Last year’s wellness trends included the Danish concept of hygge, using coconut oil for pretty much everything and our old friend mindfulness.

This year’s trends focus on food, both as medicine and nutrition, better sleep and an awareness of the environment as we nurture ourselves. Read on for the key wellness trends to watch in 2018.

Nourish yourself and help the world
Protecting the planet will become an integral part of our wellness routines, meaning we help the environment as we help ourselves. Stock up on homegrown healthy foods such as linseeds, broccoli and pumpkin that don’t require air miles. Similarly, include sustainable and health-benefiting crops in their traditional forms such as chickpeas and lentils. This wellness trend goes hand in hand with…

Health and beauty outside and in
Vitamin C, for example, found in berries, sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens such as kale contains strong antioxidants that can help protect you from disease and slow the ageing process. When applied to the skin topically, vitamin C can reduce inflammation, suppress free radical activity and prevent the appearance of visible ageing.

Food used as medicine
Healing spices are increasingly being recognised as healthy alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Turmeric, which has been used in food and Ayurvedic medicine in Eastern cultures for centuries, will continue to be a key wellness trend in 2018. The fragrant golden spice’s anti-inflammatory properties are due to a compound called curcumin and early research has looked into the potential effect of curcumin on a range of conditions from pre-menstrual tension to Alzheimer’s disease. Wellness retreats with a strong focus on nutrition will continue to allow guests to find the best food for their needs.

Benefits of sleep
When public figures such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google executive Jonathan Rosenberg admit they couldn’t function as highly as they do without eight hours a night (watch the video below for more on this) sleep becomes highly topical. Bedroom comfort and practices to help sleep range from smart mattresses that analyse REM cycles to sleep trackers but conversely the advice to power down all digital devices well ahead of lights out and using holistic relaxation techniques such as yoga nidra, restorative and yin yoga still remains sound advice. Look out for our upcoming blog on sleep.

Top Google exec shares his secret to a good night’s sleep from CNBC:

Healthy Ageing
Healthy-ageing holidays are also rising in popularity with spa-goers choosing spas and retreats which offer a combination of more pampering treatments such as facials with practices that aid menopause relief, all designed to help slow down the clock. Keeping youthful inside and out is key.

Try Tai Chi
Trend-led website Pinterest noticed a +189% rise in searches for Tai Chi in its top 100 trends for 2018. Naturally, Tai Chi will get more focus thanks to its potential to reduce stress, release pain and create harmony. Here’s a video that shows what this exercise can be like – in harmony with your body and nature.

Many of the wellness trends for 2018 are achievable and sustainable practices which you can find in our retreats.

Jo Fernandez is a leading UK travel journalist, with much of her career spent working for the London Evening Standard where she was Travel Editor until 2015. Now a freelance travel journalist and copywriter, she lives in Essex and has one daughter. As a travel expert, she still enjoys jetting off to write travel pieces, with favourite destinations including Mexico, Croatia and, of course, Essex.

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Within minutes of sitting down to start writing this blog about meditation and mindfulness I was distracted by a pop-up ad for a furniture brand I must have searched for on the internet earlier. Naturally, I switched my attention from meditation and mindfulness to sofas in a matter of seconds.

I’m currently dealing with bereavement and multiple freelance projects which combine to mean sleepless nights and a struggle to focus. Meditation and mindfulness are the recommended solutions but for me, there is some confusion over two terms which are often used interchangeably.

There’s meditation, mindfulness and, yes even, mindful meditation. So are they the same or different? Let’s start by defining each term separately.

Meditation
Most of the major religions have incorporated various forms of meditation in one way or another; it has been firmly entwined with Buddhist and Hindu religions, as well as Judaism and Islam. Originally the sole purpose of meditation was to increase spiritual understanding and awareness but as an understanding of the role of the mind in good health developed, meditation became commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction in the West. Meditation is a physical and mental practice which can lead to long-term health and wellness benefits.

It may be obvious to those in the know, but meditation isn’t all about sitting still, although it can be practised in this way. Meditation comes in many different forms such as walks, guided visualisation or imagery, focused meditation (such as chanting a mantra) and yoga, Tai Chi or qigong. One of the best-known types of meditation is also known as mindfulness meditation, and this may be where the confusion lies.

Mindfulness
Meditation is part of mindfulness which is broadly speaking being aware, whether this is mindful eating, mindful relationships, mindful speech and so on. Effectively, it’s an awareness of the moment or, bringing your mind to just one thing that is happening in the present moment. Mindfulness can be something we practice informally or formally, which is mindfulness meditation. Meditation and mindfulness overlap in mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is a form of meditation.

Mindfulness meditation involves paying attention to thoughts, sounds, the sensations of breathing or parts of the body, bringing your attention back whenever the mind starts to wander (as opposed to transcendental meditation which involves a mantra, for example). It’s easy to see how practising mindfulness can lead to developing a meditation practice. The two complement each other, and they can nourish both your life and your self-understanding. Those that practice yoga and tai chi will know that they can also help with developing awareness of breathing and posture. It’s become so popular over the last few years that large organisations have even included mindfulness as part of their employee packages.

