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Category: Mental Health - Organic Lifestyle Magazine Category: Mental Health - Organic Lifestyle Magazine

How To Fight SAD Naturally This Winter

Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a condition that affects up to 10% of people around the nation in some manner.

Typically, the signs mimic those of depression but only occur during the colder, darker months. Symptoms of SAD can include, but are not limited to, energy loss, desire to be left alone, increased weight gain, increased appetite, and difficulty focusing on everyday tasks.

When you have SAD, the experience can be confusing initially. However, after being diagnosed by a medical professional, you’ll want to take steps to help restore your mind and body to a happier state, regardless of what Mother Nature has in store.

Some people turn to heavy prescription drugs or attempt to self-medicate with alcohol in order to mask their SAD symptoms. Such coping mechanisms can lead to overlapping health problems and long-term health risks. Instead, consider these natural ways to relieve SAD symptoms and start feeling happier:

1. Live in Sunlight… Or Faux Sunlight

When you’re feeling burdened by SAD, you may be tempted to stay indoors in darkened rooms. However, doing so will only fuel your feelings of isolation, loneliness, and gloom. It also will leave you vitamin D deficient, a significant contributor to SAD since vitamin D deficiency has been directly linked to decreased mood, decreased serotonin production in the brain, and other symptoms related to depression.

Understandably, most of us spend tons of time inside when it’s cold, and this leaves us out of sunlight, which is one of the most natural ways to get loads of vitamin D. Yet it’s possible to get vitamin D without stepping out-of-doors by using full-spectrum light boxes. These boxes are a form of “light therapy,” and this treatment is effective for about eight out of ten people suffering from SAD.

The only precautions for users of specialized light boxes are never to look directly at the light with the naked eye because the light box produces light similar to the sun’s rays, and if you are taking any medications, be sure sunlight is not contraindicated.

2. Get Moving

Exercise has been shown to improve mood and can be a boon to your health throughout the winter. Working out in your home, in a gym, or outdoors will improve your overall well-being by boosting serotonin levels to help ward off SAD symptoms. As a bonus, your heart will be healthier, your skin will look better, and your body will feel fitter.

3. Drink More Water

Are you tempted to guzzle caffeine or mixed drinks to alter your mood? Try your best not to give into these cravings. Both will dehydrate you, leaving your body depleted of necessary H2O. The more dehydrated you are, the less able you will be to think clearly. Carry a water bottle with you so you get at least 8 to 10 glasses of the good stuff per day.

4. Keep Yourself on Schedule

Does your schedule tend to change radically during the winter? Do you find yourself in bed for longer periods of time? Don’t sleep your life away; get on a schedule and stick to it. Find a reason to stay up until your bedtime, and then get up at the same time each morning. This will help your body remain on a predictable rhythm.

5. Take a Quick Vacation

If you have the funds to do it, why not take a quick weekend trip to a sunnier spot such as Florida, California or even the Bahamas? Not only will an impromptu vacation lift your spirits, it will also give you a much-needed break from the winter doldrums and SAD.

6. Watch the Carbs

Unless you’re doing a lot of exercise, hold back on munching on processed carbs all day. Cravings for unhealthy foods tend to go up when experiencing SAD. Choose your meals and snacks wisely, and add many fruits and veggies to your diet to boost your intake of vitamins.

7. Speaking Of Vitamins …

Have you forgotten to take your multivitamins? When you have SAD, you need to give your body every advantage possible. The best vitamins to take to ward off symptoms of depression include B complex vitamins and vitamin D. Also consider St. John’s Wort and zinc.

The most important thing to do, of course, is to recognize and acknowledge that something is amiss. By taking action, you’ll be able to weather the winter naturally.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:

Sources: 




Beat Unhealthy Habits and Live Better in 2015

Another year is starting, which means New Year’s resolutions are a common theme. The new year can be a time for setting goals and making plans, a time to continue long-term goals you began the year before, and a time to reflect on the previous year. It’s a time to see what you can do differently in the year ahead.

Whether you are trying to lose weight or have goals of being more financially stable, resolutions can be hard to keep. When your resolution involves kicking a bad habit such as smoking or drinking, it can be even harder to accomplish. Here are some ways you can take control and beat unhealthy habits.

Be Realistic

When you’re used to doing things a certain way, it’s difficult to change that routine, especially when unhealthy habits are involved.

