meditation Archives - Page 2 of 8 - Diabetes Counselling Online

The significance of d-routine for wellness

May 19, 2014 by Sally 7 Comments

I had a friend visit last weekend. She, like me, is aged in her mid-40s, is a working Mum and has type 1 diabetes. She was telling me that she had started to suffer with anxiety or panic attacks and that her doctor had put her on medication for it. Not surprisingly her diabetes control was also not in a good place. For me it was somewhat of a shock to hear this of my extremely capable friend, but also was easy to imagine how it could happen when we reflect on just how stressful and overfull our lives have become. It also reminded me of the importance of having a routine, especially for those of us with diabetes, so that we don’t ‘juggle out’ diabetes as a ball in our busy lives. Diabetes really needs to be a very high priority for both mental and physical wellness, and yet it so often drops to a low one, dragging the rest of lives down with it.

As you know, I’m an Accredited Practising Dietitian, and my speciality is food/lifestyle and wellbeing, rather than psychology. In my blog today I wanted to remind people with diabetes about how having a routine every day can get your day off to the right start as well as helping your diabetes to be better controlled across the day, leaving you to focus on those other priorities in your life.

For myself I have created a routine that allows me that great start to the day, knowing that if you start well there’s a greater chance of continuing along that good line. As a dietitian I also am very aware of the evidence that tells us how important food is for mental health, hence the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommendations for a variety of fresh foods from the five food groups so that we get the nutrients we need for energy and for wellbeing, both physical and mental. The first key point in the guidelines reads:

“Good nutrition contributes significantly to maintaining healthy weight, quality of life,

good physical and mental health throughout life, resistance to infection,

and to protection against chronic disease and premature death.”

Planning is an awesome strategy

My routine starts with ensuring I have enough time to fit it all in – Planning! Drawing on my blog from last week where I quoted Accredited Practising Dietitian Jemma O’Hanlon reminding us that “Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail”.

My thoughts for the next day start the night before, and I do that to ensure that I have a good eight hours sleep before the time I need to wake up, knowing that tiredness will not help me in *any* way. There is a lot of evidence around the importance of a good night’s sleep for wellbeing.

I consider what time I’ll need to leave home to be where I’m going that next day. I know that my ‘d-routine’ takes me an hour and a half to complete, so I set my alarm to wake me an hour and a half before I have to leave, and off to sleep I go. Most days I plan to leave by 8am, meaning a 6.30am start. You’ll need to see how long your d-routine takes to work out your own hours.

My morning routine includes (not in order of importance, but how they occur):

1) Testing my BGL and having my medications

2) Eating a low-GI, high fibre breakfast with a serve of dairy

3) Checking my emails/facebook

4) Going for a 40 min walk/jog/lunge

5) Showering and dressing

6) Planning my snacks and lunch for the day

All six points are important for the success of my day, diabetically, mentally and physically.

No.1 – Testing my BGL and having medications – this one is a no-brainer for me. If I don’t know where I’m starting from with my BGL, how on earth can I know or control where I’m going with it? Same with the meds, there’s just no option not to have them. I’m often surprised to hear that people don’t take the medications they’re prescribed, and that’s why these two are the first on my list.

No.2 – Eating a low-GI, high fibre breakfast with a serve of dairy – we all should know the benefits of low-GI carbs as explained in my earlier blog, but when you know that your brain needs glucose to function properly again it’s a no brainer. Even if I’m not hungry, I eat my low-GI breakfast with grains, dairy and nuts to keep me energised for the morning.

No.3 – Checking emails/facebook – As a person who thrives on being organised and needs to be for my business to function smoothly, I need to clear out my inbox each morning and deal with the quick responses, so I can know issues have been dealt with so they’re not on my conscience when my mind should be focussed elsewhere. If I had to leave one point out of my morning routine this would be it, but I can do it pretty quickly in most cases.

No.4 – Going for a 40 min walk/jog/lunge – I know that if I don’t fit this in to my morning routine I will regret it for many reasons! Exercise brings so many benefits to everyone, and especially to us with diabetes. There’s also good evidence to demonstrate that those with diabetes who exercise enjoy much greater glycemic control. Not only does it give me a chance to think through my day ahead so I’m better prepared, but my diabetes control is so much more stable on the days that I’ve exercised first which makes my day run more smoothly by minimising the highs and lows that happen if I’ve missed it. I also enjoy the sunshine on my skin that will make me vitamin D, and saying ‘good morning’ to other walkers. Definitely a bonus from a mental health viewpoint too! You can read more about exercise and diabetes here. I wouldn’t be without it!

