A Curated Guide to Slow Living
Diving deep into health and wellness
When I close my eyes, the world around me quietens. A soft calmness descends on my mind, which follows my body, on cue, into repose through meditation, a moment of mindfulness. I had been meditating by myself off and on, till last year I learnt Transcendental Meditation. In TM, you work with a mantra to guide you into the inner recesses of your mind. Whenever your monkey mind rushes about, the mantra, like a hook, draws you back in.
According to Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the classic fifteenth-century Sanskrit manual on haṭha yoga, it is said that jal neti has a positive effect on the mind and the body. It cleans the mucous and the sinuses, while giving a state of mental clarity, regulating the flow of Prana in the three channels, ida, pingala arid sushumna.
Are we making ourselves sick by being over critical and not looking after ourselves, especially when the going gets really tough? You can heal yourself by being true to your inner guidance.
Sumitra Daswani is the founder of Born From The Earth – a natural healing company – and is a holistic health practitioner, trained in Ayurveda, medical botany, nutrition, meditation and sound therapy. She guides others on how to heal themselves naturally and achieve optimal well-being. She writes about her journey to becoming a healing practitioner and how everyone has the innate capacity within themselves to to heal.
Jo Moody, Design Head, La Fleur, takes us through the nuances of creating rustic bouquets, including an arrangement in a fish bowl, a wedding bouquet and rustic chic arrangement that seemed plucked straight from the woodlands. With over 15 years of experience in the horticultural industry — including teaching floristry at Hadlow College in Kent — she has helped develop bouquets for major high street retailers in the UK and brings her love for flowers to La Fleur too using only locally-grown Indian flowers of the highest quality.
We have shortlisted nine mindful brands brands which have tried to revive the nature-human connection through a range of organic deodorants. These deodorants are free from scary chemicals such as Parabens, Aluminum, Silica, Triclosan, Talc, Propylene Glycol, Steareths, and TEA/DEA (triethanolamine/diethanolamne).However, a word of caution, they do not contain aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminum zirconium, ingredients in anti-perspirants that stop you from sweating. These chemicals can clog your lymph nodes which sweat out toxins and accumulate them along with the aluminum, plugging close the gateway to our lymphatic system which is a big no-no.
