I always find the last quarter of the year to be a quite stressful one and getting a health check-up to make sure everything is going well and you don’t have any lack of nutrients might be a great idea to keep you going until a well-deserved end of the year break. 
 
Where to go? LifeHub Wellcare Central, a one-stop wellness center where health coaches, nutritionists and other healthcare practitioners are on a mission to help you improve your health and uplift your lifestyle with a full range of integrated treatments and products. 
The mission of LifeHub is basically to help you achieve optimal health by improving your health and wellness but also preventing serious diseases from developing in the first place by addressing the underlying factors for those diseases such as genetic predisposition, environment and lifestyle choices.
 
Hong Kong Madame’s fav service at LifeHub Wellcare Central: IV Drips thanks to which vitamins, minerals and amino acids are directly injected into your bloodstream, bypassing the gut and liver and therefore not depending on your gut’s absorption rate, to correct intracellular nutrient deficiencies. We usually go for Energy Boost or Metabolism Boost but options ranges from Detox Boost to Jetlag and Hangover or Immunity Boost. 
 
Other services include Lab Tests (Food Intolerance, Weight Management profile, Sleep and Stress Balance, Cycle Mapping and Fertility Hormone …), Supplements, Therapies such as Oxygen Therapy or Acupuncture. 
 
LifeHub Wellcare Central
1/F, The Loop, 33 Wellington Street – Central 
 

 
Stock-on cute stationery

Again a reminiscence of my childhood but I can’t start a new scholar (or should I say work) year without buying cute stationery: a new planner where to keep track of my meetings and write to do lists, a few notebooks (one in my bag, a few on my desk, one in each room of my apartment … so that I can write down ideas as they come), a desk or wall planner … I know I could also just use my Iphone and Mac to write all those things down, but it just doesn’t feel the same. 
 
Where to go? kikki.k, my fav brand when it comes to cute yet very smartly designed stationery. 
 
Rediscover our interview of Jacqueline, Director of kikki.k in Hong Kong
 


Take a moment to relax and breathe 

Being back from a 2 weeks break (or more than 2 weeks for the lucky ones out there) with 600 unread emails in your mailbox, having to run all over town to make sure your children are enrolled for their fav extra-scholar activities, dealing with all the last minute things you haven’t (and couldn’t possibly) anticipated … early September can be (and is usually) so stressful that by the end of the month it already feels like your summer break was ages ago. If you want to make it to the end of the year without breaking down, you definitely should consider taking some time off and treating yourself to a moment of peace and silence. 
 
Why don’t you book yourself in for a massage? We recently tried and loved brand new elu.spa and newly renovated Spa L’Occitane, And if you are  in the mood for pampering, a new haircut or hair color is also a great way to treat yourself and a beauty break at luxury eco-salon emmanuel f. is always such a treat. 
You might also consider giving a go to meditation or maybe Reiki. 
 
Hong Kong Madame’s fav place for wellness: Fivelements Habitat, an urban wellness sanctuary recently opened in the heart of Times Square and where to be initiated to the sacred arts such as yoga and meditation, treat yourself to delicious plant-based cuisine and discover holistic healing and therapies. A few hours at Fivelements Habitat provide the same benefits as a wellness getaway in Bali. Give it a go, you’ll love it. And make sure to visit the soundscape meditation room! 
 
Here to rediscover our visit at Fivelements Habitat
Fivelements Habitat 
Level 13A, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street – Causeway Bay  
 
More beauty and wellness inspirations in our beauty category
 


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Plan your next escape

Believe me, the best way to fight the post-holiday depression is by having your next holiday in sight! 
 
Nothing planned yet? Did you know that there are a few public holidays coming-up early October? You might be interested checking at our 5 destinations for a break max 5 h away from Hong Kong guide. Or you could also book yourself for a staycation! Maybe a luxurious one at St. Regis Hong Kong ? 
 
Going to Siem Reap, Chiang Mai, Hoi An or Seoul in the next few months? Check out our related travel guides! 
 
More travel inspirations in our travel category
 
Well, seems like you are now all set to ease yourself back at work.
 
