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CancerGut Health and Anxiety

Gut Health and Anxiety

Pay attention to your gut-brain connection – it may contribute to your anxiety and digestion problems

The gut-brain connection is no joke; it can link anxiety to stomach problems and vice versa. Have you ever had a "gut-wrenching" experience? Do certain situations make you "feel nauseous"? Have you ever felt "butterflies" in your stomach? We use these expressions for a reason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut.

 When your digestive system is running smoothly, you tend not to think about it. Once trouble begins, your gut — like a squeaky wheel — suddenly demands your attention. 

The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach's juices before food gets there. This connection goes both ways.

A troubled intestine can signal the brain, just as a troubled brain can signal the gut. Therefore, a person's stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That's because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected.

This is especially true where a person experiences gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical cause. For such functional GI disorders, it is difficult to heal a distressed gut without considering the role of stress and emotion.

Given how closely the gut and brain interact, it becomes easier to understand why you might feel nauseated before giving a presentation, or feel intestinal pain during times of stress. 

That doesn't mean, however, that functional gastrointestinal conditions are imagined or "all in your head."

Psychology combines with physical factors to cause pain and other bowel symptoms. Psychosocial factors influence the actual physiology of the gut, as well as symptoms.

Stress (or depression or other psychological factors) can affect movement and contractions of the GI tract.

In addition, many people with functional GI disorders perceive pain more acutely than other people do because their brains are more responsive to pain signals from the GI tract. Stress can make the existing pain seem even worse.

 

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Bowen Technique

The Bowen Technique is a gentle, non-invasive bodywork therapy developed by Tom Bowen in Australia in the 1950s. It involves gentle rolling moves over muscles, tendons, and fascia, interspersed with short pauses to allow the body to respond and integrate the changes.

The Bowen Technique stimulates the autonomic nervous system to promote self-healing and restores balance and relieves pain or tension by addressing the body as a whole. Beneficial for musculoskeletal pain (e.g. back, neck, shoulders), headaches, stress, sports injuries, and general wellbeing.

TBM

In the field of kinesiology, Total Body Modification (TBM) is a unique and comprehensive system of healing that operates on the principle that the body has an innate intelligence and capacity to heal itself, provided its regulatory systems are functioning optimally. Developed by Dr. Victor L. Frank, TBM is a form of energy medicine that combines chiropractic principles, acupuncture concepts, and applied kinesiology techniques.

The core idea behind TBM is that the body can become "switched off" or imbalanced due to physical, chemical, or emotional stress. These imbalances create functional blocks within the nervous system, preventing the body from regulating itself effectively. This can manifest as a wide range of symptoms, from pain and fatigue to digestive issues, allergies, and emotional distress.

Ortho-Dynamics

Orthodynamics is a non-invasive bodywork technique designed to relieve structural pain, long-term injuries, and stress stored in the body. It works by using trigger points and gentle movements to release trauma, realign posture, and restore natural movement patterns. By mimicking the body’s position during the original traumatic event, it helps the "body mind" recognize and gently release stored pain and tension. This method is especially effective for resolving muscle spasms and chronic holding patterns, promoting lasting postural correction without pain.

Fitgenes

Fitgenes is a nutrigenomics program that provides personalised health and wellness insights based on your unique genetic makeup. While you cannot change your genes, the science of nutrigenomics shows that you can influence how your genes "express" themselves (how they behave) through your diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices. The program Fitgenes offers a sophisticated strategy to make informed choices and maintain wellbeing.

Metabolic Balance

Your body is unique, and so are your nutritional needs.

At Vitawell Wellness we offer the renowned Metabolic Balance program. This personalised nutrition approach helps you achieve optimal health, effectively addressing overweight, obesity, and reducing your cancer risk. The program includes positive mindset techniques to support your emotional/stress eating problems, personal food preferences, meal ideas & recipes, and nutritional education. Prevention at its best.

Cancer Fatigue

Cancer-related is one of the most common side effects of cancer and its treatments. Like fatigue, cancer fatigue is whole-body exhaustion that you feel no matter how much sleep or rest you get. Cancer fatigue takes exhaustion a step further: You feel physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted most of the time. Cancer fatigue may last a few weeks (acute) or for months or years (chronic).

To improve energy effectively, we provide modalities ranging from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy therapies, to herbal medicine and targeted nutritional interventions.

