We’re happy that you reached our website. Here you will find a series of articles that promote well-being and a sustainable way of life. Explore our site so you find inspiration to make a positive change in your life. Our reading material includes travel and tips plus ways to contribute in the making of a better world.
As featured on Sloto Magazine
We are probably the busiest generation ever to exist. Work and household chores can consume most of our day. Our online life also absorbs us, as we are answering emails, making appointments, shopping, reading about the news, connecting with friends and family, from dawn to dusk. With such busy lives, it can be very easy to neglect our bodies, minds and communal welfare.
That’s where the Life Wheel comes in. This is a tool developed to help people tune in to their most essential needs in a holistic way. The idea behind this is that you check on 8 essential areas of your life on a daily basis, to ensure that you are leading a balanced and harmonious life.
To apply this technique, take 10 minutes every day to rank between 1 and 10 the levels of each important area shown in the image above. If you are feeling absolutely healthy, then place a 10 in Health. If you are struggling to pay the bills at the end of the month, enter a 2 in Money.
This will help you get a ‘helicopter’ view of your life and identify the areas you need to strengthen or pay more attention to. Set goals in each area and slowly improve in the areas that need care and effort, in order to harmonize your life.
Breathing comes naturally, until it does not. Most of us have forgotten how to breathe properly and often do it in a very shallow way. Recent research on the benefits of deep breathing include the reduction of stress, improvement of the immune system, better digestion, higher quality sleep and increase in energy.
To breathe properly we need to use our diaphragm, which is a muscle at the base of the chest that assists our breathing. Experts suggest that we take long, deep breaths on a regular basis by contracting and expanding our diaphragm.
Another important breathing habit is to always breathe through the nose. The benefits of doing this includes the reduction of foreign substances entering your body, increased oxygen flow to arteries, veins and nerves, improved lung volume and slower breathing.
The benefits of breathing are clearly shown by Wim Hof, a Dutch extreme athlete known as the Iceman, who has broken several Guinness World records, including one for the longest full-body contact with ice, for a period of 1 hour and 42 minutes. His superhuman abilities are possible thanks to a breathing technique he developed, along with cold exposure techniques.
You can learn to do breathing exercises with Wim Hof for free on his YouTube channel. Implementing daily or weekly breathing exercises to your regular (mindfully deeper) breathing will bring incredible results to your wellbeing!
If you are looking to reduce your sugar intake but worry that the crave for a delicious donut or refreshing ice cream will keep you from reaching your goals, take a look at these tips. One basic rule is that you need the knowledge and the right ingredients to keep yourself on track, such as swapping your fruit juice for an actual piece of fruit - as juice usually removes the fruit's fiber, which is essential to lowering the impact of blood sugar levels.
Another good tip if you spend time at home is not to buy anything that contains refined sugars: regularly check the ingredients on your products to make sure you buy the right stuff. Drinking more water and eating more whole foods prepared at home will fill you up and leave less space for sugary items. However, if the idea of not eating more sugar seems impossible, you can always combine your craving with a healthier option of candy - such as home-baked cookies or dehydrated fruit.
People who wait too long between meals are also prone to choose a more sugary and fatty food option than those who are constantly snacking on healthy options. Good options include fresh vegetables such as baby carrots, crackers with cheese, mixed nuts or homemade popcorn with low amounts of salt.
