What does good form in a plank look like?
How do I perform a plank correctly? So often I see clients having issues with planks. Planks are one of those exercises that can cause so many issues, and low back pain when not done correctly. Here’s a video I made up today sharing a few tips and tricks on how to perform and hold a plank correctly. Yes, it will feel hard, particularly at first. Stick with it. You’ll eventually grow stronger. If you feel like you could benefit from some personalised help, please feel free to contact us. You can also find out more about our fitness and other wellness offerings here.
Mind, Body, and Beauty
With Melbourne going back into lockdown this week, I’ve had a bit of time to think, and one of the things I’ve been thinking about it how Mind, Body, and Beauty are all interconnected. I posted a video on my social media earlier about this, on Facebook, and Instagram. I finally had the confidence this week to get on a Zoom call with no makeup on. Previously, I never would have done this, always relying on makeup to look my best. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m finally starting to understand what it means to be confident in your own skin, and look after yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I still love makeup to enhance how I look, but I’m just not hiding behind it anymore. Then we got hit with another lockdown, and I found myself feeling a bit lack lustre, and my skin looked a bit dull. I then realised this morning how Arbonne’s Mind, Body, Skin philosophy is so true. When we look after our mind, keeping our stress levels under control, keep our body healthy with good nutrition and movement, and take care of our skin, our whole body can flourish, and that’s a great way to be. This is why, during this lockdown, I’ll be taking good care of my skin, and indulging in a bit of self-care. I’ll also be starting to post some snippets on how to take care of our mind, our body, and our beauty, which is exactly where my business name comes from, SGD Body & Beauty. If you think you’d like a bit of support with this, please contact us. As all these three areas, mind, body and beauty are interconnected, we love helping people get all three areas under control. We can help with products to use at home, virtual consultations, and self-care tips at home, including yoga, wellness, meditation, beauty, and nutrition.
Enjoy a Beautiful Summer
5 tips for staying protecting your skin while enjoying the Australian summer. As Aussies, we love the fantastic weather, and the great Australian lifestyle, which can often mean spending large amounts of time outdoors, particularly after spending a large proportion of our year at home. Our lifestyle and enviable climate should definitely be enjoyed. However, this can wreak havoc on our skin, resulting in premature ageing, and when left unchecked, even skin cancers, but there are ways to protect ourselves, and stay looking youthful, so we can enjoy our lifestyle for years to come. Staying beautiful while enjoying the Australian Summer is key to this. So how can we enjoy a beautiful summer, and keep our skin safe? So get out there and enjoy a beautiful summer. Needing some tips? Contact us for your personalised sun protection routine.
Why Meditate?
Why meditate? What is meditation? So many times, I hear that someone can’t meditate, often because they can’t sit still, or they can’t stop thinking. Meditation doesn’t have to be about stopping your thoughts. It can be as simple as just stopping for a few moments to breathe. If you want to learn to meditate, why not check out some of our classes, or even book in for a private lesson? Did you know that meditation can also have beauty benefits as well? 1GiantMind also has a great app, if you’re looking for an app to help you meditate.
