Align to Shine

Canggu, Bali

Buddhist Monastery, Banjar, Bali

Yogi at Hindu Monastery, Kauai, Hawaii

yogalign.co.nz admin

yogalign.co.nz admin

The symptoms of depression can bring about some drastic changes in our daily lives, routines, and our behaviour. Often it is these changes that makes the depression worse and prevents us from getting better.

When we stop doing stuff we feel even less motivated and more lethargic. When we don't do the things we used to love, we miss out on experiencing pleasant feelings and positive experiences. Often this means our depression gets worse.

Then we start not doing important tasks and responsibilities at work or at home, the list can begin to pile up. It is common to feel overwhelmed when we think about the things we have to do. This may result in us feeling ashamed or thinking we are a failure. This is the cycle of low mood that plays a prominent role in depression.

We have to act against depression. Physically do things and change our behaviour even when it is hard and not what we feel like doing. When we act against depression we prevent low energy and fatigue. This may help to break the cycle of depression.

The first 6 levers that we teach you in this program are all about acting against depression and low mood. Those levers are:

  1. Eating better to feel good and have more energy
  2. Exercising each day
  3. Going to bed and getting up at the same time each day
  4. Breathing through our nose in times of stress and anxiety
  5. Getting into cold water.
  6. Hunting out moments of joy each day

We also have to think against depression. Lever 7 is where we focus on thinking against depression.

   7. Recognising (and then stopping) negative self-talk and rumination.

An important note for cheerleaders/supporters

Are you a parent, family member, friend or work colleague of someone who is currently suffering from depression and/or mental ill-health? If so, be mindful that although 'acting against depression' may seem straight forward and easy from where you are sitting, it is not. In fact, it can be incredibly difficult and the deeper the depression the harder it becomes to act. This program is not about simply saying to someone...'you need to eat better', 'just go for a run', and so forth, but rather we are teaching the science of why and how these levers work and then working to establish some healthy habits that, once established, will assist individuals suffering from depression to break the cycle, or at least stop the spiral downwards.

If you feel you need support with your lifestyle changes, see the Health Coaching Tab on the Home page for details.

http://prekure.com

 

Tuesday, 21 January 2025 16:06

Imagining Your Success Can Make It A Reality

How to Use Visualisation to Be More Successful 

Your brain is an adaptable organ, capable of forming new connections and pathways - a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity.

There are lots on mechanisms at play, but by visualising you're essentially priming your brain for success and making this a more comfortable pathway for your brain.

A study on basketball players found that mental imagery training helped players improve their free-throw performance.

Here's how to do it effectively:

1. Be Specific: Imagine your goal with clarity - what it looks, feels, and sounds like.

2. Engage Your Senses: Include sensory details to make the mental image vivid and believable.

3. Visualise Daily: Consistency strengthens neural pathways and keeps you focused on your goal.

4. Pair It With Action: Visualisation sets the mental stage, but taking tangible steps is what turns dreams into reality.

 

Visualisation is simply creating a mental image of a future event. Think of it as a mental rehearsal.

Just like a real rehearsal - the more you mentally rehearse, the better you get.

When you visualise an action or outcome, your brain activates similar neural patterns as if you were actually doing the activity. Studies using fMRI scans actually show that imagining practicing a skill (like playing the piano) activates the motor cortex just like actual practice does. 

It can physically change your brain and improve its performance.

This is how it works ...

Neuroplasticity - When you visualise success, you reshape the physical structure of your brain, strengthening pathways associated with that outcome. This makes the brain more efficient at executing the behaviours tied to achieving your goal.

Neural Priming - By visualising, you essentially "practice" the desired behaviour or outcome, which primes your brain to respond appropriately when you're in a real situation. It creates mental readiness and alignment with the actions needed to succeed. 

Mirror Neurons - These neurons activate both when you perform an action and when you observe or imagine it, reinforcing learning and confidence.

Positive Feedback Loop - Seeing yourself succeed fosters motivation and reduces performance anxiety, setting the stage for better results.

 

by Dr Tara Swart - Neuroscientist 

80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February. 

The problem isn't a lack of willpower - it's understanding how your brain & body are wired for change.

 

Most resolutions fail because they don't align with how our brains work.

Vague Goals confuse your brain.

Unrealistic expectations lead to overwhelm.

All-or-nothing thinking sets you up for failure.

