We’re happy that you reached our website. Here you will find a series of articles that promote well-being and a sustainable way of life. Explore our site so you find inspiration to make a positive change in your life. Our reading material includes travel and tips plus ways to contribute in the making of a better world.
Over the last few months we’ve been hearing how expensive energy is becoming. Gas is up, oil prices through the roof, but nobody is speaking of the most important form of energy we possess: our own inner energy. While it is important to keep track of current events, it’s even more crucial to keep our own inner equilibrium intact. This article focuses on how to cultivate inner calm and positive energy during tumultuous times.
Tip #1:
Take short relaxation breaks from your everyday chores and activities. It’s important to find your breath as often as possible throughout the day. This means to take deep mindful breaths regularly in your waking hours. These short but essential breaks will allow you to release tension and bring attention to the present moment.
Tip #2:
Engage at least once a week in a mind-body practice. These practices are designed to calm both the mind and your body, since they are deeply interconnected. Such practices include Tai Chi, yoga, walking meditation, ecstatic dance, Pilates, swimming, and gardening.
Tip #3:
It’s important to find time for yourself even in the busiest imaginable schedule. A five to twenty-minute break to do something you care for with no interruption can add volumes of inner calm to your day. Make time to go for a walk, read a book, get a manicure, take a nap, listen to music or take a long hot bath – whatever healthy activity that soothes your spirit.
Tip #4:
During times of war and uncertainty, the human mind has a tendency to spin out of control and create unpleasant future scenarios. Cut these thoughts at their bud and recognize them as stories that don’t need to happen. For the most part, 99 out of 100 times, these stories are just fear-driven fantasies that never manifest in real life. Reduce your anxiety by better curating the thoughts you harbor.
Climate change is all around us and there’s no denying that capturing carbon by increasing forest cover is key in the fight against this crisis. However, there’s a serious issue looming around as some of these forests exist on paper only, meaning they are ‘Phantom Forests’. Why do these so-called fake forests occur? The simple answer is that promises made by governments and organizations have not been kept.
In the Philippines, along the coast of Iloilo, the perfect shallow waters were planted with mangroves as part of the nation’s progressive National Greening Program. However, around 90% of the seedlings died, because the type of mangrove planted was right for muddy creeks rather than the area’s sandy coast. The government preferred it this way since the seeds were readily available and easy to plant.
Another example of the failed restoration of forests has occurred in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh, where tens of millions of sprouts were planted in the last few years, but when checked on for new plantations, very few have been found alive.
What can be done to avoid greenwashing and truly help nature heal? Perhaps, the most important step is to stop logging the few remaining old-growth forests. Also, countries need to speed up the process of working to get special wild places designated as protected areas.
If enough old-growth forests can be protected and younger forests are permitted to live long enough to become old-growth once again, we can certainly say that there is still hope out there.
Serendix Partners, a Japanese company, has succeeded in 3D printing a house in under a day. The incredible feat of printing a house promises to be at a lower cost than initially expected.
In March of 2022, the Nipponese company managed to build a home in less than 24 hours and for less than 3 million yen (which is roughly $25,358). Granted, the home is a pod residence, which has been referred to as the “Sphere” and is currently the first 3D-printed house in the nation.
Serendix printed the pod-like home at one of the Japanese factories of Hyakunen Jutaku, a residential construction enterprise where people can also ask for high-quality building inspections.
The Sphere was designed by renowned architect Masayuki Sono and its design uses a 20-metric ton reinforced concrete frame. With just over 107.64 square feet, the construction is allegedly exempt from Japan’s building regulations.
The 3-D printer ran for 23 hours and 12 minutes to build the Sphere and still, it supposedly meets local earthquake standards as well as European insulation standards.
What’s even more amazing is that Serendix is aiming to shorten the Sphere’s construction time even more. We’ll just have to wait and see if these pods are appealing to regular customers, in a society that already uses these contraptions for overnight stays in major cities, or if they will solely work as camping sites, disaster relocation shelters, or even vacation homes.
