holistic health

7 Natural Tips for Healthy Flying

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Here in the UK, the Summer holidays are upon us. The schools have finished for their extended six week break, and families are jetting off to sunny places for some rest and relaxation, despite it having been unusually hot on our shores for the last month or so! And so many patients in clinic have been asking exactly HOW I managed my 24 hour flight to Australia earlier in the year, despite having a BIG fear of flying, AND suffering crippling travel / air / altitude sickness.

So today I am sharing the WHAT – those specific things that went into my carry-on hand luggage – yes, all the right sizes and no dodgy restrictions – that got me through the seven flights I did in March. It did raise a few eyebrows from the folks sitting next to me every time I got out my “flying survival toolkit”, but it became somewhat of a talking point, and I KNOW there will be things in here that will help you too, especially if you’re not a big fan of planes!

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healthy flying tool kit.

1. Acupressure Travel Bands

As an acupuncturist, the one security blanket you have is that you can put needles in yourself to treat acute conditions e.g. sickness or migraine, to give instant and immediate relief. Even THINK about going near a plane, and all sharp objects, including your gorgeous, magic, special little needles are out of the question. Cue freaking out. Ok, when I calmed down, I realised acupressure was my new best friend.

So called “travel bands” are available from Boots (in the UK), and most pharmacies, or online – heck, I even lost one of my wrist bands on the first leg of my homeward bound journey, and managed to pick up a replacement in Singapore airport!

You wear them like wrist bands, and they have a plastic half-sphere on the inside. They work by stimulating an acupuncture point called Pc 6 or “neiguan”, which is translated as “inner gate”. The deep pathway of the channel goes directly through the stomach, which harmonises and settles the organ, keeping Qi (energy) down, instead of it rising up which causes you to feel (or actually be) sick. Having acupuncture on this point BEFORE you go can also help massively.

The main time I remember thinking I might actually vomit on the flight from Heathrow to Singapore (to then go on to Brisbane), I looked at my wrist bands and they had moved off the Pc 6 point – a small adjustment, and the nausea ceased again. It is important to get the point location exact, else these bands won’t work for you – I have a sheet on my website that I give to patients before they travel, just to make sure they are guided properly to putting the bands on correctly.

I also used a second pair of the bands on my feet to stimulate the acupuncture point Kid 1 – to “ground” my energy DOWN as much as possible, whilst being up in the air! And an acupressure plaster on He 7, to help calm my anxiety and nerves. Acupressure really rocks!

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2. Homeopathic Remedies

Before I travelled, I went to see my fabulously lovely homeopath, Jill Roarty, so that I could have a range of remedies tailored to my needs and my personality. The main one for altitude sickness was Coca, and it works like a dream! I had a special jet lag formula, and a strong dose of arnica, to take whilst on the flight, to help the adjustment to the new time zone – I didn’t have ANY jet lag when I arrived in Australia! Plus a couple of other remedies to help with my anxiety, fear of freaking out when “trapped” inside the airplane for 14 hours etc… and I was ok!

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3. Flower Remedies or Essences

Bach Rescue Remedy is a staple in my first aid kit, and the smaller “flight friendly” bottle (double check when you buy) definitely went in to the “flight survival pack”, to calm the nerves. This was especially useful in the airport BEFORE the flight. And it seemed only fitting to have an Australian Bush Flower Essence in there too, especially as I was flying to Aus! The “TRAVEL” essence was perfect, and I took it before, during and after the flights. It helps energetics wise, when you’re in such close proximity to strangers when travelling, as well as tiredness, jet lag, adjusting to new places and time zones.

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4. Aromatherapy

I also had two bespoke remedies blended for me by great aromatherapist Jo Partridge. They come in “flight friendly” rollerball vials. One was very calming, with rose, geranium and a couple of others. It was great when the nerves started to creep up, I just dabbed some on my wrists, so the oils could be absorbed easily. The other blend had very grounding scents including vetiver and lavender. This again helped to keep my Qi down, despite being up in the air!