Beauty (and other) benefits of Meditation
Meditation has really been hitting the mainstream, particularly with the special times we find ourselves in now. Many people ask what meditation can do for them. We were asked recently, what are the beauty benefits of meditation? We definitely believe it can, as well as helping with your health and wellness as well. As we say all the time, stress can be responsible for a lot of things, including wrinkles, and tense muscles. As our muscles tense, and stress hormones flow, the body channels blood flow away from the skin, and to the muscles and vital organs, which is fair enough, according to the “fight and flight” mechanism. When blood flow is channeled away from the skin and hair, they may not get as much nourishment as they normally would, leading to the possibility they may start to look lack-lustre. Check out this article from Women’s Health mag if you’d like to read more on this. This “fight or flight” mechanism, and the associated stress hormones, such as cortisol can also affect our ability to loose weight, and can affect our health, so it’s well worth looking at this for these reasons alone. We’ve also discussed previously how sleep can impact your beauty routine, and your skin health. Meditation calms the mind. When the mind is calm, we usually find it easier to sleep, when our mind is not wandering over the place. As such, this also then helps with our sleep. I know from experience, when I am calm, I definitely sleep better. When we are calm, our muscles are generally more relaxed. Frowning, as we often do when we are stressed, uses more muscles than smiling. With tight muscles, we can be more prone to wrinkles as well. Skincare can only do so much to reduce wrinkles, when the wrinkles may be being caused or impacted by the tense muscles below the skin. Meditation can also help to change our point of view of many things. Episode 24 of the 1GiantMind Podcast has some interesting thoughts on this, and is well worth listening to. If we change our point of view to a more positive one, this can help reduce tension, as I’ve indicated above, and the benefits of reducing tension for the mind is just amazing. What are some of the other reasons meditation helps us stay healthy and look better? We’d love to hear from you in the comments. Also, if you’re struggling currently with some of the restrictions happening in Australia, I’d love to help you with this. We’re offering a free 3 day learn to meditate course starting on 11 August, 2020. Bookings are open on our events page.
Tips for Avoiding Acne
Many people think that acne is all about hormones and similar things. Acne is more than this however. The skin specialists at SGD Body & Beauty offer tips for avoiding acne. It can be related to diet (excessive oily and sugary food, leading to a better environment for clogged pores), environment (too much dirt and not cleansing your skin enough), as well as hormones causing excess oil or sebum production. Not to mention, at the moment, you may be frequently wearing a mask too. You may wonder what these factors have to do with acne, but when you realise that the skin is actually one of the body’s key detoxification mechanisms it all becomes clear. When your pores become clogged with dirt, your skin can’t function as it should, and the excess oil and toxins that the skin is trying to remove can’t get out, leading to blocked pores. Bacteria then get to work, and we end up with the ugly, red, infected pimples of acne. Start by making sure your skin is kept very clean, cleansing at least twice a day, or more often if time permits. Finish off with a toner or cool water to close the pores. Ensure you moisturise with an oil free moisturiser as well. You don’t want your skin to be producing excess oil to try and combat the effects of dry skin. This goes against what most people would do when struggling with acne, but it works. That being said, make sure your skin is also sufficiently hydrated. Breakouts and acne can also occur in dry skin. If your skin is left stripped and dry, it will often over-react and produce excess oil to counteract the dryness, possibly leading to an increase in breakouts, which does seem counter-intuitive. Also look at your diet, and make sure you are not putting excess sugar, oils, and other toxins into your body. Drink plenty of water. This helps your skin to detox, as with the rest of our bodies. If you are unlucky enough to have acne already, also consider your stress levels, as stress won’t help you to get rid of acne. Gentle exercise like yoga can also help reduce stress levels. Don’t run for the nearest Proactive counter. Listen to what we’ve had to say about celebrity endorsed skincare. Some of the major anti-acne brands can be very drying, and strip your skin of its natural protection. This doesn’t actually help, and while the surface of your skin may look better, its actually causing damage to your skin, so the surface looks clear, but the acne lurks in the deeper layers, and as soon as you stop using the product it all comes back out again. Look for a nice gentle solution that will work with your skin. There are natural ranges out there with anti-bacterial properties, that will assist your skin to destress, and detoxify, and this is what you want. If you’re frequently wearing a mask, and find that this is impacting your skin, and causing breakouts, consider minimising the makeup you wear under your mask. We know this isn’t always possible, but the friction from the mask, is like sleeping with your makeup on, the mask can rub makeup and any other impurities further into your pores. If you are wearing makeup under there, make sure it’s skin friendly, and has a pure formulation, and won’t clog your pores. Be patient. If the products are doing their job, and your acne is bad, your skin may actually look like it gets worse before it gets better. This is because all of the impurities are actually coming to the surface, and your skin is starting the healing process. Stick with the program, and you will be rewarded with clear skin. If you’d like some personalised recommendations and tips for avoiding acne, perhaps consider a private consultation, or contact us for more information.
