During these challenging times, mental well-being is increasingly more important and vulnerable in this unprecedented situation. We have compiled recommendations from the team of Eastern and Western medicine practitioners at SANGHA Retreat by OCTAVE Institute to help with coping:
Life Coach, Grace Zhu recommends an ‘REM’ strategy. ‘R’ stands for ‘regular’, meaning we should maintain a regular schedule to give our minds a sense of certainty. ‘E’ stands for ‘entertainment’, which encourages us to watch movies, listen to music and ‘Travel From Home’, which asks us to close our eyes and visualise ourselves in our favourite location by recalling all the sensory perceptions of the place and to immerse ourselves in it. ‘M’ stands for ‘meaningful’, which calls for us to do something meaningful every day, such as cooking, reading a new book or acquiring a new skill, in order to give us a sense of achievement.
Nutritionist, Gaby Luo, has recommended customers eat five to seven servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits a day. Multi-coloured vegetables and fruits that are rich in vitamins play the most important role. Physical activities and sun exposure is also good to activate our immunity and a Gaby concludes that a nutrient-complete diet is the only key to a better immune system.
Now is a critical time as a cure is still under development, so SANGHA Retreat’s Chinese Medicine Physician, Niles Li, encourages us to try and strengthen our own immunity to fight against the virus and prevent diseases. During this time where there is limited exercise and activities, Traditional Chinese Medicine such as Herbal Tea, Herbal Medicine and Acupoints Wellness can help to improve our immunity.
The well-being retreat’s Head of Ayurveda and Yogic Science, Dr. Dhanraj G Shetty also maintains that Health is not something to be attained but a totally different way of living. The ancient Indian wisdom has many meaningful words for health and one such word in Sanskrit is “Swastha”, where “Swa” means health and “-stha’ means to stabilise or establish, giving the word the definition that stabilising within ones’ self is health.
Dr. Shetty quotes an ancient Ayurveda text that mentions ‘how to be healthy’, which is when we are moderate in diet and behaviour, where we move cautiously, donate, respect all, speak the truth, are grateful and treat everyone as a good friend. There is no mention of any protein, carbohydrate, diet plan or an exercise regimen nor any statistics or measurements. Fortunately, we are in an era where Quantum science is validating many of these ancient statements.