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5. Throat Sprays

I am always treating patients who have had a fabulous holiday, but come home with a sore throat, or a cough / cold they have picked up on the plane. Too many people in very close proximity, and the re-circulated air, does nothing for keeping well. I pre-empt this, and ensure my throat is supported, reducing the likelihood of nasties getting in and setting up camp. Higher Nature Colloidal Silver is good at “sterilising” the air around you on a plane – I spritzed this around my face and seating area every few hours, as well as directly spraying the back of my throat to “kill any bugs” that I might be breathing in. Additionally, the A.Vogel echinacea throat spray is fabulous for boosting and supporting the immune system, plus sage is antibacterial and soothes any soreness.

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6. Skin Hyrdation

Apart from drinking TONS of water on the plane – make sure you buy a large bottle once you have gone through security, especially if you’re headed on long-haul – I used the deliciously scented face mist from Liz Earle. It’s for mature or very dry skin – but don’t let that put you off, it is natural and exactly what your poor dehydrated skin requires… and need I say, NO makeup is essential.

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7. Fear of Flying Audios

One last thing that wasn’t in my “travel survival pack” as such, but it really helped to prepare me before the long-haul flights, both to AND from Australia – Flying Without Fear audios and books. I really cannot recommend them highly enough. They dispel all the common misconceptions – did you know there are no such thing as air pockets?! They go through all the various sounds you might hear onboard, so you don’t jump to the conclusion that the clunk you just heard is the wing about to fall off! And they gave me my mantra of 24hrs – “turbulence is NOT dangerous, it is JUST uncomfortable”. My goodness, that got me through it!

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I cannot tell you how much all of these things helped during my travels. Until this year, I didn’t think I could ever fly again after a 7 year absence, or that if I did, I would have to be drugged up to the eyeballs on medication, which is just NOT me! You CAN travel naturally and keep healthy! Do let me know if you try any of these yourself over the summer vacation, or if you have something else I could add to my travel toolkit… what is your number one fail-safe thing to have when you are travelling? Or could you benefit from acupuncture on Pc 6 before you go on holiday to help with travel sickness? Get in touch!

Wishing you safe travels and a restful break, wherever you are headed

R xx

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Awesome Aussies – Fehreen Ali

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I’m thrilled to have another “Awesome Aussie” on the blog this week! There has been a gap between my last post with an antipodean beauty, but this written interview is worth the wait! The structure of today’s piece is a little different to the others – more of a Q&A, but it does follow the structure of my other Aussie video blogs.

It is an absolute delight to have Fehreen Ali answering my questions – not only because she specialises in one of my FAVOURITE topics (the good ol’ cuppa!) AND teams that with holistic health, but she also brings all her warm, laughing, bubbling energy with her onto the pages here – it makes my heart smile!

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awesome aussies.

Who is Fehreen?

I live in Queensland, Australia and am of Fiji Indian heritage. I’m an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant and owner of the Tea Coup.

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Don’t you have an unusual job title? What’s the story behind that?

Yes, I am an “Ayurvedic Teaologist”! The title first came about when my 10 year old daughter came home from school with a class project, in which she had to write what her mother did for a living. We came up with the title “Ayurvedic Teaologist” which summed up what I was all about – a life student of Ayurveda, who uses this knowledge to hand blend Ayurvedic inspired organic Teas and tisanes.

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Rhiannon and fehreen.

We met…

We met online via the 90 day transformation project, as run by Connie Chapman. A beautiful bond was created, as we really understood each others passion – Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine have so much in common, Doshas and the Five Elements, and so on, we were speaking from the same page! Then when Rhiannon visited Australia, and was staying on the Sunshine Coast, we met up in central Brisbane, drank tea together, walked around the farmer’s markets in the square, and didn’t stop talking all day!