For example, if you’ve been smoking three packs a day for 10 years, you can’t expect to be a nonsmoker in a week. It’s going to take time when you’re used to a large number of cigarettes each day. Gradually cut back on how many cigarettes you smoke in a day. As you start getting used to the change, it will be easier to give up the habit.

Incremental goals will make it easier to quit, and you won’t be as tempted to go right back to smoking.

Cut Out Drugs and Alcohol

When you’re addicted to substances like drugs or alcohol, it’s going to take a lot of work to stop. The key thing to remember is that nothing happens overnight. It takes a conscious effort to keep moving forward when you’re trying to quit.

The first major step is committing to stop using the substance. From there you can start focusing on a plan that will help you overcome the addiction. While temptation will be all around you, having a serious will to quit is going to help you accomplish your goal.

Burn Off Pounds

Like any other habit you’re trying to break, losing weight takes work. You can’t snap your fingers and expect your problem to be solved

There are different ways you can go about losing weight, with diet and exercise making the top of the list. The task seems easier for some than it does for others, but with the right attitude you can make it happen.

One thing you can do is eat from smaller containers. Whether you mean to or not, the larger the bowl, the more you may consume, sometimes without even realizing it. This can add up fast. Also, never skip breakfast. This will cause you to eat more later on and in no time, you’re overeating and gaining more weight. This will undermine your goal.

Stick to Your Guns

Make those goals work for you this year by having a sensible attitude and a plan of attack. This could make all the difference for you in the new year.

Sources:

 




Stop the Holiday Blues Before They Start

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, a time for families to come together, a time of celebration and fun. For far too many, the holidays are anything but fun. They are a time of overwork, stress, emotional pain, financial difficulty, weight gain, sleep deprivation, and all around misery.

Somewhere along the way we forgot the number one gift of adulthood: adults get to decide what to do and when to do it. Isn’t that what we yearned for throughout childhood?

Yes, this right is mitigated by the needs of others, especially children. But needs are one thing; desires are another. Too often, as adults, we make decisions based on the desires of others – what they want, not what they need. And when we do that, we give no consideration to our own wants and needs.

Before you fall into the holiday trap, sit down and decide what you want to do this year.

  • Do you want to spend the holiday away with extended family?
  • Do you want to go on vacation?
  • Do you want to stay home?
  • Do you want to invite company?
  • Do you want to cook or eat out?
  • How much do you want to spend on gifts?

If you have a partner, have your partner do the same. Compare lists. If your lists do not align, this is where you compromise.

Our parents often want all of their kids home for the holidays. Once we marry or commit ourselves to a partner, this tradition won’t work for us if both sets of parents have the same expectations. Scrambling from one family dinner to the other can make Christmas a dreaded holiday. Do you alternate each year? Choose one in-law over the other? Why not check in with your brothers and sisters and see if any of them are feeling the same way?

Here is the big question… Is it time to start your own tradition?

For many, these extended family obligations are at the root of our holiday stress. For others, the exact opposite is true. Being alone through the holidays – not having family, can be painful and isolating.

Again, you are in change. What do you want to do?

If you have no plans for Christmas, consider volunteering you time to a worthy cause. Not only will you help others, you’ll help yourself.

If depression is an issue for you, don’t let the holidays exacerbate your condition. You may benefit from having a B complex on hand; pop a few when the stress feels overwhelming. Keep Candida at bay with lots of garlic, raw vegetables, and supplements that help balance the intestines. Don’t wait; exercise like you already started your New Year’s resolutions.

The two most important steps you can take from a physical standpoint is to balance your hormones and balance your inner eco-system. Also, check out the first few sources for effective natural remedies for depression.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:



Grumpy And Groggy? Use These 7 Tips To Get A Good Night’s Sleep

A terrible night of tossing and turning happens to us all at some point. Unfortunately for some, restless nights filled with little or no sleep are far too common. The importance of a good night’s sleep cannot be overstated. Continued patterns of poor sleep can cause everything from obesity to car accidents.

The truth is that if you aren’t getting the right amount of sleep, you aren’t going to be able to function at a healthy, optimal level. The good news is there are steps that you can take immediately that will improve your ability to be well rested when you wake up in the morning.

1. Make Time for Sleep

Does creating a sleep schedule seem strange? It shouldn’t, because often it’s the lack of regular, consistent sleep that leads to problems.

When you train your body to fall asleep around a certain time, you will soon find yourself starting to get sleepy during roughly the same time period every day.

