGCG) to protect the cells from damage and inflammation caused by free radicals which leads to many chronic diseases.
Scientifically Proven Benefits of Green Tea
Scientific research into the effects of green tea has been extensive. Here are some scientifically proven benefits
Provides a natural antibiotic effect to kill bacteria in the mouth (unlike coffee which causes bad breath)
More Benefits of Green Tea
Here are seven more benefits of green tea:
1. Helps to strengthen the immune system
2. May prevent skin wrinkling – EGCG seems to be 200 times more powerful than vitamin E at destroying free radicals
3. Reduces some symptoms of PCOS (hair thinning, acne and facial hair)
4. It is full of vitamins and minerals
5. It boosts metabolism and helps the body to burn fat more efficiently.
6. Helps protect against heart disease
7. It helps to detoxify the body
Concerns About Green Tea
One side effect of drinking green tea can be upset stomach or nausea. However, it shouldn’t discourage you from drinking green tea altogether. I found it only occurred if I drank too much green tea. You may become nauseous if you drink green tea on an empty stomach. Nausea seems to be due to the tannins present which increase stomach acid secretion.
Another problem is the effect of caffeine. Whilst green tea does contain caffeine the amount is vastly lower than that found in coffee or black and oolong teas. Replacing your coffee with a green tea reduces the caffeine intake by about 70%. But this does vary from brew to brew. When you brew the tea for longer it has more caffeine.
If caffeine affects your health enough to completely avoid it, you also need to avoid green tea. But if you’d just like to cut back then it makes sense to switch to green tea which contains only 2-4 percent caffeine. Try replacing coffee with green tea after the middle of the day.
Tannins in all teas can reduce the absorption of vegetarian sources of iron which may be problematic if you have anaemia. Green tea has significantly less tannin than black tea. Drinking tea between meals helps prevent iron uptake problems. Or add lemon to your tea to increase iron absorption.
As always be careful with your choice of healthy natural products. Pre-packaged bottles of green tea drink are not such a healthy choice. They are usually pre-sweetened with large amounts of sweetener. Instead brew your own or order green tea that’s made on the spot. Be aware that green tea from Japan is often treated with fluoride so choose one that is not chemically treated. Drink organic green tea is you are not sure.
The Best Way to Drink Green Tea
Don’t add milk as it makes it harder for the body to absorb the catechins
Don’t use boiling water – it kills the catechins
The vitamin C in lemon helps you absorb the catechins better
More expensive teas usually have higher levels of healthy compounds and cheaper ones have less
Aim for three to four cups a day as more seems to have negative effects.
Drink it hot or iced
Sweeten with stevia instead of sugar
Try green tea combined with fruit or floral ingredients if you’re not crazy about the flavour or if you just love variety
The health benefits of green tea are extensive. Green tea is loaded with antioxidants and is simply good for you.
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Enough is enough! Yesterday was a day of bitingly cold winds, hail showers and snowfalls on the nearby ranges. Eleven weeks in and I am over Winter. This is no longer Winter Wonderland Magic.
I was chatting to a man in the supermarket register queue last night as he added some gorgeous coral coloured roses to his pile of groceries. He said he just needed some warm colours around his house to remind him that winter would not go on forever, that spring is nearly here. I felt so inspired, I bought some too!
Winter is eleven weeks in now and it seems we are all feeling over it. The joy of curling up with a warm drink, cosy slippers and a heat pack in front of a movie or with an engrossing book is past. I want to go outside without rugging up, to plant my spring vegetables, to enjoy a salad again, to get to the end of the day without cold feet and to enjoy some sunny evenings.
Winter Relief Practices
Even though we’re at the tail end of winter this is the time that Winter Blues shows up for many people, as the accumulated stresses of winter start to affect them. These days winter blues are recognised as a disorder known as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is caused by a lack or not sufficient sunlight.
To help get us over that last hump in the winter road and to keep us going until the warmer days of spring arrive, I’ve gathered some ideas to help lift our spirits as winter heads on out.