No.5 – Showering and dressing – Everyone does this one, so nothing special with diabetes here lol

No. 6 – Planning my snacks and lunch for the day – For me I need to know that I can have healthy low-GI (and gluten free as I’m a coeliac too) options available when I need them, so if pushed the least I will do is make a sandwich and take an apple and some nuts. It really only takes a couple of minutes and is well worth the small effort.

You and Your Routine

Of course my routine will be different to your routine. The main point I’m trying to make is that if you can consider the important things to keep your diabetes on track, your mental health in as good a place as you can, and your physical wellbeing with the good food and exercise then the day in the your life should be easier to manage. Every day is a new day, and routine helps to keep you on track. Routines can change, and if you feel that yours needs an update, then now is a great time to do it!

Mental Health

In terms of mental health with diabetes, if you feel like you’re not coping then it’s advisable to speak to your doctor. Diabetes Counselling Online has recently published an e-book on Diabetes Burnout which may also be helpful, and we offer six free hours per year of e-counselling to Australians who have diabetes and their friends and family – just go here to register.

I would also recommend a visit to see a diabetes specialist Accredited Practising Dietitian, and an Exercise Physiologist to help you get your diet and exercise routines right for your wellbeing.

My friend and I are going to try a meditation class that we found locally too (hence the meditation pic at the top).

We’d love to hear how you try to keep your diabetes day together. Hoping you found this helpful.

Best wishes, Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), and has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too.

Please Share!

Wanderlust, Georgia’s Blog

May 9, 2014 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

Maybe it’s because it’s getting to winter and I’m getting ‘middle of the year’ syndrome when I need something happening, to excite me. Otherwise every day seems to go so much slower.

I have always wondered if it’s just me. It’s not that I’m not content with everything, I just crave so much more. I dream of travelling, picking up my passport and just going. This could be because I’ve watched a numerous amount of movies and think anything is possible, not that this is a bad thing. I love that I want to do everything, however it can get depressing when I realise I can’t.

I don’t know when it happened, when I started thinking about my life and where I want to go and who I want to be, and seeing the world from a young age I got a taste for how much more there is. So I make promises to myself, create bucket lists and make plans. I know life doesn’t always go accordingly, believe me I do, but whenever things start drifting from the path I know that it isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it leads me to better destinations and other times I just have to spend a little extra effort rebuilding the path to get back on it.

For the meantime, I do have something to look forward to – I’m turning 21 and although I didn’t want to do anything, I found out my mum and friends have planned something for me. They are so great. I even cried when they told me because it was so unexpected and now I have this night to look forward to.

Turning 21 comes with great maturity and responsibility (in my eyes anyway) and a whole lot of celebrating. Having a 21^st means a lot more preparation, i.e. guest lists and the perfect birthday dress, which is extremely important haha.

Having a big party isn’t the only thing I have to look forward to. I have great jobs (yes, plural), passion for what I want and great people around me who continuously support me in my life, and having them with me on my life journey is something very exciting to look forward to, not everyone has that privilege.

Although there is a long road ahead, I am proud of how far I have come, there’s been a lot of hurdles in my life, some sad, some hard and some amazing and it’s crazy looking back how big the little things were and how little the big things were.

Life is about moments and thank god I have a zest for life to create extraordinary moments that I will one day, far, far in to the future get to share with my kids, like my parents have with me and inspire them to keep dreaming. I know not everything is possible but it’s only a small box of things you can’t do and endless opportunities out there that are waiting for you to grab them.

You never know where you’re going to end up and things change all the time, but a quote I live by that’s from my favourite movie of all time ‘Titanic’; “I figure life’s a gift and I don’t intend on wasting it. You don’t know what hand you’re going to get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count”

Until next time, keep looking forward!

Georgia

Please Share!

Flourishing & Happiness, decorating your home with happy

April 23, 2014 by Helen-Edwards 2 Comments

I was feeling tired last night, a little virusey, but also incredibly happy as I munched on a carrot while simultaneously cooking dinner and balancing on a chair looking in the medicine cupboard for some cold and flu Echinacea and Horseradish tablets, basked in the late afternoon Autumn sun shining in through the window, when I stopped and thought, I am so damn happy!

