“Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine”.
(Mary Oliver, Wild Geese)
A perceptive friend gifted me a copy of Devotions, The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, on the first Christmas without Simon. I have read some of those poems more than once and others are still to be encountered. Mary wrote about life, the good and the bad, drawing inspiration from Nature in her effort to understand her own experiences. She was grateful to Nature and her poetry reveals the depth of her gratitude – even on the darkest days.
As April is Stress Awareness Month, it seems fitting to acknowledge that we all face difficult days in our lifetimes. Exploring creative hobbies such as painting and writing is increasingly encouraged as these have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Over the past five years I have sporadically scribbled down my own scurrying thoughts and those words now serve as snapshots of a mind struggling to process all that had happened. Stress causes us to struggle and very often we don’t realise how hard our bodies are trying to keep that struggle under control. Maybe some of you will remember the term homeostasis from biology classes, that state of balance which the body works so hard to maintain. And what happens in our bodies and in our nervous systems in particular, is often reflected in our hair.
Normal hair health depends on an adequate supply of nutrients and in times of stress and increased physiological demands, the body will prioritise where these nutrients are used, often leading to disruptions in hair growth and shedding cycles.
As part of a balanced diet, Mega Mane can provide nutritional support necessary for normal hair health and regular patterns of growth, ensuring a supply of nutrients when they are critically in demand, as in times of stress.
Flaxseed, one of the main ingredients of Mega Mane, is an exceptional plant-based source of Omega-3 Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) required for normal cellular, skin and scalp function.
Omega-3 PUFA’s have been explored too in relation to mood and wellbeing and a review article in Front. Psychiatry, (31 August 2022) confirms that they can “play important roles in maintaining mental health and resistance to stress”. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933704
Quite simply, our brains and bodies need these fatty acids – they are classed as essential for a reason.
And perhaps, in times of stress, I would suggest that Mary Oliver’s poems are essential reading too.
x Leona
Bone, J. K., Fancourt, D., Sonke, J. K., Fluharty, M. E., Cohen, R., Lee, J. B., Kolenic, A. J., Radunovich, H., & Bu, F. (2023). Creative leisure activities, mental health and well-being during 5 months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A fixed effects analysis of data from 3725 US adults. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 77(5), 293–297.
https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2022-219653
Zhou L, Xiong J-Y, Chai Y-Q, Huang L, Tang Z-Y, Zhang X-F, Liu B and Zhang J-T (2022) Possible antidepressant mechanisms of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids acting on the central nervous system. Front. Psychiatry 13:933704.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.933704
