Women often find themselves in a dual role of being the nurturer and then being the one who craves to be nurtured. Women have a natural instinct for being able to heat up the hot soup on a winter’s day, smooth out the creases in the bed, reorganize a confused home or office, add beauty to a home or work environment, counsel a troubled soul, listen with empathy, sooth a weary mind, aid the healing of any complaint, or be ready to apply first aid.

Perhaps it is because women are nature’s healers, that there is such a flourishing industry in relaxation, massage, pampering, special lunches, beauty therapy, shopping sprees, and networking groups. Men work hard too, of course, but when the business day is over, or during the lunch break, who is it that keeps up her caring vigil? It is Woman.

In my experience as a nurse, midwife, mother, playgroup leader, kindy mum, school mum, yoga teacher, and now also a naturopath, I have been constantly amazed by the strength, staying power, and unselfish caring that women give out in our world. And yet if you were to ask them if they thought of themselves as extraordinary, they would shake their heads with self-depreciation and a little …..guilt (!), and say that they are not doing enough.

As a health practitioner, I find myself treating women mostly for stress-related problems. Some have already been prescribed drugs from their GP. Most people are aware that such drugs are only a first aid measure because they do not cure the stress, and if used long term, they have nasty side effects. Stress is a normal part of our existence. It is an indicator that we are confronting the challenges sent to us for our spiritual growth. There are many ways to cope with the stress, such as through enjoyable exercise, yoga, competitive sports, walking on the beach, bush walking, tuning out at the movies, creative arts, gardening, massage, reiki,  meditation, music, and being in enjoyable relationships.

However, if there is a long term problem that has not been dwelt with, it causes a chronic drain upon the stress coping mechanisms within the psyche. This drain takes the fun out of life. It clouds all perceptions. The body can cope well with sudden short burst of stress, no matter how extreme. It is the underlying subtle, unacknowledged stress that is never resolved that makes us ill. Prolonged stress is like a dripping tap, insidiously draining the adrenal glands of their adrenalin and cortisol. This slow leakage of stress hormones into the blood stream causes the heart rate to increase, blood pressure to rise, digestion to become inadequate, blood sugar levels to roller coaster, and elimination of toxins to be inhibited.

On a physical level, stress depletes the body’s stores of B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin C. The B vitamins are needed for a healthy nervous system. Magnesium is needed for healthy blood pressure, production of digestion, and bone strength. Muscle cramps are a particular symptom of magnesium deficiency. Both zinc and vitamin C are needed for a strong immune system and for healthy skin. A zinc deficiency is often found in cases of low libido and infertility. Vitamin C is already lacking in most of the foods in our modern diet, and therefore it is already a common nutrient deficiency, being known to trigger susceptibility to colds, flues, easy bruising, and slow healing.….all exacerbated by chronic stress.

1. Take time out of our everyday lives to unwind, as suggested earlier (exercise, massage, reiki, movies, yoga, etc).

2. Acknowledge those inner voices in our soul crying out for self-realization. This may be through counseling, psychotherapy, or spiritual work.

3. Taking care of our body temple by eating the best food, and also supplementing with extra vitamins and minerals, especially the ones used most during prolonged stress. When purchasing a mineral supplement, look for colloidal ones that are plant-sourced. Buy your vitamins from a reputable company recommended by professional health carers. Some contain many fillers and may be synthetic alternatives.

4. See a naturopath for a personally prescribed herbal tonic containing restorative herbs such as withania or nettles (to strengthen the blood), Siberian ginseng (to tone the nervous system), valerian to aid sleep, and passiflora or zizyphus (to reduce anxiety).

Let’s start by looking at the first principle, i.e., taking time out to unwind, and see how a simple yoga pose can unwind and unravel stressed muscles and nerves.

Take time out of your everyday life to unwind

Let’s look at the first principle, taking yoga as an example of one very useful way for de-stressing. One of the nicest yoga poses that release pent-up stress is the Lying Abdominal Twist. Its Sanskrit name is Jathara Parivartanasana. This pose opens up the spaces between the bones of the spine, i.e. the vertebrae. This takes the pressure off the discs, therefore allowing them to “puff up” like cushions, and be rejuvenated by a fresh blood supply. It is almost equivalent to putting the spine into traction!

