The theme for May's newsletter is Song and Dance - sing like no one is listening and dance like no one is watching! Recently someone sent me a funny email that got me singing and I am going to enclose the words and hope it gets you singing too. The song is a parody of the classic "My Favourite Things" from the Sound of Music. The words were changed and they are hilarious (see bottom of this newsletter)!.

 

Who decided that we should make new resolutions in January? I never feel in the mood then, but spring is the time that always inspires me to make changes. I have started exercising and eating healthier so this month I am going to concentrate on sleeping better. 

 

I was amazed recently to learn about how harmful to your health sleep deprivation is. Since 1960 the average amount of sleep a person gets has gone down from 8.5 hours per night to 7 hours per night. Evidence shows that this not only weakens immune response and cognitive ability, but is also a risk factor for adult diabetes. The latest information from scientists is that not getting enough sleep can make you fat. Studies indicate that not getting a full 8 hours sleep throws the body's appetite hormones out of whack, in other words, lack of sleep makes us hungrier than we would be if we slept in.

 

After thinking about this I have decided that I'm going to have an aromatherapy diffuser in my bedroom and use a mixture of frankincense, sandalwood and lavender in it. I will let you know how it goes.

 

I recently overheard a conversation between some older people. They where talking about how bad the world has become - people are so much more greedy than when they were young, etc, etc. I remember reading many years ago about Avicenna who is widely regarded as a pioneer of aromatherapy for his invention of steam distillation and extraction of essential oils. Avicenna is credited for having distilled the first rose essential oil but it was quite by accident. He was actually experimenting with base metals trying to change them into gold, and that was in the 10th century. One can only imagine that greed was behind the need to create gold - so maybe we are as greedy as we've ever been!

Barb Greenwood