Journal Tag: stress

Your Guide to Healthier Mask Breathing

Healthier Mask Breathing with Carly Woods

Do you feel comfortable mask breathing?

Do you feel fear about wearing a facial mask? 

Do you find it claustrophobic? 

Do you find it anxiety producing?

Are you wearing it properly or are you treating it like a piece of face jewellery (only wearing over the mouth with your nose out, or putting it on the top of your head or chin because it feels irritating?)

So many things to consider. Read on to find answers and helpful solutions to all of these things.

Why is mask breathing so hard?

Mask wearing and mask breathing is really hard. Why? Much of it is to do with carbon dioxide which, when understood and used to your advantage, can actually be used to improve your health rather than hinder it. In fact it can be part of the solution to many health issues beyond respiratory protection. But first let’s address the respiratory aspect.

At first mask breathing can make us feel anxious. That’s because 

  • When we first start breathing more carbon dioxide (incremental amounts from our out-breath) we experience a sensation of air hunger. If your body is not trained to accommodate (and benefit from) this experience (like altitude climbers and free divers) it can be really confronting.
  • When we find it hard to breathe behind a mask we often open our mouths, which ends up contributing to a state of sympathetic dominance in our system (fight or flight) = anxiety producing.

Adapting to this new way of mask breathing can be daunting, especially for those of us who have suffered anxiety or stress around breathing, claustrophobia or air constriction in the past. Whacking a mask straight onto our faces might be really intense, let alone dealing with the sensation of mild air hunger.

Finding a solution – Buteyko Therapy

Buteyko Therapy was originally developed in the 1950s to treat asthma, however (thankfully) the Buteyko breathing exercises and principles can be applied across a variety of conditions (many of which are top of mind globally now) AND they can be easily applied to support healthy and comfortable mask breathing. 

These exercises provide a powerful tool that you can use to relieve stress and anxiety within minutes, to prompt nasal decongestion, support healthy respiration and respiratory recovery, healthy digestion, pave the way to restorative sleep and support general body-wide repair.

It seems crazy that these incredible little lungs that we grew all by ourselves, when used correctly, support such profound health. And yet not so crazy, when you think about it…

  • We can go weeks without eating.
  • We can go days without drinking.
  • We can go minutes without breathing.

So that’s pretty sobering.

It is my mission to teach you how to use Buteyko to your advantage, with urgency. Simply. Daily. Easily. Powerfully. Alongside your mask. Let’s begin.

What conditions can Buteyko Therapy help to address?

There are too many to list, so I’ll list the ones that are most relevant at this moment in time.

  • Respiratory decongestion (hayfever, colds, flu, rhinitis, sinusitis)
  • Asthma 
  • Anxiety & stress
  • Panic & overwhelm
  • Sleep issues (insomnia, sleep apnoea, snoring)
  • Digestive issues
How does Buteyko Therapy work?

A basic explanation of the way Buteyko Therapy works is to say that it retrains your respiratory centre in your brain to accept more appropriate levels of carbon dioxide in your system. This is done through a series of gentle introductions to the sensation of air hunger to gradually nudge your brain’s tolerance towards a more optimal state. 

“Purposely expose myself to air hunger? Why on earth would I do that?” I hear you saying. Fair enough. Let’s find out why.

A gradual sensation of air hunger (in controlled Buteyko Therapy setting) prompts incremental advances in carbon dioxide tolerance. This is an important balance to get right, because carbon dioxide:

  • Plays an important role in helping your blood to release oxygen into your tissues (for the keen science analysts out there check out the Bohr Effect)
  • Prompts activation of your parasympathetic nervous system (your rest, digest, repair state)
  • Contributes to decreasing your brain excitability (hello calmer brain)
  • Helps to relax your smooth muscles (which equals greater general relaxation, better sleep, better digestion and release of tension throughout your body)

Now that’s not all. Buteyko Therapy also works to increase the natural nitric oxide production in your nasal cavity, which you then breathe down into your beautiful lungs (via nose breathing). Why is nitric oxide helpful?

Nitric oxide gas

  • is antiviral and antibacterial (yay)
  • is a natural bronchodilator (opens the lungs)
  • acts in the respiratory passages and lungs in an anti-inflammatory way (so you can see the link to decongestion)
  • helps to move you into your parasympathetic state (again – your rest, repair and digest state)
Support comfortable mask breathing with Buteyko

There are many Buteyko principles and exercises that you can use to supercharge your health. For simplicity, start with the following:

  • Always nose breathe ONLY, even with your mask on – do NOT mouth breathe unless you have to talk or have physical nasal obstruction (snot, unless so dense that you cannot possibly take a breath through a tiny part of your nostrils, is not counted as a physical obstruction).
  • If you must mouth breathe (when talking) ensure it is smooth, gentle and not audible. If audible, shut your mouth and nose breathe for a time until your nervous system calms down and then resume talking, calmly.
  • Wear your mask for short periods at first (15-20 minutes) and slowly work up to wearing it for longer periods so as not to shock your system.
  • Do daily Buteyko meditations to start to retrain your body towards healthier respiration (grab the free Buteyko Starter Pack that I’ve built for you).
  • Learn how to wear your mask properly (as decreed by the WHO).

