https://www.scmp.com/rss/324802/feed As the Post's health and wellness editor, Cathy has a keen interest in research related to ageing well. She is a plant-powered endurance runner and trekker who recently graduated with an MA in Sports Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Cathy Hilborn Feng Cathy Hilborn Feng The invitation to attend a three-day yoga retreat at Knai Bang Chatt, a seaside resort tucked along Cambodia’s southern coastline in Kep, was hard to resist. The words “yoga nidra” called to me; I am not yet a yogi, but I had experienced this “sleep yoga” before. The promise of meditation, breathwork and sound healing also appealed to my stressed-out self. Still, I had reservations about travelling solo, my lack of experience and even my clothing choices. Those worries evaporated the moment I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3336908/how-luxury-cambodian-resort-offers-yoga-experience-few-others-can-match?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3336908/how-luxury-cambodian-resort-offers-yoga-experience-few-others-can-match?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Dec 2025 04:15:07 +0000 Cathy Hilborn Feng Cathy Hilborn Feng When journalists Lily Canter, a contributor to the South China Morning Post, and Emma Wilkinson started running together in ultra races – ones that take six hours or more to finish – in 2020, they noticed that there were few women. Those women that did take part, though, did remarkably well. When the pair started to look into it, they realised this was true for other endurance sports, too. In their new book Ultra Women: The Trailblazers Defying Sexism in Sport, they delve into the science of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3316460/how-women-can-conquer-endurance-sports-female-specific-training?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3316460/how-women-can-conquer-endurance-sports-female-specific-training?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jul 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Sound practitioner Martha Collard was at a gong workshop in the US state of Pennsylvania a year ago when a woman whose daughter lives in Hong Kong asked her: “Do you know this studio there with all these gongs?” She knew it quite well: it was to her Red Doors Studio in Wong Chuk Hang on the south side of Hong that the woman was referring. Opened 10 years ago, it now houses Asia’s largest private collection of gongs – 55 and counting. This oasis of calm on the 21st floor of an industrial building... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3303380/how-life-changing-gong-bath-experiences-set-hong-kong-studio-founder-new-course?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3303380/how-life-changing-gong-bath-experiences-set-hong-kong-studio-founder-new-course?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Mar 2025 10:57:07 +0000 With love in the air thanks to Valentine’s Day, medical doctors Judith and John Mackay spoke to the Post about their 57-year marriage and why it endures. The pair wed in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 8, 1967 but they built their careers and family in Hong Kong. Judith, 81, worked mostly in public hospitals before she established herself as an advocate for a tobacco-free world. She has worked with governments across Asia and beyond. Awards for her work include one from the late king of Thailand,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3298632/6-prescriptions-lifelong-love-hong-kong-doctors-who-had-whirlwind-1967-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3298632/6-prescriptions-lifelong-love-hong-kong-doctors-who-had-whirlwind-1967-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Feb 2025 23:45:07 +0000 This series is based on our reporting on TCM: its history, treatments and growing acceptance around the world. This is the sixth instalment. In Hong Kong, as in so many Chinese and Asian cities, shops selling traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) remedies are easy to find. Their shelves and drawers are filled with hundreds of different herbs, in their raw natural form, or increasingly as prepared and manufactured dried herbal granules, capsules, pills and tonics. Over 11,000 herb plants have been... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3295659/traditional-chinese-medicine-remedies-colds-coughs-flu-sleep-fatigue-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3295659/traditional-chinese-medicine-remedies-colds-coughs-flu-sleep-fatigue-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:15:07 +0000 This series is based on our reporting on TCM: its history, treatments and growing acceptance around the world. This is the fifth instalment. A slip of the foot before the start of the 2016 Standard Chartered marathon brought me to a traditional Chinese medical practitioner’s clinic days later. About 7km (4.3 miles) into the 42km race, I realised that I had pulled a muscle in my buttocks. When the pain began to flare, so did my resolve to finish. When I got home, clenching my finisher’s medal, I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3294533/why-acupuncture-attracts-growing-numbers-people-its-pain-relief-and-other-effects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3294533/why-acupuncture-attracts-growing-numbers-people-its-pain-relief-and-other-effects?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 04:45:08 +0000 This series is based on our reporting on TCM: its history, treatments and growing acceptance around the world. This is the first instalment. Expect to see and hear more about traditional Chinese medicine, the world’s oldest system of medicine, in the coming months – especially if you are in Hong Kong. Here’s why. Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Culture Festival As China rolls out ambitious plans to expand the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) globally, Hong Kong has launched its first Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3290608/whats-special-about-traditional-chinese-medicine-and-how-its-getting-push-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3290608/whats-special-about-traditional-chinese-medicine-and-how-its-getting-push-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Dec 2024 10:15:14 +0000 ’Tis the season of tempting chocolate – in warming cups of cocoa, slices of Yule log, or by the box. Now there’s a healthy reason to indulge in moderation – provided you choose dark, not milk chocolate. A long-term US study published in The BMJ this month found that eating five servings of dark chocolate a week may curb the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. More than 500 million people worldwide live with type 2 diabetes, and with that number expected to rise to over 700 million by 2045,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3289662/dark-chocolate-can-cut-your-diabetes-risk-new-study-finds-just-keep-it-5-pieces-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3289662/dark-chocolate-can-cut-your-diabetes-risk-new-study-finds-just-keep-it-5-pieces-week?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2024 08:22:07 +0000 You know you are not getting any younger and you need to get some exercise, but something keeps you from getting into the gym or yoga studio, or scheduling a regular run. There is good news for middle-aged women who don’t do “structured” exercise: an average of just four minutes a day of vigorous incidental physical activity – exercise you do without really noticing and definitely without setting aside time and space for it – could almost halve the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3289439/how-vilpa-4-minute-bursts-daily-activity-can-help-fight-heart-disease-middle-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3289439/how-vilpa-4-minute-bursts-daily-activity-can-help-fight-heart-disease-middle-age?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2024 07:15:08 +0000 There are many opportunities to get to know yourself better this weekend, through guided meditation, a new moon sound bath, and a film from martial artist and filmmaker Laurence Brahm. Alternatively, kick off your shoes at a lyrical hip-hop urban moves session, or slow it down and eat, and eat some more, at The Secret Garden on Lantau Island. Its nourishing plant-based brunch and late afternoon tea and desserts by the fire are sure to fuel you with goodness. Which will you choose? 1. Group... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3288464/5-best-wellness-things-do-hong-kong-weekend-november-29-december-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3288464/5-best-wellness-things-do-hong-kong-weekend-november-29-december-1?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:15:08 +0000 With so much going on in the wellness sphere this weekend, there is no excuse to be idle. Join a short race in Tai Tam to help support refugees, or try a new wellness activity at the Fitness and Wellness Expo, where there will be more than 100 different classes on offer. Victoria Park, in Causeway Bay, will host a FIBA 3X3 basketball tournament, and alongside it is an urban sports experience zone where you can shoot hoops or try your hand at pickleball and axe throwing. Attend a relaxing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3287469/5-wellness-events-hong-kong-weekend-november-22-24-pickleball-run?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3287469/5-wellness-events-hong-kong-weekend-november-22-24-pickleball-run?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2024 03:36:03 +0000 Not going away this holiday season? Luckily, Hong Kong still has plenty to offer. Here are some top tips from the Post’s Lifestyle and Culture editors for how to usher in 2023 with friends or some well-deserved me time. Food and drinks ’Tis the season for indulging, of course, and fortunately for the gluttonous there is plenty to eat and drink in Hong Kong throughout the holidays. Even if you haven’t managed to book a splashy dinner or debauched drinks countdown for December 31, there are many... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3204766/things-do-hong-kong-over-new-year-go-hike-watch-local-film-cinema-take-some-me-time-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3204766/things-do-hong-kong-over-new-year-go-hike-watch-local-film-cinema-take-some-me-time-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Dec 2022 10:15:08 +0000 As the world broke through the astounding milestone of 100 million known Covid-19 cases, the Global Wellness Institute released its trends report for 2021. Chief among its messages: wellness has gone from being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must-have’ – for all. The Florida, US-based non-governmental organisation defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. The US$4.5 trillion global market encompasses all things wellness –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3120018/travel-breathing-how-pandemic-has-made-wellness-must-have?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3120018/travel-breathing-how-pandemic-has-made-wellness-must-have?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Feb 2021 04:45:11 +0000 Hong Kong-based physical education teacher Julien Schneider was unhappy about gaining weight – more than 15kg (33lb) – in less than a year after arriving in the city in 2015 from his native France, despite doing two hours of physical activity daily. Like many of us, the now 39-year-old had experienced the yo-yo effect since his early 20s: putting on a few extra pounds, then trying to eat less to shake them off, but finding that harder and harder. His American wife had witnessed his struggle and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3090040/keto-diet-weight-loss-tips-pe-teacher-who-dropped-20kg?