Taking a timeout is relaxing and important for you. When you go on holidays you probably dream of lying on a beautiful sandy beach, refreshing your feet in the ocean water, enjoying a nice drink, listening to music and just not doing anything. Well, yes, that’s a damn good thing! After some long, cold months full of hard work your body needs time to calm down, to detox and to recharge new energy. However, several studies claim that a long-nothing-doing-holiday makes stupid. A meta-analysis by Harris Cooper, Missouri University in Columbia, indicated that tests’ scores in math suffer from long holidays and decline over vacation. Another study, done by a memory researcher Siegfried Lehrl, reveals that the IQ of an adult drops by 20 points just after three weeks of doing-nothing. Psychologists state that holiday makers who just laze around fall back into the infantile development stage. And therefore, after just two weeks of holidays, when back to the office, they have to acclimatise both physically and mentally. Hence the compromise is: a holiday that includes all you need to keep you physically and mentally active and relaxed. It is especially relevant to make sure that both body and mind are in action and stress-free.
Therefore, these 6 things are good for your health during your holiday.
- Switch off! Yup, we mean it literally! You want your body, your eyes, your fingers and your brain to take a timeout as well, so give them some days of no screen-reading, no typing, no emails writing. Better go and touch some sand, let it run through your fingers. Watch a sunset and let your eyes focus on a different “screen”. Don´t think about your “to-do-list” and just enjoy, breath and relax.
- Drink as much as you can! Haha…yeah, of course we like Mojito and Sex on the Beach, too. However, we rather mean and recommend drinking as much water and fresh juices as you can. Our body consists of 70% of water. So we need to water it regularly and sufficiently. Fresh juices detox your body from all bad toxics and give you vitamins instead. Your skin, your hair, your liver and your heart will thank you. And always remember: no plastic straw!
- Go diving! Sport is important for good blood circulation which again minimises the risk for varicose veins and ensures that tissues and organs are well supplied with oxygen. Diving is a very good option since it stimulates your physical and mental health. Diving is beneficial and preventive. Thanks to the weightless movement under water, diving reliefs your body and gives a relaxation to your spine. It also has a positive impact on your psyche; it gives you a timeout from stress. And by the way, you burn more than 200 kcal per 1-hour dive.
- Go on excursions! When you go on an excursion, you do well both for your body and your mind. While you are climbing up a hill or a temple and supporting your physical condition; your brain relaxes as well by absorbing the beauty around you. And if you happen to learn some history, take it as a positive effect because continuous learning is the key to success. Finally, going on excursions gives you good mood and this again supplies endorphins which energises you and keeps you young. At the end, all are happy!
- Eat, eat and repeat! Yes, food is good. If you eat well, you feel great. And luckily in Indonesia there is plenty of food everywhere and always. It is said: eat more often but in smaller portions. Just like Indonesian people do: rice – five times a day. Good for you that in Indonesia you will find a great selection of delicious, tropical fruits and veggies, grilled sates (small pieces of chicken meat on a skew) and light soups. By the way, this is why we serve freshly prepared lunch on our boat, lots of tea, water and fruits for free the whole day long.
- On your own or in a group! It is an individual preference. You either would like to spend the days just with yourself, or you like to share with other people. Both are good and necessary. Sometimes we need time to find and to understand ourselves. And sometimes, we need people around us to be inspired by their energies and to recharge. In our dive centre you can perfectly combine both. While you will be diving with a small group during the day, you can watch the sunset and dream by yourself at the end of the day.
The happiest time is the pre-holiday time. And if you keep these 6 things in mind, you will be happier and healthier after your holiday too. And now: get out of the fusty office, out of the daily routine, get on the plane to an island, calm down and unwind. We at Wet Frog Divers are looking forward to relaxing with you in Komodo National Park. By the way, the name of our boat is “Santai” and in Indonesian it means “to relax”.