Tag Archives: holistic health

28 Awesome Ways To Rebalance, Revitalise And Renew

December 18, 2015 happyholistichealth Leave a comment

Do you feel burned out, run down, and exhausted? That’s no way to enter a New Year! 2015 has been a tough year for many, many people and it’s important to regroup and recharge as we roll on towards the year-end. Because I want to help you stay ahead of your game I’ve put together this list of ways to rebalance and revitalise body, mind and soul so you can be your renewed best, ready for any challenges the New Year throws at you.

28 ways to rebalance, revitalise & renew you

Revitalising yourself has much to do with releasing what no longer serves you and many of these practices involve letting go of the old. With the year drawing to a close it’s the perfect way to say goodbye to the old and make space for all the future holds for you.

REVITALISE YOUR MIND

1. Know Your Limits And Set Boundaries

Whether you’re someone who’s driven by a burning passion or like me, fired by curiosity always jumping to the next intrigue, you need to set your boundaries. Establishing boundaries isn’t about limitation. It’s not only to ensure your adrenal glands don’t give up from over-stress, and it’s not about conserving physical energy. Rather it’s about giving you the space and energy to spend more time pursuing those parts of your life that give you joy. When you have strong boundaries you can keep right away from others dramas.

2. Forgive, Forgive, Forgive

This is so important. Perhaps the most important step you need to take to revitalize your forgive and let go mind as well as your soul is to let go. If you’ve been hurt by someone in the past and are still carrying that heavy, painful, angry burden it’s now time to release it. Even if they’re not aware they hurt you it’s time to forgive. It’s not about negating what happened, but about you releasing the weight and the toxic, destructive impact anger and resentment have on your body and your soul.

3. Meditate

There’s absolutely no question about the benefits of meditating – studies just keep underscoring the many ways it benefits your health and wellbeing. Whether you snatch five minutes in the morning, adopt mindfulness through the day or join a meditation class, it’s simply a matter of finding the form that’s right for you and then sticking to it.

4. Build Better Relationships

It’s vital to get out of toxic relationships as they cloud your life with negativity. If you feel it’s too drastic to release them completely start small and schedule a day or a weekend free from all the negative people who drain you – even if you love them. Include anyone who’s quick to criticize or totally self-absorbed.

5. Get Creative

When you’re completely absorbed expressing yourself creatively just for fun, whether it’s singing, painting, sewing, gardening or whatever, it’s really difficult NOT to relax and stop stressing

6. Expand Your Experience

Challenge yourself by setting a date with get out of your comfort zone just you to do something outside your comfort zone. Spend time alone discovering your capabilities. Find something that challenges you like hot air ballooning, scuba diving, attending a gallery, or even public speaking. When you challenge yourself you discover how capable you are. You may even find a new interest.

7. De-clutter Your Space To De-clutter Your Mind

Clean out the old and make way for the new. And that applies whether it’s material possessions, outdated attitudes or even people. The amazing thing is that when you start to de-clutter on any one level it flows through into all levels of you, the physical, emotional and spiritual. After you clear out the living room you’ll find your thoughts shifting and you may even look at the people in your life with new clearer vision.

REVITALISE YOUR EMOTIONS

8. Give Back

Volunteer – your time, your knowledge or your support. Volunteer at a food truck, a shelter, or anywhere you are reminded of all the blessings you have in your life.

9. Be Present

Set aside some time each day for a thought diet. Limit your thoughts to the here and now, focusing only on the present. Forget the past and let the future unfold in it’s own time.

10. Count Your Successes

We can be quick to criticize our failings but often completely overlook our successes. Give yourself permission to feel proud of ALL your achievements, no matter how small.

11. Cry And Release

If you need to let it all out! cry, and release emotional hurt as well as toxins from your cells Run a warm deep bath, add some Epsom salts and essential oils and soak. Cry out all the burdens of the last twelve months. Let it all flow until you feel relaxed, lighter and more positive. Emotional crying releases toxins that are byproducts of stress so your body will be cleaner and lighter too.

12. Create a Worry Time Window

If you’re someone who worries chances are it keeps you awake at night and stops you enjoying life to the full. Setting aside ten to thirty minutes each morning or night for just “worrying” frees you up for the rest of the day. When you find yourself starting to worry outside this time put the thought aside to revisit at the designated “worry window” time.

13. Be Honest

Lying to others doesn’t honour them or you. Allow yourself the gift of honest thoughts and communication with others. Having to keep up a lie is a heavy burden to carry.

14. Special “Me-Time” Alone

Time spent with just you is pure gold. Learning to say “no” to others and making space for yourself in your busy life provides an opportunity to heal and revitalize. It not only helps you connect with your inner wisdom more deeply, it also recharges you. Make time for yourself.

REVITALISE YOUR BODY

15. Get Outside and Ground Yourself

Go outside, take off your shoes and sit or stand on the earth, the grass or in the water to ground yourself. Just being in nature lifts your spirits. Our modern environment has a toxic effect on your body and directly connecting your body to the earth through your feet creates a chemical reaction within your cells that helps rebalance you. Focus on being present and breathe deeply to oxygenate your blood and fire up your brain cells.

16. Simple New Year Detox

Instead of vaguely vowing on January 1st to “lose weight”, “eat healthy” or “exercise more”, do a mini detox to help you quickly recover from too many festivities. Set aside a day, weekend, even a week to take a break from alcohol, processed foods and sugar. Plan ahead. Get in fresh fruit and veges, wholefoods or minimally processed foods, or even go totally organic. Drink lots of pure water to flush out the ‘nasties’. Add warm lemon water in the morning. Do whatever you can manage. You’ll feel clearer with more energy.

17. Reset Your Sleep Clock

Adults need 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. Having a sleep-in on the weekend doesn’t balance your sleep bank. When you’re chronically sleep deprived your brain stops getting the ‘tired’ messages so you’re not even aware any longer that you need sleep. If you’re not getting at least 7 hours sleep a night your brain needs retraining.

18. Get Physical

Research shows we need physical exercise every day. It could be weights, running or a gym workout. Or instead you could do gardening, walking, swimming, tai chi, rope skipping or any other activity you enjoy. I have a really, really long hallway and I love reading. So when the weather’s foul I walk briskly up and down the hall for 30 minutes, reading all the way. Just get active!

19. Love The Sun

Make a daily date with the sun. Not only does it brighten your outlook it also provides you with vitamin D. It’s the only natural source of this essential building block which is required for hundreds of functions in your body.

20. Drink Up

Carry a bottle of water with you and sip through the day. You’ll be surprised at how much you manage to drink. Surprisingly when you’re chronically dehydrated your brain mixes up the messages it gets from your cells and tells you “you’re hungry, go eat” instead of “go drink”. Also too many substitute coffee, tea or soft drinks for water, which act as diuretics and deplete your body of moisture.

21. Eat A Rainbow

Who doesn’t love a rainbow? eat a rainbow The colour of fruit and vegetables tells you what it contains. It’s not enough to have one or two, you need the full range. So aim for five or more different colours on your plate to get a broader range of antioxidants.

REVITALISE YOUR SOUL

22. Practice Gratitude

Remind yourself of just how fortunate you are and of all the bounty in your life. Keep a Gratitude Journal to record three things you are thankful for each day, no matter how small.

23. Evict Your Inner Critic

We’ve all got one, that voice inside our head that’s so quick to point out all the holes in our silence your inner critic plans, to warn us we don’t have what it takes to succeed and to remind us of our past mistakes and failures. I used to call mine “The Committee” because sometimes it felt like a whole group ganged up together to completely overpower me. But you can evict them. If you’re a gentle person bribe that inner critic outside your head, or explain nicely that you’re the boss and have the final word. If you’re a bit blunter you could do as I did. Whenever that “Committee” started criticising I’d jump in with “sit down and shut up” before they could get going. It’s amazing how quickly you can silence the critic simply by deciding that YOU’RE the one in the driver seat who makes all the final decisions.

24. Release Guilt

Guilt is simply homework from your Inner Critic. When you reclaim control from the critic you don’t have to carry the guilt either. Write down what you feel guilty about, the whole story if you want, and finish it with “I forgive you” (that part’s really important). Next read it out loud. Lastly burn the paper. The three steps of this small ritual each plays an important role. By writing you crystallize the issue, including your forgiveness of yourself. Speaking the words out loud empowers them. Burning the paper symbolically releases your guilt.