2. Keep a Sleep Diary

A sleep diary or log can provide you with important insight into how you rest. Do you tend to wake frequently during the night? Do you often sleep through alarms? The information can then be used to make changes that will improve your sleeping patterns.

3. Quit Smoking

There are numerous reasons why you should quit smoking; as it turns out, improved sleep happens to be one of them. The nicotine in cigarettes acts as a stimulant. Rather than calm you down so that you can rest, smoking prevents you from easily falling asleep. Smoking also causes breathing problems, which can lead to various sleep disturbances and issues.

4. Consider Buying a New Bed

It may be that you are willing and able to sleep, but your quality of nighttime rest is greatly inhibited by your current bed. If that lumpy old mattress is too uncomfortable, you should consider shopping for a new bed. You spend roughly 29,200 hours in ten years in your bed, so having a poor mattress could have some pretty harsh effects on your health.

5. Get Regular Exercise

It’s believed that just 30 minutes of exercise per day can improve the length and quality of sleep. Whether you take up cardio or decide to start jogging, this burst of regular activity during the day may be what you need to get better rest at night.

A word of caution: It’s recommended you avoid vigorous exercise three to four hours prior to sleep. However, if you can’t rest, there are certain yoga poses you can do to help you prepare for bed.

6. Watch Your Caffeine Intake

Caffeine in coffee or tea is often heavily relied on in order to fully wake up and function during a busy day, especially if one didn’t get enough sleep the previous evening.

The problem is regular caffeine intake is scientifically linked to poor sleeping patterns. If you simply like the taste of coffee in the morning, strongly consider switching to the decaffeinated variety.

7. Don’t Doze Off During the Day

Are you taking regular naps during the day to make up for lost sleep at night? There’s reason to believe this may do more harm than good. While a cat nap can be okay for persons with regular sleep patterns, for persons with abnormal sleep patterns, it can only serve to make the problem worse.

Instead of taking a lengthy nap, go for a walk or do a bit of yoga. Try to avoid naps until after you’ve reestablished a healthy sleep pattern.

Often poor sleep can be brought on by a combination of factors. Making little adjustments and then sticking to these changes can lead to vast improvements in one’s quality of sleep. This can in turn lead to waking up feeling completely refreshed and better able handle whatever life throws at you during your waking hours.

Sources:

 




How To Love Yourself Up (Even During the Holidays)

Can you feel it? Here it comes, the holiday’s busy buzz of activities, parties, gatherings, and events galore. We all love to celebrate, but we sometimes feel exhausted and less excited than we’d like to be at this time of year (maybe even crabby to those we love). Why is it that these supposedly precious and magical times end up zapping all of our energy?

Could it be that our expectations are the root of this and perhaps our own expectations? I have decided this year will be different. I want to enjoy the time with my loved ones. I want to laugh and be merry without the stress. I want to squash those silly expectations of perfection and embrace the gritty goodness instead. Is it possible? Let’s find out.

What if we all just used gentleness with everything we do this season? I mean really love yourself up, spread on the inner love so thick that you are covered with it, that you drip the love everywhere. How would that change how you and I experience the next few months?

It’s simple. Just be gentle. Be gentle with yourself. So gentle and ginger, like you would treat a sick child or pet. Nurture yourself up and down again. Say the things you always want to say but don’t. Be the juicy, gentle spirit and make people wonder what you’re up to.

G.E.N.T.L.E

G: Gratitude

When you find yourself grinding your teeth at the thought of yet another social event or party on your schedule when all you really want to do is curl up on the couch, feel the gratitude instead. Just 3 minutes spent counting our blessing actually changes the permeability and structure of your brain. This gratitude thinking is a kind of meditation. According to a NY Times article, How Meditation May Change Change the Brain, studies have shown, “…there are structural differences between the brains of meditators and those who don’t meditate.” And now a new study shows that gray matter actually grows in meditation. How cool is that? NOT thinking actually grows your brain, too. You don’t need a special pillow or a half an hour. You don’t need to sit in a lotus position and chant to meditate on gratitude. I like to do my gratitude meditation as I’m moving through my day–when I’m in the shower, while brushing my teeth, when I pull on a soft and warm sweater in the morning, or as I pet my dog before I run out the door.

There are many ways to guide your gratitude meditation. Thinking about the people closest to you and what you love about them can be one way. Here are a few favorite affirmations I use when I’m feeling that inner Scrooge:

  • I am blessed for all my gifts.
  • I feel the support and love of my community.
  • I am taken care of no matter what.
  • I love how fresh our magical winter wonderland feels.

