STRESS & THE HAYO’U METHOD

Lets talk about stress.

Something we all experience every day, some more than others and with different side effects for various reasons, and although it’s considered by most of us as “part of the deal”, stress affects our physical (and of course emotional) health in the long run, but we can control it thanks to the Hayo’u method.

I shared something very personal with everyone on Instagram a couple of months ago – an issue I have been trying to deal with for a long time and it’s definitely stress related. Those of you who have seen it and commented on the post – thank you, it’s reassuring to know (but also worrying) that I’m not alone. I’m a busy self-employed mum, so it’s inevitable for me to experience stress regularly with various inconsistent work deadlines, housework, running late to meetings or school, ironing (I hate ironing), driving, mess… The list can go on. But wait, you’ll be surprised that none of the above really bothers me and although I don’t deny things annoy me from time to time (I’m human), it’s the weekday mornings that stress me out the most. I tend to wake up (or used to) stressed out thinking and worrying about all the things I need to do that day, worrying about not having enough hours in the day and it really isn’t the best feeling in the world. This stressful feeling goes away as soon as my daughter is sorted and in school or as soon I start “attacking” my diary and workload, but the first 15 minutes are the worst and they happen as soon as I wake up. We live 10 minutes away from the school and wake up early enough to get there on time, so “not having enough time” is definitely never the problem.

So why?

Now, here’s what’s interesting and a tad confusing. My job is not stressful – quite the opposite. I have created a life for myself and my family that I want, I’m free to be as creative as I wish whenever I desire and I can work from the comfort of my “bed office” if I like, in my favourite cafes or hang out with my UNEEDIA clients in their offices / premises and I enjoy every single minute of it. My blog as you know it feeds my passion and creativity, whilst my daughter inspires me to be my best at all of the above. My life is great. Apart from the “crazy” 15 minutes of stressful mornings that I allowed myself to live with for a long time until recently. Before you think it, there’s no way I’m suggesting that my daughter makes my mornings stressful. Quite the opposite. She’s a delight. Even when she doesn’t want to get up, brush her teeth and brush her tangled hair or becomes picky about breakfast. It’s normal. My issue is me waking up, opening my eyes and beginning to stress about work (that I already have under control), running out of time to do “everything” and freaking out really, until I finally realise that all is OK. All is okay and I’m slowly learning to remember that as soon as I awake. It may sound silly to some people and some of you might think that there are far more serious things to stress about in this world and that’s absolutely true, but stress was affecting my state of mind, my physical state, choices of food I made as well as exercise (or lack of it) and it all used to show in my acne-prone skin as break-outs. Stress lead me to making bad choices when it came to my well-being and I don’t want you, your partners, friends, kids and parents to subconsciously be making the same mistakes.

The HAYO’U Method.

So many illnesses and diseases are caused by stress, just because we allow it to “attack” our bodies without paying too much attention to it. I’m pretty healthy, I exercise, don’t smoke and barely drink, so my stressful mornings must have developed into a habit towards the last couple of months more than anything else and I’m just glad I realised something wasn’t right early enough, although I still needed help dealing with it. Just when I needed it the most (don’t you just love how Universe works?!), I was introduced to the HAYO’U method and you have no idea how much my life has changed since then. Want to hear the best part? I’ve only learnt about the HAYO’U self-heal method a couple of weeks ago and the simple 1 minute rituals have made a huge impact on my mornings already. Bye bye stress!

            “The secret of healthy living is simple! We need to understand what our bodies are telling us  – and act on it NOW.”

A couple of weeks ago I had a very personal and life-changing Skype conversation / consultation with the amazing Katie who is the founder of the Hayo’u method (London, but global) and I just had to share this with you. Who knew that just after a one hour in-depth discussion about my worries, stress and health concerns, everything I’ve been confused about for years will suddenly make perfect sense? Yep, it happened and let me tell you more about it…

The Consultation.

Before our chat I completed a form with some questions about my health, eating habits, concerns, stress levels and likely causes in my understanding, which I believe helped Katie to find a bit more about me prior to the consultation. It’s funny, but while I was filling out the form, I already noticed a few potential topics we may be discussing like my sweet tooth and the reasons for it. A simple strategic questionnaire made me realise how much we all take our habits, actions and other health choices for granted. If only we had a look at our lives like this every day… But as Katie correctly pointed out, we are purposefully marketed not to look at our lives in depth, but focus on quick and “easy” solutions instead which are marketed to us on every corner by large corporations. So true. Yes, we all crave sweet things from time to time (every night for me!), but what is considered sweet in Chinese Medicine is differently understood differently now in our modern Western society. Root sweet vegetables or chocolate anyone?

Also during the consultation Katie explained to me more about Chinese Medicine and why it’s important we listened to our bodies first before waiting for physical symptoms to appear. HAYO’U method discovered, that there is a “Period of Grace” before the stress attacks our bodies, if left undealt with, it can eventually lead to chronic illnesses. The Period of Grace is a moment when we should listen to our bodies and make mindful choices about our food, snacks, drinks, reactions and certainly the tempo of our breathing in heated situations. GP’s are only able to keep some of the more serious symptoms under control without getting to the root cause of the issues and that to me is crazy.

Katie drew an interesting and very simple to understand diagram with all the main body organs and how they are all inter-connected. It all made sense that my kidneys, which are also responsible for fertility were weakened after my pregnancy and had to work extra hard all those years putting a strain on my liver. Liver in Chinese Medicine is considered to be the most important organ of the body that processes toxicity and deals with fairness, but because it was also off-balance and I was putting more toxins into it (chocolate for example), my liver got heated up and was unable to detoxify my body properly, thus getting me more stressed. My heart organ is in charge of how I feel and is connected to digestion, which makes perfect sense. It’s amazing. Due to the stress my kidneys and liver have been through over the years, my heart (although very happy and satisfied) was also under a light strain and required a boost at around 8pm every evening as it’s the time of the day I used to get tired. All due to the undealt with toxins in my organs of course. And guess how I would I normally give myself an energy boost? With some more toxins like chocolate and back into the system it went never ridding of toxins and stress. No wonder I used to wake up stressed every morning for no apparent reason! Of course I knew something wasn’t right and although my cravings for sweets weren’t that excessive, I still needed to understand what was actually going on in my body and what had caused it in order to deal with the morning stress issue. What we discovered about my health and skin issues with Katie was eye-opening and we’ve talked about so much more that made me realise how much I used to just “get on with it” without paying too much attention to the clues. You never know what the Hayo’u method might uncover about you! Everyone’s story is different. Read on, there’s more…

One Minute Rituals.

Remember I talked about the “Period of Grace”? Those initial signs of stress are the “Period of Grace” and a way for our bodies to tell us to act now. How? You may be wondering…  Katie had designed some simple 1 minute rituals to help us deal with stress just when we need it. Yes, it would be nice to meditate for 20 minutes every morning and attend a yoga class or two every day, but we all know that’s not possible for most of us. Meditation and breathing are still very important, but there are tricks to make it easier for those who are unable to switch their brains off, thus can’t meditate. At the end of our chat Katie showed me some 1 minute rituals I could be doing to help start my mornings better. She even demonstrates them in her short videos on the HAYO’U method website. Have a look HERE. I’ve been doing all three morning rituals for the last couple of weeks and already noticed a big change in my energy levels. These rituals especially work wonders on days that I’m unable to get to the gym. My daughter thinks I’m crazy when I do the shaking one, but usually joins me to “shake it off”. We usually end up laughing so hard and who doesn’t want to start their day with sincere tummy laughter? I told her about the breathing smile ritual and she loves it. Again, she finds it funny, but that’s the point. All children and adults should do this one I think, especially those who always struggle with relaxation and meditation. Watch it below.

 
Katie created the Hayo’u method to help us take control of our health and not take it for granted. 95% of illnesses start with stress and there’s no question everyone should listen to their bodies early, look into the patterns and find out what could be causing their stress. Unsure? MEET KATIE! I’ve read all of her insightful stories already with her interpretations of our current daily lives and habits. My new way of thinking about health makes so much more sense to me now.

Thank you Katie for introducing me to the HAYO’U method and for creating such a wonderful online “HEALTH HUB”! Website bookmarked, ritual videos saved and I really can’t wait for more products and insights to come my way soon.

You can contact Katie HERE for your own personal chat / consultation / questions and I really recommend subscribing to the newsletter for future tips, stories and news about the hayo’u method insights. One e-newsletter I will not be ignoring for sure!

Hope you enjoyed reading my personal story and I hope it inspired you to look at your health and stress causes a bit deeper too. I’d love to hear your thoughts and / or any similar issues or experiences you think the hayo’u method might help you with in the comments below.

Take care of yourself my lovelies!

Tatyana x

Huge thanks to HAYO’U method for supporting this article and for helping me deal with my stress.