HEALTHY MATTERS
A blog for you to browse and enjoy. If you have any questions or would like me to write about a specific topic get in touch and let me know!
Burnout is a topic that comes up again and again - and in fact not just within the corporate world. When stress becomes too much we experience overwhelm, we lose sight of our needs and we hit a wall. Over the last two years there may have been times where we feel we’ve been running on empty. Burnout is a real and ongoing concern, and it is the #1 challenge facing many today. Experiencing burnout is more than just feeling horribly tired, it is a complete exhaustion at the physical, emotional, and mental level. So how can we begin to address, prevent, and recover?
This is the question I hear asked over and over in relation to any medical treatments.
With the rollout of vaccines for children aged 5-11, I've been getting more and more questions from my clients about what the most up to date science says.
Luckily for New Zealand we're about 1 year behind some other countries in the spread of COVID, so we can look to these countries to see what evidence based data has come out from there.
The information in the article below is very dense and in-depth but if you are looking for as complete as possible overview, without media bias, I felt this was a good one. I hope you find it informative...
Wow! What a crazy year that was! I've been wanting to write an article for over a year but with sifting through so much conflicting content it felt like I'd end up writing a book! I still have many questions that don't have concise or satisfactory answers in my opinion. So instead I thought you might want to listen to much cleverer people than me discussing some interesting topics, including why "2 weeks to flatten the curve" has turned into 2 years with no end in sight.
In saying that I do feel tides are changing and I'm optimistic about how this year will unfold.
Hopefully you're one of the lucky ones who have had your life routines changed in a positive way from the COVID situation. If so then I'm truly happy for you on that. For others it has increased the pressure at work, created uncertainty of work stability, pressure at home juggling family life, socially and financially.
Why is it that we continue to feel so frustrated and so confused by what we should, could or must do when we want to get healthier. There’s such an overabundance of information already available to us and in reality we all inherently know the core foundations to improve our health - move and exercise more, eat better, get quality sleep, reduce stress.
So, if we know these things already - why does it feel so hard? Why isn't everyone just walking around feeling really amazing and healthy?
Have you heard of Rajio Taiso? It's such a great idea in my view, especially for schools. It's a type of activity that gets the whole body moving in a restorative way.
When this type of activity becomes the norm for children it's a healthy habit that will be more likely to be carried over into adulthood.
I’ve written in the past about how small changes add up. Just recently I was chatting with a client about this topic and she sent me the following paragraphs which goes to show what fantastic and sometimes unbelievable gains can be made by what seems to be the smallest of changes…
Have you ever had a business coach or expert come into your company to improve how the teams work together to become more productive? To improve that ever important bottom line? If you have, chances are you would’ve heard them talking about getting the basics right, the fundamentals rather than just focusing on the nuances.
Life has changed so much - and will continue to change for some time yet. As we humans are creatures of habit we don't always like change - Why? Because adapting our minds and bodies to new ways is hard work.
Recent events have had profound effects on many lives. On the face of it’s been about avoiding the virus so you or your loved ones stayed well and safe. And frontline everyday people risking their health to protect our communities.
With the CODIV-19 virus causing huge disruptions globally it's unusual times at the moment. I can understand why some people are unsettled but it’s important to remain calm, not panic and stay up to date with the recommended actions.
You know it. That debilitating pain that makes you think about every move you make.
Lots of us have had or are having back issues. There are many different causes such as accidental direct impact caused by trauma to the spine, an accumulative stress from an injury to an ankle or hip creating imbalances throughout the body, repetitive movements such as manual labour or even regular golfing, weakened stability from pregnancy or inactivity, digestive issues and much more.
Have you heard of desynchronosis? It’s another word for Jetlag. It comes from a latin word meaning unsynchronized.
When we travel on a plane, we find ourselves in a less than optimal state when we arrive at our destination. We can feel "hungover" after a flight and here’s why:
Oh dear. I can hear the eye balls rolling or the panic kicking in. It’s either “we’re all getting fried by invisible waves” or “don’t be stupid, there’s nothing to worry about”.
Firstly, what does EMF stand for? Electromagnetic Field.
Technology is great.
If it wasn't for the technology we have today you wouldn't have seen this blog.
I can connect with friends and family all over the globe at any time. I can follow experts and watch their talks and do research on any subject I like without having to leave home. I can even work from home seeing clients online from anywhere in the world. It's truly amazing.
Ice for injuries? “Of course” I hear you say. Icing injuries has been around for decades. Everyone does it and we all know the RICE protocol…. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
As we enter the festive season (or the silly season as it’s known to some!) we’re typically bombarded with the usual health messages such as - keep to healthy foods, don’t over eat, don’t stray from your usual healthy eating, keep to your sleep times, don’t eat junk foods or drink alcohol regularly, don’t stop your exercises.
I’ve written before about why we should get outside in nature more.
Unfortunately more and more evidence is coming to light about the increasing sickness due to the lack of outdoor time. There is now the term “nature deficit disorder” which suggests children who spend too much time indoors on screens may develop attention deficits, hyperactivity, or depression.
Are we becoming desensitised? Are we so distracted we’re losing the ability to sense the world around us?
It seems more and more difficult to be fully immersed in conversations. You can almost hear the noise coming from the minds of those “busy” people who see conversing as either a necessity to getting something achieved or an inconvenience as it’s halting their productivity.
I came across the “New 24-hour movement guidelines” for Aussie children a few months back-
“Sixty minutes of physical activity, less than two hours of screen time and around nine hours of sleep a night - that's what school kids need according to new national guidelines. Link here.
Thankfully more and more information is coming out as to why women are different from men and why women need to eat, train and recover differently to men but not only that- why women need to adjust these factors with each day.
Sleep is a wonder. When you get enough good quality restorative sleep life is much easier to navigate when the seas start to get choppy. On the other hand, good sleep can be elusive. Night after night it can be broken and frustration sets in.
Now I’ve mentioned in many previous blogs about the importance of sleep and how lack of sleep affects many aspects of your wellbeing from weight gain, weakened immune, reduced cognitive function, reduced happiness, blood sugar dysregulation and the list goes on.
This blog is designed to create lasting and successful behaviour changes. If your change your mindset and behaviours you’ll be able to fit in enough wellness measures into your day to see good health and fitness improvements in your life without necessarily needing more time.
When you think of fitness what springs to mind? Running 10 k’s, bootcamps, spin classes or all of the above?
Fitness can mean so many things to different people but I like to put into the everyday life so answer me these 10 questions and let me know how many out of 10 you say yes to-
Being that I research daily on all health related topics I sometimes get asked what professionals I follow. The list is quite vast as I love hearing the many varying opinions on subjects but I’ve listed just a handful of them below with links to their websites.
Ok, so we’re surrounded by them- that’s a weird thoughts. And we need to look after them right. So does this mean that we should use clothing to hold them up and keep them from moving anywhere? The answer seems to point to no- not for most of the time anyway.
I’m actually writing this blog while being a little unwell. I don’t get sick very often but I had to convince myself, even with everything I know, that I should take the next couple of days off to rest and recover. It’s sometimes really hard to stop.
This is a question I’ve been asked more than once and with the Ketogenic diet gaining popularity I thought I’d share this article addressing this topic.
I see so many health and movement issues in my clients that are driven out of lack of movement or those who do single repetitive movements. The simple notion of moving more feels too hard in the ever increasing demands on our free time.
I never start the new year with resolutions to change. For me, starting to implement health changes whilst on holiday just isn’t going to succeed. Others do have good results with this focus but the evidence seems to point to those successful people are in the minority.
