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Tag: wellness

10 Tips for Winter Wellness

05/02/2020 /

Winter can be a trying time both mentally and physically. The days are darker, colder and shorter and our bodies become more susceptible to all kinds of winter nasties like cold and flu.

In this article you’ll find tips for supercharging your winter wellness:

  1. Wash hands: It’s the number one way to stop the spread of germs.
  2. Get vaccinated
  3. Keep exercising: Find an exercise partner to keep you motivated and if it’s too cold outside, go to the gym or do laps at an indoor pool.
  4. Eat well: For your body to be able to respond to infection, it needs to have enough protein, so enjoy lean meat, fish and poultry.
  5. Dose up on vitamins and minerals: Iron, zinc and vitamin C are also key to a healthy immune system.
  6. Stay hydrated: Try boiled water with a slice of lemon. The moisture will also help make mucous membranes, including those in your sinuses, more resistant to bacteria.
  7. Rest up: Regular sleep is vital to staying healthy. Those who aren’t well rested are more likely to get sick.
  8. Quit smoking: Smokers are far more susceptible to upper respiratory infections, which tend to strike in winter.
  9. Clean up winter mould: Mould can trigger nasal congestion, sneezing, coughing, wheezing, respiratory infections and worsen asthma and allergic conditions.
  10. Save your skin: Cold air, wind and heating will dry out your skin.

Image: Pixabay – cocoparisienne (CC Creative Commons)

Get fit at work – 10 Exercises to Do at Your Desk

14/08/2019 /

Most people today spend too much time tied to desks, buried in emails. Our modern lives have been engineered so that we can spend most of it sitting down. Unfortunately, sitting is literally killing us.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 3.2 million deaths can be attributed to lack of physical activity. Our sedentary lifestyles are responsible for increasing our risk of diabetes and heart disease as well as a loss of muscle and bone strength. Perhaps even more alarming is that people who exercise regularly are probably still not getting enough movement in their lives to counteract the deleterious effects of sitting too much.

According to this article, with a little more activity throughout the day, we can actually reverse the inevitable weight gain associated with such a sedentary existence.

There are countless ways to sneak more activity into our day, aka exercise hacks. There are exercises to do at our desk, such as chair exercises and stretches we can incorporate into our daily routine.

Here are 10 stretches you can do at your desk:

1. Rubber Neck – Sit up tall and drop your right  ear down towards your right shoulder (you don’t have to touch it!) and hold for a few seconds and repeat for the left side.

2. Reach for the Stars – Interlace your fingers and reach up towards the sky, as high as you can … keeping your palms facing up towards the ceiling.

3. Look Around – Turn your head the left and try and look over your shoulder and hold for a few seconds … repeat on the right.

4. Bobblehead – Drop your chin down towards your chest and GENTLY roll your head from side to side.

5. Shrugs – Raise both shoulders up towards your ears and hold for a few seconds and release. Repeat a few times for good measure.

6. Chest Opener – Bring your hands behind your back, press your palms together, sit up tall and hold for 5–10 seconds.

7. Seated Toy Soldier – Sit up tall and extend your right arm all the way up towards the ceiling. Straighten your left leg out and raise it up as you bring your right arm down and try to touch your left foot.

8. Knee Hugger – With a bent knee, lift your right leg up and grab it with your arms and pull it in as close to your chest as you can. Hold for 5–10 seconds and make sure and do it on the left side, too.

9. Reach and Bend- Extend your right arm over your head and reach out as far as you can to the left and gently bend over. Hold for a few seconds and do it the other way.

10. Knee Press – With your right ankle on your left knee, gently press against the right knee a few times. Of course, after you’re done with the right side, be sure and give the left side some love, too.

Image: Pixabay – Geralt

How to survive your day at work

23/02/2016 /

An article by The Guardian includes 10 tips on how to keep healthy at work by exercising and taking breaks:

1. Stand up: stand up frequently and do the same exercise you would on a long distance flight.

2. Get some fresh air: get out of the building and take a walk around the block.

3. Take the stairs, not the lift: great way to exercise!

4. Look away now: look away from the screen and at the furthest place you can see.

5. Turn your devices off in the evening and overnight: don’t give up your resting time!

6. Go to sleep: get enough sleep and nap if possible.

7. Take time for your lunch: no sandwiches at the desk!

8. Drink water:  keep hydrated.

9. Cut down on caffeine: coffee is dehydrating and it can affect how we sleep.

10. Do tasks for other people: altruism makes you feel better.

Sitting-Cartoon-1024x781

Image source: tao-wellness.com

 

New frontiers : Measuring, counting, self-tracking

05/03/2012 /

“The use of metrics by individuals is rather less widespread, with the notable exceptions of people who are trying to lose weight or improve their fitness. Most people do not routinely record their moods, sleeping patterns or activity levels, track how much alcohol or caffeine they drink or chart how often they walk the dog.

But some people are doing just these things. […] What they share is a belief that gathering and analysing data about their everyday activities can help them improve their lives—an approach known as “self-tracking”, “body hacking” or “self-quantifying”………”

Read the article published by the Economist on this subject

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