Oh my Omega 3

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A new study has shown that omega 3 fatty acids such as those found in fish and flaxseed can be beneficial in the prevention of psychotic disorders. The study focused on individuals aged 13 to 25 with "subthreshold psychosis" (meaning they we're displaying enough symptoms to be classified as having full blown psychosis but were classified as ultra high risk). Subjects were either given 1.2g (4 standard strength fish oil tablets) per day of omega 3 or a placebo for 12 weeks, and then were monitored for a following 40 weeks. By the end of the 52 week study only 2 out of 41 (4.9%) in the Omega 3 group had transitioned to psychotic disorder compared to 11 of the 40 (27.5%) in the placebo group.
Snaps to nemo.

Hear the happy

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We all know that listening to our favourite band can make us feel good and finally scientists have come up with the reason why, dopamine. This study found subjects who listened to music that they liked experienced a 9% rise in basal dopamine levels in the areas of the brain linked to pleasure. The same areas that are stimulated by eating chocolate, having sex and even taking cocaine. What better way to boost your mood after a long day than to blast your favourite song? Finally a scientific justification for that Brittney Spears album...
Thanking my old teacher for the heads up on this one.

New Year Resolutions

Truth be told, I'm not one for New Years Resolutions. I always seem to break them. This is possibly because they always involve me taking up some sort of physical exercise...something that (lets face it) is not a priority of mine. But I was reading this post by Robin Sharma on 60 tips for a stunningly great life and I think 2011 is the perfect time for me to implement this list, although the 5am wake up isn't my favourite idea. I do however, love the idea of gratitude. Everyday I see people wishing for more, more money, more time, more stuff. All to often we forget to be thankful. About a week or so ago I stopped wanting and feeling sorry for myself and started being grateful. And things around me began to get better. Well, most likely nothing around me changed, but my perception had changed and perception is all that reality really is. So this year I urge all of you to change your perception and see how it changes you. Bring on 2011, I'm finally ready for you!

Surving the silly season the fourth

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Christmas is stressful. No doubt about it. There's parties to attend, menus to plan, gifts to buy, outfits to be put together. So how do you stop yourself from tearing out you hair? Simple.
Chapter 4: Mind

Catch the happiness bug

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Did you know that happiness is contagious?
Yep, those guys at Harvard have done it again by showing that if one person is happy, it creates a ripple effect in the people around them, even if those people are complete strangers. It's a concept called "Emotional contagion" and has been studied and documented since 1994. Until this study, emotional contagion research dealt mainly with negative emotions, showing how contagious destructive emotions such as fear, sadness and anger are.

Emotional Health

via here

I've talked about the detrimental effects of stress on your health before, and with Mr. Ox and I up and leaving our jobs, home and friends to move overseas, I feel like I have had my fair share of physical, chemical and emotional stress this year. Now while I keep the physical in check by being adjusted once a week (the perks of marrying a Chiropractor!) and taking care of the chemical by diet, I have always had trouble with the emotional stress, and I think that this is the case with many of us. We just take emotional stress and it's effect on us as a part of life, until one day we burst into tears for no reason. So I thought I would share some things that I found help to deal with emotional stress:

Change

 Growing hurts, anyone who tells you it doesn't is lying.

Words of Wisdom: Being Good

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 How good do you want to be? A question we don't really ask ourselves much is it?
While reading "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be." I came across these gems:

On being good:
"Talent helps, but it won't take you as far as ambition. Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great...Most people are looking for a solution, a way to become good. There is no instant solution, the only way to learn is through experience and mistakes"

Everyone is scared to make mistakes, so scared in fact that they don't even try. But mistakes are how we get better, how we grow and change and discover and become who we want to be. Today is a special day, the date is 10-10-10 a friend of mine came up with the brilliant idea of making today a day where you say to hell with fear and do something you have always wanted to do. So what are you waiting for?
"Fail, fail again, fail better" - Samuel Beckett

Still alive and kicking

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Posting has been light on I know...I left my camera with my mum in London (slaps forehead!) and the in-laws are here for 2 weeks and then we're moving back to Australia (gasp) so run off our feet at the moment...but stay tuned...blog posting will resume...as soon as I get some time to scratch myself...

That old devil called Stress

I read today that Mad Men star, Jon Hamm (he plays Don Draper) is suffering from a skin disease called vitiligo, which is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the cells that cause skin pigmentation. He says that it is due to the stress involved with filming the show. And you know what, he may be on to something...
We chiropractors talk about 3 types of stresses: