Category: Help

Resolutions that won’t fail

On By queeenvkIn Health, Help, InspirationLeave a comment
Resolutions and goals can be made on any day of the year, but this time of year is particularly motivating. If you’re making resolutions for the new year make them worthwhile. When making your resolutions here are some tips for success:
Clearly define each goal

The clearer your goals are, the clearer your path will be to reach them. If your goals are too nebulous you’ll struggle to pinpoint what you need to do to achieve them. Each step towards your goal should have a purpose, otherwise you’ve gone off track.

Break large goals down into smaller parts

A goal such as “Become a millionaire” is less attainable and can become discouraging when you don’t see a result. Define the smaller steps within your goal. Your goal to becoming a millionaire can have many different steps such as; create my online store, learn marketing techniques, expand my network of clients.

You have the resources available to reach your goal, you can literally do anything you want to achieve. There’s no need to feel discouraged as there is always more than one path to reach a goal, if the first way doesn’t work then try another path.
Remember, if your mental health is a roadblock in your path towards your goals you can make an appointment with a medical professional. Every aspect of your health, including mental health, can be addressed if you wish to improve it. There are a multitude of resources available to us, your GP is available to help you find the right resource for you.

It’s a catastrophe! How to avoid catastrophic thinking

On By queeenvkIn Health, HelpLeave a comment

The dreaded anxiety spiral. It’s so difficult to stop it once it begins so the key is to stop it before it gets completely out of hand.

This is going to take a little daily brain training and a lot of mindfulness. Let’s do this!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness means being present and aware in the moment which is a very useful skill for humans to practise. Practising mindfulness encourages us to become more aware of our thoughts and feelings, once we’re more in tune with them it’s easier to have better control of our thoughts.

We all have those moments when our thoughts start spiraling down into very negative territory. The negative thoughts keep getting worse and worse often causing us to feel helpless and full of despair. This is called catastrophic thinking and it usually goes hand in hand with depression and anxiety.

Once we get to that catastrophic level of thinking it can feel impossible to get out of it and back into positive territory. It’s important to identify and re-route our thinking before it gets unmanageable. We can’t control the crappy world around us but we can train ourselves to have control over our thoughts and responses. It’s quite challenging to learn this skill but it’s worth it to feel the freedom that it brings.

The negative thoughts we encounter can feel so real, so true and completely valid. How do you combat that? The answer is to remember that thoughts are not facts. My psychologist taught me this 10 years ago and it has become a mantra in my mind, constantly reminding myself. I even wrote it on my mirror in my bedroom so that I could remind myself constantly, training my brain towards this valuable reminder. You can do it too. Repeat it so that you remind yourself when you need it most.

Thoughts are not facts

This practice of mindfulness can help keep those catastrophic thoughts in check, which will help minimise your anxiety or be a great tool to manage your depression.

Be mindful of your thoughts

Keep an eye on your thoughts and notice how they are affecting you. Is is a great way to train your brain against catastrophic thinking. Practise observing your thoughts without judgement, this is a type of meditation practice.

There are many meditation apps out there that can guide you through a mindfulness meditation session. My favourite meditation app is Insight Timer.

Mindfulness meditation will teach you how to acknowledge your thoughts without placing judgement on them. During your meditation allow yourself to notice feelings without being swept up by them. This will become your regular training so that you can learn to have more control over your actions and your response to negative emotions.

Challenge your thoughts

Being consumed by anxious or negative thoughts is scary because the thoughts feel completely real and rational. If you notice yourself slipping into a spiral take a deep breath and challenge your beliefs. Ask yourself, “Is this threat real right now?” Or is this my brain interpreting this as a dangerous situation?

Focus on the here and the now. Focus on the facts. Thoughts are not facts.

A professional can help

It’s difficult to overcome catastrophic thinking alone, don’t be discouraged! If it’s a challenging task you can ask for help from a therapist. If you don’t already have a psychologist, speak with your regular GP about obtaining a referral to a psychologist that is right for you.

A mental health professional can work through the causes of your catastrophic thinking and recommend the tools and techniques that are suited to your personal situation. 

Never give up. You can learn to remove yourself from the negative spiral of thoughts and combat catastrophic thinking.

Instantly soothe insect bites

On By queeenvkIn Beauty, Health, Help, InspirationLeave a comment

Mosquito season is upon us! Did you know only female mosquitoes bite? The males just eat nectar and other plant juices. The female needs to feed on blood for iron and protein to produce eggs.

