Wednesday 29 March 2017

Exercising for health and wellbeing – making the most of the great outdoors

There is something about the summer weather that make us yearn to be outdoors. The great news is that this can be as good for your mind, as it can for your body.

The link between exercise and our physical wellbeing is well documented, however it is now becoming evident that exercise has benefits beyond our body. It can be good for our mental wellbeing too – and when we feel good on the inside, it shows on the outside. We’re not talking hours in the gym either, the NHS website outlines lots of ways that you can start to incorporate healthy activity into your busy daily schedule.

Now that Spring has sprung, we have no excuse not to be outside more. A study back in 2012 by the University of Glasgow found people who exercise outdoors experience half the mental health risks of those who exercise inside, and that a jog through the forest was much better for you than an hour of high impact activity in the gym! Just twenty minutes moderate exercise outside is enough to put a smile on your face and give you a feeling on inner wellbeing that will continue throughout the day.

So why does physical activity make us feel good?


When we exercise, our body releases endorphins which are the body’s natural sedative. These help us calm down, focus our thoughts and approach situations with greater clarity. Put simply, endorphins make us feel as though we can take on the world!

The hardest part is always getting started. So we’ve developed a round-up of some outdoors activities, that are good for you without you even realising it…

Gardening


Digging, planting, clearing leaves, moving pots, mowing the lawn are all more strenuous than we realise – and much more enjoyable than an hour on a treadmill. At this time of year, our gardens really could you with a bit of TLC, so why not?

Cleaning the windows


No-one wants to spend time and effort cleaning windows when the weather is lousy, so chances are your window’s really could do with a spruce up at this time of the year. All the bending and reaching really does give your body a workout.

Washing the car


Wax on, wax off… In the twenty-odd minutes it takes to give your car a really good clean, your heart will have started to pump more blood around your body than usual, producing the endorphins you need to raise your mood.

Buying groceries


Yes, buying groceries is a chore, but why not turn it into part of your exercise regime? Pick a shop 15 minutes' walk away and head there to buy the shopping you need. The return journey will provide even more of a workout, as you’ll be carrying the bags but remember to distribute your shopping load equally and don't overload yourself.

How long do I need to be outside for?


As little as 30 minutes is enough to release the serotonin and endorphins we need to feel better mentally – and this can be split into two shorter 15 minutes stints if it helps. For more information about how to get the most out of your outdoor walks, a professor at by the University of Exeter looks at the reasons why walking is such an effective form of exercise and the ways in which we can get the most out of walking in this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-122898/Why-walking-workout-good-body.html

Monday 20 March 2017

International Day of Happiness - what would you write on your wall?

Today is international day of happiness, a day started by the United Nations in 2012. The first year that the day was celebrated, orange 'happiness walls' sprang up in many cities - places for people to share their ideas for achieving happiness.

So we thought we'd do our own happiness wall with some tips for achieving happiness in life.

What would you write on your own happiness wall? Visit Twitter and tell us what you'd put on your wall using #HappinessWall and we'll add our favourite tips to our own wall.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Nutrition and hydration week - how food can affect your mood

The saying goes that we are what we eat and what better time to look at whether there’s any truth in the saying than during Nutrition and Hydration week?

Drink


When it comes to drinking, people often choose alcohol to help change their mood. They may have a tipple to feel more relaxed, to help them engage more freely with others, or to give them that ‘happy’ vibe. However, evidence suggests that while alcohol does indeed change our mood, it’s not in the way we think. As a depressant, booze is likely to worsen symptoms of anxiety. So as we drink to alleviate feelings of stress, sadness or anxiety, in reality alcohol is exacerbating them.

The same can be said of caffeine. When taken in a drink, Caffeine quickly blocks the action of a brain chemical called adenosine. It’s a naturally occurring sedative so without it we feel more alert and sharp. That’s why coffee is a popular morning beverage However, for people pre-disposed to feelings of anxiety, it can actually leave you feeling more anxious.

Similar chemical changes occur in our body when we drink sugary drinks too. We get a rush and peak of energy as the sugar reaches our system – which can feel great and make us more productive – only to crash again soon after as our body over-produces insulin to absorb all the sugar. This leaves us feeling irritable and less able to focus. These highs and lows can be significant when it comes to managing our moods.

