January 2, 2020 | Silver Magazine

Travel

Top travel tech for 2020

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of technology in our lives today and most of us have a smartphone and maybe a smartwatch too! If you’re heading out for some time away this year, check out our list of the best travel tech gear for 2020! Skyroam Portable WiFi HotSpot Want to share your awesome hiking adventure with your 40 year old kids still stuck at work in the big city back home? Try this portable WiFi hotspot device. Easy to use and usable almost anywhere in the world! Find it here. Aer Backpack 2 Super slim with safety lock features this backpack can be great for day adventures and keeping your mini tech like battery chargers and a WiFi hotspot as well. Folds nicely into a suitcase or as your carry-on. Find one here. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay 2 World renowned for their sound gear, this tiny little speaker

Alex Hurst January 2, 2020

Travel

5 Canadian winter wellness retreats for 2020

A lot of people have this crazy idea that once we hit 50 all we want to do in winter is go down south and chill on a beach. Ha! We laugh! Sure, maybe we like a little heat in March on a warm, sunny beach. But we also love the beauty that is Canada in winter and there are some awesome winter wellness retreats. We check a few out here; Sparkling Hill Resort Nestled in the spectacular mountains of British Columbia near Vernon, this wellness focused resort has special packages for seniors. They have a 5 night package that focuses on seniors who are looking for a whole body experience. Check them out here. Grail Springs They don’t have a Holy Grail, but they do have some really cool packages, with some tailored to seniors. Based in Bancroft, Ontario. It’s a beautiful winter landscape. They also have spiritual programs

Alex Hurst January 2, 2020

Travel

How to take a wellness vacation

Give yourself a break this year for your mental health. Mindfulness. Meditation. Mental health. The terms have become part of our daily lives, and now they are in- creasingly becoming part of our travel options and opportunities. In the first wellness travel survey conducted by the Wellness Tourism Association, “meditation/mental health break” was the third most popular response to the question: If you are planning to take a wellness vacation in 2020 what would be the main goal? A “mental health break” ranked just behind “reconnect with self” and the number one goal: “a general overall re-boot,” selected by close to half of the over 2,500 people who responded to the survey including many readers of this magazine. So why, we might ask, is mental health, in general, gaining awareness, and why has it become a good reason to travel?The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “a state

Anne Dimon January 2, 2020

Fitness

How to walk away from a sedentary lifestyle

From sitting at a desk at school or work to sitting on the couch at home, our days aren’t filled with movement according to a 10-year survey by Statistics Canada. The Canadian Health Measures Survey examined the physical activity of both children and adults and found Canadian adults are sedentary for over 9.5 hours per day, while children are sedentary for over eight hours a day. According to an article in The Washington Post, sedentary behaviours like sitting and lying down for long periods of time can lead to poor health. Muscle degeneration, poor circulation, back problems and heart disease are a few of the health hazards connected with a sedentary lifestyle. National non-profit organization ParticipACTION has the following tips for leading a more active lifestyle: At work: Get a standing desk (even if you work at home!) Organize your workspace so everything isn’t within arm’s reach Walk to a

Alex Hurst January 2, 2020

Healthy Recipes

Sweet potato, leek and ginger soup

The taste bud-tingling combination of sweet potato, leek and ginger come together in one warming bowl. Smooth, comforting, wholesome and delicious, this soup is great to eat on a cold night, or to freeze for a nutrient-dense grab- and-go working lunch. It’s packed with antioxidants, while the sweet potato and ginger also provide anti-inflammatory benefits. Keep your inflammation and oxidative stress down with this nourishing bowl of soup! MAKES 8 | TAKES 50 MINUTES INGREDIENTS » 4 tablespoons coconut oil » 1 red onion, chopped » 6 leeks » 1⁄4 cup ginger, sliced » 1 teaspoon sea salt » 1 teaspoon black pepper » 4 sweet potatoes » 4 carrots, sliced into coins » 6 celery sticks, sliced » 8 cups of water DIRECTIONS Place the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, leek, ginger, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent.

Alex Hurst January 2, 2020

Fitness

Top 5 Gym Etiquette Rules

These days there are more and more people in the gym. Of course, the biggest spike is in the New Year with many making fitness New Year resolutions. It can become frustrating sometimes trying to workout with so many others. Here are the TOP 5 Gym Etiquette Guidelines for you to remember: #1 Don’t Stare – Many people coming to the gym are uncomfortable with even being there. It can be really offsetting when someone is starring at you while you are trying to get your sweat on. Even if someone is attractive, it can be intrusive for some to have people starring at them while working out. So just try not to stare and focus on your own body and regime. #2 Wipe the Equipment – Nobody likes to eat off a dirty table and on the same token people don’t like to come to use a piece of gym equipment that is covered in

Max Brennan January 2, 2020

Fitness

Workout breathing exercises

Are there different breathing exercises for different workouts? Oh yeah! BREATHING often gets overlooked when we exercise. As a former competitive amateur boxer and kick boxer, I know the importance of proper breathing techniques. Without it, boxers can easily get fatigued, which in turn can lead to injury. I teach and incorporate proper breathing techniques into all aspects of my training—it is essential for so many reasons. Proper breathing increases your performance and endurance and keeps you safe during your workouts by decreasing the workload on your heart. Oxygen gets absorbed and transported through your blood cells when you inhale, and toxins such as carbon dioxide are removed when you exhale. Common mistakes with breathing while exercising include holding your breath, breathing too deep or too shallow, breathing too fast or too slow, and inhaling and exhaling at the wrong times. Breathing techniques for training and workouts Strength training breathing

Nichelle Laus January 2, 2020

Fitness

DIY Yoga mat cleaner

This cleaner recipe is from our sister magazine OptiMYz. As a fitness enthusiast, you likely use your yoga mat for yoga, home workouts or even stretching. Maybe you roll it out regularly at home, at the studio or even your local park, but how often do you actually take the time to clean it? In a study conducted by ABC13 News they sent a series of mats from local gyms and studios to a lab. The findings were surprising. One of the mats had a form of staph on it, while a few others had yeast build-up and even fecal matter (GROSS!). Basically, just like your sweaty workout gear, your mat should also get a good cleaning. Here is a DIY yoga mat cleaner with two simple essential oils: tea tree and lavender. Tea tree essential oil is antibacterial and antifungal, while lavender essential oil has antibacterial properties paired with a

Charmaine Millaire January 2, 2020

Fitness

Find the right exercise routine for you

Exercising should not be a chore or a punishment— but rather, an expression of the love and gratitude we have for our bodies. Do you work out because you love your body or because you loathe it? The sad truth is that for many of us the main motive for working out is the urgent, sometimes desperate, desire to whip our bodies into shape. Yet, hard-won experience and the latest research show that the most effective way to get yourself out the door for a workout is to do it because it makes you feel good. Imagine what it would be like to think of your workout not as punishing and joyless, but as a way of having fun and expressing your love for yourself and your body. In our book Fit at Mid-Life: A Feminist Fitness Journey and on our blog, Fit Is a Feminist Issue, we are all

Tracy Isaacs January 2, 2020