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market brissie.

You launched a brand new website earlier this year, tell us about it…

Three months ago I launched my new website for Tea Coup. It is where I have show cased my six signature blends – including “Rumi’s Blend” to balance, “Sweet Bohemia” for bliss, and “Zenzai” for a blast of zest! I also want to use this space to educate and make people aware of the benefits and healing properties of all the ingredients I use. I hope to continue promoting the awareness of Ayurveda and the importance of a great cuppa tea.

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tea coup.

How did you get to where you are now? What led you to Ayurveda & tea?

Both my Ayurvedic studies and tea obsession began in my late teens. I suppose I was lucky to have found two big passions. Being a right brain child of the 70’s, I needed my Ayurvedic work to be creative – hence my love of creating lotions, potions and and tea blends.

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What about acupuncture & Chinese medicine, your thoughts or experiences of it?

I do see a Japanese Acupuncturist regularly for general balance and well-being. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda have many similar commonalities, from diagnostic methods, to massage, and the use of herbal remedies. Both traditions also share the common idea that healing is holistic, and that symptoms can not diagnose a person, the WHOLE person must be examined in order to obtain a proper diagnosis. Ayurveda and Chinese medicine (TCM) remain the most ancient, yet living traditions. I believe that we are blessed to be students of traditional medicine, as finally there is increasing global interest in both.

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Best piece of advice, a quote or a recipe you could give to readers?

“A good life is when you assume nothing. Do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are”

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Gosh I love this woman, what a perfect quote to reflect the essence of her! Please do visit her beautiful new website – the photos alone are worth it, so beautiful – you can almost see and feel the Qi coming from the tea! I was lucky enough to be given the most delicious care package of teas (as shown above) from Fehreen, when we had that gorgeous day together in Brisbane – they travelled with me back home, and I have been drinking them ever since. As a loose leaf tea obsessive, I can say, these teas are up there with the BEST I have tasted – the energetics are also second to none, truly healing and full of goodness! <3

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Awesome Aussies – Krys Hansen

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This is a slightly belated post this week, from a skype filming a fortnight ago with my fabulous and beautiful friend Krystal Hansen. The fourth vlog in my “Awesome Aussies” series introduces this gorgeous creature and discusses how May was her month of compassion, and how her next project focuses on making meditation easy and accessible to everyone, including a very interesting way of funding the project via community!

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awesome aussies

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Who is Krys? She is a modern yogi, an amazing yoga teacher and a holistic health coach. Krystal is another kindred spirit that I connected with first online via Instagram – I am @rg_acupuncture & Krys is @practisewellness – and on my arrival to Australia, she noticed some familiar local places in my photos!

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me & krys.

In Australia we met up: on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. This is where my main base was for my trip in March, as I had flown into Brisbane from the UK. We spent hours chatting in Buderim, having had green smoothies and raw tartlets at the fabulous raw vegan cafe, Ground.

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ground cafe buderim with krys.

In the video below we chat about what compassion means and how it creates a ripple effect of energy outwards to everyone around us; how our gifts / vocations, be it yoga or acupuncture, or whatever our paths are, find us when we are in a dark place, and leads us out into the light, becoming our professions.

Krys explains more about her latest project – The Modern Yogi Meditation Ecourse – and the community funding behind it via Pozible, you can pledge your support there right NOW!

And we also discuss what overlaps there are between the three body types in Ayurveda and the Five Elements in Chinese Medicine – how it is ultimately about understanding the seasons, how that relates to you, understanding what you are, what you might be like when you are in balance, and what you might be like when you’re out of balance! And most importantly how these ancient concepts are SO relevant to modern day life and can help you be healthy in mind, body and spirit!

Be sure to listen to the very end to hear about the strength of the HEART energy – it’s a gem of scientific info that will blow your mind!

