Wellbeing Journal
VASHTI WHITFIELD ON WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach and mindfulness expert Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part one, she explores what it means to be mindful and practice mindfulness.What does practicing mindfulness mean to you? Is it sitting quietly for a couple of minutes, taking the time to feel the breeze on your cheek, or slipping off your shoes and bringing all of your attention to how the ground feels beneath your toes? Or diligently meditating for at least 10 minutes, switching off your mind and washing away the chaos running riot inside your head?However you choose to be mindful, the process of reconnecting to your breath and senses as you actively clear your thoughts can allow you to recognise what your mind is trying to focus on, and scale back the intensity of how you feel about it. By giving yourself this clarity and distance, you are able to view what worried you with a clearer perspective and a calmer mind.When you sit in the silence of the moment, it is far easier to experience the magnitude of stress that our excessive thinking puts on our bodies.Three-minute practice: Rebooting your mindBefore you read any further, I want you to take three minutes to try it for yourself.Think of your mind as a laptop. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got multiple programs, files and documents open. After a while, everything is not only running slower – it’s also becoming a bit of a mess.In this practice, you’re going to close each of these programs or thoughts down. And once your mind is clear, you’ll only reopen the thoughts you REALLY need.Close your eyes, inhale for 5 seconds, then slowly exhale for 10 seconds. Repeat three times. Then sit absolutely still for at least two minutes, concentrating only on your breath and the sounds you can hear around you. Once you open your eyes, notice how you feel.I call this “rebooting”, and I do this exercise multiple times throughout the day. It helps me reduce overwhelming feelings and prioritise my focus. Most importantly, it helps me clarify if I am wasting time thinking about things I cannot predict, control or change.More ways to be mindfulOften when people are doing something creative or active, such as cooking or playing music, they’re able to experience a disconnection from the busyness of their mind. This physical or creative practice can also leave you feeling more calm, clear and inspired.Learning to think and feel through the senses is a remarkably simple and straightforward approach to slowing the mind. This one of the most effective ways to learn to be present in your life, calm your overactive mind, and use the clarity of distance that a moment’s pause can give you to reconnect.The benefits of mindfulnessPeople often use different mindfulness techniques to deal with stress, anxiety, or even insomnia. These practices are hugely beneficial for anyone caught in up in the stress and strain of modern-day living.And those ‘aha’ moments we rely on for inspiration or problem-solving don’t come when we overthink something. They almost always appear when you’ve let go a little and are in a completely different headspace.Think of the times when your best ideas have come to you while you’re in the shower, on holiday, or watching a movie. A daily Mindful Practice is also a wonderful way of bringing more clarity, insight and awareness to your life – along with more of those ‘aha’ moments.Practicing mindfulness dailyThere are two important aspects to consider when we explore the concept of mindfulness. First is the daily and consistent practice of moving out of your head and back into your body. This about letting go of your thoughts, and giving all of your attention to the sensations in your body, your breath, and the stillness of your mind. Then and only then are we able to distance ourselves from the freight train of thoughts our brains are hardwired to create.The second and even more powerful aspect of practising mindfulness is being able to do it when you’re in the midst of your busy life, and not just in the sanctuary of your dedicated practice space. This is when you’re able to actively stop and reflect on what you’re thinking about, explore why you’re thinking about it and whether it’s having a positive impact on you, and then – as an act of will – change your thoughts to better serve you.The key is to start small and do what you can – and most importantly, define your intention for getting started. We often reactively move into doing or trying something and yet fail to set a clear objective or goal around, making it far too easy to let ourselves of the hook for not seeing it though. Be clear and honest with yourself about what you’re really committed to – and write it down.Over the next month, we invite you to cast aside any scepticism and openly explore how being more mindful can vastly improve your quality of life.