By the way, when you begin nose breathing consistently you’ll notice that your nose starts to decongest. Some people can experience post-nasal drip or the need to blow the nose more. This should not last more than a few days and doing an increased number of buteyko exercises daily will generally help you move through it more quickly.

Interesting and wonderful facts to perk up your day
  • Nitric oxide is antiviral and antibacterial and it is enhanced in the body via nose breathing – yay! Nose breathing is so easy and simple, we can all do it!
  • Use your nose to breathe in order to reduce the viral load AND to reduce the potential transmission of water particles into the atmosphere (if infected) – there is a 42% greater water* loss from breathing out through the MOUTH than the NOSE – and when something is transmitted via water particles this would feel like common sense to convert to total nose breathing, don’t you think? So get on board and (with love) shut your mouth – for all our sakes.
  • Always nose breathe, as much as possible, even during exercise. Gauge your exercise intensity by your ability to nose breathe. You can enhance your ability to nose breathe while exercising by simply smiling (with your mouth closed). Smiling widens your nostrils. Plus you get wonderful responses from people passing you. Remember not to wear your mask while exercising (WHO recommendation) – simply stay 1.5 meters away from anyone and close your mouth.

So let’s all nose breathe and let our smiles be the thing that is contagious. Connection and protection all in one foul nasal swoop. High facial fives. It’s almost like we’re designed to be happy and healthy…😉

The nose knows.

Written by Carly Woods

Buteyko Practitioner & Naturopath

Download Carly’s free Buteyko Starter Pack – 3 Buteyko embedded deeply restorative meditations complete with comprehensive instructions for duration, frequency of use, and benefits to your body. You will learn which part of your face to breathe with and why, you will be guided through using these recordings daily to incrementally build up your brain’s carbon dioxide tolerance, to nourish your lungs and to leverage the protective power of your nose.

Are you a natural nose breather or a dirty mouth breather? Find out via this fun and informative quiz.

A special thanks and acknowledgement for all the fantastic work my trainer and global Buteyko expert, Patrick McKeown, is doing for everyone all around the world at the moment. Look up his ted talk. He is a brilliant trainer, wonderful person and incredible to listen to and learn from.

Reference

How to Breathe While Wearing Face Mask, by Patrick McKeown

Movement with AbunDance

Movement with AbunDance - Katy Woods
Why AbunDance?

I have always been a fan of moving. I dance when I’m happy, stressed, blissfully confused. I dance out the whole rainbow spectrum of emotion that moves through my body. Free flowing movement gets what is on the inside, out.

When I move, my feelings and thoughts become more tangible, malleable almost. There, in movement, I can choose to literally shape my thoughts and feelings, or purely bear witness to them. To me this shapes potent self connection. This kind of communication to self (and to others beyond words) is aaaaaDictive, extraordinarily humbling and honestly, necessary.

Please, do what you came to do in this life, and dance.

In my youth dancing was an activity like any other sport. So I danced. I grew my foundation, I delighted, I performed. However, the more I craved new ways of moving the more I understood I had only dipped my young toes into the pond of possibility.

There is a Story. Creativity. Connection.

These aspects of movement – they are an ocean. I will always be grateful for my greatest teacher and friend, Kirsty Lee, who nurtured these aspects of dance in my forming years as it has guided much of the joy in my life. I grew my practice, diversified, experimented, listened, watched, felt, made contemporary works, joined contact jams, fused disciplines, spoke for artist circles, trained and performed internationally … and in all that I came to know what I wanted to share – I wanted to facilitate this profoundly connective movement in others.

And so I began facilitating. The more I taught, the deeper I too understood, felt and connected with myself and others. I have a fond memory of directing a dancework named THREADS – this was a site specific performance that considered how a thread could imbue memory, attitude and relationship.

By night I would gather with my gaggle of wonderful movement loving women inside a friendly and eccentric Op-shop in town. Here I explored ideas, created tasks, collaborated and blended together a string of thought in movement (occasionally interrupted by a frenzy of op-shop treasure hunting, of course). It was a space and project where the process was joy and the product was a bonus.

The pure juice of creativity is in the process; it’s in the making and the maintaining. It’s playful, vulnerable and thrilling.

Now, bringing all of this experience, play and creativity together I have created AbunDance.

Abundance is a series of dance workshops that uses grounded contemporary technique, curiosity, improvisation and wholesome conditioning to fuel the sense of embodied feminine.

I offer this series exclusively to Fertile Ground and The Melbourne Apothecary, to the mothers and the mothers to be, to join me in opening to, generating and maintaining your sense of feminine sensual movement. This is about confidence. This is about play. This is about curiosity and moving even more into connection with your body and mind.

AbunDance is a community where you can nurture your capacity to connect, where you can develop a practice of dedication to yourself and all that you are as a woman.

Katy Woods is a professional dancer, group facilitator and dance teacher. She loves developing classes that initiate and sustain the love of movement for others.  to access her current class series – AbunDance. Katy is offering your first class for free.

