Detox & Wellness Archives – Page 16 of 17

Fukushima

Aug 23, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

Fukushima – Should we be very concerned?

Earlier in July, workers in Japan began constructing an underground “ice wall” around the melted-down nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The wall is designed to stop more of the hundreds of tonnes of radioactive groundwater from leaking into the Pacific Ocean. Is this too little too late? Perhaps…

People in Japan early on realized they needed to take things into their own hands if they wanted to know the conditions around them and what their risk factors were as far as food sources being affected by radiation. Citizen labs have been set up in Japan to allow people to test their own food. These labs were modeled after the labs set up in Europe after Chernobyl. The results are alarming, and have led the rest of the world to question if they too are at risk of contamination.

How can we fight it?

Undoubtedly the radioactivity in the ocean has affected food-supply on a world scale. What can we do to solve this, the simple answer is, unfortunately, not a lot. So how then do we protect ourselves from the very serious side effects that radioactivity has on our health? Eating a diet rich in iodine, which is one of the many wonders of dark leafy greens. The best sources are those found in the sea, and Santosa’s recommendation is chlorella, which is an incredibly powerful natural tool in cleaning our blood. Last week we discussed this natural beauty in our ‘Superfoods Decoded’ post.

Please refer back to discover some of the other amazing benefits.

Overcoming the Quarter Life Crisis

Aug 21, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

What is happening to me?

Are you in your mid twenties? Have you been working in a job that your career counsellor recommended to you in high school? Or did you finish, enter into a course and set a pathway into the ‘adult’ world based upon what you studied post year 12? Do you feel that life is monotonous? That you could be doing something better with the 37.5 hours per week that you devote to your job? Do you end up going to the same places and doing the same things every weekend? Are you starting to find this boring? Are you questioning the friendships that you have had for years, feeling stronger about a value base that has formed for you over time and dealing with overwhelming feelings of getting away and escaping a life which you did not ever think you would be unhappy with?

Chances are you are not sure about where you are, don’t know where you want to go, and have conflicted feelings about how you will forge a pathway to an unknown destination. You are getting older, your parents were getting married and having children, or at least thinking about it at your age. You feel it might be too late, that you would be better off thinking about investing in property or getting serious about your superannuation than changing careers and continually pursuing a happiness that never seems to meet your expectations. Maybe those expectations are simply too high, maybe your ‘potential’ has been over-estimated. Maybe you just don’t have the courage to think outside the square and leap out of your comfort zone. One thing is for certain, if you are nodding your head as you read this, then you are likely in the throes of what we have termed the ‘quarter –life’ crisis in modern times.

What is the quarter life crisis?

Astrologers will tell you that it is the period of ‘Saturn’s Return,’ when Saturn completes its cycle through your birth chart for the first time. This signifies a time of endings and new beginnings. Usually occurring between the ages of 28 – 30, the years immediately prior can be fraught with uncertainty and lead us to question everything. It can be a time of great success if we are already working toward a defined goal, or a time of great change if we are not following our destiny. It is the universe’s pathway into adulthood, and a deliberate time of introspection and consolidation when we have the opportunity to focus and bring about positive change within ourselves.

Whilst I am more than open to the suggestion that the universe has an impact on our lives, I also believe there to be a more pronounced case of the ‘quarter-life’ blues in our generation. No doubt there is a major generational shift between Gen Y and those that have come before us. My research does show that we think very differently , behave according to a different value base and expect different things out of life. We are starting to see our parent’s mortality and bringing into question the parallels between their lives, and our own. This leads to a sharp magnification of self analysis and questioning that many of us have not experienced with such exacerbation. The focus on change then manifests and leads us to cling onto the past, stay stagnant or move forward, and indeed ‘grow up.’

Regardless of the source of uncertainty, or indeed the ensuing pain and loss of direction – we can overcome it and it is about taking positive steps. Our generation are inquisitive by nature, so it is time for us to get inquisitive about ourselves – and begin a journey of self-awareness and health which can only lead us to be better people, and to reflect that positivity onto the world around us.

Healing Crisis

Aug 19, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

Why sometimes it is good to feel bad!

