I enjoy a drink now and again – yes, even nutritional therapists and yoga teachers are imperfect people who do imperfect things! I’m not a big drinker but I do notice that my alcohol intake gradually increases in the autumn months, and especially towards the festive season. And then in January I stop for a month and notice improvements in sleep and general wellbeing … and come February I allow myself to drink again and a kind of annual cycle restarts. Sharing a drink at home I feel ok in...

What is meditation? There are lots of ways to meditate. The one I do most, as part of my yoga practice, is Samatha , which translates to “calm abiding”, or “tranquility of the mind”. Samatha has been part of the Buddhist tradition since the very beginning. This Buddhist meditation is basically sitting with yourself. When you see pictures of people meditating they always look calm and serene, but that it certainly not how it always feels. Meditation is not what happens while we sit but how it...

What is nitric oxide? Nitric oxide ( NO ) is a gas normally associated with pollution and toxicity, but which occurs naturally in small amounts in the body. It is a free radical, reacting very readily and lasting for less than a second once created in the body, but is an electron donor, meaning that it has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. What does it do? The main action of NO is to cause smooth muscle to relax, resulting in dilation of airways and blood vessels. This dilation is...