Healthy and beautiful from the inside

You want to feel good about the way you look and that includes the health of your weight, skin, hair, and nails.

To achieve the results, you not only focus on your body, but also your mental health as well. That is because beauty literally comes from within.

Nutrition in particular plays a pivotal role in your appearance. Anyone who eats conscientiously and pays attention to the quality of food they eat has already taken the first step. However, your positive attitude about life and your own self-appreciation also have an enormous influence on your body, soul, and overall wellbeing. Treat yourself from time to time, and enjoy life!

Simple tips for a better overall quality of life ...

  • A balanced diet with whole grain products, high-quality protein sources, fruit and vegetables and sufficient fluids from water, are the foundation for a radiant appearance, greater energy, and better overall wellbeing.
  • Vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fatty fish are rich in poly-unsaturated fatty acids. They ensure vital, supple skin and protect it from drying out.
  • Blueberries, raspberries, elderberries, currants, eggplants, spinach and chard are particularly rich in plant antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the skin from free radicals, which are formed by environmental pollution, nicotine or intensive sun exposure.
  • A positive attitude on life, along with sufficient rest and sleep supports all the regeneration processes in the body and leads to a feeling of increased wellbeing.
  • Treat yourself to some wellness in your own bathroom. It is a great idea to pamper yourself with an aromatic bath after a tough day. It helps you relax and it is great for your body, mind and soul.

... some more tips:

 

  • Alternating your days with showers also stimulates your blood circulation and metabolism and this is particularly beneficial if you are going through menopause.
  • Alkaline peeling is a method for removing dead skin particles and makes the skin smooth and soft. 
  • If your skin is very dry or cracked or if you suffer from skin problems we recommend alkaline baths for relaxation and cleansing. The channel system of the skin is opened in a gentle way and the natural function of acid and toxin excretion is supported.
  • Ayurvedic methods can also help you to reduce stress and gain energy for everyday life. Traditional Asian medicines also aim to bring more harmony into your life.

With Ayurveda into total relaxation

Stress and the excessive demands of everyday life can make you mentally and physically ill. With Ayurveda, the Indian science of “long life,” you focus your attention on inner balance, and therefore it gives you an important foundation for a healthy life.

Man consists of the whole body and soul, and this is the basis of the 5,000-year-old healing art of Ayurveda. If we do not live in harmony with nature and our inner being, we become sick. The reason is the three life energies, the doshas, get out of balance. With Ayurvedic treatment methods, Ayurvedic doctors help to harmonize your doshas again, and they include “Vata”, “Pitta” and “Kapha.” Individual treatment can include yoga, meditation, herbal medicine, nutrition therapy, massage therapy, and oil applications.

Fine tune your intuition

Fortunately, you don’t have to be sick to try Ayurveda! During an Ayurvedic wellness treatment, you will increase your physical and mental wellbeing with oil treatments, massages, and dietary guidelines. The effect can last a long time. You will also learn a lot about your deepest needs through the in-depth self-analysis that Ayurveda teaches you.

Perhaps you’ll then ask yourself, “Which activities, food and human encounters are not good for me?” You will recognize your personal stress factors and become aware of the physical and emotional signs of overstrain and burnout. On this basis, integrating new, healthy habits into your everyday life can improve your quality of life quickly and, most importantly, in the long term – simply because you address your innermost needs.

How to integrate Ayurveda into your life:

  • Ensure that your daily routine is based on supporting structures. For example, get up early and always at the same time. First, drink a cup of hot water. 
  • Relaxation should be part of your life just as much as your work and daily activities. Plan fixed breaks every day. Make sure you get sufficient and regular sleep.
  • Your body needs movement to stay smooth and in the flow. Daily yoga exercises, for example, will keep you healthy in the long term.
  • Treat yourself now and then to an Ayurvedic relaxation treatment. The Shirodhara forehead shower therapy, for example, helps to relax the mind and soul. A jet of warm sesame oil is poured onto the patient’s forehead for up to 45 minutes. The continuous flow triggers calming impulses on the nerve cells and relieves tension on the brain’s membranes, brain nerves and the spinal column.
  • The Abhyanga massage (“Loving Hands”) also helps reduce stress. The four-handed oil massage is carried out with healing herbal oils, which also dissolve skin impurities in deep-seated layers of tissue. The Abhyanga massage harmonizes all three doshas, helps release waste products, and balances nervous states of tension.

Tips for healthy skin

Our skin is very special. It not only receives countless impressions from the outside world, but also reveals feelings and moods from your inner world. If the old saying holds true, the skin is the mirror of your soul. This makes it all the more important that we take good care of it, such as through baths and a healthy diet.

As the largest body organ, our skin takes over vital functions. It protects against sun, cold, radiation, dehydration and overheating. It is a respiratory and excretory organ in equal measure. It even recognizes and destroys harmful microorganisms that penetrate into its outer layer and it often indicates what we’re feeling inside. We become “red with anger” or “pale with fright,” sweat with fear and excitement or get goose bumps in emotional situations. In the case of neurodermatitis or psoriasis, psychological stress can lead to the outbreak of the disease or to a further relapse. Even our age can be seen on our skin. At the same time, when your skin is clear and radiant, you are likely relaxed and well rested.

