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How to Practice Alternate Nostril Breathing

Breathing exercises are an excellent tool to relax and recharge at the same time. They’re a crucial component of many relaxation methods: yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation and mindfulness. Now you’re probably familiar with deep belly breathing, but have you ever heard of alternative nostril breathing? Alternate nostril breathing is an ancient yogic practice that … Read more >

11 Smart Food Combinations to Maximize Your Nutrient Absorption | The Health Sessions

11 Smart Food Combinations to Absorb More Nutrients

You know you should eat a wide variety of colorful foods to get all the vitamins and minerals you need to function well. But simply consuming these nutrients isn’t enough – your body has to absorb them first.

The percentage of vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients that makes it into your bloodstream after ingestion is called bioavailability. The bioavailability of nutrients is influenced by how you cook your food, your biological makeup and how you plan your menu.

Your menu? Yes. Because when you add certain ingredients together, that combination maximizes your body’s ability to absorb the available nutrients. Take a look at how you can get the most nutritional value out of your meals by making smart food combinations.

12 Date Night Ideas at Home for Spoonies

Let’s be honest: living with chronic illness isn’t terribly romantic. When you’re sick, you probably don’t feel very sexy, nor do you have much energy for typical date night activities. Going on a romantic night out just isn’t that obvious when you’re tired, in pain or suffer from severe food sensitivities.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make time for love when you’re chronically ill. On the contrary; now more than ever you may want to have fun together, forget about your worries for a while and strengthen your bond.

Thankfully, with a little creativity you can still have a fabulous time together. And the good news is, you don’t even have to leave your home to relax, rekindle and do something exciting. Because in the end, a romantic or playful atmosphere matters more than what you actually do.

So if you’re looking for new ways to enjoy each other’s company despite chronic illness, take a look at these 12 low-energy ideas for a cozy date night at home.

Why Entertaining Yourself When You’re Sick Isn’t a Luxury

Just like time flies when you’re having fun, the days can feel endlessly long when you’re stuck in bed, sick. Sure, catching up on your Netflix queue is fun at first. But when you find yourself refreshing your social media feeds every 5 minutes because the only other option is staring at the ceiling, it’s time for some entertainment.

Luckily for most people, that’s when you start to recover from the flu or whatever virus has been bugging you. But when you’re living with chronic illness, injury or disability, you might not feel well enough to pick up your usual routines and hobbies again. Instead, life may feel like you’re trapped in Groundhog Day – and not a happy one.

Finding enjoyable things to do when you’re sick at home alone may seem like a luxury problem, but it can actually have a bigger impact on your overall wellbeing than you might realize. Here’s why keeping (chronic) boredom at bay matters to your health.

How to Do a Loving-Kindness Meditation

When you think of meditating, do you picture sitting in lotus, focusing on nothing but your breath? ‘Emptying your mind’ isn’t the only kind of meditation. You can do a relaxing body scan, practice a walking meditation or count your breaths. A little less known, but not less meaningful, is the loving-kindness mediation.

A loving-kindness meditation is a mindfulness technique used to increase feelings of warmth and goodwill towards yourself and others. As you might expect, experiencing warm feelings has several benefits for your wellbeing. In her book Positivity, Barbara Fredrickson shows how regularly practicing loving-kindness mediation produces positive emotions like joy, contentment and gratitude. Studies also found that doing loving-kindness meditation increases your compassion, helps you feel more connected and improves your self-image.

What’s less obvious, is that doing a loving-kindness mediation also supports your physical health. Because mindful awareness lowers your stress levels, having loving thoughts improves your vagal tone – a physiological marker of wellbeing – and decreases pain.

Sounds pretty good, right? If you also want to give your happiness, relationships and body image a boost, take a look at how you can do a loving-kindness meditation.

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