Believe in the power of thought. You are what you think you are. Skin is truly a mirror of your feelings. If you are stressed, your skin will look dull and blotchy. Feeling gorgeous is the first or maybe the final step towards looking gorgeous. The best part is the power of thought lies in your hands. However bleak the situation, you can always find a silver lining.

Get your beauty sleep: Most of us know that 8 hours of sleep per night is optimal. But what many people don't know is that the actual time you fall asleep is important too. Sleeping from 1 am to 9 am is not thought to be as restorative as sleeping from 10 pm to 6 am. The reason why is because hormone secretion, body temperature, digestion, and other important restorative processes follow a 24-hour cycle linked to natural light exposure. The later in the evening we fall asleep and the later in the morning we wake up, the more out-of-sync our cycle becomes.

Enjoy your mornings: Are your mornings frenzied with you rushing to work barely touching your breakfast? This might sound a little painful at the start but try leaving the cozy comfort of the bed an hour earlier than your usual time. Experience the early morning chill, tranquil hues of sunrise and chirping of the birds. You could exercise, go for a walk, pray or simply plan your day ahead. Introspect, count your blessing and believe that you’ve a great day waiting to unfold for you. The way you spend your first half hour sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Sip on lemon tonic: For that first sip, trade your cup of tea with a warm glass of water mixed with lemon juice and honey. This drink helps eliminate toxins from the digestive system and keeps it running smoothly. Lemons are high in vitamin C, have an anti-bacterial effect, possess antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. Honey is an excellent remedy for obesity and lowering of cholesterol levels. If lemon gives you acidity on empty stomach, have 3-4 glasses of water at room temperature to cleanse and rehydrate your body.

Rise ‘n stretch: It releases tension and energises your body so that you can face the day with a relaxed and confident attitude! Stretching your body when you wake up is a wonderful way to loosen up your joints and increase flexibility. Stretching can not only make your muscles more limber and flexible, but it can also improve your frame of mind. If you get into the habit of exercising you’ll be amazed at how alert you will feel, not just for the morning but the whole day.

Eat a balanced breakfast: Missing the first meal of the day is doing your body great injustice. A healthy breakfast in the morning is the best way to increase energy levels and hasten the body and it’s burning of fat cells. Don’t rush through your first and most important meal of the day which jumpstarts your metabolism. Having a big bowl of water-based fruits after a night-out binge will help cleanse your system. Tip: Start your day with a big bowl of assorted fruits in the morning for a week and feel yourself lighter on the seventh day, says dietician Jyoti Lalwani.

Go for a fibre-rich diet: This will revitalise a sluggish digestive system. Pick whole grain products over refined. To start with have brown rice instead of white, wheat instead of flour. You might end up shedding some kilos as well.

Get past your midday slump: Do you sit at your desk for hours, only getting up to go to the washroom? There are piles of work to be executed and you feel a sense of run down feeling. Inactivity may affect skin and promote bloating and puffiness, acne, cellulite, and loss of muscle tone. Get moving to fight fatigue by restoring muscle tone and circulation that may have slowed because of sitting in the same place. Squeezing a bit of activity in your sedentary schedule is one of the best things you can do for your skin, stress level, and overall health! Take a quick break to go outside and walk around the block. Or at least leave your desk, even if it's only to go to the coffee machine.

Go slow on sugar: Excess sugar causes fluctuations in blood sugar, which can result in plummeting energy levels. A gradual withdrawal approach works best. Start by cutting the amount of sugar in your daily coffee or tea by half. Every week, find another way you can decrease your sugar intake.

Don’t skip meals: Don’t skip Meals: Eat 5-6 small meals at frequent intervals. Eating at regular intervals is the key to keeping hunger pangs off, says Joe Lewis, Head, R&D, Kaya Life. Hunger often invites consuming more food and frequent deprivation of meals lowers the basal metabolic rate [BMR]. Do you often wonder why you don’t lose weight even though you skip a meal? Tip: Don’t forget your mid-morning and mid-evening snack. Not only would you keep those inches at bay but also witness your energy levels soaring, suggests Dr Sudha Marwah, Consultant Gynaecologist, Breach Candy Hospital. A couple of almonds and walnuts make for a convenient power midday snack.

Practice Mindfulness: Live each moment. Give your undivided attention to what you're doing. If you are having dinner with family, enjoy being with them, rather than stressing about the pile of work that awaits you at work. Even the most mundane tasks, like making dinner, can come alive. Notice the smells, tastes, textures. Next time when you walk on the beach, savour the sight and sound of rhythmic waves touching the shores. When at work, concentrate on deadlines and performance — what should be cooked for dinner or whether the plumber has fixed the tap shouldn’t even cross your mind.

Talk to an old friend: Nothing is more wonderful than chatting up with an old friend. Thanks to networking sites we do keep in touch with a casual line or two. But to feel really special take up that cell and call up a friend you haven’t spoken to in ages (could be a collegemate or an ex-work colleague or your favourite school teacher). However busy you may be you can always take out time to get in touch with people who touched your lives

Write a journal/blog: Stressed at work? Facing a difficult relationship? Upset with someone’s behavior? Before lashing out at the other person or taking a rash decision, jot down your thoughts. Write your heart out on paper. Express your emotions freely as you would in front of a psychiatrist. Express your hurt, anger or despair in words. This way you’ll feel purged of all the negativity. When you convey your thoughts to paper you’re slowly distancing yourself from those feelings and distance lends perspective.