Find out more and register here

Help your kids manage stress

help your kids manage stress

How can you help your kids manage stress? Living in this day and age, stress is a normal part of modern life.

Some types of stress can be helpful, whereas other types of stress can be incredibly debilitating if sustained long-term.

Children may be exposed to some sort of stress everyday. “Good” stress might show up when your child is called on in class or when a task needs to be finished. ‘Tummy butterflies’ or sweaty hands are signs of this and can be helpful to get things done. But “bad” stress can happen if the stressful feelings keep going over time.

Children may not feel well if a family member is sick, if they are having troubles at school or home, if they are going through anything that causes upset everyday, such as just having too many activities – all of these can take their toll. This kind of stress isn’t going to help and it actually can make children sick.

Sometimes stress can be so overwhelming, it feels like it is taking over your child’s life. Thankfully, the body has an amazing, protective stress response system to help your child to cope. The stress response was historically designed to kick in to save lives; nowadays, it may be activated everyday rather than just when coming into contact with a hungry sabre tooth tiger! However, this ongoing activation by the nervous system can lead to symptoms of stress and mood disorders that are becoming increasingly common in children.

Recognising the Signs of Stress

You may already be familiar with some of these signs and symptoms. The following can occur in acute (short-term) stress or with ongoing stress. The presentation will vary depending on the type of stress, how long your child has been experiencing it, and how well they are able to manage stress already. Signs of acute stress can include:

  • Muscle tension
  • Increased heart rate
  • Sweating
  • Energy fluctuations
  • Alertness
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Tummy troubles
Getting the Right Tools

When under stress, an overworked stress response system requires even more nutrients than usual. This is because the body needs vitamins and minerals to produce the hormones and neurotransmitters (the brain’s messengers) required to adapt to the stress and bring the body back into balance.

  • B group vitamins: B vitamins are needed for healthy mood, motivation and wellbeing. They are vital for producing energy, as well as the neurotransmitters that promote happiness, relaxation and sleep.
  • Magnesium: When stressed, the body may require more magnesium than normal. Magnesium can be beneficial for many things including managing stress and improving energy. You may also know that magnesium is used as a muscle relaxant. Due to its relaxing qualities, it may improve mood and sleep. Ask your Naturopath about the best form of magnesium for your child that is both well absorbed and well-tolerated, minimising the risk of potential gastrointestinal effects.
  • Taurine and glutamine: These amino acids are required as building blocks for your neurotransmitters. They can also help to calm the nervous system, as well as protect against the damage that stress can cause.
Setting Up the Foundations

Now that you know which nutrients can be great to help your kids manage stress, aiming for a nutritious diet goes a long way to assist your child to maintain the health of their nerves, digestion and immunity long-term. What happens to your child’s diet when stressed? Do they eat a lot, or do they make poor food choices when stress means being short on time, patience or energy?

  • During times of stress, sugars and refined carbohydrates are a no no! While they provide quick energy, they do not fuel the body with nutrients it needs to cope with stress, and can ultimately lead to mood and energy fluctuations and even weight gain.
  • Protein from fish, lean meats, eggs, legumes and nuts can provide your child with amino acids to fuel their brain function whilst sustaining them for longer, minimising those stress cravings.
  • Fish, in particular, contains both protein and essential fats, otherwise known as omega-3 fatty acids which can support a healthy stress response and healthy mood.
  • Eating healthy food is a great start, other great ways to encourage your child to handle stress may be:
    • Getting enough sleep
    • Relaxation exercises such as inhale (breathe in) slowly through the nose, and then exhale (breathe out) slowly through the mouth. Repeat two to four times – anytime!
    • Establishing a balance between school stuff and time to play: sleep, exercise, leisure (something fun), and food.

Talk to your Naturopath to help your kids manage stress. How well do they handle stress over time? Signs of ongoing, longer term stress can include:

  • Fatigue
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Worrying
  • Sadness
  • Irritability
  • Poor concentration
  • Weight loss or gain
  • Weakened immunity
Be Strong Against Stress!

With guidance from your Naturopath and these simple tips, your child can stand up to stress – strengthening your children’s mind and body to become more resilient to the effects of everyday stress. Talk to your Naturopath today about how you can best manage the stress that life throws your way.

Written by Paediatric Naturopath, Sarah Harris

Sarah Harris is available for one on one digital consultations. You’re welcome to book in with Sarah.

Deep connection – are you ready?

Deep connection

You are never presented with a situation you are not ready for. If this situation has taught us anything it has taught us how deeply connected we all are with each other and how our actions have a massive effect on everyone around us. We have had to create distance and we feel the strain of that as a society and as a world. 

But you know what? We could flip this perception. We could choose to view our current circumstances in a light that serves us rather than feel victim to it. So much of the world pulls us out of ourselves, out of our bodies. Our attention is easily often scattered in all directions except within. Now that we have the space and distance from the outer distractions you can choose to bring your attention back within to really find that deep connection with yourself, to know what is really happening for you and within you.

Are you resisting?

