Mindfulness and its benefits on health

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What is mindfulness?

You may have heard a lot about mindfulness, but what is it and how can we use mindfulness to help us in our lives.

Mindfulness, the practice of being present and fully engaged in the moment, has been gaining popularity in recent years as a way to reduce stress and improve overall well-being. While mindfulness may seem like a simple concept, the benefits it can provide to our health are significant and backed up by scientific research.

Benefits to your health

One of the most significant benefits of mindfulness is its ability to reduce stress. When we practice mindfulness, we become more aware of our thoughts and emotions, which allows us to better manage them. This can lead to lower levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress, in our bodies. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) significantly reduced stress levels in participants compared to a control group.

Mindfulness has also been shown to improve sleep quality. According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, mindfulness meditation can improve sleep quality for older adults with sleep disturbances. The study found that those who practiced mindfulness meditation had less insomnia, fatigue, and depression than the control group.

In addition to reducing stress and improving sleep, mindfulness can also benefit our cardiovascular health. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that practicing mindfulness meditation for just eight weeks was associated with a significant reduction in blood pressure. Another study published in the same journal found that mindfulness-based interventions were associated with improvements in heart rate variability, which is an indicator of overall cardiovascular health.

Mental Health

Mindfulness can also benefit our mental health. A study published in the journal Mindfulness found that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Another study published in the journal Psychiatry Research found that mindfulness meditation can increase the gray matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional regulation and self-awareness.

Immune health

In addition to these benefits, mindfulness has also been shown to boost our immune system. A study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology found that mindfulness-based interventions were associated with improvements in immune function. The study found that those who practiced mindfulness had higher levels of antibodies than the control group, indicating that their immune systems were functioning better.

Overall, the benefits of mindfulness for our health are significant and far-reaching. By reducing stress, improving sleep quality, boosting cardiovascular health, and benefiting mental and immune health, mindfulness can help us to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

As Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, once said: “Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.” With all these proven benefits, mindfulness can be a powerful tool for enhancing our health and well-being.

I’ll be posting more about mindfulness and a few ways to practice mindfulness which you may not have thought about. The book below (linked to amazon) is one of my favourites and the audio version has a batch of audio follow along audio mindfulness meditations.

 

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

Using Weleda Arnica Massage Oil for pain relief

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Weleda Arnica Massage oil – short review

Whilst having my arm/shoulder injuries I was in a lot of pain. A friend of mine who sells Weleda recommended Arnica massage balm. It’s been great and really helped take the edge off without taking medication. I’m not keen on taking ibuprofen or other stronger pain relief, so I try to use more natural things in general.

The arnica massage balm firstly feels wonderful. The carrier oil is thick and feels really lovely on the skin. It smells great to, or at least it’s a smell I like. Its described as, a warming massage oil which can be used before or after exercise. (This is what I used it for the most until my injury. Its helped with muscle soreness after exercise [DOMS]). The label says it stimulates blood flow and relaxes the muscles, which it does appear to do very nicely. This is a popular product that I recommend to anyone who wants to improve their health and wellness, using an effective natural remedy.

Before bed I would put a little on my hand and the gently rub it into the skin roughly where the pain was coming from. The pump makes it very easy to use, even with injuries and there’s no dripping. It certainly eased it off and allowed me to sleep better. I will be using this again and again to relieve muscle soreness after exercise and to help me with any injuries! (Lets hope I don’t have any more!!)

What’s Arnica well known for?

Arnica is well known for its use as a traditional pain relief and more recent trials have shown promising results.

[Smith, A.G.; Miles, V.N.; Holmes, D.T.; Chen, X.; Lei, W. Clinical Trials, Potential Mechanisms, and Adverse Effects of Arnica as an Adjunct Medication for Pain Management. Medicines 2021, 8, 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicines8100058]

Arnica is known for its soothing and regenerating properties and is particularly effective for treating bruises too. The massage oil supports recovery and it helped me feel better.

All in all I like the Arnica massage oil and its effects for my pain relief from my injury. Obviously there are many different arnica products on the market and in the past I’ve also used Nelsons Arnica cream to help with various bumps and bruises.

