self care Archives - Amazing Health Advances

How To Manage Parent Guilt, Burn-Out & Fatigue

The AHA! Team — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:45:29 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #499) and blog, I talk to Hettie, a concerned mother, about balancing work and play time with her children, especially as a homeschooling mom. This is part of a series I am doing on questions you submitted for my new book on children’s mental health. This was Hettie’s question: “I’m part of an avid homeschooling community. Homeschooling moms like me tend to be “always on; always teaching.” It can lead to schooling burnout, and it does! How can we give ourselves and our children a better balance between working our brain, resting our brain, and letting our brain play?” First, it is important to understand that, as parents and guardians, we deserve to rest! This is especially the case if we are homeschooling our children as — in this case, we are not just parents but educators as well. Work-life balance is not just important for our children. We cannot give our best and be there for our children if we are overwhelmed, burnt out and running on empty. This is something I have spoken of on my podcast before, which I call the “oxygen mask principle”. As parents, we need to help ourselves before we can effectively help our children, which includes scheduling in periods of self-care so that our minds, brains and bodies have time to rest and recharge. We need to recognize that although the mind is infinite, the brain is finite, and it needs rest to function well. We can only give our best when we are rested, which is why it is so important that we learn how to be okay with doing nothing as parents. (This takes some practice, especially if you constantly feel the need to do something!) It is important to remember that our children pick up on our emotions and behaviors. If we are stressed out, overwhelmed or upset because we have not given ourselves enough time to rest and reboot, then this can affect our children’s mental health and performance. On the other hand, when we take the time to invest in our self-care as parents, and we explain to our children why this is important, we teach them an invaluable life-skill. This, in turn, will help them learn how to build and maintain their own resilience as both children and adults. Finding the right work-play-rest balance is not just something we should teach our children. It is something we need to model in our own lives. As mentioned, children observe us and pick up on our feelings and behaviors. This means that we do and say, or what we don’t do or say, can affect their wellbeing as well. So, taking care of ourselves and our mental health is not just a “nice” thing to do. It is imperative if we want our children to grow up understanding that life is about balance and that their health is important. For more on parenting and children’s mental health, listen to my podcast (episode #499). Podcast Highlights 3:36 The challenges of homeschooling & balancing work and rest 4:35, 6:47 The importance of self-care as a parent 7:45 How burnout affects the mind-brain-body connection 13:34 How our mood & emotions can affect our children 18:00 Tips to maintain a good work-life balance as a parent 21:30 The importance of teaching our children about mental health & self-care from youth This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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Dealing with Textxiety

AHA Publisher — Wed, 01 May 2024 05:00:43 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In this podcast (episode #566) and blog, I talk about how to manage texting anxiety (yes, it’s a thing!). I am sure you have had the experience where you see a text come through and your heart just sinks into your stomach.Texting anxiety is so real that it even has its own coined term, “textxiety“! Some people may worry that their messages will be misinterpreted or taken out of context. In fact, many people feel a sense of unease, worry, and stress when texting. Although this may sound strange, it is important to remember that texting is another form of communication—it makes sense that it could cause someone to feel a sense of anxiety. Some people may worry that their messages will be misinterpreted or taken out of context. They are concerned that the recipient will not understand the intended tone or meaning of their messages. For others, texting can create a sense of urgency; someone may feel pressured to respond immediately, which can lead to anxiety, especially when they are unable to reply promptly. In other cases, someone may obsessively review and revise their messages before sending them, fearing that any wording or phrasing could be problematic. This can add a lot of stress to a conversation. And some people may find texting stressful as they are not able to read the nonverbal cues that they rely on in face-to-face interactions. In other cases, someone may obsessively review and revise their messages before sending them.. If you are someone who battles with texting anxiety, I recommend using the Neurocycle