Most of us are fighting this. Resisting the need to go within because “I didn’t sign up for this self development class, thank you very much world!! I will decide when I am ready to look within and make the changes.” Well I say life never presents you with a situation you are not ready for. Why not take this opportunity, these moments of separation to really feel into who you are, where you start and where the outer world begins. It’s from this place that you can really hear your desires, discover your capacity to soar through massive change, and become inspired about what action to take next.  And you know what I’ve noticed in my life – when we are ready for change but do not take action to support it, life will intervene and make our situations so uncomfortable that we have no choice but to change, grow, let go.

How to start?

Your desires sit within your heart, and your heart speaks to your mind. Take a moment now, take a deep breath. 

Follow your breath down to your heart. 

Keep following your breath for a few minutes. 

You may like to place your hands over your heart. Now be still. Notice what comes up. What feelings, what thoughts. Allow it all to come and go, and see where the flow takes you. It’s not until we bring our awareness to our hearts that we can hear what it is truly saying. 

I recommend doing this practice every morning on waking. Take the time to find deep connection with yourself.

This process is similar to when you receive a massage. Massage helps you to connect to your body. When you are in your body you are out of your thinking mind. Think back to your last massage. Do you remember when the massage started and your awareness went to your body. Did you think “wow, I didn’t realise how tight that was….. or how sore that was!” Awareness was brought to these areas. If you want to know what it is that is making you feel how you are feeling right now I recommend you bring your awareness to your heart, listen, and really hone in on that deep connection with yourself.

The world is in a period of transition, which means we are all in a period of transition. 

Just like a boat on a river, life flows. It’s your choice if you use your energy to try and fight the current, or to surrender to the flow. We can’t always control the situation surrounding us but we can use our paddle to navigate down the river of life.

Written by Nicole McCowan

Nicole McCowan is available for one on one in person massage consultations. You’re welcome to book in with Nicole.

What is Buteyko?

Breathe

by Carly Woods, FGHG Buteyko practitioner and Naturopath

Did I say potato? No. But I understand the confusion. Let’s get some clarity around what Buteyko is.

A lot of people know about Buteyko Therapy because of the incredible results it produces in asthma recovery.  Dr Konstantin Buteyko developed it in the 1950s for this exact purpose. It’s a breathing therapy that is simple, powerful, and easy to integrate into your life for maximising your health outcomes.  Let’s dive in.

So Buteyko is fabulous for asthma – great, but did you know that it’s also applicable to a whole range of conditions that aren’t even related to asthma?

Anxiety, for example, is such a pervasive and easily hidden condition suffered by so many, and you can use the simplicity and power of Buteyko Therapy to take the edge off before the panic hits. You can even use Buteyko therapy to train your body out of anxiety patterns to avoid panic and chronic internal tension entirely.

The list of conditions that Buteyko is brilliant for is extensive, and includes:

  • Stress, anxiety
  • Digestive issues
  • Respiratory issues, such as sinusitis, rhinitis, hay fever, and asthma.
  • Sleeping issues, such as insomnia, sleep apnoea, and waking with a dry mouth.
  • Cognition issues, like memory, focus, and concentration.
  • Fatigue
  • Dental issues, like palate development, teeth grinding, bad breath.
  • Muscle tension.

And that’s not even all of it.

‘So why are the beneficial effects of Buteyko so wide-reaching?’ I hear you asking me with inquisitive eyes and slight disbelief. A great question.

The answers are simple, and the systemic effects profound.

Buteyko works to

  1. balance and retrain your nervous system;
  2. align your jaw to the right position and activate your correct breathing muscles (to train you out of being a dirty mouth breather);
  3. support proper oxygenation of the tissues throughout your entire body by adjusting your blood gas set point to a more appropriate level.

So let’s think about this for a second. I’m going to just take the first point of how Buteyko works, and dissect it a bit to help you to understand how powerful ‘balancing and retraining your nervous system’ really is.  Imagine you have a chronic condition (many of you may already, so if this is you, imagine your reality). Now imagine you are SUPER stressed. How does that stress feel thrown into the mix of your chronic condition symptoms? Does it exacerbate them, or does it placate them?

It surely does not placate.

So we can see here that stress is unhelpful. Great.

Now let’s think about sleeping.  When we sleep our body LOVES to repair itself. When we sleep we switch into something called the ‘parasympathetic nervous system response’.  It governs our states of rest. In this state we digest, repair, and rest best.

The first reason that Buteyko is such an incredibly versatile therapy is because it switches your body out of the state of stress (called the sympathetic nervous system response) and lands you in your parasympathetic response – your resting, digesting, and repairing state.

So now reconsider your chronic condition – is its repair helped or hindered by stress? Is its repair helped or hindered by being in a repair and rest state?

You got it – the healing of chronic conditions is helped GREATLY by putting your body in the nervous system response state of REPAIR.  I’ve never met anyone who was all, ‘oh yes please, I’d love a bit more stress today – that will surely help me feel apex on my health mountain and heal my underlying issues.’

So we get it – the takeaway here is: Buteyko trains your body OUT of the stress state and INTO a state of repair.