If you’ve been bitten by a female mosquito looking for nutrients for her eggs, simply apply a dab of lavender oil directly to the bite. The oil stops the itching immediately. It’s my lifesaver during the warm months! I’m quite visible to biting insects so I combat the bites with essential oils. 👍

Order using this link: http://nskn.co/haV5ju

A little goes a long way. One bottle will be plenty for you to enjoy.

There are many ways to enjoy lavender oil.

  • You can massage it into your scalp to promote healthy hair growth.
  • Massage a few drops of lavender and peppermint oil it into your temples when you have a headache for instant relief.
  • Breathe in a whiff of lavender oil before bed to encourage relaxation into sleep.

How do you do lavender?

How do you do breakfast?

On By queeenvkIn Food, Health, HelpLeave a comment

I choose not to skip breakfast! Keeping your blood sugar level stable is the easiest way to prevent type 2 diabetes (which runs in my family) and keep brain function at optimal levels. 

Did you know that your brain can’t function without glucose? That’s why when you’re hungry your body tells you to have high energy foods. It’s a defence mechanism, a quick band aid solution to your lack of energy. What your body is actually asking for is complex carbohydrates (Low GI foods) that can be broken down and digested into glucose molecules for the brain to use as energy.

Low GI foods such as brown rice, brown bread and grains are the best option for a hungry brain. They keep your blood sugar stable too!

I also reach for some protein in the morning to give my muscles the energy to tackle the day. Protein helps your body feel fuller for longer! The reason your body needs protein is because proteins are made up of amino acids, the building blocks of life. Your muscles, enzymes, cells, everything in your body needs that precious protein.

How do you do breakfast in the morning?

Source: https://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/food-drinks/international-breakfasts/

Real relief from snoring

On By queeenvkIn Health, HelpLeave a comment

Snoring, what good is it? Do you snore? Do you have a partner who snores? Snoring is pretty common among the human population. Approximately 40% of men and 24% of women snore. Snoring is caused by movement of the soft floppy tissue at the back of the throat. Some people have excess floppy throat tissue and this vibrates when air passes by. Sometimes people stop and start breathing while sleeping and this is called sleep apnea.

Remedies for snoring

There are CPAP machines and other uncomfortable looking devices that help people to stop snoring. You can even have surgery to help treat your snoring problems.

I know a guy who went through the ordeal of surgery in the hopes of treating his snoring and it still did not bring him relief. At the end of his tether, feeling like he had nothing to lose he gave aromatherapy as try. And you know what? It worked.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes the patient to stop and start breathing during sleep. This is understandably a scary especially if you have a child who has this disorder. A mother who was searching for relief for her disabled son’s sleep apnea was ready to try almost anything to make sure her son is safe. Her testimonial after she tried aromatherapy on her son makes me so happy I could cry. Her son finally sleeps through the night and breathes much easier without the risk of not breathing.

Do you hope for a more restful sleep every night?

Snoring prevents a person from falling into the deeper stages of the sleep cycle and snorers find that they often wake themselves up multiple times during the night. This leads to a less than ideal rest period during the night and snorers can often feel tired and drained.

If you haven’t tried aromatherapy yet then a 100% money back guarantee is probably the best way to start.

Aromatherapy Clinic has a blend of essential oils that works for 90-95% of all snorers. There’s a 100% moneyback guarantee on this product because they know you’re going to experience relief from snoring.

It’s called the Anti Snoring Blend.

What is it?

A blend of 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils handcrafted in Australia by Aromatherapy Clinic.

How does it work?

Snoring is caused by vibration of the soft tissue in the back of the throat. The Anti Snoring Blend helps to open the nasal passage and its astringent properties help to reduce the movement of soft tissue to eliminate or reduce snoring.

How effective is it?

Approximately 90%-95% people stopped snoring while using the blend and 5% have experienced great reduction in snoring. Some people stop snoring during the first night using the blend and others notice a reduction within a few days of use.

How do you use it?

One 10ml bottle of this potent, pure essential oil blend will last about three months as only 4-5 drops are used each night. Rub it directly into the skin on your neck, behind your ears and under your nose. Do not ingest.

Order at https://www.aromatherapyclinic.com/anti-snoring-blend.html

The 100% money back guarantee on Aromatherapy Clinic’s Anti Snoring Blend also covers the cost of shipping so you literally have nothing to lose.

Unbreakable Fire always in my heart

On By queeenvkIn Health, Help, InspirationLeave a comment

Good news!