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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WHY YOU NEED A MORE PLANT-BASED DIET BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.The plant kingdom has such an incredible abundance of beautiful elements to offer our bodies. For the skin plants can help soothe, hydrate and brighten, and similarly the nutrition they offer our body can help energise, restore and protect. There are so many reasons to include plants in our lives and more than ever we should be basing our diet on plants so we can fuel ourselves with nutrients to thrive.A plant-based diet is not vegan or vegetarian per se, but instead sets the foundation of the diet on plants and builds from there. I encourage people to incorporate a plant-based diet into their lives because it helps transition away from processed and refined food, is sustainable for our earth, and fuels the body with beautiful nutrition. Vitamins, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates, amino acids, phytochemicals, pre and probiotics can all be found in plants. So, let’s chew a few together…Pre and probiotics:Pre and probiotics work as team and are essential for digestion and absorption. When there is not enough of one or the other in the diet, gut health begins to decline. Remember the gut is the seat of our health and poor gut integrity often creates a snowball effect for poor health. Part of an easy solution is to include a little more of both pre and probiotic rich foods in the diet. Prebiotics we find in plants such as onions, asparagus, chickpeas, lentils, beans, slippery elm, guar gum and psyllium, so increasing the intake of these plants supplements an increase probiotic rich foods too. Fermented foods are wonderful way to up probiotics in the diet and miso, cultured (fermented) vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, tofu and fermented tea known as kombucha will take you there.Thinking of pre and probiotics as a team, we can increase them in our diet with:salads incorporating legumes as a protein source to a delicious alternative for animal sourced proteins dressings incorporating miso and onion an evening drink of kombucha where once there was wine. Plant Proteins:Proteins are made up of amino acids, some of which we must acquire from dietary sources in order to build complete proteins within the body (essential amino acids) and others our bodies can synthesise on their own. These are non-essential amino acids. Both animal tissues and plants can provide us with proteins and combining different foods will give our bodies an adequate supply of protein for growth, development, and repair and to utilize for optimal health.Including a variety of food in the diet will offer our body the protein it needs. However, more commonly, we think only of animal-based proteins. But we can up our protein game very simply with plants! Ingredients and foods such as pumpkin, peas, sesame seeds, seaweed, kidney beans, chickpeas, hemp and chia seeds, almonds, kiwis, blueberries, apples, figs, cacao, watercress, spirulina, sweet potato, mushrooms, cauliflower, quinoa, buckwheat, teff and corn are all wonderfully nourishing and rich in plant based amino acids, both essential and non-essential.Combining these foods is where you truly amp up the game try these simple combinations:sprinkling hemp and chia seeds over fresh fruit such as apples, blueberries and kiwi for breakfastmaking little snack balls with figs, cacao, nuts and seedsincluding quinoa, buckwheat or teff with a meal to accompany where once may have been a wheat based side such as pasta or bread Phytochemicals:Phytochemicals are compounds found in plants that can have powerful effects in preventing disease.Ever wondered what an antioxidant is? Phytochemicals can work as antioxidants; stimulating the actions of different enzymes in the body and reducing the replication of cells that may cause our bodies more harm than good. And they can make an easy and frequent appearance in our diet. Some phytochemical rich plant sources include blueberries, cherries, raspberries, apples and vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and kale, carrots, garlic, green tea, chilli, capsicum and tomatoes. Try upping your phytochemical quota with: evening desserts of mixed berries and a spoon of yoghurt roasted cauliflower and broccoli as a side green tea where there once was coffee And if greens and plants is what you need, let this green noodle bowl rich in all the good of plants be your plant inspiration for the week…GREEN NOODLE BOWLGF : DF : SFServes 2 2 kale leaves, torn from stems 1 bunch broccolini, trimmed 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed 90g soba noodles 1 silverbeet leaf, trimmed on stalks and roughly torn 1 zucchini, spiralised 1 cucumber, shaved into ribbons 2 tablespoons sauerkraut 1 tablespoon pepitas 2 teaspoons sesame seeds 1 tablespoon micro coriander 1 tablespoon micro garnet 1/2 avocado, sliced Dressing: 1 tablespoon miso 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon honey Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Place the kale leaves, broccolini and asparagus into the water and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove vegetables from the water, place in colander, refresh with cold water and set aside. Bring the water back to the boil, add soba noodles, cook for 4 minutes or as per packet instructions. While the soba noodles are cooking whisk together the salad dressing ingredients. To assemble your greens bowl arrange the greens and soba noodles around the two bowls. Top with sauerkraut, pepitas, sesame seeds, micro herbs and avocado before drizzling the dressing over the top.