Last Updated on 5 November 2024 by Brisbane Livewell Clinic
When it comes to Detoxing, most of us think about our diet before our lifestyle but a healthy body needs a healthy mind and a healthy home. ‘Detoxing your Life’ can simply mean overhauling your daily routine and it’s all about creating change for the better.
We’ve come up with the 4 D’s to get you started on a Lifestyle Detox: Debrief, Decompress, Declutter and Digital Detox, to cover some easily neglected aspects of wellbeing.
Debrief
A healthy mind starts with a healthy mindset. Knowing how to ‘debrief’ can help to overcome stress and anxiety. Take your pick:
- Meditate: Meditation cultivates a calm yet focused mind, with studies showing that a 13-minute daily meditation practice for 8 weeks can decrease negative mood and anxiety. (1)
- Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness aims to improve wellbeing through attention to present-moment experience. (2)
- Try Journalling: Positive affect journalling is an expressive technique, focusing on positive aspects of oneself (3) and proving to be a useful tool for many.
Decompress
A healthy mind needs some downtime. Finding an hour a month for a massage, an hour a week for a yoga class or an hour a day to go for a walk could be the ticket to a sense of wellbeing. While debriefing may have you drawing inward and becoming introspective, decompressing may come in a more active form.
Think twice if your idea of decompressing after a busy day is to watch TV. Studies show that TV watching and computer use can predict depression levels among adults. (4) Think less is more and know when to ‘switch off.’
Declutter
People actually spend 80-90% of their time indoors, meaning this environment is so important for health. (5) A cluttered space may be more susceptible to mould or vermin and easily accumulate dust. Reductions in indoor allergens like a household cockroach and dust mite are found to be associated with a reduction in asthma. (6)
Greenspace impacts our sense of wellbeing, so bring it inside. Indoor plants have been shown to have an indirect, unconscious, psychological effect on health and stress levels, acting as indoor air purifiers and effectively reducing pollutants. (5)
Digital Detox
Most of us are familiar with the concept of too much screen time. It’s easy to get caught up with the endless options available across multiple devices. Outside of the workplace, time on any device for adults should ideally be limited to a maximum of 2 hours per day.
Using a timer setting on your phone to shut down certain apps can help avoid late-night scrolling. The combination of no physical activity and high screen time has been demonstrated to have the greatest negative impact on health-related quality of life. (7) That’s reason enough to ditch the device. Ditching Netflix for a few weeks could open up a world of possibilities – like time for a debriefing practice before bed or reading a book that’s been sitting on the shelf for too long.
Do what works for you
Well-being comes from healthy habits, daily routines for wellness, and nurturing ourselves. A ‘Lifestyle Detox’ is about transforming to make new choices that best serve you. Start with what you feel strongest about and make the change stick. Nobody’s perfect but it will certainly feel much better knowing your daily life just got less toxic!
These Wellness Blogs may also interest you. Click HERE or HERE or HERE
Our Amazing Naturopaths at Brisbane Livewell Clinic
Shella Hall (Sunshine Coast and online)
Amy Angus (Wavell Heights and online)
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Nicole Odlum (Wavell Heights and online)
Dominique Johanson (Wavell Heights and online)
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Why You May Wish to Consult a Naturopath
Gut Health
- Gut Health
- Solving Gut Issues by Treating SIBO
- Daily Ritual Gut Health
- 6 Digestive Problems that Cause Weight Gain
- How Stool Testing Helps IBS Sufferers Part 1: Digestive Markers
- How Stool Testing Helps IBS Sufferers Part 2: Microbial Markers
- Gut Health with Parasite Cleanse
- Natural Parasite Cleanse Australia
- The Gut-Brain Connection to Mental Health
- The Gut-Brain Connection: How to Feed Your Brain
- Controlling Constipation and Bloating
- How Stool Testing Helps Find the Causes of IBS and Other Digestive Health Problems
- Gut Health Brisbane
- Gut Health Specialist Brisbane
Hormone Health and Thyroid Issues
- Hormonal Health and Thyroid Issues
- PCOS and the Insulin Connection
- Identifying Insulin Resistance
- Looking at Luteal Phase Deficiency
- Experiencing Painful Periods? Here’s What Might Be Causing It
- When You Suspect You Have Thyroid Issues
- Subclinical Hypothyroidism: When You Suspect You Have a Thyroid Issue
- Thyroid Disorders from a Naturopathic Aspect
- Thyroid Health for the Winter Months
- Thyroid Disease: A Brief Guide to Common Disorders
- Naturopathic Thyroid Specialist Near Me
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s
- Thyroid
- Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease
Detox and Cleansing
- Heavy Metal Toxicity: Strategies for Detoxing
- Detoxing Your Lifestyle, Not Just Your Body
- Naturopathic Detox Cleanse
- Naturopath Detox
- Do I Need a Heavy Metal Detox?