I’ve just registered the domain http://www.thefullcupwellness.com so this website is officially ready to go.

Now you might be wondering why the name change?

For those of you late to the party, this blog was called Unbreakable Fire until this week.

This week I have re-branded as The Full Cup Wellness. I hope you like it!

The Full Cup is a warm and comfortable place to share the best and worst of life.

I believe that knowledge is power against ignorance, ignorance begets hate and fear.

I hope to combat ignorance and share information on stigmatised topics as well as sharing uplifting and helpful information that can contribute to total health and wellness.

Wellness from the inside, out means looking at health as a whole.

Mental health, physical health, emotional intelligence and all that’s in between.

Come with me and let’s get those cups full.

Normal, natural, biological information for all genders

On By queeenvkIn Health, Help, InspirationLeave a comment

Rejoice! You were born from a menstruating human. This feature of biology is so important for ALL humans of ALL genders to learn so that we can move forward to remove stigma. There is no need for taboo or fear or anger. It’s a regular human function.

the-menstraul-cup-1200x670.jpg
Menstrual cups are used to capture menses (hearts not included)

A quick Biology lesson

Celebrate the fact that the miracle of life stems from such a fascinating and totally normal process. More than half of the population will menstruate during their lifetime. It’s pretty darn cool!

Did you know, other than primates the only other animals that menstruate are bats and elephant shrews? WOW! Other placental mammals (including our pet dogs and cats) undergo oestrus cycles instead of menstruation.

Biology is incredibly fascinating and this knowledge helps us understand how we’re all alive right now. There is nothing scary or wrong with this aspect of reproduction.

Addressing the shame

“It’s crucial that women and girls learn the importance of bodily autonomy and [express] pride, not shame, in their bodies.” – Jessica Schreindl

It’s disheartening and upsetting when menstruating humans are made to feel shame regarding this normal function of life. This is especially true for transgender humans who feel the most pressure to hide any evidence of their menstruation.

Period adverse partners can make navigating periods a challenge but the best and most productive way around this is to speak to them. My partner used to have a very negative view towards periods. He grew up with only brothers! Now he has no problem with periods and took initiative to learn more about the new menstrual cup I bought earlier this year.

 

If you have a period adverse partner the first step you can take is to introduce conversation of periods like it’s the most normal thing in the world. With confidence and without shame. Share knowledge regarding menstruation in order to remove ignorance. After all, ignorance begets fear and hatred. Combat any fear or ignorance your partner might have towards periods and you’ll be on the right track.

Another group of people who are impacted by the shame surrounding periods is the homeless population. Homeless women and people who menstruate often do not have access to period products. It’s difficult enough to navigate the patriarchy with our periods but for the homeless, it’s near impossible. There are charities that allow us to donate sanitary products to the homeless.

Join me and let’s turn all thoughts and feelings of shame around periods to feelings of PRIDE. Walk proudly to the bathroom holding your pads and tampons. Don’t ever feel like you need to hide the existence of your period.

The way to a more constructive and productive relationship with periods for everybody begins with us breaking the stigma. Keep the conversation going by speaking about your period, your partner’s period, period products and anything that will help with the normalisation of menstruation.

 

Please comment if you want to know more information. Through education we can remove the ignorance which inevitably leads to prejudice.

Let’s all be PERIOD PROUD together.

Thanks for reading! Here’s a $10 voucher for Thinx period underwear: http://fbuy.me/fUGj2

Plastic pollution myths busted!

On By queeenvkIn Environment, Food, Health, Help3 Comments

There are some myths currently floating around that could be harmful to the environment so I’m here to help with some mythbusting facts.

Myth #1

If I recycle my plastic waste I’m not harming the environment.

Fact: Many types of plastic cannot be recycled. Additionally, if non-recyclable items contaminate a bunch of recyclable products all of the recyclable items will be sent to a landfill.

This is why I can’t stress enough that COFFEE CUPS SHOULD NEVER BE PLACED IN A RECYCLING BIN.

Coffee cups are in no way recyclable. If these non-recyclable products contaminate the products being sent recycling, all of that recycling goes straight to the tip.

What you can do: Reduce use of all plastics. Bring your own coffee cup on your coffee run. Use canvas tote bags for all of your shopping and produce. Stop buying plastic toothbrushes (go for bamboo). Take advantage of this code for 15% off all purchases at Sand Cloud: VICK_Y15. Sandcloud.com has a selection of glass water bottles, metal straws and environmentally friendly organic sunscreen (packaged in a tin instead of plastic). You can feel really good about saving the planet with your next session of retail therapy.

