Lifestyle

Ever wondered how your face can reveal what you eat? Naturopathic experts take a different approach to explaining how your diet plays a major role in the aging process, through a method called ‘skin mapping’. This is an ancient idea which suggests that parts of the face are linked to particular organs in the body. The redness, puffiness, dark shading, sagging, lines or spots on certain parts of the face can reveal a lot about a person’s diet, and so naturopathic experts use this information on anti-ageing holidays to suggest the necessary supplements and diet changes to promote healthy ageing. Naturopaths have found that sugar, wine, dairy and gluten are often the underlying cause to people’s inner problems which can result in the onset of premature ageing. Naturopaths therefore use the skin mapping technique to reveal which type of ‘face’ or ‘faces’ a person has, with different faces indicating different issues.

Forget quick-fix diets as healthy living starts with an active routine. The 'Fit not Thin' campaign from The Sunday Times is all about being fit and healthy instead of just thin. This is something that Health and Fitness Travel firmly believes in and is present throughout all our healthy holidays, as we focus on a holistic wellness approach that comes from both inside and out. Being fitter and healthier will benefit all aspects of your life; you'll feel more energetic, stronger, healthier and less stressed.

Sean Carey

Sean Carey is the Fitness and Lifestyle trainer at Absolute Sanctuary in Koh Samui, Thailand. Sean, originally from the UK is not only a certified Fitness trainer but also a Yoga and Pilates teacher. He believes that exercise training all comes down to body awareness regardless of what our goals may be. Once we understand what is entailed to achieve results then the probability of the goal being achieved is greatly increased. Sean says one method of exercise might be right for the one person but a different method may be required for another, and this can only be realised through body awareness.

The one diet this pharmacist recommends, here is what you need to know.

By Holly Louise Fitness, Pharmacist and expert for Body Science

We are constantly being told to “eat well” and stay away from “bad foods”, especially if we want to lose weight. However, experience has shown that when you place yourself into a restrictive diet which labels food as “good” or “bad” or even eliminates whole food groups, you become more susceptible to binge eating. This in turn creates feelings of guilt and generates negative emotions, resulting in a very unhealthy relationship with food and body image. In order to have a healthy relationship with food and with ourselves, we need to change this mentality and become aware of how our bodies actually respond to food.

February is the time of year when we begin to settle back into our daily routine after all the excitement and stress that comes with the festive season. But if your New Year has started with a whimper rather than a bang then a healthy holiday could well be the answer to your needs. So why not revive those failing New Year’s resolutions and escape the cold on one of our exclusive wellness holidays designed specifically to leave you de-stressed and revitalised?

Reset your body from head to toe on a detox retreat and start to feel clearer and more energized as a result. With a wide variety of benefits, experience a boost in your immune system and overall health. We pick up toxins from environmental factors as well as from the unhealthy food we eat. This can then explain classic symptoms like lethargy, mood swings and indigestion problems that all indicate you are in need of a detox. Discover how a detox holiday can re set your body and create a healthy foundation for you to build upon.

Shining the spotlight on the role of the digestive system in weight management, Amanda Holmes, visiting food expert at Marbella Club in Spain, shares the benefits of adapting our diet to help with weight loss.

Daniela Herzberg

Daniela Herzberg is a Life Coach, Nutritionist and certified Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology consultant from Abama Golf & Spa Resort in Tenerife, and is responsible for the award-winning Abama Total Wellness programme. Together with her partner she founded 5-elementos.com, a widely known internet portal for healthy living. Her comprehensive knowledge about the Chinese philosophies is a result of her work with Derek Walters, one of the most respected Feng Shui masters in the world and several other internationally renowned teachers.

Everyone's familiar with low energy levels which can cause us to feel fatigued, mentally foggy or irritable. It's no surprise that we all tend to go through that lull in the middle of the day where regaining even a smidgen of energy seems impossible. Getting a quick energy fix can be really simple by making a few changes to your daily routine. We share five ways to increase your energy and recommend five of our best energy boosting holidays.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is causing a great deal of concern and uncertainty for many across the world. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness in animals and humans; COVID-19 is the latest strand of coronavirus to be discovered. 

