Category Archive: Uncategorized
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Back to that great holiday feeling
Leave a CommentBack to that great holiday feeling
The summer holiday period is over and you soon go back into the fast rhythm of daily life. You are absorbed by all the activities, obligations and roles that you fulfill at home and at work. That nice holiday feeling you had seems to be slowly fading away, even though you intended to keep that feeling for so long! With these relaxation exercises you will return to that nice vibe.
Bring back the holiday feeling
How does vacation feel to you? What does the holiday feeling mean to you? A feeling of freedom, peace and pleasure, nothing is necessary and everything is allowed? Do you spend more time outdoors or in nature? Do you enjoy the long days, the sun and the warmth, cheerful music? Do you take the time to eat and drink together, to connect with each other and to create conviviality? Are you more in connection with yourself and do you do the things you feel like doing? What do you like to do when you are on vacation and what do you experience?Visualization exercise: your ultimate holiday
Travel to your ultimate holiday destination through this visualization. Sit in a nice place where you won’t be disturbed. Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes and bring attention to your body. Feel your feet, your legs, your upper body, arms and head. Connect with your breath and on the exhale release all tension.Now imagine that you are in a place where you would like to be. The place where you can experience your ultimate holiday feeling. Maybe you are lying on a beach somewhere in the sun, sitting on a terrace and enjoying delicious food or being in nature. What does this place look like, what do you see? Colours, shapes, structures, objects? What can you hear, sounds of nature, music, people? Is there a certain smell that you can detect? Maybe even something you can taste? How does the place feel where you are now? Is it hot or cold? Use all your senses to make your experience as intense as possible and feel your holiday feeling. You may feel a soft smile on your face. Stay in this place for as long as you want and then calmly return to the area where you are, reconnect with your body and slowly open your eyes. Take this great holiday feeling with you and travel back to this great place, your happy place, as often as you want.
Stress relaxation exercise
If you find yourself quickly being drawn into the daily grind and feeling tense, take a moment for yourself and perform this short relaxation exercise.Sit or lie down quietly and bring attention to yourself. Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat a few times and feel your breathing calm down more and more. On the inhale, make fists of your hands, tense all muscles and on the exhale, release the tension. Inhale make fists, exhale release. Repeat several more times.
Bring attention to your shoulders, how does this area feel? Inhale and shrug your shoulders toward your ears. Hold this position for a moment and feel the tension and discomfort. Sigh out and lower the shoulders, feel the relaxation and relief. Repeat this relaxation exercise a number of times and feel how you can release more and more tension as you exhale. After repeating the exercise a few times, bring the attention back to your body and feel for another place where you feel tension. Inhaling tense the muscles in this area, feel the discomfort. Breathing out you let go of all muscle tension and you feel space and relief arise.
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Experience your day mindfully
Leave a CommentExperience your day mindfully
You probably recognize it: in daily life you are often absorbed by all the activities, obligations and roles that you fulfill at home, at work and beyond. How do you ensure that you still experience your day as consciously as possible? Claire, the hostess of Yogaplace, shares her tips.
A slow start of the day
How you start your morning affects how you feel for the rest of your day. Do you start the day in a hurry? Then you will also feel restless for the rest of the day. Are you going for a calm and relaxed start to the day? Then you will notice that you are more confident the rest of the day.
How do you start your day slow? Make sure you take all the time for yourself, even if that may mean getting up a little earlier. “Activate your senses with a nice scent (incense, scented candle, aroma diffuser) and a herbal tea and choose your favorite place in the house to wake up peacefully. You can also spend this time on a nice work-out, yoga practice, walk, meditation or journaling.”Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury
Also create fixed moments to literally take care of yourself. Claire: “With a fixed skincare routine I give my skin, and therefore myself, care and attention. A wonderful facial massage is certainly not lacking.”