mind management method I have developed and studied over the past three decades, which I discuss in detail in my book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and my app Neurocycle. It has 5 steps: Steps 1-3: gather, reflect and write down how you feel when a text comes in. Try to analyze why texting gives you anxiety. Take into account your emotions, behaviors, bodily sensations, and perspective when you receive a text. Sit with these feelings and write them down to help organize your thinking and bring clarity to the situation. Use who/what /when/where/why questions to find the pattern behind your reactions. Step 4: recheck. Once you feel like you understand the meaning behind your anxiety better, try to come up with solutions to alleviate the stress you feel when texting. This will take you to: Step 5: the active reach. This is a thought or action you need to practice daily to help you reconceptualize what you worked through in the previous step. What are you going to do each day to give yourself the time and mental space needed to deal with what is bothering you and turn this situation into something constructive? Here are some examples: Establish clear boundaries for when and how often you engage in texting. It’s okay to take breaks from your phone! Send a text to someone that you will reply to later when you get the chance in order to alleviate the stress that comes with feeling bad about not replying. Take a moment to think before responding, especially if the conversation is emotionally charged. Avoid rushing to reply when you’re upset or anxious! If certain individuals consistently cause text anxiety, consider blocking or muting their messages temporarily. This can provide relief and time for you to regroup. Be kind to yourself and recognize that it’s normal to make mistakes or experience anxiety in communication and texting is a form of communication just like any other! Remind yourself of this. If you can, put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode when you are working or at night when you are sleeping. Tell people that you do not answer texts during certain hours. Categorize your texts with colors and pictures, so that you know what to read first and what to leave until you feel better prepared. If a text is causing you a lot of anxiety, perhaps get someone else to read it first. Before opening a text, prepare yourself with breathing exercises or movement like yoga stretches to ground you. The key thing to remember that text anxiety is a pretty common experience. It is not something to be ashamed of! It’s okay to seek help or employ strategies to alleviate it. By incorporating these practices into your digital communication routine, you can make texting a less stressful and more enjoyable means of connecting with others. For more on texting anxiety, listen to my podcast (episode #566). Podcast Highlights 3:20 Text anxiety is a real thing! 5:30, 8:44 Signs that you may be experiencing text anxiety 13:00, 19:33 How to manage text anxiety This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. To read the original article click here.

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Doing This “CHILLING” Activity Can Be Good for Your Health in Many Ways

AHA Publisher — Fri, 07 May 2021 07:00:27 +0000

Sara Middleton via NaturalHealth365 – If you’ve ever wondered why there’s been a recent buzz about cold shower health benefits, consider this your opportunity to discover more about this chillytrend. Don’t worry: taking a cold shower could be a lot easier than you think. And since a growing body of research shows why (and when) it’s good to be cold, this simple at-home health trick might just be your next favorite self-care hack. Support Immune Health and Improve Your Mood One Cold Shower at a Time A cold shower might not be right for everybody, and if you’re currently medically supervised for any reason, you should chat with your doctor before turning the dial down on your shower. That said, there is a growing collection of data suggesting that a simple cold shower could offer a range of impressive health benefits: May alleviate depressive symptoms: a 2008 clinical trial from Medical Hypotheses revealed mood-boosting benefits from taking a cold shower for 5 minutes just 2 to 3 times per week May support the immune system: in 2016, a randomized controlled trial involving more than 3,000 participants from the Netherlands found that a month of daily cold showers reduced the number of sick days by nearly 30% compared to controls; cold water exposure has been shown to stimulate immune cell activity that may help people fight off cold and flu viruses May reduce pain: a 2014 review from the North American Journal of Medical Sciences finds that cold exposure temporarily constricts blood vessels and slow nerve impulses, therefore reducing inflammation and pain sensations May enhance physical recovery: for all you hard-working gym-goers out there, cold showers might help reduce that post-workout fatigue (but maybe not post-workout soreness), according to a 2017 systematic review published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Anecdotally, most