Category: stress

Posted by Christine Pope on in stress

One in four men do no housework 

shutterstock_632228624Sadly this statistic from the census didn’t surprise me. I see a constant stream of women who are stressed from working two full time roles as employee and mum/housekeeper. It isn’t just the housework – the shopping  – driving the kids around – making lunches – making dinners – but also the  constant burden of thinking about everything that needs to happen that many find exhausting.

Personally it’s taken me a long time to get my household to a fairer balance and so I can’t pretend that I have the answers. But i do think this is an important topic and maybe some of my useful techniques can help yet another exhausted mother/housewife/carer from hitting the wall!

One of my colleagues tells this story about me and whilst I honestly don’t remember this it does sound like me. Many years ago my husband washed all my lingerie with brightly coloured clothes and turned it all pinkish. My response was “don’t worry hon it will cost me about 400 bucks to replace it but you’ll get the hang of it”. 27 years later he still does all the washing and ironing . In fact my son also irons beautifully. They both like ironing whilst watching TV.

Lesson #1: You don’t have to do everything yourself!

It takes 10,000 hours to build competence so don’t expect your partner or kids to do it perfectly in fact let go of the expectation that they will do it your way at all. After all “done” is better than perfect. Also remember that whilst you can do it faster and better than they can now, just think about how much time you are liberating if they cook just dinner one night a week? Over weeks or months how much extra time would you have and this should help you build your resilience to make some changes.

The area that really started getting to me about four years ago was cooking. With a gluten and dairy free household and our preference for organic food most meals are made from scratch and it takes a lot of time. In fact I think I have spent years of my life chopping vegetables. About 4 years ago I taught my husband a few simple dishes such as my Easy Roast Chicken and Turkey mince Lasagne. His rule is that I need to cook it with him twice and then leave him with detailed step by step instructions.

shutterstock_512123965If making a whole meal seems a big stretch then start by suggesting other’s participate in food preparation by asking them to  make a salad or at least chop some vegetables and then build up from there. Meal preparation is a lot faster with a few extra sets of hands.

Lesson #2: Baby Steps

One strategy that I really liked was for the whole family to participate in 20 minutes of home beautification each day. It isn’t a huge amount of time but it’s amazing how four people working for 20 minutes can get so much more done. It’s also surprisingly how after a few weeks thing start naturally being returned to their correct location.

Lesson #3: It’s OK to ask for help

Another strategy is outsourcing. For many women this can feel like failure. Personally I think its amazing to come home from work and find the house has been cleaned by someone else.  Also you create employment – in Africa, for example,  employing help as soon as you can afford it is regarded as an obligation. Often that salary is supporting a whole family. What you pay a cleaner will certainly contribute to the success of a business even though maybe it won’t create a whole wage , so think about the broader community and outsource.

The area that I still haven’t cracked is the teenage attitude of I’ll do it when I get around to it. One weekend I left unwashed dishes on the kitchen bench for 36 hours waiting for that magical moment. Came back home to my husband washing up who said that he knew I would lose it if it wasn’t done (and he was spot on there). Any suggestions for how to manage this one? Please post in the comments section below if you have any hot tips.

Christine Pope is a Naturopath Nutritionist and Homeopath based at Elemental Health St Ives. Appointments can be made on 8084 0081 or book online at http://www.elementalhealth.net.au .

 

Posted by Christine Pope on in Health Care, stress

Ultimate stress management tool – Pokemon Go !

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Managing stress isn’t always easy but the latest tool assisting in my arsenal is a surprising one – Pokemon Go! So how does a kids game help manage stress?

First up most adults spend a lot of time on devices, checking emails, social media or the Internet. What we seem to have forgotten is how to use devices for fun. Imagine that instead of checking your emails you are checking which cute little Pokemon you can catch. Yep add a bit of fun to your day instead of more work.

Another area many of us forget when our work piles up is exercise but when you get rewarded for walking by hatching eggs with new Pokemon there is suddenly value in making sure you exercise frequently. Eggs need 2, 5 or even 10 km of walking to hatch and you get rarer Pokemon with higher value eggs. No surprise then that the first week with the game I probably upped my walking by 10 kilometers in the week and now try and walk every day instead of just a few days a week.

Many women are juggling a constant range of pickups and drop-offs. Many days I will have done two trips to the station before I head to my clinic in the morning. It used to get me quite irritable specially at night when I am cooking dinner and got constant interruptions. Now I am like excellent , I can top up on my poke balls at the poke stops at the station ( you use these to catch the Pokemon). So a source of irritation has now become an opportunity. Often reframing stressors can change our reaction.

img_0527Finally a few people when they get stressed withdraw from socialising and their community – well this game positively inspires social interaction. Yesterday I had a lively discussion with an eight year old boy at the park about the difficulty we were both having catching a Bulbasaur at the local poke-stop. Even in my clinic I have found this a great ice breaker with children who usually aren’t that happy to be dragged in to see a natural therapist.