Taking care of yourself also means feeding yourself. “I adjust my breakfast to the season. Now in summertime, my body is telling me it needs something fresh and lighter. For example, vegetable yogurt with summer fruit, chia seeds, grated coconut and goji berries. Something that you prepare for yourself with care and love always tastes better!”Offline time
Do you find yourself spending a lot of time in front of a screen? Plan regular offline moments. Put your phone away or put it on airplane mode and let the people around you know that you are offline. Just look how much more space in your head you will experience and maybe even creativity will be sparked!Yoga contributes to a mindful life
Claire: “How yoga helps me to stay mindful during the day? It helps me to connect with my ‘self’, to be aware, to feel well what lives in me and to listen to my body. What it offers me? Peace, tranquility, connection with myself, gratitude and also challenge, energy and a lot of creativity.”Namaste
Claire
Hostess at YogaplaceCheck out the Yogaplace services at ODS Vitaal
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Energetic through the summer
Leave a CommentEnergetic through the summer
Summer, an active season in which you want to do more and do more. The temperatures are higher and it is light for longer. The season to open up and connect. You may experience that you are more concerned with the people and the world around you and that you pay less attention to yourself. All the more important to take a moment for yourself. We share some tips and exercises with you.
Make time for yourself
Whether at home, on vacation or in nature. Create a place with a nice atmosphere where you can do your thing undisturbed. You don’t have to stand on the mat for an hour and perform all kinds of complicated yoga poses – yoga involves much more than performing a number of poses on the mat. You can also think of other exercises such as pranayama (breathing exercises) or a body scan. The important thing is that you take the time to get into the here and now and connect with yourself. Feel how you are doing and what you need.
An energetic start to your day
Do you want to feel fit and energetic this summer? Get up early in the morning and take a moment for yourself before jumping into on mode and doing all kinds of things. It is light early in the summer. During sunrise, nature awakens and there is a lot of prana (life energy) in the air. A great moment to start your day energetically by performing a sun salutation!
- Stand up straight and feel the grounding under your feet
- Inhale, raise your arms in a large circle and close your palms
- Exhaling, bend over and place your hands on the mat. You can bend your knees here
- Inhale lengthen your back, exhale step your feet back one by one and bring your body into a straight line (plank) and slowly lower down until you are lying on your stomach
- Inhale and open your chest, push the upper body up a bit from your hands (cobra or upward dog)
- Exhale, roll back down and press firmly into your hands and push your sit bones up to the ceiling through the knees or by curling your toes into the mat (downward dog)
- Inhale and step the feet forward between the hands, extending your back
- Exhale bend your head towards your legs
- Take a deep breath, slowly stand up and bring your hands in a large circle above your head
- Exhale, slowly lower the hands down along the body and feel the grounding under your feet
- Being present in the here and now
During the day you can take a moment and use your senses to get into the here and now. Look around you, what can you observe? Objects, colors, structures. Do you hear sounds? Are these far away or close by? Maybe you smell a certain smell, can you sense the temperature or taste something?
A cooling breathing exercise
To help cool down the body on a hot summer day, you can perform the Sitali breathing exercise. Stick out your tongue and curl the sides of the tongue up to create a straw-like shape. Breathe in slowly and feel the cooling air flowing into the body. Breathe out slowly through the nose.
Namaste
Manon
Check out the Yogaplace services at ODS Vitaal
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Better sports performance through the use of a supplement
Comments Off on Better sports performance through the use of a supplementBetter sports performance through the use of a supplement
Now that spring has arrived, many endurance athletes are getting on their bikes or preparing for a long-distance run. The question that is often asked in the spring is about the use of supplements. Do you get better by using one or more supplements? Yes and no. Supplements can make a major contribution to your sports performance, but they also have instructions for use.
The beginning
By using only a supplement you will not perform better. It starts with a healthy lifestyle. Choose a tasty, healthy, varied and balanced diet. The basic diet consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibers, etc. What goes in and what is needed must be completely in balance. You can use multivitamins, but if they are not made from the right ingredients or from synthetic material, then they are of no use. The basic nutrition must therefore first be properly coordinated.imbalance
If the balance is disturbed, something is not right with you as an athlete. If you have a shortage of something, you have to supplement it. It is wise to get good advice about this. On the internet you will find a huge number of providers that all promise the world. Forget that. It just starts with you: your mindset and your basic nutrition.Additional Supplements
Now I hear you think, “Then why supplements?” Supplements are important for the athlete who regularly exercises. If you get on your bike once a week and ride a round around the church, then the basic nutrition will suffice and on the day you start cycling one extra whole-wheat slice of bread and a banana. If you exercise fanatically more than once a week, targeted supplements are a desirable addition. Targeted? Yes, targeted. You should see supplements as an addition to your daily lifestyle and diet. So you should not just use something because the neighbor does too.Which supplements
Throughout my own sports career I have used numerous supplements. One was sponsored or purchased by the club, the other I bought myself. I soon learned that supplements are not only about quality, but also about taste and finally the cost. For example, I had a supplement that was quite okay but was almost three times more expensive than a comparable brand. I was sponsored a supplement that bears the quality mark of the NZVT (Dutch Security System for Nutritional Supplements Top Sport). This quality mark indicates that the batch of the supplement has been checked for prohibited substances and has been found to be good. The taste and effect of the supplement were just not right. It is therefore extremely important that you use a supplement that suits you. In many cases, the advice is: choose customization.Purpose of a supplement
The purpose of a supplement is to supplement the basic (sports) nutrition. A supplement focuses on a faster recovery, replenishment of energy, shortages in other nutrients and getting sick less often.Supplement advice
My search for a suitable supplement has taken many years. As I wrote before, it simply has to meet a number of (personal) conditions. I have been using SupQ for a few years now. This Dutch product (or rather Limburg product) meets all requirements when it comes to endurance sports. SupQ does not focus on the complete sports industry but has developed a product that is purely aimed at endurance sports. In addition, it is substantiated by research, they work together with various sports dieticians and the products have been extensively tested on Dutch laws and regulations.If you look at which supplements from SupQ contain my personal preference, they are the following:
SupQ isotone drink lemon
If you are engaged in your endurance sport for more than 60 minutes, a well-functioning and tasty isotonic drink is a real asset. This isotonic drink is extremely hydrating and certainly does not have an overly sweet taste. It does not stick in the mouth and has approximately the right ratio of carbohydrates and minerals. It replenishes lost carbohydrates and minerals. A 500 ml bottle of isotonic drink also replenishes one third of the amount of magnesium. One of the important minerals that an endurance athlete loses quickly. My preference in taste is with the isotone drink lemon.If you are an athlete who sweats more than the average athlete, you also lose a lot of salts. Then the ORS drink Peach is ideal for you. It is rich in electrolytes and replenishes the deficiencies.
SupQ energy bar apple cinnamon
For the endurance athlete, the sports meal alone is usually not sufficient. The sports meal is sufficient for 5 to 10 km. But longer distances require the replenishment of your carbohydrates. Many athletes make the mistake of taking a gel. These gels consist only of sugar. This will immediately raise your sugar level. That’s fine for the last 5 km, but if you still have a long way to walk or cycle, it’s better to make up for the shortfalls in another way. The SupQ energy bar has the right ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and minerals. Due to the compact composition of this bar and the subtle taste, you will not get an excessively sweet bar or bar that crumbles in your throat. These bars come in different flavors. My personal preference is the SupQ apple cinnamon bar with green tea.SupQ recovery shake
If you exercise regularly, it is important to let your muscles recover properly. Yet in many cases recovery is forgotten or thought of too late. With endurance sports it is important that you replenish the muscle glycogen on time. If you only do this with the well-known protein shake, it will not work. In endurance sports, carbohydrates are not only the source of energy but also an important link for recovery. If you do not or hardly recover, more muscle damage will occur and your body will not improve in sport. My personal preference for the recovery shake is SupQ recovery strawberry.SupQ latest products
New SupQ products are regularly launched on the market. These new products are selected according to the needs of the athletes. At SupQ, the wishes of the athlete come first. Products can be developed that they think are good in the market, but the opinion and wishes of the athlete are very important.Conclusion
I understand that you are thinking: “The above story is a sales pitch for the SupQ products”. As a Sports Nutrition Coach, I receive various offers every month to promote and test products. Usually the packages I receive are viewed and returned to the sender. The SupQ product fits in with the vision of the Sports Nutrition Coach. With a well-founded supplement you can perform better. However, it starts with the right basic nutrition. So make sure it’s in order. You don’t know how to pick up the basic nutrition. Please contact ODS Vitaal. There are various programs where I can help you with nutrition.Andre Mostard
Sports nutrition coachView André’s offer in the ODS Vitaal portal here.
