Table of contents for Issue 213 in WellBeing

The smallest hummingbirds weigh 2 grams and the biggest tip the scales at 24g. A hummingbird brain is the size of a grain of rice and can weigh as little as 10mg. African elephants can weigh between 2000 and 6300 kilograms and have a brain that weighs 4-5kg. Elephants get all the credit when it comes to having great memories, but we are discovering that size isn’t everything. Hummingbirds feed on nectar and fly from flower to flower in their territory collecting as much as they can. Of course, if they go back to a flower too soon after having drained it, then the flower will not have had time to refill. Alternately, if the hummingbird leaves it too long to go back to the flower, then some other creature…

Some social gatherings go more smoothly than others. In my sphere, whenever a particular friend, we’ll call him Peebles, is in attendance, things tend to be a little prickly. It’s not that I don’t love Peebles, but even my affection for him does not cloud the fact that he can be a bit annoying at times. He is not rude or thoughtless but somehow he just manages to introduce a rough edge where things are otherwise smooth. There was an instance of this recently when Peebles threw a spanner into pizza plans. A group of us had attended a matinee session of a local amateur theatrics production. We had gone for a walk hoping that bracing sea air might cleanse us of the overwrought performance we had just endured. Finding…

Study confirms skin absorption of forever chemicals New research proves for the first time that a wide range of PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) or “forever chemicals” that don’t break down in nature can permeate the skin barrier and reach the body’s bloodstream. The researchers investigated 17 commonly used PFAS. These toxic chemicals are used in industries and consumer products from school uniforms to personalcare products because of their water and stain-repellent properties. PFAS are known to enter the body via food and drinking water and being inhaled. They can cause adverse health effects such as a lowered immune response to vaccination, impaired liver function and decreased birth weight. According to the lead author of the study, Dr Oddný Ragnarsdóttir, “The ability of these chemicals to be absorbed through the skin has…

The societal reverberations of the pandemic were as eerie as they were unexpected. One of the vivid Covid moments that etched itself into my memory came one day when a local music teacher confided to me through a bright blue face mask and behind the back of a conspiratorially raised hand that, “There is going to be a delivery today. Getting there about 11am.” Music teachers are not usually clandestine plotters, but the pandemic had made conspirators of us all. He was telling me that the local independent supermarket would be getting a delivery of the commodity that had become like sugar during World War II, something that was rationed due to its rarity: toilet paper. I felt like a Cornish smuggler being told to meet a brigantine at midnight.…

Girls start out on a par with boys. But around adolescence, for many, their mental health takes a hit and begins to slide. In a 2023 survey by Planet Youth, 35 per cent of Year 10 girls rated their mental health “good” or “very good”, compared to 55 per cent of boys. The online survey – which included 27 schools within NSW and South Australia and more than 1700 participants — is one of many showing mounting evidence of a teen mental health gender divide. And it occurs in most countries, according to a 2021 study of 566,829 adolescents across 73 countries. Curiously, it’s worse in wealthier countries and those considered more gender equal. Toxic culture In the 1990s, author and clinical psychologist Dr Mary Pipher delved into the topic…

Probiotics and prebiotics are essential components of a healthy diet, offering a range of health benefits that extend far beyond good digestion. Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, provide numerous health effects, including improved gut health, enhanced immune function and mental health, and relief from digestive disorders. Prebiotics, on the other hand, are types of dietary fibre that nourish these beneficial bacteria, promoting a balanced and thriving gut microbiome. This article explores the health benefits of both probiotics and prebiotics, highlights the top foods rich in these essential nutrients and provides some delicious and healthy recipes to help you incorporate them into your daily diet. Understanding the synergy between probiotics and prebiotics can transform your approach to wellness. What are probiotics? Probiotics are live microorganisms, primarily…

… Singing and songwriting also help us process emotions and move through trauma and grief through the sharing and release of thoughts and emotions. Many of us can think of a time when music made all the difference to our lives. The song that helped us hope or feel less alone. Or the enlightenment a particular piece of music — almost magically — conjured. An oft unacknowledged aspect of being human, music weaves through the tapestry of our lives. While watching a movie, we might focus on actors and storylines, but it’s music, wending invisibly in the background, that tweaks our mood and emotions, creating atmosphere, interpreting character motives, foreshadowing what’s ahead. Proof of its power to tell the story, it can literally change the meaning of the imagery on…

