Did you miss my latest webinar for Natural Medicine Week ? If you want an overview of how to treat coughs, colds and stomach upsets as well as common injuries please review the powerpoint links below or click through to the youtube recording further down.
The recordings are linked to my youtube site and can be accessed by clicking on the link below, but please feel free to subscribe to the channel for updates.
Thanks to all those who attended the workshop and please consider following my blog for future updates on all things natural medicine. If you are interested in treating common illnesses and injuries have a look at these recent blogs;
Lately I have had a song stuck in my head, not sure what its called, but I just remember the line – I fall asleep counting my blessings. So rather than making a bunch of New Year’s resolutions this year I prefer to reflect on the positives from 2021, both personal and professional ( and there were some!!).
First up for me was my son returning from Canada where he had decided to stay after the border closures in March, 2020. The return trip was a little fraught as he had had COVID a few weeks before departure. We were a little worried about him testing positive still and being unable to fly. At the point in time many flights were cancelled and friends of his had multiple attempts at getting home. Anyway lots of worry but at the end of the day turns out a flight on JAL when the Olympics was on was a good call. It kept to schedule and he made it home. Not only that but the flights were fairly empty and there was lots of room to spread out and sleep. Two weeks of hotel quarantine after he had already done two weeks of COVID isolation was a bit much for him but many care packs were delivered to his room. His sister organised technology to entertain him and we sent in food as well as recommending deliveries from Lettuce Deliver for in room salads.
Inevitably when he got home I was on a Board call on Zoom but pre-warned I just ran to the door and hugged him for a long time (and there were a few tears as well).
The protracted lockdown starting in June, 2021 came with new restrictions regarding your LGA and distances you could travel. This actually resulted in the family focussing on finding new walks as much as possible. Two big positives were finding some lovely walks in the Lane Cove National Park to add to our rotation and meeting a friend on a regular basis to walk around the Wildflower Gardens at St Ives. The weather through this lockdown fortunately was very favourable and we did improve our fitness levels overall.
Another big decision for me at the start of lockdown was continuing to do a weekly Pilates class with Village Pilates on Zoom. Initially I wasn’t convinced but it was a great decision to try it and it really gave my week structure as well as helping to maintain the fitness and balance that classes had already developed. The other benefit was having three other people to catch up with on a weekly basis and this led me to developing my own webinar series initially “Reset in Lockdown” and then a “Spring Reset”. Each week I really looked forward to the challenge of developing content and also the great questions each group asked. (If you want to listen to some of the content click here for the Reset and Recharge in Lockdown ).
Zoom or Microsoft Teams was also instrumental in giving me access to a range of Government consultations and meetings on behalf of my two Boards, COSBOA and the Australian Traditional Medicine Society. In one week I attended consultations on re-opening in three States and our CEO did a further consultation for Tasmania, something that would not have been possible before as physically I would have been unable to attend meetings in three different States. Online access really assisted in my advocacy efforts as it enabled me to participate in a much broader range of meetings than our association budgets would have enabled. Further it helped keep me sane as I love being able to assist in solving problems and working for small business and natural medicine.
The real eye opener for me about inclusion was in part due to an event I attended in early May as part of my COSBOA role. The National Innovation Games was in Newcastle where the theme was Inclusion 365: Navigating physical and digital worlds. For many people with disabilities COVID had opened up access to a broad range of events through digital access, as well as providing better access to medical services with the broader provision of telehealth. The National Innovation Games is a design and critical thinking challenge where teams work on real world challenges for businesses. In this Games we were working with the City of Newcastle to develop concepts to support disability access. The team I was working with developed a concept for an app which would provide information on the best path for someone to travel around Newcastle, incorporating real time updates from existing sources to advise of possible obstacles. We did come in second place although another team with a similar concept came first so we will claim equal first place.
Another personal highlight for me was being told by my daughter that she had referred to being brought up by a strong kick-ass woman. So I will finish the year on that high point. Strong women, may we be them and may we raised them.
Wishing you all the best for 2022, please share your highlights from 2021 in the comments.
Spending time at home gives you the opportunity to try things that you may have been wanting to try but may never had the time. One of my goals is to meditate daily and work my way through all the webinars I signed up for but never got the time to watch. Below are a few ideas to keep you occupied over the next few weeks whilst nurturing mind, body & spirit.
Take an Online course
There are lots of online courses available to cater for every need. TAFE NSW is currently offering 21 courses free of charge. These range from business administration through to e marketing and are aimed at upgrading skills and giving a qualification which can be used to get back into the workplace. Further information can be found at Tafe NSW Fee Free Courses .
Coursera offers a range of courses from business and universities, some of which are free. These are mainly IT and technology based.
Khan academy offers short videos on a range of subjects from mathematics, science through to history. These are informative and very easy to follow.
Udemy also offers a wide range of short courses free of charge.
Exercise
Staying physically active is important not only for cardiovascular health but also for flexibility. If you are not used to exercise, then it is important to start with postural exercise to prevent injury. If you use Instagram then #Move U have some good stability demonstrations. If you are looking for classes then the Les Mills app is great for classes ranging from Bodypump through to Bodyjam which is a dance type class. F45 in Mona Vale are live streaming HITT classes but do require a membership. Conny Pulvermacher is livestreaming Yoga classes from The Yoga Room at St Ives have a look at the timetable and see what works for you.
Get Google Arts and Culture
Google arts and Culture, allows you to take virtual tours of some of the top museums, galleries and theatres of the world. So whether you want to visit the Natural History museum in London or the teatro bibiena then try Arts and Culture google.
Meditate
Life at the moment can leave many of us feeling stressed, anxious and overwhelmed not knowing what the future will bring. Meditation and mindfulness apps can help aid in relieving some of these feelings. Puregym gives a good summary of some of the more popular mindfulness apps. My personal favourite is Gaia which offers you the option to choose the length as well so I have a favourite 12 minute meditation.
Ferment
Fermented foods are great for gut health and general wellbeing, but can be quite expensive. They include Kombucha, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Kefir and a whole range more. Each different type of ferment has a different array of friendly bacteria. Once you get the hang of them they are very simple to create and quite addictive to make. If you would like to know more then Holly Davis has written a beautiful book called Ferment. She also has some beautiful recipes on her website .
Learn a language
There are a number of free online language courses available so if you have ever thought you would like to expand your lingual skills try these websites.
Whilst we can’t travel overseas one advantage of the current situation is that theatres are opening up production libraries to enable us to have the experience from the comfort of home. Time Out has produced a list of productions with streaming options in New York and London and Sadler Wells dance company is offering a range of shows free online as well .
Christine Pope is a naturopath and nutritionist based at Elemental Health at St Ives. You can make appointments for an online consultation currently but she will be back in her clinic at St Ives from 1 May.