Many of my colleagues commented that with the advent of this game teens are roaming the streets – that’s right instead of playing a game solo in their rooms they are outside interacting with nature and each other!! I am planning a trip to Circular Quay for Pokemon hunting with a group of friends next week. Anyone else want to join us???

Christine Pope is a practicing nutritionist and homeopath based at Elemental Health St Ives. Appointments are available Tuesdays and Wednesdays on 8084 0081 or you can book online at Elemental Health . She is currently at Level 24 on Pokemon and  has just caught a Pikachu in a Xmas hat.

 

Posted by Christine Pope on in Health Care, stress, Uncategorized

Reflections on a busy year

This year was going to be different. I was not going to overcommit. Having taken on a directorship for Australia’s largest natural medicine association, ATMS, I had reduced my teaching commitments to ensure I had enough time for my three roles.


Maybe that’s where I had been kidding myself a little as juggling Head of Nutrition at Nature Care College , clinical practice at Elemental Health   and the directorship was possibly a little challenging.
So what brought me to the verge of adrenal exhaustion?  Well the unexpected. I took over classes for a pregnant colleague and ended up with piles of marking. I stepped up as Treasurer in my board role and found out in when I did that audit and year end had not been organised by my predecessor and my darling son got glandular fever.

Actually the glandular fever was very stressful as a Mum and practitioner. Thank goodness for a great GP who calmly helped us through diagnosis and monitoring his recovery. There is another blog in how to help someone through glandular fever but that will be coming up next!!

bigstock-Grade-written-on-an-exam-paper-60125483.jpgWhat made a big difference was my support team. The friends and colleagues who noticed where I was at and offered great advice even if I took a while to take it on board.
So in the words of Monty Python ” nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition” but perhaps what I need to do is learn to allow a little more space for the unexpected. Fortunately for me the college I was working at was going through re-accreditation and decided it needed more hours , thereby giving me space to gracefully bow out. It also allowed me to allocate more time to the directorship and surprisingly (or not) this reduced my stress levels dramatically. Turns out concentrating on only two things was far less stressful.

So what are you planning for 2016? How are you going to make sure you can focus on doing what you love without burning yourself out?

Christine Pope is a practising homeopath, nutritionist and coach , who is still working on coaching herself on stress management! She is in practice at Elemental Health at St Ives and appointments can be made on 8084 0081. Based on her own significant experience she can assist with all the symptoms of adrenal burnout including low energy, poor motivation and low mood.

Arriving in great shape
Posted by Christine Pope on in Health Care, Nutrition, stress

Arriving in great shape

The worst thing in the world when you start a holiday is getting sick. You just spent thousands getting to your destination and now you have to deal with being sick, missing out on part of your holiday and even dealing with a doctor in a language you don’t speak. So what can you do to avoid this?

First up don’t work right up to the second you get on the plane. You are setting yourself up for a lovely adrenal crash when you land, depressing your immune system so you can’t resist the bugs that were on the plane or in the airport. You are going on holidays and they need to cope when you are gone – coach them with some baby steps the weeks before your trip so that its all running smoothly and you can enjoy your break.

Support your immune system assiduously before the trip. Ideally look at a minimum a good quality probiotic for at least a month, plus if you are prone to colds and flu think about some form of immune support in the form of Echinacea, Vitamin C and Zinc. If its really your adrenals that are struggling then consider some ginsengs such as Withania which provides gentle support. Again start at least a month before travelling to really build up your adrenals.

Book your flights so that you start relaxed. By this I mean rather than getting a 6am flight because its cheapest, travel at 10 or 11am when its more relaxed and you can enjoy a slow start to the day. Treat the travel as part of the holiday and make it a relaxed experience. If you are doing Europe in economy think about breaking it overnight to sleep flat in a real bed and make it easier on your body. Alternatively book a massage once you arrive to really start your holiday in the best frame of mind.

Then on the plane work on barrier support. Try a nasal spray with saline and essential oils to keep mucous membranes functioning and bugs at bay. This is also good if you are prone to difficulties with ears on takeoffs or landings as it will help keep the passages clear. Stay well hydrated even if you have to get out to the toilet every few hours – moving around will help you feel better at the other end anyway.

My favourite homeopathic combination for long trips is a dose of Oscillococinum and Hepar Sulph on each leg of the flight. Oscillococinum is marketed as Flu Stop in Europe and its a great preventative if you are prone to catching those type of bugs. Better still it can be used as treatment if you do get a bug so it covers a few bases.

Christine Pope is a Homeopath and Nutritionist who practices at Elemental Health, St Ives and can be contacted on 8084 0081 for appointments. Her travel bug has been curtailed of recent years due to a busy work schedule but she is planning a trip to New Zealand in January.

EMF could it be destroying your sleep?
Posted by Christine Pope on in Detoxification, Health Care, stress

EMF could it be destroying your sleep?

