SnOOp: wellbeing

Showing posts with label wellbeing. Show all posts

Bathing in a Bubble Bath

Kristen Miller | Erin Byrneyc | Jelena Ardila | Allegra | Meggy Ecske

Water is an increasingly precious commodity and as we start to learn to respect it the ritual of bathing will become more precious to us. The bathroom is the only room where we are justified in being alone. I really do think we need to rethink how we design our bathroom. Your bathing boudoir should be geared to provide indulgent purifying pampering. We in the WEST focus on the hygine side of bathing rather than pleasure. Consider Turkey with their bathing houses, the Japanese onsen and of course the sauna in Switzerland. Our bodies deserve to be touched, pampered, rejuvinated. Bathing for me is life's superior sensations. Have you ever considered to install a steamer? Steaming is BLISS - it combines health and pleasure. According to Chinese medicine, a steam rids the body of viruses and bacteria. However if you don't have the space or cash for a steamer one thing we can all realate too when we are exhausted is a bubble bath mentally revives us. I love to bathe in the evening so my favourite potion for bubbles is Alexandra Soveral's 'Sleepy Head' Bath and body oil. What's your?

Making Music Improves Your Health - Fact!

Photographs by Amsterdam photographer Ananda Serne

From children to students to OAP’s music is a consistant part of our life. Not only does it give us pleasure but it helps keep us happy and healthy. Buckets of research has gone into uncovering direct links between making music and enhancing your well-being.

Get Healthy! – Making music improves your health. Evidence from around the globe has proved that playing a musical instrument can:

# Help Asthma sufferers reduce their symptoms

# Relieve stress and increase well-being

# Build muscle strength and aid recovery

# Enhance the function of the immune system

Get Back! – Making music keeps you younger. An increasing amount of research shows that for older people making music can delay the signs of ageing and help with the symptoms of some degenerative diseases. Making music, particularly within a group setting, can:

# Help decrease anxiety, loneliness and depression

# Improve self-esteem

# Help improve memory

# Give a general sense of well-being

Believe it or not, playing an instrument that you have to blow into burns a significant amount of calories. So your hour a day practicing will improve your health and give your lungs a workout

How Clean Is Your House?

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~Author Unknown

This picture by photographer Dr Ewa

Don't cook. Don't clean. No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum - "My God, the floor's immaculate. Lie down, you hot bitch." ~Joan Rivers

Time For Bed

It's not always easy to get our daily dose of sleep but taking bedding seriously can help. I don't think there is anything better than heavily textured white linen that will last you for years. One of the most enjoyable sleeps I've ever had was when visiting Santa Monica's luxury Viceroy Hotel wrapped up in their designer Italian sheets. So soft, cool and luxurious on the skin.

All pictures by Ms Lotte

These days, consumers think the higher the thread count the better the sheet. Thread count can be virtually meaningless, because some manufacturers do tricks like use two-ply yarn to up the count of threads per square inch, and the feel of a sheet depends on other factors such as the materials used to make it. Make sure before you buy to rub the corner of the sheet against your cheek to test which linen feels the most soothing.

The long term consequences of too little sleep include obesity, memory loss and lower IQ. There's been a lot of bravado about doing without sleep - all that extra work and partying you can do. But after looking at these pictures by Lotte why would you want to?

Donna Karan's Urban Retreat

My shoulder is killing me and I so need a massage. Oh if only I could be Donna Karan for a day. Whenever I get a creak in my neck and there is lack of wellbeing in my life I can't help but think about when I visited Donna Karan's home. American fashion designer Donna Karan's New York apartment serves as both spa retreat and partypad - the ultimate style sanctuary in the city.

Sadly the day I was there she was in the air flying home from Europe. It was just me, the photographer Richard Powers and Donna's gorgeous chocolate labrador. Her chef came in for little while to prepare some meals and it seems she was no longer on a raw diet.