- Heavy Metal Detox Australia
Insomnia and Sleep Health
- Save Your Sleep with What You Eat
- Insomnia Linked to Mineral Deficiency
- Solving Insomnia: Naturopathy’s Five-Step Solution
- 5 Ways Insomnia Can Affect Your Life and What You Can Do About It
- Natural Treatment for Insomnia
- Naturopathic Remedies for Insomnia
Autoimmune Conditions
Mental Health
- The Gut-Brain Connection to Mental Health
- The Gut-Brain Connection: How to Feed Your Brain
- Treating Depression with Naturopathy: What You Should Consider
- A Naturopath’s Guide to Improving Mental Health
- Naturopathic Anxiety Medication
- Naturopath Anxiety
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): How a Naturopath Helps
Women’s Health
- Women’s Health
- Hormonal Imbalance
- Naturopath Women’s Health
- Women’s Health Week: It’s All About Women’s Wellness and Wellbeing
- Treating Vaginal Thrush the Natural Way
- The Lowdown on Low Libido
- Regulating Menstrual Cycles with Chaste Tree
- Painful Periods and Naturopathy
- Preventing Post-Pill Acne
Fertility and Pregnancy
- Pregnancy
- Pre-Pregnancy Fertility Care with Naturopathic Nutrition
- Fertility Naturopath Brisbane
- Acupuncture and Naturopathy for Pre-Conception Care
- Pregnancy Care and Naturopathy
- Maximising Nutrition Before and During Pregnancy
- Getting Quality Sleep in the 3rd Trimester of Pregnancy
- Pregnancy Wellbeing and Naturopathy are Great Partners
- Naturopathy for the Management of Constipation During Pregnancy
- Prenatal Naturopath
- Postpartum Depression and Anxiety
- Keeping Calm About Colic
Men’s Health
- Men’s Health
- The Sperm Health Decline
- Better Prostate Health with Natural Medicine
- Naturopathy and Men’s Health
- Support Your Thyroid Health Naturally
DNA Testing
- DNA Testing & Personalised Medicine
- DNA Testing Brisbane
- DNA Testing Brisbane, Australia
- Methylation Test Near Me
- Testing Functional Medicine
- Genetic Methylation Test Brisbane
- DUTCH Test Providers Near Me
Leaky Gut Syndrome
Food Intolerances and Allergies
- 7 Useful Strategies for Overcoming Food Intolerance
- Hayfever and the Gastrointestinal Immune System
- Food Intolerance, Hypersensitivity, and Allergies Explained
- Everything You Need to Know About Food Intolerance
- Food Allergy Testing Near Me
- Food Intolerance Testing Brisbane
- Food Allergy Testing
- Food Intolerance Testing
- Food Intolerance Testing Package
Weight Loss
- Naturopathy for Weight Loss
- Natural Weight Loss for Summer
- A Naturopathic Approach to Achieving an Ideal and Healthy Weight
- Intermittent Fasting: A Naturopath’s Guide to Success
- Weight Loss Naturopath
- Kick-Start Weight Loss: 5 Science-Backed Tips
- Combining Therapies for a Healthy Weight
- Naturopath’s Weight Loss Programme
Nutrition and Mineral Deficiencies
- Nutrition and Naturopathy: Healthy Diet
- Optimising Nutrition for Skin Health
- The Seriousness of Sugar
- The Importance of Mindfulness and Meditation in Natural Medicine
- Nutrition Deficiency: Visible Body Look Signs
- Helping Cardiovascular Disease in Women
- Sports Nutrition and Your Ideal Protein Requirements
- Creating a Healthy Diet for Good Health and Wellbeing
- Maximising Nutrition Before and During Pregnancy
- Nutrition and Naturopathy: Healthy Diet
- Combining Therapies for a Healthy Weight
- Intermittent Fasting: A Naturopath’s Guide to Success
- Iron Deficiency and Anaemia: When Things Go from Bad to Worse
- Naturopathic Medicine: What You Need to Know
- National Herbal Medicine Week
- The Role of Nutrition and Naturopathy in Wellbeing
Parasites
- Natural Parasite Cleanse Australia
- Parasites from Traveling
- Natural Treatments for Those Pesky Parasites
- Clean Your Body of Parasites
- Parasite Cleanse
External References
Naturopathic Care for Anxiety: A Randomised Controlled Trial PLOS ONE
Global Naturopathy Research as Reflected by Scopus (2000–2019) – Emerald Insight
Selenium and Naturopathic Treatment of Hashimoto’s Disease – PubMed
Global Strategy for Traditional and Complementary Medicine – World Health Organization (WHO)
Naturopathy for Mental Health: Approaches to Anxiety and Depression – Journal of Integrative Medicine
Naturopathic Research Resources – World Naturopathic Federation
World Naturopathic Federation – Naturopathic Research Resources
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies – Overview of International Naturopathic Practice and Patient Characteristics
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) – Evidence-Based Naturopathy for Chronic Disease Management
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine – Naturopathic Research Capacity in Clinical Practice
PubMed – Clinical Evidence for Selenium and Naturopathic Treatment of Hashimoto’s Disease
World Health Organization (WHO) – Traditional and Complementary Medicine Strategy
Journal of Integrative Medicine – Naturopathic Approaches to Anxiety and Depression
National University of Health Sciences – Resources for Naturopathic Research
Cambridge Media Journals – Naturopathy in Clinical Practice Guidelines
The American Journal of Medicine – The Integration of Naturopathy in Chronic Disease Management
External Resources
– National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
– Australian Government: Department of Health
– World Health Organization (WHO) – Traditional Medicine
– National Institutes of Health (NIH) – MedlinePlus: Complementary and Integrative Medicine
– Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM)
– British Medical Journal (BMJ) Complementary Medicine
– Australian Traditional-Medicine Society (ATMS)
– University of Sydney – Complementary Medicine Research
– Australian College of Natural Medicine
– Natural and Traditional Medicine Program at the Australian National University