Health advice: 50 ways to boost your wellbeing

Go fly a kite, join a boot camp, take up hula-hooping or even just re-arrange the furniture – getting your mind and body into shape does not have to involve the gym.

1 ORIENTEER

An adventure at any age, orienteering gets you back to nature, be it in the local woods or an urban park, and gives a mental and physical boost. British Orienteering’s website (www.britishorienteering.org.uk ) has a comprehensive guide to the sport, details of courses and orienteering clubs across the UK.

2 SPROUT YOUR OWN SEEDS

A thrifty way to a healthy diet is to sprout your own seeds. Home-grown sprouts, such as alfalfa, have more vitamins than shop-bought versions. To sprout seeds, soak, drain and rinse at regular intervals until they germinate, using a jar, cotton wool and water. Buy a starter kit at www.garden4less.co.uk .

3 DO SOME DUSTERCISE

That feeling of satisfaction when the housework is finished is not just the sense of a job well done – you’re getting an endorphin release from the exercise. The physical exertion also reduces stress; experts have discovered that the risk of mental health problems, particularly depression, is reduced by a fifth in people who do 20 minutes of housework a week. read more..