meditation and self improvement Archives

Kneipp’s approach to holistic health

by Jutta | Mar 31, 2026 | Feeling Fantastic, Healing and Happiness, meditation and self improvement

Let’s not forget…

You can live for days without food.
You can live for hours without water.
But without breath, or better oxygen, life fades within minutes.

And yet…
your breath is more than survival.

It is a bridge between body and mind. A tool to calm, restore, and gently reset your inner rhythm.

Sebastian Kneipp’s (1821-1897) approach to holistic health

Kneipp was probably one of the first holistic health practitioners in Central Europe.

He suffered from severe tuberculosis as a young man. Inspired by a book on water therapy, he began cold-water immersions in the Danube and gradually recovered. This experience shaped his life’s work.

Kneipp didn’t just focus on one remedy. He created a complete lifestyle system based on five pillars:

Hydrotherapy (Water)
Cold and warm water treatments (walking in water, baths, compresses) to stimulate circulation and immunity.
Phytotherapy (Plants)
Use of herbs and natural remedies for healing.
Exercise (Movement)
Gentle, regular movement—especially walking in nature.
Nutrition
Simple, wholesome, seasonal food.
Balance (Lifestyle, Mind & Breathwork)
Emotional well-being, rhythm, and moderation.

That’s why he is often called today the Father of Holistic Health. It’s a philosophy that treats the whole person – body, mind, and soul. It is probably close to Hippocrates’s approach to health and certainly influenced Rudolf Steiner in his approach to health.

Why Kneipp Is Considered a “Father of Holistic Health”

Kneipp wasn’t the only pioneer, but he is one of the key founders of modern naturopathy because:

He integrated multiple healing approaches instead of focusing on one cure
He emphasized prevention, not just treatment
He promoted living in harmony with nature
He saw health as a daily practice, not a one-time fix

Why Breathwork Matters

Most of us move through the day breathing shallowly. This happens unconsciously, especially in moments of great stress.

But when you begin to work with your breath, something shifts.

your mind becomes quieter
your body softens
your energy begins to flow again

In the rhythm of the moon, breathwork is especially powerful during The Waning Moon, a time to release tension, stress, and emotional build-up. But I would recommend a 5-minute breathwork program daily, ideally in the morning just after getting up. Or before going to bed to destress and have a better sleep.

Calm Your Mind in Moments of Stress

When life feels overwhelming, like before an important meeting, during a stressful moment, or after an argument, it is important to pause.

Inhale deeply through your nose, filling your lungs fully. As you do so, inflate your belly so it looks like you have swallowed a balloon.
Hold the breath briefly or as long as is comfortable.
Exhale through your mouth in small, soft bursts until empty, each time suck your belly in until it is fully drawn in.
When empty, repeat the breathing pattern 5–10 times.

Feel how your nervous system settles down and balance returns to your body.

Cold Water Walking (for grounding & better sleep)

This is another old ritual that can help all those who suffer from insomnia.

Fill a bucket with cold water
Step in, lifting one leg like a stork while the other stands in the water. Take a deep breath, hold, and slowly breathe out, imagining all your worries going out with the breath. Change legs and repeat with another breath.
Alternate legs with each breath; do this for 1–2 minutes. If you can’t tolerate cold water, start with tepid water first and build up to colder temperatures.

This practice will help you to relieve tired feet after a lot of standing (in this case, it is best done in the evening) and it is great to support your sleep.

Afterwards, always warm your feet gently by wearing big fluffy socks or stepping on a warm floor.

Morning Circulation Shower

A beautiful way to awaken your body.

Turn your shower to cool (around 15° to 18 degree C at first, going colder over time)
Guide the water from the little toe up the outer leg to mid-thigh while breathing in
Pause briefly and hold your breath.
Move back down along the inner leg (big toe line) whilst breathing out.
Move on to the other leg
Repeat this up to 5 times on each side.
Put warm socks on and a bathrobe, and relax for a few minutes before having breakfast.

