Category: Wellbeing Tips

Effective Ways to Destress and Improve Well-Being

Introduction: In today’s fast-paced and demanding world, stress has become a common phenomenon that affects our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. However, finding effective ways to destress is crucial in order to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

In this article, we will recommend 10 proven techniques you can incorporate into your daily routine to alleviate stress and improve your overall well-being.

1. Engage in Physical Exercise: Physical activity has been widely recognized as an effective stress reliever. Engaging in activities such as jogging, yoga, or even a simple walk can help release endorphins, which are known as “feel-good” hormones that boost mood and reduce stress levels.
2. Practice Deep Breathing Techniques: Deep breathing exercises can help activate the body’s relaxation response, leading to decreased levels of stress. Techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, or alternate nostril breathing can be practiced daily to invoke feelings of calmness and relaxation.
3. Utilize Mindfulness and Meditation: Mindfulness and meditation techniques have been scientifically proven to decrease stress, anxiety, and depression. By focusing on the present moment and cultivating a non-judgmental awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings, the mind can be trained to let go of stressors and achieve a sense of inner peace.
4. Spend Time in Nature: Immersing oneself in nature has a profound impact on reducing stress levels. Whether it’s taking a hike, going camping, or simply sitting in a park, nature helps us reconnect with ourselves and provides a soothing environment away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
5. Cultivate a Hobby: Engaging in activities that bring joy and fulfillment can significantly reduce stress. Whether it’s playing a musical instrument, painting, gardening, or writing, dedicating time to a hobby allows for self-expression and serves as a distraction from stressors.
6. Prioritize Relaxation and Self-care: Make self-care a priority by allocating time for activities that promote relaxation. This can include taking a warm bath, practicing aromatherapy, indulging in a favorite hobby, or simply taking a few moments each day to engage in activities that promote relaxation.
7. Practice Time Management: Feeling overwhelmed due to a lack of time can heighten stress levels. By implementing effective time management strategies, such as prioritizing tasks, setting realistic goals, and delegating when necessary, you can regain control over your schedule and alleviate stress.
8. Connect with Loved Ones: Maintaining supportive relationships is essential for managing stress. Reach out to friends and family, engage in meaningful conversations, and spend quality time together. These connections provide a sense of belonging and support during challenging times.
9. Get Sufficient Sleep: Getting enough sleep is vital for overall well-being and stress management. Create a nighttime routine that promotes relaxation, such as avoiding screen time before bed, creating a calm sleep environment, and implementing relaxation techniques to ensure quality sleep.
10. Seek Professional Help if Needed: If stress becomes overwhelming or starts impacting daily life, seeking professional help is crucial. Therapists, counselors, or support groups can provide guidance, techniques, and coping strategies tailored to individual needs.

Incorporating these destressing techniques into your daily routine can have a significant positive impact on your overall well-being. Remember that stress is a normal part of life, but managing it effectively is essential for maintaining health and happiness. So, make time for yourself and prioritize activities that bring you joy, relaxation, and peace.

International Friendship Day, also known as World Friendship Day, is celebrated annually on July 30th.

The day promotes the importance of friendship and reinforces the idea that friendship knows no boundaries or barriers. It is a time to celebrate the bonds we share with friends and to appreciate their presence in our lives.

This is actually fundamental to the ideas that drive StolenTime and its sister resort The BodyHoliday. Inspiring camaraderie, is what we try to do, and its no accident that many lasting friendships are made at both resorts.

The idea of International Friendship Day was first proposed by the World Friendship Crusade, an organization founded in 1958. The United Nations officially recognized and declared the day in 2011 with the aim of fostering peace and harmony among individuals, communities, and nations.

On this day, people often express their love and gratitude towards their friends by exchanging gifts, spending quality time together, or simply reaching out to reconnect. It serves as a reminder to cherish and nurture our friendships, as they play a significant role in our happiness and well-being.

International Friendship Day emphasizes the values of trust, support, and understanding that friendship brings. It encourages us to be more accepting and inclusive, promoting a sense of unity and cooperation among diverse cultures and backgrounds.

So, take this opportunity to appreciate and celebrate your friendships, and spread the message of love, kindness, and solidarity that International Friendship Day represents.

With so many uncertainties in the world, Solo travelling has become challenging to pursue but more desired by individuals because of the pressure of everyday life. All and sundry, there is an increase in people searching for places of isolation to unwind and reconnect with themselves.

The reasons why solo travel is incredibly beneficial are endless but some of the main advantages are that it broadens our horizons, plunges us out of our comfort zone, and provides a great opportunity to meet new people and create new memories. The idea of travelling alone may be a daunting one at first but once you’ve decided to go for it, it can be one of the most exciting experiences you’ll have. With that, here are a few more reasons why you should travel solo.

1. Travelling alone enables you to understand yourself more profoundly.

Travelling alone requires you to make your own decisions and closely examine how you are feeling in the moment. This means learning more about yourself while travelling without the opinions, advice or feedback of others. You will understand what you’re comfortable with, what you’re not and what you really want to do when the choice is yours. It may sound cliche, but there is no doubt that solo travel is a journey of self-discovery.