First up, a couple of warm drinks with a difference. I love herbal teas and I have a whole cupboard devoted to their storage, the tea cupboard. But, even with my wide choice, as well as the basic green tea back-up, I’m bored.
Here are a few new yummy hot drink ideas I have come across to spice things up when tea just doesn’t cut it any more
Hot chocolate! Chocolate is a mild stimulant and if you choose your chocolate wisely you also get all the benefits of antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals. Here are two DELICIOUS chocolatey drinks to warm your insides and your mood.
This Piping Hot Choc Winter Smoothie is thick, creamy, decadent and not-naughty.
Ingredients
1 banana
1 heaped Tablespoon raw cacao (don’t use drinking chocolate or cocoa…it’s absolutely worth GETTING some Raw Cacao INSTEAD)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon chia seeds
2 medjool dates or some honey
1 cup boiling water OR warm almond milk OR dandelion tea
Add peanut butter, oats, cinnamon, coconut or maca for extra yum.
Blend, Pour, Guzzle Buzz.
Superfood Haute Chocolate
This super recipe is from Sarah Britton at My New Roots
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 teaspoons maca powder
1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
Pinch sea salt
Pinch cinnamon powder
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch ginger powder
Small piece vanilla bean, scraped (optional)
1½ cups milk of your choice or water
Boil water or warm milk on the stove and let cool slightly. If using raw nut milk do not heat above 42ْ C
Whisk in dry ingredients. Serve immediately with a cinnamon stick, if desired.
Not only is this hot choc yummy, but all the spices are wonderfully warming circulation stimulants to warm you through to the fingertips and toes.
Dandelion Chai
This Spiced Dandelion Root Tea is not only warming and delicious, it’s also great for your liver.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon -1 dessertspooon organic roast dandelion root per cup.
1 cinnamon stick (or a pinch of cinnamon powder)
Ginger root, chopped up with the skin left on
Add any of these spices to taste: star anise, bay leaf, black peppercorns, green cardamom seeds slightly crushed, cloves, dried orange peel, dried raspberry leaf, fennel seeds, peppercorns, vanilla bean, licorice root.
Place all ingredients and water in a pot, bring to boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Add some honey and your milk of choice if desired.
You can keep any leftover in the fridge and add water and reuse.
It tastes great black, but may be too strong for if you are not used to it.
Lemon and Ginger Tea
Home Made Lemon and Ginger Tea is so easy to make and head and shoulders better than any from a tea bag.
Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
Juice of ½-1 lemon (about 60ml)
2.5cm piece ginger root, grated
A couple of spoons (or more) of honey to taste
Add the ginger to the boiling water. Simmer in an open pan for about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and the honey to the ginger water. Strain into your cup.
Or you can add all the ingredients to the water and pour into a thermos and let the mix sit for 20 minutes before straining and drinking.
This is a great choice if you are still trying to throw off a winter cough. The lemon is high in vitamin C to boost your immune system. Ginger and honey also help the immune system.
Rooibos
Rooibos, sometimes called red tea, is a tea with so many health benefits. It comes from South Africa and has a fairly robust flavour. We recently tried one with added honey and it was very popular at work.
Colour Your Surroundings
Looking out the window at the pots of flowers on my deck, it struck me that the colours of late winter are lavender, the colour of the rosemary in full flower, and golden yellow, think daffodils. Bringing a bunch of winter daffs in for your desk or kitchen bench brightens your mood immediately, reminding you the season is about to change. Yellow is the colour of spring and it is considered cheerful and optimistic.
Many studies show that the colours you surround yourself with have a great impact on your state of mind. In the Stadium at the University of Iowa, the visiting team’s locker rooms are painted all-pink and have been for thirty years, because pink is a tranquil colour that is known to calm and pacify. If the Home Team then painted their own locker rooms red, which stimulates a faster heart rate and breathing, they would no doubt benefit from an emotional energy boost.