Dr. Manuela Figini

Dr. Manuela Figini is a highly accomplished Medical Doctor at Longevity Wellness Resort in Portugal, with an extensive knowledge in Aesthetic, preventive and ageing management. She has an impressive medical background of 40 years' experience and is the Clinical Director of the Longevity Medical Spa practice, where she is responsible for all the medical aspects of each programme and discipline, covering areas such as acupuncture, ozone therapy and aesthetic medicine. She taught pathology at the College of Nursing, was the resident doctor at Vila Real Hospital, and studied Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery. She also holds qualifications in Acupuncture, Aesthetic Medicine, Anti- Ageing Medicine and Ozone Therapy

This year, World Health Day (Sunday 7th April) is focusing on High Blood Pressure, an issue which affects 1 in 3 adults ever year. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure and if left untreated can cause blindness and heart failure. However, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable. We asked some of our spa holiday experts for their top tips to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.

When we think of mindfulness, and the process of becoming self-aware of our emotions, thoughts, feelings and senses, most of us envision a method of passive meditation. Although this may ring true when practiced by its founding Buddhists, the reality is, we do not need to be physically still and shut away from the world to find our inner-calmness. In today’s fast-paced society where finding a spare hour (or six) is nigh on impossible, this is most certainly a good thing! Active mindfulness is concerned with maintaining an introspective state of consciousness whilst engaging in everyday activities. Still a bit confused? The following guide turns a spotlight on mindfulness, complete with key tips on how to practice and apply it to your life.

Poor nutrition and lifestyle choices can leave you feeling run-down and lethargic, leading to stress and inactivity, which cause a build-up of toxins in the mind and body. Offering benefits from weight-loss to increased mental vitality, a great way to re-energise your system is to embark on a spring cleanse and enhance your well-being on a healthy detox holiday. Helping to support your body's natural elimination processes, detoxification offers numerous health benefits through a tailor-made approach of healthy nutrition and carefully chosen treatments.

It’s relatively easy to maintain your fitness whilst you’re in the comfort of your own surroundings, with the local gym just down the road and a schedule of weekly fitness classes. Yet, when travelling for business, the disruption of your daily routine can leave many neglecting their health and fitness whilst away. With studies revealing the benefits of exercise for increased concentration and productivity, together with reduced stress levels and insomnia, maintaining your fitness can offer great perks when on a business trip or corporate wellness retreat. Here, we share some helpful hints on how you can stay fit and healthy on a wellness holiday, so that you can perform at your peak whilst travelling for business.

Your holiday is the perfect time to relax and enjoy yourself, as you escape the day to day grind. Whether you’re dreaming of lying on a beach, sightseeing in the city or practicing yoga by the pool, your trip should be fun and most importantly, stress free.

Preparing for a trip away can be hectic and time-consuming, so to make it easier, we have provided a few useful tips to keep you stylish and stress-free during the Autumn/Winter holiday season:

The uncertainty of Brexit has U.K. Citizens wondering if they should wait to book a retreat and put their wellness goals on hold thus requiring answers to important questions that will impact their decision. If I book through a travel company or travel alone to Europe will I need a new Visa? Can I update my friends back home with my current phone provider without extra charges? How will the pound correlate to the currency at my destination? Will I be spending an arm and a leg to have walking around money abroad? All these questions and many more are understandable and worthy of an inquiry. Be ready to pack up for a holiday unlike any other with our many relaxing and invigorating retreats as you are good to go.

The mind and body have an intimate bond – the way you think or feel can have a profound impact on your physical health. Your body has specific ways of responding to different emotions. When upset or under stress, your body reacts, telling you that something isn’t quite right. Call it evolutionary advantage; a physical manifestation waving a red flag when something inside you goes haywire. On the downside, when left unchecked, this opens us up to a number of health risks, with some more detrimental than others.

Of course, there’s always a way to cultivate and maintain a healthy emotional balance in our lives. Negative emotions cause negative effects in our bodies and in the same vein, good feelings and positive emotions have positive and therapeutic effects, with the potential to heal us and make us healthier and happier inside out. Diving deeper into the topic, we explore the mind-body connection and its relation to our health.

Lyndall Mitchell

Lyndall Mitchell is Australia’s foremost wellness expert with more than 20 years leading the wellness sector in Australia. She is the Founder and CEO of Aurora Spa, the country’s award-winning urban spa that employs more than 100 staff. The spa is internationally renowned for treatments and products that maximize therapeutic benefits as well as delivering a sublime, restorative spa experience. Executive Wellbeing Coaching is a natural extension of her life experience in wellness. She offers her clients a deep knowledge of all aspects of wellbeing as well as insights gained from leading a fast-growth retail and wholesale business.