This makes me happy

And this

and this

And this

and this

Do you know what I mean? Such an innocuous moment, yet a sense of happiness washed over me. I know that this feeling is happy for a fact because in my past I have felt, well, so damn sad. My years of depression and anxiety, of that black dog running things, have taught me how to avoid him and he no longer frequents my life. But I give thanks to that black dog, for it is him that has taught me happiness.

Sometimes I think that we have to experience the uncomfortable feelings, the ones nobody wants to play with, the ones that get picked last for the sports team, never get asked to dance at the school disco and always seem to turn up wearing the “wrong” clothes. The ones that keep you in bed, lock you in the house, stop you from seeing your friends and family, from venturing out into the light, from talking, from being.

Those feelings are not the popular ones but so many of us experience them. I am not just talking about everyday sadness – we all experience every range of emotions all the time and that is wonderful and being human. But many of us experience far deeper feelings of darkness than the odd sad day or moment.

And, we all seek this intangible, popular girl thing called happiness, but what is it?

My take on it, after nearly 47 years of life, a teenagehood filled with angst, living with type 1 diabetes since I was 12, living with depression on and off even longer, studying Social Work for 4 years and then working in it for 26 years, is that the reason we can’t really define happiness, can’t write it up truly and completely like a Hallmark Card, sign it off and post it, is because it is ever changing.

What made you happy when you were 5 years old, does not necessarily make you happy now – although I do think there are lots of things from childhood we need to do more often as adults, such as days where nothing is planned, jumping on the bed, eating in a very messy manner or rolling in muddy puddles. (I am working still on the unplanned days thing as I am total CRAP at it). It can also change from day to day and moment to moment. Happiness is not a constant. It can be in the background however while other feelings layer upon it. Some days I can be happy as a little bird and then something happens to bring in anger, frustration or sadness, but the happy is still there, sitting in the back seat to catch me when I fall back down from these jumpy, sneaky emotions that are fed by my busy mind and chattering head.

Seeking, finding and then knowing what makes you happy can be truly empowering.

I know that things that make me happy go a bit like this (not in any order of priority):

my children and family
my friends
my cats
waking up in the morning
the sunrise
the sunset
the ocean
the sky
running
music
trees and flowers
animals
writing
styling, design and pretty things
rust, wood, fabric, paints & paper
other people
Instagram and all the wonderful creatives I have met
opportunities
possibilities
creating
the feeling I get when I contribute to or help another human being in their life

And that is just a start. What does your list look like?

I once heard at the Happiness Conference which I have attended twice, partly due to the presence of the great Dalai Lama, the wonderful Marty Seligman talking about “flourishing” as being what happiness is all about. He says that happiness is the centerpiece of positive psychology.” It is a real thing that is defined by the measurement of life satisfaction and that Happiness has three aspects: positive emotion, engagement, and meaning, each of which feeds into life satisfaction and is measured entirely by subjective report”. That meaning it is different for all of us.

Seligman identifies five aspects which he says are vital to human flourishing — positive emotion, engagement, good relationships, meaning and purpose in life, and accomplishment, cumulatively called PERMA.

“The content itself — happiness, flow, meaning, love, gratitude, accomplishment, growth, better relationships — constitutes human flourishing. Learning that you can have more of these things is life changing. Glimpsing the vision of a flourishing human future is life changing.” ~ Martin Seligman

Having a purpose and contributing to the world is just as important as all the other aspects which is why people can become depressed if they suddenly don’t have this anymore, such as when they retire. I also totally get the part about flow – when I am in the flow of anything – faffing about at home, painting furniture, studying, blogging, singing, pottering, anything really – I feel so happy. Do you experience that too?

Having an environment which reflects all of these things is also to me what happiness is all about and why it is so important to design and decorate your home and working spaces in ways that create these things for you – positive emotion, engagement with the world, good relationships, meaning and purpose in life and accomplishment – through displaying things that remind you of your experiences, what matters, why you get out of bed each day, the places you have been, the people you love – these things all make a happier home and are reflected in the design and decoration.

Having colours, textures, shapes, images that fill your mind and heart, these things give your home a heart and encourage you and your loved ones to flourish. It does not matter what style or trend you are into – if minimalism, or boho, or coastal, or rustic, or whatever it is that rocks your boat reflects your passions and lifestyle, then this is what will make it a happy home. A home which is devoid of the personality of those who live within it, just does not have the same effect on the people who live there.

