By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan “Movement is the song of the body” Vanda Scaravelli Exercise or movement is vital for a healthy body; it improves brain function, sleep, coordination and increases energy levels. It can also help with bone strength, weight loss, prevention of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol, depression, and high blood pressure. The minimum amount of exercise for 18-64 year-olds should be 150 minutes of moderate physical activity and/or brisk walking per week. At least two days a week should consist of high-intensity exercise and resistance training such as weightlifting, bodyweight…
Author: Nyx Mclean
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN Last week we welcomed our new intake of journalists in training. We gave them a week to find their feet, to get to know each other, to research Makhanda, to read past editions of Grocott’s Mail, and to make space for their curiosity. Curiosity about the community they will be working in, for, and with. We have already published a few stories from our new journalists, namely a report by Toto Tsarneba on the Ukraine protest in Makhanda on Tuesday 1 March and a story by Zimkita Linyana on the recent snare clean up…
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan More and more, we hear of plant-based diets or challenges, such as Meatless Monday. Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to try eating a plant-based meal on Mondays to improve their health and do their part to help the planet. A plant-based diet refers to when a person eats mainly organic foods that are whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. The idea behind this type of diet is to choose more of your foods from plant sources rather than meat or dairy. There is evidence…
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN Community is not a given thing. Living in the same town may mean you are part of a geographical community, but it does not mean that you are in community with each other. Makhanda is fragmented. If we are a community at all, we are a community of communities—small pockets of belonging here and there, often in conflict with each other. If we disagree on issues, this does not mean that we need to lose our sense of belonging with each other. Instead, we need to find a way to allow for different values…
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan There has been a longstanding standoff between protein and sugar. Is one healthier than the other? Present-day society places a substantial emphasis on eating protein to have a healthy diet. The health and fitness industry push protein consumption to build muscle. However, more people are dying from the overconsumption of protein rather than underconsumption. Overconsumption of protein can lead to weight gain, kidney problems, and obesity. Processed meat is also a leading contributor to health issues related to the overconsumption of protein. Processed meats like salami, ham, bacon, and…
By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan Many of us go through daily tasks with our heads in the sand, just trying to survive. We suppress our emotions and trauma, rather than express them. We then often turn to sometimes not healthy ways – such as excessive drinking, eating, or overworking – to distract ourselves from difficult and painful emotions. This does not help us feel any better but instead fuels the emptiness. Why do we feel this emptiness? It is often a sign or message that we have reached a point of stagnation in our…
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN It has been a curious few days for us at Grocott’s Mail. We posted on Wednesday morning an open letter from Rhodes University philosophy professor Francis Williamson opposing the Rhodes University vaccine mandate. That post drew one of our record number of comments on one post; we were well over 100 comments at last count. In 2021, we issued several appeals for diverse perspectives on the vaccine and Covid-19. Not many readers came forward. Instead, Grocott’s was accused of several things, including genocide, for “pushing vaccine propaganda”. It would have been irresponsible for us…
By NYX MCLEAN My colleagues and peers are often surprised to hear me rant against excessive social media use, after-hours work texts, and WhatsApp groups. They think that because I work in digital technologies and online communities, I must be pro-technology and digitising all the things even when it is unnecessary. Instead, I am more of a tech-nope; I prefer the quiet of carefully curated tech use and the boundaries of work remaining at the office when I leave at the end of the day. Yes, technology helped immensely with needing to work or study remotely during the worst of…
By SHANNON SKAE, Health and Life Coach at Revive with Shan “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it is essential to remember the most important person in your life: you. Our lives are filled with stress, chaos, and rushing around. We get caught up in a frenzy of constantly working and then using the weekend to either catch up on work or sleep due to exhaustion from the week. This leads us to a sense of being out of balance and feelings of anger, frustration, and anxiety. …
By NYX MCLEAN I have been back in town for a year now after ten years away. I always found the short trips home upsetting, seeing my home town slowly fall apart over the years away. It wasn’t only in the water or the potholes. It was also in the energy of the space; it looked sad, grass taking over roads, litter being thrown from car windows, people who needed work without work when there is plenty to be done in this town. I have kept quiet about my feelings about Makhanda for the most part. It could be because…