Using colour is a great way to lift your mood and one very simple way to use colour is to swap a bright cheerful coloured silk scarf for your woolly, black winter scarf. If you live in Melbourne like me, of course you have a black scarf! Avoid blue because it lowers the pulse rate and body temperature.
Beat SAD With Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a wonderful mood lifter and if you are feeling a bit low taking a quality vitamin D supplement is a great move. In many parts of the world it is almost impossible to get sufficient sun exposure to meet your needs during the winter. Vitamin D is involved in so many body functions. But when your mood drops at this time of the year it becomes very obvious that you may have a deficiency of this important vitamin. It’s worth getting your blood levels tested with a simple blood test, as then you’ll be able to calculate how much vitamin D supplement you need to take. Optimum levels are >75 nmol/L. If your levels are significantly lower than this as a large part of the populations are even here in ‘sunny Australia’, you’ll need to take quite a bit of supplement to bring the levels up again.
Feel Better with Vitamin B
Another vitamin that plays a crucial role in keeping up good spirits are the B group of vitamins. Vitamin B deficiency is linked to a range of emotional disorders as well as many other body functions. Opt for 50mg daily of a Vitamin B-complex rather than selecting individual B vitamins as these vitamins work much better synergistically when all the ‘B’s’ are present.
Other supplements that are critical in dealing with depression and mood disorders are selenium, magnesium and iron. A multi vitamin and multi mineral can address any deficiency you may have.
Social Support
Socialising is a great way to pick up your mood. Maybe this is the time to do something out of the ordinary with your friends. Hold a fondue party, or dust off the board games, particularly the ones you loved as a child, like Twister, Pictionary, Monopoly or Charades. Or combine a pot-luck night with a game night. Or maybe your friends would enjoy a ‘Funny-Home Video’ night or a karaoke night.
Get Out
Even though it is cold try and get outside for some exercise. It is tough to exercise in the winter, and arriving home in the evening just as the sun goes down and the cold closes in is not much incentive to head out to the gym or go out for a walk. But exercise goes a long way towards relieving the stress of the day. The endorphins released during exercise improve your mood and help you sleep, and the effects can last for a number of hours.
Step Up Your Diet
One problem of the colder weather for many people is that they crave starchy or sweet foods more than normal which increases their blood sugar levels, making them feel blue. Remember that the foods you eat have a strong influence on your mood. A poor diet causes imbalance in your body and makes you feel worse.
Add more fruits and vegetables, including raw food as much as possible. Use complex grains, organic meats when you can and eggs and ignore those cravings for white flour and sugars.
Light It Up
Natural light is one of the best ways to avoid the blues and to lift your spirits. You can now get full spectrum light globes and there are energy saving versions available. They provide the full range of natural light from infra-red to ultra-violet. The benefits are well established, and they reduce many health problems such as headaches, nausea and fatigue.
In your home open the curtains wide to let the sun stream in on any day that is a little warmer, particularly where you cannot install full spectrum light globes.
Freshen Indoors
After being closed up for months on end houses get stale. Freshen up your surroundings and your mood at the same time with essential oils. There are some oils that have anti-depressant properties including bergamot, lavender, geranium, jasmine and clary sage. Others that are good mood lifters are sweet orange, neroli, and ylang ylang.
Using high quality essential oil in an aromatherapy diffuser releases them into the air in the form of water vapour, which is the best way for them to spread through your home. You can also add them to a bath (or a foot bath) or add a few drops to a carrier oil and use as a massage oil.
Here’s to the arrival of spring…
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
It seems almost everyone I’ve spoken to over the past week has had problems sleeping, whether it’s in getting to sleep, waking during the night or, for those that are sleeping, having vivid crazy dreams. Insomnia, or sleeplessness, can be either an inability to fall asleep or waking up through the night before the expected waking time. As anyone who has ever experienced a poor night’s sleep knows, the impact of sleeplessness shows up the next day as a reduced ability to concentrate, lethargy, and fragile emotions.