people will tell you that taking a cold shower provides a huge rush of energy and alertness. So, for anyone looking to cut back on caffeine dependency, a cold shower first thing in the morning could be a perfect alternative. And yes — cold showers do appear to give a boost to your metabolism since your body has to work harder to stay warm. But realistically, this doesn’t mean a daily cold shower will suffice for a weight loss plan. Ready to Try Taking Cold Showers? Here’s How to Take the (Cold) Plunge You don’t have to jump straight into a stream of ice-cold water in order to use this at-home health remedy yourself. Instead, here’s a step-by-step guideline: Begin your shower at your normal temperature. Toward the end of the shower, start turning down the temperature to as cold as you can tolerate. Stay under this cold water for 1 to 2 minutes. Breathe deeply! Every time you shower, challenge yourself by turning the temperature down a little lower and/or prolonging the amount of time you spend in the cold. Many cold shower practitioners say it gets much easier with time — to the point that people actually start to look forward to the chill. How cold is cold enough? A target temperature commonly cited in the literature is around 68°F (20°C), but if you don’t have a thermometer handy, then just going by feel should suffice. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov BMJ.com Wimhofmethod.com ScienceDirect.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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The Difference Between Rest & Restoration, Why Resting Alone Is Not Sufficient

AHA Publisher — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 08:00:29 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In the middle of a global pandemic, the idea of rest seems so…complicated. What is it? How do you do it? How do you find peace when things seem so crazy? In this podcast (episode #253) and blog, I talk about the difference between resting to restore versus just resting, why rest alone is often not enough, and how to use a Neurocycle to effectively and sustainably restore your mind and brain. How many of you have ever binge-watched a Netflix show because you desperately needed a break, only to feel completely unrested the minute the binge ends? How many of you went on that weekend break or holiday, and came back feeling like you are still exhausted, even though you spent hours lying on that beach and going for long walks in beautiful scenery? If this sounds familiar, you are not alone! Indeed, finding ways to rest well can be incredibly challenging — it is a recurring challenge in my life. Although there is a ton of information out there (just look at how many social media posts are encouraging you to make self-care a routine part of your regimen!), so many people are still exhausted and burned out. It seems like almost every day I get a new article or research notification telling me how bad things are! So, what can we do? Is there hope? Although this may sound counterintuitive, rest has so much to do with the mind. Regardless of what technique we use or thing we do to rest, if we can’t manage what is going through our heads, it can backfire on us, leaving us feeling tired and downcast. To do this, I recommend doing a Neurocycle, the scientific mind-management process I have developed and researched over the past three decades and discuss in my upcoming book Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and in my latest clinical trials. These 5 steps can help you learn how to rest well—speaking from experience. Recently, I started using the Neurocycle daily to find out why I was still having frequent periods exhaustion and burn-out. I knew the main reason why I felt this way was because of the issues I was dealing with in my business and family—I knew the root cause and was analyzing this because I try to live a mind-managed lifestyle (I really do apply my own system in my life!). I also have an incredible relationship with my husband—we live and work well together. I do daily fasted workouts and hot yoga, I eat real food mindfully, I have daily infrared sauna sessions, and really do try to take care of my mind and body. But still I was not truly resting, and I kept saying “I am so exhausted”. I couldn’t seem to catch my “mental breath”, so I knew something else was going on as well, and that I needed to dig deeper to find the vein of that root in my life. So, starting on Jan 1st, for around 7 minutes a day, I went through the 5 steps of the Neurocycle (gather, reflect, write, recheck and active reach—see below) to find out why I was not feeling rested even though I was taking “breaks” and living a mind-managed lifestyle. This is what I did daily: Step 1: Gather In this step, I gathered awareness of the rest I had that day and my physical and emotional warning signals, behaviors and perspectives. Step 2: Reflect I then asked, answered and discussed why I am feeling the way I do, based on what I became aware of in step 1. Step 3: Write I then wrote my answers down to help me organize my thinking