This supports circulation and provides vitality for the day ahead.

Arm Immersion for Energy & Heart Strength

Place a bowl or bucket of cold water on a table
Sit comfortably and immerse your hands and arms up to chest height
Stay for up to a minute, or until you feel a strong cooling sensation, whilst taking deep breaths in and out.
Move on to the other arm.
Each arm 1-2 minutes until you feel a cold sensation

Afterwards, warm up slowly and get dressed.

This practice can leave you feeling awake, clear, and energised.

These simple exercises won’t take long. If you find the cold water too painful, start with slightly warmer water first, but establish a daily routine and practice your breathing technique.

Remember: Whenever you take a deep breath, push your belly out, hold, and slowly release your breath, sucking your stomach in until you have ‘squeezed’ the last drop of air out of your system.

If you put in consistent practice, you will feel calmer and more awake. Concentrating on more intensive breath work to remove tension during the Waning Moon Phase, but I would generally recommend a short daily breathwork routine, just like brushing your teeth.

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The Power of Small Actions

by Jutta | Dec 31, 2025 | LWTM holistic life goal planner, meditation and self improvement

The true power of our lives rarely lies in grand dreams alone — it lies in the small, repeated actions we take every single day. Of course, we need vision, direction, and purpose. But it is the cycle of little actions that truly shapes our wellbeing, our homes, our routines, and ultimately our success.

Nearly everything in life is cyclical. Your hair grows, you cut it, and it grows again. You cook, eat, wash the dishes, put them away — and the cycle repeats. When these rhythms flow smoothly, life feels lighter, calmer, and more joyful. But when the cycle breaks, everything feels like it comes unstuck. Leave the dishes “just this once,” and suddenly the kitchen is chaotic, stress builds, and tension follows. It’s rarely the big crises that overwhelm us — it’s the accumulation of a mirage of tiny, neglected tasks.

That’s why getting our little habits right matters so much. Having simple, sustainable systems in place brings ease, clarity, and stability. Research consistently shows that healthy routines give us security, support emotional balance, and contribute significantly to happiness.

So before launching into ambitious new plans, why not dedicate January to bringing order into your everyday life? Ask yourself:

Does everything you use have a proper place?
Do certain areas constantly create bottlenecks?
Is your challenge time, support, organisation, or simply a habit?
Do you finish the cycle… or do you leave things halfway?

If something isn’t flowing, gently redesign the process. Create space. Establish a rhythm. Ask for help if needed. Ideally, ask other members in your household to work with you, not against you.

Once these small systems are in place and regularly followed, life becomes lighter. Your home feels calmer. Your mind relaxes. And suddenly, with ‘the small things in place,’ you have time to pursue the bigger goal in life.

For this, please fill in your Annual and Monthly LWTM Goal Planner and have a great 2026!
May all your small actions align, creating a happy and smoothly flowing year ahead.

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The positive outlook

by Jutta | Mar 3, 2024 | Feeling Fantastic, meditation and self improvement

‘Mental Health’ has become a buzzword, especially in a post-Covid world. Taking care of your mental health and keeping a positive outlook is crucial for overall well-being and quality of life.

If you consider how many ‘daily interactions’ a person had in 1960 compared to someone living today, the difference is staggering. We are talking of a time when people had secretaries typing their letters and posting them to get a reply a few days later. Socialising was always face-to-face in familiar surroundings. No hundreds of emails you are left to deal with all by yourself, facetime, zoom meetings around the world and this is not even taking social media and all the other forms of communication into consideration.

This overload of communication is also targeted. Before everybody watched roughly the same news or had a choice of a few newspapers to get their information. Not so today. We live in a world where you may have more communication and things in common with someone in Costa Rica than at the end of your road.

With this constant overload, no wonder our mental health can be challenged.

How do you look after your mental health?