A temporary spike in detox symptoms during the elimination of toxins, the healing crisis occurs when our body remembers the imbalances of its past. Uncomfortable, and occasionally alarming – a healing crisis is a great sign that the body is working to heal itself.

When years of accumulated toxins are being released from our cells, sometimes our body’s elimination channels cannot keep up with them.

How to get over a healing crisis?

The key to navigating your way through this in a detox program? You must keep going! Remember that it is all part of the process, and the discomfort will be short-lived. Rest really helps, as does looking for the positive and helping it to change our habits going forward.

When during a detox program at Santosa Wellness Center in Phuket, you find yourself going through a healing crisis, remember that this is a momentary feeling and the benefits gained from it are much greater. Our team members are always here to make this temporary body reaction go as smooth as possible.

Natural Supplements

Aug 18, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

Supercharge your diet with SUPPLEMENTS!

Santosa’sarray of superfoods are the ultimate in biologically hacking our mind and body to perform at its most optimal level.

Why do we need superfoods?

Partly because we no longer receive sufficient nutrients in our food sources due to genetic modification, high processing and preparation at extreme temperature which often destroys much of the nutritional content.

How can natural supplements help us?

Supplementation can assist us not only to absorb the correct nutrients, but can also make us work at peak-performance, by naturally balancing out hormones, assisting poor digestion, helping to oxygenate the blood, stimulating peak athletic performance or assisting with stress management. It is incredible to think that we have tried to solve a whole host of conditions with pharmaceuticals, when nature has always provided so many remedies that our superfoods can solve.

Rediscover ancient remedies and learn to be mindful about what your body needs in order to reach its optimal peak performance… come into Santosa Detox Center in Phuket to discover the vast array of natural supplements that we have available at our juice bar today!

Generation Y and the Quarter Life Crisis

Aug 15, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

Generation Y Characteristics

“We are dealing with the best educated generation in history, but they have got a brain dressed up with nowhere to go” Timothy Leary

Born in the mid-1980’s and later, generation Y are a unique segment of society that have differing needs, desires and attitudes to their older peers. We are tech-savvy, focused on achieving a work/life balance yet we strive to be high achievers. We operate well in team environments and have a reputation as being attention seekers. Some call us narcissistic as a reaction to our heavy reliance on online social networking mediums; no doubt we are strong contributors to the age of instant gratification.

We have lived in fortunate times, having had the opportunity to be better educated and enjoying more privilege than our parents. We are satisfaction seekers, cutting ties quickly when we can’t find it. We have high expectations and morals and expect them to be met. We are entrepreneurial, yet community minded.

Many of us have seen the cost of being materially endowed through our parents – broken marriages, stress related illness and absentee parenting, so although we don’t reject it; we are disillusioned with the idea that money will make us happy. We are ambitious when stimulated, tend to be well travelled and are known to be quick learners.

All in all, we are fortunate, yet it is almost as though we’ve had too much choice. As though our education and access to immediate information have left us over-stimulated and slightly lost and afraid. We’ve been told we can have it all, and we have a sense of entitlement, yet many of us feel unsure of where we are going, and are prone to questioning where we are now. Employers find that we demand flexibility, question authority and are nearly impossible to retain. Statistics suggest that we will not only change jobs a multitude of times, but in fact careers – perhaps due to our mantra that we work to live, not live to work.

The quarter life crisis may indeed be a phenomenon that is much more apparent to our generation. In the past, career pathways were more clear-cut, marriage and children occurred earlier and gender roles were better defined. Some even say that we enter the quarter-life crisis because of the generational shift creating a period of ‘pro-longed adolescence’ which is attributed to making the bigger life changes later on.

Keep an eye out for next week’s article on how to overcome the quarter life crisis.

Body Mind Spirit

Aug 13, 2014 | Detox & Wellness

Is fasting the ultimate pathway into body, mind and spirit?

