Of course a Healthy Heart isnt just all about food and exercise.

From my own personal experience it’s also about our environment. And no I dont mean the birds and trees (although those Kookaburras were dam cute and very well timed I must say).

By environment I mean what we surround ourselves with. I live an alternate lifestyle to many. My kids are like my friends (altho they know who’s boss when they need to – I’m OK at both mentoring and delegation) and I share custody of my youngest. I live with a friend due to having to sell my home a while back, I run my own business, freelance and contract, own a wine group, run events and generally have a fairly full life. In amongst that I have to have what people commonly call “a life” ie social outings, relationships etc. These can be challenging – but also interesting. I am independent in how I raise my children and many have critised – but I like to do it alone and in my own time on my own terms. And they seem to be OK with this to. I guess you could say they dont really know any different? But they do – they each have their dad’s families and friends to compare and I get pretty good reviews – we are happy.

So, I am exposing all this because it is a pressure to be a single mum and raise my children the way I want to. In some form of comfort (like I was raised) and with some level of freedom. On days like today when both my major contracts have ended, I come home to the questions of “where will the money come from mum?”. I havent let them down yet, and I dont intend to start now, but it is a pressure, that turns into a stress if we let it. Things happen for a reason, and when they are meant to. And I have learnt not to question that.

It’s all in the timing.

Which is why it was lovely to receive Kelly’s tip for the day this morning. It made me smile. I would like to share it with you:

 

Body Life Balance

Tip of the day:

Stressful Life?

From a physical perspective stress puts your body into “fight or flight mode” activating your adrenals. This uses up vital nutrients such as vitamin C. Vitamin C (in all its forms) is crucial for healthy arteries, so prolonged stress will leave your vital nutrients needed for repair in short supply. Stress also activates the sympathetic nervous system, increasing your heart rate and shutting down digestion.

Tips for reducing stress…

The so called “energy drinks” activate the above process in your body. Relying on these drinks to pick you up can lead you to adrenal fatigue, which means you won’t be able to deal with even small amounts of stress.

Do what you love. Working in a job you dislike compounds stress, is soul destroying and probably explains why people who have heart attacks are most likely to have them on a Monday. Not the ideal way of getting out of work!

Kid Stress – do the kids really need to do soccer, swimming, gymnastics, ballet and attend three birthday parties every week? Being out every night of the week wears everyone out including the kids.

Make holidays a necessity (every year!) – take a break from the daily grind. The French government understands just how important holidays are, they actually pay their citizens to go on holidays!

Learn how to say NO. Prioritise what is important to you.

Energy stealing relationships – avoid them!

Consider adding more raw food (vegetables, leafy greens etc) into your diet daily. They are not only an important source of enzymes but the all important vitamin C, which needs to be replenished daily.

Related articles

• Stress and Heart Health (everydayhealth.com)