Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol 4 Issue 73 i The Art of Healing

“While coffee grounds contain a small amount of nitrogen, they are not actually fertilisers,” Leslie F. Halleck, M.S., a certified professional horticulturist explains. It turns out that coffee’s nitrogen, an essential nutrient that plants need to grow, is not readily available in the grounds immediately after brewing. In order to provide any real value to plants, these grounds need some time to break down in a compost pile. “Organic matter needs to be decomposed first (through composting) to make individual nutrients they hold available to plants,” Halleck says. Ironically enough, attempting to take a shortcut and place used grounds directly on soil can actually starve your plant of nitrogen in the long run. “As fresh organic matter begins to decompose through the decomposition cycle,” Halleck explains, “nitrogen can be immobilised by microbes…

“Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated the silent screams continue internally heard only by the one held captive. When someone enters the pain and hears the screams healing can begin,” says Danielle Bernock in her book “Emerging With Wings: A True Story of Lies, Pain, And The Love that Heals.” If you have gone through a traumatic experience, then you have experienced something that is extremely difficult and you may have symptoms of PTSD which include: 1. Intrusive thoughts, memories, flashbacks or nightmares about the traumatic experience 2. Avoidance of internal and external reminders of the traumatic experience such as memories, feelings, people, places, or things 3. Negative thoughts and emotions related to the traumatic experience such as believing the…

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself. Jacques Yves Cousteau Most plain girls are virtuous because of the scarcity of opportunity to be otherwise. Maya Angelou When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity. John F. Kennedy For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress, and as the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, invisible by day. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.…

Hi again. How have you been going over the past three months? I know, very trying times in so many ways. There is so much uncertainty and change happening, it is very difficult to keep focussed and grounded sometimes – there are so many distractions! What I try to do is just keep looking for the positives in life, stay open to opportunities, and live in a conscious way such that when special moments come along, you are in a position to respond to them. I call this keeping in the flow. That’s my little tip for this issue … and another one that I just find so important in my life, is to engage with things that inspire you. I don’t know if I could go through a day…

Research conducted online by YouGov between 30 July – 3 August 2020 comprised a nationally representative sample of 681 Australians, 758 Malaysians and 886 Singaporeans aged 18 years and older who are currently working or looking for work. The study examined employee expectations in a post-COVID workplace and found that more than half rank work-life balance and health and safety in their top three issues that they feel business leaders should be prioritising.  The habits adopted during COVID-19 lockdown could be here to stay, with 81 percent wanting at least one COVID-19 practice adopted permanently in their day-to-day lives. Fewer than one in five are happy to return to how things were, with this figure even lower (7 percent) among workers aged 25-34.  Key findings included wanting:  • more flexibility…

In sports we game plan. At work we draw up strategic plans. At home, we family plan. We meal plan and travel plan, tax plan, and estate plan. Wherever we are, we devise back-up plans and contingency plans in case our primary plans don’t pan out. For worst case scenarios, we emergency plan. And yet no one planned for this. The coronavirus pandemic has been so unexpected, so disruptive, so deadly and destructive that it has taken our well laid plans and thrown them out the window. So too, with our back-up plans and contingency plans, our travel plans, meal plans, family plans, and life plans. This is a whole new world in which the very idea of a plan seems altogether irrelevant. Which raises the question: How do you make…

Loneliness in adult life is experienced differently depending on age, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. The research concludes that there can be no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to reducing loneliness, as factors associated with it, such as contact with friends and family and perceived health or employment may differ across the phases of the adult life span. A team of researchers at Maastricht University and in the Public Health Service, South-Limburg in the Netherlands used data collected from Sept-Dec 2016 to examine associations between demographic, social and health-related factors and loneliness in 6,143 young (19-34 years); 8,418 early middle-aged (35-49 years); and 11,758 late middle-aged adults (50-65 years). Overall, 10,309 (44%) individuals reported experiencing loneliness. Among young adults, 2,042 (40%) individuals reported feelings of loneliness,…

