Journal

The Health Benefits of my Trip to Naples

If you read biographies of C19th and early C20th writers and artists, you will soon notice that they seem to be always heading off to Europe for a 'rest cure'. Some time away, sometimes in a spa town but more often not, a change of scene, some sunshine, a couple of weeks away from routine.

In the 1990s, under the fundholding scheme when GPs could manage their budgets according to their patients' circumstances, one Scottish doctor prescribed holidays for his patients, seeing their long term health improve, their medication needs reduce. 

My trip to Naples turned out to be just that kind of rest cure. I felt it - the fuzzy, happy energy that you get as you relax - but I also got, out of the blue physical stats to back it up.

For my Christmas I was given an Apple Watch - it was mainly so that I could use it as a remote viewfinder for my filming, but it also came in useful as a step counter and sat nav.  Three weeks into my time in Naples it buzzed - it had a new health report - and there, on my phone, was a whole load of stats about things that I hadn't even known it was measuring.

I won't bore you with all the numbers - but suffice to say that everything measurable had got better.  

Improvements in my health were physically detectable in just three weeks.

Three weeks of listening to my body, resting, taking gentle exercise.  This was not a boot camp!

And I find that so encouraging.  I had always assumed that I needed to make big changes - and, as a vigorous exercise class can leave me exhausted for a week, that seemed impossible.

The challenge will be to bring that nurturing frame of mind, the putting my health first, back to everyday life.

I have made a YouTube film about what I did differently when I was in Naples and how I hope to bring the habit changes home.

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