Unplug and live life

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Sunday 25th June marked National Unplugging Day, the third of its kind in the UK and something we think will grow and grow as more and more of us question just how much time we spend online.

National Unplugging Day is a day all about breaking free from technology and having fun with family and friends away from the screens and gadgets many of us use for more than eight hours a day.

Taking a break from social media is easier said than done as it is part of everyday life, but we have some ideas that might work.

Rather than starting your day checking Facebook, why not kick it off with a decent breakfast, yoga session of do a little meditation. Concentrate on you first thing, then worry about how many ‘likes’ you’ve had over night.

Go old skool and rather than buying the latest novel on your Kindle, got for the paperback and read it on the train or bus and we think you’ll become so absorbed you’ll forget to check your phone.

One day a week, maybe a Sunday, turn off all devices and have a totally unplugged day. Meet friends (no selfies over lunch), go to the gym, have a bike ride, visit a museum – the ideas are endless and none of the require technology.

Pick a sport, any sport but one that means you can’t look at your phone. Tennis, badminton and netball are all fast paced and need 100% focus, so unlike golf or running, you can sneak a peek at Snapchat every now and again.

Turn apps off. Remember the days when a phone was a phone? Go back to those times and take social media off your mobile and limit the amount of time you can check on what your boyfriend had for dinner or where the girls are planning to go at the weekend. The end of apps doesn’t mean the end of the world!

If you do work at a computer, turn the Wi-Fi off and simply concentrate on your ‘to do list’. OK, you might need to do some research for a presentation or look at stats for a report but other than that, leave social media behind and you will be amazed at how much you get done.

When you do leave work, really make sure you leave it behind. Turn on your email “out of office”, don’t divert works calls to your personal mobile, and don’t check emails until you return to your desk. Very little is so urgent that it can’t wait, even if you are the Prime Minster it seems!

Be in the moment. Rather than head down and eyes on the screen, you will get so much more from life by actually living it. Go for a walk but don’t take Google maps. Get on a train and see where it takes you, without looking at a travel and rather than sending your flatmate a text, leave them a note, go on, give it a go.

Don’t only ban tech from the bedroom, also give it a bedtime! Agreeing that you will turn of the screens an hour before you hit the sack will mean you and your brain start to slow down and turn off and really get some decent rest.

Buy an alarm clock. Out of touch we know, but if you wake up to the alarm on your phone or iPad, chances are you will check them before you go to sleep or if you wake up in the night. If they aren’t around, you can’t look and won’t get distracted for hours.

We aren’t saying do all of these tomorrow, but over time just watch how long you spend plugged in and think about what life might be like if you were unplugged.

Team Pure Beauty

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Free your mind

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21st century, aced it, anxious, best friend, bigger picture, bottle, brain, breath, breathing, brisk walk, changes, chill out, close friend, count to ten, desk based jobs, destructive, dwell, endorphins, enjoy, every day, face to face, focus, free fall, free your mind, fresh air, fun, harder and harder, harsh, heart beat, ideas, inside, interview, job, jump to conclusions, laugh, Life is short, Live in the moment, living, long hours, look, make a list, manageable chunks, missing out, mode, month, more to life, mum, new job, on the ball, on trend, one step, over worked, partner, positive, quick swim, regroup, Relax, revolves, right now, sit back, situation, social media, step back, stop, stressed, talk, think back, time, tired, tomorrow, under paid, week, work, world, worst-case scenarios, you

Stressed?

Over worked and under paid?

Tired?

Anxious?

Far from being words that are banded around for the sake of it, for many of us this is the reality of 21st century living.

We are expected to be on the ball, on trend and down with the kids 24/7 and sometimes, things can get a bit too much.

We have put together some easy ideas of how to free your mind so you can relax and chill out once in a while rather than constantly having your brain in free fall mode.

Breath
Before you do anything else, sit back, count to ten and breath. Focus on your breathing, feel the air go into your body and out and just stop for a few minutes and regroup.

Talk
After breathing, comes talking. If you bottle everything up, then it is only going to get worse and seem harder and harder to deal with. Open up to your partner, mum or a close friend and they may have ideas about how you can make changes and find a positive way forwards.

Live in the moment
Whatever is making you anxious right now, isn’t going to last. Breakdown what is bothering you into manageable chunks and tackle it one step at a time. For example, if you are moving house you might feel overwhelmed, but step back, make a list, work out what needs to be done and if you can, delegate.

Not this again
If you are worried about an interview, think back and see if was the same the last time you went for a new job? If it was, and you got the job, what are you worried about? You aced it last time and we bet it will be the same the time round too.