E: Enjoyment

This time of year is supposed to be fun but why is it that most people struggle with the blues and blahs during this time of year? In her Psychology Today article Dr. Teresa Aubele states, “Happy thoughts and positive thinking, in general, support brain growth, as well as the generation and reinforcement of new synapses, especially in your prefrontal cortex (PFC), which serves as the integration center of all of your brain-mind functions.” So, what we choose to think about, what we enjoy, and what we experience as fun is, well, actually good for us. So take that scrooge!

Also, less light affects your brain’s chemistry too, which can lead to feeling a bit down or low energy. You may just need to supplement with vitamin D3 when you are getting less sunlight.

N: Notice How You Feel

Is your jaw grinding at night? Are you shoulders permanently living at your ears? Does your stomach ache? Are you feeling rushed or irritated? Don’t try to fix it or manage it. Solve it. Just notice how it feels and be aware of it. By noticing and becoming aware, you create a shift. It’s normal to have feelings, emotions, and physical manifestations of stress. The question is, now that you are aware of them, what do you want to do?

Increasing your awareness does so many things. It allows you to be more open, more insightful, more connected, and to integrate all the parts of yourself (mind/body/spirit), which leads to a more balanced and beautiful you.

T: Take a Risk and Get Vulnerable

This time of year we are often around family and people we may, or may not, feel that close to. Letting our vulnerability show takes courage and feels scary at first, but it is really the only way to live. Take a chance this holiday season and do something that takes you outside of your comfort zone. Buy a stranger a coffee. Reach out someone you know who needs extra support right now with a phone call or lunch. Simply smile at someone.

You don’t have to know what you are doing. Take a tip from sociologist and researcher Brené Brown, one of the most admired people on the planet right now (for good reason). She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. She encourages us to practice being vulnerable every day. If you haven’t seen her TED talk on vulnerability, check it out today. It will change your life.

L: Let love lead you.

“We need to go after love with all our might and act as if we cannot live without it!”

I love this quote by Joyce Meyer in her article on how “Love Changes Everything.” If you are not familiar with Meyer, she is a New York Times bestselling author researching and writing about finding hope and restoration through faith. She is a lead pastor who teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on the mind, mouth, moods, and attitudes.

When we let love lead us, it takes a bit of the self focus out of the way and brings a sense of play and whimsy to life. Everything comes down to this: love is what we are all searching for and want to experience. So when life gets a bit complex, or wildly busy and nutty, just reset your yourself with thoughts of love.

I think The Beatles said it best, “All we need is love.”

E: Energy Reboot

Lets be honest, more requires more. It is okay to call a time out and say so. Have a night in during this busy season of more socializing, more giving, more expression (more, more, more) for some self care and restoration. It is just what you need to reboot. Here are a few of my favorite things to replenish and refuel that tank:

  • Bathe with essential oils (5 drops of lavender, 2 drops of ylang-ylang, 2 of rosewood)
  • Drink a cup of tea (my favorite is Berry Detox by Yogi tea or the aveda comforting tea)
  • Watch a ridiculous episode of 2 Broke Girls (stream for free on your laptop)
  • Enjoy a massage or facial
  • Read a great book and lose myself in it (The Rosie Project is my current fave)
  • Play with my dog (she loves playing catch with her plush animals)
  • Listen to some good tunes (Rocking on Gwen Stefani’s latest or Michael Jackson always does the trick)

What’s your go to thing? What do you like to do that you know will give you an inner glow of ahhhhh. Make a list and post it somewhere to remind you that there are so many ways to be gentle with yourself and reboot. Practice these things daily (one, or more, might be just what the doctor ordered). Not only does this essential self care give to us, it really is a gift to our whole community. When we feel better so does everyone around us!

Let me know how you showed your gentleness this season. It takes courage and love to do so, but you deserve it.




Sleep As Elixir: Beautiful Body, Beautiful Mind, Beautiful Life

Are you driving while asleep at the wheel of life? Lack of sleep is the new DWI. Pull over and get some sleep before life happens to you without your consent.

Sleep-deprived drivers have a similar reaction time behind the wheel as drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.089 (that’s DWI), a sobering fact when you consider that nearly 30 percent of all drivers have admitted to falling asleep or nodding off while behind the wheel!”– Cleveland Clinic

I always get a kick out of how people think of sleep as something that is optional. We stay up later, we get up earlier, work longer, faster, more. Even our down time is packed full of activities that deplete and exhaust us in the name of having a fun weekend. What ever happened to the value of a nap or getting to bed early? We take a perverse pride in working extra long hours, staying up late,  and cheating our bodies and minds of needed rest.

