Fitness fads and wellbeing trends come and go, but the quest for wellness and healthy living stays the same.

Here at M Life we love and are always interested in exploring the latest innovations in fitness and wellbeing, but we’re also supporters of living slowly and deliberately, choosing what we do and don’t do in order to experience life to the fullest at the same time.

Doing less and living more is something we aspire to and try to remember. Even as we’re trying manifesting, jade face rollers, special diets and the latest Goop has to offer, we find the principles below to be excellent ways to stay the course and do less in order to make bigger health and wellbeing gains elsewhere.

1) Stretching is life

Stretching has a huge number of health benefits which are both immediate and longer-term. Things like restorative yoga, massages and saunas are all important, but stretching before and after exercise, and during the day, make us feel both good in the here and now and prevents the need for expensive therapies and rehabilitation later down the track.

2) Quality over quantity

Trying ever beauty and wellness trend under the sun can actually confuse our bodies and disrupt routines. Thinking about slow and gradual changes of one or two things, rather than switching to a different regimen or life approach overnight, provide more manageable alterations to advance our wellbeing without creating a lifestyle that’s unsustainable and will lead back to an unhealthy one in due course.

3) Hope springs eternal

Although this might seem tough right now, deliberately and consciously thinking positively and being hopeful can have a really worthwhile effect our mental health. Along with practicing gratitude regularly and exploring meditation where necessary, these activities are both preventative and investments into our mental health without actually costing a thing.

4) Sleep

Sleep is unbelievably powerful and we go on about it a lot here at M Life and on the M Life journal. The latest research says catching up on sleep isn’t possible but rather continued efforts to get a decent night’s sleep can literally be a habit that makes or breaks us. Having a better bedtime routine can help create the conditions for sleep, which we think is a decent start. Without a good night’s sleep, it really is the case that a lot of the other work we do on ourselves is rather pointless.

5) The great outdoors

We need the oxygen and stimulation that come with being outdoors. (I didn’t enjoy that walk or bit of fresh air – said no one ever). A brief spell outside to be around nature or simply to get out of the house can bring perspective and a change of scene and being around plants and trees can improve our mental and physical health.