Starting a new year with positivity and good intentions is paramount to setting yourself up for a ‘well’ year. But thoughts need to translate into actions? We asked our resident wellbeing practitioners to share their favourite tip for starting the new year right. Follow their advice to start the year feeling strong, healthy and content!
Laura Jones – Skin Specialist and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner Laura Jones BSc (Hons), Lic. Acu, MBAcC is a naturally gifted healer who often combines the powerful healing modalities of acupuncture and reiki to enhance the therapeutic effects of her treatments.
TOP TIP: “A good and simple way to get your new year off to a great start is to begin incorporating some meditation practice into your daily routine. According to Chinese Medicine, in order to stay healthy you should be living in tune with the seasons and connecting with nature, also known as the earth’s energy. Winter is a time of stillness so rest, quiet regeneration and meditation are some of the best ways to achieve all of these things. Research has shown that regular meditation practice can not only make you smarter, but it also enhances feelings of positivity and emotional wellbeing – a good thing to fight off the January blues. When you meditate, try sitting on a chair with your feet flat on the floor (please put a mat or towel on the floor to keep the soles of your feet warm), and try to imagine the warm energy of the earth moving up through your feet and your legs and slowly spreading to the rest of the body, easing away any tension and regenerating your energy as it does.”
Jennifer Derhman BSc (Hons) MSc MNIMH MBANT CNHC Dip. Coun. has been involved in the health industry for almost 20 years. As a highly qualified Medical Herbalist and Nutritional Therapist she has extensive experience working as part of a multidisciplinary and integrated healthcare teams. She also creates the Content Herbal Teas.
TOP TIP: “Never skip breakfast or meals. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As the saying goes ‘Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper’. Eating breakfast kick starts your metabolism, helps maintain stable blood sugar levels as well as improved and sustained energy levels throughout the day. The need for sugary snacks and a coffee mid-morning or mid-afternoon will diminish and for those of you that may be concerned about your weight, regular meals do in fact aid weight-loss. If you find it difficult to eat in the morning or do not have the time, start your new regime by having something small like some fruit, an apple or some berries, a smoothie, a small bowl of sugar-free muesli, Moma! Breakfasts (grab and go instant oats available from supermarkets) or an egg. One of my favourite tips is to pre-boil some organic eggs and keep in the fridge so that you have an easy grab and go protein-rich snack. With time you will find you enjoy your breakfast more and more, make it a ritual to start the day. It is important to make sure that about a quarter of your breakfast is protein and not completely carbohydrate as protein provides a more slow releasing energy and will help keep you full for longer.” If you need more motivation to eat breakfast checkout how hunger can go bad (hunger + anger = hanger) with this feature on the Huffington Post
Vanessa Gruninger Dip ND, Dip NT, CMT, MBANT is our massage and bodywork specialist but she is multi-talented and Nutrition and our organic facials. Combining this range of techniques, Vanessa has been practicing her unique treatments for the past 7 years with special interest in body work and skin health.
TOP TIP: “Integrate Synergy Super Greens into your daily diet! Below is my favourite and a delicious way of doing so. Synergy Super Greens provide a wide spectrum of highly bio-available whole food nutrients, that are absorbed more effectively than those found in synthetic formulations. It is a synergistic blend of Nature’s most nutrient dense superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, barley grass and wheat grass.
Recipe – (makes 1 litre)
- 0.5 litres of filtered water
- 0.25 litres of organic apple juice or pear juice
- 1 teaspoon of manuka honey dissolved in 0.25 litres of lukewarm water
- 2 heaped teaspoons of Synergy Super Greens
Method
Pour water and juice carefully through a funnel into a 1-litre glass bottle. Mix the 2-heaped teaspoons of Synergy Super Greens with the now even cooler manuka honey water until dissolved. Now pour this sweet-green blend through a funnel on top of the juicy water. Close the lid and shake bottle well until all ingredients have become one. Take the bottle with you and drink this purifying & nourishing elixir throughout the day. Ideally 45 minutes before or after ingesting foods and with a peaceful state of mind.
Benefits
- Supports weight management
- Increases cellular energy production
- Gently cleanses your liver & skin
- Improves athletic performance
- Stimulates red blood cell production
- The addition of Manuka Honey makes this a great Winter anti-bacterial tonic.
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