Some weeks ago, my sister sent me a meme that listed all the things we’re supposedly meant to achieve on any given day, written in a stream-of-consciousness-style text. The list ranged from drinking enough water to running a successful side hustle while working a nine-to-five job (which in itself feels impossible). It also mentioned a five-step skincare routine, regular yoga and cardio, eating balanced homecooked meals, making time for loved ones, healing our emotional and spiritual wounds, spending time in nature and embracing our purpose in life. I laughed because it’s so relatable. I want to be able to do all these things, but in what 100-hour day dimension I’m supposed to achieve them eludes me to no end. When did the list of happy-human requirements get so long? Due…

As we all get back to health basics, so too does our body function in fitness. Meet a combination of functional fitness training including some basic plyometric exercises that builds strength, power and speed through fast, explosive mobility movements. While it may sound intimidating, this beginner caveman workout can help you secure the body basics as you get acquainted with this heart-pumping training style. Plyometric training is primarily used by strength and conditioning to enhance human neuromuscular function and improve mobility. Our ageing or injured body often develops a fear of these types of movements as we less elegantly train compared to our younger self. However, these are the collection of movements we must maintain to ensure muscle adaption, biomechanics and strength as we come into our later years. Plyometric…

Get ready to meet the fabulous winners of the 2024 WellBeing Be-YOU-T Awards, Australia’s ultimate celebration of natural beauty! At WellBeing, we’re thrilled to lead the charge in recognising and honouring the trailblazers of the natural beauty industry. Over the past few months, we’ve invited you to cast your votes for your favourite eco-friendly beauty products in categories such as skincare, makeup, hair care and even mums and bubs. Natural beauty is all about making conscious choices that prioritise naturally sourced ingredients and environmentally friendly practices. Our expert judging panel embraces a holistic approach to wellness, ensuring that the Be-YOU-T winners have truly earned our WellBeing seal of approval. We’re here to guide you through the vibrant world of eco-beauty, introducing you to top-notch brands that are as kind to…

01. For the friend who needs a little TLC Young Living Macaron Diffuser Handcrafted with natural ceramic materials, the Macaron Diffuser is an elegant art piece that blends seamlessly with your home decor, making it the perfect gift this Christmas. The diffuser comes with a free Peppermint Essential Oil 5mL, fresh, nostalgic and the perfect way to welcome the scents of the season. youngliving.com.au 02. For the friend who needs some “me” time Eco Tan Heavenly Pack This exquisite ensemble is curated to uplift your holiday skincare ritual. Included are our complimentary luxurious headband and cleansing cuffs for a tranquil application. Be sure to mix a few drops of Glory Oil into your Face Compost Purple Power Mask for the ultimate heavenly glow. ecotan.com.au 03 For the friend who loves…

Prioritising self-care is essential during menopause, and natural remedies such as Oil Garden’s Menopause Essential Oil Blend offer comfort and relief, supporting both physical and emotional wellbeing in this significant life stage. Menopause is more than just a biological change, it represents a significant life stage that can present numerous challenges — from hot flushes and mood swings to fatigue and sleepless nights. For many women, this phase can feel overwhelming, often disrupting daily routines and emotional wellbeing. Yet amid these trials, the importance of self-care shines brightly, urging women to seek natural remedies that support not just their physical health but also emotional balance. Enter the world of pure essential oils — specifically, the Oil Garden Menopause 25mL Pure Essential Oil Blend. This carefully crafted blend is designed to…

A small bush with vibrant, dark-blue spires of flowers growing wild among a clump of rocks where once there’d been a farmhouse I fell in love with lavender when I was about 20 years old and had come to live down south from Queensland. A scent of something wonderful and vaguely familiar met me and a friend during a bushwalk. I stopped, trying to find its source — a small bush with vibrant, dark-blue spires of flowers growing wild among a clump of rocks. “That’s just lavender,” said my friend, amazed I didn’t know what it was. I’d read about lavender and been given sachets of dried lavender to perfume my cupboards, but had never met a lavender bush before. Back then, there were no easily available species of lavender…