Start with lying on your back. If your neck is uncomfortable without a cushion under it, then use a flat cushion or rolled up towel to support your neck. Bring your knees up onto your chest and inhale; and then, as you exhale, hug your knees down onto your chest.

Now open your arms out wide like aeroplane wings, and drop your bent legs over to one side. Rest your legs on the floor, but if they don’t rest there easily, tuck a big cushion under them. If your legs are on the right side of your body, turn your head to the left. Visualize a deep indigo blue, like a sapphire glowing from the forehead. Relax and let go of your shoulders and back, imagining yourself as a rag doll or sack of rice.

Breathe fully into your ribs, feeling them expand as you inhale. If your right side is uppermost, your breath will help detoxify your liver and gall bladder. If your left side is uppermost, your breath will detoxify your stomach, spleen and pancreas.

In this pose, your spine is opened, expanded, and released....the ultimate de-stress pose.

Also there is an awakening of the 6^th chakra centre, or third eye chakra, otherwise known as the Ajna chakra. Ajna represents spiritual truth. This is the truth which is beyond intellectual beliefs, tribal mores, cynicism, pride, religion, politics, or fear. The third eye is the centre that enables us to accept the truth through insight, faith, and intuition.

Stress plays havoc with our bodies in so many ways. As cited above, we need to take time out to relax, exercise, eat well, and resolve emotional issues. When the damage is already done, we need to feed, repair, and nurture our bodies with vitamin and mineral supplements, medicinal herbs, or homeopathics.

Women need to be offered many modalities of healing and health care so that they can nurture themselves as a whole........ body, mind and spirit. They must never undervalue their role as the family caretaker, and they must not neglect their needs for nurturing and time out.

Imbalances of the Ajna centre create feelings of inadequacy, inability to learn from experience, poor emotional intelligence, rejection of others ideas, poor self evaluation, and ignorance of the truth.

Physical problems caused by Ajna imbalance include cerebral strokes, neurological disturbances, blindness, deafness, full spinal problems, learning disabilities, and seizures.

The third principle cited was the importance of taking care of our body temple.

We can ensure this by eating the best food, and also supplementing with extra vitamins and minerals, especially the ones used most during prolonged stress.

While I could extol the need the for B vitamins, ascorbic acid, and magnesium as major deficiencies incurred during stress, I would like to remind the reader of one mineral commonly overlooked, and that is zinc.

Oysters are a well known source of zinc, but not everyone loves oysters. Zinc is also found in red meat and other shellfish. While it high in grains, it is lost in the refining of the whole grain. It is also high in legumes and nuts, but the general population does not consume much of these, and even if they did, the zinc is not readily absorbable in these foods due its binding with phytic acid. Taking care of our body temple by eating the best food, and also supplementing with extra vitamins and minerals, especially the ones used most during prolonged stress tic acid.

What happens when we are deficient in this mineral? Well there are problems and changes to hair, skin and nails, such as hair loss, dandruff, slow wound healing, acne, and soft fragile nails. Poor zinc levels undermine the immune system, leading to recurrent colds and flues. There is also a link between zinc deficiency and rheumatoid arthritis, non-insulin dependent diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease. It is also required by the body for the proper functioning of our hormones, especially the thymic hormones, the growth hormones, and insulin. Many enzymes need adequate zinc to function, and that is why a lack in the diet can often be the cause of poor appetite in children. For men, zinc is essential for a healthy prostate, fertility, and libido. For women, a lack of zinc during pregnancy predisposes to stretch marks.

How do we know if we are deficient in zinc? Blood tests do not adequately demonstrate a zinc deficiency. Naturopaths diagnose a zinc deficiency by the symptoms presented, and confirm it with a zinc taste test. Excessive alcohol consumption, surgery, and prolonged stress are other indicators of a need for zinc supplementation.

How do we supplement with zinc? The best form of supplementation is as a liquid because it is better absorbed. Many factors influence the absorption of zinc, but the major issue is that of the health of the small intestine. These factors would be assessed by naturopath including the possibility of needed to repair gut function with a good probiotic that contains several strains or lactobacillus.

Is there a danger of over-supplementation? Too much zinc supplements can lead to an iron and a copper deficiency, and even result in a depressed immune function. Safe levels are below 150mg per day, depending on the individual’s absorption rate and dietary intake. It is therefore wise to monitor zinc levels and symptoms when taking zinc for a long period.