December 2024 Stronger At Home Newsletter - Bereavement and Mental Health

When ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ is hard to hear…

Christmas is just around the corner, and for many it is a delightful season of family gatherings, festive treats & joy-filled traditions.  

But for some, it can be a challenging season filled with loneliness, heartache, & depression.  Whether you have lost a loved one or have lost your mobility & independence, the holidays can feel much less merry & bright.

No matter what time of year it is however, when it comes to depression & our mental health, research has unequivocally demonstrated that EXERCISE is an essential management tool.

But you may wonder what type of exercise you should be doing?

Well, recent evidence has shown that you can take your pick!  The following types of exercise all have been shown to help mitigate the symptoms of depression in older adults (>65yrs):

Aerobic Exercise: movement that will get your heart beating a little faster & your lungs breathing a little heavier.

• Fast (pole) walking, biking, swimming, jogging, modified burpees, skipping, jumping jacks, seated marching with arm raises, supported jumping…

• Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Meditation…

Resistance Exercise: movements that challenge & strengthen your muscles using resistance bands, weights, or gravity.

• Dumbbell squats or deadlifts, raised push-ups, resistance band rows & pull-downs, getting on & off the floor…

Choose one or combine exercise types to help get you moving consistently toward better health, both physically & mentally.

Our PhysioCare at Home team can help! Call us TODAY if you’d like to get an individualized assessment & treatment plan with one of our amazing Therapists, so you can experience how Movement is Medicine!  

 So, here’s to a season where Movement is Medicine.  Check out the following video to get you started.  

 Wishing you & yours a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!                                                       

To your health,                      

Jillian

Physiotherapist & Clinical Director

Foundational Principle Highlight

Therapist’s Corner

Occupational Therapist Cheylene’s tip about Bereavement and Depression:

“Many hospices offer free grief support following a loss, and no referral is necessary.”  Search ‘hospice’ and your city name online and you may be able to find local, in-person resources.

 The Canadian Virtual Hospice could also be a good place to start. MyGrief.ca is an online resource to help people move through their grief from the comfort of their own home, at their own pace. It is not a substitute for professional counselling, but the different modules offered can be a great starting point.  

Physiotherapist Irma shared about how EFT or ‘tapping’ can help manage emotions and troubling thoughts, as well as lower stress and anxiety.

Click this link to read more!

Physiotherapists Lesley, Lisa, and Shauna all suggested meditation apps to help calm anxious and disruptive thoughts.

• The Tranquility App is great and is free for residents of Nova Scotia!

• The Headspace App was also recommended and comes with a free trial.

Nutrition Tip

When negative thought patterns, depression or grief consume our minds, we can easily lose motivation to eat well and take care of our bodies.

Ataloss.org has this to say about nourishing your body when you are grieving: “When we lose a loved one, it can be extremely challenging to find the energy or motivation to look after our basic needs. Eating and drinking become a chore and we often don’t feel like grocery shopping, let alone cooking a meal from scratch.

Unhealthy eating habits start to creep in such as skipping meals or simply warming up a ready-made meal. Or eating lots of comfort food to fill the huge void in our lives.

Without intervention, eating mainly processed convenience foods will turn initial ‘grief symptoms’ into long-term physical or mental health issues. Why? Because these foods lack vital nutrients and fibre which are crucial for our health.

And when our diet lacks fibre we end up with frequent blood sugar roller coasters making it so much harder for us to cope with the emotional ups and downs of grief.

To avoid such a double whammy, we need to include lots of fibre in our diet. The easiest way to do this is by ‘eating a rainbow’ and adding different-coloured vegetables to every meal we eat. Colours are a great way to lift our mood and can inspire us to get creative with soups, stews, stir-fries or even a Sunday roast.”