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Your first yoga practice
Comments Off on Your first yoga practiceYour first yoga practice
When Rein (21) started his graduation internship in the marketing department of Yogaplace in February, he had no experience with yoga yet. Because he also wanted to experience it for himself, he decided to participate in an Ashtanga Mysore style class. Many think that this form of teaching is only for the advanced yogi, but especially as a beginner this is a great way to develop your own practice. In this blog Rein shares his experience of his first yoga class at Yogaplace.
“Yoga is an industry that I was not yet familiar with, but which seemed very interesting to me because it is a different form of sport than I am used to. When I started my internship, I felt that I should of course get to know Yogaplace’s offer. I was invited to join a Mysore style class.”
First time yoga
My first yoga practice was a pleasant experience, and also special because I practiced yoga for the first time in a shala with experienced yogis. I participated in the Ashtanga Mysore style class, a yoga practice where you perform the series of poses at your own pace and order. You receive good guidance and help from a professional teacher, which makes it feel like a kind of private lesson in a group. Since this was my first lesson, I started with the first and second parts of the sun salutation under guidance, going through each step individually and finally practicing it in full several times in a row.My experience
I entered the practice openly with the idea that I would be surprised what would happen and what feeling is involved. You learn to concentrate on the breathing and associated postures, which I found more intensive than I had previously thought. The practice ends with a final relaxation where you lie on the mat (savasana). The combination of the breathing and the series of postures eventually gave a calm feeling and a lot of energy for the rest of the day.Recommended or not?
It is definitely recommended to try a yoga class. It gave me a lot of energy, peace and joy for the rest of the day. The first few lessons will take some getting used to and you will see how the practice is as pleasant as possible for yourself. In addition to the above benefits, it is also a relief for your physical body due to the many stretches and different positions.” -
Meditation for sensory awareness
Comments Off on Meditation for sensory awarenessMeditation for sensory awareness
Now that a lot of restrictions are repealed, your daily life suddenly looks very different. You can go back to your daily workout in a busy gym, have a drink in your favorite bar or watch the latest movie in the cinema. It’s a bunch of impulses that you may not have experienced in a long time. You unconsciously let many stimuli pass you by, but still a lot has to be processed by your brain. Even when it comes to ‘nice’ stimuli!
You have probably experienced that you were ‘lived’ precisely by the many stimuli. You have a lot going on and you are not quite in the moment. This meditation exercise for sensory awareness can help with that. It teaches you to focus attention on your senses, and to be fully aware and in the moment, by observing with all your senses. The key to the NOW.
We start by observing and following the breath, and when we are sufficiently relaxed we extend this focus to everything that happens in and outside our body. Whenever we get lost in our thoughts, we return to our breath and refocus on our body and the environment. Read the steps below and practice the meditation. Do it together with someone or let someone guide you by reading the steps at a leisurely pace.
Exercise
- Sit down, close your eyes and bring your attention to your breathing.
- Become aware of each inhalation and exhalation. Let your breath go by itself and don’t try to direct it.
- Notice how the air slowly flows in and out through your nose, going in, filling your lungs, and out again.
- Notice whether you’re breathing through your abdomen, diaphragm, or through the upper chest.
- When you feel comfortable after a few breaths, start focusing.
- For the first few breaths, focus on the sensations you perceive as the air enters through your nose or how the air fills your abdomen.
- Focus on the sensations you perceive as the air flows out through your nose or how your abdomen collapses as the oxygen leaves your abdomen. Let your breath go by itself and don’t try to direct it.
- Continue until you are totally relaxed and comfortable.
- Then expand your attention to the sound of your breathing.
