In these uncertain times when many of us feel that we have no control over what’s happening to us, stress can play a role in many of our emotions and in our health and immune response. Stress is a factor that affects all our lives in one way or another . While we can’t wave a magic wand and make our stress go away, we can choose the right foods to help our body deal with that stress.
Continue reading “Nutrients to combat stress and improve energy”
With the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented number of are now finding ourselves working from home overnight, meaning new home offices set up at kitchen and dining tables, beds and sofas! Not all of us had a home office set up ready or had much experience as to how to make our workstation area a healthy and productive space.
Now we are settling into this new way of working, which could continue for several weeks, we are all starting to feel those muscular aches and pains resulting from poor posture and infrequent breaks from laptops and other mobile devices – I know I am!
Continue reading “Working from home posture”
This is a little something different for you today. We have 3 delicious recipes in the blog, but also a printable PDF to make them into a delightful mini book. We thought that as schools are still closed, many of you could use a little activity to do at this time. Quite frankly, it makes a cute addition to the recipe book shelf for any age.
Continue reading “Lockdown Recipes in a Mini Recipe Book to Make”
With the current spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in the news, it is worth considering that there are several important strategies that we can put in place to boost our immunity and hopefully minimise the severity of symptoms should we be exposed to or catch the virus.
Continue reading “Ideas to Boost Your Immune System”
We have been running an infant massage group here at Oak Park Clinic since the summer and it is proving an enormous success.
Baby massage is a longstanding parenting tradition in many cultures around the world and has gained popularity here in the UK since the late 1990s. The course draws from both Indian and Swedish massage traditions as well as incorporating principles from yoga and reflexology.
Baby massage classes offer an opportunity to meet new mothers and a special time to communicate both verbally and non verbally with your baby so that they feel loved, valued and respected. I teach a sequence of rhythmic strokes and soothing holds which have been developed and refined over the years to help reduce crying and emotional distress, help provide relief from wind, colic, constipation and teething pain, help provide increased levels of relaxation to promote deeper and longer sleep and help for the parent or carer to understand and feel closer to their baby. Parents have also found that it has helped significantly with symptoms of post-natal depression and bonding issues.
Our classes here at Oak Park Clinic are small and relaxed and include time for informal parent discussions. Massage strokes are reviewed each week and handouts are given as a reminder. Parents who attend our classes learn so much more than a massage routine and leave with so much more confidence in handling their babies.
One of our recent participants has written the following review:
We absolutely loved the baby massage course at Oak Park Clinic. It was a truly valuable 5 week course, where not only did I get to spend a precious hour learning to massage my baby Charlie, it was incredibly relaxing and calming listening to Carolyn’s lovely voice and hearing her caring, kind and knowledgeable words about the ups and downs of life with a newborn! I would recommend this course to anyone with a young baby, I’ve found the massage tips super helpful not just for relaxation but also to help with digestive, teething and sleep issues. Thank you so much Carolyn
If you would like to find out when the next Baby Massage class starts here at Oak Park then please contact the clinic. 01252 850800 info@oakparkclinic.co.uk
Most often when pregnant women think of their pelvis and the role it plays in pregnancy it is the actual birth process that we focus on. However for many women their pelvis can start to play up during pregnancy leading to pain and sore joints especially at the end of the day when all we want to do is relax! This is partly due to the increased weight into the pelvis but also with what happens to our ligaments when we are pregnant, from the first few weeks right up to the end of breastfeeding.
Many people come to the clinic seeking advice from our Nutritional Therapist because of their own or their children’s food allergies. Food allergies are common and they appear to be becoming more prevalent. Six to eight percent of children now affected worldwide.
Continue reading “Food Allergies”
Yesterday I walked past this tree, I noticed how entwined the branches were – like a tangled necklace. It made me think of the work I do with clients, how, so often it is a case of untangling the branches to find the trunk underneath. Many people do not know what is wrong, they just know they don’t feel right. There may be so many layers to peel back before the root cause is found.
National no smoking day – what a huge day for smokers. The first national no smoking day was in 1984 and was intended to help people quit smoking. I wonder how many smokers choose not to smoke on this day, how many decide to quit on this day and how many ignore it?
Continue reading “Smoking – Are you ready to quit?”
During eating disorders week it is important to raise awareness of and destigmatise eating disorders. The way you eat can be considered disorderly if it interferes with your everyday life. The ‘beat eating disorders’ website claim that 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder with the most common being;
However the way you eat does not have to have a label to make it an interference in your life. I see clients that have an incredibly healthy diet and eating rhythm all of the time other than on the drive home from work, for example, when they stop daily to buy a chocolate bar (and feel that this is out of their control). I see people that do not binge, snack or eat anything overly unhealthy but cannot leave food on their plate and over eat at every meal because of this. I also see people that regularly ‘treat’ themselves with food. Along with those that eat when they feel stress, anger, sadness, happiness etc. I also work with people that stop eating when they feel these emotions and others that find it difficult to eat regardless of emotion.
Continue reading “Eating Disorder Awareness Week”