Wellbeing Journal
WELLNESS MADE EASY: YOUR CHEAT SHEET
In the whirlwind of the daily hustle, finding the time to prioritise our wellness journey can sometimes feel challenging. But by introducing a few small changes and embracing a perfectly imperfect wellness routine, we can unlock the gateway to a happier, healthier version of ourselves. Let's dive into some practical tips and tricks to kickstart your realistic (and achievable!) wellness journey. FOOD When our schedules fill up, what we eat can sometimes take a backseat, but fuelling your body with nourishing food doesn't have to be a challenge. Often, a little preparation can go a long way. Planning ahead of time and cooking meals that can feed you over multiple days can save time and keep you on track with your health goals. Think batches of overnight oats, nutritious soups and delicious curries. Focus on incorporating whole, nutrient-dense foods into your meals and opt for colourful vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. EXERCISE Squeezing in a rigorous workout may seem daunting, especially with a packed schedule. Keep it simple and kickstart your exercise routine by focusing on movement that brings you joy, whether it's a brisk walk around the neighbourhood, an at-home workout, a dance class, or a short yoga session. Consistency is key, so start small and gradually build up. The goal is not perfection but the integration of movement into your daily routine. Fitness apps are a great way to make exercise more fun and keep you on track. ENERGY BOOSTERS While coffee is a staple for many, consider swapping it out for tasty matcha. This green tea alternative provides a slower release of caffeine, avoiding the highs and lows associated with coffee. The sustained energy boost from matcha allows for increased focus without the jitters. It's a small but impactful change that can positively influence your daily productivity and mood. Nothing impacts our energy levels more than sleep, so try your best to establish a relaxing bedtime routine, limit screen time before sleep, and create a cosy sleep environment. Even in the midst of the daily grind, find pockets of time for deep breaths or a quick 5-minute meditation. HYDRATION Water is a multitasker, aiding digestion, nutrient absorption, and transporting essential elements throughout the body. It is also great for our skin! Keep those hydration levels high by purchasing a refillable water bottle and carrying it around like it's your sidekick. Natural, sugar-free electrolyte powders can be mixed with water, providing hydration and essential minerals. And for those looking to cut down on sodas, get your fizzy fix by adding a squeeze of lime to soda water for a refreshing drink. SKINCARE Skincare is a form of self-care and an important addition to any wellness routine, but finding the time to give your skin a bit of self-care can always be a challenge! If you are short on time, use 8 drops of Activating Water Essence+ and 2 drops of your favourite Jurlique Face Oil for a quick and easy ritual that will leave your skin softened, refreshed and hydrated. Embarking on a wellness journey doesn't have to be overwhelming. By incorporating these simple tips into your daily routine, you can kickstart a realistic and sustainable daily ritual that aligns with your busy lifestyle. Remember, it's about progress, not perfection.
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FACIAL YOGA BENEFITS FOR EVERY SKIN TYPE
Skin care is self-care and facial yoga is the important daily ritual your routine needs. Whether you start the day improving lymph flow or ease tension after a long, screen-filled day, facial exercises can strengthen muscles, relax lines and better connect to ourselves. Not only a nourishing self-care ritual, facial massage and facial yoga may have the potential to stimulate collagen production, the key to younger and healthier looking skin. FACE YOGA BENEFITS Facial yoga works to stimulate the muscles, skin, and lymphatic system. By softening and relaxing your face muscles, face yoga benefits can be felt and seen inside and out1. Alleviating feelings of tension, stress, and worry, reducing wrinkles and puffiness, and lifting sagging skin. With immediate effects seen in increasing blood circulation to the face, facial yoga sculpts cheeks and jowls for a firmer and healthier complexion. The face yoga method is an opportunity to cultivate positive affirmations and gratitude in a daily self-care ritual. Try our favourite facial yoga rituals below. FACE YOGA EXERCISES - TERRIFIC TRIO Relieve Tension Stimulating this acupressure point helps to reduce eye strain caused by long days at your desk. Use it during the day or before you go to sleep. Press into the inner corner of your eyes for 30 seconds. Then circle gently in one direction for 30 seconds. Repeat in the opposite direction. No-stress Brow This exercise relaxes the large muscle at the front of your forehead, often overused. Place your fingertips at the centre of your forehead, facing inwards. Gently press your fingertips into your forehead as you move your fingers toward your temples. Release your fingers. Continue for 30 seconds. Tap away the Day Tapping promotes relaxation and boosts circulation. The perfect complement to your skincare routine. Start at your forehead and use your fingertips to rhythmically tap your skin. Continue all along your face toward your jaw. Next, tap the front of your neck and across your shoulders. Then move up along the back of your neck to your head. REFERENCES Alam M, Walter AJ, Geisler A et al. 2018, ‘Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging, JAMA Dermatology, vol. 154, no. 3, pp. 365-367.
