Gozo Offers A Perfect Wellness Retreat In The Mediterranean.
7 Ways To Make Your Holiday Healthy In Gozo.
It’s always the perfect time to start new daily habits and routines and Gozo is the perfect place to have that healthy holiday you have been longing for. Jane Nayar, Nutritionist and Naturopath, discusses ways to implement some simple healthy habits while you are on the island.
Gozo is surrounded by nature and natural, untouched elements that will soothe away even the busiest of minds and realign your body back to where it works best. Spring is the season often associated with cleaning up our routines and you get Spring feels on Gozo from November through to February so book up for blue skies, warm daytime sunshine and swimming in the ocean which remains around 16+ degrees.
When looking at bringing in healthy habits on your holiday, Jane explains why we must look at the liver and the gall bladder. The liver is considered to be the ‘planner’ of the body and the gall bladder, is the centre of our ability to make decisions and strengthen our intuition. With a well-functioning liver and gall bladder, we are able to see clearer and make better decisions.
If you love feeling lighter and waking up to the sun, setting a short morning routine or ritual is such a special gift to give to yourself and your holiday is the perfect way to start. Check out the following simple and super-healthy ideas to try and start putting yourself on your own agenda.
Did you know that the word ‘livid’ comes from the word liver? It is where we store our toxins and fat so if we don’t support our liver we can feel tired, sluggish, frustrated, or angry.
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1. The Morning Smoothie
Putting your wellness first on your agenda may work if you introduce more cold foods and fruits. Start your day with a delicious smoothie using superfoods such as spirulina which can add protein and keep you going longer. One of my favourites is; 1 banana, 1 pear, ½ avocado, 1 tsp spirulina, blend all with mineral water or nut milk, and enjoy!
2. Set Intentions
Having a vision and setting goals for the year ahead is like sowing seeds. What would you like from this year and the next? And how are you going to get it? Making an action list or creating a vision board helps you to focus on your hopes and dreams and helps get the process started.
I suggest looking at your list or board regularly, to help keep your focus on what is truly important to you. I have done a few vision boards in my life and when I look back on them, I cannot believe what I did manifest, just by setting my intentions or putting out my focus. The universe works in many wonderful ways.
3. Start a Gratitude Meditation
Taking five minutes before you start your day, to sit quietly and take some deep breaths is a gift. Adding in something you feel truly grateful for is a game changer. You could even write this down each morning and place it in a ‘gratitude jar’ which you can empty at any time, perhaps if you are feeling a little low or having a bad day. It’s the perfect uplifter – just when you need it most.
It’s time to reflect and rid yourself of anything or anyone that no longer brings joy or positivity into your life. It’s good to remember that we have choice, we can choose who we see, who we talk to, who is on our social media accounts. So, be brave and take time to have a little clear out of some social clutter. Also – try to spend the first and last hour of the day screen free, not only will this improve the quality of your sleep but will help to declutter an overstimulated mind and lower stress hormones.
5. Make Your Food Colourful
Introduce more rainbow-coloured vegetables, fruit, and raw salads into your diet as this will improve your bowel function and help the body to naturally detox. You do not need to eat 100% raw but try upping your intake of raw foods, which are unaltered and ‘alive’ with deep cleansing qualities.
The body is designed to naturally cleanse, and the liver is the main detox organ, we also detox through the skin and the bowels, so maintaining bowel regularity is essential. The problem is these days we overload our bodies with too many toxins, fast foods, alcohol, smoking, sugars and stress. Staying hydrated is a simple way to flush out toxins and is a foundational requirement for our body to function effectively. If you can drink at least 1.5/2L of fresh water (clear not fizzy) a day, then you are doing a good thing!
6. Move
Spring is the time we feel like moving more which aids the removal of toxins via the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system relies on large muscle activity for circulation; therefore, we need to move to avoid congestion and the accumulation of toxins, which can leave you feeling tired, bloated, irritable, sluggish and inflamed.
Start your day with movement, be it a yoga routine, HIIT, a walk or put music on and dance! If you have a sedentary job, then take regular breaks to move about and keep your lymph flowing. If you need someone to guide you, why not try a private one to one yoga or exercise class? As well as toxins, emotions, thoughts, and feelings get stuck in the body and require us to move them through. I’m sure you’ve experienced times when walking in nature has brought clarity, sparked creativity, increased productivity or brought some peace or resolution. Movement shifts energy.
7. Think Natural
Everything you put on your skin you might also absorb, as the skin is the biggest organ of the body. Therefore, I recommend having a product detox and swapping for natural versions which are free from parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, and aluminum.
Remarkably you can put over 200 chemicals a day on your body just by using products
Start by switching your deodorant and toothpaste for the first month as it can get expensive and every time you need to replace a product swap it with a natural one and you will soon find you have built up your own natural selection.
Finally, enjoy the new beginning of spring, and don’t forget to watch nature, it shows us how everything gets another chance to start all over again.
Author: Jane Nayar | Editor: GITH
Jane offers one-to-one Yoga lessons, Nutrition Consultations, Vega Testing, Reflexology, and Yoga & Health Retreats in Gozo.
For more information visit: Happy on Health Website or Tel: +356 99307748