Myth #2

Plastic pollution in the ocean isn’t harming humans.

Fact: Leaching of chemicals from plastics into our waterways not only affects our water but our food too. Large pieces of plastic break down into smaller pieces called microplastics. These microplastics are mistaken as food by sea creatures and are frequently ingested. The smaller fish that consume these plastics are consumed by larger fish until it gets to the top of the food chain, you and me! Do you really want to be eating food that is potentially contaminated with harmful chemicals?

Myth #3

Ocean plastic pollution mainly originates from dumping rubbish in the ocean

Fact: Plastics from all over the land can end up in the ocean, no matter where it was dumped. Most of the plastics that are now in the ocean originated from every day items that you and I use frequently – bags, bottles, caps, food containers. If we begin limiting the use of plastic in our lives we can make an impact on the reduction of plastic in the ocean.

Share your plastic reduction tips in the comments. My latest effort in waste reduction involves the use of beeswax food wraps and reusable ziplock bags to store my lunches for work! What’s yours?

Allow harassment victims to speak up without judgement

On By queeenvkIn HelpLeave a comment

When someone is ready to open up about harassment (sexual or otherwise) they have experienced from another person DO NOT ever by any means respond with a

“But he/she’s really nice”

“They’re always nice to me”

“That doesn’t sound right. They’re so nice. They probably didn’t mean it”.

Why?

Because every time you respond in that way you’re making the victim feel COMPLETELY invalidated.

Victims already often find it difficult to speak up against harassment. If you invalidated their experience, do you think they would have the confidence to speak up again?

  • Do you ever wonder why victims of harassment speak up so infrequently?
  • Do you blame victims for not speaking up in the first place?

If you answered yes to either of those questions then you are not understanding how damaging it is to invalidate a victim. And even worse, it is damaging to not believe him or her.

If a person is finally ready to disclose their experience of harassment all you need to do is listen.

Listen well.

Circadian Rhythms and their dance with mood disorders

On By queeenvkIn Health, HelpLeave a comment

How good are you at keeping to a sleep schedule? How important is sleep to you, personally? It might be surprising to know that sleep is far more important for your health than you realise. It’s all down to the circadian rhythms in your body.

Circadian rhythms are involved in many aspects of behaviour and physical health. This includes regulating body temperature, the release of specific hormones, concentration, mood, eating and sleeping. These features are involved in a 24 hour cycle. A disruption in this rhythm has been linked with health problems such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer, depression and bipolar disorder. 

Night shift workers are at an especially high risk for these issues due to the regular disruption of their circadian rhythm.  This is why working night shift is linked to a shorter life span and an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Fun fact: A chronotype is the technical term for a “night owl” or an “early bird”. If you’re more active, and your brain is more awake, during the morning you would fit into the chronotype of early bird like me! 

A team of researchers has recently had a look at whether there is a genetic link between circadian rhythms (rest-activity cycles) and mood disorders such as bipolar disorder. They did this by identifying the sections of the human genome that are linked with circadian cycling. Two sections were identified and it turns out that one of these sections interacts with a gene for bipolar disorder. “Genome-Wide Association Study of Circadian Rhythmicity in 71,500 UK Biobank Participants and Polygenic Association with Mood Instability”

A disruption in the rhythm has been linked with health problems such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some types of cancer, depression and bipolar disorder.

However, the team says it found “little evidence of genetic correlation between rest-activity cycles and psychiatric phenotypes… This is surprising given the literature on circadian rhythmicity and mood disorders,” the authors point out.

Instead, the results showed an association between low levels of rest-activity and a higher risk for mood disorders, including mood instability, depression and neuroticism. “Mood instability is a common symptom across several psychiatric disorders and, as such, may be a more useful phenotype than categorical diagnoses for understanding underlying biology,” they point out.  Phenotype = the physical symptoms.

These results will assist further research on the relationships between circadian function and psychiatric disorders. “Circadian rhythm disruption is a core feature of mood disorders and the genetic variants identified in this study may be involved in the pathophysiology of mood disorders …  Several of the genetic variants identified are located within or close to genes which may have a role in the pathophysiology of mood disorders … The possibility of a direct link between genetic loading for circadian disruption and the experience of dysregulated or unstable mood is therefore of considerable interest and merits further investigation.”