Four years ago, Lorraine George's son Rob died from leukaemia aged just 21. She tells Lucy Banwell how she has managed to carry on, inspirted by her sports-mad boy. Click the image below to read the article. Originally published in Woman's Weekly, December 26, 2017
When you received your life-changing diagnosis, you probably also received a laundry list of medications and a complicated treatment plan. But was getting out in nature on that list? The Japanese refer to it as ‘forest bathing’ – even the name sounds relaxing – and it has become a common prescription in Japan. Being surrounded by [...]
If you’ve been near a gym around lunchtime recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking yoga was only for slender twenty-somethings able to contort themselves into impossible positions. But it’s actually an ancient practice that dates back 5,000 years. Yoga has an excellent reputation as a muscle-strengthening activity and is known to improve flexibility, strength, balance and [...]
Stress is an unfortunate part of most people’s lives. But when your health is under threat from a life-changing condition, it can be hard to keep it under control. What actually is stress? First things first: stress isn’t always bad. Our bodies naturally create a stress response to any sort of demand or challenge, whether it’s [...]
Chronic illness often brings with it many lifestyle changes that can be hard to accept. Losing the ability to do things that you previously enjoyed, like driving a car or having a busy social life, can be particularly difficult and may leave you feeling like an entirely different person from who you were before. Although self-help [...]
Receiving a life-changing diagnosis can be scary. But once you’ve told your loved ones the news, made it through all the doctor’s appointments and finished your treatment, what happens next? The trauma of disease alters your life dramatically. Normal routine is disrupted, your priorities shift and relationships with family and friends may change. Now that you’ve [...]
In many ways it can be a blessing to have an invisible, rather than visible, illness. No one has to know how much pain you’re in unless you choose to tell them. Your ostomy bag can stay a secret if that’s what you prefer. But invisible illnesses aren’t as well understood as cancer or a broken [...]
These days, it seems like everyone’s talking about meditation or mindfulness. But is it just a passing fad, or is there more to it? What is it? Meditation has been around for (literally) thousands of years. Almost every major religion has incorporated it into its practises in some way. Today, the most common form in the [...]
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘hospice’? Many might think of a type of hospital that is only for people at the end of their lives. Unsurprisingly, this can paint quite a depressing picture! In reality, hospices are friendly, welcoming places that offer the definition of tender loving care. Focusing on respect, [...]
Often, it seems it’s all too easy to become hostage to our memories, thoughts and feelings. After all, many people would argue that’s all we are – the sum of our experiences and our reactions to them. In many ways, they are right: every memory, thought or feeling is just a download of information, filed away [...]