Haora Holistic

17/12/2025

Donna Ashworth

11/12/2025

28/11/2025

Sending some your way today and every day.

20/10/2025

“And in the end, I believe that we don’t need to do anything to be loved. We spend our lives trying to seem prettier, smarter. But I realized two things. Those who love us see us with their hearts and attribute qualities to us beyond those we really have. And those who don’t want to love us will never be satisfied with all our efforts. Yes, I really believe that it is important to leave our imperfections alone. They are precious to understand those who see us with the heart. “

Frida kahlo
Women in Art

Frida Kahlo artist

📷 Imogen Cunningham,
Frida Kahlo, 1931

18/10/2025

Research from neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Mosconi is redefining how we understand pre and post-menopause. Her 2021 study, the largest of its kind, revealed that isn’t just a reproductive transition, but also a neurological one.

Her team found significant shifts in brain structure, communication pathways, and energy metabolism during menopause. And the outcome? Greater emotional stability, deeper empathy, and a heightened sense of life contentment post-menopause, proof that this stage of life not the end of something, but the start of a powerful evolution.

Menopause isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s a human issue. And understanding it enough to prepare women who will live it ultimately benefits everyone.

27/08/2025

The human brain thrives on physical activity. Studies show that even light movement like walking, stretching, or yoga can significantly boost blood flow to the brain, increasing oxygen and nutrient delivery. This enhances cognitive performance, memory, and focus far more effectively than solving puzzles or sitting with books for long hours.
Exercise stimulates the release of chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins that improve mood and reduce stress. These neurotransmitters are critical for learning, concentration, and creativity. That’s why students and professionals who exercise regularly often find themselves sharper and more productive.
Neuroscientists have even found that physical activity promotes the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus—the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. In short, moving your body is not just about fitness; it’s one of the most powerful ways to fuel your mind and unlock peak mental performance.

27/08/2025

Stronger legs could mean a sharper mind
Your legs might be the key to a sharper mind! A groundbreaking 10-year study from King’s College London has revealed that leg strength can predict brain health better than genetics. The study followed 324 female twins and found that those with stronger leg power at the start of the study experienced slower cognitive decline and better-preserved grey matter after a decade.

What’s fascinating is that the twin design of the study controlled for genetics and early environment, isolating leg strength as a unique predictor of brain health. This suggests that activities like squats, lunges, climbing stairs, and resistance training could be among the best investments you can make for your future brain health.

The connection likely stems from improved blood flow, growth factors, and the complex muscle-brain communication pathways that are activated when you work your legs. The stronger your legs, the more likely your brain will remain sharp as you age.

It’s a simple but powerful takeaway: if you want to keep your mind in top shape, it’s time to hit those leg workouts! The future of brain health might just lie in your lower body.

20/08/2025

May be another reason why you feel so good after a beautiful face and scalp massage!

🧠 Scientists have discovered a remarkable way to double the brain’s waste clearance system—not with drugs or surgery, but simply by massaging the skin.

A team from the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has shown in mice that gently stimulating the lymphatic vessels under the skin of the face and neck can dramatically boost cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow. This process helps flush out toxins and waste products from the brain, including harmful proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Using a specially designed mechanical stimulator, researchers restored CSF drainage to youthful levels in aged mice, suggesting a safe, non-invasive strategy to improve brain health.

Even more exciting, the study mapped previously unknown drainage routes from the brain to superficial lymph nodes through facial lymphatics—pathways that remain active even in older animals. This discovery completes the anatomical picture of CSF outflow and hints at future wearable or clinical devices designed to enhance brain cleansing.

While more research is needed before human applications, this gentle mechanical approach may open the door to new therapies aimed at preventing or slowing neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

📖 Source: Nature, “Increased CSF drainage by non-invasive manipulation of cervical lymphatics” (June 4, 2025).

17/08/2025

Yes!

28/06/2025

"When anthropology professor Alison Murray was studying prehistoric human remains at the University of Cambridge, she made a startling discovery about women’s bodies: They were buff. When comparing prehistoric women to modern ones, Murray found their bone structure most closely resembled that of today’s elite rowers—evidence of regular, load-bearing activity and a sign that women played a major role in the development of agriculture.

"In fact, for most of human history, women weren’t meant to be thin; they were meant to be strong. Neolithic women had arm bones 11 to 16% stronger than the rowers to 30% greater than typical Cambridge students, according to a 2017 study. Bronze Age women showed a similar pattern, with arm bones up to 13% stronger than rowers. Our cultural obsession with thinness is a relatively recent invention, born of fashion, patriarchy, and postwar consumerism. When food became more accessible, especially in Western cultures, thinness replaced fullness as a marker of status and self-discipline. It began in the late 19th century, with new warnings about 'corpulence,' the dawn of dieting as a moral virtue, and the invention and rise of the calorie, all of which paved the way for modern food restriction.