Pain Management

Providing quality care and services to our patients is our utmost commitment. Our approach prioritises a holistic and integrative method to health and wellness, ensuring that each patient receives personalised and effective treatment.

Our acupuncture services, including traditional acupuncture, medical acupuncture, and laser acupuncture, are designed to stimulate the body's natural healing processes, reduce pain, and improve overall health. In addition to acupuncture, we provide specialised physiotherapy services aimed at restoring movement, improving function, and alleviating pain Our commitment to quality care is reflected in our dedication to continuously improving our services and staying abreast of the latest advancements in medical and complementary treatments.

We are devoted to helping our patients achieve the best possible health outcomes through compassionate, comprehensive, and patient-centred care.

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Recovery

At Vitawell Wellness, our goal is to help you thrive into lasting wellness after cancer treatments. Our holistic approach focuses on rebuilding your unique profile by restoring the health, strength, and balance of your immune, nervous, gut, adrenal, and endocrine systems. This comprehensive wellbeing, in turn, helps reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. At Vitawell Wellness we will provide you with the essential tools and the appropriate program to achieve and to maintain optimal health and enduring wellness. Enquire about our supportive and individualised programs.


Stress Management

The state of mind impacts health through the mind-body connection. We believe that  that body and mind are one, that the mind feeds the body just as the body feeds the mind. Since emotions, feelings, thoughts, beliefs, actions, and behaviour impact and literally shape wellbeing, we focus on strengthening your mental and emotional life.

We strive to help you cultivate and maintain hope, calm, optimism, and inner-peace. We want to know how you feel; we listen and support you in regaining power with positive actions, step-by-step into wellness. 

Clinical Detox

After the conclusion of cancer treatments, we strongly recommend that you follow our clinical detoxification program. At Vitawell Wellness we are aware that some common health issues from cancer treatments may have lasting effects.

We strongly believe in the power of detoxification as a method of regaining strength, balance, and wellness. Our personalised program is sensible, gentle but effective, and includes stress reduction techniques and lifestyle changes.

Personalised Diet

At Vitawell Wellness we provide personalised and appropriate dietary plans before, during and after cancer treatments.
We focus on addressing your current nutritional status and develop the right diet for you.  "One size does not fit all" principle applies to your diet. Each person is unique and therefore variability exists between nutrient-sense diets.

We provide a 7 day menu plan, shopping lists and recipes that reflect food preferences and sensitivities. The menu plans are easy to follow. Each food is selected for its specific content of nutrients. Healthy foods positively support your whole person wellness.


Preventive Care

We are increasingly aware that we face countless health challenges every day. Some of them will significantly contribute to a cancer diagnosis. We also have the tools to modify these challenges. Making proactive choices about your diet, increasing physical activity, managing stress, optimising hormonal balance, and minimising environmental exposures is a direct and potent strategy for your future health.

Nutritional Medicine

Nutrition plays a foundational role in our health, influencing everything from our energy levels and mood to our susceptibility to illness. Nutritional Medicine is not just about avoiding unhealthy foods; it is about strategically using food and evidence-based nutritional supplements as theraputic tools. This approach recognises that each person's nutritional needs are unique, influenced by their genetics, lifestyle, environment and specific health conditions.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine is the oldest and the most widely used system of medicine in the world today. It is medicine made exclusively from plants.

Herbal medicine is validated by rigorous scientific research which has explored the complex chemistry of plants. Many modern pharmaceuticals have been modelled on, or derived from, phytochemicals found in herbs. Increasing research on herbal medicine demonstrates that liquid botanicals play a critical role during, before and after a diagnosis of cancer.

Vitawell Wellness seeks to provide only the highest quality full spectrum herbal extracts available.

Individualised Plans

Cancer requires negotiation and navigation. Decisions must be made. Directions must be pursued. The decisions and directions often occur in the middle of stress, fear, trauma, and many other challenging emotions. The skills with which people negotiate and navigate their cancer journey are better supported by combining conventional treatments with evidence-based natural medicine.

At Vitawell Wellness, we design individual programs to support you regardless of your diagnosis and the stage of your cancer. We collect all critical information about your state of health and help you in your decision-making process with the wisdom and the experience that comes from years of clinical practice. We work in alignment with what you think, feel, say, and do. In this way, we honour your self-awareness, your knowledge and views and integrate them in safe practices.