Fatigue is a natural normal part of life that normally tells us its time to rest, often at the end of the day, or after a stressful event. A rest, good night’s sleep or holiday, is generally enough to restore the body and mind. However many people experience a chronic fatigue that is debilitating and gets in the way of living the full life they would like to live. There can be many underlying reasons for this type of fatigue.

Here are a few:…..

I have been reading a fascinating book that presents a very fresh perspective on a very old topic…the importance of breathing well, to our health. We have all heard it before, but he presents very compelling evidence, in a riveting way, that has certainly had an impact on my awareness of the way I breathe.

James Nestor, the author of Breath, The New Science of a Lost Art, actually did experiments on himself….

Have you heard of the term ‘oestrogen dominance’ but are not quite sure what it is referring to?

Oestrogen dominance is related to long term stress……

Let’s talk breakfast…some women love it, many skip it. Many women don’t feel like breakfast…or they learn to skip it to reduce overall calories or have a shorter eating window, such as with intermittent fasting.

No problem skipping breakfast…unless you are a woman with any of these issues:……..

How many of us are looking at screens right up until bedtime? I know I often do although I do feel better when I am doing other things- it can be a way to wind down and relax to some extent. However, it can negatively affect sleep, as even electric lights at nighttime can and does impact the length and quality of our sleep.

If we are stressed during the day, we are far less likely to have deep, fulfilling, sufficient sleep at nighttime. A stressed mind leads to a stressed body, and a stressed body doesn’t easily rest. It is stuck ‘on’ in a survival mode…it senses there is danger and it needs to stay alert…..

We tend to live inside a lot, and this can disconnect us from having healthy circadian rhythms, which can lead to sleep issues, and/or waking up issues. I consider light to be an essential nutrient, something that goes far beyond the Vitamin D you can get in a bottle.

One of the reasons we can wake up during the night or early morning in particular, and struggle to get back to sleep, is because of a blood sugar drop i.e. we actually get hungry. When our blood sugar drops, the body will release adrenaline which helps mobilise stored glucose from the liver, called glycogen.

Of course, that adrenaline is not very helpful to our sleep. We then feel "wired but tired".

The currently popular low carb and intermittent fasting movements can both contribute to this issue…..

I find most of the women I work with need to hear and appreciate hearing me say things like:

Looking after kids is already a full time job- then you do paid work as well? It’s a lot you are managing, no wonder you are tired/exhausted etc

Women’s work doesn’t tend to be recognised or acknowledged, so we feel we have to do more and more...but look at everything you are doing.....

As women, mothers and/or wives, we tend to look after all the details of the family life and schedule, often including our husband/partner’s details. There is so much detail to keep track of in today’s world!

It’s ok to take time out just for you- the family revolves around you being ok, so take time to take care of you!……..

"If you can accept your body, then you have a chance to see your body as your home. You can rest in your body, settle in, relax, and feel joy and ease. If you don't accept your body and your mind, you can't be at home with yourself. You have to accept yourself as you are. This is a very important practice. As you practice building a home in yourself, you become more and more beautiful." Thich Nhat Hahn

As women we have a tendency to wake up in the morning and look at our tummies in the mirror and see how our weight is going today. We do it subconsciously, as if our weight is an indicator of how WE are doing.

But it’s a terrible indicator.

Our weight does not indicate our innate self worth to any degree, whatsoever.

And it doesn’t necessarily indicate our state of health either.

78% of women of a healthy weight are dissatisfied with their physical appearance. Wow.

Imagine if all that energy that goes into self judgement and criticism, and trying to meet unrealistic goals of our appearance, instead went into creativity, self kindness, an ability to laugh and accept ourselves, into feeding our bodies good food and treating ourselves with deep respect. Into treating ourselves with the same love we would a friend or a child.

I find that many people struggle with self-care. There is an epidemic of exhausted women with extreme fatigue, hormonal imbalances, upset tummies and chronic autoimmune or viral diseases.

These women (and sometimes men) have tried to juggle many roles, to totally love and care for our loved ones, to keep house, serve good food, earn money, maintain social lives and save the planet as well.

But we were never built to be superwomen- we do have limits…..

I have been reading about cancer screening and overdiagnosis a few times lately. For every 200 women getting mammograms, one will have her life saved..and three will receive chemo/radiation/surgery unecessarily. The cancer would never have been life threatening.

There is so much we still don’t know about treating cancer, and which ones might need treating. So there is some personal responsibility and risk involved even in deciding to do the screening tests. Many are non- invasive, like the free bowel cancer tests for older Australians- I recommend them. Nothing to lose…..

Lifestyle medicine" has become a popular term, and that's a good thing for everyone, because the focus in medicine does need to change. Naturopaths have been promoting lifestyle medicine for well over 100 years, and it's still a core part of what we do. We focus on prevention and on treating the cause of illness- and lifestyle is often the cause, or a part of the cause.