25. Listen With Your Whole Self

Open yourself to someone trying to tell you something, and listen without any judgement and without giving advice. Don’t relate what they say to your own experiences. In fact just listen, nothing more – unless they ask for your thoughts. Listening without engaging your inner critic or your life story is one of the greatest gifts you can give and nourishes your soul.

26. Give, And Wish For Nothing In Return

Cultivate generosity. Giving enriches somebody else’s life. Giving without expecting anything in return also equals deposits in your happiness bank. Passing it forward is one simple way to give. Check The Wake Up Project for mindful living tips, uplifting kindness stories and free kindness cards.

27. Gain Clarity By Connecting With Inner Wisdom

Taking time to meditate or pray connect to your inner wisdom to get clarity or any practice that connects with your inner wisdom and develops your spirituality is an investment in defining your purpose and passion. Your inner wisdom is like the GPS for your life and provides you with guidance and clarity about who you are and your life path.

28. Ditch “Rule” Words

Words like should, must, don’t or can’t are all ‘rule words’ that indicate somebody else’s expectation of you. Ditch rules set by others that contain any of these or similar words. When you set new standards that honour your needs and rights you reinforce your personal boundaries.

What other methods do you use to recharge and revitalise yourself?

Disclaimer

Source articles

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HappyHolisticHealth Is Moving

July 6, 2015 happyholistichealth Leave a comment

Have you been following Happy Holistic Health? Do you love the posts dropping straight into your inbox with great tips, reminding you of ways to live in health and wellness for you and your family? Are you relieved that they save you from having to go searching for the information? Do you enjoy the in-depth holistic health articles that support you to enjoy a healthy life that you love to live?

Well you still can! Happy Holistic Health is moving and has a whole NEW LOOK, but the great information is set to continue.

It’s been awesome connecting with you, my amazing reader, and I feel humbled that you make the time in your busy life to read my posts. I certainly hope we can continue to connect through my new ‘clean-look’ website “Nàdurra Health – Catherine Bullard” where happyholistichealth will now reside.

You will still receive:

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All you need to do is head on over here and hit the big blue “SUBSCRIBE” button underneath where it says “Subscribe to Blog via Email” and all the awesome articles will continue to drop into your inbox, ready to read anytime.

SIMPLE!

Never miss a post.

The articles will be duplicated on this page for a short while but then they will only appear on the new blog. So head on over right now and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss a single article.

I hope you click through and reconnect. I really look forward to your thoughts, your knowledge, and your ideas and hints. I love learning from your experience.

Let’s stay in touch

x Catherine

Happiness, Healthy Living, Natural Health

Find Control In Your Life – Step By Small Step

April 24, 2015 happyholistichealth Leave a comment

Sometimes we get so set in our habits it becomes impossible to think about changing them even if doing so means taking back control in your life. Often the route to changing set habits seems too tough to even begin. That’s where process becomes vital. A plan that breaks down the insurmountable changes you need to make into small easy steps is invaluable as it makes those changes easily achievable.

When my son was in his first year of University he visited his Naturopath for some health issue. Hardly surprisingly the naturopath called him out on his eating habits, asking why he ate junk, specifically McDonalds, for his lunch when his Uni was surrounded by great little Asian cafes where he could go and get a big bowl of broccoli instead.

My son came home and told me he’d been told to eat broccoli for lunch. He laughed a lot, said “Yea right! As if (that’s ever going to happen)” and for him that was end of possiblity to change. Totally normal response from an eighteen year old I thought.

Telling a guy of this age to replace all his delicious (to him) foods with another food that he didn’t love, was like speaking to closed ears. For him the cost and the task were both simply too big. He wasn’t prepared to give up his foods because he loved them. He coudn’t find a good motivation as he wasn’t really convinced enough that his poor diet was contributing to his symptoms, in spite of what his naturopath and I told him. He didn’t see the benefit, better health, as big enough a compensation for the loss of a practice he loved.

So we talked, and I gently nagged, and he ended up agreeing once a week to try out the nearby cafes and let me know if there were any worth visiting. Plus I suggested he modified the instructions a little to make it easier and less of a chore.

The prospect of steamed broccoli for lunch five days a week didn’t cut it with him. But when I broke it down into small steps by suggesting he try it just once a week the task was immediately manageable. He no longer saw it as an imposition as he actually really liked the new foods offered.

When I modified it to something less extreme than a bowl of broccoli, and made the change smaller, it was far more appealing to him, and better than the junk food healthwise. In fact he came to enjoy the variety.

Changing habits is never easy to do especially when they are ones you really enjoy. When you focus on the deprivation that’s involved, of how much you’ll miss out on if you drop or change the habit, any benefits can become difficult to see, and without obvious benefits there’s no incentive for you to do it.

The other big problem that often stops you before we even start changing your habits is the actual logistics involved. Sometimes the organisation required to make change becomes so huge it seems insurmountable. While there must first be enough motivation for you to put in the effort, the steps to get there must be designed so it’s actually easy to manage them.

In my son’s case he not only thought he’d miss out on something he loved, but he also had to consider the issues or steps involved in deciding which café to go to before he’d commit to doing it – which ones he could afford, which would have quick service to fit into his lunch break, which menu looked better, and perhaps most importantly whether his friends would also change so he didn’t need to eat alone. The last of these was a ‘maker or a breaker’. If his friends had stayed with the junk food option the steps to change would have been insurmountable in his assessment and he would have dropped the idea before starting it.

One simple way to overcome the apparent looming difficulty of making change is to break the goal down.

I take the attitude that by changing just that one meal a week my son was 20 percent healthier than he was before. And it opened the way to eating healthier because once he started he found he enjoyed it as much as the junk. This made it easier to replace more and more meals with healthier options.

This is a tactic I often suggest to clients. Most of them love their coffee but often coffee contributes to their ill-health. If I ask them to stop drinking coffee they often agree reluctantly but don’t actually make any change, and sometimes even don’t tell me they still drink just as much.

But if they only have to cut their coffee back from say four cups a day to three the task is much more achievable, and they start to see benefits immediately. They’re already doing 25 percent better than they were, so are that much further towards their goal of good health.

Many times when you just don’t ‘feel the joy’ it’s normal to want to change your life. But if you are so busy focusing on the end point where your life would be totally happy, blissful and perfect, that place where you are in control of your life, the road to get there appears simply too long and difficult. The steps you need to take seem too big, especially if they involve juggling many other responsibilities in your life to manage.

Breaking everything into small steps is the easiest way to bring change, to allow you to take a gentler pathway to that goal you have. It also provides an easy confirmation that things are starting to change and you are achieving what it is you want.

When I want to make changes I first break the task down into small steps. Then to I go back through it and break it down again, taking it right down into tiny little steps. There are days when my steps might include one so basic as getting up and going outside. When I get there I can feel the satisfaction that I have been able to drag myself away from my work so I have a sense of achievement that reminds me “I can do this”.

The steps you take don’t have to be major in themself, they simply need to be defined and achievable. They reinforce your knowledge that you can make the change you need. Each and every one needs to be acknowledged right when it’s achieved. And most importantly each one will allow you that feeling that you again have some control in your life.

So what is it you want to change first? Take another look at where you can break it down into those tiny little, easily attainable steps. Then begin, one confident step at a time on the pathway towards your goal.

Disclaimer

Allergy & Food Intolerance, Natural Health, Nutrition & Nutrients

Lactose Intolerance –What Milk Should I Drink?

February 11, 2015 happyholistichealth 2 Comments

When you get diagnosed (or work out for yourself) that you have difficulty digesting milk and other dairy foods because you are lactose intolerant, you suddenly get confronted with the decision of what to use as a milk replacement. There are so many different kinds of non-dairy milk available now and the choice can be overwhelming.

Should you look for an alternative form of animal milk or one of the nut milks or perhaps a grain milk? Or should you simply just use ‘lactose-free’ cows milk? And what exactly is A2 milk?

Lactose intolerance is not the same as a milk allergy.

People who are lactose intolerant lack the enzyme needed to break down the sugar in milk, lactose, so it can be absorbed. Normally your body breaks down the lactose with an enzyme called lactase. When this is lacking or deficient your body cannot break down the lactose, which then passes through your gut in a completely undigested state. When it meets the bacteria in the lower intestinal tract gas is produced and you experience all the painful symptoms.