and gain more clarity into how I felt that day and why. To do this, I used a Metacog, a way of writing that is naturally and instinctively based on how we try to work out meaning from information. In this method, I focus on the essentials, which is usually around 15 to 35 percent of the information we are processing. For more on this, see my book Think, Learn, Succeed. Step 4: Recheck In this step, I did what I call a “mental autopsy”. I rechecked what I wrote on my Metacog, looking for patterns and triggers, and thought about why I felt the way I did and how I can do better. Step 5: Active Reach Lastly, I worked out an action for the day from my recheck, which would help me practice what I learnt about myself and my need to rest better that day. Today is day 34—I still have 29 days of practice left to establish this thought as a habit in this 63-day cycle. However, I was so excited at what I have discovered thus far, which is helping me enormously, that I wanted to share it with you in this podcast and blog. I noticed the obvious pretty quickly, which was that I still wasn’t taking sufficient time out, and had been swinging between a heavy workload, financial strain, and a family crisis. I addressed this through my active reaches daily by taking time alone in the sauna and having long, hot baths at night. However, I was still battling with exhaustion. So, what was going on here? What was I doing wrong? My “ah-ha” moment came around day 14 (two weeks in): I had learned how to build rest into my routine, but I still wasn’t fully restoring! So, for the next week, days 15-21, I embraced, processed and reconceptualized this realization using the 5 steps of the Neurocycle until I worked out how to rest to restore versus just rest. And this is what I want to share with you now: Let’s begin with the definition of restoration. Restoring is a transitive verb; it means to give back, to return, to put or bring back into existence and use…to renew. The opposite of restoration is to weaken, undermine, cripple, undo, depress, split or dull. Rest, on the other hand, is defined as ceasing of activity to relax and refresh, or to recover strength. I recognized that, by days 19-21, I was getting the rest bit right, but I had missed the restore element. I wasn’t watching what my chaotic mind was doing while I was resting! So, for example, when I binged watched Netflix in my infrared sauna or with my family, or went to an exercise class, or had fun with my family, I was resting physically, but not restoring. Deep down, I was still worrying about a family member, the work I had to do, how this person was going to react to that person and how could I prevent it and all these things! Instead of allowing my mind and brain to renew and return to baseline, thus bringing coherence back into my mind, I was weakening, undermining and undoing my rest, which was impacting me mentally and physically. After realizing this, I came up with four active reaches I have been doing daily to rest to restore: 1. Taking more thinker moments Research shows that we spend half to ¾ of our day in our minds and time-traveling through our thoughts and memories. How we do this can either help or harm our ability to rest well, which is why it is important that we take what I call “thinker moments” throughout the day. These are periods where we let our minds wander and daydream, which help us rest and restore because they give our brains the downtime they need to function optimally. When we let our minds wander, we internally reboot our thinking, giving our internal dialogue some quality “me time”. I have found that the best way to have a thinker moment is to close your eyes and allow your mind to release a free flow of thoughts creatively for 5 minutes. I find that having pen and paper at hand is useful during this process, so you can write down the thoughts that are flowing freely and their direction, as well as the thoughts you keep coming back to that are stealing your peace, which you can then work on in a separate Neurocycle. 2. Avoiding “milkshake” multi-tasking Multi-tasking is really not good for the brain. Even though we can do it, our minds aren’t good at this kind of scattered, jumpy thinking. It draws energy from our brain and creates something akin to a dust storm in our minds, which can affect our mental and physical health. When we multitask, we end up with what I call “milkshake thinking”, which is the opposite of mindfulness. Every rapid, incomplete, and low quality shift of thought makes a “milkshake” with our brain cells and neurochemicals, which is the opposite of how the brain is designed to function. When we consciously try to jump rapidly from one task to another, we essentially cloud our ability to concentrate and think deeply, which impacts our ability to do a task well, leading to unnecessary levels of anxiety and stress in our life. If you are anything like me, sometimes it is hard to resist the temptation to multi-task when resting. However, I realized that when I consciously made an effort not to multi-task (I did a Neurocycle on this too!), I really did feel more restored and renewed. 