"Across time and cultures, women have consistently outlived men by 5 to 20%, says Steven Austad, scientific director of the American Federation for Aging Research. The global life expectancy at birth for a woman is 76 compared with 71 for a man. About three-fourths of centenarians are women.

"The reasons aren’t fully understood—theories include the possibility of a more responsive immune system, an additional X chromosome or the idea that mothering makes women robust—but the pattern is clear.

"And when it comes to strength, women possess a different kind of power. Yes, men typically have more upper-body muscle and larger hearts. But studies show women are often more resilient. Sandra Hunter, chair of movement science in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor has found that women can better withstand muscle fatigue. In fact, Hunter points to a 2016 review of more than 55 fatigue studies that concluded that, on average, women outlasted men by 36%.

"The emerging science paints a clearer picture: women are not the weaker s*x. We’re just built differently—and to last.

"Bursts of the “return to skinny” have always surfaced at pivotal moments — right when women are on the brink of claiming more power. It’s no coincidence. The flapper look took hold in the 1920s just as women won the right to vote — a new, boyish silhouette for a new kind of woman, one who was suddenly politically powerful. In the 1960s, Twiggy’s thin, androgynous frame became the face of fashion right as the women’s liberation movement was gaining traction, challenging traditional roles and demanding equality. In the 1990s, he**in chic surged in popularity as women flooded law schools, boardrooms, and newsrooms in record numbers — a visual counterpunch to female ambition."

This photo points to the greater strength of women in present-day societies where they do heavy farm work, and grind or pound grain (or seeds, or yam, or other foods). More pictures in Comments of neolithic grindstones and photos of women grinding grain into flour. Shown here, very ancient grindstones in the Sahara, from a time when plants grew in a greener Sahara.

https://time.com/7293999/bodybuilding-women-skinny-essay/

26/06/2025

They say the capybara fears nothing…
But it’s not about bravery.

It just doesn’t fight.
Doesn’t run.
Doesn’t shout.
Doesn’t panic.

It moves through the world like nothing can harm it.
It walks past crocodiles like they’re old neighbors.
Strolls by predators like it’s going out for coffee.

And no one touches it.
Not because it’s the strongest.
But because it threatens no one.

It doesn’t demand respect with teeth or growls.
It earns it with calm.

The capybara has that kind of energy that softens the air.
That peace that people want to be around.
That presence that quiets even the loudest minds.

Maybe that’s why birds sit on it, monkeys hang with it, even predators don’t mind it.
Being near a capybara… feels like peace.

It’s not about being untouchable.
It’s about being so at ease that no one even thinks of harming you.

No hate.
No drama.
No rush.

Just life.
Simple. Peaceful. Still.

And maybe the strength we’re missing isn’t about power…
Maybe it’s about being a little more like that.

🧘‍♂️🐾✨

26/06/2025

NEW POST, about unrealistic expectations of menopause hormone therapy, and much more realistic expectations of exercise. 4-min read.

"Menopause and Pain, Hormones and Exercise: A Beginning"
https://www.painscience.com/blog/menopause-and-pain-hormones-and-exercise--a-beginning.html

TL;DR: Menopause care needs less hormone hype and more deadlifts.

A little more context:

Dr. Louise Tulloh in an editorial about menopause for a new exercise-focused issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine:

“Despite a renaissance in menopause awareness, the over-medicalisation of women’s midlife health threatens to eclipse foundational interventions like physical activity.”

And, she warns, women are trapped between the devil of over-medicalization and the deep blue sea of misinformation spewing from “influencers” online.

What does this mean for women with chronic pain?

It means …they should probably lift more weights. 🙂

Now go read the whole thing:
https://www.painscience.com/blog/menopause-and-pain-hormones-and-exercise--a-beginning.html

ABOUT THE PHOTO

The photo is of friend-of-the-salamander Elaine Robertson, in her garage gym in Beith, Scotland, where she’s been lifting for about a decade. Her husband runs a strength and fitness coaching business, Strength For Health, and he got her into the sport after she finally overcame the objections many women have, like the “wildly-overstated risk of becoming bulky.”

But now she can “blithely carry fully-laden suitcases up flights of stairs” and, much more importantly, “lift my 82 year-old, frail, osteoporotic mum after a fall from which she was unable to get up. A key driver for my strength training is avoiding following her into frailty.”

~ Paul Ingraham, PainScience.com publisher