Our culture is all about being “larger than life,” supersizing everything, doing more (and more and more). It demands more caffeine and stimulants like screen time to get that constant stream of micro highs as we are “liked” or “connected” on social media. At the end of the day we are exhausted, but not satisfied. We counteract the buzz of our thoughts by taking sleeping pills or drinking a glass of wine or beer to unwind. Like never before, we are overweight, stressed, fatigued and overwhelmed by our lifestyle of doing more.

Women are often the worst offenders. Women are doing more than ever and believing that SUPER should be added to every role: SUPERmom, SUPERlover, SUPERworker, SUPERboss, SUPERfriend, SUPERwoman. Whether at the office, home, social circle, or gym, women feel they are failing and falling into that kind of exhaustion that has no fulfillment in it.

What if I told you that I had a simple remedy that would:

  • ENHANCE your memory, mood, concentration, outlook and perspective
  • INCREASE your physical ability, immunity and overall energy
  • PROMOTE your weight loss, give you younger looking skin, and heal you on all cylinders
  • REDUCE your stress, anxiety, overall fatigue, and physical injury
  • LOWER both your blood pressure and the likelihood of you making mistakes
  • PUMP up your sex life (oh la-la), creativity, and your ability to make connections and bonding

You agree that if I DID have a remedy that could do all of these things, I would be Oprah’s newest hottest thing, right? Well, there actually is a remedy out there that does everything on the list above. I’m not kidding. I know, you’re now wondering how much it’s going to cost you.

Nothing. It’s free, available to all.

Sleep is that magic elixir. Sleep is the new revolutionary healer of all. Dream on!

According to Huffington Post’s creator, Arianna Huffington, sleep is her secret weapon, the magic to her success. Her advice to women around the world, “Sleep your way to the top.” But, like most women, Huffington didn’t always think this way. Only after collapsing at her desk from exhaustion and ending up with a series of stitches and a huge wake up call did she make this realization.

We have a national sleep deficit epidemic. Even though we don’t value the elixir that only sleep provides, we pay thousands of dollars on tips, tricks, products, and supplements to make us appear rested. Strong women leaders such as Huffington are fed up with this unsustainable lifestyle. It is not only exhausting, it is also causing the kind of physical, mental, emotional, and cultural harm that sucks the joy out of life.

Cheating on sleep for work and our busy lives doesn’t make us super heroes, it just leaves us tired. Lack of sleep deprives us of how amazing and “on” we get to be when we are rested, refreshed, and energized. When we don’t sleep enough, we aren’t fully here and fully alive. We fail at giving the gift of who we are and all we can be. Our beloved family, friends, and the communities where we want to make a difference are robbed by our own lack of sleep. And it isn’t just our mental and emotional selves that suffer. Our bodies can’t repair and heal when we starve them from the process of healing and resetting that happens only in sleep.

Sleep isn’t a luxury, or even optional. It is as essential to living a healthy life as oxygen.

“Sleep is absolutely essential for basic maintenance and repair of the neurological, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal, and digestive systems,” says Chris Kressor.

If you’ve ever tried to have a coherent conversation with new parents, you understand the dramatic effects of lack of sleep on our ability to recall facts, figures, and basics like which shoe goes on which foot. In all seriousness, the impact that lack of sleep has on our memory, emotional state, and body is only now starting to be understood. Missing sleep impacts our ability to recall things, not only small details, like remembering to pick up more eggs at the market, but our long-term ability to recall information and create lasting memories.

Lack of sleep can not only lower your I.Q. a few points, it can actually make you crazy!

Neuroscientist, Jeffrey Iliff connects the dots between lack of sleep and the rise of neurological disorders later in life such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and overall memory loss. Think about it this way, the brain is the command center of our body. When that control deck is not up to snuff, what happens? When we push ourselves without resting and restoring, we put our brains into overdrive. With constant tasks, duties, stress, and stimulation, the brain is overloaded and, even worse, without proper sleep it is depleted from it’s only source of renewal and downtime.

It turns out sleep isn’t a passive activity. There’s all sorts of amazing stuff going on in our bodies and, especially our brain, when we’re asleep. A good night’s sleep can improve your memory, and keep your brain healthy in the short- and long-term. It also helps us think better, solve problems, and make deeper connections.