Dance: Dance therapy is a good exercise, which keeps those extra kilos away, boosts the functioning of the respiratory and circulatory systems, improves stamina, coordination and muscle tone. Mentally it makes you more cheerful, confident. Just put on your favourite and dance like nobody is watching you!

De-clutter: According to Feng Shui, any kind of clutter creates an obstacle to the smooth flow of chi or positive energy around a space. The physical action of cleaning the closet, cleans the mind also and many people find their minds becoming clearer. This helps them to rationalise the thing that has been bothering them, says Davina Hassell, Spa Director, J.W. Marriott. 

Forgive: Forgiving yourself and others can be liberating. Many people carry past hurts inside them and are unable to let them go. Start by forgiving yourself. Okay you did something wrong, give a sincere apology, take corrective action (if possible) and just learn and move on. Don't kill yourself over it. Do something to psychologically cleanse, such as taking a warm shower when you get home.

Meditate: Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. You may notice that your mind wants to wander, bouncing from thought to thought, making observations about other things. Let your thoughts be like passing clouds. Bring your attention back to a single point until it rests there naturally. It helps to create a tranquil atmosphere. As meditation becomes a part of your routine, you’ll notice that you are not ‘wearing’ your stress on your face.

Make yoga a way of life: Yoga is thousands of years old and is proven to balance the body, mind and spirit by laws of life, rules for living, the physical postures, breath control, silence, concentration, meditation and spiritual union. It promotes individual health and well-being through physical and mental exercise and deep relaxation. A yoga practitioner conscientiously controls his breath. Though we breathe in and out every second, how many among us do deliberate acts to control the breath? Once you are in control of your breath, you are in control of your life. Be wary of the countless fads surrounding yoga. Learn from a reputed instructor.

5 ways to up your mood!

Have a bowl of fruits: Fibre found in fruits does wonders for the cardiovascular system. It helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels, slows down the conversion of carbohydrate into sugar and promotes a stable blood sugar in the body. This helps reducing the hunger pangs and thus helps in weight reduction.

Have a piece of chocolate: Once in a while, indulge in some chocolate! Phenyl ethylamine in chocolate is a natural mood booster.

Revive your tired feet: Fill a large bowl with sliced lime, mint leaves and warm water and soak your feet in it. Your toes will tingle and you will feel relaxed and refreshed.

Take a course of multivitamins: Regular intake of vitamin C and vitamin B tablets helps reduce the effect of stress and increases vitality.

Steam bath: Steam helps in improving the complexion; it cleanses the skin through its various layers without causing dehydration. The pores open and along with the perspiration, various toxins are naturally expelled, leaving behind a supple and cleaner skin.

Nilesh Kantak, Assistant Spa Manager, Club Oasis and Fitness Centre, Grand Hyatt Mumbai

8 tips to spice up most mundane of days

1 Smile at a stranger: It doesn’t cost anything, and you will perk up his mood and your own. It takes 11 muscles to frown and 12 muscles to smile, so great exercise for your face muscles. So stay positive and smile.

2 Take a refreshing shower in the mornings over a bath: Not only do you cleanse the body, but also you cleanse the mind. Use a citrus-based shower gel to also lift your mood. Citrus essential oils (lime, orange, and grapefruit) are up-lifting, refreshing and energising.

3 Take a 30-minute walk in the open air: Walking strengthens the heartbeat and circulation. Exercise produces endorphins which is a release of hormones to give ‘that feel good factor’. Apart from all the scientific facts a walk can clear the mind of all its cobwebs especially in an open space, by the sea, or surrounded by nature. Let your mind think of nothing in particular and feel your mood lighten. 

4 Pamper yourself with a home foot spa: Fill a bowl with warm water and add your favourite bath oil, salts or shower gel. Place your feet inside and soak for 5 minutes. Scrub your feet with brown sugar mixed with a little olive oil to remove the hard skin. Finish by massaging your feet with a body lotion or moisturiser. Remember that your feet carry around your body weight all day, so they can become very tired, swollen and sore. This will relax your feet and in turn will relax you as every point of the foot corresponds to a part of the body, and is linked by nerve endings and energy paths. 

5 Treat yourself to something nice to eat: In most cases we eat junk food as our comfort food, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Why not try a fruit smoothie that is packed with vitamins that will give a natural sugar boost to your metabolism? Or a grilled piece of fresh fish that is high in omega 3 essential oils that can lower blood cholesterol, and help prevent blood clots, and may also lower high blood pressure? 

6 Read a book, watch a movie or listen to music: Books and movies can evoke your imagination and your emotions, for a feel good factor read a light-hearted story with a happy ending, or a movie full of laughter. Music is widely used to de-stress people. If you want to feel energised play some funky. How often do we sing in the car or in the shower and we feel so much better after doing that? This can de-stress people as it can take the mind away from the stresses and strains of every day life and can be incorporated into a daily routine. 

7 Book yourself for a massage: Relax with one of the most ancient, therapeutic remedies known in the world. The power of the human touch cannot be underestimated. Its ability to help us feel nurtured, connected and relaxed is unsurpassed. Each massage has specific functions, but the most common being the Swedish massage delivers slow, rhythmic and continuous movements to provide a deeply relaxing, calming massage. 

8 Enjoy a day out with friends: Having time to oneself is a luxury without a doubt, but so is spending time with a friend or loved one. The old saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ rings true. So to de-stress call somebody for a chat, go for a coffee, go shopping, go for a walk all are beneficial and essential elements of every day life so we can connect with other human beings and enjoy the communication and elevate our mood. 
Davina Hassell, Spa Director, Spa, J.W. Marriott Mumbai

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