WELLNESS TOURISM

Meaning This past weekend, 10th October, marked World Mental Health Day led by the WHO. Today’s post brings together ten practical habits and strategies shared across mental health publications, with ideas to try in everyday life. 1. Sleep. Research consistently demonstrates the importance of sleep for physical health, cognitive function and emotional wellbeing. It is the most important wellness marker for our overall health, vitality and longevity. Read the Wellness Tourism article detailing...

Integration Global health studies report that nearly 1.2 billion people, or one in eight, are living with a mental health condition altering how they feel, think, behave and interact, often manifested in anxiety or a depressive disorder. In places of crisis and conflict, statistics show mental health issues are even more prevalent at every one in five people. Unlike brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, stroke, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, which often have identifiable biological origins like...

Wanderlust This September, the 2026 ÖTILLÖ World Championship saw a record 400 athletes, paired up in 200 teams, cross Sweden’s Stockholm Archipelago in the epic 70km swimrunning feat. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, ÖTILLÖ is now widely considered one of the world’s most prestigious endurance races, arguably one of the toughest. What began as a bet on a drunken night out became nothing less than the foundation of a sport that challenges the landscape of endurance racing as we know it. The...

Meaning Hyrox made some headlines, but for a very unflattering reason. Australian athlete and fitness coach Joanna Wietrzyk soiled herself midway through the competition held in Beijing. She chose to keep going, using the same mats and equipment as everyone behind her, and went on to win gold. The same day, she also posted online “Go hard or go home … a win is a win”, then deleted it. The whole situation is messy (pun intended), and both she and the company have surely had a painful week...

Action In some parts of the world, the seasons are turning, and autumn has started with a temperature drop in weather, changing colours and less daylight. Several ancient philosophies and belief systems tie the turning of the seasons to their impact on our physiology and emotions, wisdom that can support us in balancing energy for health and wellness. I have studied and am most familiar with holistic systems in Eastern philosophy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Indian Ayurveda. Here,...

Equanimity Some trips invigorate and inspire us for the year ahead. Others land us back home with what little was left in the tank before take-off. Maybe less. Sadly, the post-holiday hallelujah often has a shelf life. It rarely survives contact with the news cycle, new schedules and an overflowing inbox. Those first few back-to-back meetings can quickly irk us, leaving us drained and in need of another break. No matter how well rested or highly caffeinated, the fatigue of trying to bring our...

Equanimity Yesterday marked the end of summer. Today, September is here. Perhaps you landed back home ages ago, and your diary is smack full of commitments and to-dos. Maybe you are somewhere between here and there, still wearing the summer wardrobe or planning a mini getaway. Or you might still be on holiday but have started the countdown of final days before heading back. Wherever you land in that mix, summer's over, whether we're ready for it or not. Our own rhythms don’t always follow...

Meaning Europe faced devastating forest fires this summer, driven by extreme heatwaves, wind and drought. It has been a hard season for many Spanish and French landowners, as wildfires took lives, land and livelihoods. In southwestern France, around Bordeaux, the damage was severe: whole towns and ten thousand hectares of forest turned to ash within days. Other parts of the French countryside went unscathed. A reminder that valuing farmers’ land and their hard work has always been important...

Meaning Hunter-gatherers knew food carried purpose. Eating for survival, certainly, but food connected these people to each other and their environment. Preparing and sharing it built community, passed on knowledge of the land and shaped how they lived with nature. Then somewhere along the supermarket aisle, companies began weaponizing nutritional information, and the function of food has become the focus du jour. Food as a source for pleasure, social connection, or sustenance is not enough....

Integration I was four or five when I started sipping filter coffee at my grandparents’ kitchen table. Coffee became linked to safety, connection, conversation, a pleasant pause in the day. The comfort of a large cup in my hands has felt natural ever since. A daily ritual I take with me everywhere I go. A frothy cappuccino by a fountain, tall ice-lattes drunk barefoot on a beach, a tiny shot that packs the right punch after dinner, some homebrew in the garden, a warming cup on a snowy...