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3090040/keto-diet-weight-loss-tips-pe-teacher-who-dropped-20kg?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jun 2020 11:00:12 +0000 Finding a treatment for a sick child may be the best motivation for adopting a new diet. It was for Oliver Smith, whose epileptic son Liam’s condition prompted his start on the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet more than seven years ago. He had witnessed Liam’s first seizure. Liam was just 10 weeks old and stopped breathing for a few seconds. By the time he was 10 years old, he was having constant seizures despite taking four medications at maximum dosages. Epilepsy is a central nervous... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3089547/does-keto-diet-work-long-term-it-does-dad-and-it-saved?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3089547/does-keto-diet-work-long-term-it-does-dad-and-it-saved?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jun 2020 11:45:12 +0000 The ketogenic diet, or keto diet, is a high-fat and highly restrictive regime that promises speedy weight loss. It is rocking the headlines, its profile boosted by endorsements from celebrities including US reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian and actress Halle Berry. Curious to try this diet? Here’s what you need to know. The history of the keto diet For starters, it’s not new. The ketogenic diet is approaching its 100th anniversary – though it didn’t begin as a weight-loss plan. Dr Russell... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3088748/keto-diet-101-what-eat-ketosis-weight-loss-and-downsides?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3088748/keto-diet-101-what-eat-ketosis-weight-loss-and-downsides?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jun 2020 08:15:09 +0000 Yoga is known to relieve stress and anxiety, and is believed to help improve your quality of sleep, fight depression and reduce chronic pain – in other words, to boost your quality of life. That is why, on June 21, we celebrate the International Day of Yoga. The 5,000-year-old tradition melds physical and mindful techniques, such as breathing exercises, meditation and strength work, to promote inner harmony. This man helped introduce yoga to Hong Kong 30 years ago Originating in India, yoga has... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2151657/international-day-yoga-hong-kong-celebrate-rooftop-class?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2151657/international-day-yoga-hong-kong-celebrate-rooftop-class?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jun 2018 11:32:10 +0000 Can you spare less than an hour to put yourself on a list of potential lifesavers, wherever you are in the world? By doing so you could become a hero by registering as a bone marrow donor. Senior assistant director of public prosecutions Gavin Shiu urgently needs a bone-marrow transplant, his last weapon in his fight against acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Registering is easy, and even if you are not a match for Shiu, who is of Irish-Chinese descent, you... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2149885/hongkongers-urged-become-bone-marrow-donors-and-save-lives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2149885/hongkongers-urged-become-bone-marrow-donors-and-save-lives?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2018 02:47:30 +0000 Gaston D’Aquino did not wait for the priest’s final blessing before he left Easter Sunday mass in Hong Kong on April 1. He went directly to Adventist Hospital to learn why the alarm on his Apple Watch had gone off during the service, alerting him to a spike in his heart rate. “I had read about these cases before, so I knew it was something that was serious,” the semi-retired diamond trader says, adding he skipped family Easter lunch because “I thought that going to the hospital was that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2145681/how-apple-watch-literally-saved-mans-life-and-why-he-wants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2145681/how-apple-watch-literally-saved-mans-life-and-why-he-wants?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 May 2018 11:30:00 +0000 For her 50th birthday, popular Hong Kong trail runner Karin Holzschuher arranged a “big gift” for herself: she is among the 977 participants in the Marathon des Sables six-day multistage 251-kilometre race through the Moroccan Sahara. The race kicked off on April 9. “They say it’s the toughest foot race on earth. I say OK, why not?,” she says. “I signed up for it last May, and since then, my life has been centred around it. My flat in Shenzhen looks like an outdoor gear shop: food, gear,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2141400/trail-runners-50th-birthday-treat-tackling-251km-sahara?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2141400/trail-runners-50th-birthday-treat-tackling-251km-sahara?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:18:08 +0000 On Sundays, Feisal Alibhai and his two boys have an after-dinner meeting of a kind not seen in many other Hong Kong households. “We sit down and decide the meals for every day, from Monday to Sunday, breakfast, lunch, dinner. On a full stomach. That makes them learn to be proactive and not reactive, and they get to see a full balance, the full view of what they’re eating,” Alibhai says. “At the age of seven and nine, they were already learning to control what goes in their mouths, and to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2126383/hong-kong-cancer-survivors-tips-happier-healthier-life-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2126383/hong-kong-cancer-survivors-tips-happier-healthier-life-why?