LACTOSE FREE MILK

For many people who are lactose intolerant, and not allergic to dairy foods, the simplest option is to switch to lactose-free cows milk, in which the lactose, or milk sugar, has been changed to a state that their gut is able to process.

In lactose free milk the enzyme your body lacks, lactase, is added to the milk to break down the lactose for you, into smaller molecules that you are able to absorb. You don’t experience the symptoms associated with digesting normal milk.

One difference to normal milk is that lactose-free milk tastes much sweeter because the sugar is already broken down.

SOY MILK

Soy milk is made from soy beans and water. It is low in saturated fat but rich in a range of essential nutrients including protein and potassium. It is also high in antioxidants which are a great benefit to your health.

Because so many soy crops are genetically modified it is vital that you only drink ones labeled as GMO free.

Select ONLY those brands that are made from whole soybeans, and they will be labeled as such, even if just in the ingredient list.

This point is really important with Soy Milk. If the milk is made from soy isolates, as more than half the soy milk in Australia is, AVOID IT. Also, check your soy milk is unsweetened as many brands add sugar.

Soy milk has quite a creamy consistency. There is a great difference in the quality and taste of various soy milks so you may need to test a few to find one you like.

There is evidence that soy can improve your blood profile and help prevent strokes and heart disease. The phytoestrogens in soy can help balance the hormone levels in postmenopausal women and reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men.

ALMOND MILK

Almond milk is made from ground almonds and water. Some brands on the market contain very little almonds, but the one I use has 10% content and it is just a case of seeking out a quality brand.

Although almonds are a good source of protein, the milk is low in protein. But it provides all the antioxidant benefit provided by almonds. It is cholesterol free and has been used to lower blood-sugar levels. Some brands are fortified with calcium and vitamin D and B12. Many brands are sweetened.

Almond milk has a nutty flavour and light, creamy texture. It can be used in everything, from cooking to smoothies or drinking. Almond milk however is not suitable for anyone with a fructose intolerance or nut allergy.

Almond milk is quite easy to make for yourself. It contains far more almonds than packaged varieties and can be made using organic almonds and pure water. Plus you know it won’t be loaded up with agave or other sweeteners.

HOW TO MAKE ALMOND MILK

Simply soak 1 cup of almonds I water for at least 6 hours or overnight to remove phytates and enzyme inhibitors.
Remove, and for a less gritty flavour and lighter colour milk remove the skins.
Rinse and drain, then blend the almonds with 4 cups of filtered water. For a thicker milk you can reduce the quantity of water.
Strain through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag, which you can buy or make simply yourself.
You can blend in cinnamon, honey or other flavourings.
It keeps in the fridge for up to a week.

You could also try this recipe with macadamia or hazelnuts. Milk made from any nut is always simple to make for yourself. If you drink milk rarely or only use it for cooking just make small quanitities as you need it. This great recipe for CHIA MACADEMIA NUT MILK contains lots of extra wholesome ingredients and is a great example of how creative you can be with your home-made milks.

COCONUT MILK

Coconut milk is a great alternative to cows milk for thickening or creating a creaminess in soups, stews, curries or for baking. It can even be whipped up and makes a great replacement in desserts for normal cream.

Coconut milk contains a special sort of fat called medium chain triglycerides, that are metabolized differently to other fats in your body. They boost metabolism and give a burst of energy, rather than get stored in the body as fat.

Coconut milk is made from the coconut flesh and is rich and thick. Don’t confuse it with coconut water which is the liquid from the centre of the nut.

Unlike most liquids coconut milk contains lots of fibre because it is made by grating the flesh. One cup contains over 5 grams of fibre, one sixth of your daily requirement.

If you want to make coconut milk yourself just add young coconut meat to the blender, cover with filtered water and blend. Add more water until you reach the consistency you desire.

Any leftover coconut milk from cans can be frozen in ice-cube trays.

If you choose to eat wholefoods in your diet you may prefer nut milk to other lactose-free options because they undergo less processing.

RICE MILK

One of the grain milks, rice milk typically contains about 14% rice. It is very low in fat but is much lower in protein than soy milk. In fact it falls low all round on the nutrition scale, although there are calcium enriched versions available.

Rice milk is thinner and milder in flavour than either soy or almond milk and is suitable for anyone with soy or nut allergies or gluten intolerance as well as lactose intolerance.

OAT MILK

Oat milk is another grain milk. It is not as rich as the nut milks and has a mild, slightly sweet taste.

It is very low in fat but high in vitamins and minerals. In fact it contains more calcium than cow’s milk, one cup containing over a third of the RDA. It also contains lots of Vitamin A. It is very low in fat, about a third of that in cow’s milk, and is cholesterol free. It is a good option for vegans as it contains 10 percent of the RDA of iron.

Oat milk can provide a great tonic for the nervous system, calming it down.

It is not suitable if you have a gluten intolerance.

A2 MILK

It is the protein component in A2 milk that makes it different to most cow’s milk available. In this respect it resembles the milk from other animals like goat, sheep, or buffalo.

While A2 may be better for those with an allergy to milk it does not help someone with a lactose intolerance, as the milk sugar is not changed. If A2 milk does improve symptoms then perhaps those symptoms were due to a milk allergy rather than lactose intolerance.

OTHER MILKS

More and more options are making their way into the market. I noticed there is now an ‘Ancient Grains Quinoa With Chia Milk’ available, bringing the health benefits of both these awesome Superfoods into a new lactose-free milk suitable for those with nut allergies.

LACTOSE IN FOODS

Milk is not the only food you need to avoid when you are lactose intolerant. Any food containing lactose also needs to be avoided. This includes cream, cheese, butter, ice-cream, crème frais, condensed milk, custard, plus the huge number of processed foods that have any form of milk in them. Packaged foods containing milk solids, skimmed milk, milk proteins, biscuits, cakes, bread, luncheon meat, soups, sauces, plus many more all should be avoided.

Goats and sheeps milk and cheese do contain lactose but in far lesser quantities than cows milk. You may find you can eat small quantities of goat cheese occasionally, and tolerate some butter. But many may find even this brings on their symptoms.

Quality yogurt is often tolerated with lactose intolerance because the live bacteria in the yogurt partially break down the lactose, making it easier to digest.

As more and more nuts, grains and seeds are used to make milk the choices will just become wider and more difficult. Why not try out a few different milks and find which you prefer. And remember to mix up the different types of milk you choose, sometimes soy, nut, oat or rice, for greater variety in your diet. I use soy milk for cooking some things and various nut milks for making others as some milks suit one type of food preparation better than others. For drinking it comes down to your own preference.

Disclaimer

Source articles
http://www.livestrong.com/article/337301-how-is-lactose-free-milk-made/
http://www.naturalnews.com/023752_milk_cows_lactose_intolerance.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/267017-what-are-the-benefits-of-oat-milk/
http://fedup.com.au/factsheets/additive-and-natural-chemical-factsheets/a2-milk

Happiness, Healthy Living, Natural Health

Set Your New Year Resolutions For Success With A Releasing Ritual

December 22, 2014 happyholistichealth Leave a comment

As the year slides to its close the energies of the New Year may have already begun to affect you. You may already be formulating goals and plans that you would like to birth in the year ahead. New Year resolutions may already be forming. You may even be plotting pathways to achieve those goals. You may be one of the many who want to get a jump on the New Year, to enter the New Year already clear about how you’ll achieve your goals for 2015. One way to set the founadtion for success with your goals is with a simple New Year Release Ritual.

For the last few weeks I keep being surprised as I hear myself talking about things that will happen for me in 2015, ideas and plans I hadn’t even noticed were forming in my brain or my heart. But apparently these ideas were solidly there just waiting for me to notice.

Many of us have already formed plans even if we’re not conscious of them yet and you may find you are doing the same. This year you’re being urged to get real about what you want for yourself, to set a considered plan of action, and to get to it now.

It is way too easy, especially in these fast-paced times to allow your life to slip past. Days flow into weeks, into months, years and suddenly a decade has passed you by. Trying to look back and see the detail of your life pathway becomes more and more difficult as time moves on if you have neglected to mark points along the way.

Markers for Your Life

In times past traditions and ceremonies provided marking points in people’s lives. They provided moments in people’s consciousness when they paused, finding time to take stock of themselves and their life.