2. Travelling alone is cheaper

Travelling with children and family will cost you a lot more than travelling alone. You can’t buy one ice cream cone and share it among 4 people. Singles vacations are cost-effective because you get to decide what your budget is and how you spend it. You can choose whether you just want to grab a quick bite on the go for a day or treat yourself to a delicious meal for one. You can choose days to do less to save money for travelling later. It’s also much cheaper to look for single-person accommodation, as in most cases all you need is a bed.

3. You are responsible for making the decisions

Whether you’re travelling as a pair or in a group, it is natural that people may want to do the same thing as you and that can easily bring assurance and comfort. However, when travelling alone, what you want to do is your choice, not anyone else’s. So you have to become very mature with decision-making, trust your intuition and use advice from
trustworthy sources.

Additionally, this will improve your post travelling skills as your decision-making skills would vastly improve. For example, you would know the dangers of some street-side vendors as opposed to a novice.

4. With solo travel, you can do what you want, when you want

Another particular advantage of being in charge of decision-making while travelling is that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. When travelling with a group or family, everyone’s needs and desires must be taken into consideration, which can often lead to a lot of compromises. That means you can eat at your favourite restaurant, get up as early or as late as you like, and even spend the day at the beach when you’re tired.

5. Travelling alone makes it easier to make friends

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest benefits of travelling alone is that you get to interact with far more people than you would if you were with others. The idea of starting a conversation with a stranger sounds a little daunting, but within hours of your trip, you’ll find it’s a lot easier than you thought. If you are keen to chat and get along, you might even join a group for part of your trip. You never know, this could happen to you.

6. You can easily become multilingual

If you’re travelling as part of a group, you don’t necessarily have to try to learn the native language of the country you are travelling to as you can chat with fellow travellers as you
please. However, as a solo traveller, there are many situations where you have to communicate with people and that can put us in a position to learn at least the basics. This may seem difficult at first, but over time you will begin to understand strange words and phrases in another language, often enough to indicate their meaning. If you travel long enough, you might be able to piece together a sentence or two!

7. It’s great for your well-being

Lastly, what we believe is the best benefit of travelling and spending time alone, is that it is excellent for your mental well-being. So, combining these is a match made in heaven.
After all, sometimes there isn’t anything better than escaping your normal life and friends for a bit. Research shows that travelling alone is a particularly good thing to do in terms of your mental health as it both gets your endorphins flowing, making you a happier person and helps reduce stress and depression.

Solo vacations are becoming very attractive these days as more and more people find joy in exotic and personal new experiences, creating something wholly unique. Of course, one of the greatest joys of travelling solo is meeting other like-minded souls and sharing stories with new people, or at least those who haven’t sat through your narrations 17 times. With that in mind, the healthy wellness pioneers at luxury St. Lucian resort StolenTime by Rendezvous have something special in store for independent travellers this summer. From July 10th to August 20th, solo travellers are invited to experience entertainment and activities with Solo and Fitness travellers in mind-from hosted communal tables, group hikes, fitness and arts/craft experiences to weekly included sunset cruises!

With special rates for guests during Summer solos, as it’s also known, it is a warm welcome respite for solo traveller holidays, providing a chance for solo travellers to come together and rejuvenate in a beautiful West Indian Environment.

Highlights of StolenTime Solos, which is open to guests staying in Single Garden Rooms and single-occupancy in a double room include:

• Every Evening Hosted Communal Tables for Solo Travellers
• Weekly Solos Cocktail Reception
• Weekly Sunset Cruise for Solo Travellers
• Weekly Beach Fete with Live Music
• Weekly Art and Craft Classes
• Weekly Market Walk
• Weekly Cooking Class
• Daily Group Yoga
• Spinning Classes
• Cycling Tour every weekend
• Mixology Class – twice a week
• BeachFit – 5 days per week

The countdown to Global Wellness Day 2018 has begun!

On Saturday, June 9^th, 2018, over 100 countries around the world will be celebrating this special day. One full day of activities which are dedicated to raising more awareness around the importance of wellness and wellbeing.

Here are a few easy steps you can take toward a healthier, happier you!

• Go organic. Regardless of diet, organic foods are a smart priority. Opting to include organic foods in your meal plans is an effectual choice for personal and planetary health.
• Walk for at least one hour each day. Practicing one-hour waling constantly is good for making us fit. Walking is the simplest form of sport. You can it in our daily routines such as walking to our offices.
• Drink lots of water. Drinking water is essential to your health. Think of it as a nut
• Do a good deed. Instead of wishing we could all just get along, it’s up to us to spread some cheer. Do something nice for a friend, neighbor or complete stranger, and chances are, he’ll feel encouraged to pay it forward in return.
• Have dinner with your family. Eating at least three family meals together each week is associated with healthier, happy families.
• Be in bed by 10:00 p.m. Adequate sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, and can benefit your heart, weight, mind, and more.

The Power of Stretching – Combatting Poor Posture When Working at Home 

For many of us, Covid-19 meant working from home and creating a new ‘office space’ within the house. For many this status quo has remained.