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WHY AIR QUALITY MATTERS IN YOUR SKIN CARE
The ability to scientifically measure and study the impact of pollution might be relatively new, but we’ve always had a belief that air quality is one of the crucial factors in producing pure, effective skin care. It’s one of the reasons our founders moved across the globe to settle in the rolling Adelaide Hills of South Australia.How pollution affects skin (and skin care)For many decades, there was one clear environmental culprit capable of wreaking havoc on our complexions; this was, of course, the sun’s UV rays. More recently, another offender has come along: the air itself. Unlike the sun, however, air pollution gives no early warning signs.Separate studies have found that air pollution can have a significant impact on the skin, leading to the premature appearance of visible signs of ageing, such as fine lines and pigmentation.But there’s another side to this story that’s far less known: what’s the impact of air pollution on the botanical ingredients grown specifically for skin care?The quality of air that surrounds plants plays a huge role in determining just how robust and healthy those plants may be. According to a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), air pollution can cause damage to soil quality, which “in turn, penetrates into the plant structure and impairs its ability to develop”. As a result, botanicals may turn yellow, develop spots or die completely.The purity of South AustraliaAdelaide, as one of Australia’s smaller cities, has benefited from relatively low levels of pollution – seven times lower than that in Shanghai, and more than one-third of the levels in Seoul, according to data compiled by the World Health Organization.For this reason, we made South Australia our home base. In this unspoiled environment, which our founders refer to as “the purest place on Earth”, we grow all our botanical ingredients, including hydrating Rose, which goes on to become our antioxidant-rich Rosewater Balancing Mist. Thanks to the clean-air conditions in which the Rose is grown, the resulting mist restores your skin and instils an unmistakable glow.Our home is a particular point of pride for Jurlique, for the growing conditions found here are what enable us to grow botanicals far more powerful than any other. What is pure and grown in Nature can only deliver radiant, glowing skin. It’s as simple as that.
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WHAT DOES WELLNESS MEAN TO YOU?
What does wellness mean to you? Some think quitting sugar, others think yoga on the beach. So here’s a question: what does wellness mean to you?Wellness, the state of experiencing wellbeing. When people think wellness, they sometimes picture their ideal selves: a perfect zen balance of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. However, that image is usually marred by the reality of modern life – we’re often too busy, too stressed to make wellness a priority. To make ourselves, our health, our connection with nature and our happiness, a priority. And that’s something we all deserve to change.This month, we’re launching our national Wellbeing campaign, to inspire us all to wellbeing and lives we truly love – like reconnecting with nature, nurturing your body through nutrition and fitness, and practicing daily mindfulness.At Jurlique, we believe beauty comes from within, and it shows when we’re living in harmony with ourselves and the world around us. So we’ll be looking at how the power of nature can help promote radiant skin, no matter what your skin type or concern. And, with the help of some of Australia’s top nutrition, fitness and mindfulness experts, we’ll also be exploring: The whole foods story – what it is and why it matters, as well as recipes for delicious, nutritious meals How to set and manage fitness goals and energy levels with fun workouts you’ll enjoy The self-love and self-care benefits of being mindful in each moment – and how it can help minimise stress Wellness happens by making incremental changes that add up over time. Some of these changes can be small, like eating more vegetables, or swapping coffee for green tea. Others, however, may involve challenging preconceived notions about how we should think, feel, act or simply be – like letting go of negative self-talk, feeling guilty, saying ‘yes’ more often than saying ‘no’ and being the perfect parent / friend / partner / employee / person.This is one of the most important things to remember. Because what links the wellness pillars of skin care, nutrition, fitness and mindfulness isn’t what you’d normally expect. The truth is, what connects them all is you and your experience. You’re the key to realising your happiness and health, and living a life that