Food


There are a number of studies that have been done into the links between what we eat and how it impacts our mood. But the converse is also true – does our mood affect what we choose to eat, and in doing so does it create a vicious circle? We feel down so we make bad food choices that only serve to make us feel worse. This article in psychology week looks at the many ways in which our mood affects our food choices and the impact this then has on our body and brain.

There are a few golden rules to follow if you believe that your food choices could be impacting on your mood. It’s not rocket science, but it’s always best to look at the some of the most common contributory factors before we look at other ways of modifying our eating and drinking behaviours.

Five golden rules to boost your mood


  1. Eat regularly to avoid peaks and troughs in blood sugar – food fuels the body and without it we cannot function properly.
  2. Eat more carbohydrates – carbohydrates help your body produce serotonin which makes you feel ‘happy and healthy’. But make sure they are 'complex' carbohydrates from wholemeal foods rather than carbohydrates from refined foods, which will result in peaks and troughs in blood sugar (see point 1)
  3. Eat plenty of fish to make sure your levels of omega oils are topped up – a deficiency has been linked to low mood.
  4. Eat plenty of iron to keep energy levels up – without iron we can feel fatigued and preoccupied.
  5. Eat less fat – it quite literally weighs us down and leaves us feeling sluggish.

According to mental health charity Mind, improving our diet can lead to greater positivity, more energy, clearer thinking and calmer moods. They outline eight tips on how to improve your mood through food -  – including drinking more water and making healthy choices

Unfortunately, there is no one rule fits all when it comes to ‘clean’ eating and drinking habits that will improve our mood. Our bodies are all different and as such, we will each react differently when we consume certain food and beverages. What we can do, however, is get to know how our bodies react to what we put in our mouths and make more mindful decisions about what we consume in order to keep our spirits high.

Friday 3 March 2017

The benefits of living a simple and minimalist life


The first of March marked the meteorological start of spring and the time of year when we start to think everything is possible with the promise of longer days ahead. Very often we mark the start of Spring with a good old clear out – to wipe away the Winter cobwebs and enter the season with a clean slate.

There’s a saying that most of us have everything we need, if not everything we want. This suggests our desire to have things surrounding us often detracts from what we need to really make us happy.

Minimalism is the practice of living with only those things you need. It is said to enable you to focus on what you most value in life, without being distracted by things.

Some practising minimalists claim that getting rid of 'stuff' can actually set us free. So, this March why not take the opportunity to go to town on your Spring clear out?

For every item you remove from your house, you release trapped energy. People often talk about feeling as though a weight has been lifted when they've got rid of some of their things, so we’ve developed some tips for getting started:

Break it down into chunks


If your house is like most others, your clutter will have built up over years, rather than weeks. So sometimes the thought of trawling through it all can be quite daunting. Don’t let this put you off. Simply break the big task down into smaller chunks. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, every step towards a more minimalist environment is a step forward. Set yourself a time – once, twice, three times a week – to get stuck in and peel off the layers of clutter one at a time.

Sell, sell, sell…


It can be hard to simply give away all the stuff you’ve spent your hard earned money on and that’s one of the reasons we hold onto things for longer than we need to. Don’t despair, there are loads of ways of making cash out of your old stuff. As well as eBay, there are Facebook groups, car boot apps, companies that buy unwanted CDs and DVDs, etc. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so if you’ve got the time, make the effort and get some cash back for the things you no longer use or need.

Charity begins at home


Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to offer things you don’t need to friends and family. Look out for small charities or organisations in your local area that are in need of a helping hand. Give old toys to nearby schools, nurseries or children's charities; books and DVDs to the library. It feels good to know that the stuff you no longer needs is being valued by someone else. Charity shops are also always on the lookout for quality donations, with pretty much all of the money they raise from your goods going to a worthy cause.


The transition from living a life of plenty to living a more minimalist life doesn’t happen overnight – and we’re not saying you need to rid yourself of all your worldly goods in order to live a long and happy life. What we're suggesting, however, is that we recognise the difference between the things we want and things we need, then try to separate the two.


For more tips on making the move to minimalism, read this: http://www.becomingminimalist.com/creative-ways-to-declutter/