“Beauty comes from within” 

  • Only with an intact acid mantle can your skin fend off harmful external influences and protect itself against infections, allergies, irritation and dehydration. Avoid cleaning your skin with only water. This is because the skin temporarily dries out the horny layer of the skin (outer layer of the epidermis) and disturbs the barrier function. It’s better to add a fat-replenishing substance to the water.
  • Tip: Create a cleansing emulsion. Add two tablespoons of olive oil or flaxseed oil to a cup of coconut milk, then simply add the mixture to the water at body temperature. Carefully dab dry afterwards. Do not rub!
  • Moisturising your skin with cream is absolutely necessary. Make sure, however, that everything you apply has a neutral to slightly acid pH value of approximately 5.5 to 5.7. This will keep the protective acid mantle intact. Good skin care doesn’t have to be expensive, but the ingredients should be age-appropriate.
  • Avoid too much UV (ultra violet) light and make sure you apply a day cream with sun protection. UV light stresses the skin and causes it to age prematurely. It also increases the risk of skin cancer. Natural sun protection can also be eaten! This is where the secondary plant substances, such as those found in carrots and tomatoes, can help. Consistency is also important. For at least 14 days, eat two tablespoons of tomato paste with a few drops of olive oil on your bread. That will provide your skin with a natural sun protection shield that has a factor of 3 to 4.

Healthy food – healthy skin

  • Healthy food is a beauty elexier for the skin. Eat fresh fruit and vegetables with robust and vibrant colours, such as blueberries, raspberries, elderberries, currants, eggplants, spinach and chard are particularly high in plant antioxidants and protect the skin from free radicals. The right oils and fats, such as flaxseed oil, protect against your skin drying out thanks to their polyunsaturated fatty acids. Food with a lot of vitamin A (including many types of fruit and vegetables, egg yolk and oily fish like mackerel and salmon) increases skin thickness and improves the skin structure. Vitamin E prevents age spots and reduces the loss of moisture in the skin. It is particularly found in grains, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils such as wheat germ oil, corn oil and sunflower seed oil. And, as always, it is very important to drink enough water! Water is the thirst quencher of the skin.
  • Getting enough sleep is crucial for the skin. Sufficient rest and recovery support all the regeneration processes in your body and skin.
  • Practice an overall healthy lifestyle! Smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, being overweight, lack of sleep, stress and poor diet choices determine (up to 40%!) how quickly your skin ages.
  • And don’t forget that your skin loves exercise in the fresh air and lots of deep breaths!

Wellness for your home

Wellness doesn’t have to be expensive. Design your own personal feel-good program at home. Whether it’s daily short rituals or an extensive day of pampering, let yourself be inspired by our ideas. For instance, try an aroma bath with essential oils.

Would you like to enjoy life in the present after a stressful day of work? Well, then consider your sense of smell – the most mysterious of all our human senses. The information taken in through the nose immediately reaches the parts of the brain responsible for memory and emotions. And so, what we smell, or odour information, has a direct effect on our emotions. Your “olfactory memory” refers to your memory of odours. As a result, a scent can influence our mood and bring long-forgotten experiences back to mind. Fragrances that bring back nice memories positively influence your immune system and psyche.

Essential oils are easy to use

Aroma applications are particularly well suited for your wellness program at home. They are based on essential oils, the fragrant substances of plants and are obtained from flowers, leaves, pine needles, stems, resins, fruits, fruit peels, tropical grasses, roots and seeds.

How it works:

  • If you don’t have a diffuser, just put a few drops of essential oils in a bowl of water and place it on a heater to evaporate.
  • You can also add a few drops of different essential oils to create your personal massage oil.  
  • Aroma baths with essential oils are particularly relaxing. The essences are not only absorbed through the nose, but also through the skin.

Wellness at home

  • First a footbath, then an extensive manicure and pedicure. This combo is great for a cozy Sunday afternoon!
  • Take your time and spoil yourself. You’re tired? Then sleep. Would you like to spoil yourself with a great book? Then do it – on your comfy sofa. Would you like to indulge in some culinary delights? Take plenty of time for shopping and preparing the food.
  • Do you just need some peace and quiet? Then turn off your TV and phone, and enjoy.
  • Wellness for two is more your thing? It is a great idea to get a massage with your significant other.

Treat yourself to an alkaline bath

An alkaline bath is very relaxing and cleansing. It’s also highly recommended for skin problems. Use detoxifying ingredients such as baking soda, Epsom salts, honey and your choice of essential oils, including eucalyptus, peppermint, lemon or ginger oil.

What should you know about alkaline baths?