- Listen carefully to the sounds around you. Consider them all equally important.
- Expand your attention further to your feeling. Feel the clothes you wear, the hair on your head, the muscles in your face, etc.
- Be aware of any sensation you perceive. Don’t judge, just observe.
- If your mind wanders to things like work or other daily worries, notice that and return calmly to the sensations you last noticed or to what you notice now.
- Expand your perceptions further to your sense of smell. Smell all the scents around you.
- Taste everything you can taste.
- Open your eyes slowly, but maintain a light focus and concentration. Observe everything you see.
- Take a moment to use all your senses. You are now fully present.
- Close your eyes again and draw all your senses back in. If something demands your attention, observe it and calmly return to what is striking you now. Continue to observe in silence for a moment.
- We return slowly. Feel your body weight in the chair or on the cushion where you sit.
- Finish the exercise.
Namaste
Manon
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Cleanliness according to ancient yoga tradition
Comments Off on Cleanliness according to ancient yoga traditionCleanliness according to ancient yoga tradition
You know the saying: ‘rest, regularity and cleanliness’, the pillars of raising a child. But actually they are just as important for adults. Rest, so that your body and mind can recover, and regularity to have a stable biorhythm. Cleanliness also speaks for itself: good hygiene so that you do not become ill due to contamination with a bacteria or virus. However, you can look beyond that. Within Hinduism and yoga, the meaning of cleansing is reflected in the conviction that the body is the temple of the soul and that this temple must be kept clean.
Kriyas in yoga (often applied for centuries) are physical cleansing techniques. Kriyas cleanse the human body by stimulating the body’s secretory mechanisms. There are various kriyas, in which different techniques and tools are used. In this blog I discuss a few cleansing exercises from ancient traditions in yoga.
Tongue cleaning
The tongue is the mirror for the condition of the intestines. A coating on the tongue shows the presence of Ama. Ama is undigested toxic material with many bacteria. The coating is a waste product, just like urine or sweat. Cleaning your tongue every morning before the practice removes millions of bacteria, improves the quality of your saliva, improves digestion and gives you fresh breath. Cleaning the tongue is also symbolic of cleaning and loving what we put into our body (food and drink) and what we let out (speech, language). You use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue.Rinse nose
The healing effect of Himalayan salt, to deal with diseases of the respiratory system, has been known for centuries. In Ayurveda (Indian health sciences) and yoga, nasal rinses are a common part of the daily morning ritual. By stimulating the nasal mucosa, the natural immune system and the function of the nasal mucosa and the upper respiratory tract can be strengthened. The delicate connection between the nose and sinuses is kept open with the neti pot. The neti pot, the name of the jug with which the nasal rinse is done, comes from Jala Neti (Jala = water and Neti = cleaning). Jala Neti is just as common in India as brushing your teeth. The application is simple, by means of the neti pot you place an isotonic, body-warm saline solution in one nostril and rinse through the other. It opens the upper airways, improving breathing. This also provides relief from symptoms of hay fever, allergies and headaches, among other things.Oil pulling
Swishing a tablespoon of sesame oil in your mouth daily for 3-5 minutes and actively pulling it between the teeth by mouth has countless health benefits. The fatty acids in the oil loosen and absorb the bacteria in the oral cavity. By finally spitting out the oil, you remove the bacteria. This also prevents a surplus of bad mouth bacteria. Benefits of oil pulling for the oral cavity include strengthening teeth and gums, promoting fresh breath, preventing bleeding gums and caring for the mouth and pharynx. Oil pulling is not only healthy for the mouth and teeth, but it also has an impact on overall health as many bacteria enter the body through the mouth. Other benefits may include reducing headaches, improving hormone balance, reducing eczema or relieving colds. Then wait about 15 minutes before drinking anything.Lukewarm water with lemon
Drink a lukewarm glass of water with half a squeezed lemon on an empty stomach in the morning. Then drink a normal glass of lukewarm water. It helps to cleanse the digestive tract and get rid of toxins that have built up overnight. It is a form of intestinal detoxification for your body. The liver is extremely active during sleep as this is when your body repairs and regenerates itself. The citric acid in lemons protects the liver function and its functioning.Tapping
Tapping is a great way to wake up the body and to feel your body and home on a sensory level. Make sure to touch every part of the body by tapping, massaging or tapping. Do this with three fingers (soft), by cupping your hands (medium) or with your fists (hard). Take your time and do it your way. Listen to your needs.Do you have a morning ritual (which also contributes to the R for regularity)? See if you want to apply one or more of the kriyas, it offers many health benefits!