3. Making my rest periods about myself, not other people. I came to the realization that I need to make my rest periods about my rest, and stop letting other people pull on my energy reserves. Indeed, you can’t help someone or deal with them if they are on your mind all the time, because it will wear you down. I also realized that being around negative people resulted in poor restoration. I needed to balance my time with healthy people and healthy, happy conversations, and I needed to enforce my own boundaries. 4. Practicing self-regulation. I realized that I felt more restored if I prepared myself mentally before whatever rest activity I was going to do, and self-regulated my thinking during my periods of rest to make sure I appreciated every moment. I would ask myself questions like “what am I thinking of now?”, “Is this bringing me mental peace?” and “Can I solve it now? If yes, then solve it and move on, and if no, then set a later time to deal with it”. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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Cooking Therapy Benefits for Stress + Mental Health

AHA Publisher — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 07:00:45 +0000

Jillian Levy, CHHC via Dr. Axe – You probably already know that cooking the majority of your meals at home, rather than relying on takeout and restaurants, offers a number of health advantages, including keeping your calorie intake in check and saving you money. That’s not all, however, as cooking therapy — how does cooking make you feel? — is also beneficial for mental health. Cooking therapy, also referred to as culinary therapy or kitchen therapy, is one way to simultaneously “nourish your mind and feed your soul,” as described by a Psychology Today article. What are some of the best things about cooking therapy as a form of self-care? Not only can it help relieve anxiety, but it’s also accessible to just about everybody, actually saves you money (unlike most hobbies!), and produces a finished product that can be shared or just enjoyed on your own. Ready to get cooking? Find out more below about how cooking and baking can support both your physical and mental health in a number of unique ways. What Is Cooking Therapy? Cooking therapy/culinary therapy has been defined by some experts as “the therapeutic technique that uses arts, cooking, gastronomy, and an individual’s personal, cultural, and familial relationship with food to address emotional and psychological problems.” Preparing food is activity is one that you can do at home, and that can be incorporated into treatment plans at mental health clinics and therapist offices. Cooking and baking as a form of a stress relief is now recommended for people dealing with a wide range of health conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic stress, eating disorders, ADHD and addiction. How can cooking relieve stress? According to a 2018 review, some of the many ways in which cooking (and baking therapy too) can help to reduce anxiety symptoms and perk up your mood include by giving you a sense of control, accomplishment and providing (for yourself and for whomever else you cook), while having a positive influence on socialization, self-esteem and overall quality of life. Cooking and Mental Health Why is cooking good for mental health? According to recent research focused on culinary therapy, here are some of the ways that cooking therapy can improve your mood and general well-being: Requires concentration, so can act a healthy distraction that allows you to slow down and “get out of your head.” Can serve as a form of mindfulness. As one author put it, “Cooking is meditation with the promise of a good meal afterward.” Awakens your senses, requiring you to pay attention to the present moment. Can help you get into a “flow state,” since it’s both challenging and enjoyable at the same time. Encourages you to learn new skills and expand your knowledge base. Provides an “escape” and breaks up the monotony of your daily routine, since there are always new recipes to try. Can improve quality of life among people coping with addictions and serious illnesses, such as cancer. May help you feel less anxious, depressed or overwhelmed, since cooking gives you a feeling of accomplishment and can also provide pleasure. Additionally, it’s a way to practice gratitude for the food available to you and can give you a boost in self-esteem if you take the time to appreciate and enjoy what you’ve made. Is cooking creative? Definitely, which is why some researchers also refer to cooking as “culinary art.” Both baking and cooking give you outlets to express yourself and produce something tangible of substance. It’s an added bonus that you can eat and share your work of art! Other Benefits of Cooking What are other advantages of cooking? If you need a nudge to spend more time in your kitchen, here are some other benefits of cooking: Physical benefits of cooking — Compared to sedentary hobbies like reading, watching TV or working on the computer, cooking and baking require you to be up on your feet, fetching ingredients, mixing, chopping