  • A bath with alkalinizing ingredients gently opens the pores of your skin. It also supports the natural function of your skin in eliminating acids and toxins.
  • Alkaline baths are suitable for all skin types and are particularly recommended for very dry and cracked skin. They also help with skin problems, such as neurodermatitis and psoriasis.
  • Important detail: Your alkaline bath should have a pH value of more than 8. Your blood, on the other hand, has a pH value of 7.4. The higher pH value in the bath water causes osmotic pressure to occur and if you bathe longer than 30 minutes in an alkaline solution that has a pH value of more than 8, you will then excrete acids from your skin pores.

Tips for even more effectiveness and enjoyment

  • The water temperature must not be too hot. (It should be about body temperature.)
  • Take your time! The detoxifying effect only starts after around 30 minutes and the effect reaches its highest point after 90 minutes.
  • Brushing your skin increases the beneficial effect. Rub your body every 10 minutes with a massage glove in the direction of the lymph flow. Always start a brush massage with the blade moving away from your heart.
  • Don’t shower after your alkaline bath since the alkalinizing minerals have a moisturising effect that greatly benefits your skin.
  • After the bath, wrap yourself in a warm towel and relax for about 30 minutes.
  • For a change of pace, you can also treat yourself to a stimulating shower peeling. This is where you shower your body and alternate with warm and cold water. Then put some alkaline material in your hand, moisten it and massage the peeling into the moist skin until the minerals have completely dissolved. This stimulates your blood circulation, removes dead skin particles and makes your skin smooth and soft. After the peeling, it’s best not to take a shower and leave the alkaline minerals on the skin.

Spoil your senses – wellness for eyes and ears

The five senses are – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. How aware are you of your senses on a daily basis? There is a lot of things that can benefit your senses, especially your eyes and ears.

The facial sense – also called the visual sense – is your most important sensory perception. The body is able to register up to 10,000 individual optical stimuli every second. The brain then quickly summarizes and interprets them. It is no wonder we often feel visually overexcited by the end of the day.

As for your hearing, this sense can be described as the constantly-alert background sense. The ears cannot be closed, and therefore they are always attuned for reception. This highly-sensitive organ can absorb 100,000 pieces of information per second; however, only a maximum of 30 pieces reach our consciousness. Even while you dream, these pieces of information continue to work. They inform, protect and warn you when your eyes are unable to see.

Relaxation tip for the eyes – Palming

Palming is a great relaxation technique for your eyes. 

  • Rub your palms against each other to warm them. Form a shell with both hands and cover the eyeballs with the palms of your hands and without touching the eyelids.
  • Close your eyes and enjoy the darkness behind your eyelids. As you perform this relaxation technique, take deep breaths.
  • To finish the technique, remove your hands from your eyes slowly. Then open gently open your eyes, like you are in slow motion.
  • Throughout this exercise, breathe in slowly and evenly through the nose and breathe out through your slightly opened lip

Relaxation tip for the ears – Oasis of silence

You will want to give your ears regular rest. 

  • Lie on your back with a blanket spread out on the floor. Close your ears with earplugs.
  • Slowly take five deep breaths and listen to your inner self. Can you notice your “inner sound?”
  • Put your hands on your chest and slowly breathe deeply in and out – five times. On your last exhalation, release all your tension from the chest. Repeat this technique with your stomach and pelvic bone.
  • As you finish, place your hands beside your body. Now, listen to your inner sound again. Has anything changed?

Smell, taste, feel – A sensuous program

Have you tried our relaxation tips for eyes and ears? Three more senses await you on your wellness adventure. The following are more feel-good tips for your senses of smell, taste and touch.

The sense of smell and taste are closely linked. Did you know that your nose delivers about 80% of your taste information? It can perceive around 10,000 different smells. Your taste buds, each with 50 to 150 sensory cells, lie on the tongue. They can distinguish between sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes.

However, there are a number of factors that can reduce your ability to taste, including consumption of artificial flavours and overly-flavoured food, taking certain medicines, having an illness and even getting older in general. The good news is, your taste buds can be trained!

Sensitize your sense of touch and go barefoot

A great way to intensify your sense of touch is walking on a barefoot path – a specifically designed walking path. On this journey, you will truly be able to connect with the land and feel the earth under the soles of your feet. It can be very soothing and liberating to hit the trials without footwear! In Canada, there are many conservation areas, hiking trials, and parks that give you the option to go barefoot.

Feeling and touching are part of the primal experience. As unborn babies, we became familiar with these senses in the womb – long before we could hear or see. Later when we became babies and toddlers, we used our senses to explore the world. It helps us differentiate whether something is round or has sharp edges; sooth or rough; cold or warm; wet or dry; or hard, fluffy or flabby. As we go through life, we learned to truly understand the world and we did all this with the senses as our guiding light.

 

 

Tips for successfully training your taste buds

  • Avoid processed food and fast food whenever possible.
  • Be curious. Be open to trying something new more often.
  • Make sure you have enough time to eat. Enjoy and look forward to each time you sit down to eat a meal.
  • Practice mindful eating. Enjoy your food without becoming distracted by other things, such as the TV, radio, reading, or your phone or work.
  • Eat slowly and ‘feel’ the taste when you chew your food.