HEALTH & BEAUTY

12 FOR 2012
From Afrikan Yoga and creating juice boosters, to upgrading your make-up or re-thinking failure, this 12-step journey to health and happiness is a beautifully diverse one. WORDS Nana Ocran

e expansively named School of Life venue is a dinkily small shop in Central London, where life-enhancing courses are delivered by an elite team of faculty members. One such is Gaylene Gould, whose pearls of wisdom from her Realising Your Potential course include the advice to reconnect with simple pleasures like walking through leaves, drawing cartoons or tinkering away on an old piano. To her, its these small moments that hold the key to our unique senses of joy. One of her simple exercises is to write down seven moments when youve felt most alive and to then think about how you can bring those moments back into your life, even if its in small doses. theschooloife.com

TEACH YOURSELF

and author Caroline Shola Arewa has 20 years of complementary medicine and personal development experience behind her, which makes her healthy life strategies read like a symphonic lifestyle to-do list. Her must-dos include factoring in dedicated alone time, creating a life plan, cultivating an attitude of gratitude and identifying your life mentors. Tap into either of her sites for information on her books, CDs and speaking dates as well as free life-enhancing downloads. Energyforlife.co.uk

keep spreading the love, whether you choose to help people you know, or positively affect complete and utter strangers.

ere are so many avenues to go down when it comes to seeking out the key to health and happiness. Spiritual coach, speaker

GROW SPIRITUALLY

According to a Chinese proverb, if you want happiness for an hour go shing. If you want happiness for a lifetime help someone else. True words it seems, as we all know that the joy of giving, from making someone laugh or smile to donating your time to a charity can create enough of an inner dose of serotonin that it becomes nothing less than a joy to

SPREAD THE JOY

Book Alone Time Make time for reading about personal development this year African Twist African yoga has body and mind-boosting health benets

OK, getting comfortable with lifes hard knocks may seem counterintuitive as a route to happiness, but it is none other than J.K Rowling OBE, the multimillion-selling author of the Harry Potter books whose speech to an audience of Harvard University graduates in 2008 focused on the notion of nding happiness through experiencing and overcoming failure. Easily watchable or listenable via the inspirational online TED talks website, some of the authors life arming pronouncements feature her statement that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of personal acquisition or achievement. ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_ fringe_benets_of_failure.html

EMBRACE FAILURE

An extension of yoga teacher Pablo Imanis entre into Hatha yoga, this African version emphasises body awareness and the cleansing of emotional blockages using rhythm, breath, movement and postures. Now based in Uganda, Pablo runs regular yoga and safari retreats, but still manages to spread the word about his unique classes through international tours although he also maintains a north London-based centre, where the sessions are run by Afrikan Yoga alumnus Fatou Louvre from Senegal. afrikanyoga.com

PRACTICE YOGA

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

Not exactly literal advice, but the internationally popular human psychology book e Road Less Travelled has been doing the rounds of the best-selling, self-help reading list since 1978. Loved by everyone from A-list celebs to undergrad students, the book opens with the obvious but sobering statement that Life is dicult. With chapters devoted to the nuances of spiritual growth, love, grace and responsibility, its a life-arming journey from the outset. e Road Less Travelled, Amazon.com

TAKE TO THE ROAD

has a great selection of these. fashionfair.com

Gratitude is the attitude says Gabrielle Bernstein, author of Spirit Junkie, a radical road to self love. Her advice for the New Year is to make tcommitment to focus on what youre grateful for. Her view that being grateful activates appreciation and an overall sense of peace is a denite way forward. Look in the mirror. If youre ready to break old patterns, then rather than point the nger at others when you feel uncomfortable, turn inward and ask yourself, What old feelings do I need to deal with? Use your relationships as a mirror for you to see your part in situations. Stop blaming and start healing. Wise words. Gabby.tv

GIVE THANKS

Delina Pintos is an international make-up artist for Fashion Fair beauty products. With 30 years of expertise behind her, she has a range of beauty advice but her tips for dark skins rings a few bells. She advises that darker skin tends to visibly blemish so it is important to have a good skin care routine and nd the right match of foundation to blend and cover. Darker skins believe it or not can have undertones of red, yellow or blue, and fairer skins can have undertones of pink beige, peach yellow and red. Its better to go to a beauty advisor or make-up artist when choosing your foundation or powder for the rst time. And of course, Fashion Fair

GO SKIN DEEP

My Fair Lady Brands like Fashion Fair have a great selection of make-up for darker skintones Juicehead Drinking fresh juice helps aid weight loss, improve skin and detoxify the system. Time to invest in a blender

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For the last few years, theres been a whole movement dedicated to the art of living slowly and getting out of the urban mindset. Carl Honor, author of In Praise of Slow has been successfully endorsing the notion that far from living in fast forward mode, its surely better to chillax a bit and reset lifes pace to the right speed. It might all seem a bit hippy, but for longer lasting contentment its bound to feel good to savour the hours and minutes rather than waste time and energy counting them? carlhonore.com

SLOW DOWN

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A tried and tested cure-all for health and vitality are natural juices, which can be almost as creatively avoured as you want them to be. Getting boosted through juices is nothing new, but with the help of a good blender, you can mix anything from fresh strawberries and pumpkin seeds, carrot and lime juice, cucumber, celery and beetroot and orange pepper and alfalfa juice for good, clean, delicious and detoxifying fun.

DRINK AND BE MERRY

Freelance make-up artist and Assistant Manager at M.A.C cosmetics, Vianney Leigh has a whole palette of beauty tips at her ngertips and states that all lovers of makeupneed to work a little harder to look after their skin. Her advice is to apply a moisturiser or primer underneath foundation for healthy skin, and to use a face mask twice a week. Not too much to ask, but she adds that one top tip when in hot countries, is to use the oil free M.A.C Prep and Prime Face Protect SPF 50 to prevent any troublesome oil breakthrough.

FACE THE FACTS

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aestheticallyeverafter.blogspot.com

Apparently, theres nothing more troubling to the soul than trying to x the past or control the future. e art of living in the moment isnt always easy particularly if the moments a tricky one. However, by focusing on the present and mastering your ego, a whole world of openness will make for a healthier state of mind. ere are bundles of studies on this, but perhaps the bestknown advocate of drawing in happiness by embracing the present, is author Eckhart Tolle, whose book e Power of Now has become something of a blueprint for living every day to the full. e Power of Now, Amazon.com

LIVE IN THE MOMENT

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