An “alarming’ number of working Mothers in the UK are silently suffering from psychological problems, a study suggests. A survey of 2,000 working mothers found 34% suffer unmanageable levels of anxiety and stress due to the pressure caused by taking care of children and having a job. Almost half (46%) experience severe anxiety when comparing their ability to work and take care of their children to those around them. Our experts offer 6 ways to help working Mums manage stress.
- Try CBD oil
If you’re feeling as busy as one of Santa’s elves this Christmas time why not consider CBD oil? It is widely considered that CBD oil is a great way to help manage stress and anxiety. Nutritionist Alix Woods explains how CBD oil can help to stabilise your mood, “Studies show that CBD oil has a stabilizing effect on mood as it works on the endocannabinoid system, (ECS). The ECS is responsible for maintaining homeostasis in physiological processes like sleep, pain perception, memory, mood, digestion, cognition and immunity. In this case, CBD oil acts upon cannabinoid 1(CB1) and cannabinoid 2 (CBD2) receptors within the body to produce potentially positive results. For its mood enhancing effects it indirectly stimulates the 5-HT1A serotonin, ‘happy hormone’ cannabinoid receptors and exerts an anti-anxiety stable happy mood effect. The cannabinoid receptors targeted are the same receptors that anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications target but without the side effects.”
If you’re not a fan of the acquired taste of CBD, consider CannabiGold Smart Capsules (RRP £9.90, cannabigold). Using capsules is a simple way to incorporate CBD into your life as a daily supplement, especially if you are new to CBD oil as they’re super portable and easy to take. If you struggle with the earthy taste of cannabidiol, CBD oil capsules could be a great choice for you! CannabiGold Smart Soft Gel Capsules are easy to swallow and break down quickly in the stomach. They also offer superior shelf life profiles when compared to other hemp products, oils or vapes – since they’re completely
- Take Care Of Your Gut
Researchers have identified a powerful connection between the gut and the brain. Like the brain, the gut is full of nerves. It contains the largest area of nerves outside the brain with the digestive tract and the brain sharing many of the same nerve connections. Whether it’s a single nerve-wracking event or chronic worry and stress over time, stress can have a physical toll on your digestive system. When you are anxious, some of the hormones and chemicals released by your body enter your digestive tract, where they interfere with digestion. They have a negative effect on your gut flora (microorganisms that live in the digestive tract and aid digestion) and decrease antibody production. The resulting chemical imbalance can cause a number of gastrointestinal conditions. Anger, anxiety and sadness can trigger symptoms in the gut. Therefore, a person’s stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression.
“People with gut issues suffer from a wide array of symptoms, from cramping and pain to bloating and gas or strong food intolerances. Looking at gut inflammation and at improving gut environment to promote healthy flora is key for long-lasting results,” adds Nutritionist at Natures Plus, Martina Della Vedova (www.naturesplus.com),
Try GI Natural Powder by Natures Plus (£33.75, www.naturesplus.com), which contains 4000 mg of L-Glutamine to help strengthen and repair the mucosal lining of the entire digestive tract. Highly active probiotics, whole food enzymes, prebiotic fibre and other essential co-factors, deliver powerful synergistic activity to ensure total digestive wellness.
Top Tip: “This formula works very efficiently if taken before bed with half glass of warm water: when your digestion is at rest and you are having a temporary fasting, then the ingredients in GI Natural powder work their magic,” explains Martina.
- Manage Stress & Anxiety With Mindfulness
The new mindfulness toolkit from ThinkWell-LiveWell (www.thinkwell-livewell.com) has numerous programmes to help support a healthier and happier you – including their ‘well in mind’ programme, which focuses on mental agility, control of stress and habits. We all know it can be difficult to feel calm when time is short and pressure is on especially when you’re juggling work-life and home-life with the family. Why not take some time for you to practice some mindfulness? TWLW offers a Quick Stress Buster 5 minute programme that will relax, centre and restore you and you can visit these quick reboots easily during your day! It takes 21 days to form a new habit so why not sign up to ThinkWell-LiveWell for a month for £8.00 and see how much self-development could help you on your journey, no matter how busy you are.
- Implement Workplace Wellness
Workplace wellness can be hard to achieve in the age where you’re chained to your desk and lunch is eaten there too. Try to incorporate more time for wellness at your workplace to help boost your productivity and reduce stress. According to Leading London Nutritionist Lily Soutter (www.lilysoutternutrition.com), “Our workplace diet can significantly impact our health”. Lily states that when you eat the right food, you create positive energy, which sets the right conditions to succeed.”
Lily believes the key here is to meal plan, which you can do for the whole family!
- Shop online: “Meal planning can be done from the comfort of your sofa and save hours of time when shopping! You can also easily find and re-order your favourite foods within seconds.”
- Batch cook: Batch cooking such as soups, curries and casseroles, is key to making healthy eating much simpler. “Batch cooking saves time not only with planning, but prepping and even cooking!”. You can also freeze your dish to enjoy it later as a healthy frozen ready meal.
- Try meal planning apps: If you’re in need of recipe inspirations why not use apps such as Yummly – “Yummly can help with recipe inspiration so you’ll never get bored. Once you’ve picked what you want to eat, a shopping list is automatically created for you.”
- Use your rest days to plan ahead for the week: Why not use your Sunday to organise and plan your meals for the week ahead. “The weekend should be a time to check your cupboards and take a stock count. Preparation really is the key to diet success!”
- Keep things simple: One of the secrets to sustain healthy eating is to cook with simplicity. “Healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated, simple 5 ingredient meals are just as healthy as those with long ingredient lists. Cookbooks such as Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients or So Vegan in 5 are perfect for those looking for simplicity when meal planning.”
- Celebrate The Wins
Isabella Venour, founder of Mind-Style (www.mind-style.com), helping business women manage their mind-set and marketing says “Make sure you take a moment to celebrate what you have achieved and ticked off your to do list. It’s great that you’re driven and want to face the next obstacle and meet the next deadline but we can easily be too hard on ourselves and at the end of the day wonder if we’ve done enough – this can cause people a lot of stress. Take a few moments throughout the day to look back and see what you have already accomplished and mark that moment with a celebration. These can be big or small gestures like making a herbal tea, reading a chapter of your book or having a little desk-side boogie to your favourite song.”
- Work-Life Balance Thermometer
Isabella adds “As a working mother you wear lots of ‘hats’ and your priorities can pull you in all directions. Sometimes if we’re being pulled too far away from some areas of our life that we value, this can cause stress. I ask my clients to list their ‘hats’ for example: friend, mother, wife, colleague, self. If you were doing a great job in all these areas, what would be happening each week? Then divide your current days and week into sections and notice what percentage of time you’re dedicating to each ‘hat’ or area of your life. What is the smallest change you can make to balance this out a little more?”
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