To put this into context, think about the serving of animal protein such as meat or chicken that you would normally eat. If it covers half your plate, that portion of meat will be around 250–300 grams. If you usually have potatoes with your meat (especially fries) and a small side salad that resembles a garnish rather than a substantial salad, then you haven’t achieved this balance. In contrast, a typical Mediterranean plate will have 70, 80 or 100 grams of animal protein (meat, chicken or fish in that order) and four times as much plant foods – that’s about 280–400 grams of vegetables. Aim to have at least one of your meals a day look like this (either lunch or dinner) with the other one being a smaller vegetarian…

“Dietary patterns and quality are not sufficiently prioritised when addressing modifiable risk factors during regular health care office visits. Given the evidence that diet contributes to disease and mortality, it is a risk factor worth screening for continuously,” says Maya Vadiveloo, Ph.D., R.D., chair of the statement writing group and assistant professor of nutrition and health sciences in the College of Health Science at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island. Poor diet quality has surpassed all other risk factors for death, accounting for 11 million deaths and about half of cardiovascular disease deaths globally, according to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study, a comprehensive report on the health impact of diet in 195 countries around the world. The statement authors reviewed 15 existing screening tools, assessing…

In general, fitness apps help users monitor their health and fitness. Some apps analyze calories burned while others review calorie intake and offer guidance on nutrition for staying healthy and fit. Historically, the use of fitness apps correlates with seasonal workout habits. However, in 2020 usage has spiked in the advent of the coronavirus pandemic when people have been compelled to stay at home. With gyms closed and authorities curbing the movement of people through lockdowns, apps are becoming a useful tool for working out at home. Developers in the fitness apps sector have come up with a different application to serve different purposes under workout routines, and exercises. The exercise and weight loss apps for example simplify the process of tracking daily calorie intake to a macronutrient level, such…

“Prosocial behaviour is part of the shared culture of humankind, and our analysis shows that it also contributes to mental and physical health.” Hui and his colleagues performed a meta-analysis of 201 independent studies, comprising 198,213 total participants, that looked at the connection between prosocial behaviour and wellbeing. They found that random acts of kindness, such as helping an older neighbour carry groceries, were more strongly associated with overall wellbeing than formal prosocial behaviour, such as scheduled volunteering for a charity. The researchers also found a stronger link between kindness and what is known as eudaimonic wellbeing (which focuses on self-actualisation, as in realising one’s potential and finding meaning in life), than between kindness and hedonic wellbeing (which refers to happiness and positive feelings). The effects varied by age, according…

Anxiety can be exhausting, but there is often a reason for it – and there are some surprising benefits to certain kinds of worrying. Emotional Extremes “I’m a near-professional worrier,” admits Kate Sweeny ruefully. She’s struggled for much of her life with anxiety over things she can’t entirely control, including these days whether her parents are following social-distancing guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic. A constant hum of low-grade worry affects many people, but what’s distinct about Sweeny is that it partly motivated her career choices. As a health psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, she specialises in understanding worry and stress. “Not everybody uses their own life as fodder for research,” she laughs, but she’s found inspiration in her own experiences. One of her surprising findings has been that…

1. Bridging Starts With A Recognition Of Common Humanity First off, it’s important to stress that bridge-building does not mean that you always agree with another person or even find common ground with them. In fact, you might disagree with them vehemently. But the key is that you don’t dehumanise them in the process - you never reduce them to a caricature or see them as somehow less worthy of health and happiness than you are. Indeed, bridging starts from recognising that another person or group has their own human needs, tastes, values, goals, and worldview, just as you do. Without that basic recognition of your shared humanity, constructive dialogue - to say nothing of problem solving - is unlikely to happen. John A. Powell, a civil rights expert and…

Only a small number of the healthiest Australian diets are hitting the mark. The most recent data still shows we simply aren’t eating enough fruit and vegetables. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017-2018 National Health Survey, a mere 5.4% of Australian adults meet guidelines for the recommended daily serve of fruit and vegetables. This is despite decades of public health promotion campaigns such as Nutrition Australia’s Try For 5, encouraging the consumption of three vegetables and two fruit per day which first launched in 2015. This is made even more clear by the fact that, according to the most recent Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity survey, the 2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity survey (NNPAS), one-third of Australian meat consumption comes in the form of non-lean and…