Holistic holiday first aid kit – part 2

Counting sheep is the age old method of falling to sleep, but does it really work? Those finding hard to sleep often seek distraction and some distractions work better than others, a team at Oxford University has found.   Researchers have discovered that picturing an engaging scene takes up more brain space than the same old sheep.  In addition it is easier to focus on an engaging scene because its way more interesting that sheep. Harvey and her colleague Suzanna Payne asked 50 insomniacs to try different distraction techniques on certain nights, to see which helped them fall asleep more quickly. One group conjured up a tranquil and relaxing scene such as a waterfall or being on holiday, while a second were asked to think of a distraction such as counting sheep. A third group were left to their own devices. On average, those picturing a relaxing scene fell asleep over 20 minutes earlier than on nights they didn’t try the technique. But both the sheep-counters and the controls took slightly longer than normal to fall asleep on the nights of the experiment.  The researches concluded that counting sheep is just too mundane to effectively keep worries away. If you find it difficult to conjure up vivid visulisations, aromatherapy may help.  A few drops of lavendar, chamomile or neroli essential oils may assist you to relax and unwide, and counjure up tranquil springtime fields. References A G Harvey, S Payne (2002) The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia: distraction with imagery versus general distraction.  Behaviour Research and Therapy vol 40, issue 4, 267 - 277

Following on from last week’s entry on building resilience, it is important to state that resilience don’t just help you manage stress but it fosters inner strength to help you meet goals, life challenges and achieve success. Most of my clients hold more or less physical tension which I would like you to think of as a bad habit that relaxation will help you break.  Relaxation is like changing the idling speed on a car.  When a car turns over too quickly, wasting expensive fuel and putting a strain on the engine, the mechanic can reset the idling speed to a much lower level.  Similarly when busyness, concerns, time pressure have speeded us up too much, making us tense and irritable, we can learn how to let go and attain a much calmer state of being.  So taking the time to learn what relaxes you! It is worth re-emphasising the point that it is possible to make an enormous difference to your state of mind through yoga, tai chi, relaxation and meditation and all other sorts of physical exercise. While most of celebrate our wins, it is also important to celebrate when we do good for others, as often other’s don’t notice.  We all know life has its ups and downs, when your life is in turmoil, you may not do things "perfectly".  Rather than worrying or simply surviving turmoil, why not ask what you can learn from the situation.  But don’t beat yourself up, remember you always do your best, when you know better, you do better! One habit that I try to cultivate to help put a smile on my face especially when I am feeling down is to cultivate a gratitude attitude.  However bad my day goes, before I got to sleep I try to think of three things that I am grateful for.   These don’t need to be big things; it can be as simple as “I am grateful that the transport system ran on time” as I had a busy day.  A gratitude attitude helps foster joy, fulfilment & peace of mind.

There is an old wives saying, feed a cold and starve a fever, but what does the latest science say? Although eating less when we are ill can sometimes help us to recover faster.  The loss of appetite when we have an infection is a biological "trick" that simply allows bacteria to spread.  Eating nutritious food when we have an infection can reduce its severity and recover time say researchers. Researchers have tracked the health of laboratory mice infected with the Salmonella bacteria and found that natural loss of appetite helped the bacteria spread from the intestines to other tissues.  By comparison, mice fed extra calories lived longer. This discovery could lead to new ways to tackle bacterial infections that don't rely on antibiotics. Reference Rao, Shelia et al, 2017, Pathogen-Mediated Inhibition of Anorexia Promotes Host Survival and Transmission, Cell, Volume 168, Issue 3, 503 - 516