We still hold on to some of these traditions – 18th or 21st birthdays, weddings, funerals – but many milestones are no longer honoured or even remembered. Many of those we do still hold no longer require us to examine and consider ourself and how our life to date has evolved.

We no longer have many occasions where we pause and examine our progress in life, acknowledging our achievements and successes, appreciating our blessings, recognizing our lessons, and planning changes.

Set Strong Foundations For Goal Success

Trying to establish goals and resolutions to guide you along the pathway to achieving your dreams without first pausing and taking time to appraise the road you have just traveled is like building your home over a sink-hole. Without solid footings the structure of your life will simply collapse.

A Release Ritual is your opportunity to establish a firm base on which to build your future. It doesn’t take long to do and provides you with deep insights and clarity to steer you to better results.

As the energies of 2014 begin to unravel set aside time to draw together the threads of the year that has just passed. Find the space for yourself to weave them into a strong support that can carry you into 2015. Take time to examine your experience, the rainbow of coloured threads of your life, both the weak strands and the strong, threads of extreme beauty, and threads of fragility. Once you have examined the weave of your last year the signs that point to the new directions you need to follow next become apparent.

Old Year Releasing Ritual

Begin your reflection by settling down in a quiet corner with a pen, paper or a journal, and a relaxing herbal tea or coffee. Light a candle to signal the start of your ritual if this has meaning for you.

Life has a habit of drawing you back to the same old lessons, over and over, spiraling round, often revisiting them under another guise, until you reach awareness and understanding of that particular lesson for your life. Each time you revisit the lesson gets louder, as if the universe is shouting so you will hear.

To save yourself treading these same old well-worn paths yet again next year, begin your release of the old year by writing down the illuminating life lessons you learnt in 2014. What were those ‘Aha’ moments? What great insights occurred?

Next add the dreams that came true for you. It’s easy to forget what the dreams you once held even were once they have actually happened, and just as easy to forget how dearly you held them, hoping they would eventuate. Remember to include the small dreams as well as the huge ones. The small dreams of life often grow into the big important ones.

What did you achieve in 2014? Remember to include the small glories not just the major ones. What did you learn you could do that you didn’t realise before?

Now you are ready to consider how you have grown in the last 365 days.

How have you changed? What have you learnt about yourself? What changed you? What is it you now know about yourself that you didn’t know before? Write them all down.

What did you discover you had outgrown? What no longer serves you? What, or who, did you release from your life?

How did you surprise yourself – what did you do that you didn’t know you capable of? What have you done that swells you with pride? Was there something you were able to do that you have never managed before? Were you called to step up, and you did?

What was there in this last year that was a source of grating disharmony? What can’t you tolerate any longer? By now you know what it is you just have to change in your life. Write it down.

If there’s anything you need to get off your chest about this last year, do it now. Rant if you need to. If you feel the urge to cry honour it, it will bring release and relief.

Now finally, write down what it is you are grateful for, the gifts you received from 2014. Include every little thing. As well as the big stuff in my life I include small joys in my gratitude lists like my morning cup of tea, or the slightly creepy but endearing smile my gorgeous dog beams at me whenever I arrive home.

Finished?

Closing Ritual

And now dear friend, you are ready to release the Old Year. You are now ready to face the year ahead. You are ready to set your resolutions, to clarify your dreams and your goals, to decide what is achievable for you, and to stride forth with purpose into the New Year.

Take some time now to close down your releasing ritual.

Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply through your nose, down into your abdomen. Hold briefly and then breathe out slowly through your mouth making a small sound as you do. As you breathe out give thanks for the past year, for all your experiences, your joys and pains, the lessons you have been given and the insights you have received.

Breathe in again, drawing in with your breath the green light of healing, deep into your abdomen. As you hold it briefly allow the green light to flow into every cell of your body until your whole body shines with its emerald green glow. Breathe out again, slowly. Sense any negativity you have been holding in the cells of your body, any disharmonies from your past year, flow from you with your breath. Feel your shoulders relax as the weight is taken off them. Feel your body sink into your chair.

Once more breathe in deep into your abdomen this time drawing in the golden light of possibility. Feel it flow freely through you bringing renewed energy to your body, clarity to your mind, and generosity and fulfillment to your heart.

As you slowly release your breath allow the energy of the past year to ride on it. Allow it to float away, knowing that you hold within you all the loving positive energy you have earned in the last twelve months. You will always have the knowledge and insights you have gained.

Take your time and when you feel ready open your eyes and welcome with joy the new energies of the coming year.

Healthy Living, Herbs, Meditation, Stress

10 Top Tips To Survive The Holiday Season and Start the New Year Powered-Up

December 12, 2014 happyholistichealth Leave a comment

December, the end of the year – a time of good will and the ‘Season of Stress’. At this time of the year we are all weighed down with stress – at work, at school, shopping for the Holidays, coping with crowds everywhere we go, financial worries. For almost everyone, everyday stress levels in their everyday life are ramped up right now.

And then there are the parties! With so much going on it’s almost impossible to reach the New Year without crashing in a heap.

There is no point waiting until after the damage is done and the celebrations have finished to try to pick up the pieces. The key is to get on top of the extra stress right now.

Of course, that brings us right back to one of the big the stress triggers – you have no time right now to add anything extra into your busy life.

Fast Simple Strategies To Regain Calm Control

While the stress hormones, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, were essential to life in the wild, our bodies have not caught up with our lifestyle. Too much of the hormones designed to save our life in cave-man days surging through our body can have dire consequences on our health now. The constant level of stress we live with keeps them permanently switched on, constantly increasing our stress.

There are many quick and easy ways you can defuse stress in just two to five
minutes. It is simply a case of learning them and then remembering to use them.

Here are ten health hacks that take less than five minutes to get your stress levels down and have you on track to hit the New Year running. Try them all out or just one, but do yourself a favour this holiday season and practice a little self-care.

#1 Sweetly Scent-sual

Far more than just being pleasant aromas, the fragrance of flowers contains volatile plant compounds that can reduce stress as powerfully as certain drugs. Keeping fresh flowers or a plant in your workspace will help, but to get a powerful effect opt for aromatherapy essential oils. Coming in little bottles they can be carried in your bag and quickly sniffed whenever you feel stress levels rising. Lavender is one of the best, and frankincense often the first choice to reduce stress. Rosemary is my favourite to increase clarity and focus, and peppermint is another good choice.

Simply take a long, deep breath from your bottle, or dab on your temples whenever you need it.

Or if you find your stress levels rising when you are out shopping duck into the closest florist and take some good deep calming breaths.

Flower Power can also be accessed through flower essences. These come in small bottles to carry with you, and you simply drop a few drops on your tongue whenever your stress, anxiety or worry levels start to rise.

While many find Bach Rescue Remedy helpful, The Australian Bush Flower combination essence ‘Calm & Clear’ is fantastic for helping you keep your cool. Buy it from you Natural Health practitioner or local health food shop.

#2 Tame Those Racing Thoughts

Sometimes when you are under stress and your mind is always busy, thoughts can go a bit wild, running round and round your head, building up your anxiety and increasing your stress.

When you find this happening simply begin to focus on an object – it can be any object, even just a pen, although I prefer something that is more engaging. You need to really focus on it, concentrate so other thoughts don’t creep in.

Once you are focused start to breathe deeply and slowly, right down deep into your abdomen. If you are not sure about doing this try it out a few times when you are calm to get the hang of the process which you can learn on Mastering The Breath Of Life.

Keep the breathing going for three minutes while you maintain your focus. This is an excellent way to calm your mind and relax you.

#3 Breathe…

You don’t necessarily need to focus and breathe when you feel stressed.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing alone soothes your nervous system and increases your alertness. Once you have mastered this technique it is easy to simply stop and do it. Even just breathing for two minutes can settle you down considerably.

Breathe down into your belly, through your nose, hold for a couple of seconds, then release slowly through your mouth.

#4 Tea Time

How often do you hear someone say in TV shows ‘let’s have a nice cuppa tea’ after some big drama is sorted? Full of antioxidants tea is the perfect way to calm down, especially if you stop rushing around and sit quietly to enjoy it.

Black, green and white tea, all have some calming effect. But if you want the big guns of relaxing teas you can’t go past some of the herbals.

Chamomile is the simplest and is readily available, even in most cafes, so is a good one to fall back on. It is far more effective when it’s brewed up with lavender though and works well in many blends.

Ashwaganda has been used in Ayervedic medicine for thousands of years to treat even severe stress. A great choice while you’re working as it calms your nervous system without sending you off to sleep. As a bonus it induces a sense of wellbeing and clears your mind.

Lemon balm, passionflower, skullcap, valerian, lime blossom and oats are just some of the others that calm and relax.

There are so many herbs already combined into excellent relaxing blends now available that all you need to do is select the combination that you like the most. Try out a few different blends until you discover your favourite.

#5 Talk With A Friend

Whether you vent, speed-talk, shed a few tears, or simply sigh, talking to a good friend who is ready to just listen, can make a huge difference to your stress levels. Research has shown that as well as getting stuff off your chest talking to a friend actually reduces your stress hormones as well as your blood pressure.

#6 Smile

Frowning or grimacing, clenching your jaw, or wrinkling your forehead all suppress your immune system and trigger the release of more stress hormones.

Simple smiling boosts your levels of the neurotransmittors serotonin from your thyroid and endorphins from your pituitary gland. These are the ones the one that produce good moods and make you happy. As smiling increases your endorphins it also lowers your levels of cortisol.

The more you stimulate your brain to release these mood boosters by just smiling the more relaxed you feel.

But here’s the amazing thing. You don’t have to feel happy. It’s the simple act of moving the muscles in your face that triggers the action. Putting on a happy face starts the process.

#7 Visualize – Let Out Your Imagination

Your mind is a powerful tool and the gateway to escaping your stress. Remember how good you feel when you are think of your favourite holiday spot? Or perhaps recalling time spent with close family or friends?

Closing your eyes and taking your thoughts inside your minds-eye to your favourite perfect, beautiful scene or happy experience allows you to return to those times when you felt secure, happy and relaxed.

Simply closing your eyes gives you the space to spend a few moments to ground and reduce the stress hormones surging through your body.

#8 Yuuummm…

Now here’s one many of you will love. Small amounts of dark chocolate really do make you feel better and reduce your stress. Eating dark chocolate increases serotonin and endorphin levels in your brain – the mood enhancers. Plus it lowers your levels of that difficult stress hormone, cortisol.

Just 40 grams of dark chocolate a day for a couple of weeks does the job. And the darker the chocolate, the better. It must be at least 70% cocoa. Sweet, milk chocolate varieties don’t offer the benefits, and don’t even consider white chocolate. But be sure to practice moderation, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.

#9 Meditate

Not only does meditating calm you in the moment, establishing regular meditation practice changes the way your brain responds to stress.

The image many have of meditation practice is of sitting still for hours with a completely empty mind. But there are many forms of meditation, some still – some active, and some taking just a few minutes.

Have you ever found yourself gazing at something, perhaps a magnificent scene, completely caught up in what you are looking at, your mind a blank? You are in a state of meditation. Anything that totally pulls your focus and allows you to switch off distractions is a meditation.

Sometimes it can happen simply by watching something absorbing, at other times it helps to repeat a simple word or phrase in time with your breath. Words such as relax, I am calm, peace or serenity are all suitable choices. Find one that has the most meaning for you.

Concentrating on your breath is one way to focus and meditate. Zen masters may do this for hours on end but even doing it for just a few minutes has a powerful effect on your whole body – your brain, your nervous system, your emotions, your muscles.
You can even meditate by concentrating on your breathing as you take slow measured steps in time with each breath. LINK??

#10 Meridian Magic

This is a different take on how to relax and calm yourself.

This twenty second exercise is an ancient healing practice that rebalances the energy pathway in the body that affects stress. Realigning this meridian supports your immune system and improves your ability to manage stress and release tension, anxiety and fear.

So simple, quick and effective, you can do it anywhere, and it only takes seconds.
This year, set yourself up to hit the New Year running.

We can’t totally eliminate stress from our life in these times, it surrounds us day and night. But taking simple steps to prevent the effects of that stress building and building in your body until it reaches a level where you crash, just makes plain good sense.

Perhaps even more importantly it gives you back control of your life.

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
http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1457988
http://livingbodywellness.com/de-stress-5-minutes-less/
http://www.annehartley.com.au

Depression, Disease & Syndromes, Healthy Living, Homeopathy, Natural Health, Nutrition & Nutrients

6 Natural Remedies For Depression

August 16, 2014 happyholistichealth 3 Comments

Along with the outpouring of sorrow that occurred this week with the news of the death of Robin Williams there has also been much discussion about depression – the nature of the illness, reminders to offer our support to those suffering with it, of ways to deal with it.

Clinical depression is a serious illness that needs treatment from a professional western or alternative health practitioner. However many of the symptoms of mild depression can be helped significantly by a variety of natural treatments that you can do for yourself or which a Natural Health practitioner can take you through.

There are many symptoms associated with mild or subthreshold depression including ongoing fatigue, poor sleep, appetite irregularities such as lack of appetite or comfort eating, a lack of interest in relationships events or celebrations, low self-esteem, anxiety, an inability to find motivation, or a feeling of being cut-off from life.

1. MINDSET

There have been studies done that confirm that a persons perception of life becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. While depression is not all in the mind your frame of mind is really important for recovery. I am not suggesting you can just ‘snap out of it’. But, while acknowledging that there is something wrong, losing the depression label is a first stepto recovery.

When you buy into defining yourself with a label placed on you by someone else, whether it is a doctor, family or a friend, you relinquish your personal power and undermine your ability to get well. If you allow your thoughts to focus on the label, you accept for yourself the role of someone who is mentally unwell. It may seem simplistic but changing your mindset and making the decision to overcome your illness is the first step that allows you to move forward.

One way to do this is to carefully examine how you are affected by the people you mix with. Tuning into how you feel after spending time with a particular person allows you to sort out any that may be contributing to your low feelings. If you regularly feel disheartened after time spent with anyone it is better for your frame of mind and wellbeing to minimize time with that person.

What your feelings tell you about your relationships with others can come as a real surprise. But acting in congruence with your feelings can turn around your mindset, lift your mood and support you in getting well.

It is also worth asking yourself if your low feelings are linked to your life. Are you expected to sell out your integrity in your work? Are there problems in a relationship that you may need to end? Do you have creative outlets? Feel spiritually disconnected? Is your body restricting you?

Being honest with yourself may help you find the source of your depression. Sometimes having a counselor, psychologist or life coach to help you work through these and define a pathway to change makes things easier to achieve.

2. HOMEOPATHY

Many natural therapies have a good record with alleviating the symptoms of depression. Acupuncture, herbal therapy and EFT are just a few.

Homeopathy also offers many options for depression. The Homeopathic remedy used depends on the particular symptoms you experience, as everyone’s experience of depression varies slightly, in both the expression and the emotions and thoughts and experiences behind it.

Homeopathy taken in accordance with homeopathic prescribing principles is particularly good at changing your mindset. It allows you to lift your head out of the depressive thoughts and start to move forward.

There are many Homeopathic remedies for depression. One of the first to consider for depression with obvious anxiety is Arsenicum album. These people are often quite particular about describing every little detail of their symptoms. They are often very worried that an illness has been missed and have often undertaken lots of investigative tests.

Another commonly used remedy, Ignatia, is a good remedy when depression follows bereavement or shock. These people are very emotional with lots of sudden mood swings and sudden tears or they may frequently sigh deeply. They don’t want sympathy and often take well meant help as criticism.

A person needing Natrum muriaticum responds differently to grief as does one needing Ignatia. This person builds a barrier and won’t release any emotion through crying. They hate sympathy from others although they are empathetic themselves and will readily care for others. They can be very sensitive and easily move into a lower mood from stimuli such as music.

As you can see Homeopathic prescribing is quite particular and individually selected. Two people may react to a similar experience in very different ways and so require very different remedies. There is also the potential to make symptoms worse if the wrong remedy or potency of remedy is taken. Consulting a Homeopath who can match the correct remedy to your particular symptoms can result in significant improvement.

3. FOOD

Food most definitely affects our mood. What we eat and when we eat can have a huge effect. Staying away from caffeine, sugar, fatty foods and alcohol is a great place to begin as these foods actually make depression worse. Don’t keep them in your pantry and you will be less tempted by them. You will feel a lot better if you simply don’t eat them.