A well-rested mind is a clean mind. Not that kind of clean. Wink wink. Healthy clean.

All throughout the day we produce a type of toxic protein called beta-amyloid that tends to collect in the brain and the spinal cord. A new study shows promising evidence that our bodies have a special mechanism to remove this toxin, but only when we sleep. In our sleep, our glymphatic system pumps cerebrospinal fluid through our central nervous system, flushing that toxin from our body. As it turns out, the only time this type of CSM fluid matter is discarded is during our REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep cycle, or deep sleep.

Our limbic system — which is connected to senses, memory and dreams — is one part of the brain that is turned on while we slumber. When the lights are out in the rest of the body, this portion of the brain is awake and kicking. It’s been understood that while sleep is necessary for physical health, strength, resilience, and such, it also renews and restores our spirit and emotional connection.

Though exactly what happens biologically and physiologically is still a mystery, we now know there is a purpose (scientifically proven!) for why we dream. In our sleep we seem to access a deeper level of thinking. Our mind makes connections with the unknown or unconscious to help solve problems, create solutions, and mend upsets that happened during the day. We resolve things from the waking day during our sleep — that fight with a co worker, how to deal with the emotions of a breakup, or even remembering where we left the keys.

Sleep often unsticks us when we have a creative block. Think about a time when you were burning the midnight oil attempting to kick out a creative project, only to be met by a huge block. Frustrated, you hit the sack. The next morning you awake revived and replenished and boom, there it is, a new idea or spark of inspiration that you just couldn’t see in your sleep deprived state the night before. I know some will say, “but I’ve always been a night owl,” or “I do my most creative thinking at night.” This maybe true, but when we are lacking sleep, our bodies and brains are in survival mode and can only function for so long until we crash and burn. Believe me, lack of sleep will catch up with you. If you think your natural biorhythm makes you shine at night, adjust your schedule to sleep during the day (see below for some helpful tips – you’ll sleep best if you block out all of that day light).

When we start to value our sleep and see the importance of it’s healing power not only for today, but for our future selves, we start to think and do things differently. When we take care of ourselves with a good sleep habit, we are more present and able to take care of others and contribute to the projects that fulfill our sense of purpose. Could there be anything more powerful than being fully awake, rested, and ready to take life on with all of our cylinders firing?

Here are a few things you can do to start getting a good night’s rest. Like anything else, it takes time to start a new habit; even sleeping well takes practice!

Tips for Good Sleep Hygiene

  • Don’t be too full – or too hungry
  • Go to bed early! Most of us have active REM between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.
  • Relax and stretch lightly before going to bed.
  • Practice makes permanent changes.
  • Reduce your exposure to artificial light.
  • Don’t use a computer/iphone/ipad for 2 hours before going to bed. Exposure to screens can disturb your sleep.
  • Use blackout shades to make your bedroom pitch black.
  • Cover your digital alarm clock or get an analog clock.
  • Turn off all digital devices that glow or give off any type of light.
  • If you can’t do these things for some reason, use a sleep mask.

Spread the word and start a sleep revolution. Tips for good sleep hygiene.

It takes time to restore and get your good sleep on! During my teens and 20’s I was destructive with my body, and I didn’t take good care of myself. When I gave up partying, I replaced it with perfectionism and overwork. I had been sleep deprived for as long as I can remember, until I started to “wake up” to how much of a negative impact it was having. Only during the last year have I noticed that I have not been saying “I’m so tired!” And, this is after several years of actually sleeping regularly, mind you. So don’t expect the elixir of sleep to make a difference overnight. Lasting results come from practice.

Think of how long it has taken for you to become this tired and exhausted (a lifetime). It will take time to rebuild your sleep storage account, but you will get there. I don’t feel sleepy during the day any longer, nor do I repeat the dreaded mantra, “I’m so tired.”

Everyone needs a different amount of zzz’s each night. I have friends who get 5 hours of sleep and seem to be healthy and productive. They take care of themselves, nap when needed, and feel great with their sleep routine and hygiene. I do best with 8 hours. How do you know how much sleep you need? Only you will know. Over time you’ll find the pattern that fits you best. Remember it takes time to make changes. Be patient and gentle with yourself. You deserve to be well rested, healthy, happy, and joyful!

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:



Psychosomatic Illness – Is It All In The Mind?