fills you with joy and contentment, every single day.It’s not about a magic bullet, or having a perfect record. It’s okay to stumble every now and again on the path to wellbeing. What’s important are those gentle gains, and being open to what you might be able to do, right now, in order to start feeling happier and healthier. Because if you can end each day having done one more thing to add value to your life, then every day will be better than the last.And that’s our challenge to you over the coming month.Enjoy September.Team Jurlique x“Our vision was to formulate and manufacture the purest skin care products available based on the healing properties of nature and to inspire people to health and wellbeing.” – Ulrike Klein, Jurlique Co-founderThis month’s skin care, nutrition, fitness and mindfulness articles delivered straight to your inbox – sign up to the Jurlique newsletter.
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UNDERSTANDING: THINGS HAPPEN FOR YOU AND NOT TO YOU BY VASHTI WHITFIELD
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part four, she explores how actively practicing mindfulness can help you deal with whatever life throws at you.Over the last decade, I dove into – and then out of – the role of ‘wife of a superstar’. I learned very quickly the value of self-worth, which became an absolute necessity as a stay-at-home mum. With too much alone time with two small children in remote countries, I was forced to question and explore the whole concept of life, love and legacy.I also nursed my husband through a tumultuous 18-month cancer journey from “Yay, you’re going to make it!” to “No, you have three months to live”. I transitioned from being married to my best friend for 13 years into being a widow, the single parent of two gorgeous kids, and the sole provider and breadwinner. Oh, and did I mention that I’m also driven by my unwavering commitment to make a difference in people’s lives in any way possible?So believe me when I tell you that I totally get it. I know what it’s like to wake up in the night wondering how I’m going to manage the multiple balls I’m juggling. I understand the insane commitment it takes to be fully present for the people around me when my mind is racing; worrying about something in the future, or regretting something I could have done differently in the past.I had to explore different ways of looking at life to learn how to approach the scale of the life I was asking for – and cope with the mind-bending scenarios life decided to throw back at me. Because regardless of whether life is easy or difficult, it’s how you choose to interpret it that will either make you or break you.Creating the life you wantWhile no two brains are alike, we’re all hardwired to think our way forward, towards what we most desire. This is the part of our brain that, when it’s clear in its intention, is motivated and capable of making almost anything happen.But we are also hardwired – rather cleverly and somewhat annoyingly at times – to detect and protect ourselves against anything that might cause us pain, humiliation or rejection.In order for you to really dive into the potential of a situation and make things happen in your life, it is absolutely critical that you own, choose and understand what you want. This will immediately support you to clarify your level of commitment to your goal, and help expose any underlying fears that might have held you back up to this point.Actively practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for reconnecting with your most intuitive and capable self (and it’s far more cost-effective than going on holiday). It’s also what the modern-day mind needs to tap into our innate wisdom, and our ability to create, adapt and grow from anything that life throws at us.Through this ongoing curious and non-judgemental enquiry of learning more about ourselves, we are able to live, love, and lead often remarkably inspiring lives.* With thanks to Byron Katie for the quote.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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SLEEP GOAL: NOURISHED AND PEACEFUL REST BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.If you’ve ever had one night or more of poor sleep, then you can truly appreciate the quality of a good night’s rest. Good sleep can be hard to come but there are a few tricks here and there that may help achieve a restful night and improve overall health and wellbeing as a result.There are two major phases in sleep – REM and non-REM sleep. REM, is the “dreaming sleep” and the early stage of rest whilst non-REM is our “quiet”, deep sleep. When we have a good night of uninterrupted rest, and consequently more non-REM cycles, we wake feeling energised, alert and can function at our best.Different factors may affect