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IbAlstrUTs%5D

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Although the May is now gone and the month of compassion has concluded, I encourage you to look on Krystal’s instagram feed or facebook, and check out what the beautiful prompt is for the day of the month you are on NOW – it will work for the month of June too! And if you are drawn to connect in with the energy of her latest project – the method of funding and/or the actual meditation Ecourse itself – then please do visit her website or the Pozible site for more details… its going to be an EXCITING project, one I am THRILLED to be a part of! <3

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practise wellness logo.

© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Awesome Aussies – Shakti Grace

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Welcome to yet another fabulously magical interview with a wonderful health-focused woman I met on my travels to Australia. The third vlog in my “Awesome Aussies” blog series is Shakti Grace, the Holistic Chef Australia, and I adored chatting to this chick – we could have chatted all night (Aussie time of course!)

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awesome aussies

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Who is Shakti? She is a holistic chef and creator of “Shakti’s Superfood Blend”… having been a private professional chef for people and musicians all over the world, her focus is now on getting the healthy and holistic message out to the general public through her series of superfood workshops. Her latest lot have just gone tri-state, so book your place now! She is also on the highly esteemed cooking stage at this weekend’s Mind Body Soul exhibition in Sydney!

In Australia we met up: in Sydney – Shakti very kindly collected me from the airport, and we went straight to the quirky vintage “Nourishing Quarter” in Surrey Hills to share some amazing, healthy, clean food (including a delicious raw mango cheesecake!)… a perfect, beautiful, kindred evening in a brand new city!

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shakti & me

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We met online via (my new obsession) Instagram (I am @rg_acupuncture & Shakti is @theholisticchef), and instantly hit it off, through a love of healthy food that nourishes on all levels – physical, emotional and spiritual. Hear in this video below about what makes her Superblend so special (clue: high vibrations, & cracked cell walls!), and how we are both big fans of Chinese Food Energetics, acupuncture and Eastern philosophy!

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5IUAaA0xI%5D

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Don’t forget to visit Shakti’s website for more information about her Superfood Blend and how you can purchase it online in Australia – I know there’s a BIG new batch just arrived with her, so it couldn’t be a better time to give your body a boost!

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The Holistic Chef Shakti Grace

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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How I Overcame My Fear of Flying with 7 Flights in One Month

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I had been wanting to write this post ever since I got back from Australia, in fact, I had started to write it several times whilst I was Down Under, but for some reason I just never finished it or hit that “publish” button. It was only when I read that the May edition of empowering female Aussie magazine “Wild Sister” was about SISTERHOOD, did I understand why the universe hadn’t wanted me to publish the post on this blog – it wanted me to share my powerful story with ALL the wild sisters out there!

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Wild Sister Sisterhood

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So, I am super thrilled that the fabulous Jen Saunders and her beautiful team of gorgeous souls felt my story had the right fit for this latest edition of the magazine. It expands upon WHY I went to Australia, it is my LOVE letter to all the ladies I met in Connie Chapman’s 90 Day Transformation Project, HOW I summoned up the COURAGE to travel to the other side of the world, despite having a phobia of flying, and it links seamlessly into the notion behind my “Awesome Aussies” vlog series!

You can read my article by getting a copy of this incredible magazine online – I am on page 35, but it also has a few more of my favourite people – Vienda Maria and Tara Bliss – plus articles about self love, walking your path, healthy living tips and affirmations.

Sisterhood Edition of Wild Sister

It is five Australian dollars or roughly £3 – which is about the same as a negative, trashy gossip mag – this wondrous creation (an online pdf) has none of the crappy adverts, no comparing yourself to photo-shopped models, no criticism of people’s outfits, body shape or choice of haircut and the like, just a fabulous array of 50+ pages of inspiration, positivity and abundance! And it includes videos of yoga poses and meditations – you don’t get those in a paper magazine!

Click here to grab a copy online & read my article – it is only available to the public until the end of May! I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you think! Never forget, “you are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think”, A.A.Milne.

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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