and cleaning up afterward. It might not be an intense workout, but a cooking session is one way to do something that’s both fun and relatively active at the same time. It’s even been shown to decrease the risk of disability, loss of independence and malnutrition among elderly adults, since it requires multiple physical and mental skills to be utilized simultaneously. Benefits of cooking together as a family/couple — You might normally think of meal planning, cooking and cleaning up the mess as a hassle, but research suggests that exploring recipes together with your family/partner, planning and then cooking the meals as a team can actually be a fun way to gather, bond and enjoy time together. Saving money — If you typically rely on takeout and convenience foods, cooking more meals at home is a great way to eat healthy on a budget and start saving money. Cooking with seasonal, local produce is another money-saving solution, since not only are the ingredients fresh and taste great, but they may be cheaper too. Another way to keep costs down is to take inventory of ingredients you already have and then come up with creative new ways to use them. Eating healthier — Many studies have found that when people cook for themselves at home they tend to consume less calories overall and eat better-quality foods. If you take the time to carefully prepare a meal, you’re also less likely to zone out while eating and more inclined to to practice mindful eating, take your time and pay attention to your hunger and fullness cues. Supporting overall cognitive health — Studies have shown that when adults focus on eating simple, anti-inflammatory foods like greens, berries, nuts, seeds and fish, they tend to experience benefits related to their general well-being, including: Reduced oxidative stress/free radical damage Lower inflammation Protection against dementia, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, weight gain, and metabolic syndrome Improved blood sugar Lowered risk for obesity Improved mobility and quality of life Healthy Recipes for the Mind One way to take the benefits of kitchen therapy to the next level is by preparing healthy, nourishing recipes that you can feel good about eating and sharing. Nutrient-dense foods are also supportive of cognitive/mental health and can even lower your risk for issues like depression and dementia. What types of foods should you focus on in order to take care of your mind? Those that are emphasized on the MIND diet, a healthy eating plan that has the goal of lowering your risk for cognitive disorders, include: Vegetables, especially leafy greens like spinach, kale, etc. All other fresh vegetables are also included, such as cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, green beans, etc. Fresh fruit, especially all types of berries, including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, etc. Nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, almonds, chia seeds and flaxseeds Beans and legumes, such as chickpeas, black beans, lentils, etc. Whole grains, such as oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, barley, farro, 100 percent whole-wheat breads, etc. Fish, particularly wild-caught, fatty fish like like salmon, sardines, halibut, trout, tuna and mackerel, which are the best sources of omega-3 fats Lean meats like poultry, ideally that are pasture-raised and not breaded or fried Olive oil, which is used as the “main cooking oil” and can also be drizzled over salad, veggies, etc. Need some more inspiration? If learning about new ingredients and exploring novel recipes make cooking more fun for you, try stocking your kitchen with some of these interesting, healthy ingredients: Bone broth (numerous ways to use this, including in soups, stews, marinades, omelets and even baked goods) Beetroot powder (great in smoothies, sauces, salad dressings and gravy) Cassava, tiger nut, banana and chickpea flours (try these gluten-free flours in baked goods, flat breads and more) Freekeh (an ancient grain that can sub in for buckwheat, quinoa or farro) Kombu (a type of seaweed used in soups, stews and salads) Natto (similar to miso, used in mostly Japanese dishes) Medicinal mushrooms (can be used to brew tea or make broths) Risks and Side Effects Are there any downsides to partaking in culinary therapy? Not really, as long as you don’t take it too seriously and put pressure on yourself. View it as a fun and creative activity, rather another chore or complicated task. Try easy recipes that you naturally feel drawn to, and don’t be hard on yourself if you improvise a recipe and wind up messing things up. Conclusion Cooking therapy, also called culinary or kitchen therapy, is a therapeutic technique that uses the art of cooking (or baking or gastronomy) to address emotional and psychological problems and improve mental health. What are the mental health benefits of cooking at home? Cooking can be relaxing, serves as a way of practicing mindfulness, improves concentration, can get you into a “flow state,” is a creative outlet and more. Other benefits of cooking include fostering connection with others, eating healthier overall, saving money, and supporting cognitive health in ways such as lowering inflammation and oxidative stress. A high-quality diet plays a major role in keeping your brain healthy. Therefore to get the most from cooking therapy, emphasize whole foods like greens, berries, nuts, seeds, whole grains and fish. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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9 Tips to Staying Mentally and Physically Healthy During This Pandemic