Replacing the poor junk foods with nutritious foods moves you towards recovery faster. The top foods to fight depression are:

Omega-3 is often lacking in depressed people so eating oily fish and other foods high in omega-3 can make a significant difference. One study showed taking just 1 gm of fish oil a day made a 50% difference in symptoms of depression. Take between 1-3 gm a day. Other omega-3 rich foods include walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds.
Brown rice is rich in B vitamins as well as trace minerals. Brown rice is great for reducing mood swings due to sugar-highs and lows. Don’t use ‘quick-cook’ varieties as they don’t have the same benefits.
Leafy greens are a great source of folic acid, one of the B vitamins helpful for symptoms of depression, as well as magnesium.
Bananas are high in tryptophan which is used in the body to make serotonin, the happy hormone. Other foods to enhance serotonin are healthy fats like coconut oil, protein rich foods especially free range turkey and wild caught fish high in omega-3.
Don’t skip meals and help keep your blood sugars stable.

4. SUPPLEMENTS

Many people actually suffer from a disorder known as Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) which is the result of insufficient exposure to sunlight and as a result, they have low Vitamin D levels. This disorder becomes worse as winter progresses and can persist through Spring until levels of Vitamin D build up in their body again. Taking Vitamin D as a supplement through the winter months can dramatically help SAD sufferers. Consult an Alternative Health Practitioner who will work out how much Vitamin D you actually need, it varies from one person to the next.
The B Vitamins are linked to a whole range of emotional disorders and if your levels are low taking a supplement can be a great way to keep your spirits up. Take 50 mg of a Vitamin B complex each day rather than individual B Vitamins as each one works better when the others are all present.
Magnesium deficiency can be another factor behind depression and mood disorders and there are many who have a deficiency of this crucial mineral.
SAMe can be very effective for treating depression. Take 200 gm on an empty stomach.
The herb St John’s Wort has long been used for depression. Check with your doctor before using as it can interfere with some pharmaceuticals. Don’t take this if you are taking anti-depressants

5. LIFESTYLE

Getting enough exercise is essential to beat depression, no matter how little you feel like it. Pushing yourself to get out for a walk will help improve your spirits. Even exercising along with a DVD in your living room is good.

The effect of meditation on depression has been well-documented and it is known to greatly improve the symptoms. There are many different ways to meditate from simple breathing techniques LINK that you can do in just a few minutes, through guided visualizations, walking meditations, mindfulness LINK and binaural beats. It is all a matter of working out which is the right one for you.

6. HORMONES

It may be there is a physical cause for your depression. If your hormones are out of balance your mood will be hugely affected. Finding out your levels of thyroid, adrenal and sex hormones are wrong can offer some clues. Armed with the results, visit your natural health practitioner who can then work toward rebalancing your hormones naturally without resorting to pharmaceutical medicines.

Moving yourself out of mild depression requires a combination of strategies. Making lifestyle changes, dietary changes, examining your relationships and your behaviours all play a part. Seeking out professional help to put these strategies together to achieve the balance you need to move forward can set you on the path to recovery faster.

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.

Source articles
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/owning-pink/201103/11-natural-treatments-depression-md-s-tips-skipping-the-prozac
http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/bha-charity/how-we-can-help/conditions-a-z/beating-the-blues/
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/health+advice/treating+depression,7821

Health, Healthy Living, Natural Health, Nutrition & Nutrients, Superfoods

20 Awesome Superfoods You Need Everyday (Part 2)

May 6, 2014 happyholistichealth 4 Comments

Following on from 20 Awesome Superfoods You Need Everyday (Part 1) here are some more foods to complete your list. Some of these are not quite so ‘traditional everyday’ as those included in Part 1 although some are, but as all of them are readily available now there is no reason why they should not be foods that feature regularly (or at least sometimes) on your table.

11. GARLIC

The Aliium family contains a number of excellent foods to support your health. They all stimulate glutathione to protect the liver, but the one that really stands out is garlic. It supports the circulatory system by reducing blood triglycerides and total cholesterol, while raising good HDL levels, lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of blood clots. It is well known for its ability to fight infection – virus and bacteria, and boost resistance to colds and infections especially when they are stress related. But garlic also fights tumours, and can help protect against certain cancers, particularly stomach cancer. It helps fight neurological disease like Alzheimer’s and can reduce toxins to improve detoxification. But, you must eat garlic raw to get the benefit as cooking destroys the beneficial constituent, allicin. Chew some parsley afterwards if garlic breath is a problem.

12. SWEET POTATOES

So much healthier than white potatoes, if you do eat carbs substitute sweet potatoes wherever you can. They are packed with vitamin C and rich in vitamin A and potassium for heart health. A great source of fibre to help regulate your digestive system, with three grams of fibre in every hundred gram serving, they also help stabilize blood sugars and are reasonably low in kilojoules.

13. COCONUT OIL

Coconut oil is now available everywhere and it is worth making the switch from other oils. Although it is a saturated fat, it is a medium-chain fatty acid type, which means you digest it differently than other animal saturated fats so it is not stored in the body’s cells. These types of fats are actually helpful for weight loss as they can help you feel full and boost your metabolism more than other fats. Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties and can help protect against viruses and bacteria. It aids digestion, reduces cholesterol and importantly boosts thyroid function and helps control blood sugar.
Coconut oil is one of the best cooking oils you can use because it has a relatively high smoke point, and and so is better suited to high temperature cooking than many other oils, including polyunsaturated and olive oils. Read The Good Oil for more about the benefits of different oils.

14.TURMERIC

A lsit of Superfoods that did not contain this marvelous herb would be sadly lacking. Antioxidant, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory it has been an important medicinal herb for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine. Research suggests that the curcumin in turmeric protects against cancer and Alzheimer’s as well as improving circulation. Turmeric is a wonderful anti-inflammatory and has great use in reducing the pain of diseases such as arthritis. Read Glorious Health From Golden Turmeric to find out more about the power of this mighty herb.

15. CHILLI

Hot chillis get their heat from the the active component, capsaicin. They also contain antioxidant carotenes and flavonoids and about twice the amount of vitamin C found in citrus fruits. Red bell peppers while containing lower levels of capsaicin than chilli, are a wonderful rich source of vitamin C with twice as much as an orange, to help clear out free radicals as well as keep your skin and blood vessels healthy.

16. POMEGRANATES

As this is pomegranate season a Superfood list would not be complete without this glorious fruit. With up to three times the antioxidants of red wine and green tea the juice and seeds reduce the risk of heart disease. Their ORAC score lists pomegranates as the richest source of free-radical scavenging antioxidants and this makes them a powerful tool to prevent those diseases with a strong inflammatory basis like arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Find out how to use pomegranates on Hail The Pomegranate

17. DARK CHOCOLATE

When you select carefully, chocolate is good for you! Dark chocolate, at least 70% cacao, is loaded with flavonoids antioxidants to reduce the risk of heart disease and help prevent signs of aging. But, only real cacao contains the antioxidants. As well as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow and improving general heart health to prevent strokes and heart disease, cacao can also help fight diabetes. Containing many compounds to boost endorphins and serotonin, the feel-good hormones, chocolate really can lift your spirits.

Even better is to look for chocolate made from Raw Cacao which is truly the Superfood of the gods. Avoid high-sugar varieties of chocolate as sugar decreases the health benefit of even dark chocolate.

Go ahead and enjoy some raw organic chocolate

And here are some Superfoods that are NOT everyday but ones you really need to try.

18. KALE

Kale is probably one of the most nutritious vegetables you can eat, with an amazing level of nutrients in relation to its kilojoule value. Related to broccoli this dark green leafy vegetable is high in nutrients including vitamin B, A, folate, iron and beta-carotene. A great source of protein and packed with fibre, kale is low kilojoule and very high in vitamin C, containing twice the RDA. It contains ten times the RDA of vitamin K and three times the RDA of vitamin A. Try making it into kale chips if you are more likely to eat kale that way. Beneficial to stomach, liver and the immune system.