The body actually requires sleep just as it does water, food and oxygen in order to function. Without sleep we would literally go crazy. When insomnia is long term, more than 3-4 weeks, it can have a major impact on our health, leading to memory problems, depression, irritability, with an increased risk of heart disease.
Tossing and turning for hours on end, worrying about not being able to get to sleep, or being unable to switch off can be very frustrating, and can even worsen the insomnia. The more you try to sleep, the more frustrated you get and the harder sleep becomes.
For many people insomnia is an ongoing issue that has some pretty big repercussions on their life. While it can be caused by many things, for a large number it is often the result of poor sleep behaviour, sometimes resulting from patterns established during childhood.
Some Causes of Poor Sleep
Quite a number of poor lifestyle habits can actually be the cause or sleeplessness, or else worsen it. Here are a few of them. If you recognise any of these, you may need to address them.
·Going to bed at different times each night
·Daytime napping
·Poor sleeping environment, such as too much noise or light. Your bedroom should be a ‘haven of calm’
·Spending too much time in bed while you are still awake
·Working evening or night shifts
·Not getting enough exercise
·Using the television, computer, or smartphone in bed
Medications
The use of some medications and drugs may also affect sleep.
Alcohol may help you fall asleep initially but generally leads to waking up through the night.
Too much caffeine is a well-knowncause of insomnia, especially when it is drunk later in the day.
A number of medications, including cold medicines and diet pills can cause poor sleep. Be very careful about self-prescribing unless you know exactly the effects of whatever you are taking. Some herbs and supplements can lead to insomnia.
Heavy smoking can be a problem for sleep.
If you take sleeping pills regularly it is easy to become used to them, so they stop working as well as they did initially.
Lifestyle
In addition to lifestyle habits there are a number of other physical, social, and mental health issues that can affect sleep patterns, including: anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, certain medical conditions such as thyroid disease, feeling sad or depressed, physical pain or discomfort, stress whether it is short-term or long-term.
CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
However sometimes there is just no obvious reason for sleeplessness.
We each have our own inbuilt body clock called the circadian rhythm, that regulates our sleep patterns. This is what makes us fall asleep at night and wake up again the next morning. The body clock is easily thrown out by overseas flying, rotating shift work, or even a few late nights. When your body clock gets disrupted, you experience symptoms like jet lag.
Taking sleeping pills to help you sleep often leaves you with a ‘hangover’ effect which is something you can avoid by using natural cures instead.
RESET YOUR BODY CLOCK NATURALLY
For many the prospect of sleeping like a baby, anywhere, anytime seems like a remote daydream. But there are a number of very effective natural remedies with proven success that may offer relief. They can help you to reset the body clock so you can get back to good sleeping patterns.
Here are a few that have proven success.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain which helps to relax us so that we can fall asleep. It is known for its ability to rebalance your body clock and is often used to treat jet lag. It is usually released in the absence of light, but we need to have spent time in daylight in order to make enough melatonin in the first place. This is why it is recommended that you spend time outside after you have flown a long-haul flight.
Taking a melatonin supplement can help to reset the body clock. But if you prefer to use food as medicine you can address melatonin deficiency with foods that boost serotonin as melatonin is made from serotonin. Some of these foods are raw cacao, magnesium, fish oils and herbal tea containing hops, chamomile, ashwaganda and lemon balm.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy has a marvelous history treating insomnia. There are many Homeopathic remedies that work to reset your body’s sleep patterns, calm your mind and get restful sleep. While there are a number of combination mixes available over the counter, the ones that have the deepest and most long-lasting effect are those that are prescribed individually by a Homeopath to suit your individual insomnia symptoms.