It’s not all about you!
Harsh we know, but not everything that happens in this world is about you. Yes we can all feel put upon or have our sensitive days, but thinking every situation revolves around you in some way can be really destructive and you could be missing out on a lot of fun.

Look at the bigger picture
Ask yourself whether the issue that is on your mind right now will still be there tomorrow, in a week or in a month. It is unlikely it will be, so regroup, relax and look at what is going on in the world and see there is more to life than a difficult boss or messy flatmate.

Preparing for the worst
I will lose my job. He is going to dump me. She doesn’t want to be my best friend anymore. We tend to jump to conclusions and dwell on the worst-case scenarios and this can lead to stress and depression. It is far better to talk to the person involved face to face and find out what is really going on before you make yourself ill believing the world is about to end.

Take some exercise
Social media, long hours and desk based jobs mean many of us get less exercise than ever. Try to get some fresh air every day and even if you have a brisk walk or a quick swim, your heart beat will go up and the endorphins will pump good vibes around your body.

Laugh
If nothing else, remember to laugh. Life is short so make the most of it and enjoy every single day you have.

Team Pure Beauty

The good news about chocolate

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antioxidants, bad news, beauty routine, blood flow, blood sugar, brain, British Medical Journal, calories, chocolate, chocolate cake, circulation, cocoa, control your weight, Dr. Will Clower, Easter bunny, eatend, eggs, expectant mothers, Facebook, fat, Finland, good stuff, goodness, green tea, guilty, happy pills, Harvard Medical School, heart, hormones, insulin sensitivity, iron, KitKat, levels, lower blood-glucose levels, Mars bar, meal, memory decline, mini eggs, mugs, non-chocolate-eating parents, potassium, protect, RDA, researchers, scientists, selenium, sugar, Sun cream, sun damage, treat, trigger, two, win, zinc

The Easter bunny might be long gone, but it could be that you still have some chocolate eggs hanging around waiting to be eaten. Or not!

If you have and you are feeling guilty about finishing it off, we are here to tell you not to.

We have it from the powers that be, that chocolate is good for you.

Now, we aren’t talking about cramming down a family bag of mini eggs followed by a KitKat chaser, but as with most things, eating it in moderation doesn’t hurt.

It would seem that good quality, dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage of around 70% or more, can be good for the heart, circulation and brain, and could be beneficial for managing conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Dark chocolate is full of health boosting minerals including potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of the really good stuff provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron – great for anyone looking to boost their iron intake!

Blood sugar levels are tricky to control but eating a square or two of dark chocolate can help maintain healthy levels of insulin sensitivity and turn this helps to lower blood-glucose levels. Win, win.

Research published in the British Medical Journal has suggested that eating a little dark chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third, and that’s got to be worth considering?

Eating an entire chocolate cake with a side of Mars Bar isn’t going to help your waistline but, a little can help control your weight. The scientist, Dr. Will Clower, believes a small square of good chocolate melted on the tongue 20 minutes before eating a main meal triggers the hormones in the brain that says you are full. so you eat less. Think about it and finishing a meal with the treat and trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.

Apparently one mug of cocoa (using pure cocoa powder) has double the antioxidants of green tea and we think it tastes way better too. It is also worth noting that two mugs of cocoa may help keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline, thanks to better blood flow. That’s according to scientists at Harvard Medical School, so it must be true.

Dark chocolate is jam-packed with the helpful flavonols that help to protect your skin against sun damage. You still need to layer on the sun cream but good to know that evening snack is helping your beauty routine.

Forget happy pills, if you want to feel good a little chocolate will boost your levels of dopamine, a natural painkiller, and serotonin, which produces feelings of pleasure. Eat up and feel the love.

We believe researchers in Finland found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of those mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents. Watch out for those new baby photos on Facebook to see who is snacking on chocolate.

The bad news! Yes, you know you couldn’t have it all. Sorry. However much goodness is packed onto a bar of chocolate, it is still pretty high in calories, fat and sugar – so make sure you eat in moderation if you want the good to outweigh the bad.

Team Pure Beauty

Get a Hobby!

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Alzheimer’s, blogging, blood pressure, brain, cooking, cuisine, dancing, Elemis Jasmine and Rose Hand and Nail Cream, Elemis Treat Your Feet Foot Cream, feet, food, gardening, hands, hobbies, hobby, kitchen, memory, sewing, soil, youth

Image Source: http://bit.ly/2qdgNom

Do you find yourself spending your evenings in front of the TV, mindlessly flicking through the channels and wishing that there was something better to do? Do you sometimes feel a void and wish you could fill it with something just for you? If so then it might be a good time for you to get a new hobby. Having a hobby can be great for keeping the mind sharp, and has been linked to lowering blood pressure, enhancing the immune system and keeping age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s at bay. Here’s a little bit of inspiration if you need some ideas of what to do with your spare time.

