Wellness travel trends for 2020 reflect an increasing awareness about health issues and offer a chance to take time out and rebalance in pretty spectacular locations where it would be hard not to heal. From helping women navigate through the menopause to changing our diet, wellness travel trends focus on improving key aspects of our health and wellbeing and that can only be a good thing.

5 Top Wellness Travel Trends for 2020

1. #Mumcation
‘Mumcation’ can be a slightly annoying word but the concept is taking root and now even has its own hashtag. Common sense says that mums need time to recharge and psychology professor Dr Nava Silton made it official in an interview with Fox5NY (2-minute video). A healthy break without children can be essential to a mother’s wellbeing and therefore good for the children too. Whether just indulging in child-free time to read, walk and sleep or immersion in holistic therapies, Mum’s get to focus on themselves free from the day-to-day responsibilities of parenting and ideally return relaxed and refreshed for family life again.

2. Menopause Relief
At long last, there’s a greater awareness and new openness about discussing this old-as-the-hills process women go through. New retreats specifically aimed at helping women with health issues including the menopause, hormonal imbalance and weight gain are gaining momentum. Remember also that meditation, yoga, tai chi and mindfulness can help alleviate symptoms. Hopefully in the future, retreats offering support for menopausal women will be as common as going to a spa for a massage or facial.

3. Sugar ‘Detox’
The harmful effects of consuming too much sugar have been known for many years but there’s a growing awareness about its effects, like bloating, IBS, headaches, lack of energy and weight gain. You can read more about it in our blog on Easy tips for going sugar-free. The new debate also features in our blog on Sugar or fat, which is worse?
If you would like a bit more help reducing or even eliminating sugar from your diet, there’s a range of healthy and detoxifying holidays designed to make it easier to kick the ‘sugar habit’. Detoxing here doesn’t mean going without food just ridding the body of sugar and the cravings that accompany it. If you’re going to go cold turkey why not do it in amazing surroundings nourished by health experts, healthy organic foods and holistic treatments?

4. Sound Therapy
Sound therapy works through the healing power of sound vibration and frequencies. It follows the understanding that all of us have our own natural frequencies (including heartbeat, and other neurological and chemical body functions). When we are exposed to the external frequencies of singing bowls, gongs, tuning forks etc, the natural healing of both the body and mind can begin. For a deeper discussion including my personal experience of this, read our recent blog on sound therapy.

5. Colour Therapy
Similar to sound, light is a frequency; and the various colours in its spectrum have different frequencies. Colour therapy works through the healing power of light vibration and frequencies. It works on the theory that our energy centres, or chakras, throughout our body are activated and rebalanced by colours.
Colour therapy, also known as chromatherapy, has been practised since ancient times. Now an increasing understanding of the benefits of colour therapy is gaining momentum. Some yoga studios steep their classes in colour, sound and even scent, and a new hotel in St Louis, Missouri even has rooms entirely in one colour to channel specific moods, for example, red for passion, yellow for happiness and so on.

Many of the wellness travel trends for 2020 are achievable and sustainable practices, which you can find in our retreats.

Here’s to a happy and healthy year ahead!

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.

We are regularly bombarded with health messages regarding being physically active, and while the magic 10,000 step guideline seems rather basic. Could there be other benefits from the two main type of physical activity groups; aerobic and strength training?

Physical activity is an excellent way to lose or maintain weight and should form part of a healthy lifestyle. Speaking about long term health, the different types of physical activity, resistance or aerobic exercise, can have many health benefits for your body. Getting the balance right could be key to healthy aging. While hitting the 10,000 step guideline is a good target, it is important to know that different types of exercise are important for a healthy lifestyle. In 2011 the UK recommendations were set at a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise with some strength training for all adults.

Aerobic Physical Activity

Moderate aerobic exercise is characterised by an increased heart rate and perspiration, whereas in high intensity exercise you may find it hard to say more than a few words in a sentence. This type of exercise is good for weight loss through burning calories when doing the exercise, as well as improving heart muscle strength.

Aerobic activities include:

• Jogging or running
• Dancing
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Aerobics
• Tennis

Dancing can count as moderate or vigorous exercise depending on the style, and is also sociable and fun. Find local dance classes. Fast cycling can count as vigorous exercise.

Resistance Physical Activity

Resistance exercise is commonly thought of as strength conditioning. This is where you use either your own body weight, or training with weights to work your muscles through repeated (reps) lifting exercises. Doing this type of physical activity can increase muscle strength. This includes major muscle groups such as your core (important for balance), arms and legs, and can benefit in everyday life.

Strength training activities include:

• Yoga
• Tai Chi and Qigong
• Weight lifting
• Using resistance bands
• Exercises using your own body weight e.g. press-ups and sit-ups

Yoga and Tai Chi are both good for building and maintaining flexibility as well as core strength.

Physical activity is important for many other conditions, such as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. In addition exercise can help improve self esteem and also everyday tasks such as grocery shopping. Therefore in terms of healthy aging, physical activity is important for building and maintaining strong and healthy bones. Both aerobic and resistance physical activity can help build bone density and muscle mass in conjunction with a healthy diet including adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D, preventing osteoporosis (weakening of the bones) in later life.

Why not try the Couch to 5k plan, aimed at those who need a little help to get physically active along with tips to stay healthy when exercising.

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