Beautiful, Courageous You

Tag Archives: Beautiful Mind


by 3 Comments

Workout for a Good Mood

e7a32b1c0256c2dd96be151ed58aaca7

While exercise has the potential to transform your body, increase feel good chemicals and keep you feeling confident and healthy, it also does wonders for your mind to be distracted from your worries and negative ruminating. In the very depths of depression I would spend most of my waking hours trying to reason with my unreasonable thinking. Much like a dog chasing his tail, I never caught up with reason. My real turning point was when I put on my running shoes and ran out along an old dirt road to visit some brown cows.

Exercise is much more than getting fit; rather, it’s meditation in motion.

I love to run with the sun on my skin, birds chirping, smells of the countryside, focused breathing and on the lookout for the odd brown snake on my path. With all my senses being stimulated it is hard to think about anything else. Often on days when I am feeling flat or just unbearably grumpy with my loved ones, my husband will point to my shoes and “suggest,” “You need to go for a run!” From experience, he knows all too well that I am a better wife and mother when I have been out for a run, having left my worries behind and fully engaged in the moment, distracted from whatever had been weighing me down. This works for me, and it will work for you also. After a 30 minute jog, a brisk walk, several laps in the pool or whatever exercise you choose, you’ll often find by the end of a session that you’ve forgotten the negative ponderings whilst being focused only on your body’s movements and the surrounding environment! Now go ahead and leave the screen time, get out and move that amazing body 🙂


by 1 Comment

Eat Your Way to a Beautiful Mind

B vitamins are considered “anti-stress” nutrients that help to relieve anxiety and treat depression.

images3

A Beautiful Mind. Image credit: brainworldmagazine.com

B vitamins are important for nervous system function and the production of energy from food as well as various metabolic processes. Most often B vitamins are considered “anti-stress” nutrients that help to relieve anxiety and treat depression. Of particular interest are Niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6) and folic acid (B9) all of which work with the amino acid tryptophan to produce serotonin, the “feel-good” chemical. We also have Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin), which aids in maintaining the myelin that surrounds nerve cells, enhances mental ability and is crucial for the formation of red blood cells.

Like most vitamins, B group vitamins can’t be made by the body, instead, they must be consumed from food or supplements. Also, seeing as they are water-soluble, these vitamins cannot be stored by the body and therefore have to be consumed regularly in the diet.

You’ll find niacin (B3) in red meat, poultry, pork, fish, eggs, cow’s milk, fortified hot and cold cereals, and peanuts. A wide variety of foods contain pyridoxine (B6,) including potatoes, bananas, beans, seeds, nuts, red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, spinach, and fortified cereals. Good sources of folic acid (B9) include green leafy vegetables, legumes, seeds, liver, poultry, eggs, cereals and citrus fruits. As of September 2009, all flour used in bread making (except for flour to be used in breads listed as “organic”) has been fortified with folic acid. Vitamin B12 is found naturally in fish, red meat, poultry, milk, cheese, and eggs (almost anything of animal origin).

Along with food based vitamin B a good quality supplement may be helpful in providing you with a B boost. Bear in mind however, synthetic vitamins, although beneficial in some cases, lack the natural design of food based vitamins and a vitamin supplement is not intended to replace a well-balanced diet. Despite the proven benefits of vitamin supplementation our bodies require optimum levels of nutrients as they occur naturally in food. In its natural form, such as in plant food, a B vitamin is not only 100 percent safe and non-toxic; it is very unlikely that it will ever be absorbed in excess. There you have it, a shopping list rich in Vitamin B foods sure to enhance a Beautiful Mind!

You can read more on the link between B Vitamins and wellbeing in my book Beautiful, Courageous You – Healing Body, Soul and Spirit soon to be released by Westbow Press. Pre-order your copy here xx