How remedial massage helps relieve insomnia

TiredThere are not many things in life that can refresh and rejuvenate your body like a good night’s sleep. But if that’s the thing you aren’t getting – even when you know it’s what you need – it can start to be a real drag…and not just at night time. You may start to feel that drag all through the day interfering with your life, your work, family and friends.

Everybody deserves a good night’s sleep. Sleep is a basic human need.

I think of insomnia like driving your car every day without ever changing the oil, putting air in your tires, or getting any other maintenance done. Sooner or later, you’re going to break down. Continue reading “How remedial massage helps relieve insomnia”

The Physical Effects of Anxiety – And How Osteopathy Can Help

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Do you suffer from anxiety, depression, poor self-esteem or lack confidence?

What many of my clients don’t realise is the effect these conditions can have on their musculoskeletal system from tight muscles, headaches, difficulty breathing and poor posture.

Our Osteopath Emma Kopcikas will explain to us the impact mental health conditions have on the musculoskeletal system and how Osteopathy can help, as well as simple techniques we can incorporate into our day to lessen our anxiety and boost confidence.

Continue reading “The Physical Effects of Anxiety — And How Osteopathy Can Help”

The Gut Brain Connection

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Digestive health is so important for health!

Do you feel butterflies in the pit of their stomach when you are stressed or anxious?

This reaction shows there is a complex interaction between your gut and brain, with the gut being referred to as our “second brain”. The gut is full of nerves and neurotransmitter receptors from the enteric nervous system (part of the autonomic nervous system which performs unconscious function, like your heart beating) that is wired directly to the brain. The gut cells produce most of our serotonin, the “happy” neurotransmitter, so not only do we need to look at ingesting enough of the nutrients required for serotonin production, we need to ensure our gut health is in balance to be able to utilise it! Continue reading “The Gut Brain Connection”

How to Treat a Sick Gut – A Case Study

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 Find out here at our FREE WORKSHOP

Wednesday 27th April – 6:30pm

How to treat a sick Gut – A Case Study

with Naturopath Sally Broadhurst

 

Discover how Natural Medicine can help improve your digestion and wellbeing.

Gut dysbiosis (a fancy word for imbalance) is becoming more and more commonplace in our fast paced world. Symptoms and the intensity of digestive imbalance can present differently in everyone depending on the level of damage and how long it’s been happening for.

Continue reading “How to Treat a Sick Gut — A Case Study”

Start Fixing Fatigue With One Easy Step

Fatigue is a challenging symptom affecting more and more people in today’s world. These days it is rare that the cause of fatigue is easily pinpointed and corrected; with our fast paced lives, it often goes unnoticed until it is too late. By the time a lot of people realise they have a significant problem, the original cause of their lack of energy can be masked by a myriad of vague or prominent symptoms, which all differ in presentation and severity from person to person. So how do you find the cause of your fatigue and get the right type of help to return to health? One simple tool you can use that is with you all the time, and doesn’t cost a thing is, AWARENESS!

Continue reading “Start Fixing Fatigue With One Easy Step”

Achieving Work Life Balance

 

Seeking a balance between our work and personal lives is something that most of us strive for. It is also natural, at the beginning of a new year, to seek perspective, regroup and assess our thoughts and goals. In our daily routines we may have ambitions to climb the career ladder, be the best possible parent, achieve high grades, improve our health and fitness or to start a new business. These ambitions lead to never ending deadlines, rushing from one meeting to the next, planning what to have for dinner, do house hold chores, tend to the children and so on. Then we still need to get to bed at a decent time to ensure we are well rested to face another manic day. Continue reading “Achieving Work Life Balance”

What Are Your Goals in 2016 for Work/Life Balance?

 

Work-life balance can mean different things to different people. It is all about balancing the time, energy and attention that you put into work, family and friends, health, nutrition, physical activity, relaxation, and mind (emotions, values, beliefs.) For most people, achieving an exact balance every day, day in, day out, is not possible. So rather than a perfect balance of time, it is realistic to aim for a division of your time that helps you feel the best version of yourself as often as possible.

Benefits of work-life balance include an increased sense of well-being, energy, happiness, better mental, physical and emotional health, reduced stress and a greater enjoyment and appreciation of life.

Take time to look back over the last few months, has your life felt balanced?

Continue reading “What Are Your Goals in 2016 for Work/Life Balance?”

Is Stress Making You Sick?

You work long, tiring days trying to meet deadlines, keeping your social life active, making sure you’re a conscientious member of your community and making sure your family’s needs are being met, only to go on a well-deserved holiday and spend most of the time in bed with the flu! Why is it that you managed to hold everything together and the moment you relax and take a holiday, you get sick?

The answer may lie with Psychoneuroimmunology – the study of the interactions between psychological process, the nervous system and immunity. Research has found that when we are stressed, whether it be for only a few minutes (acute stress) or for days or longer (chronic stress), our immune system experiences a complex array of chemical and hormonal changes. The immune system forms part of our bodies defence system.  It provides response to internal dangers such as tissue damage and the threat of infection and disease and providing our body with this defence takes a lot of energy. When we are fighting infection or disease, our desire to engage in other activities such as socialising, eating and engaging in hobbies is diminished. Continue reading “Is Stress Making You Sick?”

How Digestion and the Gut Influences Your Mood

The gut and brain talk and sometimes it’s not pretty

For years Naturopaths have talked of the gut-brain connection.  How the health of the gut health will influence mood and mood will influence the gut.  With the increase in research into the interplay between humans and bugs – the human microbiome – comes some really exciting findings that back this traditional concept.  Though more research is required to get all health care professionals on board, it may not surprise you that many people have made this connection for themselves.  They work to set their gut and mind up to talk nicely to each other for happiness and best of health.

The balance of the bugs

It is said that our body has 10 times the number of bugs than human cells and 150 times as many genes – wow that’s a lot of bugs.  Now before you start scratching and head for the shower, know that when the bugs play nicely together they support our health in a wide range of ways.  It is only when the bugs are out of balance that things go array, including negatively impacting your mood.

Research has shown the link between the overgrowth of specific bugs and an increased prevalence of anxiety, an increased sensitivity to pain, memory dysfunction, autism, IBS – irritable bowel syndrome – and IBD – more serious inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.  This list melds both conditions of the mind and of the gut and supports the gut-brain link. Continue reading “How Digestion and the Gut Influences Your Mood”

IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Help for Bloated Bellies

As a Naturopath, I’m not scared to talk about poo, bloated bellies, or farting. Sounds gross and like something you don’t want to talk about, but the fact is, 1 in 5 Australians will have IBS throughout their lives and need help fixing it.

Good digestion is the key to good health –  a fact we’ve always innately known and this has become part of our vocabulary with old sayings such as “you are what you eat.”

If your belly isn’t happy – your body is sending you a signal that you may not be digesting and absorbing your nutrients properly. Healthy clean eating and super foods have become mainstream,, which is brilliant for health. But if you’re not digesting your food well, then you could be eating the worlds cleanest, healthiest diet, but you won’t optimize the nutrients from it, which are needed to keep your energized and prevent disease.  So if you think things may not be working so well in the belly department, it’s time to listen to your body and learn about what your tummy is telling you!

IBS Symptoms

  • Abdominal bloating and discomfort
  • Changeable bowel habits – alternating between constipation or diarrhoea.
  • Stool habits change – watery, loose, nuggety, thin ribbons.
  • Wind
  • Feeling of discomfort after eating & food sensitivities
  • Feeling of urgency – needing to go to the toilet often or feeling not fully evacuated when you empty your bowels.

Continue reading “IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Help for Bloated Bellies”