Manon
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End of year meditation
Comments Off on End of year meditationNow that the end of the year is approaching, it is important to reflect. What have I extracted strength and energy from in the past year, and what does no longer serve me, what do I want to let go of and say goodbye to? Take time for yourself and take a few moments to stop and look within. That way you find out what really matters. Set a powerful intention for yourself with this meditation to take with you into the new year. But first some explanation so that you can better understand what meditation really is.
What exactly is meditation?
Meditation is about inner mental stillness. You allow your mind to completely relax and eventually come to a deeper clear state of consciousness where distractions of thoughts and feelings fade into the background. You do this first by fully focusing on the here and now. You can practice meditation in many ways, there is not one way the only right one. The important thing is that you do not try to control your thoughts, but that you recognize them, observe them and let them go. Many people think that you should completely empty your mind when you meditate, but that is not the case. It is more about observing and accepting thoughts. You let them pass, as it were, listen to them, and then let them go. You cannot “do” meditation, you can enter a state of meditation. Meditation is a certain quality. When your body, mind, energies and emotions develop at a certain level of maturity, meditation will happen on its own. Try not to worry too much about whether a meditation is going well or not. With continuous practice, you naturally develop experience, making it easier to get into a deep meditation. In addition, all meditations are useful, whether they are deep or not. The most important thing is that you have patience. The calmer you are, the easier it goes.Why meditate?
Meditating is extremely useful because, consciously or unconsciously, we are lived a large part of our time. We respond 24/7 to stimuli around us, instead of making conscious, well-considered choices. To find a balance for yourself, meditation can offer a huge outcome. Meditating helps you find a moment of peace in your day, with the aim of training your consciousness and being less reactive to situations that arise. For a moment we leave the external world for what it is and turn inward to see what is actually going on there. By really taking time for ourselves, a seed is created, which after a while will develop into a beautiful flower. In other words, the peace within ourselves.12 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Meditating
- Improves concentration.
- Reduces stress.
- Makes less anxious.
- Helps to sleep better.
- Can relieve depression.
- Reduces loneliness.
- Improves memory.
- Increase compassion.
- Soothes chronic pain.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Helps overcome addiction.
- Provides a stronger immune system.
Meditate in 3 easy steps
Have you never meditated? Then you may think that meditating is difficult, or that the threshold to start with it is very high. However, this doesn’t have to be the case at all! Most likely you have no idea where to start with your first meditation session and therefore prefer to postpone this session. That’s a shame! Anyone can start meditating: it is not as difficult as you think. In fact, you only need to follow the steps below to start your first meditation session. There are no rules, as long as you feel comfortable and comfortable with it. The location does not matter either, do you have your session on your kitchen floor or in the middle of nature? It’s all up to you!
Step 1: Adopt a position that is comfortable for you
The first step of meditation consists of adopting a nice and relaxed posture. Most people like to sit while meditating, but you can also lie down or just stand. Are you going to sit down? Then make sure that you don’t slump backwards, but sit up relaxed. Not too tight, but not too loose either. You can close your eyes, but you can also keep them slightly opened. Decide for yourself what you like.Step 2: Arrive in your sitting position and pay attention
When you’re comfortable, take a few deep breaths in and out. This puts you in a state of relaxation. This is important, because you need to be well relaxed in order to meditate. Breathe in and out deeply until you feel that you are really relaxed. You turn your senses inward, as it were. You feel how you sit and what you sit on. You listen to your breath, your heartbeat, blood pressure. If you get distracted by the sounds around you, your thoughts that come up, look at it and come back to listening to your breathing and feeling how you are sitting there. Over and over.Step 3: Focus on your breathing
In the next phase, you focus on your breathing for a longer period of time. Be aware of the breath that flows in and out. Feel your belly and chest rise slightly as you inhale, and fall again as you exhale. Concentrate only on this rhythm, completely without distraction. Don’t change your breathing, just observe your breathing, observe. Do you find yourself easily distracted? Then you go back to the observation of your breathing. Stay here for as long as you like (about 10 minutes) and end the meditation in your own way by making small stretches and breathing deeply in and out a few times.I wish you a happy holidays!
