What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations used in the modern world as a relaxing technique. So basically “Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” When we meditate, it doesn’t help us to fi

We are all familiar with that feeling associated with being overly stressed; tense muscles, faster breathing, tight chest, heart pounding, sweaty palms. This feeling can be helpful in the short term, helping us to accomplish our goals, and get things done to tight deadlines. But if your stress levels become too high, or are left unchecked for too long, this can have a negative impact on your health and wellbeing. Stress and anxiety are common conditions for many of my clients

Firstly, let’s point out that stress is not necessarily a ‘bad’ thing. Without this innate ability to feel stress, the species would not have survived. Our cavemen ancestors, for example, needed the natural stress response to save them from potential danger, such as a sabre-toothed tiger. Stress is primarily a physical response. When we get stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and reverts to ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode, releasing a complex mix of hormones and chemi

Stress is part of life especially in a modern day world of fast-paced living with technology that allows us to be available 24/7. Being overly anxious is not just a mental state, it’s a physical one too. Undue stress and anxiety have damaging effects on the brain and the rest of the body. The more stressed out we are, the more vulnerable we are to colds, flu, and a host of chronic or life-threatening illnesses—and the less open we are to the beauty and pleasure of life. It is

Has stress become a part of your life? Over a third of my clients come to see me because they are stressed, anxious and suffering from insomnia. So, let’s take a look at what stress is and how we can make simple changes to beat it. What is stress? Firstly, I’d like to point out that stress is not necessarily a ‘bad’ thing. It was intended as a survival mechanism and worked brilliantly for our ancestors in alerting them to danger and giving our bodies the means to stand and fi

April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress is a common word used a lot these days, but do we understand when we are stressed? Emotional symptoms of anxiety are expressed inwardly, which means most people don’t realise what the emotional signs of stress are, and often fail to recognise them. A little stress in small doses can be a good thing, and it can help you to perform under pressure or motivate you to do your best. However, if you are frequently frazzled and overwhelmed, it’

With Christmas fast approaching and a huge list of things to get done, we can often feel like our to do list has a life of its own and our anxiety leaves us doing nothing instead. Do you find yourself barking at the kids, getting road rage more than usual or simply waiting for your head to explode with a never-ending list of things to do? Then you are probably feeling overwhelmed, and you are definitely not alone. I’ll be honest with you, I always dread December just a little

Stress – it’s a common word these days, perhaps a little overused at times, and tossed around without much thought as to what being stressed really means to us and our health, or what we intend to do about managing it. While some people tend to thrive under the short-term buzz of a stressful deadline, or adrenaline junkies who bungee jump or sky dive to get that buzz, for the majority of us, we know it’s not a healthy state to maintain indefinitely, and can affect our long-te

Stress is part of modern life, and sometimes it can be a good thing. it gives you focus and motivation when you need to hit a deadline or perform at your best. But unmanaged or prolonged stress can take its toll on the body, causing unexpected aches, pains and other symptoms. “Stress doesn’t necessarily cause certain conditions, but it can make the symptoms of those conditions worse,” says Richard Lang, Chairman of Preventive Medicine and Vice Chairman of the Wellness Institu

The most common reason clients give for visiting me is stress, and even if it’s not stress, they are suffering with some sort of stress related illness. So, are we all killing ourselves slowly without even realising it, and what can we do to reverse the impact of stress? Modern Day Disease From a corporate background in Finance and a highly stressful job, I have first-hand experience of how much stress can affect you, and now use this knowledge to help other people. We are al