Throughout the next lot of blogs I’ll get into the nitty gritty of how Buteyko helps with all of the conditions listed above. We will start with anxiety and stress.  In the meantime – to get you going with a fierce health stride make sure you grab your free access to my Stress & Anxiety Buteyko Starter Pack.

Buteyko is a combination of simple, practical breathing techniques – I’ll be writing all about how and why they work in these blogs.  If you’re keen to learn how to use Buteyko for yourself and start feeling better immediately – come and see me so that we can tailor a Buteyko program specifically for your needs.  In my consultations we create a Buteko program specifically for you, teach you how and when to use your techniques at home, I’ll show you how to measure your progress, and you’ll learn about what signs to look out for from your body that indicate you’re on the right track with your balance and healing.  My aim is to make it super accessible and easy for you to stay on track with your health long-term.

I usually see patients 3-4 times, and then it’s up to you to implement the changes consistently in your life – which is not hard at all with Buteyko since it’s practical and simple, plus the way you feel as you progress through it is so wonderful that you’ll undoubtedly be a keen Buteyko breathing bean, looking forward to your integrated self-care spaces.

Breath is so incredibly fundamental to life. You meet your breath before you meet your mother.

Learn to get the basics right, and from there your health and healing potential is limitless.

In breath

Carly

Carly Woods - HeadshotCarly is a Buteyko Practitioner and Naturopath. She is passionate about helping her patients access their innate balance and wellbeing using practical, simple, and powerful fundamentals.  If you’re keen to get started now, book in to see Carly. She is available to see you at Fertile Ground Health Group on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Take a look at Carly’s bio to find out more about the way she works and how Buteyko Therapy can help you.

Getting to know your practitioner – Nicole McCowan, FGHG massage therapist

What do you love about your work as a remedial and pregnancy massage therapist?

I love being able to give women relief from any aches, pains or discomfort they have. I also absolutely adore when women lie down on the table and 9 times out of 10 there is an instant “Ähhhhhhhh” moment as they allow themselves to relax, knowing that the next 60-90 minutes is all about them and nurturing their bodies. Being a remedial and pregnancy massage therapist it’s my job be as caring, kind, compassionate and knowledgeable about the body as I can possibly be. Considering these are my favourite things to be in life, I truly think I have one of the best jobs in the world!

As well as being an aromatherapist and reiki practitioner, you teach feminine embodiment yoga. Would you like to tell us a bit about that?

Love to, it’s a massive passion of mine. Feminine Embodiment Yoga (FEY) is a specialised yoga practice uniquely celebrating the female form and flow. The practice allows you to strengthen your body through a combination of hatha yoga poses and rhythmic movements. It also has a strong focus on breath, balancing active and restorative poses and meditation. I love being a woman and learning about how unique our minds, emotions and bodies are, so when I discovered a yoga style specifically developed for women I couldn’t get enough and I enjoy sharing this practice with all women.

As a Practitioner, layering treatments with several modalities brings incredible results. For example, in a birth preparation massage the physical massage will work on an anatomical level, with the essential oils in the massage oil penetrating to a physiological level, add some reiki to reach the energetic level and once the massage is complete we the discuss home care and simple yoga postures and stretches that can work wonders to continue the birth preparation process.

Do you think women could benefit from feminine embodiment yoga during their fertility journey? How?

Definitely, Feminine Embodiment Yoga (FEY) focuses on relaxing the nervous system by releasing physical and emotional tension from the body. When the nervous system is relaxed your body goes from being in the ‘fight or flight’ mode (sympathetic nervous system) to “rest and digest”mode (parasympathetic nervous system) allowing your body to heal and restore itself.  The practice also targets specific areas of women’s bodies for greater engagement and toning. For example, in today’s society we do a lot of sitting at desks, in front of the TV, in the car, on transport etc. So FEY focuses on building strength in your legs, bottom and core, as well as stretching out the hips and pelvis, as these areas can become tight and locked. This is especially beneficial for fertility as it creates space and increases blood flow and nutrients to the area.

You support many women with massage on their journey through pregnancy and also post birth. What are some of the biggest challenges you see women going through physically and emotionally during these times?

It is an amazing privilege to be able to support women through this time of great transition as their bodies adapt and change to accommodate the next generation they are growing inside them. Exhaustion and fatigue are common challenges I see women facing during pregnancy and post birth. We live in a fast pace society and being the matriarch of the family comes with a never ending to do list, which you have just added “grow human” and/or “raise child” to the list! It’s important to get enough rest so your body and the baby has the best chance to grow and thrive. Getting a massage is amazing for this and I’m delighted when women come in to see me, having placed importance on putting themselves and their babies on top of their priority list. A massage helps relieve tension, headaches, body aches and pains, and cramping, to name a few. Massage for birth preparation is crucial to be in the most relaxed, rested and healthy state for the labour.