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Jurlique by Jacqueline Alwill Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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SLEEP GOAL: NOURISHED AND PEACEFUL REST BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.If you’ve ever had one night or more of poor sleep, then you can truly appreciate the quality of a good night’s rest. Good sleep can be hard to come but there are a few tricks here and there that may help achieve a restful night and improve overall health and wellbeing as a result.There are two major phases in sleep – REM and non-REM sleep. REM, is the “dreaming sleep” and the early stage of rest whilst non-REM is our “quiet”, deep sleep. When we have a good night of uninterrupted rest, and consequently more non-REM cycles, we wake feeling energised, alert and can function at our best.Different factors may affect an individual’s ability to move into peaceful non-REM sleep. Stress, exercise, stimulants, alcohol and the food we eat all play a part. Within our diet alone, it’s important to consider these key factors…Understanding how we consume… A range of elements play into this so let’s start with the first step. Breakfast. It’s an easy meal to miss and many actually do, or simply don’t feel like breakfast when they wake up. However, the effect of not having breakfast often leads us into eating more in the later stages of the day and reaching for stimulating food and drinks (coffee, energy and soft drinks, sugar). So it plays into an unhealthy cycle… Late breakfasts, necessary caffeine pick-me-ups, later lunches, even later dinners and ultimately later to bed. With this delay comes limited time for our body to digest food appropriately at the right times of day and to produce hormones for digestion when we are sleeping. If you’re a night owl and not hungry in the morning the chances are it’s because your body isn’t being given the opportunity to reproduce vital hormones to keep you charged during the day; digestive hormones being number one.The ideal situation as a regular sleeper or a transitioning night owl is to put your body into a flow of regular eating and sleeping patterns. Rise with the sun, hydrate and nourish, eat 3-5 meals throughout the day, with the last and latest by 8pm, this allows the body to digest and wind down for rest by 10pm. It really has such simplicity, and the beautiful thing is that there are ingredients we can add and subtract from our diet to help take us there.The presence of stimulants… Stimulants have the interim effect of helping us turn “switch on”, they also have a powerful effect on the quality of our sleep. Coffee, tea, energy and soft drinks, tobacco, drugs and alcohol push the body into a longer awakened period. Alcohol, despite being a depressant, forces the liver to work overtime, which can disrupt sleep in the early hours (3 to 4am) of the morning. To reduce these players in the diet focus on halving your intake week-by-week and swapping for more nourishing alternatives as you go. Herbal teas, sparkling water with lemon, orange and lime spritz, and limiting alcohol to 1-2 nights per week at the most will all see your sleep and your health move into flow.Nourishing our rest… The ultimate goal to achieving a nourished and peaceful rest is by supporting the production of our sleep and mood stabilizing hormones and replenishing the adrenals as we rest. Enriching the body’s stores of melatonin and serotonin, both sleep and mood modulating hormones and reducing the levels of cortisol, our primary stress hormones, can be simple with a good night of sleep and foods to support. Bananas, almonds, whole milk and dairy, protein rich food (vegetarian and animal based proteins), oats, chamomile and passionflower tea in the diet will boost the body’s sources of tryptophan, magnesium, essential fats, protein and potassium. These nutrients relax our muscles and body, aid the action of melatonin and serotonin, and help the body wind down into restorative rest.WARM SPROUTS, QUINOA, CAULIFLOWER STEAKS AND HALOUMIGF : SF : VServes 4 1/2 cup raw quinoa 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 spring onions, white part only sliced 1/2 cup mung sprouts 1/2 cup chickpea sprouts 2 stalks celery, finely diced 1/2 cup coriander leaves and stalks pinch chilli flakes Zest of one lemon / approximately 1 tablespoon 1 kale leaf, stalks removed, leaf shredded 1 red apple, cored and cut into strips 1/2 cup walnuts 2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 head cauliflower (400g), sliced crossways into 1.5cm pieces 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 250g haloumi, cut into 8 slices Sea salt and black pepper Dressing: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons honey 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric DIRECTIONS Place the quinoa and 1 cup water in small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the majority of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for five minutes before fluffing with a fork. Next heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add in the spring onions, sprouts, celery, coriander stalks, chilli and lemon zest and sauté for 3 minutes. Then place the cooked quinoa, shredded kale, red apple, walnuts, 1 teaspoon of cumin and coriander leaves into the pan. Season well with salt and pepper and saute for a further 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with foil and set aside. SPICE MIX To make the spice mix for the cauliflower steaks combine the cumin, paprika and turmeric in a bowl with a pinch of salt and mix well. Evenly spread the mixture onto one side of each of the cauliflower steaks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a fry pan on medium heat, place the cauliflower steaks (spice side up) into the pan. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes on each side. While cauliflower is cooking heat a few drops of olive oil in a fry pan and cook the haloumi on a high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Divide the quinoa and sprout mix across four plates and top with cauliflower steaks, haloumi and a drizzle of salad dressing. Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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SNACKS TO FUEL AND THRIVE BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.What to eat in the mid-afternoon slump? This is probably on of the most common questions regarding energy that comes my way. The morning is productive, boxes are ticked, lunch is done and then three o’clock hits and we subsequently and habitually feel like we’ve hit a wall. There is reason for this. The circadian rhythms, governing wakefulness and sleep, program our bodies to hit downtime between 12-3pm each day. We are physiologically programmed to rest in the afternoon. And whilst in an ideal world we would take twenty and close our eyes for a quick power nap, in reality this isn’t feasible for most. So throughout our day, we need to eat foods to nourish our bodies, rise above the slump and energise throughout the day. The more common picture however, is that instead of reaching for the nourishing pick me up we go for the quick fix… sugar and caffeine. Sound familiar? It’s time then to take a break, make a change and focus on eating to energise.MAKE THE SWAPWe can’t expect to improve energy levels if we’re going to feed our bodies food that causes a spike in blood glucose and/or adrenaline levels and then a rapid fall. This is the result of quick fix foods such as coffee, confectionary and sugary treats. Their effect on the body’s energy is only momentary and if you tune in to your body when you eat them they have a similar effect on mood. If some of the ingredients to your afternoon pick me up involve the likes of the above then it’s time to make the swap to foods to nourish. Scale back and make the swap:from coffee initially to black tea then green, followed in time by herbalform refined confectionary and to fruits and nourishing treats made with nutrients to help you shine from pastries, cakes and sugar laden mouthfuls to protein rich snacks that stabilise energy levels for the remainder of the dayENERGY FOODUse the slump as an opportunity to fuel the change in your eating habits. Think about these nutrients to up the ante when you feel the low.Water: a well hydrated body is a well nourished and energised one. We cannot disregard just how important good hydration is for energy. If you feel tired and lethargic upon waking, water is your first step to flush and hydrate the body. If hunger strikes you at unexpected times, and a less than ideal snack is tempting, then a glass of water is your friend before anything else comes into play. And most certainly if you’ve relied on the quick fixes (caffeine and sugar) to see you through the 3pm slump, then water is going to be your partner in crime to improve energy for the long term. Have faith in this old trick it’s been touted in health for centuries for good reason.Magnesium: This is an incredible mineral for improving energy, not to mention helping us focus and consequently relax when we need to. Magnesium plays a vital role in the reactions that generate and deliver energy to our cells. Augment your diet with these magnesium rich foods such as dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, quinoa, legumes (beans and lentils) and best of all good quality dark chocolate. Integrate these foods as snacks with: Green juices or smoothies A handful of raw nuts and seeds Quick crunch on vegetable sticks with hummus High quality dark chocolate made without refined sugars B Vitamins: Our friends niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, B6, B12 and pantothenic acid work as a little team within the body to metabolise energy from protein, carbs and fats. Fortunately we find them in abundance in our foods but when we need to up our game and improve energy to see us through our lows then we can hone in on the B snack factor with a few little tricks: Natural yoghurt with crushed almonds, pecans and a serve of fresh fruit Small piece of poached chicken wrapped in spinach with fresh herbs Couple of teaspoons of natural (preservative/additive free) peanut butter spread on a banana Half serve of green salad such as tabouleh Quick boiled or fried egg with chilli and paprika Cacao smoothie with greens Half an avocado with lemon and pepper And if you’re still hungry for inspiration, these wholesome energy rich icy poles are a wonderful in the right direction.RASPBERRY MANGO AND VANILLA ICY POLESMakes 6 small icy polesRaspberry Layer: 1 cup coconut cream 140g mango pieces 1 banana, peeled 1/4 cup raspberries 2 teaspoons honey Mango layer: 1 banana 1/2 cup mango 1 teaspoon vanilla bean To make the raspberry layer combine all of the ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until combined. Divide the mixture across the base of the icy pole moulds. Tap the moulds against a counter to ensure no air bubbles remain. Make the mango layer by blending all of the ingredients together. Pour the mango mix into the moulds and place a paddle pop stick into each. Place in the freezer to set overnight.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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WHAT TO EAT FOR GLOWING SKIN BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.Glowing skin is something most of us yearn for, but it’s not something we can necessarily achieve over night. As with any aspect of our health we have to nourish the body inside and out, break old habits and make new patterns in order to change and create rituals in self-care. We have beautiful skin care at our fingertips but what we put inside our body is just as important as what we put on our skin in order to find our glow. Let’s take a look at how we can achieve radiant skin by nourishing from the inside out.Focus on whole foods for whole nourished skinBuilding a wholefoods diet into our lives is the ticket to longevity in health and radiant skin and yet, is one so easily missed. With busy schedules, work, family