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A recent article by UK camping and caravan-ing website (www.campingandcaravanning.co.uk) claims campers are much happier than non-campers.

Not just a promotional exercise, the article raises some good points about the lifestyle differences between campers and non-campers. If it’s true that campers are happier (93% of campers say they are, according to the article), perhaps it’s time for all of us to get back in touch with nature and go camping for our next holiday.

Benefits of Camping
Far too many of us feel the pressure and stress of long work hours and understand the effects this can have on our health. Unfortunately, in this day and age, long work hours, poor diet and lack of exercise all seem to go hand in hand. And most of us are pretty miserable as a result.

Taking time off and getting away from the pressures of everyday life has its benefits. A survey conducted by the website found that campers tend to be more satisfied, optimistic, happier and energised while non-campers tended to be more stressed, bored, frustrated and lonely.

Enjoying Nature
One of the biggest benefits of camping is the opportunity to get back in touch with nature.

The fresh air,  peace and quiet (or the noise of wildlife as opposed to traffic!), time away from the office… these are all wonderful reasons to go camping.

People have turned to nature for centuries as a much needed getaway.  Nature has a wonderful  ability to calm and restore mind and body. Many campers say camping creates happy memories, allowing them to recharge their batteries, appreciate nature and expand their horizons, as well as provide fun for the family.

Exercising in the Great Outdoors
When it comes to camping, the opportunity to enjoy some outdoor exercise is a big plus.

In addition, to promoting family togetherness, rest and relaxation, helping children learn, social interaction and creating memories and family traditions, camping opens up a world of exercise possibilities.

You can get some good old-fashioned exercise from hiking through the bush to rock climbing, gathering fire wood to swimming, or wading in a creek. And, unlike working out in the gym, it won’t even feel like you’re exercising!

It seems that campers may be onto something. Camping’s many benefits – from  exercise to relaxation – make it worth packing up the tent and heading bush.

But camping’s benefits don’t come from a once a year trip. To really experience these benefits, try getting away as often as you can – your mind and body will be much happier for it!

There’s nothing quite like it to chill out, relax and remove all of the noise and distractions in our lives.

Written by Andrew Talati

It’s rare to see an orchestra playing in the park, but we did and it was great!

Recently, while conducting a regular boot camp, in Edinburgh Gardens in the distance we heard what sounded like an orchestra. While all sorts of musicians and artists play in the park, from bands to DJs, I have never seen an actual orchestra. The music sounded very similar to a band called Beirut from their “The Flying Club Cup” album.

It’s great to see our beautiful parks attract a multitude of different activities, while some people may simply go for a casual walk or to exercise the dog, some people take a more creative approach.

And it was awesome to see people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

Even more awesome with seeing people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

It’s also interesting to note how good playing music is for you. There have been many studies showing that playing a musical instrument improves your mood and mental health.

In this busy world it’s easy to become distracted, letting our minds wander so we are oblivious to everything else around us. But playing a musical instrument can be very meditative by focusing the mind on producing beautiful harmonies. Due to the complexity of playing music it makes it extremely difficult to become distracted by other fractured thoughts that might be swirling around in your mind. As with yoga and other forms of meditation, playing music clears your mind and controls your breathing while you focus on a single thought.

Our daily lives are a lot more complicated and stressful than they were 50 years ago, we give ourselves very little time for the appreciation and enjoyment of those around us or participating in activities that are for ourselves.

How often do you walk down the street and find yourself in deep thought, thinking about work or something else that is causing you concern or stress? Maybe it’s time to explore playing a musical instrument, even though it may appear to be extremely complex and challenging it is well worth the rewards.

In the Age today was an article about how there is a movement away from owning physical stuff such as DVD’s, CD’s and books to digital versions or electronic formats.

What is being experienced is by owning less stuff and having less attachment to physical stuff is leading to lower levels of stress and more freedom. The other benefit is saving on $$$ as you don’t need such a large house to accommodate all of this stuff and less time to organise and manage all of this stuff.

So having less possessions and things is actually creating more freedom both physically and mentally. A crazy concept in today’s world of mass consumption.

Kelly Sutton, who was featured in the article commented that “The less you own, the less you have weighing you down and the less that’s stressing you so I couldn’t be happier and more mobile . He has a website documenting all of this at “www.cultofless.com/items”.

So by having more time in your life you can look after yourself with more exercise and have the time to cook healthy meals and more importantly something we are all missing, “me time”.

It’s a bit of a cliche but you have to treat your body like a temple and worship it regularly, quite often we place higher importance on everything other than our own body, working long hours, poor diet, too much stress, limited R & R, so ultimately what we put into our body we get out, GIGO, Garbage in Garbage out.

Often when we think about weight loss, we think of changing the ratio of energy consumption verses energy expenditure which is great however if you are truly not committed and truly believe it will happen then your chances of success are very low.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of weight loss, it’s more like 20% based on the frequency and intensity of exercise, 20% about what you consume, the amount and the frequency but more importantly 60% is based on what you are thinking.

Think about the Yo-Yo diet, you get weight loss results then just as quickly you get weight gain, how can this be? Well if you don’t have the belief systems in place and the right mind set then old habits will return very quickly.
It’s like a children’s seesaw, one day you are in perfect balance where everything works, both children are of similar weight and contributing equally then the next day a different kid sits on the other end of the seesaw who is heavier or lighter or maybe isn’t contributing to seesawing by just sitting there or is pushing off too hard and making the other kid fall off.

If you don’t have everything in sync with the kids on the seesaw, ie the right weight (nutrition), the right level of exertion (mind) and contribution (exercise) the seesaw doesn’t work.
You can compensate on the seesaw if one kid is heavier or not contributing enough by one person working harder but this can only be sustained for a short period of time BUT if one kid does nothing and just sits there, guess what? nothing happens no matter how hard the other kids tries.

So if your scared of the seesaw, you don’t believe you have the skills to use it or you were forced to play on the seesaw by mum nothing will happen, similarly you wont lose weight.

I like the analogy of the hole in the footpath, you can either keep walking into the hole every morning or change your thought patterns and beliefs by choosing a different street with a different footpath.

The mind plays a massive role in everything that happens in our life, what we do, how we do it etc so get the mind in tune and the weight loss will follow:))

This morning, funny exercise quote from Fitmate who just returned from a romantic island honeymoon.
After being together for over 10 years, our fitmate had done very little intense exercise outside a regular fitness class.

Well the new hubby was shocked when our fitmate had voluntarily got up to go for a run along the beach, while this is great to see, it was equally surprising for the hubby to see this new found energy.
Maybe our bootcamps aren’t for everyone but it’s great to see it having a positive effect on someones life with new healthy habits being adopted.

After years of performing the same habits, it can be challenging to introduce new patterns of behavior. Our mind is a powerful thing can can accomplish anything if you truly believe.