What things do you decorate your home with that make you happy?

Helen

Helen Edwards – founder Diabetes Counselling Online, type 1 diabetic since 1979, Mum of 3, Interior Stylist & Blogger at Recycled Interiors

Please Share!

After the #party’s over: #guilt #regret #acceptance

April 18, 2014 by helwild Leave a Comment

10155802_10202193415533054_3134840172171383855_n

So, the Moveable Feast of Eostre, the goddess of spring fertility, is upon us once again. It’s Easter. We have a full moon, rabbits & chickens, chocolate & sweet fruit buns with a cross baked into the top. For some religions, there are other, more sombre & deeply significant symbols associated with this part of our annual calendar. For most of us, there are 4 days off work, at a time of year when the moon is full, when the day & the night are almost of equal length, with the equinox falling just under 4 weeks before Eostre in 2014, on March 20th. The weather is generally pretty ‘liveable’, whatever hemisphere of this bounteous Earth we are living in.

The stage is set for a time of rest & relaxation, of time with family & friends, of contemplation, & of feasting. In our Northern hemisphere heritage & tradition, even though we are now living in the Southern hemisphere, the annual cycle away from the darkness & deprivation of winter means it’s time to make special purchases of foods that we normally reserve for special occasions: weddings, parties, birthdays, anniversaries. Some observe religious abstinence of some food for part of this time; but all spend at least part of this time feasting.

For about 38 years, our Easter has involved spending time with our extended family. In the early days, these Easter gatherings were held at our house in a small inland country town. We actually sent out invitations, & at first our brothers & sisters & our own parents came, bringing children, the occasional great grandparent, & the occasional dog. We needed caravans & tents for everyone to be able to sleep under cover, & occasionally the bathroom & septic tank struggled to cope. Luckily we were only a short walk from the Public utilities. The cousins bonded for life.

Later, once we acquired our scruffy little fibro beach shack, all the growing cousins brought friends; girlfriends, boyfriends. Meals were mostly eaten outside, huddled away from the sea breezes in a cold year, or gloriously somnolent in sunshine in a warm year. That’s the thing about Easter: it’s a Moveable Feast, so the weather can be like the end of summer; or it can be like the beginning of winter; or even both. We still needed a caravan or a tent some years, but bunks, sofa beds, mattresses on the floor, two showers & an outdoor hose, & two toilets helped a great deal. The septic tank needed regular emptying.

I remember a lot of laughter from those years. For most of those 38 years we were at the beach shack, & our time was taken up with sandcastles, swimming, searching rock pools for little crabs, midnight Jetty fishing excursions, sailing, rowing in a kayak or canoe. Food was abundant of course, as were leftovers. We played cards with gum nuts for stakes, Coon can, Pontoon, snap.

Nowadays our eldest daughter brings her family & we spend about 5 days at the shack. This year, because of the school holidays & other plans our family holiday ended on Good Friday. Traffic on the road to Adelaide was building up, & so they left before lunch today.

Our party this year included a full eclipse of the Moon, two red moons in a row, sunsets & dawns that were peacefully beautiful. Oh & the beginnings of a mouse plague. We swam in the sea, laughed, played games, built sandcastles & lego cities. We spotted our resident gecko, still skittering about inside the shack. We put down mouse bait, & threw out one little corpse. We enjoyed the fun of a 5 year old who wakes bursting with energy at 6.30 a.m. & wants to play baby pelicans (learning to fly & land) baby galahs, or baby seagulls. We enjoyed the seriousness of a tall 15 year old, who wants to share his thoughts & opinions about a myriad of topics. Both children are bursting with the joy of life.

Sure, we did enjoy some great, simple, homecooked meals. We didn’t buy takeaway. We didn’t eat chocolate. We didn’t have any chocolate with us. There are 3 people with diabetes in our party, & we aren’t that fussed about chocolate anymore. After the party’s over, what happens? There are the mechanics to be gone through: cleaning up, working out what to do with leftovers, perhaps extra sheets & towels to wash, if you’ve had house guests as we’ve had. But there is no time to waste on regret, guilt, or ‘shouldn’t haves’. The motto of ‘Acceptance‘, ‘going with the flow’, is the mantra that my daughter repeated many times over the past 5 days. ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ in life, whether it’s about food, children’s behaviour, TV programmes, the timing of how a day runs on holiday. It’s OK to change your mind, & also to accept that in many cases whatever decision you make is just fine. Managing diabetes is organised, stressful. Reducing stress can be as simple as letting go of the ‘need’ to be the one who manages, who seeks to ensure that everything is covered. It’s actually OK for things on holiday to not be tightly planned & organised.

