Sanson Kerry - The Book of Health Hacks

First published 2022

Copyright Kerry Sanson 2022

The right of Kerry Sanson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Published under licence by Brown Dog Books and

The Self-Publishing Partnership Ltd, 10b Greenway Farm, Bath Rd, Wick, nr. Bath BS30 5RL

www.selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk

ISBN printed book: 978-1-83952-574-2

ISBN e-book: 978-1-83952-575-9

Cover design by Viktorija Celikovic

Layout design by Ginerva Glamma

Printed and bound in the UK

This book is printed on FSC certified paper

THE BOOK OF HEALTH HACKS

Applying simple daily habits to feel less Blah and more Hurrah!

This book offers 40 easy-to-apply, simple health hacks, to improve your health, fitness and wellbeing.

Please note the advice given in this book is not medical advice. Please consult your doctor for medical advice before changing your exercise or nutrition plan.

For Mia and Scarlett xx

CONTENTS

For more than 20 years, I have researched and tested health techniques, treatments and methods to help improve and restore my own and my clients health and wellbeing. The hacks Ive put together in this book come from years of curiosity, study, certifications, workshops and independent study, as well as from cultural traditions such as yogic and qigong practices, energy medicine and ancient healing techniques that have been practised and rediscovered over time.

Many of the hacks have scientific research to support them and others have been used for thousands of years and are steeped in the longevity of effectiveness.

WHAT I HOPE YOU WILL GET OUT OF THIS BOOK

Rome wasnt built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.

James Clear

Im a big believer that nothing great was created overnight but formed by patiently working one step at a time. Even the most beautiful palace was once a pile of bricks, but vision, consistency, and a lot of work and time helped to build and create that palace.

I also believe that things dont have to be complicated. If change seems overwhelming at first, trust me: breaking down activities into easy-to-follow steps can tremendously improve your health and wellbeing.

Thats why I wanted to put this book together. Having seen these techniques, small changes, and health-orientated everyday exercises and actions improve my clients well-being over the years, I wanted to show you how easy it can be to introduce and include beneficial new habits into your lifestyle.

The Book of Health Hacks contains so many great hacks that you can easily apply to your everyday life. These hacks do work theyve been tried and applied by many people.

MY JOURNEY INTO THE FITNESS AND WELL-BEING PROFESSION

The best teacher Ive ever seen is pain.

Dr Perry Nickelston.

My path into fitness and health came from dealing with my own ill health and pain management which started in my teens. The reason Im speaking of these conditions now is not for a oh woe is she response from you, but to highlight why my focus was on health from an early age.

Many health and fitness professionals come to the job because of their passion for health and fitness and thats wonderful and a very honourable starting point. My motivation was that I wanted answers as to why I was in pain. I wanted to find out what I could do to help myself feel better. It was only later that I began to learn that I was not alone. Many people are told, by their doctors and other professionals, that the conditions which are causing them pain and affecting their day-to-day lives, are something that they will have to learn to live with.

I didnt want to accept that verdict for myself.

I should say here, right from the start that I dont want to seem disrespectful to modern medicine. Its advancements in recent years have been truly staggering and there are more ways to help with illness now than ever before and if I sever my finger in an accident, please dont take me to an aromatherapist, take me to a surgeon! But for the chronic ailments that I speak of, which began when I was a youth and continue to the present day, there was very little doctors could do given their time and resources, and I appreciate that.

Back to my story. As a teen I was constantly in a state of pain and discomfort. I was plagued by several ailments such as mid-back pain, water on the knee and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). From the age of 13 years old, I went through years of diagnosed illnesses with no treatment plan. I know that treatments have improved, and I hope that attitudes have changed, but at the time, in a Northern England town, in the 1980s, the cultural attitude was a bit: stop moaning and get on with it.

I can remember that the doctor who diagnosed my mid-back pain as muscular rheumatism (now more likely to be called fibrositis), offered no treatment or help other than an instruction to sit up straight! How many times do teenagers hear that? How many parents know the futility of repeating this mantra? I mean, its good general advice, but as a treatment plan, its a bit lazy.

Similarly, with the water on the knee (otherwise known as knee effusion), the treatment plan recommended was more of a: oh well youll grow out of it with an added threat - just dont jump on it or you might need to use a wheelchair. I kid you not, thats what I was told!

The IBS, which used to cause crippling bouts of bloating and constipation, was investigated a little further, but as with the nature of IBS, once theyve ruled out any more sinister underlying issues, the advice was to eat differently and figure out which foods to avoid.

As I headed into my twenties the mid-back pain migrated to the lower back too, leading to periods of sciatic pain where I was laid up on painkillers, unable to function for days at a time. The continuing food intolerances and constipation and IBS did not subside either. The doctors would only prescribe drugs for the pain and fibre sachets for the bowels, but no real therapeutic answer was forthcoming.

With great frustration I knew that the help I needed was not going to come from the doctors or the system they worked within. More than anything I needed to find a way to deal with these agonising and debilitating issues. So thats when I turned to alternative holistic therapies, Eastern medicine and natural herbalism.

Over the following years I tried everything: sports massage, physiotherapists, aromatherapy, chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncture, energy medicine, colour healing, reflexology, herbs, singing workshops, fasting, yoga, meditation. Literally, I tried anything that I thought might help me. Some therapies did help and others didnt suit me so much. I started to apply the methods that did help to my lifestyle and in this way, slowly I began to understand my body better, identifying what helped it to function and move better and what didnt. It took a good 10 years to figure out my food triggers and intolerances.