To succeed, you need to work with your biology, not against it.

 

Your brain loves efficiency - which means it resists change.

Habits are wired into the basal ganglia, the brain's autopilot system.

When you try to change too much at once, the prefrontal cortex (the decision-making part of your brain) gets overwhelmed.

Without quick wins or reinforcement, your brain defaults to old patterns.

The solution is to leverage neuroplasticity - your brain's ability to rewire itself.

 

Set SMART Goals:

Goals need to be brain-friendly.

Instead of vague resolutions, use the SMART framework:

Specific: Be clear about what you want to achieve.

Measurable: Quantify progress (eg steps, workouts, meals prepped).

Achievable: Start with small, manageable changes.

Relevant: Align with your deeper "Why".

Time-bound: Add a deadline to create urgency.

Example: Instead of "I'll get healthy", say "I'll walk for 20 minutes, 3 times a week by February".

 

Focus on systems:

Goals are the destination; systems are the path. Your body & mind thrive on routine.

Goal: Lose 5kgs.

System: Plan 5 balanced meals weekly, schedule workouts, & track progress daily.

Focus on creating habits that feel effortless over time - like meal prepping or morning meditation.

 

Reward the brain:

Your brain runs on dopamine, the "feel good" neurotransmitter.

Set small, achievable milestones to trigger dopamine release.

Celebrate every win - like hitting your first week of consistent workouts.

Avoid punishing slip-ups. Instead, refocus on what's next.

This keeps your brain engaged & motivated for the long haul.

 

Build accountability:

You're more likely to succeed when someone's watching.

Share your goals with a friend, health coach or join a supportive community.

Use tools like habit trackers or apps to visually monitor your progress. 

Check in weekly to reflect on wins & adjust for challenges.

When others are involved, you strengthen the neural pathways that reinforce positive change.

 

Understand your "Why".

Research shows that connecting your goals to a deeper purpose improves success.

Do you want to feel energised to play with your kids?

Avoid chronic disease?

Show up as your best self for work & relationships?

Your "Why" anchors you when your motivations fades.

 

Be in the 20% that Succeed!

This year, set goals that stick by working with your brain & biology.

Start small.

Celebrate progress.

Focus on systems over perfection.

 

Dr Mark Hyman 

 

 

 

Thursday, 05 December 2024 09:44

Cholesterol Update

 

Timeline of cholesterol research

Australian clinical pathologist Professor Ken Sikaris outlines the timeline cholesterol research has followed:

30 years ago

High cholesterol was thought to be a problem, while triglycerides were unimportant. It turns out that in some populations, low total cholesterol is actually a health risk.[65]

20 years ago

We understood that the two cholesterols that made up the total cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C) might have different effects. LDL-C was named ‘bad cholesterol’, as it was associated with increased poor health, and HDL-C ‘good cholesterol’ for the opposite reason.

• We now know that this is a simplistic picture: saturated fat increases both LDL-C and HDL-C, but has a differential effect on the size of the particles within LDL-C. Scientists also became aware that very-low-density LDL-C (VLDL) and oxidised LDL-C were likely to be markers of metabolic health.

• We also know that high levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C have been shown to be protective, not harmful, in some older populations.[66]

10 years ago

We developed a more nuanced understanding of LDL-C.

• The particle size of LDL-C can roughly be understood in terms of small dense particles (apolipoprotein B, or ApoB) that are potentially harmful to health, and large fluffy particles (apolipoprotein A, or ApoA) that are not thought to be part of the disease process.

• Trying to measure these in the blood requires an advanced biochemistry lab and is not standard (or even possible) in most pathology labs. While we know that it is better to measure ApoB and ApoA, we can’t measure them easily so are stuck with the LDL-C and HDL-C numbers for now.

Today

We now understand that the combination of fasting triglycerides and HDL-C (both usually measured in your standard blood test) is a good measure of ApoA/ApoB levels.[67]

• Low triglycerides are correlated with less ApoB and more ApoA, so a low triglyceride level predicts a better profile. Higher HDL-C levels are also correlated with less ApoB and more ApoA. These two correlations are independent of each other, so combining the TG and HDL-C numbers together gives an even better picture. A good level for the TG/ HDL-C ratio is less than 0.9 if measured in mmol/L or less than 2.0 if measured in mg/dL.

