Health and wellbeing is on the top of everyone’s mind at the moment. And more and more, people are becoming aware that health and wellbeing is about more than the body. It’s about the mind as well. We love trying new things and exploring more ways to feel better. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourites below, from colouring books to floatation tanks. Add them all to your to-do-list.
Colouring Books for Mindfulness
Do you remember how much fun you used to have as a child colouring in for hours on end? Turns out, it’s just as much fun as an adult. And it’s a perfect task for mindfulness and relaxation. There is a range of books on the market now, ranging in difficulty, so you can always challenge your concentration. One of our favourites is Secret Garden from illustrator Johanna Basford. The book takes you through a garden adventure with some pages so intricate you’ll be forced to concentrate on only which colour goes next.
Health Tracking Watches
Watches do a lot more than tell the time these days. The Apple Watch is an extreme version of this, but there is a range of smart watches on the market. The Garmin Vivofit is a simple, rectangular face with a range of coloured bands available. Black to blue to a soft purple. This watch counts everything from your step count, your calories expended, and your sleep when paired with your smart phone. You can set daily goals of activity to keep you on track, and it will remind you when you’ve been sedentary for too long. Thanks Garmin. The Misfit Shine on the other hand is a little more about style, with a round face coming in a range of colours and offers 12 little lights that act as tracking markers for your day’s progress. It is waterproof and can be worn with a range of accessories, including a necklace chain if you’re not a wrist person. It tracks steps, calories, sleep, cycling, swimming, yoga, dancing, and you tap it throughout the day, and the circle of lights will track your progress.
Infrared Saunas
Saunas are not a new thing, that we know. But infrared saunas and their health benefits are seeing a rise in popularity. For good reason. While regular saunas heat things due to the overall temperature of the room, infrared saunas heat you internally, which heats the internal tissue without overheating the skin and respiratory system. Why do we care? Infrared saunas are great for detoxifying the system as it forces toxins into the blood stream and then out through sweat. It also supports immune system function as the heating causes an increase in infection-fighting cells, it can aid in high blood pressure as the heat relaxes the blood vessels, reducing high blood pressure, and it also helps with water retention and aids weight loss. Another main benefit from these saunas is the effect it has on joints and muscles. It aids in recovery and in the treatment of arthritis, muscular spasms, soft tissue injuries, and more general pain relief.
Sydney – www.alkaline.com.au
Melbourne – www.muscle-boneclinic.com.au
Realiflex asks How You Are
Realiflex, which stands for Real Life Experience, is a new iPhone App that asks you how you’re feeling and gives you a space to privately track your thoughts, emotions, reactions, actions, and associated feelings. You can add notes at any time and the app will track where you are with the location settings. You can use hashtags on each note so that when looking back, you can track when you were feeling good and bad and whether there were similarities in the situations. It also asks you to decide how much of an impact each situation has. It makes you look internally about your thoughts and actions, and helps you keep track of them at the same time.
Gravity Float Centres
Gravity float centres create pods where you can float in salt infused water. The water is body temperature; the pod is dark, and soundproof. You are pretty much void of sensation. No sight, touch, sounds. All you can do is relax and let it happen. These pods are amazing for relaxation and mindfulness. They also aid in muscle recovery and pain. The floating allows your body to be in a perfect posture position and reduces stress hormones and pain reactions. They create a unique situation where you’re away from the world and the weight on your body for a whole hour. Do with that what you will.
Melbourne – www.gravityfloat.com.au
Sydney – www.sydneyfloatcentre.com.au
