I love it when my weekends are filled with fun, pleasurable experience as well as some new knowledge and wisdom. My recent Saturday was a great example of that. I went to a wellness day retreat “Time Well Spent” organised by Tri-Dosha in partnership with COMO Shambhala Urban Retreat in London, and hardly noticed how 6.5 hours have passed by.
After a very warm welcome and our first (out of many) cups of COMO Shambhala signature ginger tea, we started off with three short and informal speaker presentations.
I enjoyed the fact that the first presentation was slightly different to what you’d normally expect at a wellness event. It was a professional podiatrist, lovely and warm Dina Gohil, who gave us loads of useful tips on the subject of foot health.
Useful notes to self:
- when choosing the shoes:
- check the width of the shoe and ensure the “toe box” (where your toes sit) is deep enough
- go for flexible and soft material
- even if choosing a completely flat shoe, look for an inner padding to support the foot
- don’t use flip flops for long-distance walking
- a standard pair of trainers should only last you 100 hours (who would have thought!)
- go see a professional podiatrist at least once to sort out all your feet issues, don’t suffer in silence!
Following Dina, a professional nutrition consultant with bags of experience and a slightly Californian attitude to life (“life’s a gym!”), Karen Cummings-Palmer has shared with us her pearls of wisdom on ageing gracefully and adding vitality to life.
She made a very important point that the process of ageing boils down to inflammation and hence we need to try and slow down that process in our body.
Among her golden rules & tips were:
- take omega 3 supplement
- food intake and body movement should come roughly in equal quantities
- better moving a little 15 min a day than vigorously 2h twice a week
- don’t forget to use natural SPF in any weather
- love pizza? Try and make one at home using ready-made spelt pizza base
- refined sugar is a killer; latest trend in sugar substitutes – coconut syrup
- not sure which superfood supplement to choose? Go for mixed powders with a little bit of everything
- try and not go over two glasses of red wine a week
Finally, Sunita Passi of Tri-Dosha talked to us about the benefits of meditation and her personal experience of practicing this wonderful wellness tool. Whatever technique you choose, whether it’s mindfulness, breathing, mantra singing or visualisation – the benefits are equally immense.
Meditation helps to separate your thoughts from your feelings and therefore you will learn to not get too emotionally involved in various unpleasant events of daily life. Meditation helps you draw more satisfaction from your life, release frustration and anger, and ultimately open up your endless internal source of wisdom and vitality. Apparently, meditating for 5 years makes you look 12 years younger – I think that’s a strong enough reason to incorporate at least 10-15 min of meditation into your daily routine.
After a delicious lunch we split into three groups to enjoy three 30-min sessions one after another: a massage by expert therapists at COMO Shambhala Urban Retreat Spa; a guided meditation with Sunita; and a nutrition Q&A with Karen.
I’ve opted for a leg massage which was truly blissful and put me in a very relaxing state – perfect for the following meditation session with Sunita. The guided meditation was about empowering us with inner confidence and programming our body to stay healthy, young and vibrant.
During the final Q&A with Karen I’ve managed to get the answers to some of my burning questions around nutrition (so much better than trying to fish out for answer through a google search!).
We finished off the day with a desert of delicious fruit salad and friendly chatter. I’ve also left with a very generous goody bag full of skincare products (will last me for few months) and a positive charge of energy.
The next Time Well Spent day retreat by Tridosha runs on 27 Feb 2016:
http://tri-dosha.co.uk/wellbeing_retreat.php
Email info@tri-dosha.co.uk to book