Some remedies that a Homeopathic practitioner may consider for insomnia are:
Arsenicum Album which is useful when anxiety, fear, or worry prevents sleep
Coffea for when you are unable to sleep because your thoughts are too active or you are excited about a surprise, or good or bad news
Nux-vomica helps when you’re very irritable, waking between 2-4am with racing thoughts only to fall asleep again about daybreak. This is accompanied by much stress caused by overstudy or work
Ignatia is for sleeplessness after disappointment or grief
Passiflora for restless sleeplessness with exhaustion
The choice between these and many more homeopathic remedies that help with insomnia would depend on these and all the other symptoms you were experiencing. For good results check with a professional Homeopath as remedies need to be selected and taken according to homeopathic principles.
Herbs
There is a number of herbs that are very useful to induce sleep. Valerian root is one that is quite well known and often used. It is quite powerful and often used for quick results when changing time zones. Valerian is useful when you have difficulty staying asleep. Some people however get the opposite effect from valerian and can get hyped-up after taking it. Valerian is good when combined with Passionflower which helps you to fall asleep initially.
Some other herbs that can be helpful are Kava which is once again available after having been taken off the market for a while. It can be used for short-term relief. It is good to relieve anxiety in the moment.
Skullcap is great to use when you are very hyped-up and just can’t slow down, or are experiencing anxiety and are emotionally stressed. You can use it for longer periods.
Aromatherapy
Essential Oils can help bring on sleep. While there are a number of oils that induce sleep, lavender has long been recognised as being the ‘Queen of Calm’. Lavender essential oil will effectively calm down overwrought nervous systems. A few drops added to a warm bath before bed or on a cotton ball under the pillow should bring on sleep.
SETTING A PERFECT SLEEP ENVIRONMENT
Make sure your sleeping environment is calm and serene. THE KEY IS TO SWITCH OFF. Leave your worries at the bedroom door. Switch off all gadgets, put phones in flight mode, iPad, laptop, TV etc. Take some time to settle down and relax.
Set aside 30 minutes before bed as ‘unwind and de-stress time’. Read a good book, write your journal, listen to soft music, anything that you find relaxes you and does not involve an electronic gadget. Remember, exposure to artificial light (electronics) before going to bed increases your alertness and suppresses melatonin and so will keep you awake.
So, here’s to a great sleep.
What are some of the ways you deal with sleeplessness?Tell us in the comments below
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.
This year I decided to ditch my footwear inside the house, ever since learning more about Barefoot Earthing or Grounding. This is a radical new health practice that is quickly gaining momentum as word about its benefits spreads. Its impact can be quite far-reaching and yet it is incredibly simple to do, costs nothing, is always available and feels great.
Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you take off your shoes to walk barefoot? Well it seems there is a scientific explanation, and research into the practice of Grounding has found that it can significantly improve all sorts of health problems. It can help your energy levels, reduce stress, improve your sleep, decrease muscular inflammation and stiffness as well as other chronic pain, reduce anxiety, improve circulation, prevent free-radical damage and associated premature ageing and even heal injuries faster. It brings you back into a state of equilibrium where your body is best able to heal itself. Those who use the practice on a regular basis report great results. I am certainly finding I have less aches and pains whenever I walk round without shoes than when I leave them on.
It all has to do with electrical fields.
These days we live completely immersed in electro-magnetic waves (EMFs) from a huge number of everyday items including mobile phones, computers, wireless technology, many electrical appliances, and even compact fluorescent lights. The air in our houses, our workplaces, our schools and in some outdoor places is full of electro-pollution, harmful positive ions produced by this multitude of electrical contraptions that surround us.
These positive ions contribute to ill health.
Electrical Stress
Electrical stress is now recognized as a significant contributor to many health problems and in fact a new chronic illness. The term ‘Diabetes Type 3’, has been coined to describe illness believed to be caused by electropollution.
Surrounding yourself with sources of negative ions helps rebalance this disharmony, as does being in places where negative ions are in abundance such as waterfalls or the ocean.
The surface of the earth is electrically conductive and has a permanent supply of free electrons sitting just above the surface. The charge on the earth surface is negative and anything that is close to the surface will also carry that charge.