Manon
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What do you do in the face of setbacks?
Comments Off on What do you do in the face of setbacks?What do you do in the face of setbacks?
Sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes things turn out differently. Sometimes you don’t get what you want or it doesn’t work out the way you expected. What are you going to do then? Let me take you on a tour of a personal project of mine: the purchase and renovation of our house.
The planning
When we bought a house in April, we knew we couldn’t live in it right away. We provisionally made a kitchenette and we showered at the house of family and friends. We had to move some pipes and order a bathroom and kitchen. We thought we could arrange that within 2 months.The offers
You send in a number of contractors who actually don’t have the time. They make quotes that will blow your mind. Some don’t even show up. What now? You cannot live normally without a kitchen and bathroom. It took a while but we found a way out. It just took a little longer.At work
The right man with the right staff offers himself! We get a nice quote and they get to work right away. The invisible pipe and drainage work was in poor condition. Everything had to be replaced. The plastered walls were beautiful, but due to the replacement of the pipes, the stucco also had to be redone. So it didn’t go as we expected.COVID doesn’t make it any easier
During the busy construction work, we also ordered a bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom went pretty well but the kitchen was challenging. This is in fact 40 m2 in size. If you have to choose a kitchen during the corona period that is not your average kitchen, that is difficult. You can do everything via the internet, but when you choose a kitchen you want to see the cabinets, appliances and materials and have them in your hands. We eventually succeeded in that too. Through research and using our network we found the right supplier and now we have a beautiful kitchen. So things don’t always go the way you want or the way you’re used to. But in the end it will be okay.Result takes time
Delivery times of 6 to 8 months have become normal. Why does it take so long? Then you wonder. Should I cancel my order or should I just wait and see? Then we entered into a conversation and made our situation clear and we told them that our 1-by-1 kitchen unit is not the solution for a longer period of time. Fortunately, the delivery time of 6 months could be shortened to 3 months! In those 3 months, the contractor had worked hard, the entire bathroom was fitted with new piping, drains, electricity, underfloor heating, tiling and plumbing. Fortunately, they also had the kitchen space ready in time for the installation of the new kitchen. The kitchen was delivered and installed on the agreed day!We are very happy with the result, even though it cost us blood, sweat and tears.
Moral of this building story
In the past 1.5 years nothing was certain. That will also be the case in the future. What is green today may suddenly be red tomorrow. If things don’t work out or things don’t turn out the way you had hoped, that’s very annoying. Especially if you can’t do anything about it. Try not to think in problems, but in possibilities and solutions.It is the same with your health, your diet and your exercise. Don’t say “I can’t do it”, “I don’t like it” or “I don’t have time for that”. Ask yourself:
“What can I do to achieve the result?”
“What can I eat that is tasty and healthy?”
“When can I do more exercise?”If you keep that vibe going in 2022, you’ll notice that it’s going to be a lot easier. If you can’t do it alone, find a professional who can help you. Alone, but also together, you can achieve the desired goal!
I wish you happy holidays,
AndréWould you like to enjoy a tasty salad in December that you can eat hot or cold? Then this is a delicious recipe.
Pasta salad with smoked salmon, spinach and avocado
- Whole wheat pasta, unprepared – (50 grams)
- Avocado – 0.5 pieces (63 grams)
- Smoked salmon (65 grams)
- Olive oil – 1 tablespoon (8 grams)
- Green peas, frozen – (50 grams)
- Baby spinach – (40 grams)
- Pepper – 1 pinch (1 gram)
- Salt – 1 pinch (1 gram)
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Add the peas during the last 5 minutes.