Addiction is defined as a chronic illness that affects the brain’s reward, motivation and memory functions. A 45-year-old man came to see me as he felt his life had been getting out of control. He had a long history of various addictions — in his teens and 20s to smoking (which he stopped after great effort), then found he was drinking excess alcohol too frequently, which he was trying to manage. In the last few months, he had started using cocaine and was now craving this drug to a point where he felt it was controlling his life. Addiction is defined as a chronic illness that affects the brain’s reward, motivation and memory functions, whereby the person craves a substance (or a behavioural habit) so intensely that they will ignore…

01. Medicine Heart Oracle by Alana Fairchild & Sophie Wilkins Connect with the eternal essence of Mother Earth to honour the natural wisdom and loving intelligence of your Medicine Heart. Breathe into your questioning and allow shamanic treasures from around the globe to reveal ancient pathways, creative visions and potent spirituality. blueangelonline.com 02. MV Skintherapy An impressive formulation, MV Skintherapy’s O2 Oxygen Moisturiser blends the powerful properties of Kakadu plum with energising essential oils to breathe new life into stressed, sun-damaged and devitalised skin. A powerful way to protect your skin every morning and discover the art of skincare reimagined as self-care. mvskintherapy.com 03. Natio Protective, perfecting and lightly luminous, this creamy mineral SPF 50+ facial tint is a triple treat for facial skin. Providing a natural looking tint and…

In Glasgow, Scotland, there is a massive 5000-year-old stone slab known as The Cochno Stone. But it is unlikely that you have seen it because when archaeologists discovered it, they buried it again. In modern times, The Cochno Stone was first fully unearthed by Reverend James Harvey in 1887. The stone is a massive slab that is 13m x 8m in dimension. It is covered in swirling patterns that have become known as “cup and ring marks”. Marks like this have been found at prehistoric sites in other parts of the world. The Cochno Stone, however, is one of the clearest examples of this type of working. In 1937, an archaeologist named Ludovic MacLellan Mann worked on The Cochno Stone and painted lines on it to help measure the prehistoric…

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, even larger than the planet Mercury. Indeed, if Ganymede were orbiting the sun rather than Jupiter, it would be classed as a planet. We are talking a mega moon here – it’s average radius is 2631km. Although it is bigger than Mercury, it is less than half its mass, so it has low density, but there is much more to Ganymede than its dimensions. Ganymede was discovered for humans on this planet by Galileo Galilei on January 7, 1610. It was the first time that a moon was discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth and it led to the realisation that planets orbit the sun rather than the solar system revolving around the Earth. So, Ganymede has been…

Dietary fibre shapes gut bacteria behaviour for better health Dietary fibre, found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, plays a crucial role in our health by influencing the behaviour of gut bacteria. A recent study shows fibre helps balance the production of healthy and harmful substances in the colon. Gut bacteria compete for tryptophan, an essential amino acid. With high-fibre intake, bacteria convert tryptophan into beneficial compounds. Without enough fibre, harmful compounds are produced. Researchers found E. coli can turn tryptophan into indole, a harmful compound linked to chronic kidney disease. Conversely, C. sporogenes converts tryptophan into substances that protect against inflammatory bowel diseases, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and neurological conditions. This emphasises that dietary habits significantly affect gut bacteria behaviour, promoting health or disease. This research highlights the…

Revered for their nutritional and medicinal benefits, pomegranates are cherished for their vibrant seeds, juice and therapeutic properties. Pomegranates have a long, varied, mythological and multicultural history. They are fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs in the Lythraceae family, grow in semiarid climates, are drought tolerant and can tolerate moderate frosts. Pomegranates are thought to have originated in Northern India, Afghanistan and Iran before spreading to Asia, Africa and Europe. They have been cultivated throughout the Middle East, India and Mediterranean for millennia, being domesticated since the fifth millennium BC. There has been long debate by historians whether the pomegranate or the date palm are the original “tree of life”. Pomegranates were cultivated in Egypt before the time of Moses and possibly the first fruit ever cultivated by humans in Asia Minor. Pomegranate’s…