Your body also has an electrical field, sometimes referred to as the biofield or the aura. When your bare feet are in contact with the earth negative electrons can easily pass into you.
Grounding allows an electron exchange between you and the earth. This helps to prevent a build-up of harmful electrons in your body as well as promoting a discharge of the positive ions from your body into the earth. Simultaneously you receive a flood of free electrons from the earth.
When the ions within your body and within the Earth are different an ion exchange occurs. This neutralizes free radicals in your body which cause inflammation and are responsible for many health problems. The flood of electrons immediately ‘re-balances’ you, which is why you feel so good when you walk outside barefoot.
In case you got lost in that explanation, simply, standing on the earth rebalances the electromagnetic field of your body, helping to strengthen your immune system, and boosting both your health and your wellbeing.
For most of our existence humans have gone barefoot and often slept directly on the ground. Things now are very different. As well as being surrounded by electromagnetic pollution we are cut off from receiving the rebalancing benefits from the earth because the shoes that we now wear have rubber and synthetic soles that insulate and block transmission of the natural beneficial energy of the earth. It’s just like how rubber gloves can provide protection from electrical shock. Your shoes act in much the same way.
How to Ground Yourself
Take your shoes off and stand or walk barefoot on grass, beach, bare earth, even concrete when it is laid directly on the earth, although not if it’s painted or sealed, whenever you can.
To gain the full health benefit you need to walk around on the earth for about thirty minutes.
Other ways to ground yourself and reap the benefits are to swim in lakes, rivers, or the sea; wear shoes with leather soles; purchase and use an indoor grounding mat or an earthing bed sheet.
The reason I am able to benefit from earthing when walking barefoot indoors is because my floor is made of unglazed slate sitting on a concrete slab which is set directly onto a rock shelf on the side of a hill. There are no substances between my feet and the Earth that block the passage of negative ions. You would not get earthing benefit in a home raised above the ground, or with glazed tiles covering the floor, or a layer between the concrete and tile, or with other floor coverings.
If you would like to read up on Earthing get a copy of the book EARTHING – The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? by Clint Ober, Dr Stephen T Sinatra and Martin Zucker.
Remember though, Grounding is not a substitute for medical treatment and if you have a medical condition you need to consult your healthcare provider.
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.
Adrenal fatigue, sometimes called the ‘21st Century Stress Syndrome’ occurs when your adrenal glands cannot meet the hormone demands of your life and it’s a problem that is becoming more frequently recognized.
If you are living a high-stress lifestyle, eating lots of chemical laden foods, need lots of coffee or cola to keep you going and getting way too little sleep than the chances are you are suffering from adrenal fatigue.
Unfortunately for us, our lifestyle has changed but our bodies haven’t, they still operate as if they ‘re living in the stone age. We can’t live a simple, relaxed lifestyle anymore and instead we all live under constant stress. Sometimes, we become so used to the full-on lifestyle that we forget that it’s actually pretty stressful. Sometimes we don’t even realize that so many different things from worry, anxiety, grief through to the air we breathe, the toxic homes we live in, the foods we eat, or the exercise routine we do, are all building stress on our body every minute of every day.
Adrenal Hormones
Our adrenal glands are responsible for the production of hormones including adrenalin (epinephrine), DHEA, progesterone and testosterone, and cortisol. Adrenals play an important role in the stress response as they release adrenaline which initiates the ‘fight or flight’ response and cortisol to help us deal with acute stress.
Cortisol is the hormone important for keeping our bodies balanced and it plays a big part in regulating the immune system, blood sugar levels and blood pressure. It is also very important in helping us deal with stress. When the levels of cortisol rise too high the immune system becomes weak and susceptible to cancer and infection. If the levels are too low it becomes overactive and opens the way for autoimmune disease.
When acute stress is ongoing the adrenals become overworked and unable to match the demand for continued hormone production. When they just can’t take any more you get what was called a ‘nervous breakdown’ in the past, but we often now call Adrenal Fatigue.