Dancing

A few years back, there was a bit of a revolution in the world of dance classes and doing this sort of thing became hugely popular again, which opened up a whole new range of classes. Instead of the usual ballroom or tap you could now choose from hip hop, belly-dancing, salsa and much more beyond. Try a class which is challenging and fun, and use some Elemis Treat Your Feet Foot Cream once you get home!

Cooking

Cooking is a hobby which can be done alone or in groups, either in your own kitchen or in a class. Certain supermarkets have test kitchens which offer adult cooking classes and give you the chance to learn a new skill and mingle with likeminded people at the same time. Try a class in a cuisine you’re less familiar with to maximise your learning potential.

Gardening

It might sound bonkers but you don’t actually need a big garden in order to take up gardening! There are loads of indoor options for growing such as miniature kitchen gardens, as well as balcony or even window box kits that you can use for growing flowers or veg. If you do have a garden, even better, but do remember to take care of your hands with Elemis Jasmine and Rose Hand and Nail Cream after a long day of sifting through soil!

Sewing

Sewing as a hobby can be so rewarding; you spend time and effort doing intricate work and you’ve usually got something beautiful to show for all of it. If you don’t fancy doing it all by hand, there are some reasonably priced sewing machines on the market which allow you to work at a more polished level.

Blogging

A lot of people would see the word ‘blog’ and immediately think “that’s not for me!” but blogging can be anything that you make it. Ultimately, a blog is your own little corner of the internet and can be used as a place to document whatever you want, even if it’s just as a memoir for your kids and grandkids to read in the future. Writing can be hugely cathartic and will help to keep your mind sharp.

Boost your memory with your diet

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absorption, anniversary, B vitamins, birthday, boost, brain, breakfast, cell damage, cereal, diet, digestion, dinner, effectiveness, energy levels, food, free radical damage, healthy fatty acids, immunity, juicy blueberries, learning, lunch, memory, motor skills, olive oil, oxygen, play games, pumpkin, ripe, seeds, short-term memory, skin, smoothies, spatial awareness, spinach, stress-busting magnesium, sunflower, tip-top, tomoatoes, Tryptophan, Vitamin C, water

Ever go upstairs only to come back down empty handed?

Put your keys down and then can’t find them?

Go to dial a number, and forget who you needed to speak to so urgently?

Yes, us too.

With life getting busier by the day and demands stacking up , it is hardly surprising that are brains can’t always keep up.

Whilst we know that a good diet and plenty of water helps our digestion, energy levels, immunity and skin, it also supports our brains and memory too.

Even slight hunger or dehydrated can affect attention levels and play games with our short-term memory.

So, we have had a look at some of the best foods to eat every day that will make your memory tip-top in no time.

Let’s start with seeds. Sunflower seeds are bursting with vitamin E and B, and are a brilliant source of healthy fatty acids. Flaxseeds contain Alpha Linoleic Acid, a healthy fat that helps the brain with motor skills and spatial awareness. Pumpkin seeds supply zinc, which is great for your memory, as well as stress-busting magnesium, B vitamins and tryptophan, the creator of the happy chemical, serotonin. Adding a tablespoon of seeds to smoothies, cereal or stirring into yoghurt is an easy way to get this memory boosting goodness into your body and brain every day.

Berries are also another brilliant option. Tasty, ripe, juicy blueberries are thought to boost learning and memory because of their high flavonoid level. Experts think these protect the brain against free radical damage so popping them in a smoothie or eating on porridge can get your brain sorted for the day.

There is evidence that lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes could help protect against cell damage which occurs in the development of dementia. Cooked tomatoes with a little olive oil are a good bet as you optimise absorption and effectiveness.

Vitamin C is a total mental agility power house. Not many people know this but one of best sources comes from the simple blackcurrants with citrus fruits, red pepper and broccoli coming in a close second!

Spinach is an all round super-food and one that can help with your memory. The green leaves are full of Vitamin C and folic acid, both of which help create neurotransmitters in the brain. It is also a source of chlorophyll, which helps the absorption of iron and promotes the growth of red blood cells which means oxygen can get around the body and to the brain. In short, eat it with breakfast, lunch and dinner and you won’t forget another anniversary or birthday again.

If you eat nuts, your memory should be sharp as they are bursting with Vitamin E which has been shown to help to prevent cognitive decline. Leafy greens, olives, brown rice, eggs and whole grains are also Vitamin E options that will make you remember just what you went upstairs for.

What foods keep your memory in tip-top condition – we would love to know.

Team Pure-Beauty