A Healthy Positive Attitude for 2016!

A Healthy Positive Attitude for 2016!

The start of a new year is filled with New Year’s resolutions, ideas and plans to make changes for the better and to improve our quality of life. It’s a great time of year to reflect and think of all the many things we would like to accomplish or improve upon in our daily routine.

It is also a time when cooler temperatures make us want to stay indoors and cozy up on the couch watching our favourite shows. Many of us find ourselves feeling a little more fatigued and drowsy with little energy leftover for exercise. With the added lack of sunlight exposure in the winter months, our bodies produce less Serotonin levels, which many researchers believe can negatively affect us in many ways including our mood, memory and appetite and sometimes even lead to depression.  Serotonin is a hormone that is produced in our pineal gland in the brain from exposure to light; it is a feel good hormone!

One of my main goals for 2016 is to focus on healthier habits, exercise, and positive thinking. I find it difficult to keep up with my regular exercise when it gets cooler out. Also with a lack of sunlight and regular activity, it’s the time of year I usually start to become more fatigued, stiff, and burdened with occasional headaches and pain.

Here are some healthy tips that I would like to implement and also share with you on how to stay feeling healthy, energized, and refreshed during the winter months!

1. Get a healthy sleep – try to wake with the dawn and sleep during the period of greatest darkness – to normalize healthy hormone release
2. Morning walks – Get outside for fresh air and soak in the daylight.
3. Vitamin D supplementation - consult with your medical doctor on the appropriate dosing. On average the human body requires 600-1000 IU of vitamin D per day, which is difficult to obtain naturally during the winter months due to the lack of sunlight and UVB rays.
4. Exercise 15-30mins daily – Exercise boosts serotonin release! If you can’t find the time to go to the gym, find your favourite video and get moving at home! Get that heart rate up!
5. Acupuncture – As a Medical Acupuncture Provider and graduate from McMaster University, I have seen the profound benefits acupuncture can have on a patient’s overall health and state of mind. I enjoy regular acupuncture sessions to help reduce and alleviate pain and decrease fatigue and stress with an end result of feeling relaxed and re-energized!

A little more about ACUPUNCTURE – it is a therapeutic technique that uses fine, single-use, solid needles to help modulate and treat pain and dysfunction. One of the main effects is an increase in local blood flow that ultimately helps speed up healing of the injured tissues.

Main Effects:

↑ Blood flow                    ↓ Anxiety and stress

↑ Healing                          ↓ Fatigue and drowsiness

↑ Energy                           ↓ Pain (analgesic response)

Find a local Acupuncture provider near you and enjoy a relaxing and calming acupuncture session!

Happy 2016!

~ Dr. Romana

References:

1. Sansone, R.A., Lori A. Sansone. Sunshine, Serotonin, and Skin: A Partial Explanation for Seasonal Patterns in Psychopathology? Innov Clin Neurosci. 2013 Jul-Aug; 10(7-8): 20–24.