“Eating three times a day means taking on, almost without respite, the work of assimilation.”
― Adalbert de Vogüé

The concept of fasting is a practice dating back thousands of years, not just for its profoundly positive impact on good physical health, but also that of the mind and spirit.
To me, the ultimate pathway into equilibrium between the integral facets of our being, is fasting and purification. Having spoken about the intrinsic connection between our body, mind and spirit, and working at Santosa Detox Center in Phuket, who bases its philosophy on this synergistic connection, I felt it only fitting to celebrate my recent milestone birthday, by undertaking our strongest and most challenging detox program, a 21 day Full Fast.

I wanted to share some insights on what I can only describe as a deeply beneficial experience, and one which I feel has bought an incredible sense of balance and perspective.
The body is an incredible machine, and by starving the cells through fasting, we gain a true insight into just what a complex matrix of systems we operate on. We are taught from an early age not to deny ourselves, but in ‘nourishing’ according to a pre-prescribed timetable and school of thought on what we should be consuming, we are in fact denying the opportunity to purify and rejuvenate on a cellular level.

When cells are starved, for a period of time they enter into survival mode, where deep repair is able to take place. Fasting is often accompanied by a healing crisis, which is when toxins start to leave our body more quickly than we are able to comfortably process them. For the chronically ill, this can mean a temporary flair up, or for those in generally good health it can present a time when old injuries become painful again, or when symptoms such as fever, dizziness, headaches and nausea temporarily occur. This is usually short lived, and a ‘fasters high’ follows, where an increase in energy, a feeling of lightness, unparalleled clarity of mind and improved function in digestion, metabolism and sleeping patterns abound. It proves that we need less than we think in order not just to survive, but to flourish.

When the ‘faster’s high’ hit me, it caused me to think very deeply about just how much time we spend thinking about food, preparing it, deciding when to eat it, and on consuming it. In fact, our lives are governed by meal-times, and our minds train our bodies on when we should eat, and what is appropriate to eat during that period. This is not necessarily a negative thing, especially if we are being mindful and making a concerted effort to nourish rather than just fill ourselves each day. However, when consumption is taken out of the equation all together, it is amazing to realize exactly how much time and energy is left free to focus on other things. Going deeper, it even gives a sense of wonder, that our bodies are governed by a pre-determined timetable in the first place! What if we listened a little more carefully, and allowed ourselves the opportunity to feed our own unique bio-chemistry by our own set of rules? If everybody is different, then surely this increased mindfulness would go a long way in creating a healthy equilibrium.

On a spiritual level, it is incredible that when taking out this external stimuli, we are left with so much time and energy to focus elsewhere. It is this that makes fasting such a cathartic and emotionally healing time. Having the space to reflect and think allows an incredible journey of self-discovery to take place whilst all of the physical healing works away in the background. It is a time when much emotional toxicity is discarded, and our concept of time completely shifts. This is largely due to the brain.

One of the secrets of optimal health and vitality is the ability to operate from the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), rather than the adrenaline fuelled ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic nervous system (SNS). SNS is fuelled by caffeine, alcohol, spiking blood sugar levels, stress and anything that causes our heart rate to increase – it is the breeding ground for chronic disease. The gentle PSNS is polar opposite in function – it slows our heart rate to conserve energy whilst our body activates the intestinal and glandular activity necessary for digestion. For optimal health we want to operate predominantly on our PSNS, and fasting causes this switch to happen. When the switch is made, true rest and relaxation are able to occur, and health is restored. When our alpha waves are slowed and theta waves increase, balance is found and psychological issues such as neurosis, a decreased focus on the superficial and feelings of being grounded and stable occur.

The natural high that comes with fasting is a profound one. Time and time again, we hear that it is “the best I have ever felt in my life.” It is hard to let go of these feelings, and the true reset is a perfect foundation for making healthier choices going forward. The purified body is able to send signals about what does and doesn’t work, and establishing the mind and body connection through fasting allows us to pertinently listen once more.

So at the end of 21 days, how do I feel? Honestly, that I want to keep going! But sensibly, I won’t. I will however, be adopting intermittent fasting every week going forward and I know that in doing this, I will be able to keep these feel good vibes going, and increase my health and vitality exponentially. The statement ‘less is more’ seems more profound than ever!