Power of Relaxation

Making a conscious effort to stay relaxed in body and mind has more than the obvious benefits. I’m catching myself noticing more opportunities and making better decisions. I’m picking up more information and details than before in a whole range of situations. Body is more clearly able to sense when something is wrong too. To think all that energy was spent on being tense before! What a waste!

Don’t be a Slave

‘Don’t ever be a slave to your body, house, family, money, work or any other externals …’

I’m not sure where I came across this quote. It’s a great reminder though to keep things in perspective and not let any particular aspect of our lives take us over, control us, our time, emotions or thoughts, to the point that we forget ourselves and the other things which are important and beneficial to us and our wellbeing. Doing the best we can and then detaching can help us move away from obsessing and towards self mastery.

Happiness Formula

I appreciate simplicity and this little formula is very dear to me.

‘Eat well, sleep well, think positive thoughts and move your body’

I find it an easy check list to hold in the front of my mind as I go about life.

Eat well – eating what suits my particular body (a vegan diet) and saying no to ‘plastic’ food (junk food).

Sleep well – means good routine and a well rested body that’s raring for the world in the morning.

Think positive thoughts – remembering I always have choice, I can step back and ask: ‘is this train of thought going to take me to a positive destination or a negative one?’, before I jump on it.

Moving the body – energy spent is energy earned, exercise is a fantastic investment!

For me these are the roots of the wellbeing tree, the fruits are clarity of thought, informed decisions, energy, motivation and action.

Food Experiment

I’m looking forward to an interesting next few days as I manage without a refrigerator. 7 days to be precise until the new one arrives, its poor predecessor having come to a sudden stop last night. I can’t quite get my head round it yet. People have been giving me lots of reassurance, especially stories about how folks forty or so years ago managed perfectly well without them. A time when milk used to be delivered to the door early each morning and the last drop went into nightcaps in the evening. When people cooked enough for one meal. A kind of now and in the moment way of cooking and eating. Reminds me of holidays abroad in India where as children if we got peckish while playing outdoors we would walk just a few metres and pull some turnips out of the soil, wash them with water from a well, peel the skin off with our teeth and gobble them up. And they were so delicious! Soil to tummy in ten minutes!

H.A.L.T

This is a great acronym for maintaining physical and emotional health. The idea is to stop whenever you experience any of these and attend to the particular need, ensuring it is satisfied in a healthy way.

Are you …

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

then Halt!

Work more, Buy more

I was flicking through a health magazine last week while I waited to go in for an appointment and came across an inspiring article. The focus for the piece was the ‘work more, buy more’ modern life style and how an increasing number of people are consciously moving away from this way of living. The shift in thinking stems from a realization that more ‘things’; latest entertainment systems, phones etc don’t always provide more happiness and having to work so hard to earn the necessary money to buy these is very stressful.


It’s something I can identify with after the TV blew up a while ago and I started looking into buying a new one. When I thought about it seriously I realized I hardly ever used it and what I really would value, enjoy and benefit from was an extra weeks holiday this year. It’s made me think of the importance of standing back in situations and asking myself ‘What do I really want here?’

Spring

Since yesterday it seems spring has finally arrived. The sunshine has been glorious. The winter bugs are still harassing people and a couple of friends are down with viruses. This year has been the best ever for me on the bug front, not one sore throat or cough, much less any flu. Two reasons perhaps. Following a vegan diet automatically pushes me towards more fruit and veg because I can’t default to dairy products. More importantly though, I’ve been staying clear of sugar, completely, which I find very liberating. It’s something I simply don’t have to think about. I’m always reminded of an interesting chat I once had with my G.P. He told me how eating refined sugar lowers immune system functioning by 50% for up to 5 hours. That’s staggering!

I think we’ve become conditioned to associate treats with sugary snacks. I still have treats but not ones which will work against my body. A real treat is something my body will appreciate too, not just my mind.

Finding sugar at my place always brings amusement to my friends, as I stand on tiptoes, poking about on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet with a wooden spoon to find the abandoned sugar pot, so they can enjoy a cup of tea!

Health and the Seasons

The snow has really created a holiday atmosphere with everyone I spoke to or met today. It’s been too long in coming for someone like me.

I have a theory regarding optimum health and the seasons. For the past few years I’ve noticed as soon as it hits 1st September and the days begin to get cooler, an internal alarm clock goes off for me. The colder and darker the days become, the happier and healthier I am. By the December holidays I’m really thriving.

My theory is that our bodies recognise the weather conditions we were born into and it responds positively to them. I’m born in early January at the height of the winter, so the frost and icy temperatures bring out the best in me, making me feel energetic and bright.

I tested my theory out on a friend, at first it seemed completely way off. She likes high temperatures with lots of rain, not really typical kind of UK weather. Delving a little deeper, I discovered she wasn’t born in England at all; she’s actually born in an African country which does have those weather conditions around the date of her birthday.

Rewards of a Healthy Life Style

I’ve been following a vegan diet now for more years than I can remember and over time I’ve added yoga, meditation and walking into my daily routine. For a few days I’d felt really resistant to taking my B complex vitamin supplement (B12 being a must for vegans). I normally have a blood test once in a while to check B12 and iron levels. So I booked myself in to see the nurse. ‘Before I put this needle in your arm…’ she said (very nice I thought!) ‘… I’ll quickly take your blood pressure as it’s been 2 years since you last visited the surgery.’ It was something over something, so I asked if she could kindly state it in terms that I could relate to, ‘It means you have the blood pressure of a teenager, you must have a really healthy life style.’

Trying to make the most of my visit she also asked if I could stand on the scales. I had a BMI (body mass index) of 20.4 in the healthy range of 20 to 25. When the results of the blood test came back I was right - B12 levels were at the very top of the healthy range, so I’m having a few weeks off my supplement. Although I feel all the benefits of a healthy diet, exercise and relaxation, it was really nice to have it quantified by a health professional. Well worth all the apples and carrots!

Strategies for Wellbeing

I’ve been using this simple but powerful strategy for some time now to maintain good health:

Eat Well – work out what kind of diet suits you best, stay clear of foods that don’t agree with you. Create regular times for meals so your body knows when to expect food and doesn’t panic when it’s running low on fuel.

Sleep Well – again it’s about discovering what time best encourages restful sleep for you, dragging the body when it needs rest is damaging. Once you know what bed time ensures you a good night’s sleep stick to it as far as possible.

Move Your Body – Think about what forms of exercise you really enjoy and include them into your schedule on a regular basis. You don’t have to be gym person - mine are morning yoga and evening walks and I feel the difference. Keep it simple and enjoyable.

Think Positive Thoughts – The mind and body are connected and work together as one system. Any thought you have has an immediate effect on your body, causing changes in breathing, heart rate, posture etc. Thinking positive thoughts enhances physical and emotional wellbeing. We don’t always have control over life situations or events but we can choose how we think about them.