It's kind of weird to wander around a famous persons home without them being there but at the same time it gives such a clear insight into who they really are. I walked away before interviewing her knowing she is spiritual, gentle and tactile.

Donna, queen of the New York fashion scene and global tastemaker has attracted a loyal clientele around the world thanks to her simple, well-cut and wearable clothes. The same elegant, understated approach infuses her New York 'bachelorette apartment,'

set in an Art Deco block on the Upper West Side, enjoying incredible views over Central Park.

When she wants to get away from it all, Donna heads for her boltholes in the Hamptons or the Turks and Caicos islands, but if she needs tranquillity when she's working in the city, this is her spiritual home.

Super-sophisticated and spacious, Donna's pad is a lesson in how to create a tranquil relaxation zone. Light-filled areas flow easily into one another and are decorated in a classic black and white palette, with emphasis on beautiful, quality materials like travertine and swamp teak.

Everything from the sofas to the candles has been designed to meet Donna's exacting requirements (think simple yet chic). And the building also links inside and outside in an imaginative way: along the glass external walls, architects Bonetti Kozerski (who design Donna's global boutiques) have created a stone bench which appears to cut through the glass, providing a seat and display surface in each room and on the terrace. ' What we love about this home is that it makes you feel instantly relaxed,' enthuses architect Enrico Bonetti. 'People react well to a space that is well proportioned and has a constant flow to it'.

Donna's chosen to have only one bedroom, but the lounge areas transform into comfy sleeping zones when her children and grandchildren descend. 'It makes for the ultimate sleepover party,' she laughs. While the apartment is frequently given over to post fashion show parties and intimate dinners where guests included Tibet's Dali Lama - it is primarily devoted to Donna's passion for physical and spiritual wellbeing.

In fact, one whole wing has been transformed into her very own spa - somewhere for her to practise yoga and meditate, as well as indulge in treatments and a daily massage before bed. 'It's my sanctuary, the calm to my chaos,' she says.

Donna also loves to be surrounded by her beloved art and books as well as momentoes of her late husband, Stephen Weiss, who died in 2002. 'My home celebrates my family and friends, art and culture, and it holds the memories that are a part of who I am'.

Donna's thoughts on creating a tranquil home

Space

'Space means freedom and flexibility. My apartment is all about flow and openness, with one room leading into another and the inside blurring into the outdoors'.

Texture

'To me, texture is a way to add an almost sculptural dimension to a room, whether with a tactile fabric - like cashmere or linen - or via a wall or floor surface - like bamboo or limestone'.

Balance

'I'm a Libran, so I'm always looking to find balance within opposites - black and white, calm and chaos, dram and serenity'.

Spirituality

'My late husband's presence is felt throughout this space, as he has always shared my passion for creating environments that cultivate learning and enlightenment'.

Family

'Family is everything to me, and every element in my home is designed with them in mind'.

Daily Ritual

'I practise yoga every morning and then take my steam bath, where I get some of my best design ideas. Before I go to bed, I always try to have a massage to help me unwind and relax'.

Comfort

'I live for comfort. There are cushions everywhere!'

Escape

It’s important to free yourself and get away from the hassles of work, the nagging at home and the pressures faced against us daily. Our minds are swamped by data, overstimulated and overstretched. It’s ok to run away and break out from it all but you don’t have to spend a fortune on holidays or yoga retreats. All you need to do is find your corner in the home. A place you can flee and have some shhhhh time. We have all heard how men need to go into their ‘man cave’. My dad’s cave was his garage my boyfriend disappears to the toilet and reads papers and magazines. But it’s not just men who need to find quiet time. Women and children need a moment to recharge. According to the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, it reports an increase in children suffering stress and breakdown. For our wellbeing we need to turn off the television, step away from the computer, flick on some music, read or just sit quietly and let your mind have some time to take you on a journey. It’s the time you can redefine and ask ‘Who am I’? Here are some examples how people around the world have found their corner.