AHA Publisher — Tue, 05 May 2020 07:00:41 +0000

Dr. Will Cole via Dr. Caroline Leaf – The current state of the world has put most of us on high alert. We are stressed to the max and concerns that we never used to have are at the forefront of our minds. The importance of sanitization, social distancing, and a healthy immune system mean more to us than they ever have before. As a functional medicine practitioner, I want to help people achieve optimal wellness, naturally – and that includes both physical and mental health. These are my top tips for all-around healthy living during this unique time in our history. 1. Bookend your days with mindfulness How you start and end your day can set the tone for everything that happens in between. With everything going on right now in the world it is easy to get sucked into the negative. Taking the time to pause with a mindfulness routine can help you be prepared to take on whatever life throws at you rather than being a victim of your circumstances. 2. Target your supplements While food is foundational, certain supplements can really give our immune health that extra boost it needs right now. My favorite combination is vitamin C and zinc which have both been shown to help fight off colds as well as shorten the length of illness. And when taken together, zinc works to boost the effectiveness of vitamin C. 3. Sip on some tea Whether it is hot or iced, tea is good for your soul. Not only does tea taste amazing, it has some equally amazing health benefits. In fact, tea has some of the highest levels of antioxidants than any other superfood. Herbal tea has a ton of varieties so you’ll never get bored and it is relatively inexpensive. Some of my favorites include hibiscus and lemon balm for their vitamin C content, green tea for antioxidants, and peppermint to help alleviate sinus pressure and ease an upset stomach. In order to really reap the benefits of these immune-supporting antioxidants it is recommended to drink 4-6 cups of tea per day. I personally love Pique Tea for their high-quality sourcing (ensuring maximum bioavailability) and their convenient tea sachets, making it super easy to get in those multiple cups per day. 4. Experiment with essential oils Diffusing essential oils is a great all-natural alternative to scented candles for creating a relaxing environment while also boasting a variety of health benefits. Some of my favorites include: Tea Tree: a multi-purpose antifungal, antiviral, and antimicrobial. Eucalyptus: A great antimicrobial, it also helps to clear up congestion in the chest and sinuses. Frankincense and myrrh: When used together they have powerful antimicrobial abilities. 5. Drink bone broth There’s a reason why chicken soup was the common remedy for many of us when we were sick as children. Now the chicken soup you buy in the store is made with basic chicken stock but back in the day it was made with bone broth. Made from simmering the bones of chicken at least 8 hours, bone broth is filled with nutrients like glycine, glucosamine, gelatin, and other minerals that work to heal your gut – which is especially important considering close to 80% of your immune system is located in your gut! 6. Put down the phone With most of us in quarantine right now, we have more than enough time to endlessly scroll social media. But this constant stream of information, comparison, and news can contribute to some serious stress and anxiety. Giving yourself some screen-free time away from your phone, computer, and tv can help calm your mind and ease your stress levels. 7. Declutter your space In addition to putting down your phone, decluttering your space can also help to clear your mind. If you have yet to try out the KonMari method this will help to clear out your outer and inner spaces. 8. Fill your home with nature Spending time in nature has been shown to have some next-level health benefits. Even though we are confined to our homes more than normal, bring the outside in and surround yourself with plants, rocks, water features, or crystals for a soothing nature-inspired environment. 9. Enjoy an epsom salt bath Epsom salt baths are a great way to destress and detox your body from toxins to encourage a strong immune system. They also contain magnesium which is the fourth most abundant mineral in our bodies, but close to 50-90 percent of us are deficient in. Help prep your body for a restful nights sleep with an evening epsom salt bath. Add in some essential oils for added health benefits and relaxation! This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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