Generally a person’s daily routine looks something like this – get up just before sunrise, get ready for work, get stuck in traffic on the way to work, meetings, stress, work, work, work, somewhere in between have a quick lunch, back to work, stress, work, meetings and work, eventually get in the car, get stuck in traffic on the way home, maybe stop at the shops to pick up a few things for dinner, cook, eat, clean up, watch a bit of tv, bath/shower, go to bed, only to continue the same routine the next day.

My suggestion is to bring a bit of nature into your daily routine, so here are a few options that you can apply at home and at work:

1) TRANQUILITY

Water and water features have always been associated with peace and tranquility. Get hold of a small water feature. The sound of the water trickling down will bring a calming affect to you and the other people in the room.

Another option is to get a fishtank. It is quite calming to just sit and watch the fish swim around – don’t know why, but it works. When you get tired or stressed just take a few minutes to chill by watching the fish.

NOTE: Whether it is for the office or for home, you will have to plan ahead because fish need care and attention. It needs food daily and the tank needs to be cleaned regularly. There is also the problem of the office being empty over weekends. So, measure up the pro’s and cons and if you decide to implement it in the office, draw up a task sheet of who is responsible for the fish on which days.
 
2) NATURE
Ok, so maybe you don’t want pets in the office or at home because you already have way to much to do. Go fully natural then! Or should I say go wild!
Birds are everywhere. We don’t notice them because our minds are occupied with a whole lot of other stuff but they can provide the same effect as the fishtank. I’m not saying you should get a birdcage – not at all – I don’t like bird cages. What I am saying is to attract the birds in your area to make regular stops at the office or in your garden at home.

The easiest way to do this is to put up a bird feeder and water, and even a bird bath. Most birds, including sparrows, pigeons, doves, weavers, finches, waxbills, and many others feed on seeds. You can buy seed mixes from any petshop. If you want to attract more birds you can plant fruit-producing trees or plants. The fruit will attract birds such as the greay loerie, mousebirds, bulbuls, and barbets and the nectar from certain flowers will attract sunbirds, and many other fruit eating birds.

My TRANQUILITY and NATURE
I am very lucky that I get a triple dose of nature daily. Where I sit and work, the fishtank is directly behind me, so I can just turn my chair around and have a quick time-out, and in front of me is a giant north-facing window looking out on the garden. There are a variety of plants, a birdfeeder, birdbath, and of course a large water feature. There’s also two benches where I can just sit and enjoy being outside.
This is probably a big reason why I don’t tense up too quickly – I get my daily fix of nature!

INTERNAL WELLBEING
You’re not going to become healthy if you only focus on exercise. You have to take care of your body inside and out by focusing on what you put in your body. If you think about it, it is actually quite scary what we eat today. Most of the foods are genetically modified, or are ‘knock-offs’ of the real deal. I compare it to eating plastic, or at least plastic dipped in sauce – might taste like something, but it’s definitely not good for you!

Luckily people have realized that and are focusing on healthier eating habits. Even (fast)food outlets are focusing on this by providing healthier meal options. We are filtering our drinking water, opting for organic produce and meats without hormone treatments. We are heading in the right direction.

Even though our eating habits are improving, the nutritional value is not as high as produce grown 50-odd years ago. So what now?  
Supplement! 

Here’s why taking a supplement is a good idea
Many diseases are partly caused by dietary inadequacies. These may not be easily noticed. You can be sticking to good diet and eating mainly things which are from the main food groups, in the right proportions and yet you can still be deficient in vitamins and minerals.

How can this happen? There are several reasons:
 
Modern farming methods: Modern farming practices don’t put everything back into the soil that is taken out. Only the main nutrients needed for plant growth are applied to the soil. Nitrogen, Potassium and Sodium (NPK) are present in fertilisers but very often many important trace elements and minerals are completely or largely absent.

Transportation and delay: Another reason we don’t always get what we need from our food is that it has lost vitamins while being transported and while sitting on supermarket shelves. Some vitamins simply do not keep well. As soon as the crop is cut, the process of depletion starts. This is particularly true for vitamin C. The process continues in the kitchen even if food is in a fridge, and then when we cook the food, more losses occur.

Lifestyle choices: Modern lifestyle choices also affect our need for vitamins. For example, if you live in an area where traffic pollution is bad, (perhaps not your choice!) you will have a greater need for vitamins and minerals than if you didn’t. Drinking and smoking also affect our need for vitamins. Even tea and coffee have an effect. Coffee, for example, causes potassium loss, leading to increased fatigue. Sugar in your diet will use up vitamins in your body as it is processed so if you often eat sugar-laden foods you will need more vitamins than otherwise.

Healthy Living

 

 

Can you acheive this ideal lifestyle?
So, unless you are lucky enough to be eating mainly freshly-picked foods, grown in rich organic soil, and you live in an unpolluted place and you are a bit of a saint, you are unlikely to be getting enough vitamins and minerals from your food! Can you acheive this ideal lifestyle? Most of us try… but various pressures and temptations lead us to fall short. The easy way to remedy this is to take a good vitamin and mineral supplement

[For more information, feel free to contact me - clarise.h@gmail.com]

Health has become a major concern and a priority for people globally. Life expectancy currently is generally higher than what it used to be a few decades ago, but it is becoming more apparent that the quality of life is decreasing. Attributes such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, bad nutrition, stress (loads of it!), pollution, etc. all negatively impact our lives and our health. This is all probably stuff you already know by now, but the question is: Are you doing anything about it?

PHYSICAL WELLBEING
Of course, the best way to improve your physical wellbeing is to exercise. You probably have, or at least at some stage had, a gym membership. Are you actually using it? If you don’t like going to the gym then find an alternative that you like.

Hiking

Mountainbiking can replace spinning (at least you are getting somewhere, and the scenery is always great)
Rock-climbing – definitely a full body workout
Hiking can to an extent replace the treadmill.
Archery can improve mental performance and focus
In stead of always swimming up and down in a pool, at least work toward a goal – such as the midmar mile, or similar event.
Paddling is definitely a good upper-body workout

Conclusion – there is a lot of potential! You just have to decide which suits you.
Training and keeping fit is good for the body’s muscles and organ function such as the heart and lungs. But what about the biggest organ? No, it is not your brain. I’m talking about your skin. Being outdoors, exercising a lot, living a stressful life, all affect your skin and in the end can make you look old if you don’t take care of it.

How can you take care of your skin?
Keep it hydrated: drink lots of water. It is not only good for your skin, but also for all other functions of the body
Keep the moisture in: Ladies are more concerned about the appearance of their skin, and so they moisturize frequently. So, guys this is not an excuse to run away from a bit of skin lotions. More and more men are starting to take care of their skin, so don’t get left behind.
Sunscreen: This is nothing you haven’t heard before, but I’ll say it again. Sunscreen protects your body against damage from the sun.

A Warning though!
Do take note of what ingredients are in your lotions. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, it is probably not good for you. The ingredients get absorbed through the skin into the body.
Also be aware of products that have alcohol (which have a drying affect on the skin), or petroleum jellie (it makes your skin feel soft, but in actual fact, it smothers your skin)

(Also read the article “Inside Out”)