Are Your Cravings Real?

Are Your Cravings Real?

Mind or Body Cravings? In previous blog posts I’ve explained how when we restrict and deny nourishment to our body (dieting), we often wrestle with cravings (also tiredness and mood swings) until the brain overrides our willpower and has us reaching for a quick fix of fat, sugar and salt. Hunger and cravings are two different sensations. The body regulates our hunger, while the mind wields greater power over food cravings. Hunger serves a more functional purpose, signalling our brains that it’s time to eat and replenish the energy and information we’re running low on. To recap previous articles about the

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Meditation Basics and Dr Ian Gawler

Meditation Basics and Dr Ian Gawler

Meditation Basics Last week I had the wonderful pleasure of having Dr Ian Gawler and his wife Ruth over to my home prior to his Toowoomba seminar on “The Science of Health, Healing and the Mind”. Together we recorded an interview for my YouTube channel over a cuppa and some raw chocolate, discussing some of our favourite topics: lifestyle medicine, mind-body healing, epigenetics, cancer recovery, psychoneuroimmunology, and of course, meditation. Throughout an evening of research and inspiration, I saw many people inspired to begin meditating after experiencing a taste of inner peace first hand. Often people are curious about meditation

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Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much.

Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much.

Eat (Real) Food I love to tell people about food designers, because most people haven’t even heard of the term, let along know it’s actually a job title. Food designers are a food manufacturer’s secret weapon. Their job description is to create the perfect ratio of fat, sugar and salt in a food product that will create opiates in the brain to have you craving more! Big fast-food companies rely on these food designers to create great wealth in their business at an even greater cost to public health. People restricting themselves on one diet or another especially find these

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Benefits of Meditation to Reduce Anxiety

Benefits of Meditation to Reduce Anxiety

Reduce Anxiety with Meditation Oprah and Deepak do it. The Beatles were huge fans. Russell Brand does it daily. Even Ellen DeGeneres, Clint Eastwood and Hugh Jackman do it. Yes, they all found meditation. I discovered meditation nearly twenty-five years ago, to aid in my stress and struggles through the beginnings of adulthood. Now, using Meditation Therapy, I teach others how easily this ancient practice can significantly plant the seeds for health and healing in modern life. What’s Good About Meditation? The benefits of meditation have been thoroughly researched and documented by world class research institutions such as Harvard University,

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10 Tips to Stress Less Now!

10 Tips to Stress Less Now!

Stress Less Now! Stress is now the number one underlying cause of all illness and disease in modern society. If you’re not sure what stress actually is or how it affects the body (physiologic responses) then check out my article on What is Stress that also includes 10 tips for promoting the Relaxation Response. Over-stimulation, achievement, demands, stimulus, finance and relationship challenges, children and lack of exercise…. the responsibilities all adds up. If we’re not stopping regularly to recharge our minds, bodies and spirits, then chronic stress hormones begin to damage the body and lead to illness and disease down the track. You

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Lose the Stress and Lose the Weight

Lose the Stress and Lose the Weight

Mind-Body Weight Loss If you’re stressed out, worried, fearful or lonely, the impact on your health is immediate and the hormonal imbalances created are the same imbalances that cause food cravings, which also lead to weight gain. This stress, tension and fear might be a demanding job, a hectic family life, an abusive spouse or any of the millions of emotional challenges we all face in life—but the biochemical result is the same. Your hormones become imbalanced, your food cravings increase, and you’ll very likely gain weight. As time goes on, your cortisol levels rise, your blood sugar sky-rockets, your

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How I let go of holiday stress & returned to energy, balance & breath

How I let go of holiday stress & returned to energy, balance & breath

Breathe, Relax, Let Go! Happy Wellness Wednesday Friends! 🙂 After the chaos and energy-focused Christmas and school holidays, I realised how much I had compromised my daily self-care practices for other “stuff” that really weren’t a priority. Did you do that too? As soon as I realised my energy, enthusiasm and moods were diminishing I took the warning signs to heart and immediately returned to my heart centre and breath. I knew I was missing and needed my daily self-care of meditation, full breath and mindfulness to keep on top of my self-talk, exercise and food choices.  So I shifted priorities to nourish myself first, and very soon balance

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How to Combat Stress in Daily Life + New Toowoomba Meditation Classes

How to Combat Stress in Daily Life + New Toowoomba Meditation Classes

To Fight or Flight ? Understand your stress responses  PLUS 10 Tips to combat stress in daily life! Stress: A pesky little word that gets tossed around a great deal in modern day life. We stress about things, we feel stressed by stuff, and situations are stressful… But do you really understand stress, and more importantly, how it affects your body? To combat stress, our bodies have a built-in protection mechanism called the Fight or Flight response. Normal day to day interactions aren’t likely to cause us physical harm, so most of the time our body is (or it should be!)

