The Optimise Health Blog

Forest Sunrise ©Ben Sinclair 2012 I've been looking into the Japanese practise of  Forest Bathing  which is a fascinating therapeutic activity. This is when individuals spend deliberate mindful time in the forest while allowing the environment to have effects on the body and senses.  A session of forest bathing may be made up of:  - seeing green trees and plants, taking time to note natural activity around you - touching the plants and trees, connecting to the ground - hearing wildlife and listening to sounds of the environment - breathing the air and noting the aromas given off by the trees and plants. My personal journey into integrated well-being began with a stress related illness (shingles and post-viral fatigue) during my A-levels. Ever since then I have been aware of the need to build activities into my life to improve well-being and combat the negative effects of stress. See my theory of integrated health here . View of t...

I happened to be at home this lunchtime when Mr Dewar rang from the Leeds General Infirmary. The call made me sit up from my post-prandial slump and he sounded positive. I had a follow up appointment in June as I couldn't make the usual 4 week check up. He informed me that the node biopsy was all clear with no sign of spread as was the skin excision margin! This is excellent news and I intend to celebrate with my wife tonight over a bottle of Graham Beck bubbly we purchased in Franshoek for just such an occasion! With faith I had been hoping that the results were all clear, that I had acted fast and caught the cancer before it spread and that I would be all clear to claim a longer life but it's a great feeling to have that confirmed! I ran up the stairs to write a blog post immediately, reminding myself how well my leg is now healing! The scar still feels tight and is healing from the bottom of the split upwards but apart from that I feel like I am back on track. I h...

Hill Climbing on the Coast to Coast Cycleroute in 2010 It's ten days since I had surgery for malignant melanoma on my left thigh.  So what has been happening? There has been an overwhelming supportive response from friends and an encouraging 2000+ blog visitors from all over the world who have seen advice on signs of concerning skin changes and self checks. My scar has been healing slowly and I have been able to do more in the last few days looked after my wife who has been a star. However as a doctor I have not been a patient patient!  I was keen to get up and around early despite advice from the anaesthetist to take it easy; in the first few days I crashed and burned both times when I went out too soon! Extra time has been a bonus. Lying on the sofa with my leg up I have become more geeky searching for parts to repair my mountain bike and tweeting more on mens health and health advice topics. Yesterday I felt increased tingling pains in my leg and found t...

Athlete Running the Race: Whitby Abbey I am two days post op for malignant melanoma with a large scar in my leg and a tender groin where nodes were removed: now the real work begins in working out my faith and moving forward. (Take a look at my previous blog posts for more on what has happened in the last few days ) Faith is not a passive slumbering thing, it is real and active, coming alive even more in challenging or life threatening circumstances.  Some would say faith is blind (in the past psychologists and atheists described accepting Christian faith as a blind leap) but currently for me it helps clarify what life is all about. Staring mortality in the face is not a popular past-time in modern culture; we are all busy, trying to get comfortable and are constantly reassured by advertising that "we are worth it" and told that we are in control. However it doesn't take much to get a glimpse of the reality lying just beneath the polished veneer of our fragile exist...