Do you suffer from fatigue, or exhaustion? We live in a culture that doesn’t value unproductive time, yet without sufficient rest and relaxation, our health will eventually suffer. With Covid-19 going through the community, many find they are not bouncing back as quickly as others. It may be time to learn the lost art of convalescence.

Are you somewhere in mid or later life and getting more joint pain, muscular pain, and related fatigue? In my 40s I started to develop chronic joint and muscular pain, and so it’s been an area of personal interest for me. For clients, joint or all of body, or shifting pain are symptoms their doctor has often not been able to easily diagnose, let alone treat. So this newsletter I thought I would cover this topic and some of its causes.

Mind you, even if you do get a label from a medical professional such as fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthiritis, they may not be able to do a lot to help after that. The incidence of chronic pain diseases is increasing, but so far, not much gain in effective treatments.

Most of these conditions if not all, involve inflammation.

I find most of the women I work with need to hear and appreciate hearing me say things like:

Looking after kids is already a full time job- then you do paid work as well? It’s a lot you are managing, no wonder you are tired/exhausted etc

Women’s work doesn’t tend to be recognised or acknowledged, so we feel we have to do more and more...but look at everything you are doing.....

As women, mothers and/or wives, we tend to look after all the details of the family life and schedule, often including our husband/partner’s details. There is so much detail to keep track of in today’s world!

It’s ok to take time out just for you- the family revolves around you being ok, so take time to take care of you!……..

"If you can accept your body, then you have a chance to see your body as your home. You can rest in your body, settle in, relax, and feel joy and ease. If you don't accept your body and your mind, you can't be at home with yourself. You have to accept yourself as you are. This is a very important practice. As you practice building a home in yourself, you become more and more beautiful." Thich Nhat Hahn

78% of women of a healthy weight are dissatisfied with their physical appearance. Wow.

Imagine if all that energy that goes into self judgement and criticism, and trying to meet unrealistic goals of our appearance, instead went into creativity, self kindness, an ability to laugh and accept ourselves, into feeding our bodies good food and treating ourselves with deep respect. Into treating ourselves with the same love we would a friend or a child.

Have you been told you have Adrenal Fatigue? The term "adrenal fatigue" is probably not an accurate way to describe the symptoms it is referring to. And this term is criticised by the medical profession and is not a medical term or diagnosis.

However, fatigue is real. The term "adrenal fatigue" usually refers to the deep exhaustion and often associated physical symptoms, after a period of stress and/or trauma. Some people just cannot function normally or are even bedridden, just from fatigue.

We all know that chronic stress isnt good for us, that it can lead to anxiety, depression, weight gain, heart attacks, cancer, and all sorts of physical and psychological disorders.  We tend to think that stress is a necessary part of survival in these times, with financial stresses, health stresses, business stresses, parenting stresses vying for our energy. We tend to feel that stress is a given part of modern society, a necessary survival mechanism, and we feel trapped by it, and by default, by the situations we find ourselves in that apparently cause us to stress. It is certainly normal to feel stress, but is it actually necessary? 

You may be aware that you have possibly 10X more microbes in your gut that you have cells in your body and that they can weigh up to 2 kgs. We each may have up to 170 species, but the species can vary considerably, although a few key ones tend to predominate. 

Did you know that ever single person has a unique composition of gut microbes- as unique as your fingeprint? 

An article for men on how to optimise your testerosterone levels for better health

Here are some tips for maintaining some simplicity, peace, calm, health and joy around this time of year. You can end 2017 feeling energised instead of exhausted because after all, it is holiday time for most of us. 

We have access to so many herbs and supplements internationally, that we often forget about the humble herbs that surround us in our own gardens and our neighourhood. I have a passion for growing and wildcrafting herbs and learning to use them in food and as medicines. There is a healing power in being in touch with the plants in our own environment, of going into the garden and picking some leaves or flowers, and preparing something healing for ourselves or our loved ones. It doesn’t always have to come processed as tablets in expensive bottles. 

Do you get regular, deep, refreshing sleep? Here are some tips on simple ways to increase your sleep health.