Let me know if you’ve tried it and what you think of the product.

Where can you buy Weleda Arnica Massage Oil?

If you’d like to get some yourself, please click on the link below:

Hazel Curtis Weleda Supervisor – Arnica massage oil

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

Breath work what is it?

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Breathwork – what is it, what does it do and my first experience of a breath work session

 

What is it?

So, suddenly I keep hearing about breath work and how good it is for you. I meditate daily in various ways and use my own and others guided visualisation. One of my meditations is breath focused and Ive also used the calm app, which also is breath and thought focused.

In essence breath work is focusing on your breathing and using breathing to calm your body and mind, destress and some forms of breath work can also have more radical affects (these seem to be mainly focused on a form of hyperventilation).

What does it do?

For me and for many people breath work can calm the body and mind. Deep belly breathing calms down the nervous system. It takes us out of the flight or fight response and makes the body and mind feel like its in a relaxed and calm situation. However, you can use breath work to build energy and also some emotional releases. the one I did today was for calming but it also (for me) had a positive side effect of giving me lots of energy.

My first experience of a breath work session.

I’m not a practitioner and a complete newbie to breath work, but I do use focused breathing as a form of meditation and I do this each morning. Its from a book called mindfulness through depression. The one I do is for 3 minutes. The calm app also has very similar short sessions and they are also excellent for calming the mind and body.

So what was the breath work like, how long was it and how did I feel afterwards?

The breath work session I attended was online in a zoom session. The lovely lady Zora ran the session as part of her Patreon membership Zora runs the sessions every Monday and Friday (check her links for times in your country) and the whole session lasts about an hour. This includes 10 minutes of breath work and then a meditation session afterwards.

The breath work that I just did was lovely, it included focusing on the breath in, pause (hold breath for 2 seconds) and then release the breath. The most important thing is you breathe into the belly. Zora counted me through it and it certainly had a lovely calming feeling when I was doing it. She also got us to focus on an outcome. I enjoyed it a lot and the meditation that followed. I ended up falling asleep, which is quite normal. After waking we went to a chill out room, so we could discuss some of the things that had happened. I felt energised despite having just “woken up”! Buzzing might be the operative word.

I will definitely be doing this again (Friday all being well) and I am looking forward to all the variations that we will be doing. Let me know if you use breath work and what you have used it for.

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

 

Exercises at the desk to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT)

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Exercises at the desk to prevent deep vein thrombosis

If you’re still working from home during the cold pandemic, you’ve probably already adapted ways to keep healthy, I know I have.

Walking for healthy mind and body

I go for walks each day/evening, which are gentle on the body. At the beginning this was either alone or with a family member, but as the lockdown has eased, I’ve walked with a friend of mine who lives very close to me. Masks are a little restricting but a short walk with a friend can cure many concerns of the mind!

Day to day working from home hasn’t been too bad, it started off with working at the dining table, none of us knew how long it would go on for, but as time went on I moved the work into a spare room and set it up, gradually making it more and more office like. Like many though, although I’m lucky having the spare room and not having to use the dining table, share the internet with lots of children homeschooling and the sheer stress of trying to balance it all (which I know many parents have been through), the room is still not ideal and is cramped and I seem to be constantly sitting as the workload from covid just seems to get more and more and more. Risk assessments for each change in the rules, setting up teams and zoom meetings, working out how to train people less IT literate etc. However, as sitting working reminded me of being on a long haul flight, it also made me think about how I can help myself and take care of my own health. Particularly in relation to not getting static and risking a DVT.

Oddly from a health point of view I can see a tsunami of various health issues for the future for this country, and I’m no doctor or expert.

Trying to avoid the risk of DVT

I try to do my best in keeping active but like on a plane, I’ve tried to make sure I keep my legs and feet are active and keep moving to avoid getting a deep vein thrombosis from sitting for so long in one place. (Im not so sure that would be on everyone’s mind though).

Some of the exercises I have done include sitting on my desk chair, raising my feet onto my toes and squeezing my calf muscles (as you might do on a plane).