an individual’s ability to move into peaceful non-REM sleep. Stress, exercise, stimulants, alcohol and the food we eat all play a part. Within our diet alone, it’s important to consider these key factors…Understanding how we consume… A range of elements play into this so let’s start with the first step. Breakfast. It’s an easy meal to miss and many actually do, or simply don’t feel like breakfast when they wake up. However, the effect of not having breakfast often leads us into eating more in the later stages of the day and reaching for stimulating food and drinks (coffee, energy and soft drinks, sugar). So it plays into an unhealthy cycle… Late breakfasts, necessary caffeine pick-me-ups, later lunches, even later dinners and ultimately later to bed. With this delay comes limited time for our body to digest food appropriately at the right times of day and to produce hormones for digestion when we are sleeping. If you’re a night owl and not hungry in the morning the chances are it’s because your body isn’t being given the opportunity to reproduce vital hormones to keep you charged during the day; digestive hormones being number one.The ideal situation as a regular sleeper or a transitioning night owl is to put your body into a flow of regular eating and sleeping patterns. Rise with the sun, hydrate and nourish, eat 3-5 meals throughout the day, with the last and latest by 8pm, this allows the body to digest and wind down for rest by 10pm. It really has such simplicity, and the beautiful thing is that there are ingredients we can add and subtract from our diet to help take us there.The presence of stimulants… Stimulants have the interim effect of helping us turn “switch on”, they also have a powerful effect on the quality of our sleep. Coffee, tea, energy and soft drinks, tobacco, drugs and alcohol push the body into a longer awakened period. Alcohol, despite being a depressant, forces the liver to work overtime, which can disrupt sleep in the early hours (3 to 4am) of the morning. To reduce these players in the diet focus on halving your intake week-by-week and swapping for more nourishing alternatives as you go. Herbal teas, sparkling water with lemon, orange and lime spritz, and limiting alcohol to 1-2 nights per week at the most will all see your sleep and your health move into flow.Nourishing our rest… The ultimate goal to achieving a nourished and peaceful rest is by supporting the production of our sleep and mood stabilizing hormones and replenishing the adrenals as we rest. Enriching the body’s stores of melatonin and serotonin, both sleep and mood modulating hormones and reducing the levels of cortisol, our primary stress hormones, can be simple with a good night of sleep and foods to support. Bananas, almonds, whole milk and dairy, protein rich food (vegetarian and animal based proteins), oats, chamomile and passionflower tea in the diet will boost the body’s sources of tryptophan, magnesium, essential fats, protein and potassium. These nutrients relax our muscles and body, aid the action of melatonin and serotonin, and help the body wind down into restorative rest.WARM SPROUTS, QUINOA, CAULIFLOWER STEAKS AND HALOUMIGF : SF : VServes 4 1/2 cup raw quinoa 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 spring onions, white part only sliced 1/2 cup mung sprouts 1/2 cup chickpea sprouts 2 stalks celery, finely diced 1/2 cup coriander leaves and stalks pinch chilli flakes Zest of one lemon / approximately 1 tablespoon 1 kale leaf, stalks removed, leaf shredded 1 red apple, cored and cut into strips 1/2 cup walnuts 2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 head cauliflower (400g), sliced crossways into 1.5cm pieces 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 250g haloumi, cut into 8 slices Sea salt and black pepper Dressing: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons honey 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric DIRECTIONS Place the quinoa and 1 cup water in small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the majority of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for five minutes before fluffing with a fork. Next heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add in the spring onions, sprouts, celery, coriander stalks, chilli and lemon zest and sauté for 3 minutes. Then place the cooked quinoa, shredded kale, red apple, walnuts, 1 teaspoon of cumin and coriander leaves into the pan. Season well with salt and pepper and saute for a further 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with foil and set aside. SPICE MIX To make the spice mix for the cauliflower steaks combine the cumin, paprika and turmeric in a bowl with a pinch of salt and mix well. Evenly spread the mixture onto one side of each of the cauliflower steaks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a fry pan on medium heat, place the cauliflower steaks (spice side up) into the pan. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes on each side. While cauliflower is cooking heat a few drops of olive oil in a fry pan and cook the haloumi on a high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Divide the quinoa and sprout mix across four plates and top with cauliflower steaks, haloumi and a drizzle of salad dressing. Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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SNACKS TO FUEL AND THRIVE BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.What to eat in the mid-afternoon slump? This is probably on of the most common questions regarding energy that comes my way. The morning is productive, boxes are ticked, lunch is done and then three o’clock hits and we subsequently and habitually feel like we’ve hit a wall. There is reason for this. The circadian rhythms, governing wakefulness and sleep, program our bodies to hit downtime between 12-3pm each day. We are physiologically programmed to rest in the afternoon. And whilst in an ideal world we would take twenty and close our eyes for a quick power nap, in reality this isn’t feasible for most. So throughout our day, we need to eat foods to nourish our bodies, rise above the slump and energise throughout the day. The more common picture however, is that instead of reaching for the nourishing pick me up we go for the quick fix… sugar and caffeine. Sound familiar? It’s time then to take a break, make a change and focus on eating to energise.MAKE THE SWAPWe can’t expect to improve energy levels if we’re going to feed our bodies food that causes a spike in blood glucose and/or adrenaline levels and then a rapid fall. This is the result of quick fix foods such as coffee, confectionary and sugary treats. Their effect on the body’s energy is only momentary and if you tune in to your body when you eat them they have a similar effect on mood. If some of the ingredients to your afternoon pick me up involve the likes of the above then it’s time to make the swap to foods to nourish. Scale back and make the swap:from coffee initially to black tea then green, followed in time by herbalform refined confectionary and to fruits and nourishing treats made with nutrients to help you shine from pastries, cakes and sugar laden mouthfuls to protein rich snacks that stabilise energy levels for the remainder of the dayENERGY FOODUse the slump as an opportunity to fuel the change in your eating habits. Think about these nutrients to up the ante when you feel the low.Water: a well hydrated body is a well nourished and energised one. We cannot disregard just how important good hydration is for energy. If you feel tired and lethargic upon waking, water is your first step to flush and hydrate the body. If hunger strikes you at unexpected times, and a less than ideal snack is tempting, then a glass of water is your friend before anything else comes into play. And most certainly if you’ve relied on the quick fixes (caffeine and sugar) to see you through the 3pm slump, then water is going to be your partner in crime to improve energy for the long term. Have faith in this old trick it’s been touted in health for centuries for good reason.Magnesium: This is an incredible mineral for improving energy, not to mention helping us focus and consequently relax when we need to. Magnesium plays a vital role in the reactions that generate and deliver energy to our cells. Augment your diet with these magnesium rich foods such as dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, quinoa, legumes (beans and lentils) and best of all good quality dark chocolate. Integrate these foods as snacks with: Green juices or smoothies A handful of raw nuts and seeds Quick crunch on vegetable sticks with hummus High quality dark chocolate made without refined sugars B Vitamins: Our friends niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, B6, B12 and pantothenic acid work as a little team within the body to metabolise energy from protein, carbs and fats. Fortunately we find them in abundance in our foods but when we need to up our game and improve energy to see us through our lows then we can hone in on the B snack factor with a few little tricks: Natural yoghurt with crushed almonds, pecans and a serve of fresh fruit Small piece of poached chicken wrapped in spinach with fresh herbs Couple of teaspoons of natural (preservative/additive free) peanut butter spread on a banana Half serve of green salad such as tabouleh Quick boiled or fried egg with chilli and paprika Cacao smoothie with greens Half an avocado with lemon and pepper And if you’re still hungry for inspiration, these wholesome energy rich icy poles are a wonderful in the right direction.RASPBERRY MANGO AND VANILLA ICY POLESMakes 6 small icy polesRaspberry Layer: 1 cup coconut cream 140g mango pieces 1 banana, peeled 1/4 cup raspberries 2 teaspoons honey Mango layer: 1 banana 1/2 cup mango 1 teaspoon vanilla bean To make the raspberry layer combine all of the ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until combined. Divide the mixture across the base of the icy pole moulds. Tap the moulds against a counter to ensure no air bubbles remain. Make the mango layer by blending all of the ingredients together. Pour the mango mix into the moulds and place a paddle pop stick into each. Place in the freezer to set overnight.