Nail care for winter
In winter, our skin can be a lot dryer. Just as the skin on our hands can be a lot more dry and brittle in winter, so can our nails. Our nails need care, just as our skin does. So what does nail care in winter look like? Here are a few tips. Just as we moisturise our skin, make sure you don’t neglect your hands. Moisturise after washing your hands as often as possible. This will help nourish the cuticles and the nail beds, preventing dry cuticles peeling, and lifting up. Particularly now that a lot of us are using alcohol based hand sanitisers, it’s even more important to take care of this, and rehydrate the hands. Make sure you use a good quality moisturiser. Like anything, you get what you pay for. Some moisturisers sit on the surface of the skin, and make the skin feel soft for a time, but when they wear off, the skin is left just as parched. Similar to this, if the treatments you’re getting, the nail polish you’re using is cheap, it may not be the best for your nails, as you do get what you pay for. Make sure you’re not subjecting your hands to harsh UV lights when getting manicures. UV lights can contribute to skin ageing, which can also dry the skin out. Make sure you’re not filing your nails down too much, or having them drilled by a nail technician. Drilling or filing the nails too much can weaken them, resulting in damage to the nail, which can be hard to repair. This is often done to remove gels or acrylic nails. Make sure you’re taking care of your nails in between beauty appointments. Particularly in this day and age, with some of the restrictions we’ve endured recently, with beauty services being closed, you may not have been able to get your nails professionally cared for. When you can’t get to the salon, most therapists will be happy to help with suggestions on how you can care for your nails at home, and most will even supply products for you to use at home. We will offer products for you to use at home, and we also offer phone consultations to work out what is the best for your needs, and will then have products shipped to your door. Want to read more about this topic? Mamamia has a great article on what to look for when going for a manicure. Want to know how builder in a bottle works? Check out this video from Orly. Contact us if you’d like to book a consultation to learn how to take care of your nails at home.
Why Yin Yoga?
Why Yin Yoga? Yin yoga has some great benefits in today’s modern world, but is often underrated, and not given much time, in many yoga studios. Here, Sarah shares a few reasons Yin yoga is amazing. In today’s modern yoga studios, Vinyasa is often what is practiced. Vinyasa is generally a flowing style of yoga, and is often quite flowing. It has it’s roots in Hatha styles of yoga, and can be quite energetic. It is often what is associated with a lot of the acrobatic type poses and arm balances, which you often see on social media. Yin yoga is a slower style of yoga, designed to release the connective tissue, and can release tension, toxins and stress. It can help us to stop and reflect, and see any imbalances which may be developing in the body. It gives us a chance to slow down, and reflect. Reflection can be a vital tool in today’s fast paced world. We often run from place to place, and don’t give our body time to slow down. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel as well if you love tips and tricks like this. Want to check out Yin? Contact us now for a private class, or check out our classes page for more info.
Love your yoga mat?
Love your yoga mat? So do we. Sometimes, you just need to get out on your yoga mat, and use your breath to calm your mind. This is one of the reasons I started teaching yoga, and this is definitely what I love about the practice. Do you need to get some quiet in your life, or breathe deeply again? Or just love your yoga mat? We’d love to help you out with some yoga or fitness, or you may wish to book a class. Contact us if you’ve got any other questions. This video was filmed on South Melbourne Pier, by KJ from Awake by Five AM. Please use your own judgement, and ensure you obtain medical clearance before commencing any exercise program.
Makeup masterclasses
As we come out of these special times, we’re here to help you get your skin glowing again, and reboot your look along with your “in-real-life” social life? In conjunction with some colleagues and Arbonne cosmetics, we’re launching Makeup Masterclasses on Facebook. Learn quick tips and tricks for easy makeup mastery. Look amazing and get out the door quicker! Ensure your makeup lasts all day. Ensure your makeup is perfectly tailored to your face. Fill out the form below to be receive an invitation to our makeup masterclasses. Just need a quick and easy makeup look, we can help with a few products there as well. Check out our beauty & makeup offerings, if you’re looking for something else.