Three fresh ideas to manage your wellbeing this winter.

New ideas for surviving and thriving this winter.

 

Just when you thought the end of the lockdown is near, fall arrives and the risk of coronavirus increases. For many of us that means more days inside on zoom meetings, more virtual parties, more grocery deliveries and more time alone or with close family. Lovely for a few days but it’s mentally and physically challenging when the lockdown turns into a year.

 

Luckily we have some fresh ideas to share from our recent GOOP Health experience. Here’s some of our favorite GOOP ideas to help maintain your wellbeing this fall and winter.

 

Three fresh ideas for managing your wellbeing this winter

 

1/ Mind

 

Stress relief was one of the main themes of the event. For many, meditation and exercise are the main ways for managing the day-to-day stress. GOOP introduced us to a new practice.

 

Learn how to channel your feelings into creativity. If you’re intimidated by even the thought of art or anything creative, don’t be. You don’t need a great eye or advanced skill to complete her exercises. Just a willingness to play with paint and time to express your feelings in color and shapes. You can do it alone or do it with family.

 

2/ Body

 

GOOP included both diet and exercise sessions to help participants develop a strategy for maintaining good health. However, the diet session was really interesting to me.

 

Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh shared her story about healing herself through Ayurvedic principles after training in Western medicine. If you’re not familiar with Ayurvedic eating, it has 4 principles:

 

1/ What you eat: Interestingly, what matters the least of the four principles. With that said, the key to “what” is that your food should be fresh, seasonal and grown locally. The short story is to follow nature.

 

2/ Why you eat: Why is about understanding your feelings when you eat. Many of us eat for reasons other than hunger. So think about what you are feeling when you eat.

 

3/ Where you eat: Where is about taking time to enjoy your food and the experience of eating it. Many of us have formed bad habits of eating in our car, at our desks and in front of our television at the end of a long day. Try to break yourself of those habits and create an experience [place mats, cloth napkins and candles] so that you can really enjoy the food.

 

4/ How much: How much is about the quantity and time of day. While the principle is pretty prescriptive about when to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. The most important take away is to eat your largest meal midday when your internal fire is the hottest.

 

3/ Spirit

 

Medical experts suggest decluttering and sprucing up your home to lift your spirits. GOOP had a different twist on the recommendation and introduced us to the idea of plants not furniture. You may be a “plant parent” already and not know it. The name made me laugh but the tips from Nick Cutsumpas are great.

 

1/ Assess your environment: Look at the size of your space, the way it faces and level of sun exposure and the level of humidity in the air before you purchase any plants.

 

2/ Make your purchase: Look for plants that will thrive in the space you have and then assess the health of the plant. Plants should have new growth and be free of insects and other signs of infestation. Check both sides of the leaves.

 

3/ Style your room: Purchase new pots that are 2 inches larger than the existing pot to repot your plants. Use the same type of soil and add drainage stones to the bottom if needed. Position your plants where they will thrive in your room.

 

4/ Maintain your plants: Water them when the soil is dry. The watering schedule will depend on the light and humidity of the room. Clean the leaves monthly and use fertilizer in the spring to ensure your plants have the food needed to grow.

 

Plants are a great way to bring the outdoors in so that you have your own little jungle or outdoor oasis in your home.

 

2021 Insights

 

According to intuitive energy healer Tracey Byer, self-care is going to be even more important for 2021. Follow the advice of medical experts and prepare now to hunker down so that you have the resources needed to manage your wellbeing.