COVID-19 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EXERCISE ALLOWANCE

1 December 2021

PLEASE SHARE


Yesterday, I said I’d share a tip a day on how to help support your health during the increased risk of coronavirus and the quarantine in the UK.


Today I have been pondering which is the next most important thing. And there are two that I’m battling between.


In the end I have come down on the side of exercise.


For me getting out for a daily walk has been my bliss point of the day. We’re lucky to have had wonderful weather, which helps. I suspect we aren’t far enough into the summer to gain much in the way of vitamin D but the sun has been so strong that I’ve been walking with bare arms, and I feel like I’m making vitamin D but I don’t know whether I really am.


Whether I am making vitamin D or not, I’m making contentment. Stress makes you more susceptible to infection and being out in the countryside makes you more resistant to stress. Merely looking at a photograph of a rural scene has been scientifically found to relieve stress.


The rhythmic trudge of walking is also metronomically meditative. The freedom to think is incredibly cleansing. If you’re lucky to live in the hills, which I’m sadly not, the puffing will stimulate your vagus nerve which initiates the rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system, again bringing about calm and stress relief.


It is the one freedom that we still have so try to take advantage of it and get out there. Mentally you will feel far more resilient, far nicer to your family, your waistline will appreciate it and if you’ve got dogs, they will love you unconditionally, as is their wont.


Just please be sensible. Keep your distance. And driving to a congregation point in the country just doesn’t wash. Please make sure your exercise can be taken within walking, running or cycling distance of home, driving to a beauty spot will make social distancing very difficult.

MORE FROM OUR BLOG

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT DIET

15 April 2025
When we think about improving our health, the conversation so often starts—and ends—with food. People will cringe at parties and say, “I shouldn’t eat this or drink that in front of you.” But, you know what? I disagree. The joy of celebrating, the laughter, the sense of ease that comes from being with people you love—that’s worth far more than a tonne of wild-caught salmon. Real health isn’t just about what you eat. It’s about how you live . It’s about whether your body feels calm and rested. Whether your mind feels clear. Whether your days have space for connection, movement, and breath. These are the things that create true wellbeing—not perfection, but flow. Not restriction, but resilience. Yes, the food we eat matters. It can nourish, deplete, support or stress your body. But we are not machines with a list of required inputs, that will guarantee a specific outcome. We are living, feeling, energetic beings, constantly interacting with our environment—and our health reflects the whole of that interaction. That’s why some people eat all the “right” foods and still feel flat, anxious, bloated, or exhausted. Because food is only one piece of the puzzle.

MORE THAN SYMPTOMS, BEYOND THE LABS: HOW ANCIENT WISDOM REVEALS WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON

15 April 2025
This blog is the one closest to my heart — because it’s been an immense learning curve for me. As a Nutritional Therapist and Functional Medicine practitioner, I place science, lab tests, physiology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the highest esteem. I’ll admit, in the past, when hearing other therapists talk of doshas, energetics and constitutions, my sceptic’s eyes would roll. I saw constitution questionnaires as akin to the quizzes in Just Seventeen —a bit of fun, but not practical. I was drawn to evidence, clarity, and explanations that made sense. But then I came across a brilliant PhD called Sam Yanuck, while studying one of his deeply academic courses on immunology. After long, technical explanations of a pathology, his solutions were often surprisingly simple—and invariably included a herb or several. My curiosity was sparked. At first, I was still thinking in medical terms: a pill for an ill, a herb for a symptom. I wanted to match the herb to the condition, full stop. But I’ve come to understand that herbs don’t just act—they interact , and that depends entirely on the person they’re given to.

THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

15 April 2025
Every thought, feeling, and emotional state has a physical echo in the body, a ripple of chemical messengers that you can sometimes sense in the wave of an adrenaline hit.