Maintaining good eyesight throughout your life is a vital part of ageing well and is a significant factor in retaining your independence and quality of life as you age. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 13 million Australians have one or more long-term eye conditions (data from the National Health Survey). The good news is that the World Health Organization and the Australian government estimate that between 80 and 90 per cent of vision impairment can be avoided through prevention or treatment. A good way to understand what damages your eyes is to look at the problems that commonly occur with eyes as people age. Eyes under strain Not all eye-related problems trace back to your diet, but some certainly do. Ultimately, your eyes are highly metabolically…

It would be nice if life always went to plan, but sadly that’s often not the case. Life can be frustrating at times. In her book, Change Your Thinking, psychologist Dr Sarah Edelman explains that, “Frustration is a feeling we experience when we don’t get our needs met, or when some obstacle impedes our ability to achieve a goal.” Frustration can also arise when where you are in your life isn’t where you want to be. Physician and psychotherapist Dr Russ Harris refers to this as the “reality gap” in his book The Confidence Gap. Dr Harris explains, “Whenever there’s a large ‘reality gap’ — by which I mean a gap between the reality we want and the reality we got — painful feelings will arise. And the larger the…

“Your karma changes with each clap in kirtan,” the Indian Yogi told me after a temple ritual. “Really, tell me more please.” Rather than being set in stone, he explained that lines and our destiny are constantly changing according to our choices. I reached out my hand to this renowned Bengali palmist. He scrutinised and prodded the valleys, mounds and furrows of my hand with intense concentration. “This is your past, your inborn gifts,” said as he held my left hand. “The right — your present and future.” He proceeded to explain my character, health and destiny. Though doubtful at the time, in hindsight, he was right. Details about my marriage, character, child, career and living environment unfolded exactly as he had predicted. All grasped from the physical features of…

In the hustle and bustle of today’s world, it’s common to experience episodes of mental fogginess, commonly known as “brain fog”. Whether it’s caused by stress, lack of sleep, or poor nutrition, brain fog can significantly impact our cognitive abilities and overall health and wellbeing. What is brain fog? Brain fog refers to a type of cognitive dysfunction characterised by a lack of mental acuity and difficulties with focusing and memory. It can manifest as a range of symptoms including forgetfulness, inability to concentrate, confusion and feeling mentally sluggish. People experiencing brain fog may find it challenging to complete tasks or engage in activities that require mental effort. They can feel fatigued after prolonged periods of concentration such as when driving, reading a book or working on the computer. Other…

As Christmas approaches, the familiar trappings of the festive season begin to appear. The gift edits, the advertisements, the endless sales and discounts – all reminders of the holiday’s undeniable link to capitalism and consumption. This time of year often brings with it a frenzy of buying, with people racing to purchase the latest gadgets, toys and fashion at slashed prices. But this culture of consumption comes with a heavy price: environmental degradation and waste. The festive window displays and online shopping sales may seem shiny and seductive, but consider this sobering fact: each year, Australians receive approximately $400 million worth of unwanted gifts, with many of these items ending up in landfills. This wastefulness is emblematic of a larger issue. The production, transportation and disposal of new goods contribute…

Breathtaking. To spend time in this part of Western Australia is a dream come true. Talking to people from Perth, they really do believe they live in the lucky part of the country. And they might just be right. Within a couple of hours, you’ll reach the South West corner of Australia, with breathtaking coastlines, endless trails and untouched forests. The authenticity of this place is like nowhere else on earth and while there are many wellness sanctuaries across the region to choose from, this really is the place to retreat to nature and be received by some friendly and welcoming hospitality from the local communities. People that care about the environment, their offering and your visit. It’s not a place for big hotels and internationally owned names — and…

Ester is an invitation to play with your food and enjoy the adventure. Born from the successful restaurant in inner Sydney, NSW, Ester is proudly not a restaurant book. Think of it more as the foundations for some new ideas in your kitchen and at your table; written to be used, shared, read aloud, made messy and perhaps burnt. At the restaurant, chef Mat Lindsay’s food is all about the wood-fired oven and the magic it imparts, but the fundamentals don’t change at home. Everything in this book can be made delicious wherever you live. The ethos of Lindsay’s acclaimed and widely beloved Chippendale restaurant has always been to offer guests a no-rules good time — and the intention within these pages is just the same. Whether it prompts you…

