Mindfulness – being consciously aware of your thoughts, feelings and behaviour when you are working – can improve your well-being and make you more productive.

Banker Simone Song put her job before her health, until an overdue colonoscopy found a lump. It wasn’t a tumour, but it spurred her to set up a venture capital fund that invests in innovative cancer treatments.

Adele Hughes was a tanning enthusiast for years, but now she avoids exposing her fair skin, and wears sunscreen every day, whatever the weather. ‘People don’t understand how dangerous the sun is,’ she says.

Keon Lee was determined to lose weight before he hit 40, but had never managed to sustain healthy habits. This time, he turned to friends and associates for advice and support, and to his active daughter for inspiration, and changed his lifestyle.

English teacher John Lee would drink so much he blacked out, and smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. After the mother of all hangovers he decided he had had enough, and quit tobacco and alcohol.

Lung cancer survivor Mei Lai had never smoked, although her husband of 28 years is a smoker. She urges smokers to quit for their family’s sake, and is training as a volunteer with the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, which helped her come to terms with cancer.

A prostate cancer survivor says men need to be aware of the warning signs of the disease, and Movember, the annual campaign to raise awareness of men’s health issues, provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

After Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s social media posts on the model’s miscarriage, Julie Sajnani-Nandwani says she felt less alone in dealing with a loss that one in 10 pregnant women face.

Australian-born Joshua Wong is battling a rare form of cancer that has spread through his body, but he chooses to spend his time ‘living, not dying’. A new father, his first feature film debuted this weekend.

Cancer survivor Annie Lee, a 31-year-old investment banker, had no family history of breast cancer, and was shocked to learn her unhealthy, high-stress lifestyle was a risk factor. She stopped eating junk food and exercises now.

Rahimah Asmawi underwent gastric sleeve surgery, a type of weight-loss surgery, in 2018 to remove 80 per cent of her stomach. Now she’s 54kg lighter, no longer diabetic and loves going to the gym. She wants to lose another 10kg.

A big additional workload, no stress-relieving exercise with gyms shut, and three children of her own to help with remote learning – Hong Kong teacher Miranda Wong is sleeping a lot less amid the pandemic and her mood is affected.

With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s sudden resignation due to ulcerative colitis, and US actor Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death of colon cancer, we look at how to spot, treat and prevent chronic bowel conditions.

Anders Nelsson, who acted with Bruce Lee and had a string of music chart hits in Hong Kong in the 1960s, received prostate cancer surgery five years ago. He says men need to talk more about illness.

If you are spending hours on social media but finding no pleasure in it, try switching off from it entirely for a while – a digital detox during the Covid-19 pandemic might help you feel better.

Children stuck indoors studying online because of the coronavirus – and their parents working from home – risk spending too much time looking at screens and developing eye infections.

High levels of cholesterol can cause heart disease, damage arteries, and leave you at risk of stroke and heart attack. A cardiologist and an academic with high cholesterol explain how to lower your cholesterol levels.

Surviving breast cancer taught Isabel Galiano to take the mind-body connection seriously. She adopted several practices to alleviate stress and negative emotions and get more sleep – all of which boost her immune system.

At 75 years old, Hongkonger Dave Lau’s exercise regime includes swimming, yoga, tai chi, Pilates and even scuba diving.

Hong Kong actress and singer-songwriter Lesley Chiang fought depression through counselling, exercise and by giving her illness a name – Borat. ‘He lies, he’s a douchebag and it’s terrible,’ she tells friends.

Young professional Po Lee worked too much and wasn’t eating well. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it was time to shake up her life.

Book lovers meeting online to discuss authors, book themes, and current affairs offer each other emotional support, lower stress, and help members connect with others. They take members’ minds off coronavirus lockdown.

A Hong Kong professional who started cooking to ease the stress of juggling work at home and helping with schoolwork is inspired by watching Korean dramas like Itaewon Class. Her husband perfects kimchi fried rice. Their kids love it.

The clean cut, New Zealand-raised girl band star is keeping herself busy and healthy away from the spotlight

A tech professional quarantined in a Beijing hotel watched a lot of TV and planned the things he would do when the 14 days were over; a fashion influencer confined to home in Hong Kong posted to Instagram advice on how to cope.

Instant noodles, tinned luncheon meat and frozen dumplings may have a long shelf life but won’t keep you healthy during the coronavirus outbreak. Experts share their tips on healthy food to stock up with.

To beat the coronavirus home quarantine, gyms are using apps and conferencing platforms such as Zoom to offer real-time group or individual workouts for their members, to keep them fit and healthy.

Hongkonger Denise Tam, 36, has twice battled back courageously from lymphoma. She tells of overcoming her fears about cancer and how a change in her mindset helped boost her immune system.

Sarah Mersel struggled with binge eating for 10 years and lived mainly on junk food until yoga and switching to a wholesome plant-based diet transformed her life.

Temperature checks, stepped-up cleaning, compulsory hand washing, using hand sanitiser – gyms in Hong Kong have stepped up hygiene measures and say members are returning to work out. Still, a doctor urges caution.