19. CHIA SEEDS

One Superfood that is appearing on menus more and more frequently is the chia seed. Rich in antioxidants, vitamins A, B, E and D, many minerals and fibre, they are also extremely high in calcium and omega-3. Chia seeds are a wonderful food for weight loss as they suppress appetite and level out blood sugars. It is a Superfood in every sense of the word.
However, chia has been a low-cost staple food of the Peruvians for centuries and the current high demand for chia by the west has taken a significant toll on the local food supply resulting in it now being unaffordable for the indigenous population. There is an urgent need to produce this food in a more sustainable way that protects the Peruvians from nutritional deficiencies and allows everyone to receive its benefits.

20. SPROUTED SEEDS

The most live, pure, nutritious food imaginable. Most people are familiar with alfalfa but there are many more available and they are really easy to grow yourself for extra fresh sprouts. Sprouts are powerhouses of goodness containing the highest density of concentrated nutrients needed to give the plant an early growth spurt. As the seed sprouts the nutrients can increase up to 2000% and they are passed on to you. Read Snacking On Superb Sprouts to discover their benefits.

I’d like to finish by mentioning Green Superfoods. Certainly not traditional or everyday in any way, but Green Superfoods contain the highest concentration of easily digested nutrients and they are starting to become better known if not yet mainstream. Foods such as spirulina or chlorella act as a power packed alternative to a multivitamin to redress many dietary indiscretions. They contain a wide range of concentrated nutrients, and are taken as a dietary supplement in powder or tablet form. I love them! You can read more at Spirulina, The Supergreen Solution

If you’d like to break out with a few different Superfoods try spirulina, kefir, quinoa, black rice, kelp and the other seaweeds, dandelion, flax seeds, goji berries or some of these treasures from South America.

What are your favourite Superfoods? Which ones do you choose to have some of every day?

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

http://foodmatters.tv/superfoods
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/10/top-ten-best-superfoods.aspx
http://man.bodyandsoul.com.au/health+nutrition/nutrition+advice/7+superfoods+for+supermen,24531

Top 11 Superfoods That Can Save Your Life

Antioxidants, Health, Healthy Living, Nutrition & Nutrients, Superfoods, Uncategorized

20 Awesome Superfoods You Need Everyday (Part 1)

April 25, 2014 happyholistichealth 3 Comments

There are many new and exotic Superfoods arriving in our shops every day. Foods with excellent health track records in their country of origin are finding their way into all manner of products. New recipes calling for these exotics appear every single day. But this week a client who is very diet conscious, always seeking out the foods that give her the most benefits for each mouthful, brought up the subject of ‘Everyday Superfoods’ – good traditional foods that are easy to find wherever you happen to be eating.

This particular client wanted to know just what some of the best plain and simple Superfoods are. Although she regularly eats a wide array of exotic Superfoods, including acai berry, spirulina, maca, edamame, and others, she wanted to know about Superfoods that she can access every day, whether she is at home, work or eating out with friends.

Superfoods is a recently coined term used to describe a group of foods that are light in kilojoules and very dense in nutrients, particularly antioxidants and other essential nutrients that we are unable to make for ourselves. Another requirement of Superfoods is that they are foods found in nature. They are thought to have many extra health benefits and are considered highly beneficial because they provide a solid dose of nutrients for each mouthful.

Superfoods fall into different food categories. Many are vegetables, particularly the green leafy types, or fruits. Many nuts are considered Superfoods because they are rich in antioxidants to clean up free radicals that cause inflammation in your body.

Free radicals are a normal part of metabolism and your body has mechanisms in place to deal with those ones. But free radicals are also produced in your body in response to environmental factors like pollution, tobacco smoke, charred food, trans fats, electrical appliances, mobile phones and can quickly cause much damage that can lead to serious chronic disease.

10 BASIC EVERYDAY SUPERFOODS

These are such common foods, now nobody has any excuse not to include as many foods from this list as they can every single day.

1 BLUEBERRIES

The deep blue colour of blueberries is the give away that they are rich with antioxidants, ranking highly on ORAC, which measures the antioxidant value of foods. An anti aging superstar, they are one of the best sources of flavonoids around to help preserve memory function and slow down loss of motor coordination. High levels of the cancer fighting antioxidant, ellegic acid and studies have shown them to have greater cancer fighting capabilities than other fruits. Many recent studies have shown they slow the growth of certain tumours. Anti-inflammatory

2 SPINACH

Long before we became aware of the benefits of antioxidants Popeye was onto their awesomeness. Spinach is loaded up with antioxidants and truly a simple Superfood. It contains vitamin C, betacarotene, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin to protect your eyes, with lots of vitamin K for cardiovascular and bone health, as well as iron for strong hair and nails.

3. BROCCOLI

Well known as a nutrient packed vegetable with cancer fighting properties, broccoli is loaded with vitamin C, folic acid and carotenoids (vitamin A) to protect from free radical damage, improve immune function and reproductive health. Broccoli contains high levels of vitamin K to build strong bones and help blood clotting. It also contains significant amounts of fibre, vitamin B2 and potassium.

4. AVOCADO

Delicious avocados are an excellent source of healthy raw monosaturated fat. They contain nearly twenty nutrients including fibre (10 to 17 grams in each fruit), high levels of potassium, vitamin E, B vitamins, folic acid and lutein for healthy eyes and skin. They protect from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, eye and brain disease. They help stabilize blood sugars, are great for heart disorders and assist with tissue regeneration. In addition avocados help you properly absorb other fat-soluble nutrients.

5. ALMONDS

Raw almonds are loaded with good (monosaturated) fats and fibre to lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Rich in phytochemicals to promote heart and vascular health and a great source of minerals including magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamins E and B6, they make a great afternoon snack. Munch on them in place of other less healthy options.

6. LENTILS & BEANS

All beans and legumes are beneficial. They are low in fat with lots of iron and B vitamins (including folate). A great complex carbohydrate, they are filling but low kilojoule. They contain magnesium and potassium for heart and circulatory health. They are an excellent source of protein, and with a low GI they help control rises in blood sugar. Combined with complex grains like oats or barley they provide all the essential amino acids needed for a complete protein. Perhaps the most nutritious legume is lentils. Also, they are inexpensive! Add them to your diet every week.

7. APPLES

The humble apple is often overlooked in the plethora of new Superfoods around. Apples are loaded with quercetin and catechin, both powerful antioxidants, to protect cells from free radical damage. Apple peel is where most of the nutrients lie so don’t peel them. They are also a great source of fibre. You may like to consider eating organic apples as they are one of the foods that regularly appear on the Environmental Working Committee’s DIRTY DOZEN list of the foods that are most highly sprayed with pesticides.

8. SARDINES & SALMON

Wild caught salmon is packed with omega-3 essential fatty acids to lower cholesterol and your risk of heart disease. It also contains vitamin D and selenium for healthy hair, skin, and nails. Farmed salmon on the other hand, (the only salmon available in Australia) is low in omega-3 and contains contaminants, so to get the benefit of eating salmon you need to make sure it is wild caught. Unfortunately as all salmon in Australia is farmed, the only wild caught one I have ever found is one brand of tinned salmon from Alaska. Wild caught salmon comes from Scotland, Alaska and Canada.
With just as much omega-3 as salmon, sardines are a much better choice in many ways. They are always wild caught so do not contain all the contaminants that you find in farmed salmon. Also being so small you can eat them up bones and all, and they are extra good as then you also get a hefty dose of calcium.

9. EGGS

Eggs are a powerhouse of valuable nutrients, especially if they are organic. They contain the highest quality nutritional protein of all foods containing about 6 grams, and loaded with nine amino acids, eleven vitamins and minerals. These include vitamin A and folate, naturally occurring vitamin B12 for healthy red blood cells, choline for memory and brain development and lutein and zeanthine for protection against eye disease.
Eating eggs for breakfast gives you a great start to the day and studies show that it may lead to you eating fewer kilojoules through the day because they rank highly on the satiety list.
But forget about eating the whites only, it’s the yolk that holds all the nutrients.
By the way, the link between eating eggs and blood cholesterol is an old myth and studies have shown there is no connection.

10. OATS

Whole grain oats are one of the best sources of both soluble and insoluble fibre to metabolise fats and promote healthy digestive system. They are low glycaemic to help control blood sugar levels. As well as helping improve your skin, they are brilliant for those suffering from stress and tiredness. No wonder we’re always been told to eat porridge for breakfast, oats are rich in niacin (vitamin B3), vitamin E and antioxidants. Packed with protein, they are a great way to kick-start your day.