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How to Make Worry Your Best Friend

How to Make Worry Your Best Friend

Worry Wars In a recent post on Facebook, Cheryl Richardson – the original Personal Growth Coach – made a lovely confession about worrying: “This morning I woke up worrying. It didn’t start out that way. I opened my eyes to bright sunlight and smiled as I felt the warmth of Michael’s body next to mine and the familiar weight of Poupon cuddled on top of my feet. My moment of bliss went to hell in a handbasket though, the moment my mind joined the party and created a racket!” Worrying is something we all do, however it’s usually at the cost of our

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Be Thankful to be Healthy: Scientific Proof that Gratitude Improves Your Health

Be Thankful to be Healthy: Scientific Proof that Gratitude Improves Your Health

Scientific Proof That Being Thankful Improves Your Health By Dr. Lissa Rankin Thursday, November 28th, 2013 On this day of Thanksgiving, people around the United States are expressing gratitude for the bounty of their lives, but many may not realize that in doing so, they are also improving the quality of their health and increasing their life expectancies. The scientific evidence is conclusive when it comes to mood, outlook, and health. Happy people live 7-10 years longer than unhappy people, and optimistic people have a 77% lower risk of heart disease than pessimistic people. But how can you become happier and more

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Stress Kills! Find Your Triggers and Take Action!

Identify Stress Triggers & Take Action Throughout my work with individuals and groups as a Meditation and Stress Therapist, I see first hand how little the general public are aware of the physical symptoms of their stress. This is such a terrible shame seeing as stress is the number ONE underlying cause of ALL modern illness and disease! SHOCKING! Stress has become the go-to word to describe a myriad of emotions, feelings and situations in our lives. How many times have you heard someone say: “I’m too stressed to deal with this” “I’m so stressed out” “Life is really stressful at the moment” How many

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NEW Meditation Term & Stress Management Classes in Toowoomba

NEW Meditation Term & Stress Management Classes in Toowoomba

Weekly Meditation Term 3 Monday 15th July to Monday 16th Sept (10wks) One Whole Hour of Quiet, Calm, Peace & Happiness! Breathe, relax, feel safe, let go. Learn more about your Self, your stress and your strengths…  BOOKINGS REQUIRED! Regular weekly classes incorporate various styles and traditions of meditation for relaxation, breathing, stress management, pain management, healing, confidence, visualisation, self-esteem and affirmations to deepen your practice and connection to self, and reinforce your learning with regularity, greater insight and promotion of the relaxation response. Meditation is a wonderful practice in mind-body awareness, self-connection and emotional healing. Classes are 1 Hour duration and

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July Toowoomba Meditation Course, Classes & Chocolate Workshop

July Toowoomba Meditation Course, Classes & Chocolate Workshop

Time to LET GO of your STRESS, FRUSTRATION, OVER-REACTIVE tendencies, and sleep better, feel calmer, think clearly and love more freely! My next 6 Week Basic Meditation for Stress Management Course begins on Tuesday 23rd July until Tuesday 27th August. 6pm to 7.30pm. Each course includes a personalised folder with weekly handouts and the use of essential oils to enhance your meditation practice and relaxation benefits. Muscle relaxation, breathing and stretching techniques are also taught in a safe, comfortable and supportive environment. For more information and to book your place CLICK HERE! or contact me directly via viki@mindbodyfood.net or 0410 60

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Awaken to Your Inner Silence

Monday Inspiration! Meditation expands self-awareness and is a tool for the re-discovery of our body’s own inner intelligence. Practiced for thousands of years, it’s not about forcing the mind to be quiet, it’s finding the silence that’s already there and making it a part of your life. Silence is the birthplace of happiness, creativity, and infinite possibilities. From this field of pure potentiality we get our bursts of inspiration, our most intuitive thoughts, and our deepest sense of connection to the universe. Practicing meditation on a daily basis allows you to weave silence and stillness into your mind and body to

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Watch my MindBodyFood TV interview on Managing Stress

Watch my MindBodyFood TV interview on Managing Stress

Stress-related Conditions CAN Happen To Anyone No matter who you are or what you do for a living, we all experience a degree of stress. Are you feeling down, anxious, tired, overwhelmed.. everyday, ordinary people can easily be overcome by prolonged stress when we ignore the signs and symptoms from our own body and mood. What can you do about it to help yourself and manage your stress before it leads to stress-related conditions, illness and disease? Take a 15 minute break to watch this interesting and humble interview with Steve Lynes, Owner of Fitness Works Gym in Toowoomba, to learn ways to identify your own levels of stress, and

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