My tips on managing stress

 

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When I was at the beginning of my healing journey, I had to first acknowledge the state of my wellness or at that time, my sickness. After being in denial for a period of time, I accepted that I wasn't able to bounce back without some serious work. Hitting rock bottom motivated me to shape up or ship out. I recommend paying attention to Self-care and self-love as the first step to wellness. Ironically, these basic human needs are what people find most challenging to practice. It's all good, here are some suggestions you can try and see what resonates.

Breathing exercise
Most people take out breathes for granted. By simply focusing on our breathing can make a difference in our wellness.  Try some slow and long breathes to start and lengthen each inhale and exhale to feel the calming effects.

Being in Nature
Remember that last time you watched the sun rise or sun set? How did that feel? Stop during the hustle and bustle lifestyle for a moment of serenity. If you are more mobile, try escaping in nature for a walk, it can do wonders to reconnect us to the core.

Journalling
Journalling helps clear my mind. There are different ways to journal, some people like to journal online, others like the old fashion pen and paper route, check out The Ultimate Health Journal by A Clean Plate for a unique combination to " Logging your diet, exercise, sleep habits, stress management, social life, time outdoors, and illnesses and symptoms" so you can stay on track of your progress

Essential Oils
I use Young Living Essential oils to support my wellness in multiple ways, my emotions are number one on the list. There're many emotional blends that have helped me relax, set intentions, feel more uplifted, see things in better perspectives. Some of my favourite blends include Acceptance,  Surrender, Forgiveness and Believe, just to name a few. If you want to learn why I chose Young Living over other brands, click here.

There's also a specific technique that has help many people to dig deeper into their past and release trapped emtions.

Aroma Freedom Technique with Essential Oils

Focus on gratitude

Anthony Robbins Quotes "The antidote to fear is gratitude. The antidote to anger is gratitude. You can't feel fear or anger while feeling gratitude at the same time."

Reprogram your thoughts
This is one of my current favourite, it's like a game to me. I'm consciously choosing only positive words as I write and speak. Swap out "I hope" to "I will" to create more certainty. Convince your mind that something good is already happening.

More about fasting for health - Part 2

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Here is the link to Fast track to wellness - Part 1. How I got started into extended fasting.

Here's another one of my fasting related link to my the one year update post on my nutritional ketosis progress

Some of you might be wondering how I got from gut healing focus to this fasting practice. Once I felt my UC was pretty much under control, I started looking into the effect of insulin and how it might play a role in the gut microbiome. You see, my mother was a T2 diabetic who died from complication of the metabolic disease. Her neglect of health led her to renal failure and 10 years of dialysis. Watching her body deteriorate was what got me interested in wellness in the first place. This is why I became so interested in insulin and how it may affect our gut microbiome

What is my Fasting routine look like?

Well, I started off trying to follow a routine, a template. That's how most of us learn right?  There's a lot of info out there, so far the clearest and simple resource I've found was  Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Jason Fung. I started by following the 24 hrs Alternate day fasting as described in the book. Day 1 Lunch and Dinner, Day 2 Dinner, rinse and repeat. It got a little getting used especially for my family. Didn't take long for me to see the weight melting away and my energy skyrocketing, I was excited to dive deeper.

My body seems to really like the One Meal A Day practice, aka, OMAD. I chose dinner as my meal of the day 'cause it's more of a social thing where I can relax and enjoy time with family. But I had to watch out when I was still trying to lose a few pounds, my body adapted to whatever routine purely for survival which means it hung onto the weight.

So how did I get over that hump? By shaking things up, being fluid.

Today, I'm more intuitive with my fasting, I don't follow a schedule like fast on set days. Some people like to do Mon, Wed, Fri. I mainly go with how I feel. Sometimes I like to time a longer fast into my social calendar. I do find that a few days after my cycle is a good time to do an extended fast, which is usually between 36-42 hrs. So that makes a long fast once a month for me.

Pros about fasting

Eating less means cost less

Digestion doesn't get overworked. I feel that since I became fat adapted, run on ketones

Feel empowered, easily breeze through if I'm in a situation where I don't have excess to food I eat
not prepared.

Promote Autophagy What is this word? Click here to learn more

What is my main take away on fasting?

I've learned as long as I keep my electrolytes in check, like having enough salts either with my meal or a pinch in my hydration, I don't get those discomfort most people get when they start. That has been the key factor when it comes to fasting. I remember my dad, who was in the army and lived through many tough days during the war, telling me that a person can live several of days, even longer, without food but without water? Maybe only 1 - 2.

Watch this video to understand the difference between fasting and starvation

Using Essential oils while taking homeopathy

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This topic comes up from time to time.... can I use essential oils while taking homeopathy?

I've searched high and low for resources online before but found little info to guide me. Yesterday morning my friend messaged me and ask the same question for her client, she's a wellness coach. So I thought if I post my experience, it might help others.

Here's my take

First, everyone on a healing journey should figure out their baseline, in short how their body reacts to things, their "normal" so to speak. I've had to really learn to listen to my body to help figure out how new things or reintros affect me. I found documenting in journals, apps on phone or online great to/ track my symptoms, progress, emotions, even dreams.

Keep in mind that my experience with essential oils is all from Young Living, I cannot speak for other brands as I do not know their quality and standards. If you want to learn why I chose Young Living over other brands, click here.

Find your constitutional remedy

Start by figuring out your constitutional remedy and a dose that supports you well. Then I kept my remedy dose away from myessential oils use, for some really sensitive people on homeopathy, they might even need to look for toothpaste with nothing from the mint family.
I remember earlier on my essential oils journey, I started testing out the mint family first, like Peppermint, Spearmint, then I moved onto Eucalyptus and felt some cancelling effects, like feeling out of sort, unsupport, more fatigued, the biggest effect I felt was definitely from Wintergreen.

But as my body became stronger and stronger, less likely to be triggered, I was less dependant on my remedy,  which is really the hopes and plan right...to become more independent and self-sufficient? Now, I can tolerate blends with some wintergreen in it like Deep Relief without feeling completely wiped out after (cancelling)

Here are some of the Young Living oils I felt comfortable to test with first

Lemon    |   Frankincense    |    Lavender    |    Northern Light Black Spruce

I'm grateful to be in a happy place on my wellness journey, found the fine balance between homeopathy and EO because I'm leaning more towards essential oils, hardcore oiler now, even though the remedy still provides support in the background.

If you want to learn more about how I use Young Living Essential oils with my remedy to support my wellness, please reach out.