The dictionary defines a psychosomatic illness as one “…caused by mental or emotional problems rather than by something physical”.  This idea has fascinated me since I became aware of the work Louise L. Hay has done on making a connection between our minds and our state of health.  In her view, anything affecting our lives, (and this can come from our feelings, our background, our belief system), just about anything that touches or has touched us, can be a factor.  She tells her personal story of childhood sexual abuse, which she connected to the vaginal cancer she developed in adulthood. Her book, You Can Heal Your Life, with its explanations of what may have caused illness or led to an accident, has sold millions of copies worldwide.

These are real illnesses, with a physical element, but they are not necessarily caused solely by outside forces such as heredity, smoking, a life crisis, or eating the wrong things, although these factors have probably played their part in the illness.   For many of us, illness is a wake-up call, and we need to look at what we can do to change matters.

Food For Thought

For Phil Edwardes, a UK healer, none of the causes of illness are found anywhere in the body and, emphasising that he isn’t blaming anyone, he believes that everything that happens to our bodies is because we’re inside them.  This does rather bear out a finding in the case of multiple personalities.  People who have several personalities have found they may need reading glasses in one personality and not in another; they may be diabetic in one personality and not in another.

I’d often heard of things being “all in the mind” as have most of us, but when I took my first steps in complementary medicine in 1987, I saw how this thinking could be applied.   One of my earliest purchases was a book based on Chinese medicine that was recommended by my reflexology teacher.  I immediately read what it had to say about every illness I could think of that had touched my family, my friends, or me.  And I was blown away by some of the possible explanations; things fell into place and understanding dawned.

Finding Out For Myself

The best way to learn something is to experience it ourselves and I didn’t have to wait long.  Studying for my reflexology diploma I worked on an old friend who suffered from sinusitis. The treatment really helped, but so did finding an apartment away from her parents, or more precisely her mother, with whom she was often at loggerheads.

In 1990 I started up in business, distributing and demonstrating ear and body treatment candles (although body candling arrived much later on the scene) and one of the very first people to contact me was a lady suffering from a distressing and continual noise in her ears (tinnitus).  She told me she had a handicapped daughter and in the course of our conversation she burst out: “I can’t stand it when she screams”’.  Even with my limited knowledge of the product I was so confidently selling, I knew the candles wouldn’t help her and I really hoped she could understand at some point that she was manufacturing a noise in her head to drown out her daughter’s screams.   It sounds hard, but there is only one place where the solution to any such problem lies … where it started.  In ourselves.  Until we are able to do that, few therapies will bring lasting relief.

Stories I’ve Been Told

A child’s  deafness at birth stemmed from what she’d heard while in the womb. Once her mother understood this and worked on her own emotions—a tough task for her—the child was hearing perfectly by the age of 7.

A young Catholic priest had always known he was homosexual,  but until he was ordained at the age of 32 he had attempted to deny it. He plunged into a nervous breakdown and carried on as well as possible until he started to experience a loud whistling sound in his left ear, which he interpreted as his soul crying out to speak its truth. The physical suffering was intense. He finally decided to come out and to inform his bishop that he was leaving Holy Orders. The decision made, his tinnitus immediately calmed down and at the time the article appeared, he was practically cured.

A colleague at an exhibition knelt down to chat to a girl in her mid-teens who was confined to a wheelchair. She was accompanied by her mother and younger siblings and explained there was absolutely no physical reason why she couldn’t walk, but that was the situation and she didn’t really care one way or the other. It would have been fascinating to learn something about her family dynamics, but even if a skilled therapist managed to uncover the possible root of her problem, unless she was prepared to work on herself, little progress would result.

Choosing Our Words With Care

Some of the expressions we throw around so lightly can give us a huge clue as to what’s going on in our lives—or what could be waiting in the wings to pop up.

  • “She really gets up my nose,”
  • “I can’t stomach it.”
  • “It breaks my heart.”, etc.

We can connect this thinking with sinusitis, digestive or cardiac diseases – in fact, with just about anything.  If we look at some of the things we suffer from: arthritis, short or long sight, poor hearing, allergies, ulcers, constipation, cancer, they can tell us volumes about our deepest beliefs.  Illness may seemingly have a real physical cause, yes, and certainly has a real physical manifestation, but if we can process the painful experiences we all endure as we go through life, we can certainly reduce any damage that physical ill-health can do and hopefully avoid many problems altogether.

Further Reading: