Monthly Archives

June 2018

Jun 18
1

Meditation

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We asked our resident Meditation & Mindfulness therapist to share some words with us on what it all means, and to provide us with some guidance on how we can all take five minutes out of our day to be calm.
“Our lives are governed by the Law of Cycles – night follows day, spring follows winter, and of primary importance in focussed meditation is the cyclic flow of the breath. When we allow ourselves to slow down and become curious, really curious about the breath we become aware of the point of stillness between each breath – try it now – breathe in and then notice the tiny pause before the natural out-breath, and then another subtle pause before the body draws in its next life breath. These tiny pauses are moments of all potentiality – in this moment of pure stillness transformation can occur.
‘As above, so below’ – we intuitively know the spirit and magic available at the solstice and celebrate these bi-annual festivals with joy and gratitude to the planet and the sun (the sacred Mother and Father), and by being open to receive the gifts of the forthcoming months. The same is true of the breath meditation – we celebrate each life giving moment in the joy of just being with the breath. Being with the breath is so simple and yet profound in its results. We find a deep peace in being completely self reliant and find also a deeper connection to our spirit and consequently to others through the joy of Life itself.”
Nikki Geatches is available at the Bury Natural Health Centre for classes and 1-1 Meditation or Meditation Therapy sessions. Please contact our reception team if you would like any further information, on 01284 760020
Jun 12
0

9 top tips to achieve healthy eating

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As a Nutritional Therapist, ‘healthy eating’ is a subject that is extremely close to my heart, through my own experience, I cannot stress enough how important eating healthy foods is.

Many think it’s all about ‘diet’ personally I don’t like that word as it comes with the idea of deprivation and limiting what you eat, whereas Nutritional Therapy is all about giving your body everything it needs to thrive.

Because we live in a fast paced, demanding and often stressful world – there are many of us who regularly find ourselves stuck in a permanently stressed state or the ‘flight or fight’ mode. Whilst this is useful when escaping a sabre-toothed tiger, it isn’t necessarily helpful when we are trying to digest a plateful of food.

When we are stressed our heart rate increases, blood pressure spikes, more adrenalin is produced and the body moves blood away from the digestive tract and into muscles as digesting food isn’t a priority. Constant levels of stress open you up to potential diseases; because the immune system suffers due to a lack of nutrients, as the body isn’t able to digest food properly.

Therefore, by making some simple changes to your lifestyle, you will be able to support your bodies digestive system, enabling nutrients to be adsorbed properly, and ensure your immune system is working to its best ability, leaving you with a healthier and better version of yourself.

Healthy Eating Week

Here are my 9 top tips to help you make those simple changes:

  1. Find some time for you, a hobby, meditate, sport, something you like and enjoy doing.
  2. Exercise it can improve your mood, help with weight loss, is good for your muscles and bones, increases energy levels, reduces risk of chronic disease, improves skin health, brain health and memory.
  3. Get outside daily, it regulates your melatonin levels enabling a better night’s sleep and increases Vitamin D, made in the skin when exposed to the sun.
  4. Sleep, most require 7-8 hours, this is when our bodies regenerate and heal.
  5. Eat from 5 portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit a day, pack even more in with a green smoothie.
  6. Eat the rainbow, full of antioxidants.
  7. Eat whole unprocessed foods as often as possible, if you can cook from scratch
  8. Swap the white/processed carbohydrates and replace with complex carbohydrates such as brown/whole wheat, brown rice, sweet potatoes, squashes, quinoa, buckwheat
  9. Drink 2 litres of water a day

If you want to find out more about how your lifestyle could be affecting your health, or to get advise on some simple nutritional changes you could make, please contact Rebecca Hancock at the Bury Natural Health Centre on 01284 760020.