 

But back to where I started this article, what is Reiki? 
Reiki is a practice originating from Japan (in the early 1900’s) and facilitating emotional and physical healing by gently moving the flow of Chi (universal energy) within your body. Reiki practitioners use palm healing to have the Chi flowing through your body. 
 
My session was around 45 min, lying on my back in a quiet room. My first thought? “45 min lying on my back with someone applying its hand on my forehead then heart then tummy then lower legs … that’s going to be long”.  Guess what? Those 45 min actually went in the blink of an eye. It felt like I’ve spent 15 min lying on this bed rather than 45. It would be lying to say I was immediately able to switch-off my mind, it’s actually more of the opposite. For the first maybe like 10 min (but I couldn’t exactly tell as I lost track of time) my mind was all over, thinking about all the things I had to do on that day. Which happened to be a crazy busy day. I decided to start focusing on my breath allowing me to finally let go of all those invading thoughts. My body then felt very heavy and I started to travel with my mind: it was as if I was falling asleep for a couple of second then waking-up and falling asleep again and every time I was falling asleep, I was visiting a place I know very well (my vacation house in the West of France, Goteborg in Sweden where I lived as a student for a couple of months, my parent’s home in France …). What an interesting thing to experience.
 
The one sensation which I think was the most interesting and surprising for me was to actually feel Bruce’s heart beating through his palms. A quite comforting sensation which I believe helped me relax a lot as I decided to focus on synchronizing my heartbeats with his allowing me to let go of all my other thoughts and totally quiet my mind. 
 
“Waking-up” at the end of those 45 min almost felt like waking-up from an entire night of sleep. I first felt a bit dizzy but was then left with a feel of deep relaxation and energy to cope with my crazy day. 
 
Also took this opportunity to ask Bruce a few questions about Reiki so that I could enlightened my personal experience with his professional insights. 

What can I expect from Reiki if I don't have any specific physical or emotional "pain" to heal?
Bruce: All clients can expect to leave feeling deeply relaxed, restored and balances.  Often, it's described as the feeling after a deep night's sleep, or that the individual has shed a layer of themselves and feel clean and light.  
 
Many clients begin to feel subtle experiences rising to the surface after subsequent sessions, so old emotions or traumas and so on, but it's important to stress that Reiki can never bring up too much, it is a very gentle way to release and find renewed balance. 
 
How would you describe your role as a Reiki practitioner? What is your mission during a Reiki session?
Bruce: My role as a practitioner is to be completely focused on the wellbeing and the experience of the client during the session. After the sessions, I am here to provide guidance and help individuals interpret their experience.  So, for instance, many may feel changes in the body, see colors for the first time, remember old thought patterns that are then released and freed and so on.  It is my role to help them see the positive change and growth that they are undertaking via the sessions.  It is important to note that Reiki is a journey of healing, balance and discovery for the individual, and I am a facilitator for that journey.  The healing and experiences all come from the individuals themselves. 
 
As the practitioner, what do you experience during the session?
Bruce: As a practitioner, during the session I am performing a Reiki meditation to allow my own chi to flow which, in turn, then entices the chi to flow through the client.  
 
On a personal level, I always experience rushes of heat, goosebumps and electric sensations traveling over my body, see colors and so on, but this is all just the energy moving.  I am often asked what I feel from individuals or one may ask me where I felt their blockages and so on.  My role as a Reiki practitioner is to be as neutral in the session as possible so that the energy can flow between myself and the client with no ego, guidance or force.  
 
Can people "resist" you during a Reiki session? Have you ever some clients who couldn't let go at all?

Bruce: There are five guiding principles for Reiki which help to shed light on these points:
 

1. Just for today I will not worry

2. Just for today I will not anger

3. Just for today I will do my work honestly

4. Just for today I will be kind to all living beings

5. Just for today I will be grateful 

So, keeping these points in mind, one's own ego may try to resist, but the energy still flows.  Think of it like receiving a super warm hug from a loved one when you are angry...resist as you may, anger as you may the comfort of the hug will still flow and eventually the resistance is gone.  Some clients do take a longer time to release and go deep, of course, but change is noted after every session and the beauty of Reiki is that the change and growth is compounded and visible from session to session.  
 
 
 
To have more info and/or contact Bruce you can visit his website and Instagram account
 



This write-up is based on a complimentary Reiki session with no monetary compensation.