Seated heel raise

Stretching my legs. Walking up and downstairs to keep the heart pumping when getting drinks and visiting the toilet. Sometimes on phone calls I stand instead of sitting, and do toe raises.

Standing Heel and toe raises

I occasionally do leg raises, one leg at a time, or both legs together, pointing my toes and bringing my toes back towards my legs, really stretching out my calf and hamstrings.

Seated straight leg raise

I’ve had to attend day and week long training courses, where you just watch the webinar. With these I just stand then sit as if to sit on the chair, like a seat squat.

Chair squats

I rock and move my body so my back doesn’t get stiff and my body isn’t in the same position all the time.

I’m lucky as I have a mini trampoline here too, which seems to be brilliant for moving the circulation etc.

Hopefully the videos help explain what exercises Ive been doing. Im not a dr but certainly they’ve seemed to help keep me active.

Let me know what exercises you’ve been doing during lockdown.

 

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

 

Ganoderma/Reishi- Why I’m drinking it, why YOU might want to use it and what its supposed to do for you

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Ganoderma – why I’m drinking it

Why YOU might want to use it and

What its supposed to do for you

Cup of coffee from the top looking down

Over the last couple of years and covid lockdown in particular, I’ve gained a little weight and some of this was because at the beginning of lockdown I came down with something. Not sure if it was COVID, or pneumonia  or just a plain chest infection, (no testing available at that time), but whatever it was, for someone who rarely gets ill, it was horrendous and left me weak and unable to walk even to the top of the street!

Building back fitness

So the following months after “recovering” I have had to recover my fitness my health and start right from scratch!

I also got myself checked out and was told there were a couple of other issues that this illness and the weight had affected.

So, I started off by walking to the top of the road and back. Keeping my chest warm. It felt pathetic but they say a journey starts with a single step and in this instance, that was most definitely and literally the case. I progressed to round the small block, round the little block and then a few times and eventually I got back to walking for over an hour.

However, the weight never dropped back off, a tiny bit lower a tiny bit higher and my sleep became seriously disrupted and my stress levels shot through the roof.

I’m a very calm person, know how to deal with stresses and lockdown seemed to be piling these on. The lack of sleep didn’t help, as it was hard to function well on 2 to 4 hours sleep. 😦

Coffee containing Ganoderma / Reishi

Coffee cup on coffee beans in the shape of a heart

Then I came across a coffee (and tea) containing the super food Ganoderma/Reishi. I looked up what it was supposed to do. It claims to do a number of things but amongst these many many claims and testimonials it seemed to be very helpful towards sleep, cortisol/stress/anxiety and liver function. The coffee is not acidic and is apparently alkaline and for sure, the coffee and the green tea don’t give me heartburn (unlike my usual pod coffee). It taste great and does help with some of the things it claims to. I’m not a doctor, so I can only give you my own experience, but so far so good.

Heres a short video on the benefits of the mushroom itself.

A nutritionist speaks about benefits related to weight loss

in this clip below

I will keep updating this particular blog post, as I want to see if it helps with my weight, liver count, potential pre-diabetes, sleep, anxiety, stress and overall general health.

Let me know in the comments whether you have used Ganoderma/Reishi , either in coffee, tea or on its own as a supplement and if you’ve had good experiences with it, particularly if its helped with the issues mentioned above.

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

NB This post is NOT sponsored or affiliated.

 

Superfoods what are they and why eat them?

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Superfoods have become a buzzword in recent years, and for good reason. These foods are packed with nutrients that can help improve our health and well-being. But what exactly are superfoods, and why are they so good for us? In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these nutrient powerhouses and the potential pitfalls to watch out for.

A rainbow heart of fruit and vegetables of vivid and beautiful colours

What are Superfoods?

Superfoods are foods that are rich in nutrients and are believed to provide numerous health benefits. These foods are typically plant-based, but some animal-based foods can also be considered superfoods. Some examples of superfoods include:

  1. Berries – Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are all rich in antioxidants, which can help protect our cells from damage caused by free radicals.

  1. Leafy Greens – Kale, spinach, and Swiss chard are all excellent sources of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as iron, calcium, and fiber.