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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HOW TO MAKE EXERCISE A LIFESTYLE CHOICE BY LEAH SIMMONS
As part of our Jurlique Wellbeing Challenge, pilates teacher and fitness guru Leah Simmons has created an exclusive fitness plan for you to take on over the next four weeks. As part of this challenge, she guest blogs about her own personal fitness journey, relationship with food and some great tips along the way.*There’s a widely-trusted ideology that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. For some reason, 21 is the “golden number” that will switch something from being a conscious thought to being part of your everyday life. Want to get up at 6am? Do it every day for 21 days and you will start bouncing out of bed before your alarm goes off. Trying to drop that 3rd cup of coffee? Avoid it every day for 21 days and it’s gone.But what about exercise? Something that you need to make time for in a life that is already stretched beyond what we think we can manage? How do we turn exercise from being a chore into something that we actually look forward to? I mean we know it’s good for us. We are fully aware that we should be doing it. So how do we turn that THOUGHT into an ACTION?Let’s look at some of the most common reasons people come up with why they CAN’T exercise. “Oh… such and such goes to the gym 5 times a week… I couldn’t possibly do that.” “Mrs X has a personal trainer… I just can’t afford it.” or (my personal favourite) “I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME.”In a society that is overrun by 24-hour gyms, personal trainers and in-your-face social media it’s easy to get disheartened and feel unmotivated. But let me remind you what exercise actually is: the act of MOVING your body… Let that sink in for a minute. MOVE. YOUR. BODY. So…. walking? Yes. Swimming? Absolutely. Dancing? Yeah! As well as running, skipping, surfing, skating, jogging, stretching… need I go on? The amount, how much you do and how you do it is entirely up to you.Change your thoughts about exercise and you will change your relationship with exercise. The more you do things that you enjoy and that make you feel good, the more frequently you will do them. And slowly but surely you will start to incorporate them into your everyday life. You’ll have more energy, you’ll feel great and it won’t feel like a chore. And it just might give you the motivation you need to seek out something more… whether it’s a specific gym class you’ve wanted to try, or a sports team you’ve wanted to join. You will soon realise that it’s actually not that hard to make time for the things you want to make time for.Leah’s Top 5 Ways to Incorporate Exercise into your Daily Life Plan a walking meeting at work. Suggest taking a walk to a colleague and have a chat around the park instead of sitting in a stuffy meeting room! Make this a regular thing! Park 500m further from your office than you normally would and walk the rest of the way. That’s an automatic extra 5km you’ve then walked per week (1km to and from your office) Play a game where you hold a forearm plank for as long as you can during the ad breaks of your favourite TV show. Challenge yourself to hold your plank longer each time. Use 2 x bottles of water or 2 x cans of soup as hand weights and do this mini arm workout in your kitchen. Try going for 10 x bicep curls, 10 x straight arm raises to the front then 10 to the side, 10 x shoulder press, 10 x bicep curl to shoulder press combo, then hold both hands over your head and do 20 x tricep dips. Repeat sequence 3 times. Put on 3 of your absolute favourite songs from when you were young (the daggier the better) and dance to them like no one is watching. Check out the Jurlique Fitness Challenge for fitness tips, how-to’s and a four week calendar to get you started.Download the Jurlique X Leah Simmons Fitness Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge*The views contained in this Blog are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of Jurlique. You should seek medical advice before commencing any exercise regime.
