Don't Worry your Health Away!

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN WORRY YOUR HEALTH AWAY?
Wellbeing is not just about what you eat (allthough it is a very big component!), its also about how you live and manage your emotions and stress levels. Stress accounts for about two-thirds of doctors visits and has been implicated in heart, stomack and mental disorders, along with the more common headaches, backaches and high blood pressure and cholesterol. Stress basically reduces the levels of your natural killer cells that fight off infections and tumours. Stress also produces hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline that are potent inhibitors of our immune system. It is very important to find ways to manage daily pressures and anxieties. I love to practise just 10-15mns of meditation every morning come rain or shine! You can find many short meditations on Itunes or youtube. One of my favourite sites www.doyogawithme.com offers free online meditation and yoga classes. Find the one you love and practise it consistently. Journalling is also a great way of expressing your worries and concerns and bringing them out of the body...it helps you to unclutter your mind and find solutions to any issues you may have.

Finally, practise gratitude everyday when you wake up and before drifting off to sleep. Think of 3 things that you are grateful for in your life. We have a natural impulse before sleeping of thinking of what went wrong in our day and what we didn't accomplish. Gratitude shifts your attention to what is going right in your life instead. Its amazing how this simple act puts things into perspective and melts all the worries away!

OH I nearly forgot to mention the importance of breathing! Remember to practise deep breathing from the stomack (not shallow breathing from your chest) regularly throughout your day. It will relax you tremendously and still your mind!