- Drain in a colander, rinse under cold running water and drain.
- Halve and pit the avocado and cut into cubes. Cut the smoked salmon into strips.
- In a bowl, combine the pasta with the smoked salmon, peas, spinach and avocado. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper and scoop the salad onto a plate.
If you want to know more about Andrés services via ODS Vitaal, check this!
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Why do we eat more in winter?
Comments Off on Why do we eat more in winter?Why do we eat more in winter?
Now that it’s getting colder and we often leave home in the dark and come home in the dark, we eat more. It seems that we eat more in the winter months than in the summer. Is that really the case? If we look at what our body does in the winter, it seems to be right.
Serotin, the happiness hormone
When the sun is shining and we are comfortable in our own skin, we sometimes forget to eat. In the winter, it is the other way around. According to several experts, we see that the amount of happiness hormone decreases in the winter period. This can have many causes. It means that when there is a shortage of this hormone, the body thinks it needs more food. So we’re going to eat more.Put on a thick coat and go outside
When we go outside, we put on the winter coat and go out. Our body does everything it can to maintain our body temperature. Normally your body temperature is 37 degrees. If it goes up because of a fever or illness, that’s not nice. If our temperature drops, we want to get it back up as quickly as possible. We are therefore more likely to eat more during the cold days to get extra energy (and therefore heat).The holiday month
December is a festive month. Yet 3 years ago I had a client who started working on his health on December 1st. On January 25, he/she had lost over 10 kg in fat. Now 3 years later this is still the case and he/she is very satisfied with it. However, this start date was very difficult for him/her. Traditionally, many delicacies were made during the holiday season. Cookies, chocolates, pies, gingerbread cookies and so on. The holidays are also months in which we eat more. For example the Christmas dinners, the oliebollen and the apple pies. The supermarkets are full of temptations. There is plenty of choice and if your amount of happiness hormone is also on the low side, we eat some extra.Then what
Well, what is normal for one person is a difficult task for another. Eat high fiber, eat seasonal dishes and eat stews and stews. Eat fiber-rich pasta and rice. Make more conscious choices during the holidays. If there are only less healthy things to eat, make the best choice for you. When you start eating fiber-rich, the body will need more time to digest these products. As a result, more glucose enters the bloodstream and you get more energy from these dishes.You do, the other doesn’t
What applies to one does not apply to the other. A woman gets cold faster than a man and therefore a woman will eat more quickly than the man. Yet it is the ladies who continue to exercise in the winter period. Men are more likely to opt for the winter break.Be more aware of your diet and go for a nice walk in the winter. The sun will always improve your vitamin D absorption, making you feel happier.
Enjoy the month of November. In December I will write something about New Year’s resolutions and offer an alternative to eating too much at Christmas.
Pumpkin curry with chicken and rice
Ingredients:
- Brown rice, unprepared
- 70 grams of coconut milk
- 60 grams chicken breast, unprepared
- 150 grams of olive oil (for frying)
- 1 tablespoon (10 grams) Coriander, fresh
- 4 grams Pumpkin cubes, chilled – 200 grams
- Curry paste, red – 1 tablespoon (15 grams)
- Garlic – 1 clove (2 grams)
- Salt – 1 pinch (1 gram)
Preparation method:
- Cook the rice according to package directions.
- Finely chop the garlic.
- Cut the chicken breast into cubes.
- Heat the olive oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the garlic briefly.
- Add chicken and fry until golden brown and cooked through.
- Add the curry paste and pumpkin and fry for a few minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, bring to the boil and simmer over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. Stir occasionally. Season to taste with salt.
- Put the rice with the curry on a plate and garnish with some fresh coriander if desired.
Take a look at my Facebook, where I put tips, tricks and recipes on it every day that give you a helping hand. André Mostard is a Sports Nutrition Coach and has been active in the sports world for over 30 years. André regularly writes a blog for ODS with good practical tips to feel good!
Sports nutrition coach André Mostard