Post birth massage is essential to relieve the stress your body has gone through in labour and accelerate the healing process by releasing tense muscles which aids in moving lymph, fresh blood and nutrients around the body. It can be a challenge to find the time with a newborn to make it into the clinic so we recommend timing it just after a feed and then your gorgeous baby can sleep peacefully in their pram in the room while you receive a much needed massage. If they wake and cry it wouldn’t be the first time the awesome team on reception coo them back to sleep (it’s literally a pleasure and cuteness overload). If leaving the house still seems too hard (which it totally can be trying to time feed and sleep cycles) we offer home visit massages, we recommend you have someone at home with you to watch over baby so you can fully relax in the massage and receive as much nurturing as you give your bundle of joy.

How else can men and women benefit from massage?

Massage can benefit men and women in so many ways by increasing circulation, assisting detoxification, relieving tension and pain, reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and boosting your immune system, just to name a few.

Massage also counteracts all the sitting we do which is an awesome benefit considering how many of us have office jobs equating to prolonged periods of sitting. All this sitting leads postural stress which most times manifests in the shoulders and neck. More advanced postural stress can show up as pain or weakness in the lower back and gluteals. More often than not after a massage I will have patients comment how they didn’t realise how tense they were or how tight a specific area was until it was massaged. It’s highly beneficial to have a regular massage, even just once a month, to check in with your body before any aches or pains become acute or chronic.

What part of your work has ever brought you to tears?

As much as I try, I can’t help the rush of emotion when I hear about the birth, see pictures of, or meet a baby of a mother I have been massaging during her pregnancy. Its humbling and special to be able to share the joys of watching their belly grow and feeling the baby move when they receive a massage in Mum’s tum. Knowing that I have been able to support the mother through massage, which may have helped them have a more relaxed and enjoyable pregnancy is just wonderful.

Learn more about Nicole McCowan, remedial massage therapist at Fertile Ground Health Group or make an appointment to have one of her fabulous massage treatments. Online Booking

Could massage really help you conceive?

By Consuella Garreffa, FGHG Remedial Massage Therapist

So you’ve had the chat and decided that having children is on your agenda. There’s a new found freedom as many years trying not to conceive has finally turned tables. Contraception has been thrown out the window and the fun has begun!

Unfortunately it may not be that easy. In Australia only 3 out of 5 couples will conceive within 6 months of trying and 1 in 4 will take anywhere up to a year, with the rest of us taking even longer. All this often leads to a physical and emotionally demanding journey. What can begin as quite an adventure, can lead to stress and fatigue with cortisol (the body’s main stress hormone) often grabbing the reins and taking over.

This is exactly what you don’t need. Cortisol’s intention in the body is to help us deal with stress, it peaks as a reaction from the sympathetic nervous system and was originally intended for our flight or fight response; like that instant a thousand years ago where we were being chased by the wandering beast and needed a little more than the average power of our legs to get out of there.  Now-a-days there are many reasons why cortisol spikes and adapted threatening like situations still trigger its hefty rise – that deadline to have the paper in by Friday, the forty-six car build up you’re banked up in, or even a disturbing news headline, not to mention the waiting for ovulation or waiting for pregnancy results.

When trying to conceive, even sex can become stressful as pressure mounts to “get it right” and timing, position, to orgasm or not to… all comes under question and can lead to feelings of pressure. It may be reason to sky rocket your body’s stress response, launching these hormones, in particular – cortisol.

Our bodies are pretty fabulous; they want to nurture a little human to the best of their ability and chemically they are aware that a time of increased stress is not the ideal time to conceive. Instead, in stressful times our reproductive functioning is not on the main agenda, often resulting in hormone imbalance and trouble conceiving. The altered hormones can sometimes lead to altered menstrual cycle in women with anovulation and for men, high cortisol may lead to a low sperm count and decreased sperm motility.

‘Should we quit work and go on a baby making holiday?’ you may be asking. Whilst it’s not such a bad idea, we need to be a little realistic. What your body may be screaming for is to be nurtured and find relaxation closer to home on a more regular basis. A therapeutic massage will do just that.

Massage has been found to decrease cortisol levels by a huge 30% while simultaneously increasing the feel good hormones serotonin and dopamine – at an average of 28% and 31% respectively. Serotonin, the power molecule for mood stabilisation has the capacity to increase focus and calm, and decrease anxiety. Serotonin is also responsible for the production of melatonin – the sleep hormone. By optimising melatonin the body is able to recharge by having a restful sleep when the lights are switched off at the end of the day.

By adding therapeutic massage into your weekly baby making routine it will encourage your hormones to re-balance; lowering excess cortisol, increasing serotonin, dopamine and melatonin and enhancing your body’s ability to nurture a new little human.

Consuella_Garreffa colourBy Consuella Garreffa, Remedial Massage Therapist

Consuella Garreffa is a Remedial Massage therapist with years of valuable experience. Since birth Consuella has been immersed in natural living principles, growing up on a vineyard in Mildura where traditional methods were opted to prevent disease and treat any health complaints. For the past two years Consuella has been treating in Brisbane and has relocated to Melbourne to join Fertile Ground Health Group.