• The actual number of LDL particles can now be measured by LDL-P (LDL particle number). Low LDL-P is a much stronger predictor of low health risk than low LDL-C, probably because the higher particle number means more chance of oxidation (oxidised LDL is bad). Low-carb diets reduce LDL-P, while high-carb diets increase it.

©PreKure 2019 | http://prekure.com

Here's 10 tips for helping to look after the mind - your mental health:

  1. Get adequate sleep. Every hour before midnight is the equivalent to two hours after, aim for eight hours per night.
  2. Smile more: it is scientifically proven to improve your mood. The average adult smiles seven times a day and one is usually fake. Kids smile around 400 times a day. Find your inner child and smile more!
  3. Eat clean, natural, real food: it has a direct correlation to your mood. Think about it: 90% of your serotonin receptors are in your gut. 
  4. Drink more water. One sign of dehydration is a cranky mood and frontal headache.
  5. Be around people who love you for who you are but inspire you to be more. 
  6. Be out in nature: let the biophilia magic rub off on you.
  7. Set goals and make them happen. A sense of fulfilment makes humans feel like they are thriving.
  8. Make a gratitude list of the things in life you are most grateful for.
  9. Say "I love you" to yourself.
  10. Be kind. When you give, you always get back.

Life is too short not to be doing what you love and experiencing the amazing things that the universe has to offer. Look after your mental health to really shine. There's so much waiting for you.

Thanks Lola Berry, author of The Happy Cookbook.

Benefits of massage

One of the immediate benefits of massage is a feeling of deep relaxation and calm. This occurs because massage prompts the release of endorphins – the brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) that produce feelings of wellbeing. 

Levels of stress hormones, such as adrenalin, cortisol and norepinephrine, are also reduced. Studies indicate that high levels of stress hormones impair the immune system. 

Some of the physical benefits of massage and myotherapy include:

  • reduced muscle tension
  • improved circulation
  • stimulation of the lymphatic system
  • reduction of stress hormones
  • relaxation
  • increased joint mobility and flexibility
  • improved skin tone
  • improved recovery of soft tissue injuries
  • heightened mental alertness
  • reduced anxiety and depression

60 minute Therapeutic Massage $75 

30 minute Therapeutic Massage $40

Ring or message me on 0274 96 96 33 for an appointment that suits you.

I am situated at 19B Golf Road, Mount Maunganui. Thanks Leonie

 

Tuesday, 24 November 2020 18:09

Improve Your Sleep With These Ten Tips

Having trouble sleeping? Can't stay asleep? These 10 MD-approved tips are actually proven to work

Article by Holistic Psychiatrist Ellen Vora MD

 

So you can't sleep? You're in good company (it impacts nearly everyone these days), but it's still a lousy problem. Chronic sleep deprivation can make you depressed, anxious, prone to getting sick, at higher risk for cancer, and it makes you more likely to gain weight and develop diabetes and dementia. And of course it doesn't feel good to be jolted awake by an alarm when your body is screaming: No! I haven't gotten enough sleep yet.

Let's try to solve this problem right here and now, in ten steps—because you're tired, and that's about all you can handle at the moment:

1. Get the phone out of the bedroom.

This is the single most effective change you can make. When we keep the phone on our bedside table, it's the last thing we look at before bed. The blue light from the screen jacks up your circadian rhythm, and the activities of the phone (dings, pings, stressful work email, addictive social media apps, the emotional roller coaster of online dating, riveting Netflix shows, and the existential angst of geopolitical news) does not cultivate a state of mind conducive to sleep. I know what you're gonna say: but it's my alarm clock! Cool, we've got a solution. Go and pick out a lovely little analog alarm clock, and once it arrives, that's the day you set up your charger outside of the bedroom and step into your new phone-free bedroom (and new life as a better sleeper).

2. Take magnesium.

I like magnesium glycinate for sleep.* Taking 400 to 600 milligrams at bedtime can be great for relaxing your mind and your muscles and helping you fall deep asleep.* Another good supplement to keep on hand is melatonin. I don't have my patients take this regularly, but it's a great tool for managing jet lag. Take it on an overnight flight (be sure to wear compression socks and walk around frequently), and take it at bedtime once you arrive at your destination.