Prioritize Self-Care: Make time for activities that you enjoy and that help you relax and recharge. This could include hobbies, spending time with loved ones, practicing mindfulness or meditation, or engaging in physical activity.
Look up this symbol for some ideasMaintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Eat a balanced diet, get regular exercise, and prioritize getting enough sleep. Physical health and mental health are closely linked, so taking care of your body can have a positive impact on your mood and mental well-being. One of the big tell-tale signs of depression is the lack of self-care.
Stay Connected: Build and maintain supportive relationships with friends, family members, and others who you trust and feel comfortable talking to. Social connections can provide emotional support and a sense of belonging, which are important for mental health.
Seek Help When Needed: If you’re struggling with your mental health, don’t hesitate to reach out for support. This could involve talking to a therapist, counselor, or mental health professional, or reaching out to a trusted friend or family member. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it.Practice Mindfulness and Stress-Reduction Techniques: Incorporate mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or other stress-reduction techniques into your daily routine to help manage stress and promote relaxation.Set Boundaries: Learn to say no to things that drain your energy or cause you undue stress. Setting boundaries can help you protect your mental and emotional well-being and prioritize your own needs.
Limit Exposure to Negative Influences: Be mindful of the media you consume and how it affects your mood and mental health. Limit exposure to news or social media that may be triggering or cause feelings of anxiety or distress. Remember you can influence your microcosmos, but not the wider macrocosmos, so why spend so much time being anxious/angry/exercised about something you do not influence?

Engage in Activities That Bring You Joy: Instead concentrate more on what makes you happy, and how you can improve. There your behavior and thoughts can make a big difference. Make time for activities that bring you joy and fulfillment, whether that’s spending time outdoors, pursuing creative interests, or volunteering in your community. Being fulfilled and with positive, like-minded people will help a lot with your mental health.

Manifesting:

“Manifesting” typically refers to the practice of focusing one’s thoughts, beliefs, and energy on bringing about a desired outcome or reality. It is often associated with the concept of the law of attraction, which suggests that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life.

Well, it all sounds very woo-hoo, but using techniques such as visualization, affirmations, and gratitude exercises to align their thoughts and emotions with their goals and desires has proven again and again to make a big difference. It is free and easy to do, so why dismiss it?

The idea is that by consistently maintaining a positive mindset and believing in the possibility of achieving your goals, you attract positive outcomes into your life. As they say ” seeing is believing!”

If you can ‘visualize and believe’ in something, you can trick your mind into believing it has already happened. Creating intentions and acting them out does work. Most people hold themselves back with their negative thoughts or even worse with negative thoughts put into their heads by (often well-meaning loved ones or the media).

Manifesting is the practice of shutting all other voices out and just simply seeking your voice and magnifying it.

Ultimately, it is not the manifesting that works. But putting your visions and thoughts into action. But for this, you need to know first what you want.

Meditation

This is where meditation comes in. It is a training to help you achieve a state of mental clarity, emotional calmness, and increased awareness. It encompasses a variety of techniques and traditions, but at its core, meditation involves focusing the mind and eliminating distractions to achieve a state of deep relaxation and inner peace. Breathing exercises and mindfulness (where you just focus on the present moment, shutting all other thoughts out) will help, too.

Research has shown that meditation offers a wide range of benefits for both mental and physical health. These benefits may include reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, improved focus and concentration, enhanced emotional well-being, and better sleep quality. Many people also find that regular meditation practice helps them cultivate a greater sense of inner peace, resilience, and compassion.

Meditation can be practiced by people of all ages and backgrounds, and it can be done virtually anywhere, making it accessible to almost everyone. Developing a consistent meditation practice often involves starting with short sessions and gradually increasing the duration and frequency over time. Like any skill, meditation requires practice and patience, and its benefits often become more apparent with continued commitment and dedication.

Combining meditation, targeted visualization, and manifesting should create a positive mindset. This in turn will help you get positive feedback from your friends and family. Who wants to be around someone constantly nagging and negative? This in turn reinforces your self-worth and you will treat yourself kinder and look after yourself better, like eating better food and caring for yourself.

You can see it is a positive loop all starting from a positive mindset.

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