Stress Awareness Month

By Juliet Hollingsworth

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.

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Eating Disorder Awareness Week

By Juliet Hollingsworth

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;

  • Anorexia
  • Bulimia
  • Binge eating disorder

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.

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Lisa’s Triathlon Journey

By Lisa Harris and Rosanna Wood

There is mounting research backing up what many health professionals, including us osteopaths, have been saying for years: Exercise is not only beneficial but crucial to your everyday health. Everybody should be doing some amount of exercise to keep both body and mind healthy.

Many of you know Lisa Harris. She is one of the marvellous osteopaths here at Oak Park Clinic and she has a special place in her heart for exercise since beginning Triathlon training just a few short years ago.

I sat down with Lisa to hear the story of what inspired her to get started, and how she maintained her interest in training all the way up to competing in Olympic length Triathlons.

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Overcome your fear of flying

By Juliet Hollingsworth

With the holiday season approaching and flights booked many months ago, those with a fear of flying are now beginning to contemplate their upcoming flight and possibly regret booking it. There is always the excitement and anticipation of a holiday but this can be ruined for individuals with a fear of flying and often the whole family as they try to support their loved one.

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Fascia

By Rosanna Wood

The endless web, a truly fascinating tissue of the body!

What is it?

Fascia is the most important part of your body that you’ve possibly never heard of! It’s everywhere in your body. It is made up of a web-like structure reaching from head to toe. Surrounding and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein. It even connects all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord.

Every part of the body is connected to every other in some way via the fascia!

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Foods to help with exam stress

By Jacqui Mayes

Foods to help with exam stress. Its that time of year again when the public exams are just around the corner and we know that the next few weeks are going to be a stressful time for our teenagers. While a bit of exam stress can actually be a productive thing, we don’t want it spiralling out of control as that can impair performance.

Nutrition plays a role in our stress response and our Adrenal Glands, the organs that produce our main stress hormones, actually need additional nutrients during stressful times. Below are 5 top tips for supporting their teenage bodies during the next few weeks;

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