Wellness Tips - By Dr Arien Van Der Merwe

A truly integrated, holistic (mind, body, emotions, soul) wellness lifestyle starts with a mindset, a conscious choice you make every day, sometimes from minute to minute. It’s the unwavering commitment to the pursuit of personal, communal and planetary well-being. A healthy, wellness focused journey starts with knowing your health risks, with a basic annual blood screening, including the InBody body composition assessment, to identify existing health risks, or through Genetic Screening, to identify a predisposition for future health risks. Lifting your head out of the sand by simply assessing your health status, is an ideal way to understand your health risks, not to scare you, but to make you aware of them and then allowing us to help you manage and assess the risks with the support of natural, holistic remedies, plant medicine and appropriate relaxation and stress management training.

The health coaching process will help you manage the risks and then we encourage a follow up to show improvement within 3-6 months. If you got side-tracked over the high days and holidays, get back into, or start, our Weight Control Clinic Program a.s.a.p. to lose the fat weight fast, before it becomes a fixture.

A few of my favourite tried and tested tips to get you started:

Start the day right:

Breathe deeply, plan carefully, stretch fully! Be grateful for the good in your life, for being alive.

Maintain fuel levels for sustained energy:

Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, salads, nuts and seeds, fish, legumes and low GI carbs. Use plant oils (cold-pressed, extra virgin olive, grapeseed, coconut, flaxseed oils).

Visit the watering hole regularly:

Drink fresh, clean water (1 glass of water for every 10kg body weight: 70kg = 7 glasses) and herbal teas.

Ensure optimal system support:

Take a daily dose of the 3 basic food supplements or nutraceuticals (food as medicine) - 1) a comprehensive, high-quality antioxidant combination; 2) calcium and magnesium always together, in the correct ratio and amino acid chelated, with vitamin C, D, minerals boron, potassium for optimal absorption; 3) and an omega 3 fish oil top up.

Use plant medicine:

Circumspectly and safely, to treat symptoms of dis-ease. There is a plant for every problem! Consult a knowledgeable health practitioner if you’re unsure about what to use. However, there are so many safe herbs to use as plant medicine, to be found in your own garden - e.g. lavender, rose, rosemary, basil.

Your body loves to move:

Connecting with and opening up to nature is good for our health and happiness.

Spend time outdoors:

Try fun activities - yoga, swimming, Tai ‘chi, kick boxing, dancing, walking.

Breathe deeply:

To slow down your brain waves to alpha state and open up the right brain for relaxed, creative thinking.

Sleep well, rest completely:

7-8 Hours of sound sleep in darkness, allows your body to recover, defrag and rejuvenate.

Final Words

Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast, you also miss the sense of yourself, where you’re going and why.

Dr Arien van der Merwe is a medical doctor and author, specialising in natural, integrative and plant medicine, stress management and workplace wellness interventions.