 

Mind Body Connection: An Osteopathic Perspective

by Bryden McGregor, FGHG Osteopath

The mind body connection has really caught my interest lately. It’s something that is poorly understood but can have a profound effect on your health. Take depression as an example. There are signs that most people can automatically identify with like hopelessness, sadness and anxiety, but depression can also cause unexplained physical symptoms or worsen the symptoms you already have, like pain. The two are closely linked and simply put, pain can be depressing and depression causes and intensifies pain.

In fact, vague aches and pains are often the presenting symptoms of depression, highlighting the mind-body connection. These symptoms can include back pain, gastrointestinal problems, chronic joint pain, limb pain, tiredness, sleep disturbances, psychomotor activity changes and appetite changes. Psychoneuroimmunology is what scientists are now calling the field that explains how our mind, our brain and other systems in the body all interact to have an impact on our health. Thanks to developments in MRI technology particularly over the last 5-10 years, we can actually look at what’s going on in the brain while it’s happening and see the connection between mind and body.

How the stress response works

The mind-body connection can be clearly seen when we look at the stress response (fight or flight). The stress response developed to help us deal with danger, like when a Saber tooth tiger is chasing you. When the stress response is triggered a lot of physiological processes are set off to help your body cope with the situation. Once we are stressed glucocorticoids are released to help mobilise energy, inhibit storage of energy and suppresses immune function. Adrenaline is released, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate. Extra blood is pumped to the muscles so you can get away from those shiny teeth. Sugars and fats pump into the bloodstream, your metabolic rate goes up, you start to feel hot and you sweat. Blood is diverted away from the skin and away from the gut due to adrenaline’s vasoconstrictor action, so your gastrointestinal system slows down. Your blood thickens and will clot faster than normal, which could be the difference between life and death if the tiger gets a hold of you. Your immune system is activated by pumping out inflammatory chemicals, so there is a short-term burst in immunity but long term is suppressed. And you become very focused.

The problem with the stress response

Unfortunately as smart as our bodies are, we do have to consider the fact that the evolution of technology and consciousness is far faster than that of physical adaptation. Adaptations are said to accomplish a goal, however the adaptation does not have to be, nor is it in many, many situations, optimal. We activate this stress response all the time through our modern lives, by anticipating future events or replaying past events, or by becoming overly angry and reactive to normal day to day events. We end up over activating this pathway, which can have a long-term cumulative effect that’s called allostatic load. Heart disease, diabetes, ulcers and growth problems for example, can then ensue.

In the brain, chronic stress will decrease glucose delivery to the hippocampus (limbic system: emotion, memory) and cortex (neocortex and prefrontal cortex: cognitive region) to probably divert it to the more reflexive brain regions (reptilian brain: survival). These effects are measurable not just in terms of physiological, metabolic effects and immune effects but also to the very DNA. The acceleration of the rate of ageing of the DNA can be seen, which is measured by the telomeres – little caps on the end of your chromosomes.

How to reverse the effects of the stress response

A chronically activated stress response is really how we accelerate the progression of chronic illness and the effects are also observable in the brain. Thankfully these changes seem to be able to be reversed. Meditation is fantastic, as is exercise, counselling, diet and manual body therapies. A combined approach is ideal, but exercise and osteopathy are two powerful treatments to get started on.

  1. Exercise

Exercise appears to have a similar action to an antidepressant, by acting on particular neurotransmitter systems in the brain and helping patients with depression to re-establish positive behaviours. 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity is all that is needed. After just 25 minutes, your mood improves, you are less stressed, you have more energy – and you’ll be more motivated to exercise again tomorrow. A bad mood no longer becomes a barrier to exercise; it is the very reason to exercise.

  1. Osteopathy

An Osteopath is obviously not a psychologist, however depression has important physiological and anatomical components. Many physicians consider patients to be in remission when their acute emotional symptoms have abated, but residual symptoms—including physical symptoms—are very common and increase the likelihood of relapse.

Psychiatrists and primary care physicians are now beginning to recognise that even though symptom domains in the areas of motivation and physical illness are frequently part of depression, they are often ignored in the assessment of depression and subsequently, in the treatment goals. Often, pain is not included in the treatment goals because it is interpreted as a sign of a somatic illness. Pain and depression share common pathways in the limbic (emotional) region of the brain according to some research. In fact, the same chemical messengers control pain and mood. Many people suffering from depression never get help because they don’t realise that pain may be a symptom of depression. The importance of understanding the physical symptoms of depression is that treating depression can help with the pain – and treating pain can help with depression.

Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) has been shown to improve cardiac indices, increase lymph flow rates through the thoracic duct, and decrease sympathetic tone in postoperative patients and those in intensive care. Another study has looked at how OMT can increase secretory IgA which provides our first line of defence against bacteria, food residue, fungus, parasites and viruses. A fancy way of saying there’s indications we can help with stress and actually improve immune function.

Osteopathy can also help to reduce some of the strains and stressors placed on your body in order to bring you back to equilibrium. Either through the postural compensations brought about from depression or through treating the pain-causing tissues that can lead to depression.