and friend commitments, our diet is often the first to go out the window and more often than not our skin follows. Start slowly and begin by adding these simple steps into your life to help transition into wholefoods eating, a well-nourished body and beautiful skin.Reduce processed and refined foods in the diet that do not nourish our body or our skin. Focus on reducing and eliminating packaged foods containing refined sugars, additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and ingredients matched with numbers and instead introduce an abundance of whole unprocessed foods to our lives. Fuel the body with fresh vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and quality sources of protein and feel the change for the good. If the glow in skin is a little dim, then we need to establish goals to achieve results. Feeling a sense of purpose with health and carving our way to feeling and looking sensational does not come without setting out a few ways to get there. Consider the beauty in skin and health like a map and make check points along the way. Reducing sugar, processed and refined foods might be the first stop, increasing water intake the next, introducing a new ingredient to eat our way to delicious skin third and it goes on. By establishing goals and ticking the boxes we make ourselves responsible for the health of our body and beauty of our skin.Nourish the gut to find the glow The gut is the seat of our health and without caring for the state of our gut we cannot expect our skin to thrive. Through our gut we absorb the beautiful nutrients from food so with that in mind we need to mindfully nourish the gut so it can effectively do all in it’s power to give our skin nutrition from within. To do so consider…Integrating a small cup of bone broth each day to the diet. The collagen from the bones breaks down to gelatin to restore gut lining and boost the beautiful elasticity and youthfulness in skin too. Foods rich in probiotics such as cultured or fermented vegetables, natural (unsweetened) yoghurt, miso and fermented tea can help establish healthy bacteria in the gut to aid the digestion and absorption of nutrients in our food. This is essential to see changes in our health and our skin.Warming foods in the later stage of the day help to ease digestion as our body leads into restful hours. Whilst raw foods are wonderful to amp up in the earlier stages of the day, many people respond better to cooked foods to close the day. Integrate cooked vegetables (steamed, baked, sautéed or grilled) with quality proteins and healthy fats as a beautiful way to warm into rest and wake feeling energised and vibrant. Eat a radiant rainbowWhen considering the health of our skin we need to nourish with abundance and variety and a beautiful way to do this is to eat the colours of the rainbow from fresh whole foods produce. In particular, introduce the following essential nutrients to fuel lustrous healthy skin. Fill the diet with:ACE… or Vitamins A, C and E from carrots, kale, spinach, oranges, broccoli, brussel sprouts, almonds, avocados and seeds. Also look for fresh fruits and vegetables in rich colours such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, capsicum, sweet potato, beetroot and greens a plenty to help protect the effects of ageing and oxidative stress on the skin.Selenium… a beautiful trace mineral that can aid the absorption of Vitamin E in the skin, reduce breakdown of collagen and maintain elasticity. Get an added Selenium boost to your diet with walnuts, brazil nuts, nourishing whole grains and seafood. Essential Fats from avocados, almonds, linseeds, brazil nuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pepitas, olives and their oils, coconut and fatty fish are delicious, nourishing, satisfying for hunger cravings when included in the These Essential Fats also help skin by reducing inflammation, providing a rich natural moisture and repairing damage to skin cells. Zinc to help regulate the action of sebaceous glands and oil production, heal damaged tissues and wounds and aid problematic skin conditions. To add zinc into your diet and skin, try adding more poultry, legumes, wholegrains and seafood.RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE TARTGF : DF : SF : V : VG : PALEOServes 8-10Tart base: 1 1/2 (225g) cups almonds 1 1/2 (175g) cups pecans 6 medjool dates, pitted 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 100g raw chocolate, broken into pieces 2 teaspoons vanilla Filling: 1 cup coconut yoghurt 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 2 tablespoons maple syrup 375 g raspberries (approx. 3 punnets) To make the tart base combine the almonds, pecans and dates in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds to combine. Add in the coconut oil, raw chocolate and vanilla and process for a further 20 seconds.Line the base of a 27cm tart tin with baking paper. Press the tart mixture into the base and sides of the tin and transfer to the freezer to set for 2 hours.Once the tart base has set whisk together the coconut yoghurt, vanilla bean paste and maple syrup. Spread the yoghurt mix evenly across the base of the tart and top with fresh raspberries.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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HOW TO MAKE EXERCISE A LIFESTYLE CHOICE BY LEAH SIMMONS