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jan 2018 10:03:52 +0000 As she slips into the yoga studio and works her way to the front, Tao Porchon-Lynch takes in the expectant faces eager to see, hear and feel her message of hope and possibility. The world’s oldest yoga instructor – she turned 99 in August and still teaches several classes a week – has been practising her pranayama (controlled breathing) and asanas (yoga poses) from the age of eight, when she joined a band of boys on a beach in India, who “were doing something wonderful”. Despite her aunt’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2125669/99-year-old-yoga-teachers-amazing-life-and-youthful-spirit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2125669/99-year-old-yoga-teachers-amazing-life-and-youthful-spirit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Dec 2017 23:45:00 +0000 The moment Tony Or Hang-tat stepped outside his tent, he absolutely understood why hikers hang food and rubbish in bags on high tree branches before retiring for the night. The big black bear looking his way must have weighed 136kg (300 pounds). Or stood frozen as the bear turned and lumbered away. This was in the northeastern US state of Pennsylvania, 13 weeks into an adventure of a lifetime: hiking the whole of the Appalachian Trail that stretches 3,525km (2,190 miles) from Georgia to Maine... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2124518/appalachian-trail-pioneer-first-hongkonger-hike-full-3500km?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2124518/appalachian-trail-pioneer-first-hongkonger-hike-full-3500km?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Dec 2017 12:00:15 +0000 As the body of scientific research highlighting the benefits of meditation grows, more people are embracing it to reduce stress and boost their well-being. Wanting to experience some of this R&R – rumination and rejuvenation – for myself, I went on a quest to sample something a little more ‘out there’. The definition of nada yoga from Pure Yoga was intriguing: “Nada means flow of sound. Students concentrate on sound vibrations generated by chanting, singing, mantra repetition or external sound... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2118560/how-nada-yoga-can-destress-hongkongers-we-take-30-minute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2118560/how-nada-yoga-can-destress-hongkongers-we-take-30-minute?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Nov 2017 08:00:00 +0000 A quick Google of meditation centres in Hong Kong shows them popping up from the northern reaches of the New Territories to the hills of Lantau to dense urban areas on Hong Kong Island. The city already has an affinity for the ancient practice, but fresh developments at America’s Centre for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison could amp things up even further. Dr Richard Davidson founded the centre after decades of research, including studying the brains of Buddhist monks who had... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2116584/how-meditation-can-make-hong-kong-healthier-and-happier-two?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2116584/how-meditation-can-make-hong-kong-healthier-and-happier-two?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Oct 2017 23:15:00 +0000 Whether you sleep easily at night or toss and turn may relate to your outlook on life. The journal Sleep Science and Practice published a study recently that showed people who felt good about their life were less likely to report troubles such as sleep apnoea or restless leg syndrome – disorders that cause breathing interruptions and the need to thrash your limbs to overcome discomfort. HK baby youngest sleep apnoea case Researchers from Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2113760/sleep-disorders-less-likely-if-you-feel-good-about-life-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2113760/sleep-disorders-less-likely-if-you-feel-good-about-life-say?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Oct 2017 12:02:17 +0000 For Tobey Hill, fitness is a natural a part of her daily routine – a trait she shares with her husband Tom and their three sporty children. Tobey, 45, and Tom, 47, roll out of bed at the crack of dawn each weekday to travel to CrossFit Asphodel in Chai Wan for their daily dose of high intensity workouts. Then their workdays begin: Tobey’s at investment bank CLSA, where she heads up the tax group, and Tom’s at HSBC, where he is a foreign account tax compliance act manager. Tobey has tried many... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2112726/how-crossfit-helps-hong-kong-mum-keep-her-family-fit-and-fab?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2112726/how-crossfit-helps-hong-kong-mum-keep-her-family-fit-and-fab?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Sep 2017 09:15:19 +0000 Mayank Vaid would likely still be carrying a few extra kilos from fine wining and dining in his role as intellectual property director for Louis Vuitton Pacific – had it not been for an offhand invite from triathlete David Gething to join him in a race in North Korea. Vaid now holds claim to the world’s fastest Indian Ultraman title. In mid-May, Vaid crossed the finishing line of the 514km four-stage, three-day Australian Ultraman race on Noosa Heads Beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Placing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2111620/hongkonger-mayank-vaid-worlds-fastest-indian-ultraman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/2111620/hongkonger-mayank-vaid-worlds-fastest-indian-ultraman?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:45:45 +0000