Joyful Balance Podcast

Joyful Balance Podcast

by Meera & Denise

Self-Improvement Mental Health Nutrition

Season 2

Our Daily Health Habits as Professionals

Welcome back to the Joyful Balance Podcast! We cover all things related to mental health, brain health and physical wellbeing and all of these are closely interlinked. As part of this season’s theme where we put the spotlight on our own health and hold ourselves accountable, we’re spending this week’s episode looking at what we do on a daily basis to look after our health and wellbeing. Like you, we have our challenges and successes with keeping healthy so we’re here to share our experiences as honestly as we can! If you like what you hear, please do consider supporting us to keep our little show running: SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee On this week’s episode, we cover: Meera’s relationship with exercise and getting back into the gym Other little changes Meera made to her diet and lifestyle Denise’s journey with seeking joy, nature and snail watching Denise’s experience with sticking to regular walking and heading towards burnout The importance of self-awareness to get you back on track when you fall off the health wagon The value of manifestation for Denise What hasn’t worked for us during our journey to better health YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Nutrition for Brain Health with Anastasia Smith

We’re absolutely thrilled to have a colleague and friend of Meera’s, fellow nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner, Anastasia Smith. Anastasia specialises in Whole Mind Health - supporting clients experiencing the full spectrum of psychiatric conditions and also works with clients experiencing neurological pathologies such as Alzheimer’s. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee Tune in to hear all about: Anastasia’s journey into nutrition for mental wellbeing What is Whole Mind Health How hormones affect your mood How can you find out whether your sex hormones are balanced? Are “detox” and “cleanses” actually necessary? Thyroid hormones and their effect on mood How to avoid hormone disruptors in your environment How to solve for constipation Sex hormones (oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone) and mood Top tips for hormonal health YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

How to Sleep Well

This week we’re covering a much-loved topic for both of us: sleep! Sleep is so important for your mental and physical wellbeing that we cannot tell you enough how much a good night’s sleep is priceless for your health. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee It’s really common to have trouble with your sleep, and stress can massively impact on your ability to sleep and stay asleep. If you’d like to learn how to sleep better, check out our tips and tricks for better sleep in this episode! Checking in with how our health journeys and what our relationship to sleep is The problem with sugar and sleep Common sleep issues we come across in our practices The benefits of boundaries around sleep Setting your bedroom up for a solid night’s sleep Problematic and helpful habits for sleep How to handle doom scrolling How to set up the best environment for sleep What to do when you wake up in the middle of the night or you can’t get to sleep We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too! We’d hugely appreciate it if you could support us! YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Habit Change with Slee Parrish

We’re joined by another fantastic guest today - Consultant Nurse, Mindfulness Teacher and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist, Slee Parish! Slee heads up True Thoughts therapy and alongside her incredible NHS 40+ year career as a Consultant Nurse, she’s also a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist (and Denise’s supervisor during her training!) and a Mindfulness teacher. Slee focuses on problematic thoughts and how they can be reframed to help achieve your health goals. Not only this, she also joined forces with Alex James (also a CBH & mindfulness teacher) to create nhsinmind.co.uk - a hugely successful initiative during COVID to help front-line staff with their mental health during the COVID-19 crisis. You can find Slee at https://www.truethoughts.co.uk/ SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee We’re here today talking to Slee all about one of our favourite subjects: how to change habits for long term health! What does Slee normally do to help a client change their habits Needing to become aware of a habit and the value of a habit diary Eating instead of quenching our thirst and addressing eating habits Dopamine and eating habits Why taking incremental steps to a bigger habit change habits works and how to do it How to use mental rehearsal when you’re making a habit change Adding in coping statements when you’re mentally rehearsing and going through habit change Slee’s technique of freeze, breathe, examine and exchange when you’re about to engage in an unhealthy habit How mindfulness helps habit change and how to stay in the present moment How Slee integrates her practice in her NHS work and personal journey with habit change We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too! We’d hugely appreciate it if you could support us! YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Mood, Neurotransmitters and Hormones

On this week’s episode, we’re talking all about mood and what neurotransmitters (brain chemicals that are little emails between your brain cells) and hormones (signalling chemicals in your body and brain that tell your cells to take certain actions) and how they affect your mood. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee Meera takes you on a short and sweet tour of the main neurotransmitters and hormones that affect your mood. This isn’t an exhaustive list and we’re covering specific sex hormones and thyroid hormones in another episode so stay tuned! Here’s what we cover: What factors affect your mood Serotonin, your mood and gut health Dopamine and how to increase it Oxytocin, the love hormone and what it does Adrenaline/Epinephrine Cortisol and stress Why laughter is medicine Endorphins and endocannabinoid system We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too! YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Wellness & Lifestyle with Dr Nisa Aslam

On this week’s episode, we’re delighted to have Dr Nisa Aslam, an Urgent Care GP and medical practitioner for LiveSmart, a digital health company. Nisa has a strong interest and practice in preventative medicine and lifestyle changes to improve health. With over 10 years of medical experience to draw on, we couldn’t think of a better guest to talk to us all about what wellness for a healthy and happy lifestyle actually means in practice! SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee Topics we cover: How Nisa became interested in lifestyle medicine How much lifestyle leads to illness and the role of prevention Little hacks to your diet to avoid abdominal fat How Nisa talks about lifestyle to her GP patients Where Nisa sees patients go wrong with their lifestyle for health How Nisa looks after herself on a daily basis How lifestyle medicine fits in with NHS guidelines Mental health, gut health and lifestyle medicine Lifestyle habits on a budget We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too! We’d hugely appreciate it if you could support us! YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Walking the Talk

Welcome back to the Joyful Balance Podcast with your two delightful co-hosts, Meera Malhotra (Nutritional Therapist) and Denise Iordache (Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist). This is the first episode of our new season where we take you on a journey of how your mind, brain and body are interconnected. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee We’re mixing things up for this new season, we’re taking a look in our mirrors and seeing what's going well in our habits and lifestyles and what needs a tune up to better support our physical and mental wellbeing. We’re showing you that we’re also “walking the talk” and taking our own advice! Topics we cover: The theme of this season’s podcast: “walking the talk” Thoughts about self-talk and promises you make to yourself The importance of one small step at a time What we’re trying to achieve in our respective health journeys Tips on how to start changing your habits and lifestyle for better health How shifting your energy can help you achieve your goals What are the promises we are making to ourselves Manifestation in your life: book recommendation - Jordanna Levin’s ‘Make it Happen’ We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too! YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —-Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Season 1

Bonus Episode - Neurobiology of Appetite

For our bonus episode this first season, Meera’s back with tons of information all about neurotransmitters and hormones and their effect on your appetite! If you like what hear, feel free to show us some support, in the form of a coffee donation. We thank you very much! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/helloFE If you thought you knew why you ate, you might want to listen to this episode! There’s plenty of useful and valuable information for you. We cover: The different types of hunger The different parts of your brain that control appetite Hormones that regulate your appetite The rewarding side of eating Why comfort food is so comforting Theories around eating disorders and your reward system How Meera works with clients wanting to address their food cravings How the gut microbiome influences your behaviour and appetite Probiotics and prebiotics How we feel about cake How Denise helps clients change their relationship with food This is a big episode, full of our experiences both personally and professionally, and we’ll give you some tips on how to interrogate your hunger and appetite a little more and enjoy your meals. That wraps us up for this season but don’t worry we’ll be back after a short break to bring you many more episodes! If there’s anything you’d like to know, get in touch with us below: YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

The Importance of Self-Talk

Welcome back to the Joyful Balance Podcast! This week we’re talking about... Talking. Specifically, how we talk to ourselves and how that self-talk can set you up for success or failure. On today’s podcast you can hear us talk about: What we’ve been up to and how we’ve been Why self-talk is important for our self-belief and how what we say to ourselves becomes reality How negative self-talk affects your performance, confidence and self-esteem The importance of awareness of your self-talk and sowing the seeds of doubts Our own experiences with addressing our self-talk Denise’s experience of working with clients on self-talk and the essential role of awareness of your self-talk How you can start working on your self-talk and set ourselves up for success! We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST: Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee Feel free to leave us a comment too!: YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

Nutrition for Brain Health

We’re back for another episode! This week, we cover lots of information on nutrition for better brain health. SUPPORT JOYFUL BALANCE PODCAST:Feel free to share your support with us, by donating a cup of coffee Firstly, Meera sets the scene on brain health and functions that are really affected by nutrition and why. Then our conversation moves into more specific subjects, such as: Denise and Meera rave about Blue Zones Meera talks about the Mediterranean Diet and why it's so good for brain health How your gut and brain are BFFs and your ‘gut feeling’ The vagus nerve, heart rate variability and vagal tone Gut microbiome, psychobiotics and the brain Holistic lifestyle practices for brain health Relationship between stress and gut health Meera’s top 3 takeaways We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you do, please follow us on any/all of the channels. Feel free to leave us a comment too!: YouTube: Joyful Balance Podcast Instagram: @joyful_balance.me Email: hello@joyfulbalance.me —Work with us CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MEERA (NUTRITION) CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH DENISE (THERAPY)

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