This could mean your dining room table and chairs now double as a desk space and that your posture is dealing with the impact of this.  

Most of us will know the immediate effects of sitting or standing in poor positions, feeling the pinch in our lower backs, the knots between our shoulder blades and in our necks, along with the headaches that can accompany this tension, but the effects go far past these and can have significant effects on our long-term health.  

Alongside long-term back problems, such as curvature, a misaligned spine and even perhaps pinched nerves, poor posture can have surprising effects on our overall health. From interrupted sleep and negative impacts on motivation and mood, to circulation issues, digestive ailments and even restricted lung capacity, all of which can have their own knock-on effects on our wellbeing. 

As well as correcting our posture throughout the day and ensuring our desk and chairs are set up to support us properly, we can utilise stretching to alleviate some of the initial symptoms poor posture can bring on and help us enhance the support our body gives itself. 

We spoke to Resident Yogi Kestin Greco from our sister resort BodyHoliday on the benefits of stretching and how it can help combat the effects of poor posture: 

1. It alleviates tension
   When we are sat in an unsupported position for an extended amount of time, it puts stress on our bodies and we can begin to feel this tension throughout our necks and backs. By stretching out our muscles, we can release this tension and alleviate the pain that comes with it. 
2. Stretching helps strengthen your muscles and core
   When practised regularly, stretching can help strengthen your muscles, keeping them flexible and strong. By focusing your efforts on the muscles in your core and back, you increase the body’s ability to support itself, as well as improve your natural posture. 
3. It can boost your mood and circulation
   Alongside tension and pain, poor posture can have a negative effect on our moods. As a form of exercise, stretching releases endorphins and increases the blood flow around our body, helping to clear our minds and put us in a more positive mindset. 
4. Stretching can enhance sleep
   Interrupted sleep can be a common side effect of bad posture, as we twist and turn to find a position our muscles are comfortable in. Taking part in some gentle stretching just before bed helps loosen those muscles and calm the mind, helping you drift off into slumber more peacefully. 
5. It can increase your energy levels
   As well as enhancing circulation, stretching can boost the body’s flow of nutrients, helping to give you an increase in energy levels. When combining this with the enhanced mood and sleep benefits, you’ll find a simple daily stretching session can help combat fatigue. 

Watch here as Kestin brings one of her wonderful stretch classes to you at home, helping you reap the benefits of this exercise.  

With these quick steps you can easily massage the worries of the day away or just enjoy some quality time together.

Firstly, find a very comfortable spot in your home for your partner and yourself. Then, grab a bottle of your favorite massage oil and have your partner to sit or lie down. Massage oils are available at your local health store or if you are visiting the Place of Stolen time, you may select from our exclusive line of oils made using coconut oil infused with our passionfruit or cocoa.

For those special occasion, get a few candles, some soft music, flower petals and maybe even some strawberries or chocolate. It’s your time; make it memorable.Keep your oil warm by placing the bottle in some warm water a few minutes before you begin your massage.

Make sure there are no distractions in or around the room.

1. Keep your oil warm by placing the bottle in some warm water a few minutes before you begin your massage.

2. Communicate with your partner. Make sure that they are comfortable.

3. Start the massage by pouring a small amount of massage oil in the palm of your hand and rubbing your hands.

4. Effleurage the back with flat hands three times.

5. Knead the middle of the trapezius muscle with your thumbs for one minute.

6. Again using your thumbs, knead from the trapezius down to the buttocks in three rows on either side of the spine.

7. Massage the back of the neck using alternate kneading movements.

8. Push one hand across the back while pulling the other towards you to “wring” across the whole length of the back for 1 minute.

9. With flat hands, one on top of the other, use circular movements up the right side of the back from the buttock and around the shoulder blade. Do this twice.

10. Repeat this on the left side of the back.

11. Pinch and roll up the entire back, including the spine, moving from the right side of the back all the way across to the other side.

12. With flat hands, effleurage the entire back starting from the base of the neck down to the buttocks three times.

13. Using a light feathery movement and the tips of your fingers, stroke the length of the back using alternate hands. Start with four fingers, then use three on the next stroke, then two and finally use only one finger

Remember: BE GENTLE, ATTENTIVE AND LOVING

Dealing with just yourself is one thing, but when you add another person into the mix, yoga becomes a whole different ball game altogether; their sweat, limbs and ideas on the things that should work makes it a bit more complex, yet very interesting.

But think about how amazing it is to connect with your partner on such a spiritual level; With uniformed breathing techniques, to move together, to communicate – especially in a world that has been taken over by technology. What a wonderful way this is to unplug from the daily norm to reconnect with each other.

Partner yoga is a blend of different types of yoga, thai massage and aerobics which helps build stronger communication and intimacy in a relationship. Posture and the flow of strategic movement are the key factors when performing a routine.

Here are a few great tips to keep in mind:

• Be open minded. Do not be afraid to try new things.
• If you do not feel comfortable, tell your partner.
• Be steady. Be aware of the great impact that you are to your partner.
• Breathe!
• Enjoy the moment. Be present and focused on each other and try not to take anything too seriously.