Embrace the Rot!

My last blog encouraged you to kick up the leaves on a good walk. Here, by way of this excellent article from The Guardian, I'm advidsing that when it comes to your garden or your allotment... leave them be! Resist the urge to tidy up and let nature do it's thing, nourishing the soil with decaying leaf matter and creating a harbour for all sorts of friendly bugs. A healthy garden is a happy garden, and in my experience, a happy garden makes happy people makes healthy people... and that's what we're all about!
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/07/alys-fowler-restrain-urge-to-tidy

Happy Autumn!

Here at The Chandos Clinic, the heating has kicked in, patients are coming in wearing fleeces, and the leaves are falling passed our reception window. For many of us, autumn is a favourite time of year, and while the rain keeps away (say it quietly!), what better time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful colours, take photographs, kick up fallen banks of leaves and fill your pockets with conkers (put them in your drawers to deter moths and by your skirtings to deter spiders!). Here are a list of places from The Forestry Commission to experience autumn at it's best, with walks averaging just 2 miles, so not excluding the very old or very young. Our own Westonbirt is top of the list, of course, as well as the Forest of Dean and the Quantocks. Nature at it's most stunning, so do go out and breathe it in!

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/autumntop10

Exercise: good for your body AND your brain!

We all know that phyical exercise is good for us, but it seems it is also good for maintaing a healthy brain. Do read this article from Nordic walking instructor, Vicky Welsh, about how getting our blood pumping also provides us with far-reaching brain power: aiding learning, maintaining focus, and helping to ward off dementia.

http://www.bristolnordicwalking.co.uk/blog/get-out-and-walk-your-brain-will-thank-you

The holidays are over, time to let the good stuff begin!

A lot of children have gone back to school today, and for many parents, this is the opportunity for putting new well-being practices in to place. A sort of New (academic) Year's Resolution! Having read this article from Medscape on the benefits of Pilates (something that's been on my own to-do list for far too long), do consider this as something to incorporate in to your lives, for far-reaching health benefits.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/850106?nlid=87844_1842&src=wnl_edit_medp_wir&uac=206925EX&spon=17&impID=811198&faf=1

Health: the colour of a rainbow!

Today, whilst reading an article from Medscape on diet and brain function, I came across the phrase "eating the rainbow". I hadn't heard this before, and further googling led me to a whole raft of sites, but this one stood out, and I shall certainly flag it up to my kids later.
http://www.todayiatearainbow.com/about/benefits-of-eating-a-rainbow/
I tend to naturally eat a rainbow, and the salad box from The Better Food Company on Whiteladies where I usually get my lunch, is always an incredible palette of colour. Eating healthily need never, nor should, be dull!

The latest thinking on Vitamin D.

It is Britain, it is August, it is grey! We are not exposed to sufficient amounts of sunshine to get the levels of Vitamin D we require to build and maintain healthy bones & teeth, and keep other diseases at bay. Do read this article from The Guardian, to access current thinking....
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/02/britain-not-sunny-enough-healthy-vitamin-d-levels-supplements

Give us a smile!

When I was young, our family dentist was an ex-army practioner we called Butcher Brown; he scared the living daylights out of all of us and my brother avoided going to one for decades afterwards, he was so traumatised. The modern dentist is a pleasure in comparison; courteous, kind and informative, I hug mine and go out of my way to hand-deliver his christmas card! These days there is nothing to fear, and this article from The Guardian shows there is every reason to give your oral hygiene the attention it deseves, and not just for keeping your whites pearly.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/19/why-neglecting-teeth-seriously-bad-health