Used in Ayurvedic medicine for hundreds of years for its health benefits ranging from arthritis and asthma to painful bowel disorders like IBS, can this ancient oil soothe stress, ease anxiety, and calm the mind? Frankincense is made from the resin of the Boswellia tree. It typically grows in the dry, mountainous regions of India, Africa and the Middle East. Frankincense has a woody, spicy smell and can be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, steeped into a tea or taken as a s

Recently, there has been a growing trend to follow our Scandinavian friends in their wellness traditions. First, we had hygge – the concept of staying warm and cosy, with lighted candles, comfy blankets and friends to share our self-care rituals with. But as delightful as this all sounds, the Scandinavians also love the great outdoors and embrace their tradition of ‘friluftsliv’ (pronounced free-loofts-liv), the expression literally translates as “open-air living”. This is no

Now the clocks have gone back, the leaves are falling, and the nights are getting colder, Autumn has officially arrived. With it comes the chance to review our health, and start making changes to honour the new season, and ensure we stay healthy and happy. Here are my Autumn Wellness tips 1. Vitamin D As the weather gets cooler, we tend to spend more time indoors and wrapped up, so getting enough vitamin D to stay healthy and happy becomes harder. Look to increase your vitami

Heart disease kills 1 in 4 men in the UK under 75, and it kills twice as many women as men each year. For some, genetics play a part, but for most of us, heart disease can be prevented if you eat healthy and embrace positive lifestyle changes; you can add years and even decades to your life expectancy. Your heart is an amazing organ that can beat around 70 times a minute non-stop for 100 years or more, pumping more than 10 million litres of blood around your vessels each year

The majority of us think high blood pressure is a natural sign of ageing, and that it happens to the best of us. But did you know it doesn’t have to be this way? If you look after your heart, make small changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can control your blood pressure without medication. What is high blood pressure? While your pulse will measure your heart health, your blood pressure can tell you about the health of your arteries – the blood vessels that carry oxygen-ri

Natural Health and Wellbeing are just a few drops away: a beginners guide to essential oils. When our health starts to suffer, our natural instinct is to head off to the chemist, or the Doctor, and find the most appropriate drug to take the symptoms away. However, this doesn’t always address the real issue, or fix the root cause. What if I told you there’s another, more natural way, to boost mental and physical wellbeing, including great skin, using essential oils? You would

For a vast majority of women, menopause symptoms are mild and do little to disrupt daily life. Some even see the positive side of these changes – the children have grown up, you are older and wiser, and you can start an exciting new chapter in your life. However, for others the discomfort of hot flashes, irritability and fatigue can make life exceptionally difficult. Taking HRT to manage these symptoms also increases your risk of high blood pressure, weight gain, gall bladder

This time of year, with the sun shining and half term fast approaching, everyone wants to be outside. It feels so good to have the warm sun on our bare skin. However, while most people are aware of the dangers of too much sun, many don’t realize that sunlight has enormous health benefits as well. Keeping in mind that you still need to protect your skin with a high-quality, preferably natural or organic sunscreen if you are outside for prolonged periods, let’s look at some of

What are essential oils? Essential oils are extracted from a plant or flower through steam distillation or cold pressing. The oil collected is then known as the “essence” of the plant or flower. It is concentrated aroma and nutrients, far more powerful than the plant itself. Take lavender for example, it takes 150 pounds or more of lavender flowers to make 1 pound of lavender essential oil, similarly 1 drop of peppermint oil is equivalent of drinking 25 cups of peppermint tea

Spring is a great time of year, the sun is shining, the days are getting warmer and longer, and we seem to have more energy. Lots of us use this energy to detox our bodies, but it’s also a perfect time to detox our homes too. There are toxins present in many common products that we use every day, and many of these chemicals can’t be seen, smelt or tasted. The average home contains 500-1,000 chemicals, for example, carpets contain toxins and trapped dirt, fleas, dust-mites and