  1. Nuts and Seeds – Almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds are all rich in healthy fats, protein, and fiber.

Salmon – This fatty fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce inflammation in the body.

Turmeric – This spice is rich in curcumin, a compound that has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

turmeric benefits drinking turmeric tea image of raw and ground fresh turmeric

Why Are Superfoods So Good For Us?

Superfoods are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which can help prevent a range of health problems. For example, eating a diet rich in superfoods can help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. These foods are also great for boosting our energy levels, improving our mood, and reducing inflammation in the body.

In addition to their health benefits, superfoods are also typically low in calories, making them a great choice for those looking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. By incorporating these nutrient-packed foods into our diet, we can nourish our bodies and improve our overall health and well-being.

Pitfalls to Look Out For

While superfoods can be incredibly beneficial for our health, it’s important to approach them with caution. Here are some potential pitfalls to watch out for:

  1. Price – Superfoods can be expensive, and it’s not always feasible to incorporate them into our diet on a regular basis. However, it’s worth noting that many superfoods are also available in frozen or canned form, which can be a more affordable option.
  2. Hype – It’s important to remember that superfoods are not a magic cure-all. While they can be beneficial for our health, they are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
  3. Overconsumption – While superfoods can be great for our health, it’s important not to overdo it. Eating too much of a certain food, even if it’s a superfood, can lead to nutrient imbalances and other health problems.
  4. Exclusion of Other Foods – It’s important to remember that superfoods should be part of a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods. Focusing solely on superfoods can lead to nutrient deficiencies and other health problems.

In conclusion, superfoods are a great way to boost our health and well-being. By incorporating these nutrient-packed foods into our diet, we can nourish our bodies and improve our overall health. However, it’s important to approach superfoods with caution and to remember that they are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

I’ve used a lot of superfoods in the past, varying kinds and supplements. I’ll be highlighting some of these in future posts. What I’ve used, why, how they’ve helped, if they’ve helped and more. Some Ive used to test out and some because they’ve been recommended by a functional medicine doctor or general practitioner.

As the famous quote by Michael Pollan goes, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” 

Jo Tricker Healthy Living Lady

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Curcumin 2000 review

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Curcumin 2000 Review

Curcumin 2000

Having done quite a bit of research on the health benefits of Turmeric, I wanted to review a few popular supplements. Read my post on the health benefits of Turmeric. Getting enough curcumin in your diet is a bit tricky on a day to day basis, unless you eat a lot of curries or drink turmeric tea each day, so supplements may be of benefit.

Continue reading Curcumin 2000 review

Lose fat around my knees

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Lose fat around my knees, and waist and …

So…. I am fast approaching 50, yes 50 and I don’t look a day older than 49 haha. Over the past year I seem to have had a little weight creep up on me and it’s simply down to less exercise and sitting around a lot more than usual. I noticed at first that my knees were getting chubbier and I wanted to lose weight around my knees, and my waist. I’ve started on a couple of things to see what I could do to slim down before the big day.

Continue reading Lose fat around my knees

Eating Healthy on a low budget

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Eating Healthy on a low budget

Eating Healthy on Low Budget

Eating healthy with little money is not as difficult as it is daunting. There are many ways to save money whilst buying and cooking food. You hear people saying that eating fruit and vegetables can be expensive and if you shop poorly this can be the case.

There are a few ways to save money depending on whether you shop weekly or monthly.

Continue reading Eating Healthy on a low budget

Aloe Vera Extract

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Aloe Vera extract

aloegelorange

 

One of the biggest changes in my life was discovering aloe vera gel drink. A friend of mine recommended it to me as I had suffered from IBS for my whole life and we were speaking about it one day. Prior to drinking the aloe I was on 8 imodium a day just to be able to walk 1.5km. At the time, the daily trip for the school run took me via 4 toilets and I would dread the ring of the railway crossing, which meant there was a delay in reaching the second toilet. Not knowing if I could make the next leg of the journey was a daily nightmare and one I would not want to repeat.

Continue reading Aloe Vera Extract