You can study and practice the various forms of meditation or simply learn how to be more mindful in your everyday life as a way to reduce stress. The health benefits of both have been well-documented. Whatever you do, it is likely that you will be more focused and less distracted and I know that’s what I’m in need of. All it takes is 10 mindful minutes, for inspiration watch the TED talk video by the same title:

You can also find retreats where meditation, mindfulness, yoga or Tai Chi are offered.
If you would like to know more about the difference and similarity of Tai Chi and qigong, see our blog.

Jo Fernandez is a leading UK travel journalist, with much of her career spent working for the London Evening Standard where she was Travel Editor until 2015.
Now a freelance travel journalist and copywriter, she lives in Essex and has one daughter. As a travel expert, she still enjoys jetting off to write travel pieces, with favourite destinations including Mexico, Croatia and, of course, Essex.

The post Meditation and mindfulness: the same or different? appeared first on Neals Yard Holidays Blog.

From the key signs of work-related stress to advice on how to beat it, it seems awareness of one of the gremlins of modern life is swelling. Not just in the media, but in the business world too. Tips for less stress in demand.

But stress isn’t necessarily the product of a poor life-work balance. It can also result from emotional trauma, financial worries, pre-exam jitters, and a myriad other factors. The fact that National Stress Awareness Day is still here – this week marked its 16^th anniversary – suggests we still have a thing or two to learn about stress and how to beat it.

One thing we do know is that no one is immune to the claws of stress. So just how can you fend them off, should they strike? As ever, talking to your doctor is a good start if you’re at all worried. In the meantime, we’ve been scouting out practical tips for less stress that can help you be yourself again.

Get in the driving seat

According to Cary Cooper, Professor of organisational psychology and health at Manchester Business School, sensing loss of control is a major catalyst for stress. In turn, doing nothing about stress makes matters even worse. His tips for less stress? Don’t hide. Take control and remember that you definitely can do something about stress.

Make time for you

Escape at home or away – whatever rocks your boat, just do it. If you’ve been working too hard or are drained emotionally, make sure you take the time to recharge. Unplug the computer, put the phone on flight mode, and fly – to Cyprus, the bath tub, anywhere.

Get plenty of exercise

Staying physically active is frequently among the top tips for less stress. Exercise won’t get rid of stress completely, but it can put you in a positive frame of mind that can help you achieve just that. Stress-relief yoga might be a good start, but virtually any kind of wholesome physical activity goes.

Talk it out

Probably one of most important tips for less stress anyone can give. ‘Call a friend’ isn’t just an option on Who wants to be a millionaire. There’s no need to do it all on your own, so tap into the support network around you – from family and friends to counsellors and life coaches who can support you through a difficult time.

Practise mindfulness

Like physical exercise, the buzzword of the moment is no magic wand for disappearing stress. But simple exercises to help you reconnect with the here and now offer yet another way to control the impact of external pressures and other worries on your mental and physical wellbeing.

Tried all of these tips for less stress already? Plenty more advice and tips are available on the NHS’s dedicated stress-busting web page.

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Christmas is fast approaching and that means you might be experiencing quite a few emotions from excitement to anxiety, stress or depression.

Christmas has always been portrayed as a happy, joyful time, where we spend the day with family and loved ones, but it’s not always easy. If your budget is tight, then the weeks leading up to Christmas Day can be very worrying too.

Thinking negative thoughts only leads to more negative thinking, as we struggle to disconnect and move on. But there is something you can do to rid yourself of negative thoughts.

About mindfulness

Mindfulness can help you handle your negative emotions and stop them in their tracks. It’s a Buddhist practice but is used all over the world. The NHS often refers patients for mindfulness training to help with depression and anxiety.

It’s a meditation technique that involves sitting quietly and focussing on the present. It’s about being aware of your breathing, sensations, and your current emotional state without letting your mind wander. Mindfulness can help you see that thoughts are just thoughts and you can choose how to respond to them.

It can take time to learn to meditate, that is, being in the moment without thinking about anything, so start with just 10 minutes a day. But with time, you will be able to practice mindfulness as you go about your day, helping you to take control of negative thoughts whenever you experience them.  If you feel stressed, closing your eyes and focussing on your breathing can have a significant positive impact. Mindfulness is about focussing on the present, not ruminating on the past or mulling over the future.

Mindfulness can also free us of negative emotions towards mundane tasks, for example, doing the dishes. Instead of being angry that you have to do the dishes because nobody else will, focus on the warmth of the water, the bubbles and the task itself. It makes it what it is, and this simple technique can free you of the negative emotions associated with it.

You can try this Mindfulness Meditation Taster with Jon Kabat-Zinn, a 10 min video; or this Guided Meditation Nowscape (Choiceless Awareness) by Jon Kabat Zinn (30 min video):

Mindfulness can help you deal with the possible stresses of Christmas and beyond. Another way to manage a different outlook on life is to practice gratefulness, which we will discuss in the new year.

More mindfulness

For more information on mindfulness, see BBC Radio 4 Woman’s hour on Mindfulness: “A way of connecting with and seeing clearly what’s happening in our life.”  – www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p021xg6w (11 min)

Neal’s Yard Holidays has retreats specifically for mindfulness.

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