3. Waking up in the middle of the night? Pay attention to your blood sugar.

Show of hands-—who here has difficulty staying asleep through the night? Do you wake up at 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., jolted awake in a mild panic? This can have many underlying causes, from excessive stress to sleep apnea. But a common yet underappreciated cause is a dip in blood sugar. Because the modern American diet is built on a bedrock of sugar, refined carbohydrates, and—let's be honest—red wine, most of us ride around on a blood sugar roller coaster: Voracious hunger leads us to consume sweet, instantly gratifying food, which gives us a sugar high that leads to a sugar crash, which triggers voracious hunger…and so on and so forth.

The thing is, we're not immune to these sugar crashes in the middle of the night. And when they happen, it induces a stress response in your body. It's like being hangry, only you're asleep. Sleep hanger can jolt you awake and make you feel anxious, stressed, and wired.

Prevent sleep hanger by: a) transitioning your diet away from sugar and refined carbohydrates toward a Whole30 or paleo-template diet based on real food (meat, fish, eggs, poultry, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, fermented foods, healthy fats, and relying on starchy vegetables as your source of carbohydrate); b) take a spoonful of almond butter or coconut oil (not actually "pure poison") right before bed, and take another in the middle of the night if you wake up.

4. Think about your caffeine consumption—yes, actually.

I know you're inclined to skip this section because you're like: Duh, I know caffeine can keep you awake, but it's OK, I just have one or two innocent cups of coffee in the morning, and that coffee is part of my identity, so this is not gonna change.

The thing is, those innocent cups of coffee in the morning may still be contributing to your insomnia. Caffeine is slowly metabolized in the body, so even though you drink it in the morning, some of it is still buzzing around your brain at bedtime. It can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, and it can decrease the quality of your sleep.

You're an open-minded, flexible person, committed to wellness and up for a challenge, right? If you struggle with any aspect of sleep, it is worth your while to gradually reduce caffeine and see how you sleep and feel once you're down to zero caffeine. Zero caffeine?! Yes, zero caffeine. Some of us are sensitive. And anybody with sleep struggles has a pretty good chance of being one of those people. If anxiety is also your thing, the odds are even higher that you're sensitive to caffeine and it's affecting your sleep and your anxiety. Gradually decrease caffeine to zero over the course of a week or two, and behold how well you can sleep when caffeine isn't messing with your brain.

5. Try an earlier bedtime.

I know I didn't make any friends asking everyone to quit coffee, and now I'm just going to dig this hole deeper. You will sleep better if you go to bed earlier. The body likes to be in sync with the rhythms of the sun and moon. This used to be nearly unavoidable because the sun would set and things would get pretty dark, dangerous, and boring. Because of electricity, the modern evening is a high-voltage festival of light, from Instagram feeds to television shows.

Start to notice that your body experiences a wave of feeling tired approximately three hours after sunset. Shockingly, this is actually the appropriate bedtime, not midnight. Start to listen for your body's tired signs around 10/10:30 p.m., and take that as a cue to brush your teeth and crawl into your cozy bed. This will prevent your body from getting "overtired," when you release the stress hormone cortisol and hit a second wind of energy. When you try to push against cortisol to fall asleep, you toss and turn and your mind races. No fun. Prevent this by swooping yourself to bed at the sweet spot of tiredness, right around 10 p.m.

6. Be strategic about light.

Light is the primary cue for our circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle). On the proverbial Savannah, this system was foolproof—after sunset, the only light you could see was fire and moonlight. Modern human life is an entirely different story—we spend our days sitting in windowless cubicle mazes, and then the evening is a Technicolor light show of phone, tablet, TV, and laptop screens, on a backdrop of overhead lighting and ambient light pollution outside our windows. Our body misses the cue that it's nighttime and we should feel sleepy. Get strategic to create Savannah light conditions in modern life.

Here's how: Get bright light during the day. Open your blinds as soon as you wake up, and be sure to spend at least some time every day outside in broad daylight.

And experience darkness at night. Dim the lights in your home after sunset, finish the night with a candlelit bath or by reading a paper book in bed by dim lighting. Set your phone on night shift mode and download f.lux on your computer to make the screens dimmer and less blue at night. If you're going to work on the computer, watch TV, or look at the phone at night, consider wearing glasses to block the circadian-disrupting blue light.

