Welcome to yet another edition of the weekend Lounge fitness and wellness roundup. Every Saturday, we cherry-pick our favourite stories from our Health section that you may have missed during the week.
This week we urge you to rethink how you perceive fitness and wellbeing. Yes, that hour in the gym or weekend run can change your body composition. But there are other ways to get there—playing a sport, skipping rope at home, trying to stay active throughout the day. Equally important, if often ignored, is learning how to cope with change and remain calm in challenging circumstances; we offer you the tools to do that.
Read on to know more.
Five teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh that will always stay relevant
Buddhist teacher and spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh, often known as Thay, may have passed away last month. But his teachings, which provided "hope and guidance to millions of people worldwide," as Divya Naik writes, lives on. In her story, Naik, a therapist herself, speaks to Dr Nivedita Chalill, a counsellor and art-based therapist who has studied Buddhist psychology. "Nothing can do justice to a life that has been that exemplary and a heart that has been that kind and wise," says Chalill, adding that the best way of honouring Thay's memory is to take the practice forward." She then shares mindfulness and contemplative practices from one of the most powerful books she has read: The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh with Naik.
How to stay resilient through the third wave
Last year, we all thought the worst was over and that 2022 would be a better year than the previous two. Instead, however, the third wave of the pandemic that unfurled across the country had us slipping into that familiar feeling of lethargy and numbness many of us have been grappling with. Bhumika K explores how people are coping with this wave, the risk of collection trauma, how companies are supporting their employees and how looking at the pandemic with an analytical eye makes it easier to thrive, despite it.
Do we really need 10,000 steps a day?
Did you invest in an activity tracker this year? You're probably not alone. According to the recently released Global Smart Activity Trackers Market research report, the market is expected to reach USD 114.36 billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 15.2% from its 2020 value of USD 36.34 million. So clearly, there are a lot of us out there who want to hit 10,000 steps a day and would like to track it too.
But is it really required to obtain these many steps for optimal health? Fitness expert Jen Thomas decodes the shaky science behind this 10,000 steps-a-day craze and concludes that staying consistent, gradually increasing effort and having fun with your workout is far more sustainable than hitting a pre-determined number of steps.