Technically,our party is over for this year. Last night I was woken from sleep at 1 a.m. by the sound of young girls laughing out the front. Now I hear the sound of other people’s holiday long weekend just starting. People have arrived, having made a long drive from somewhere. My elderly neighbour on one side is from the Adelaide Hills, & he is having a Prawn feast with his extended family, including a new great grandchild. His elderly red dog is resting outside in the shade. On the other side, the young family of the second son is cooking up a Sausage sizzle. Their dog is a middleaged lab, all protective when he needs to be, & all tail waggingly friendly when he doesn’t. Everywhere I hear children playing, birds calling, wind, the sound of the sea on the shore. Out the front, two little boys aged about 9 are walking past, wearing shorts & fleecy jackets.

We have decided to stay on a little. I have been very unwell, & am still moving more slowly than usual.There is a lot to do. We have no need to rush back to the city, where our daily lives are. And it’s still so beautiful here. Our original plan was to head back today, but slowly our plan evolved into a different one. Acceptance includes being flexible, open to what life brings.

happiness comes from letting go of guilt

carpe diem

Helen

Helen Wilde is a Senior Counsellor with Diabetes Counselling Online. She has been the parent of a person with diabetes since 1979, and has lived with Type 2 diabetes herself since 2001.

Please Share!

Sometimes you need to skate backwards

April 9, 2014 by Helen-Edwards 4 Comments

Did you used to skate? I was a big roller skater for a time and an occasional ice skater when we would visit the “big smoke” from our little country town. I loved the feeling of freedom, just like flying, when skating down the road. Going backwards was one of the best parts and I can still feel the feeling if I stop and imagine it.

The other day I was a bit bored with my usual jogging track and decided to mix it up a bit and go backwards, not literally RUN backwards, but go in the opposite direction. There is a certain point on my run where my mind says “oh this is the bit where you start to run out of steam” and sometimes, due to my type 1 diabetes, I do actually HAVE to stop. But other times it is just my heavy legs and mind which stop me in my tracks, and I walk the rest of the way. Now there is no issue with that. A year ago I had not run at all, for years. Now I can sustain a run for nearly an hour, mixed with a little bit of walking here and there. But it is the challenge of it, of wanting to be able to go a little further, a little longer. It is also the monotony of knowing I will reach a point where I have to stop and walk, like it is inevitable.

My running track

So, I did something small. I went backwards. It was amazing how it changed things. That part of the run, where usually I am starting to run out of steam, was now early in the run, and so, my head said, this is easy, you have just started. By the time I got to what is usually the starting section, I was still running and then, I realised there was a big downhill run coming all the way home! As I ran down the hill, I suddenly felt like I was skating. I stuck my arms out wide and with a big grin on my face, skated all the way home. It was amazing, gleeful, full of joy, yet it was the exact same route I always go – just turned on its head.

That got me to thinking about how sometimes in life we get stuck in a rut. And it can be hard to keep going forwards. For me, this started to happen in my diabetes work. I had worked so hard for so long, as well as living with it, that I started to say in my head, I can not make the distance. I can’t take it anymore, I have run out of steam. Starting, and then keeping a charity going is no mean feat. And with the support of a small, passionate group of amazing people, I have done so for nearly 14 years. Yet there does reach a time where you can not run on that same track anymore.

Then, I didn’t exactly go backwards in my diabetes work, but I did take a different route. I started my Recycled Interiors blog. I started to write. I started studying Interior Design, I started my styling work. I began to create, allow my artistic side to blossom. This simple step, of taking a different track, changed my life completely. Now, most days I feel like I am flying, skating backwards, full of joy. The most incredible thing is that this spreads out into my diabetes work too, it gives that track light again, adds interest, balance, makes me feel the journey is more than just the same old same old. It makes me feel happy.

What we need sometimes is a different track, a change of scenery, a shake up, to allow ourselves an “other”, something different or new. It does not have to be big. It may be as small as starting at the end and seeing where it takes you.

Perhaps it is time to dust off the skates.

Helen

Sometimes a change of scene is just what you need, I love running on our beach at the shack

Please Share!