Wellness trends: Autumn 2019

Eat what you want when you want

‘Intuitive Eating’ is a refreshingly effective way of achieving optimum health and body acceptance. Eating what you want when you want allows you to break an endless cycle of yo-yo dieting.

It shuns decades of ‘wellness industry’ prescriptive meal planning, calorie counting, portion sizes and complicated food group combinations. The basic premise of ‘Intuitive Eating’ is to work with the rhythms of your own body to understand what you personally need to eat to be your best self.

Over time you will find that you will, as a matter of course, gravitate to a good, wholesome and varied diet, allowing yourself guilt-free treats when you fancy them. An added bonus for those anxious to shift a few pounds is that you will lose weight naturally, without even trying.

Establishing positive eating habits, however, requires an understanding of what drives your relationship with food, and why and how you have built up bad habits. For some outside help and a personalised approach to Intuitive Eating, look to Alissa Rumsey, a recognised award-winning dietician nutritionist who specialises in body positivity and runs Intuitive Eating courses. She passionately promotes the concept of achieving dietary health through ‘self-care, not self-control’, and believes everybody is entitled to feel free around food, instead of anxious and obsessive.

Practice the art of doing nothing

Niksen is a Dutch word meaning, to do nothing. In the world of wellness, Niksen is all about the restorative value of embracing life’s pauses, the benefits of which are now widely lauded across Northern Europe. For many of us, it may seem counter intuitive to step off the grindstone of constant productivity, but taking a step back (sitting quietly in a chair with your mind in neutral, listening to music, or watching the world go by) is therapeutic and can do wonders for minimising stress and anxiety. According to the experts, the key to successful ‘niksing’ is to have absolutely no purpose at all!

Driving this trend forward is CSR Centrum, a coaching centre in the Netherlands, that teaches clients how to deal with stress and anxiety through ‘nixing’. They believe that when we ‘niks’ (or do nothing) our brain continues to tick over. It’s by allowing our brains to declutter that we can achieve ‘lightbulb’ moments, or flashes of illumination and creativity.

Niksen should not be confused with laziness – it is about letting your mind wander without expectation or guilt. It is about stress busting, achieving good karma, about finding joy in doing something (or more to the point doing nothing) for no reason. As a cost-free concept with limited downside, it’s absolutely worth a go in our opinion. Why not try it on your next commute?

Reduce stress levels with mantra meditation

With ‘stress’ deemed to be one of the most serious health epidemics of the 21st century, many of us are turning to anxiety-busting treatments, including meditation and mindfulness, to overcome the crippling side effects of stress.

Beeja meditation (the oldest form of meditation in the world) is now a frontrunner in the anti-stress busting stakes. Will Williams, the founder of Beeja Meditation in Shoreditch, runs the centre’s ‘Beeja’ courses himself, believing it to be the most user-friendly and beneficial form of meditation of the many varieties out there.

During an initial consultation at Beeja Shoreditch, your ‘energy’ will be assessed and a personalised sound-based mantra (Beeja) will be allocated to you. Your Beeja, a one syllable sound with no literal meaning, supposedly resonates with your personal energy channels and nervous system and guides you into a peaceful state.

‘Beeja’ involves no awkward sitting positions, religious connotations or dogma. It is a simple versatile technique that can be used any time and any place, says Williams. It promotes a free flow of thoughts to enable you to ‘find your own unique purpose in life’. It is also thought to restructure your brain’s neuroplasticity, allowing you to reach a state of blissful restfulness.

On leaving the consultation at Beeja meditation, you are recommended to practise 20-minute bouts of meditation twice daily, constantly chanting your Beeja. As a regular part of your daily routine this practice, according to Williams, can seriously help with the stresses and rigours of everyday life, including insomnia.

Prioritise your 'intimate' health

Flushed with the success of her flagship vaginal spa in the US, founder Cindy Barshop is bringing the VSPOT franchise to London.

VSPOT Medi Spa deals specifically with ‘women’s intimate health’. In the discreet and comfortable surroundings of VSPOT – the London outpost is set to open in Chelsea in October – women are encouraged to discuss and address issues pertaining to vaginal health (and aesthetics), urinary incontinence, menopausal changes and any other female ‘condition’ on your mind.

VSPOT’S signature treatments include vaginal tightening; vaginal steaming; the ‘O Shot’ (a non-invasive procedure to increase blood flow and tissue rejuvenation to intensify orgasms); vaginal plumping; and vaginal lightening. Prices start from as low as £103.

It all sounds a little GOOP-like (Gwyneth Paltrow inspired), but there is scepticism from the gynaecological profession with regard to the efficacy and safety of treatments. In addition, results are difficult to measure scientifically – positive feedback from clients may be based on a feel-good basis rather than on solid medical grounding.

If you plan to give your female parts a make-over, bear in mind The General Medical Council’s advice with regard to general cosmetic treatments – this should be applied to female genital cosmetic procedures as well.

Try a new superfood

Lucuma, a Peruvian fruit with strong antioxidant properties, is set to join the ranks of superfoods. Long hailed in its homeland for its healing powers and wellbeing benefits, Lucuma is now being lauded in this country, where it can be eaten whole as a fruit, frozen as ice-cream or ground and sprinkled in smoothies, salads or cereal.

Stuffed with protein, fibre, iron, zinc, calcium, beta-carotene, potassium and antioxidants, Lucuma has many of the benefits of superfoods and is believed to enhance immune function, cardiovascular health, eye health and skin condition.

Lucuma powder can be obtained from multiple outlets, including Wholefoods, Amazon and Holland & Barrett. For maximum health benefits buy the purest form of Lucuma - scrutinise the ingredients on the packet to ensure minimum additives and sugars. If you want to sample Lucuma before investing in the product for your regular use, head to Nama in Notting Hill, a raw produce specialist who offer almond shakes laced with Lucuma and coconut oil.

Splash out on a monthly fitness box subscription

You can now boost your commitment to maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle by investing each month in a home delivery of fitness and lifestyle products. More exciting than a gym subscription, the monthly fitness boxes are designed to keep you motivated and interested, by offering a variety of products that enhance fitness and overall wellness, from supplements and resistance bands, to fitness literature, water bottles and protein bars.

The fitness boxes allow you to sample goods and products without having to commit to them long term, enabling you to decide what best suits your needs. FIT-BOX is a company that delivers to your door on a monthly basis for as little as £14.99 per month. Although unpacking the boxes may well create a tingle of excitement each month, we are not yet entirely convinced that it trumps a good old-fashioned workout?

Pamper yourself: one-day yoga retreats, UK

Finding the time and money for a delicious overseas wellness retreat may be a distant dream for many busy Londoners, but a sneaky day off to indulge in a healthy one-day wellness experience is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Companies and individual practitioners are cottoning on to the demand for one-day retreats, which offer a concentration of therapeutic treatments combined with exercise or yoga sessions. A nutritious lunch is often included, as well as an informative and interesting presentation or health talk. Arrive a bit dog-eared in the morning and expect to leave at the end of the day revived and rejuvenated, having had a good mental and physical workout.