Wellness

The end of the year brings so much fun and celebration, but it also has us feeling at our most challenged. There’s the influx of irresistible food and drink. The focus on friends and family is delightful but somehow takes precedence over fitness. Plus the toll of a long year and the need for a break looms larger than ever, psychologically as well as physically. Here are our top 10 ways to hack the beginning of 2017. Add a few of these to your fresh, new and bright outlook for the new year and you’ll take the edge of that sluggish, tired, run down person you were at the end of 2016.

If forgoing your favorite treats and foods sounds too much like hard work this new year, try this mindset; choosing alkaline foods over acidic. While the body is designed to balance its pH whatever we eat, the foods that fall into the alkaline category are, categorically, healthier for us. You’ll be piling into veggies and fruit, pulses, seeds and herbs and minimizing your intake of sugar and processed foods, meat and dairy, soft drinks, coffee and alcohol. “Focusing on your acid-alkaline balance in the body is an important part of maintaining health,” says Jessica Williams, Flex instructor, co-founder of Body Awakening and a holistic nutritionist.

If you feel the need to overhaul your diet after the holidays but don’t know how to start, look no further than the experts.
Jessica Williams – mother, yoga and Pilates instructor and a holder of a Master’s of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition, as well as co-founder of nutrition supplement brand Body Awakening – changed her life with a diet that suited her needs.

CJ Gurtin was tired. She was run-down, craving sugar and caffeine. There was no denying her body was telling her she needed a change.
Late last year, she decided it was time to try something new and gave a Chakra Flow Yoga class a go. There, she met homeopath and yoga teacher Michelle Ricaille, who runs regular detox programs. Next thing she knew, CJ was taking part in the New Year detox with Michelle.

For those who need scientific proof to truly believe practicing yoga and Pilates is good for your health, one neuroscientist, professor and chair of the department of neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute Peter Strick, may have found the answer. Although previously the connections between the brain and the adrenal glands were believed to be limited, new findings suggest highly complex and direct links that have persuaded Professor Strick to take up Pilates.

Urban Hatch founder Sofie Jacobs explains how a mother-to-be can optimize her health and that of the baby’s with a few simple changes to her lifestyle. At such a significant time, it is essential to understand that looking after yourself is looking after your baby. Focusing on diet and supplements, exercise, sleep patterns and mental and emotional balance will all help towards a healthy, happy and harmonious pregnancy.