This might seem strange that your skills would have anything to do with your well-being, but hang in here with me.  It's important for several reasons.

Learning and practicing skills adds excitement to your life.  When you're excited, you automatically have more energy without changing anything else.  Your life satisfaction will increase when you're actively involved in learning and looking towards your future.

Do you remember when you were a teenager or young adult and people were always asking you about what your plans were and the future seemed exciting and limitless?  

Why shouldn't it be the same now, no matter what your age?

Not only that, adding new skills or practices into your life works your brain muscle!  Did you know that the more educated you are, the more information your brain stores, and the better it accesses what it's learned.  In fact, the build up of information results in what neuroscientists refer to as "cognitive reserve," meaning that added connections and pathways between neurons give a boost to the brain which can counteract dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease.

Can you increase your sense of well-being?  Yes, you can!  Well-being develops from your thoughts actions and experience, most of which you have control over.

Through the next few weeks, I'll be covering some key components of positive well-being.  When any of the components are lacking, your well-being is thrown out of balance.  I'll be sharing some tools to help you discover where you should be spending your energy in increasing your sense of well-being.

Toxins are harmful agents found in the environment.  They can encompass anything from digestive and metabolic byproducts to environmental chemicals that can pass through and/or collect in your body.

The toxicity of many chemicals is dose dependent, meaning that they can have toxic effects if they're consumed in significant quantities.  This can even go for certain foods, for example spinach, beet greens, and Swiss chard contain oxalic acid, which can block the uptake of calcium.  So, it's wise to not eat too much of these foods, but they shouldn't be avoided entirely because they contain a lot of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants.

It's becoming easier and easier to identify toxins in your home and avoid them.  I became more aware of toxins that might be present in my home environment and foods when pregnant with my first child.  The childbirth classes I took emphasized avoiding toxins to increase your chances of a healthy birth.  

During my pregnancy with my second child, I became especially aware as we were remodeling our home and had many decisions to make regarding carpeting, wood finishing, paints, and wood floor refinishing,  While there were some resources, there definitely weren't as many as there are now!

Then, when I was trying to help my son heal from the heavy duty antibiotics he'd been on following a bone infection, the protocol that ended up helping, stressed removal of anything with artificial colors,  flavors, preservatives, or fragrances.  It was much harder than I thought, as even natural and organic foods, body care products, and cleaners contain these chemicals.  It was especially hard because, he was school aged and exposed to whatever was used to clean classrooms.

I again faced frustration when our family was traveling for a time several years ago.  I wrote an article how I was moved to tears when my laundry smelled so strongly of fragrance here.  Looking back, I find it kind of funny that we travelled through South America with our container of fragrance free laundry detergent.  And one Airbnb apartment we stayed at in France had so many air fresheners plugged into walls, or hiding here and there, that I was constantly gathering them and stashing them where we couldn't smell them.  I had write an apologetic note to the host telling her where I had hidden them.

It might sound crazy to you, but once your remove artificial fragrances from your life, for better or worse you become much more sensitive to them.  The benefits to your health, though, is worth it!

We're travelling by car in New Zealand and staying in hostels most of the time.  

As much as I've talked about being an introvert, I've preferred hostels to our Australian campervan experience.  

I'd never stayed in hostels before, so its been quite fun doing it with our family of four.  We are all having fun having other people to talk to.  Our fellow travelers are interesting as are the people managing the hostels.

It really struck me the other day how much people were cooking.  Not just throwing sauce on pasta, although that is a good option for a long travel day.  They often cook good healthy meals from whatever country they are from.  Hardly anyone is American, most often they are German, Dutch, French or from various Asian countries.

I was really impressed!

​First of all, why should you go to all the effort to meal plan?

I’ll share my story first, because I definitely haven’t always been a meal planner, unless it was one big meal, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or for a party of some kind.  And I really needed some help.  I couldn't manage to come up with a weekly meal plan on my own.  

​*If you want resources for meal planning on your own, click here. 
 
I’d usually go to the store with a plan for that night’s dinner, then fill in with items I knew I was out of (I would make lists for those kinds of things) and staple items that I used all the time, like onions, carrots, lettuce, bread, cheese, rice, etc.

My personal preference when trying to improve my own health is always to focus on the foods I eat on a daily basis first.  In fact, I'm really not very good at taking supplements, although I do try hard to at least take my multi-vitamin and magnesium supplements every day.

When it comes to improving your gut health, the most important first step is to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Sometimes though, if you aren't feeling well, you might want to do a little more to kickstart your gut health.

That's where supplements come in!  

*As always, check with your doctor to verify dosages and make sure their aren't any contraindications for you.  This article is meant for educational purpose and not meant to diagnose or treat any medical condition.

Also, what works for one person may not work for another, so always do your research and pay attention to how you feel.

I'm sure you've heard plenty about the health benefits of polyphenols, but do you know what they are?

Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds found in plants.  Polyphenols give plants a certain color or taste and they generally serve the plant by defending it against ultraviolet radiation and agressive pathogens.  

​Towards the end of the 20th century, epidemiological studies started showing that a diet rich in polyphenols may offer some protection from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. Reference.

My guest, Paula Grainger, has just released her new book, Adaptogens,  Harness the Power of Superherbs to Reduce Stress and Restore Calm.

Paula has been practicing herbal medicine since she obtained her degree in herbal medicine from the University of Westminster in London in 2004.  

Following her graduation, she worked in several busy London clinics, and then opened her own herbal clinic and apothecary called Lemon Balm.  She successfully ran and worked in her clinic until moving to Santa Cruz, California in 2010.