Posturally, there is often a shortening of the abdominal muscles and a tightening of the diaphragmatic arch which pulls the chest down and forward, limiting its ability to expand during breathing. Combined with medial rotation of the shoulders and internal rotation of the arms resulting in a increased kyphosis (mid back curve) that further restricts breathing. Without the support of the thoracic region, the head and neck will often move forward and down and further into collapse. Which can lead to follow on affects in the lower body. Through exercise prescription and treatment we can help resolve some of these extra stressors.

So yes Osteopathy can make a huge difference to your health and wellbeing, however, if we keep being overstimulated physically, psychologically or through anticipation (literally worrying ourselves sick) it will only offer short term relief. This short term relief however in the long term is not to be underestimated as it opens the gateways for new insights.

 

Bryden_colour-march-2017Bryden McGregor, FGHG Osteopath

Bryden is passionate about restoring movement and function to help people achieve their optimal health. Through effective assessment, diagnosis and treatment, Bryden is able to guide an individual to a better understanding of their body and provide symptomatic relief. He uses a range of techniques including manipulation, massage, dry needling and stretching, as well as patient education and exercise prescription. He has a keen interest in treating a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions affecting people of all ages, including pregnant women and babies.

Staying calm during the first 12 weeks

We are very excited to share this article written by our Head Naturopath Gina Fox, recently published with Concieve Baby…

Staying Calm During the first 12 Weeks

If you’ve just conceived it’s usually a happy time but may be tinged with feeling anxious about the development of your baby, especially if you’ve taken a while to get here or if you’ve suffered a previous pregnancy loss.  Typically the stress and worry builds up before each scan and then a feeling of relief floods through you at the scan; but often this relief is short lived.  What you can do to take back control, is to to take steps to change the storyline in your head. You may have noticed that the negative story we tell ourselves seem to stick whether it’s based on anything real or not.

In reality you don’t know the outcome and it’s useless to second guess but the truth is that at this very moment you are pregnant.  Developing a trust in your body (which can sometimes be difficult) that it knows what to do and that the hormones are effortlessly doing just what they should to support the growth of your baby.  I can hear you saying “that’s all very well but how exactly do I do that”?

How does keeping calm help your baby?

There are plenty of good reasons to support your emotional health during pregnancy and most importantly it’s been shown to be beneficial for the bub.  Short term stress is fine and normal and will be helpful for the the baby to be resilient.  The problem is ongoing stress during pregnancy – if you’re rushing around, feeling overwhelmed and constantly worrying, or experiencing low or anxious moods then this needs attention.

The stress hormones that course through your blood also cross the placenta and this heightened state of stress can cause change in the baby’s own response to stressors. Worry, anxiety and depression in pregnancy are all risk factors for adverse outcomes including pre-term delivery, lower birth weight, poorer infant development and behavioural and emotional problems in childhood (1).   It can have direct effects on early brain development leading to a delay in cognitive function and dysfunctional response to stress (2).

What can I do to help me stay calm?

This is not said to alarm you but to assure you that you can take more control. The benefits of meditation are now so well recognised for our health and wellbeing showing a positive impact on reducing stress and depression, improving our immune system, better sleep, heart health; in fact it supports a better functioning all round.  Pregnancy is a natural time of higher stress on the body and it makes sense to support yourself with a regular practice. Not only good in the first trimester but meditation is also a great preparation for labour and improved mood during the pregnancy and less risk of postpartum depression.  Allowing some quiet time also gives space for you to connect with your baby as well as feeling more energised and able to cope with everyday challenges.

You may not be able to change the stressful events in your life but you can change your emotional response to them and the effect they have on your own and your baby’s health.  Put aside some time for yourself each day to release tension and relax your body and you’ll both be glad you did.

To help women connect with and trust the process of the pregnancy happening within their body Be Fertile have created guided relaxations especially for this often tricky and worrisome first trimester.  These mindfulness meditations guide you with words which is often easier than meditating  in silence when you have a busy mind.  The very act of a daily relaxation activity gives a cumulative benefit – it helps your peace of mind and it helps your baby too.

You can also watch Gina’s Webinar on Stress and Fertility and register for the Webinar Series.

Gina-Fox3

How to be smart about stress and your fertility

By Gina Fox, Naturopath

Listen now to Gina’s Podcast “How to be smart about stress and your fertility”

The effect of stress can be different for each of us and just because you don’t feel stressed doesn’t mean that you may not be affected. The very busyness of our daily routines can result in constantly raised stress hormones such as cortisol. The effects of stress on the regulation of hormones, blood sugar and adrenal functions are well established and this means that reproduction is compromised, especially when experienced long term.

In the podcast Tasha Jennings ND of Conceive Baby website talks with Naturopath and Natural Fertility Specialist Gina Fox about the impact of stress on fertility and what you can do to improve your chances of falling pregnant.Gina has over 15 years clinical experience with a Masters in Reproductive Medicine. As well consulting at Fertile Ground Health Group, she is also a writer, speaker, naturopathic lecturer, student clinic supervisor and co-founder of the Be Fertile Series of Guided Meditations to support people through the struggles of trying to conceive.

Click here to hear the podcast. “How to be smart about stress and your fertility” Interview by Tasha Jennings from Conceive baby with Naturopath Gina Fox.