Brought to you from our friends at The Australian Natural Therapists Association. The Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA) is a trusted multi-modality natural healthcare association of highly skilled practitioner members qualified in traditional and natural therapies. ANTA’s mission is to provide the public with best-practice health care and to uphold high standards of conduct for traditional medicine and natural therapy practitioners. Working with governments, researchers, educators, health funds, WorkCover authorities, professional organisations and other like-minded bodies, ANTA represents the interests of the following natural therapy modalities: • Acupuncture• Aromatherapy• Ayurvedic Medicine• Chinese Herbal Medicine• Clinical Nutrition• Homeopathy• Myotherapy• Naturopathy• Oriental Remedial Therapy• Remedial Massage Therapy• Shiatsu• Western Herbal Medicine Why join ANTA? Natural therapy practitioners who belong to ANTA: • Have achieved high educational and professional standards.• Continually improve their…

By neutralising free radicals, vitamin E helps to prevent the oxidative stress that leads to premature aging. Nature provides us with an array of powerful allies for supporting our inner and outer health. When it comes to skincare, one of the most potent is vitamin E due to its remarkable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and collagen-promoting properties. Vitamin E can be obtained through food, applied topically and taken as an oral supplement for its skin and health benefits. What is vitamin E? Vitamin E is a group of eight fat-soluble compounds that include four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Among these, alpha-tocopherol is the most biologically active form and is commonly found in dietary supplements and skincare products. As an antioxidant, vitamin E protects cell membranes from oxidative damage by neutralising free radicals,…

I use chamomile for dogs with anxiety, poor sleep and for IBD, especially if symptoms include gut spasms. At work, we keep our herbs in a dispensary. It’s a passageway with timber shelves along both sides. There are rows of bottles of herbal tinctures, pots of herbal tablets and supplements and containers of single Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbs. The TCM formulae are arranged on the opposite wall. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Chamomile comes from the dried flower heads of the daisy plant. Traditional uses include a soothing tea for diarrhoea, as an eyewash, to treat urinary infections and as an antimicrobial. Research shows that a polysaccharide derived from chamomile has sedative and anxiolytic-like effects. I use chamomile for dogs with anxiety, poor sleep and for IBD, especially if symptoms include…

Virgo Virgo, your willingness to serve others and to be the background powerhouse often makes you a catalyst for change. December 4-8 might urge you to run from the responsibilities you have gathered, yet this too will pass. Saturn, in your partner sign, has maximised demands and pressure for two years, and you are ready for an easier time. But are you ready to be easier on yourself? If the answer is yes, then December 13-20 provides a good start. Family is testing ground. Start small, restrain any criticism from December 25-28, then January 5-19 brings a satisfying turning point. Libra Ruled by lovely Venus, you seek balance, harmony, justice, cooperation. Hard work to achieve, as these goals attract responsibilities that often come with stress. Venus offers you a shift…

November National Cherry Festival November 12–December 1 Young, AU nationalcherryfestival.com.au December World AIDS Day Dece mber 1, Global worldaidsday.org.au Woodford Folk Festival December 27–January 1 Woodfordia, AU woodfordfolkfestival.com Tasmania’s Taste of Summer December 28–January 4 Hobart, AU tasteofsummer.com.au January 37th Illawarra Folk Festival January 20–22 Bulli, AU illawarrafolkfestival.com.au Fringe World Festival January 17–February 16 Perth, AU fringeworld.com.au February February 10 Chinese New Year What we’ve been up to Gorgeous Greece Kate recently spent a week in Greece with her best friend. Together, they journeyed to what felt like the end of the earth — Mani — in the most southern point of mainland Europe, to beautiful Tainaron Blue, a luxury retreat surrounded by breathtaking views. Stay tuned, you’ll hear all about it in the next issue! Byron Bay luxury Editor…

I’ve often wondered: how does the heart expand to make space for more children? Alot of life has happened in the past two months since we last spoke — a lot of good living. I took a short yet sweet trip to Europe with my best friend, where I tasted a new shade of flavour: Greek tomatoes. It was a “real” tomato — juicy, sweet, bursting with deliciousness. I also tried Greek yoghurt that tasted nothing like the Greek yoghurt we have here in Australia. It was creamy, light and soft. It was so yummy. The same goes for honey, cucumbers and feta. While in Greece, my tastebuds were treated to a richness and depth of aromas that I didn’t even know existed on the flavour spectrum — it was…

Cooling blood oranges maximizes their health benefits Blood oranges are rich in anthocyanins, antioxidant pigments that give this variety of oranges their distinctive deep red colour and numerous health benefits. Anthocyanins are part of the flavonoid family and are known for their powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, along with cancer-fighting properties. Blood oranges also contain other beneficial phytochemicals such as vitamin C, vitamin A, flavonoids and dietary fibre. This fruit is grown in countries like Italy and Spain, and California in the US. A new University of Florida study reveals that if you store blood oranges at cool temperatures you can boost their antioxidant levels. Scientists found that when the fruit is exposed to cold temperatures between 8 and 15 degrees Celsius for at least 20 days it enhances anthocyanins,…

In Ayurvedic medicine, potent Boswellia serrata is used as an anti-arthritic, astringent, stimulant, expectorant and antiseptic. Boswellia serrata is a reasonably large tree (3-4m) that is native to India, North Africa and the Middle East. The gum of the tree (and the part used medicinally) is the Frankincense of Biblical fame. There are more than 20 different species of Boswellia – all with slightly different medicinal components, but frankincense can be extracted from any of the species. Parts used The oleoresin, a gum found when the bark is peeled away. Active ingredients Essential oils (16 per cent) containing alpha-thujene and p-cymene, along with sugars, flavonoids such as quercetin and terpenoids, including four pentacyclic triterpene acids, with boswellic acid being a main constituent. Therapeutic uses Anti-inflammatory: Boswellic acids are powerful antiinflammatory…

“The teacher said, ‘Let’s go round the room and everyone can tell us what they watched last night,’” Jan Fran told the Shameless podcast, recalling a moment from her school days. While her classmates mentioned popular sitcoms and soap operas, Fran had a very different answer. “‘The news.’ I think the class just went completely silent. Even my friend, who was sitting next to me, turned and mouthed ‘the news? You watched the news?’” Now an accomplished journalist, media commentator and broadcaster, it was this sense of curiosity and engagement with social issues from a young age that set the foundation for Fran to pursue a passion for journalism and storytelling. “I was also aware of how powerful the media is,” Fran tells WellBeing. “How powerful it is in shaping…

Is the skin merely a record of our past lifestyle choices or is there more to the story? Your skin is often viewed as an outer layer, but it’s far more than a simple barrier. When it comes to ageing and disease, people often focus on the well-known culprits of smoking, drinking, overeating or poor food choices and lack of exercise, however poor skin health is the hidden factor that frequently goes unnoticed. Science has now unveiled its complex role in the ageing process and how ageing skin is implicated in your overall health. Skin health doesn’t just affect your appearance, it influences various systemic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. What this means is that — aside from the benefits of maintaining youthfulness —…

Farming, especially in its industrial, broadacre form, is considered by some to be the world’s most environmentally damaging activity, based on the totality of its impacts. Food production represents about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse emissions, and somewhere between 11-20 per cent of global emissions are from animal agriculture alone. Today, synthetic food technologies are enabling the industrial production of foods that closely resemble proteins such as meat, milk and eggs in terms of their appearance, taste and texture. Other work involves the synthesising of fats and other ingredients. Some products are already on the market in a limited number of countries. This field of synthetic biology is similar to genetic modification (GM), and many of these “fake” food products use GM technology in their production processes, via “precision…

“Your order is on its way!” Is there any email subject line that brings more joy? But there could be more behind your motivations for hitting “buy now” than you expect. The results of a US-based survey, released in November 2023, by Qualtrics on behalf of credit-tracking company Intuit Credit Karma, found that over a quarter (27 per cent) of respondents reported “doom spending” to cope with stress. The paper defines doom spending as, “spending money despite concerns about the economy and foreign affairs to cope with stress”. A more extreme version of retail therapy, doom spending is splashing cash on unnecessary purchases such as clothes, designer handbags, luxury skincare, expensive dinners and the latest gadgets to cope with anxiety and uncertainty. Whereas retail therapy is a short-lived response, “doom…