As thoroughly discussed above, don't bring the phone into the bedroom. In fact, try to get all electronics out of the bedroom. If your room isn't completely dark once you've turned out the lights, wear an eye mask to sleep or consider getting blackout shades (this ends up being less of an ordeal than it sounds). Finally, if you wake up in the middle of the night, try not to let your eyes "see" any light. You can install an orange night light in the bathroom and do the squinting shuffle, keeping your eyes mostly closed when you go to pee.

7. Consider alcohol.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that alcohol disrupts sleep architecture. Though it can make it easier to fall asleep, it decreases the quality of sleep and makes it harder to sleep through the night. We also wake up feeling less refreshed the morning after we've been drinking. Bring consciousness to your choices around alcohol. If sleep is a sore point for you, it's worth your while to limit alcohol to a drink or two a couple of nights of the week (or, hey, none at all?).

8. Try jujube.

Jujube is another supplement worth considering.* It’s a plant-based supplement with antioxidant properties that can also help with sleep, stress, anxiety and even digestive issues (i.e., all that ails us modern human people). It promotes sleep by modulating GABA and serotonin activity in the brain.* Just be sure to mention jujube to your doctor before starting it, since it can have interactions with other medications, and it can impact certain health conditions, such as diabetes.

9. Experiment with GABA.

Finally, GABA itself is a supplement worth considering.* While there’s no question that the neurotransmitter GABA has profound impacts on sleep, there is some debate about whether supplemental forms of GABA effectively cross the blood-brain-barrier—that is, do they really get to your brain and have an impact. High-quality GABA supplements attempt to address this by designing the GABA to cross into the brain.* There is some evidence that GABA supplements improve sleep, but it’s also possible that the supplements carry out their effect in other ways, such as impacting the gut microbiome to increase GABA.* Regardless, GABA is worth considering at doses around 100-200mg for insomnia after a conversation with your doctor about potential interactions.

10. Wind down.

We'll wind down this article with a final note about winding down in the evening. Too many of us are trying to eke out every last drop of productivity from our days, closing the laptop seconds before brushing our teeth, answering a final work email from bed, attempting to go 60 to zero from work mode to trying to fall asleep. It doesn't work. Think of it this way—your brain needs a little foreplay to fall asleep, and answering work emails or modeling something in Excel is not sexy.

Give yourself the gift of an hour, a half-hour, 10 minutes, even just five minutes—some amount of winding down before you hit the pillow. Good options include taking an Epsom salt bath by candlelight, reading a calming paper book in bed, journaling, doing a gratitude practice, or simply shutting down electronics, sitting in your living room, and listening to relaxing music you love. Bring intention to this. This will let your brain know it's time to transition into a different mindset.

I hope these ten steps have opened your eyes to some ideas you haven't heard before, and I hope these steps are approachable and attainable. If you put these changes into practice, you should begin to find it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed.

 

Thanks mbghealth

November 2020

Friday, 23 October 2020 17:37

Pure Possibilities

Peter Crone

I invite you to consider that the very fabric of life itself IS possibility. A blank canvas upon which, and against which, we get to express and create, and perhaps most importantly, reveal what holds us back in life. As you know my work is about inspiring freedom from the mental-prison we all live in … mostly obliviously. 

 

I’ve often been called a spiritual teacher, which for sure is accurate, but my work is also based in the principles of physics. As some of you might know, there’s something called the observer effect in quantum physics. Whilst the basic assumption behind science is that there’s an “objective world out there” irrespective of us, the observer effect implies otherwise. The famous double-slit experiment reveals that each particle appears to pass simultaneously through both slits and interferes with itself. This combination of both paths at the same time is known as superposition. Here’s the powerful part about this … simply by observing a particle's path, even if that observation does not disturb the particle's motion, we change the outcome. Boom!!!  So, if the way the world appears, and even behaves, is dependent on how, (and even IF), we look at it, what does that mean about "reality"? In my world … it means perception is reality!! Meaning the world is the way WE see it. 

 

Physicist Pascual Jordan, who worked with quantum guru Niels Bohr, put it like this: "observations not only disturb what is measured, they produce it." In other words, Jordan said, "we ourselves produce the results of measurements." When you REALLY get this it’s so profound. Whether consciously or not, WE are all creating our reality.

 

Life IS pure possibility, so the question is what patterns and beliefs do you have that currently create the world you see? And how empowering to realize that by shifting our mind and perception we shift our world?! 

Much love, 
PC

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