Currently I am listening to a series of Environmental Health master classes with the first one on Electromagnetic radiation. I have always had an interest in this topic as many years ago I remember being told that engineers on the Centrepoint tower near the transmitters would be infertile within fifteen minutes if they weren’t wearing shielding. That highlighted to me how dangerous even invisible sources of radiation can be to the human body.

Now for most people this isn’t a risk as they would rarely be in this situation. However over the last twenty years with the increasing use of a wide range of devices and Wi-Fi our exposures have increased dramatically and some people are really starting to be affected badly often with one of the first signs being insomnia, difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep. Another major symptom is usually headaches particularly at the front of the head.

Mobile Phone Base Station With Background Of Blue Sky
Generally I would be concerned about the insomnia and headaches being associated with EMF if it started after you moved house or if you sleep well when travelling but not at home. Australian levels of acceptable radiation are much higher than Europe (often as much as ten times higher) as they have largely been set by industry, rather than being based on research.

The first thing I would recommend is to remove devices from the bedroom, even a digital clock radio which emits low levels of radiation should be at least two metres from your head. Secondly do a quick audit of where you are sleeping relative to strong energy currents from your meter box, fridge or microwave oven. Ideally the further away the better but at least a metre away even through the wall where the device is located. Turning off Wi-Fi in the home at night can be beneficial. There have been reports where severe insomnia sufferers started sleeping when towns lost power for a few days at a time.

Man Removing Apple Iphone 6 From Pocket
The other area to look at is your phone. Have you noticed how much it heats up when you hold it close to your head for a ten or fifteen minute conversation. Do you really want to have that heating other parts of your body on a regular basis?? And you know where most men put their phones, at least women largely stick it in a handbag! Reduce your exposure by using your phone like a teenager and mainly texting or get a pair of headphones for calls if you need to talk to people. At home think about switching to a corded phone as even the cordless phones put out a reasonable amount of radiation.

If you are interested in more information on this topic I can recommend Nicole Bijlisma’s book Healthy Home, Healthy Living as its well researched and is focussed on solutions. Nicole is a naturopath and building biologist. She also has quite a lot of information on her blog.

Have you made changes to reduce your exposures to EMF? Let me know how it affected you.

Christine Pope is a practicing Homeopath and Nutritionist based at Elemental Health, St Ives (8084 0081). She is also Head of Nutrition at Nature Care College at St Leonards.

Detoxing – is it for me?
Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Diarrhea, Health Care, Nutrition, stress, Weight Loss

Detoxing – is it for me?

What’s the first thing you think about with detox? Not drinking? Stopping coffee? Mostly you think about the things you will miss for a little while.

Very rarely do you think about the benefits of detoxing and how great you will feel during and after the detox. I am constantly surprised in clinic by the significant improvements people get in their health from detoxing. Often there is little left to deal with after the detox as “surprisingly” when you nourish your body with healthy food and support elimination with the right combination of herbs and nutrients most people find a lot of health problems resolve. I have seen significant improvements with skin complaints, hormonal imbalances and a whole range of gut issues as a result of following a detox for four to six weeks.

The first time I did a detox I had recently gone off gluten so being wheat and dairy free wasn’t really that big a challenge by that point. The first few days I was a little tired and sluggish and I did get a fairly massive headache after doing a full on 90 minute Yoga class (probably because I hadn’t done any Yoga and then jumped straight in!) However for probably 2 years after that I noticed my hay fever was minimal and that my energy levels were a lot better.

So why do we need to detox? Well frankly if you live in a major capital city you are constantly exposed to toxins whether its from petrol fumes, personal care products, your own hormones, highly processed diet or sterile office environments. Other areas that can expose you to toxins can be both legal and “party” drugs as well as repeated infections.  Your liver is working hard to eliminate these toxins but if it can’t deal with them it puts them into fat cells and puts more fat around them to try and protect us. This is why eliminating toxins can help with weight loss as well as improving your overall health.

Tasty Summer Fruits On A Wooden TableThe detox diet is anti-inflammatory and most people can maintain a modified form post detox to continue to maintain good health. Generally the focus is on good quality lean protein, lots of vegetables, a reasonable three serves of fruit a day plus at least a handful of nuts (assuming you are not allergic). Gluten free grains such as rice or quinoa can also be included and fermented foods in the form of good quality organic yoghurt. Plus at least two litres a day of water and green or herbal teas to help flush out toxins.

Some people may find the dietary changes sufficient however usually its more effective (ie quicker) to support the process. The first stage in my program uses a low allergenic Rice Protein which has liver support in the form of Silymarin (Milk Thistle) plus digestive enzymes and a detoxifying green powder. The second stage is individual with several options based on what presenting symptoms dominate – gut symptoms usually require more of an anti-parasitic protocol to remove bad bacteria whereas hormonal symptoms usually benefit from more liver support. There is no one size fits all in detox and its preferable to do a program which is tailored to your needs.

So what do you think? Are you ready to make some changes to enjoy better health?

Christine Pope was previously a Head of Nutrition at Nature Care College, speaks for ATMS and practices at Elemental Health at St Ives. Appointments can be made on 8084 0081.