May: Healthy Stress Management
What a lovely spell of weather we have been having in Scotland recently, long may it continue! We just got our beloved but troublesome old VW Camper Van, Bruce, back from the garage yesterday so we’re excited about our Scottish adventures this summer.
The sense of freedom, fun, getting back to basics, spending time outdoors, walking, swimming, watching sunsets and the sunrise is priceless. It makes us realise that we only need the basics: a comfy bed, nice food, companionship, a good book or two and the chance to truly live in the moment and appreciate the small things. It’s too easy to overlook all the sweetness that’s right there waiting to be noticed.
We live in a stressful world where the focus is on being busy, and achieving success, whatever that means, often to the detriment of our health on a physical and emotional level. Admittedly, it's not an easy world to live in, with all the injustice and the damage to our precious planet which is only getting worse with each passing day.
As women, there is even more pressure on us to be superwoman, working, looking good, looking after the home, the kids, the grandkids, often taking on way more than we can handle, and it’s not sustainable. Eventually we will burn ourselves out as our body simply can’t cope with all the demands.
So our focus this month is a biggie, it’s STRESS, how it impacts our health, our weight, our mental focus, our gut buddies, our digestion, our immunity and ultimately our happiness.
We’ll be looking at all the ways in which we can manage stress, improve our resilience, and find balance in this crazy world, before we tip ourselves over the edge towards ill health. Our special guest this month is the inspiring Dr Sheena Fraser, creator of the Microbiome Medics, and an absolute fountain of knowledge on all aspects of health and the gut microbiome. The focus of our chat will be stress, anxiety and depression, how these conditions are linked to the gut, and a comparison of diet and lifestyle measures versus medication.
I intend to have a lot of fun this month looking at all the holistic ways we can reduce stress in our lives, from wild swimming, chilling out in Salt Caves, Shugite Chambers, Forest Bathing, Chanting, Drumming, gardening, foraging, using crystals and Flower Essences, practising gratitude, barefoot walking, being creative, meditating and mindfulness.
Food is also important and as always we’ll be looking at delicious ways to support our hardworking gut buddies, to reduce the negative impact of stress.
Details will be posted on the FB group, so do check in regularly.
I would like to finish on a highlight of my month, I met the inspiring 81 year old Angela Campbell on my annual trip to Iona with friends. What an inspiration she was, sharp as a tack, fit as a fiddle, and still teaching pupils to play the violin! I filmed her playing in St Orans Chapel and was blown away by her talent. I shared the video, with her consent, on my FB page and it has now been viewed over half a million times, shared 4000 times with 1000 glowing comments! She was on BBC Radio 3 as part of their Easter Service from Iona. That's the positive side of social media, sharing the good things, with no agenda other than to highlight someone's unique gift and share it with the world. What a woman!!
Let’s all make good choices for ourselves this month and make some time for self care, we are all deserving of it and we owe it ourselves.
In good health,
Janice xx