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SKIN FIT: FINDING YOUR GLOW WITH LEAH SIMMONS
As part of our Jurlique Wellbeing Challenge, pilates teacher and general fitness guru Leah Simmons has created an exclusive fitness plan for you to take on over the next four weeks. As part of this challenge, she guest blogs about her own personal fitness journey, relationship with food and some great tips along the way.*We all know that exercise does wonders for our body. The benefits of leading a healthy, active lifestyle are numerous and, although it may be harder than sin to drag yourself out of bed for that early morning workout, I’m fairly certain no one ever regrets doing it after they’re done. But the rewards of exercising transcend far beyond just dropping those kilos or cultivating your six-pack. There are additional, more subtle effects that exercising has on our bodies… perhaps you are sleeping better, maybe your hair is shinier or you are feeling less anxious?One of the more visible benefits is the effect it has on our skin. Our skin is our largest living organ, made up of billions of skin cells and blood vessels. So, like every other organ in our body, it needs nourishment and nutrients to thrive.Skin-Fit… Is There Such a Thing?Go For The GlowYou’ve just finished your workout, your heart is beating like a Metallica drum solo and you crawl to the bathroom to catch your breath. You peer into the mirror and after the initial shock of seeing that exhausted sweaty face staring back at you, you notice that your skin has taken on a kind of golden sheen. You are glowing!! And this is no accident, believe me. When you get your heart really pumping, you deliver a flood of newly oxygenated blood to the living layers of your skin and skin cells. Your circulation is firing and you start producing more natural oils thus giving you that gorgeous “glow.”Sweat It OutHave you ever wondered where “sweat” actually comes from? Sweating is our body’s natural cooling system. When our body temperature increases, our pores secrete sweat to remove excess heat and waste from our skin through evaporation. You could almost say sweating is actually like having a mini-facial. Imagine those pesky little blackheads that you just can’t seem to get rid of… sweating can push the impurities out from your pores. It’s important to note however that you must wash your face immediately after working out to ensure that the gunk doesn’t get sucked back in!Wrinkles Be Gone!!Exercise can also help regulate skin-significant hormones and prevent free-radical damage. When we get stressed where is the first place it shows? On our faces… Dark circles, sagging skin and a pasty pallor are not a healthy person make… and this can be due to elevated levels of the stress-hormone Cortisol. Regular exercise can help maintain healthy levels of this hormone and also supports the production of collagen which can help keep your skin stay firm and supple-looking.Don’t Worry… Be Happy!!And finally… exercise just makes you FEEL GOOD!! You’ll have a spring in your step and your energy levels will sky rocket. And sooner or later you’ll be rocking around town with a giant grin on your face. Laughter is the fastest and easiest way to elevate your mood and help you look and feel amazing. When you smile with your whole face it’s like an instant facelift! So turn that frown upside down and laugh your way through your next gym session!!A Few Things to NoteAlways remember to protect your skin from the sun and wear a broad spectrum sunscreen whether you are working out indoors or out. I’m currently obsessed with Jurlique’s SPF40 Sun Specialist Cream – it smells amazing!Try to avoid wearing makeup while working out. You want to try and get rid of dirt on your face, not add to it! Bring your favourite cleanser in your gym bag and make sure that you wash your face immediately after your workout. I love Jurlique’s Herbal Recovery Antioxidant Mousse which has a light, foamy texture and is great for combination skin.Wash your hands thoroughly after working out before you touch your face. You don’t even want to know what bacteria lurks on communal gym equipment… yuck. Be aware of too-tight clothes and skin chafing – it you are going to be sweating a lot make sure you are in some comfortable gear. If you are swimming in a chlorinated pool then make sure you rinse off in some fresh water immediately after you get out – the chemicals used in pools can be quite irritating and drying for some skin types. And don’t forget to lock-in moisture for face, body and hands. I love Herbal Recovery Antioxidant Face Oil and the always classic Rose Hand Cream by Jurlique. Check out the Jurlique Fitness Challenge for fitness tips, how-to’s and a four week calendar to get you started.Download the Jurlique X Leah Simmons Fitness Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge*The views contained in this Blog are those of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of Jurlique. You should seek medical advice before commencing any exercise regime.
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