GoodLiving Tips

Away

Away working this week so will be quiet on the blog.  Back soon!

Buy Nothing New for a Year

I have on the road with work and very busy with college work this week so hence the blog has been quiet.  Interested piece on the radio this morning about buying nothing new for a year (apart from food, toiletries and medication).  Has made me think about how much we buy we could get second hand, borrow or do without.  We do use eBay a lot to see if we can get things second hand as well as Freecycle but I am sure we are just scraping the surface.  More pondering on this to do, perhaps we shall give it a go...

Tip of The Week

This tip of the week is my tip of the year so far!  An Antisnor ring - it actually works!  It works by using acupressure (form of acupuncture without the needles) to stop you snoring at night.  You put it on your little finger of your left hand up to an hour before going to bed and that's it!  I was skeptical but I had to try something to stop my wife's snoring (OK, mine really!).  It can take up to 10 days to take effect, mine reduced dramatically and went over a period of about 4 days.  They offer a 30 day money back guarantee so what is there to loose!  I even find that I start yawning and am really ready for bed after about 15 mins wearing it.  I think it also helps you sleep deeper as you don't snor in deep sleep. 

Mind/Body Connection

I am reading a great book about the mind body connection.  It is Love, Medicine and Miracles by Bernie Siegel.  Bernie is a surgeon in the US who became disillusioned with his work and discovered it was because he was not engaging with his patients on a personal level, understanding their feelings and fears etc.  He started doing this, going against the tide of his training and the profession and the more he did this the more he could see a connection between peoples feelings and beliefs and their recovery rate.  He nows runs a centre for cancer patients which utilizes the power of the mind/body connection. A group of London researchers under Ken Pettingale reported a 10 year survival rate of 75% among cancer patients who reacted to the diagnosis with a ‘fighting spirit’, compared to a 22% survival rate among those who responded with “stoic acceptance” or feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.  There is nothing new about the mind/body connection it has been known about and used for 1000's of years, it is only in the last few centuries and with the invention of penicillin and anti-biotics the medical profession has focused on the biological science of healing.  Very easy to read and hard to put down. 

May well best the best 2 mins of your day....

Awesome short video:

Tip of The Week

My tip this week is to be creative when thinking of things you need - can you re-use something else?  My wife wanted to grow some vegetables but our garden has 3 inches of top soil.  The solution - some containers such as a water tank from a friend loft they no longer require!   Next time you go to the tip, see what there is you can re-use.  We have found the staff there really helpful and friendly if you ask them for anything.  We rescued a water butt - has a small crack in the bottom but I am sure we can repair that.

What's in your garden?

I have taken to putting some bird food on the window sill of my office and we have put some of our dog's fur from bushing him out in the garden.  It is a joy each day to see blue tits and other birds come and get some of the fur to make their nests nice and warm and see a Robin visit my windowsill frequently, even when the window is open!