As part of our Jurlique Wellbeing Challenge, pilates teacher and fitness guru Leah Simmons has created an exclusive fitness plan for you to take on over the next four weeks. As part of this challenge, she guest blogs about her own personal fitness journey, relationship with food and some great tips along the way.*There’s a widely-trusted ideology that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. For some reason, 21 is the “golden number” that will switch something from being a conscious thought to being part of your everyday life. Want to get up at 6am? Do it every day for 21 days and you will start bouncing out of bed before your alarm goes off. Trying to drop that 3rd cup of coffee? Avoid it every day for 21 days and it’s gone.But what about exercise? Something that you need to make time for in a life that is already stretched beyond what we think we can manage? How do we turn exercise from being a chore into something that we actually look forward to? I mean we know it’s good for us. We are fully aware that we should be doing it. So how do we turn that THOUGHT into an ACTION?Let’s look at some of the most common reasons people come up with why they CAN’T exercise. “Oh… such and such goes to the gym 5 times a week… I couldn’t possibly do that.” “Mrs X has a personal trainer… I just can’t afford it.” or (my personal favourite) “I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME.”In a society that is overrun by 24-hour gyms, personal trainers and in-your-face social media it’s easy to get disheartened and feel unmotivated. But let me remind you what exercise actually is: the act of MOVING your body… Let that sink in for a minute. MOVE. YOUR. BODY. So…. walking? Yes. Swimming? Absolutely. Dancing? Yeah! As well as running, skipping, surfing, skating, jogging, stretching… need I go on? The amount, how much you do and how you do it is entirely up to you.Change your thoughts about exercise and you will change your relationship with exercise. The more you do things that you enjoy and that make you feel good, the more frequently you will do them. And slowly but surely you will start to incorporate them into your everyday life. You’ll have more energy, you’ll feel great and it won’t feel like a chore. And it just might give you the motivation you need to seek out something more… whether it’s a specific gym class you’ve wanted to try, or a sports team you’ve wanted to join. You will soon realise that it’s actually not that hard to make time for the things you want to make time for.Leah’s Top 5 Ways to Incorporate Exercise into your Daily Life Plan a walking meeting at work. Suggest taking a walk to a colleague and have a chat around the park instead of sitting in a stuffy meeting room! Make this a regular thing! Park 500m further from your office than you normally would and walk the rest of the way. That’s an automatic extra 5km you’ve then walked per week (1km to and from your office) Play a game where you hold a forearm plank for as long as you can during the ad breaks of your favourite TV show. Challenge yourself to hold your plank longer each time. Use 2 x bottles of water or 2 x cans of soup as hand weights and do this mini arm workout in your kitchen. Try going for 10 x bicep curls, 10 x straight arm raises to the front then 10 to the side, 10 x shoulder press, 10 x bicep curl to shoulder press combo, then hold both hands over your head and do 20 x tricep dips. Repeat sequence 3 times. Put on 3 of your absolute favourite songs from when you were young (the daggier the better) and dance to them like no one is watching. Check out the Jurlique Fitness Challenge for fitness tips, how-to’s and a four week calendar to get you started.Download the Jurlique X Leah Simmons Fitness Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge*The views contained in this Blog are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of Jurlique. You should seek medical advice before commencing any exercise regime.
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SKIN FIT: FINDING YOUR GLOW WITH LEAH SIMMONS
As part of our Jurlique Wellbeing Challenge, pilates teacher and general fitness guru Leah Simmons has created an exclusive fitness plan for you to take on over the next four weeks. As part of this challenge, she guest blogs about her own personal fitness journey, relationship with food and some great tips along the way.*We all know that exercise does wonders for our body. The benefits of leading a healthy, active lifestyle are numerous and, although it may be harder than sin to drag yourself out of bed for that early morning workout, I’m fairly certain no one ever regrets doing it after they’re done. But the rewards of exercising transcend far beyond just dropping those kilos or cultivating your six-pack. There are additional, more subtle effects that exercising has on our bodies… perhaps you are sleeping better, maybe your hair is shinier or you are feeling less anxious?One of the more visible benefits is the effect it has on our skin. Our skin is our largest living organ, made up of billions of skin cells and blood vessels. So, like every other organ in our body, it needs nourishment and nutrients to thrive.Skin-Fit… Is There Such a Thing?Go For The GlowYou’ve just finished your workout, your heart is beating like a Metallica drum solo and you crawl to the bathroom to catch your breath. You peer into the mirror and after the initial shock of seeing that exhausted sweaty face staring back at you, you notice that your skin has taken on a kind of golden sheen. You are glowing!! And this is no accident, believe me. When you get your heart really pumping, you deliver a flood of newly oxygenated blood to the living layers of your skin and skin cells. Your circulation is firing and you start producing more natural oils thus giving you that gorgeous “glow.”Sweat It OutHave you ever wondered where “sweat” actually comes from? Sweating is our body’s natural cooling system. When our body temperature