Check back here for Part 2 next week when I’ll give you 10 more basic Superfoods, incuding some that are newer and not quite so common, to eat everyday.

What are your favourite Superfoods? Which do you choose to make certain you have some every day?

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Top 11 Superfoods That Can Save Your Life

Antioxidants, Children's Health, EMF's (Electromagnetic Fields), Immune System, Nutrition & Nutrients, Stress

Find The Rainbow Connection With Antioxidants

January 16, 2013 happyholistichealth 10 Comments

As I tossed my dinner in the wok tonight and marveled at the gorgeous array of colours, I was reminded of how bland the meals that I was served as a child always looked in comparison – always brown meat with some white (potato) and green (peas or beans) and maybe a touch of orange or red. The vegetables changed a little but always seemed to have the same look about them.

The message today in a nutshell is that when you always eat a ‘rainbow’ of fruit and vegetables with a naturally high color intensity you can be sure that you are getting a wide range as well as a good quantity, of antioxidants.

Now, if all you want to know is the ‘what you need to do’ or you are too short of time today, then there you have it, be conscious to always ‘EAT A RAINBOW’ and you will be sure to get a broad range of nutrients, including antioxidants, to help you combat free radical damage in your body.

But, if you would like to know ‘the why’ and the nitty gritty details, then read on

Cells need oxygen to metabolise vitamins and minerals but when oxygen isn’t metabolized thoroughly it results in extra oxygen molecules hanging round which form free radicals. When you get a sudden rush of free radicals they cause a chain reaction that causes damage to the cells and leads to disease.

The body has its own antioxidant defence system of free radical scavenging enzymes but when there is too much stress put on us from our toxic environment and lifestyle our body gets overwhelmed by free radicals and we get sick. These scavenging enzymes need support from many minerals and vitamins that are not made by the body and must be gained from our food. Unfortunately, because there are so many stresses on the body from our modern world we now need far more antioxidants than were ever needed in the past.

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE ANTIOXIDANTS?

Antioxidants are substances that remove potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism. They are capable of neutralizing the effects of free radicals before they are able to cause damage in the cells and tissues of your body, and they are found in the form of vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and so on. Antioxidants have protective effects and can lower the risk of diseases such as cancer or heart disease.

There are a number of different antioxidants that act in different ways and you can often tell which they are and what they will do by the colour of the food in which they occur.

There are over 4000 compounds with antioxidant properties – here are some of them:

antioxidant	colours	foods
vitamin C	various	oranges, citrus fruits, capsicum, mangos, kiwifruit, strawberries, blackcurrants
vitamin E	various	avocado, nuts, vegetable oils
beta-carotene	orange, yellow, green	carrots, sweet potato, mangos, apricot, pumpkin,
anthocyanins	red, blue	blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, dark grapes, eggplants
catechins	tawny, red	cocoa, red wine, green tea, chocolate
cryptoxanthins	orange	mangoes, red capsicum, pumpkin
lycopene	red	tomato, watermelon, guava, strawberry, pink grapefruit
lutein	yellow, green	spinach, corn, gold kiwifruit, leafy greens
flavonoids	various	tea, green tea, citrus fruits, apples, red wine
selenium	white	brazil nuts, seafood, sunflower seeds, rice
isoflavenoids		soy products, lentils, milk
lignans	white	seeds, nuts, vegetables, broccoli, kale, wholegrains
manganese	red, green	nuts, berries, shellfish, legumes, leafy greens, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds
polyphenols	green, red	thyme, oregano, rosemary, ginger, red wine
phenolic acid	various	apple, citrus fruit, oats

But these are just some of the foods associated with antioxidants. Some of the best overall sources are berries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pomegranates and ginger.

AND FREE RADICALS…?

Free radicals are molecules that are produced in our body as a result of our everyday life which cause oxidative stress in the body and basically feed off other cells to survive. In fact your body produces free radicals as a by-product of metabolism. Your body also produces a limited number of antioxidants to neutralize them, but when your body becomes overloaded with free radicals caused by outside stressors it is unable to cope and succumbs to a variety of illnesses. The cells of your immune system are the most likely to suffer damage initially and you may not even notice the effects, but left unchecked eventually the DNA held within the cell will become the target of the free radical damage. DNA acts as the ‘command centre’ of your cells so when it is damaged there can be significant and far-reaching effects.

Free radical damage accelerates the aging process and fosters many diseases including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Hypertension, Diabetes, cataracts, macular degeneration, and almost all chronic degenerative diseases. Ultimately the effect of free radicals is to shorten your life.

There are many factors in our life in addition to ageing and basic metabolism that can increase free radicals production.

The Western Diet creates a free radical bonanza! It is full of fats, processed foods, pesticides and chemicals, and with an emphasis on meat, dairy foods, sugar, processed ‘white’ grains, coffee and alcohol, that are all excellent free radical promoters. In addition it is deficient in fruits and vegetables, the source of antioxidants.
The chlorine in the water we drink results in free radical production
The air we breathe is loaded with a multitude of pollutants, including tobacco smoke whether you actually smoke or not. We are surrounded by substances such as lead and asbestos and all these are producing free radicals
Fats in the diet, in the form of trans-fats, animal and other forms of fats. Many people consume excess quantities of fat, with it contributing around 30% of western food intake. Simply put, the more fat you eat the more free radicals are produced, and some fats are worse than others
Pesticides are big producers of free radicals. They are found in large quantities in animal fat and present a significant free radical source if you are eating a meat-rich diet. These pesticides are stored in your body in fatty tissue. Non-organic fruit and vegetables also carry lots of pesticides
Free radical producing chemicals are found in solvents, cleaning products, glue, paint and thinners, as well as perfumes, and even prescription medications.
Ionizing radiation from sunlight, X-rays or electro magnetic fields is another source. Body cells are very sensitive to radiation and even very mild exposure will set off the chain reaction within the cell.
Even mental stress, including anger and anxiety can increase the presence of free radicals.

So, this is just another reason to get your daily dose of pesticide and chemical-free, antioxidant-rich, RAINBOW of fruit and vegetables! Be conscious of the foods you need and take the time to enjoy the beauty of a colourful diet.

Who doesn’t love Kermit? Enjoy The Rainbow Connection with Kermie.

Disclaimer.

Source articles:

http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/free-radicals.htm

http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/article/the_power_of_antioxidants#ixzz2HoOfDp34

http://www.naturalnews.com/024710_antioxidants_fruits_antioxidant.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/036992_antioxidants_best_sources_foods.html

REVITALISE YOUR MIND

1. Know Your Limits And Set Boundaries

2. Forgive, Forgive, Forgive

3. Meditate

4. Build Better Relationships

5. Get Creative

6. Expand Your Experience

7. De-clutter Your Space To De-clutter Your Mind

REVITALISE YOUR EMOTIONS

8. Give Back

9. Be Present

10. Count Your Successes

11. Cry And Release

12. Create a Worry Time Window

13. Be Honest

14. Special “Me-Time” Alone

REVITALISE YOUR BODY

15. Get Outside and Ground Yourself

16. Simple New Year Detox

17. Reset Your Sleep Clock

18. Get Physical

19. Love The Sun

20. Drink Up

21. Eat A Rainbow

REVITALISE YOUR SOUL

22. Practice Gratitude

23. Evict Your Inner Critic

24. Release Guilt

25. Listen With Your Whole Self

26. Give, And Wish For Nothing In Return

27. Gain Clarity By Connecting With Inner Wisdom

28. Ditch “Rule” Words

What other methods do you use to recharge and revitalise yourself?

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LACTOSE FREE MILK

SOY MILK

ALMOND MILK

HOW TO MAKE ALMOND MILK

COCONUT MILK

RICE MILK

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LACTOSE IN FOODS

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Markers for Your Life

Set Strong Foundations For Goal Success

Old Year Releasing Ritual

Now you are ready to consider how you have grown in the last 365 days.

Closing Ritual

Take some time now to close down your releasing ritual.

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Fast Simple Strategies To Regain Calm Control

#1 Sweetly Scent-sual

#2 Tame Those Racing Thoughts

#3 Breathe…

#4 Tea Time

#5 Talk With A Friend

#6 Smile

#7 Visualize – Let Out Your Imagination

#8 Yuuummm…

#9 Meditate

#10 Meridian Magic

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