Working with mindfulness practices both for clients, and myself, I have become increasingly aware of its 'sister' gratitude practice. Over April I participated in 'a month of gratitude', a concept run by a Positive Psychology program I follow. The reason I took up this month long practice was that while I conceptually understood gratitude, I didn’t find myself feeling it as often as I could.

I am regularly regaled with the benefits of Coconut oil (predominantly a saturated fat) but personally I am not a fan. By all means moisturise with it, use it as a mouth cleanser, rub it through hair etc, but don’t eat too much of it. The purported health benefits just don’t stack up in the research. On the other hand Olive oil (a mono-unsaturated fat) has a bucket of research showing positive health benefits including this recent report indicating that extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) protects memory and learning ability and further, decreases the risk of brain changes commonly associated with Alzheimer's.

Skin is one of the key defence systems of the body with the outermost layer providing a natural barrier to water loss and potential toxins or microbes. It is exposed to numerous daily stressors such as infections, toxic agents (artificial fragrances), allergens, UV light and mechanical damage and is usually well equipped to respond and protect from these environmental factors. However, in those with skin conditions such as psoriasis, chronic itching, eczema and rosacea, both environmental and psychological stress can be a trigger for acute flare-ups as well as sustaining chronic issues.

Stress impacts our gut bugs

A new study from Nature Scientific Reports indicates that stress may be as unhealthy to our gut microbiota as a bad diet. The study was carried out on animals but may have implications for humans. The researchers set out to evaluate the factors that impact on the gut microbiota and found that female mice exposed to stress showed significant changes to their microbiota: the changes in the composition of gut bugs looked like they had been eating a high fat diet.

While we often think that stress has a mostly psychological effect, this study highlights the physical impacts.

Bad, Mad, Sad

Are you feeling bad, mad, or sad?

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, and just as important is knowing what you are feeling and being able to articulate them.

Not knowing is called alexithymia, which means an inability to describe our own emotions. It can also be associated with difficulty with identifying different types of emotions.

Critically not understanding or being able to describe our own emotions has far-reaching effects. With the appropriate language we can understand and share what we are experiencing. Labelling an emotional experience results in ‘greater emotional regulation and psychological wellbeing’. Without this capacity we may not even know how to make sense of an experience for ourselves. If we can’t understand and share our experience, then how can we ask for help, or get what we need?