increases, our pores secrete sweat to remove excess heat and waste from our skin through evaporation. You could almost say sweating is actually like having a mini-facial. Imagine those pesky little blackheads that you just can’t seem to get rid of… sweating can push the impurities out from your pores. It’s important to note however that you must wash your face immediately after working out to ensure that the gunk doesn’t get sucked back in!Wrinkles Be Gone!!Exercise can also help regulate skin-significant hormones and prevent free-radical damage. When we get stressed where is the first place it shows? On our faces… Dark circles, sagging skin and a pasty pallor are not a healthy person make… and this can be due to elevated levels of the stress-hormone Cortisol. Regular exercise can help maintain healthy levels of this hormone and also supports the production of collagen which can help keep your skin stay firm and supple-looking.Don’t Worry… Be Happy!!And finally… exercise just makes you FEEL GOOD!! You’ll have a spring in your step and your energy levels will sky rocket. And sooner or later you’ll be rocking around town with a giant grin on your face. Laughter is the fastest and easiest way to elevate your mood and help you look and feel amazing. When you smile with your whole face it’s like an instant facelift! So turn that frown upside down and laugh your way through your next gym session!!A Few Things to NoteAlways remember to protect your skin from the sun and wear a broad spectrum sunscreen whether you are working out indoors or out. I’m currently obsessed with Jurlique’s SPF40 Sun Specialist Cream – it smells amazing!Try to avoid wearing makeup while working out. You want to try and get rid of dirt on your face, not add to it! Bring your favourite cleanser in your gym bag and make sure that you wash your face immediately after your workout. I love Jurlique’s Herbal Recovery Antioxidant Mousse which has a light, foamy texture and is great for combination skin.Wash your hands thoroughly after working out before you touch your face. You don’t even want to know what bacteria lurks on communal gym equipment… yuck. Be aware of too-tight clothes and skin chafing – it you are going to be sweating a lot make sure you are in some comfortable gear. If you are swimming in a chlorinated pool then make sure you rinse off in some fresh water immediately after you get out – the chemicals used in pools can be quite irritating and drying for some skin types. And don’t forget to lock-in moisture for face, body and hands. I love Herbal Recovery Antioxidant Face Oil and the always classic Rose Hand Cream by Jurlique. Check out the Jurlique Fitness Challenge for fitness tips, how-to’s and a four week calendar to get you started.Download the Jurlique X Leah Simmons Fitness Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge*The views contained in this Blog are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of Jurlique. You should seek medical advice before commencing any exercise regime.
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LEAH SIMMONS TOP 10 TIPS FOR A BETTER WORKOUT
As part of our Jurlique Wellbeing Challenge, pilates teacher and general fitness guru Leah Simmons has created an exclusive fitness plan for you to take on over the next four weeks. As part of this challenge, she guest blogs about her own personal fitness journey, relationship with food and some great tips along the way.*My workout hour is my place of solitude. It’s kid-free, work-free and phone-free. I’m un-contactable for those precious 60 minutes and fully able to immerse myself into what I am doing at that very moment. It’s my heaven. But what makes it so good? And why do I crave it every day? Because the prep I do beforehand ensures I have the best workout experience I can… and I’m about to share it with you.DO A BRAIN DUMP.Ok. What the heck is a brain dump? It’s probably one of the most important gifts you can give yourself prior to working out. You know all those little thoughts that are flying around in your head at the moment? Meetings, deadlines, shopping, meal prep, school pick-up, that fight you had with your friend / spouse / child? Write them down, plan them out and then forget about them for the next 60 minutes. Get your body and mind to a neutral state where you can concentrate on the task at hand (because exercise does require concentration)!WARM UPI feel this one is obvious but it’s amazing how many people don’t do a proper warm up before they launch into their workout. Hellooooooo injury! You have got to get those muscles firing before you load them up with a 50kg squat. Start with 3-4mins on the treadmill or a few rounds of some bodyweight squats that will help your heart rate elevate safely and get your muscles into workout-mode.COOL DOWNSee above. Ever just run out of the gym after the mother of all sweat sessions and made a bee-line for the couch? (Yes don’t worry I’ve got my hand up too…) The Cool Down is just as important as the Warm Up as it helps to disperse the build-up of lactic acid in your muscles. You’ve probably woken up the next morning feeling like you didn’t even go to the gym but come the day after that and even the slightest cough can send your abs into meltdown mode. This is called DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness… yes it’s a thing) and although it can’t be removed altogether, a good stretch session after your workout will help you a lot.HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATEWater, water and more water. Can’t get enough of that good stuff. We are made up of roughly 60% to 70% of it. You should be drinking between 2 to 3L of it per day. Look at