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If you thought that jigsaw puzzles were only reserved for the elderly and the very young, you couldn’t be more wrong. Puzzles are on the rise; households all over the country are kicking back and relaxing to a bit of puzzle action. 

With the rise of mindfulness in an increasingly busy world, jigsaw puzzles in an array of guises and shapes are becoming popular gifts for men and women who struggle to relax. Before you dismiss puzzles as not your bag, check out some of the benefits that puzzlers enjoy. 

Escape the Screens.

In age where we spend most of our days with some kind of screen within easy reach, jigsaw puzzles offer a complete detox. Perfect for all the family, you can spend a little time together with a common goal. Younger members of the family can focus on easier tasks, such as finding edge pieces, while the more experienced jigsaw puzzlers can focus on the more challenging areas. 

Boost problem solving.

The whole concept of forming a bigger picture from many smaller pieces is great for problem solving. It exercises the brain, and the creation of the bigger itself serves as its own motivation. 

Mindfulness.

Puzzling can have a meditative effect as your mind escapes from all other stresses, trials and thoughts, focusing only on the puzzle pieces. By focusing on the puzzle, your mind is being given a break from the bigger picture that is your life. 

Boosting fine motor skills.

Doing a jigsaw puzzle as a family is great for promoting fine motor skills in children and babies. What’s more, it boosts attention span, too. Image Source: notonthehighstreet.com 

A complete brain workout.

Completing jigsaw puzzles utilises both the left and right side of your brain. You aren’t just looking at one piece and wondering where it fits; you are, without realising it, mentally scanning and remembering previous pieces too. Long-term, regular puzzling can boost memory skills; in fact, jigsaw puzzling exercises the parietal lobe, whose job it is to process sensory information, spatial and visual perception, language and maths. Completing puzzles can even help to prevent age-related memory loss and Alzheimer’s. 

Provides family time.

Families tend to lead busy lives: with work, school, clubs, homework, it can often feel as though you rarely get time to be together. Half an hour as a family completing a jigsaw is a great way to socialise, chat, and offers precious family time during which successes, concerns, events and aspirations can be discussed without pressure, in an organic way.

Makes a great gift.

A jigsaw puzzle makes a fantastic gift! You can get great personalised puzzles which can be framed once you complete them, so all of the puzzlers’ hard work will be rewarded with an end product that they can keep forever. 

While jigsaw puzzles are fabulous fun for all the family, other puzzles have a similar effect, too. If you don’t have the inclination or space for jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, word searches or traditional puzzle books will help with brain function, memory, and problem-solving skills. So, don’t just go to the gym; find the puzzle for you and make sure that you exercise your brain, too.

It’s that time of year again and you are probably already preparing your home for the worst of the winter weather. But are you preparing your body? It’s true to say that winter means that issues with the flu are on the rise. 

It’s for this reason that if you are in a certain age group, you should be visiting the doctor to get your flu jab. If you’re not in a classified risk age group, you might be wondering what steps you can take to protect yourself? Well, there are a few possibilities that you should consider. 

Make Sure That You Have Medication Available

You can typically tell when your body is being attacked by a virus. Your head could feel stuffy or you might notice that you have a runny nose. This is often a couple of the first signs before you experience the full-blown impact of having the flu. It’s interesting to note that if you can you should be taking steps to get ahead of the virus. You can do this by taking the right meds available from a top UK online pharmacy. 

If you do this, you might be able to stop yourself coming down with a nasty winter bug. You can provide your body with the assistance it needs to get the situation under control. 

Meditate 

It might sound odd to suggest that meditation could prevent you from getting sick. However, that is exactly what researchers discovered when they explored the impact of this process. Indeed, one research study found that individuals who meditated took on average more than 75% less sick days compared with other individuals. 

Why does meditation help? Well, meditation ensures that you are teaching the body and the mind to stay both focused and calm. As such, it can eliminate issues with high levels of stress. This could leave you vulnerable and exposed to an issue with an infection. If you want to explore this option, mindful exercises are the best place to start. 

Eating Well 

If you want to ensure that you are reducing the chances of developing a virus or the flu, you need to make sure that you are taking steps to correct your diet. It’s important that you are providing your diet with the right vitamins and minerals. This will keep your immune system working effectively and make it far less likely that you pick up the flu or virus through the winter months. 

You should also think about adding antioxidants to your diet too. Oxygenation is a process that is related to various issues with the human body including issues with your immune system. If you want to ensure that you are fighting against the possibility of developing a virus or nasty bug, antioxidants are your friend. They are found in various natural foods including broccoli as well as citrus fruits. 

Good Hygiene 

One of the easiest and most common ways to contract a virus or a bug is by getting viruses on your skin. This is quite common throughout the winter season and teachers know this problem all too well. Kids are notorious for not washing their hands which leaves viruses to quickly spread through a population like a classroom. However, if you are making sure that you are always washing your hands, then you can reduce your chances of developing it. 

The trick here is to ensure that you are washing your hands the right way. Ultimately, you should be spending twenty seconds at the sink making sure that your hands are clean. Crucially, they need to be dry too. Germs are far likely to spread if hands are still wet so you shouldn’t miss out this part of the process. 