When I think about “the big bang” or how the universe came to be, I picture some kind of enormous explosion. I imagine total silent darkness and then a cacophony of loud, uncontainable luminosity. The very name suggests that the nature of being is not something that comes in a neat, ordered package. Rather, to exist requires a level of chaos that no matter how hard we try, we can’t control. If we want a big life, make space for mess The yoga philosophy supports this notion. When Arjuna asks Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita to show him the universe, Krishna opens his mouth and obliges. But the vision of creation and destruction is too much and, though Arjuna feels at peace with the beauty of existence, he is overwhelmed…

For something grounding From the Wild Heidi Merika, Murdoch Books In From the Wild, qualified naturopath and medical herbalist Heidi Merika takes readers on a journey into the natural world, revealing the healing power of wild plants. This beautifully written guide merges Merika’s deep knowledge of herbal medicine with her passion for sustainable living. Each chapter is infused with wisdom about foraging, plant identification and practical uses of wild herbs in everyday life. What sets this book apart is its blend of scientific insight with spiritual reverence for nature, making it an enticing read for anyone interested in natural healing. Merika’s lyrical writing invites you to slow down, reconnect with the earth and embrace the healing gifts it offers. It’s a treasure trove of knowledge that feels both grounding and…

Editor Kate adores MV Skintherapy as it’s more than just skincare — it’s a mindful, sensory experience that encourages you to slow down and reconnect with yourself. As a busy mum of a three-year-old and expecting another baby, finding time for self-care often feels like a luxury. That’s why MV Skintherapy, founded by the inspiring Sharon McGlinchey, has become my haven — it offers a calming escape amid the whirlwind of motherhood and life. McGlinchey’s mission to create organic, natural skincare with a transparent and honest approach aligns perfectly with my desire for ecoconscious, nurturing products that deliver results. But what sets MV Skintherapy apart is not just the nourishing skincare, it’s the rituals McGlinchey has built into the process, including her recently launched guided Mothers Meditations for mums like…

Different colours in fruits and vegetables often signify the presence of various antioxidants. In the quest for optimal health, the phrase “eating the rainbow” is not just a catchy slogan, it’s a compelling guideline for a nutrient-rich diet that can enhance your wellbeing. By incorporating a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables into your meals, you can ensure a broad spectrum of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, all of which contribute to better health. There are many benefits to “eating the rainbow” A colourful diet is antioxidant rich. Different colours in fruits and vegetables often signify the presence of various antioxidants. For example, red foods such as tomatoes are high in lycopene, while orange and yellow produce like carrots and peppers are rich in betacarotene. These antioxidants combat oxidative stress and…

Those who meditate regularly, do yoga or are consistently engaged in some form of relaxation exercise are already embracing precautionary measures to neutralise stress. Stress is a term we use all too often to describe the countless torments of our daily modern lives. “I’m so stressed, he or she stresses me out, what a stress head.” It’s a noun, verb, adjective, the meange of all the maleficent forces that are out to make us miserable. While we know it’s not good for us, we don’t seem to want to do much to ensure it doesn’t harm us, as if it’s an evil beyond our control that we simply have to endure and weather, just like the weather itself and climate change. In truth, there is a lot we can do…

WellBeing reader Gregory Barwell shares how he uses dream therapy to help with selfawareness and to explore the deeper layers of what it means to be human. Dreams are prevalent in every culture and in all people. They inspire world myths, art, literature and even pop music (my all-time favourite was “Dreamer” by Supertramp!). Despite intense scientific study, no clear consensus has been reached about dream meanings or why they occur. Dreams are often overlooked and dismissed as being fragments of imagination or a rehash of daily events. “It was just a dream” is a common response, implying that it was meaningless. But dreams have benefited me with insight into my physical body, diet, relationships and my life journey. Dream guidance is provided by your deepest parts that understand you…

There are creatures on this planet that prompt contemplation just by the mere fact of their existence, and the sea robin is one of those beings. Sea robins live on the bottom of the warm and temperate seas of the earth. They are sometimes describes as having the body of a fish, the wings of a bird and the legs of a crab. Yes, a fish with wings and legs… in a way. The “wings” of sea robins are actually fan-shaped pectoral fins. The bottom few rays of these pectoral fins have separated out over the evolutionary aeons and are used by sea robins to “walk” on the bottom of the deep ocean. So, the wings and legs are more pseudo-wings and pseudo-legs but what we have learned about those…