the colour of your urine. That will tell you whether you’re getting enough (Lighter and clearer is obviously better – I think you all know what I’m talking about here.) I like to kill two birds with one stone in my daily water intake and also add a few drops of Zinc and Selenium to my water bottle.HAVE SOME PROTEIN WITHIN 30 MINS OF YOUR WORKOUTYou’ve just done a mammoth workout and pushed your muscles to their limit. But do you know how muscles actually grow and shape? Each time we work them we make tiny tears in them. So they are constantly repairing themselves with new lean muscle fibres. And where do these fibres come from? Protein of course! If you have a protein shake or eat some protein-rich foods within 30 mins of your workout you are giving your body the goodness it needs to start repairing and building your muscles. Check out my post on Fitness and Food for more information about macronutrients.MAKE SURE YOUR TECHNIQUE IS ON POINTThe owner of the gym I train at applies the same amount of concentration and discipline to a 20kg squat as he does to a 250kg one. If your technique isn’t correct then you will not only hinder your progress, you may well hurt yourself in the process. Go back to basics, ask a professional and make sure your technique is PERFECT.PLAN YOUR WORKOUTSMy weekly training schedule looks like this: 2 to 3 x strength days 2 x circuit days 2 x mobility sessions (pilates or yoga). Sometimes I double up a strength day with a mobility day but generally I like to know what I’m doing and when I’m doing it. Planning allows you to make sure that your whole body gets a work out over a designated period of time without the stress of having to try and squash it all into one session. It also gives your body the best chance of recovery if you plan say, a yoga class the day after a strength day.BUY A NEW OUTFITAs silly as this sounds, nothing spells motivation to me more than a killer new outfit. Who doesn’t want to strut their stuff at the gym in the hottest new crop and the latest pair of kicks? New gear is a must – use it as motivation to start training and to reward yourself when you have hit some of your training goals.PUT TOGETHER A KILLER PLAYLISTLike a new outfit, the right music is also a no-brainer. Your workout will seem to go that much faster if you are enjoying the music you are listening to while doing it. Make a few playlists for different days. I have everything from upbeat dance music to R’n’B to daggy 80s. I’ve actually been known to go flying off the treadmill during a particularly enthusiastic rendition of “Eye Of The Tiger” – just make sure you watch what you’re doing…!MIX IT UP!We don’t eat the same foods every day so why should we do the same workout every day?? There are so many different types of exercise that you can be doing from outdoor activities to dance classes to boxing and martial arts to a good old gym session. Get out there, find a few things you love and shake it up a bit! Mixing it up will also allow you to get the most out of your training as your body won’t become used to the same movements. And it’s also an amazing way to meet new people… so go on…. give it a go!!!Check out the Jurlique Fitness Challenge for fitness tips, how-to’s and a four week calendar to get you started.Download the Jurlique X Leah Simmons Fitness Challenge here*The views contained in this Blog are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of Jurlique. You should seek medical advice before commencing any exercise regime.
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THE BENEFITS OF AROMATHERAPY
Jurlique was founded on the deep belief in the healing power of nature, and aromatherapy has been a vital part of our holistic approach to skin care since we began.What is Aromatherapy?Aromatherapy involves the use of aromatic plant materials, particularly essential oils, to alter one’s mood and promote wellbeing.As the name suggests, its primary benefits come from inhaling the scent of these essential oils, which have a predominantly psychological effect.The history of AromatherapyWhile the word ‘aromatherapy’ was only coined in the 1930s, the use of aromatics is as old as civilization itself. Ancient Egyptians used incense for celebrations and ancient Romans for healing purposes. The 1950s onwards saw the development of holistic aromatherapy.This increasingly saw essential oils being used not just in massage, but as psycho-therapeutic substances capable of changing one’s mood.Benefits of AromatherapyAromatherapy is a holistic treatment that enhances wellbeing by treating the mind, body and spirit.It works by stimulating the body’s olfactory system or sense of smell with essential plant oils. When the olfactory receptors in the nose detect the aromas of these oils, it triggers the brain’s limbic system, which controls the emotions.The benefits of aromatherapy vary depending on the essential oils used. Some will soothe and relaxe while others will energise.Aromatherapy MistsDesigned for all-over use, our Aromatherapy Mists contain a blend of specially selected Pure Essential Oils to transform your mood anytime, anywhere.They draw on our rich heritage of promoting wellbeing by making it easy for all of us to reconnect to nature.How to useClose your eyes and mouth and spray your Aromatherapy Mist from above your head. Inhale deeply and let it transform your mood and wellbeing with a Revitalising, Calming or Balancing scent.Prepare for a good night’s sleep by spraying Calming Blend Aromatherapy Mist on your bed linen before you climb into bed. Spray your Aromatherapy Mist around your rooms to infuse them with scent.
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