Quit Smoking and Drinking 

If you want to avoid the flu, then you need to make sure that you are kicking those bad habits to the kerb. Indeed, individuals who smoke tend to have a more serious reaction to the flu. One study suggested that just smoking two cigarettes a day caused an overreaction within the immune system. This is why people who smoke will often find getting the flu worse than those who maintain a healthy lifestyle so now’s the time to quit, these days there are many ways of kicking the habit from simple gum to stop smoking tablets. Which ever path you decide will lead to better overall health and people that have managed to stick with it say best decision they ever made. 

We hope this helps you see how to make sure that you can avoid the bug this season. According to reach between 5 and 20% of the population will contract one of the winter flus this year. If you want to avoid the long days in bed feeling like there’s a ton of bricks on your head, these steps will be vital.

It’s official: winter is coming. That means cosy jumpers, chunky boots and thick jackets are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Many of us tend to stick with monochrome ad we navigate the cold months, with blacks, greys, beiges and navy making a regular appearance. But winter clothing doesn’t need to be dull! Injecting some colour and pattern into your winter outfits will not only make you look great but feel great too. Plus, there’s been heaps of colourful garments at London Fashion Week, so you’ll be on trend too. Here are some top tips that will help you brighten up your wardrobe this winter. 

Add a colourful bag 

One of the most simple ways to add interest to your outfit is to inject a pop of colour through your handbag. If you’re heading for an evening out, why not pair an all-black ensemble with a statement red clutch? Or if you’re getting ready for a day in the office, a colourful tote will always look 10/10. 

Rock a bright jacket 

A great quality coat is an essential in winter, but practicality doesn’t have to be boring. Feel at your best every time you walk out the house with a bright and bold winter jacket. Stores like Damart have a great range of parkas, teddy fleeces, leather jackets and trench coats that offer the perfect combination of fashion and function! 

Wear statement boots 

If you find yourself gravitating towards your staple boots every time you’re getting ready, why not invest in a pair with some real wow factor? This season there are some amazing trends to take inspiration from. Choose a pair with a statement heel – there are loads of options including leopard print, gold and even crystal encrusted! 

Go bold with jewellery 

This may be one of the easiest ways to add a pop of colour to your outfit and there are so many options. Wear a bright chunky necklace over the top of your favourite roll neck jumper. Or pop on a pair of colourful drop earrings or a statement ring that are sure to brighten up your outfit. 

Layer up 

Incorporate colour into your wardrobe by layering up. Pop a well-fitted black jumper under a colourful slip dress. Wear a colourful shirt underneath a cream jumper. Throw a bright jacket over a monochrome dress. The options are endless! 

Why not start experimenting with colour in your wardrobe this winter?

There’s so much going on in the world right now, and with the pace of society moving faster and faster, it’s easy to feel panicked, frantic, and at the end of your tether. However, stress is incredibly bad for your mental wellbeing, and if not looked after, it can have a serious negative impact on your health. So, take these steps to reduce or eliminate everyday stressors and make yourself calmer and happier. 

Look After Your Finances

Money is a major stress for most people – it can be difficult to make sure there’s enough to go around, and even if there is, there are so many different things to think about that it can be overwhelming. It’s important to make sure you reduce the amount of money you spend on things like bills, subscriptions and other unnecessary expenses. Being able to have more money means you can worry less about being able to afford necessities and allow yourself to save up a little on the side or treat yourself every now again. 

Reconsider any bills you need to pay, and see if you can get them cheaper elsewhere. Car insurance is particularly important to keep coming back to – prices and premiums change all the time, and often there are deals for new customers which you can take advantage of. Use Quotezone.co.uk to find very cheap car insurance – it compares over 100 different UK car insurance providers to find you the best deal. 

Practise Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a fairly new concept, but it’s risen in popularity quickly, and for good reason. Mindfulness is a great way to regain some calm and clarity in your life, and the foundation of it means it’s impossible to do wrong. You can practise mindfulness in many ways – some people prefer to sit quietly and focus on their breathing, whilst others like to do activities in which they can be mindful – one activity that’s becoming ever more popular is mindful colouring. 

The best way to implement mindfulness into your life, however, is to practise it anywhere – in the shower, driving to work, washing the dishes. The beauty of mindfulness is that it can be done anywhere for as long as you like, whether that’s a minute or an hour, and it can help you feel in the present moment as well as taking your mind off a potentially stressful day or any problems you may be facing. Headspace is worth checking out for easy to follow audio clips to help you get started with mindfulness.

Make Time for People

Whether we like it or not, our busy lives can mean we end up isolating ourselves – even if we spend a lot of time around people, we don’t make this time good quality, instead choosing to watch TV or go on our phones instead. But it’s incredibly important to make time for those who you care about – it could be friends, parents, relatives – and spend some quality time with them. Think about going for a cup of tea, playing a game, or planning an activity together – things like this can really help you feel relaxed. Busy lives can also be lonely, so making time to mix with people too means you’ll be able to have time to regain some calm and enjoy some time with those you love, so that you’re not constantly thinking about stress and instead focusing on the now.

Life is full of stressors, but with these tips you’ll be well on your way to regaining some happiness.