Our problem is that in an ever-stressed fast-paced life our bodies are constantly pumping out cortisol. When we maintain that lifestyle, with long work hours, sleep deprivation, poor diet, smoking, lots of caffeine, little relaxation we overload our adrenal glands until they can’t take any more. Then the next stress simply becomes the straw to break the camel’s back and we fall apart.
Some Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue
Generally tired but wired: You feel really tired until about mid-morning, then again in the middle of the afternoon when you feel like a snooze. Tired again in the evening until about 11pm when you get a ‘second wind’ and then are wide awake until late
Feel tired even after a good sleep and not really feel awake until 10am
You perspire a lot even with little activity
Dark circles under your eyes
Low blood sugar
General lack of energy and muscle weakness
Cravings for foods high in salt, sweets and carbs, fats
Difficulty handling alcohol; difficulty with potassium rich or high carb foods unless combined with fats and protein
Low blood pressure, lightheadedness on standing up, dizziness or heart palpitations
Low libido
Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
Chronic infections
Increased allergies
Mild depression, lots of sighing
Startle easily
Less ability to handle stress
Low back pain, knee pain and weakness
Dry unhealthy skin
Some Illnesses Related to Adrenal Stress are:
Blood sugar balance and diabetes – cortisol causes elevated blood sugar levels and leads to insulin resistance
Weight gain and obesity – cortisol mobilizes triglycerides into fat cells and changes appetite with a craving for high kilojoule foods
Immune system suppression – a higher susceptibility to all diseases
Gastrointestinal problems like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), colitis, ulcers, indigestion
Cardiovascular disease from blood vessel damage
Fertility problems – erectile dysfunction and disrupted ovulation and menstrual cycles
Even though adrenal fatigue is very common in these days of stressful living many doctors don’t pick it up easily. It is one of those things that is often just not diagnosed.
NURTURE YOUR ADRENALS
If you really want to turn around Adrenal Fatigue then you really do have to reduce the stressors in your life. First up you need to recognize and acknowledge what the stressors actually are. This might mean changing your job or aspects of it, organizing some childcare, changing your diet, your activity, your sleep behaviour, recreation, or the people you mix with. It is also vital to address the associated emotional or psychological issues. Sometimes changing your outlook can make a big difference.
But even introducing any stress reducing measures would help. You could try these:
Minimize stress – this almost goes without saying
Laugh more – even join a laughing club if you need to
Eat a clean diet of largely organic whole foods, with an emphasis on lots of vegetables. Include nuts, seeds legumes and whole grains. Eat regular meals. Chew your food well.
Avoid junk foods and sugar
Get rid of coffee and cola. If you need some caffeine drink green tea. If you can’t remove coffee totally have one quality coffee on the weekend. Peppermint, dandelion or rooibos teas are all good alternatives to coffee. Tulsi Tea (Holy Basil) is awesome for adrenal fatigue because it helps bring cortisol levels back to normal.
Do something fun every day
Get negative people out of your life
Get some exercise – Yoga, Qi Gong or T’ai Chi are all great de-stressors
Get good sleep – seven to eight hours a night, get to bed before midnight as that’s when your body heals itself the most, take a rest (lying down) during work breaks
Take supplements
3,000-5,000 mg Vitamin C each day, Vitamin B complex high in B6 and pantothenic acid, Vitamin E
Homeopathy, Flower Essences and EFT are all very effective at relieving stress and healing some of the emotional issues. Homeopathy can also redress the hormone imbalances in your body.
With adrenal fatigue having such a huge impact on many of our body functions as well as our quality of life it is worth finding out if you have adrenal fatigue so you can begin to redress it. Contact your Natural Therapy practitioner for more information.
But don’t expect a quick fix as it can take anywhere from 6 months to up to two years to reverse adrenal fatigue.
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.
Happy Holistic Health 